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Circhester City

Most secular rulers are notoriously cynical when religion becomes involved in their affairs. Religion, too, is a weapon. What manner of weapon, then, is religion when it becomes the government? It is more dangerous than most can account for; Tercano must know this and I supposed he never wished for it, but he also knows another thing: you cannot stop a mental epidemic.

-Chairman Rose, recorded comments

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"Marvin has a streak of foolhardiness that even Gold may have looked down upon, Magnolia," Bronze said, his hologram pacing through the Magnolia RV. "You kept the Dracovish! You really kept it! I should have it taken from you, but if I became a creature set on one path so much that I would rather die than change it, I would not be a good leader. My requirements for you are to give me a full quantum scan of the Pokemon's body and to immediately hand it over to Association custody if it begins to display any more signs of anomalous behavior. And where are Henry, and Marvin? I must tell him these things and more."

"He's doing some work," Casey said. "A few hours ago a woman named Melony came with a staff made of ice to temper out in the mountains. She said that the Pokemon that owned the staff wouldn't come out of its Poke Ball unless it was in the best possible condition! Marvin got brought along. What do you wanna tell him?"

"I thought it would be good for him to know that we no longer need him to succeed in the Galarian League for this threat to be averted. We still cannot reveal the nature of the danger for the time being to the general public, but he should not feel in debt to us. He may do as he wishes in the League with no added burdens. But perhaps you should not tell him this."

"Why not?" Casey asked, confused.

"It would increase his dependency, and make him lose his drive. I tell you this, Casey, so that you no longer feel troubled about your defeat in the League. But Henry will get further than you, great Pokedex Holder. It's the things we do without thinking that are the real danger to us. Look how you didn't think about being defeated by Opal! I could have told you everything you needed to do in order to win the League itself, but that would also increase your dependency on me. If something goes wrong, you can say, 'why did you not warn me?' But here I am warning you, Casey, Magnolia. I am warning you by example, not just in words."

"Tercano," Magnolia said. "You are different than any other politician I have ever met or heard of. I so would have liked to meet you when you were a bit younger. It seems as though you consider yourself a god-emperor."

The hologram shifted. "The ancient Kalosi people thought that society should be ruled over by philosopher-kings. Do I fulfill that quandary? Not as much as they would have wished, but I think that the source of my difference lies in the fact that I will tell people things they do not want to hear. But in this, I make the people who elected me think for themselves. I purge their cowardice. Most people want cowardice. It is so easy to civilize a populace when teaching it. You water down the standards that lead to bravery. You restrain the Willpower. You regulate the appetites. You fence in the horizons. You make a law for everything. You deny the existence of your own stagnation. You even teach the children to breathe slowly. You tame all of society."

Bronze continued with his diatribe. "This almost happened in Roria before I became the Grand Bashar, the One Who Shows The Way. I prevented those with small souls from seeking power over others with their Ambition and selfish Ideals by destroying the faith they might still have in themselves. In my pride, I would say that the Rorian Commandos were necessary, and the Bibliographers as well, but in truth, I detest what my armies represent. In focusing on human minds we have lost sight of what made Pokemon so necessary to our condition: the bond of arafel. Judgment and shared suffering.

"This is my warning to Galar and all the Pokedex Holders that still live, Magnolia. I will help you, but you must never become dependent on me. If you denied the need for Knowledge in trusting me, you cannot define what your senses report. If you deny Willpower, then you unwheel the vehicle that bears us all. But if we deny Emotion, we lose all touch with the universe. There should not be a safe, reassuring ceiling above you, Casey Shield. Only an open sky full of changes. Welcome it. Every sense you possess is a vessel from Arceus to help you react to change! Does that tell you why the way I rule is necessary?"

"What you say might not always be true, Tercano," Magnolia protested. "The people of Galar are different than other races and cultures."

"Different?" Bronze said before his image blinked out of existence. "Difference is measured in what Arceus considers to be different; the disparity in natural stature through the universe is a welcome thing, but there are constant linking threads over all of Space and Time. And the truth is always shrouded in the ambiguity of the words that express it."

...

