"The legendary heroes... so that's how it is?"
Leon looked at the King of Swords and King of Shields in front of him, feeling a bit dazed.
In reality, because of the "Darkest Day" disaster three thousand years ago, the Galar region deeply worshipped the heroes who saved Galar with a "Sword" and "Shield."
This sentiment was even directly visible on Leon himself.
Even though it isn't explicitly shown in the plot, the pattern on the chest of Leon's black short-sleeved shirt is a sword and shield.
This was enough to prove that the "Sword" and "Shield" were special to the people of the Galar region.
Even Leon was particularly fond of this shirt.
But now they were being told that the legendary heroes of Galar were actually two Pokémon?
Even though Leon had heard this information from Rose before, Rose hadn't been sure himself at the time, let alone Leon.
"So those stories were all lies. Tsk... those people in the Galar royal family are really disgusting."
Raihan didn't hold back at all, openly expressing his contempt for the Galar royalty.
The truth was now obvious: the Galar royal family had rewritten history.
Raihan wasn't stupid, so he truly felt that it was filthy.
"?"
Shadow Rider Calyrex turned its head and looked at Raihan with a subtle expression. To be honest, it had a bit of a "stress reaction" to the words "King of Galar."
However, Calyrex understood that this human wasn't talking about it.
"Hehehe... It's not strange to use public opinion to maintain one's authority and rule." Rose shook his head with a smile. He really wasn't surprised by such small tricks.
However, after today, the secrets of the Galar royal family would truly be impossible to hide.
Rose wouldn't be polite about it either. He would push the truth with all his might. It could also be considered a way to let the King of Swords and King of Shields understand the Galar people's respect for them.
After all... this was a great opportunity to gain the favor of these two legendary Pokémon, wasn't it?
As for the Galar royalty? What era was this?
The greatest contribution those relics of the past could make now was to be hated by the people of Galar as one.
Rose didn't care about the Galar royal family at all. As he said before, if those clowns behaved themselves, Rose might let them go.
But if they dared to jump out, Rose wouldn't mind crushing them directly.
The so-called royalty, regardless of the region, were no different. In front of the League, they were insignificant.
This was the trend of the times; it wasn't targeted at any specific "King."
However, Zacian and Zamazenta didn't pay much attention to the conversation between Rose and the others.
Empty titles meant nothing; they didn't care.
What mattered most right now was Eternamax Eternatus!!
Awoo—!
A cold wolf howl spread throughout Hammerlocke City. The sharp aura on Crowned Sword Zacian's body became even stronger.
Zacian's ability, Intrepid Sword, activated!
At the start of the battle, Crowned Sword Zacian's Attack stat increased by one stage.
With Intrepid Sword active, Zacian bit down hard on the Fairy King's Sword and suddenly leaped up, charging toward Eternatus in the sky.
Roar—!
The Eternamaxed Eternatus roared. Violent flames lit up at the tips of its incredibly massive hand-claws.
Max Flare!
After the battle three thousand years ago, Eternatus understood the situation with these two "dogs."
Its powerful Dragon-type and Poison-type attacks were completely useless against that sword-holding dog...
Eternatus was furious, but it truly had no other choice.
The surging and vast Max Flare crashed down, heading straight for Crowned Sword Zacian.
Zacian's eyes were cold and heartless. The Fairy King's Sword lit up with an incredibly sharp blue light, transforming into a giant sword.
Zacian's charging speed increased!
She seemed to turn into an unstoppable blade. Facing the incoming Max Flare, Zacian swung the giant sword heavily, and a blue sword-light instantly slashed through.
The massive flames that covered the sky were forcefully sliced in half by this single strike.
Zacian's signature move—Behemoth Blade!
Rumble!
The sword energy exploded heavily. A golden tide of energy erupted, completely burying the sky. All the flames were swallowed up by the golden energy of the Behemoth Blade.
Within that golden light, one could only see Crowned Sword Zacian still maintaining her slashing posture.
"Holy cow!!!"
Raihan's face was illuminated by that golden energy. He stared at the golden light lighting up the sky, his mouth hanging open in an "O" shape from shock.
"Hiss—this is way too strong?!" Serena was also incredibly stunned.
"Even I would have to avoid the edge of the King of Swords' blade."
Looking at the golden energy tide in the sky, Shadow Rider Calyrex couldn't help but make such a comment.
Aside from everything else, this Behemoth Blade was truly too powerful.
"No wonder they were able to defeat Eternatus back then," Rose sighed.
Hearing Rose's words, Calyrex's eyes became a bit subtle.
"Speaking of which, Calyrex, why didn't you step in against Eternatus back then?"
Platinum couldn't help but ask Calyrex curiously.
Hearing this, Damian also looked at Calyrex, waiting for its answer. In the original games, Calyrex had lost Glastrier and Spectrier at that time and was in an incredibly weak state.
Even if it wanted to fight the Eternatus that caused the "Darkest Day," it lacked the strength.
