"Arceus..." Hikaru fell speechless the moment he heard that line, delivered in a tone that sounded practically like narration itself. And as the mist gradually dispersed, the scene that appeared before his eyes was...
Sinjoh Ruins - the Three Illusions Stage.
The place had already been completely sealed off by a wall of blizzards. Even the final guardian, the old man of the mountains, had already left. Yet the stage within the ruins was still giving off a faint glow.
"No, calling it Sinjoh Ruins isn't quite right. This is more like the Hall of Origin."
The Hisui superhero opened his eyes.
No, the era of the Hisui superhero was already over.
[Welcome to the world of the Dream-Sky Gauntlet. How far can you walk the road of victory? Believe in your own strength and luck, and keep challenging it.]
[That is what I intended to say. Unfortunately, the time when another one will awaken is drawing near. When that happens, it will return here. History, too, will change slightly.]
"I get it. The operator's about to change, right?"
After all, if one followed Hisui's history and the timeline of Arceus and the Jewel of Life, then in almost every similar branch of history, there would always be an Arceus that had been betrayed once, or even twice, fallen into slumber, and then had a substitute sent over by the original body to fill in.
And once the spacetime of Jewel of Life was completed, even Hisui's history itself might undergo some subtle changes.
Which Arceus was the one you found, exactly?
Among the endless number of avatars, one thing was certain: every Arceus had a drastically different personality.
Some Arceus loved humanity more than their own life, entrusting that life to humans.
Some Arceus fell into despair and planned to destroy the world with absolute power.
Some Arceus quietly watched over everything and tried to repair failed histories.
And some Arceus were weirdly good at cosplaying as Angewomon, occasionally made scam calls, and in the final decisive battle just got petrified and coasted to victory.
[The Dream-Sky Gauntlet has lain dormant for more than 150 years. I have already given Entei of the crystal tower a hint regarding this matter. As for the floor tile you pried out of the Hall of Origin before...]
Hikaru: "..."
Back then, Aegislash had been a little too light-fingered. And thinking about it now, the fact that that floor tile had come loose so easily really did mean there had to be a follow-up.
Even now, he still had no idea what that brick was actually supposed to be used for.
[I intend to present the Dream-Sky Gauntlet as a gift to celebrate the awakening of another great deity of Sinnoh.]
[Therefore, before it awakens, before the spacetime of Jewel of Life arrives, restart the Dream-Sky Gauntlet within the dream world. I have already bestowed a revelation upon the Tree of Beginning.]
[As the C Device becomes widespread, more people in the future will enter the dream world. However, this will not affect the dreams of Pokémon. Thus, the strongest challenge facility within dreams will be reborn.]
[I have an absurd idea. Perhaps you could invite people and Pokémon from different ages and different worlds to take part in the tower's challenges. Of course, the rules will need to be reset somewhat as well.]
Pulling people from different eras and different worlds into the same dream?
That sounded incredibly exciting.
Now it was going to be ancient Primeape versus future robots.
Hikaru listened curiously to the revelation - or more precisely, to the civil engineering project proposed by this substitute great deity of Sinnoh in the current world:
[In the past, the process of the Dream-Sky Gauntlet was to choose one opponent out of three random types. The opponent you fought would vary depending on the type selected, and as you kept winning, the battles would become more and more difficult. The level of the opponents in the very first battles, in terms of human evaluation, would be Level 80.]
"So it starts out that hard? Who's going to walk in and immediately fight Level 80 opponents? And all of those opponents can freely use Strong Style and Agile Style moves too!"
Of course, if there were multiple opponents, their levels would be adjusted down to around 60. Starting from the 11th battle, you would begin facing opponents over Level 90. After 21 battles, experts at Level 100 were everywhere. Hikaru knew all that.
[Within the dream world, set up corresponding areas. You seem to already have a plan in mind. In that case, I will create a special large sky island within the dream world. Pokémon may travel freely between the islands by rainbow bridge, but when humans enter the dream world to challenge it, they will be restricted to the vicinity of the special sky island.]
