Spending the summer in the Crown Tundra was the best idea Franki ever had. The seemingly endless caves of the Max Lair are themselves enough to take anyone's breath away, but she'd also caught some very special Pokémon. Gigantamax Alcremie. An Ivysaur with the rare Chlorophyll ability. A shiny Dialga. And then there was Alolan Raichu, who immediately stole a place in her heart alongside the common Raichu. Both Mouse Pokémon slept snugly beside her.
But a month at the Freezington Pokémon Research Compound brought more than just rare Pokémon. Franki had made human friends for life too. She got on so well with the other Trainers in her dormitory, who she'd nicknamed the Lil' Nugs. It was almost like being back at Hammerlocke University.
Franki rose out of bed, almost knocking one of the Raichu down, before getting dressed and heading into the kitchen. She smiled at the whiteboard, which read "Rule 1: Every day is Friday!" as always. She strode towards the kettle but someone knocked at the door.
Opening the door revealed two humans in their twenties. "Hi, we're new here!" said one. Except they weren't new, but two Lil' Nugs, Deku and Han, playing a prank.
"Not this AGAIN!" screeched Franki, her voice showing enough frustration to attract a dozen Impidimp if there were any around, which fortunately there weren't. "Come on in you two, it's freezing!" The pair promptly complied.
"Every day is Friday? Sounds like a good vibe!" said Deku. "What's your name?"
Franki froze. "Cut it out. You're scaring me."
Han was just as shocked. "What on Earth? We just asked your name!"
Franki turned her back to the pranksters and marched back to the kettle. The sound of it boiling calmed her nerves a bit. "Listen. Gemma. I'M CLAUSTROPHOBIC DARREN!" She turned to the others signalling them to join in.
But they didn't.
"Stop it! Stop it right now this isn't funny! KAY!"
There was no answer.
Franki ran to Kay's door.
It wasn't there.
Room 3. Room 5.
No room 4.
Panicking, Franki counted the rooms. There were only 11. Kay's room had disappeared into thin air.
"What's all this about?" cried Sunny. "And where is my birthday breakfast?"
"I went WAY too hard on the Alcremie frosting last night. I can't find Kay's room."
Sunny froze. "There's nothing wrong with you. I can't see it either! We need Detective Rich on the case!"
Rich insisted on a cup of tea before detecting anything.
A full 20 minutes later, his Big Brain was working properly. "I'm on one side of where Kay's room should be, and you're on the other. Try throwing something to me."
Sunny threw a satsuma. It fell much faster than a satsuma thrown that hard ought to have done and fell about two metres from Rich's feet.
"Can anyone tell us what's going on?!" demanded Deku. He wasn't really expecting an answer, but Rich had one.
"The space where Kay's room should be has been torn out of existence."
"There are only a few Pokémon that can do something like that," Sunny trembled.
"And only one of them has ever been seen in the Max Lair," Rich added. "We have to find Palkia."
Lil' Nugs; Dynamax Adventures
Kay opened her door to be greeted by a blinding light. It was Palkia, in the flesh. She sighed and went back to bed.
PALKIA'S FURY
The five Nugs ran to the Max Lair. Four of them were shocked to see a Japanese woman with long blonde hair and a striking black coat. "It's Cynthia!" cried Rich.
"What's Cynthia doing here?" gasped Han.
"Who's Cynthia?" asked Franki.
"Um… Cynthia? Champion of the Sinnoh League? The most famous Trainer in all of Japan?" Deku was flabbergasted.
"Han, why haven't I heard of this Cynthia person?" asked Franki.
"Who's Han?" replied Deku, Sunny and Rich in unison.
Han had disappeared.
"Wait… is Cynthia… Han?" wondered Franki.
"I'm not Han!" snapped Cynthia in perfect English. "You must be Franki."
"Wait…" said Franki, "You're this big shot Champion and… you've heard of me?"
"The moment I heard about a shiny Dialga, I had to get a helicopter straight here," replied Cynthia. She then got straight to the point. "I feared the existence of shiny Dialga would cause disruptions in space-time. Then I overheard you arguing with your friends about whether or not someone exists, and I realized it has already begun."
"Yeah! Han knocked on my door this morning saying she'd just arrived even though I remember having lived with her for weeks! And Deku too!" exclaimed Franki.
