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A Lament for Logaria, first hextrain of the fifth stanza.
Where now are the crown and the king that were blessed?
Where has gone the south-land, Suthernesse?
The seas are split, the earth is rent,
The way is gone, the world is bent
Theirs the pride and theirs the cost:
All is drowned — Logaria is lost.
-text dated to AF 647, Hisui. Writer unknown.
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Motostoke Stadium...
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As Henry Sword reached Hammerlocke for the exhibition, Bronze Tercano welcomed new arrivals from far-away regions to his Wyndon headquarters. As Tess continued to command the movements of the Association, the Chairman presented the images of the interior of Hammerlocke Power Plant to his staff.
"I am displeased to announce that our deepthroat agents in Macro Cosmos were unable to find anything as grounds for an audit," Bronze said to the assembly. "But using our privileges that come with entering candidates in the League, we ought to have the funds allocated and the men in place to clean up the debris caused by Rose's downfall in about a month."
"Thirty-four days, to be precise," Tess said, tucking her long hair over her shoulder. "We have about fourteen brute squads of Rorian Commandos and their accompanying soldiers to be deployed into active service, in case things take a turn to violence, which is exceedingly likely for some reason I cannot yet perceive."
In the audience, Gold felt a twinge of curious fear. Rorian Commandos! The soldier-fanatics, taken from the ranks of reformed convicts or military veterans, were bound to Bronze and the Association by a bond of shared suffering and above-average training. They would likely kill themselves or fight a rampaging Dragapult at Bronze's bidding if it came down to it. Even then, massive pools of conventional military resources were available to the Association. There was no fighting force in the world, not even all of Macro Cosmos's mercenary armies, that could stand against the iron fist of the Rorian League. What is he afraid of?
"Husband, there will be collateral damage, innocents killed," Moon said, raising a note of caution. "The blame would not wholly rest on Rose's shoulders, even if Galarian civilization is at stake. And we still do not know Rose's plans."
"I believe it is some sort of energy weapon or generator powered by a property of Wishing Stars yet unknown," Sycamore said. "Rose might use it as a bargaining chip or an offer to create a monopoly on world power generation. The large stockpile of Wishing Stars he is accumulating will not be of no use."
"Woodhall thinks doom is at hand," Jake growled. "And some new enemy unlooked for is on the moon. Our watcheyes only see barren rock, so we are letting the issue rest for as long as we might. I don't see why a little forcible negotiation couldn't help in this situation. Send in the commandos, send in the combat mechs for all I care!"
"Never trust a thinking machine," Rellus warned. "Combat mechs are inferior to trained Pokemon in any regard."
"We don't have to trust them to use them!" Bronze pointed out. "And we cannot march with force until we find a reason to do so. We ought to merely drain his assets with an Imperial Order while preventing Galarian industry from collapsing with several frontispiece corporations, shells for our cause. His company will not function without money, and the wealth stored in any one of Rose's vaults is enough to buy all of Kanto!" He lowered his voice to a growl. "Rose knows he cannot fight me militarily, so he is resorting to precautions for this eventuality."
"Eliminating Macro Cosmos's funds would be childish, perhaps, but effective," Moon said. "If all our operatives sabotage Rose's operations as soon as the audit is issued, and Woodhall foresees whatever tricks he has up his long sleeves, then Rose will have very little operating capital to resist with. He would be cut off, put in a corner. He might liquidate some of his more esoteric assets to buy time, but we will have utterly disbanded Macro Cosmos Advanced Mercantile Solutions by then. I hope that Rose will enjoy his early retirement, while a person more worthy of trust operates Galarian industry." Her eyes flitted to Tess for a moment, before resting back on her husband.
"Our conspiracy has a weakness," Bronze said. "Our credibility will collapse if Henry Sword and Casey Shield are eliminated from the League. We will lose our rights under the Rorian Convention to issue Imperial Orders to other competitors. Rose might complete his hidden plan before we can fully mobilize. If it is a weapon of some sort, I will not hesitate to declare martial war on Macro Cosmos and bomb Rose and his cronies to dust. Woodhall, what do you estimate our chance of success to be?"
"Given all current variables..." Tess paused, calculated, and then spoke. "There is a ninety-nine percent chance of total forfeiture of Macro Cosmos's assets and the disposal of President Rose, an eighty-three percent chance of keeping our popularity at current levels with minimal loss to our credibility in the public eye, and a seventy-eight percent chance of total or increased success in all our aims."
"I appreciate those odds," Sycamore said. "But I have heard that a Bibliographer cannot make an accurate prediction with an incomplete data set. What is the margin of error in your foresight?"
