A/N: Alright, everyone, time for a lore dump! Don't worry, things start getting spicy at the end as I set up for what kinda feels like a season two finale of this fic (that I totally planned to be an even 20 chapters, just like the last "season," don't look into that, there's no such thing as a coincidence). Next week is going to be a beast of a chapter so hopefully I can get that one done on time! But that's a problem for next week. Here's the newest chapter!

"Zacian and Zamazenta?" Victor asked. "Are those the names of the two Pokémon statues underneath the mural?"

"Well, I can't clarify because someone still has the entire site under lockdown," Sonia complained, shaking her fist in what I could only assume was the vague direction of Chairman Rose, "but if you ask me, there's nothing else it could be."

"It's them," I agreed, feeling my knees getting weaker by the second. I slowly sank into the chair opposite Sonia, not taking my eyes off the illustration of the four Pokémon.

"You sure seem confident," Victor said.

"You alright, Gloria?" Sonia asked. "You're white as a sheet. You too, Hop."

"The Weald," Hop said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Th-those are the beasts we saw in the Weald."

"That night you ran in there to get Wooloo and we got our partner Pokémon?" Victor asked. Hop nodded and leaned on the table next to me.

"So that's what Leon was on about when he called me up," Sonia mused. "He did mention that you two were seeing things in there that night. Of course, everyone starts seeing things if they spend too much time there."

"We weren't seeing things, though," I said. "They were really there! They were practically drooling on us before Leon and Victor showed up!"

Sonia looked at Victor for confirmation and he shrugged. "It was dark. We saw something, but I couldn't tell you if it was them," he admitted. "Leon mostly lit up the place so we could find a safe place to land as much as anything. I didn't see a sword or a shield or anything like that, though, that's for sure."

"They didn't have one then," Hop explained. "Although it was pretty misty that night…"

"No," I pressed, grabbing onto Hop's arm. "We saw them. Sword or no sword. And we've seen them since."

Victor and Sonia stared at us both with great curiosity. "You have?" Sonia asked slowly. Victor's eyes narrowed and he furrowed his brow.

"Yes!" I said, nodding my head.

"In our dreams, of course," Hop corrected quickly, wrenching his arm from my grip and taking a step back. "And not so much recently. But it was wicked scary when it did, thought I was goin' crazy for a bit."

"Both of you?" Victor asked.

"Y-yeah," I said. I could feel my confidence starting to wane. I had sworn that these visions were real, but it didn't seem like neither Victor nor Sonia fully believed me. But one of them – the one with the sword – she had talked to me! I couldn't have made that up.

"They seemed real, though," Hop continued, growing more and more confident as I shrunk back in my chair. "That one with the shield? Almost seemed like that one was trying to tell me something."

"Right," Sonia said curiously. "That one's Zamazenta. The one with the shield is Zacian."

I nodded. "And the two of them managed to bring an end to the Darkest Day," I added.

Victor perked up. "No, they didn't," he said simply. "Not according to the legend anyway. That was the ancient hero, the first King of Galar, right?"

"Both wrong, actually," Sonia said with a smile, before pointing to the page on the right. "Well, sort of. Here, take a look at this; tell me if this sounds familiar." I glanced to the right and saw that the only words on the page were comprised in a short poem.

Four Champions! Glim, Armour, Galar, Soan,

quick made their stand in homes where dragons dwell.

From Blackness taken o'er the skies and land

Four golden kings rang out the black hand's knell.

And so, we all may see the light again,

And ne'er so more shall fire engulf the sky,

They smote the beast that tore our lives in twain

And with four hands they left their strife to die.

And should the Black Hand raise its fingers 'gain,

Come back, four champions, led by Zacian.

My heart froze in my chest as I read the last two lines. I knew now, more than ever, that it was Zacian that had appeared to me that night in the Weald, and so often throughout the past few weeks. A cold wave washed over me as I looked up from the book and into Sonia's smiling face. She looked at me and stopped smiling. Her mouth moved, but she sounded a mile away from me; I could barely hear her.

