Calyrex blinked, and the big-headed king realized something was wrong.
Because the power outage meant the TV was no longer playing advertisements, and people were busy running for their lives. Naturally, no one would remember him!
And worse, the thing before him was still…
constantly drawing power from space to raise its defenses. So even though it was hanging on by a thread, it always fell just a little short. They still could not bring it down!
Bea said, "Is Eternatus boosting its stats?"
Marnie said, "It's been doing that for a while now."
Sonia said, "Um, could that be Cosmic Power? But the effect is way too dramatic, isn't it?"
"It draws mysterious power from space to raise its Defense and Special Defense. In that case, it should also be able to—ah, look! Green light!"
"It's Recover!"
Eternatus recovered its stamina! And now that the Poison-type dragon had gained intelligence, it had finally thought of a way to overwhelm the opponent before it.
Scatter its poison. Scatter it on a massive scale—
Make every Pokémon in the entire world fall into a badly poisoned state.
Surely no one could claim that Ice types resisted poison the way Steel types did, right?
The reason the legendary heroes had defeated it was precisely because they possessed the Steel type.
Hikaru looked at the blazing, exploding portable control devices, at Xiso scrambling and rolling across the ground, and at the other royal descendants fleeing in panic in the distance.
In the Sword and Shield plot, these royal descendants had only served to disgust the protagonist's team, muddy the waters, and betray Sonia. Their disguises, at least, were first-rate.
In the manga, this lot did have some combat ability. They used Gigantamax Pokémon to occupy the tower in Hammerlocke and cover Eternatus. Though in the end, they were still beaten by the Gigantamax starters and the two kings of sword and shield.
"You're not getting away. Do they have other portable remotes? Well, they probably do. Even if they're export models, I remember Angel Company made quite a few of them. Team Darkness grunts basically each had one. Very convenient."
"But Pokémon capable of triggering magnetic storms or thunderstorms and disrupting electromagnetic signals aren't limited to just one!"
As a cowardly battle-averse lizard, and a mechanical Pokémon to begin with, Miraidon might have been unwilling to come out in a machine-versus-machine scenario like this.
But there was another Electric dragon.
In the path of the fleeing royals, a giant dragon suddenly appeared, crackling with thunderous discharge. It was like a Paleozoic brachiosaur, yet also like a Raikou-like beast. It roared, and the clouds around its neck swelled larger and larger, triggering ferocious lightning.
"Mr. Sordward! Mr. Shielbert! Hurry, get up!"
"Ah! A dragon?! What kind of Pokémon is that? The Crown Tundra has monsters like this?!"
"Control—control you!"
The royal descendants' empty bluffs had no effect. After all, how could a human's bluff possibly come with an actual move effect?
Raging Bolt looked up at the sky, then stared down at these people and let out a low growl, almost like laughter.
When you went traveling, you really did get to see interesting things. Brachiosaurs were enormous beings that spent their lives journeying.
So many things surfaced in its heart.
This black night covering the world truly was a rare sight.
Rolling thunder gathered into a dazzling sphere of light!
"Zap Cannon"!
Lightning and explosions blasted across the path ahead! Violent electric light swallowed great stretches of snowfield and forest, as well as ruins, grassland, and dens!
The current swept across the earth like a tide, wiping out every last electromagnetic signal!
The rest would be Beldum's job. That blue steel comet was already darting all over the place!
Electricity and cold air stirred the magnetic field, making Beldum active as well!
"Poni~"
On Raging Bolt's back rode Ogerpon, dressed in a green cloak and looking like a human child. She spun her thorny cudgel and jumped in front of Sordward and Shielbert as they fled.
Ogerpon thought the snowfield was really rather cold, but fortunately she had her mask, so she was not afraid!
As for the two runaways, their faces were pale with fear. They flailed in panic, completely stripped of their earlier arrogance. Now all they wanted was to escape the snowfield.
Their dreams of restoring the kingdom, their future of controlling Eternatus, their conquest of Galar—
All they cared about was saving their own lives, with no concern for whether their companions lived or died.
