The Ability Shield was a very distinctive held item. It was introduced in the Scarlet/Violet era and is sold at the Delibird Presents shop in sagoza. And its powerful effect didn't just work in standard battles.
It could even prevent wild Terastallized Pokémon in Tera Raid Battles from wiping out a Pokémon's Ability.
As for the tal Core Barrier, Hikaru already knew how to make it. But the Ability Shield was a bit harder to wrap his head around. After so rough thinking, he concluded it was likely a product developed only after studying Terastallization.
In other words, its material was so kind of specific Tera crystal.
To test that theory, Hikaru, Tinkaton, and the Tinkatuffs began processing Tera Shards. In Paldea, you could often pick up bits of Tera crystal, and Hikaru had collected plenty along the road. So of those were being kept to help Ogerpon repair its masks—and to craft new ones.
But a special mask required wood from the Tiless Woods, which made Hikaru think again about the repair conditions for the Adversity Charm.
Kitakami was sowhere he was definitely going to take a trip to.
Under the forging of Sacred Fire and blue fla, a golden Ability Shield was produced. At the sa ti, Hikaru carefully checked its effects.
[Unique Craftwork: Ability Shield (Ability Shield).]
[Description: It was originally ant to be a cute shield with personality, but after being forged with unique craftsmanship, its style beca closer to the dieval era. With gold worked into its materials, it also turned into a solemn, dignified gold.]
[Effect 1 (Inactive): The holder Pokémon's Ability cannot be changed, removed, or ignored. This applies even in Tera Raid Battles.]
[Note: Requires intense Terastal energy to activate. After losing Terastal energy, the item's effect will gradually weaken until it disappears.]
[Effect 2: Half Reflect (While holding a shield, this is treated as the move Reflect being active). While the shield is raised, damage from physical attacks received from opponents is halved. If multiple Pokémon are on your side of the field, damage is reduced by one-third instead.]
"Mm. So it really is an item tied to Terastal power. But as long as it's recharged in ti, the Ability Shield can be used indefinitely. And the Reflect effect… that's fused in using the crafting technique from the Half Reflect Necklace."
Psychic energy could sotis be infused and turned into a crafted item.
The Half Reflect Necklace was a neat little tool held by Blue in the Pokémon Adventures manga—basically like the Trainer was keeping Reflect up at all tis during battle.
"Not bad. With this shield, plus the golden spear, a knight's kit is complete."
Hikaru handed the shield to Armarouge. The great knight tested its weight, then strapped it to his back.
"Fighting with sword-and-shield and fighting with spear-and-shield are completely different styles… but this really does make you hard to crack now—at least on the physical defense side."
Still, Armarouge was carrying more than two items!
In formal competitive battles, you couldn't use things like that. Whether to fight with the shield or fight with the spear—he'd need to make a proper decision.
"Papu~"
For Hikaru, ti passed quickly while forging. And at so point, Palafin—still in its Zero Form—had opened a little puddle off to the side and was splashing around in it with Maschiff.
"Wow… Palafin can punch out a huge hole with one hit. Now the village even has a pond. They can raise fish in it day-to-day and stuff."
Raising fish, huh… Paldea had plenty of Cetoddle everywhere. Not only could you eat them, you could also use them like torpedoes to blast invading enemies—wasn't that basically an automatic defense chanism?
Seeing his teammates had waited quite a while, Hikaru packed up as well. He repeatedly went over the orders with the village chief and even drew portraits of the custors.
"Don't smash the custors with the Gigaton Hamr, okay?"
"Wakaka." The chief happily swung the huge hamr, and it wasn't clear whether he'd listened.
The Tinkatuffs behind him were also laughing, clack-clack-clack.
Hikaru checked the Capture Styler. Rotom popped out of the C-Gear, dove into the Capture Styler, and the device's performance improved dramatically—first of all, its battery instantly filled to max.
As for whether the number of circles needed during captures would decrease because of that… he'd have to find out in real combat.
Later, once he overturned Boss Cyrus, he could even have Cyrus help modify these devices. Maybe that would unlock a brand-new Rotom form…?
[Special Item (Special Pokémon Form): Capture Rotom — Capture Styler!]
[Description: The Capture Styler is the technological crystallization of the Ranger Union. It is an extrely advanced device. Currently, only a small number of people can manufacture and upgrade it. It was created by Professor Newleaf (Professor Simbara).]
