The sea breeze settled as Columbus led Lucien and the group into the forest. The trees grew denser, sunlight coming through in scattered patches on the ground below. The air carried damp earth and fresh grass.
Along the path, wild Pokémon appeared briefly: a Kricketot clinging to a trunk, a Budew peering from behind a bush, a Shellos glancing back nervously, several Buneary disappearing into the undergrowth. All Sinnoh native Pokémon. The ones near the human settlement posed little threat. The more dangerous Pokémon of this region were nowhere in sight.
"Another half mile ahead is Jubilife Village," Columbus said. "The largest settlement in western Hisui. The people there live by hunting, gathering, and basic farming. They worship Dialga, the God of Time, and Palkia, the God of Space. Two ancient stone statues stand in the village, said to have been built by the first generation of settlers."
"Their attitude toward the Unova people?" Lucien asked.
"Hostile at first," Columbus said plainly. "When we approached, they drove us off with stone spears and wooden bows. We laid down our weapons, offered food and herbs, and helped treat several villagers who had been injured by wild Pokémon. After that they allowed us to camp outside the village, but would not let us enter."
The village came into view ahead.
Jubilife Village sat against a low hillside, its houses built of rough timber and thatched thickly with dried grass, arranged along the riverbank.
At the gate stood two low wooden fences, and behind them, dozens of young villagers in animal skins, stone spears in hand, expressions tight and watchful. At the front stood a tall, weathered middle-aged man leaning on a bone staff, brows set.
"Outsiders, stop." His voice was deep and carried. "Jubilife Village does not welcome strangers. Turn back. Do not make us act."
Lucien gestured for the interpreters and guards behind him to stay, and walked forward alone. He was not wearing royal robes, only a plain dark blue coat. His bearing was calm, with nothing threatening in it.
"My name is Lucien, King of Unova. I have come with no hostile intent."
He let his gaze move across the watching villagers, their rough weapons and tense faces, and continued.
"I know you revere the Twin Gods of Space and Time. Unova was once like this land: people feared Pokémon, distrusted each other, and lived amid constant war. That is no longer true. We live alongside Pokémon now. Wasteland has become farmland, villages have grown into cities, and the people live in peace. I have come to share that peace with you. Nothing more."
The gate fell silent.
The villagers exchanged uncertain looks. They had heard that Columbus and his group moved freely alongside Pokémon, but hearing about it and believing it were different things. The middle-aged man, the village chief, Coldfront, stared at Lucien for a long moment.
"Words without proof mean nothing. How do we know you haven't come to take this land from us? This is our home. Generations have lived here. We will not open it to outsiders."
"Then let me show you something," Lucien said.
He reached for a Poké Ball. White light, and Dragonite appeared beside him. It made no effort to suppress its presence: powerful, unmistakably so, but standing beside Lucien with complete ease, head lowered for his hand.
The villagers drew breath.
They knew Dragonite. They had seen it pass over the coast from the mountains, shifting the weather, stirring storms with its wings. A creature they held in profound awe. And here it stood, gentle as a companion animal, beside this quiet foreign man.
Coldfront's grip tightened on the bone staff. A young villager whispered: "How is this possible?"
"Pokémon are not ferocious beasts," Lucien said, his voice clear and unhurried. "They have intelligence, and they understand the difference between cruelty and kindness. When people treat them with hostility, they respond in kind. When people treat them well, they become the most loyal companions imaginable."
He continued: "In Unova, Tauros help plow the fields. Magnemite assist in the factories. Rapidash escort the trade routes. Humans and Pokémon are natural partners. That is simply what they are."
He paused.
"And if we had come to invade, Jubilife Village would already be gone."
Coldfront's expression moved through several things. He thought of the help Columbus's group had provided to the village in recent weeks. His grip on the staff loosened. He stepped aside.
"Come in."
Lucien nodded to Hoopa as they entered. Hoopa understood and opened a ring immediately. From it came sweet berries, finely woven cloth, medicinal herbs, and Unova-made Pokémon food, rolling out and settling in a neat pile on the ground.
The smell of fruit and herbs spread through the air at once. Several children who had been hiding behind the fence crept forward, wide-eyed.
"A gift, to mark our first meeting," Lucien said.
Coldfront looked at the pile, then at Lucien, then at Dragonite standing quietly nearby, then at his own people, whose wariness had visibly softened.
He released the bone staff entirely.
Then rapid footsteps came from inside the village, and a boy ran toward them with panic on his face.
"Village chief! A wild Pokémon has broken into the village! It's near the school, destroying everything. People are hurt! Sister Akari was injured protecting the others!"
Coldfront's expression changed completely. "How did this happen?"
"I don't know!" The boy was close to tears.
Lucien made the decision quickly. "We may be able to help."
Coldfront hesitated for one moment, looked at the boy's face, and nodded. "Follow me."
They moved through the village quickly. Lucien took in Jubilife Village as they went: packed dirt paths, clean and straight, small blue flowers planted in front of the wooden houses on either side, a clear stream running through the middle of the settlement, the thick smell of good earth everywhere.
