"So this is the Sea Crown?" Mark also saw the so-called treasure and couldn't help but mutter.
The Sea Crown didn't look like a crown at all. Rather, it resembled a small pointed mountain embedded with long crystal rods.
Each rod was etched with mysterious patterns, glowing with a soft blue light, strikingly beautiful.
And above the Sea Crown, a marble urn filled with water hung upside down, covering the crown entirely within.
"Manaphy, go ahead. Inherit your treasure and beco the king of the sea," Mark gently stroked Manaphy's cool body and spoke softly.
"Mana?"
Manaphy was still a bit confused, but was soon guided by Mark to the area around the crystal structure.
In an instant, the crystal structure began to tremble slightly, and its glow started to flicker on and off.
Manaphy seed to sense sothing. With a joyful leap, it dove into the water and began swimming happily.
And then… nothing else happened.
"Huh?" Everyone looked at each other. Was this really what inheriting the Sea Crown looked like?
Why… was there no big dramatic reaction at all?
Suddenly, the entire temple shook once, triggering alarm bells in Sato and the others' minds. They imdiately thought of sothing cliché, like enemies arriving to interrupt.
…But just as everyone prepared for battle, everything fell silent again, and Manaphy continued swimming happily inside the water.
"Am I imagining things, or is the temple rising?" Joseph suddenly said, leaving everyone stunned.
"I felt it too… I just didn't say anything because I couldn't believe it," Mark muttered, swallowing hard.
"No need to worry. The Sea Temple is indeed surfacing. According to the traditions of the People of the Water, whenever a solar eclipse occurs in the Pokémon world, the Sea Temple will quietly rise from the ocean at so unknown location to absorb the residual energy of the eclipse.
(According to the wiki, the lunar eclipse only effect is to make it visible. Here, for plot-related reasons, the solar eclipse causes it to rise to the surface.)
Once the crystal structure is recharged, the Sea Temple will shut itself down and sink back beneath the waves."
"So… we're really surfacing?" Mark asked directly.
"That's right," redith confird, nodding again, her eyes full of anticipation.
Even though it wasn't clear why Manaphy hadn't had any reaction with the Sea Crown, with the Sea Temple about to erge, everyone couldn't help but run outside.
Seeing this, Manaphy showed no reluctance at all. It leapt back into Mark's arms and followed them out.
As the Sea Temple rose, the surrounding water grew brighter and clearer. Schools of marine Pokémon appeared around it, swimming in circles as if paying tribute to the temple.
Standing at the highest point of the temple, Sato and the others realized that the entire Sea Temple was encased within a massive bubble, keeping the surrounding seawater at bay.
"Am I seeing things? Is that… KYOGRE!" Mark suddenly shouted. Off in the distance from the Sea Temple, a massive blue sea creature was slowly swimming toward them.
Its unique red-and-blue patterns were unmistakable… none could imitate them. It was the Super-ancient Pokémon, Kyogre!
"And not just that… look over there! The guardian of the sea, Lugia, is coming too!" Joseph pointed to the other side, where a large creature was rapidly swimming toward the Sea Temple.
"Mana!"
Seeing so many Pokémon gathered, the joy and excitent were written all over Manaphy's face. It suddenly closed its eyes and began to sing in its unique voice.
It was strange. Manaphy's voice, clearly small compared to the grand scale of the Sea Temple, carried at just the right volu to reach across the entire ocean.
Imdiately, Kyogre and Lugia responded to Manaphy's call with long, echoing cries.
Then ca the calls of the Wailord group, the Sharpedo swarm, the Kingdra gathering, the Gyarados shoal… Countless marine Pokémon began to respond to Manaphy.
All those calls rged into one overwhelming force. The group stood frozen, eyes wide. What they were witnessing was beyond anything words like "unbelievable" could describe.
…And when they thought of the Manaphy that used to act spoiled and clingy, always insecure, the contrast felt utterly surreal.
At last, the Sea Temple broke through the surface, and the fiery red sky instantly ca into view.
The so-called solar eclipse had just reached its midpoint, and the sunlight was growing ever more radiant.
One by one, the Pokémon began breaching the water's surface, lifting their heads to look toward the Sea Temple and Manaphy within it.
It was as if they had all co to witness the birth of their king with their own eyes; even Kyogre and Lugia were no exception.
Then, behind Sato and the others, the Sea Crown suddenly released a golden beam of light that shot straight toward Manaphy.
The coronation ceremony officially began at that very mont!
Manaphy didn't seem surprised. As the golden light struck it, it showed no fear. On the contrary, it happily accepted the Sea Temple's coronation.
Under the glow of the golden light, Manaphy slowly rose to the very top of the Sea Temple.
It looked down upon the temple, looked down at the sea filled with hopeful marine Pokémon.
Manaphy saw Kyogre's eyes filled with pride. It saw the look of encouragent in Lugia's gaze.
It saw countless eyes full of admiration, awe, longing, and reverence.
And then it saw Mark… with tears in his eyes.
"Mana!"
Manaphy instinctively wanted to rush over to Mark.
Because in its most helpless, weakest monts, it was Mark who had stayed by its side.
Then, it suddenly recalled sothing said by Mark's companion… the one it didn't like: "A true companion is soone who helps you, grows with you, and faces hardship by your side."
Those words had been said by Sato to Skorupi when it first joined the team. But Manaphy had taken those words deeply to heart.
'I want to be Mark's companion!'
That thought echoed within Manaphy, and the desire to return to Mark's side grew stronger. It wanted to be with him!
"Mana!"
Manaphy suddenly began to struggle fiercely within the golden energy. Kyogre, Lugia, and countless Pokémon stared blankly at the scene unfolding before them.
A coronation ceremony that had never failed… was now facing sothing unprecedented.
Their Prince of the Sea… didn't seem willing to beco king.
Manaphy… was rejecting them!
"OGREEEE!"
"LUUUU!"
Kyogre and Lugia roared together in anger. As fellow rulers, they could not allow any Pokémon to defile the honor of becoming a king… the honor of a Pokémon monarch.
Manaphy seed frightened by the cries of the two legends, but only for a mont. Soon after, it began struggling even harder.
Prince of the Sea? King of the Ocean? Right now, it didn't care about any of that. It just wanted to return to Mark's arms and gently wipe away the tears at the corners of his eyes.
Then, before everyone's stunned eyes, the golden energy suddenly turned red in an instant.
And Manaphy… began to change.
It looked like… Manaphy was no longer Manaphy.
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