Perhaps Galar's long night would not begin so easily after all. Chairman Rose still had love for Galar in his heart. As an oligarch and the leader of a corporate giant, there was at least one thing he took seriously.
He truly loved Galar.
So whether it meant cooperating with the distant Angel Company, or working with the clowns who called themselves royalty to search for the "sword and shield," he was willing to do it. Still, the so-called sword and shield were probably nothing but absurd legends. To this day, no one had ever discovered where they were.
He could have asked his younger brother, that famous explorer, the man who had even once become Champion of Galar and served as a Steel-type Gym Leader, to investigate. But without question, that man despised him. He would never agree to any request Rose made.
Without professional explorers and archaeologists, there was no way to find objects passed down only through myth. In any case, those so-called royals wanted those two things only so they could proclaim their "legitimacy."
Royalty? Descendants of heroes? Revered by all? Or simply frauds?
In another thousand years, none of it would matter.
The reason Rose had cooperated with them was not because they had poured a great deal of money into sponsoring the Galar Champion Cup. Rather, it was because they claimed they could imitate the legendary heroes and subdue the out-of-control true body of the Wishing Star.
Rose had no idea whether those unreliable clowns' "family legends" would actually prove useful. But according to his own investigation, those two might genuinely have some connection to the legendary "sword and shield."
Perhaps they would prove useful, Rose thought.
"Let's put these matters aside for now… Whether it's analyzing the machine blueprints, dealing with the royals' demands, or seeking the Azoth Kingdom's secret technology… Speaking of which, it really does seem impossible for Galar to cooperate with Kalos. That kingdom's representative talked about hatred spanning three thousand years, lasting until five hundred years ago, and all that nonsense…"
"But under our company's development, the people of Galar clearly live better lives than those in Kalos. Even now, I hear the Kalos region still has something called the Lumiose Gang, made up of orphans and homeless people."
"In the past, Kalos suffered hardship and disaster as well. There were people all over the region who reached out to those in need. But those who received help only demanded more charity from them instead… I don't know what happened after that."
"But we have provided relief and support for groups with no ability to work, such as orphans and the disabled. We built welfare facilities and gave work to the poor who were able to labor."
"Resource-poor Galar has defeated Kalos, a land rich in resources. After five hundred years, this is once again…"
Chairman Rose rubbed his brow.
It was all so that this victory could continue forever. For a future of lasting prosperity, it did not matter who lent him their aid.
If the Angel Company's assistance truly worked, then uncontrollable energy could be transformed into controllable energy. Taking risks in the face of immense profit was necessary. But this, too, was for Galar!
When that time came…
Those two clownish self-proclaimed royals would no longer be needed. They could do whatever they pleased, whether they wanted to search for the sword and shield or withdraw their funding entirely.
Consider it a festival before the Darkest Day began.
The Champion Cup was about to begin. The number of competitors in this year's tournament had increased, but because many people had been beaten badly enough to withdraw earlier, they had been forced to add another batch of participants.
After several months, the Champion Cup could finally open ahead of schedule. And because of the martial arts tournament, this Champion Cup would certainly be treated as the "appetizer" before the Martial Arts League and draw tremendous attention.
Even people who trained in martial arts and normally disliked standard Pokémon battles, or had no interest in Dynamax competitions, would choose to watch this Champion Cup to pass the time and refine their own strength.
The commercialization of sports was precisely where the Galar model had succeeded.
It stimulated economic growth and raised nationwide interest in athletics, drawing in even those who were not Trainers.
"Galar's history must be changed. And the one who will change it is me. I am… the savior!"
————————————
This was the Galar region, a land in the north of this world, surrounded by a boundless blue sea.
As usual, after leaving a [Gate] in a certain town in the Hoenn region, Hikaru rested for two days.
Then, when day and night shifted once more, he crossed the azure sea with Extreme Speed and arrived at an incomparably distant place: the Galar region.
Judging by the real-world geography that had inspired it, Galar should have been very close to Kalos and Paldea. In reality, however, it was only adjacent to Kalos. As for Paldea… it was quite far away.