Steamdrift Way

In the alpine frosts of northeastern Galar, a rotund thermitent stood half-buried in the snow, orange against the white powder under the night sky. Inside, Henry knelt over a cane of solid ice, polishing it, smoothing out the flaws. Such monotonous precision was necessary to fully repair the piece of equipment, and this particular item was especially resistant to change.

"Equipment takes on the characteristics of its bearer," Henry said to Marvin, who was huddled in a corner of the thermitent. "That means that dangers lurk in all systems of repairing gear. They incorporate the unexamined beliefs of their creators. If you use a piece of equipment and it takes on your habits, you are strengthening its resistance toward metamorphosis. This is evident in the ice cane: the Pokemon that has used it will not come out of its Poke Ball because the cane is fractured."

Marvin glanced at the Poke Ball that the woman-Melony-had given them. "Fractured? Maybe it was broken when it was put back together at an earlier date. This Pokemon...I think it looks like a Mr. Rime. Those Pokemon have ice canes, right?"

"I suspected as much," Henry said, opening the thermitent flap and going outside into the bitter cold. "I will have to cover the cane in snow and then freeze it into compact ice. Mr. Rime makes its cane by psychically hardening the freezing temperatures that it emanates. Natural snow is the closest substitute we can find. Marvin, could you hold this end of the cane and roll it around in the snow for a bit?"

After getting an even coat of fallen snow on the cane, Henry set it out in the cold with Mr. Rime's Poke Ball. "After we get a few more applications of snow on the cane, we'll reforge it into the best shape for Mr. Rime's height, arm length, and handling habits. We will have to repair the cane first to make our troublesome Pokemon come out of its Poke Ball before we can finish the job and head back to Circhester Gym for payment."

"Circhester Gym?" Marvin wondered. "Why there? That strange woman in all those furs vanished without even telling us where she would go!"

"That woman is one of Circhester City's two Gym Leaders, Marvin. She will be at the Gym. I'll call you back out of the thermitent when the time comes for another round. I cannot move until the snow sets, so I will stay here."

"In that case," a low voice said. "Might I join you in this blasted wasteland? Sorry to interrupt, but I am Gordie, one of Circhester City's Gym Leaders."

Henry saw a man in a thermicoat approach from the slick road, with hair like cream with yellow streaks. Behind his plastiglass goggles were two blue eyes peering at the two boys. "Ah-h-h, Henry Sword! Melony told me that you would be around this one place. The snow is a disease, isn't it? But I would like to challenge you for an outdoor match since you will not be fighting me in the Gym Challenge."

"How would you know that?" Henry asked. "Just because I accepted Melony's request doesn't mean that I will challenge her."

"Of course you are!" Gordie said. "Think of the advantages of fighting someone using gear you have made and provided! You cannot see what will happen when fighting an enemy with suicidal folly unless you are a Gothitelle, looking forwards and backward. But that is enough philosophical nonsense for now. I wish to battle you more than any other challenger: you were endorsed by the Champion."

"I accept," Henry said. "Since this battle is fueled by an indulgent whim, I will use Marvin's Pokemon to gain a Type advantage over this Rock-type expert. Marvin, will Sniffler fight for me if you command it to?"

Marvin sent out Sniffler. "Go on, follow Henry's orders for this."

Gordie released a Stonjourner into the tundra. "Well, it seems that you have been doing some homework on me, Henry Sword! Bring on everything you have!"

Sniffler shot a jet of pressurized water out of the fluid catchpockets in its neck, but the Stonjourner lumbered aside and sent a hefty kick that embedded into the snow. Sniffler crawled out, folding its membranous body to escape the fallen leg of rock. Henry ordered Sniffler to leap away from the rock giant, putting several meters of distance between the two Pokemon.

It will have to pivot if it wants to hit Sniffler, Henry thought. Therein lies my opportunity.

The Stonjourner feinted back and then rushed at Sniffler, but Henry was prepared. Sniffler created severa; glassy orbs of water and then froze them by manipulating the ambient cold and rolled them over to the charging behemoth. Stonjourner stepped on a loose stone covered in the globes and fell over. "Got it!"

"Irrelevant!" Gordie yelled. "Rock Slide!"