Suddenly, a hand shook me, and everything righted itself. I looked to my right and saw Victor leaning over me, his hand gripped around my shoulder.

"I said, are you okay?" Sonia asked.

"Y-yeah, I think," I said. I whipped my head to the left and made eye contact with Hop. In just a glance, he managed to convey that he knew and felt the exact same thing I was feeling right now. He swallowed. "Sorry," I continued. "I just…I've got something on my mind."

"But you recognize this, right?" Sonia pressed.

"Yeah, it's the poem from Turffield Hill," Victor answered slowly, "only…not. The words are different. Why are they different?"

"I dunno," Sonia said coyly, her voice almost musical. "But I bet you can guess where the changes to the poem were made, right Victor?"

Victor furrowed his brow and studied the poem again, and after a couple seconds, his eyes grew wide. "The changed runes!" he gasped. "The-the ones that didn't fit with the others! This…this must be the actual poem from the Hill!"

"Got it in one," Sonia said with a wink, and then she opened her bag and pulled out a picture of Turffield Hill, exactly from the angle where we had looked at it at the start of the challenge. "I can't say with one hundred percent certainty, but I'd almost put all my money on this being those figures on the hill being the hero with those four champions!"

I looked at the photo, and I found I couldn't refute her. There was the giant bear and humanoid figure, but the two beasts we had previously identified as Linoone and Pyroar had to have been Zacian and Zamazenta instead.

"That's pretty cool!" Victor said. "Wild that we thought that was a Linoone and Pyroar, it's so obvious in retrospect. But wait, the poem doesn't mention the Hero at all."

"Nope," Sonia said, "And that's the stumbling point here, I'm afraid. The mounds clearly show the hero and four beasts, which match the story of the darkest day that we already know."

"So, what, they changed the poem retroactively to fit with the mounds?" Victor asked. "That doesn't make an ounce of sense."

"They didn't," Hop said. "That's not the hero." Sonia raised her eyebrow, her smile growing.

"Hop, don't be ridiculous," Victor chided. "It's obviously related to the darkest day; it's just like the giant statues in Stow-on-Side, it's there to honor the Hero and the four champions. What else could it be?"

"It's the Black Hand," I whispered. "It's the four champions fighting the black hand."

"This thing right here?" Victor asked, pointing to the star at the center of the mound. "I suppose it does look a bit like a hand…it's got the five fingers and all, but then that would mean the hero isn't depicted at all."

"The Darkest Day had something to do with Dynamax, right?" Hop ventured. "Maybe the Hero is in the mural, but all the other Pokémon are Dynamax. There were all those little people around them, after all!"

"But then what about the statues at Stow-on-Side?" Sonia asked. "There was no statue of the hero there."

"There were two men!" Victor shouted suddenly. "Behind the statues of Zacian and Zamazenta! Maybe one of them was supposed to be the hero?"

"Maybe there was more than one hero this whole time," I said, glancing pointedly at Hop, who turned away, instead moving to grab a chair to sit in closer to Sonia.

"Now that's a wild theory," said Sonia knowingly. "Sounds like you already know the legend, then."

"I've never even heard of Zacian and Zamazenta before today," Victor admitted. "Have you?"

"Not a lot," Sonia responded with a shrug. "There's too many myths and legends about rare and powerful Pokémon to count, and there's no way we know 'em all, but take a listen." She pulled the book back to her and twisted it around so she could read from it and turned a few pages back. "The Tale of Zacian and her Sister, Zamazenta," she read in an overly theatrical voice.

"Long before we counted the years by number and our peoples by the thousand, the realm was split in its populations and allegiances. All owed their allegiance to a Guardian Pokémon. In the icy and mountainous tundra to the South lived the King of Bountiful Harvests. In the great Isle to the East, the people were protected by the Mighty Ursine Warrior. The towns and cities that scattered the lands each had their own guardian Pokémon, but in the mainland of the realm there live two guardian wolves who are always there to provide aid to their people when they are most needed: Zacian, the sword of Galar, and Zamazenta, the shield of Soan. Two powerful sister cities aided by the most powerful guardians in the realm.

