Crowned Sword and Crowned Shield. Born just like that.
The craftsmen present stood with wide eyes and open mouths. The aura radiating from the two Pokémon was something none of them had felt before: the specific, unmistakable weight of a king's presence.
Zacian and Zamazenta turned toward Lucien. Zacian spoke. "Thank you." Zamazenta said nothing, but its eyes carried everything the words would have.
They were Legendary Pokémon. They would not refuse the chance to become stronger. And in their understanding, everything they had just become was because of Lucien: the journey across time and space to find Melmetal, the invitation to Calyrex, the human craftsmen brought together, all of it coordinated for their sake. They would not forget that.
Calyrex's expression showed the particular exhaustion of something that has given a great deal of itself. The King's Power channeled into the weapons had taken a toll.
"Everyone rest," Lucien said.
Zacian and Zamazenta, now carrying their new power, remained in Slumbering Town to wait for the Darkest Day. Hoopa and Melmetal stayed as well, though under different circumstances.
Hoopa's power was sealed and it could not defeat Lucien, so it had little choice. Lucien, for his part, did not restrain it beyond what was necessary and had a room stocked with donuts prepared for it. Melmetal, curious about what weapons forged from its own metal could accomplish, chose to stay.
Calyrex stayed too. Through the days of working together, it had formed a genuine impression of Lucien: the red tea prepared to its taste, the spread of its name throughout the city, the respect extended to it without performance.
But Calyrex could sense that the atmosphere in Galar had been growing unusual. The humans seemed to be moving toward another war.
It found Lucien and asked directly: "My friend, what are you planning to do?"
Zacian, Zamazenta, and Hoopa all looked over.
Lucien looked at Calyrex with focused attention and answered a question with a question. "Calyrex, what do you think of the humans who rule this land?"
Calyrex considered. During its travels across Galar, it had seen ordinary people living in hardship while the royal families and nobility comfortably used the lower classes as instruments. It had seen Pokémon treated as property.
In contrast, the city under Lucien's management was something else: humans and Pokémon supporting each other, building a life together, no one harming the other. Given a choice between the two, Calyrex would choose the latter without hesitation.
"You have built something I have not," it said.
Lucien was briefly surprised by that. But it was not quite what he was asking about.
"What if I asked you to become the ruler of this land?"
Calyrex went still.
"I am not from Galar," Lucien continued. "Kyurem and I come from a distant region called Unova. That is my country. I came here because I want to build a world where humans and Pokémon can live together. Once everything here is in place, I will return to Unova."
"I am afraid that is not possible," Calyrex said, a slight frown in its expression. "Human affairs are considerably more complicated than Pokémon affairs. If you leave and I am managing this land alone, it will descend into chaos."
Lucien let a small smile show. "What if I send people from Unova to help you? You rule in name, as the true King of Galar. I establish an organization called the Pokémon League. The League handles all matters, large and small, on this land, and guides the integration of humans and Pokémon."
Calyrex processed this. If that were the arrangement, every person in Galar would come to know the King of Abundance by name and by reputation. The Power of Faith that grew from that knowledge was not a small thing.
Lucien watched Calyrex's expression and waited. From what he knew, Calyrex was not a cruel or selfish Pokémon. It was kind, and its history showed it: appearing before humans to bring fertility to their lands, and in the original course of events, using its power to relocate an entire forest to save the Pokémon living there before exhausting itself into sleep.
Calyrex's eyes went quiet as it thought. Fields stretching without end. Fortresses at peace. Humans and Pokémon living together. Itself, honored as King of Galar, not as an object of fear but as a protector known and believed in.
"The Pokémon League," it repeated. "You mean I hold the throne, and the League manages worldly affairs and maintains order?"
"That is correct."
Calyrex would be Galar's true king, with the League as the practical instrument of governance. Calyrex would become the League's protector and partner, inseparable from it. The Galar Region would become the second land in this world where humans and Pokémon genuinely coexisted as equals.
