The apprentice knight charged at the legendary Sacred Swordsman.
Perhaps that massive greatsword was not a sword at all.
It might have been a windmill.
Might have been a giant.
Might have been a Titan boss, or some other legend.
But whatever it was did not matter. At this moment, in the eyes of the apprentice knight, there was only its own armor.
And so, it was felled in a single strike.
Out of respect, Aegislash did not shift into its "Soul V" true form. For its opening blow, it simply used a single, tremendously powerful Sacred Sword with no extra power layered on top.
The charging flames were neatly sidestepped. The apprentice knight was, as a matter of course, smashed into the ground.
Yet after a brief cry of pain, it trembled and forced itself back to its feet.
Even if no one cared.
Even if no one paid it any mind.
At the very least, for its own sake…
It had withstood the attack.
"Huh? Charcadet can learn Protect?"
"Or is this a 'virtual Focus Sash'?"
In actual battles, sometimes the damage calculation will come out just a little off, leaving the Pokémon with 1 HP.
Or, you get that "The Pokémon toughed it out so you wouldn't feel sad!" situation.
There was no essential difference between that and Ash's famous "Hang in there!"
At their core, all of these were manifestations of a Pokémon's tenacity and spirit.
Which meant that even if it didn't formally know the move Endure, a Pokémon could still, through sheer resolve, remain standing against a massive blow.
"In terms of level alone, there's absolutely no way you could have stopped that Sacred Sword," Hikaru mused.
"But if you forced yourself through it on willpower and spirit alone, then I'm honestly impressed."
He didn't hold back his praise. Instead, he found this Charcadet quite interesting.
The Paldea region was full of bully gangs, but those Pokémon were only trying to secure an edge in a brutally competitive environment. That was why they kept grouping up one after another.
"Ka-bo!"
Charcadet could feel it. This was the difference in strength and level.
This challenge was doomed to fail. It did not even have the slightest chance of victory.
A legendary Sacred Swordsman… in other words, something akin to a knight?
Charcadet's thoughts were a tangled mess, but its anger was climbing. If it just withdrew here, the disgrace would be unbearable.
It had never suffered such a string of defeats.
And it was still working tirelessly, all to become a true Armarouge.
A fierce burst of flame erupted before Charcadet.
Fire Spin.
Against Steel-type Pokémon, that move was often very effective, excellent at chipping away their stamina.
Then came the move that could burn them and leave them weakened: Will-O-Wisp.
"Fire Spin and Will-O-Wisp, huh. As expected."
"When you're facing weaker opponents, you go straight for Flare Blitz. When you're up against a strong foe, you switch to harassment tactics."
"That has nothing to do with knightly spirit. That's just correct tactics."
"But this level of flame is still far too weak."
Hikaru shook his head, and at that moment Aegislash swept its enormous shield.
Boom.
A blast of violent astral wind blew away every last lick of swirling flame. The Aegislash that had been at that spot vanished, replaced by a decoy image.
Substitute. A move that could instantly free you from binding moves.
Which meant…
Just as Aegislash was about to deliver a second strike, Sacred Sword's light gathering along its blade, Charcadet's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Wait."
Hikaru stayed Aegislash's hand, and Aegislash, too, suddenly realized what was happening.
Charcadet instantly panicked.
"Ge~"
So that was it. That last move had been Destiny Bond.
Destiny Bond was a Ghost-type move. When the user loses the ability to fight, it drags the opponent down with it so both faint together.
Aegislash chuckled.
It had once used that very move to scam Kyurem. And now, there was a Pokémon attempting to use it on Aegislash itself.
But against the Sacred Swordsman, the same trick would not work twice.
"Well, Sacred Swordsman, Saint Seiya… it's all the same. You're gold-colored either way." Hikaru muttered.
Aegislash tapped the ground with the tip of its blade.
Because of Destiny Bond, it could not attack at this moment. Charcadet seemed to have caught on to that, and was gathering Ghost-type power around its body, ready to deploy Destiny Bond again at any time.
However, that move had a restriction.
If the user had successfully activated Destiny Bond on the previous turn, using it again on this turn would fail.
In other words, once you fired off Destiny Bond, there would be a period where you simply could not use it again.