"These powerful city-states grew and thrived thanks to the power of their benevolent guardians. When warring kingdoms brought their strife, they would be smote by these deities. Whenever the nations of Galar and Soan were in danger, a champion would simply have to call upon their guardian, and if deemed worthy, the Sword or Shield would come to their aid.

"But while these two kingdoms lived peacefully for hundreds of years, their peoples grew complacent and vile. The sword and shield were soon called upon for trivial matters, and some matters they deemed too unworthy of their efforts and power. The people of Galar and Soan became drunk with the power they wielded, and in their drunkenness came cruelty. They began to call upon the Sword and Shield for aggression instead of protection, and the Sword and Shield grew weary of the people they had sworn to protect. Soon after, Zacian and Zamazenta would not answer their people's calls.

"The other nations of the realm soon came to realize what had happened and took their chance. They came together with a common enemy in mind and marched on the two nations. The leaders of Galar and Soan begged for Zacian and Zamazenta to come to their aid, but due to the transgressions of the leaders, neither wolf came, and their outer lands were soon destroyed as the people marched towards the leaders of the cities. All was thought to be lost until two brothers of little renown appeared at the ancient altar to plead their case. Zacian and Zamazenta found their hearts pure and took pity on them, finally coming to the cities' need at the last moment. There was great celebration in the two cities, and the brothers were crowned as the new kings and the two cities became one. Zacian and Zamazenta had returned to protect their peoples, but their trust remained broken, and while the brothers still lived, Zacian and Zamazenta only listened to their command.

"After the brothers died, many have tried to call upon Zacian and Zamazenta to aid them in their time of need. Sometimes, if the heart calling out to them is pure, they will come to their aid, otherwise, they slumber on, waiting for their new masters to arrive."

Sonia looked up from the book, grinning. "Wicked stuff, this," she said. "Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Is there anything else about them in there?"

Sonia raised her eyebrows, impressed. "Well, Gloria, I never imagined you would take that much of an interest in this; I figured this would be more Victor's speed. Seeing those statues must've really sparked something for you."

"You could say that," I said with an uneasy laugh. Hop cleared his throat and squirmed in his seat. He looked pale. Victor had also pulled up a chair next to Sonia and was scanning over the text too with narrow eyes.

"Well, in that case, I have some bad news; outside of their legend and their mention in that Poem, there's not much about them in here at all."

"But didn't the book say they were the Guardians of Galar and Soan?" I pressed. "We live in Galar now! You'd think we'd know more about it!"

Sonia shrugged and flipped back to the page with the illustration on it. "That's the thing. For some reason, it seems that Zacian and Zamazenta have been completely scrubbed from history! Totally lost in time."

"So, we figure out what happened to them," I asserted quickly. "Why they disappeared. Anything, really."

"Quite the researcher you're turning out to be," Sonia said, leaning back in her chair. "Unfortunately, that's not what Rose is paying me to research. I'm supposed to research the cause of the Darkest Day, and as far as I can tell, Zacian and Zamazenta only came in to end it. And even then, it doesn't even say what they did or how they did it."

"Can I see this?" Victor asked suddenly.

"Wha? Oh, sure, go ahead," Sonia said. She gingerly slid the book over, so it was in front of Victor, who began to rifle through pages. "Easy, Vic! That book's about to break into dust if you're not careful."

"Sorry," Victor mumbled, leafing through the pages a little bit slower.

"If you promise to treat it well, you can hang onto it while you're in Hammerlocke," Sonia bargained. "No doubt you three are planning to battle Raihan now, yeah?"

"I dunno…" Hop muttered, slinking down in his chair. "I'm having enough trouble beating regular Pokémon; how am I supposed to defeat dragons?"

"Leon manages to find a way every single time," Sonia laughed, waving her hand dismissively at Hop, causing him to sink even further into his chair.

"We can worry about that another time," I interrupted. "Victor?"

