"Do you have a wish?"
Suppose there was something regarded as the key to granting wishes. Precisely because of that, countless powerful people fought over it, triggering several fierce wars.
Eternatus's body, along with the stars that had traveled all the way from Orion just as it had, were called Wishing Stars. Whether people in the past had used them to grant certain wishes remained unclear.
All that was known was this: roughly twenty thousand years ago, it descended here in the form of an egg, possessing "evolution energy" capable of making bodies evolve rapidly.
In the original design, Eternatus's egg had broken apart under atmospheric friction and failed to fully mature.
The scattered pieces of the egg were filled with "evolution energy," and the places where those broken meteorites fell were all imbued with that energy. Later, those places developed into towns. In the present day, they were used as Gyms.
The skeletal portions were like sponges that absorbed evolution energy. Because Eternatus had descended in an immature state, it would go berserk once every few centuries, at irregular intervals, in order to absorb the energy that had fallen elsewhere.
Since its form at the time was unstable, no accurate records remained. Instead, it had been passed down like a myth, as a natural disaster or "calamity."
It was said that in the early design stage, Eternatus had eight stages of evolution.
It was called the most vicious, strongest, and largest Pokémon.
It had a body length of three hundred meters.
It possessed the ability to make all Pokémon gigantic.
It was the king among Pokémon—a Pokémon that had absorbed the abilities of kings from every era.
Therefore, without question, if anyone possessed the power to change the world, Eternatus could indeed be counted among them.
And after receiving the amplification of the Shadow Crystal from another region, that power had skyrocketed, surged wildly, and risen explosively. Even its originally immature mind was gradually becoming mature.
Hikaru said, "Wishing Star."
"Original setting."
It was a mysterious stone that would descend beside Trainers who yearned to become stronger.
It would suddenly appear before Trainers who desired greater strength.
The Dynamax Band, or Giga Breath, was made by processing this stone.
This stone was released through the power of a Trainer's "wish," not through bonds.
After the Darkest Day was defeated, each stone would cross space-time and be delivered to a Trainer seeking greater power.
If a Trainer made a powerful "wish" in that state, the power capable of gigantifying Pokémon would activate.
Hikaru said, "If Eternatus still retains part of its original setting, then it corresponds to the return of the Millennium Comet."
"The arrival of the Shadow Crystal."
"The reason the Dark Soul of the King of Almia appeared."
"Perhaps it is because the Blinding One appeared in space, triggering a darkness that covered heaven and earth. At the same time, the power of the stars made the entire planet's energy surge and become active. The power of the Millennium Comet began releasing through Hoenn as a node, spreading across the entire world."
"Whether regions that had already opened up, or regions still hidden within the fog of war, all benefited from it. And perhaps those legends also awakened because of it."
"So Eternatus made a wish upon the Millennium Comet."
But if you also possessed the power to distort wishes, wouldn't that make you perfectly compatible with the Shadow Crystal?
And ruling people's hearts through wishes was the exact opposite of Mega Evolution's Bond Evolution. Add in the fact that the great wars between Kalos and Galar had clearly happened at least more than twice...
Sure enough, Dynamax Pokémon had once attacked the land of Kalos.
When combined with the founding legend of South Kalos that could be seen in the newspaper office in X and Y, the history of the past had become a little clearer.
Kalos and South Kalos had fought a civil war. Kalos had not been founded on any legend. Its first king was AZ. South Kalos, meanwhile, revered Volcanion as its founding god. In order to move from its mountainous lands to resource-rich plains, South Kalos launched an attack against Kalos proper.
The war between the two sides lasted a very long time. In order to defeat the neighboring country, Kalos's soldiers fell into madness. In interviews, it had been mentioned that AZ's Floette was coerced by the soldiers onto the battlefield, and even the king was powerless to stop it.
At the same time, Eternatus awakened because of the wish to become stronger and defeat the neighboring country, then began madly drawing energy from the land of Galar.
It caused Pokémon to become gigantic and berserk. The ancient rulers of Galar, bewitched by Eternatus's power, sought to plunder more resources and cooperated with AZ's younger brother to invade the land of Kalos.
The Eternal Flower died in that battle.
Extreme rage burned AZ's heart to ash, and he created the ultimate weapon, like a nuclear weapon, capable of granting life and purging everything.
The prototype for the Kalos civil war was probably the conflict between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs.
[The Shadow Crystal fears our fusion. That is why it resonates with Eternatus, which also possesses the power of wishes. Just as black things attract each other. But the fusion that can undo the Shadow Crystal still cannot be performed yet.]
The Blue Crystal's voice was somewhat weak. As a fragment itself, it could erase part of the Shadow Crystal's power, but it could only lighten its color. It could not completely erase the Dark Soul within it.
