By the time Ash and the others recalled their Pokémon, Xia You and Cheryl had already run off after Iris. They were startled, but fortunately, they ran fast enough to catch up with Iris in just a few hurried strides.
Gallade was deliberately guiding them, too. Although it moved nimbly, it always waited at important intersections until Iris drew close before heading for the next spot.
Under Gallade's guidance, they finally arrived at a pool that had almost completely dried up. Of course, the missing water was not the important part. What mattered was that the bases of the nearby stone pillars had actually warped, as though some strange, corrosive force had melted them and stretched them into threads, leaving them strewn across the ground.
Although they did not know why things had become like this, one thing was certain: this was definitely not human handiwork!
"This is too much..." Iris murmured. "Who did this?"
"Darkrai, of course."
The answer came not from anyone in Xia You's group, but from an unfamiliar man.
They turned toward the voice and saw a man slowly emerge from the shade of the trees in the middle of the pond. Wearing an enigmatic smile, he approached Xia You's group with an air of calm confidence.
Xia You took a look. The man was about twenty-six or twenty-seven, with slightly dark skin and short, light red hair, a tuft of which curled upward. He wore an elaborate red court jacket of the sort worn centuries ago, complete with gold trim and tassels, white fitted trousers, and tall white boots. A strange white cravat hung at his neck. Altogether, he looked... like an arrogant nobleman who considered everyone beneath him.
The mere sight of him made Iris frown. "Albert... what are you doing here? And what