"Eh?" Victor asked, looking up from a page he had been scanning about the Mighty Ursine Warrior. "Oh! Right! Sonia, we have something you need to see." He leaned over and pulled the giant wishing star out of his bag. As he did, the stone shone brilliantly, pulsing more quickly and vibrantly than it did when we were in the taxi over to Hammerlocke.

Sonia's eyes widened. "Victor," she gasped. "Where in hell did you find that?" She quickly grabbed at it, and Victor was only too happy to pass it off to her.

"I didn't find it," Victor shrugged. "Gloria did."

I nodded. "Found it the day you two came back from the Isle, right outside the train station," I added. "Well, actually…"

"Gloria," Sonia said sternly. "Most people are lucky if they find a wishing star like this at all. This is the second one you've spotted, and it's massive."

"To be fair, Hop spotted the first one," I interjected, "and the second one…"

"Wait, hold on, you found it here." Sonia repeated suddenly. "Like, in the city of Hammerlocke? That's what you mean by 'here.'"

"Well, yeah, in an alley by the train station, but I didn't—"

"Can you take me to where you found this?" Sonia asked.

"I didn't—does it matter where it was?" I asked.

"More than you may know," she replied, serious as death.

Sonia and I made our way to the train station together, while Hop took one look at the worsening storm clouds and elected to book our beds at the Pokémon Center and stay in for the evening. Victor chose to stay back, choosing to stick his nose deep into the book that Sonia had brought from Wedgehurst.

"He's really got quite the head for research. I bet Gran wouldn't mind bringing him on to be a research fellow with me and the rest of the lab once the challenge is over," she said as we turned the corner onto the plaza where the station was located.

"I'm sure that he'd jump at the chance to spend a little quality time with you," I teased. As I spoke, I heard the low rumbling of thunder, paired with an uncomfortable buzz of my Dynamax Bracelet. The wishing star glowed brightly in Sonia's hands before fading back to its previous pulsating state.

Sonia didn't seem to notice. "We both happen to enjoy each other's company, playground crushes excluded," Sonia chided. "And no doubt he'll find his Marnie eventually," she shot back with a devilish grin.

I blushed. "Oh, you, er, you know about that?"

"Gloria, you're the top two trainers in the entire region, plus I've been watching you two make eyes at each other practically since you met," she laughed. "None of you lot are exactly subtle. Proud of you two, though. You're wicked cute together."

I laughed softly, but the mood shifted quickly as another rumble of thunder rolled through the sky. This one was louder – the storm was building. "Let's just get there and get out," I said uneasily, pointing to the dark entrance to the alley where I saw the beast—Zacian—glaring at me. "It was through there."

"Ominous," Sonia said, fishing in the pocket of her jacket. I could sense some tension in her voice, and in a flash of light, her Yamper appeared by her side with a chipper bark.

"Smart idea," I replied, and pulled a Pokéball out for myself too. I tossed it out, and Ponyta appeared in a flash next to the alley entrance. Her mane began to glow, illuminating the brick walls next to her. "Come on then," I said, hoping to sound braver than I felt. "Would you like to light the way, girl?" Ponyta cocked her head at me, but her mane began to glow even brighter, and she slowly walked into the entryway. Sonia and I followed, with Yamper bringing up the rear.

"Gloria, what the hell were you even doing back here?" Sonia asked in a hushed voice.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I replied. Another rumble of thunder. It was starting to get loud, and it sounded close, as if it were already here. The wishing star was pulsing so fast now that it just was glowing red steadily now, though it wasn't nearly as bright as Ponyta's mane yet.

"Try me," Sonia challenged. I ignored her and pushed on ahead, deeper into the alley as another, louder blast of thunder shook the walls around us. A Skwovet and a Trubbish skittered around the dumpster after the blast, and Sonia and I found ourselves closing in on the dead end of the alley. As we got closer, I recognized the strange musty smell, but I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

"I can't believe this," Sonia gasped. Ahead of us, scattered around, were about a dozen wishing stars, lying plainly on the ground in front of us. None were quite as big as the one I had found here about a week ago, but the sheer number of them was enough to light the usually black bricks up with an unsettling burgundy tint. There was another thunderclap, and each Star lit up, as if string lights that someone had just plugged into an outlet. The entire end of the alley glowed bright pink for nearly half a minute before finally starting to fade.