"How can we die here?!"
"We were supposed to be saviors! This isn't right! The promised future didn't come true!"
As members of the upper crust, they were terrified. The future caused by the black crystal had convinced them.
"This isn't some wonderful ending at all! This is a nightmare! An endless nightmare!"
Sordward shouted, "You there! How dare you block the escape route of the nobility? Move! Get out of the way!"
Shielbert shouted, "Where did this little girl come from? Get out of my—guh!"
The thorny cudgel swung, and Shielbert, who had been barking an order, was sent flying with one blow—and blood sprayed from his nose!
The second strike landed on Sordward's head without the slightest problem!
Their pointed hairstyles were torn apart, and the descendants of kings in blue and red suits collapsed into the snowfield just like that.
If this was a nightmare, the brothers thought…
then perhaps it would be better to sleep and never wake up. Maybe that was the right way to escape reality and leave the nightmare behind.
"Hoo—" Ogerpon's mouth hung slightly open as she looked up at the sky with a stunned expression, just for a glance.
Yes, it was a rare sight, but there was definitely a way to handle it.
Her Trainer had already prepared everything. So Ogerpon only had to wait and witness the moment the Darkest Day was successfully driven away.
She and Raging Bolt looked at each other.
That was right. Going out to travel really did let you see all kinds of unbelievable things!
So she smiled and swung her cudgel at Sordward again.
Hearthflame Mask: Ivy Cudgel!
"Considering the physique of humans in the Pokémon world, taking that hit shouldn't be life-threatening, right? They're ancient royalty, at least. Their vitality should be…"
Hikaru walked over and patted Little Tangerine on the head, then also looked up at the battle in the sky.
"Eternatus looks like it's about to start fighting dirty."
Calyrex could not learn Safeguard, so it was very afraid of poison. In Pokémon Adventures, it had also collapsed from poison after neutralizing Eternatus's toxin.
However, had everyone forgotten something else?
"Calyrex!" Hikaru shouted toward the sky. The big-headed king could definitely hear him, so Hikaru gave his command. "Aromatherapy!"
"Oh! Right! I still have that move!"
Calyrex's enormous head shone. Only now did he remember that move.
True, he did not know Safeguard, but he had Aromatherapy!
After obtaining the faith of seven lands, what move could he not use? Memory was one thing, relearning moves was another. They were two separate matters!
"Let the crown's authority be known! Aromatherapy!"
A soothing fragrance spread to his allies, healing all status conditions on his side!
However, by Generation IX, Calyrex could no longer learn that move, because the move had been removed.
Eternatus's act of scattering poison was neutralized by Calyrex, and the poisonous dragon flew into a rage.
It could not win in a head-on beam struggle, and now fighting dirty would not work either?
However, its Ability was…
"Pressure finally gets to be useful for once."
As a standard Ability for Legendary Pokémon in the past, Pressure basically existed to show how powerful a Legendary was. However, certain unique Pokémon such as Aerodactyl, Vespiquen, and Absol also had Pressure.
It places pressure on the opponent, greatly reducing the PP of their moves. Though "greatly reducing" only meant making them lose one extra PP.
For moves with only 8 PP, Pressure was very useful. However… when it came to a stat monster like Calyrex, who could throw out a single Glacial Lance–Astral Barrage and make most Pokémon unable to withstand even one hit, there was no room to pressure it.
Although in most battles, people called Pressure the most useless Ability, in an actual fight, Pressure could be powerful enough to make opposing Pokémon unable to use their moves at all.
In Pokémon Adventures, Deoxys once used air pressure to make the manga's Red's Pikachu unable to use Thunder.
In the Sword and Shield plot, before the two wolves appeared, Eternatus also made the protagonist team's Pokémon unable to use moves. It was still unclear whether that was the power of Eternamax or the effect of Pressure.
"But for a Pokémon like Eternatus, Pressure is extremely useful."
"The reason is simple: its bulk is too high!"
Not only did it have decent resistances, but it also had a cheating move like Recover. In its normal state, its 95 in both defenses and 140 HP allowed it to make the most of Pressure.
