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Logaria: the South-kingdom of the Free Peoples. Participated in the First Downfall of the Mbelekoro. Fell to the Shadow. Destroyed by Regigigas.
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And it was then decided that a great funeral pomp should be made for the King as the Galarians journeyed to the Slumbering Weald to set an altar there. The Three Lords of Galar rode down through the city of Wyndon, and never looked backwards toward the empty Hall of the Two Princes. Amid the cries of weeping woman and fair maidens, and the somber singing of Men and the mournful calls of Pokemon the Company of Lords rode over the city and to the downs beyond, taking the East Road.
Ishmael was permitted to walk unhindered with the Alolans, for now the Law of the Twin Princes had passed away. And he rode bitterly, for the Middling Days were over, and the Days of Magic had passed, and an end had come to the story and song of those times. With Zacian and Zamazenta would go many of their kindred who would no longer stay on Earth, and among them a power would be taken, a power that was yet blessed and filled with bitterness.
Throughout the rolling days they went through the midst of Galar, and few saw them pass save the wild creatures and Pokemon, or some wanderer in the dark that heard the chanting or saw a glimmer of the Lord's silver robes. And when they had passed out of the Fields of Wyndon, going about the northern skirts of the Southern Mountains that Aelfric and his House had essayed to journey beyond, they came to a dark forest and a withered gate of stonework that had lost its luster. Sad it looked against the fair wood, and so they rode down at last into the Weald and came to a bubbling river, and a clearing within a long parcel of woods.
And then the stoneworkers and Pokemon skilled in the towering of pillars and the shaping of carven buildings were summoned, and from a quarry of white rock about the fields they built a fane to the Twin Princes. A circlet they made with a graven altar within it, and they set the Rusted Sword and Shield at its base. They were sorrowful at heart as they made the shrine, for the Galarians knew that it was the death-knell of the times of the past, and that the world would be forever changed until the Second Great Dance when all would be mended.
Once the two devices were set upon the great altar, a power and spell covered the Weald that had not been present before. Towers of mist chased the men away, and they fled and sealed the gate. In the gloom, they could see two pairs of burning eyes, which then faded into the abyssal deep. They walked away and did not set their faces toward the Weald again.
Now they dug a cairn for the old King and set him upon a golden dais that had been brought for him, and then buried him in a barrow made of stone and bearing his coat of arms and many other fair things that he had possessed, and the remains of his Pokemon that he had trained when he was young and full of spring. And over him was raised a great mound, and it was seeded by a Cherrim with green swards of grass and white flowers. And then the Company of Lords sang together, and rode away into the twilight.
Once the honor of the King was gone and done away with, Penlod and Theon came to an argument that grew into a terrible ultimatum. It was said that Theon's folk would resist Penlod's wards in their effort to erase the Twin Princes from memory as long as they drew breath, and two Oaths were sworn by each Lord against each other.
"The time has come for heaðo," Penlod said. "The Testing. We will not duel each other, for the bonds of loyalty that tie all of Galar together will not be so easily broken over such a thing as this. But such things do not come into the hearts and minds of wild Pokemon."
"What is he speaking of?" Ishmael said with the aid of an interpreter. "Will you fight with Pokemon against Pokemon?"
"And for what end?" Penlod said. "The Pokemon will be harmed, but we will continue into our old age. No, the flesh must be risked for it to be Tested. We must summon the Sandaconda in the dust basins surrounding the Lake of Outrage. Will you fight me atop the back of one, Theon Half-Man?" Penlod slapped Theon on the cheek. A mortal insult. He slapped him on the other cheek as Theon turned away.
"I accept!" Theon cried. "Between our two Houses, mastery of Galar and its fate shall be decided. To darkness and the petty pursuits of Men if you prevail, and to hallowed remembrance if I triumph! We shall summon the Great Serpents and duel with them to the uttermost limit. Bring the lords! Tomorrow the future will be carved out for the Free Peoples!"
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Some, including the Mbelekoro, say that it is better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. I view this stringent absolute as unnecessarily pessimistic. I intended to rule over both Hell and Heaven.
-Emrett Dialogues, compiled works. (Entry edited by Jonathan Rowell Cypress)
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Two days later..
Before the gates of the city of Motostoke, the Magnolia RV turned its engines off and piled its occupants outward onto the high gates of the city. There was an arch of brick where two statues of Pokemon stood sentinel over the flocks of citizens that flowed in and out under the wide entrances. Galarian runes had been hand-chiseled into the arch, displaying an eponymous name to all of Galar: Cosmos.