[You may model the layout after a Pokémon League and plan the islands accordingly. At the same time, beyond the original challenge flow, add an additional group: the Elite Four.]
[I require four Legendary Pokémon capable of holding that position to bear the responsibility of guarding the tower in the Dream-Sky Gauntlet. If you believe a certain one may serve as a candidate, then the moment you arrive before them, they will immediately understand everything. However, the pillars of the world will not participate in the selection. Instead, they will appear together at a certain stage.]
[That, however, will only be an illusion.]
"Four? The three dragons aren't participating because those three naturally spawn in the Dream-Sky Gauntlet anyway, right? It used to be Steel Dragon and Water Dragon back-to-back. Now maybe Giratina gets added too?"
Fighting one against three, with three bosses appearing at the same time to take on the challenger... that process sounded oddly familiar.
"Though... four..." A few Pokémon silhouettes surfaced in Hikaru's mind.
[At the same time, the tower's challenge will not be limited to battling Pokémon alone. In the Hisui era, the history of humans fighting Pokémon directly has already come to an end. Therefore, now is the age when humans and Pokémon fight side by side.]
[Just as you said before, bring powerful Trainers into the dream, and have them take part in the tower's challenges or shoulder the responsibility of guarding it. If they win within the Dream-Sky Gauntlet, or successfully defend the corresponding floor, then they will receive abundant rewards.]
[You should understand this kind of battle mode well. There is only one tower, but there are three methods of challenging it. Similar to Black Tower, the left and right areas are separated, and the three challenge modes correspond to the Three Illusions Stage.]
[For those Trainers who love battle, this should be quite an interesting matter. During the challenge process, just like in the Hisui era, a large number of ancient, Legendary, and Mythical Pokémon may appear as opponents. And I hope the range of participating combatants can expand to more than a dozen regions.]
Hikaru considered that for a moment.
More than a dozen regions.
Nine mainline regions, three Ranger regions, plus...?
But if the Rangers were being folded into the challenge too, then that meant the Capture Arenas and Illusion Zones from those three regions were probably going to be mixed into the tower as well.
[As for Hisui, I have a commission regarding it as well... though now is not yet the time to go there.]
The alpaca's voice came again, confirming that very point:
[This is a tower where humans and Pokémon fight together. Capable people and Pokémon will be summoned here.]
[As for the tower's construction plan and work schedule, you may ask Entei of the crystal tower to assist with the building materials.]
"So that's it... No wonder Entei had to materialize!"
Hikaru instantly understood why Entei had revived from within the dream world.
When it came to building a tower, who could possibly be better at it than the emperor of the crystal tower?
Looks like Entei was going to be mixing cement here for quite a long time to come.
Then again, wasn't that exactly what it wanted? If it was for the sake of its "daughter" becoming the strongest Trainer in the world, it would definitely be thrilled to do it!
The alpaca has vision.
"A six-year-old little girl bringing Entei with her to conquer a tower... that's even crazier than Poppy."
"And if it transcends time, then maybe life and death won't matter either...?"
Hikaru thought of the ghostly girl. Perhaps she too could appear within this unique dream.
And if he was supposed to plan the place with a structure similar to the Pokémon League, that meant things like a shop would be needed too... and he just so happened to know three guys who fit the bill perfectly...
Sinjoh. A distant homeland whose history had already been brought to an end.
[As payment for this work, I will grant your Pokémon several extremely special moves. These are ultimate techniques that cannot be learned even through the Prism Star.]
[The rewards will be distributed gradually. First...]
On the sky island in the dream world, Walking Wake, which was currently being ridden by Calyrex, suddenly blinked and let out a roar so intense that it sent the big-headed king tumbling off.
[Calyrex has been kicked out of battle!]
"Wumu!"
The big-headed king went headfirst and smacked into the ground with a splat.
At the same time, Palafin, who had entered the dream world for the very first time, also began showing an unusual reaction.