Stones displaced themselves from under the snow as Stonjourner fell. They piled up around it, softening its tumble and keeping its position intact. It flipped off the barrier of rocks and came down with a Heavy Slam on Sniffler. The little Pokemon weaved right, but Stonjourner was ready to attack again, when-

A berry hit the rock beast in its square block of a head, cast from somewhere down the road to Circhester. Gordie stopped his onslaught to see Casey and her Raboot running over, angry as could be. "Hey! Attacking Henry and Marvin like that is super uncalled for! Time for a triple attack!"

"Raboot, melt the snow! Heat Wave!"

"Tera, blast some holes in the rock!"

Marvin saw what she was doing and decided to pitch in. "Sniffler, fill those holes with water! Aqua Jet!"

The ground rumbled as the water seeped deep into the ground, before circulating out from one of the few dozen blasted holes and hitting Stonjourner across the flank, defeating it.

"Yes! Bravo!" Gordie yelled, shivering. "Casey Shield, that's the name! You may have lost back in Ballonlea, but it is a privilege to battle with you! Going out in the cold for this flight of fancy was worth any physical suffering that I have endured. Salutations to young master Marvin, as well."

"What is going on here?" Casey said. "Henry, were you in a battle with this man for the fun of it? I came over to tell you some things that Chairman Bronze told us about, but it looked like something suspicious was going on."

"No problem at all, young mistress!" Gordie said. "It was just a friendly challenge, that's all. Now, Henry Sword, do you think you will be able to battle my mother soon? Have I given you a sample of her teachings in my fighting?"

"Of course," Henry said, looking through the sleet to where he had left Mr. Rime's ice cane and Poke Ball. "Right after I repair her piece of gear. I swore I left it right here, though. It seems to have gone missing. Gordie, was it displaced in the chaos of the battle?"

Henry noticed several dozen Eiscue waddling about a small ledge that led down into a vacant depression by the Steamdrift road, carrying the cane and the Poke Ball. "Ah! Thieving Pokemon! Lancelot, go!"

Lancelot cut into the herd, and two Eiscue fell unconscious with a swipe of its leek blade. Many of their fellows crowded around Sirfetch'd while the ones bearing the stolen cane and Capture Device fled down the slope of the hill, and in a flash of piercing white light, Sirfetch'd fell, frozen by the combined attack.

Henry sent his Pokemon back, but the herd of Eiscue had already gone far beyond his reach. "No! My client trusted me with those! Gordie, help me out, or you'll face the brunt of your mother's wrath just as much as I will!"

Gordie opened his mouth to speak but then degenerated into an uncontrollable fit of sneezing. He fell over, crawling through the snow toward the thermitent that promised light and warmth. Marvin felt his forehead, felt the burning even through his thin glove. "He's burning up! Why did he come out so underdressed, with only a thermicoat? Sniffler, help me get him into the tent..."

Raboot stayed inside the enclosure to warm the stricken Gym Leader, but when Marvin left the tent, both Henry and Casey had gone, two trails of footprints leading down the ledge and into darkness.

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Politics is the art of appearing candid and completely open while concealing as much as possible.

-Emrett Dialogues, compiled works

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Bronze Tercano had left Aether Paradise for Sinnosui,* pleased to see that Lusamine had indeed paid her dues. He looked out his shuttle window, musing. Although a family gathering to some might have been a dull affair, Bronze did not wish to shirk his duties as a godfather to the young Wilhem Berlitz.

The shuttle landed on a flat hill a little ways away from Berlitz Manor, on the outskirts of Sandgem City. Bronze and Moon had their Rorian Commandos stay behind, leaving even Tess. Even though he had many more pressing issues in Galar that might require his personal attendance, Bronze wished to ensure that his godson was trained in the art of statecraft, and so that he could have a teacher in certain aspects of politics that Pearl could not explain.

Flowering Pecha trees bore large, juicy fruits that were good to eat raw, and a smile came to Bronze's face when he remembered the taste. He and Moon had maintained these trees early in their marriage. "This family orchard is the best around for miles. Such a shame that Platinum never worked in it until the crisis in Sinnoh."