Tess calculated again, coming up with another answer. "A two-point-nine error margin exists in all my previous predictions, mostly concerned with Henry Sword and Casey Shield's performance in the League."
"Well, that isn't so bad-" Gold began before Tess continued to speak.
"However, I am afraid that if I account for any sort of supernatural variable, our chance of success drops to point-one percent."
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If you perceive that a person holds power over you, whether or not it is true, then your weakness is very real.
-Emrett Dialogues, compiled works.
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The Magnolia RV sped through a little valley near Hammerlocke, riding on a paved road as Boldore and Diggersby delved into the yellow patches of grass about the city. After Hop had successfully defeated Kabu, the trio at Motostoke left to meet up with Henry at the Vault.
"Kabu and I have a history," Magnolia said. "Thank goodness he regained his competitive spirit after the slump he entered a while back! He learned that no matter what sort of slander and insults folks throw at you, you have to reject them and brush off their jeering voices. Sometimes you must even deceive yourself...if only that other child could have learned that."
Marvin was about to ask her what she meant, but Casey broke his line of thought with a shout. "Marvin, look out the window! You can see Hammerlocke Stadium and the Power Plant!"
Turning, Marvin saw that the stadium was built like a great castle with a gate shorn in the head of a spark-drake of yore, but about the castle, there were two great conductive pylons across from each other that hummed with the energy of the Galar Tachyonic Particles, and in the midst of them was a great tower atop the vast castle that contained Macro Cosmo's administrative functions for the Power Plant with a flat arena atop it, wide enough for a full-scale battle. Brooding caravans of Macro Cosmos personnel stood around the facility and entered and exited, the facility like a fortified stronghold for Rose. Strict security measures kept League festivities away from the rest of the Power Plant, preventing any prying eyes from spying on Macro Cosmos secrets.
The conductive pylons as tall as skyscrapers absorbed the Galar Tachyonic Particles and sent them into the underground workings of the facility, maintained by an entire force of Electric-type Pokemon and Macro Cosmos workers and mercenaries to keep Galar fueled and fed. The particles were absorbed in a massive grid conduit, then sent to a particle accretor that stabilized the unstable particles and prevented any Pokemon from spontaneously Dynamaxing in the facility. The energy would be circulated into a collection of tube-like conduits, squeezing out every gout of energy from the particles using a form of fusion before releasing the electricity in a network of wires that extended to more plants which doled out the energy for domestic consumption.
"Think Henry's made it there yet, Magnolia?" Marvin asked.
"Most likely."
...
Henry parked his Rotom Bike before the yawning entrance of Hammerlocke Stadium, in time for the Vault Tour. Sending out his Pokemon, the Pokedex Holder walked toward the obsidian dragon's mouth, hoping to find Sonia or Rose inside. "What an entrance! I see why some people would be intimidated into leaving."
"Spot on," a voice called from within the Stadium. "These ramparts were built during the Days of Terror to protect from Logarian invaders, you know. The ancients would have had serious problems if the Southmen could have just walked anywhere they wanted! Welcome to Hammerlocke, Henry Sword!"
Raihan stood, dressed in a League uniform with a sweater of dragon-likeness below a head with ebony-shorn hair amid an orange hat. "I have heard that you have no interest in the League beyond how it may benefit you, Henry Sword. You are not the only one in the Galarian League like that, nay, the entire history of the Pokemon League in its many forms! Challengers like you are always more interesting."
"You have heard of me?"
"Of course! I would be failing in my duties as a Gym Leader if I didn't do any homework on the most promising trainers! Beating Milo, Nessa, and Kabu one after the other...I also have determined that you are a gear craftsman and are here to investigate the vault. Now, before you enter, fight me!"
"What? Please, clarify!"
"I said I wanted a match!" Raihan said. "I want to see how you do against me! Which Pokemon will be your frontline, Lancelot, Steeler, or Twiggy? Answer me! I want to see your tactics, I want to see what you have to offer against me, the most skilled Gym Leader in Galar!"
Good grief, are all the people involved in the Gym Challenge like this? Henry thought. "Why in the world would I fight you? If I did, my real-world decision-making would be known to you, and you would now have a gauge of the strength of my Pokemon against yours! I have no time for this, I need to get to the Vault!"
Raihan opened a datatablet, taking a picture of his Duraldon. "Nothing much for next month's issue of Galarian Gym Leader Magazine! Interviews and photoshoots, how I love them! Anyways, if you won't fight, what are you standin' around for? Time is running short. Get a move on it, kid!"
