A tall brooding woman sat alone in an empty room, shadows masking the features of her face. The screen in front of her filled the room with sickly pulsing blue light.

Her face lit up as a dazzling explosion spilled forth from the corners of her screen. Mouth curled into an unnatural grin and blinding white teeth reflected light. An outstretched hand reached towards the ceiling, draped in white cloth.

Strained laughs and giggles bounced hollowly off of the empty walls of her abode.

"Oh, I hope they thoroughly enjoyed the present I left them." She bounced off her chair, twirled around the room, white ribbons danced around her, following her every movement.

Static filled the room, the screen abruptly switching to black and white specs swimming around. As abruptly as the screen, the women froze mid-spin, silky ribbons gently floating to the floor. Kneeling down, she threw an outstretched arm towards a shadowy corner of the room. Piercing blue eyes locked onto something.

"Was it beautiful?"

An alien clicking fizz emanated from the corner, as powdery snow filled the room like sparkling mist.


Officer Jenny's head perked up towards barking. Herdier was running in circles around a tree just far enough from the factory explosion to not be incinerated. This could be it. She thought while jogging over.

A charred lump of metal was sitting on the floor. It was twisted at sharp degrees and the edges jagged. It was unmistakably a camera, or used to be one.

Snow crunching cut her thoughts in two. Behind her stood two figures draped in dark cloaks. They stood in harsh contrast to the field of snow, both wearing a necklace with a strange dangling rainbow-colored orb. Officer Jenny slowly stood up, her left hand on her Poké Balls, and her right curled around the handle of a pistol.

"This area is closed off from the public, what are you doing here?"

"Oh? Where's that partner of yours? Did he die in the explosion?" The first person snickered.

Officer Jenny simultaneously called out the rest of her Pokémon and cocked the gun towards the figures. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be against you in a court of law."

"And you have the right to… eat lead!" The second person said as two Rotom Guns flew out of their cloaks. Deafening gunshots rumbled throughout the field. A green energy barrier formed in front of Herdier's face and spread out deflecting the hammering pelts of death.

A bone-chilling tremor groaned from underneath them. A geyser of snow, dirt, and rock knocked them into 15 ft. into the air. A roar vibrated through the air, as a giant Onix burst out of the earth, mouth agape. Purple-blue energy whirled around Granbull's claws and teeth, his face contorted in fury. Using a boulder as a foothold, Granbull shot down from the sky, crashing into the top of Onix's head. Onix screeched as blows rained down in it, chunks of rock breaking off of its head.

Thick silky threads flowed out the tip of Ariados' abdomen, catching everyone as they plummeted towards the ground. Not letting up, the hail of bullets continued, cracks forming on Herdier's shield. Chatot analyzed the motions Herdier used and mimicked them with near perfection. A second barrier of energy appeared right as the first shattered.

A dozen Pokémon were waiting for them on the ground, charging straight towards them. Ferrothorn hurled itself over the edge of the protective shield, tanking bullets, and attacked in the process. His entire body glowed for a moment, then a giant flash of light encased the battlefield, and a boom rang out.

Officer Jenny prepared a max revive and called Ferrothorn back. Behind them, Granbull jumped down from the broken Onix's body while letting out a roar, eyes clouded with rage.

The second hooded figure looked over her motionless partner and the scores of unconscious Pokémon. She looked up towards the flickering crack-filled green barrier. "This isn't over yet!"

With a flash of red light, a Beedrill wearing a black bandana appeared on the battlefield. Strange purplish energy flowed out of a yellow and black stone embedded into the bandana and connected to similar white-colored energy flowing out of the person's necklace.

"Beedrill, mega evolve!" The energy swirled around Beedrill's body, the stingers on its arms and abdomen grew, and its legs morphed into large stingers. An extra pair of wings branched out from the top pair of wings, its round eyes narrowed and antenna flattened. (Mega Beedrill)

The lithe jet-like creature burst out of the veil of energy and zipped across the battlefield. Clicking her gun to stun mode, Officer Jenny fired. The Beedrill twirled around the dart, it's stingers swishing through the air like swords. A fury of slices cut through the energy shield like paper and ribbons of greenish venom trailed behind each slash. Blood spewed out of gash marks in Officer Jenny and her companions.

Quickly recoiling from her injury, Ariados launched purple poisoned filled threads out of her abdomen. Klefki flowed suit. Pink chains surrounded them, preventing anyone from leaving. Although unaffected by the toxins, the threads slowed Beedrill's movement. But not enough. Beedrill mounted its counterattack. It flew a loop midair building up speed before wacking Ariados with the blunt of its stingers, sending the arachnid flying into a tree.

