Chapter 731: Deoxys and Magearna
AZ's death didn't have much of an impact on the Azoth Kingdom.
After all, this King never really had much presence in the country to begin with. Many people even felt that AZ was so engrossed in mystic science that he completely neglected state affairs, which was considered neglecting his proper duties, and he should have stepped down long ago.
Of course.
In recent years, AZ was indeed like that.
This was also an indisputable fact.
But one has to admit that XY's ability to govern a country was still strong.
The time it took from losing their monarch to regrouping was probably less than three days. It was so fast that the Megalith Kingdom and Montagne Kingdom didn't even have time to react, missing a great opportunity to attack.
In reality.
XY's life.
Aside from nominally becoming the King.
Seemed to have undergone no changes at all.
He had basically been the one handling the various major and minor affairs of the Azoth Kingdom anyway.
However, on the day XY stabilized the Azoth Kingdom.
Deep in the universe, far, far away from this planet, a super-massive meteorite was leisurely "strolling" through space.
The diameter of this meteorite was a full fifteen kilometers.
Compared to the comet that was once three hundred kilometers wide, it might seem a bit insignificant.
But if a meteorite of this scale crashed into the Earth.
It would also be enough to trigger an Earth biological reset event, completely destroying the existing civilization and ecosystem.
Of course.
More importantly.
On this meteorite.
One could see over twenty "space viruses"—Deoxys!
Besides these Deoxys that had already formed physical bodies, one could also see some unformed "cores" stuck on the meteorite.
This was actually a nest for a Deoxys clan!
Or rather, a seedbed nurturing space viruses, the spaceship Deoxys used to travel through the universe...
There are many ways to put it, but they all mean the same thing.
Normally speaking.
The Deoxys would ride this meteorite, continuing to roam the boundless universe in search of their own kind.
But on this very day.
This peaceful daily life was broken.
A young Deoxys somehow picked up a colorful-looking "core" from somewhere.
It thought this was a partner that had yet to be born.
And it must be a very beautiful and unique individual.
So it brought this core back.
The other Deoxys all ran over to study this core.
Poking here, looking there, they even tried to use their psychic powers to initiate a conversation request with this "core."
Unfortunately, this led to an accident.
This core, which had been shot into deep space by a concentrated beam of natural energy, was actually the Moment-Heart from back then.
Because of the special environment in space, the Moment-Heart temporarily entered a dormant state and wasn't activated.
Normally speaking.
If it wasn't stimulated.
It might never activate again.
But the curious Deoxys just had to stimulate it in various ways.
Consequently, the Moment-Heart was forcibly awakened.
Like a deity woken from its sleep, it instantly vented its morning grogginess—by self-destructing.
An explosion more beautiful than a rainbow bloomed in the depths of the universe.
Many Deoxys were blown back into their "core" state, falling into a near-death hibernation, and were blasted in all directions by the shockwave.
In the explosion of this natural energy, the massive meteorite was blown into three large chunks and countless tiny fragments, which sequentially fell towards a certain direction.
The few surviving Deoxys looked at this scene in bewilderment, panicking for a moment.
It wasn't until the Deoxys who acted as the big brother stepped forward.
That they all began to take action.
Although their home was very important, their brothers and sisters were even more important.
What they needed to do now was immediately retrieve those scattered cores!
As for their shattered home...
They could only retrieve it later.
Anyway, they had already memorized the direction the meteorites left.
One day, they would be able to catch up and get it back.
In a flash.
Four and a half years passed.
The production progress of Magearna was quite slow.
But Kazuya wasn't in a hurry either.
So he let XY proceed at his own pace.
After all, this matter had to take XY's current situation and circumstances into consideration.
First.
XY had already announced to the other mystic scientists: the Eternal Heart was destroyed in that incident four and a half years ago.
Therefore, it was impossible for him to let these people participate in the creation process of Magearna again, to prevent them from discovering the true nature of the "Soul-Heart."
These past few days, XY had been completing Magearna's creation project entirely on his own.
Second.
XY was ultimately not AZ.
He didn't have AZ's profound attainments in mystic science.
For AZ, creating Magearna might only take three years, but for XY, this time might need to be doubled or even longer.
Lastly, and most importantly.
XY was a King.
He was burdened with numerous affairs from morning to night. He couldn't just comfortably dump everything onto someone else to handle and stay in the basement doing research all day, like AZ did.
If XY could spare two or three hours a day to work on creating Magearna, it was already considered taking this matter very seriously.
However.
Things will always reach a conclusion one day.
AZ's two years plus XY's four and a half years.
Finally allowed Magearna to be successfully born into this world.
When Volcanion came to the underground world to notify Kazuya that day, a small stone in his heart safely fell to the ground.