As for its Eternamax state, that form was plot-exclusive and unusable by players. But looking at those 250 defenses and 255 HP, it was obvious that if this thing could be used in battle, the Dynamax slot could only belong to it.
After all, a base stat total of 1125 was astonishing. The Blinding One's Ultra form had once been said to possess power beyond all Pokémon and suppress Arceus, yet even that was not enough before Eternamax Eternatus. However…
Psychic/Dragon just happened to suppress Poison/Dragon.
Even from the perspective of cosmic beasts, the radiant god representing the stars completely locked down the dragon comet.
"Pressure also has a few other effects. When a Pokémon with this Ability is placed at the head of the party, the level of certain wild Pokémon encountered has a 50% chance of being the highest possible level for the area."
"Outside battle, when a Pokémon with this Ability is placed at the head of the party, it increases the chance of wild Pokémon calling for help."
That effect had been removed and added back, then added and removed again. Its meaning was extremely unclear.
Also, few people knew that Pokémon with Teravolt or Turboblaze were unaffected by Pressure.
"In other words, the Dragon God of Tao isn't afraid of Eternatus either. The three dragons split from it are the same."
Put these three together, and they could even be called the "Cosmic Three Dragons." Surely that deserved its own version, right?
Perfect. Light and darkness could form the two box legendaries, and the Dragon God of Tao could be the third Legendary. Then add the llama itself to give the world an origin, and call it Pokémon Legends: Cosmos. How about that?
"Just a little more, and we can defeat that thing!"
"Eternatus's infinite power is greater than ever… Calyrex also possesses tremendous energy, but he failed to defeat it with the first strike."
The voices of the kings of sword and shield rang out behind everyone.
Zacian had recovered its strength, but the Rusted Sword could no longer exert its original power. Because of that, a scene appeared that even Hikaru found rather surprising.
Zacian said, "You freed us from the control of that pained, dark soul. You have my gratitude, Noble Phantasm smith."
"A sword needs a sheath. The one who wields the sword, the sword itself, and the sheath… if sword and shield can be combined, then nothing can stand against them!"
"That is why I must go with it… to Eternatus."
"Long ago, before we had sword and shield, we existed only as heroes of many battles. Only after obtaining sword and shield were we called kings. We also gained the power to change forms freely."
"We can absorb metal to fight, but only certain kinds of metal. However, even without that metal…"
"As long as we borrow a similar weapon, we can still use the same move!"
Zacian bit down on Aegislash's sword hilt!
"To fight alongside the true king's sword is also a tremendous honor for me!"
"Let us go together to the end of the heavens, O king!"
Even in its Hero of Many Battles form, Zacian had 130 physical Attack in Generation VIII, equal to Chien-Pao. As the saying went, since when was a sword such an inconvenient thing?
Zacian's roar pierced the sky along with a blazing golden sword light, and Zamazenta's shield also transformed as it leaped upward!
"Mm, a makeshift move?"
Hikaru looked at the two kings leaping up.
Zacian had Aegislash in its mouth. A scene he had once joked about was actually happening.
Did this count as one Pokémon or two?
If it counted as one, how should its base stats be calculated? Also, did this count as Bond Fusion?
"Aegislash's body has begun glowing with Steel-type light."
"A move it can only learn after being wielded by the king of swords. The power of steel transforms Iron Head into a unique move only a king can use!"
"When facing a Dynamax opponent, this move's power becomes 200!"
Beside Calyrex appeared the heroes of sword and shield!
Every element of a hero slaying the dragon—or rather, every weapon of King Arthur—had gathered here!
The all-cleaving blade that cuts through steel, Excalibur;
the pure-white spear shining at the end of the world, Rhongomyniad;
and the ideal thing far removed from this world, Avalon!
"What is this?"
"Why am I being beaten like this?"
"Power."
"Give me power!"
Eternatus suffered an unprecedented heavy blow. Even its Eternamax form seemed on the verge of解除. The enormous energy exceeded its limits, yet it no longer had the stamina to control it, causing red light to erupt all over Eternatus's body!
