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Westernesse: Galar as opposed to Easternesse, Hisui, or Southernesse, Logaria.

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Aelfric's company bitterly walked onward through the Southern Cold of the Crown Tundra, where they hoped to find an Elohim that may be but a myth. In the south in those days, in the ancient days before the climes of the world became mild in the absence of the Mbelekoro, were filled with grinding ice because of the violence of the frosts of the Evil Djinn.

Through the perilous wastes, many thousands went ever southward, with the Encircling Seas meeting the coasts and creating vast fogs and mists of deathly cold, and the streams were filled with clashing hills of snow and the shattering of ice deep-sunken below. But the many estranged Galarians endured the terror of the frostbitten plains and the cruel mountains that they had yet crossed. Many had fallen in the dreadful ice-floes and the steaming rivers of carven glass-ice, but ever onward the Galarians pressed.

A time came when Aelfric himself nearly perished in the ice, and thereafter was unappeasable for the length of the journey. He had come himself near to death in the bitter waters when he attempted to save a woman and child, whom the breaking of the treacherous ice had sent into a hidden lake. The child he saved, but the body of the woman was covered in fallen ice. It then seemed that Aelfric would drown with his quarry, but the lord was rescued by a wearied Corvisquire.

Yet another terrible week passed, and then the host came upon a ruin in the tundra; a castle built in days of yore forgotten in Elder Days past. Broken panes of glass revealed a frost-tormented lay of halls that went into darkness. Beyond the dead bastille was a tree of great size, but it was all dead, all foul, all frosted with ice. The host was ushered into the stronghold where they made camp, taking refuge from the dreaded Helcharach, the Grinding Ice.

Aelfric stood before a ruined statue of a king long past, with a length of azure reins in its smitten hands, which Aelfric took and held to the corpse-light of the shrouded sun. They were of the craft of the folk of Galar in the Elder Days, before Kyogre and Groudon dueled, Kalos was overthrown and Eternatus was cast down. Now forgotten the people that had dwelt here were, and their own god had passed away into the wild, or became a place-demon scarcely more aware than a beast.

The Lord stood by the roaring hearth and thought of his next commands. The host of the exiles might turn back toward the north, but they would not be received well by whoever dwelt there now that the Two Princes had passed away. The southern coasts could not be reached, and only the Pokemon had the strength to go on further south. They were at an impasse without hope, and fear took the exiles like a noose.

Aelfric rose and shook his face to the northeast, where it was said that Dor Daedeloth once had been before the Great Battle when the Black Land had fallen away beneath the sea. Black Mbelekoro, Marrer of Earth, would that I might see you face to face, and mar you as my kin once did long ago! I name you craven and accursed among the Powers, an abominable branch to be cut away and thrown into the fire. But you have been thrown down, and our folk still suffer for the corruption of the world that you brought about. I call to any in this place that might aid me, for I will accept them as Lord, and stand with them for ever.

And then he turned to the statue, and lo! A crown of weighty fruits had sprouted upon it, and a soft green light shone from a tunnel afar. The host of the exiles stood in alarm, and many quavered and said that some doom unlooked for had come upon them. But air from the north came drifting, warm and fair, and grass sprouted and became verdant and tall about the ruins. Great fruits blossomed about snaking vines, which many a Galarian plucked and ate, and they saw that they were not foul or envenomed. Aelfric and his company of guards stood trembling in the presence of the holy being that now stood before them. "Friend or foe, which are you?"

...

Then the shadow of winter passed, and green spring came. Snow fell away and turned into clear water, running quietly and calmly like northland streams. Pokemon left their burrows, and went out to play in the yellow face of the eye of heaven now unveiled. The storms and ice-floes shrunk about the ruins and then perished utterly. Soft green grass and flowing blooms sprouted over the rolling hills, and winter was not seen or tidings of it brought within a dozen leagues of the ruins.

But it was not upon the blossoming tundra that the eyes of the exiles looked. A living creature of glory and mercy now flew above the host, for it was an Elohim, a Son of the Original One. A fair ring of green orbs marked with inlaid patterns of sea-blue and snow-white contusions adorned its neck, and the great bud the color of midnight moss like a crown glowed brightly. It had pale legs as slender as a Hisuian maiden, and from its brow grew four horns that held aloft its orbed crown. Two pairs of wings of faerie-likeness fluttered and shone, with soft, green fur upon its short arms (the right of which was held raised) and legs. It felt of grace, dignity, bountiful harvests, and new summer, far beyond the struggles of the wider world.

