The moment the peace agreement was concluded, a silence settled over the square. Paty IV sheathed his sword, the blade still catching the cold light, but the tension that had been in the air was gone.
Lucien stood where the ice crystals had melted, the last of the mist fading from his robes, his expression composed.
An initial understanding had been reached. Now came the specifics.
Paty IV and Lucien walked together to the castle's council chamber. A minister spread the Galar map across the table, and Lucien's gaze moved across it carefully before settling on a small coastal settlement in the southwest.
"For the trade concession, I'll take Slumbering Town," he said, tapping the location on the parchment.
It was described as a connection point between seas, but in practical terms it functioned more as a concession than a trading post.
Slumbering Town sat on Galar's western coast and would eventually serve as a critical maritime link between Unova and Galar. It had an established fishing harbor, the Slumbering Weald behind it where Zacian and Zamazenta were said to reside, and the Crown Tundra to the south.
Geographically, it was an ideal base for what Lucien had in mind. More importantly, it would give him a foothold from which to begin locating Galar's Legendary Pokémon.
Paty IV studied the map for a moment, then nodded slowly. Slumbering Town was remote, long neglected by the royal family, and well away from anything Galar considered strategically vital. Ceding it cost him almost nothing.
"Jurisdiction for five years," Paty IV said, his tone still carrying the cadence of a man who needed to feel he was negotiating, not capitulating. "After five years, we reassess based on the results of bilateral trade."
"Agreed," Lucien said.
He looked out at the square, where the Corviknight formation still stood frozen in various states of recovery and the soldiers who had been caught in the Ice Beam were slowly regaining feeling in their extremities.
"Regarding the casualties today: Unova will cover all medical costs for the injured. The frozen warships and their crew will be thawed and restored within three days."
Something in Paty IV's expression eased at that. He had expected Lucien to press every possible advantage. The fact that he was not doing so required some recalibration.
The ministers prepared the documents. Lucien and Paty IV signed, their seals pressed into the parchment one after the other with the weight of national authority behind them. They worked through the remaining details methodically, and by the time the afternoon light was fading, Paty IV extended a dinner invitation.
Lucien accepted without hesitation.
Over the meal, he listened carefully, and then steered the conversation where he wanted it.
"Has Lord Paty ever heard of Calyrex?"
Paty IV paused, thinking. "Calyrex. That's a Pokémon, isn't it? I've heard stories: it rides a white horse across the land, and the villages it passes through are said to benefit from its presence somehow." He considered it.
"Unlike most Pokémon, it's always been described as genuinely friendly toward people." He looked at Lucien with mild curiosity. "I'm surprised you've heard of it from Unova."
"Have you seen it yourself?"
"No. From what I know, it stays away from the larger cities entirely. It moves mostly through the small villages in the countryside."
Lucien nodded, filed it away, and moved on. That fit with what he knew of Calyrex's nature.
"What about Zacian and Zamazenta?"
Paty IV frowned. "Are those Pokémon as well?"
"Traveling poets have mentioned their names," Lucien said carefully. "Said to be very powerful."
"I haven't heard of them."
"And Eternatus?"
He asked it with the same casual tone he had used for the others, but he was watching the response carefully.
According to what he knew, Eternatus had arrived in the Galar Region approximately twenty thousand years ago, carried inside a meteorite.
It had lain dormant for most of that time, and would not wake until roughly three thousand years from now, when the stresses of a newly formed Pokémon League pushed it toward a crisis point.
When it did wake, it would begin drawing Galar's energy to sustain itself, triggering the Darkest Day, a phenomenon that drove nearby Pokémon into Gigantamax states of near-madness. Only Zacian and Zamazenta had been able to stop it.
"I don't know that name," Paty IV said, looking genuinely puzzled.
Good. The incident was still far in the future. Lucien said nothing more on the subject.
After dinner ended, he wrote a brief letter, had Dragonite carry it back to Lucien City for Elif, and settled in to wait. He planned to ride out to Slumbering Town the following day and be there when the Unova contingent arrived.
