"Let's go, Lian!" Pearl called to the girl beside her.
She leapt down the slope at once and dashed toward the battlefield.
"Oh! Okay!" Lian hurried after her.
Diancie, curious as ever, bounced along behind the two of them.
It took a little while for Pearl and Lian to reach the front line, and that was more than enough time for Steven and his Scizor to finish off Kleavor.
"Scizor, finish it with Bullet Punch!" Steven called out.
Scizor's eyes sharpened as it stared down Kleavor, which had stubbornly climbed back to its feet. Its own chest still ached from the Counter Kleavor had landed moments earlier. Scizor kicked off the ground with its hind legs and shot forward like a bullet. Its pincers swung out in a straight, brutal arc, and Kleavor, caught off guard, had no way to block or dodge. It could only take the hit head-on.
Bang!
The dull impact echoed again. An unseen, violent gust burst from Kleavor's back, scattering broken rock across the ground. Kleavor's whole body went rigid, but it refused to fall. With the last of its strength, it swung the great axe on its arm down onto Scizor's shoulder plate, now scorched black from battle.
Crack.
The blow landed with hardly any force behind it — what little damage it did came only from the sheer weight of the axe itself. Scizor drew its pincers back in and straightened up, looking down at Kleavor without much concern. Kleavor's legs buckled, and it sank to the ground, the fight having drained nearly all its strength.
Whoosh.
Scizor's Mega Evolution faded, and it stepped back a few paces.
Kleavor's eyes, which had been shut, snapped open. It lifted its head and glared at Scizor, its eyes burning crimson. It had lost. But the wild energy raging inside it refused to accept defeat so easily.
Fight. Fight again. Fight again!
Kleavor drove both of its great axes into the ground, its arms — slender-looking but surprisingly powerful — shaking as it forced itself to rise.
"Pearl! Lian!" Steven turned and shouted to the two of them as they ran up.
"I know!" Pearl's eyes went sharp. She pulled a treat from the basket strapped to Lian's back and hurled it with all her strength. Wrapped in a small bag, it sailed through the air in a clean arc and struck Kleavor squarely on the arm.
Kleavor flinched, staring at the loosened cord and the torn bag, from which the smell of food now drifted. For a moment, its raging aura seemed to quiet. It lowered its head and ate the treat that Pearl and Lian had prepared with such care. The familiar, favorite flavor spread through its mouth, and something in its body and mind seemed to loosen and settle. The golden light wrapped around Kleavor began to fade, and the crimson in its eyes slowly dimmed.
Watching the change, Steven let out a breath of relief. Truthfully, calming Kleavor at all would have been difficult for almost anyone else — let alone soothing it so completely afterward. Even working together, Pearl and Lian might not have managed it this quickly on their own.
Seeing that the treat was working, Pearl closed the distance and kept tossing more toward Kleavor. By the time she was able to walk right up to it and hold a treat out in her open hand without being attacked, Steven knew the mission was done.
The Lord of the Woods, Kleavor, had been calmed at last.
Only once the golden glow had faded completely could Steven get a proper look at Kleavor. Part of its body was made of yellow stone, while the axes on its arms, its claws, its shoulders, and the rocky "fur" along its face were a darker brown. Its stone axes were honed to a wicked edge — clearly the mark of a Pokémon that had fought through many battles.
Now that it had eaten, Kleavor's temper had settled, and it gave Steven a surprisingly gentle look, as though trying to thank him.
Master, it is expressing its gratitude to you, Metagross's voice sounded in Steven's mind.
Steven chuckled quietly and gave a small nod. He could already tell.
"Steven, Kleavor's thanking you," Pearl said, turning to him.
I know, I know — you don't have to tell me twice, Steven thought, smiling helplessly. "I know. I can feel it," he said aloud.
He walked up to Kleavor, crouched down, and said with a light laugh, "It's really no trouble at all. Don't worry about it."
Kleavor closed its eyes, and a pale blue, cylindrical stone rose out from within its body.
"This is…" Steven murmured, reaching out to take the many-faceted stone as it separated fully from Kleavor. It looked remarkably like the stone that had once summoned Dialga's phantom form — not just in appearance, but in the very feeling it gave off.
"Steven, that's…" Diancie's face lit up.
"Yes. This is His token," Steven said with a small laugh, glancing over at Pearl and Lian.
Pearl seemed to guess exactly what he was thinking and smiled. "Kleavor gave that to you. It's yours to keep."
"I want one too…" Lian mumbled, eyeing the stone in Steven's hand. She and her people revered the Lords, and she herself had tended to Kleavor for years in the Obsidian Fieldlands — yet she had never once received a gift like this from it.
Envy. Pure envy.
Steven gave a small nod and tucked the stone away.
"You did well, Scizor," he said gently, running a hand over the two axe-shaped scars on its chest. Scizor simply nodded back at him. Steven sprayed some Hyper Potion over Scizor's wounds, then did the same for Kleavor's more serious injuries.
"It looks like that strange lightning bolt was what brought that stone out of it," Pearl said, watching Steven closely. "But aside from Kleavor's thanks, we owe you our own gratitude too."
Lian nodded. "If not for you, Kleavor's rage wouldn't have settled this fast. And… I'm sorry for what I said to you earlier." She bowed to him as she spoke.
"It's all right. I understand," Steven said with a light laugh. It was a matter of faith, after all, so he could hardly hold her words against her.
"It's a shame — I really thought this was power granted by the true grandeur of Sinnoh," Lian said, looking troubled.
Pearl frowned at her. "Lian, Kleavor drives away Pokémon that threaten the Pearl Clan. If this really were the true grandeur of Sinnoh's blessing, why would it lash out at others without any reason?"
She was right. Whatever power had taken hold of Kleavor, it was nothing more than a false imitation of that grandeur — just as Pearl said.
Steven made a note to himself that he ought to learn more about the legends of the Hisui region.
"Now there won't be any more conflict between the Galaxy Team and the Pearl Clan — and that's thanks to you," Pearl said, smiling warmly at him.
Steven waved a hand, a little embarrassed by all the thanks. "Since the pacification's done, I'll leave Kleavor's recovery in your hands from here."
"I should head back to Jubilife Village and report that the request is complete."
"Mm," Pearl nodded, and seemed about to say something more —
But Steven no longer had time to listen. His gaze turned sharp, and he spun around to look up at the sky behind him.
"Metagross!"
"Heh-cha!"
Metagross and Kleavor both sensed it at the very same instant — something was wrong.
The sky above them was no longer clear and blue. It had turned dark all at once, and a jagged, distorted rift tore open across the heavens.
Steven's brow furrowed.
"What's going on now?"
…