#rakurium

[scraftyisthebest]

Thinking about how Laquium is called the "Treasure of Eternity" or the "Eternal Blessing", and I think the more I look at what it does in just about every aspect, I see why it's called that...and why it has so many negative effects tied to it.

When you remove any "good" or "bad" judgement from it in every scenario, there's one universal truth about what it does, and that's that it enhances life vitality far beyond its natural limits. It could lead to increased power, longer life, or a "paradise" that's always warm and temperate and never changing, but that's the one throughline. It enhances life's vitality beyond the natural limits of it.

The fact that it led to Laqua around it is interesting because Laquium led to Laqua's environment always being seemingly lush and temperate, something both Gibeon and Friede noticed when studying the nearby soil, but that's the thing: it's constantly like that and never changes. Naturally things go through the four seasons over the years: spring arises and brings things anew, summer arises, then fall comes and the old falls and withers, and then winter comes. And then the cycle repeats. The old dies, but that creates room for the new. Laquium goes against that, especially when trees directly near the Laquium Core grow rapidly then wither, and it creates a cycle of existing life constantly renewing itself, and it looks ideal because death and decay is never resolved but is instead endlessly overwritten. And it leads to a land where everything is constant: no old life dies, nothing new comes, the environment is constant, and overall absolutely nothing changes.

As a power-up it does make Pokemon more powerful because it maximizes vitality, but Mollie speculated that it basically increases biological function and leads to the constant creation of a healthy, renewed body, and for Pokemon this does make them stronger but the reason it causes them pain is because they're basically in constant biological overdrive. On the other hand, Gibeon used it to prolong his lifespan which is how he lived well past 100 years, but he had to keep relying on it more and more the longer he lived, and at 100+ he was already barely capable of doing much and was clearly old. He was already at the point where he should've already died by the rules of nature and that showed in how he became completely dependent on it and it was giving diminishing returns in his later years. In his case, I don't think he even wanted to live forever, the main reason he clung to life for so long was more the idea that he needed to accomplish his life's mission and ensure he left behind a legacy where his life mattered before he could let go. What he was really afraid of was a life where he leaves behind unresolved business and has regrets once it's over. He was able to let go and have no regrets once he reconciled with Lucius, and Amethio changed his point of view by proving that his life mattered through him, as he inherited not just Gibeon's blood but his ideals.

In all cases it represents the idea of eternity and constancy, a world where absolutely nothing changes, everything lasts forever and is an eternal "ideal". The course of nature is that everything is finite and transient: all things change over time and eventually fade away, and the death of the old gives room for new things to arise. The transient nature of life and the world is what allows living in it to be interesting, because nothing lasts forever. Incidentally that natural order of finitude and transience is embodied in Pokemon by the combination of Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde, since Yveltal creates decay and destruction, but that leaves room for new life to grow in its place and things to become even more lush in the beginning of a new cycle through Xerneas' power.

And that's not even just death and new life. Things change over time, things that are here will be different over the course of time from how they are right now. People change, things change, and so on and so forth. Nothing ever remains in stasis forever.

The fact that Friede described its very creation as something that was an astronomically rare occurrence and was from outer space more or less reinforces the artificiality of it too. The "eternity" it creates is something that's pulled out by force, breaking the laws of nature in all situations.

A long ramble but a lot that kinda struck me as of late. Perhaps the question Laquium embodies is...is more life automatically a better life? Maybe there's a different answer, but that seems to be the thing it's about.

[rangergem]

Soooo i had an idea. This is a theory i have had for a while buuut what if Spinel has been taken over by rakurium himself and the rakurium is using him to spread it. And with the lastest episodes of last arc with like the crystals forming on the mons i got an idea...

Now i also have the original drawing and even though i never really draw blood im putting a warning for the original artwork.

CW: Blood

It doesnt look great but just in case

hes like trying to tear it off of him but its kind of also tearing him apart and stuff.

[fuladarisdayotim]

spoilers for todays horizons ep kinda? idk just in case

_

next ep wynaut just uses mirror coat to send the core all its attacks back and win🩷🥰

[ena-the-eepy]

DEAR GOD I should have eaten the Laquium myself instead of giving it to him

and i literally JUST got back from da hospitl🥺

[squirpies]

hes doing fine

[star-arcana]

Ultimate Pokémon Horizons fan theory: WHAT IS RAKUA AND WHAT IS RAKURIUM OF ALL THINGS!!! ULTIMATE SPOILER WARNING!!!