Officer Jenny pointed her gun at the deadly insect and pulled the trigger. At the last moment, she flinched, missing her shot. Pain bubbled at the would across her chest and flared across her body. Each beat of her heart made it worse. Not registering his pain, Granbull launched itself at Beedrill. A claw bursting with purple-blue energy connected with the top of the insect's head, smacking it into the ground.

Using the opportunity created by Granbull, Herdier thrust with his hind legs and threw himself at Beedrill. Orange energy burst out of Herdier's body upon impact. The blast knocking Herdier away. Beedrill hissed in pain and jabbed a filled stinger towards Officer Jenny.

"Riiiing, Riiiing!" Beedrill stopped in its tracks startled.

"You havzzzz an incoming call from Nurzzzz Joy!" Rotom said.

Mirroring Breedrill's attack, Chatot thrust its beak forward and pierced Beedrill's back. With one final hiss of agony, the Beedrills body thumped against the ground. Purplish energy radiated off of its body like mist as its form shrank, returning to normal.

On the opposing side of the field, the cloaked lady's body went limp, falling onto the floor. When in mega-evolution, both the trainer and the Pokémon's senses are synced. All feelings, including pain, were shared.


"I'm afraid I can't do that." Nurse Joy said back turned towards the entrance of the Pokémon Center while tossing and Ultra Ball in the air. Her Gardevoir stood in a defensive position towards the assailants. Two cloaked figures stood at the entrance of the empty Pokémon Center, Rotom Guns floating by their sides.

"Let's make this quick!" A volley of bullets flew towards Nurse Joy.

Nurse Joy vanished, the bullets zipped through the air Nurse Joy used to be. Blinking into existence behind the figures, Nurse Joy activated two of her Ultra Balls. A Vanilluxe floated in the air above Nurse Joy, each exhale producing icy mist. Two Icicles formed in the air next to it then were fired out. The Rotom Guns were knocked out of the sky, each icicle shattering upon impact.

The giant claw of Nurse Joy's Scizor bashed against the head of one of the assailants, knocking the limp body to the ground. Startled, the remaining attacker jumped back and pulled a Poké Ball out of his cloak. The sleeve of his arm rolled down revealing a white Dynamax band. The red X shape glowed, energy feeding into the Poké Ball.

Dynamax? That's impossible. Nurse Joy thought. It was only possible to Dynamax Pokémon at a Dynamax hotspot, the Pokémon center wasn't one of them.

"Wait, stop, I'll do whatever you want." Nurse Joy said. The Pokémon center was next to a residential area. Who knew how much damage a Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon could do. How many casualties?

"That's what I thought." The cloaked man held the now giant Pokéball with both his hands.

"Rotom, call Officer Jenny, quietly." She whispered.

"Hmm, that sounds appetizing." His fingers danced dangerously around the activation button on the Poké ball. "Give me access to all the information stored in that computer terminal of yours."

"Take it, just don't harm anyone."

The man chuckled before turning around, walking towards the terminal, his back exposed. I can't risk it. Officer Jenny thought. Gardevoir had different plans.

Silver moonlight shimmered around Gardevoir's palms before blasting out towards the man. A shower of silver light exploded on the assailant's back, knocking him over. But it wasn't enough.

Reeling in pain on the ground, the man reached out shakily and pressed the button on the Poké Ball, activating it.


Hop sat in a bland hospital bed. The laughing Snorunts painted on the walls mocked him. They could have at least put him in the same room as his Pokémon. So what if there wasn't enough space in the cramped ER rooms?

"Bzzzt! Breaking news, Gigantamax Sandaconda wreaks havoc over residential area in Hammerlock." Hop's Rotom beeped out.

Hop's head snapped toward his phone, skimming through the article. The Sandaconda had been taken out by the combined efforts of Raihan, local law enforcement, and civilians before any major damage could be sustained. However, Nurse Joy and her Pokémon were hospitalized.

The color drained out of his face, and chills ran down his spine. He continued reading. A strange insignia was found on the two people believed to have started the incident. A black button with the stem of a rose engraved on it.

He clenched a fist, his knuckles whitening. I have to do something. But what?


Hop was silent, riding up the elevator of the battle tower. He had rushed out of the ER with his Pokémon and jumped on the earliest train to Wyndon. He believed Leon wasn't involved, but he was a detective. Leon knowing about things he shouldn't and being a higherup was the only lead he had. If you could even call it a lead.