"Do you take pictures of Pokemon every day, or just after or before battles?" Henry asked, to which Raihan gave a derisive scoff. "No, not every battle. I lost an exhibition match against Leon at the opening ceremony that you missed. Why would I use images from a battle that I lost?"
"Oh, I see," Henry said, as he passed over the battlements. "You picked weak opponents to fight, so you would get pictures of your Pokemon winning those matches instead. Very honorable. So noble."
"Ah-h-h-h-h-h, it isn't like that. You can't get good images if your opponent is a total wimp, you know. Also, you are the challenger I have been looking out for the most! It wouldn't hurt to feel more honored! Leon recommended you, Chairman Bronze is backing your campaign, and you're a Pokedex Holder! But I am the eighth Gym Leader, so you ought to beat four more before we can fight for real. Don't make my hopes in you go to waste, kid."
...
In a little while, the two came before a single, squat building with the crest of the Clan of Theon over its wooden doors. They entered into a lobby, without a single Macro Cosmos employee to welcome them. Sonia or Rose were nowhere to be seen, and a faint scuffle from behind another set of doors that led into a palisade could be heard.
With a great bang, Sonia ran out of the balcony, with her Yamper and a wild Oranguru chasing in pursuit. "Why is she being chased by an Oranguru?" Raihan mused. "Perhaps it has something to do with the increase in wild Pokemon attacks lately? Time to fight!"
"Sonia's Yamper is chasing her as well," Henry said, ready to intervene as Sonia raced over the empty lobby. "Sonia! Can't you fight back by yourself?"
"No!" she cried. "My Yamper came out of its Poke Ball when the Oranguru started to attack! It's gone insane, do something!"
Lancelot sprang forward with valiant blade brandished, but it peered into Oranguru's eyes and faltered backwards to turn and thrust its strike at its own trainer. Steeler blocked the rouge blow with its girder, while Twiggy restrained the maddened Pokemon from behind. "Oi! It's gone insane!" Raihan cried. "Duraldon, enter the fight!"
"Wait a moment, Raihan," Henry said, holding up his Rotom Pokedex. "It isn't any use. Oranguru can control the minds of Pokemon with it's fan, by manipulating something called an 'ego-memory.'* The motions of its fan create an imprint on the consciousness of a Pokemon of the Oranguru itself, essentially acting as a body double. Although it has no effect on humans, we need to steal its fan to stop this cycle of possession."
"It can only control one Pokemon at a time," Raihan pointed out, seeing that Yamper had now recovered. "Now, Lancelot is being controlled. All of us should go after the fan at once..."
The Gym Leader sent out a Sandaconda and had his Duraldon encircle the rouge Oranguru on all sides, while Henry's Pokemon continued to restrain the ego-memory-possessed Lancelot. Oranguru shifted its fan and overrode the mind of Duraldon, but the Sandaconda hit its companion away, while Henry's Pokemon overwhelmed the Oranguru from all sides. Oranguru moved its fan again, but Sonia's Yamper stood and gave the simian a mighty shock, ending the fight.
Oranguru fled away humbled, while Sonia lay on the floor, cast away amidst the fighting. Henry helped her up, asking, "Sonia, why did Oranguru fight you in the first place?"
"Well, a Macro Cosmos employee let me in the Vault, (which you must see! The online description cannot compare to the actual experience!) and after I was done the employee gave me some tea from a shop in the stadium, so I went to the overlook to drink it, but when I left I stepped on a wild Oranguru's fan. I assume it climbed the building from the gardens...the fur got tangled in my boot buckles, and it got mad when I tried to clean it out..."
"I see," Henry said, a new design entering his mind. "Raihan, our work is not yet finished..."
*Ever heard of setup and payoff? Remember those ego-memories, remember them well...
...
Behind an ornate fence-line of gates toward the trimmed gardens outside of the Stadium, Oranguru crept out into the wild, plucking at its disarrayed fan. Henry, with his expression straight and betraying little emotion, leaped from behind a tall bush and grabbed the Pokemon's arm with both hands.
Raihan and Henry's Pokemon collided with the Oranguru, holding it down. Amid the pileup, the Pokemon could not so much as move its foot an inch. Henry pulled out some tools from his bag and began to brush and neaten the fan, undoing the marring. "There, is that better? I am sorry that the only way I could do this was to elect the path of force. It is not perfect, but the fan should no longer be tangled."
The Pokemon released the Oragnuru, and it did not spring to attack or possess another Pokemon again. "It seemed that the fan was damaged when I stepped in it," a penitent Sonia said. "I am sorry for not being more mindful, Oranguru. All right, let's go back to the vault."
