Shin Baxcalibur
Author's Note: An alternate ending to episode 132 of Pokémon Journeys: The Series. Enjoy the story and R&R.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to or of the Pokémon franchise.
Summary:
Chairman Rose's whereabouts after the Darkest Day are revealed at the conclusion of the World Coronation Series.
The mass transplantation of the city's populace to the announced evacuation point was executed fairly smoothly (Sonia's crazy roundabout driving notwithstanding), but the alarming uncertainty hanging over Leon's head lingered. The air was noticeably colder and getting colder, a sound like a walking mountain rumbling toward the now empty Wyndon Stadium.
Ash hadn't held the World Coronation Series trophy for one minute before Officer Jenny's voice echoed over the speakers, urging everybody to leave in a quick but orderly fashion. The words "giant Pokémon attack imminent" were self-explanatory, moving butts out of the seats by themselves.
Leon should have anticipated Chairman Rose would be back. Or more precisely, Chairman Rose's messes, considering the authorities over on Glaseado Mountain had tipped Officer Jenny off to Rose and his assistant being back in Wyndon, and they'd been apprehended during Eternatus' unexpected interruption of the tournament. Leon was never going to be the one to personally catch Rose. His frighteningly absent sense of direction prevented him from searching anywhere except all the wrong places. The onus was on traditional law enforcement to take Rose and Oleana into police custody.
They still weren't arrested fast enough to bar them from loosing their latest mistake on the world. Since fleeing the trouble they created with Eternatus, Rose and Oleana had set up a splinter operation in the Paldea region, funded via a secret offshore account Macro Cosmos started prior to Rose's public disgrace. The two of them merely returned to Galar incognito under assumed aliases to watch their manufactured crisis unfold.
Whatever twisted logic Rose contrived to justify his actions, Leon wouldn't be having it. At present, Leon's ears were less like a Loudred's, and more like the steel-lined jaws behind a Mawile's. Rose's investment in "the future of Galar" disregarded those living in Galar today, endangering innocent people. That man's obsession would destroy Galar, not save it!
Combining two regions' peculiarities…
Irradiating a Titan Pokémon with Galar Particles…
Chairman Rose was truly mad!
This problem was bigger than all of them. Leon didn't sweat the small stuff, but this wasn't small stuff. He was sweating this.
Wyndon Stadium was there when Charizard passed around it a second ago.
It wasn't there anymore.
Project G-Max Titan had reached the city, its size larger than a Gigantamax Pokémon.
FWOOOOO! CRASH!
Baxcalibur, the Ice Axe Titan, had launched itself upside-down aflight a cryogenic breath at Wyndon Stadium with its Glaive Rush, sundering the flower-shaped bowl with its dorsal blade as if it were slicing a sandwich into littler portions.
Wyndon Stadium was cut in half as cleanly.
"What destructive power!" Leon yelled. "Charizard! It's Champion Time!"
Charizard bellowed and attacked Baxcalibur with successive Fire Blasts, the five-pointed spitfires landing five smoking blows in five separate areas, to no avail.
Ash and Pikachu backed Leon up on Dragonite's back and hit Baxcalibur with Electroweb and Hurricane – hoping to contain it – with no better luck.
With the Power Spots many feet below Wyndon Stadium's rubble, the Trainers couldn't Gigantamax their strongest partners to increase the weight of their attacks. They were locked in to their basic movesets, their Dynamax Bands pretty much glorified accessories.
Worst case scenario, the other members of the Masters Eight still in physical attendance (Cynthia and Diantha) could stall Baxcalibur with their Pokémon while the evacuees pushed further inland under Raihan and Duraludon's protection.
"ASH!" Goh suddenly zipped down through the clouds on Flygon.
"GOH?"
"Back up! Things are about to get windy!" the Chaser warned Ash and Leon.
Gargantuan wings emerging out the back of a white fuzz pelt flared with real flames in Project G-Max Titan's path.
"What's that?"
"It's the golden Volcarona we encountered during my first Trial Mission! It's here to help!"
"It flew all the way here from Unova?"
"Yup! And it covered itself in some Galar Particles to Dynamax on the way!"
"COO-OOL!" Ash got so excited he nearly fell over backwards, clinging to Dragonite by his legs and sending Pikachu into a panic.
"PI-KA-CHU? PIKAPI!"
"I'm good, buddy!"
"All right, Volcarona! Dust Baxcalibur in your scales! Flygon, you use Sandstorm!"
The Pokémon joined forces, Volcarona's scales caught up in the tornado of Flygon's Sandstorm, which grew and grew till it blotted out the Ice Dragon Pokémon, including its silhouette.
"What are you doing, Goh?" Ash fought hard not to lose his too-tight grip on Pikachu, his hat, or Dragonite's shoulders inside the buffeting drought-draught.
"Volcarona doesn't know Sleep Powder, so I improvised! Like you, Ash! I had Flygon take a spin through a forest full of Grass-types earlier! Flygon's wings are steeped in Sleep Powder! Mixed with Dynamax Volcarona's flaming scales, that should be all we need to weaken Baxcalibur and put it to sleep!"
Goh's calculations were correct. The storm of allergens put Baxcalibur to sleep standing up. Gigantamax Duraludon's twin in terms of posture, a new skyscraper where Wyndon Stadium stood but recently!
Baxcalibur's nap gave the city an opening to meet and deliberate a humane strategy for relocating it to its proper habitat, where it could be analyzed to (fingers crossed) undo Rose's handiwork.
"How did you know the city was being attacked, Goh?"
"News report on my phone! I came right over!"
"What about Project Mew?"
"Oh, right! I gotta get back, or Gary's gonna rub it in my face!" Goh aimed Flygon higher by bracing his arms under the Mystic Pokémon's neck. "I'll see you later, Ash!"
Volcarona beat its massive wings and flew off as well.
"O-okay! Oh, he's gone. I didn't even tell him we won our Pokémon battle, Pikachu!"
"PikaPika…"
"You'll have the chance, Ash," Leon there there'd. "In the meantime, let's head on to the Hammerlocke Pokémon Center to make sure everyone's safe."
"Yeah! I'm in!"