You've grown stronger.
Calyrex's deep, unfathomable eyes fixed on Lucas. His temperament was completely different from before, and most importantly, the aura of legendary surrounding him had grown far more pronounced.
Although Calyrex had previously been influenced by the resentment of Hoopa, now that it had fully regained its clarity, memories continued to surface unbidden in its mind.
This human truly had become much stronger.
"Yeah… a lot has happened," Lucas replied with a faint sigh of emotion. "And luck has always been by my side."
As he spoke, even he couldn't help but feel a sense of reflection. So much had happened over the past year—once he started recalling it all, the weight of those experiences became even clearer.
"I can imagine it… even Zacian has…"
Calyrex raised its head slightly, gazing toward the lone, proud figure standing not far away—Zacian.
If there was anything that had surprised it the most, it was undoubtedly Zacian's attitude.
The Sword Hero Zacian was cold, aloof, and proud, with a resolute and decisive temperament. Back on the Crown Tundra, even when it was on Calyrex's own territory and had been personally warned by Calyrex, Zacian had shown no intention of backing down. It would rather clash with Calyrex than abandon its pursuit of Eternatus.
Yet now, Eternatus was floating directly above Zacian's head, and Zacian didn't even spare it a glance.
This left Calyrex genuinely astonished. Back then, Zacian's attitude toward Eternatus had been one of extreme loathing and hostility, fighting with the absolute determination to eradicate that calamity at all costs.
Clearly, many things had happened over the course of this year, slowly changing Zacian's stance.
"Hmph!"
Noticing Calyrex's gaze, Zacian let out a cold snort and turned its head away, deliberately avoiding eye contact.
Ever since the battle on the Crown Tundra, Zacian hadn't held much goodwill toward this overly meddlesome King of Legends.
"Zacian's hostility toward Eternatus was simply a misunderstanding," Lucas said with a smile, understanding Calyrex's thoughts. "Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, things naturally improved. I've always believed Zacian to be an exceptionally outstanding Legendary Pokémon."
"Calyrex," Lucas continued, smoothly changing the topic as he looked directly at the white steed-riding king, his gaze bright and focused. "Do you still remember what you once said?"
"What I once said…" Calyrex murmured. Its deep eyes grew momentarily distant.
It recalled the icy path on the Crown Tundra, the final words it spoke when parting with this human.
If you and I truly share fate, then I shall accompany you and walk the world together.
Those were the words it had spoken back then.
"What a greedy human," Calyrex said with a faint curl of its lips, its gentle telepathic voice directed at Lucas. "At your current level, you no longer truly need my power, do you?"
If one spoke of fate, the two of them were indeed connected by it. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to meet again so coincidentally in the Kalos region.
Calyrex did not resist Lucas's invitation. As a King of Legends, it possessed its own royal pride.
Yet it had also been lonely for far too long.
Yes—within the frozen desolation of the Crown Shrine, aside from the companionship of its two beloved steeds, it had nothing else.
That was why, back then, when facing Lucas's invitation, it had spoken those words.
"It's not just about your strength," Lucas said with a warm smile. "For us Trainers, being able to meet a partner who can truly accompany us—that's one of the meanings of being a Trainer."
Perhaps, at his current level, Calyrex's power would only be icing on the cake. But he genuinely liked Calyrex. Maybe…
Maybe it was because, back on the Crown Tundra, this King of Legends had left far too deep an impression on him.
"So that's how it is," Calyrex replied, the smile in its eyes growing deeper.
"Neigh—"
A low, heavy neigh echoed as Glastrier snorted, while at the same time, Calyrex's instinctive telepathic voice—carrying natural majesty—rang out:
"In that case, I shall accompany you as you roam this world. Please take care of me, Trainer."
"SCREEE—!"
A sharp cry pierced the air as black-and-red wings unfurled. Yveltal flapped its wings once and vanished into the distant horizon.
"Still just as unsociable as ever," Hoopa muttered, watching Yveltal depart. It really had no words for that antisocial bird.
Both were Dark-type Legendaries—so why was that one's personality so terrible?
"We should be leaving as well, human. Until next time."
Black Rayquaza bade Lucas farewell before soaring into the sky and disappearing beyond the clouds.
"If Young Green gives you any trouble, you can contact me at any time, Chosen."
Rayquaza glanced at Young Rayquaza, then nodded to Lucas before vanishing into the heavens as well.
