bookpub Chapter 1073: The Sleeping Giant and the God of Nightmares
Chapter 1073: The Sleeping Giant and the God of Nightmares
Chapter 1073: The Sleeping Giant and the God of Nightmares After listening to Cresselia's story, Yuga and the others began to continue selecting the treasures they wanted to take with them. In addition to countless treasures, the burial goods of the Mirage Tower's owner included many items useful for trainers, as he had been a powerful trainer (beast tamer) in his lifetime.
Since the items in the side chamber where the burial goods were placed were arranged quite chaotically, Yuga and the others separated to
Cresselia knew who Yuga meant by "that person." After hesitating for a moment, she replied, "Okay, but he probably won't wake up. Just don't try to wake him intentionally; he will be angry."
The group nodded in agreement.
Then, under Cresselia's guidance, Yuga and the others made their way to the main hall deep within the palace, where they saw a massive stone bed.
On the bed lay a giant, towering at least three meters tall, dressed in tattered clothing. The figure had a peaceful expression on his face, and if it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, Yuga and the others might have thought he was dead.
"Is he really still alive?" May instinctively held her breath and whispered to Yuga.
"He should still be alive," Yuga nodded and lowered his voice as well. Looking at the person on the stone bed, a speculation formed in his mind.
"It's incredible; has he really been alive for hundreds of years?" Brock asked incredulously.
"Perhaps even longer," Yuga silently murmured. Not waiting for others to continue speaking, he looked up at Cresselia and asked, "Can I know this person's name?"
Cresselia thought for a moment and replied, "His name is AZ."
Just as he had guessed! Yuga thought to himself. The three-meter-tall giant who had lived for hundreds of years—AZ was the first name that came to Yuga's mind.
AZ was a famous king from the Kalos region three thousand years ago. His best friend, Floette, lost her life in a war. On order to revive Floette, he created the legendary ultimate weapon.
With the birth of the ultimate weapon, the war ended, and Floette was revived, allowing both her and AZ to attain eternal life together.
However, the activation of the ultimate weapon sacrificed the lives of countless innocent Pokémon. The kind Floette, upon learning of this, left AZ out of guilt and vanished without a trace.
After Floette disappeared, AZ also went missing in his search for her.
All of this is recorded and passed down in the history and legends of Kalos.
Moreover, with the memories of his past life, Yuga knew that AZ was also blood-related to Lysandre; AZ's brother was an ancestor of Lysandre.
Unfortunately, in his previous life, Yuga was just a simple anime fan and only knew the general background of this part in the games. He couldn't confirm whether there was any connection between the game and the anime, especially since everyone he had encountered so far was related to the anime.
Additionally, he could no longer clearly remember many details from the anime. Who could have predicted that he would one day reincarnated into this world? If he had anticipated it earlier, he would have memorized everything.
AZ did not appear in the main anime storyline, but that doesn't mean AZ doesn't exist, nor does it mean that the AZ here is the same as the one in the games. Therefore, whether AZ and Lysandre are related remains an unknown.
Understanding the identity of the person before him, Yuga said to the others, "Let's leave this place for now." They nodded in agreement and moved on, no longer dwelling on the matter of AZ.
"I'll take you to Darkrai. Whether or not you can persuade it to let you leave is up to you," Cresselia said.
So, Yuga and the others followed Cresselia out of the main hall.
However, what Yuga and the others did not know was that several months after they left the Mirage Tower, Lysandre and his team found AZ on the other side of the Hoenn desert and brought him out.
By that time, AZ had already awakened. Lysandre spoke to him about something, and AZ willingly agreed to leave with him. With two Legendary Pokémon guarding him, Lysandre would not have been able to take him away if AZ hadn't voluntarily decided to leave.
But that was all in the future, and Yuga and his group naturally could not know this.
When parting ways with Yuga and the others, Cresselia dropped a beautiful feather. She said, "This is a feather from me; it may help you at a critical moment."