Magnolia went ahead to register both Henry and Casey for the Motostoke Challenge at the Stadium, but she was met with withering stares from Macro Cosmos employees and League Staff. It seemed that Chairman Bronze had already notified the Gyms and cleared many slots for the two Pokedex Holders, but the opening ceremony had been missed by the two and the Motostoke Gym was not accessible at the present time. Gym Leader Kabu did not respond to Magnolia's pleas, and she then resolved to stay at the famed Budew Drop Inn for a time.
"We do need to prepare for the battle," Henry reasoned. "It can't possibly be a detrimental thing to get a bit of room and board before attempting a strenuous and physically and mentally taxing Gym Battle."
...
The Budew Drop Inn was fashioned on several floors that at a quick glance could appear to be a Budew covered in reflective plaz windows and hair-thin solar catchers and water harvesters. Two Porygon-AI controlled doors sensed the four travelers and opened wide with a hissing sound, and allowed the lobby to be seen.
Between the circle of the raised culvert of marble stairs that led toward the lift and reception desk, a behemothic likeness of a great hero was set. The man whose name had long since passed into legend and idolized myth held aloft a blessed blade and bore in his other arm a hallowed shield. Plated mail armored him, and an ebony scabbard was at his side with an eagle-plume upon his crest in the panoply of the heroes of old.
Henry scryed the sword and shield that the hero held, and thought that they bore the image of the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield that he had seen but a fleeting glimpse of in the enchanted Weald. "Professor, what is this statue supposed to be?"
Before Magnolia could speak, the statue itself answered.
"That does not concern the old woman's field," the image said in a vaguely feminine timbre. "She knows little of such matters. I shall answer your many inquires in her stead, for only I know the truth. Kneel before me, trembling mortals!"
"It talked?" Marvin yelped. Henry was not alarmed in the slightest and suspected a prankster using a speakerpatch or some kind of Pokemon to make the statue emit sounds. "Please, tell us!"
Instead of an intelligible answer, the statue simply barked. "What is happening here?"
"That's enough, Sonia," Magnolia commanded. "Come out."
A young woman accompanied by an adoring Yamper (the presumed source of the later vocalizations) appeared from behind the dead hulk. "Ha! Tried to fool you, Gran! But you were just smart enough to recognize my voice. Small world, eh? Strange that I would find you right in the Inn!"
Magnolia sighed. "Children, Sonia is my granddaughter. Sonia, these children are Henry Sword, Casey Shield, and Marvin Anderson." She gestured towards each with a gnarled finger. "Sonia is a researcher in the making, and my assistant once every blue moon."
"Right, Gran!" Sonia exclaimed, moving in front of the statue to look at the plaque that was emblazoned before its legs. "I thought the trick I pulled would be funny, but this statue has a very serious significance to the people of Motostoke. You know the old tales. Long ago, far beyond the memory of any being still alive, a black whirlwind appeared in the skies of ancient Galar. People called it the 'Darkest Day.' Pokemon Dyanamaxed out of control, and went mad, destroying the land and its people. Then, one youth with a blessed sword and shield appeared to quell the chaos."
Sonia sighed. "And this statue was created...a decade ago? A century ago? Perhaps it is even older. It was made to honor that hero, and to preserve him in memory when all the original details and participants had faded into legend. When I saw it for the first time when I undertook the Gym Challenge in Motostoke, I didn't think much of it. But when I was helping out Gran, I grew more curious, you see. Perhaps I have experienced the greatest value of understanding history: the memory of times that came before."
"I assume the youth's sword and shield had very potent spells woven into them," Henry mused. "To defeat many gigantic Pokemon...that would be a superhuman feat. Not even a knight of Galar could stand his ground against even some of the weakest Pokemon."
"No clue," Sonia said. "I told you everything I know about the legend. As for the Gym Challenge...it went...ugh! I should never have brought it up. Thank the Original One for Chairman Bronze for getting me out of that one. And... never mind. Gran, what do you think about the legend?"
"It is intriguing and almost certainly has a historical basis in some way," Magnolia said. "But I am surprised that after being away from me and home for so long you were only able to tell the most basic and contested version of the legend. I understand that you are not a famed researcher and cannot have access to relics that are artifacts of significance to examine for yourself, but I went through the same state of obscurity when I began to pursue the path of becoming a researcher, but I pushed onward into success in my senior years. And remember, we Galarians back fifty-two years ago had hardly any idea of technology beyond the steam engine from our millennia of isolation due to the Girdle! Quite a culture shock when those ships arrived on our shores...I was confused beyond measure! But I learned about thinking machines and the like, and look at me now!"