"She was always unprepared for the real world," Moon said, stepping through the wrought-iron gate. "At least now she produced a male heir for House Berlitz. You know that my father is old, even by Hisuian standards. He was worried about the bloodline failing with two daughters."

Leaving the garden behind, Moon activated the palm lock that led into the manor. The faint hum of protective shields stopped, and two plastiglass doors opened into the opulent interior. Jake would never be privy to such a place if he wasn't back in Wyndon.

Platinum ran out, hugging her sister. She was a slender, elegant woman that looked as young as Moon, although her true age of sixty-nine was betrayed in her manner of speech. Her long hair fell to her waist; her regal bearing and calm demeanor came from years of proper training. Pearl gave a respectful nod to Bronze, with young Wilhem by his side.

Nineteen-year-old Wilhem, tall and black-haired like his mother, could have been Bronze's son as much as Pearl's. Childless himself, Bronze had been appointed godfather of the boy and his personal instructor. The Grand Bashar had made a commitment and decided that he would not be a deadbeat in any of his duties to one so young as Wilhem. This is how life should be, simple, pleasurable, without hatred or terrible purpose. But it is not an easy thing to attain.

"How are things going in the rest of the Empire, Bronze?" Wilhem said, addressing the Chairman on a first-name basis. "Mother says that you have been in Galar, fighting a threat to the entire world!"

"Yes, and a threat that is nearly defeated, thanks to the efforts of two Pokedex Holders. A clever loophole exists in the code for the League Commission that allows large backers of challengers to audit each other's funds for as long as the sponsors have a stake in the confederation coffers. But Rose has acted so brusquely and with such careless abandon for caution that I have enough evidence to destroy Macro Cosmos and put an end to his schemes in only a week. I need not worry about it, now that the fate of Galar is secure."

"And this society that we live in is not an Empire, Wilhem," Pearl said. "It is an Association. You know very well that Bronze is elected every six years, and all people and Pokemon of the world ought to have a say in who should lead them into the future. We are on the cusp of the Era of Space, aren't we, Tercano?"

"Many signs point to that," Platinum said. "But come! Let us discuss more matters at the banquet table."

...

After several hours of conversation and waiting, the five sat down at a long table stocked with vittles. Unlike the days when Berlitz Senior had controlled the Great House, the servants and workers on the property also came to the dinner feast. Platinum had set out a meal for everyone, not just the pureblooded members of the Hisuian family.

"Wilhem was sent out into the orchards a bit ago," Pearl chuckled. "He found some blight and got rid of it with the Parasect that we keep around the mansion. The more responsibility and real-world experience he gets, the more we will correct the past mistakes of how House Berlitz brought up heirs." He glanced across the table to Wilhem. "I am considering appointing him manager of household affairs; ever since Sebastian passed away, we have gone through many incompetent butlers."

"I am glad to see that you are grounding him in reality," Bronze said. "I wish this family was larger."

While Wilhem looked sidelong at him, Bronze ate in silence, suddenly longing in his thoughts for the family that he could never truly have. He could stay in Sinnoh with Moon, but the rest of the Confederation would collapse without its figurehead, and the zealots in Roria would be driven toward open revolt. He could not allow himself to be a part of any lasting, stable relationship so closely based in one sliver of the world. Too many people and Pokemon would be in danger.

Bronze remembered that only a year ago, he and Moon had survived a rather clever assassination attempt. A remnant cell of the disbanded Team Rocket had hidden a modified atomic weapon in a building near where Bronze was trying to quell unrest at a Rorian insurgency near a Unovan laboratory that had publically voiced their criticism of the Chairman. The device detonated, and although the atomic fuel was not refined enough to kill him where he stood, the incendiary device killed hundreds with the heat of the blast and burnt out the eyes of many others with highly potent radioactive J-rays. Bronze and Moon had only survived because Rellus's Pelliper had carried them to safety out a broken window.

The Rocket thugs were captured, but they were torn from limb to limb by angry citizens on the way to a trial. Bronze did not pity them, but such a near-disaster reminded him of his own mortality and the risks he gave to those he loved simply due to his terrible purpose. If only he had known the realities of this accursed seat of power when he was a young and idealistic youth! But a younger Bronze Tercano had only scarcely envisioned the mobs of fanatics that flocked to him, the discovery of Galar, and the opposition that Macro Cosmos had posed for the longest while. Terrible purpose. I seem to be the only Pokedex Holder that has not escaped from it.

