Dusknoir gathered a Dark Pulse in his hand and directly smashed it into Zoroark's back.
At this moment, Zoroark was completely unprepared; she was solely focused on saving Zorua's soul.
If hit by this Dark Pulse, Zoroark would basically lose her ability to battle.
Clearly, this was Dusknoir's plan—to use Zorua to distract Zoroark and land a fatal blow.
But he overlooked one person's existence.
A white light flashed, and the Dark Pulse, condensed with Dusknoir's full power, was split into two halves, as a large Pokémon appeared behind Zoroark.
"Snorlax!" Snorlax always had his eyes narrowed, but Mu Li, who had been with Snorlax since he was a Munchlax, knew that Snorlax was a little angry.
Ever since Snorlax met Mu Li, Mu Li had always felt that Snorlax was the most emotionally stable among his Pokémon.
Whether it was during his Munchlax period or after evolving into Snorlax, Snorlax seemed to be carefree, happy as long as he was full.
This was true both on the training grounds and in battles; even if he was severely injured or lost a battle, he wouldn't get angry, and most of the time, he would even comfort Mu Li.
The last time Snorlax got angry, Mu Li had almost forgotten; at that time, he should have just left the National Team and gone out to relax.
During their relaxation, they encountered a Chikorita that was on the verge of death when Mu Li and his Pokémon found her; although Mu Li eventually saved her, an indelible shadow was left in that Chikorita's heart.
Later, Mu Li learned that the Chikorita had been abandoned by her trainer; her trainer had left her in the wild without even healing her after a battle.
Mu Li remembered that Snorlax was very angry then and directly gave that trainer a good beating.
Ultimately, that trainer was also stripped of his trainer qualifications for his act of wantonly abandoning a Pokémon.
Snorlax originally wanted to take Chikorita home with him, but that Chikorita had lost faith in humans and chose to leave alone.
Since that incident, this was the first time Mu Li had seen Snorlax get angry again.
The consequences of Snorlax getting angry were naturally severe.
Before Dusknoir could react, an Ice Punch directly struck Dusknoir's cheek.
The moment he was hit, Dusknoir turned into a giant block of ice.
Snorlax showed no intention of stopping his attack, landing a Thunder Punch with his left hand and a Fire Punch with his right, making black smoke billow from Dusknoir's entire body.
"No... impossible... How can you possess such powerful strength...?" Dusknoir had no power to retaliate.
"Snorlax! (Shut up!)" Snorlax delivered an uppercut, directly depriving Dusknoir of his ability to speak.
While Dusknoir was being beaten by Snorlax, Zoroark had already arrived in front of Zorua.
"How is she?" Zoroark looked at Zorua nervously, but her current state prevented her from touching Zorua.
"She's fine, actually..." Mu Li sighed, "I still have some Sacred Ash; Zorua just died, so she can still be revived with Sacred Ash, but you..."
Mu Li had been hesitant before, not directly suppressing Dusknoir, mainly because he was thinking about Zoroark's problem.
Zoroark's body had disappeared thousands, or even tens of thousands of years ago; at this moment, even if Ho-Oh came, it would be impossible to revive her.
This was also the problem that troubled Mu Li.
Zorua had done so much, and her only goal was to revive Zoroark, but this was clearly no longer possible.
Zoroark's only way to survive was to continue staying in the Netherworld, using the ghost power within the Netherworld to maintain her current state.
"I've known my fate for a long time," Zoroark said with a smile, looking at Zorua. "The reason I've lived in that world until now, besides wanting revenge on Dusknoir, was to see her one last time."
Mu Li was silent for a long time before asking, "Have you truly made your decision?"
Zoroark nodded.
Zorua seemed to sense something; her soul began to stir, struggling constantly in Gengar's embrace.
"Be good..." Zoroark tried to stroke Zorua's head, but they missed each other.
Yet, Zorua quieted down because of it.
Gengar took out some dust-like particles from his shadow and sprinkled them on Zorua.
The dust touched Zorua's soul, emitting bursts of colorful light; Zorua's soul gradually solidified, and her body returned to its original state.
The moment the colorful light disappeared, Zorua broke free from the Netherworld Gate's Bondage and directly pounced into Zoroark's arms.
Zoroark stroked Zorua's head, and her eyes gradually became moist.
On the other side of the stone chamber, Snorlax held Dusknoir's head with one hand, ready to destroy him at any moment.
"Hahahaha..." Dusknoir showed no fear at all; instead, he let out a rampant laugh, "It's useless even if you kill me; the Netherworld Gate has already opened, and the human world is destined to be destroyed."
Mu Li sighed and shook his head, "Gengar, end this farce."
Gengar's crimson eyes suddenly looked at Dusknoir, and to Dusknoir's shock, Gengar's body began to change from its original purple to black, as dark ghostly power slowly emerged from Gengar's body.
Gengar's body rapidly expanded, his dark form directly enveloping the entire stone chamber; the stone chamber seemed to be directly swallowed by darkness, unable to reflect any light.
Deep fear was actually revealed in Dusknoir's pupils: "No, impossible... You are the King..."
A black shadow enveloped Dusknoir, and Dusknoir seemed to melt into this darkness, no longer emitting any aura.
The black wall that had sealed the Netherworld Gate also gradually disappeared, and the bloody pupils of the ghosts in the Netherworld reappeared.
But this time, they did not hesitate at all and directly fled back into the Netherworld.
The black shadow retracted, and Gengar also returned to his original purple, just about to close the Netherworld Gate.
"Wait..." Mu Li suddenly said, and the chubby Pokémon paused, seemingly understanding something; his gaze also turned towards Zoroark.
"Are you really not going to the Netherworld?" Mu Li confirmed one last time.
Zoroark shook her head, looking gently at Zorua in her arms: "There's nothing left there for me to miss."
"But..." Mu Li said worriedly.
Zoroark smiled and seemed to say something to Zorua; Zorua began to struggle, but tears also started to well up in her eyes.
Zoroark looked at Mu Li and said earnestly, "Thank you for everything you've done, my friend. My child, I'll trouble you to take care of her from now on."
Mu Li took a deep breath and nodded seriously.
Zoroark nodded to the other Pokémon, and a white light emanated from her body.
