While Rose and the others were talking, Damian was also speaking with Zacian, the King of Swords.
"Since you have already caught Eternatus, we will—"
"Wait, Zacian."
Damian reached out his hand toward Zacian and Zamazenta to stop them.
"?"
Zacian was just about to leave. It turned its head back and looked at Damian in confusion.
"Zacian, you know, I have actually always liked you very much."
Damian showed a sincere expression to Zacian. He could not help it. This wolf with a sword in its mouth was both cool and strong. Who wouldn't like it?
This was one of the strongest Pokémon from the Sword and Shield era.
And honestly, when Zacian used Behemoth Blade, it was hard not to be impressed. It was just too cool!
"..."
Zacian tilted its head slightly. On the side, Zamazenta, the King of Shields, felt its heart sink.
This is bad!
"So, as a partner, can I ask you to go on a journey with me?"
After all, the crisis of Eternatus was over now. Zacian did not seem to have any intention of giving the Rusted Sword to Damian at all.
"Human, you should not need my power anymore."
Zacian's telepathy was still very cold.
It did not understand Damian's thoughts. Damian's strength was already very high. He had even just caught Eternatus.
Was there anyone else in this world who was an opponent for Damian? Perhaps, besides the Creator, no living being could defeat Damian.
Under these circumstances, he was still seeking its power?
"It is not about seeking your power. I simply like you, Zacian. That is why I want to become a partner who accompanies you."
Damian smiled slightly.
That bright and handsome smile made Zacian freeze for a moment.
Did he just simply like it?
Zacian could not help but fall into deep thought.
"Many things in this world are not decided by power. Even if the person standing before you had already caught Arceus, I would still send an invitation to you."
"Because I want to walk side by side with you. We can build our own bond and see this wide world together."
"So, Zacian, can you give me this chance?"
Hearing Damian's words, Zacian's cold eyes flickered slightly with emotion.
Perhaps... it really should go out and see the world?
Zacian looked toward Shadow Rider Calyrex. Calyrex noticed its gaze and nodded with a smile.
Zacian made a decision. In reality, it had already become a bit tired of staying in the Slumbering Weald all the time.
This was also one of the reasons why it had guided that young girl at the beginning of the year.
But now, going out to walk and see things with Damian was also a good choice.
"Sister?"
Zamazenta noticed the change in Zacian's eyes. It understood its sister's decision. Its heart felt a bit bitter.
It seemed that, in the end, its sister was still going to leave.
"Zamazenta, go back to the Slumbering Weald by yourself."
Zacian said calmly. Its gaze turned toward Damian.
"I want to go out and see."
Hearing Zacian's words, Zamazenta remained silent. It did not stop its sister's decision.
It had actually guessed this from the beginning. After all, living in the Slumbering Weald forever was ultimately too lonely.
And it just so happened that neither Zamazenta nor Zacian liked to sleep very much.
When every day was the same for thousands of years, how could they not feel lonely? This was the sad part about long-lived species.
A faint light flashed on Zacian's body. It left its Crowned Sword form. It controlled the Rusted Sword and made it float in front of Damian.
"I am entrusting my sword to you."
Zacian stared at Damian and walked closer slowly. It stopped right in front of him. At that moment, its cold voice seemed a little softer, though it might have been an illusion.
"Thank you. We will be good partners."
Damian replied with a smile. He took out a Poké Ball and touched it to Zacian.
The Poké Ball opened. Zacian turned into red light and entered the ball. Similarly, the Poké Ball shook only once before it settled down.
"I caught... Zacian!"
The corners of Damian's mouth could not help but lift. He was in a very good mood. He really did like Zacian.
Across from him, Zamazenta stood alone. The wolf silently watched all of this. It sighed to itself. Without Zacian's company, it would be even lonelier from now on.
Should it also find a human partner?
Zamazenta thought this in its heart. As for following Damian, it did not have that idea.
It simply did not feel that way about Damian. Besides, this guy was clearly aiming for its sister from the start.
Forget it. It would go back to the Slumbering Weald first.
Zamazenta turned around. It was just about to start running.
"Zamazenta."
"?"
Zamazenta turned its head to look at Damian. This guy wasn't going to invite it too, was he?
"Where are you planning to go next?"
"Going back to the Slumbering Weald to rest," Zamazenta replied in a deep, muffled voice.
"How about I recommend a place to you? If you stay in the Slumbering Weald, you will be all alone. That would be too lonely."