On that giant sky island, where countless Pokémon had been moving about in prosperity, a thick mist suddenly surged up. The source of the mist was Walking Wake's roar and Palafin's flexing cry.
Fortunately, Lilligant noticed the appearance of the mist, and she leaped into a gorgeous dance.
Defog.
With the rise of fierce winds, the mist was gradually blown away by the powerful currents.
Near the ancient forge hut, Aegislash also suddenly sensed a certain change within itself. It stirred up a burst of mist, only for that to be blown away by Lilligant as well. Lilligant's call made Aegislash thoughtfully move away from Calyrex's farmland.
Aegislash already understood the source of this power.
Far away at the other end of the dream, Hikaru learned of the situation as well.
[Walking Wake and Palafin learned: Mist!]
[Aegislash learned: Fairy Mist!]
Mist: in the Pokémon world, this was an extremely rare form of weather that, in the games, ordinarily could not be triggered by moves. Under normal circumstances, it mostly appeared as a special-location effect, or as the sort of atmospheric phenomenon used to elevate the grandeur of Legendary Pokémon and display divine power.
In the games, the only thing directly associated with foggy weather was Misty Terrain. Among Legendary Pokémon that could clearly invoke fog as a weather state in Generation VIII, the most memorable examples were the legendary heroes, the Sword and Shield kings.
And, of course, the beautiful guardian deity Tapu Fini with the Misty Surge Ability.
She was also one of the very few Pokémon who, in both anime and official setting material, could summon dense mist.
In the past, Suicune had displayed similar abilities too.
Ordinary moves like Haze and Mist could not actually bring about foggy weather.
Under foggy weather:
Solar Beam's power is halved.
The HP restored by Synthesis, Morning Sun, and Moonlight is reduced to one-fourth of maximum HP.
The accuracy of any move used by a Pokémon on its opponent is multiplied by 0.6.
Weather Ball becomes Normal-type and its power is doubled.
Of course, that was standard foggy weather. In another world and another set of mechanics, however, fog had additional effects.
In Pokémon GO:
Dark-type and Ghost-type moves gain a 20% power increase.
In Mystery Dungeon:
Weather Ball becomes Water-type and its power is doubled.
At the same time, Electric-type move power is halved.
And this reward was a fusion of different kinds of fog, taking only their finest aspects.
"A weather of dense, all-encompassing mist. Electric-type moves have their power halved, Solar Beam has its power halved, light-based recovery moves restore less HP, and aside from moves that never miss, all moves become less accurate!"
"This is the kind of move that cannot be learned normally, and cannot be mastered even with the Prism Star."
"And the second kind of mist, Fairy Mist, boosts Ghost- and Dark-type power..."
[Correct. There are three kinds of mist in total. I fused two of them together, and for the sake of distinguishing the last one, I named it Fairy Mist. It is like the mist of Mt. Pyre, Turnback Cave, Sendoff Spring, and Lavender Town. Remember this well: mist represents sacred power, or the power of fear, just like thunder does.]
That was how the alpaca answered.
And Fairy Mist was itself a kind of foggy weather. It was the pale violet mist that appeared in Pokémon Tower in Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, meaning the remade Lavender Town, and it corresponded precisely to the eerie presence of ghosts.
[There are many more moves of the same type. For example: Cloudy, Clear, Strong Winds, Overcast, Thunderstorm, and Ice Crystal.]
[Under different weather conditions, different types of power will be amplified. Using the immense power of weather in battle is one of the foundational laws of this world.]
[Just as I said before, aside from mist, even stronger weather imbued with the power of thunder will be given later as a reward.]
[To speak in such detail with a human... since the end of the Hisui era, I have rarely done so. But for what you did regarding the Stage of Light, I must thank you.]
Hikaru knew that was true. As expected of the creator god.
Field effects were on the rise now, sure, but they still were not strong enough. The Four Guardian Deities and their four surge Abilities had once thrown the battle environment into chaos, but in the end, the real winners had been Rillaboom and Incineroar instead...