Half a month later, a large Unova steamship came into Slumbering Town's harbor.
The Kyurem emblem on the hull caught the pale coastal sunlight, its ice-blue lines distinct and unmistakable. The people of Slumbering Town had heard, several days earlier, that their city had been ceded to the Unova Kingdom.
A new authority, from a distant land that had defeated Galar's fleet and frozen the harbor of the capital.
The fear that had moved through the town at that news was real and immediate. The people had spent the days since imagining what it meant: slavery, forced labor, the treatment an enemy nation typically reserved for a conquered population.
When the steamship appeared in the harbor, a crowd gathered instinctively at a distance, watching. They were quiet. Their clothing was rough and worn, their faces drawn, their bodies thin in the way of people who had been managing rather than living for a long time.
The scene reminded Lucien, standing at the dock, of the early days after he had first arrived in Unova.
"Your Majesty Lucien, I am Chelsea, General of Castelia City, reporting as ordered!"
A tall, solidly built officer approached and bowed. Lucien nodded.
"Did you bring everything?"
"Everything you specified, Your Majesty. I should mention that when word went out that we were establishing a new territory on another continent, the response was overwhelming. Many people volunteered specifically for this posting."
Lucien looked at him for a moment without speaking.
Then he said, "Let's begin."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
At Chelsea's signal, the ships began unloading. Craftsmen, farmers, soldiers, and Pokémon came down the gangways and spread across the dock, taking in the unfamiliar landscape with open curiosity.
The Galar citizens watching from a distance moved forward half a step without realizing it, drawn by something they had not been expecting.
Machamp hummed quietly and moved in steady circuits, carrying cargo from the ships to the dock with calm, easy strength, the sound of it settling over the crowd like something warm being spread across cold ground.
Gyarados moved through the harbor channels under direction, clearing debris and blockages with deliberate, careful effort.
Pokémon after Pokémon worked with the easy cooperation of creatures that had been doing this alongside people for years.
The Galar citizens stared. They had prepared themselves for looting. For burning. For the particular cruelty that came when one nation wanted to make an example of another. They had braced for all of it.
The Unova soldiers moved in clean formation, their steps measured, their swords sheathed and untouched. Not one of them reached for anyone's belongings. Not one of them raised a voice.
The crowd at the edge of the harbor had stopped trembling. A few of them looked at each other.
The soldiers carried sturdy wooden crates of solid teak, marked with gear and machinery insignia, clearly built for transporting supplies and equipment rather than weapons.
The Pokémon working alongside them drew even more attention from the watching crowd. A Machamp moved an entire shipload of steel components with deliberate, careful steps, each footfall placed with consideration for the dock's stonework.
A Bunnelby worked its way along the potholed dirt road leading from the harbor, its movement leaving the surface smooth and even behind it.
An Audino moved through the crowd of arriving workers with quiet efficiency, distributing clean water and food.
"Are those... Magical Beasts?" an old fisherman said, his fishing net going slack in his hands.
In everything he had ever known, Magical Beasts were dangerous. Wild things, best avoided. Not this. These Magical Beasts were working, cooperating, choosing to help.
Lucien stood on a hastily assembled platform near the dock, dressed in his black royal robes, the sea wind moving the fabric. He was in no hurry to make grand proclamations. He simply nodded to Chelsea, who opened the nearest wooden crate.
Inside: rows of high-quality wheat, neatly packed.
"People of Slumbering Town," Lucien said. His voice was not loud, but it carried clearly to every corner of the harbor. "From today, this city is part of Unova. But you have nothing to fear. Unova is a peaceful nation. We have no intention of harming you."
He turned and gestured toward the vast stretch of undeveloped land behind the harbor.
"This has always been barren ground. I imagine feeding yourselves has never been easy here. Over the coming month, Unova will deliver seeds and farming tools. Every able-bodied person who volunteers to help clear and cultivate the wasteland will, upon completion, receive land allocated according to their family's size. Your own land. Permanent."
He paused to let that reach them.
