The blue crystal was a crystallization of the soul of one of Almia's three princes. It was a mysterious mythical mineral, and even just a fragment of its true body could unleash an unprecedented radiance when amplified by psychic power.
Volcarona, controlled by an ancient spirit, flapped its wings. Endless fiery scales scattered in all directions. The Plasma Grunts who had entered alongside Ryoku were terrified by this sight. They hid behind pillars, and some even fled outright.
Fiery Dance! The flames covered its entire body as it flapped its wings to attack the opponent. Sometimes, it would raise its Special Attack!
Volcarona leaped up, performing a Solar Dance from ancient times. Its overwhelming power raged freely, and boundless flames erupted within the psychic realm! Aegislash was not intimidated at all. It raised its great golden shield, maintaining its regal posture, and directly pushed the flames back!
Double-Edge Head Smash! The King's Shield turned into a rock-like texture, charging toward Volcarona with unstoppable might.
Whoosh—
Volcarona flew straight into the air, and Aegislash's Shield Bash missed, crashing into Ryoku instead and sending him flying.
But the old sage, now controlled by the ancient spirit, had long lost consciousness. The spirit controlling that body felt no fear or pain. Facing such an overwhelming force, even the knowledge of two heroes struggled to take effect.
Whoosh—
Another glowing projectile tore through the sky: Riolu's Aura Sphere, Lilligant's Solar Blade, and Torterra's Seed Machine Gun attacked Volcarona from three directions simultaneously!
Meanwhile, Hikaru also drew out his Magic Branch.
"Power of Pinwheel Forest… knock Volcarona down from the sky!"
"Don't let those moves get close! Defend it!"
Ryoku waved his hand. The light shooting from his eyes made Hikaru think that, after this battle, this old sage might be blind. In front of Volcarona, a light green shield unfolded. Its size was extraordinary!
The four attacks hit the shield without even creating ripples. The ancient spirit greatly amplified Volcarona's power!
Power of Pinwheel Forest?
Indeed, the power of an ancient forest was formidable, but against civilization's might that could alter heaven and earth, a forest's power was but a drop in the ocean!
Standing before them now was a Pokémon that had protected an entire civilization and was worshiped as the embodiment of the sun itself!
At Volcarona's current power level, Landorus made an assessment from Hikaru's waist.
Hmm… Even if it fought, it would probably get slapped around. This ancient spiritual power was simply too overwhelming!
Volcarona's eyes glowed with eerie light, and an invisible force blasted out violently in all directions, engulfing all of Hikaru's Pokémon and himself!
"Bug Buzz!"
Bug-type Pokémon emitted an invisible shockwave to resist and attack the opponent. It could lower the target's Special Attack!
The consecutive Bug Buzz strikes tried to weaken Hikaru's Pokémon to their lowest Special Attack stat, however—!
The knowledge of the two heroes activated at this moment!
They gained temporary immunity to negative status interference. While status conditions would still take effect, it was extremely difficult to inflict abnormal states!
Although their stats dropped, the effect was nullified in substance—so had it really decreased or not?
Torterra roared, the tree on its back shaking as the ground surged with massive dust clouds!
Sand Tomb!
This intense sandstorm tried to drag Volcarona down from mid-air, but something illegal immediately occurred. Volcarona flapped its wings furiously, and the Sand Tomb trapping it burst into blazing flames, transforming into a fiery tornado!
Sand Tomb → Fire Spin!
The violent scorching vortex was absorbed by Volcarona and then sent back in reverse!
The ancient sage let out a terrifying whisper:
"Facing sand and storm… did you really think we wouldn't have a countermeasure? Naive!"
Torterra was greatly shocked. It hadn't expected such a thing and quickly memorized it, planning to apply it in a future battle. However, for now, since Volcarona made the sunlight harsh, light-based moves required no charging!
Solar Beam!
A scorching sunray burst forth from the tree on Torterra's back, crashing into the Fire Spin and stopping the fearsome fire tornado's advance. At the same time, Aegislash's Flash Cannon struck it head-on, shattering the fiery vortex!
However, the intense heat had already crystallized the sand here. As the Fire Spin exploded apart, Volcarona flapped its wings and unleashed a massive Heat Wave across the entire dungeon!
Heat Wave! It attacked with hot air, sometimes burning the opponent!
But it wasn't over. Following Heat Wave was—
Hurricane!
It attacked with powerful winds, sometimes confusing the opponent!
Although Hurricane's accuracy dropped under sunny weather, such a thing didn't matter if it simply expanded Hurricane's range to fill the entire room!
