Author's Note: Yes... I am finally getting back to this story after more than two years. Had lost the muse for a while, and in the meantime, other ideas began popping into my mind. Coming back to re-read this story, I guess I finally got it back.

A couple of weeks passed by with not much happening in the gang's lives. Then, one fine day, there was a knock on the door of Cerise Laboratory. Ren hollered that he would get the door.

Mere minutes later, there was a loud thump, which caught Ash's attention. He rushed to the front door, only for a bizarre sight to greet him. Standing at the door in front of an unconscious Ren sprawled out on the floor, was a bemused Diantha.

Ash, taken aback by the sudden appearance of the Kalos champion, stuttered a little, "H-H-Hi Diantha! What are you doing all the way out here?"

The woman's eyes lit up when she spotted Ash. She waved, "Hello Ash… I must say, I wasn't expecting such a reaction."

Ash snickered as he dragged Ren's unconscious body inside the house, "In Ren's defence, it's not every day that that the Kalos Champion suddenly decides to drop by for a visit. Though I'm assuming that this is not a random visit, just to say hello."

She nodded and began to rummage into her purse and held out a bunch of tickets, "Indeed it isn't. I actually have some invitations for you and all of your friends. You see, Mr Goodshow has decided to set up an event called the World Coronation Series. Lance will be facing Galar champion, Leon in the final in a few days' time. Cynthia was actually the one to suggest inviting you and your friends."

Ash grinned as he took them from her, "Of course we'll be there! I'm actually on a bit of a hiatus from battling. I kind of took the Alola final loss pretty hard. So, I just wanted to take a break for a bit, just recharge my batteries."

Diantha smiled," That's a good plan. I know for a fact that Alder is planning to retire soon. He is actually waiting for the next Unova League to commence."

"That's awesome!"

She smiled, "Anyway, the match will be held in Galar. Leon promised all of us that we'll have a 'champion time', whatever that means."

Ash chuckled, "Thanks Diantha! I still want that rematch with Gardevoir!"

She smiled back, "I look forward to it. I'll see you and your friends in Galar."

With that, the Kalos champion left and Ash rushed back inside. He hollered out, "Hey guys! Pack your bags! We're off to Galar in a few days!"

Brock poked his head out from his room, "Galar? Wait… Who was at the door?"

"Diantha, the Kalos champion. She's invited all of us to watch the final of the World Coronation Series in Galar. Apparently, Lance will be facing off against that region's champion Leon."

Max poked his head out next, "Really!? That's awesome! So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

A couple of days later, everyone had boarded a plane to the Galar region. Sitting near the window and watching the clouds pass by, Ash mused, "I can't wait!".

Just then, there was an announcement on the intercom, saying that the plane had entered Galar airspace. Suddenly, in the middle of the announcement, all the lights in the aircraft blinked off. On cue, there were several gasps from the passengers and the flight crew did their best to pacify everyone.

Just then, Pikachu pressed his nose to the window and got Ash's attention. The boy obliged and peered out, musing to himself "I think something's out there. It's coming! I can feel it somehow!"

Sure enough, Ash and Pikachu caught a very brief glimpse of something big. Unfortunately, it was a 'blink and you miss it' moment. Then, just as quickly as it turned off, the lights came back on again. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the pilots regained control and continued towards Galar.

Next to him, May leaned over and murmured, "This is going to be another one of those adventures, huh?"

Ash grumbled back, "Gosh! I hope not! I've had enough of almost dying in nearly every region I've been to."

Soon, everyone was wandering around the city of Wyndon. For the newcomers, they were all marvelling at the sights. Goh took a deep breath, "This will be a great place to catch some Pokémon!"

Ash shot Goh's declaration down, "Nope! We're hitting the stadium!"

However, Goh decided to be a little stubborn, "Well… I'll be out catching Pokémon."

Unfortunately for Goh, Ash was not taking no for an answer, so he and James promptly grabbed Goh and dragged him to the stadium.

Jessie leaned over and whispered to Chloe, "Is Goh always like this?"

Chloe moaned, "You have no idea!"

As they entered, another familiar face greeted them in the lobby, Ash waved enthusiastically, "Hey! Its Cynthia! Long time!"

The tall blonde woman smiled serenely, "Hello Ash and friends, old and new! It's been a while since I've seen some of you! I'm glad you all accepted the invitation. I dare say, a lot of you will be in for a surprise!"

