"Yes, this is the best era. It'll be lively out there."
Damian nodded and replied.
"And if I can become partners with Calyrex, the Sovereign and Steed, that would be something very meaningful to me too."
Damian added sincerely, giving the mood value right where it needed to be.
And sure enough, even Calyrex slightly narrowed its eyes at that moment, a faint, pleased smile appearing on its face.
As an ancient king, what Calyrex was famous for was its wisdom and power. By rights, it shouldn't have been moved so easily by a few words from an ordinary person.
But was Damian an ordinary person?
Obviously not.
Calyrex pondered for a moment and didn't plan to reject him. Still, as a good king, it should of course let Glastrier and Spectrier know about this.
Calyrex looked toward Glastrier, about to ask for its opinion.
"Neigh~"
Glastrier once again let out a whinny at Damian, begging for more food.
"You still want to eat? You've already eaten a lot. Are you really okay?" Damian frowned slightly.
"Neigh!!"
"Alright, alright. This is the last serving. Once you finish it, you can't have any more. Even if your body's tough, you'll still mess up your stomach. Overeating isn't a good thing."
"Neigh~!"
Glastrier was delighted and once again buried its mouth in the refilled basin.
Damian took the chance to pat Glastrier's head, and Glastrier, known for its rough and battle-hungry nature, simply let Damian pet it however he wanted.
Calyrex: "..."
Holding the chilled soda, Calyrex couldn't help but fall into thought. Was this really its Glastrier?
Even if it had told Glastrier about Damian's specialness, and even if that Pokéblock really was delicious, and Glastrier really was a greedy horse, did it have to let Damian pet it so easily?
You're my mount!
Forget it. This isn't so bad either.
"Since you put it that way, Damian, I'll go with you and see the outside world."
Calyrex stopped thinking and replied in clear, gentle telepathy. Spectrier's opinion didn't need to be consulted either.
Because Calyrex knew Spectrier would definitely support its choice.
"That's a great choice. Then I'll be counting on your guidance from here on out, Calyrex!"
Damian's smile could barely be contained anymore. The legendary King's Proud Steed was now in the bag.
And if he caught Calyrex, that was basically the same as catching Glastrier and Spectrier too. Buy one, get two free. Nice, nice.
"And I'll be counting on your guidance too, Damian."
Calyrex smiled kindly and warmly.
This was its first time becoming a partner to a human, and honestly, it had zero experience with it. But that wasn't a big problem.
Since the deal was already settled, they naturally had to go through the motions. Damian took out two Ultra Balls, caught Calyrex and Glastrier without any resistance at all, and then let both of them back out again.
"Spectrier's on the way."
Calyrex had already used psychic contact to summon Spectrier over here.
"Good. Oh, right, Calyrex, supposedly your power comes from faith, right?"
Damian thought about it, then asked Calyrex, who was holding a straw and sipping soda.
Calyrex seemed to really like soda. At the very least, after a few sips of juice, it stopped drinking.
"That's right. I can gain power by drawing on faith. How did you know that, Damian?"
Calyrex nodded, then looked at Damian with some curiosity, wondering how Damian knew about this.
This wasn't really some secret, but that was in ancient times. Too much time had passed, and not many people who knew Calyrex were left, let alone its ability.
"I learned a bit from some ancient texts before. And I heard that after your kingdom slowly fell apart, you lost the faith that sustained you, your power gradually faded, and even Glastrier and Spectrier left you."
Damian said it half-jokingly.
And this wasn't recorded in any ancient texts at all. It was part of the game's plot in Sword and Shield.
But in truth, Damian had always thought that part of the plot was a little unreasonable.
"Sovereign and Steed" is the official umbrella term for Calyrex, Glastrier, and Spectrier.
In ancient times, Calyrex ruled over the entire Galar Region as a king. Legend says that when it raised its right hand, flowers bloomed and the grass turned lush and green; when it raised its left hand, the fields became fertile and the crops yielded abundant harvests.
Because of that, Calyrex was also revered as "The King of Bountiful Harvests."