The Yellow Crystal remained silent, as if the soul within it had fallen into a deep sleep. But considering that the Yellow Crystal might need to provide the power of its soul to the local temple, the blond prince would indeed be more exhausted.
As for the Nameless King, the red-haired prince who corresponded to him, whether his soul still existed, or whether he still possessed consciousness, was unknown.
[Many memories of the past have also been lost. Over these long three thousand years, we turned our souls into stones. Being able to recover even a little will and speak with others is already our limit.]
"I understand."
Hikaru nodded.
It had been the same in the Pokémon Ranger side works.
The Blue Crystal was the first to react to the Black Crystal, likely because the one who first resisted their corrupted father was this third son. In the snowy country, there was also a story passed down about the tears of the blue-haired prince.
The yellow-haired and red-haired princes had arrived later to help.
From that perspective, the blue-haired prince could be considered the engine of the party wipe.
Therefore, after three thousand years of torment and power decline, the final battle after the Vatonage chapter should have been their curtain call. But the king was purified at the end, and the Black Crystal became the Luminous Crystal. Because of that, the three crystals were able to remain for a long time, circling around the crystal of light.
It was as if the king had forgiven his children, and the princes no longer had to wander in distant lands. They could remain beside their father forever, as joyfully as they had in life.
[I once heard that in a country far from Almia, in a world filled with light and built with many temples, there was an old woman who said this...]
The pendant of the Blue Crystal began to murmur.
[Time is like a river. The distant place toward which the time of our era flows is your era. Even if you can return to the past as if swimming upstream, the flow of time... In other words, time never returns once it has passed.]
[In that era and that region, there seem to have been people called "Heroes of Light"... It was just like when the first heroes appeared four thousand years ago. Yet all information about it is unclear.]
[According to the ancient texts of that land, the information that can be obtained is this: an era too distant cannot have its regrets repaired, even if one can cross time. What is created is merely another new parallel branch.]
[If we are speaking of wishes... I truly want to recover my original form and return to the past. As a child, I want to return once more to the era before Father King fell into darkness...]
The light of the Blue Crystal gradually disappeared, and the blue-haired prince sank into sleep. It seemed this crystal pendant had consumed too much energy in order to reduce the power of the Shadow Crystal fragment.
The final scattered blue light turned into faint, star-like remnants and drifted down like tears.
In the end, the pendant was only a souvenir that locals had picked up and sold. It was not the true crystal's raw ore. Sending power across such a distant world had probably already brought it to its limit.
And as if echoing the Champion Cup opening ceremony...
After completing his introduction for the opening ceremony, Chairman Rose suddenly seemed to do it deliberately, proclaiming his final words before the people.
The first wish.
"My wish is to obtain the power to change the world. The strong must change that future! When the right person uses power correctly, the world will change! Powerful Trainers! Begin! Give us the finest performance!"
The Chairman's words left quite a few contestants slightly confused. Even Leon, preparing in the waiting room, was the same. He frowned faintly, unsure what the Chairman was talking about, but soon "understood it himself."
"So that's it. The Chairman is saying he hopes Galar will have more Trainers, and stronger Trainers too!"
The second wish.
"Make Galar's Trainers the strongest in the world! That is also my wish! But no matter who I face, I will give it my all, and I will fulfill my responsibility as Champion!"
And thus, Leon's wish was also revealed.
Meanwhile, in another waiting room, Bea watched the Chairman's speech on the large screen and recalled the story Hikaru had told on the Isle of Armor.
Perhaps that had been baseless speculation, but Mr. Peony had been absolutely certain that something would happen in the future. Perhaps tomorrow. Perhaps in one month, three months, half a year, or even three to five years.
But once someone knew a prophecy or some secret, they would unconsciously move and act toward it. Even their thoughts would grow complicated.
"Don't think about so many things. As long as I become Champion, everything can be solved."
"The Champion may not have the right to interfere with the League board, but my family is at least a prestigious Fighting-type house. Our voice will rise because of it."
Using her brain to think about these things was exhausting.
Punching was much simpler and more direct.
As long as she could temper her strength until she surpassed Leon, then no matter what happened next...
The third wish.
"I only need to become Galar's strongest! I'll defeat any opponent, even become someone who can command heroes!"
The third wish, Bea's wish, was made.
In the Champion Cup audience seats, in the best position available, two men in red and blue clothing, with hairstyles shaped like sword and shield, watched the entering knockout-round contestants with playful expressions.
Sordward said, "We are the descendants of the ancient royal family. That hateful nouveau riche actually still refuses to believe us? Would celebrities of our standing deceive a mere miner like him?"
