Ash suddenly woke up with a start, as loud explosions rocked the house. Curled up on either side of him were Serena and Mallow, who were also startled awake. He groaned, "Seriously! This is the third damn time! I hope to Arceus-"

He was interrupted by his door opening, and all of his friends crowding inside. Among them were Jessie and James, the former who had a green face mask on. She spotted him and mused, "Oh… I thought you had sneaked out for some early morning training, just to piss us off."

He checked his alarm clock and snarked back, "Seriously? It's five in the morning! I may be battle-obsessed but I'm not stupid to risk everyone's wrath! And here I was thinking that you guys were lying about getting fired from Team Rocket and trying to steal Pikachu as usual."

Just then, there was yet another series of explosions and loud Pokémon sounds. In alarm, everyone rushed out in their night wear. A bizarre sight greeted them in the dim light of the morning sun. A large number of Pokémon, all of whom were Ash's, had congregated in one spot and were firing attacks one-by-one.

Finally, a massive Thunderbolt from Pikachu hit something, and then there was a bright glow. Something got tossed in the air and landed a few feet in front of Ash and his friends. He peered down to see a beat-up Dewott sprawled on the grass, swirls in his eyes.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and deadpanned, "Oh… Seems like Pikachu and all my Pokémon decided to carry out their threat. Somewhere along the way, Oshawott evolved into Dewott. Good job, buddy! Congratulations for evolving. Though did you guys have to teach him a lesson NOW?"

Pikachu squeaked and Meowth translated, "Turns out, they wanted to wait until morning, but Charizard got impatient."

Ash knelt and picked up his fainted Pokémon before he and Brock treated Dewott's injuries. There really was no point in going back to bed, so they all freshened up and hung around in their house.

Just then, there was a bit of a stare down between Charizard and Greninja. Pikachu and Ivysaur had to run in to mediate, and Meowth went in for translation purposes.

When he ambled back to Ash, he said, "Ahh well… Looks like your Noivern has been bragging about Greninja being your strongest Pokémon. Charizard took offense to that, so Pikachu's gone in there to make sure no one does anything stupid."

Aria suddenly piped up, "I forgot to ask, Meowth. How are you able to talk like a human?"

The Scratch Cat Pokémon grinned, "Well, funny you should ask. A long time ago before I met these lugs, I was just an ordinary Meowth. Then, I met a lady Meowth and it was love at first sight. However, she preferred the company of humans. So I taught myself to speak the human language. Unfortunately, she rejected me because she found it freaky."

Aria scratched him under the chin and he purred in bliss. She mused, "Sorry to hear that. It's her loss. But at least you'll be a great translator for our Pokémon!"

Just then, Misty raised a hand, "Wait… What do you mean that Greninja is one of Ash's strongest Pokémon?"

Ash shared a grin with Serena, Clemont and Bonnie. He asked, "Do you guys want a demonstration?"

He then hollered out, "Hey Charizard! Greninja! You want to see who's the strongest between you two?! How about a battle! Charizard, you're freestyling it, Greninja, you're with me!"

The two Pokémon nodded firmly before clasping each other's hands and shook. A few minutes later, Charizard and Greninja stood on opposite ends, with Aria volunteering to referee.

Charizard kicked off with a Flamethrower, which Greninja nimbly dodged. The frog then retaliated with Cut, before Charizard fired another Flamethrower. In Charizard's arsenal cycled between Flamethrower, Dragon Rage, Overheat and Steel Wing. On the other side, Greninja mixed and matched between Cut, Double Team, Aerial Ace and Water Shuriken.

Just then, one Water Shuriken and an Overheat collided, blowing both Pokémon backwards a few feet. Greninja recovered and it glanced at Ash, and he got the message. Both of them clenched a fist and then tapped into their inner power. Greninja's eyes glowed and then all their movements were in sync.

Serena and Clemont grinned, the latter operating a small laptop. Meanwhile, Bonnie was practically vibrating with excitement. Even Jessie and James were looking quite excited. Then to the shock of everyone else, Greninja was enveloped by a swirling water vortex, and Ash was yelling at the same time. When the vortex dissipated, Greninja looked vastly different.

It had a small red crest on its forehead, and a red and black patch by its eyes, shaped like a lightning bolt. It also grew black, spiky features on its head, almost resembling Ash's own hair. Bonnie squealed, "Yay! Yay! Yay! Ash-Greninja is back!"

Everyone who hadn't seen the transformation before, all had their jaws on the floor. Just then, there were two audible thumps, as Misty and Lana had both fainted to the floor. Lillie knelt and poked Lana, only for the blue-haired girl to twitch. Mallow also tried to revive Misty, only to hear her mumble, "S-s-s-so p-p-p-powerful!"

Then she stopped and sniffed before leaning over and whispering to Chloe, "I think Misty just had an orgasm. I can smell it on her."

Back with the battle, the fight grew even more fierce. Charizard was actually grinning as he fired more attacks. A Steel Wing attack nailed Greninja on the stomach, and at the same time Ash clutched his own stomach in pain. Risa pointed, "Um… Is that normal? I mean, the attack didn't even touch Ash."

Clemont adjusted his glasses and explained, "You see, Ash and Greninja have undergone what is known as the Bond Phenomenon. To put it simply, Ash and Greninja had reached such a stage in their partnership that, their power is that of two becoming one. As long as Ash becomes one with Greninja, and vice versa, they will always be stronger. The only drawback is, that any hit that Greninja takes, Ash feels it too."

