Just before the battle between Luxray and the mysterious Pokémon was about to erupt, Lucas finally arrived on the scene—with Victini perched on his head, Mimikyu on his shoulder, and a Vulpix in his arms.
The instant he saw the Pokémon facing off against Luxray, his first reaction was: impossible.
Isn't that a Paradox Pokémon you only see in the Paldea Crater—the future form, Iron Valiant?!
It was one thing to have Iron Bundle sleeping beneath the forest, but how was a Paradox Pokémon as dangerously off-the-charts as Iron Valiant also running wild across Paldea's lands?
Serperior, Swampert, Dragonite, Moltres, and Raging Bolt arrived one after another, watching Iron Valiant warily.
They knew Iron Valiant was no slouch, but none of them stepped forward. They left the standoff to Luxray and Iron Valiant, then quietly spread out to cancel out the aftershocks of their clash.
They trusted in Luxray's power—so their job was to handle support.
The moment the Pokémon finished their preparations, the battle began.
With a crackling burst of electricity, Luxray's current-stimulated muscles swelled, its speed blurring into an afterimage as it flashed before Iron Valiant, electric fangs gleaming as they lunged in!
In response, Iron Valiant instantly raised an arm; mauve-pink light flared along its blade as it met Luxray's Thunder Fang head-on.
Just before their clashing energies could spiral out of control, a data stream flickered across Iron Valiant's eyes.
In the next instant, Iron Valiant's body seemed to become the source of a blinding radiance. Countless brilliant beams erupted outward from it, indiscriminately obliterating everything nearby—their searing heat was no different from being roasted over open flames.
With seasoned combat experience, Luxray unleashed a massive surge of electricity to ward it off, and the shockwaves from their clash were blocked by the other Pokémon with practiced ease just before they could reach the farm's fences.
Swampert raised a solid wall of earth. Dragonite whipped up a domain of howling winds. Shadows welled from beneath Mimikyu's hem. Serperior went the brute-force route, coaxing a forest of hardened, frenzied plant growth from the ground, weaving a bastion of root and wood.
Luxray, trading fierce blows with Iron Valiant, glanced back out of the corner of its eye, and its heart eased. A faint smile tugged at its face.
The smile vanished into solemn focus as an explosive roar tore across the field. Luxray sprang from the heart of the smoke and looked at Iron Valiant—unemotional from start to finish—simply intent on advancing into the farm.
Electricity built; Luxray's black fur stood on end, each hair like a sword aimed at the sky. Just before its amassed charge could erupt, Lucas shouted, "Don't set Electric Terrain—that'll empower the opponent too."
Luxray hesitated. It didn't understand why a clearly non-Electric Iron Valiant would be boosted by Electric Terrain, but trust and tacit understanding with Lucas made it forcibly hold back, compressing the near-unruly current and blasting it straight at Iron Valiant!
Blinding light burst forth; golden lightning, like dancing mad serpents, crashed toward Iron Valiant.
Iron Valiant's analysis concluded it couldn't meet that head-on.
A pale green barrier unfolded before it—Protect, a one-time absolute defense. If the power gap wasn't huge, Protect could block most attacks.
It did block it—but as Protect shattered, Luxray was already upon it—this time with Wild Charge.
Thunder became a sacred armor over Luxray's body. Iron Valiant didn't even have time to raise its blade. Luxray slammed into the lithe, more slender body of Iron Valiant. A colossal voltage exploded, ravaging its exterior without mercy.
"Bzzt—!?"
Super-effective. Charred scorch marks spread across Iron Valiant's chassis. For the first time, its vocal unit emitted a cry of pain.
Stung and smoking, Iron Valiant swept its blades to force Luxray back. Psychic energy gathered at the tip, solidifying into a tangible wave that repelled everything as it blasted at Luxray!
"Roooar—!"
Luxray didn't get cocky. It drew a deep breath; a domineering bellow thundered forward in black ripples. The Snarl collided with Iron Valiant's Psychic assault, deadlocking in a fierce clash.
Lucas had expected as much, but Iron Valiant's strength still impressed him. In every respect it was terrifyingly balanced—physical and special techniques both at its beck and call—an all-rounder that inspired dread.
Even so, the gap between it and Luxray was still large. If Luxray hadn't been worried about leveling the roads and trees with full-power lightning, it would've ended this already.
So far, Iron Valiant's only answer to wide-area attacks seemed to be Protect. If Luxray unleashed a thunderstorm like it did against Mewtwo, Iron Valiant's slim frame probably couldn't withstand it.
As Lucas pondered how to subdue Iron Valiant with minimal collateral, Ceruledge and Oranguru finally arrived from breakfast prep.
