"Hello there! How may I help you?"

The ginger-haired lady smiled and waved her hand as Ender stood silently at the end of their table. Grace could feel a dark presence emanating from around him, which caused the woman's bubbly expression to turn sour upon realizing that he wasn't playing friendly.

"You have MY Wishing Star!" Ender retorted angrily, his skin illuminating even brighter than before at the sight of the indigo-colored rock.

The woman jumped back in her chair and became very intimidated by Ender's dark presence. The elderly woman however, lowered her glasses with curiosity.

"Mmm… How interesting…" She began to ponder as her jade-colored eyes gradually moved between the man's pulsating skin and the Wishing Star in her granddaughter's hand.

It was by this time that Grace had stood up from her seat and rushed towards Ender's side, attempting to pull him back and avoid causing a scene. His intimidating appearance had already disrupted the entire restaurant. Employees and customers awkwardly gazed across at him feeling anxious and uncomfortable.

"I-I-I'm so terribly sorry for interrupting your conversation…" Grace bowed apologetically while nudging her friend towards the exit. "We were just about to leave and…"

"Hold on a second." The elderly lady placed her hand up, cutting Grace's sentence short. "Are you not Dr. Grace Brezziana, the young lass who was employed by the chairman and revived the Darkest Day Pokemon?"

Oh no… Had they seen her on television after that horrendous day? How embarrassing… Grace wanted to sink deep into the floor while Ender's angry glare only became sharper.

She gulped in return. "Yes, I am."

"Ah, Dr. Brezziana! My name is Professor Magnolia. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person. I worked alongside your family in the field of Dynamax energy and I've heard so much about you and your marvelous gift."

The professor arose from her chair and reached out to shake Grace's hand. She responded with a polite but awkward smile.

"Thank you, it's a privilege to meet you too."

"My name's Sonia. It's a great opportunity to finally put a face to such a talked-about name!" The ginger-haired lady shook Grace's hand and smiled, but in the corner of her eye she set a frightened gaze towards Ender.

He had remained silent this entire time.

'Ring ring ring.'

Sonia reached into her pocket to answer the mobile phone. However, a concerned expression crossed her face after a few moments.

"Ok, we'll be there immediately." She nodded, quickly putting the phone back into her pocket and motioning towards her grandmother. "Bea has just notified me that a young new endorsement is causing some trouble over there in Stow-on-Side. He's been yelling about Wishing Stars and the sorts, harassing the locals with one of Chairman Rose's own Pokemon that he did not have permission to take."

"Oh my... Is that young Challenger Bede?" Professor Magnolia asked curiously. Sonia nodded then briefly looked towards Grace, who was rolling her eyes with an unsurprised expression.

"We ran into the arrogant boy yesterday while travelling along Route 8. He tried to demand and threaten us for our Wishing Star."

Ender held back a sarcastic laugh. What tiny punk idiot like Bede could threaten a powerful legendary Pokemon like himself?

"Why on earth would the chairman endorse such a boy?" Sonia asked with frustration as they left the restaurant and walked towards a grey Mercedes in the parking lot. She gestured for Grace to sit in the backseat while avoiding Ender's unpleasant glare. Without a single word, he'd already jumped into the backseat next to the young doctor.

Sonia drove back towards Hammerlocke, heading a few hours west towards a little place in the Galar region called Stow-on-Side. Grace marveled at the colossal, rugged mountains which revealed streams of sunlight shining through their crevices. Trainers who had travelled from all over the region were happily camping on the mountain tops. Besides their embarrassing camping incident last night, Grace had loved experiencing the landscapes of Galar in the short amount of time she'd known Ender.

When they had finally arrived, an abundance of market stalls was scattered across the pavement, with ground-type Pokemon selling a variety of goods from street food to rare antique items. Historical buildings that closely resembled western saloons had been built across the entire town. At a closer glance, they appeared to be made from a mixture of mudbrick and desert sand. It was very different to the medieval castles and modern stone architecture that gave Hammerlocke a sturdy but timeless aesthetic.

"The mural here at Stow-on-Side is said to tell the story of the hero of Galar, although what remains today is a replica of the ancient art that used to be there…" Sonia stopped the car as she fixed her sunglasses and released a Yamper from its Pokeball. She turned towards Grace who had remained silent in the backseat with Ender.

"I've heard about your sharp insight and wondered what you might think when you see the ruins…"

KA-BOOM!

Suddenly, Sonia's sentence was cut short when a huge explosion shook the ground beneath them. Ender's eyes became furious as if he'd known exactly what had just happened.

