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Hikaru agreed to Kyurem's proposed trade, and the exam began at once.

In the deepest part of the Giant Chasm, meteorites and frozen rock were everywhere, and a colossal cosmic force suffused the air!

"The Giant Chasm is the source of Kyurem's power. Here, it can draw out its strength to the fullest. It's my first time here as well, but… because the cells of its body are unstable, it has to keep its shell sealed in permafrost year-round with an extremely low cold," Reshiram murmured.

"Kyurem suffers… but it's long since grown used to it."

"We stand for energy, while it stands for the vessel. A vessel without energy is naturally cold."

Spectators were restricted to the outer ring of the cavern, and there Hikaru spotted Keldeo hunched by the wall, licking its wounds with a desolate look. Its horn had not been spared.

It had snapped.

"Who's there?"

Sensing a human and a powerful Pokémon entering, Keldeo tensed and struggled to its hooves. Its strength hadn't yet returned. When it recognized Hikaru, it jolted in shock.

"It's you! You're the one who fought Arceus at the ruins!"

"You know me too? Did the Swords of Justice tell you?" Hikaru was curious. He'd never met Keldeo in person, but apparently the colt had caught the "live broadcast" from the dream world back then.

Keldeo nodded, and with that it understood why this human had come. Sure enough, the moment Aegislash drifted into view, Keldeo's eyes locked on it.

Was that the "other disciple" the masters had mentioned?

Of course! As far as formal instruction went, it was still the senior disciple, and it had received the most earnest teaching! But the masters had also said this Pokémon was a rare one capable of learning "Secret Sword," so Keldeo couldn't help the twinge of quiet rivalry that stirred in its chest.

Unfortunately, the last few visits to the dream world hadn't led to a meeting; it had only gotten acquainted with Calyrex and the others on that Sky Island.

The "training labyrinth" was indeed excellent and had quickly boosted its strength. But then the masters said Unova had fallen into some unusual circumstances, so they stopped returning to the dream world and took Keldeo back out across Unova to travel again.

"Your horn's broken, huh."

Just like in the movie, Kyurem had severed Keldeo's horn. But unlike the film, the little water colt hadn't lost its fighting spirit and run everywhere in panic; it had stayed. It looked like it had fought to the very end.

Still, the broken horn meant it hadn't awakened its Resolute Form.

"I failed," Keldeo muttered, sulking. It had to admit it hadn't known its limits at first—only panicking once the fight began. The masters had told it not to challenge Kyurem…

But having stayed, how could it not test the results of its training?

"You didn't leave with Cobalion and the others?"

"You can read my thoughts?" Keldeo was startled, then relaxed—its masters had said some humans possessed extraordinary abilities. Live long enough and you see everything.

"The masters said they had important things to do. They wanted Kyurem to leave this place and lie low, but Kyurem refused. I thought Kyurem's power was amazing, and then it asked me if I was interested in astronomy and the cosmos."

"I stayed to keep learning… and, well—actually…" Keldeo looked embarrassed.

"You wanted to fight Kyurem so badly you tried to earn the Sacred Swordsman title early, right?"

Hikaru chuckled. The colt hadn't changed in at least one way—still a bit too eager for quick results.

"But I… haven't learned Secret Sword yet, so I lost."

"Cross the ice gate!"

Kyurem's voice boomed at Aegislash. Glacial power flooded off its body. In the cavern, glossy ice pillars rose and locked together, forming a glittering gate of ice.

It was an arena forged of ice; crossing the gate meant the exam had officially begun. If you fled mid-battle, Kyurem would hound you down in pursuit!

Watching that steel blade leap into the arena without a flicker of hesitation—and hearing the water colt's muttering—Kyurem's interest climbed to a peak.

"So what is a king? Show me!"

At Kyurem's prompting, Aegislash didn't hold back. A streak of radiant golden lightning burst from its body. Its posture swelled, and its whole form gleamed with dazzling gold.

The king's stance!

"Oh?" Kyurem's tone lifted.

Interesting. It had never seen a form like this. This kind of Pokémon?

"T-that's… a king."

