After receiving the Unova Link amplification, Regigigas had been ready at every moment to continue fighting dragons.
This time, the black-and-white dragons just happened to be allies. No problem.
There were still plenty of other dragons on the enemy side anyway. As long as the job was "beat up dragons," it was on call 24/7!
"Graaagh!"
By typing, Koraidon should have been able to rely on type advantage to pressure the Giant King.
Its Ability, Orichalcum Pulse, could not only summon harsh sunlight, but also boost its own Attack.
Yet the fully awakened Giant King simply crushed Koraidon's attacks with raw stats.
The Toilet King no longer had anything resembling "post-nut clarity."
Every part of its body was overflowing with endless power.
For Koraidon, the Fighting/Dragon typing came with five weaknesses. Besides its 4× Fairy weakness, the 2× weakness to Ice was also fatal.
And as it happened, Regigigas knew no small number of Ice-type moves.
A massive chill gathered around the Giant King's fists.
Diamond dust…
Ice Punch!
One Huge Power-boosted Ice Punch later, Koraidon was barely even a speed bump.
In the sky, the Roaring Moon that Teal Dialga had summoned also realized that this white giant god was something terrifying.
They focused their power together and began blasting Regigigas.
Flamethrower!
They would melt this pure-white giant with searing breath!
However, to the Giant King in its fully awakened state, this was nothing but child's play.
An enormous chill burst from Regigigas's body. Its power was so great that it outright froze the flames in midair.
Icy Wind!
A "mini-World of Ice" in its own right.
And even more of that cold gathered into rain clouds.
Rain Dance!
It was a Water-type move that the vast majority of Pokémon could learn, so naturally the Giant King was no exception.
Roaring Moon's weaknesses included Ice as well.
The raging cold did more than just conjure Icy Wind. Regigigas gathered massive chunks of snow in its hands and hurled them like artillery shells, almost crushing the flying Roaring Moon out of the sky.
The move Avalanche!
If the user has taken damage from the target, it hits back with double power.
A base-power-120 Ice-type move—with Huge Power on top.
Hikaru couldn't help but sigh.
"This is Huge Power Regigigas… its stats are insane."
"It's honestly the magnum opus of my entire career."
Type advantage, game mechanics…
As long as his stats were high enough, he could punch even Arceus straight into the ground.
Once he leveled it up some more, he could copy Calyrex's story and give it a custom Ability like "Unova Unity," going straight to Huge Power + Psychic Terrain Power—one more multiplier for the pile.
Teal Dialga was dumbstruck.
The dragon legions it had summoned from time's depths were being steamrolled by this illicit Giant King, and it hadn't even brought any underlings along.
Which made sense. At these stat levels, whether it brought henchmen or not didn't matter anymore.
[From civilization to savagery, history's power is gathering…]
But at this rate, the Giant King might beat it into the Gate of History before it could even condense the Great Adamant Orb.
Teal Dialga thought hard.
Which meant it had to join the fight itself.
With the Giant King's assistance, the twin dragons roared as well.
Reshiram's tail began to blaze with burning light.
Ability: Turbo Blaze!
When Reshiram's tail burns, it produces heat that stirs the atmosphere and alters the world's weather.
Zekrom's tail began to shine with blinding lightning.
Ability: Teravolt!
The motor-like structure in Zekrom's tail spun up, generating bolts of lightning that pierced everything around them.
The twin dragons both entered overclock mode.
"Reshiram, use Blue Flare!"
"Zekrom, use Bolt Strike!"
These were the super-signature moves of the black-and-white dragons. In the distant past, they had used this very power to destroy ancient Unova.
They had burned the world down with fire and lightning.
"Reshiram, have you betrayed me?"
"Zekrom, cease your actions at once!"
In the historical illusions, the twin heroes—faces and clothing both blurred—shouted orders to stop.
As the original "embodiments of truth and ideals," the twin heroes were superhuman in their own right, and held grand ideals and dreams. The black and white dragons had chosen them as their first Trainers. Hearing their rebukes now, the dragons couldn't help but hesitate.
But soon they came to their senses.
This was all just a phantom of history. The real twin heroes had been dead for a very long time.
Amid the exploding thunder and flame, the illusions of the twin heroes were ripped apart. The vast Pokémon armies burst like bubbles along with them. At nearly the same moment, teal Dialga once more made the stars blaze with light.
At that exact moment, the twin dragons threw back their heads and roared.
All three together…
Draco Meteor!
An indescribably massive meteor shower poured from the Gate of History. Meteorites gathered from different eras burned as they fell, covering the entire historical time-space and crashing down on all three dragons over and over again.