"Beyond that: the head tax and grain tax that have applied to common people under the old Galar system are abolished in this city. Merchants operating here will collect only a standard trade tax. Those who voluntarily participate in land reclamation will be fully exempt from taxes for three years. You grow your own food. The only contribution required is a small share to the city's public reserve, used for construction and maintenance."
The faces in the crowd went through several expressions in quick succession. Disbelief. Suspicion. Something fragile and cautious that was trying to decide whether it was allowed to be hope.
Under the old Galar regime, a year of labor had meant surrendering more than half the harvest. Keeping enough to eat had been an achievement, not a given. What was being described here did not fit inside any framework they had for how things worked.
"Is this real?" a man in the crowd asked, his voice barely holding steady.
"Yes," Lucien said, and smiled.
The crowd broke.
"I'm in. I have three children, I need that land!" A broad-shouldered man pushed through to where Chelsea's officials were standing and held out his hand to register before anyone else could.
"I'm a carpenter. I can build."
"I know the water here, I can help with the dock."
The people who had been standing back at a cautious distance were suddenly pressing forward, and the Unova officials moved quickly to receive them, compiling names and skills and family sizes with calm, practiced efficiency. The harbor transformed in minutes from a tense and silent confrontation into something alive and purposeful.
Lucien stood above it and watched.
The will of ordinary people, wanting only to eat and be safe and have something to build toward, was more durable than any army.
When word of what was happening in Slumbering Town reached the other cities and villages of Galar, it would travel faster than any decree.
Farmers were straightforward people. Whoever gave them enough to eat, they would support. And once that support built to a certain point, Lucien reflected quietly, Galar's future would not need to be taken. It would be offered.
He called this approach peaceful evolution.
That night, the first communal meal in Slumbering Town's new era was held at the harbor, bonfires lit along the dockside. The Unova cooks had brought their own ingredients and set large pots going, filling the salt air with the smell of thick, fragrant soup.
When the first bowl was handed to the broad man who had been the first to register, he took it in both hands and raised it to his lips.
He stayed on his feet for perhaps ten seconds after the first sip. Then his knees went down to the ground, and he bowed toward the direction of the city hall, his shoulders shaking.
That was all it took. More people followed, one and then another and then many at once, bowls raised, eyes catching the firelight, something returning to their faces that had been gone long enough that some of them had stopped noticing its absence.
Lucien stood on the platform, one hand resting on Serperior's head, and looked at all of it.
This was only the beginning.
The next morning arrived clear and bright over the western Galar coast.
In the city square, Unova envoys read out Lucien's new policies to the assembled residents. Forced labor was abolished immediately. Every citizen who contributed to construction work, port development, or land restoration would receive full daily rations and wages for their labor.
Unova cooks had large pots going at the harbor by sunrise: barley porridge and dried meat, enough for everyone, no questions asked.
And in the square itself, several Chansey waited quietly in the shade at the edges of the crowd.
The envoy raised the scroll.
"The third new decree: the Pokémon Support System, effective immediately. All citizens of this city may freely request assistance from Chansey, Wigglytuff, Bellossom, and other healing Pokémon. Whether ill, injured, or simply exhausted, treatment is available to everyone at no cost."
A murmur moved through the crowd.
An old woman at the front, one hand pressed to her stomach, looked at the nearest Chansey for a long moment. Then she reached out, tentatively, uncertain.
Chansey stepped forward immediately. It extended its hand and released a gentle stream of warm pink energy. It moved through the old woman's body like heat moving through cold stone, and her hunched posture eased, just slightly.
"A miracle," she breathed. She pressed her hands together and bowed toward Chansey again and again, tears running freely down her face. "Thank you. Thank you."
The last hesitation in the crowd around her dissolved.
Smoke rose from Slumbering Town's chimneys and curled upward into the sea breeze, carrying with it the smell of cooking food, and drifted out across the harbor where the golden light of morning was already touching the water.
A new picture was taking shape in this small coastal city at the edge of Galar: one where people and Pokémon simply shared a life, without hierarchy, without fear.