As the light around us dimmed, I noticed Ponyta stamping her hoofs on the ground in distress. "It's okay, girl," I said, bringing my hand to her and letting my fingers trail through her glowing yellow mane. She was trembling, no doubt from the rising Dynamax energy all around us. I turned to Sonia. "We should probably get back to the Pokémon Center," I said, straining to hide my anxiety.

"I can't tell if this is fascinating or terrifying," Sonia muttered, crouching next to one of the wishing stars. "I've never seen this many in one place before."

"I have," I said, thinking back to Bede's bag of Stars. Certainly, he hadn't put these here, had he?

"Were there this many here before, when you found that star?"

I shook my head. "There was only the one."

"And…how did you think to even come back here? It's not exactly a typical spot to wait for a train."

"I saw…" I started, but then stopped. "No, it's crazy."

"Gloria," Sonia said sternly. "All of this," she said, pointing wildly at the pulsating wishing stars surrounding us, "is crazy. I could take a video of the whole bleedin' alley and Gran will still think I'm taking the piss with her." Inspired by her idea, she pulled her phone out and began to take pictures of the entire alleyway. "You could tell me you shat these out yourself and that you're an avatar of Arceus and I'd probably still believe you at this point."

"Well, it's not that weird," I replied. "Or at least I think."

"So, what do you think happened?" Sonia asked. She was now showing her camera on me.

"Zacian," I said simply.

"Zacian?"

"I saw…well, I think I saw Zacian, I've been seeing Zacian, and when I was waiting to meet with you and Vic, I saw her at the end of the alleyway, and I—"

"Hold on," Sonia interrupted, her face screwed up in confusion. "Zacian? The fantasy wolf I just told you about?"

"Yeah, I know, and it sounds like I've lost the plot, but you have to trust me here, Sonia. I saw Zacian that night in the Weald, and I saw her again here in Hammerlocke. I keep seeing her. Her and Zamazenta. They're dreams, or visions, or something, I dunno, but one of them happened and I followed her here and found that." I pointed to the big wishing star that was nestled in the crook of Sonia's arm.

"I…well it does make about as much sense as there being all of these stars here," Sonia agreed. "And I guess that explains why you've taken such an interest in those wolves."

"So, you believe me?"

"I…I just don't know what to make of all this," she admitted.

Before I had a chance to argue, there was another loud crash above us. The entire alleyway shook from the noise, although it seemed to shake more than it should have from the amount of noise the thunder made - almost as if something was shifting underground. Ponyta clicked her hooves impatiently and whinnied. Yamper whimpered and tucked himself behind Sonia's boots. "Sonia, we need to get back to the Pokémon Center," I pressed. "I can't explain it here or now, but we have to—"

There was another colossal boom followed by a piercing, high-pitched whine coming from the skies. Each wishing star around us erupted in light, lighting the entire alley up like the sunrise. Sonia and I looked up, and Sonia brought her camera up just in time to see wind whistling through the tops of the buildings. Above us loomed the Hammerlocke spire and whirling around it like a hurricane were pinkish-red clouds. At the tip of the spire, sharp red bolts of lightning zapped across the surface of the gigantic gem, and as there was another crash of thunder, the two of us could see a dark crack spreading up from the base of the gem. All around us, small glowing rocks fell and crashed to the ground like hail.

"These…these aren't wishing stars," Sonia exclaimed. "They're shards of the spire!" As she shouted, a giant piece of the gem cracked off the gem and plummeted toward us. It crashed into the bricks and shingles at the top of the building, knocking about a dozen loose, and all of them careened toward us.

"Gloria!" Sonia cried, pulling my arm and starting to run out of the alleyway. Yamper was way ahead of us, fortunately out of range of any falling bricks, for now.

