"Or do you want me to invite you out?"
Damian's voice echoed softly through the empty surroundings.
You? Who was this "you"?
But Sonia really didn't have the spare mental energy to think about that now, because what Damian had just said was way too explosive.
The three legendary kings: Sovereign and Steed Calyrex, Crowned Sword Zacian, Crowned Shield Zamazenta!
In truth, though, Sonia had never even heard of Calyrex, and she hadn't even finished researching the names Zacian and Zamazenta yet.
But Damian had already made it very clear: the "Darkest Day" three thousand years ago was solved by Crowned Sword Zacian and Crowned Shield Zamazenta.
Was that true?
Sonia was both excited and doubtful. After all, while that answer was exactly in line with what she was currently investigating, she still had some trouble believing it.
But then again, why would Damian lie to her?
That meant the Galar throne really had distorted history, deceiving all the people of Galar for a full three thousand years?!
Damian, meanwhile, had no idea what Sonia was thinking. Seeing no movement around them, he clicked his tongue.
"Seriously, you still won't come out and meet me? I even came all the way here for you guys."
Damian slowly stepped forward toward the ruined pavilion.
"Or maybe you just don't care about this land anymore? You should know the 'Darkest Day' is about to happen again."
Damian's voice carried a faint smile.
???
Even Sonia, who was deep in mental chaos, froze at that and looked at Damian in disbelief.
The "Darkest Day" was going to happen again? How could that be?
And just then, a faint breeze drifted by, and Sonia's eyes abruptly widened.
Because she saw it: two Pokémon, one blue and one red, wolf-like yet dog-like, had somehow appeared silently behind Damian.
"Yo~ so you finally decided to show yourselves."
Damian turned around, looking at the two Pokémon, the corners of his mouth lifting.
"If you still don't show up now, I really might have to force your hand."
Damian wasn't afraid of using Shadow Mewtwo to spread psychic energy across the entire misty forest if it meant forcing Zacian and Zamazenta out.
But that was way too provocative. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he didn't really want to use that method.
And now it was clear he didn't need to jump straight to that. As long as Eternatus' name came up, Zacian and Zamazenta would come out on their own.
After all, they were legendary heroes—specifically made to deal with evil like Eternatus.
Zacian and Zamazenta said nothing, only silently watching Damian.
Caitlin and Sonia didn't come closer, only studying the two Pokémon that had arrived by surprise.
Without a doubt, these were the Zacian and Zamazenta Damian had just mentioned!
But...
Sonia looked puzzledly at Zacian and Zamazenta. In both the legends and their titles, they were obviously connected to a Rusted Sword and a Rusted Shield.
Yet after carefully examining the two Pokémon from head to toe, where was the Rusted Sword? Where was the Rusted Shield??
"But you really are sensitive to the 'Darkest Day,' aren't you? The moment I mentioned it, you couldn't hold back."
Damian tilted his head slightly, teasing Zacian and Zamazenta.
As for Zacian and Zamazenta, some believed Zacian was Zamazenta's sister, while others thought the two were rivals.
But no matter what relationship they had, as long as nobody interfered, their relationship with Eternatus was absolutely one of mortal enemies!
What was the defining specialty of Gen VIII?
Dynamax!
That was the most important thing running through the entire Gen VIII plot: Dynamax, which originated from Eternatus.
Three thousand years ago, in order to absorb Galar Region's energy, Eternatus stirred up the great catastrophe of the Darkest Day. It was also because of the Darkest Day that Galar Region's Pokémon were thrown into uncontrolled Dynamax, or Dynamax.
Almost all Pokémon could Dynamax!
But three Pokémon could not: Eternatus, Zacian, and Zamazenta!
Even Calyrex could Dynamax, and it even had a very special blue glow.
But the three of them could not.
Strictly speaking, Eternatus technically wasn't impossible either. It just had a form without Dynamax that was unique to itself, a non-Dynamax form only shown in the plot.
Of course, when Eternatus used its signature move, Eternabeam, the move animation would briefly show Eternatus in its non-Dynamax form.
But under normal circumstances, Eternatus couldn't go without Dynamax.
That was normal, though. After all, once it was without Dynamax, Eternatus' base stats were ridiculously high, and in a game that ran on mechanics and data, it was basically invincible.
But Zacian and Zamazenta were truly not something that could be touched by Dynamax!
Because the plot of Sword and Shield made it crystal clear that Dynamax energy was pure poison to both Zacian and Zamazenta!
That was no exaggeration at all. If even a little Dynamax energy was injected into them, Zacian and Zamazenta would instantly go out of control, rampage, and gradually lose their reason as they destroyed everything.
So Zacian and Zamazenta simply could not Dynamax, and whether it was Zacian or Zamazenta, their signature moves existed precisely to deal with Dynamax Pokémon.
In a way, the existence of these two legendary heroes was to fight against and defeat Eternatus.
"That parasite, it can revive?"
Clearly, Zacian and Zamazenta had no mood to joke with Damian. A cool telepathy sounded in Damian's ear.
Zacian's?
Damian glanced at Zacian. it had a shape that was half wolf, half dog, with a blue mane all over her body and many white markings resembling scars. Her aura was cold as a blade, and just looking at her was enough to make one shiver.
That telepathy was obviously more feminine, which meant Zacian really was female.
"You didn't completely kill it back then, so what's so strange about it reviving?"
Damian raised a brow, looking at Zacian with a half-smile.
At his words, Zacian's eyes shone with incomparably cold killing intent. For Eternatus, which had thrown the whole of Galar into chaos, Zacian's killing intent had clearly reached the extreme.