Henry turned to leave, but the Oranguru possessed Steeler, making it shove Henry back to the marionette-master. It wagged a thick finger as it smiled, and Raihan first noticed two things, the first being that Oranguru wished for Henry to partner with it, and the second being that this was Henry's intention.
Raihan judged as Henry put the Pokemon in a Poke Ball and dubbed it Fanguru that the seeming goodwill directed at cleaning the Fanguru's plan was a way to curry favor with it and convince the Pokemon to join Henry's team. It was both a kind approach and relentlessly manipulative. Henry had done good, but it was not without ulterior motives. Raihan reflected that this was even frightening, eerily similar to the very same politician that had appointed him to the position of Gym Leader...
"Alright, Henry," Sonia said, untroubled. "We've dilly-dallied enough. Come to the vault, Henry, I found something big that you would never find on any website..."
Henry was led back into the stadium, down the same winding route as before, through the empty lobby, and into the lower flights of stairs that descended into a vault. Within it was a multitude of plastiglass cases lined in even rows against a brick-and-mortar wall, containing artifacts both listed and unlisted on the official manifest. But in a corner of the lighted complex was a mural of not one, but two heroes.
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Hammerlocke Vault
We must make Men think more about the future as a strategy for the Kingdom of the Mbelekoro, because the future is the part of Time that is the least like Eternity that Arceus wants people to focus on. The past is frozen and no longer flows. The present is all lit up with eternal rays because the decisions made there affect one's lot in Life Beyond. The future is where the worst sins can be brought about; I challenge any observer to name a single mortal sin in which its evil effects or the pleasure expected from it does not require anticipation of future gain or loss.
-Emrett Dialogues, compiled works
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The tapestries were fourfold. One showed two youths gazing upon an encroaching storm, standing upon a flowering hill. Two youths watching the Darkest Day approach. The second was an image of the two heroes amidst a terrible disaster, fire and smoke rising into the sky. The Darkest Day occurs...the youths are bewildered. The third was of the two youths wielding a legendary sword and shield to drive off the darkness, and the fourth showed two being crowned lords over ancient Galar.
"This wasn't listed in the online transcript of the relics held here!" Sonia said. "This mural is older than the statue at the Budew Drop Inn, and it depicts two heroes, not one! Henry, what about the sword and shield in the mural? Do they look the same as the one wielded by the statue?"
"Yes," Henry observed. "The sword's hilt has a similar shape, and of particular note are the upper edges of the shield, which jut sharply upwards. It is not entirely unlikely that the two pieces of armament here are one and the same as the statue at the Budew Drop Inn. The parallels are manifold, but I wonder about the contradiction here between the number of heroes of legend, if these tapestries depict the Darkest Day as they claim."
Raihan had entered behind Sonia. "Very interesting and all, but I have a question for Henry. Why are you in this Gym Challenge anyways? Your little friend, Casey, has her reasons, but you are an enigma. Do tell!"
Henry smiled without care. "Oh, I intend to go back to the Slumbering Weald and fight the Elohim that protect two legendary artifacts there to claim for myself. I need to get stronger for that, right?"
"You didn't tell me before?" Raihan cried. "Let's go the Weald now and snuff out these powerful beings! My Pokemon could annihilate them as I please!"
"That would not be wise," Henry said. "I believe they are the kind of beings that will accept a challenge out of a noble will, by someone who truly wishes to wield the artifacts hidden there. You know them as the Rusted Sword and the Rusted Shield, Sonia. And I might need aid in the fight, but although such incarnate spirit beings are powerful, they can be defeated or driven away for a time if they take physical form. Strictly business only, you must understand."
"There is another strange thing," Henry continued. "Chairman Rose has been gathering massive amounts of Wishing Stars: one of his agents, a challenger named Bede, told me. Magnolia once told me that Wishing Stars contain energy similar to Dynamax Energy, but theoretically could be absorbed by a being in a concentrated form. I have evaluated the other theories for why Macro Cosmos would need such a stockpile of Wishing Stars, and something always makes them implausible."
"Wishing Stars, eh?" Raihan growled. "I don't care about politics. Chairman Rose, and Chairman Bronze...are both the same in ways that none of them realize. They are good men trying to lead, but are realizing that such characteristics may make them poor leaders. I see no reason why Rose wouldn't use the Wishing Stars for his own ambitions...and I think I know what you are trying to insinuate, Henry Sword."
"What do you mean, Raihan?" Sonia asked.