Only after Rayquaza had left did Young Rayquaza finally let out a sigh of relief. With its father around, it hadn't even dared to breathe too loudly. After all, the red coloration on its body was enough to make Rayquaza furious at a glance—those looks had truly made Young Rayquaza feel like needles were pressed against its back.
Groudon shot a glance at its old nemesis Kyogre, then silently turned around and began walking away step by step.
Kyogre was just about to sway its massive body and leave as well.
"Kyogre."
Kyogre paused, turned around, and looked at the human with a puzzled expression.
"It's like this—there's something rather troublesome on my end. I may need your personal help to resolve it," Lucas said earnestly.
He hadn't forgotten about Shadow Lugia.
After all, this concerned his relationship with the Lugia clan.
If he could resolve the Shadow Lugia incident, the Lugia family would owe him an enormous favor.
And Lugia had once clearly stated that their entire family of three could provide Lucas with assistance.
Kyogre was momentarily stunned.
Well damn—never would it have imagined that one day a human would actually ask it for help.
Kyogre did remember Lucas. Back in the seas of Hoenn, even though it had been locked in fierce combat with Groudon, that didn't mean it hadn't noticed him.
And this time, even more so. A human so favored by the Legendaries was impossible to ignore.
"Is it very troublesome?"
A deep, androgynous telepathic voice echoed in Lucas's mind.
"Yes. It requires an extremely powerful Water-type Pokémon to handle. That's why I wanted to ask you," Lucas replied honestly.
"I can do it."
"Although it might take up some of your time, but—" Lucas was still thinking about how to persuade Kyogre when he suddenly realized what Kyogre had said.
"I can help."
Kyogre's voice remained calm and steady.
Lucas raised an eyebrow, looking at the massive whale in surprise.
Due to the ancient Hoenn legends, Kyogre and Groudon's love–hate rivalry was simply too infamous.
And whenever Kyogre appeared, endless torrential rain would blanket the heavens and earth. If no one stopped it, Primal Kyogre's Origin Sea flooding the world was no exaggeration.
Perhaps it was precisely this image that made Lucas assume Kyogre might be difficult to communicate with.
Yet it had agreed so easily—this didn't quite match its established image.
"Human, you seem to be thinking something impolite," Kyogre said, its gaze locking firmly onto Lucas.
"No, just a bit surprised that you agreed so readily."
"The only one I hate is that red lizard. And since I'm idle anyway, I might as well," Kyogre replied flatly.
The answer was… exceptionally concise.
Indeed, aside from matters involving Groudon, Kyogre rarely appeared before the world.
Most of the time, it remained in deep slumber. Even now, once Kyogre returned to the seas, it would either find a deep-sea cavern to sleep in, or drift aimlessly through the ocean depths out of boredom.
Helping this unusual human didn't bother it at all.
"That's wonderful. Thank you in advance, Kyogre," Lucas said sincerely.
He didn't say much more—Kyogre's willingness to help so easily was already a good thing.
"For now, please enter here. Your size is a bit… inconvenient," Lucas added, taking out a Poké Ball.
Kyogre didn't refuse and voluntarily entered the Poké Ball.
With the Shadow Lugia matter settled, Lucas turned his attention to Xerneas. There was still plenty to deal with.
Arche Valley had been completely destroyed. Even though Xerneas later restored vitality to the land once more, there were no remaining structures at all.
The villagers of Arche Valley were not few in number, and it was obviously impossible for them to simply sleep under the open sky for the night.
With Hoopa's space rings, everyone was directly transported to Dahara City to rest for the night.
As for Giovanni's severe illness, Xerneas had already cured it without hesitation, using the power of life to completely eliminate the disease from his body.
With that, Giovanni's purpose for this journey had been fully achieved.
Afterward, Xerneas departed as well, heading somewhere unknown to enter slumber once more.
Zygarde had also left.
Naturally, Lucas hadn't wasted the opportunity—he had extended an invitation to Zygarde, but unfortunately, it declined. Unlike a homebody dragon like Kyurem, Zygarde had its own duty.
It was the guardian of ecological order.
This left Lucas feeling rather regretful.
Although he had gained Zygarde's friendship and recognition, it was clearly not enough to capture it.
The Sword Hero Zacian also departed. It was still quite worried about Zamazenta's condition—after all, it had struck a little too hard earlier…
And yes—Zacian was the only Legendary that had left using Hoopa's space ring.