Calyrex had watched dynasties rise and fall. It had seen humans tear each other apart for power across centuries. It had never seen a group like Lucien's: humans and Pokémon standing together, not for conquest or personal gain, but for something shared.
The hesitation in its eyes faded. What replaced it was something older and steadier.
"If you trust me with this," Calyrex said.
A warm, fertile power spread from its body, pale yellow light moving gently through the air of the lord's mansion, settling over the grass and trees like something soft and heavy at the same time.
"I agree."
That single word settled Galar's future.
Lucien stood. "Before anything else, we need to address what is directly in front of us."
The mood in the room shifted.
"You have sensed the unusual atmosphere on this land already. Paty IV considers us a threat. His forces are mobilizing, closing toward us, wanting to force a war."
Calyrex frowned. "Then drive them back."
"No," Lucien said. "I have no interest in a pointless war. The people of this land have suffered enough. All they want is to eat and stay warm." He paused. "From intelligence Chelsea has gathered, Paty IV has been conducting forced conscription across the kingdom to build his army.
The complaints from civilians and Pokémon alike are widespread. People are hiding, deserting, and increasing numbers are coming to Slumbering Town because they see it as the only place worth going. Paty IV's army is likely already unstable."
Calyrex was quiet for a moment. "Then what do you need me to do?"
"When his main force arrives at the walls, show yourself. Let those soldiers see your power and your presence. Promise that those who surrender will be spared.
Offer land, food, and the end of conscription. Use the liberation of the common people and the enslaved as the basis for everything." Lucien laid it out plainly. "When Galar changes hands, the ordinary people will not resist. Most of them will welcome it. Some will open the gates themselves."
Calyrex's expression shifted into understanding.
Its power was the power of fertility: it could bring spring to withered land and coax grain from ruined soil. On a battlefield, it carried no sword or shield. But in the hearts of hungry, exhausted people, it was stronger than any army.
"You intend to use fertility to break their resolve."
"Exactly," Lucien said. "The royal family gave them conscription, heavy taxes, hunger, and death. We give them land, food, a stable life, and the chance to survive, humans and Pokémon both."
He looked out the window at Slumbering Town: the smoke of cooking fires, people and Pokémon moving through the streets together, young rice shoots growing in the fields.
"Force takes fortresses. It cannot take hearts. But when hearts turn, Galar falls before the battle begins."
Chelsea nodded. "The royal army is enormous on paper, but the bulk of it is conscripted civilians. They have no desire to fight. They are only there because they fear the crown."
Another minister added: "Show them a way out, and they will not die for the royal family."
Calyrex looked at Lucien. This human had the power to sweep through all of Galar. He had chosen not to. His concern was for the people and Pokémon of this land, not for victory.
"I understand," Calyrex said. "When the enemy army reaches the walls, I will show them what a true King of Abundance is."
Lucien's lips curved slightly.
This battle would not run with blood. But the old Galar would end here. The new one would be born in fertility and in hope.
Several days later, the dust rose outside Slumbering Town under a bright sky.
Paty IV had run out of patience. The Unova outsider had been inside his territory long enough.
He issued the order, and the full Galar royal army advanced from three directions, east, south, and north, their formation stretching for over ten miles, armor catching the light. In the air, the Corviknight corps filled the sky from horizon to horizon.
It looked overwhelming from the outside. The generals on the inside knew better. The Kalos campaign had cost them their core army. The retaliatory strike that crossed the ocean had inflicted casualties on the home garrison that had not been made good.
What marched now was largely conscripted from the countryside: ordinary people who had not chosen to be here, who could not hold their weapons properly, whose complaints had been ongoing since the moment they were drafted.
On the city wall, Lucien stood with his hands behind his back. Calyrex, Zacian, Zamazenta, and Kyurem stood beside him. Hoopa had crept up the wall on its own and was peering over the edge with open curiosity.
An envoy rode forward and shouted across the field.