Calyrex waved his long spear, and intense psychic power fired forward!
"Eternatus, you cur… perhaps the grudge between us truly was caused by Wishing Stars transcending time and space, allowing us to clash in the future I foresaw."
"In some world, perhaps you never came to the Crown Tundra, and I never lost my ideals or memories… only the legends of heroes have been passed down since ancient times!"
"If you wish to live in this world, then you must adapt to each other's existence. Because of your appearance, the entire world changed."
Calyrex's voice left the weakened, pained Eternatus confused.
Eternatus asked, "Changed?"
Calyrex said, "In the distant past, because you absorbed the energy of this place, the land became barren. Under your influence, for thousands of years afterward, Pokémon would always gigantify and rampage."
"Not only did I lose my power, but the creatures living here suffered greatly as well."
"My friend told me that not-so-ancient story."
"In search of a new land without conflict, they left their homes behind and went to a new land called Hisui."
"Thus began a story unknown to us. Was all of this not caused by your power?"
"This is a land where ideals reside. Therefore, we should accept one another."
"Once our grudges are settled, why not become my companion?"
Eternatus could not understand Calyrex's words.
"From the end of the universe."
"I came here."
"Ideals?"
"My body split open."
"I want to grant a wish. I want to live!"
"Strong one. You are strong."
"Fight me. Win, and I will listen to you!"
Eternatus's roar was so clear.
Even the heroes found it hard to believe.
Zamazenta said, "This thing truly has intelligence now. It can communicate."
Zacian said, "From the perspective of creating an ideal land, that is a good thing."
For the sake of the ideals of the past.
Zacian bit down on Aegislash's hilt.
"Lend me your strength again. Help Calyrex defeat Eternatus!"
"The final strike!"
The Darkest Day was illuminated. Countless stars appeared above Galar, turning into blazing fire as they fell. It was the strongest Dragon-type ultimate move—
Draco Meteor!
Amid the dazzling meteors, the spear that pierced heaven and earth broke through the obstruction first.
Calyrex said, "Use the holy lance as a foothold. Step upon the white spear and push deeper into the heavens!"
"Heroes, bring the ideal world back to life!"
Calyrex swung his cape and hurled Glacial Lance, stirring up a blizzard!
The move that countered dragons was Ice. There was no doubt about that!
Glacial Lance shattered the meteors, and the one that leaped upward by stepping on that massive spear of ice was—
The shield of the shield king opened wide, blocking the Dragon-type attack. Steel/Fighting resisted Dragon-type attacks doubly!
"That attack isn't very effective! It barely tickles!"
Zamazenta's roar entered Eternatus's heart. Then, from behind the shield king, a blue sword light leaped forth.
Zacian had not become its Crowned Sword form, but it held Aegislash in its mouth.
Though it did not look like the sword king…
with the king's sword in its jaws, it could still cut through all things!
A weapon that was both sword and shield!
Even the thick scales of Dragon-type Pokémon could be sliced apart!
A weapon that could battle and fuse with oneself. Both weapon and Pokémon, the one and only blade!
Aegislash said, "Great king of swords, this wholehearted feeling moves me deeply."
Zacian said, "Is that so? Then let us fuse again in the future. I will be waiting for you at any time!"
Makeshift Move: Behemoth Blade!
The fierce blue sword light chewed through atmosphere and storm, striking Eternatus's core and causing a massive explosion!
————————
Marnie said, "They won! Sword, shield, and spear! This time victory is certain! That's what heroes look like in their true form."
She murmured quietly,
"So cool."
Bea said, "So the chaos is finally ending, and the Darkest Day is finally going to vanish? Miss Sonia, your expression…"
"Ah, this… this wavelength?" Sonia was also shaken by the battle in the sky, but the previous wavelength had once again appeared on her instruments.
Had it been drawn here by the energy of the battle and the red light released by Eternatus…?
"Come to think of it, even though we call it the Darkest Day, Eternatus's power actually triggers red pillars of light, right?"
