Game Freak forced our hands.
After Gloria said saying goodbye to her parents, she met up with the boys and went straight for the Slumbering Weald. They had replaced the gate with metal, so they all just hopped the fence. After walking blindly through the large and foggy forest for about twenty minutes, the kids were soon able to agree on one thing; they were lost.
"This is because you made us turn right," Gloria accusingly said to Victor.
"No, this is because you led us around that tree," Victor fired back.
Hop ignored the bickering duo as he tried to think of his next step. "Is this what it's like in Lee's brain?" he asked himself out loud. "It's surreal."
Gloria stopped walking and pointed at a large rock on the side of the path. "See that boulder?" she asked. "We passed that boulder five times!"
"We never passed that boulder!" Victor argued.
"Yes, you did," a voice called out from deep in the woods.
"Even the forest itself knows that we're lost!" Gloria shouted as he threw his arms in the air. They all froze up as they realized that the voice didn't come from any of them.
All three of them looked around and called out to the mysterious entity, but no one answered. However, Victor found a Weezing that he had elected to interrogate to no avail. Unfortunately, they were brought back to reality by the ominous presence of a red light coming towards the Slumbering Weald, and the Weezing's eyes widened at the sight. Suddenly, roars erupted from the other end of the forest, dispelling the pulse of energy. The group turned to where the roars sounded from and found themselves facing the legendary wolves they had come to search for.
"Fear not, children," the one with braids communicated, despite the fact that its mouth didn't move. "While our power rests here, the dark beast cannot touch this place."
The group's collective jaws dropped at the sight. After a few minutes, Gloria broke the silence. "You can talk?" she asked.
"We can communicate," the one with the red mane corrected. "And only here while our power sleeps."
"So this forest is straight-up magic?" Victor said with a bit of confusion.
"Apparently," the wolf said with a touch of disbelief himself.
The wolf with braided hair stepped closer to the children. "We watched for the signs of the dark one's return as well as all who enter our forest," it said in a feminine voice. "Not many come here with noble intentions such as saving a misguided sheep that wondered where it should not. Those among the lucky few who see us don't normally have the courage to stay once we demonstrate a fraction of our power. Much less try to fight us head-on with Pokémon they got an hour prior."
"We have also sensed that you have become great trainers with strong teams and hearts," the red one added with a masculine voice.
Hop shook his head in disbelief. "I appreciate that, but Victor's the strong one. I'm just the guy who could never even beat him at my best. I'm no hero."
"If that were true, then why would you come all the way out here?" the male asked. "You have protective instincts that overtake you when your home is in danger. We are alike in that regard."
"And you, Victor," the other wolf chimed in, "are strong, determined, and fierce. Traits I find we share." Both turned their heads in the same direction of what vaguely resembled a path. "Follow us, and retrieve the sacred items this forest grew to protect. A shield that repels the darkness, and a blade of evil's bane."
"So, are we going to be asked to save Hyrule next?" Victor said sarcastically.
The red wolf shook its head. "We would not ask that of you, but it would be nice to give the green guy a break."
Victor blinked in confusion, unable to understand how the Pokémon got the reference. Hop was able to wave it off, though. "Thank you, Zacian and Zamazenta," he said before realizing that he only assumed those were their preferred names. "That is what you prefer to be called, right?"
"We respond well to those names," Zacian nodded. "However, those are the names given to us by humans. We found that we much prefer the term 'Forest Gods'."
"No!" Victor shouted without thinking. But upon realizing that he may have insulted humanity's only hope, he was quick to correct himself. "Sorry, but I don't think I can bring myself to call you that."
Zamazenta nodded in understanding. "As you wish. Now come so the three of you may dispel the darkness."
They all took a couple of steps before the words clicked for Gloria. "Three?"
"Of course," said Zacian. "All it takes is to stand up when needed."
As the rest of the city finished evacuating, Rose paced back and forward in front of Hammerlocke's tower as he waited for Leon to arrive. On top of the tower shined a red pillar of light in pure contrast to the pitch black the sky had reverted to. More streams of red light shot from across the land to meet up with the large light pillar at the top of the tower. Macro Cosmos security was sent to help the police keep the giant Pokémon it affected away from civilians, but there was absolutely no one who was trained for such a situation.
"I'm having flashbacks," an officer said as he was facing a giant Excadrill. "This is why I left Kalos!"
"Wait," a Macro Cosmos employee said in confusion. "You left Kalos after the infamous incident, but you went to a region where these things are far more common?"
"Don't question my bad decisions!" the officer yelled.
Their attention was diverted momentarily by an orange flash in the sky. They looked up to see Champion Leon atop his Charizard, which sent a fire attack to the mole's face, effectively driving it off. They wasted no time afterward and flew straight to meet up with Rose and Oleana on the ground floor.
"You're not gonna believe this," Leon said with a slightly forced chuckle. "I accidentally went to Stow-on-Side instead. Thanks for the beacon. It's a mark that even I couldn't miss."
"It's Eternatus, Leon," said Oleana. "It's gathering energy to Gigantamax itself, but we're lucky that if it's distracted for a moment, it loses a bit of that stored energy."