Everything in the room was strengthened by the ancient spirits' blessing. Massive stone pillars towered unbreakable, pottery glowed vibrantly, and the murals on the walls seemed to come alive, twisting and trembling. The two storms combined, giving birth to an unimaginable move!
Firestorm!
Aegislash again took on the defensive role, deploying its King's Shield. The golden shield absorbed all the incoming attacks and impact!
Yet Hikaru noticed the psychic energy here was gradually concentrating, and on the other side, the controlled Ryoku no longer spoke. His eyes still burned with undying holy light, but the powerful psychic force had connected his mind with Volcarona's!
Just like Hikaru linked his mind to his Pokémon, the ancient spirits were manipulating Volcarona through the same method. Without needing to speak, they skipped reaction time. The Pokémon could observe through the trainer's eyes, increasing their power and agility!
Ryoku merely waved his glowing disc.
Volcarona's body surged with an unbelievable psychic power.
Calm Mind. It calmed its spirit, raising Special Attack and Special Defense.
Normally, Calm Mind only raised stats by one stage, but under ancient spiritual amplification, a single Calm Mind maxed out Volcarona's Special Attack. Six stat-boosting effects appeared in succession!
"Ah, we're doomed. Master Ryoku's gone mad!"
Among the still-conscious Plasma Grunts, they trembled as they watched Ryoku, who had become a completely different person, filled with terror and regret. Volcarona's power was too immense—far beyond their control!
To actually capture it, they would need… all Seven Sages together at minimum!
Likewise, the fact that Hikaru could battle this berserk Ryoku left the grunts trembling. They didn't know who he was, but to fight such a powerful Pokémon… he was no normal human!
If they tried to "liberate" this person's Pokémon, they'd probably be beaten to death. That was the unanimous thought born in their minds.
Hikaru had no time to care about the Plasma Grunts. Behind the raging Volcarona, near the distant murals, he saw a sneaky little head poking out.
Ah, it was Larvesta!
Seeing that Larvesta was okay, the next part of the battle—!
"Urrr!"
Volcarona let out a terrifying roar, its six wings simultaneously lighting up with scorching flames.
Flamethrower ×6!
Then, on its chest, an incomparably brilliant holy fire gathered!
Fire Blast!
Seven attacks struck from seven angles—leaving no blind spots! The ancient spirits were excited, howling, roaring, furious! They would use this overwhelming firepower, this scorching sun's radiance, to obliterate all uninvited intruders within this ancient city!
Its majestic figure, scattering fiery scales as it flew, was once feared by the ancients as the Wrath of the Sun!
Lilligant attempted to use Rain Dance, but the move failed. The blistering heat created a pseudo-Desolate Land effect, making Water-type moves unusable!
Aegislash continued raising its King's Shield, and at this moment, Riolu seemed to comprehend something!
Its aura star rapidly surged in power!
When an opponent has stat boosts, it deals 50% extra damage, that is, a 1.5× multiplier! And under different environments, aura would be further empowered. What Riolu felt from Landorus's battle and now was—
Under King's Shield's protection, Riolu began gathering power. Orange-yellow light converged in its paws before blasting forward!
Earth Power!
It borrowed the terrain's power to attack. Depending on the battlefield, its type and power would change. Despite its name, it was actually a Normal-type move here.
The orange-yellow light struck Volcarona, but it barely flinched. Its flames paused only for a moment before it scattered furious fiery scales once again!
This time, the flames on its six wings burned even brighter!
"Grr…" The blue puppy glared unwillingly at the flying Volcarona. It hadn't expected its newly mastered move to fail. Hikaru was surprised too. Earth Power was a move Lucario learned… had Riolu mastered it ahead of time?
Aegislash lowered its shield, swung its ribbon-arm, and slammed forward!
Rock Slide! It summoned countless boulders to attack! If this hit—!
But the ancient spirit had already foreseen it. The extreme heat melted the incoming rocks into molten liquid instantly. At 1,500°C, the flying stones vaporized, leaving only shiny crystals behind.
Aegislash soared into the air!
Blessed by Arceus, its steel body feared no flames. Its blade gleamed with spectral light as it slashed forward!
Sacred Sword: Consecutive Cut!
However, Volcarona's wingbeat unleashed a storm carrying eerie power, halting Aegislash midair before blasting it back into its Poké Ball!
Whirlwind!
Whirlwind forced the target out, or if wild, ended the battle!
Aegislash was recalled and lost its chance to rejoin temporarily. The ancient spirit seized this opportunity!
Heat Wave + Hurricane: The two storms merged into a Firestorm!
But taking Aegislash's place—
A dazzling light formed a shield, blocking Volcarona's Firestorm. Unlike the ancient spirit, this was a cosmic psychic force. Hikaru was surprised. Deoxys had appeared on the field, but it also held a Poké Ball on its chest.
