Laquium
|
This article does not yet meet the quality standards of Bulbapedia. Please feel free to edit this article to make it conform to Bulbapedia norms and conventions. Reason: Needs revising for spelling and grammar |
Laquium (Japanese: ラクリウム Rakurium), also referred to as the Treasure of Eternity (Japanese: 永遠のめぐみ Eternal Blessing) by Exceed, is a mysterious, energetic substance of extraterrestrial origin featured prominently in Pokémon Horizons: The Series. It manifests in the form of pink crystals, is found exclusively in the deepest areas of Laqua, and appears to have some connection to the Legendary Pokémon Terapagos.
After the events of Where the Adventure Leads, Exceed, under the leadership of Spinel, started developing products with Laquium, namely the Strong Spheres, their prototype the Laquium Sphere, and their upgrade the Super Strong Sphere. In HZ136, Laquium was eventually eradicated for good by Pagogo after harnessing the power of Terastallization, generated by 18 Pokémon representing their respective Tera Types.
History
Pre-series
As revealed in Roy vs. Friede: Wings of Fire!, long ago, Laquium was created as the result of extraterrestrial components found on a massive meteor undergoing a chemical reaction upon its fall onto the Pokémon world, destroying Mount Pericarp's summit and creating the crater where Laqua currently sits at in the process. The meteor itself transformed into the Laquium Core, which is said to produce Laquium endlessly.
100 years prior to the events of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the original Explorers, composed of Lucius, Rystal, and Gibeon, found the Pokémon paradise known as Laqua. Deep into the paradise, they discovered a large chunk of pink crystals, which were overstimulating the growth of the nearby plants to the point of actually devastating the land. Lucius and Rystal tried to leave Laqua, but Gibeon ignored them and had his Zygarde dig the crystals out. This, however, caused the Laquium to activate, expand uncontrollably, and release a pink mist over the area, causing many wild Pokémon to go berserk. The expansion created a fissure on the ground below Gibeon, causing him to fall inside. The Six Heroes released themselves from their Ancient Poké Balls and tried to contain the crystals, but to no avail. Afterwards, Rystal's Terapagos, Pagogo, transformed into its Stellar Form and gave some of its energy to the Six Heroes, allowing them to seal the Laquium away. As a result of this, Lucius was trapped in Laqua, but the Laquium kept him alive for over 100 years.
Gibeon survived the fall thanks to the power of the Laquium shard he managed to keep. In the aftermath, he founded Exceed to conduct research on the mineral and managed to extend his lifespan with the mist released by Laquium.
Pokémon Horizons: The Series
Laquium was first mentioned by Gibeon in From So Far Away, while he mused about his desire to reach Laqua.
In The Treasure of Eternity, Friede returned to his previous workplace, Exceed, and asked his former boss, Cervantis, about the "Treasure of Eternity", something he had learned of while working there, suspecting a connection to Terapagos, but the man was unable to give him satisfying answers. Later, Friede managed to sneak on the vault where the Treasure of Eternity was being kept, only to find an empty vault labeled "Laquium", establishing the two names refer to the same substance. Unbeknownst to Friede, the one responsible for taking the Laquium away was Spinel.
In The Approaching Shadow!, Spinel interrupted Liko and Amethio's battle and, as an experiment, used the mist generated by the Laquium sample he stole on his Umbreon, causing it to go berserk, grow more powerful, and defeat Amethio's Terastallized Ceruledge in a single hit. Terapagos, angered by the sight of Laquium, transformed into its Terastal Form and destroyed the sample with its power, forcing Umbreon back into its normal state in the process. Reflecting upon this, Spinel concluded that Terapagos and Laquium must be polar opposites.
The Rising Volt Tacklers and the Explorers arrived at Laqua in The Pokémon Paradise of Laqua!. In Guided by the Black Rayquaza!, Gibeon arrived at the epicenter of the Laquium spread and inserted a shard into his suit, allowing him to regain the use of his legs. Then, he had Zygarde mine a large cluster of Laquium crystals, only to witness as Lucius emerged from it, still alive. Despite Lucius's warnings, Gibeon still allows the Explorers to excavate the Laquium Core and activate it for unlimited Laquium production. Later, the Six Heroes lent Pagogo their strength, allowing it to transform into its Stellar Form and seemingly purify Laqua from the Laquium in Where the Adventure Leads, causing Gibeon and Lucius to disappear. Spinel, however, managed to store some of the mist into Laquium Spheres, which he then promptly used on the Six Heroes, causing them (except for Rayquaza) to go berserk and wreak havoc across Laqua.
