"I wonder if that's going to happen to my Badges," Ash said, that evening.

Scott had given him a set of replacement Symbols, on the grounds that he'd definitely completed all seven of the Battle Facilities, and fortunately none of those had triggered whatever it was that the originals had set off.

"If it does, you might need to get spares," Brock pointed out. "You've already done the Silver and Ever Grande conferences, but wherever you go next your Badges might be important for doing the Conference there."

Ash nodded. "I guess, yeah… for a moment I wanted to say that the growth was more important, but then I realized that, no, I do look forward to doing the League as well."

"I'd be more worried if you didn't!" May said. "It's the same with me and the Grand Festival… it's great to grow with my Pokémon, because they're my friends, and the real benefit of the Grand Festival is that it's a challenge that can motivate us all."

She looked at her Pikachu and Combusken. "Right, guys?"

"Yeah!" Cosplay-chu agreed. "Too right!"

"We'll do you proud," Combusken promised, nodding.

"Well… maybe it's worth thinking about what the messages were?" Max said. "Or perhaps what the symbols were for, or what they represent. You got the Fire-type after beating the Fire gym."

"He's got a good point," Pikachu said.

"Hmm…" Ash frowned, thinking. "So… there was, um, Knowledge, Guts, Tactics, Luck, Spirit, Ability and Brave."

He looked at the amulet, which had stubbornly not changed his Type despite being stuck to his ring for the past few hours. "Knowledge… I guess knowledge comes in there because Pidgeot knew a lot about how to fly? And, for Guts everyone showed such devotion to keep going. Kingler, Swellow and Koraidon."

"It was actually kind of scary," Latias said quietly. "Not you, Koraidon, but – Swellow could easily have hurt himself."

"I know, I know," Ash admitted. "Maybe these aren't always good things, now I think about it that way. But then there was Tactics…"

He smiled. "That was you, Pikachu, and Miraidon. You both made me proud…"

"Uh, Ash?" Latias said, pointing, and Ash turned his head.

The amulet was glowing. Gold, at first, then it lit up with a sort of reddish-purple colour.

And so did Pikachu.

"What the!?" Pikachu said, as purplish smoke seethed around him, then he began to grow.

Everyone got up and ran, getting clear as quickly as they could, and a few seconds later Pikachu was as big as a building.

And looked different.

"That's… Gigantamax, right?" Brock asked. "Ash, didn't Unown say that Pikachu had a Gigantamax factor?"

"Yeah, they did!" Ash agreed, a bit absently. "Pikachu, are you okay?"

"I don't want to move much," Pikachu said. "I feel really clumsy now… strong, but clumsy."

"When a Pokémon Dynamaxes or Gigantamaxes, they get much bigger, stronger versions of their normal moves," Brock said. "Don't use any attacks, Pikachu!"

"Wasn't planning on it," Pikachu said, shifting slowly to get a better look down. "Ash, are you all right?"

"Huh?" Ash asked. "I do feel a bit weird…"

He wobbled slightly on his hooves, and Latias grabbed for the glowing amulet. It resisted at first, then gave way, and Pikachu immediately shrank back down to his normal size.

"Are you sure you feel better?" Brock asked, once they'd eaten.

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "I was tired, sure, but not exhausted. And maybe that's because it only lasted for a few seconds, but we know what's going on now and I know to be careful about it."

"Ash-" Brock began.

Max interrupted him. "I agree with Ash about this, actually," he said. "Firstly because I don't think it's going to be easy for Ash to get to sleep if this stays an unsolved question, and secondly because – like he says, it only lasted a few seconds and he knows how to stop. If this is something that will tire him out too much to actually do, then, fine, we can't do it."

He folded his arms. "But if this is something that could actually be useful, then it's better to find out how to get good at it – as soon as possible, ideally. That gives him more time to practice."

"I will be careful, Brock," Ash said. "I know I could be too enthusiastic about this, and maybe that's making me want to rush ahead with something, but I don't think I'm wrong to think this is important."

Brock considered that.

"I suppose," he said, eventually. "But be careful, okay, Ash?"

"Are you going to try it on me again?" Pikachu asked.

"No," Ash replied. "We know I can do it for you, and practicing with it would be good, but there's other Pokémon here – and Latias can fly. So if she suddenly grows, she can fly into the air, rather than everyone else having to run away from her."

"That's clever, Dad!" Koraidon said. "And Latias and Pikachu are both nobles, right?"

"That's true, yeah," Ash agreed. "Maybe it's something to do with being Noble that makes it possible… and we can test that with a different Pokémon."

He glanced at Unown. "Maybe you?"