Where had Groudon gone, anyway?
"Back already?"
Inside the hotel room, hearing the door open, Green looked up and greeted Lucas.
"Did you send Lysandre and the others in?" she asked.
"Yeah. Officer Jenny even thanked me profusely," Lucas replied jokingly as he walked over to the bed and lay down comfortably, hands resting behind his head.
Earlier, he had taken Sabrina and Archer with him to deliver Lysandre, Malva, and the others to the Dahara City Police Station.
Before doing so, however, he had used Gardevoir to hypnotize Lysandre, extracting the location of the Ultimate Weapon from him.
That was one of Lucas's main objectives for coming to Kalos.
Whether the Ultimate Weapon truly granted immortality, he didn't know—but he was certain of one thing: it could allow someone to live for thousands of years.
However, activating the Ultimate Weapon still required Xerneas's energy. That would have to wait until he had another chance to speak with Xerneas.
Today simply hadn't been an appropriate time.
"After all, you did 'punish evil and promote good,' didn't you? Great hero Lucas," Green teased, arching an eyebrow as she turned back toward him.
Indeed—having captured the upper echelons of Team Flare in one sweep, reports praising Lucas would probably soon appear on Kalos's official website.
What amused Green the most was that, strictly speaking, the instigator of the entire incident had been Lucas himself.
"Alright, alright," Lucas said lazily, closing his eyes. "Anything interesting happening lately?"
His trip to Kalos was more or less complete. The Ultimate Weapon matter could be put on hold—there was no need to rush. After all, he was still young.
Which meant that, for the time being, he really didn't have much to do.
"Does Champion Diantha challenging Champion Wallace count?" Marnie asked as she wiped down a Poké Ball. "The battle results are already out."
"Oh?" Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Who won?"
Diantha had first challenged Alder, and the news about her challenging Wallace had come out a few days ago.
They needed time to prepare, so the battle was held today.
To be honest, Lucas really couldn't say who would win. The two were extremely evenly matched—just like Raihan and Leon back then.
In battles between evenly matched opponents, there were simply too many factors influencing the outcome. Without prophetic abilities, how could he possibly predict the result?
"They fought down to their last Pokémon. Diantha's Mega Gardevoir defeated Champion Wallace's Milotic and claimed victory," Marnie said.
"During the match, Wallace even used Mega Gyarados. That brutally aggressive Gyarados was completely different from Wallace's usual battle style and caused Diantha quite a bit of trouble. Still, Water-types are at a disadvantage in standard arenas, so Diantha ultimately won."
Green continued watching the battle footage between Wallace and Diantha. Even knowing the result, a match between two regional Champions was always worth watching.
"Looks like Wallace knows how to change, too," Lucas said with a smile.
Although Wallace revered elegance and artistry and had always kept Gyarados as a mainstay, he rarely used it.
But now, it seemed Wallace was changing as well. After all, in the World Championships, he represented not just himself, but the entire Hoenn region—the significance was different.
"Oh, right—there's actually another piece of big news," Green added. "Blue is challenging Diantha."
Her expression was a bit strange.
After Diantha defeated Wallace, Alder was pushed off the rankings. Diantha took Wallace's previous position—No. 7 on the Master Class Rankings.
And right after Diantha's match concluded today, Blue announced his challenge against her.
"Diantha's in trouble now~" Green sighed dramatically, though her tone betrayed amusement.
In her opinion, there was no doubt—Diantha stood no chance against that monster called Blue.
"If you could wipe that grin off your face, your concern might sound a little more convincing," Lucas said, glancing at her.
She claimed to be worried, but her smile was practically blooming.
"Looks like the Indigo Elite Four are making their move," Lucas added as he pulled out his phone to check the relevant information.
Blue had already started challenging the Master Rank. It seemed the Indigo Elite Four's rankings had entered the top twenty of the Ultra Ball tier.
The Master Rank was about to undergo a major shake-up.
"And what about you, Lucas?" Marnie asked. "Aren't you planning to challenge anyone yet?"
"Looks like it's about time I joined the fun," Lucas replied thoughtfully, switching the interface to display the top four of the Master Rank.
Since the Indigo Elite Four had begun their challenges and were bound to cause a global stir one after another, he might as well join in.
After all, Lance was still confined at the Indigo Plateau and naturally couldn't challenge anyone.
Which meant his target could only be…
(End of Chapter)