Aelfric fell before the Elohim, and found himself speaking even though his voice was broken and his eyes were dimmed. "Do not move away, do not raise me up," he said. "I have never until now seen such a noble creature of the same bearing as the Twin Princes. I have lived all my life in the shadows and with only one set of images. Oh, my Father and my Mother, my Lord and Lady, do not move, do not answer me yet. Take me for your son, for we have been alone in these budding wastes for a long while."

The eyes of the Elohim looked upon him and his company with love and recognition. Aelfric was so lost in the wonder of the creature's presence that he did not hear it speak until it seemed to be in the middle of a long oration. "...and it lies in your bidding, Son of Earth, if I, Calyrex Tor-Oyarsa, should remain in Earth or remove myself to Deep Heaven where Arceus has commanded me to dwell. For behold! My right hand is lifted, and this waste has become a fertile plain of heavy fruits and fair growths. For now you have devoted yourselves to me in my hearts, and my powers have returned, and new spring comes forth."

Aelfric and his followers gathered themselves and spoke their will. "It is very much in our liking that you remain with us, for the love we now bear for you, o Calyrex Tor-Oyarsa, and also that you might strengthen us with your counsel and even with your operations. For our Lords, the Two Princes Zacian and Zamazenta, have fulfilled the Will of Arceus to depart, and now they rest within the Slumbering Weald. But perhaps Arceus intends us to be lorded over once again by a higher Willpower, for we are not yet ripe to steer the fates of the nations and the Earth nor to make rain and fair weather of our own command. If it seems good to you, remain and rule over us."

"I am content with this," Calyrex said. And with the dialogue finished Calyrex assumed its new duties, and then all saw that the communication of Elohim and Man was not a discord. On one side, the crystal, bloodless voice, the immutable expression on that white face. On the other, blood coursing through veins, the feeling of trembling in the shoulders and hands and eyes. They had closed the gap between them, and now with their unity, all the separate notes of strength and beauty and wisdom came together in one song that would endure for a very long while.

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Now, Hulbury

Most histories are written by the winners of conflicts, but those written by the losers-if they survive-are often more interesting.

-Emrett Dialogues, compiled works

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Hulbury lay upon the eastern quals of Galar, where salt-filled foam beheld the rising sun every morning. A straight sail from Hulbury to Roria would bring a traveler to the havens of Rosecove, and thus reversed. Tall waves lapped beyond the utmost harbor-bar, heralding a sea-wind from distant lands. Moorings fretted around ships beside the stone dock, battered by grey breakers.

Nessa breathed in the salt-air, at home where the sea had wrought her and her Pokemon. Sea wind, good and fair for the lungs and heart. "Toxapex, time to call it for a day. 'Bout the hour where we ought to go the Gym and prepare."

A small Pokegear on her wrist vibrated, a signal sent by an operator in some data farm reaching the device. Activating the small crysplaz screen, Nessa took the morning call. "Sonia! Impeccable timing, I just finished my morning training. How goes your time in Turffield?"

"Well," Sonia replied. "The new dataset on the geoglyphs reached Johto Advanced Mercantile Solutions a bit ago, Crystal will run it through. The Gym Challengers finished their matches at Turfielled yesterday. Out of sixty, Milo beat almost half of them."

"Then if I beat everyone who Milo lost to, then I will have defeated him, in a way," Nessa said. "Grass against Water, Sonia. He remains my rival. Unfortunately, I have work today. Yes, the modeling, Sonia. And filming a tourist promo for Hulbury...but make sure to arrive soon, alright?"

...

The next day...

Twiggy's stick thrummed out a long ululating pattern of discord by the banks of a stream that ran through Hulbury to the sea, the infuriating sound reaching far around through the fields and into the city beyond as a faint echo. Marvin stood with his Pokemon and recognized Henry's goal. The Tapping Branch strategy! The opponent gets irritated and agitated from the constant thrumming of the stick, and they attack exactly where Sword wants them to...

...but that won't work on Sniffler! The past few days have taught it some painful lessons in training...this rhythm brings back some unfortunate memories. It should be enough to make it cry!

Sniffler bawled, and drenched itself in its own vitreous tears. The little Pokemon vanished and began to run at Twiggy under Marvin's command. "Now, Use Water Gun!"

The high-pressure stream of water did little to harm Twiggy, but Henry commented that Marvin had used the available resources at his disposal well despite the Type disadvantage in the fight. "Very well done, soaking your Pokemon in water. Now, I cannot tell where it is. Twiggy, use Branch Poke!"