"Someone seems to have calculated the size of this world before. In any case, it's enormous…"
When Hikaru set foot on this faraway land, the illusory souls of the princes seemed to faintly appear at his side. However, the crystal pendant was only a fragment of the raw stone. Now that he had come all the way to distant Galar, the signals from the blue crystal and yellow crystal had grown poor.
And as Hikaru described this land's history, the prince souls seemed to remember fragments of chaotic memories. Their illusory spirits soon sank into sleep, completely disconnecting from the pendant.
In the northern part of a certain area, at the center of the mountains, lay a place shaped like the bottom of a pot, with an arid climate.
There, while searching for treasure, Hikaru ran into an unexpected explorer.
"The world three thousand years ago… The heroes of the sword and shield drove away the Darkest Day. The forgotten King of Bountiful Harvests also made a contribution, then lost most of his memories and power, as well as his beloved steed and his shrine."
"Later, as time passed, the king began to slacken. The Radiant Flower no longer bloomed. The villagers lost their bountiful land, and even when they worked hard to make offerings, they could not make the flower bloom again. In the end, the king lost their faith…"
"Just like Galar's native legend of the two kings, whether they were true kings or false kings…"
"The false kings—the Galarian royal family—devoted themselves for generations to covering up Zacian and Zamazenta's traces in the legends in order to preserve their authority. As a result, the royal family itself vanished along with them."
Hikaru spoke this way to the explorer before him. The tall, dark-skinned man looked deeply interested.
"Oh? Those stories of yours are fascinating. I've never heard them before!"
His hands did not stop moving as he recorded the story and wrote it down in his notes.
"I'm currently investigating this region's interesting legends. In simple terms, I'm collecting those absurd, ridiculous rumors. For example, I only just investigated a red tree that can attract Legendary Flying-type Pokémon and gather them together!"
"Hmm… though I don't know where that tree actually is."
Hikaru said, "[In the place where the sun touches the peaks, there stands a pale crimson giant tree like a flame, and the wings of legend gather among its branches]."
"That tree is in southern Galar, at the end of the mountains known as the Crown Tundra, on the edge of the sea."
The dark-skinned man's eyes widened. "Whoa! You know that much detail? Why? They never showed that part on TV!"
"I had to watch a lot of TV programs just to find a little bit of information like this…"
Hikaru said, "Watching TV… Does the Galar region broadcast legendary stories as programs like Unsolved Mysteries?"
The dark-skinned man who had appeared here was naturally Chairman Rose's younger brother, Galar's former Champion, Peony!
He was also the father of Peonia and Penny.
However, the place where they met this time was not the Crown Tundra from the storyline.
That was only natural. After all, the exploration event in the Crown Tundra was an activity Peony had carefully prepared for his daughter Peonia. It took place after Pokémon: Twilight Wings — The Gathering of Stars.
In other words, it happened before Leon stepped down as Champion in Twilight Wings and invited strong Trainers from various regions to join the tournament.
At that time, Peonia and Peony were on the train heading to the Crown Tundra.
The current time was still far from Peonia's rebellious phase. After resigning from his Champion work, Peony traveled through many places as an explorer. His League Card even mentioned that he had personally made travel guides.
That was also the reason his daughter Peonia liked "adventure."
Of course, liking adventure was one thing. Not liking her dad tagging along was another matter entirely.
As for Penny… it was hard to imagine how Peony, a man so skilled with his hands, had taught a mechanical genius known as the "Veevee hacker."
At the same time, because the Alola incident had not yet occurred, the researcher who studied Dynamax Dens had not moved from Alola to Galar. Naturally, the Crown Tundra's Max Lair research facility had not appeared yet, and Dynamax Adventures did not exist either.
Right now, there was probably only a "half-dead" Ultra Wormhole hidden in the deepest part of that cave, spreading strange and terrifying ancient legends.
"Ah, an outstanding explorer gathers information from every useful channel. I call that efficiency!"
Peony hooked a thumb toward himself, showing off a mouthful of white teeth. Then he looked at Hikaru's subtle expression and asked,
"Still, meeting such a knowledgeable traveler here on the Isle of Armor really is lucky!"
"In terms of Trainer class, you and I are both Backpackers right now!"
Hikaru said, "A so-called Trainer class is nothing more than a broad label other people use for Trainers. There's no need to pay attention to it."