Hello guys, Star-Arcana here and I wanna posit my best theory on Pokémon Horizons best and greatest mystery in the storyline so far:

WHAT IS RAKUA!!!

Rakua is the ancient Pokémon Paradise of fables and legends, according to Lucius and many others characters both in the past and present. It's a mythical paradise on top of a mountain, or many mountain? However it is ultimately geographically speaking, to us, currently unknown, only that it took an overseas adventure to get there with Rayquaza and the others guiding Lucius and his friends. It exists really as Lucius and his friends believe, and is a lush, green enviroment with a lot of Pokémon there, alongside them legendary Pokémon in great numbers,too. Like for instance a trio of the Legendary Kanto birds, Latios and Latias, and even a Terrakion and a Virizion, all being happy, enjoying the tranquility and peace of Rakua. Basically the most bountiful place on earth, a true Garden Eden. Gibeon,Rystal and Lucius fond that place to be truly beautfiul, but also found about it's most benefactory boon , and most dangerous curse: Rakurium!

WHAT IS RAKURIUM!!!

Rakurium is given this name by Gibeon, due to being from Rakua. Also known by the Explorer's own company Exceed as "eternal blesssing", Rakurium is a rare, pink ore found in Rakua. It is the source of this place bounty, and the reason why so many legendaries exist there. It's a constantly renewable energy source that when faced with force, rapidly expands and increases in size and power. When unearthed from the ground via force, it begins to renew itself and create more clusters of itself. Basically an infinite expanding matter with near endless power.

It also possesses the ability to enhance the growth, longlivety and strenght of plant-life, as seen with the many large trees and sudden growth of them in various places.

With Pokémon, it enhances their powers, when they get exposed to it's gas form, allowing Spinel's Umbreon to one-shot Ceruledge the one time on Glaseado Mountain.

Lucius and Gibeon as humans lived via Rakurium's "eternal blessing", long lives with their youth preserved, as seen with Lucius for instance in the trailer for the end of the Rakua storyline, while Gibeon, being exposed to less Rakurium, only aged slightly.

However that power Rakurium holds is beyond a shadow of a doubt, VERY dangerous!!!

While it can enhance the growth of Flora, it can also due to overexposure, destroy it and leave only a barren wasteland surrounded by the pink mist of Rakurium.

That Pink mist also turns Pokémon hostile empowered by it, who would have been otherwise peaceful without exposure to that gas. Also in addition to all of this, Rakurium's ever expanding potential as renewable, even limitless power, is described by Lucius and Rystal soo dangerous and powerful, that if it's continuing to spread, it can easily overwhelm the entire world, devour it and destroy it due to it's infinite potential of power and growth. Rakua is insanely dangerous and rightfully feared and unfortunately desired by the avaricious Gibeon.

However Rakurium has a natural counter:

Terastal energy, especially emitted by the Legendary Pokémon, Terapagos, who is said to be the origin of Terastal crystals and it's power. As seen in the same episodes where Pagogo, Rystal's and now Liko's Terapagos, came in contact wiht Rakurium, it not only neutralizes it's effects, it can absorb and even empower itself with it, without going feral. Spinel thinks these powers are opposed, but I disagree, and I think they are connected to one another, in fact, I believe that...Rakurium and Terastal Energy are the same element, but diffrently charged!

Tera crystals and Rakurium theory!!

Due to the exchange of effects Tera Crystals and Rakurium have to one another, I assume they are one and the same material, or at the very least, related to one another. I am no chemist, so I have not the highest authority to speak intellectually on such a topic, so please feel free to correct me on the science, if I am wrong.

So, I assume that due to diffrent enviroments and other factors, Tera Crystals change to Rakurium and vice versa and due to this share this connection. Tera Crystals allow for the Terastal phenomenon in which the energies can change the type of a Pokémon or reinforce the power of an existing type. The Pokémon Terapagos, as a being made of Terastal power, can even attain the power of all types in the form of it's Stellar type containing each and every single of them, especially seen on it's shell having the symbol of each Pokémon type. In addition to this, Terastal energy is strong enough to even open the doors to past and future timelines, which brought the Paradox Pokémon to Paldea's great Crater. Some say Terastal crystals are not so much bringing these Pokémon from diffrent timelines and time periods, but also perhaps create these Pokémon based on expectations of others and even created these beings. Anyway Terapagos is Pokémon with powers only few Pokémon posses. The power, as the name implies, is deeply connected to that of the cosmos, perhaps it IS the very power of the cosmos. Only one Pokémon is said to be behind the powers of the universe, in fact, it CREATED it! Arceus the creator god of Pokémon according to legends, uses the plates to give it power of all types, and perhaps the plates are what allowed the Pokémon to create the universe with it, as Pokémon Legends Arceus implies told us, when the Universe was created, it's shard became plates...but what if the shards didn't all became plates and instead...something else!