I shook my arm free and turned around. "Ponyta!" I shouted. "Psybeam!" Ponyta snapped to attention and looked up, seeing the large shard crashing down. Her horn glowed bright and shot a powerful beam of psychic energy directly at the shard, and the second it made contact, the shard shattered into a thousand smaller shards, pelting all of us. I felt the sharp edges flay me, but few managed to break the skin of my cheeks. "Thanks, now come on!"

Ponyta didn't need the extra encouragement, breaking into a full gallop towards Sonia, who only just managed to hop out of the way. Sonia then grabbed my arm again and pulled me back toward the entrance to the alley. Behind us, I heard the crashing and crumbling noises of brick hitting brick and breaking upon impact exactly where the two of us had just been standing.

The two of us sped past the dumpster, where I could already see the Skwovet and Trubbish reeling from the compounding Dynamax energy swirling above us. I skidded to a halt and wrenched my wrist from Sonia's grasp. "Ponyta!" I cried, jabbing at the two Pokémon behind me. "Psybeam again!"

Ponyta turned and launched a beam of psychic energy right past Sonia and me and toward the two Pokémon, who had already started to expand and grow from the Dynamax energy. The Trubbish took the full brunt of the attack, flying backwards and slamming against the dumpster with a heavy thud. A burst of Dynamax energy exploded around it, and the Trubbish began to shrink back down again. "Sonia! Do you have any spare Pokéballs on you?"

Sonia fumbled in her messenger bag and pulled one out shakily. "I…yes, but I don't think this is really the—"

"Thanks," I said, grabbing the ball and lobbing it at the Trubbish, who was quickly sucked inside. "These things are about to Dynamax. I think they'll be safe in Pokéballs," I explained, "or at least it seemed that way from the last storm I was in."

"You mean like…Gloria, get back!"

As the Pokéball clicked shut with Trubbish safely inside, the Skwovet hopped up on top of the dumpster and growled viciously at us. It had already grown to the size of its evolution, Greedent, and did not seem to be stopping any time soon.

"Yamper, Thundershock!" Sonia screeched.

"Stomp!" I ordered. Ponyta leapt up onto the dumpster as well and kicked out at the Skwovet, knocking it straight into the lightning bolt from Yamper. There was another burst of Dynamax energy around us, and the Skwovet fell to the ground, back to its original size.

"Suppose you don't have any more Pokéballs?" I asked. Sonia shook her head. "Then RUN!" Sonia needed no extra convincing, recalling her Yamper and booking it out of the alleyway without a second thought. Ponyta looked at me and then at the Pokéball, before taking it gingerly in her mouth and galloping back to me. She dropped the Pokéball daintily in my hand and the two of us quickly followed Sonia out into the plaza.

The second I stepped out of the alleyway I was greeted by an immensely powerful gust of wind that nearly knocked me over. I grabbed at Ponyta's haunches and the two of us managed to stay on our feet. "Sonia!" I called out, but I could barely hear myself over another earsplitting crack of thunder. Ponyta tensed up and stamped her feet on the ground. Her eyes flared pink and she shook her head violently. I fumbled in my pocket and pulled out her Pokéball and held it up. "Get back inside where it's safe," I said soothingly. She obeyed, and in a poof of red, she had vanished back inside. Another powerful gust lay into me, this one strong enough to knock me over onto the ground.

I slammed into the cobble street and rolled a couple feet before stopping suddenly in the shadow of someone, or something. The wind died down just enough to pull myself back up to my feet, and I saw that I had found Sonia again. She was yelling something at me, but before I could hear anything, a loud roar sounded from a block and a half over. I whirled around and looked up and felt my heart sink to the pits of my stomach.

At the edge of the plaza was a three-story building, and behind it, lumbering at what was easily three times its size was a vicious-looking draconic beast, brown in color with beady eyes and strange grooves in its body that looked almost like a skeleton in the eerie red light of the sky. I had only seen these on documentaries that Hop had forced me to watch, but even without them I would have known it was bad news. It was a Tyranitar. It stomped around the building, with each step sending a powerful vibration all around it and kicking up powerful dust with every swing of its tail, and roared again, looking down straight at the two of us. I felt my knees start to shake and I grabbed onto Sonia, as if there was anything she could do to help out now.