"Um, isn't that still light?"
"When we were in the den, I noticed it. As soon as that red Dynamax light appeared, it triggered the same kind of wave…"
Sonia clutched her head. "What is going on?"
"Light caused the wave…?" Hikaru looked at Sonia. That trembling little Cosmog, the star child nicknamed Little Drifter, once again showed a terrified expression.
The poisonous dragon was indeed about to be defeated, but what did that have to do with it? What it feared was not only this massive creature, but another one as well!
It was coming.
"It's here. The terrible monster that devours light and cries 'gwang.' That's what you sensed, right?"
"Gumoss?!"
Little Drifter was shocked. There was actually someone in this world who could understand what it was saying.
Huh? In fact, as living beings went, some languages could not be understood, because its own language was a cosmic language.
But the person in front of it could understand!
So Little Drifter flew up in delight, then became extremely nervous.
"Run! Run away! A great space monster is coming!"
Hikaru said, "A bizarre creature from space."
Bea said, "I did see a strange creature in the cave. It looked like a red mosquito. I originally wanted to catch it, but I found that Poké Balls couldn't capture it, so I left before that cave world collapsed."
"But that underground cave world was truly huge. It felt as though the entire Crown Tundra was hollow underneath. How could that kind of structure even exist? I don't know much about geology…"
She explained what she had encountered inside before adding, "…It was thanks to Garganacl that I managed to defeat that thing. Garganacl is apparently common in other regions? What an amazing place."
"UB-02 Absorption," Hikaru said with a nod. "An Ultra Wormhole opened. Cosmog will open Ultra Wormholes when frightened. It's their escape instinct. After all, in their current state, they're very weak and can be attacked at any time."
Cosmog shook its body again and again.
At first it had wanted to run, too, but the voice on the other side was too terrifying, so it had not gone in. It had hidden instead!
Besides, it had not opened an Ultra Wormhole in a very long time.
Hikaru said, "You've stayed in the Crown Tundra too long and lost some of your power. After all, this isn't Alola, with its sunlight and warm climate. You need to grow by absorbing the light you bathe in, while also gathering atmospheric dust. But here, there are only Wishing Stars."
"Galar particles are a power you cannot withstand, so you gradually weakened. Maintaining your life isn't a problem, but from now on, as your ability declines, opening holes will become very difficult."
"Don't be afraid. I'll take you back to where you're supposed to go—to Alola, filled with stars and sunlight."
"Now, what I originally guessed has finally happened. The monster I didn't want to see has appeared as well. Originally, I prepared a second method to deal with Eternatus's power. Now it's time to use it."
"This is also a good chance to finish a past request."
"What kind of form will it appear in? Sonia, what was your conclusion from your research with Professor Burnet?"
Sonia said, "Um… there are two wavelengths. Professor Burnet said there's a risk of space cracking open. In the Aether Foundation's confidential files, there seemed to be content about this! The ones that open 'holes' from distant worlds to come here are from other planets?"
"They seem to still be verifying it right now. She said you've seen them before, and that you also have that kind of Pokémon with you!"
"The one coming now seems to be one, but it might also be two. The waves overlap, and they're abnormally huge—"
She raised her head before she could finish and saw a pillar of light burst out from the mountains.
It was like dawn, tearing through the darkened world and eroding the sky covered by the Darkest Day. Light driving away darkness should have been something worth celebrating, yet what was happening now felt strange, as if poison were spreading.
The poison of light. The erosion of light. Along with the rising light of dawn, all of the red pillars and energy surging into the sky across the Crown Tundra disappeared.
All light was converging toward a single place!
After absorbing that light, clouds deeper than the Darkest Day itself began spreading from the sacred mountain in every direction—
"What is this?"
Calyrex tightened his reins, cold sweat pouring from him.
In the dream world, the big-headed king had seen many things.
Wasn't this entrance exactly the same special effect as the thing the dragon gods of space had encountered in the universe?
Calyrex said, "Could it be Ne-Necrozma?!"
Eternatus was already barely alive, and a powerful pillar of light struck its body!