The dark-skinned Peony adjusted his explorer's hat and looked rather emotional.
Since he was not on a snowy field, he was not wearing that heavy explorer outfit. The colors were the same, but the clothing was much lighter.
Peony said, "Back in the day, I was extremely focused on battling and competition. Since I was always compared to my older brother from childhood onward, I used to be a real wild one."
"Later, I couldn't stand it anymore and ran away from home under a false name. That was how I finally earned recognition. After all sorts of things happened, I did reach the summit, but in the end, I still felt that life in the League wasn't suited to me."
"Ah! It's only with someone I've just met by chance that I can say these things without holding back. Isn't there some saying about 'chance meetings' and… whatever. Anyway, it's exactly because neither of us really knows the other, and because we're simply investigating legends and going on adventures, that we happened to meet!"
"No matter what! Thanks to you, I've collected a lot of interesting rumors and stories!"
"I see. Regarding the ecology of Pokémon in the Galar region and the legends passed down about each of them, there were many ideas in the past that I never would have thought of…"
Peony organized the contents of his investigative notes.
"Number one, regarding the runes on Runerigus: an ancient painting bearing a serpentine rune was infused with a powerful curse. It contains an ancient curse from another region. Ancient people carved runes into giant stones to commemorate the dead. That's very similar to the stone monuments in Turffield! Wait, so the original Yamask was corroded by resentment and died? That explanation is seriously creepy."
"Number two, regarding Sirfetch'd, there's a leek variety called Lancelot. Hahaha. I've always thought that Pokémon was interesting… Come to think of it, Galar's leeks have always been famous throughout the world!"
"Number three, Stonjourner has the habit of gathering from various places once a year at a specific time, then arranging themselves in a circle at equal intervals. Perhaps it has something to do with the position of the sun or the energy of the land."
"Number four, Dragapult's initial form, Dreepy, was apparently once a creature that lived in the sea. No wonder it quickly circles over the ocean in groups at dusk. That's a habit left over from when it was alive. Now that it has become a Ghost-type Pokémon, it has inherited that behavior."
"Number five, the legend of Galarian Corsola. Long ago, Corsola living in the Galar region were affected by a meteorite that fell in the outskirts, causing a drastic environmental change that killed those ancient Corsola… Hmm, a meteorite. Could they have been killed by a Wishing Star?"
"Ah, but I'm not a professional Pokémon professor. I mainly do exploration surveys because they're interesting. Of course, I've never heard of this Professor Laventon you mentioned, but Professor Magnolia might know something."
"Come to think of it, isn't this your first time in Galar? Some of this information might be something even Professor Magnolia hasn't fully investigated…"
As Peony said this, he suddenly paused. Thinking of Professor Magnolia's work in recent years, he could not help shaking his head.
"It's normal that she hasn't investigated it thoroughly. After all…"
Hikaru said, "Ah, because Professor Magnolia has been researching Dynamax."
"In order to revitalize Galar, they sent all their researchers to study Wishing Stars. Finally, several years ago, they created the Dynamax Band, which can artificially control Galar particles, as well as detection instruments capable of finding Power Spots."
"As a result, Galar's towns underwent a wave of redevelopment and reshuffling. Towns that had no Power Spots gradually lost their populations."
Peony rose onto his toes. "Exactly. You're pretty knowledgeable about our region's recent history and development."
"The industrial town I used to live in was the same. Not only that, but in many towns without Power Spots, their Gym Leaders were demoted to the minor league. They could barely appear in competitive events, and their towns grew more desolate by the day."
"At the same time, a new major city rose from the ground and became world-famous in a short period of time. Wyndon, developed under the guidance of a certain guy I hate."
"It's a disgusting change… But Galar really has prospered. I've got nothing to say to that."
"By the way, you clearly came to watch the Galar Champion Cup, so why did you come to the Isle of Armor ahead of time? This place used to be an uninhabited island. It only started being developed after a famous martial artist bought it."
Hikaru said, "Because there are very important materials here. Armorite Ore, something that can only be found on this island. There are also special mushrooms called Max Mushrooms, and the relatively precious Max Honey."