"I do not advise it," Unown stated. "I am able to levitate, but I also have a more intimate connection with your abilities than others. I do not know what would happen, because this ability is not one where I know how it works."

"That's fair, I guess," Ash decided. "Maybe, uh… well, Latias first, but then Swellow? Or I could try on Altaria, she can fly as well…"

Shrugging that off, Ash picked up the amulet and put it back on his ring.

Latias floated a little way into the air. "I'm ready," she said.

Ash concentrated on her battle against Spenser, the same way he'd been thinking about Pikachu's battle against Tucker.

It took a moment, but then the amulet lit up. First gold, then along with the gold a sort of flowing rainbow light.

"That's different to last time," Max pointed out. "Is that Dynamax, not Gigantamax?"

It took only a moment for Latias to answer that question.

The same flowing light spread over her fine feathers, engulfing her from head to wingtips, then she changed.

She didn't get enormously bigger like Pikachu had, though. Her wings moved to her forearms, her legs and ears changed shape a little, and a longer tail spike formed.

When the glow faded, her colour had changed as well – going from red to purple.

"That's not Dynamax," May said, pointing out the obvious. "What is that?"

"Wow," Koraidon murmured. "What happened?"

Ash blinked a few times, then took the amulet off his ring, and Latias reverted with another flash of light.

"Well done, Ash," Brock told him. "You don't want to strain yourself."

"Got a picture," Pikachu reported, holding up Ash's Pokédex. "...now, what was that a picture of?"

"I felt stronger, too," Latias passed on. "But, obviously not clumsier, because I wasn't any bigger."

"Something about that was…" Max mused, then brightened. "Oh, now I remember! That reminds me of those times I've seen a Mega evolution!"

"So that was… Mega Latias?" Ash asked. "That's cool!"

He glanced at his bags suddenly. "It's a pity we sent Sceptile back to the lab and Charizard back home, or we could test those ones… we'll have to try it out on Sceptile or Absol next time we get a chance."

"Pidgeot can Mega Evolve as well," Max said. "So can Altaria and Brock's Steelix, come to think of it, if you can do someone else's Pokémon."

"It can do Gigantamax and Mega Evolving, then," Pikachu said. "Only, we don't yet know if it works on a Pokémon who isn't a Noble…"

Over the rest of their journey to Indigo Plateau for the Kanto Grand Festival, Ash performed a few more tests – spaced out, so it wouldn't tire him out too much – and they worked out that he could Mega Evolve Altaria, though it was even harder than doing it to Latias, while Mega Evolving Absol and Sceptile was about the same amount of effort as doing it to Latias.

He could Dynamax one of his Pokémon all right, or one of his friends' Pokémon with greater difficulty, but that took up a lot more space.

Making a Pokémon Dynamax or Gigantamax when they could Mega Evolve turned out to be even harder, and Ash hadn't got the hang of picking which one he wanted yet by the time they reached Indigo Plateau.

"We're a few days early…" Max pointed out. "What do we do now?"

"We could just wait around?" Brock suggested. "Indigo Plateau is the site of the Kanto Pokémon League, so there's a few attractions here…"

"Aha!" a cheerful voice said.

Ash looked up, surprised, and saw Mr. Goodshow advancing towards them.

"Mr. Goodshow?" he said. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, not at all!" Mr. Goodshow said. "Now, I've been wondering something for a couple of days, and I think you might be involved – call it a hunch! - but were you perhaps involved in a couple of recent cases where people saw very large Pokémon appear for a few seconds?"

Ash felt a bit embarrassed.

"Oh, yeah, that would appear from a long way…" he admitted. "Yeah, that was me. I hope that's not a problem?"

"Not at all, Ash, not at all!" Mr. Goodshow told him. "There's occasional reports of giant Pokémon appearing for a brief time, though it's not nearly as common as in Galar! No, I just wanted to satisfy my curiosity."

He waggled his finger. "Though I will warn you, young man, that if you're going to use something like that in a battle be sure to stick to a stadium where it will fit!"

"I… guess that makes sense," Ash admitted.

"Excellent!" Goodshow said. "Did you have fun challenging the Battle Frontier?"

Ash thought about that, then nodded.

"A lot of fun," he agreed. "It really helped me get a grip on how a lot of my Pokémon work. And – what the best way to be a Pokémon trainer is."

"Marvellous," Goodshow told him. "Now, I know you've already done the Indigo League, but I do hope that we see you doing another Pokémon League in future, Ash. It'd be a shame not to."

AN:

Sometimes finding all those fiddly Mega Stones can be so tiring.