"Professor?" Henry said. "I would like to get going, if you don't mind."
"What?" Casey yelled. "You aren't staying at the hotel? But they have Apricorn cider and pancakes and all other kinds of food and things to do-"
"The opening ceremony has ended, Casey," Henry replied. That means that Chairman Bronze has sent out other challengers that attended the ceremony (thank goodness that it was optional!) on their own League Journey, right? If we catch up with them and defeat Gyms at the same rate or faster, we will get far more attention without Bronze handling things behind the scenes. Also, Shield's Pokemon may get found even faster with the extra buzz going around."
"Fair enough, actually," Magnolia said. "Change of plans, my friends. It is time to go to Turffield. Surely the other challengers would be there...we cannot know for sure. There won't be much media coverage of the private movements of the other challengers, the Association wishes to respect their privacy at all costs. Sonia, you better follow us to the Magnolia RV."
...
The engine would not start.
"There's a bunch of misplaced and broken parts everywhere," Casey yelled from under the Magnolia RV along with Sirfetch'd. "Some wild Pokemon got into it! Look at the other vehicles around, they're experiencing the same issue! Another wild Pokemon attack, why does this keep happening in Galar? The situation gets worse daily!"
"Oh, dear," Magnolia said. "I was going to go to Turfield to examine the geoglyphs left by the Tribe of Theon, but now we will not be able to get there on schedule for the challenge and my studies."
"Gran, we ought to take the Flying Taxi," Sonia suggested. "It will be quick enough!"
Magnolia turned pale. "I would never go on one of those deplorable contraptions! And a robot vessel would be just as bad. Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of the mind of Man or Pokemon-kind, Sonia. The solemn commandment of the Tercano Accords must be followed in Galar! And it is only a few hour's walk to Turfield through the Mining Area, don't preach laziness, Sonia. I will stay and see what can be done, perhaps I will be able to get some repairmen here. Casey, Henry, make sure to get some images of those geoglyphs on your Pokedexes! Oh, and Sonia..."
"What?" Sonia spat. "Stay and wait with you and get lectured?"
"Not at all. You are a researcher and have experience in navigating the Gym Challenge, so you must accompany these two! Marvin will also go with you, take good care of him! I will consult with the High Chairman and give you permission to enter them into the Battles. There is little else we can do, and this particular path to Turfield would be wiser than fighting here at Motostoke first!"
Sonia was utterly shocked. "Thank you, Gran! Thank you, thank you, thank you..."
Magnolia had already entered the RV to contact the League. Flustered, Sonia dragged them along, Henry still wiping engine oil off Lancelot's leek spear and shield.
...
Bronze saw the call from Magnolia on a flowing datatablet input that covered all calls and messages concerning the League Challengers, and forwarded it to himself.
"Ah? A new guardian? No, not difficult at all to sort out. A wild Pokemon? The RV is damaged? You can't walk very far to Turfield without your legs giving way? You have aged! I don't see why you can't take the Flying Taxies or the tram. Well, I will see what I can do with this. A stunt similar to what you are trying to do would have gone down very poorly if I was not covering your every step! Careful, now..."
Are they testing me? Bronze mulled. Perhaps they wish to see what favors I can give to them. If so, then Magnolia knows that I must have the two children win in the League for the sake of Galar's security from a threat that we only have the faintest knowledge of! No one, not even my allies, will hold a hammer over the head of Chairman Bronze Tercano!"
...
"Sorry that this trip had to turn this way, Miss Sonia," Marvin said. "Wild Pokemon attacks have been increasing in frequency all over Galar. We even got attacked by a trio of Drednaw a few days ago..."
"Not an issue, Young Master," Sonia replied. "Do not worry. We might as well get the exercise in this slothful age. And I have often been through the Galarian Mines, they are a sight to behold! I wonder how you two will do against Milo, Henry, and Casey. Scorbunny ought to do well since it's a Grass-type, but Grooky will be at a disadvantage-"
"Excuse me, Miss Sonia," Marvin said. "I know this is an unfortunate delay, but Professor Magnolia doesn't seem to like some kinds of technology. And she said something about 'thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of the mind of Man or Pokemon-kind,' and mentioned the Tercano Accords. Chairman Bronze's last name is Tercano, right? Why doesn't Magnolia like advanced appliances or robots? She only uses AI controlled by Rotom or Porygon."