He lurched to a stop. The mechanical whirring of the doors opening echoed endlessly down the hallway with no end in sight. Hop walked down the dim corridor, the empty sound of his footsteps rang through his head.

Six years ago Hop rode the same elevator and walked down the same corridor to confront Chainman Rose and Leon. When Oleana had challenged them, Hop's legs were lead and his mouth glued shut. He watched as Gloria battled Oleana. Alone.

He would not let that happen again, not while there were lives at stake.

Breaking out into a run, Hop sprinted through the end of the corridor, entering the observation room. It had a built-in Pokémon arena, supporting skyscraper tall Dynamax Pokémon. The paint was still smudged in some areas, from when Gloria's Inteleon launched the final attack. A wide staircase filled up the entire back wall of the arena, leading to the observation deck.

At the bottom step, Hop looked up. Leon stood at the top, making eye contact with Hop. Light shone from behind Leon, dimly brightening the ground Hop stood on.

"Do you need anything?" Leon's voice boomed out.

"Can-" Hop cut himself off, startled by the loud echoes of his voice. "Can we continue the conversation we were having at the hospital?"

"I told you, I'm too busy for this."

Hop narrowed his eyes. "Busy doing what?"

"I have many duties and responsibilities as the chairman. My motto is that I'll make Galar shine."

"You always talk about making Galar a better place, but all you care about is your Pokémon battles." Hop took the first step. "All I hear on the news is another renovation to the battle tower, a new stadium popping up, and building a flying hovercraft for Pokémon battles. Get off your high horse."

"Just because I choose to use Pokémon battles as my means of public morale, doesn't mean I don't address the other issues of Galar." Leon gave his typical well-rehearsed response.

Hop marched halfway up the staircase. His eyes were still well underneath the bottom of Leon's shoes. "Be honest, all you care about are your Pokémon battles."

"If you came here to critique then leave. Like I said you're wasting my time."

"Wait," Hop panted, standing face to face with his brother. "How did you know?"

"Know about what? Sorry, I forget things easily, you're gonna have to be a bit more specific than that."

"Leon."

"I'm sorry."

"Lee I just want-" Leon's arms wrapped around Hop in a warm embrace.

"I don't even know what I was doing all this time. I'm sorry Hop, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I overstepped my boundaries as chairman, and I didn't let you do what you wanted. All this time, I was worried about you, I didn't want you to do anything dangerous, I didn't want you to get consumed by yourself... like chairman Rose did."

Tears rolled down Hop's cheeks as he clutched Leon back.

"Please Hop, just take care of yourself. Look, you can't move your left arm, and the palm of your right hand is scared."

"Lee it's okay, maybe I didn't act the best I should have either. Hell, I don't even know why I came here anymore" Their embrace relaxed, and they slowly moved apart. Hop rubbed his face, tears soaking into the smooth material of his glove.

"Is there anything else you need? I'm here if you want to talk."

"No, I just-"

"Bwwwzzzt! Breaking news!" Hop's Rotom Phone flew out of his pocket. "Perpetrators of Gigantamax Sandaconda incident found with guns designed for Rotoms. What could this mean for the safety of Galar?"

Oh, his smile morphed into a frown, that's why I came here, what the hell am I doing?

"Hammerlock's situation seems dire!" Leon exclaimed unnaturally. "I'll be off now."

The giant glass windows behind them slid open, letting in a blast of cold air, almost knocking Hop down the staircase.

"Wait Lee!" Hop yelled, his voice barely audible through the sound of rushing wind.

Leon activated a Poké Ball, calling out his trusted partner, Charizard.

"I still have a question!" Leon was already gone.

Dammit. He walked down the staircase, cold air ripped through his jacket with each step he took. He sat down on the bottom step, looking at the ground.

He was at the top of the world and yet he could see nothing.


Why had Nurse Joy called her? Whatever she can take care of herself. Officer Jenny thought. Being rivals during their gym challenge, she experienced Joy's strength firsthand.

She stood before the bleak Reddish bricks that formed Hotel Ionia. A five-star hotel in Circhester, that only the rich could afford. She looked down at her Rotom Phone, a red dot in the center of the screen representing where she was. Another dot flickered in front of her. After salvaging the malfunctioning camera from the wreckage, it was still broadcasting a signal.

Opening the door, the dazzling light blinded her, everything was dipped in gold and sparkled like rays of sun. A few of the guests wearing exquisite clothing, and sitting in velvet chairs gave her strange looks.

"Our manager would like to speak with you." The receptionist said.