But in this world, Calyrex had never lost its horses. Although it lacked faith, and its power was certainly not as strong as the "King of Bountiful Harvests" at its peak, it was still one of the strongest Legendary Pokémon.
"I was sleeping in seclusion deep within the Crown Tundra back then. When the 'Darkest Day' affected the Crown Tundra, I was startled awake, but the King of Swords and King of Shields had already taken action."
Shadow Rider Calyrex replied calmly, though there was a slight hint of unnatural embarrassment in its tone.
That's right—it was actually still sleeping back then...
The Darkest Day's influence gradually grew stronger, and although Calyrex woke up, the King of Swords and King of Shields had already acted, so it didn't need to get involved.
"I see. So, can the King of Swords and King of Shields defeat Eternatus?"
Leon was still a bit worried. The Behemoth Blade just now was indeed shocking and impressive, but as the aftershocks faded, Eternatus didn't seem to be affected much.
However, Zamazenta's Behemoth Bash had already followed up, slamming hard into Eternatus's giant claw, making Eternatus let out a cry of pain.
But at the same time, flames erupted from the tip of one of Eternatus's giant claws, forcing Crowned Shield Zamazenta back.
"There is no need to worry. There are no beings in this world better suited to dealing with Eternatus than the King of Swords and King of Shields," Calyrex said plainly.
"Why do you say that?" Serena was confused.
"Because Zacian and Zamazenta are Eternatus's natural counters."
Damian couldn't help but smile. He even called back Stellar Terapagos.
Natural counters?
Rose and the others looked over curiously.
"Haven't you noticed? Although the battle is intense and hasn't been going on for long, Eternatus has used nothing but Flamethrower and Max Flare from start to finish."
Damian looked at Eternamax Eternatus in the high sky, which was constantly spraying fire from its giant claws.
It seemed... that really was the case?
Leon looked at Crowned Sword Zacian, who was slashing at Eternatus with Behemoth Blade, with a strange look in his eyes.
Even though Eternatus was incredibly angry, it had only been using a monotonous counterattack with Flamethrower.
Not only did most of it only push Zacian and Zamazenta back, but even if it hit, how much damage could a plain Flamethrower actually do to them?
"Because the King of Swords and King of Shields are the counters to Eternatus. This is how the world deals with it."
Damian spoke.
"Zacian's Behemoth Blade and Zamazenta's Behemoth Bash are naturally effective against Dynamaxed Pokémon. This also applies to Eternamaxed Eternatus."
"Furthermore, Eternatus's types are Dragon and Poison. Crowned Shield Zamazenta's types are Fighting and Steel—it is immune to Poison and resists Dragon."
"As for Crowned Sword Zacian, it almost feels like the world made it specifically to counter Eternatus."
Damian couldn't help but click his tongue. Because when facing these two dogs, Eternatus was truly miserable.
"Crowned Sword Zacian's types are Fairy and Steel. You understand, right?"
Raihan couldn't help cursing under his breath. Now that Damian put it that way, how could they not understand?
Fairy is immune to Dragon, and Steel is immune to Poison. Add in the counter-effective Behemoth Blade, and Crowned Sword Zacian was practically Eternatus's worst possible opponent!
No wonder after the battle with Zacian and Zamazenta began, Eternatus never used that red-light-filled Dynamax Cannon again.
Because that move was simply useless. Even if Zamazenta wasn't immune to Dynamax Cannon, he still had a resistance to it.
"The strength of the King of Swords and King of Shields is already very outstanding. Add in their absolute counter against Eternatus, and there is no need to worry. We just need to wait for their victory."
Damian replied leisurely. The strength of Zacian and Zamazenta was already far above that of ordinary Legendary Pokémon.
Not to mention, with this "malice of the world" buff added, even though Eternatus had the highest base stats of all time, it had no room to perform.
Looking at the roaring, angry Eternatus being ganged up on in the sky, Damian felt quite a lot of emotion in his heart.
To be fair, Eternatus's prestige was actually not low. After all, it was the first legendary Pokémon in the game's plot to be given the title of "Strongest Pokémon" by a character.
And then this so-called "Strongest" was specifically targeted.
It was the source of Dynamaxing, it could destroy a region after starting the "Darkest Day," and its base stats surpassed a thousand after Eternamaxing.
All these settings were enough to show Eternatus's power, but Eternatus itself probably never expected that there would be two dogs on this planet specifically designed to counter it.
That's right—Eternatus was not originally a Pokémon of this world.
It fell to the Galar region along with a meteorite twenty thousand years ago. It had lived peacefully until three thousand years ago when, to maintain its vitality, it began absorbing energy from the Galar region. This caused the "Darkest Day," which in turn brought the King of Swords and King of Shields.
So, Eternatus couldn't understand for the life of it: why did this world it randomly landed on have two dogs that countered it so perfectly?
Eternatus was losing it. Is this even fair?