The instant Ceruledge's armor clinked as it ran, Iron Valiant snapped its gaze onto Ceruledge.
Its voice sounded a second time.
"Bzzt—"
The Pokémon all widened their eyes; even Luxray looked surprised.
Because this time, they could understand what Iron Valiant said.
It said—
Powerful… battle… delight… sword.
Oranguru relayed the meaning via telepathy to Lucas, word-perfect.
With those scant clues—and Iron Valiant's gaze fixed solely on Ceruledge, allowing no other existence in its world—
Lucas felt he understood.
At his signal, Luxray withdrew to stand by Corviknight.
Iron Valiant didn't react; it simply kept staring at Ceruledge.
"Vee-nee~"
Victini pointed at the shimmering blade in Iron Valiant's hand, asking Lucas why it was trembling.
Following Victini's gesture, Lucas finally confirmed a suspicion—
Iron Valiant was here to fight Ceruledge.
With that, Iron Valiant's odd behavior and its single-minded push to enter the farm made sense.
Only one thing eluded Lucas—how did Iron Valiant know Ceruledge was here, and why was it so intent on meeting it?
There had to be a reason.
But first, he had to answer Iron Valiant's—no, Ceruledge's—battlelust.
"Go, Ceruledge," Lucas said gravely.
With permission, Ceruledge moved.
A pitch-black pathway to who knew where opened beneath it and swallowed it up. It opened again a short distance before Iron Valiant, and Ceruledge stepped out.
No words were needed. In a blink, Ceruledge and Iron Valiant's blades were already dancing, the ring of clashing steel filling Lucas's ears.
No flashy ranged attacks—at most the faint blue ghostflame threading Ceruledge's twin swords, or the mauve edge shining along Iron Valiant's blade.
This was a pure contest of swordcraft.
Iron Valiant's swordplay was like an elegant dancer—beautiful, yet hiding lethality—its unbroken flow of techniques an art piece.
Ceruledge's swordsmanship was plainer, but as its twin flame blades wove, the airtight twin-blade net forced Iron Valiant to quicken its steps.
Both were worthy of being called masters of the blade.
Watching, Lucas saw that mauve light flare now and then on Iron Valiant's blade, something tugging at his memory until it snapped back into place.
Someone in Johto—Hanzawa, who had given him a Miltank—once said that when he was attacked by a vicious Tyranitar, a certain hero saved him.
That hero's sword skills were dazzlingly gorgeous; a dance of relentless strikes that steadily forced Tyranitar back.
And the longsword glowed with mauve light—something Hanzawa still remembered years later.
The features matched almost perfectly. But… was this truly the sort of Pokémon that would save a person from a Tyranitar?
Future Paradox Pokémon were typically rational, emotionless, guided only by their objectives—like how this Iron Valiant was ready to force its way into the farm just to battle Ceruledge.
While Lucas thought, their sword-to-sword reached its finale.
Ceruledge took a sharp slash head-on as the price, then, ghostflames roaring, brought its greatsword down on Iron Valiant, which could not dodge due to accumulated damage.
As a stardrift of blue fire scattered, Ceruledge's blade halted just before Iron Valiant's eyes.
"Bzzt?"
Iron Valiant looked up at Ceruledge, data streaming in its eyes. It couldn't understand—if it had lost, why didn't Ceruledge deliver the final blow and scrap an "unvaluable" unit?
"Ceru—"
Ceruledge's cool voice sounded.
Iron Valiant had already been suppressed by big brother Luxray and spent much of its strength before their duel. Its exquisite sword-dance had developed openings; that's why the victory came so quickly.
Next time, when you're at full strength, we'll test our swordsmanship again.
Using its language module, Iron Valiant parsed Ceruledge's meaning. It froze for a heartbeat, as something unfamiliar stirred where a "heart" would be.
"Bzzt."
It rose, gave Ceruledge a deep look, as if to brand the image into its memory module, and turned away.
It walked slowly toward the wilds.
Next time, Ceruledge would not win so easily. It would leverage its species' capabilities, analyze the weaknesses in Ceruledge's technique, then return with updated forms to defeat it.
Without Lucas's orders, none of the Pokémon moved to stop Iron Valiant's departure.
Oranguru looked at Lucas, puzzled. "Young master, didn't you say Paradox Pokémon are dangerous—that their mere presence can collapse ecosystems due to their power and aberrance?"
"And we're just letting Iron Valiant leave?"
Lucas met Ceruledge's ever-burning purple eyes for a second, understood its intention, and smiled. "That only applies to the kind that cause ecosystem collapse, right?"