"So…" wondered Deku, "you three have known me for weeks, but I've only just got here, and Franki has also known Han but no-one else has… and one of your dorm rooms vanished with someone inside it?!"
"Basically," Rich nodded.
"It makes no sense to us either!" added Sunny.
"Ever since you caught shiny Dialga, Palkia's power has increased exponentially," continued Cynthia. "We need to assemble a team who can come up with and carry out a galaxy brain strategy to defeat them."
"Step 1: Dynamax Dialga. Step 2: Put Palkia in a blender. Step 3: Profit." Franki folded her arms confidently.
"No!" shrieked Cynthia with her hand over her mouth. "Have you never heard of the Battle of the Space-Time Towers?" Franki was silent for once in her life. "The last time Palkia and Dialga clashed, Darkrai had to sacrifice themself to preserve the fabric of existence. And that was without Dynamaxing! No. You have to defeat Palkia… and you have to do it without legendaries!"
Meanwhile, Kay woke up and opened the door a second time; she was shocked to find Palkia was still there. Closing the door again, she began pacing and talking to herself. "This isn't a dream," she realized. You have to get out of here. Remember your fire safety training. Take your emergency kit and walk; don't run."
Kay put on the standard issue Dynamax Adventure jacket, placed the backpack with essential supplies on her back and opened the door a third time. Her heart was pounding as she attempted to sneak past Palkia, but the gargantuan Pokémon quickly saw her and moved to block her escape. Her hands instinctively rushed to the Poké Balls containing Raichu and Altaria, before realizing they were no match for a Dynamax Palkia and she threw her hands up instead.
"What Pokémon will you be using?" Deku asked Cynthia.
"I… won't be going with you," Cynthia confessed. "None of my Pokémon have the necessary radiation tolerance."
"Radiation?!" gasped Deku. "As in, nuclear?!"
"As in Galar particles," replied a voice familiar to Franki, Rich and Sunny, but not Deku. "I'm Professor Mannie Quinn, chief scientist at the Max Lair."
"It's an honour to meet you," greeted Deku.
"The Dynamax phenomenon is caused by Galar Particles, a form of nuclear radiation produced by remnants of the meteorite impact that brought Eternatus," explained Prof. Quinn. "These remnants are known as Power Spots. The Max Mushrooms that grow on Power Spots attract wild Pokémon, giving rise to the Pokémon Dens found all over Galar. The Galar Particles cause mutations in Pokémon that are extremely rare in the general population, ranging from unusual moves and Abilities to Shiny coloration to the Gigantamax Factor."
"The Max Lair has the highest naturally occurring Galar Particle emissions anywhere in the world, attracting Legendary Pokémon and other Pokémon not otherwise found in Galar, such as Franki's Raichu. However, the radiation is also known to cause involuntary Dynamaxing in Pokémon that were not caught in the Lair. This can be a traumatic experience, so we only allow native Pokémon inside, except under tightly controlled conditions."
Team Nug had already chosen their Pokémon: Franki had her Alolan Raichu, Rich had a common Raichu and Sunny had a Cherrim.
Professor Quinn continued explaining Dynamax Adventures to Deku. "You've never been on a Dynamax Adventure before, so we'll allow you to borrow a native Pokémon to use until you catch one of your own. My assistant Dr. Hone will show you what we have."
"Challenger approaching!" greeted a woman who looked a lot like Prof. Quinn. "I'm Chloe Hone. May I ask who's joining the brawl?"
"My name's Deku."
"Deku? You certainly scrub up okay. Now, choose your fighter!" The Super Smash Bros. Brawl theme began to play. "We have Ivysaur! Wartortle! Jigglypuff! And Combusken!" Each of the Pokémon cried out as their name was mentioned.
"Awesome you have Jigglypuff!" yelled Deku. "I'll take it!"
"Jigglypuff!" cried the Balloon Pokémon happily, bouncing towards Deku.
Franki made a note to herself to invite Chloe to the Nug House, but there was no Nug House without Kay. "Get in losers, we're saving the space-time continuum!" she declared.
As the group approached the first junction, Sunny began strategizing. "We're not going to beat a powered-up, Dynamax Palkia with two Raichu, a Cherrim and a Jigglypuff. We need to catch a Pokémon that knows Wide Guard."