"Yes, but the energy it lets go of affects the wild Pokémon nearby," Rose added. "It's a lose-lose situation."
"Ever think that you shouldn't have been messing with this stuff?" Leon sarcastically asked.
"This is partially your fault too!" Rose growled defensively.
"How is that even remotely possible?"
"I told you what you needed to do and that we didn't have the time, but you wanted to wait until after the finals so you could have one last glorious day!"
Leon guiltily scratched the back of his head. "That may not be so remote."
Rose took a deep breath before calmly continuing. "I wasn't a match for that thing, but you might have a chance if you stop it from Gigantamaxing."
Leon nodded his Charizard finished the Elixir and Full Restore he gave him. "Fly up, beat the dragon, save the world," Leon said to recap. "Sounds easy enough."
Rose shook his head. "I need you to catch it."
"What?" Leon shouted in shock.
"We need to make sure this never happens again. A good relationship with a trainer could accomplish that."
"Here," Oleana said as she gave him a Master Ball. "We only have a scarce amount, but these are desperate times. The Pokémon could even have enough power to make the device malfunction, so don't use it unless you're sure."
Leon nodded as he received the gift and climbed back onto Charizard. This was going to be even harder than he thought.
When the kids arrived in a forest clearing, the wolves seemed to have vanished from thin air, and their surroundings seemed like it was from a fairy tale. The stars shined in the night, there was an ancient archway that was falling apart and covered in moss. Behind it stood an altar with an ancient shield on it and an ancient sword lodged in a rock.
"Is anyone else reminded of the Temple of Time's ruins in Twilight Princess?" Gloria asked in awe.
Victor nodded, and Hop was focusing all his attention on the relics before him. "It's just like the sword in the stone!" he practically shouted in excitement. "Excalibur! It even has its own Pridwen!" Turning his head, he found the others looking at him in slight confusion. "King Arthur's sword and shield. Sonia's not the only one interested in ancient legends."
The boys walked forward to claim the sword and the shield, respectively, like the legendary Pokémon encouraged them to. As Victor started to pull the sword from the stone, Gloria hummed a very familiar tune from their shared favorite game series. Victor tugged. And he tugged. And he tugged even harder until, finally, the sword snapped in half in his hands. They stared in confusion for a second, blinked in unison, and panicked.
"I broke it!" Victor shouted.
Hop shook his head in disappointment. "Come now, Victor," he scoffed. "You have to be more careful with ancient historical artifacts. Who are you, Bede?" He then tried to take a step forward but ended up tripping over his own shoelaces, and the shield was able to cushion the fall as much as it could with an audible crack. Everyone panicked again.
"Calm down," Gloria eventually said once she snapped out of her own hysteria. "Think about it. If those broke so easily, then what chance do they have against the darkest day?"
They all took a moment to let those words sink in, blinked in unison once more, and panicked for the third time in a row. "How can we save the world with these?" they all shouted together.
The wolves watched this scene from a distance, and Zacian shook her head. "Eh, good enough," Zamazenta said as they got the children's attention. Calmly, the two led the group out of the forest and back to the small town of Postwick.
"Hey, guys," Sonia called out from down the path. "I came as soon as I could. Were you two able to get the legendary power?"
The boys looked down at their broken artifacts and back at her. "Sort of," Victor said sheepishly.
"At least we have the Pokémon with us," Hop said optimistically.
Sonia cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "What Pokémon?"
The kids looked behind them in confusion. They were certain that they saw the Pokémon leave the forest just before they did, but it seemed that the Pokémon in question were just illusions projected by the forest. "Cowards!" Gloria shouted towards the trees.
"The forest is straight-up magic," Victor summarized. "But the Pokémon were able to tell us that these would hold the key to stopping the darkest day."
"They told you that?" Sonia asked excitedly. "We're going to need to study this! Take readings, explore various phenomena, consult some experts on the supernatural, research the Slumbering Weald's vast ancient history-"
"Focus, Sonia," Victor said to bring Sonia back down from Earth. "The dark clouds are probably getting closer to covering the whole region."
"Yeah, we have to get back to Leon," Hop agreed. "I don't even think he stands a chance without what's left of these."
"What's left of them?" she asked.
"Don't worry about it," Victor said.
Sonia nodded. "Well, if the Pokémon that rely on these aren't worried, then I won't be. Now let's go to Hammerlocke. I think this thing started to draw energy from other Power Spots."
"Uh, guys," Gloria called as she looked straight ahead of them. They saw a pen with a gigantic Wooloo just sitting there and acting otherwise normally.
The sheep gave a loud cry that echoed through the air. A farmer had managed to dig himself up from under the white wool with a gasp. "That would have been the cuddliest way to die!"
They all looked at the scene in quiet awe as the danger sunk in further until Victor broke the silence. "We should hurry."
Victor: Dash (Cinderace) Corviknight, Drednaw, Excadrill, Fraxure, Grapploct
Gloria: Ace (Inteleon) Dishwasher (Obstagoon) Rogue (Thievul) Hattie (Hatterene) Harry (Grimmsnarl) Stabitha (Pawniard)