"Found it! It really is here!"
After searching around the mountaintop for a bit, Hikaru quickly spotted the shrine.
Calling it a shrine was generous. It was basically just a lid. The sealing work here was beyond half-hearted.
A huge golden cap sat in the rock, with two thick chains crossing over it in an X, pinning the lid down so whatever was sealed inside could not escape.
"According to an old Paldean fairy tale: once upon a time, there was a king who loved collecting treasures.
"The king especially adored rare treasures from foreign lands. One day, a merchant from an eastern country heard this rumor and came to visit the king.
"The merchant laid out four treasures before the king. These four treasures were a vessel, a sword, a tablet, and a beads-ornament. The king was overjoyed the moment he saw them.
"He gave the merchant a great deal of money and told him to leave the four treasures behind. But that very night, after the king obtained them… disaster descended upon his castle. It's said the entire castle was destroyed in a single night.
"The true reason the castle that gathered vessel, sword, tablet, and beads was destroyed…
"…was that the treasures themselves were actually Pokémon.
"The four Pokémon were passed from hand to hand as 'treasures.' Human greed and curses gradually seeped into them. After being corroded by the king's desire, they finally turned into calamities and rampaged.
"In order to protect his country, the king summoned a famed Pokémon tamer. After a fierce battle, the calamities were quelled. Using sacred stakes, he sealed the calamity-treasures into shrines."
Hikaru didn't need Raifort to explain the tale.
Raifort had mentioned the Treasures of Ruin to him before, subtly angling for Hikaru to come unseal them. But for Raifort, that was just business as usual.
One thing was almost certain: Raifort was probably a descendant of the ancient Paldean royal family and wanted to use the Treasures of Ruin to "achieve great things."
"A suspected royal descendant who spends all day grave-robbing her own ancestral tombs… hard to comment on that one."
"But that traveling merchant who wandered the world with his wares… Aegislash, you think those four still remember you?"
Hikaru guessed the four Treasures of Ruin probably wouldn't remember a bargain-bin item like Aegislash.
As for the Pokémon tamer later in the story, some texts translated him as an 'envoy,' but that term was far too vague. If you called him a 'tamer' instead, then in the whole Pokémon world there was only one person who fit that title. Wangluo.
Unfortunately, the timing didn't line up.
The Paldean tamer had come a thousand years ago, while Wangluo had lived just over a hundred years back.
So, aside from Wangluo, Hikaru had another guess.
"If we look only at known figures from ancient times, there are two people who match the conditions.
"The first is AZ. The second is Wusi."
He cast a glance down the mountainside and sensed Larvesta's presence.
It should be almost here with Charcadet.
"Hah… hahh…!"
After quite a long wait, Larvesta puffed tiny flames and came chugging over, plopping onto the ground with a thud before turning its vacant eyes back down the slope.
Behind it, the apprentice knight Charcadet finally dragged itself up to the Icerend Shrine's mountaintop, having exhausted every last ounce of energy to reach this place.
The shrine's position was nasty. There was no proper level path leading to it, only a sheer cliff face. Reaching it required actual "climbing," not just walking.
"You're here. I've been waiting quite a while."
"Ka… ka-dunk!"
Charcadet panted as it nodded to Hikaru.
Master, I've completed the first step of training.
Then it looked at the massive golden lid and was deeply shaken.
There was something like this on the mountaintop?
And its flames were visibly restless now. Something terrifying was sealed inside!
Charcadet's design was based on protective charcoal that wards off evil, so it was especially sensitive to malicious energy. The malice seeping out from within the shrine made the apprentice knight feel like it was facing a mortal foe.
"Now we're going to unseal the first Demon King."
"Letting the hero challenge the Demon King right after walking out of the starting village is ridiculous… but we can at least test things a little."
Hikaru took out the dimensional ring and set Hoopa's ring right on top of the golden cap.
——
Hum…
The shrine, sealed for a thousand years, suddenly developed a gap.
Inside, Chien-Pao, who had been bored out of its mind playing with its own tail, jolted upright.
"Huh?"
It stared suspiciously at the glowing ring that had appeared in front of it. Left, right, up, down, the full cat inspection routine. The combination of feline caution and curiosity was on full display.
Then it crept closer, sniffed the ring first, tapped it cautiously with one paw, then suddenly smacked it several times in a row.
"Gu-pao! Gu-pao!"
What the hell is this thing! Scared the fur off me!
Chien-Pao tilted and craned its head, studying it from all angles. Then it sensed a familiar aura seep through from the ring.
Curiosity won out. After checking it several more times and confirming it didn't seem dangerous, the snow leopard stretched its long body and slowly poked its head through.
"Gu-pao!"
Sunlight it had not seen in a thousand years stabbed into its eyes, making Chien-Pao freeze for a heartbeat. Then it spotted the human outside, and the strange-looking Pokémon around him, and its mood skyrocketed.
Nyahaha!
Parole, baby!
Some clueless human had actually lifted its seal. That was fantastic.
With a one-track predator's brain and a millennium of pent-up boredom, it couldn't wait to move its limbs. Without a second thought, it slipped the rest of its body through the ring and jumped outside.
