Southern Unova Region
Inside a grand and opulent castle, a man of about twenty-five sat on a gilded throne.
He wore ornate robes embroidered with gold thread, his posture commanding and elegant.
He was strikingly handsome, with sharp, deep-set features, thick sword-like brows, and eyes that gleamed with authority and ambition.
If Elif were here, he would have recognized him immediately as Prince Lando, eldest son of the Kingdom of Eindooc.
Before the throne, two rows of ministers stood in silence as a middle-aged official in ceremonial robes read from a scroll.
"Your Highness, over the past month, we have recruited one hundred thousand new soldiers from across the realm. Combined with the standing army and our monster legions, our total force now numbers two hundred thousand."
Lando nodded slightly, his expression unreadable. After a moment's thought, he asked evenly,
"And what of my dear brother? You haven't found him yet?"
The official hesitated, then shook his head.
"According to our scouts, His Highness the Third Prince has not gone to the territory."
Lando closed his eyes.
He despised loose ends.
His original plan had been to find his younger brother, keep him under house arrest, and, once he had unified the kingdom, grant him a noble title and let him live out his life quietly.
But if the boy had disappeared... that made things troublesome.
A long silence passed. Then Lando opened his eyes again and said curtly,
"You may go."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The officials bowed deeply, retreating from the great hall with obvious unease.
When the echo of their footsteps faded, Lando was left alone, sitting motionless upon the throne.
And then, a voice whispered from beneath the floor.
"Do you have the resolve to pursue your ideal?"
That voice again.
Lando stiffened, then strode to his private chamber.
There, a jet-black stone on the table pulsed with faint light.
"What are you?" he demanded.
"I am the Dragon of Ideals, Zekrom."
"Zekrom?" Lando frowned. The name was unfamiliar, yet the voice carried a strange, commanding weight.
He had heard it before, long ago, a voice that had questioned him repeatedly in his mind:
What is your ideal?
When he left the royal city, he had brought the strange stone with him. It had remained silent since until now.
"Tell me, what is your ideal?" the voice asked again.
Lando's lips curved into a cold smile.
If once he had been uncertain, now he knew his answer beyond doubt.
"To unify the entire kingdom. To seize the throne. To harness the power of magical beasts and forge a nation strong enough to conquer this continent, that is my ideal!"
Fools like his younger brother pitied magical beasts.
But when those same beasts slaughtered humans, were they pitiful then?
No, their strength was a tool. A gift meant to be used.
Humanity could only advance by mastering that power, by bending it toward their own progress.
For a moment, the voice was silent. Then the black stone flared with blinding light.
"Your ideal... I shall make it real."
A figure of darkness began to take shape from the glowing stone, vast, imposing, and wreathed in crackling energy.
Northern Unova Region
Within another grand castle, a young man with long white hair and pale skin stood quietly before a glowing white stone.
He was strikingly beautiful, serene, almost delicate, but his clear eyes held a deep, sorrowful compassion.
"To end the suffering of magical beasts," he murmured softly, "to free them from bondage, and to create a world where humans and Pokémon can coexist without cruelty... That is my truth."
This was Prince Lance, the second son of Eindoak.
Unlike his brothers, Lance had grown up in the royal capital, where he often encountered kind and gentle Pokémon.Once, during an expedition into the wilderness, one such creature had even saved his life.
From that day forward, he could no longer bear to see magical beasts enslaved or mistreated.
They were not monsters, they were living beings.
Even without relying on their power, humanity could build a peaceful and prosperous world.
He would stop his brother's ambitions, even if it meant claiming the throne himself.
His conviction reached the white stone.
The next moment, a calm, resonant voice echoed from within.
"This is your truth... I can feel it. Very well, I shall manifest your truth!"
Brilliant light enveloped the room.
From the stone emerged a radiant, majestic figure, its wings pure as snow, a being of warmth and serenity.
Morning sunlight spread across the horizon.
And in the far south, the people of Lucien's growing territory had already begun their busy day.
Children laughed as they played hand in hand with their Pokémon partners under the morning sun.
On the training grounds, the knights were already hard at work with their Aron and Swablu, running drills and practicing formation combat beneath the crisp blue sky.
At the brick kiln, Darmanitan, Simsear, and other Fire-type Pokémon were busy helping the craftsmen, their flames roaring to life as they lit the furnaces and baked the bricks.
In the forests beyond, lumberjack teams felled trees, while Machoke and laborers worked side by side in the town, raising new homes and workshops for the growing population.
Skilled weavers sat in shaded courtyards, spinning the soft wool delivered from the Mareep Ranch into fine fabric, while in the fields, farmers tended to rows of lush green crops.
Even Dugtrio popped up here and there, sniffing about for loose roots, much to the farmers' mild exasperation.
Yet, beneath the cheerful bustle, a subtle worry lingered.
The farmland was expanding rapidly… and manpower was struggling to keep up.
Just then, one of the farmers shaded his eyes and pointed skyward.
"Look! What's that up there?"
Everyone followed his gaze.
High above, a slender, serpentine figure was gliding gracefully through the sky, its body glimmering faintly in the light.
"That's Prince Lucien's magical beast!" someone exclaimed.
The majestic Dragonair arced through the air, twisting its long body with fluid grace.
In an instant, dark clouds gathered over the once-clear sky, and a gentle drizzle began to fall, soaking the thirsty fields below.
The farmers gasped in awe.
"It's raining…! Just like that?"
"Is this the power of that creature?"
"Amazing… it's like a god that controls the weather!"
If they hadn't known that the Dragonair belonged to Prince Lucien, many would have fallen to their knees and offered prayers on the spot.
Up above, Dragonair looked down at its handiwork, eyes gleaming with pride. It was thrilled, it could finally help!
When the clouds dispersed, it turned and soared back toward its home. Within moments, it slipped gracefully through the open window of Lucien's wooden study.
Lucien sat at his desk, reviewing one of Elif's reports when the blue-scaled Pokémon entered.
He looked up with a smile.
"Finished?"
Dragonair nodded, letting out a soft "Woo~."
"Good work." Lucien reached out and gently patted its head.
Immediately, the jealous Larvesta nudged its way over, buzzing for attention. Lucien chuckled and gave it a few affectionate pats as well.
Beside them, the proud Servine turned its head away haughtily, pretending not to care, though its tail flicked with the faintest twitch of longing.
Lucien noticed, of course.
With a faint smile, he rose, took a ripe sitrus fruit from the table, and offered it to the sulking Servine, giving its head a light pat in passing.
The little serpent froze for a heartbeat, then sniffed, looked away, and began eating with obvious satisfaction.
"Go on, play for a bit," Lucien said with an amused sigh, as Dragonair and Larvesta began squabbling playfully over who got more attention.
When they finally fluttered and slithered out of the room, Lucien leaned back in his chair, his expression growing thoughtful.
To forge a strong Aggron legion, he needed enormous quantities of metal.
There were only two ways to obtain it: mining manually, or trading with other cities.
But the surrounding region was remote, ringed by small villages with limited trade. That left only manual mining, and even that was far too slow.
Lucien frowned and glanced toward the glowing interface of his technology panel.
The territory was still stuck in the agricultural era. To transition into the industrial age, they needed one key breakthrough, the Steam Engine.
"Unfortunately," Lucien muttered, "the satisfaction level is still too low…"
He sighed.
If only they had a Melmetal.
A Pokémon capable of producing iron in massive quantities, one that could both forge and instruct his future Aggron army.
...
Stones PLzzz
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