"What do you mean?"
Zamazenta paused, surprised.
"I have a place. Mew, Regigigas, and Xerneas live there. I go back there occasionally. When I return, you can also see Zacian."
That's right. Damian wanted to get Zamazenta to go to the World Tree Paradise.
"Mew, Regigigas, and Xerneas..."
Zamazenta hesitated slightly. It had heard of these names before.
"Besides, a change of environment is a change of mood. It won't be a bad thing for you. If you don't like it there, you can always come back to the Slumbering Weald."
"But believe me, Mew and the others have very warm and friendly personalities. You will definitely get along well."
Damian smiled at Zamazenta. He believed Zamazenta would not refuse.
After all, after he caught Zacian just now, Zamazenta's lonely feelings did not lie. Actually... it was also afraid of being lonely, right?
"Then I will go take a look. Where is the location?"
Zamazenta thought for a moment and decided to go see it.
"It would be too slow for you to rush there yourself. Wait a moment."
Damian took out his phone and decisively made a call.
Not long after the call was made, a golden space ring appeared beside Damian.
"Damian~!"
A crisp and cute child's voice came out from the golden ring. Confined Hoopa crawled out of the ring. It hugged Damian's face. It was very happy.
"Hoopa, you already broke through the restriction?"
Damian pulled the little demon off his face. He looked at Hoopa with quite a bit of surprise.
"Hehe Of course! Isn't Hoopa very amazing?"
Hoopa put its hands on its hips very proudly. After Damian and the others left the Dahara Valley, Hoopa kept training every day to break that restriction.
With the help of Balza and Mary, it finally succeeded this morning. This way, it could travel anywhere it wanted through its golden rings.
"As expected of you, Hoopa. I knew you could do it."
"Hehehe~"
Hoopa was grinning from ear to ear. Only then did it have time to look around at its surroundings.
"Wow~ Zamazenta! It's been a long time!"
Hoopa's eyes lit up. It quickly flew over to Zamazenta and circled it once. It seemed to know Zamazenta.
But that made sense. It wasn't strange for Hoopa to know any Pokémon.
"Hoopa?"
Zamazenta seemed a bit unsure. After all, Hoopa's current appearance was a bit different from the one in its memory.
"That's right!"
Hoopa floated in front of Zamazenta, grinning.
Zamazenta tilted its head. It looked at Hoopa with a strange gaze. It was thinking in its heart that the current Hoopa seemed very weak.
If it used a Behemoth Bash and crashed into it right now, could it send Hoopa flying like a shooting star?
"Hoopa, I called you here because I have a task. Can you please send Zamazenta over to Regigigas's place?"
Damian said to Hoopa.
"No problem at all! I haven't seen Regigigas in a long time either. I will go there together with Zamazenta."
Hoopa patted its chest to show there was no problem. Then, it excitedly threw out a golden space ring.
"Zamazenta, Hoopa will send you there. I hope you like the environment over there."
"Okay."
Zamazenta, who was feeling conflicted, decided not to attack for now. After all, it looked like Damian and Hoopa had a very good relationship.
It would look bad if it attacked now.
Then, Zamazenta walked into the space ring. Hoopa also flew in impatiently.
Meanwhile, at the World Tree Paradise in Kanto.
A golden space ring opened in the air. Zamazenta fell out of the ring. Because of its heavy weight, the ground shook violently.
Some Pokémon nearby were startled and ran away in a hurry.
"Hoopa, why is the landing point in the sky?"
Zamazenta spoke to Hoopa, who was floating down, with dissatisfaction.
"Oh~ There was an accident with the targeting!"
Hoopa replied without caring at all. It looked around the area curiously.
Zamazenta became even more dissatisfied when it saw this. However, it decided to check the surroundings first.
Zamazenta looked around. It had to admit that the environment was very good. However, its gaze soon landed on a withered tree not far away.
The grass around this dead tree was lush and green, and flowers were everywhere. But only the tree itself was withered. There were only a few tiny buds on the branches.
"What is this?"
It seemed to feel something, but Zamazenta was not quite sure.
"That's right! This is Xerneas. It is currently sleeping to restore its life energy." Hoopa confirmed Zamazenta's guess.
So that was it.
Zamazenta curiously looked at the Tree of Life for a few more moments.
"I heard Mew is also here. How annoying! It actually didn't come to welcome us." Hoopa looked toward the World Tree in the distance and puffed out its cheeks.
