"This is for you."

Just as Hikaru was about to leave, Keldeo clip-clopped over, carrying something odd in its mouth—on a closer look, it was its broken horn.

"This is your horn. You don't want it?"

If you're something like the Legendary Titans, you can scrounge up materials and repair whatever snaps off. But Keldeo is a living creature. You can't just glue a horn back on; even with extra restoration, its strength would never be the same.

But—no worries.

"Once you've attained true resolve, the broken horn will grow back. Still, this piece is a memento."

"Or… do you want me to forge you an even stronger horn?"

Happens a lot in wildlife rescue, right?

A wild bird gets its beak broken in a fight, and humans fit it with a titanium one—boom, suddenly it's the undefeated champion of pecking.

"I could even make it into a light blade." Hikaru pointed at Iron Valiant, who was reading energy in the corner. Iron Valiant looked at Keldeo and—swish—snapped its own energy blade to life.

Keldeo swallowed, briefly imagining itself with a lightsaber growing from its forehead.

Uh… it would look insanely cool, yes—but that's not aligned with my training plan!

"No need," Keldeo said firmly. "You've given me something more important—courage, and knowledge. I know what I have to do next. I'll keep working. I will master Sacred Sword! And Secret Sword!"

"I don't have much to repay you with, but parts from a Pokémon's body are valuable materials. I haven't met any of my own kind, so I figure my horn should be pretty rare."

The little colt blinked, then grinned mischievously. "A one-of-a-kind rare material! Don't miss out!"

Hikaru couldn't help but laugh. "All right, then I'll accept it. Thank you."

[Precious Material: Keldeo's Horn.]

[Description: Once Keldeo truly understands the weight of a sword, this horn becomes a blade that cleaves all. It can be used to craft many sword-type items.]

[Can be used to craft: The blade "Instant" that reflects all attacks / The ancient hero's sword of Sinnoh legend / The Decayed Sword (the hero's un-decayed sword) / Sword of Resolve / Sword of Calamity.]

"This broken horn really can become something incredible."

"Right? Right?" Keldeo beamed. "My horn's a treasure."

"But!" Keldeo drew a deep breath. "Just this once. Next time, I won't let it break again! Anyway, thank you!"

"I'm going to keep training here with Kyurem!"

Training in the Giant Chasm, huh? The Pokémon here aren't as battle-hungry as the ones around the training rocks or on Victory Road, but their levels are way higher!

Hikaru pointed toward the Solrock. Keldeo grew solemn. "Exactly. I can feel it too—the Pokémon that showed up this time are all strong."

"Before I challenge Kyurem again, I have to fight them first!"

Rule the Giant Chasm first—that was Keldeo's next training plan!

"We're off," came Reshiram's voice. It bade Kyurem farewell, and Kyurem didn't bother saying something like "drop by anytime"—the last thing it wanted was a lively cave. Too annoying.

After a brief glimpse of the future, Kyurem already knew Team Plasma wouldn't be wiped out so easily. They would go through a whole chain of incidents, then Zekrom would awaken in the process… and Kyurem itself would get dragged deep into it.

Damn it. Villains or heroes—Kyurem didn't like either. Better not look at that prophecy at all.

Maybe it should really consider moving somewhere else. But judging from those humans' absurd ambitions, they'd just hound it relentlessly.

There are so many Unovan dragons—why fixate on me? Is this a culture gap? Can't they go hunt down some other visitors from alternate timespaces?

Or… to prevent that unlucky future where I get turned into an "energy battery," maybe I should do something…

How about finding that so-called hero in advance?

Hikaru heard Kyurem's inner monologue and silently roasted it.

So the Unovan starter pick is an ice dragon now? Demon Lord camping the newbie village, telling the hero "make me your party member"…

If that's the case, maybe this worldline is like in Pokémon Masters—did Touya get Kyurem's recognition too?

"Let's go—head for the Ruins of Ice!"

Hikaru recalled his partners. Deoxys also said goodbye to Kyurem.

Great chat today—they'd built a sturdy friendship. Deoxys had learned a lot of useful knowledge and even picked up a move—Ice Beam!

"You, a cosmic super-being, learning an Ice-type move… feels a little weird. You already had Ice Punch, but still…"

Ultras hate the cold, and here you are going for the exact opposite!

Reshiram let out a long howl; its turbine flared to life, wreathed in roaring flames as it blasted out of the Giant Chasm!

Leaving the dusky depths behind, they didn't head for Undella Town, but flew toward Victory Road instead.

At this time period, Victory Road wasn't on Route 23 yet. Route 23—"Unova's final wilderness"—is a maze of terrains: mountains, hills, waterfalls, highlands, sinkholes, rivers…

Searching from far above, they soon spotted a crumbling ruin atop a high plateau.

Ruins of Ice, Ruins of Will. As expected, this place ties into Kyurem. In the game flow, this area is part of the new Victory Road, and you can pick up items like a Dusk Stone, Star Piece, Dragon Scale, Dragon Fang, and so on. But the only wild Dragon-types here are Altaria—which obviously don't grow Dragon Fangs.

As they entered the Ruins of Ice, Reshiram rumbled low.

"The same energy as those 'Plates.' It's under the water."

Underwater.

In the games there's no Dive spot here, true, but there is a special corner you need Surf to reach.

Hikaru sent out Walking Wake. After Hikaru explained what he needed (and after a quick aside to… someone), Walking Wake looked a little puzzled.

