Master Craftsman of the Elven World

Chapter 354 The Ancient Crown, the Power to Rule Heaven and Earth
"I see. The Guardian was strengthened by the King through the power of the stone tablet, and it was a Pokémon pulled from the Dream Rift."

Its hands-on skills are quite strong. No wonder it is the king who collected the Arceus Tablets. In most regions, the tablets are scattered, but in Unova, they are almost all crowded in the underwater ruins.

"Hera~"

Hercules scratched his bald head, completely bewildered that he would be dragged out and beaten for no reason.

However, it was the "King" who summoned them, so they couldn't refuse. In short, we were strengthened, and we began to be sent.

If I had known this was some monster, I would have been willing to play the role of the cowardly Hercules no matter what.

Guangtai felt he should say something like, "How dare you insult Heracross!" but then he remembered that the rhinoceros beetle in front of him was Heracross himself, so he didn't say it.

"But haven't you never left the forest before?"

"Hera~"

Heracross touched his prized horn.

We've never actually left the forest; we're just occasionally called out by it to do some errands.

This time, we're just "coming to do business."

"Is the Sea King also able to connect with the power of the forest because of the stone tablet?"

That makes sense, Guangtai thought for a moment.

Even within the Spiral Tower, one can connect to the underwater waveguide. The existence of this connection demonstrates that the ancients built the towns of the Unova region into a vortex-like ring to utilize that immense power—a product of the convergence of people's dreams and ideals.

Theoretically speaking, the dream of the forest can also be summoned by the "King".

The king can make all life forms coexist equally and break down barriers between them, which means that he does not only rule over humans or Pokémon, but also includes nature as his subjects.

"The king accepts everything, and everything is equal and precious. This must be what is inscribed on the stone tablet."

"Now, this is the third floor."

Led by Heracross, the two entered the third level of the ruins, while the other three defeated creatures had escaped back to the Dream Rift and returned to "the world of others".

"The king possesses all hope and all ideals."

"Having a loving heart and the power of love."

"The king has the ability to communicate with living beings."

"The king reads the future and protects all people from the great tsunami."

"If you want to show your understanding of the king, you must demonstrate the same power as the king."

Continuing forward, we finally arrived at the last inscription on the third level, and the move to be used here was "Super Strength".

Calderia remained silent the whole way, letting Lightmoy hold her hand, but her attention was slightly scattered and absent-minded. Until this moment, she suddenly felt something amiss, her fingertips twitched slightly, and with a hint of lingering affection, she withdrew her hand.

"coming."

"Cadelia said calmly."

Without a doubt, the remaining stone slab guardians had arrived.

Theoretically, all the stone slabs should be on the first layer. If they weren't picked up by Quixote, then they must have been hidden by the King of the Sea.

I originally planned to conduct the tests one step at a time.

The Sea King's aura rippled through the void, clearly indicating that he had realized during the previous battle that the "split-force test" tactic would only fail.

So they gathered up all the remaining stone slabs, preparing to unleash a big attack on Lightmoss and Cattleya all at once.

"How many of those stone slabs are there?" Cattleya turned her head to look at the moss.

Light Moss: "There are nineteen in total, but some of them are not in the underwater ruins, so there should be twelve stone slabs left here."

“Really?” Gadriya suddenly found it amusing. “Perfect. There are two complete teams.”

As the light converged, the rifts in the dreamscape opened up continuously, and the palm-sized stone slabs flew around rapidly, summoning their corresponding Pokémon!
"Yo!"

Looking at the "false king guards," or rather, the king guards, that gathered from the cracks in the dream, Guangtai immediately spotted a "cooked worm"!
A Flash Beedrill from Cornhull with the Sniper ability!
So that's how it is. That guy was summoned by the "Jade Insect Tablet"!

The Beedrill was stunned when it first saw the lichen, and a feeling of fear immediately arose in its heart.

What bad luck! I said I'd never see you again, but I've seen you again!
Moreover, the "Insect affinity" emanating from the person in front of it was even stronger, which made Beedrill lose some of its fighting spirit. Looking at the other companions buzzing around it, Beedrill even had the idea of ​​simply throwing the stone tablet to the other side and running away.

The Sea King sensed Beedrill's thoughts and was speechless.

Fear before the battle even begins—can this really be considered the work of a forest guardian?

The flashing bee swings its large needle.

I didn't want to either, but that guy was certified by the Cornerwood Forest. Look, he's still carrying that wand!
"Should I help you take care of them all? There are so many Pokémon, just wandering around will consume our steps."

