After a hearty meal, drowsiness followed.
Camping overnight in the open Snowy Valley was asking for trouble. The temperature hovered below freezing, with occasional gusts. Even after hot soup, you couldn't last.
So Lucas, with help from the Pokémon, set up a tent.
Moments later, a one-to-three-person tent was ready. He recalled most sleepy Pokémon, leaving Arcanine, Luxray, and Victini as big warm pillows and hand-warmers.
Calyrex cradled a sound-asleep Cosmog and, once Lucas finished, asked curiously, "Lucas, what is that?"
Isolated from the world, and of a different era, with everything familiar gone, Calyrex was eager to learn.
Knowing this, Lucas explained patiently.
"This is a tent. Trainers in this era travel. In the wild, tents shelter from wind and rain and serve as lodging. Folded up, they're compact and portable."
Worried Calyrex might not fully grasp it, Lucas took out another, more weathered tent and demonstrated.
Calyrex remembered humans inventing things Pokémon never imagined back when it ruled Galar.
"A portable home you can carry—humans grow ever more remarkable."
True to its reputation as a quick-witted Psychic-type, Calyrex grasped the tent's key use from one explanation.
For physically frail humans, a shelter in the open was crucial.
Before crawling into the tent, where Arcanine, Luxray, and Victini already lay warming it, Lucas asked, "By the way—when I captured Regice at the Iceberg Ruins, we smashed a big piece off its ice body. Does it need immediate treatment?"
Regice, like Brandon's Regirock, could repair itself by absorbing ice/stone, but did it have a time limit?
Perhaps Calyrex knew.
Calyrex paused, then said softly, "You're truly impressive—always bringing me surprises."
"Even for me, to inflict such significant damage on the Ice Giant's sturdy body would take some work."
Images of Lucas's strongest Pokémon passed through its mind.
Dragonite, Mimikyu, Luxray, Swampert, and Ceruledge.
If any had broken Regice's defense, likely Ceruledge or Swampert.
Lucas nodded. "Ceruledge did it—technique blooming. I just provided environment and command."
He briefly described Ceruledge focusing repeated blade strikes on one point and bursting through at the end.
"Very creative, and extremely difficult," Calyrex assessed.
As for Lucas's question, it answered:
"I don't know exactly what that convenient Poké Ball does, but for bodily damage, you can rest easy."
"So long as its core crystal isn't destroyed, given time or materials, the Ice Giant can self-repair to completeness."
"From your description, Ceruledge likely forced it into a crash-and-reboot state. Before it could finish rebooting, you captured it—quite the lucky break."
Calyrex then shared what it knew of Regice's operating principles.
In short, Regice was a specialized Pokémon meant to guard places—like the Golurk Lucas had encountered.
Once set to guard, they would expel intruders at any cost. They often accompanied ruins; legends say they also appear at the Tree of Beginning.
Changing their guarding target is hard. Fortunately, Calyrex knew a way.
Force Regice to crash and reboot, then use its power for adjustments—you could change what it guarded.
But before that, Calyrex asked, "Do you intend to bring it to your farm?"
"If not, I can return it to the ruins now, though that ruin no longer has anything it needs to guard."
Lucas took out the Ultra Ball holding Regice, gazed at it for a long time, then spoke slowly. "Mechanical and stiff as they act, they should still have emotions, right?"
"Would being trapped in a lightless ruin be lonely—or numbing?"
"I don't know," Calyrex shook its head. "Perhaps."
As if deciding, Lucas said firmly, "Then let's try—see if they have feelings."
If Regice showed emotion, he might return to the Crown Tundra to free the other giants from their four ruins.
"If that's your decision, I won't object," Calyrex nodded. "But let's repair and wake it on the way back. Otherwise, it will become the Snowy Valley's guardian."
Lucas agreed, put away the ball, took Cosmog from Calyrex, and entered the tent warmed by fur.
Before Calyrex joined, Lucas fell asleep hugging Victini and Cosmog, with Arcanine and Luxray curled around them.
Calyrex said it wanted to look at the Crown Tundra's sky once more.
Perhaps to bid farewell to the land it had lived in for who knows how long.
…
August 2nd, morning.
Another rare sunny day in the Crown Tundra; the subzero cold seemed to ease slightly.
Though they'd only been here for a little over two days, Lucas felt two weeks had passed—too much had happened.
After packing up camp, leaving no trash behind, Lucas kept only Luxray and Vulpix outside; the rest returned to their balls.
Calyrex was already mounted on Glastrier, with a slightly jealous Spectrier at its side, waiting for Lucas.
Today's plan was simple.
Return to Freezington to tell Peony everything was resolved, and have Nemona's group prepare to head back to Paldea.
Lucas would ask for Mohn's address in Freezington, pay him a visit, then depart for Paldea.
They neither teleported nor flew, but followed the half-thawed stream's winding path back.
Perhaps thanks to Glastrier and Spectrier, no wild Pokémon blocked the road—their presence was imposing here.
When Lucas noticed Spectrier seemed jealous because Calyrex hadn't switched mounts, honest as he was, he helped the flustered Spectrier ask why.
Calyrex's reply was amusing.
Dead serious, it said as a Grass-type it disliked the cold. So it fought poison with poison—switching to an Ice-type to enjoy the environment.
