Glastrier spared only part of its attention for the ice carrots; most fixed on Luxray.
It could faintly sense Luxray's strength. Good—strong foes last longer under its blows.
It snorted two jets of freezing air. Wrapped in frost, it thundered toward Luxray!
Luxray glanced at Lucas and the young ones behind him. It did not dodge. Wreathed in savage lightning, it charged to meet Glastrier!
Facing Glastrier's freezing breath and brute force, Luxray loosed current to pierce the chill, then slammed head-on.
The Wild Charge was immense; neither held back—yet Glastrier was the one sent flying.
"Neiiigh—!?"
Disbelief colored Glastrier's cry.
In a contest of raw power, it lost to a Luxray!?
Shock gave way to anger. As the tundra's equine king, how could it be bowled over by some unknown Luxray?
Cold poured from its frozen hooves, conjuring midair ice for footing to steady itself.
It neighed furiously. Frost surged, and in a blink it formed sharp icicles in the air, aiming not only at Luxray but also at Lucas and his three Pokémon!
Lucas hugged Cosmog—not from fear, but to keep it from bolting.
Vulpix gazed thoughtfully at the forming icicles; Victini looked eager; Lucas himself felt no fear.
Neither the crackling Luxray about to unleash full discharge, nor the hidden Calyrex, would let harm come.
As expected, when Luxray's Discharge spread like a leafless golden tree, branching lightning shattered Glastrier's Icicle Crash—
Calyrex, waiting in the shadows, chose the moment. It rode Spectrier into the air.
Spectrier's purple mist became a bridge beneath its hooves; beneath the starry sky, Calyrex's cloak billowed.
It marveled at Luxray battling Glastrier as an equal—no, under Lucas's command, certain to win.
Luxray's strength clearly surpassed Glastrier's and even Spectrier's resonance with Calyrex; though still short of Calyrex now, its potential shone like stars.
And Lucas, who drew out that potential—such dazzling humans existed in every age, Calyrex mused.
The instant Calyrex appeared, Glastrier sensed danger, stopped its frost, and tried to wheel and run.
It was as hot-blooded as a Fire-type and loved to fight, but it wasn't stupid.
Seeing Calyrex already resonant with that shameless Spectrier, Glastrier knew it had no chance. Better to flee than be beaten and forced to submit.
Confident that, though its ice armor made it slow, sliding on conjured ice would let it outpace Calyrex on Spectrier—
But Calyrex knew its steed too well. From the moment Glastrier entered and started fighting Luxray, it was in Calyrex's trap.
Luxray cut its discharge, watching Calyrex streak overhead through a hail of glittering ice chips. Its fighting spirit swelled.
Everyone is getting stronger... Perhaps I should push my limits too.
Seeing Glastrier madly lay ice to escape, Calyrex narrowed its eyes. As Spectrier neighed with schadenfreude, Calyrex gathered inky spirit stars.
They streaked like meteors across Glastrier's path—and exploded!
This was Astral Barrage, a Ghost-type signature only usable while resonant with Spectrier!
Boom—!
Before it could form a slide, the somewhat clumsy Glastrier couldn't evade. The barrage blasted it off its feet with a pained cry.
In that instant, Glastrier knew it had flipped its cart again.
Crack—
Spectrier's purple hooves crushed the ice as it stepped before Glastrier. Glastrier lifted its head with a weak neigh—
Only to see Spectrier's face fill its vision.
Spectrier's whole face was smirking, gloating—plainly laughing at Glastrier.
It really was. Even the neigh it let slip when Calyrex tightened the reins sounded taunting.
Veins popped on Glastrier's temples; rage brewed.
Calyrex dropped lightly to the ground and said mildly to Spectrier, "My beloved steed, it has been some time. Do not quarrel."
Spectrier stiffened and looked away, suddenly fascinated by the scenery.
Calyrex spread its hands. Drops radiating life formed and fell onto Glastrier's wounds.
Soon, Glastrier was fully healed by Life Dew.
It stood, looking at Calyrex with resignation.
Caught is caught... What can you do? Life goes on.
At least serving Calyrex meant eating ice carrots from the field and being empowered by Calyrex's psychic energy—growing stronger.
For battle-hungry Glastrier, not bad. Years ago, it had submitted to Calyrex with the same mindset.
It knelt like Spectrier had, renewing its fealty, then stood at Calyrex's side.
With things settled, Lucas approached with Cosmog, Luxray, Victini, and Vulpix.