"That Iron Valiant's motives aren't like Iron Bundle's. It only seeks duels with masters of the sword. It's probably wandered this land for quite some time."
"The League hasn't reacted to it at all, which means it's done little to no damage—or it's eliminated everyone and every Pokémon who witnessed it causing trouble."
"I think that last possibility is a bit low."
Ceruledge stepped forward. Handsome amethyst armor lay scored with clean cuts from Iron Valiant's blade, making Lucas's heart ache. He started thinking about buying something to help repair the armor faster.
"Ceru~."
Ceruledge looked at Oranguru, voice calm and even.
In every clash of blades, it had felt the opponent's love for the sword.
Ceruledge could vouch that Iron Valiant wasn't like Iron Bundle—a destroyer of surrounding ecosystems without end.
Lucas added, "Since it isn't a real threat and just wants matches of swordsmanship, we can't very well yell, 'Iron Valiant, you're far too strong, a threat to Paldea's safety!' then beat it senseless, catch it in a Poké Ball, and toss it back into the Great Crater of Paldea, can we?"
Oranguru: "…"
Yeah—that'd be weird.
And so, the Iron Valiant farm intrusion ended as a false alarm. Lucas paid extra to the startled Corviknight Three Scar and the Corvisquire, which made them a bit embarrassed for being useless, but they took to patrolling the farm skies even more diligently.
Lucas also heard bits of intel from Ceruledge—things it gleaned from Iron Valiant during their duel.
When Ceruledge asked how Iron Valiant knew about it and why it sought it out, Iron Valiant gave several short words:
Mountain, cave, and Tyranitar—the same one both had defeated.
With that, Lucas finally understood how Iron Valiant found Ceruledge.
Iron Valiant must have witnessed Ceruledge defeat a Tyranitar in a cave outside Asado Town without their knowledge, then resolved to challenge its sword. It had tracked them on foot all the way from Asado Town to Los Platos Town.
Having sorted the cause, Lucas felt speechless. Who would've thought a minor incident two months ago would put a target on them for Iron Valiant?
From this intel, Lucas also judged Iron Valiant was likely the hero Hanzawa mentioned—the one who saved him. Still, Lucas didn't contact Hanzawa right away.
He planned to wait until Iron Valiant returned to challenge Ceruledge again, then ask it after their battle. Once confirmed, he'd contact Hanzawa to avoid a misunderstanding.
Of course, Lucas also contacted Geeta. He explained Iron Valiant's existence and that it likely wouldn't attack people or Pokémon unprovoked—
Unless the person or Pokémon was a sword master.
Geeta took a positive view of Lucas's intel, suggesting this might be another Paradox Pokémon like Raging Bolt that could coexist with humans. She told Lucas to follow his judgment and said she'd warn Paldea residents and travelers passing near the area to stay safe.
Lucas figured she misunderstood—maybe thought he intended to catch Iron Valiant. To be fair, he hadn't planned that—though Iron Valiant was undeniably cool, whether to catch it was another matter.
But Ceruledge, thanks to Iron Valiant, now had a real path to further growth. In fact, later that very day, Ceruledge's swordsmanship had a small breakthrough—its edge keener, with a few of Iron Valiant's strengths blended in.
As for Iron Valiant: as a Paradox Pokémon from the future, it was shrouded in mystery—and full of possibilities.
Like the analytical power of machines: future Paradox Pokémon were often bound up with such capabilities.
Just like Iron Bundle, a mechanical builder of frozen fields, bound by programming yet benefiting from it.
Iron Valiant might analyze and parse Ceruledge's swordcraft, identify weak points, then return for a rematch.
In that sense, Iron Valiant was the perfect training partner. Ceruledge was in luck.
…
That afternoon, after settling most of the farm's Pokémon, Lucas slung on a new, expensive spatial backpack.
It was June 26. There were four days until the invite to the Dragon Clan of the Blackthorn City in Johto. With half a day's travel to Johto, Lucas would have two to three days to explore.
To be safe, he left a group of mainstays led by Ceruledge at the farm—to avoid Iron Valiant showing up and finding no opponents, potentially causing trouble.
Given that a major organization's headquarters was in Johto, Lucas naturally brought some main force too, to avoid being caught without fighting strength.
The rest were mostly for cuteness—like Vulpix and Victini.
His plan was sightseeing, catching a few Pokémon, and letting Dragonite learn Extreme Speed, then heading home.
If he had the chance, he'd visit Mt. Silver's peak to see if a taciturn legendary trainer was there—and maybe sneak a bit of Mt. Silver soil to feed Nacli.