"By order of His Majesty! The King leads this army personally! Open the gates, surrender, confess your crimes, and mercy will be granted! Resist, and Slumbering Town will be leveled, no one left alive!"
The silence on the wall was complete.
Lucien looked at Calyrex. "Your turn."
Calyrex walked to the wall's edge. It closed its eyes.
Golden light spread outward without sound. Then a power of a different order descended over the battlefield, something that had no name in the vocabulary of war.
The ground trembled, barely. Beneath the feet of the Galar army, the dry and cracked earth changed. Grass pushed through. Withered weeds turned green. Rice shoots sprouted along the roadside, grew, bloomed, and ripened in the time it took to draw a breath.
The entire wasteland became a sea of golden grain. The smell of harvest filled the air.
Weapons hit the ground throughout the Galar ranks. Soldiers stared.
"This is..."
"A miracle."
None of them had ever seen anything like it in their lives.
Lucien rode Kyurem above the field, his voice clear and carrying.
"I am Lucien, from a land called Unova. There, humans and Pokémon live as one. No one goes hungry. No one freezes. I did not come to Galar to invade." He let that settle.
"I came because your King imprisoned my trading fleet and gave me this city as compensation. I intended to use it as a port. What happened instead was that people from across Galar began arriving herem pale, thin, wearing rags. I understood then what life in this land was."
On the walls behind him, figures appeared: former refugees and escaped slaves from other cities, now wearing clean clothes, faces full of color and health.
They called down to the army below.
"Lord Lucien speaks the truth!"
"He gave us houses and land! Everyone eats! Everyone is warm!"
"Don't fight for the royals, they never treated us as human beings!"
The Galar army broke into noise.
Lucien spoke again, his voice carrying sorrow that was real.
"The blood of Galar flows in your veins. We should not be killing each other. The royal family gave you war, famine, and death. Do you still want to die for that king? Put down your weapons. Come inside these walls. Join your families and friends. Here there is no slavery, no oppression. Everyone eats. Everyone has a home."
The silence beneath the walls lasted one moment.
Then it broke entirely.
"I don't want to fight, my mother and children are at home!"
"We didn't harvest a single grain last year and the taxes still weren't forgiven!"
"They drafted us here to die for them!"
Weapons fell. Spears were dropped. Shields were cast aside. Soldiers looked up at the walls at the healthy, well-dressed people standing there and felt the wavering become something else.
Paty IV watched from his chariot, his face going white and then rigid. He slammed his fist down.
"Silence! Any man who breaks ranks will be executed!"
His bodyguards moved immediately, cutting down the nearest soldiers who had dropped their weapons. Blood fell onto the newly sprouted grain.
It did not produce fear. It produced fury.
"The King kills his own men!"
"Why should we die for him!"
The formation collapsed. Soldiers fled in every direction. Others turned on the bodyguards themselves. The army had not been defeated. It had come apart from within.
Paty IV's voice cut through the chaos.
"Corviknight Legion, destroy the walls!"
The formation overhead moved as one, iron wings tearing downward toward Slumbering Town.
"Kyurem."
Kyurem was already rising. Its cold spread outward as it climbed, and the Corviknight corps froze mid-dive, suspended solid in the air, and fell.
Lucien looked at Calyrex.
"Let them see who the true protector of Galar is."
Calyrex raised its hand again. The golden light spread further, but this time it did not grow grain. Across the battlefield, vines and grass wove upward in long arcs, forming a living shield between the soldiers fighting each other.
The bodyguards' blades struck the vines and were turned aside without injury. The soldiers locked in combat were held, gently, apart.
Calyrex's voice moved across the land.
"I am the King of Abundance. Every living thing on this land is under my protection. The royal family has treated the people as nothing. Lay down your weapons. There is land here, and food. Those who stand with the tyrant will find no mercy."
The remaining royal guards looked at each other.
The ordinary soldiers knelt.
"We surrender!"
"We beg Lord Lucien for a way to live!"
The tide had turned.