Grooky threw the stick in a winding pattern through the roaring jets of water that came from the unseen Sobble, and turned around in the air again, grazing Sobble by chance. The stick twirled and spun countless times, hitting Sniffler into submission. Twiggy retrieved its branch and held over the defeated Pokemon's head. "Do you yield?" Henry asked.

"I yield! I yield!" Marvin cried. "I see that you bent the branch, giving it the ability to orbit in midair. You certainly aren't a smith for nothing!"

"You flatter me," Henry said, "But I only used such a strategy because you have gotten far more experienced than ever before. You did not lose against the Tapping Branch tactic, unlike many other times. Marvin, you must understand that you are the perfect 'training dummy' to help us pre of pare for the battle with Nessa. In terms of Type matchups, Twiggy has the advantage, but I doubt that a Gym Leader would be so unskilled as to be defeated by such a rudimentary variable. Strength is essential, complete immersion in the battle desirable."

Tremulous shivers ran down the entirety of Twiggy's body. Light, heat, and energy poured into the little Pokemon's seated form, creating a blinding flash that concealed an incredible metamorphosis. The Pokemon had changed, evolved into a higher state using a mechanism still poorly understood. Its crest of leaves had sprouted into a greater size, and it now bore two sticks in its hands, larger and more angular than before.

Henry's Pokedex activated from the Rotom's command and notified him in a very dry and legalistic manner that his Pokemon had evolved into a Thwackey. Henry was most pleased about the addition of another stick-blade, since it would allow for far more complicated and intricate strategies. "While one may fall, another can help them up, and a cord of two strands is not easily broken."

A sound of beatific clapping was heard, and the two looked about to see a strange man that had been observing the battle for a little while undetected walking toward them. He looked familiar, although a cap bearing the simplistic insignia of the Macro Cosmos corporation and a pair of dark-set glasses covered most of his bearded face. A white sweater covered most of his olive arms, while his knee-low jogging shorts made him look somewhat paternal, like an aging father figure.

"Ah, how wonderful!" he said. "A trainer with such a promising future, beholding his Pokemon's evolution! What a happy sight I am graced with in these troubled times. You may call me Rose, young masters. Now, look to the skies!"

Over the sandy cliffs that encircled most of Hulbury, a massive hovercraft shaped like a Wailord appeared, with a massive plaz screen on each side of the artificial Pokemon. A broadcast started, showing an attractive young woman in various locations across Hulbury that Henry and Marvin recognized as Nessa. What is this? We ought to keep watching, I suppose.

"Hulbury is the town where I was born and raised," Nessa began, "And my first thoughts of it are harvest season markets, where freshly caught blessings from the Sea of Kyogre are sold, and tools fashioned unlike anywhere else! A day will not be enough to explore it all, even for the most experienced bargain-hunters!"

The scene changed. "At the seafood restaurant known as the Captain's Table, they will cook what you catch from the sea! Depending on your luck, a custom dish can be made to your liking!"

Plasma shifted, changing the view to Nessa atop the Hulbury Lighthouse, which was visible even from where the three stood. "Here is my favorite place in the whole town. Whenever I feel worried or troubled, I come to look at the Encircling Seas and the misty Girdle far away. I make up my mind and I set myself to a decision whenever I see the waves from afar. Perhaps it will have a soothing effect on you as well..."

"I've seen that model in ads before!" Marvin said. "I never knew she was a Gym Leader, but I will admit that I haven't been here very long."

Rose bit his lip. "A stubborn girl, that one. She said that she would succeed at two careers, modeling and being a Gym Leader at once! Tercano tried to force her to choose one or the other, but she saw it through! Anyways, my lad, I look forward to seeing your battle with her. And if you win, why don't we have a meal at the Captain's Table?"

"Chairman, you must not make plans so carelessly," a new arrival, a woman in a drab uniform, said as she held up a datatablet. "By the time that boy...Henry Sword, I believe...is finished with his Gym Battle, you will have to have already eaten and left Hulbury for Hammerlocke. Please, follow me."

"Oleana, you are far too strict!" Rose bemoaned. "A never fun hurt anybody. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy! I need some rest to continue my duties, as we all do."

Oleana would not concede. "It is my duty to keep your more childish impulses in check, Rose. No wonder you always lose to Tercano in a battle of wills! You are hardly an adult at heart. And how do you think the other Chairman will feel when he sees his rival conversing with one of his contestants in the Galarian League? There is also little time before the project is complete, and thus have no leeway for irregularities in your schedule."