Children peered out from behind thatched walls, frightened and curious in equal measure.
The valley clearing inside the village was in chaos.
A fully grown lion-shaped Pokémon with black fur was tearing through the surrounding buildings and fences, its movements wild and its eyes bloodshot. It let out a sound of distress and pain with each collision.
Luxray.
A young woman in a rough cloth dress crouched nearby, several deep claw marks on her arm, still bleeding. She was shielding a group of children behind her. Several villagers holding wooden clubs stood at a distance, too frightened to advance.
"Don't be afraid, everyone." Her voice was strained.
Luxray heard the sound and snapped its bloodshot eyes toward her. Lightning enveloped its body and a bolt tore straight at her.
Dragonite descended from above in the same instant and released a Dragon Breath that intercepted the Thunderbolt mid-air. The two energies shattered against each other and Luxray was thrown backward, losing its ability to fight.
"Treat her," Lucien said.
The two Unova physicians who had come with the group moved forward immediately, taking out hemostatic medicine and beginning to dress the wound. The young woman stared at them, stunned.
Lucien walked toward Luxray.
Coldfront and the villagers found their voices. "My lord, danger!"
"It's fine," Lucien said.
He crouched beside Luxray, checked it over, and found the problem quickly. A wooden thorn was lodged deep in one of its paw pads.
"There it is."
He worked the thorn free and applied a Potion to the wound. Luxray's eyes opened weakly. It looked at the human crouching in front of it, felt the pain in its paw gone, and understood in the way Pokémon do.
"It's all right now," Lucien said.
Luxray blinked. It lowered its large head and did not attack.
The villagers stared.
"This Pokémon had a wooden thorn in its leg," Lucien said, holding it up so the villagers could see. "The pain drove it out of its mind. It wasn't attacking deliberately."
The young woman looked at Luxray. "So it didn't mean to hurt anyone?"
Lucien nodded.
Luxray shifted. Half the village flinched.
But the attack didn't come. Luxray stood slowly and pressed its head against Lucien's leg, eyes soft with gratitude.
Complete silence.
Coldfront and the villagers looked at Luxray, then at Lucien, and the last of the wariness in the village fell away entirely. What replaced it was something simpler and more open.
Coldfront dropped to one knee.
"Thank you, my lord. For saving Akari. For saving the village."
"Rise." Lucien helped him up. "Do you believe our intentions now?"
"Forgive us," Coldfront said, his face full of feeling. "We did not see clearly before."
"You were protecting your home. There is nothing to forgive in that."
Coldfront turned to his people and raised his voice. "Prepare grilled meat, wild fruit, and barley wine! Today we welcome our guests from Unova properly!"
The village came to life. The children, who had been hiding until now, drifted out and gathered around with open curiosity. Mew landed on a small girl's shoulder and meowed at her.
Hoopa produced donuts from a ring and distributed them to the children, who cheered. Dragonite was surrounded by a group of young men who reached up carefully to touch its scales, faces full of wonder.
Coldfront led Lucien to the village chief's stone house: simply furnished, clean, a hide map and hunting tools on the wall. They sat across from each other. The healer waited nearby, having finished with Akari's wounds.
"Lord Lucien," Coldfront said, "you said the people of Unova live alongside Pokémon. What is that actually like?" His eyes were full of genuine curiosity. "A Pokémon like that, does it truly not attack people at random?"
Lucien smiled and explained.
"In Unova's villages, every household knows how to befriend Pokémon. In the mornings, Pokémon wake the villagers, eat breakfast with them, go out to work alongside them. They help carry goods and tend the fields.
At dusk, they come home together. Fire-type Pokémon keep the houses warm in winter. Some gentle Pokémon can even sing to help children sleep."
He continued: "We teach people to understand Pokémon, their habits, what they need, how to approach them with care. The Pokémon then use their abilities to help with work, protection, and healing. No slavery, no fear. Only trust, built over time."
Coldfront listened without moving. "Does such a world truly exist?"
"The people of this village are afraid to leave it because of the Pokémon in the surrounding forest. Good farmland sits unused because no one can safely work it. That is not so different from where Unova once was."
"Which is why we are here," Lucien said. "I have sent a delegation to this land. They will teach your people how to communicate with Pokémon, how to cultivate Pokémon food and build habitats where Pokémon can live alongside you safely. We will also bring farming tools, seeds, and cloth to help reclaim land and repair houses.
Jubilife Village sits at an important point in western Sinnoh. Once conditions allow, we can open trade routes between Unova and Sinnoh, so that the people here have both security and access to things they cannot produce themselves."
Coldfront listened with growing excitement, but he was not a simple man. After a moment, the excitement settled, and something more careful moved into his expression.
"But my lord, what benefit is all of this to you? This land is barren. We have nothing that would be worth your effort."
In other words: what do you actually want?
Lucien smiled. "You will understand in time."
Coldfront looked at him, more confused than before.
...
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