Keldeo had seen what happened at the Sinjoh Ruins. It knew this "junior brother" had been granted supreme power by the great god—power to command Pokémon.

But seeing something from afar and seeing it up close were worlds apart. The aura of that kingly stance pressed like a storm; the colt couldn't help swallowing.

Then its shoulders slumped further.

It had trained for so long, only for this junior to surpass it upon arrival—not only with a brand-new stance, but with mastery of Secret Sword and a heart as clear as polished glass.

"Don't mind it," Hikaru said, patting the young colt. "Aegislash is pretty straightforward—careless and not big on overthinking. Maybe because of that, it trains fast. The more you stew on things, the more you slow yourself down."

"Maybe what you need is a fight to rebuild your confidence."

There was no Ash here to forge a bond for you.

In the specials, Keldeo awakened on its own in battle.

And the colt seemed unaware of one particular truth…

Hikaru pointed to Keldeo's broken horn and explained to those wide, confused eyes:

"Once you push through a grueling battle, the horn on your brow will be tempered and awaken your true strength."

"To spare you a detour, I'll tell you the real name of that form."

"Eh?" Keldeo blinked, dazed.

It had failed against Kyurem, gotten scolded as an unworthy pupil, broken its horn in the fight, and hadn't even learned Secret Sword. How could trash like it have any hidden power?

But this human wasn't ordinary. A glimmer of hope kindled in Keldeo's sunken heart.

Do I still have a chance to become someone?

"You do. Your hidden form is called Resolute Form, and with it you wield the mysterious blade that can cleave anything—Secret Sword."

"As the name implies, you have to become resolute to trigger it. In your case—you're rash, proud, hot-blooded…"

Keldeo's head drooped.

Hikaru pivoted: "But if you're not hot-blooded, are you even young?"

Keldeo froze—then looked up as Hikaru continued: "You need a little encouragement. Without someone to protect, it's unrealistic to trigger a new form through the feeling of 'protection.' So we'll approach it from the other direction."

"Defeat your own fear."

Hikaru took a charm from his bag and tied it around Keldeo's neck.

"A Courage Charm. I've given these to many Pokémon; they all say it helps. I hope it stirs your courage."

The moment the charm touched its coat, a strange energy seeped into Keldeo's heart. The gloom and regret, frustration and anger faded—replaced by positive resolve and honest self-reflection.

Clarity flashed through the colt's mind; knots that had never budged suddenly loosened and came free.

It looked to the arena.

Aegislash had already begun. At the start it swelled its blade and drove in—the unmistakable calling card of the Sacred Swordsmen: Sacred Sword!

Ghostly in hue yet Fighting in nature—the coloration was just its personal logo. As the slash rose, a layer of silver-white power condensed over it!

Compressing Steel-type energy into Secret Sword to massively amplify the attack—and even layer a second typing!

"A Sacred Sword I've never seen!"

Kyurem was delighted. The ice dragon roared and spewed searing flames from the maw on its head!

"Hey!" Hikaru couldn't help griping.

Kyurem can't learn Flamethrower, but yes—this was the same move it fired off in the movie, smashing Keldeo's Aura Spheres one after another.

You couldn't really blame the colt for losing that fight—Kyurem had self-taught itself an illegal move!

Aegislash faced the onrushing blaze. The Sacred Sword flashed in a blur—then hacked down. The superheated torrent split cleanly in two!

Flame-Cleaving Swordplay! Cobalion had once demonstrated a technique for cutting flames; now Aegislash had mastered it as well!

Kyurem thundered forward, obsidian energy wreathing its forelimbs—looked like Shadow Claw, but in truth it struck with devastating Dragon Claw!

Dragon Claw crashed into Aegislash's shield.

Form shift—King's Shield!

"You blocked it? A fine shield!"

Kyurem had experienced plenty of swords from Sacred Swordsmen—but this was its first shield! A Pokémon that comes with its own sword and shield! Kyurem howled; colossal cold condensed throughout the cavern as the blizzard winds surged—Kyurem flipped the weather switch!

Snowfall—not hail. The difference? Hail, like sandstorms, chips other Pokémon; snowfall does not. But under snow, Ice types gain 1.5× Defense, Blizzard never misses, and Light-based moves have their power and effects dampened!