Spectrier was stunned, feeling vaguely unreal.
Perhaps it had found the reason Calyrex had favored Glastrier all those years.
Since Vulpix hadn't played in natural snow in a long time, Lucas let it romp while Luxray watched to prevent it from wandering off.
The steeds were quick, and when Vulpix tired, Lucas carried it, removing worry. Led by Luxray, they reached the woods outside Freezington.
The same grove where Lucas first met Calyrex.
Calyrex had its steeds wait and drifted down from Glastrier's back. "I'll wait for you here," it told Lucas.
Knowing Calyrex wished no further entanglement with Freezington, Lucas nodded. "We'll be right back."
He carried a sleeping Vulpix and walked with Luxray into town.
It was just past eight in the morning—early start plus fast steeds.
Freezington was unusually lively. Almost everyone clustered by the fields in heated discussion, even the tourists.
Lucas's arrival went unnoticed by most; only sharp Nemona and Peony spotted him.
"Teacher Lucas, over here!" Nemona waved, calling softly.
He joined them to find only Nemona and Peony outside; Penny and the others seemed further in.
Feigning ignorance, Lucas asked, "What's going on?"
The burly Peony pointed inward. "They're saying the King of Bountiful Harvests manifested."
An elderly voice rose within—Lucas recognized the village chief.
"Heavens! Could it be that, because we revived the village's ancient tradition yesterday, the King of Bountiful Harvests finally showed itself!?"
Even from the outer ring, standing on tiptoe, Lucas could see the short old chief's exaggerated gesturing and expressions as he bragged that his revival of tradition pleased the king, who then blessed the fields to mature overnight.
From his micro-expressions, Lucas could tell the chief had even convinced himself, and now wore the airs of true piety toward a legend he once used to market the village.
Spurred on by the chief, many villagers—especially field owners—knelt in thanks, making Lucas frown.
He glanced toward the grove, then had Nemona call the others over—he had things to say.
The four students quickly gathered, and even Peonia, turned away from the spectacle.
They knew that Lucas, who had spent a whole night with Calyrex, knew the truth better than the chief leading townsfolk in prayer.
Lucas didn't dawdle. He told Nemona's group they should get ready to return to Paldea, and shared that Calyrex had regained its power and didn't intend to resume being Galar's legendary king.
The four, who'd hoped to stay longer, were crestfallen.
Then Lucas dropped a bomb that left all four—and Peony and their companion—barely able to control their expressions.
The quick-witted companion reasoned, "So... this manifestation signifies the King of Bountiful Harvests farewell to the last village that still preserves its legend?"
Nemona asked the key point: "Where will the King go now?"
Lucas smiled. "It agreed to come live at my farm in Paldea."
"..."
Silence.
Peony's expression was particularly complicated.
He had half expected it. But hearing that the king would leave Galar for neighboring Paldea, he couldn't help but feel a pang of loss.
He thought of his annoying brother, who worried about Galar's future resources—what would he think of this?
Lucas had informed Nemona's group—especially Peony, and the local two who'd helped—because they'd contributed to Calyrex regaining power.
He didn't know how the three from Galar would feel. After reminding Nemona's group to prepare, and asking Peony to get them to the airport, Lucas asked a villager for Mohn's address.
Having done what he came to do, he ignored the celebration in the fields and returned to the grove.
There, Calyrex stood with Glastrier and Spectrier, watching pale golden motes circling it.
Lucas paused and glanced at Luxray. It nodded lightly.
"Rawr!" (I can see them too!)
So those golden motes were faith. Were they from the villagers just now?
Like Lucas, the steeds worried Calyrex might accept that faith and repeat past tragedy.
They glared at the motes, bristling.
If not for Calyrex's authority, they would have scattered them on the spot.
Perhaps Luxray's sound drew Calyrex's attention—or it already knew Lucas had returned. It spoke:
"Rest easy. I won't repeat my mistakes."
"This faith, now that my mind is calmer, feels impure—shot through with desire for nothing but boons. In sincerity, it doesn't even compare to my steeds' devotion."
Calyrex was certain.
What the villagers were offering was faith in the power it had displayed last night to sever ties with the past.
If it lost its power again or failed their expectations, this faith would be a meteor in the night—gone in a flash.
"I won't keep answering their endless demands."
Lowering its gaze, Calyrex glowed bright blue and used its psychic power to disperse the faith seeking to merge with it.
After, it felt light, as if a weight had lifted.
It believed it had chosen rightly this time.
Delighted, Glastrier and Spectrier pressed close. Calyrex hurriedly held up sleeping Cosmog in psychic hands to free its arms and nuzzle them.
Lucas knew Calyrex was reborn now—not living for its subjects anymore.
It was simply the Pokémon Calyrex, with its beloved Glastrier and Spectrier.
It would no longer accept endless, tangled faith blindly; it had learned to discern. Likely, it would never again fall into that sorry state from waning belief.
Once the steeds calmed, Calyrex looked at smiling Lucas and Luxray and gestured. "We should go."
Lucas's smile widened. Stroking Luxray's mane, he nodded.
In the white woods, friends chatted idly.
"Want to go back to the Crown Shrine to fetch anything?"
"No need. Let the past rest there."