Faced with so many guards, Cattleya felt it would be a waste of time, so she released her Gothic Lady and artificial cell eggs.

"Pokémon are creatures that need to battle to recognize each other. To get the Slate, you have to defeat them all."

Guangtai took out an ancient bracelet, and amidst the confusion of the Pokémon, the inscriptions on the bracelet suddenly glowed.

Corresponding to this is the Master Ball that floats up next.

"Deoxys! Use [Dark Hole]!"

The ancient artifacts bestowed by Darkrai from the stars were learned by Smeargles to sketch several generations ago, leading to the devastating "Dark Wars".

At that time, everyone in the battle environment was using Dark Hole. Because Teddy Dog abused Dark Hole, the move was weakened and Teddy Dog could no longer use it even if it learned it.

Although "Sketching" is a very special move, Deoxys, as well as Gardevoir, Dusknoir, and several other Pokémon, also have the ability to create small black holes.
Theoretically speaking, if it weren't for game restrictions, they might actually have learned the infamous "dark hole" move.

Although Deoxys used the move "Dark Vacuum" in the special episode, where in the game can you find this move?
The special episode's Deoxys possesses multiple abilities.

These include remote telepathy, black holes that teleport people to other locations, remote manipulation of multiple self-splits, creation of triangular defensive barriers for recovery, and the use of aurora to create illusions that make it impossible for opponents to discern its form.

The concept of splitting entities is also present in the theatrical version, although Deoxys, who is with Hikari, is not yet very good at using that somewhat "terrifying" ability.

So let's start by learning about black holes.

The radiant warrior of light begins with a pitfall that plunges darkness into the ground!
Several guardians were instantly swallowed by the dark hole, and this sudden attack greatly shocked the king's soul, which was watching!

The Warrior of Light actually used such a dark technique!
But the most crucial thing is
Did your friend really give you this?

"Ah!" Beedrill quickly flapped its wings and, along with several other flying and agile Pokémon, dodged the attack of the Dark Hole. The remaining guards sank too fast, disappearing almost in an instant!
The bronze bell representing superpowers, the eagle representing flight, the coffin representing ghosts, and Zoroark representing evil—all of them, without exception, are shimmering in color.

But then two giant dragons roared and flew out!

Combo Attack - Wide-Area Destruction!

The dragon's power erupted fiercely here, and the guardians at the front roared and unleashed their power to fight back. Only the Beedrill flew higher and blatantly began to slack off.

Cattleya snapped her fingers, and Miss Gothic and the artificial cell egg joined the battle.

In an instant, the place seemed to have turned into a superpower battle. Gadria casually froze the bronze bell, and then let her two psychic Pokémon finish off the last blow.

"Shadow Ball."

Two enormous shadow orbs slammed violently into the bronze bell almost simultaneously!
Even with its seemingly impenetrable defenses, it was now trembling and humming continuously. This fighting style terrified the bronze bell opposite it!

hum-

Faced with the resistance of the false kings, the true king naturally had to come out and fight.

Aegislash activated its King Mode, golden lightning crackling as its massive holy sword swept across, knocking the transformed Zoroark to the ground!

It remembered the warning from the slender moss: it shouldn't knock these guard Pokémon away, as that would be a waste of steps. Therefore, it was best to complete the battle within the same stone tablet area!
Wow! I've seen several Zoroarks!
"Whoosh!" Zoroark gasped for breath.

It vaguely recalled a conversation it had with a certain "friend" who was traveling and had mentioned an interesting human, even changing his appearance. Now, looking closely...
Isn't this the person right in front of me?

No wonder they said that person was incredible; he actually came to challenge the underwater ruins. And the opponent seems to be a "true king"!

This is truly an eye-opener; in all my years, this is the first time I've ever seen a real king shining with golden light.

It is said that the ancient Zoroark, residing in a distant land, looked different from us and once served as a gatekeeper for the three gods of the lake.
Just as the Shielded Sword Monster was about to swing its sword again, it quickly raised both hands high!
I surrender! I surrender!

The Evil Face Slab is yours now!
The King of the Sea was speechless in the face of this situation.

These guardian Pokémon are all very powerful "false kings," but the false kings they created using their own and Unova's power are still easily defeated by stronger opponents.

Of course, there is another important point: the Pokémon summoned at this time are no longer the same group of companions from thousands of years ago.

The product is counterfeit, and the descendants are unworthy. As a guard, it can still overwhelm ordinary intruders, but it pales in comparison when facing true masters.

"Deoxys, use Might!"

The Lightmoss unleashed the power of its cosmic companions, a powerful, monstrous force that roared and emitted a strong wave, forcibly moving the red stone tablet aside.