Terastal Crystals and Rakurium are the building block of this universe, and all living Pokémon!

If true, this is the biggest lore upgrade since gen 4, and I wanna explain why I believe that. Typings are important in Pokémon, they give the Pokémon power and as Arceus holds with it's plates the power of all types, it clearly means that whoever has power over all types is a cosmic being, because the power of the cosmos, IS THE POWER OF ALL TYPES. As established, The universe's fragments, the star dusts created the plates with the types, and the power of these plates are within Pokémon, a.k.a their typings. The power of the universe is therefore the power of the types, and as the Stellar type is all times in unision, it must be the original type from which all originates, hence Stellar type...so Tera Crystals are the prima materia of the Pokémon world. When changed however into Rakurium, it vitalizes organisms like humans, plants and Pokémon,perhaps even affecting Prokaryotes, the first organisms. So I think this happened back then in the prehistoric past of Pokémon!

Pokémon's origin story Nr.3: A Meteor brought us Pokémon!

According to lore, Paldea's Crater was formed a millions of years ago, with the cause being unknown, but given how large the crater is, a massive meteor crashing on earth would have allowed for the creation of such a massive crater, like the one that ended the Dinosaur Age. So i assume a massive Meteor with Tera Crystals and crashed in Paldea and scathered across the world many of it's shards, with Kitakami having massive amounts of Tera Crystals there. However some of the Tera Crystals became Rakurium due to the sudden change of enviroment or were perhaps were within the Meteorite that brought Tera Crystals, and were changed prior. However both meet at one place with enough quantities to infuse with the other, while surrounding the smaller organisms that existed. These organisms fed of the Rakurium and Tera Crystal combination and became the first Pokémon, the origin of all Pokémon, Mew. As Psychic is the closest to the power of the cosmos, naturally the first Pokémon must have been a psychic type, as most of the Tera crystals were converted into Rakurium and only a small portion of Tera Crystals gave Mew the power of Psychic typings, but also the power to learn all moves as the origin of all Pokémon. With Arceus having created the universe, so did he created the Stardust that contains Tera Crystals, which in turn contained the power of the cosmos, and with some of it converting into Rakurium, landed on earth, both of it forming the building blocks for Pokémon's existence as a lifeform and thus being the missing link in the history of Pokémon's creation.

Terapagos could however be born sorely from Terastal Energy in Paldea, and being thus the personification of the very power that created the cosmos, and is the cosmos, basically being the relative to the first Pokémon and being therefore, amongst the first Pokémon in existence alongside Mew.

Speaking of Mew, with it's origins being well known, thus the location of Rakua is well known, and THAT is the final piece of evidence I super effectively use to make my final theory:

Rakua is in Guyana and Pokémon's Garden Eden!!!

Guyana is a country within the real world, it is in South America, both of which exist in Pokémon. Mew is said to originate from Guyana, as it was first discovered there, so if Rakurium and Tera energy created Mew, then that means that Rakua IS in Guyana, a place where mountains do exists, with flat-plateuas, similiarly shown in the trailer:

Rakua is said to take 100 days and night on foot from Paldea's center, but as Rystal said, they were overseas on their way to reach it, and did so, because Rayquaza helped them, meaning they first have to cross the wide oceans, and with Paldea being the based on the Iberian Penninsula, it makes sense for an overseas travel to end in South America, a place that Spain historically visited, and saw a lot of conflict due to the avarice of the explorers, in this case Gibeon and his reformed group, not the OG Explorers under Lucius...meaning he can be see as a small allegory for the Spanish's greed and colonization of places with rich resources, though that is a bit of a stretch perhaps, since that would be a hella lot of implications.

But my post isn't about this, it is about the fact that Rakua is the origin place of all Pokémon as we know them, thus being the Garden Eden of this world...with Arceus as god creating the universe, and life being created via Meteors carrying the building blocks, that being Tera Crystals and Rakurium, and forming Rakua, the Garden Eden from which the first Pokémon came from, and spread from there!

