Laquium

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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 iterations of Strong Spheres.

History

Pre-series

As revealed in HZ122, 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

The "Treasure of Eternity", a Laquium shard owned by Exceed

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 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 stolen 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 1, 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, Karatō's Scovillain, in Riding the Waves. 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 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 amongst 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 HZ122, Friede confirmed, from first-hand experience, that Laquium still exists in Laqua, since the Core wasn't completely purified during the events of Where the Adventure Leads.

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. 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. 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 sun.

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. While Terapagos was not able to completely purify the Laquium from Laqua in Where the Adventure Leads, it has been stated to be able to by Diana and Briar, though only after resonating with eighteen different Tera Types from Pokémon at the level of the Six Heroes.

Spinel has used Laquium and the mist it releases to create a series of devices capable of empowering Pokémon, at the cost of leaving them in an agressive 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 and, later, to the further upgraded Super Strong Sphere.

An area of Laqua that was completely withered away by Laquium
A Hyper Beam affected by Laquium

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.
In HZ122, 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, German, European Spanish, French	Laquium	Similar to its Japanese name
Italian	Laquion*	From Laqua and -ion (-ium)
Italian	Laquium*	Same as its English name
Latin American Spanish	Laqualio*	From Laqua and -io (-ium)
Latin American Spanish	Laquium*	Same as its English name
Korean	라쿠륨 Laqurium	Transcription of its Japanese name
Chinese (Taiwan)	拉庫物質 Lākù Wùzhí	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
French		Trésor d'éternité
German		Schatz der Ewigkeit
Italian		Tesoro dell'eternità
Korean		영원한 은총 Yeong'wonhan Eunchong
Brazilian Portuguese		Tesouro da Eternidade
Spanish		Tesoro de la Eternidad