Sonia shuddered and looked upward toward the heaps of grey rock in the distance. "Not robots, Marvin. Thinking machines. Magnolia has nothing against robots. A car is a robot or piece of technology. But a machine in the likeness of the mind of Men or Pokemon-kind...that is unholy. Marvin, when AI was introduced to Galar, many citizens and tribes were shocked and frightened at the prospect of a soulless machine having the skills of a human or Pokemon. There were many years of divided legislation and ideological quibbles until Chairman Bronze came to power a bit over a decade ago."
"The Tercano Accords," Marvin said. "He proposed them?"
"Yes. He proposed the Tercano Accords to apply to Galar and Roria, the solemn commandment of which was 'thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of the mind of Man or Pokemon-kind.' Only digital Pokemon can control those superadvanced systems. Some people organize their minds like machines that call themselves Bibliographers have emerged recently to perform the functions of computers when digital Pokemon cannot be found. The prejudice against thinking machines is pretty widespread in Galar, Marvin. Magnolia's generation thinks they are a sin. The younger folks in Galar like myself are less strict, but just think that uncontrolled AI is a really stupid thing. Even on societal grounds, the predicted date in which thinking machines would revolt and take over the world was 2134 AF before the Tercano Accords."
This went on for a good while until the company of four entered the mines. Clusters of harvester mites controlled by an operator flowed deep into the underground tunnels and stripped ore veins and rocks of useful elements which were then refined in coffin-sized factories scattered within the mines in unsightly pods, hidden from public view. Discarded boulders were picked up by construction vehicles to be crushed by hand, although today, only a skeleton crew maintained the resource harvesters. Cave-ins and landsides from the surrounding cliffs were not an uncommon occurrence, and oftentimes a falling rock would block the narrow pathway to Turfield, only to be eventually cleared by a machine or worker Pokemon.
Today, such an incident had occurred. At one side of the great boulder that had embedded itself into the road was a deep pit of slag-heaps, impassable and unsafe. To the other was a sheer cliff face, impossible to climb without the aid of Pokemon. Sonia and company walked up to the great rock, and saw three other travelers also at an impasse.
One was swarthy and with oval-pointed hair that contained a vague hint of purple, wearing a Kalosi blue sweater. Henry thought that an echo of another person's face was in his features, but the flicker of memory passed. The other boy was cruel-looking and with platinum-blond hair, wearing an overcoat of solid purple coloration. A half-sneer was on his lips, and Henry thought that perhaps he was deeply troubled. The last was a girl, one that was familiar to an uncanny degree. It was Marnie, the contender that Team Yell had idolized beyond belief. Henry took all these characteristics and meta-analyzed them into personalities, giving a full profile to each stranger.
"Oi!" Casey yelled. "Look, they're wearing challenge bands! Were you on the way to Turfield after the exhibition ceremony? Pleased to meet you! Our names are Casey Shield (that's me!) and Henry Sword, Gym Challengers endorsed by Champion Leon and Chairman Bronze! Cheers!"
"Well!" the blue-sweater boy said. "In the spirit of the League, this makes us friends and rivals! Swell to meet you two, just splendid to dithers! I am Hop, recommended by Leon! The sullen boy is Bede, recommended by Chairman Rose! The girl is Marnie, recommended by Gym Leader Piers and Leon! Again, very good to greet you!"
Bede's lips curled as if he had smelled something rank. "Chairman Bronze? That quibbling fool couldn't hold a candle to Rose! I don't know what madness brought him to recommend you, but rest assured that our fates will be forever sundered, Henry Sword and Casey Shield!"
"Well, it seems that you three just stumbled upon this boulder," Sonia said. "You clearly haven't made any attempts to move it with your Pokemon! Perhaps if you join forces and get it out of the way. It would be a nice warm-up, and you could show your skills to each other!"
"I will, but you will find the difference in strength between my Pokemon and the Pokemon of others to be overwhelmingly in my favor," Bede said, sending out Hatenna. "Confusion!"
The boulder lifted with the concentrated psychic power of the Pokemon acting upon it, scattering threads of loose dust onto the ground as it rose. Creeping into the wide space beyond the blockage, the boulder would soon be out of commission. "What are you, a Slowpoke?" Marnie challenged, sending out a Morpeko. "Breaking it will be far quicker! Aura Wheel!"
A rush of yellow voltaic charges slammed into the rock, shoving it back. "I won't let you guys just show me up!" Hope yelled. "Corvisquire, Pluck!"
Casey and Henry joined the fight, whittling away at the mass of the boulder and pushing it ever further out of the narrow gap that it had fallen into. Soon, the hewn rock fell with a roaring tumult to the nearest ore trench a yard away from the rock plateau, causing it to rest in a smoking heap. Later, the inspection crews would find nothing but a fine layer of debris over the path.
