The brief flash of lightning lit up the room through the window for just a moment.
Steven sat bolt upright, and as he turned his head, ten pairs of eyes were already staring back at him in unison.
It was the middle of the night, and there wasn't a drop of rain falling outside. But that crack of thunder a moment ago had been real—there was no mistaking it.
Unfortunately, Steven's room was on the first floor, so even throwing open the window revealed nothing useful.
"There's something strange about that thunderclap," Steven murmured, brows furrowing slightly.
He climbed out of bed and lit a lamp, its dim yellow glow spreading through the room. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he felt his unease growing by the second. He looked around at the Pokémon gathered close to him and managed a tired, helpless smile.
"Come on. Let's go take a look."
Steven changed into his Survey Corps uniform and snuffed out the lamp before slipping out of the dormitory under cover of darkness. Somehow, he couldn't shake the feeling that whatever had caused that thunderclap was connected to him.
He climbed onto Metagross's back, Diancie cradled in his arms, and set off in the direction the thunder had come from. If he could find a scorched patch of ground, he'd know exactly where the lightning had struck.
Scattered lights glowed from windows throughout Jubilife Village—clearly, plenty of others had been woken by the thunder as well.
Diancie held a small flashlight in her hand, its beam falling across the parchment map spread out in Steven's grip.
"This direction leads toward the Obsidian Fieldlands," she said. "Further out is Ginkgo Landing."
Steven glanced up at the first pale traces of dawn breaking along the horizon and gave Metagross an encouraging pat on the head. They touched down briefly to let the Pokémon eat their fill, then continued on.
Before long, they spotted a massive tree standing at the center of a small forest ahead—surely the very "Ginkgo" the landing was named for.
"Hm?"
Steven's brow furrowed as he guided Metagross down into the open clearing in front of Ginkgo Landing. Wide patches of blackened, scorched earth stretched across the ground.
"So the lightning must have struck here," he said, mildly surprised the bolt had traveled this far.
Just as Steven was about to examine the area for anything unusual, a golden shape burst out from the trees nearby.
"Metagross!"
Metagross swung its Metal Arm out with tremendous force. The blow crashed against a massive golden axe, and the impact sent both Metagross and the unfamiliar Pokémon skidding backward.
"What in the world is that?" Steven blurted, startled, fumbling for his phone Pokédex to scan it.
The screen returned only one result: "No Data."
Even so, it was plain to see this Pokémon shared a clear resemblance to both Scyther and Scizor—except its scythes and pincers had been replaced entirely by a pair of massive axes, and its whole body gleamed gold.
Surely it didn't just turn gold from being struck by lightning…
Standing nearly two meters tall, about the same height as Scizor, the creature let out a sharp cry.
"Heh-cha!"
Its eyes were bloodshot, almost feral, as though it had slipped into some kind of berserk state. Steven noticed it immediately, though he couldn't tell whether his sudden intrusion or that strange lightning bolt was responsible. One thing was certain, though.
This Pokémon was incredibly strong.
"Wait a second…"
Sunlight began spilling over the mountains, washing across the clearing. Steven studied the creature more closely. Something about its appearance struck him as familiar—hadn't he seen a statue just like it back at the Sinnoh Temple?
"So that's what you are… a King."
If that was true, then this was a fight worth giving to Scizor.
"Metagross, fall back."
Metagross gave a nod and retreated to Steven's side. Kleavor charged forward, and Steven released Scizor from its Poké Ball in a flash of white light. The red figure surged forward to meet the golden Kleavor head-on.
Crimson pincers and golden axes collided, sparks scattering between them. Both Pokémon staggered back a step before resetting into their stances—a clash that felt as though it spanned across time itself.
"Bullet Punch!"
Scizor's eyes hardened, and its legs surged with sudden power. In a flash of white light, it appeared instantly behind Kleavor, pincer already lunging for the strike.
Kleavor spun around just in time, raising an axe-arm to block it.
"That fast?" Steven murmured, frowning. This so-called King was proving every bit as troublesome as expected.
Given its resemblance to Scyther and Scizor, Steven guessed this might be a unique regional form native to Hisui—much like how Alolan Sandslash differed from its ordinary counterpart elsewhere. It was very likely Bug-type at its core. But with that golden coloring, pinning down its secondary type wasn't so simple.
"Heh-cha!"
Kleavor raised both axes overhead and brought them crashing down toward Scizor with a heavy whoosh of air. Scizor planted its legs and shot backward, putting distance between them just in time.
The axes slammed into the earth instead, splitting the ground wide open with a thunderous crack. Grass and gravel exploded outward in every direction, and several jagged stones lifted briefly into the air above the battlefield before vanishing.
Steven took note of the Pokémon's raw power—those axes alone made its offense terrifying. And stranger still, the attack seemed to carry an effect similar to Stealth Rock.
"Stealth Rock... could it be Rock-type?" Steven wondered aloud. Either way, in a one-on-one match, it hardly mattered. If Kleavor really was part Rock-type, Scizor's Steel-type attacks would hit all the harder.
"Heh-cha!"
Kleavor crossed both axes, energy crackling around the blades, and swept them toward Scizor in a wide arc.
Steven recognized the move at once. X-Scissor.
"Dodge, then Metal Claw!"
Scizor dropped low, slipping beneath both horizontal swings, then drove its right pincer forward, coated in a gleam of polished metal. The strike landed square in Kleavor's midsection, knocking it back several paces.
When it came to pure technique over raw strength, Scizor clearly had the edge.
Kleavor's eyes blazed with fury as it shook off the blow and charged straight back in.
"Heh-cha!"
Its axes came down again and again in rapid succession—Fury Cutter. Scizor sidestepped the first swing, ducked low, and slid to Kleavor's other flank to avoid the next.
After dodging several more chops in a row, Steven suddenly called out a sharp warning.
"Metal Claw—block, upper left!"
Scizor swerved to avoid Kleavor's direct strike, then spotted the second axe descending at a steep angle and snapped its metal-coated pincer up to intercept it.
The two collided with a heavy clang. Scizor held the block, though the force still drove it backward several steps.
Steven's frown deepened as he began piecing together what Ability this Pokémon might have. Every single one of its attacks so far had come down to chopping and slashing—cutting-type moves, every time.
That meant this Kleavor almost certainly carried the Sharpness Ability, the very trait that had replaced Steadfast as its Hidden Ability in recent generations.
"Heh-cha!"
Kleavor pressed forward again, eager to keep up the pressure. If nothing else, Steven thought, Scizor's calm, focused silence made it look far cooler than its golden opponent ever could.
"Bullet Punch!"
Scizor's red pincer snapped forward, striking Kleavor hard along its side. Pain flashed across Kleavor's face as the blow knocked its falling axe off course, sending it crashing harmlessly into the dirt.
The ground split open again with the impact. Kleavor stumbled back several steps, eyes burning with fury as it let out another furious roar at Scizor.
"Heh-cha!"