Ash pumped a fist, "Alright! I'm so excited!"

Cynthia chuckled, "I'm sure, follow me everyone! You're all our guests, so you will be in the VIP box with us."

The group broke into excited chattering and hurried after the Sinnoh champion. Once inside, they saw an elegantly-dressed man with short ice blue spiky hair. Ash recognized him as Steven Stone. Meanwhile, May, Dawn and Serena's eyes widened when they spotted a familiar tall figure with aquamarine hair. The trio blurted in unison, "Wallace?!"

The flamboyant man was absolutely delighted, "Hello, you three! How lovely to see you! Could I have a word with you all?"

With that, the trio moved away to speak privately to the Coordinator. Alder gave a jovial wave as he lounged in his seat, and even Diantha said hello. Meanwhile, Lance was pacing up and down in the VIP Box, murmuring to himself. A tall man with tan skin and lavender hair was seated across from Diantha, and he was meditating. Ash assumed that this was Leon. Meanwhile, Cynthia called Ash over and led him to a transfer machine. She smiled, "I actually am doing this as a favour for a friend of mine. Her name is Geeta and she is the champion of the Paldea region. She would have come herself, but her flight got cancelled at the last minute. The Alola Champion also wrote to us last week, saying that he was a bit busy choosing his Elite 4, so he couldn't make it either."

He tilted his head curiously, "Paldea Region? I've never heard of it. I only just heard of the Galar region."

Cynthia smiled, "Indeed… The Pokémon world is much bigger than you think."

She withdrew three Pokeballs from her jet-black overcoat, "In these Pokeballs are the Paldean variant of Tauros. There are three kinds of Paldean Tauros. One is a pure Fighting Type, another is a Fighting and Fire Type, and the third is Fighting and Water Type."

His eyes shone, "Awesome! Geeta's really willing to trade them for three of mine?"

Cynthia shrugged, "That woman works in mysterious ways. And I've been friends with her for five years."

With that said, she and Ash successfully completed the transfers. Just then, Steven Stone came rushing over, "There you two are! Hurry up, the match is starting in two minutes!"

Everyone quickly rushed to their seats, as Lance and Leon walked out of the VIP box.

The group and the audience waited for a while, and then the lights dimmed. A moment later, the light show began, and a master of ceremonies began announcing. He said, "Welcome everyone! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! We're here to witness the world's largest, world's greatest Pokémon battle to determine the world's greatest trainer! Welcome to the World Coronation Series!"

The announcer paused briefly, "So how did we get here? The Master's 8! The top trainers ranked by the Pokémon Battle Commission, have entered this competition of high stakes battling. So that they may vie for much coveted title of Monarch! But who, you may wonder, are our two finalists!"

The lights dimmed before a spotlight shone on Lance walking onto the field, "First up! I introduce to you, Lance! One of the Kanto league's Elite Four and winner of the prestigious Elite Four Cup. Then went on to emerge victorious from the trainer's ultimate dream, the Pokémon World Tournament in Driftveil City! Lance showed his attack skills as a member of the Pokémon G-Men! His use of Dragon-Type Pokémon, has been described as battling art. A world class trainer with world class Pokémon!"

Then on the other end of the field, another spotlight lit up and illuminated Leon. The announcer continued the introductions, "I am now pleased to introduce the other finalist. It's Leon! Born and raised in Galar! Known for winning the Galar Champion Cup on his very first try! In battles that weren't even close! One who has never tasted defeat! A trainer who takes on any challengers. Even once taking on 100 challengers from throughout the world and beating every single one of them! The king of the kingdom! The superstar of Galar! The undefeated champion, Leon!"

No sooner had he stopped speaking that the crowd went ballistic! They were so loud that the glass windows in the VIP box began reverberating.

The two champions faced off against each other and the referee ordered them to release their Pokémon for the 1 versus 1 battle. With a big broad grin on his face, Leon threw his Pokeball skywards, and a massive Charizard popped out with a roar. In response, Lance tossed his own Pokeball, which released a massive red Gyarados. Ash's eyes widened when he saw the red Gyarados. Meanwhile, the announcer was babbling, "It's Leon's undefeated ace Pokémon, Charizard. And evolved from a gold Magikarp, Red Gyarados!"