"We could spend days looking for one," replied Rich, "or we could catch that Araquanid just over there."
Araquanid was no match for two Raichu and Rich soon caught them in a Net Ball. "Go Rich!" Sunny congratulated. "But why did you want it?"
"Araquanid can absorb Palkia's Water attacks and use them to heal itself," Rich explained. "It can also use the move Entrainment to pass on that ability to other Pokémon. Palkia is as good as ours!"
After walking deeper into the Lair, the group didn't need their map any more; Palkia's light streamed from the caves ahead, creating a very Zelda-esque ambience. Eventually the only thing between them was the red mist that surrounded all Power Spots. The light from Palkia made the mist look like a gargantuan pink orb.
A scientist who looked exactly like the ones from earlier was also there. "Thank goodness you're here! What items are you running?" she asked.
"Focus Sash, definitely," said Rich. "I need to get at least one Entrainment off."
"I'm running Leftovers because I'm SO original," joked Sunny.
"I'm using Light Clay so the Light Screen lasts longer," said Deku.
"I have an Eviolite if you prefer," the scientist offered.
"That would be great!" replied Deku, taking the mysterious evolutionary lump.
"What about you Franki?"
"I never run items on this Raichu," Franki replied. "I'm tired of her fainting to Knock Off all the time!"
"But Palkia can't learn Knock Off," the scientist pointed out. "How about a Shell Bell? You'll be inflicting lots of damage after all."
"OK," muttered Franki nervously, knowing that Pokémon in the Max Lair sometimes know moves they wouldn't normally be able to use.
"One last thing," said the scientist as she handed over the item. "This will be a hard battle, so you can borrow my Dottler if you wish. They have dual screens, which will be good against a mixed attacker like Palkia. Just hope they don't have Ancient Power."
Rich froze. He hadn't realized Palkia might be running Max Rockfall.
"Max Rockfall… can bypass Focus Sash," he shuddered, as if he had the Anticipation ability. "One Bug-type is enough. We have a good variety as it is."
"Break a leg!" joked the scientist. Fortunately, Araquanid had only just been caught and hadn't learned human speech yet.
"FRANKIIIII!" screamed a voice from within the mist.
"KAY!" Franki, Sunny and Rich in unison. They ran into the pink cloud.
The clouds parted to reveal Palkia. Lightning generated by the raw Dynamax energy flashed all around the giant Legendary Pokémon. If not for the red mist, the light could have blinded the Lil' Nugs. Palkia appeared to have grown as powerful as Cynthia feared.
The only thing between Palkia and the four adventurers now was a floating pink sphere just under two metres in diameter. Kay could be seen inside. But the Nugs only just had time to check it was really her before she was replaced with Franki. The other Nugs frantically looked to the side; Franki was still there. Palkia was evidently trying to show them some kind of vision.
The vision soon expanded to fill the entire cave. The Franki inside the sphere gestured to a tear in subspace that had just appeared. A shiny Metang came out of the rift. Franki then pointed elsewhere; a shiny Tapu Lele appeared from a second Spatial Rend. Shiny Tapu Fini emerged from a third rift. The shiny legendaries were joined by numerous other shiny Pokémon: Mudsdale, Swoobat, Liligant, Kingler, Morpeko, Barraskewda, Alolan Persian… and a shiny Alolan Raichu, who jumped straight into the sphere.
Franki was transfixed by the vision of herself in the finest pink and white outfit money could buy, cuddling shiny Alolan Raichu and looking down on an army of shiny Pokémon led by Metagross and flanked by all four Alolan Guardians.
"KAY!" yelled Sunny. "When we get out of here I'm going to give you the biggest hug ever!"
Sunny's words were enough to snap Franki out of it. "Palkia, let my people go!" she commanded.
Palkia roared furiously. Yet another spatial rift appeared above Araquanid, only this one was very real. Kay's bedroom crashed down on top of Rich's Pokémon, squishing them flat.
"Nooooooooooooooooooo!" screamed Rich, kneeling. A sandstorm began to swirl around the cave, striking Raichu, Jigglypuff and Cherrim.
"Raichu, Thunder Wave!" Franki cried. A wave of air that shimmered with electrical current rushed towards Palkia, enveloping them completely. Palkia's movements became noticeably slower; the attack was successful.