In Eyes to the Skies Once Again (Part One), Dot helped Roy in tracking down a wild Slaking that was possibly under the effects of Laquium, which was thought to have been completely destroyed a year ago. Roy and Ult, with further help from Captain Pikachu, eventually managed to take it down. This discovery led Roy to travel to Kanto's Indigo Academy to find Liko and ask for her help.
On their travels, Liko and Roy found more instances of Pokémon being affected by Laquium, far away from Laqua: two wild Steelix in Following Traces of Laquium, a wild Vileplume in The Pokémon Center Lady, and even a trained Pokémon, Pepper's Scovillain, in The Knight in the Ruins. Such instances became known as "Laquium Signs" and were resolved by exhausting the affected Pokémon and having Pagogo, in its Terastal Form, purify the Laquium away. In Roy vs. Friede: Wings of Fire!, Friede confirmed, from first-hand experience, that Laquium still exists in Laqua, given that the Core wasn't completely purified.
In The Strong Sphere, Liko and Roy infiltrated Exceed's Testing Center to investigate their connection to Laquium. They witnessed the corporation conducting a public test with Strong Spheres, with Dash using it on her Swanna, allowing it to overpower foes even at a massive disadvantage, but causing it to become extremely weakened afterwards. Liko and Roy were then spotted among the crowd by Coral and Sidian and challenged to an exhibition match, but the battle ended quickly after the Explorers used Strong Spheres of their own on their Pokémon. From this point onwards, the Strong Spheres were most commonly seen used by the Explorers, such as Indi, Rubina, and Chalce. In The Six Heroes Unleashed!, a more advanced version of the Strong Sphere, the Super Strong Sphere, was revealed and experimented on the captured Six Heroes.
In Don't Give Up, Crocalor!, Briar theorised that Pagogo would need to resonate with all eighteen Tera Types with the same wavelength as the Six Heroes in order to properly purify the Laquium Core. In HZ126, it was decided that Liko, Roy, and Dot's Pokémon, as well as Captain Pikachu, Nemona's Pawmot, and Penny's Sylveon, would be accounting for most of the remaining Tera Types, leaving only three unaccounted for: Ground, Ghost, and Poison, which would be respectively covered by Ann's Samurott in HZ127, Amethio's Ceruledge in HZ130, and Diana's Pecharunt in HZ132.
After training and returning to Laqua, the Rising Volt Tacklers and their allies began to purify the Laquium Core in HZ135. However, due to the external stimulus of the purification attempt and Spinel's tenacity as they merged, the Core was ultimately awakened as a form of rejection response, causing it to attack seemingly on its own and even undo the effects of Pagogo's Terastallization. Despite what its behavior implied, it did not gain a consciousness upon awakening and was, instead, only reacting to what had just attacked it. Moreover, Dot noted that it was constantly growing more and more resistant as it absorbed an incoming move, causing repeated attacks to become less effective as time went on. In the following episode, the Black Rayquaza and White Zygarde finally managed to break though its defenses after Mega Evolving, allowing Pagogo and the eighteen Tera Type Pokémon to close in and erase it once and for all.
Effects and characteristics
Laquium's main characteristic is its ability to generate a pink mist when subjected to strong external impact, which has different effects on Pokémon, humans, and plants. When affecting a Pokémon, the Laquium mist can draw out its latent power, while turning them vicious and enraged in the process, as well as causing self-inflicted bodily injury and complete exhaustion. Additionally, the affected Pokémon may become disobedient, no longer following its Trainer's orders and pick its moves and targets based completely on instinct and with time, even break the bond between Trainer and Pokémon. A Pokémon affected by Laquium can be identified by the pink aura surrounding its body, which can also be seen when the Pokémon uses a move. Depending on its use, Laquium can extend the lifespan of humans, keeping their bodies younger for longer periods of time, though at the cost of over reliance on the crystals in a weakening state, humans who have had their life extended by Laquium will eventually fade away and die if their source of Laquium runs out or is destroyed. Its mist may also stimulate the growth of plants, but overexposure to the mist can actually start devastating land, causing plants to die and wither away. Mollie theorizes that Laquium's power is based on forcing the activation of cell replacement, constantly creating a strong, renewed body. It was also shown to be extremely unstable, primarily near the Core, as demonstrated when Gibeon tried digging it out of the ground. In turn, this caused the crystals to grow and expand uncontrollably around the area, spreading a mist so dense into the air that it formed a huge pillar that blocked out the sky.