"Didn't you say Regigigas was also here?"
Zamazenta asked in confusion.
Hoopa gave Zamazenta a strange look when it heard that.
Suddenly, Zamazenta felt the ground beneath its feet vibrating. It instantly sensed something was wrong and quickly jumped up.
Then it saw that the place where it had been standing was rising rapidly. A massive giant revealed half of its body. The dots on its front kept flashing, staring at Zamazenta like spooky eyes.
It was exactly Regigigas.
"You were just standing on top of Regigigas's head."
Only then did Hoopa speak up.
Damn it!
Zamazenta cursed in its heart. This cursed Hoopa was definitely doing it on purpose.
"Sorry. I did not step on you intentionally."
Zamazenta hurried to apologize. After all, it was indeed its own mistake from being careless.
But it really did not expect that its landing spot would be Regigigas's head.
Regigigas heard this and nodded to show it did not care. It just turned its gaze to Hoopa. The dots flashed even more frequently.
"Hehe~ Regigigas! It's been a long time! Did you miss me?"
Hoopa floated in front of Regigigas. It greeted it with a smile, looking very affectionate.
Regigigas did not speak. It just slowly lifted its arm and opened its palm. It seemed to be offering a place for Hoopa to land.
"Oh, Regigigas is still so gentle. That's great~"
Hoopa landed naturally, looking very happy.
However, at this moment, Zamazenta looked at Hoopa with a strange expression. Just now, Regigigas's telepathy had suddenly sounded in its ears.
Mm. Zamazenta silently stepped closer to Hoopa.
At that moment, a pink light flew over at high speed from the horizon. When the pink light vanished, a round, pink cat appeared.
Is this... Mew?
When it saw the cat clearly, Zamazenta was shocked. But it still did not make a sound.
"Hoopa, how did you become so fat?" Hoopa expressed its shock very directly.
Mew glared fiercely at Hoopa. But as the manager of the World Tree, it had to prioritize welcoming an important new member to the World Tree Paradise.
"Mew Zamazenta has arrived. Mew You can just treat this place as your home from now on."
Mew's clear and pleasant telepathy made Zamazenta nod. Mew's kindness was very clear.
This also made Zamazenta much more accepting in its heart. Both Mew and Regigigas were very friendly to it.
And then...
"What about me? What about me? Mew, there's also me!"
Hoopa quickly spoke up to show its presence.
After all, it was the one who sent Zamazenta here, right? Besides, this World Tree was so great. It wanted to come here to play more in the future.
"Hmm Hoopa, hehe"
Mew's smile slowly turned dangerous.
Hoopa keenly sensed that something was wrong.
Regigigas's left arm swung down at high speed. It swung heavily toward Hoopa on its palm.
Fortunately, Hoopa had a warning in advance. It hurriedly flew out of Regigigas's range.
"Hey hey hey!! Regigigas, why are you trying to hit me! Even I will get angry if you joke like this!"
Hoopa puffed out its cheeks. It spoke to Regigigas with great dissatisfaction.
"It's not just Regigigas. Mew~ Hoopa, do you remember? Back then, you said you would send me to a fun place. But you sent me under Kyurem's butt! Mew!"
Mew's round face slowly turned scary. Its little body had almost been crushed flat by Kyurem back then. And Kyurem's butt was super cold, okay!
"Wasn't that an accident?"
Hoopa scratched its head awkwardly.
"Back then, you stole my sister's sword and my shield. You hid our energy and threw them into the sea. You made me search the sea for three days and three nights before I found them. Was that also an accident?"
Zamazenta's eyes also gradually became dangerous.
"Ahem, ahem, ahem..." Hoopa coughed awkwardly.
As for Regigigas, there was no need to even mention what had happened a hundred years ago.
Looking at the three of them, Regigigas, Mew, and Zamazenta, slowly closing in, Hoopa knew it was in the wrong. It kept backing away, trying to act tough while feeling scared.
"Wait, what do you three want to do? I'm warning you! I'm warning you! I'm really going to fight back!"
"Go ahead and scream! Scream! Mew~ The more you scream, the more excited I get! Mew!"
Mew's large face became more and more terrifying.
"Mew, don't be like this. You are scaring me."
"Ouch! Don't hit my face, you jerk! Zamazenta, are you a dog? What do you mean by biting my butt! Ahhhh!"