"And in the Crown Tundra we mentioned earlier, there is also Dynite Ore, which is very similar to Armorite Ore. It seems it can be used to make a special patch, which can change a Pokémon's Ability."
"There are still a few days before Galar's Champion Cup begins. I plan to move around here for a while."
"Change a Pokémon's Ability?" Peony rubbed his chin. "Come to think of it, my darling Peonia has always wanted to change one of her Pokémon's Abilities… though that Pokémon was only obtained recently."
"Have you heard of fossil restoration? It's a technology developed in a very distant place…"
Once Peony got onto this topic, he could not stop sighing. "A technology that can revive ancient Pokémon. Sounds amazing, right? But I recently heard some strange news. Apparently, because of some kind of improper competition in the paleontology world…"
"In short, someone took Galar fossils to other regions, and in the end, nothing could be restored from them. The fossils were fake!"
"What do you think? Pretty explosive, right? They even reported that on TV… Ah, I mean, it is a scandal, but it has nothing to do with me, so I just listened to it as a joke."
"Hmm. Still, the way you collect stones makes you look like an Ore Gentleman or a Stone Collector! Galar has similar people too… Were they called Digging Pa or Digging Ma?"
Hikaru knew that the Galar fossil incident itself was an allusion to the British assembling fossils incorrectly, as well as so-called "fossil forgery" and the "Bone Wars." The fossil restoration machine was the world's newest technology, developed in the Kanto region and later promoted across various regions.
However, the Galar region's fossil restoration technology did not seem to have adopted Kanto's methods.
That was probably because of the "Bone Wars."
This had directly resulted in the fossils excavated in Galar later being restored into four bizarrely shaped things. On top of that, the fossil researcher Cara Liss was purely amateur-level.
What was with that line about "for some reason, Galar region fossils are all incomplete"?
As if fossils in other regions were complete. Aside from the Unova region, where else had complete ancient Pokémon fossils?
However, later in the Crown Tundra, passersby would say, "I haven't come back in a long time. For some reason, there are many stone-like Pokémon here now, as well as ancient creatures I've never seen before." Because of that, fossil Pokémon such as Aurorus could be encountered in the wild in the Crown Tundra.
The reason behind it was unknown. It might have been because the Crown Tundra still preserved a very primitive ecosystem.
Fossil Pokémon restoration did not necessarily require a fossil restoration machine in the first place. Mysterious scientific creations like Alto Mare's great cathedral could accomplish something similar as well.
It was just that the restored creatures had no souls, and their class would become Berserker.
Hikaru said, "If that's the case, I'll give you this newly made item. It can change Tyrunt's Ability, turning Strong Jaw into Sturdy. After it evolves, that Tyrunt's Ability will become Rock Head, which is an extremely practical Ability."
"Crush Armorite Ore like this, knead it together… and you get an Ability Patch."
[Item: Ability Patch.]
[Description: A patch that can change a Pokémon's Ability.]
[Effect: When used on a Pokémon with a common Ability, its Ability will change into its Rare Ability! When used on a Pokémon with a Hidden Ability, its Ability will become its first Ability.]
The convenient thing about the Ability Patch was that it could switch Abilities back and forth.
Dream carving could only turn a Pokémon's Ability into its Hidden Ability and could not change it back. Although most Hidden Abilities were stronger than the original ones, there were a few exceptions.
Starting in Generation VIII, the term Hidden Ability had become Rare Ability, meaning that even under normal circumstances, many Pokémon had a small chance of naturally possessing such an Ability. This completed part of the worldbuilding.
"So this is the patch you mentioned that can change Abilities… Wait! I never told you what Pokémon my darling Peonia has. How did you know her Pokémon is Tyrunt?"
"That Pokémon was only restored recently!"
Peony suddenly realized where the problem was.
No, something was wrong!
He had only mentioned fossils. There were a whole bunch of fossil Pokémon. How could this guy dare assume what kind of fossil it was?
Peony said, "You really are meeting me for the first time, right? You're not one of my fans disguised as a Backpacker, are you? Did you investigate all kinds of legends, target my interests, and deliberately meet me here just to get close to me? Or are you interested in my darling Peonia?!"
"You have too much imagination," Hikaru said, shaking his head. "Although you are a celebrity in Galar, strictly speaking, I'm something of a minor celebrity in other regions too."