Aegislash, however, didn't react to the snowstorm at all.

Sinjoh sees plenty of snow; it's hardly new. Even if your Defense rises…

Steel, Rock, and Fighting moves still hit you for double damage!

Sacred Sword—start cancel!

The whirling blade re-engaged Kyurem at close range, its odd rhythm leaving Keldeo slack-jawed.

Is that… how you use Secret Sword?

Why did it feel like the move had no endlag? Slash after slash, and even Kyurem seemed unable to keep up!

And aside from the hits that crashed into the shield, why did Kyurem's other blows barely seem to push Aegislash back?

"In the kingly stance it gains super armor—it's functionally immune to control-type effects… roughly speaking," Hikaru explained to the colt. "Every Pokémon has its own specialties—like how you can ride jets of water from your hooves to fly. Most Water types can't do that."

Kyurem, meanwhile, was shocked.

Why wasn't anything sticking? Did this thing have no weaknesses?

And that golden stance didn't even flinch at impact—was it cheating? Those ridiculous sword arts—who taught them? Is this how Sacred Swordsmen fight? Is that allowed?

It had planned to toss out a cool line—"Is this the limit of a Sacred Swordsman's power?"—but now the words just wouldn't come.

This one was strong.

And Aegislash was thinking the same thing!

For all that Secret Sword hit super hard, after pounding away for so long, this Ice/Dragon that should be weak to Fighting was still going… like it was no big deal?!

He even had Arceus's blessing!

Are you sure you're weak to Fighting? You aren't hacking, are you?

Hikaru hissed through his teeth. "So Fighting moves aren't working great?"

"Mm. Kyurem shrugs off Aura Sphere and Secret Sword. That's why it examines the Sacred Swordsmen," Keldeo sighed. "My Aura Sphere was useless, too." (Bulbapedia)

Kyurem decided it couldn't keep trading like this.

"Not bad! That is a Sacred Swordsman's strength. In terms of power, you've met the bar. But the battle isn't over yet. If you can withstand this…"

Its eyes flashed—and a raging Blizzard howled down on Aegislash! (Bulbapedia)

But the real finisher wasn't Blizzard. Power gathered inside Kyurem. If Aegislash raised that shield to block the Blizzard, the next blow would be unblockable.

Glaciate? No—not that move!

"Geh-uh…!"

Aegislash vanished inside the roaring storm. Kyurem's Blizzard was nothing like an ordinary Ice-type's.

Hikaru knew this well: in the BW era, a single Blizzard from Kyurem could blanket the mountains around the Giant Chasm and turn all the forests to a snowfield. Colress had even said that within the Giant Chasm, Kyurem held the power to freeze all of Unova.

Exaggeration or not, the "world-whiteout" was very real!

As the theoretical strongest of the Tao trinity, even without held items Kyurem's might was beyond dispute.

"Let's see if you can take it!"

Temperature plunged as if they'd been dropped atop the Pole. Thankfully, Hikaru's side had ways to keep warm—Reshiram poured fire into a wall of flame to hold the storm at bay.

When the gale eased, Aegislash had raised its shield—and Kyurem's glare went bright gold.

A colder, deeper chill condensed and then surged out like a breaking sea, sweeping the entire cavern. A razor of cold wind transformed the cave into a realm of rime and killing frost.

A one-hit kill—Sheer Cold! (Bulbapedia)

At this range, flooding the whole space with absolute zero—there is no "it missed."

"Hmph. Over. Is this all a Sacred Swordsman amounts to—" Kyurem finally felt satisfied.

Yes! Finally got to deliver the line.

As an examiner, to pound away for so long without a single hardline—unthinkably lame!

"I'll grudgingly acknow—" Kyurem was about to wrap things up. This match didn't require a KO; its recognition was enough.

But before it could finish, Aegislash rose out of the ice-blasted stillness.

Kyurem was floored.

Y-you didn't die?!

You took a Sheer Cold—how are you alive? You didn't sneak in an item, did you?

Keldeo's jaw dropped.

