The moon screamed.
Cresselia's glow detonated across the sky, lunar brilliance cascading in layered rings that rippled like waves through the clouds. Each pulse painted the city below in silver and pearl, rooftops gleaming as if dusted with starlight.
Darkrai answered.
Night itself tore open.
Shadows surged upward in towering columns, twisting into impossible shapes, claws, wings, eyes that opened and vanished again. Nightmare energy flared crimson and violet, cracking the air like lightning made of fear.
The sky split between them.
Dreamlight on one side.
Nightmare on the other.
And then they moved.
Cresselia lunged first, rings accelerating into a blinding spiral. Moonbeams lanced downward, converging into a single radiant strike that carved a glowing path straight toward Darkrai.
Darkrai vanished.
The beam struck empty sky, and detonated, the explosion of dream-energy rolling outward like a silent thunderclap.
Behind Cresselia, shadows reformed.
Darkrai erupted from its own darkness, claws wreathed in condensed nightmare, slashing forward with terrifying speed. The strike hit — rings screeching as they deflected the blow, but the impact sent Cresselia spinning, her glow flaring wildly as fragments of moonlight scattered across the clouds like falling stars.
Cyrus staggered as the shockwave slammed into the city.
Streetlamps shattered.
Windows imploded.
The ground hummed beneath his boots.
"Hold—!" he shouted, though no one could hear him.
Cresselia righted herself midair, rings snapping back into formation. Her glow intensified, no longer gentle, no longer soothing, this was moonlight at its fullest, cold and absolute.
She raised her head.
And the sky obeyed.
A massive crescent of light formed behind her, stretching from horizon to horizon. The air crystallized, dream-energy condensing into razor-sharp arcs that rained down toward Darkrai in controlled barrages.
Darkrai howled, a soundless roar that tore through minds rather than ears, and threw its tendrils wide.
Nightmare swallowed the stars.
The crescent shattered as Darkrai pulled the sky into itself, collapsing light into shadow. The two forces collided midair, exploding into a cyclone of silver and black that spiraled violently above Divide City.
Below, people screamed as dreams and nightmares bled together — visions of hope twisting into fear, fear snapping back into resolve. Pokémon cried out, some bolting, others standing their ground with defiant roars.
Ursaluna growled low, eyes reflecting the war in the sky.
Gengar hovered close to Cyrus, shadow flaring protectively."…Gen…" he muttered, voice tense.
Ceruledge planted its blades into the ground, flames burning brighter with each shockwave.
Above them, Darkrai pressed the attack.
It surged through the cyclone, mega energy roaring around it like a living storm, claws striking again and again, each blow tearing chunks of dreamlight free, each hit fueled by centuries of resentment and refusal.
Cresselia absorbed the hits, glow flickering but unbroken.
Then she struck back.
Her rings separated.... not orbiting, but hunting.
They streaked through the air like comets, trailing arcs of moonfire as they slammed into Darkrai from multiple angles. Nightmare energy burst outward in violent flares, shadow tearing and reforming with every impact.
Darkrai reeled... not defeated, but forced back.
The city gasped.
Darkrai hovered, chest heaving, shadow spilling like smoke from fractured seams in its form. Its red eye burned brighter, fury and desperation twisting together.
It would not sleep.
It would not return to silence.
Cresselia drifted closer, glow softening just slightly — not mercy, but resolve. Her rings slowed, rotating steadily as she positioned herself between Darkrai and the city once more.
She spread her wings.
And the moonlight thickened, cascading downward like a shield of liquid silver.
Darkrai screamed again and surged forward, nightmare energy compressing into a single devastating strike.
They collided.
Dream and nightmare detonated in a blinding flash that swallowed the sky.
Cyrus shielded his eyes as the shockwave slammed into the city — a rolling wall of force that rattled buildings, knocked people off their feet, and sent Pokémon bracing or scattering.
When the light faded—
Both legends still hovered.
Breathing.
Strained.
Unyielding.
Locked in a deadlock that shook the heavens.
Hoopa floated beside Cyrus, rings spinning faster now, eyes sharp despite the sing-song lilt in his voice.
"Ooooh~" he murmured. "Now this is getting good."
Cyrus didn't look away from the sky.
"This isn't a spectacle," he said quietly. "It's a breaking point."
Above them, Darkrai and Cresselia stared each other down — nightmare refusing rest, dream refusing abandonment — and the night stretched on, blazing, violent, and unwilling to choose a victor.
Not yet.