"Platinum, I have heard of your strange dreams," Moon said. "You mentioned them on our last comlink call. My husband has also been having odd visions." Her voice dropped low. "They do not bode well. We went to Yellow, and she said that an old enemy would return. At least, that was her interpretation."

"Sometimes I pity Yellow," Platinum said. "And Emerald as well for doing what he did. But it seems that in these times we are all having visions and seeing signs in dreams. Is it not written by Arceus, 'I will pour my spirit into my people in the end times, and your young men will prophesy, and your old men will dream dreams.' Are we old men or young men? I do not know. But my dreams are disjointed...confusing."

"End times?" Wilhem piped. "Father told me that something happened in Galar a few days ago that sounded like something straight out of prophecy."

"The leak of Galar Particles at the Hammerlocke Energy Plant," Bronze said, pushing away his food. "The passage from the Hisuian Coda you are referring to is, 'And I there was a great earthquake, and the sky was darkened. Never such an earthquake was seen on Earth. The sun was as black as sackcloth of shadow, and the moon was as red as blood. And the stars in the sky fell to Earth like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when shaken by a fierce wind. The sky was split into red light and darkness like a scroll being rolled up, and every Pokemon, the great ones, the small ones, the leaders, the wealthy, the powerful, everyone, rich, slave, or free, hid or went mad.' I have seen the watcheye footage. and if this occurred on a larger scale, I dread to think of what Rose would have done if he had weaponized this."

Moon shook her head. "There have been many Last Battles in the history of the world. The ancients thought they had defeated the Evil Djinn forever in the War of Wrath. It was not so. We finished their work at the Battle of the Demon's Tomb. Who are we to say that any conflict approaching us will be the final Typhoon Struggle?"

"But what about this returning enemy that Yellow spoke of?" Pearl said. "Will it be the Mbelekoro again? One of our older foes? But they are all dead...Lance might still be alive in the wild, although he would never strike against us. I cannot think of any being that fits the description of a returning foe outside of the Dark Lord."

Bronze suddenly smashed his fist against the table, making everyone flinch. Silverware was scattered about. "The Evil Djinn is gone!" Bronze yelled. "His prison is beyond the circles of the world, in another universe! He cannot return. And Yellow spoke of two foes, and another that would be the Dark Lord incarnate. It will be something else than the Mbelekoro, only less evil in that it served another and not itself. I for one know of two who under a higher will make an Unholy Trinity. Do you know of whom I speak?"

Platinum's eyes went wide. "No! Not them! They are dead, dead as can be! One is a smear of scaly dust on a forgotten island in the Distortion World, the other is in a pauper's grave! The only thing that could bring them back would be cloning, but that would be useless if the goal was to bring back their original personalities: their memories and experiences."

"Whatever the future holds," Moon said, hoping to calm Bronze down. "Our first goal is to defeat Macro Cosmos and stop whatever evil he has in store for Galar. Now, Pearl, how is Diamond doing? We haven't seen him for a very long time."

"He is paying his dues like any good citizen," Pearl replied. "After we retired from show business, he put the past behind him. We ought to have a reunion of the old guard, the Pokedex Holders from back in the Great Years. Except for Emerald, the foul little imp. He went over to Anthien and become a message Chatler for your zealots, repeating whatever they want to hear."

Bronze grimaced. Emerald had become the High Preist of the Rorian Convention, rallying the masses to battle and riot in Bronze's favor. The Chairman had repeatedly tried to remove him, but the popular support behind his deeply entrenched position was too great. Thus the small become the great.

The dialogue went long into the day, and Bronze made plans to return to Galar. He would sleep with Moon in one of the guest bedrooms for the night, although he oftentimes wished that his extended family would visit him instead of the Grand Bashar having to make the long journey toward Sinnosui.

It is a matter of who has the spacefolder ships, and the available time. I need more sleep.

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*Sinnosui: Sinnoh has been renamed in recent years in order to honor Hisui.