Smoke blanketed the field. The meteors didn't relent for a single second. No one knew how long they'd been crashing down when nearly all the Pokémon phantoms on the battlefield had been utterly annihilated.
The twin dragons, battered and scarred, stared across at Teal Dialga.
Now the Steel/Dragon typing advantage showed its strength.
Dialga wasn't weak to Dragon!
So it was tougher and stronger than the black-and-white dragons, and as long as it still had a single breath left in its body…
Temporal Reversion!
It rewrote the fact of being defeated into the state of not yet being defeated.
"Changing reality like that is something only the Special Manga version of Dialga has actually done. In the anime, it spent most of its time getting pounded and barely ever showed off this kind of power."
"But the god of time is still the god of time. As the ruler of civilization, Teal Dialga is clearly more rational than a normal Dialga, and understands far better how to wield the greatness of time."
At the same time, Teal Dialga once more invoked the power of Star Chronos.
The battle phase ended, and then… its own turn began again.
In real-world terms, it was twisting the flow of time to lock down the attacker's ability to act, leaving them trapped in a temporal stasis.
Then a massive quantity of temporal energy gathered in its chest.
Roar of Time!
That tremendous, time-twisting power engulfed the twin dragons, as if to force them back into the state of mere Dragon Stones.
But if it kept rewinding time…
Teal Dialga's control over temporal power was precise. If it got carried away and rolled the dragons' time back three thousand years, it would be a real mess.
The true "Original Dragon God of Tao" might pop out because of the version rollback.
Splitting the Dragon God in three had been a nerf to the trio. Reverting that would buff them instead. The twin dragons would probably shout, Wait, there was a deal this good on the table?!
The huge surge of time also affected the environment.
The scenes within the Gate of History kept changing, interweaving the twisted prehistoric wilds with the age of founding kingdoms.
Teal Dialga's red eyes gleamed.
[Just a little more… keep going.]
Under the intense distortion of time, everything grew warped and hazy: the twin princes within the temporal illusions, the city-state armies, the black-and-white dragons, and even Teal Dialga itself.
The memories of history slowly surfaced.
————————
[Knowledge: Shining Time / Voices from Elsewhere activated!]
[Description: You will not be blocked or obscured by time. Roar of Time has twisted the present world's space-time! Temporal ripples surge from the Miracle Diamond!]
[Temporary power obtained: Primordial Cry!]
[Effect: All of your psychic powers / spiritual powers / Aura / creative forces and other special powers are boosted by one tier in the unknown time-space! You can increase the activity of primordial natural energy and are immune to the negative side effects of primordial power.]
[Proof of Connection is in effect—lifeforms from another world now begin with +50% base favor toward you (current favor of primordial life in this time-space: -100%).]
[Note: Roar of Time's immense power has twisted time, but from the future's perspective, the battle is still ongoing. What you're experiencing now is merely a recollection. Offer up the first sparks of civilization to condense the Great Adamant Orb.]
"My Poké Balls are gone?"
Because all his partners had joined the melee, the only one still with him was little Rotom.
Rotom was hiding inside the C-Device, rarely coming out, and was in charge of activating its various functions.
After their trip to the future, the C-Device had also had a time machine program installed. By using the power of temporal Aura and spending a massive amount of mental stamina, he could open a one-time temporal warp and return to his original era.
But now it seemed like he was inside a fragment of historical memory.
Hikaru checked the C-Device and found that it was functioning normally. This time there was no mess like the future-era problem.
Even if there was no signal in a historical memory, the C-Device could simply keep its wireless functions turned off.
In this primordial, savage world, he could feel the presence of humans.
When he left the primeval jungle, what he saw ahead was an abnormally ancient, primitive city-state.
Sun-dried bricks made of packed earth had been piled into walls. These "historical figures" with blurred faces molded clay with their hands. They studied what they'd made, then shook their heads.
Hikaru walked in and noticed that they didn't seem able to see him. The thing these ancient-memories folk were trying to shape was…
Baltoy.
Regarded as one of the oldest artificial Pokémon ever created, Baltoy predated even the clay golem family of three from three thousand years ago.
In wall paintings found in the B.C. era ruins of ancient cities, Baltoy was depicted living with humans.
Its evolution, Claydol, was said to be a mysterious Pokémon born from clay figures in a dazzling ancient civilization twenty thousand years ago—a clay doll granted life.
Which meant this city existed around twenty thousand years in the past.
In Unova, both Baltoy and Claydol could be found in the Desert Ruins near the Ancient Castle.
"Ancient Castle's history only spans a few thousand years. Before that, Unova's land was barren and dark. But as time went by, even older super-ancient civilizations emerged."