Hmm. If it isn't too deep, diving's fine—but I can't go down into the really deep parts!

"You don't know 'Dive'?"

Hikaru was surprised.

Dive means plunging into the deep sea, and Walking Wake shook its head—he usually stuck to rivers and coasts.

Of course, the water here wasn't all that deep anyway.

Hikaru thought it over.

Without Dive you can't enter the Abyssal Ruins… Guess we'll swing by Undella Town and see if anyone sells the TM.

Walking Wake plunged into the river. Its eyes spun, scanning the surroundings. In no time, it found a Plate!

Not hard at all! And no obstacles, aside from those ever-leaping Basculin!

But what am I?

A dragon that lives by the water. Guess what I eat?

Plop! Walking Wake surfaced with a Plate in its jaws, and in its little claws it had snagged two bass.

It's been a while since I fished—good to see my hunting form's still clean! Mostly, these bass are just too hot-headed—they charge headfirst right into my forehead!

"Yeah, that's Basculin for you. The 'punks of the lake.' Super aggressive…"

Hikaru spoke while staring, speechless, at the two fish in Walking Wake's paws—one with a red stripe, one with a blue stripe. Those two varieties hate each other and brawl on sight. Even while being held, their tails were ora ora ora-smacking each other.

Seemed like the two were fighting over something. Hikaru took it—and found a Dragon Fang.

"Oh hey, a Dragon Fang! Pretty rare. You guys can't even use this, so I'll take it!"

"Let them go, okay? We're not eating these."

Hikaru patted Walking Wake's big head, then took the Plate from its mouth. Walking Wake, still reluctant, offered the fish to Reshiram instead. The white dragon hurriedly waved its claws.

"No, I don't need them—thank you for the thought."

"I only need to absorb heat from the atmosphere. Food isn't necessary for me."

"Awoo~" Walking Wake looked at the two fish in its paws, feeling a little regretful.

All right, lucky day for you two. You're free.

The pair of Basculin were outraged!

Gwah! We wrestled over that grinding stone for ages and you just took it!

You think we're fish who give up that easily?!

"Here, eat."

Hikaru tossed over two Super Pokéblocks, and both fish fell instantly silent after chowing down.

Great taste in fish, right?

Fine, we'll go find another "stone" to grind our teeth on.

Plop plop. They slipped back into the river—but not without smacking each other with their tails one more time before leaving.

Hikaru studied the palm-sized Plate.

[Mythic Artifact: Blank Plate!]

[Description: A Plate imbued with the Normal type. Use it on certain Pokémon to grant them the power of Normal.]

[Gained Occupational Knowledge: +1]

[Pokémon Breeder (Evaluator): Among Pokémon Trainers, those who specialize in care and health management are called Pokémon Breeders. The highest rank is "Evaluator." Your friendship with Pokémon of all types has increased.]

[Your understanding of Pokémon rearing skyrockets. Your medical, culinary, grooming, nutritional-mixing, and cleaning abilities all improve; Pokémon raised by you will learn faster and grow quicker.]

[Gained Unique Craft: +1]

[Obtained a lead for crafting a Mysterious Artifact: +1]

[Inscription: The power of three Pokémon halts time and space for a moment.]

"The rest of the Plates are in the Abyssal Ruins, but since those ruins are from an earlier age, there's no Blank Plate or Pixie Plate inside. Looks like they didn't 'vanish'—they just fell elsewhere."

"Anyway, smooth pickup—and I even got Evaluator know-how. Only problem: I don't have a license."

"Should I go to Hoenn and take the exam?"

Muttering to himself, Hikaru kept reading the follow-up details on unique crafts and mysterious artifacts.

[Wavecraft (B+).]

[Description: A craft that infuses items with waves/aura. Sometimes creates special Normal-type gear.]

[Through this craft, you can make various Normal- and wave-type items.]

[Can craft: Ball of Happiness, Aura Ring, Perception Glasses, Wave Bow series…]

[There are special "waves" in nature and in some Pokémon—go to Liberty Garden / Land of Earth to obtain V-Wave from Victini! The C-Device can record this wave!]

[Mysterious Artifact Lead: Red Chain — useful sites include the three lakes of Sinnoh / Unova's Heart Hollow.]

Hikaru: "…"

A long time ago, Cyrus asked me if I knew how to make the Red Chain. Now I can tell him: I do.

But… theoretically you don't even need to hand-forge it. Team Galactic can crank out a meteorite knockoff, and it works about as well as the real thing.

"If you don't use Red Chain fragments to insult Dialga and Palkia, the only thing left to make with them is the Origin Ball, right?"

Which is worse—being insulted by the Red Chain, or by the Origin Ball? Hard to say.

Anyway, there's still that so-called "Azure Emperor" lingering here in Unova, and we might get chances to world-hop down the line. Statistically, Dialga causes trouble more than Palkia does, so as for this Red Chain…

"There isn't just one way to make a Red Chain. The orthodox method is to obtain Uxie's Claw, Azelf's Fang, and Mesprit's Plume. Combine the three powers, and the Red Chain is born."

"Second, you can forcibly restrain the lake trio with a special machine and use their energy to grow a special Red Crystal, then forge it from that."

"Third, use meteorites with similar energy and refine them with a special process! The meteorite version is far less durable and sturdy than the first two—ordinary moves can even shatter it—but the effect is not that different!"

"And wouldn't you know it, Kyurem gave me lots of meteorites!"

(End of Chapter)

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