[Description: Go to Team Galactic and invite their leader, Cyrus, to perform a technical upgrade adapting the Capture Styler and Capture Rotom. Perhaps this can unlock Rotom's special form!]
[Description: Estimated typing — Electric/Ground or Electric/Fighting!]
[Estimated moves it can learn — Earth Power / Aura Sphere.]
[Note: Your Capture Styler is an illegal device! It has no registered serial number with the Ranger Union. Use with caution!]
"Illegal Styler—yeah, I know!"
"But on the other hand… I've never seen the more advanced Top Styler or Wrist Styler. Is it possible those are still in developnt?"
"And if I develop them first, then what happens?"
At that point, Professor Newleaf would probably be staring blankly like:
I haven't even finished technical validation yet—where did you get that?!
"But letting Cyrus examine the Capture Styler is still too dangerous. There's a risk of leaking the Ranger Union's core technology. I'll wait until I catch Boss Cyrus and… correct his personality first."
After leaving the starter village, Hikaru led the demon-slaying squad straight toward Rayquaza's ruins.
Since Palafin couldn't stay in its Hero Form while on land, Hikaru used a Dive Ball to temporarily store it and carry it along.
Still, that didn't count as officially becoming a partner, so for now Hikaru didn't plan to write it into the team record.
Unless Palafin was willing to travel to distant regions and begin its heroic journey.
"Guren."
Armarouge strongly supported Palafin's dream.
Seeing this hero of the seas try to accomplish sothing astonishing—sothing that could beco a legend passed down—felt like looking at his own dream from back then.
It hadn't been long, but what he had experienced was sothing the past countless years had never contained.
Only by leaving one's hotown could a new future be opened. Armarouge understood that clearly now.
If you wanted to grow, you had to leave ho.
And a hotown… was a place ant to be missed.
"An unnad ruin north of Cortondo Town… Paldea has so many things like this that these ruins are left out in the wilderness, becoming hos for wandering wild Pokémon. And this ruin faces the towering mountain ranges to the northeast—and that's northwest of sagoza, where the Pokémon League is."
The squad quickly arrived at the roadside ruin. There was nothing inside you could really call a clue, but luckily, because basically nobody ever ca here—and because it was remote, far from the arenas and the Olive Roll Fields—this place hadn't been "picked clean."
At least, no one had looted it recently.
Then again, Paldea didn't really have Trainers who were "rock collectors," and there weren't "ruin maniacs," either. So if a ruin preserved a teorite, generally speaking, the treasure-hunting students wouldn't take it—because they simply couldn't recognize what it was.
"Found it!" Hikaru quickly discovered a teorite in the ruin, and judging by its age—wow. It was the real deal at a glance!
[Cosmic Material: Ancient teorite.]
[Description: A stone from outer space that fell long ago. Its surface is pitted and hard. It feels faintly warm to the touch. It is said that similar teorites have fallen all over the world, and so teorites possess the properties of "Gran teorites."]
[Effect: Give it to Rayquaza, and the teorite will beco Rayquaza's power. Alternatively, use a move on the teorite to offset abnormal surges in natural energy. This effect can only be used once.]
[Effect: Give it to Deoxys to switch Deoxys's form.]
Hikaru: "It feels kind of warm. Yep—this description fits that kind of teorite."
"Normally, this kind of teorite is used to change Deoxys's form, and it's also linked to Rayquaza in terms of power. It carries cosmic energy. And the effect of canceling abnormal natural power… that's a shared power among the teorite fragnts in Pokémon Adventures. As long as it's related to a Gran teorite, it has similar abilities."
"And the Gran teorite… is the Rainbow teorite."
In Paldea's ga progression, to obtain this teorite, you had to buy it at the auction market in Porto Marinada.
Man, Hayek's hand really was blessed—this market sold everything. It was on par with the Treasure Bazaar in Stow-on-Side in Galar!
"Of course, in reality, a fully grown Deoxys doesn't need teorites to freely change forms. So this teorite isn't really useful for the Warrior of Light—uh… well, it's not totally useless. It's pretty nice as food."
As Hikaru muttered that, he heard Deoxys's voice.