"These ancient humans were attempting to use psychic power to create a man-made, self-moving 'clay golem.'"
"And the same thing appears in the myths of many regions."
It wasn't surprising.
Many Pokémon contained the concept of "golems" within their backstories. The most famous examples were Golurk and the Regi family.
Hikaru looked at the half-formed lumps of earth and tried reaching out to touch them. In that moment, space-time suddenly seemed to cross over itself.
The clay lumps that had been lifeless, which refused to animate even when infused with psychic energy, abruptly straightened up. As natural energy poured in, the Baltoy these master craftsmen molded from "Light Clay" suddenly spun to life.
It had gained life, spinning like a top amid the ancient people's cries of surprise.
"It's alive! It's alive! It worked!"
The ancients shouted in delight. They didn't know why it had come to life, but success was success.
From the first Baltoy, a radiant light of civilization burst forth.
In Sinnoh's legends, when human history and Pokémon history intertwine, new legends are born.
Now the history of the first fully artificial Pokémon, symbolized by Baltoy as civilization's "scales," had finally taken shape on one particular day, twenty thousand years ago.
Beside Baltoy stood an even larger Claydol. Using the same method, Hikaru reshaped it. The huge figure shuddered and slowly opened its clay-carved eyes.
Claydol was a mysterious Pokémon born from clay dolls made in a once-flourishing ancient civilization twenty thousand years ago. Legend said those clay dolls had gained life after being bombarded by a strange beam of light, and were modeled after something that had fallen from the sky.
Hikaru remembered that in the Hoenn region of the anime, there had been an ancient Baltoy civilization. In the distant past, they had used natural energy and Baltoy's spinning to build an "ancient time machine" capable of traversing time.
But just as the ancients were rejoicing, the sound of horns echoed from afar.
Something was attacking this fragile ancient civilization. A group of beings burst forth from the primordial jungle, roaring as they charged.
They were like Magneton from a prehistoric era—only more savage and more feral.
They were Sandy Shocks.
One type of Paradox Pokémon, some scientists believed Sandy Shocks was what a Magneton that had survived ten thousand years might look like.
Its wild design added more feral elements atop Magneton's original form, and its concept may have been inspired by primitive humans.
The patterns on its central head resembled war paint worn on the face for battle or hunting. The spikes all over its body were iron sand clumped into rough needle clusters by magnetism, looking like crudely tanned beasts' pelts.
"So this ancient human city-state and a tribal group of Sandy Shocks, created in the image of primitive humans, went to war?"
"How am I even seeing something like this?"
It was bizarre—but breaking it down logically, it wasn't impossible.
Human and Pokémon history hadn't started with mutual support.
At the beginning, they fought each other, slaughtered each other, hunted each other.
Sinnoh's myths even recorded this.
"Humans, without claws or fangs, are so fragile in the presence of Pokémon."
Hikaru couldn't help recalling old poetic verses.
Not every region had the help of Sinnoh's "High Lord." Not every place had the legendary Ten Kings descend to save humans from crisis.
Clearly, this ancient city-state was incredibly frail against a Pokémon tribe.
But the towering Claydol suddenly moved.
Bearing the mission of protecting civilization and the city, it wielded powerful psychic force. When Sandy Shocks attacked, it stepped forward without hesitation.
With Levitate, Ground typing, and its powers combined, it had every advantage in a fight against Sandy Shocks.
It seemed to have noticed Hikaru. Newly born, it wasn't yet familiar with its own powers and waited for his command.
"Calm Mind!" Hikaru ordered.
"Then Earth Power!"
At the command, Claydol began meditating, raising its Special Attack and Special Defense.
Massive Ground energy surged forth. Although Sandy Shocks was Electric/Ground, it still took 2× damage from Ground.
Earth Power was super effective.
"Sha-sha-sha!"
That was Sandy Shocks. It was yelling "brake-brake-brake" because it ran so fast that it couldn't stop in time.
The violent Ground attacks and the sudden animation of Claydol scared the things silly. Even with a base stat total of 570, there wasn't much they could do about a direct hit to their weakness.
They tried attacking with Thunderbolt, but it did absolutely nothing to Claydol.
So the second Earth Power landed right on schedule.
"Sha-sha-sha!"
The Sandy Shocks tribe scattered in a panic, fleeing back into the jungle. They looked exactly like a bunch of barbarian mobs getting wiped and forced to respawn in the wild, and that was when Hikaru realized it.
These guys were the "barbarians."
"So this is what makes them crazy primitives."