"Hmm, I'm fairly famous among students at school."
"What, you used to be a teacher?" Peony paid no attention to Hikaru's earlier words. He examined Hikaru several times, confirmed that Hikaru was not one of his crazed fans, then put away the Ability Patch.
"Sometimes you're pretty suspicious, but from the look of it, you really don't seem all that interested in my darling Peonia."
"Fine. Since you say this thing works, I'll try it later! What a strange item… But if it's a specialty of this island, then I suppose it's possible."
"Hey. Since you know so many legends, do you know this island's story?"
Hikaru nodded. "Of course. The legendary martial artist Mustard was a figure who held the Pokémon League Champion title for eighteen consecutive years before Dynamax was introduced into battles. To this day, no one has broken his record."
"After retiring, he traveled constantly around the world, and for some reason, his personality changed drastically. Then one day, he suddenly bought an uninhabited island."
It was called an uninhabited island.
In reality, it was Ireland turned upside down.
"And thus, it became known as the Isle of Armor."
"More importantly, Elder Mustard discovered a special kind of Pokémon in a mountainous area far from Galar. Beginning several hundred years ago, this Pokémon followed ancient merchants as they traveled, traded, explored, and eventually, some of them settled in the mountains."
"That said… the Galar region is a large island far from the mainland. As for mountains, aside from the Crown Tundra and the mountains on the Isle of Armor itself… there do not seem to be any others."
"That Pokémon is called Kubfu. And its evolved form… is called Urshifu."
One of the Poké Balls on Hikaru's person opened. Kubfu, looking as if it wore a white headband, stepped out with its head held high and met the steel uncle's gaze.
Peony's eyes instantly sharpened.
"Oh! That's Kubfu? Wait, you actually have that Pokémon?!"
Hikaru said, "In history, it followed people as they traveled to unknown regions to open up land, trade, and explore. That region was…"
"Paldea."
"This Kubfu seems to have arrived there many years ago. However, its homeland is not Galar."
"Then you should pay a visit to the dojo!" Peony strongly recommended. "That old man is an expert when it comes to raising that kind of Pokémon!"
"Some Gym Leaders from Galar itself came here for training before too… But the old man's test isn't easy to pass. I heard it practically tortured him half to death!"
Hikaru said, "Studying martial arts… I have indeed considered it. Martial artists should communicate with one another more often. Kubfu thinks the same, so that is one of our goals for the next few days."
"Fu."
Kubfu nodded.
In truth, this was because Lucario's matter had greatly shaken Kubfu.
Once, they had all been companions who trained together. Although Lucario was his senior brother, both of them had crossed paths with Marshadow and learned new moves from the god of martial arts.
However, as time passed, because of the gap in their initial levels… and then the appearance of new Abilities…
When had such a pitifully thick wall formed between senior brother and junior brother?
In terms of martial arts, Kubfu had been completely replaced. As a pure Fighting-type, he was not able to fight in formations like Falinks, either. And in individual combat, Lucario's Ultra Instinct was enough to handle almost every enemy.
Then what was the meaning of his own battles, and of his training goal to dispel evil energy? Saying "dispelling evil energy" was really just another way of saying that Fighting was super effective against Dark. However…
There was no specialized corresponding move for that.
Even if he completed training through all the scrolls, and added the Dark Scroll and Water Scroll on top of that… no, rather, which direction should his evolution take?
Wicked Blow, the perfected mastery of the Single Strike style?
Surging Strikes, the perfected mastery of the Rapid Strike style?
So, during his training over the past few days, Kubfu had asked another companion.
"Fu."
[Palafin, what exactly am I missing?]
As another Pokémon related to the Fighting type and connected to the sea, Palafin's strength had also been steadily growing.
Whether during the battle against Groudon or at other times, it could fight in the water and also deal extremely high damage on land.
As expected of a Pokémon soon to become an ocean ranger. Although it had not been on the team for very long, it had already become one of the team's key damage dealers.
"Man!"
Palafin's answer was:
Buffs!
Although the answer was plain and unadorned, it truly contained one of the world's great truths.
King Kubfu, you must be careful of those chosen Pokémon!
(End of Chapter)
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