To deal with that limitation, Charcadet had prepared another trump card.
A strange glowing orb gathered in its hands. With a single look, Hikaru recognized it as Confuse Ray, a move that would throw its target into confusion.
"Every move you know is a 'dark knight' skill set… Will-O-Wisp, Destiny Bond, Confuse Ray…"
"But…"
"A hero is not afraid of confusion."
A huge surge of psychic energy poured into Aegislash.
Hero's Resolve.
A temporary boost to a Pokémon's capabilities and willpower, making it hard to inflict status conditions or confusion on them.
Confuse Ray struck Aegislash, but a single sweep of its massive shield scattered the strange light.
Charcadet was stunned. It hurriedly gathered Confuse Ray again, yet in Aegislash's eyes, this challenge had already come to an end.
"Ge-euh."
Young apprentice knight, have you any other tricks that might delight me?
If not…
A flash of intense light interwove with shadow and struck before Charcadet could even move.
Shadow Sneak.
This was how ancient knights greeted opponents.
And when needed, it also served as the finishing blow.
"Ka-ka-dunk."
Charcadet collapsed, its entire body trembling uncontrollably. Its stamina was completely spent. No matter how it struggled, it could no longer stand.
At that moment, chatter rose from behind it. Charcadet turned its head with difficulty and saw that the Tinkatink and Tinkatuff had woken up.
They watched Charcadet's condition with some anxiety, waving their hammers and chattering excitedly, yet with obvious fear.
So, after we seized Bronzong and Bronzor's old nest… now our own lair is about to be taken by a human?
But that human had also ordered his Pokémon to heal them.
The Tinkatink and Tinkatuff could not make sense of it. Still, when they saw Hikaru stripping the area of materials, the hammer girls started stomping their feet in outrage.
So that was what you were after, huh.
We hate you.
But the scene of their entire tribe being shot into the sky by a single Sky Attack was still fresh in their minds. For now, they were still shaken and in no state for a second battle.
Hikaru thought quietly for a moment, then looked down at the Charcadet lying on the ground, desperately trying to stand, and asked:
"Now… do you still want to become a true knight?"
"Ka-dunk!"
Charcadet's answer was sharp and decisive, with not a trace of hesitation. Even Hikaru and Aegislash were stunned.
"All right. I understand your resolve."
"However, Auspicious Armor is not something that can be casually forged. Compared to Malicious Armor, it is far more difficult to make."
"The materials here are excellent, many of them very useful. But without the right techniques, they cannot be turned into that armor."
Forging Auspicious Armor absolutely required spiritual smithing techniques.
However…
You only needed to obtain the Fragmented Armor of Merit to gain spiritual smithing.
What a coincidence.
"The Bronzor and Bronzong fragments need to be put to use," Hikaru said.
"I don't like the way you collected these materials, but I have to admit… they are very valuable."
"So then: let's forge. For the sake of your goal."
Aegislash glanced at Hikaru.
You're going to start smithing here? In this shabby place?
"Even in an empty void of the heart, we can still forge red chains," Hikaru replied.
"Right now, it's only a suit of armor."
"Once the forging is complete, I'll have mastered the technique of infusing Psychic and spiritual power into the smithing process. That's very important to me."
Once he decided to act, Hikaru wasted no time. He threw a Dream Ball, and with a pop, Larvesta waddled out, feelers swaying.
The Charcadet and Tinkatink around here were not unfamiliar with Larvesta. They had seen that species in the nearby desert.
"In Unova, Larvesta are incredibly rare, almost extinct. But in Paldea, they appear by the swarm. Volcarona would be ecstatic to see this. A true revival of the species."
He had no idea whether Professor Yew had brought a Volcarona along when he came to investigate Paldea.
"Melar~"
Larvesta spat flames.
So, what did you call me out for today? To do something big?
Let's play with fire art.
The high temperature and sunlight radiating from Larvesta shocked Charcadet… and then something even more shocking appeared.
When Hikaru drew out the Light Stone to serve as a fire source and it erupted in roaring cyan flames, Charcadet stared wide-eyed at that white stone wreathed in blue-green fire.
If only I could use that stone as my forge…
In its eyes, a dream took shape.
