Although Dugtrio was only an Elite Class Pokémon and was no match for this group of Gym Leader Class Pokémon, that was because everyone had been holding back. If they had truly gone all out, this underground palace would have been destroyed long ago.
The Hall's administrators looked grim. They had never expected to fall short at the last hurdle when success had been so close.
The Hall Master, who was half a step from Elite Four Class, stared fixedly in the direction Xiao Ran had dodged, as though trying to commit him to memory.
In the end, however, he merely snorted and turned to the others.
"Retreat!" With that, his Salamence shot into the air, smashed a huge hole through the roof of the underground palace, and prepared to fly out with him.
At that moment, Darkrai, who had remained still all this time, suddenly appeared above him. Apparently unaccustomed to this first glimpse of sunlight, Darkrai narrowed his eyes and backed away a few steps, but the aura radiating from him left Salamence afraid to move.
"Forget about him! Get out!" he shouted, ordering Salamence to change direction. Just then, Darkrai seemed to adjust to the light. Looking at the man and his Pokémon, he slowly raised his right arm.
He hurled an enormous Shadow Ball. The Elite Four Class Salamence struggled desperately, yet was as helpless to block or dodge it as an Entry Class Pokémon. The attack struck with ease, sending Salamence crashing down from the sky again.
"Roooaaar!"
Boom! This time, Salamence lay motionless on the ground, its fate unknown.
Seeing that things had gone wrong, the Hall Master had jumped off beforehand and escaped with his life. However, he had been too close to the battle and was severely injured as well.
When the