Sheer Cold—he'd never even seen Kyurem throw that out before. And it's a one-hit KO—there's no such thing as dodging it with Substitute or Double Team when the entire cave got tagged!

Aegislash, however, sounded perfectly matter-of-fact:

Who said I didn't die? I did—but I'm Ghost-type, remember!

So I've got a follow-up just for this! It only works after I go down! The reason I haven't blacked out yet is because… the move has already triggered!

Kyurem blinked—and then a wave of ghostly force wrapped around it. The dragon toppled as if yanked into a nightmare and roared, slamming to the ground!

"D-did it… defeat Kyurem?!"

Keldeo nearly snapped to attention.

Was his junior really that strong? What was that just now?

"Destiny Bond," Hikaru said, scratching the back of his head. "I remember now—that was a move learned back when I was making Rare Candy. I've never seen it use it since! Didn't expect it to pop today."

When the user faints after using it, the foe that felled it faints too.

Thinking of Rare Candy, Hikaru absently popped a few into the colt's mouth. Keldeo chomped curiously—and suddenly felt power welling from within. Its whole expression glowed.

Ahh, that feels amazing! So strong! I think I just… broke through!

As Kyurem crashed down, the Pokémon watching from their hidey-holes all over the cave peeked out. Sheer Cold's threat had sent them scrambling for cover, but as blood-pounding spectators, witnessing a clash of such titans was worth dying for!

"Kwaa!"

Someone cried out first. Dittos by the wall rippled in shock; Clefairy started dancing; Metang flailed its arms; Solrock and Lunatone bobbed up and down.

They were all stunned. The almighty Kyurem—the invincible—had been beaten!

"D-Destiny Bond? You're kidding. I fell to a move like that…?"

Kyurem nearly passed out. As one of the Tao trio, it was no pushover—don't treat a deity like a roadside bird. Destiny Bond landing didn't mean it truly lost consciousness!

But it had hit the floor.

After a long silence, Kyurem exhaled.

"Fine! Well fought. You blocked Sheer Cold and struck back… You've passed."

"I hereby grant you the title of Sacred Swordsman!"

A wave of power and cold surged from Kyurem's dragon-head as it roared:

"Three admonitions for Sacred Swordsmen—three solemn vows.

"One: Never avert your gaze. Focus to the very end—Terrakion fulfilled this.

"Two: Your greatest enemy is fear—drive it from your heart—Virizion fulfilled this.

"Three: What matters is what you learn from failure—Cobalion fulfilled this." (Bulbapedia)

"In principle, you should seek out the Swords of Justice to swear the oath. But since they're absent, we'll skip the ceremony."

At the same time, a prompt pinged in Hikaru's mind.

[Aegislash has completed the Sacred Swordsman challenge! Title granted: Sacred Swordsman!]

[Obtained: Badge of the Sacred Swordsman!]

[Description: A badge awarded upon challenging Kyurem and earning its recognition, witnessed by the Swords of Justice (including Keldeo).]

[Effect: Critical-hit stage +2 upgraded to guaranteed crits; cutting/slashing moves gain +1 priority!]

[Extra (Iron-Cleave): The Swordsman's blade can rend most energies and structures, and has excellent destructive force against hard metal materials!]

Hikaru suddenly had a thought.

Strictly speaking, should he start calling him "Old Aegislash" now?

Seeing the colt's openly envious stare, Hikaru linked the insights Aegislash had gained into Secret Sword across their bond and passed them to Keldeo.

"T-this is… Aegislash's understanding of Secret Sword!"

"T-this is way too precious," the young colt stammered, nervous. "Can I really learn Secret Sword?"

"If you think you can't, you'll never can't." Kyurem lumbered over and snorted at the head-lowered colt.

"Unworthy pupil."

Reshiram: "Why does it sound like it's your pupil now?"

"Their teachers aren't here," Kyurem muttered. "I'm only bored."

It said as much, but the way Reshiram's eyes narrowed made it fidget.

Care for the empty-nest elder dragon, Hikaru mused.

Kyurem urged them on. "Enough. Since you've earned the Sacred Swordsman title, let me teach you ancient knowledge."

"Forge the DNA Splicers!" (Bulbapedia)

(End of Chapter)

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