But there was no need to chase this dream. It was about to become reality all on its own.
Because for forging armor, there was no need to involve Entei's Sacred Fire.
Hikaru was even thinking that after Entei left someday, he really should try to train himself to wield Sacred Fire for more convenient smithing.
Strictly speaking, Sacred Fire was currently only known by Ho-Oh and Entei, but the conditions for learning it were clearly defined.
Namely: you found Ho-Oh and had it bestow a sacred blessing upon a Fire-type Pokémon, granting it the power to use Sacred Fire. That Pokémon would then be able to learn Sacred Fire.
From a legality standpoint, compared to other signature moves of Legendary Pokémon, Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire had a relatively formal and legitimate learning path. Entei's right to use Sacred Fire had originated this way.
It was just that finding the same kind of street-roaming, photography-loving Ho-Oh as in that movie would be the tricky part.
If you tried to negotiate with some other Legendary, say asking Lugia to grant a Flying-type Pokémon "Winds of Blessing," that Pokémon still wouldn't be able to learn Aeroblast.
This was what set Ho-Oh apart from other Legendaries. It could grant special power and life itself.
"You'd better pay attention," Hikaru said.
He gave Charcadet a particularly pointed look.
Under the intense stares of the Pokémon crowd, the forging officially began.
And the pace and efficiency of the work left them all in awe.
The Tinkatuff murmured among themselves, eyes glittering.
The human's smithing technique and efficiency were even more impressive than theirs, despite them being "Blacksmith Pokémon" and "Hammer Pokémon."
Goodness, was this really a human? The kind who did nothing but treasure-hunt by the roadside and grind against wild Pokémon for EXP?
The Tinkatuff were studying intently. They could sense an opportunity.
Their group had never managed to evolve a single Tinkaton, and one key reason was the overwhelming shortage of steel materials. It was why they had holed up here, attacking Steel-type Pokémon.
In truth, the steel shortage was largely because they had raided too aggressively. The Bronzong families had packed up and fled, and with no Bisharp clans nearby, collecting high-grade metal had become very difficult.
As for Corviknight… they used to see them around, but now sightings were rare.
The only Steel-type Pokémon they could still scrounge up were the occasional passing Cufant, or a stray Magnemite, Klefki, or Varoom.
They had heard that far away there was a Pokémon called Forretress whose shell was excellent metal, but the Tinkatink and Tinkatuff had never seen one.
Of course not. Forretress lived in the forest across Casseroya Lake, a very long way from here.
"Ka-ka-ka-ka-la!"
A Tinkatuff swung her hammer, then pointed urgently at Hikaru, who was in the middle of forging the armor.
This technique is good. We have to learn this technique.
We used to look down on humans. Now we want to analyze every frame.
Hurry. Memorize everything. Carve it into your minds… or the stone.
The Tinkatink and Tinkatuff scattered, searching the ruins for sharp bits of iron or rock and began scratching the steps of the forging process into the surrounding walls.
Strictly speaking, this was vandalizing the ruins a second time, but wild Pokémon had been wrecking this place for who knew how long. The "authorities" clearly had no plans to intervene.
"Not a bad fate for it," Hikaru said. "A playground for wild Pokémon."
He cast a glance around, and by then the new armor's shape had already come together.
Auspicious Armor was a classic plate harness that used high-quality steel as its base material. Typically, large, pre-shaped plate slabs were chosen.
You cut the steel into the shapes and sizes you needed, then ground down the edges. The shaped plates were placed into the forge and heated to the right temperature…
In short, it was the standard workflow for forging plate armor.
Before they knew it, the Tinkatuff had filled the walls with diagrams and notes on forging. The leaders were clustered around the Light Stone, pointing and discussing the techniques they saw.
The flames in Charcadet's eyes burned stronger and stronger. It looked at the exquisite armor taking shape, then at the ragged suit of armor it had made itself, and a trace of self-doubt touched its heart.
That trace of self-doubt was quickly cast aside.
There was no need to envy someone else's armor. One day, it would forge something just as magnificent.
If it memorized this human's entire forging process… and if it lacked sufficiently strong fire, then it simply had to find more Pokémon with powerful flames.
"Pokémon with powerful fire? Oh, I know some," Hikaru said.