Laquium appears to have a connection to the Legendary Pokémon Terapagos, as both seem to be opposing forces. Terapagos seems to be the only way to purify the Laquium from an affected Pokémon, which it can do in either its Terastal or Stellar Form. Although Terapagos was not able to completely purify the Laquium from Laqua in Where the Adventure Leads, as revealed by Diana in Taking the Next Steps! and Briar in Don’t Give Up, Crocalor!, after resonating with all eighteen Tera Types from Pokémon at the level of the Six Heroes, it will achieve its full power and will be capable of successfully purify all Laquium, including even the Laquium Core as achieved in HZ136.
The former Explorer leader Spinel had used Laquium to create a series of devices capable of empowering Pokémon, at the cost of leaving them in an aggressive state that causes great pain as the battle goes on. The first iteration was the prototypical Laquium Sphere, which then led to the mass production of the Strong Sphere by Exceed, devices that expel Laquium mist at will, allowing Trainers to use it to strengthen their Pokémon. Later, the Strong Sphere was further upgraded into Super Strong Sphere, an iteration capable of drawing out the maximum capabilities Laquium has to offer not only covered the affected Pokémon in a pink aura, but causing Laquium crystals to grow around its body.
-
An area of Laqua that was completely withered away by the Laquium Core -
A Hyper Beam affected by Laquium -
Six Heroes Moltres under the effects of Super Strong Sphere
Trivia
- Laquium's effects on Pokémon are similar to that of the substance R from the Detective Pikachu series, as both substances can empower and strengthen Pokémon, but also force them into a pained and rampaging state.
- The effects are also similar to the Rogue Mega Evolution phenomenon featured in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
- Laquium is similar to the Meteonite featured in Pokémon the Series: Black & White. Both are elements of extraterrestrial origin that have effects on the Pokémon in their vicinity, were both involved in past disasters before being rendered dormant, and were sought by villainous teams for use as weapons of conquest.
- The awakened Laquium Core is similar to Hyperrogue Ange Floette, featured at the climax of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, as they are large, inanimate objects that have merged with a living being and started reacting to external stimuli, with a potential of causing mass destruction. Both are also the reason why rampaging Pokémon start appearing in their canons through their respective ties to Laquium and Rogue Mega Evolution, and Mega Zygarde is involved in stopping them both.
- The Laquium Core is also similar to the Giant Rock featured in Pokémon the Series: XY. Both are artifacts that contain enormous levels of energy, fuse with another being (Spinel or Chespie respectively) to fully awaken, gain some form of autonomy after being awakened, and serve as the final opponent a team assembled by the protagonists must battle to prevent a global disaster from occurring, with a Zygarde playing a major role in destroying them both.
- In Roy vs. Friede: Wings of Fire!, Friede claims the creation of Laquium was an astronomically rare event.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ラクリウム Laqurium | From ラクア Laqua and -ium (common suffix used for names of metal elements) |
| English, French, German, European Spanish, Czech, Finnish, Polish |
Laquium | Similar to its Japanese name |
| Latin American Spanish | Laqualio[n 1] | From Laqua and -io (-ium) |
| Laquium[n 2] | Same as its English name | |
| Italian | Laquion[n 1] | From Laqua and -ion (-ium) |
| Laquium[n 2] | Same as its English name | |
| Korean | 라쿠륨 Laqurium | Transcription of its Japanese name |
| Chinese (Taiwan) | 拉庫質 Lākùzhí | From 拉庫雅 Lākùyǎ (Laqua) and 物質 wùzhí (material) |
| Chinese (mainland China) | 琉铄 Liúshuò | From 琉璃 liúlí (a kind of gem; archaic word for glass) and 乐土 Lètǔ (Laqua) with the metal radical (钅) added to indicate it as a metal element |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Láquio | From Laqua and -io (-ium) |
Treasure of Eternity
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 永遠のめぐみ Eien no Megumi | |
| Mandarin Chinese | 永遠的恩惠 Yǒngyuǎn de Ēnhuì | |
| Czech | Dar věčnosti | |
| Finnish | Ikuisuuden aarre | |
| French | Trésor d'éternité | |
| German | Schatz der Ewigkeit | |
| Italian | Tesoro dell'eternità | |
| Korean | 영원한 은총 Yeong'wonhan Eunchong | |
| Polish | Skarb nieskończoności | |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Tesouro da Eternidade | |
| Spanish | Tesoro de la Eternidad | |
Notes
Related articles
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |