Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
During the climax ofPokémon Sword, theplayer's Rusted Sword, along withHop'sRusted Shield, summonsZacian andZamazenta to help the twoTrainers to battle against EternamaxEternatus at thetower summit. The Rusted Sword temporarily becomes Zacian'sheld item for the duration of this battle. During the post-game, the player returns the Rusted Sword toSlumbering Weald. It is soon after temporarily stolen bySordward, before the player defeats him in a battle and retrieves the stolen item. Before the player battles Zacian at the tower summit in order tocatch it, they give the Rusted Sword to it as its held item.
InPokémon Shield, the Rusted Sword is instead obtained by Hop. During the post-game, when he returns it to the altar at Slumbering Weald, it is stolen by Sordward. Hop battles Sordward, but is defeated, allowing him to get away with the item. Later, Sordward uses the Rusted Sword to lure Zacian to the tower summit. After the player has battled Zacian, it flees, and Hop retrieves the Rusted Sword from Sordward, before chasing after Zacian. After Hop has caught Zacian at Slumbering Weald, the Rusted Sword becomes its held item in the subsequent battles he participates in.
InPokémon UNITE, the Rusted Sword is aheld item that has no effect.Zacian is forced to use it; no other Pokémon can have it. Essentially, it is a balancing limitation, only allowing Zacian to have two useful held items instead of three.[1] Players start the game with the Rusted Sword in theirItem Box, even before they have access to Zacian.
The Rusted Sword appeared in a flashback inThe Champion, under the possession ofVictor. When he held it up during his andHop's battle againstEternatus at thetower summit, it summonedZacian to their aid and allowed it to transform into itsCrowned Sword form.
The Rusted Sword first appeared in a flashback inOoh Shiny!! Legendary Equipment, along with the Rusted Shield. One year earlier,Henry, accompanied byCasey, enteredSlumbering Weald in order to see the two legendary artifacts. After confronting illusions ofZacian andZamazenta at the altar at the end of the forest and convincing them they weren't trying to steal anything, the twoTrainers approached the two artifacts on the altar, but were then knocked out by a bright burst of light. When they recovered, the artifacts were gone.
InCracking!! Brilliant Tap-Dancing, it was revealed that the artifacts had been stolen bySordward andShielbert. InCracked!! The Rusted Sword and Shield, they used the artifacts to "prove" themselves as descendants of Galar's ancient heroes. When the two brothers took onEternatus at thetower summit, they took out the artifacts, but nothing happened, and the items were sent flying to the moat surrounding theHammerlocke Stadium, from which they were recovered by Casey'sFalinks andStunfisk and taken to her, who gave them to Henry to clean and repair. However, to his horror, Henry soon realized that he could not forge and repair the artifacts. InOh My!! The Disappearance of Henry, the artifacts, along with Henry, disappeared as Zacian and Zamazenta attacked Eternatus, gettingteleported away by an unseen Pokémon. Casey later discovered that the artifacts had wound up in two different places: theIsle of Armor and theCrown Tundra.
InClip-Clop!! The King's Horse,Bede mentioned he had detected signs of the Rusted Sword onSpectrier. InRumble!! The Darkest Day Returns, he detected signs of the artifact at Spectrier's barn at theCrown Shrine, but the artifact wasn't there. OnceCalyrex had tamed its steed, it told Spectrier to take it to the artifact. After finding it, Calyrex brought it to Henry at the Crown Shrine, allowing him to purify it of Eternatus's poison. InShing!! Final Form, Zacian used the sword to transform to itsCrowned Sword form.
TheRusted Sword was introduced as aPokémon Tool card in thePokémon Trading Card Game during the English Sword & Shield Series (the Japanese Sword & Shield Era). It was first released in the JapaneseShiny Star V expansion before debuting in English in theShining Fates expansion, with artwork by5ban Graphics. It allowsZacian V to deal 30 more damage to the opponent's Active Pokémon.
Trivia
The Rusted Sword appears to feature fictional runic characters, likely a combination of both Japanese and Old Norse characters.
While theplayer seemingly obtains the item inSlumbering Weald during the climax ofPokémon Sword, this is not the case, as the game simply tells the player they obtained it without them actually obtaining anything.