...
Milo saw the entire battle through a portable watcheye. "This year's challengers won't be pushovers like the last...but they will be coming at me all at once. Better not be careless..."
Shoving his body into a Flying Taxi that couldn't fit him comfortably, the Gym Leader rode upon the wings of a Corviknight to Turfield.
...
Once the others had gone through the mining tunnel toward Motostoke, only Henry and Bede still remained near the slag-heaps. Bede stood over the toppled boulder, oblivious to Henry's presence. "Now, all the others have gone. Hatenna, crush it with all that you have!"
Bede perceived a presence and turned in alarm to see Henry approaching, with an infuriating smile on his face. "Might I help you? Henry, was it? The ward of Chairman Bronze?"
"Oh, I was just a little curious about what you were doing," Henry said without any sense of alarm. "All the other trainers were trying to crush the boulder, but you wanted to move it instead. Your Hatenna could easily shatter that rock with its powers. At first, I assumed that you couldn't see moves that powerful, but I was wrong! You were protecting the boulder with a psychic move while also levitating it so that the others couldn't completely destroy it. I assume that there is something inside this boulder that you didn't want anyone else to see, correct?"
"..."
"It's fine. My family has a business in swordsmithing, so we know all about this local mine. Around here, after the Great Rain that happened fifty-two years ago, it's not uncommon to find Wishing Stars in the rocks in these parts, no? Is it a Wishing Star you want? To sell, perhaps?"
"That is not of your concern," Bede said. "I will remember your incessant pestering. And I hope that you remember me as well, Henry Sword. Chairman Rose personally endorsed me as a challenger, and Chairman Bronze has endorsed you for a challenger. I am Bede, and we are rivals even by the extension of the interests of our backers..."
"Very well."
Henry walked through the mining tunnel as he whistled a merry tune, and then faded out of sight. Except for the occasional flying Pokemon or harvester drone, Bede was alone in the open air.
"Hattena!"
The rock shattered in an anomalous fission reaction, a purple fireball expanding for a split second with a thunderous explosion before fading.
"Three, eh?"
Now, an unknown location.
At over a hundred meters below the Earth's surface, a ring of stabilizing capacitors fired, dumping their stored electrical energy into a precisely connected network of wires. The length of each wire was known to be within a nanometer and its electrical resistance had been calculated to nine decimal places. The attention to engineering precision paid off, for the signals shooting through those wires reached their respective destinations with nearly perfect synchronicity.
Five spheres of living light, holding the radiance of Deep Heaven in their shimmering cores, fell down a plastiglass tube into a single energy catchnet. The signals of the wires created a highly active sphere of waveform energy around the five holy Wishing Stars which then was caught onto a magnetic generator, bringing them through a sterile pipe and into a white plaz bowl that was surrounded by an electrical bonnet field that kept even the smallest fleck of dust from tainting the Stars.
They were beautiful. The Macro Cosmos employee that performed the operation, without a necessary hazardous material suit, gaped in wonder when he beheld the light. The radience of the five Wishing Stars stood undimmed and pristine, with no stain yet upon them. Searing amounts of photons from the stars collided with the lace of tritium atoms on the bowl, holding the energy within the bonnet.
The employee wheeled the bowl down the long end of the narrow durasteel-plated hallway and then set it before a wall of luminous white. Nothing could be seen beyond it, nothing but undulating shadows and mist. The employee, having finished his duty, checked his exit time into the antique console in the room and the amount of Wishing Stars put into the bowl, before taking the lift elevator into the upper levels of the facility.
For a minute or two, all was silent except for the drone of the ventilation systems and the console fans, and the faint but omnipresent hum of the Wishing Stars.
And then a shadow fell across the hall. A claw of darkest shadow reached out from the fogged-over screen. The five Stars glimmered as if in alarm as the terrible appendage grabbed them with questing talons of crimson energy, and then the Stars fell into the mass of the horror as if they had never shone. The light and splendor of the Stars passed out of the world forever.
The claw shook, and became a bit more solid, a bit more stable. A draft of cold air came from the pale wall, and the limb, with a dark little finger as large as a telephone pole, retracted into the void once more. A booming, basso laughter with screeching overtones echoed in the halls for a long moment and then ceased.
The room was quiet again, and soon another employee would enter the secret room with a number of Wishing Stars that could be anywhere from two to a hundred to administer to the bowl. Then they would leave and take a lunch break, never mentioning a word of their strange errand.