"Does that man think the president of Altru Inc. only made a deal with him? Look, my beautiful younger brother. How gorgeous this black crystal fragment is! As a pendant or a ring, it is simply magnificent!"
Shielbert said, "Indeed, my elegant elder brother! My heart is almost being sucked into this black ring. Hmph. To think he could find us, whose history had been buried, yet who are celebrities and descendants of royalty. That proves Blake Hall is more suited than Rose to rule this land!"
"But withdrawing our investment now would be troublesome for us as well. In order to reclaim the royal family's former glory and investigate where the lost sword and shield truly are, we must cooperate with Macro Cosmos."
The fourth and fifth wishes.
Sordward said, "When the Darkest Day is awakened, we will be the ones to obtain the legendary sword and shield and defeat it. That way, we can become the new heroes! For the restoration of the royal family's glory!"
Shielbert said, "Even if the heroes of ancient legend reappear in this world, they definitely won't be able to surpass our achievements. If there really are the 'true heroes' and 'king' that our ancestors said must be hidden, then let them disappear from this world!"
The Assassins secretly coveting infinite power also began to act, though as Assassins, their behavior was somewhat clownish.
Yet precisely because they were absurd and ridiculous, they could change the course of the world. Sometimes, stupidity was an emotion even more arrogant than evil.
As for Zacian and Zamazenta in the Slumbering Weald...
They had come from far away, taken root in this land, trained and grown, and experienced unknown stories like heroic legends.
If one had to speak of wishes...
They had no personal wishes. Their greatest desire was simply to stop those wishes related to the Darkest Day from erupting.
There were far too many lunatics on this land.
Fewer would be better.
[A wish... To return to the era of choosing the king. If only the later three thousand years of Galar's history could be diverted...]
[Britain perished miserably in war. Its people were almost entirely killed. The people of the old days all disappeared...]
The sixth wish was made.
In a distant land, Almia.
[...Blake Hall, you have done well.]
[Distribute the dark crystals to those humans bewitched by Wishing Stars, and let them be affected as well. If possible, even the legendary heroes must be brought under control.]
[Combined with the power of Wishing Stars, the power of the Shadow Crystal fragments will not be easily erased. Because Wishing Stars connect to the wishes in people's hearts, strong wishes will turn into desire and become a power source for the Shadow Crystal.]
Blake Hall said, "Like a faucet, then? In the past, we could only collect it drop by drop. But with the beginning of Galar's grand event, people's wishes and desires will keep rising for some time."
"It's a sports fandom circle, after all. Taking crazy actions to support one's favorite character, or loyally hoping for a particular team to win the championship—these are also reasons that trigger the darkness in people's hearts."
"Where there are winners, there will be losers. Only one team can win in the end, so the people who supported the losing side will naturally feel resentment and dissatisfaction because of it."
"Still, are you the Shadow Crystal itself? This is the first time you have spoken to me. Do you have no reaction at all to the fact that I captured your guardian beast, Darkrai?"
[Darkrai is the crystal's guardian. Originally, it accompanied me to prevent me from falling into darkness. But now...]
[Use it as you please, as long as you can control it.]
[Listen to my wish, Blake Hall! I was the one who gave you your name. Did you know that?]
"What did you say?"
[When you were fourteen, I sent a revelation to your father and changed your name from White Hall to Blake Hall. That was because you and I have excellent compatibility. And your father also made a wish to me!]
[He hoped I would grant you unparalleled power to change Almia's future!]
[But that cowardly man, Applet Hall, went back on his word afterward!]
"Ah... So that's how it was. That's why, when I took over the company at sixteen, I directly threw Father out with nothing? I thought that was a necessary sacrifice I made to build my business empire."
"I never expected it to be related to you. Hahaha. But that answer isn't bad! As of now, you are my father!"
[Then I shall make a wish!]
The seventh wish. But there were more than seven wishes. The true Rider King had not yet awakened, and the Shield King had not yet given a response.
The murmuring voice within the Shadow Crystal passed into Blake Hall's heart.
[Before my wish is fulfilled, no one can discover where I am. The three crystals must not be obtained by anyone else. They must not be allowed to fuse. Use the Shadow Crystal to continuously create servants and avoid exposure! After that, I will make the world enter the Age of Fire's End. The Abyss will arrive!]
[The great war from three thousand years ago, the war that swept across seven regions, will be recreated at last!]
P.S. Z-A has answered quite a few past setting details. For now, some of them seem close to what I guessed. For example, Kalos really did go to war with Galar, Paldea is connected to Kalos, though you have to cross mountains, and it only took five years to go from Pokégear to the Rotom Phone.
Over the next two days, I'll open a separate thoughts chapter to write about this part. Including the previous scrapped concepts and internal settings, I feel like there is a lot worth discussing!
(End of Chapter)
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