This makes Gibeon's Zygarde a perfect choice as this story's villains ace, since a snake tempted in the real world's eden humans to cost from forbidden fruits, but Lucius and Rystal resisted that temptation, Gibeon did not, and thus the original sin of greed created tragedy and evil within Horizon's world of Pokémon.

Also it would fit with the timeline from which Lucius originated, since based on our world, the search for Eden began around that time, and while we found no Tree of Knowledge, we found the place where it was based on and enriched our understanding of the world...btw that place is Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq, Syria and Kuwait e.t.c.

So based on the idea that several humans in real history set out to discover new things and new lands, Lucius's story being based on proving the existence of an actual paradise means that this story really is about discovery, but not necessarily discovery of places, but of ourself. Lucius and Rystal were heroes who respected and loved that world, Gibeon does not and needs to be stopped, especially with his insane desire for more Rakurium and even caring nothing for this world's safety, as thr trailer made clear, he would even see it die to get Rakurium. So Liko, Roy, Dot, Amethio, Friede and Lucius have to stop Gibeon from defiling the place of creation!

Conclusion: Rakua and Rakurium is Garden Eden and the Clay of Pokémon! Terastal Energy and Terapagos being part of this a well!

So what do you think, a cool theory or not? Tell me in the comments below!

[scraftyisthebest]

You know how Laquium makes a Pokemon go berserk and uncontrollable? And how Spinel's Umbreon under Laquium went feral and rampaged like a raging mad beast?

I actually have a really twisted idea of how things could come to a head with that. No, it won't involve Umbreon turning on Spinel. Quite the opposite, actually.

Spinel's Umbreon was totally in on Spinel's intention to douse it with Laquium. Other Pokemon afflicted with Laquium tried to resist the pain it was causing them and the urge to go berserk. Coral's Glalie and Sidian's Garganacl were like "Someone, please save me from this, I can't take it". Spinel's Umbreon on the other hand? It was fully immersed in what Laquium was doing to it. It went full on rage mode, attacking and rampaging uncontrollably.

What if the way Umbreon acted when Spinel dosed it with Laquium ends up foreshadowing how Spinel himself starts to act when he faces his downfall? Everyone in the Explorers has turned on him, the RVT has gained the upper hand on him, he's all alone with no support while he's forced to face the truth of his actions, and his sanity starts cracking as the pathetic, insecure man he truly is starts to reveal himself.

And then he not only douses Umbreon with Laquium and it goes into a crazed rampage like this, but he alone is fully in sync with his Umbreon's state because it reflects his own. He has lost all his marbles as the full weight of his isolation and the consequences of his actions hit him, the fragile house of cards he set up comes crashing down on him, and he breaks entirely and goes batshit insane.

He has a mental breakdown where he gets angrier and angrier and then snaps so hard he even douses himself with Laquium and becomes full on batshit insane.

For one, Umbreon will end up like...this, from the Pokespe manga, full on insane.

But...Spinel too will be in sync with Umbreon's insanity and will have a gradual breakdown of sanity until he snaps and loses it, fully coming to a head when he uses Laquium on himself.

Something...like...this...

(Persona 5 and Persona 4 stuff below)

Akechi's psychotic breakdown in P5 is the closest analogy I can think of but...I can totally see Spinel becoming like this. Almost exactly like Akechi in this scene even. Gradually losing it over his own isolation, insecurities, and pent-up hatred that he full on loses his composure entirely, and then the moment he doses himself with Laquium he completely snaps, him and Umbreon both in a state of uncontrollable rage, to the shock and horror of everyone witnessing his breakdown.

And then when he falls, and the Laquium is purified from both him and Umbreon, his Umbreon is down, exhausted, but so is he, and he finally admits defeat, the pathetic, petty, and miserable man laid bare for everyone to see.

(Yeah also gonna use that pathetic ass Adachi as a reference too, because this is also fitting. Spinel incidentally...has a lot in common with this guy).

Given, this is a pretty extreme area, but it would be a really fitting way for Spinel to act when he does face his downfall. No, not Umbreon turning on him, but being the one Pokemon who stays by him and willingly goes berserk under Laquium as Spinel himself snaps before he's finally forced to face the reality he's been in denial about this whole time.