"Yo."
Aegislash immediately called out to Chien-Pao.
The "cheese snow leopard" totally ignored it at first, stretching like a big cat in the open, tilting its head back to roar.
First things first: a Swords Dance warm-up.
"Ge!"
Aegislash emphasized its presence again, and only then did Chien-Pao notice it.
Hm? That familiar aura is coming off this sword?
What are you even supposed to be? I don't remember ever seeing you.
"Of course you don't. Aegislash never got a Paldea visa."
Hikaru muttered aside.
Chien-Pao racked its brain but came up empty. The aura was familiar, but the appearance was completely different, so it had no recollection at all.
Not until Aegislash scratched its former appearance into the snow did Chien-Pao blink, then flick its tail.
Oh! I remember now. Isn't that the bargain-bin piece that used to sit with us in the display pile?
So you were a Pokémon too, huh.
You the one who let me out? Nice. I appreciate it. I'm gonna go raise some hell now.
However, Aegislash swung its shield and planted the huge golden barrier right in Chien-Pao's path.
"?"
The cheese snow leopard's eyes went crooked.
You little bargain-bin scrap, and you dare to block me?
"?"
Aegislash was offended in turn.
Bargain-bin this, bargain-bin that.
Like you're so pricey.
At that moment, Chien-Pao finally seemed to grasp Aegislash's stance. It glanced at the human in front of it, the strange Pokémon at his side, then at its "bargain-bin old neighbor sword."
Oh, so that's how it is.
Just like that old king, or that tamer from back then… You lot want to control me too?
Heh. Interesting. Since you just freed me, I'll graciously play along for a bit.
Cats didn't devour their prey right away. They played with it first.
Nyahaha, the big cat king has arrived.
"Gu-pao!"
A wild Chien-Pao appeared!
Chien-Pao bounced up and down in excitement. It wasn't just thrilled to be free; this was also how it began casting its move.
Rumbles echoed across the mountain. The cold thickened, and then a roaring avalanche began to thunder down the slopes.
"The Ruinous Sword really is strong. But…"
Hikaru's eyes flicked to Aegislash.
The golden shield flared wide. The blade swelled in size.
My sword is no worse.
Four-times weak to Fighting, huh. You think you can stomach one Sacred Sword from me?
Or maybe…
Chien-Pao gave a low growl. A pure white blade of light suddenly shone at the tip of its tail.
Sacred Sword?
As the Ruinous Sword, Chien-Pao had known Sacred Sword long ago.
The snow leopard lashed its tail proudly, that lethal Sacred Sword ready to lash out at any moment.
Aegislash, meanwhile, was stunned.
It had honed itself for a long time to learn that move.
Hikaru immediately spoke up.
"Chien-Pao is a mysterious sword-turned Pokémon. It having Sacred Sword is normal. But there's no need to be rattled just because you both have the same move.
"It's only a Sacred Sword.
"Your Sacred Sword is forged from a clear and unwavering heart. You are the true Sacred Sword Knight."
Uh… Aegislash thought about it.
Fine. It had to admit: a higher price tag did come with reasons.
Not that it was shabby now either.
The cheese snow leopard shot a sidelong look at Aegislash, then ignored its gaze and picked a different target.
It took one look at Aegislash ramming into the avalanche, then spun around and pounced toward the front line where Charcadet stood.
You look cute.
Let's start with you. Come play with the snow leopard.
Chien-Pao unleashed a surge of chilling power. The frigid air of the entire mountain gathered under its control.
Blizzard lashed the Icerend Shrine's summit, wind and snow howling in all directions.
Charcadet's body trembled.
Chien-Pao's cold nearly froze its flames.
But it could not yield.
It had finally made up its mind to overcome countless powerful enemies and become a true Armarouge.
So if it retreated here…
"Ka-dunk!"
I will not retreat!
Flames erupted around Charcadet's small body.
It had absorbed a bit of Reshiram's cyan fire earlier and its firepower had grown slightly.
Its Ability was Flash Fire.
At the same time, Charcadet felt a warm light behind it. It glanced back and saw Larvesta's sunlight-like radiance.
The white larva nodded firmly at it.
Sunlight blew away the cold wind and the shadows in the heart, granting boundless courage.
"Ka-dunk!"
The countryside hero leaving its village faced the ferocious beast that commanded the blizzard and raised its battered iron hammer high.
The great knight's adventure was about to begin.
A sturdy hammer swung toward the windmill.
Recklessness was still closer to courage than cowardice.
"Do you know the knightly virtues?
"Honor is life. Mercy outweighs conquest. Courage stares into the abyss. Justice balances like a scale.
"A soul bright with devotion. Loyalty that never rots. Humility carves monuments. Sacrifice ignites eternity.
"He wears weathered armor and bravely pursues the world of his ideals."
Listening to its master's teachings, Charcadet could not yet grasp the deeper meaning.
But there was one thing it could do.
If you wanted to become a knight, the first thing you had to learn… was never to look back.
Charge. Charge forward.
Use Flare Blitz!
(End of Chapter)
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