Huh, was that Landorus?!
"Raaadon!"
Landorus was curious about Deoxys, born from a meteor. Just as planets had earth, meteors still bore cosmic soil, though devoid of nutrients.
As they communicated, Deoxys felt its core grow active, radiating immense power ripples. Under Landorus's influence, a new force was about to burst forth.
Cosmic power and earth's power merged!
Thus, Landorus agreed to help Deoxys unleash that power. It wanted to see what an extraterrestrial Pokémon could do!
Earth? Rock? Steel?
Which one would it be? Time to find out!
"Oh brother, let's perform a COM-BI-NA-TION!"
Landorus invoked its earth god power, igniting Deoxys's crystal core. The luminous warrior was instantly wrapped in blazing light, connecting through Torterra's tree to the starry cosmos!
Via telepathy, Hikaru ordered Lilligant to empower Torterra with dream energy. Torterra then channelled the starry power from beyond the ruins into Deoxys.
"…What is that? Ignore it, Fire Dance!"
The possessed Ryoku couldn't see clearly through the brilliance!
Volcarona obeyed, performing its Solar Dance again! Its intense flames spread throughout the psychic realm. The ancient spirits roared like tsunamis, determined to snuff out the cosmic psychic instantly!
At that moment, Riolu's aura connected to the cosmic starlight!
Meteor!
"Awoo!"
Riolu's aura linked to the stars!
Deoxys too looked at Hikaru, then at the blue puppy. Through telepathy, they knew what needed to be done.
I'll leave it to you, Riolu.
The puppy's paws erupted with violet-blue starry light!
Meteor represented Dragon-type power!
[Riolu learned "Dragon Pulse"!]
Twin beams of cosmic light shot from its paws, merging into a giant multicolored dragon-shaped energy blast that bit down on Volcarona, causing a massive explosion!
Among Pokémon moves was Nature Power, which adapted its attack depending on the environment. In space, its ultimate form manifested as the mightiest Dragon-type move: Draco Meteor!
The universe was a dragon's hunting ground, and its birthplace!
Dragon Pulse clashed with the surging flames. At that moment, Deoxys completed its charge.
Immense cosmic waves and light radiated from its body, forming halos. Its Special Attack rose by one stage, and then—
Deoxys absorbed its "Life Dew" item, immune to the flames, crossed its arms into an X, just like Hikaru had once told it, executing that ultra-cool pose!
[Deoxys overflowed with cosmic power!]
Empowered by Landorus and the meteor's fervor, it unleashed its new move:
Meteor Beam!
It gathered cosmic power to raise Special Attack, then fired a fierce beam!
The explosive cosmic ray blasted through the gap in Firestorm, striking Volcarona directly!
The sun god was defeated by the force of space. This finishing beam shot it from the sky, and the ancient spirits were struck hard!
The tide receded. The spirits lost Volcarona as their vessel and, unwilling, tried to control Ryoku, waving its glowing disc as if preparing a Mortal Kombat finisher on Hikaru!
"Larva!"
Larvesta finally saw its chance!
If I can't beat Volcarona, I can beat you!
Flame Charge?
No!
Take this Flare Blitz I learned from Entei!
The old sage fainted from Larvesta's full-power charge, dropping the disc!
"Larva! (My attack was super effective!)" Larvesta's eyes sparkled with pride as it strutted over Ryoku's forehead.
However, the disc still glowed defiantly. It floated, aiming for Hikaru as its new host—but the blue crystal pendant blocked its advance.
Along with the Miracle Diamond pendant, both shone brightly!
Enough is enough!
The ancient spirit power began to retreat. Hikaru seized Larvesta protectively. Under the pendants' light, the frenzied spirits seemed to realize the intruders had been defeated, and that this human was one they had summoned.
The formless spirits gathered into a blazing sun-like mass, using the Calm Mind disc as its vessel, suspended in the psychic realm. From its radiance came endless emotions—joy, sorrow, rage, delight. The spirits of the ancients materialized, becoming an invisible, blazing source of power.
Come.
The sun spirit whispered, acknowledging Hikaru had passed their trial and calmed them. As the summoned one, he would now bear an important mission.
"An important mission? Don't tell me it's to restore this ancient city… It's been thousands of years. The people of this place have long spread across Unova, leaving only ruins."
Hikaru preemptively objected. The ancient spirits paused, then shook off the notion.
Restoration was foolishness. They knew well enough time had buried them.
But though the city fell, its will must not fade. It needed a fitting bearer.
We once existed. It was time that buried us, nothing else.
Thus, there must be an "Ancient King."
(End of Chapter)
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