[teorites like this, coming from the distant cosmos, usually carry a special space virus—our pre-birth state. It holds cosmic energy, and it allows our prototype form to persist for a long ti, in the form of a virus.]
[Just like the teorite that gave birth to back then. So after my kin complete their evolution, teorites like this beco the core of a crystal.]
[But the power in this teorite seems insufficient. Or rather… another force suppressed its energy and erased most of its cosmic power. Even the space virus was wiped away.]
Hikaru: "Ah… that's probably because of the 'zeroing' phenonon."
"According to investigations, two million years ago—or one million—Paldea's crust underwent dramatic changes. That massive teorite that brought Stellar crystals and Terastal power… gave so Pokémon a special Ability capable of erasing the influence of all power."
"No matter what, it still has residual cosmic power. And since Terastal power also cos from outer space, they share certain traits."
"There are four stones total. Bring them to Rayquaza. My task is complete."
With the ruin investigation successfully finished and four ancient teorites in hand, Hikaru imdiately led everyone toward dali.
There was no need to cross the Asado Desert. Just head northeast along the ruins, cross hills and mountains, cut through the road near Artazon for a shortcut, and you could reach dali quickly.
Aerodactyl, Genesect, and Miraidon in its flying form easily cleared the peaks and crossed the watery lowlands.
After passing over the highest mountain dividing the two cities, the view opened up all at once!
In Paldea, the region where dali sat—like Cortondo Town—was a rare stretch of flat plains.
The town's buildings had a modern "standard style." Simply put, they were ordinary, with no special flair. But even if the buildings themselves lacked character, the town's planning was fascinating—like a maze, interwoven and complex.
It was also a town with a nostalgic atmosphere. With its thriving food culture, eateries lined up one after another like in a tropolis.
"dali's Treasure Eatery is a Paldean restaurant famous for als that can change a Pokémon's Tera Type. The dali Gym Test is held here, too. Larry is a regular."
"In Scarlet/Violet battlefields, Treasure Eatery is also a fairly common stage."
"And then there's a place that isn't flashy, but is actually very capable: Sushi High Roller. It's a restaurant chain, and most likely cross-regional."
"In Paldea, Sushi High Roller only sells sushi. However, it has branches in Lumiose City in Kalos and in Malie City in Alola. The forr is an expensive high-end restaurant with al prices reaching 500,000."
"The latter is also high-end and sells Z-Power als, but it only costs 4,000. And you can share tables, so it's a bit more approachable."
So who exactly owned this chain…?
Maybe it would be like the Rotom Phone company lore: introduced as an app in Gen 8, but the owner and related personnel were characters who belonged to Gen 9—like Nemona.
And maybe, by Gen 10, the chain would still appear and even spin off a brand-new character…
"You really know your high-end restaurants across the regions."
A listless voice appeared behind Hikaru.
At the mont, Hikaru was standing near Sushi High Roller's entrance, holding Palafin's Dive Ball, touring the town together with Armarouge and the Falinks.
Hearing that drained-sounding voice, Hikaru turned around in curiosity.
It was a completely ordinary-looking salaryman. But saying he had no distinguishing features wasn't quite right.
Beneath that plain, unremarkable face were strange, blocky-looking eyes. There were heavy dark circles around them, and his hair was slicked back a little. Maybe it was fatigue from overti—there were even so white strands mixed into his hair.
The salaryman shook his head helplessly as he looked at Sushi High Roller's shining sign.
"Sushi High Roller really is a high-end chain across multiple regions. They tailor their operations to each place based on local culture and customs."
"A 500,000 al price is hard to imagine. Only sowhere like Lumiose City could support that kind of spending."
"Unfortunately, even in Paldea, where the food industry is strong, their prices still aren't exactly cheap."
"For the four-piece seasonal sushi set, each item costs 2,000. If you want the special nu, you have to go to Montenevera on Glaseado Mountain. But I hear it tastes amazing, so even in that icy environnt, visitors still co in a steady stream."
"And the special set even costs 4,000. It's more expensive than the famous delicacies at the Blueberry Club."
"That kind of thing… is just too expensive for soone like ."
"So Treasure Eatery is great. Tasty and cheap. The grilled rice balls are really good…"
The person who had appeared beside Hikaru was none other than Paldea's Elite Four mber, dali Gym Leader, famous overti worker and anti-overti advocate, walking contradiction, low-motivation icon—dali's Inokashira Goro, the Solitary Gourt, Larry!
