High above the sky—
a destructive pillar of light, like divine judgment itself, came crashing down from the heavens, wrapped in scarlet energy.
Once it struck the surface—
its power would likely be no less than a meteor slamming into the earth. The shockwave alone could flatten thousands, even nearly ten thousand kilometers of land around it.
The energy contained within it was terrifying beyond belief. It might very well split apart more than half of the Galar region.
But no one had expected this.
Faced with such an attack, Ash instead took out two objects from his backpack.
A rusted sword and a shield covered in cracks.
They looked like ancient relics, as though they had weathered countless years.
Faint mysterious symbols were carved into them, resembling tadpole script.
If placed before any archaeologist, they would probably be studied with utmost care.
But what time was this?
This was the moment of impending disaster! Eternatus's attack was about to come crashing down!!
And yet Ash had taken out those two things.
What was he doing?
If not for the previous ranking videos, if not for knowing Ash's usual performance, and knowing that he was a trainer with an exceptionally strong heart—
in the Hoopa special video, he had remained calm even in the face of so many Legendary Pokémon—
almost everyone would have thought he had been scared stupid.
And everyone clearly heard what Ash said.
—The Hero of the Shield?
—The Hero of the Sword?
All the trainers watching the video were bewildered.
A Pokémon that uses a sword and a Pokémon that uses a shield?
There really was such a Pokémon.
Aegislash.
A Pokémon born from an ancient sword that gained consciousness, carrying a shield.
But that kind of Pokémon wasn't that strong. How could something of that size possibly fight a first-tier divine beast like Eternatus?
In the sky, the descending beam of energy drew closer and closer to the ground, forming an appalling downward pressure.
Ancient trees on the earth were bent nearly double by the force, while the younger ones were uprooted entirely.
The land itself creaked out a cry of strain. At the very center of the pressure, the ground had already begun to crack layer by layer, spreading like a giant spiderweb.
The broken sword and ruined shield Ash had taken out showed no reaction whatsoever.
"Th-This... what is he doing?!"
And just then—
Buzz~!
A barrier suddenly appeared above the ground, like a transparent dome covering the earth.
Half of the barrier was translucent blue, and the other half was red. The two colors intertwined like a Taiji diagram.
—Wide Guard.
A move capable of blocking attacks aimed at allies.
Looking at that transparent barrier, the name of a move immediately surfaced in Professor Oak's mind.
But wasn't this Wide Guard a little too huge!?
Finally!!
The terrifying destructive pillar descending from above collided with the red-and-blue translucent barrier.
BOOM!!!
In that instant, everyone's ears went deaf. Other than their own breathing and heartbeat, they could hear nothing else.
Crackle crackle crackle~~!!
At the point of impact, dazzling arcs of lightning sprayed wildly, like countless snarling thunder dragons flashing through the air.
Crackle crackle crackle~~!!
At the point of impact, dazzling arcs of lightning sprayed wildly, like countless snarling thunder dragons flashing through the air.
As the collision continued—
the Wide Guard barrier visibly caved inward.
Everyone's faces turned pale.
St-Still not enough?
Then suddenly—
beneath the Wide Guard barrier, an energy shield appeared, woven from crimson energy and covering the sky above the land.
Crack~!
The Wide Guard barrier shattered, and the destructive pillar slammed directly into that red energy shield.
An unbelievable scene unfolded.
The destructive pillar struck the red shield—
and like light reflected by a mirror—
it was bounced straight back, shooting toward the heavens.
Eternatus had never expected its own move to be reflected back at it. The destructive pillar hit it head-on, taking the full force without mercy.
A low, pained growl rang out. Eternatus staggered and was blasted from the sky, its massive body falling straight toward the ground.
Everyone was stunned.
What exactly was going on?
And whose moves were Wide Guard and that red energy shield?
The three legendary birds?
No—absolutely not!!
It was only then that everyone noticed a thin mist had appeared over the land at some unknown moment.
On top of a mountain whose peak had been smashed clean in half, two figures stood there, their forms vague and indistinct.
As the mist slowly dispersed—
their figures were revealed.
The audiences across the myriad dimensions hurriedly focused their gaze.
Two canine creatures.
Their posture was majestic and imposing.
One had fur that was mostly blue, with white markings across its body that resembled scars.
On both sides of its ears hung strands of braided fur.
The other had crimson fur, and it too bore scar-like markings. The mane beneath its neck, combined with the shape of its face, resembled a shield—broad at the top and narrow below.
Two never-before-seen Pokémon!!
They lifted their heads to look at Eternatus falling from the sky, their fur fluttering without wind.