Yuga recognized it as the Lunar Feather, an essential item for dealing with Darkrai, and gratefully accepted it.
Leaving the palace where Cresselia resided, Yuga and his group followed her instructions, navigating through winding corridors until they reached a massive golden door.
This massive golden door was similar to the white giant door in Cresselia's palace; it was exceptionally heavy and could not be pushed open by Yuga and his group alone. They would need several Pokémon to work together.
However, this time Yuga summoned Absol, which possessed immense strength. With a powerful push, the giant door swung open with a loud rumble.
"Ah, ah, ah! No, no! Don't come near!"
"Wuwuwu..."
"Meow, meow, meow..."
Before Yuga and the others could enter, they heard a series of wails from the other side of the door.
"What... what is that sound? There can't be ghosts in there, right?" Max hid behind Yuga, trembling.
"Doesn't this sound a bit familiar to you?" Ash suddenly asked Brock and May.
Brock responded uncertainly, "Team Rocket?"
"No way?" Although May denied it verbally, she actually agreed with Brock in her heart.
Team Rocket? Yuga stroked his chin; it was indeed possible. Given Team Rocket's persistent nature, it wouldn't be surprising for them to appear here.
"Let's go in and take a look first," Luvia suggested. She had heard of Team Rocket's infamous reputation but couldn't understand how this villain organization was connected to rookie trainers like Ash and May.
The group followed Yuga as they passed through the door and entered a palace similar in scale to Cresselia's but with a distinctly different style.
The most eye-catching feature in the palace was a long staircase leading up to a golden throne, where a black Pokémon with a disdainful expression sat—none other than Darkrai, Cresselia's arch-nemesis.
In addition, the source of the wails that Yuga and the others had heard outside lay beneath the throne: Jessie, James, and Meowth.
At that moment, they were in a state of slumber, affected by Darkrai's ability, Bad Dreams, and trapped in a continuous nightmare.
"Darkrai..."
Darkrai's cold voice echoed, and a strange wave gradually spread out, causing Yuga and his companions' eyelids to become heavy.
Just then, the Lunar Feather on Yuga emitted a faint, colorful glow, banishing their drowsiness, and even Jesie, James, and Meowth, who were asleep and dreaming, woke up.
Upon opening their eyes and seeing Darkrai on the throne, the trio screamed and backed away, clearly frightened.
At this moment, the sharp-eyed Jessie spotted Ash and the others and exclaimed like she had found a savior, "Hey, kid! Quickly save us! This guy is terrifying!"
"Ah, kid, thank goodness! We're saved!"
"You guys will be Meowth's lifesavers from now on; Meowth will be grateful to you for life!"
At Jessie's reminder, Meowth and James also noticed Yuga and the others' presence, scrambling behind them in a panic.
"Pathetic!" Max quietly scolded them upon seeing their reaction.
Yuga thought to himself, You seem to have forgotten how you were trembling outside when you thought there were ghosts.
"Darkrai!"
Who are you? What is your relation to Cresselia?
At this moment, Darkrai paid no mind to Jessie and James, focusing all its attention on Yuga, who held the Lunar Feather. It couldn't possibly be unaware of its old adversary's feather.
"Ugh... ugh..."
Sensing Darkrai's malice, Absol jumped in front of Yuga, blocking him. It let out a threatening growl and activated its Ability, Pressure, releasing an overwhelming mental pressure that enveloped the area.
The effect of Absol's Pressure was magnified as it fused the unique royal aura from the King's Rock, making it significantly stronger than ordinary pressure.
Feeling the intense threat from Absol, Darkrai floated up from its throne, its gaze sharp as it looked down at Absol.
Buzz...
Feeling the powerful aura radiating from Darkrai, Absol instinctively initiated Mega Evolution.
"Absol!"
Mega Absol let out a howl, its aura intensifying yet again, unwilling to show weakness in front of Darkrai, even though it was a Legendary Pokémon.
The two Pokémon faced each other, poised for battle, as if ready to fight at any moment.