Rose was ushered away, although he still gave some final words. "Henry, was that Chairman Rose?" Marvin asked. "Why would he have anything to do with us?"

"I don't know, but we better tell Magnolia," Henry said. "We ought to head back to the Magnolia RV, I have double the maintenance to do now that Twiggy has two sticks...and ordering a TM for Sunny Day might be a good idea before we head into the Gym."

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Now, Hulbury Stadium

Sometimes I feel as though I shall never find rest in this marred world, and that the place of my eventual habitation lies elsewhere, without the Circles of the Earth. And so Death will bring me there, but perhaps I shall reach it at a sooner date.

-Chairman Bronze Tercano, private journals

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As Bronze Tercano settled into the executive seats of Hulbury Stadium, the ritualistic formality of the entire League process filled him with a strange sort of annoyance. Who was fooled by that fatuous legalism that the League Committee espoused? Not him, certainly. Nor the other holding companies that Macro Cosmos Combined Mercantiles controlled almost to a single degree.

Rose has tried to spy on Henry Sword!

The rage was difficult to suppress. Tess, bless her, had discovered a stream of variables that led her to place a watcheye over Hulbury, a devicethat had captured footage of Rose and Oleana conversing with Henry and his young ward, Marvin. Better a short delay before he approached Rose than now...

Rose has tried to spy on Henry Sword!

Bronze tried to shake the angry feelings away, seeing Henry and Nessa entering the arena and sending out their chosen Pokemon, a Thwacky and Toxapex, as the match began. Tess gave Henry a favorable outcome of success, along with a troubling comment at the end of her winding summary of events.

"There is a hidden menace in the moon."

Bewildered and exhausted, Bronze had thought assumed that her comment was a sort of malfunction in her abilities as a Bibliographer. He scrambled a small sortie of spacefolder drones to sweep over the moon's surface, wondering if he would find anything in particular. Once the search came up wholly uneventful, Bronze put the strange utterance aside and set his focus on the Gym Battle.

...

Twiggy thrummed upon the ground with both its sticks, creating the taunting rhythm that had driven many a Pokemon mad with battle-fury. The Toxapex closed its face with its cloud blue leg-protuberances, hiding away from the noise. It held on...and on...and further on. It isn't countering, Henry thought. Why?

Impatient, Twiggy rashly lost control of its impulses and began to batter the sheltered Toxapex with its pair of bludgeons, raining down a maelstrom of impotent hits on the Pokemon's shell. A dun purple stain crawled up Twiggy's body, and it fell back from the opposing Pokemon, emitting violet wafts of smog into the air. Poison! Bronze thought, remembering his own painful experiences in the Rorian League long ago with the anomalous status condition.

"You use Baneful Bunker," Henry said to Nessa. "Toxapex keeps its legs down to defend, and if the opponent makes a physical move that makes contact, they get poisoned. I admit that you fooled me with the lack of movement from your Pokemon. But there is another thing, Nessa. The temperatures of Galar's waters and climate are a tad bit cold for Toxapex, are they not?"

"And what do you mean, boy?"

The fell glare came into Henry's eyes again. "In every picture of you and Toxapex that I have seen around town, Toxapex's legs were closed to conserve heat. If it keeps closed and guarded, we cannot attack it. But there is a simple way to open it up...Sunny Day!"

Twiggy raised its sticks, and an extranormal flow of energy emitted from its body, violating several laws of thermodynamics in the process of near-spontaneous generation. The energy coalesced into a miniature orb of scorching flame, shining down onto the arena and raising the local temperature to such a degree that some audience members began to sweat. Toxapex writhed in the light, and then opened its arms, exposing the soft central core. "Now! Branch Poke!"

Enduring the toxins running through its veins, Twiggy ran forward with its weapons raised, and struck Toxapex's core in the eyes, defeating it. Toxapex is unable to battle!" an announcer cried. "Challenger Sword has defeated one of Gym Leader Nessa's two Pokemon!"

"I used a TM for Sunny Day before the battle," Henry explained as he used an Antidote. "It was a good play, and the hunch I had was correct. The device only just arrived in time, I don't know what would have happened now if I hadn't installed it."

"Great work, challenger," Nessa said. "I'm impressed. Now, the time has come to raise the ante! Drednaw!"

The roaring beast came out of Nessa's Poke Ball in a glare of blue light. "Well, this is fortunate," Henry mused. "I've battled this one before. It is both a Water and Rock-type, so the advantage is with me."