Strong!!!
They revealed not the slightest aura, yet everyone could feel the energy fluctuations within them—deep and vast as the four seas.
[These are two mysterious Legendary Pokémon.]
[Wherever they appear, waves of mist accompany them. Unless they themselves wish to appear before others, even if they stand right in front of you, you will be unable to detect their presence.]
[One is named Zacian.]
[It represents the sharpest attack among all Legendary Pokémon, capable of cutting through all things.]
[One is named Zamazenta.]
[It represents the most solid defense among all Legendary Pokémon, capable of withstanding all attacks.]
[They represent spear and shield.]
[Ultimate sharpness, and ultimate defense.]
The people across the anime dimensions drew in a sharp breath.
So they were called Zacian and Zamazenta?!
Ultimate sharpness, and ultimate defense!
That was enough to leave people aghast.
These two seemingly unremarkable canine Pokémon had actually been given such an astonishingly high evaluation by the author of the ranking video, Rin Aokawa.
One had to know—none of the Legendary Pokémon ranked before had received such special praise.
And that also meant—
in terms of offensive sharpness and defensive power, Zacian and Zamazenta stood at the pinnacle among all Legendary Pokémon, including first-tier Legendary Pokémon!!
Rin Aokawa's evaluation of them stirred no small ripple across the anime dimensions.
"Ultimate sharpness..." In the world of One Piece, within Red-Haired territory, Mihawk—who had come here to spar with Shanks in swordsmanship—had a gleam flash through his eyes as he murmured, "Sharper than Palkia's Spacial Rend? I'd really like to see that."
In the world of One Piece, his swordsmanship stood at the very top. No great swordsman's slash was sharper than his.
But after watching the ranking videos, Mihawk knew—
he was nothing more than a frog in a well.
He was now rather eager to see the performance of Zacian, the divine beast Rin Aokawa had described as possessing ultimate sharpness.
Whitebeard's sea territory...
"Ultimate defense, huh?" Diamond Jozu, owner of the Diamond-Diamond Fruit—known as the hardest Devil Fruit in the world—murmured to himself.
In the world of One Piece, he was famed for having the hardest body.
But in the Pokémon world, perhaps any somewhat powerful Pokémon could break through his defense.
He wanted to know just how many dimensions separated him from the strongest defense in the Pokémon world.
And Jozu had a premonition—
watching Zamazenta might give him some unexpected insight and gains, just as it had with Pops.
"Ultimate? Two ants dare call themselves ultimate?" In the Dragon Ball world, Frieza was disdainful as always.
"So this time it's canine Legendary Pokémon..." In the world of Inuyasha, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha's brows twitched slightly.
"I remember Gaara's sand is also the strongest defense," Naruto muttered.
Kurama rolled his eyes madly.
Comparable??
That trash Jinchūriki of Shukaku could compare to them??
If Shukaku really had to face Zamazenta, it would probably be crushed to the ground by its aura alone.
"Ah Qi, what do you think about this one?" On Chicken Island, Da Fei turned and asked Seven.
"On my knees," Seven replied irritably.
The people across the anime dimensions stared at the figures of Zacian and Zamazenta.
They all knew—
the move that had just reflected Eternatus's destructive pillar of light was their doing.
No...
The one that reflected the damage was a shield.
So it should have been Zamazenta's move—the one that possessed ultimate defense!
Zacian, Zamazenta.
These should be the Legendary Pokémon that would stop Eternatus!
The audience in the Pokémon world let out a sigh of relief.
Although they knew this was a scene from the future—
one that could be interfered with and avoided—
actually seeing their world destroyed would still feel awful.
After all, it was the future of their own world on display. The sense of immersion was far too strong!
Now that they saw Legendary Pokémon stepping in to save the Galar region, they finally breathed easier.
"ROAR!!!"
A roar echoed out from the video.
It was Eternatus's furious howl!!
Eternatus's falling body abruptly halted in midair, and it flew back beneath the vortex of crimson clouds.
Its pair of savage eyes locked onto Zacian and Zamazenta.
"Roar~!"
A purple glow spread across its tail.
—Poison Tail!
Its tail whipped viciously toward the two Pokémon, shattering the air and creating enormous wind pressure.
Zamazenta could not fly, so the two of them leapt up violently, metallic light shining over their claws.
—Metal Claw.
Bang!!
Faced with Eternatus's enormous tail, their bodies were only a bit over three meters tall—like mantises trying to stop a chariot, mayflies shaking a tree.
The contrast was intense.
Metal Claw and Poison Tail collided.
It was blocked!
The recoil sent both sides flying back.