But that was only natural. After all, for the Galar Region, no—for the entire world—
Eternatus, which needed energy to survive, was a huge threat.
"No way. We already shattered its body back then." Another deep telepathy said in a low voice.
It was Zamazenta.
"Yes, you did shatter its body, but that doesn't directly clash with it not being dead, right?"
Damian shrugged.
Three thousand years ago, Eternatus was brought down by Crowned Sword Zacian and Crowned Shield Zamazenta working together, and its enormous body was completely shattered by them.
Then Eternatus' body fragments scattered across Galar, turning into energy points that could make Pokémon Dynamax, as well as Wishing Star, Wishing Chip, and other items containing energy.
You could say Eternatus' body fragments benefited the entire Galar Region.
Zamazenta fell silent, then looked up at its sister.
In truth, it still remained skeptical of Damian's words. No one knew the situation back then better than it and Zacian.
Eternatus' body had been shattered, and it could still be alive?
That... was simply too unbelievable.
"Where is that threat?" Zacian asked coldly, however.
Zacian's personality was clearly more aggressive than Zamazenta's. She didn't care whether this human was deceiving them or not.
Since this person said Eternatus was still alive, then let's just assume that threat really was still alive. It was very simple.
Just kill it again.
"I don't know." Damian spread his hands innocently.
Zacian: "?"
Zamazenta: "..."
The atmosphere stiffened for a moment.
"Human, is this funny to you?"
Zacian stared coldly at this human. Of course she could sense that this human was carrying a lot of powerful aura.
That was also one of the reasons she and Zamazenta didn't want to appear at first, and she and Zamazenta could clearly feel that this human's heart wasn't pure.
As legendary heroes, Zacian and Zamazenta themselves basically met every "requirement" of a hero, so their "mate selection criteria" naturally had to be upright, brave, and fearless.
So even after picking up on Damian's specialness, they still didn't intend to appear and meet him.
But when they heard that Eternatus was about to return to the real world, they couldn't help but appear.
And now he was telling them that he didn't even know where Eternatus was?
"I really don't know where Eternatus is, but I'll go look for it." Damian smiled faintly.
"..."
Zacian gave Damian a long look. it understood what Damian meant.
But...
Zacian glanced at her little brother, and Zamazenta looked back at Its with a conflicted, helpless expression.
"Still, if Eternatus is going to emerge, it's probably already an emergency. If I have to come back to these forests to find you then, that'll be a real pain."
Damian continued.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Zacian said evenly.
"Zacian, you don't want the Galar Region destroyed by Eternatus, do you?" Damian said with a smile.
"You should know, if you're even a few minutes late, Eternatus' 'Darkest Day' will cause that much more catastrophe."
"So, I heard that you and Zamazenta have a Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield, and that you can contact each other even from far away."
Damian rubbed his fingers together. He didn't even bother pretending anymore.
Zacian: "..."
Zamazenta: "..."
Meanwhile, Sonia on the side was also frozen in place.
Wait, what? Was this really okay?
Zamazenta looked even more conflicted. Damn, this human was fucking shameless!
This human clearly had a lot of powerful Pokémon aura, and he was capable of temporarily fighting against that threat himself, yet he was asking them for the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield!
Zamazenta really didn't want to give up its Rusted Shield.
Zacian stared coldly at Damian, and Damian just smiled back at her, meeting her eyes.
A long while passed.
"Fine."
Zacian's feminine telepathy spat out a single word.
Woohoo~—
A long howl, like a wolf's cry, rang out.
From the lake in the distance, a long sword shimmering with a faint blue glow shot out quickly, then landed in front of Damian.
Zamazenta looked at Zacian in shock!!
"This is my Rusted Sword. I'll lend it to you for now. If that parasite awakens, you can use it to call me."
Zacian said calmly.
"As expected, it's you, Zacian. So righteous. Not like Zamazenta, all stingy and petty."
Damian grabbed the Rusted Sword and didn't forget to complain about Zamazenta.
Zamazenta: "..."
Who are you calling stingy? Who are you calling stingy?! Is my Rusted Shield something you can just casually give away?
But since you put it that way...
In a fit of rage, Zamazenta nearly summoned its own Rusted Shield too, but before it could even shout, Zacian slapped it awake.
Zamazenta's head was smacked to one side. Clearly, Zacian didn't hold back.
Even after getting slapped, Zamazenta still didn't dare bare its teeth at Zacian. Instead, it shrank its neck back a little in fear.
"Don't call for me unless there's a reason."
Zacian's telepathy was still as cool as ever.
"Don't worry, I'll only call when there's something to call about."
Damian still smiled brightly.
Zacian gave Damian another deep look, then a breeze swept by, and Zacian and Zamazenta's silhouettes vanished from where they stood.
They disappeared just like that, leaving Sonia looking somewhat dazed.
Everything seemed as though nothing had happened at all, yet the Rusted Sword in Damian's hand proved that everything just now had been real.
"This was easier than I expected."
Damian looked very satisfied with the Rusted Sword in his hand.
In truth, this Rusted Sword wasn't gorgeous at all, and was even somewhat old and worn, but that only proved it was the real thing.
Rusted Sword!
This was Zacian's key item. Only with this Rusted Sword could it transform into its "Crowned Sword" form.
Legend has it that the Rusted Sword held in the mouth of the Crowned Sword can cut through anything in the world. The sharpness of this Rusted Sword was so terrifying that it could even slice through the thick scales of Dragon-type Pokémon like paper!
And now, this Rusted Sword was in Damian's hands.
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