"In the period of time twenty years before Galar started becoming modernized with its discovery," Raihan began. "There were a great many events that threatened to end the world, culminating in the War for the Sake of Earth, also known as the War Against the Eclipse Alliance. We have won a hard-bought peace for fifty-two years, outside of the skirmish at the Battle of the Forest of Elmoth. There were Pokemon-and still are-that can destroy the world or remake it for the worse, even here in Galar."
"Then we ought to ask him to his face," Henry said. "If he is collecting Wishing Stars to bring about disaster, and bringing about a second Darkest Day!"
"..."
Raihan and Sonia burst into laughter. "Oh, yes! Ask him! We need to see his reaction. Now, how do we get ahold of him?"
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The Moon
I am the righteous hand of the Mbelekoro, and I am the devil that you will forget in time! And now I tell you that one day you will see that I will return, I ensure it, and that Hell is coming with me!
-Jonathan Rowell Cypress, recorded last few sentences before his death
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There is a hidden menace on the moon.
The cryptic words troubled the Chairman and confused the Bibliographer that had uttered them. Tess could not think of any causal reason why she had compulsively uttered that phrase, and, I am sorry to say, would not discover the reason until later when the menace unlooked for had befallen.
On the surface of the moon, nothing lives but Lunatone, the wandering Minor, and perhaps Pokemon of kinds yet undiscovered by the Children of Arceus, the Followers, Men. But the Followers made their mark upon it, long ago. Now, the time has come to tell of the menace in the moon unknown...as of yet.
Fifty-four years ago, a meteor by the name of Grand Meteor Delta was set on a collision course with Earth. By the valiant efforts of the Pokedex Holders Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald in coalition with the Dragon Lord Rayquaza, the meteor was destroyed and the dark power behind it stalled for a long while, and Deoxys was cast into the Outer Darkness of space. That is a story told and fulfilled long ago, and no more mind to it will be given in this tale.
As part of the great Devon Corporation's efforts to destroy the meteor, a rocket was sent into space to warp the meteor to a far side of space with the aid of a device known as the Dimensional Shifter, a precursor to modern spacefolder drives. The Dimensional Shifter was destroyed by the Draconid Zinnia, who in the end was humbled and redeemed herself before her death in the War for the Sake of Earth. But the rocket was left to drift in space, and a device floated out of the spent fuel canisters and landed on the moon.
A small, innocuous-looking mining probe.
Placed there by a brilliant Eclipse Alliance scientist and spy known as Tyler, the probe was filled with the data and basic tools necessary to spread itself many times over...and build a fleet of mighty warships as part of Team Eclipse's Project Tartarus. Although their data projections proved that the probe would likely succeed in its mission, but only fifty-two years later. The probe was left untroubled as the Eclipse Jihad began, and was utterly defeated even at a great loss to the fighters on both sides.
But far, far from any taint of Mannish or Pokemon civilization that would disturb it, the probe began to slowly re-create itself, deep under the surface of the moon. The tritium and di-hydrogen on the surface of the moon, accumulated from millennia of exposure to solar wind, were processed in small, inconspicuous refineries in hastily-delved tunnels that fueled a growing fleet of warships in airless hangers under the moon's barren, scorched surface.
Large nodules of precious metals under the moon were broken down and converted into raw materials. Construction robots in the shape of Pokemon, automated by the crude central AI construct, assembled specific-designed weapons and antique battleships. Designs were built, tested, built, tested again, and then produced in great numbers. The buildup lasted for fifty-three years.
The result was incredible, yet unknown to all but a few roaming Pokemon in the deep tunnels of the moon. A six-thousand-strong fleet of vessels, armed to the teeth with weaponry and fueled and ready to depart at a moment's notice. All bore the black and orange symbol of the long-defeated Eclipse Alliance on their hulls: a ruddy sun being shadowed by a dark disc.
Although yet undiscovered by the roaming watcheyes, the vessels were inert. The crude programming of the original probe did not have any adaptive characteristics as modern Porygon-based AI constructs did. The warships delved into resources, constructed more robots and warships, and repeated the process. The only way abandoned Project Tartarus could awaken, destroy the hanger roofs with explosives and send the vessels to Earth for combat, was a signal to the preserved probe with the genetic approval of a member of Team Eclipse with a rank over Commander.
No such person on Earth remained. They were all dead, either in combat or perished in prison. Even if the biological samples remained, two other obstacles remained. No known Eclipse site could send a signal to the probe, for they had all been destroyed to the knowledge of the Association and any escaped member of the Alliance, and the passcode for activation was lost.
There was no threat, or so it seemed. The fleet waited in silence.
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This was all mentioned and elaborated on in Brick Bronze. Don't accuse me of Deus ex Machinating this army.