Zacian and Zamazenta landed on the ground, and the reaction force made the earth beneath their feet cave in madly.
That alone was enough to show just how powerful their collision had been.
Being obstructed again and again—
Eternatus, which had already lost its reason from waking up in a fury, grew even more enraged!!
It let out a roar.
In an instant, endless red light burst from its body, while purple-black shockwaves surged from both sides of its frame.
Within Eternatus's chest, a core condensed.
A core as dazzling as the sun.
That core suddenly erupted with terrifying energy, wrapping around its entire body.
It was as though someone who had been hiding their true strength all along had finally revealed it.
All things trembled. The world itself recoiled in fear!!
"Th-That... the energy in its body is skyrocketing!" Palkia exclaimed from within space.
And that was indeed the case!
As the core energy in Eternatus's chest grew brighter and brighter, the pressure filling heaven and earth became even more terrifying.
The red vortex-like cloud layer spread and expanded without end, quickly covering more than half the world.
When the core had accumulated to a certain point—
terrifying red-and-black shockwaves burst violently from both sides of Eternatus's body!
In the end, it was like a cocoon, wrapping Eternatus within.
Red radiance illuminated the world, black lightning crackled and shot outward.
Eternatus's body rapidly grew larger, as though a Dynamax phenomenon were taking place.
Red mist continuously spread out—
merging into the clouds.
The cloud layer's thickness and area continued to expand until Eternatus's entire body was buried within it, placed at the center of the cloud mass.
Though no one knew exactly what was happening, simply looking up at the clouds was enough to feel the horrifying energy fluctuations within them.
The crimson vortex-shaped cloud layer churned violently.
Its divine might blazed like the end of the world.
Finally—
the wildly roaring and surging cloud layer calmed down.
The vortex in the clouds grew even larger.
Then, within that vortex, something suddenly shot out.
Countless people stared, dumbstruck.
A pair of enormous hands that blotted out the sky emerged from the clouds.
The palms were entirely condensed from scarlet energy, with purple-black rhombus-shaped gems embedded in the center.
The five fingers looked as though forged from black steel, and at the ends of each finger were roaring dragon-shaped heads.
The five fingers were like five giant dragons, spewing red Dynamax energy, their pink eyes staring downward.
Those five dragon heads were silently roaring.
The entire hand alone was nearly a thousand meters in size.
Above the vortex cloud layer, Eternatus's body also appeared vaguely.
At that moment, it no longer resembled a skeletal dragon.
Instead, it had become a long serpent with no flesh, only bones, coiling around itself again and again to protect that sun-like, dazzling core.
It was only a brief glimpse—
and Eternatus's body was once more covered by the clouds.
But everyone's minds had already gone numb.
Th-This was just too horrifying.
What in the world was that!!!!
That energy reaction was enough to scare anyone to death!
Even Palkia was alarmed.
[As the source of Gigantamax and Dynamax—]
[As the aggregate of all "gigantification" stripped from Pokémon in the super-ancient era, Eternatus can also undergo a bodily transformation similar to Gigantamax and Dynamax.]
[Its name is—]
[—Eternamax.]
[Only Eternatus can undergo Eternamax, and it is Eternatus's true form.]
Astonishing!
Eternamax!!
A giant transformation unique to Eternatus—its true form?!
After Eternamax appeared, a massive storm of Dynamax energy formed around the cloud vortex.
Palkia and Dialga could both sense it.
Within that energy storm—
space-time itself was twisting!!
The two Legendary Pokémon cursed inwardly.
What the hell was Arceus doing!?
Why were there still so many terrifying Legendary Pokémon in existence!?
Looking at the enormous hand stretching down from the clouds—
could they even win?
Everyone had that same worry in their hearts.
Could Zacian and Zamazenta really contend with it!?
Zacian and Zamazenta stared at Eternatus in its Eternamax form, unprecedented solemnity in their eyes.
"Zacian, Zamazenta! Your sword and shield are with me!"
The camera shifted back to Ash's side.
Zacian and Zamazenta turned to look, and saw the sword and shield in Ash's hands, as fragile as though they would shatter with the slightest touch.
They let out low growls.
The rusted broken sword and the ruined shield in Ash's hands—
Clang clang clang clang~!
began trembling continuously.
Then, as if guided by something—
Whoosh~!
They flew out of his hands, the sword and shield shooting toward Zacian and Zamazenta.
Zacian leapt into the air and bit down on the sword's hilt.
Zamazenta let out a roar and slammed headfirst into the shield.
Boundless white light erupted from both of their bodies.
—The light of evolution!
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