He immediately headed to the Azoth Kingdom with a heart full of anticipation.
And just like before.
Volcanion and Diancie were still by his side.
Walking on the vast plains.
Volcanion flared His nostrils, took a deep breath, and then remarked with a sense of superiority: "The air on this plain isn't as good as the Allearth Forest."
"I feel the same way."
Diancie agreed.
Hearing this, Kazuya couldn't help but smile and shake his head.
Even if the air on this plain was better than the Allearth Forest, the words out of Volcanion's mouth wouldn't change.
Moreover.
As the epicenter of the Great Destruction event and the source of the Ultimate Weapon's activation.
The concentration of natural energy in the Allearth Forest far exceeded the plains. The vegetation there grew exceptionally well; its photosynthesis was certainly not something the plains could compare to, so it was only natural for the air to be good.
"It's been a long time since we came to the Azoth Kingdom,"
Volcanion sighed with emotion.
Ever since Floette's death, He had never gone to the Azoth Kingdom again.
That place no longer held any attraction for Him.
Volcanion, who was inherently reluctant to go out, naturally wouldn't actively go there anymore.
The same was true for Diancie.
Although the food in Azoth was delicious.
But thinking about how Floette was no longer there, Diancie didn't want to go again either, afraid that the sights would stir up sad feelings.
But even so.
The two of them still followed Kazuya here.
Probably out of fear that another similar incident might occur.
Their friend dying without them knowing a thing about it.
Although.
The current Volcanion and Diancie combined weren't a match for Kazuya; the latter didn't need their protection.
But the two little ones still stubbornly followed along.
Kazuya also didn't stop them.
"Is it appropriate for us to go to the Azoth Kingdom now?"
Volcanion asked again, glancing at Kazuya beside Him.
As these years passed.
His knowledge and understanding had grown.
Naturally, He also understood some of the underlying dynamics.
Back then, the Nebel Plateau relied entirely on Floette to maintain a good relationship with the Azoth Kingdom.
It was also because of AZ and Floette that Magical Beasts from the plateau like them could freely enter and exit the capital of a human empire like Azoth.
But now...
Their relationship with the current King, XY, wasn't that good.
They couldn't even be called friends.
Under such circumstances, it should no longer be appropriate to enter and exit Azoth freely, right?
Volcanion's doubt stemmed precisely from this.
"Whether it's appropriate or not, we must go today. This is something I agreed upon with XY early on, not to mention he called us over."
Kazuya nodded with a complex expression, and then said to the two Pokémon beside him, "In the future, don't go to Azoth anymore."
Right now, XY was still alive.
The Azoth Kingdom might not make things too difficult for the three of them.
But XY wasn't getting any younger.
Human emperors generally didn't live long, let alone someone like XY who toiled day in and day out.
The day XY passes away.
The connection between the Nebel Plateau and the Azoth Kingdom will be completely and cleanly severed.
By then, it would be good enough if the two sides didn't go to war.
Let alone allow Magical Beasts like them to enter and exit Azoth as they pleased.
"Mhm." x2
Volcanion and Diancie nodded.
Upon arriving at Azoth.
They didn't walk in with great fanfare like they used to.
Instead, they used their flying abilities to fly to the royal palace from high up in the sky, trying their best not to attract anyone's attention.
They landed in the flower field.
Coming here once again.
Diancie clasped her two small hands together, looking around, seemingly a bit at a loss.
In the past, Floette would always take her around to explore.
Now that Floette was gone.
Diancie herself didn't know where to go either.
Volcanion covered His nostrils with His hands, looking at this flower field with a complex expression as well.
He hated flowers.
Except for Eternal Flowers.
"Wait for me here a bit, I'm going underground."
Leaving this sentence behind, Kazuya instantly disappeared from the spot.
The next moment.
His figure appeared in the underground research lab.
And XY's figure was right here.
At this moment, he looked extremely exhausted, sitting on a nearby chair with his eyes closed, taking a short nap.
An eye-catching golden mechanical puppet stood in the center of the basement.
That was precisely Magearna.
The newly invented Magearna possessed very bright colors, as if she were wearing a luxurious and gorgeous princess dress.
If one were to ask what the difference was between her and the real Magearna.
It would probably be that right now, the Soul-Heart on her chest was in a dimmed state.
After all, the natural energy inside had been completely depleted.
Kazuya glanced at the still-napping XY nearby and didn't intend to disturb him.
He stepped forward and made eye contact with Magearna.
"Di-li-du-lu..."
Magearna turned her stiff body, controlling her eyes to gaze at Kazuya.
"Hello~ Magearna~ I am Kazuya~"
Kazuya reached out and gently patted Magearna's hard little head.