At that time, Glastrier and Spectrier were also kings among Pokémon. They were furious at the humans who invaded their territory, and kept attacking the humans and their Pokémon partners.
It was Calyrex who appeared, defeated them, and made them submit. Then the two horses rode alongside Calyrex as "The King's Proud Steed," and the two sides formed a deep bond.
But there is no everlasting kingdom in this world. As time passed, Calyrex's kingdom gradually collapsed. Calyrex itself also slowly lost power because it lost the faith of humans, and in the end even its two beloved horses left it.
That's right, in the game's plot, because Calyrex lost its power, Glastrier and Spectrier—those supposedly bound to it by an incredibly deep bond—abandoned Calyrex.
What the hell was that "deep bond"?
And at the end of Crown Tundra's Calyrex plot, Calyrex actually didn't regain any faith at all. Gloria only helped it get Glastrier and Spectrier back.
But once Calyrex rode the horses again, its power returned...
Wasn't that contradictory? As long as Calyrex was riding a horse, it had power. If that was the case, then why would Glastrier and Spectrier leave it in the first place?
Did they leave while Calyrex was off the horse? Then the same question stands: where exactly was that deep bond shown?
"This is nonsense. The bond between me, Glastrier, and Spectrier is not something so fragile."
Calyrex laughed and shook its head, replying calmly.
"Neigh~!"
Glastrier also voiced its support very clearly, proudly lifting its head to show its loyalty to its king.
"Glastrier may be playful, and Spectrier may be reclusive, but they're both my close friends. They would never betray me."
Calyrex's gaze toward Glastrier was incredibly gentle. After all, this was its beloved steed that had accompanied it for who knew how many years.
"That's so nice~"
Dawn was deeply moved. The deep bond between Calyrex and its horses had stood the test of time, and was naturally sincere.
"I see."
Damian nodded, quietly suppressing the odd look in his eyes.
So in this world, Calyrex and Glastrier and Spectrier really did have a deep bond. Even when Calyrex lost its faith and weakened, Glastrier and the others never abandoned it.
But with so many parallel worlds in the Pokémon cosmos, who knew? Maybe in some other parallel world, Calyrex really did lose its horses.
In the original story, Calyrex was truly pitiful. It lost its faith and didn't have its horses. If Gloria hadn't come to Freezington, Calyrex probably would still be slumbering in a weakened state, and it would never find its horses again in this lifetime.
"So if that's the case, Calyrex, your power still hasn't reached its peak yet, right?"
Caitlin, however, thought of another point.
"You mean faith? If you mean it from that angle, then no, I haven't reached my peak."
Calyrex instantly understood what Caitlin meant and answered after taking a sip of soda.
Of course it hadn't reached its peak. It could gain power by drawing on faith, and right now there were probably only a handful of people in all of Galar who even knew Calyrex by name.
Much less faith.
So Calyrex was actually in a state without faith right now. And even so, as long as it was riding a horse, the mounted Calyrex was still top-tier legendary combat power.
That was the value of "Sovereign and Steed."
"Then why don't you try gathering faith again? With your power, if you used it again, your kingdom could actually be rebuilt."
Dawn asked curiously.
"My kingdom's fall was not because I ruled poorly, but because it was the way of things."
Calyrex's wise eyes were now deeply profound.
"My era has already ended. That is both fate and the world's choice. I should step off the stage."
"For me, it was never that I chose to become king. It was that this land needed my presence, and I answered this land."
Calyrex spoke calmly.
"To become king again would mean nothing to me. It would only bring chaos and unrest to this land, and that is not the result I want."
"Gathering faith... is not a reason either."
Hearing Calyrex's calm words, Caitlin and Dawn both trembled.
"It was never that I chose to become king, but that this land needed me, and I answered this land!"
What kind of resolve was that?!
Dawn suddenly felt a lump in her chest, and her gaze toward Calyrex was filled with respect and sympathy.