Cherrim turned to Sunny, who simply nodded. The sandstorm died down and the red mist disappeared. Palkia's light became unbearable to the Raichu and the humans, who had to avert their eyes. Jigglypuff's pupils narrowed. Cherrim, on the other hand, opened her protective bud to reveal her face and scatter cherry blossoms on Jigglypuff and Raichu, increasing their power.
"Jigglypuff, use Light Screen!" Deku instructed. "Jiggly...puff!" he shouted, unleashing a mystical power that created a shimmering barrier between Palkia and the Nug Squad's Pokémon.
Palkia began powering up their next move. Jigglypuff also began to glow, as if he had broken a Smash Ball. "Do it Deku!" urged Franki. Deku nodded and recalled Jigglypuff to his Poké Ball. Red energy flowed from the Dynamax Band on Deku's wrist into Jigglypuff's Poké Ball, transforming it into the size of a beach ball. Deku spun around and threw the ball behind him.
The Poké Ball, which now looked like a giant Premier Ball, opened, releasing a Dynamaxed Jigglypuff. Realizing he was still much smaller than Palkia, Dynamax Jigglypuff sucked in air to inflate himself. While still not Palkia's size, he was now so large that his foot was bigger than Kay's bedroom, which was still intact and still on top of Araquanid.
"Raichu, attack with Rising Voltage!" shouted Franki. Electricity surged from the ground, coursing through Palkia.
"Cherrim, Solar Beam!" added Sunny. In lieu of sunlight, Cherrim absorbed the light streaming from Palkia, glowed, then fired a beam of light back at Palkia, who briefly recoiled from the blow.
Palkia's claws glowed an angry red in retaliation, before life size replicas of the claws appeared on either side of Cherrim and spun around her like the blades of a food processor, chopping off most of her leaves. Cherrim only just managed to resume her little dancey dance.
"JIGGLYY!" screeched the giant Jigglypuff. Star-shaped projectiles fell from the roof of the cave, crashing into both Palkia and the ground. Fairy-type mist blanketed the ground as Palkia roared in pain from the impact of the stars.
"Keep it up bb!" encouraged Franki. Raichu attacked again with Rising Voltage.
"Hang in there Cherrim! Use another Solar Beam!" instructed Sunny.
"It's working!" encouraged Rich, observing that Palia was gradually being worn down from the onslaught. But Palkia was faster than Jigglypuff, even while paralysed.
Enormous water droplets coalesced around Palkia's tail, forming a water bubble around it similar to the one that until recently surrounded Araquanid's head, only much bigger. Palkia then spun around and slammed the tail and water bubble into Sunny's Cherrim. Water exploded from the impact, making everyone and their Pokémon look like there had been a monsoon.
Despite having type advantage and the 'sun' up, Cherrim had taken too much damage from the last attack, retreated into her bud and collapsed. Recalling Cherrim to her Heal Ball, Sunny looked to Kay for moral support, but the orb had turned opaque.
"JIGGLYPUFF!" roared Jigglypuff in anger, glowing with Fairy-type energy. Meanwhile, the sheer amount of water from Max Geyser was enough to cause rain clouds to form on the roof of the cave. Rain soon began to fall, but so did the star-shaped projectiles from Max Starfall. The explosions of light formed spectacular rainbows in the rain. Deku, having never been on a Dynamax Adventure before, stared open-mouthed in astonishment.
"Rai!" howled Raichu, seeking vengeance. Rising Voltage once again surged from the ground to strike Palkia, who responded by summoning a wave of water that slammed into everything. Raichu was bruised and would have been knocked out had it not been for Light Screen. Sunny had only just managed to administer a Max Revive to Cherrim before they were washed away. Araquanid was pushed out from under Kay's out of place bedroom and was somehow not dead. Even Jigglypuff was knocked off his feet, causing a small tremor.
"JIGGLY… PUFF!" roared Jigglypuff once again as he stood up defiantly, now so loud the humans covered their ears. The star-shaped projectiles tore into Palkia one last time. Visible bruises could now be seen on the parts of Palkia's body where the projectiles had struck. Jigglypuff then shrunk back to his normal size.
Cherrim stood up ready to finish the right. Araquanid was already awake, having used Water Absorb to heal themself. A shockwave of Dynamax energy surged from Palkia and their movements sped up again; the power of Dynamax could shake off even paralysis.