As a Gym Leader, Larry's type was Normal. He claid that, just like his own state, Normal was best—plain and unremarkable, no special features.
But as an Elite Four mber, Larry had been ordered by a certain superior to battle using a different type, so his specialty shifted to Flying.
His evaluation was, "A master of Normal-types, though among Gym Leaders his strength is average. His main job is as an employee in the Pokémon League's business departnt, but his performance isn't good. He likes to eat."
But in truth, Larry's strength wasn't weak at all.
Honestly, he called himself a man with no special features, yet he was loved even more than many other characters, and he had all sorts of bizarre nicknas.
There was also that famous line: "Use the move working adults excel at—Facade," and the about it "not being very effective" on the wealthy.
Not to ntion all those images with the "Mr. Golden Toilet" and Arceus…
Hikaru said, "Nice to et you! Uh… you're Larry-san, right?"
Larry nodded listlessly.
"That's . I know you. A master of Steel-types, the Zone 10 boss of Black Tower, our new colleague."
"Chairwoman Geeta already told you were back. But running into you at Sushi High Roller… that really is a coincidence."
Larry continued in the sa drained tone.
"Originally, I should say 'nice to et you' too, but your restaurant review made forget."
"I'm not used to beating around the bush. You're going to explore Area Zero, right?"
Hikaru nodded. "It's a commission from Chairwoman Geeta, and I also have an important reason to go to Area Zero. Simply put, I need to et Professor Sada. And I also need to check on Area Zero's recent situation."
Larry nodded, looking even more dispirited.
"If it's work assigned by the chairwoman, there's no reason not to complete it."
"As for the rumors about a monster in the desert… yeah, they've been pretty loud. So people say it's a monster that ran out from Area Zero. I don't know where that rumor started, but there's no sign the Area Zero gate has been opened. If anyone could operate it… only Professor Sada could."
"Forget it." Larry shook his head. "That's not within my job scope. I just need to stay here."
"I'll open the Area Zero gate for you. Area Zero is dangerous—you need to be careful. I'll wish you a safe journey in advance."
Larry usually didn't say much, but if it involved work or food, he'd make an exception.
After speaking, he paused again and said to Hikaru, "But… this is still my first ti eting the new Elite Four mber."
"And since I'm your senpai… if you don't mind, how about I treat you to a al before you go into Area Zero?"
"I prefer Treasure Eatery, but since it's my first ti treating a kouhai, if you don't mind, let's eat at Sushi High Roller."
For Larry, eating a al was effective socializing.
But most of the ti, he still preferred tasting good food alone.
After all, Larry's archetype was "The Solitary Gourt."
And he rarely treated people to als.
Maybe he'd only treated Rika and Hassel?
And just as Larry finally made up his mind to treat soone…
A commotion broke out near dali. People were shouting about sothing, and one of Larry's acquaintances appeared near Sushi High Roller.
"Larry! Go take a look—sothing happened over at that research facility!"
"A visitor got attacked by an unknown Pokémon!"
"Research facility…" Larry's gaze shifted slightly.
Most residents didn't know what the research facility by the Area Zero gate was for. Even researchers nearby didn't truly know, because Terastal research was a League secret. Only Professor Sada's team was qualified to enter and conduct research there.
And the Area Zero gate itself… hadn't been opened for a long ti. It was a facility used to observe conditions inside the Great Crater of Paldea—Area Zero—and to conduct preliminary research.
"Sorry." Larry sighed, forcing himself to perk up. "I don't know what happened, but I'll have to postpone the al."
"Sothing dangerous might be going on. I need to take a look. You wait in the restaurant for a bit, okay?"
"Save the treat for later, Larry-san." Hikaru smiled and waved a hand.
"I'll go with you. I was planning to enter Area Zero directly anyway."
At the sa ti, Hikaru felt puzzled.
The barrier at Area Zero's entrance got breached again?
What is this, the Land of Light—anyone can just co and go whenever they want?
"Could it be Arven who opened it? It seems that before the main story begins, the only one who entered the Area Zero gate years ago was Arven."
"And when he went in that ti, the Area Zero gate was… lit up."
(End of Chapter)
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