Unaware of Lucas's relationship with Calyrex, Glastrier frowned, snorted twin jets of chill, and sent a warning look—especially at Luxray.
Before the king, and you don't bow?
Insolent!
Calyrex, knowing Glastrier had yet to resonate and didn't know about Lucas, didn't mind. "Glastrier, Lucas is my friend. Do not be rude."
Glastrier's pupils shrank. It knew how weighty "friend" was from Calyrex's mouth.
It glanced to Spectrier. Perhaps chastened, Spectrier didn't provoke it this time—just motioned to watch.
Glastrier: What's going on?
Spectrier: You'll be more shocked later.
Spectrier felt a smug thrill of having inside info, eager to see Glastrier's face when it saw how Calyrex had changed.
Lucas came to Calyrex and, like ordinary friends, spoke plainly: "We're still one Reins of Unity short."
Calyrex nodded. "Thou art correct."
The reins made from Spectrier's mane and a Radiant Petal only worked with Spectrier.
To fuse with Glastrier, they needed reins made from Glastrier's mane and a Radiant Petal.
That's why Lucas had learned the sewing.
Then, to Glastrier's confused stare, Lucas suddenly pulled out a hammer and walked up.
He didn't seem afraid at all.
At Calyrex's order—"Do not move"—Glastrier froze.
It watched as Lucas smashed some of the ice on its back, then yanked out a good bit of its newly exposed mane.
Worse—
With Calyrex's tacit approval, the three little weaklings Glastrier normally ignored climbed onto its back and used it as a slide!
Sensing Glastrier's breaking composure, Spectrier didn't kick it while it was down this time. It neighed and jerked its muzzle toward Cosmog.
"Neiigh—" (See that? That tiniest one will likely be the little lord we'll serve in the future.)
"Neiiigh!?" (What!?)
Suspicion flashed in Glastrier's eyes. It forgot about the manes, glanced at Calyrex, then followed its gaze to Cosmog.
To be fair, that indulgent look did suggest something.
It recalled wild Pokémon it had seen with their young; their eyes were much like Calyrex's now.
With mane in hand, plus a fresh Radiant Petal from Calyrex, Lucas eyed the expressive steeds and felt a thought.
In the games, the king's steeds were mostly backdrops, mere components with little characterization.
But now, the two had distinct personalities and rich emotions.
Spectrier: a flexible-bottom-line foodie who knows when to yield.
Glastrier: hot-tempered, yet with the Ice-type's cool—and also a foodie.
Sighing lightly, Lucas sat beside Luxray, took out the sewing kit he'd bought from the elder, and began sewing per Peony's method—clumsy at first.
Once hands-on, he quickly found the rhythm and, after a bit, finished the new reins.
Under moon and starlight, the reins glimmered. Lucas exhaled.
So singing wasn't necessary after all.
When he brought them to Calyrex, it was sitting in the snow, cradling Cosmog and gazing at the beautiful night sky framed by the quiet valley.
Glastrier and Spectrier lay nearby, eyes closed, resting.
Vulpix and Victini, tired out, slept against them.
Night in the valley was very quiet. Perhaps Calyrex's earlier, powerful Astral Barrage had cowed the wild Pokémon into silence.
"Lucas, thou hast come."
Calyrex had sensed them as they approached.
With telepathy, there was no need to lower voices.
"The last reins were sewn by the elder and Peony. This set I made myself. Try them—if they don't work, I'll adjust."
Lucas nodded, handed them over, and sat with Luxray beside Calyrex.
With good cold-weather gear, there was no worry of frostbite through the clothes.
Calyrex held the reins, closed its eyes, and cycled mental energy through them.
Moments later, it opened its eyes. "Perfect. The flow is smooth, no stagnation. Even among those my subjects once offered, the quality is excellent. Art thou skilled at sewing?"
Lucas shook his head. "Just started learning."
Calyrex praised without stint. "Thou hast talent."
Lucas smiled, tapped the ground to summon Mimikyu from his shadow, and hugged it. "Because I want to sew it a plush even cuter than Pikachu."
Mimikyu peeked a shadow claw from under its costume and shyly covered the doll's eyes.
Clearly it looked forward to a costume stitched by Lucas, rather than this defective Pikachu doll salvaged from a shop's scrap bin.
Calyrex looked at Mimikyu, mildly surprised.