The path to the top opened, and with a gentle flick of her finger, Gadria brought all the Pokémon into the fourth level.

At the same time, she glanced around casually and gathered all the stone slabs scattered across the ground.

The Coffin of Death and the Warrior Eagle, which were still resisting, were also brought along, but upon hearing the Crown of the Sea's command, they immediately ceased their attack.

There's no point in continuing the fight; they've already entered the fourth level!

Upon reaching the fourth floor, the winding maze disappeared, replaced by a massive room with an altar in the center, surrounded by red stone tablets.

On the altar, a crown was emitting powerful energy fluctuations, causing ripples and waves to spread throughout the surrounding space.

Cattleya's eyes brightened slightly as she looked up at the altar in front of the ruins. Her voice carried a sense of relief, as if the dust had settled, and a hint of joy:
"This is the final level. Once we obtain the ancient crown, this investigation will be successfully completed. So, what is the content of the final inscription?"

“The final part.” Lightmoss translated the last few stone tablets: “Here, praise is given to the great king. His name is indistinguishable, but it should be Halmenia.”

"Whom did the king launch a counterattack on alone?"

"Who immediately became the king's companion?"

"To whom does the king refer to living beings?"

"The king is our hope and our future."

In the game, these characters could not be solved in the end, but some of them could still be guessed.

It's nothing more than the records of King Halmenia, the King of Giants, the First Dragon, and possibly even Reshiram and Zekrom, because one of the unknown symbols looks like a scene of two Dragon Stones splitting apart.

"Hmm, the interpretation of these words is indeed still somewhat unclear."

Cattleya murmured softly, her slender fingertips gracefully tracing the characters on the notebook.

Although there was a barely perceptible hint of complaint on his lips, a strange ripple quietly spread across the depths of his eyes.

That's a feeling called elation, the curiosity and anticipation that comes with entering a new and unfamiliar territory for the first time—a reaction everyone experiences.

"The young lady is quite happy, isn't she?"

Lightmoss could sense Cattleya's feelings; it was an undisguised, pure joy.

Cattleya's gaze swept around, as if reviewing what had just happened.

The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, forming a reserved yet undeniably joyful curve:
"Although we encountered some guards who were... well, they were somewhat interesting, but..."

He paused briefly, then sighed softly, as if he wasn't quite satisfied.

She turned to the side, her gaze lightly falling on the moss beside her.

A strand of golden hair slid across her fair cheek with her movements.

Her chin was slightly raised in a beautiful arc.

Her slight pride was like a newly blossoming flower bud, tinged with a touch of coquettishness, and her voice was filled with peace and contentment.
"Celebrate~" she hummed lightly with a hint of pride at the end of her voice.

"After all, having me by your side saves you countless troubles, right?"

But Cattleya hesitated again, her eyes slightly unfocused: "You did very well too, that 'peace of mind.' I really like it."

"That power was very effective; I've remembered it."

"Of course, Miss's power is astonishing. Your power is truly amazing."

Cattleya's superpowers were truly astonishing, leaving even the King of the Sea speechless, as was he himself.

Thinking of this, Guangtai nodded, her tone sincere and filled with heartfelt admiration: "Without Miss, things probably wouldn't have gone so smoothly."

"As for my little bit of 'peace and quiet,' I'll be happy if it can be of any help, especially when you need it, and if it can be of some help to you."

"It would be my honor to do something for you."

Cattleya listened quietly.

When Guangtai expressed her admiration for her power without reservation, a small, genuine smile involuntarily curved the corners of her mouth.

It's always nice to receive genuine praise from others, especially when someone you care about says it. You can't help but feel that way.

If Shilan and Zhulan said the same thing, I would be just as happy and joyful.

She cleared her throat very slightly, trying to calm the sudden surge of emotion.

When she raised her eyes again, her face had regained most of its composed and proper smile, but the depths of her eyes seemed even warmer and brighter than before.

The ancient crown began to vibrate violently.

The ancient crown spoke its own mind.

Only those who are qualified can receive the crown and wear it; however, this crown has long since decayed.

This is the place where the first king slumbered, the burial place of one of the twin heroes, the starting point of the united nation, and the place where countless lives were freed from division.

Since you've come carrying the spiritual power of the ancient city, you must have already made preparations.

The guardians of the stone slab cannot stop you. This power is the reason for being king.

[Then, come and take the challenge! If you win, you will take away the ancient crown and gain the special power of the underwater ruins.]

Choose what you need from the "King's Heart".

(End of this chapter)