"Don't look so scared, ladies!" shouted a voice behind us. I turned around, just in time to see a green blur soar past us, headed right for the Dynamaxed Tyranitar. For a brief second, the green blur halted long enough for me to make out its shape. It was a Flygon, a slender green dragon with bulging red eyes and long green antennae. Sitting straddled across its neck was a man in a familiar blue and orange hoodie.

"Raihan?!" I cried.

Raihan looked back and even in the low light, I could tell he was giving us an incredibly handsome, winning smile as he tossed a Pokéball to the ground. A Goodra, sticky-looking and gleaming in the red light, materialized twenty feet before us and immediately volleyed a powerful blast of water straight towards the Tyranitar. The Tyranitar roared indignantly again and jumped into the plaza proper, landing hard enough to send a shockwave through the streets. It pulled its arms up into the air, and with it rose a gargantuan sheet of stone, almost as tall as it was. The sheet of rock wobbled a bit and began to fall toward us.

"Goodra!" I heard Raihan call in distress, from too far away, but before Goodra even had a chance to react, a massive waterspout shot out from behind us, strong enough to break through the giant rock and send bits of stone crumbling back down to the plaza below. Sonia, Goodra, and I whipped around to see ourselves face to face with another Dynamaxed Pokémon, this one an oddly familiar looking tortoise. At its feet stood another familiar gym leader.

"Nessa?!" Sonia cried.

"You know I'd never let the boys have all the fun, babes," Sonia said, strutting up to the two of us. "Gloria! Long time no see! We should catch up when we're not saving the city from a rampaging Pokémon." With that, she turned back around and bellowed, "Once more, Dreadnaw! Max Geyser!"

The Tyranitar roared and twisted its body, swinging its heavy tail around toward us. Raihan let out a yell and his Flygon zipped back down to the ground, and before we even recognized what was happening, it had grabbed Sonia and me in each of its claws and pulled us into the sky, safely out of the way of the tail. I jerked my head back just in time to see Nessa dive under and out of the way of the tail. Her Dreadnaw was not quite as lucky, taking the attack dead-on and slamming its body into the train station. Glass shattered and fell to the ground, and I could see figures behind the frosted glass of the doors running around, suddenly not in safety anymore.

Flygon let the two of us down at the far end of the plaza, and Raihan managed to jump off of its neck before a powerful gust of wind sent the dragon flying toward another building. It managed to right itself and shoot straight up into the sky, with no harm done to it or the building it almost crashed into. "Flygon!" Raihan ordered. "Dragon Claw! Get its attention and draw it away from the train station!" The dragon grunted and sped off toward Tyranitar, zipping between more wind currents and wincing at every concurrent blast of thunder. Raihan then turned to us and looked us over. "You two alright?" he asked. For once, his cocky demeanor was nowhere to be found, replaced by a sheer look of determination and worry.

"Yeah, a little shaken, but I think we'll be alright," Sonia admitted.

Nessa sprinted toward us as her Dreadnaw launched another blast of water towards the Tyranitar. "We gotta move!" she yelled as the four of us were misted by the water.

"On it," Raihan said with a nod, then turned his head to Goodra. "Goodra, another Muddy Mater! Keep at it!" Goodra looked over from across the plaza and nodded and shot another burst of water towards Tyranitar as well. "That should keep it occupied," he said with a grin. "Now we just need to…"

Suddenly, there was a bright green beam of energy that flew in from seemingly nowhere, colliding with Tyranitar and ricocheting fragments of light all around the plaza. The Tyranitar stumbled back and began to fall as Dynamax energy escaped from it with explosive speed. All four of us and our Pokémon shielded our eyes as best we could, and when the wind finally died out and for a brief, merciful second, all was quiet, I looked back out to see, standing over the unconscious form of a now regular-sized Tyranitar, Leon's Charizard. As Leon hopped off its back, Charizard let out a mighty roar of victory and the two jogged over to us.