Charcadet froze. Only now did it realize that this human could apparently understand it.
He could read its emotions and thoughts.
Wait.
There's something seriously off about this human. I've never seen anyone like this.
"There are no psychics in your region," Hikaru said, "so in your eyes, a person who can talk with Pokémon is a rare sight."
"But we can skip that topic for now."
"If you want Pokémon with strong firepower, aside from my Larvesta and the Light Stone, there's another Pokémon sealed somewhere in this land."
"A Pokémon from ancient legend that can swim in lava and wields three-thousand-degree flames: Chi-Yu."
As they chatted, the Armor of Merit was completed.
The individual pieces were joined by welding, riveting, and other methods to form a complete harness.
The connections were usually made by brazing. Cloth and breastplates were overlapped, then riveted together with hammer and small pins.
The finishing touches involved working over the fine details: polishing surfaces, applying coatings, and so on, to increase durability and appearance.
Hikaru meticulously finished each step, then examined his work.
[Item: Shards of Merit Armor!]
[Description: Though it has yet to see battle, the incorporation of Bronzong and Bronzor fragments imbues it with extraordinary spiritual power. Even so, this armor cannot be called Auspicious Armor. It does, however, possess a special "Heatproof" effect and can withstand extremely high temperatures.]
[Effect: Heatproof. When worn by a Pokémon, Speed is reduced and Defense is increased. Gained Effort Values are also increased.]
[Gained: Spiritual Smithing!]
A massive surge of psychic power flowed out. This was Hikaru's own Psychic ability, now applied to the forging process.
He had just mastered the art of infusing smithing with that power.
In other words, he could now forge "Psychic-crafted products."
At the same time, the "Orb Creation" function he had obtained long ago was fully unlocked. Using Awakened Power and spiritual smithing, he could compress natural energy into stones and actively forge or fire special crystalline orbs.
"Ka-ka-ka!"
The Tinkatuff were rubbing their hands together, staring excitedly at the finished armor. Though it still radiated heat, no Pokémon cared about such a thing.
They could not wait to touch this exquisite creation. Hikaru, meanwhile, was cleaning and polishing the Light Stone, then returned the slumbering stone to his bag.
Charcadet looked at Hikaru, then reached out and touched the Merit Armor.
No miracle of evolution occurred. This was simply excellent armor, not Auspicious Armor.
It looked down at the hammer in its hand.
The Tinkatink had forged that hammer as thanks for its help.
Among its kind, there was a legend.
When a Charcadet of unshakable will received a knight's armor, it would evolve into a knight wreathed in flame and light.
But just as the stories told, armor did not only come in Auspicious form. There were also cursed suits of armor.
Charcadet chose its future by its own will.
There was still some cyan flame left…
Charcadet suddenly grabbed the battered armor it had forged for itself. Because it had made it to wear personally, it was not a large harness like true Auspicious Armor, but a tiny, mini-sized set.
It clutched the armor and some leftover materials, then clomped over to the remaining cyan fire, spat out its own flames, and fused the fires together.
Then it began forging.
"Huh?"
Hikaru watched the sudden burst of activity with interest, observing Charcadet's every move.
It melted the materials back into the patchwork armor. The result looked even more comical than before, yet there was a faint new power hidden within.
Once it was done, Charcadet couldn't wait to strap the armor onto its body.
Then it fixed Hikaru with a firm gaze and spoke out in a determined cry.
"Oh? You want to learn smithing skills?"
"In other words, you've truly made up your mind to become an apprentice knight?"
Hikaru looked at the Charcadet in front of him with genuine interest.
"A squire who once fought with dirty tricks, now resolved to walk the path of merit to become a true Armarouge."
"Good. Come along, then."
"I'm going to cross half of Paldea to reach Zapapico in the east. For you, that's probably a place you could never reach in a lifetime."
"Wearing the armor you forged yourself, you'll climb distant mountains, fight in countless battles, and challenge an endless stream of powerful foes."
"I'll fly up into the high peaks to visit a vicious Pokémon born from a legendary artifact. If you've got the courage, keep up."
"I'll teach you spiritual smithing, so you can forge your own Auspicious Armor."
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 500 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]