Ash was taken aback and his head tilted in confusion, "Evolved from a gold Magikarp? I thought-"

Cynthia coughed, "Lance wanted to keep the whole 'Lake of Rage' incident quiet from the general public, so as not to start a panic. So we collectively agreed upon a story that he caught a gold Magikarp and it evolved into a red Gyarados."

Brock mused, "Yeah, that makes sense."

The referee stepped onto a platform attached to an Aegislash and it floated up into the air. He yelled, "Battle begin!"

Lance hollered, "The time has come! I've been looking forward to this!"

Leon yelled back enthusiastically, "Indeed! Let's have a Champion Time! Now, Charizard... Flamethrower!"

As Charizard charged up its attack, Lance ordered Gyarados to counter with Hyper Beam. Both attacks met in the middle and practically wrestled for dominance. This kept up for a while, until Hyper Beam overpowered the Flamethrower, but Charizard dodged just in time. Next, Leon ordered an Air Slash, but Gyarados used its tail to block the attack. Leon continued to go on the offense and ordered another Flamethrower. Oddly enough, Lance elected to boost his speed and attack with Dragon Dance. That left his Pokémon vulnerable to the Flamethrower attack.

After the attack landed, Lance elected to close the gap to his opponent and ordered an Aqua Tail. Gyarados responded by engulfing its tail in water, leaping into the air and smacking Charizard in the face. Although the fire lizard landed on its feet, it still had to shake its head to recover. Not allowing them a moment to rest, Lance ordered multiple Ice Fang attacks, which Gyarados dutifully obeyed. After getting buffeted about for a while, Charizard responded with Fire Spin. Unfortunately for Leon, Gyarados got out of that jam with Aqua Tail and advanced with Ice Fang.

Leon smirked, knowing that Lance fell for his trap. He yelled, "Alright Charizard, use Thunder Punch!"

Lance was clearly caught off guard, and Gyarados paid the price. It only got worse when Leon ordered multiple Thunder Punch attacks, which was swiftly countered with Aqua Tail. Then, the two trainers recalled their Pokémon, to the confusion of many. Max pressed his nose against the glass in the VIP box, "Is it over? Is the match a draw?"

His question was answered when both Lance's and Leon's Pokeballs began to glow red. Cameras zoomed in on specialized wristbands that had small beams of red light envelope their Pokeballs. Then the balls began to grow exponentially, all the while glowing red, and the combatants tossed the Pokeballs back into the arena. In an instant, the skies began to darken and adopted a maroon tinge. The Pokémon re-emerged from their Pokeballs and began to grow in size at a rapid pace. Though it was worth noting that Charizard appeared to take a different form. Chloe mused, "Is this the Gigantamax Phenomenon?"

Back on the field, Lance yelled, "Use Max Geyser!", and Leon also yelled, "Use Max Lightning!"

Both attacks hit their target, and Lance responded with a Max Strike, while Leon countered with Max Air Stream. Charizard avoided the attack, and scored a direct hit on Gyarados. Finally, Leon figured that it was time to end it. He shouted, "G-Max Wildfire!"

With a roar, Charizard launched what looked like a flaming phoenix towards Gyarados. Lance wasn't about to be outdone, so he ordered a Max Guard. However, it looked like G-Max Wildfire was still active, and the flaming phoenix suddenly dive-bombed and smashed on top of the Dynamax Gyarados. When the assault finished, the red Pokémon was lying prone and shrinking back to normal size. The referee was by the Pokémon's side in an instant. A moment later, he announced, "Gyarados is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Leon!"

The Galarian crowd went wild, and in the VIP box, Ash was starstruck. He exclaimed, "Wow! That was incredible! Leon must be really strong! I can't wait to face him one day."

When Lance and Leon returned, they fielded plenty of questions from Ash and the group. Just then, Iris approached Ash and tugged on his sleeve. She sheepishly said, "Hey Ash... I was just thinking... Now that Alder is retiring... I was hoping to compete in the Unova League, so that I could take over as the Champion."

Ash smiled at her, "That's great, Iris! I couldn't think of anyone better! Also, now that you mention it, I kind of do want to retake the Unova Gym Challenge. I got to be honest with myself, Unova wasn't one of my best performances. Arceus above! That fiasco at Elesa's Gym still haunts me to this day, because I was such an idiot. Look, I'm not going to take on the Unova Pokémon League, I just wanted to redeem myself with the Gyms. Can we tag along? It would be nice to travel with friends."

The dark-skinned girl grinned, "You got that right!"