Once again, a spatial rift appeared above Araquanid and this time the black monolith from Ocarina of Time appeared to crush the spider. However, Light Screen was up this time, so the monolith broke on Araquanid's head and the spider was hurt but still able to battle.
"It's time for the finishing blow!" shouted Franki. "Use Electric Terrain!" A sheet of electricity pulsed from Raichu to cover the ground, displacing the mist that was there before. But Palkia attacked again, this time targeting Cherrim with the spinning claw blades of Max Wyrmwind. This time, they fainted right away. The swirling Dynamax energy intensified, almost blowing Jigglypuff away.
"Araquanid, use Entrainment on Raichu!" instructed Rich. The spider Pokémon began a mystical dance that caused the water bubbles on their legs to expand and cover their whole body. Raichu was compelled to mimic the dance, causing tiny bubbles to explode from her sweat glands, covering her whole body.
"Jigglypuff, use Draining Kiss!" Deku instructed. The Balloon Pokémon floated up to one of the bruises from Max Starfall to suck energy from Palkia. Normally the attack wouldn't have done much, but by picking the right spot, Jigglypuff was able to get a critical hit. Palkia roared in pain.
"Raichu!" roared Franki. "Finish them off! RISING VO-" Franki cupped her hand over her mouth as Palkia sprang into action first, attracting water to their tail ready to use Max Geyser. She could barely watch as the tail swung into Jigglypuff like a gargantuan hammer, causing an explosion of water on impact. Everyone's eyes were on Deku's Pokémon, who slowly opened his eyes and looked back. He was all right!
Inside the prison orb, Kay couldn't hear or see the other Nugs to support them. But she had an idea. Taking out her Rotom Phone, she sent Franki a message and crossed her fingers that it would work.
Franki's phone started blaring out the theme to Alola 2-6. Raichu smiled at her and began to ride her surfboard across the Electric Terrain, slowly drawing a huge circle around Palkia. The Legendary Pokémon began to power up another attack but it was too late. Once Raichu's circle around Palkia was complete, the Rising Voltage surged through the ring of electricity, causing Palkia to explode in a spectacular light show.
"WE DID IT!" screamed Franki. Using her Dynamax Band, she enlarged her Premier Ball to beach ball size and hurled it at Palkia's head, hitting it between the eyes. Palkia was sucked into the giant Premier Ball, which glowed pink from the Dynamax energy. But there was a blinding flash and Palkia was free again.
"The pearl on their side is their weak point!" yelled Sunny. "Like this!" She threw her own Premier Ball in a curved trajectory; she had clearly got some practice in beforehand. The curvature of space due to Dynamax altered the ball's course, causing it to strike Palkia on its left shoulder. Once again, Palkia was sucked in. The ball crashed onto the cave floor, creating a thunderous boom and a small impact crater. The Premier Ball quickly stopped shaking. Sunny had got a critical catch.
All four Nugs jumped and screamed for joy with fists in the air. Their celebration was interrupted by the sudden vanishing of the prison orb, Kay's out of place bedroom and the remains of the black monolith. Did this mean the Nug House had been restored?
"You did it!" exclaimed the scientist waiting nearby. "Beheeyem should be able to get us all back to base so we can heal our Pokémon. Beheeyem, use Teleport!" In an instant, they had returned to the Max Lair entrance.
"Well done you!" squealed Dr. Hone. "Audino here will take care of your Pokémon." The pink and white Pokémon invited Raichu, Araquanid and Jigglypuff to follow them, while Dr. Hone herself took the Poké Balls containing Sunny's Cherrim and Palkia.
"Wait where are you-" Professor Quinn was too slow to even try and stop the four Lil' Nugs.
Sure enough, Kay and Han were waiting outside the Nug House and embraced the others in a huge hug. There was no need for words. Tea first.
Inside the dining area, Franki broke the tense silence. "So… how much do you both remember?"
"Everything," said Kay softly. Tears began to flow. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She couldn't resist the urge to hug Franki again.
"I don't remember anything," replied Han. "What about you Deku?"
"Nothing. I'm still new." replied Deku.
"I don't know what to believe anymore," sighed Rich. "But now that we're together again, I know we'll figure it out."
"Cheers to the Nug Fam!" declared Franki. "Rai!" added Raichu.