Did the games give origins for Z-Crystals?

[KrspaceT]

The Gen 6 games said that Mega stones are irradiated evolution stones from the War, but I can't recall the games disclosing anything like that for Z-Crystals.

Did I miss something, or is there no canonical origin to them yet?

 

[Esserise]

Not directly, no. But extrapolating from their description in the bag as "a crystallized form of Z-Power," we might conclude that they are clumps of the energy (implied by Kukui to be Z-Power) that pours out of the Ultra Wormholes, which is explicitly said to be what gives the Totem Pokémon their auras. It is probably notable that the UBs' auras, the Totem auras, and the energy that swirls around a Pokémon using a Z-Move all share the same aesthetic effect.

There is no explanation given for the existence of the Sparkling Stones that form the bases of Z-Rings, though. We just know that they are given out by the tapu.

 

[KrspaceT]

Not directly, no. But extrapolating from their description in the bag as "a crystallized form of Z-Power," we might conclude that they are clumps of the energy (implied by Kukui to be Z-Power) that pours out of the Ultra Wormholes, which is explicitly said to be what gives the Totem Pokémon their auras. It is probably notable that the UBs' auras, the Totem auras, and the energy that swirls around a Pokémon using a Z-Move all share the same aesthetic effect.

There is no explanation given for the existence of the Sparkling Stones that form the bases of Z-Rings, though. We just know that they are given out by the tapu.

A lot like keystones, which I have never found an origin for...

So it's not as solid a origin as the megastones?

 

[Esserise]

A lot like keystones, which I have never found an origin for...

In XY, all we're really told is this:

> Sycamore: Let's talk about Mega Stones briefly. My theory is that they're special stones irradiated by the light--the energy of the Legendary Pokemon Xerneas/Yveltal--fired from the ultimate weapon 3,000 years ago. And that's what I think they are. It's even possible that stones like Fire Stones were what turned into these Mega Stones. So, what's the Mega Ring you are holding? That mysterious stone transforms feelings felt towards Pokemon into some kind of wavelength.

Interestingly, the phrase "Key Stone" never appears in XY. They always refer to it holistically with the Mega Ring. If I remember right, the term first appeared on the official XY site, although I can't remember where on the site it was mentioned. Anyway, I would merely assume that the Key Stones were created by the weapon as well - Korrina's ancestor, who alongside his Lucario achieved the first Mega Evolution, were said to have done so after discovering a pair of strange stones. They probably just dug them up.

ORAS somewhat complicate matters. They doesn't ever say directly, but they seems to imply that the Mega and Key Stones in Hoenn are the results of meteorites falling to Earth and soaking up natural energy. Maxie/Archie believe that they can convert the stolen meteorite into a Mega Stone or a Key Stone* by infusing it with the natural energy in Mt. Chimney (and indeed, it does eventually transform into an explicitly Mega Stone-like object). When Zinnia recounts Hoenn's history to us, she says two things:

> "The meteors shone with a rainbow brilliance, as if some great life was held within."

That was during the first meteor shower, when the world was "overflowing" with natural energy.

> "The huge Meteorite that lay at the heart of Sootopolis gave off a boundless brilliance. In its brilliance, it resembled a vast and powerful Key Stone."

That was during the second meteor strike, which was said to have cracked open a well of natural energy inside the Cave of Origin.

So both of these incidents involved meteorites and natural energy. Based on that, it seems that Mega Stones and Key Stones share the same origin - an infusion of large amounts of energy into a stone. Which could support the assumption that the Key Stones in Kalos were created by the weapon. But what is the factor that determines whether a stone becomes a Mega Stone or a Key Stone? I don't know. It could just depend on how much energy a particular stone is imbued with. Maybe higher amounts of energy are required in order to form a Key Stone, which would explain why they seem to be more rare.

* Returning to this asterisk, while Maxie/Archie say that they could use the meteorite to create a Mega Stone or a Key Stone, the statement from one of the scientists in their hideout that they've been trying to create a Red/Blue Orb artificially by studying the connection between meteorites, natural energy, and super-ancient Pokémon leads me to suspect that what they were really trying to create was a Red/Blue Orb (hence them abandoning the meteorite once they receive confirmation of the Orbs' existence). But we've never been told how Red/Blue Orbs come from - the most we know is that they were discovered by Phoebe's ancestors in the Cave of Origin.

So it's not as solid a origin as the megastones?

It's not as "solid" in the sense that the games don't spell out that "wormhole energy = Z-Crystals" like they did with "weapon energy = Mega Stones," and instead leave it to us to extrapolate the intervening steps. For what it's worth, here's all of the relevant dialogue quoted directly:

> "This is a crystallized form of Z-Power. It upgrades ____-type moves to Z-Moves."

> Wicke: The UBs surround themselves with an aura called the Beast Boost. The truth of this aura is that it is the energy that flows within the Ultra Wormhole. When the UBs pass through the Ultra Wormhole, they are bathed in a great deal of this energy and likely store it within their bodies. There are also Pokémon on our planet that possess this same kind of energy. I think you know what I mean. The so-called Totem Pokémon that you faced in your trials. This is because the energy pours down upon our planet when the holes open.

> Kukui: Hey there, <Player>! You doing good with your Z-Powers? Burnet and I are looking into them and we think they might have some connection to the energy that pours outta those Ultra Wormholes.

They're somewhat vague about it, but that's not unusual by this point. They were almost completely silent on the origin of the Red/Blue Orbs, left Key Stones and Hoenn's Mega Stones similarly up to our inferences, and even with Kalos's Mega Stones, they didn't commit to the notion that they were Evolutionary Stones (it's phrased as just a thought that Sycamore considers).