[scraftyisthebest]

Strong Spheres kinda stick out for the fact that they represent the idea of "strength" without effort. A shortcut if you will. If they actually manage to get distributed to the masses one of the big problems is that it would promote the idea of laziness: not putting in the earnest effort to truly become strong, building bonds with your Pokémon, honing strength through earnest training and taking things one step at a time with your Pokémon, and instead relying on a "tool" like the Strong Sphere as a crutch to make up for a lack of mastery of fundamentals, or even worse, a lack of latent talent combined with an unwillingness to invest the effort to improve.

Indy and Rubella's battle against Liko and her friends highlighted this, because it's quite obvious from the way they battled that they aren't talented or experienced as battlers, and resorted to Strong Spheres as a crutch, a shortcut, to compensate for their lack of skill. They had no aptitude for strategy, nor were they truly in sync with their Tauros, especially since the Strong Sphere renders the Trainer irrelevant, something Dot and Uruto both noticed.

Spinel having them as his personal subordinates, and possibly having others like them, highlights his approach and his laziness. He didn't put his new operatives through any training and instead enticed them with the Strong Sphere and appealed to their laziness and desire to get strong without putting in the effort to win strength earnestly, using shortcuts to compensate for their lack of innate talent.

It contrasts the other admins of the Explorers who were trained by Hamber, who are all forces to be reckoned with, because Hamber trained and coached them rigorously. Right from the get-go, the stakes for Liko were high, because unlike TRio with Ash who were jokes, Amethio was no pushover, and this pushed Liko to need to get strong to fend for herself against him and his peers, something Coral, Sidian, and Chalce reinforced as they showed up in Liko's life. And that strength is no mistake. Hamber put those four through the wringer, putting them through rigorous training and difficult and grueling missions, honing their strength through sheer willpower and talent. Their strength is earned through effort, facing challenge, and getting stronger and stronger. Amethio even said as much: he and Ceruledge went through Hamber's strict training and grueling missions together and that's why they're truly strong.

The use of Strong Spheres to promote strength without effort is further reinforced by the fact that they're just being distributed to the masses for free. Mega Evolution, Terastal, Z-Moves, and Dynamax are power-ups and more effective tools in battle, but they have to be earned, and only those who prove themselves worthy are given the right to use such tools, as they are, ultimately, at the end of the day, tools, not replacements for the fundamentals. Mastery of fundamentals is more important over the use of any sort of tools. Liko, Roy, and Dot went through an entire training arc to earn the right to use Terastal, for one. Even Coral and Sidian did a good deal of it themselves.

So far Roy (and Uruto) is the only one of the group to use Mega Evolution...which he earned over the course of a year of training in Kalos. Him getting it that way fits him because he represents a case of a Trainer who, unlike Liko and even Ash for that matter, doesn't really have any natural talent for anything, but what defines him is his drive and willingness to put in the honest effort and go through the wringer to get strong and truly earn strength that he harnesses through effort. Him earning Mega Evolution after a year of training represents effort to compensate for a lack of a natural gift, because he has drive and determination, even if he isn't a particularly gifted person or born into a favorable position (he's at his core just an ordinary guy). He represents hard work and determination.

A drive to get stronger is important because it is the key to true strength in that regard. Liko on the other hand has more natural talent and has strength in her empathy and compassion, able to truly be in sync with her Pokémon, which makes her inherently really capable through her strength in bonds and connection, but her biggest flaw early on was her lack of drive, which is also something she regressed back into over the year-long timeskip. Overcoming that allowed her own talent to really shine. I feel like she's actually a really natural candidate to use Mega Evolution and harness it effortlessly, especially now that she saw Roy and Uruto use it and is curious about it. Her natural ability to understand how Pokemon feel and truly be in sync with them lends well to the power-up, meaning the use of it would come really naturally for her (now the question is what will she catch to use it?), much moreso than Roy. She'd be able to handle and master it a lot more quickly than Roy because of that, which would line up with the fact that Roy got his Mega over the timeskip; he needed that year-long training journey because of who he is, fundamentally speaking. A guy with no latent talent but a willingness to go through honest effort via hard work and determination to compensate for it.

Which is to say, they both foil what the Strong Sphere represents, especially with Mega Evolution being set up to be a major story element. Strong Spheres represent power without either bonds or effort. Liko represents strength through connection and bonds, being able to understand her Pokémon and act in line with their feelings, Pokémon and Trainer united as one. Roy represents strength through effort and training, putting in hard work and determination. They're different but complementary and highlight where true strength is, not the hollow, effortless strength of Strong Spheres.