"The strongest in the end really is weather. No doubt about it."
As the saying went, every line of battle logic ultimately ended in a sun-versus-rain war. And the might of the sea lord Kyogre, with a single cast of rain, would forever remain the correct answer for the meta.
As for the god of the land, Groudon, things were a little awkward on that side. Without the Desolate Land it got from Primal Reversion, it really ought to just go back to Hoenn and reflect for a while.
Compared to that, snow and sandstorm were downright pitiful.
Hikaru felt that snow, in particular, really had it rough.
Back in Black and White, just stepping onto the lakeside in Giant Chasm could instantly trigger a violent blizzard and freeze the whole area solid. That was Kyurem's power.
With a story cutscene of that caliber, it really should have gotten something like "Heavy Snowfall," right?
Beyond the basics, like Ice-type Pokémon having their Defense multiplied by 1.5 under snow, tack on effects like Ice-type move power becoming 1.5 times stronger and Fire-type moves failing outright, matching the scale of Harsh Sunlight and Heavy Rain...
If that had happened, Kyurem really would have become the strongest dragon. Probably nobody would ever mock its "frozen world" anymore.
Of course, in the era of Legends: Arceus, snowy weather was stronger than it is now. Ice-type Pokémon would have their Speed effectively increased to three-fourths of the original again, the chance of being unable to act while drowsy would be doubled, and the additional effects of frostbite would be doubled as well.
If Blizzard's frostbite chance could be restored to the original 30% from Generation I, then that really would be unbeatable.
In normal battles, the only weather you could normally bring out was Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Sandstorm, and Snow, with maybe Harsh Sunlight and Heavy Rain added in during certain special periods, plus hail, which had already been removed.
Other weather states like Extreme Heat and Heavy Snow weren't regular weather, but they could still be learned through the Prism Star.
And even more irregular than that were the truly abnormal weathers represented by Mist and its kin.
Some kinds of weather, if added into battle, might have some very bad consequences.
For example, Overcast - especially the dark, storm-choked form of overcast. In theory, that was a weather phenomenon Necrozma could trigger.
Its effects within the Pokémon world were still unclear.
But in the Mystery Dungeon world, its effect was that aside from Normal-type moves, the power of all moves was reduced to 0.75.
And Cloudy, Clear, Strong Winds... these all came from different side-series branches, and each had their own unique bonuses, like:
"Under Strong Winds, Flying-, Dragon-, and Psychic-type Pokémon gain a 20% damage increase!"
"Clear weather is different from sunny weather. Under Clear weather, Grass-type Pokémon get faster, so it's basically everyone having Chlorophyll."
"Under Cloudy weather, Normal- and Rock-type Pokémon get stronger move power."
"And the stronger, more powerful weather..."
Was precisely...
"Thunderstorm!"
Thunderstorm had already existed back in the Generation III games as a type of natural weather that could occur in the environment, including near the Weather Institute. In Generation V, it was the kind of weather that appeared when Thundurus roamed nearby.
In fact, in Emerald and Sapphire, thunderstorms were caused by Kyogre and swept across eastern Hoenn.
In other words, the power Kyogre displayed in the story was not just rain. It also included thunderstorms.
And in Generation VIII, thunderstorms as natural weather gained an extremely overbearing effect.
They simultaneously activated Rain and Electric Terrain!
Which meant it was effectively a rain-based Thunder team, theoretically the strongest kind of weather there was.
"Working hard to earn the blessing of the gods, especially the Thunderstorm weather, actually sounds pretty good! That weather would suit Walking Wake, or Raging Bolt, or maybe... should I just let Archaludon set it?"
Thunderstorm plus Electro Shot... Hikaru didn't even dare imagine how violent Archaludon would become in battle.
"Uh, though Ice Crystal weather seems completely useless. But it looks gorgeous! That's the only weather actually called Diamond Dust!"
(End of Chapter)
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