Alamos Town, Gaudí's Courtyard.
Darkrai kept challenging himself.
Who would have thought that, after living for hundreds of years,
he would still need to keep challenging himself...
Life was an endless challenge.
But Darkrai wanted to stay in Alamos Town,
to stay in Gaudí's Courtyard,
to stay in the courtyard they all shared.
When it came to helping Darkrai control the energy released by his Nightmare ability,
Darkrai knew perfectly well how much effort Li Wei, Alice, Tonio, Yellow, and the others had put in.
Especially Yellow.
Every day, without fail, Yellow helped him train for an entire day, never once complaining about being tired, a smile always lighting up her face.
For that reason alone, no matter how difficult it was, Darkrai didn't want to give up.
This truly was a challenge for Darkrai.
The energy released by his Nightmare ability
was as natural to Darkrai as breathing.
Just as Slaking had to overcome his physiological lethargy, Darkrai had to overcome his instinctive tendency to let his energy spread,
mustering his willpower under pressure to control it. Every successful resistance against instinct was a victory of will.
After all, instinct was incredibly difficult to control.
September 7,
the day before the event at the Pokémon Theme Park.
Darkrai was still hard at work training.
The training process was grueling.
Darkrai often felt tremendous mental exhaustion while concentrating his energy, along with discomfort from its buildup.
Failure was inevitable.
Occasional leaks of energy still caused Alice and Tonio nearby to experience brief, mild palpitations or unease.
But his progress was plain to see, too.
Darkrai could keep his nightmare energy concentrated for ten or more seconds now, sometimes even over a minute, compared to just a few seconds at first.
His Moonlight Style energy diffusion grew steadier and steadier.