Charcadet’s journey had begun.

Hikaru watched it interact with the Tinkatuff.

It looked just like a hero stepping out of the village for the very first time, about to set off on a quest to defeat the Demon King.

The villagers had gathered every last resource they could scrape together and produced the finest hammer the village possessed.

The Tinkatuff chieftain solemnly placed that hammer into Charcadet’s hands. It was a small hammer forged from Bronzong fragments, not only heat-resistant but also immensely powerful and incredibly durable.

The other “villagers” had nothing of comparable worth to give.

So they handed over the scraps of cloth they had gathered for warmth, as well as a bunch of ancient trinkets that looked like old talismans, pressing them all into Charcadet’s arms.

However, with the village losing its only “fire controller,” the Tinkatuff’s efficiency in raiding Steel-type Pokémon would definitely drop.

Hikaru thought for a moment, then decided to gift these pink little devils a batch of fine materials.

“Roar!”

Walking Wake threw back its head and roared. The appearance of the water-dragon made the Tinkatink jump in fright, but Charcadet was trembling all over for a different reason.

Knights were meant to charge at dragons. Only then would they become the heroes of legend.

“Use Draco Meteor on that open field.”

Walking Wake scratched at its neck, looked out at the patch of empty ground in the distance, then let out a deafening bellow toward the sky.

What the Tinkatink, Tinkatuff, and Charcadet saw next left them utterly stunned.

A rift tore open in the sky. From the distant firmament, glittering with endless starlight, countless meteorites were dragged down, streaking in as blazing fireballs. They fell in a dense barrage, crashing into that open ground with a rolling thunder of impacts.

“Ka-ka-dunk?!”

“Shocking, isn’t it?” Hikaru said, glancing at them. “There are plenty of Dragon-type Pokémon in Paldea, but Draco Meteor is a secret dragon art. Wild dragons don’t usually know that move.”

He pointed at the distant blue sky.

“Meteorites drifting in space carry massive Dragon-type energy when they crash down, and many of them contain what we call meteoric iron.”

“Meteoric iron refers specifically to meteorites with over 80% iron content. They’re mainly composed of iron and nickel, with trace amounts of cobalt and phosphorus.”

“They come from fragments of asteroids or planetary cores in the solar system. After a long journey and collisions in space, they plunge into this world and, after burning in the upper atmosphere, what’s left is an iron–nickel alloy.”

“The earliest iron used by humans probably came from meteoric iron. That’s on our side, at least. You Pokémon likely have all sorts of ways to obtain high-quality iron ore directly from nature.”

In this world, meteorites were packed with minerals and energy. They could be seen as gifts granted from the heavenly realm. Of course, sometimes you got utterly ridiculous things, such as colossal meteorites carrying Deoxys inside. From the perspective of a “warrior of light,” that was basically a rogue Ultra who defected from the Land of Light.

Think of it that way and… wasn’t that guy basically Belial?

“These should be more than enough meteoric iron for you to use as hammer-forging stock. It’s only fair payment for taking your good bronze.”

“Ka-ka-ka-ka!”

Hikaru hadn’t even finished before the Tinkatink and Tinkatuff broke into wild cheers.

They jostled and babbled around him, jumping up and down, casting looks of pure worship at Walking Wake.

Again, again! Do it again!

“Raar?”

You want more?

Walking Wake looked in surprise at the little gremlins, then turned to Hikaru for confirmation.

Even for Hashibo, this was the first time seeing Fairy Pokémon so in love with Draco Meteor.

Hikaru couldn’t help laughing.

“Ahem. They seem to have mistaken you for some kind of material god… or something close. Draco Meteor really is convenient. The universe’s meteorites are effectively infinite.”

“Good thing you learned the ‘first type’ of Draco Meteor back then.”

Then Hikaru glanced off to one side.

One Tinkatink was busy scratching something into the wall.

Looking closer, it resembled a piece of graffiti-style rock art.

A human god wielding cyan flames and a dragon god who could call down meteoric iron, together bringing new materials and techniques to their settlement…

“Gods, huh?”

“Come to think of it, Tinkatink and its line are based on mythic dwarves, masters of the forge. This wall carving really does feel like something ancient humans would leave behind.”

“Rooar!”

This was the first time Walking Wake had ever been this welcomed. Hashibo’s tails were practically pointing at the sky, both tails stood rigid and flicked wildly, clear signs of its glee.

All right then. Time for an encore of that last move.

Draco Meteor!

With the second volley of meteors crashing down, the Tinkatink’s cheers and praise grew even louder.

Awesome, awesome. Meteor Dragon God, you’re awesome!

Our tribe is saved! With the Smithing God and the Dragon God here, our settlement is set for life!

With so much meteoric iron, someone was bound to evolve into Tinkaton this time.

The village’s rise had come at last.

The fallen meteorites still burned with searing flames, yet the Tinkatink did not fear them at all, rushing forward to literally “strike while the iron was hot.”

The Tinkatuff were more composed. They were not only overjoyed; they even bowed and thanked Hikaru.

Sorry we attacked you earlier! You should’ve said you were gods of forging!

Praise the Supreme Smithing God, praise the Meteor Dragon God!

Praise the Supreme Meteor Heavenly Venerable.

Ironmen!

One Tinkatuff randomly scrawled a symbol on her own chest. She had seen devout humans do that gesture and was simply imitating them.

“Ka-ka-dunk?”

Charcadet watched its companions cheering and hammering away in wild excitement. The heavy atmosphere of parting from just moments ago had completely vanished, replaced by burning enthusiasm for forging.