Gladion asked, "Can Ash do it with other Pokémon too? I mean, Pikachu is his longest-serving companion."

Clemont shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know. Neither I nor Professor Sycamore have seen any other Pokémon use it. As far as we're aware, this is unique to Greninja."

Back with the battle, Ash began pushing even harder. He yelled, "Stronger and stronger!"

Then it happened… Ash felt a tug in his mind and he froze up. He thought in his head, "Oh no! Not again!"

Outside, Greninja also stiffened and froze up. Charizard was just charging up a Steel Wing, when he realised that something was wrong. Moments later, both Greninja and Ash began keeling over. Aria also sensed that something was wrong and rushed over to catch him. Meanwhile, Charizard flew forward as fast as he could and caught Greninja. The frog transformed back into its normal form, and Ash blacked out in Aria's arms.

A while later, Ash came too and found himself lying on Risa's lap. He grunted, "Wow! I guess I'm out of practice, huh? How long was I out?"

Cilan handed him a mug of hot chocolate, "About 20 minutes. Gave a bunch of us a real scare. Clemont and Sophocles are going over pages and pages of data, wondering what went wrong. By the way, you, Mallow and Risa are needed in Galar. The professor wants to know more about Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing. Your plane leaves in a few hours. I'm going to Cerulean to meet my brothers and scout for a permanent residence for the three of us. Misty's coming with, since she's a local, and might know some good places."

After sometime, Ash felt good enough to walk around like normal. Before long, they were on a plane to the Galar region. When they landed, Ash, Risa and Mallow spent some time wandering around in Wyndon. Apparently, there was a World Coronation Series match going on between Galar champion Leon and Gym Leader Raihan.

The trio bought tickets and sat down to watch. Pikachu hopped on Ash's lap to watch, and Riolu popped out of his Pokeball to watch the match as well. As the battle raged, Ash observed that Leon had changed up his Charizard's moves. He also noted that Raihan was a Dragon Type Gym Leader. Ash mentally filed that news away to tell Iris later. They also took notes on Duraludon and Charizard's changed forms in Gigantamax form.

Before long, Leon had defeated Raihan, and maintained his unbeaten streak. At least that's what the commentators had said. When they left the battlefield, they spotted a golden statue in the stadium lobby and stopped to admire it. A familiar voice called out, "Oh! Hello again!"

They turned to see Sonia, Professor Magnolia's granddaughter, "Admiring the statue are we? That's supposed to be a famous Galar region hero."

She led them to a table and they all sat down before she explained, "Long ago, a great black storm covered the region. As a consequence, the land was ravaged by gigantic Pokémon. However, they were soon defeated by a single young hero, bearing a sword and shield. This status is supposed to depict the hero of legend. Though it's mostly just in spirit."

Sonia then twirled a long of her ginger hair, "I'm still not really sure what that storm was. I don't even know if the legend is true. My concern is where the sword and shield are. Are they connected to Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing."

They bid farewell and were on their way. Along the way, Mallow caught an Milcery, a Gossifleur and an Applin. Risa caught a Nickit and an Impidimp. Just then a young boy with a fainted Chewtle rushed up and asked for the nearest Pokémon centre. As it turned out, there was a wild Pokémon on a nearby bridge that was really strong.

This fired up Ash, and he sprinted off, with the girls chasing after him. Sure enough, a large Pokémon was ambling down the bridge. It was a Farfetch'd but not one that they were used to seeing. This was a lot darker and bigger, and was dragging a HUGE leek.

Ash checked his Pokédex and saw that it was a Fighting Type and the Galarian form of Farfetch'd. The Wild Duck Pokémon spotted them and then made a 'Come at me' gesture.

The boy glanced at Pikachu, "Do you want to take this, buddy? Or give someone else a chance?"

Pikachu indicated that Ash let someone else have a go. The trainer dug into his belt and analysed his choices. He had brought his newly evolved Dewott, Pikachu, Absol, Riolu and a Tauros for trade.

Then an idea struck him, "Okay Riolu! Time for your battle debut!"

The Emanation Pokémon got into a fighting stance. Ash kicked off the battle with a Vacuum Wave, which got blocked by the leek. Farfetch'd charged a Night Slash, but it was very slow. Ash took advantage of that by ordering a Force Palm. Farfetch'd brought its leek down, but Riolu dodged with Double Team.

Then while still on Double Team, Ash ordered multiple Vacuum Wave attacks. Sure enough Farfetch'd was peppered with a barrage of attacks. Then Farfetch'd charged a Brutal Swing, which caught Riolu off guard. Somehow, Riolu was able to struggle to its feet, while Farfetch'd was panting heavily. Then the duck charged up another Night Slash, but Ash decided to strike first with a Reversal. Farfetch'd was laid own on the floor, but still got up, though it looked like it was on his last legs.

Then, the duck raised his leek, ready for another attack. Riolu tensed, but then Farfetch'd's leek thumped to the ground. Turns out, it had fainted. After visiting a Pokémon Centre, Ash spoke to Farfetch'd, promising to help make him stronger. Just like that, Galarian Farfetch'd became the newest member of the family. To make matters even better, a trainer traded her female Nidoran for Tauros.