Until Lucas called it out, Calyrex hadn't noticed Mimikyu hiding in his shadow.
Looking closely, a strange energy seemed to cling to Mimikyu—one Calyrex had never seen—making it easy to overlook.
Calyrex said in wonder, "It is peculiar, yet the bond between thee and it astonishes me."
Perhaps Lucas's bond with his Pokémon surpassed even Calyrex's with its steeds.
A pure, mutual choice of the heart.
Calyrex, who had once made a mutual choice that ended in regret, was envious.
After Mimikyu slipped back into the shadow and Vulpix and Victini were recalled, leaving only the fluffy Luxray, Calyrex spoke again:
"My friend Lucas, I know thou hast knowledge that humbles even me. I have a question."
Caught off guard, Lucas adjusted to lean more comfortably on Luxray and nodded. "Ask."
"About the child Cosmog's ability to absorb light—what dost thou know?"
Calyrex looked at Cosmog, then the sky.
Its sight surpassed Lucas's, perceiving what humans could not.
Even now, it could see moonshine and star-glow as filaments of light falling into Cosmog.
Calyrex knew there were Pokémon who fought by sun or moonlight, but Cosmog seemed different.
It absorbed constantly, day and night, as long as there was light—as if without end.
By Calyrex's reckoning, the accumulated light since Cosmog arrived should have exceeded what common Pokémon could endure. Yet it showed no change—as if time itself stalled upon it.
Lucas hadn't expected that question, but it made sense.
First-time parenting is careful to a fault—afraid to miss anything.
Like when he first cared for Dratini, waking every so often at night to check it wasn't smothered or hungry.
He answered calmly, "Cosmog... came from a strange spatial passage—you saw that yourself."
"Through an Ultra Wormhole—from an extradimensional world called Ultra Space. So its powers differ."
"Its light absorption is growth. Even atmospheric dust is its food. When it reaches its limit, it will evolve in one leap."
Calyrex then asked, "What is 'atmosphere'?"
Lucas blinked. He hadn't expected Calyrex to accept Cosmog's light-growth so readily and instead ask about atmosphere.
But fair—Calyrex lived in an era before such terms.
He said, "Think of the atmosphere as the gases enveloping our planet—the air we breathe."
Calyrex seemed to understand and nodded. "So it is. Thou art truly learned."
Lucas felt a bit sheepish—basic knowledge, really; Calyrex just hadn't encountered it.
"Ahem..." He continued, "Simply put, if Cosmog grows smoothly through two evolutions, its power and potential will rival yours."
Calyrex seized on the key point, frowning. "What means 'smoothly'? With me guarding, what could threaten it?"
Lucas nodded slightly. "The explanation is a bit complex. For now, think of a 'god' in the world beyond the wormhole—one who lost its power—seeking to 'devour' it."
At the word god, Calyrex grew solemn.
Lucas quickly added, "But we needn't worry too much. The chance that 'god' appears in Galar or Paldea is low."
Even so, Calyrex said gravely, "I shall protect Cosmog."
They spoke at length about Cosmog.
As night deepened, Calyrex asked a second question.
"My friend Lucas—come to think of it, whence art thou, and who art thou?"
With matters mostly settled, Calyrex realized it knew almost nothing about Lucas.
Only that he wasn't from Galar, was very strong, could casually defeat the Titan of Ice—Glastrier and Spectrier wouldn't last long against him.
Even in Calyrex's reign, only the title "hero" would suit such a person.
Caught out, Lucas paused, then smiled. "It's no secret. I'm from Paldea, not far from Galar. For now, I'm a farmer and a teacher."
Before Calyrex replied, the sleeping Glastrier and Spectrier almost broke character—their ears and tails twitching faster.
Especially Glastrier, whose shock overflowed.
A farmer? Seriously?
It suddenly felt ashamed—fighting to a draw with a farmer's Pokémon.
Lucas added, "Last year, though, I was a Trainer—that is, someone who commands Pokémon in battle. You get that?"
Calyrex nodded.
Petting the purring Luxray, Lucas went on, "After I cleared Paldea's toughest Champion assessment, I retired—found a nice place, started a farm, travel now and then, make new friends."
"That life must be wonderful," Calyrex said sincerely. Then blinked. "What does 'retired' mean?"
"Consider it giving up the Trainer identity—no longer being a Trainer."
"I see."
Calyrex nodded, fell silent.
After a while, it spoke again.
"It seems I, too, would retire... from being Galar's king."