It let out a small sigh, then quietly relaxed.

This was fine.

With these meteorites, no one in the village would have to worry about materials anymore.

“Um… these meteorites do seem a bit big though.”

Hikaru looked up at the shortly closing warp in the air and then down at the second wave of meteorites. Compared to the first batch, this lot seemed significantly larger.

At that moment, he heard Deoxys grumbling in his mind.

[I’m serious, I can feel it. The aura is just like the last batch. It really does feel like some of my kind are in there.]

“Your kind? Don’t tell me there’s another one of you hanging around near this planet… Ah!”

Hikaru smacked his forehead.

Right. The colossal meteor. He had literally been thinking of that just moments ago.

“But that thing hasn’t been shattered yet? It’s been months since Steven reported discovering the giant meteor.”

Even at the slowest possible speed, it should have hit by now. Hadn’t Rayquaza scrambled already, gone Mega in midair, and blown that rock to dust on the spot?

“Maybe what we’re seeing now are fragments leftover from when that thing got smashed.”

He remembered that before the giant meteor fell, there had been a lot of precursor meteorites. As for whether more meteorites had continued to fall after Rayquaza vaporized the main body… that part he didn’t know.

[You’re saying there really is another of my kind in the nearby cosmic space?]

“Yeah. Or there was. It should’ve been captured already, since it shoved an enormous meteor toward the planet for a direct hit. Do you have any idea why it would do that?”

[…I have no clue. That’s completely insane.]

Deoxys could not reconcile it no matter how it turned the idea over.

They starfarers usually rode meteorites down, picked a nice unpopulated location, crashed, and started traveling. They generally didn’t stay too long on any given world.

As long as they could be born, that was enough. Everything else was optional.

Of course, wandering a world for a long time was fun too, as it was doing now.

But pushing a colossal meteor to trigger an extinction-level disaster?

What the hell was that supposed to accomplish?

“Could it really be a traitor among the ‘warriors of light’?”

[Uh… who knows. I’ve never met the others, so I can’t speak for what they’re thinking. But if it’s been captured already… tsk. I’m not actually feeling that at all.]

“This planet’s upper atmosphere has a Pokémon named Rayquaza. It specializes in eating meteorites. Whether that particular meteor was destroyed by Rayquaza or not, I will reserve judgment.”

In the manga specials, Deoxys’s attack on the world had very clear motivation: that Deoxys was Individual One, artificially forced to mature and then discarded by Team Rocket, now returned for vengeance.

In the games, though, the reason was never explained. It kind of just seemed bored and picked a fight.

So maybe that one really was the “Ultraman Belial” of the Deoxys collective.

The matter of meteorites was just a short interlude.

Charcadet looked left and right. The village chief and everyone else were waving at it with big smiles, so it straightened its helmet.

All right then. The hero would set out today.

It would challenge enemies it had never seen before, head for distant lands, and stack up countless feats of merit.

Everyone, I will definitely become the strongest knight.

“Apprentice knight, are you ready?”

“Then our first stop is that mountain.”

Hikaru pointed to a nearby peak. It was not as tall as Glaseado Mountain, the highest in Paldea, but it was nothing to scoff at either.

In the game, this mountain had no snow, but reality gave it a snow-covered summit. That underwhelming Open Sky Titan was lurking somewhere nearby.

“Ka-dunk?”

Climb… that mountain?

Charcadet took a deep breath.

No problem. Whatever trial it might be, it would complete it, Master.

“‘Master,’ huh. That’s not a bad title.”

“But I’m flying up there. You’re the one who has to climb.”

Hikaru took to the air on Genesect’s back while asking Aegislash: “You’re sure it’s around here?”

Aegislash flashed an OK sign with its sword and shield.

My antique radar is screaming. No mistake. It’s around here somewhere.

“Funny, I’ve got the ‘Ancient Treasure Hunter’ job and I’m not sensing anything at all. Maybe we’re still too far.”

“The Icerend Shrine is up in the mountains. We keep going.”

Aerodactyl beat its wings, carrying a delighted Victini further up into the sky.

Riolu glanced back at Charcadet. The latter looked more than a little nervous.

The blue-furred pup clapped a paw on the apprentice knight’s shoulder and gave it a big thumbs-up.

Best of luck. I’m on the training road too.

Then electricity burst across Riolu’s body, every strand of fur standing on end as it powered up into a Super Saiyan mode.

Magnet Rise!

Watching Riolu fly into the air, Charcadet’s eyes bulged.

“Ka-ka-dunk?!”

It… it flew?

A Pokémon without wings, not a man-made Pokémon, just took flight.

Was this the result of training?

Amazing. No wonder its surprise attack hadn’t worked back then.

Fine. I can’t lose either.

I’m going to climb this mountain. I want to see what lies at its summit.

Wearing the patched armor it had forged for itself, draped in a ragged cloak, with ancient amulets hanging from its neck and the village’s best hammer on its back, Charcadet began the long, grueling ascent.

Uh… wait. There was a minor problem.

I… I don’t actually know where the summit is.

“Melar~”

Charcadet heard a familiar call, turned, and saw Larvesta. The white bug spewed fire with a huff and, like the others, was flying in midair.

However, it seemed to be deliberately matching pace with Charcadet, regularly turning back to check on it.

“Melar!”

Hurry up, hurry up. I’ll secretly lead the way for you. Don’t fall behind, knight.

That was what Larvesta was saying.

“Ka-dunk!”

Wait for me. I’m coming!

Charcadet rallied its spirits and scrambled after it.

(End of Chapter)

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