Knowing full well that this land no longer needed it, Calyrex chose to dwell alone with its beloved steed on this frozen snowy plain, unknown to anyone.
No resentment, no grumbling. It was truly... too great.
"As expected, the King of Bountiful Harvests."
Damian couldn't help but sigh in admiration too.
A legendary Pokémon with the power to heal hearts and make grass and trees sprout, Calyrex was a Pokémon overflowing with compassion.
Overflowing with compassion? This was basically a saint, damn it!
Honestly, Damian really admired Calyrex for that. If it were him, he definitely couldn't reach that kind of mindset.
Not everyone was like Calyrex—so open and honest, not clinging to past glory or honor, willing to let go of the past and bear loneliness and everything else alone.
"You flatter me."
Calyrex calmly sipped its juice.
"But if faith can strengthen your power, Calyrex, do you want to try playing a game?"
Damian thought about it. Since Calyrex didn't want to raise the banner and reclaim the throne to gain faith, that was fine.
They could always use another method. This wasn't ancient times anymore. There were plenty of ways to gain faith in this era.
"A game?"
Calyrex was puzzled.
"Yes. Try this."
Damian took out his spare phone.
"What's this?"
"A kind of electronic device. Right, Calyrex, open this Pokémon auto-chess and try a couple rounds first."
Damian taught Calyrex. Since Calyrex had a small body, using a phone was very convenient. Unlike Kyogre and Reshiram, whose body size was too big, so they couldn't use phones at all.
Pokémon auto-chess was the idea Damian gave his family's game company, a game made by imitating Warcraft Auto Chess and Teamfight Tactics from his previous life.
And the pieces in Pokémon auto-chess were naturally all kinds of Pokémon.
"Three Charmanders can combine into a two-star Charmander, and Charizard is a four-cost card. If you can make a three-star Charizard, you're basically guaranteed first place."
Calyrex's brains were extremely sharp, and its understanding was undeniably strong. It quickly grasped how Pokémon auto-chess worked.
Very soon, it formed a pure Fire-type sunny lineup, with Charizard going absolutely berserk.
"Nice, you've got real talent, Calyrex. Looks like you're winning this one."
Damian was very satisfied.
Sure enough, with Calyrex's brain and pretty good luck, it suited gaming very well. It probably wouldn't have any problem becoming a game streamer online.
Before long, the game reached the finals. Only Calyrex and a player named I'm Gonna Beat You Anyway remained. Calyrex even recognized that player's avatar—it was actually Ho-Oh's face.
Calyrex decisively switched over to check I'm Gonna Beat You Anyway's lineup, and found that it was crazily rolling for units. Was it trying to three-star Ho-Oh, a five-cost unit?
Calyrex thought it over, then naturally and decisively started rolling too, locking up two Ho-Oh copies. Since there were only ten five-cost cards in total, with two copies locked, that guy would absolutely never make a three-star Ho-Oh to stage a comeback.
Calyrex felt it was truly clever as hell! Did they even know what Calyrex's wisdom was?
But...
Soon, I'm Gonna Beat You Anyway came over to Calyrex's board. After seeing the two Ho-Oh copies on Calyrex's bench, they crazily clicked on those two phoenix copies.
Clearly, I'm Gonna Beat You Anyway had completely lost it.
Just as Calyrex was puzzled about what this guy meant, the chat channel started scrolling crazily.
I'm Gonna Beat You Anyway: What the hell's wrong with you, meow? Card thief!
I'm Gonna Beat You Anyway: I wasn't even blocking your Charizard, meow, and you're blocking my Ho-Oh?
I'm Gonna Beat You Anyway: NMSL, right?! I'm explaining your dream, meow!
I'm Gonna Beat You Anyway: I've been playing all afternoon and finally got one chance at a three-star five-cost Ho-Oh, and your family's all dead, huh, meow!
I'm Gonna Beat You Anyway: If you've got the guts to block my cards, then have the guts to send me your address, meow. I'll have my family's Regigigas come over and slap you to death! Angry.jpg
I Am Truly the King:?
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