"Ender!" Grace reached towards her friend, but it was too late… He had already bolted out of the car and was heading towards the mural.

"My oh my… What kind of trouble is that young lass causing here?" Professor Magnolia questioned with deep concern as they quickly exited the car. Yamper was also very distressed and howled with anxiety.

Sonia gulped. "I'm not sure grandma but it sounds like it came from the direction of the mural. Let's go check it out!"

As they ran, Grace immediately noticed the light, silvery-blonde haired figure who was standing in the distance.

'Wait a second… Where was Ender? Didn't he come this way?'

The young boy was shouting at the mural wall with both excitement and frustration.

"Destroy it! Haha, destroy it all! We're going to find all the Wishing Stars and please the chairman! Copperahjah, if you're truly his Pokemon then you should feel grateful for this chance to help your trainer!"

"Rrraaaaaaj!" The enormous elephant Pokemon reared back onto his hindfeet in response, ready and willing to obey Bede at any command.

"Stop right there Bede!" Grace yelled as fury bubbled deep within her throat. First the chairman tried to bring forth the Darkest Day and now this boy is destroying an ancient monument… How dare anybody think they could mess with the natural balance of this beautiful region.

Bede spun around with a somewhat surprised but prideful smirk plastered across his face. After noticing that it was the young doctor who was standing behind him, he began to taunt her cynically.

"Oh my, you again… Aw and it looks like you don't possess any Wishing Stars anymore. What a shame… Did your boyfriend suddenly take them and leave you with nothing? Poor girl."

"Don't you dare speak to me like that!" She hissed. Grace absolutely despised the attitude of this young boy.

Bede simply laughed. "I was the one chosen by the chairman, one of the elites – someone who could shoulder the future of the Galar region. I won't let anybody stand it my way."

Suddenly, Grace spun around as she heard a crowd of footsteps behind her. Oleana, chairman Rose himself and a group of Macro Cosmos employees had arrived at the scene. Sonia and Professor Magnolia greeted them politely.

"I wondered what trouble you were up to when you asked to borrow the chairman's Pokemon… I can't believe you would destroy an ancient historical site." Oleana stated, having a somewhat blank expression at the boy. Behind those eyes though, Grace saw a faint glimmer of her psychotic side.

Momentarily, the sky surrounding the town began to change into a dark black-purple hue as small amounts of Dynamax energy flickered like lightning bolts amongst the swirling haze.

Bede simply pointed his finger up towards the sky in response to Oleana. "See? Who cares about some ancient ruins when the next thousand years are at stake? Gosh Oleana… How do you expect to support the chairman with that dumb sort of thinking?"

Okay, was this little punk trying to provoke the vice president's psychotic side?

Rose calmly approached the young boy and motioned him aside to talk privately. Expecting to receive praise and honor for his actions, Bede accepted the request and followed with an arrogant smile.

"Eternatus…" Grace whispered to herself softly, gazing towards the swirling vortex of energy that was becoming increasingly more violent. "Where are you hiding…?"

Her thoughts about the Darkest Day Pokemon abruptly stopped when a hysterical, high-pitched scream echoed through the ruins. Oh, what a surprise... It was Bede.

"YOU, you must be joking right!? You can't disqualify me from the Gym Challenge when you're the one who endorsed me?! This isn't fair!"

Grace laughed this time upon hearing Bede chuck those childish tantrums. While she despised the chairman just as much, she'd hoped that a nice dose of humility would serve the young boy well.

While Rose forcibly took away the Wishing Star from Bede and retrieved the Wishing Star that Sonia had been holding, the atmosphere around them began to shake violently.

"Ah, Eternatus is somewhere in our midst!" The chairman beamed with delight as he pushed the indigo-colored rocks into his grey coat. He then glanced towards Grace with a somewhat disappointed look, expecting her to possess at least one Wishing Star after her long journey with Ender.

"Look out!" Sonia yelled as the ancient mural began to collapse. Huge piles of stone rubble that had fallen to the ground were immediately thrown into the vortex of Dynamax energy, a destructive force encircling the crowd like a vicious cyclone.

The energy was much stronger than before… The three Wishing Star's that had been between Ender, Sonia and Bede along with the two Wishing Stars Eternatus currently held meant there was only one Wishing Star left…

Suddenly, deep within the dark purple-black haze covered in sparks of Dynamax energy was a draconic Pokemon with a bright glowing core stared back at them.