The incarnations of King Arthur halted their attacks, separated from Eternatus by the violent radiance!
"Gwaaang!"
A light source like a full moon blocked Eternatus's front and illuminated its body.
How should one describe that thing?
It was a gigantic bat radiating blue light, with wings that, when spread, could illuminate the heavens and bring infinite moonlight. It also had enormous black hooked claws, and a triangular-prism brain core pierced through a black mask, sinking into the third eye in its skull. The rainbow-colored substance inside released light bright enough to shine through the mask.
It looked as though some Pokémon had put on pitch-black armor. Strange and powerful.
Below it, emerging from a cave split open in the snowy mountain, was the exit of a torn Ultra Wormhole!
The pitch-black hooked claws seized Eternatus's core with a bang!
Marnie said, "What kind of monster is that?!"
Sonia said, "Two waves, overlapped together!"
Hikaru said, "That's… I see. The Blinding One has seized Lunala. Hm… is that the Ultra Recon Squad's Lunala?"
"The omen of a lunar eclipse—Dawn Wings!"
The eight-eyed bat of Hawaiian myth, Peʻa-peʻa-makawalu; the glowing objects on its chest armor formed the image of many eyes.
Because the Ultra Recon Squad also possessed the beasts of the sun and moon and lived together with Necrozma.
So it was completely normal for Necrozma to forcibly occupy Lunala and decide its actions on its own. The black god had completely lost its sanity, and the light of Lunala or Solgaleo alone was not enough to restore it to its original state.
Rather, that had never been enough.
It was only during Ultra Burst that it could become a new form filled with radiance. Once the burst ended, it would return to normal.
Impurities accumulated over thousands of years, the concept of a "black hole" symbolizing the late stage of stellar evolution, and the loss of part of its body—these missing portions could not be repaired no matter what.
Even in the anime, it had paid homage to "the one who brings brilliance." All the humans and Pokémon of Alola raised their hands to the sky and shone their own light upon Necrozma, allowing it to maintain its Ultra Burst form permanently.
In the games, the black god dared challenge the "invincible first Champion of Alola," the player, and had already chosen the path of death!
Naturally, it was defeated in Ultra Megalopolis, fell onto Victory Road, and was beaten to its knees!
Elio/Selene: How dare a cosmic bumpkin come to Alola? Don't you know Alola is protected by us heroic Kanto immigrants? Come here, and we'll send you flying!
"That image should be bat-like, right?"
Bea said, "Dawn Wings? Dawn means daybreak, right?"
Hikaru said, "It means the night is about to give way to morning, but the sky has not fully brightened yet."
"In the legends of the Alola region, this god from another universe holds a lofty status and has terrifying stories attached to it. It can devour the light of an entire planet. It can illuminate the universe, and it can also cover the stars in darkness."
"Its current form is the result of constantly devouring a Legendary Pokémon called Lunala. Because it has fused with Lunala, it attaches itself like armor and controls her in battle. In this form, it uses its enormous claws to seize enemies and tear them apart."
"At this time, both Lunala and Necrozma become even more ferocious. They see all things as enemies and use lasers to burn everything away."
"Lasers… a move released after absorbing light beneath the Darkest Day—"
Dawn Wings pressed Eternatus down with its hooked claws and fired a laser point-blank into its face!
"Photon Geyser!"
It attacked with a pillar of light. It compared its Attack and Special Attack, then dealt damage using whichever stat was higher!
When attacking, it could also suppress certain Abilities of the target, its allies, and the target's allies!
The green light sphere triggered a sky-blazing explosion that illuminated the snowfield, and intense radiance drove away the Darkest Day!
Eternatus released scorching smoke after being heavily wounded. As the light cannon struck it, it wailed and fell from the sky. The enormous red dragon collapsed onto the snowy mountain!
The giant was slain upon Mont Saint-Michel.
But not by King Arthur.
All the red light radiating from its body had been stolen by Dawn Wings!
"Gwaaang… light!"
"Linomaxina—Moon!"
(End of Chapter)
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