"…we just need to bask in the champion's victory," Raihan grumbled.

"Is everyone alright?" Leon asked. "Gloria? Sonia! I'm so glad we found you. Victor and Hop were both worried sick once the thunder started."

"We're fine, everyone's fine," Sonia said. "I think everyone in the plaza took shelter in the train station before that Tyranitar even reared his ugly head."

"That's some good news, at least," Leon muttered. He looked at Sonia and Raihan. "I was hoping our summit wouldn't be punctuated by a demonstration, but you handled it all remarkably. Thank you so much."

"It was nothing," Nessa said. She pulled up a Pokéball and held it aloft toward her Dreadnaw, who was still lumbering over toward us in its Dynamaxed state.

"Wait!" I called out, suddenly. "The storm's not…" But I didn't need to finish my sentence, as another earthshattering blast of thunder echoed through the city. Above us, the spire lit up so brightly it was almost a perfect white, and the Dynamax clouds that were swirling around it only began to grow, spinning wildly out until they covered the city.

I gulped. Leon glanced up at the expanding clouds and looked around at Raihan, Nessa, Sonia and me as the entire city began to quake in the storm, formulating a plan. Finally, his eyes landed on Sonia. "Sonia," he barked. "You and Gloria need to get into the Train Station where it's safe." Sonia nodded and turned tail toward the station, but I stayed rooted to the ground. "Nessa, you keep an eye on Dreadnaw. Call him back if the Dynamax Energy is too much for him to control himself. The last thing we need is Hammerlocke crumbling to the ground. Find Milo and do everything you can to draw any other wild Dynamaxed Pokémon away from where they can do the most harm. Raihan, head back to the gym; make sure all the Pokémon there are safe. I have to go back to the power plant. I have a bad feeling—Gloria, what are you still doing here?"

The two men looked at me curiously as Nessa sprinted away towards her Dreadnaw. "I-I don't want to hide," I said earnestly. "I want to help. Raihan, I can go with you to the gym and help lock it down."

"Respect the gumption, mate, but this is punching out of your weight class," Raihan suggested. As he said it, his Flygon touched down behind him and his Goodra waddled up. He made for an intimidating display truly fitting of his nickname – the master of dragons.

Still, I shook my head and stared into Leon's eyes. "Leon," I insisted. "I was in the last one; the one that ripped through Glimwood Tangle. I know what to expect, and if this is any worse, you're going to need all the help I can get."

"Thanks, but no thanks, Gloria," Leon growled. "There's more going on here than just a storm, and I refuse to put you in danger."

"Leon, I'll be—"

"You'll be safer in the train station," he said simply. "If you really want to help, you should help Sonia make sure no one in there is injured. Come on, Raihan." The two hopped onto their flying dragons and Raihan called Goodra back into its ball, and then they took to the skies just as long as another crash of thunder and gust of wind blew through the now empty plaza. To my right, Sonia and a couple other trainers were tending to the Tyranitar, who had come to again. Slowly, they were bringing it toward the train station. Sonia looked back toward me, and in just a glance, realized exactly what I had just resolved to do.

"Gloria, don't—" she stammered, but I had already turned and was running in the opposite direction. I lobbed a Pokeball and Cinderace appeared a few feet ahead of me. Instantly, he picked up on the danger of the situation and bounded forward so he was in step with me.

"Sorry to bring you out in another one of these storms, buddy," I panted. "I'm probably going to do something very stupid, are you with me?" Cinderace looked at me and grinned with excitement, and the two of us rushed through the rumbling streets of Hammerlocke, heading towards the Pokemon Center, and after, Raihan's gym.

A/N: Y'all, next week is gonna be wild, provided I can wrangle it all together coherently. We've got the biggest Dynamax Storm on our hands yet and you just know that a Tyranitar is not where the madness ends. Also, hi Nessa! Good to see you again! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to lock myself into my apartment and chain myself to my laptop to make sure this next chapter works the way I want it to.

NEXT WEEK: A CHAMPION TIME