The creation of civilization had defended the city-state. The ancients shouted with joy, hearts burning. Civilization had triumphed over savagery, and from that moment on, its development would no longer be shackled.
This was just a small clash of tribes—but it directly pushed civilization forward.
Civilization's radiance began to shine, and something in his backpack began to glow as well.
"Huh?"
Hikaru felt natural energy gathering inside his pack. He reached in and pulled out the glowing object.
It was the Old Amber.
He'd gotten it as a dig-site find from some random trainer in Unova. After appraisal, it was confirmed to contain ancient Pokémon genes. He'd never planned to resurrect an Aerodactyl, so it had just been a collector's item.
Now it was blazing with light. Natural energy converged into it, as if it were going to be revived within this historical memory.
Was this thing going to transform into the Adamant Orb?
[Item: Old Amber]
[Description: Amber containing the genetic material of ancient Pokémon. Under the influence of temporal reversal and historical energy, some genetic fragments within it seem to have awakened, but not to the level of full resurrection.]
[Note: The amber seems to be resonating with a certain Pokémon's power!]
The memory of history hadn't ended yet. Though civilization's light had been born, something far stronger still prowled nearby.
At the same instant, Hikaru heard someone cry out in surprise.
"Y-you, who are you? How are you in this era? Are you from the future?"
It wasn't the ancient memory-people noticing him.
It was a woman wearing primitive, wild-looking clothes with beast-bone ornaments—over which she wore a white lab coat. But though she looked human, she actually wasn't a "person."
"You're…? You can see me?"
Hikaru was taken aback.
Because the figure in front of him was—
Professor Sada.
The Paldean professor who researched Terastal energy and time machines. Her husband, Professor Turo, was dedicated to the future, while Sada focused on the past—one obsessed with tomorrow, the other with antiquity.
In different versions of the games, one of them dies first. The survivor then builds an advanced AI with equal intelligence to themselves, and only later passes away, leaving the AI to complete the time travel.
Which meant…
Hikaru blurted it out:
"You're Sada AI?"
Now it was Sada AI's turn to be completely lost.
After all the time machine tests were complete, she had traveled from the future to this distant past to see how the Paradox Pokémon lived with her own eyes.
She hadn't expected to find ancient humans here.
They clung to life as a first city-state on this savage land, but in the end, this was still a paradise for ancient Pokémon.
Ancient Pokémon and modern Pokémon lived together in harmony. That had been Professor Sada's dream in life. But the AI copy of the professor saw that as a problem.
In the end, with help from some powerful children, Sada AI dealt with the risks she herself posed. As the machine shut down, she traveled through the time machine to the ancient world she'd always dreamed of.
Once that step was complete, the time machine would be fully shut down.
Heart pounding with the thrill of adventure… that was probably how she felt.
What she hadn't expected was that she'd see another time traveler here in the ancient world.
How…? How was this even a thing?
"Nice to meet you, Professor Sada. I'll just call you that. Calm down a little first," Hikaru said.
"Honestly, I didn't expect to see you here either. For me, this is just a fragment of historical memory, and I'll be leaving soon."
Listening to his explanation…
Sada AI was even more shocked, and felt a strange sense of absurdity.
"Hold it right there!"
"You crossed history to the prehistoric era, only to witness someone from the future enlightening an ancient civilization. And you already know I'm an AI?"
"How exactly am I supposed to stay calm about that?"
Sada AI couldn't make sense of any of this.
She had reached the prehistoric world of her dreams. She was supposed to quietly break down here when her power ran out.
Instead, she'd met another time traveler from another world.
Hikaru waved a hand.
"How I know you're an AI isn't important. Just assume I've seen far into the future."
"And think of this as a one-off chance meeting."
It really was an accident.
Though, in the Kitakami story, Professor Sada herself had said it: time and space contain countless possibilities. Perhaps this encounter wasn't truly the past and future intersecting, but merely a fleeting miracle.
Of course, this bit of civilization-saving had nothing to do with Professor Sada. Even if he went to Paldea later, the AI he'd meet there would still be the one from the modern timeline, the one still researching in Area Zero.
"Wait, I have some questions I want to ask you!" Sada AI said, curiosity fully ignited.
But Hikaru raised his hand again.
"Not now."
"Something's coming."
That prowling, powerful aura had already moved in for the attack.
A massive monster descended from the sky, wings of feathers spread wide.
It roared like a ghost, howling as it appeared, wreathed in one of the oldest fairy lights in existence. Legend said she was born from the soul of an Aerodactyl, with an ultra-ancient pterosaur woven into her design.
"That's… the Paradox Pokémon, Flutter Mane!"
(End of Chapter)
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