Nessa's Dynamax Band began to shine. "This will not be as easy as you reckoned..."

"Is she going to Dynamax?" a Macro Cosmos employee said, to which Tess gave a swift reply. "No, not quite. The transformation that is about to occur will change Drednaw's appearance along with its size and strength...the time has come for Gigantimax Drednaw to decide the fate of this battle."

...

The Drednaw now had become so great and terrible in size that the Galar Tachyonic Particles formed a dark vortex above its head, resembling the circular whirlpools bearing the likeness of the Darkest Day long ago. It now was far greater than even a Dynamaxed Drednaw, having gained unique abilities through a poorly understood biological mechanism. "Max Move!" Nessa yelled.

A foot the width of an oil tanker crashed down on Twiggy, unable to escape from the questing strike as it endured the hit with its twin wooden rods. "No!" Marvin said. "It has the Type advantage, but now it will never escape the Drednaw's sheer size and strength!"

"Razor Leaf!" Henry cried. A flurry of organic blades materialized and drove themselves deep into the Drednaw's foot, causing the Pokemon to roar in pain and released its foot from Twiggy's exhausted frame. The battered Pokemon fled to its master's side, awaiting further orders.

"Your Pokemon cannot fight with the injuries it sustained during the battle with Toxapex!" Nessa crowed. "Will you switch to your Gurdurr, or perhaps your Sirfetch'd? I have plans for them, as well. Whoever you choose, we shall blast you away in our torrents to the very ends of the Earth! G-Max Stone Surge!"

Geyers of water sprayed from summoned aquifers hidden until that point, blowing Twiggy away. Ray shields protected the audience from the flowing miasma of debris and liquid. The water drained out through a drain system before it collided with Henry, but another threat had arisen. Sharp rocks had wormed out of the plazcrete floor, dotting the entire arena. Stealth Rock, Casey thought. If Henry switches in another Pokemon...

Henry was silent for a short time, before placing his fingers on the Dynamax Band around his wrist, unused until then. "Twiggy! Dynamax!"

The Pokemon grew, its twin bludgeons stretching to the size of great pillars. The dark aura of the Galar Particles around Twiggy's head joined the vortex above Drednaw's, sending a crimson shadow over the whole arena. "I will win this match with a single Pokemon!" Henry yelled. "Leon, Chairman Bronze, watch me!"

Twiggy leaped with abnormal dexterity, hitting Drednaw's armored face plate, sending wood splinters crashing into the ground. The Drednaw bit in retaliation, but Twiggy spun to avoid the blow and struck it again. Hit and run tactics, Bronze thought. Thwacky has an advantage over Drednaw's limited speed, but these attacks lack a winning factor with Drednaw's armored plates. This match might go either way...

Drednaw dug its feet into the shattered arena and lunged to bite Twiggy. There was not enough distance to reach the elusive simian, but Drenaw's cerulean neck extended from its shell, biting Twiggy's stick. The Pokemon raised its arm to strike Drednaw down with its other weapon, but a burst of water from Drednaw's shell blew it out of Twiggy's hand and into the arena ceiling, vanishing in the dark vortex.

"Drednaw, in this state," Nessa said as the two giants continued their struggle. "Has the power to crush entire metal pylons with its jaws. Your feeble branch will not last long under these conditions, boy. One cannot move, and the other is out of your reach. Attack and defense will be impossible. You cannot win."

"Oh, you are correct," Henry said, grinning. "But only if that other branch hadn't been blasted away."

A revolving object descended from the dark clouds that blotted out the arena's glowglobes, racing towards Drednaw. The bludgeon crushed Drednaw's temple, rocking its extended head back and forth with whiplash force. The Galar Particles expended their charge, and Drednaw shrunk into its former state, unconscious on the damp plazcrete.

Bronze clapped along with the rest of the League staff, but he had to hold a smile from showing. He really did it after all.

...

"Drednaw has fainted!" an announcer yelled above the din. "Defeating Gym Leader Nessa is Challenger Henry Sword! Challenger Sword moves on in the Galarian League Challenge!"

"Blast!" Nessa said, sending back her Pokemon. "The branch was bent! You pretended it had been thrown away in the water burst, but it had only orbited through the particle cloud! It's your victory, and I thank you for the match...perhaps we will meet again."

Again? Henry thought, shaking Nessa's hand. That would either be at the final ceremony for the League...or the field of battle. Now, didn't I have something to do with Chairman Rose?