Draco: Random thought out of nowhere - Galar missed an opportunity for a really awesome superboss. I know there were Max Raid Battles with Lv100 Mewtwo who were not allowed to be caught (and gave a bounty of prizes upon defeat, to make up for it), so Max Raid superbosses are already a thing. Meanwhile, there exists a Gigantic Pokémon who has a gigantic base stat total of 1125 in a Dynamax-like form... which we only get to fight as a storyline event with NPC allies. It would have been so freaking awesome to get to fight a souped-up Eternamax Eternatus as a proper Max Raid Battle that you could do with other players. Lv100, barriers coming up at HP thresholds, Max Moves and normal moves both, all of that painful Tauros Mulch applied to an opponent as straight-up unfair as the Bringer of the Darkest Day.

...Independently, I will admit to being a little miffed that Galar has a four-man Raid Battle mode, gives the player three friends/rivals who can fight on pretty much even terms with you by the endgame, and doesn't have any fixed Max Raid Battles where those three friends/rivals are your NPC allies. In fact, if Bulbapedia's listing is accurate, I don't think any of those friends/rivals in either region is even capable of being your NPC ally for a random Raid Battle, so it's impossible to have three meaningful Trainers and the player.

(Both points could also be raised about Tera Raid Battles in Paldea, but I'm going to refrain from saying anything until we get an end-of-life update for Poké Portal News.)

So I thought I'd indulge both fantasies at once.

Pokémon and all related properties © Nintendo.

Dyna Tree Hill, Crown Tundra

"For the last time, Miss Opal, I'm not going to walk around the Crown Tundra in just a Gym uniform."

Bede dismounted the Flying Taxi, handing the cabbie his fare without looking. "Well, because I don't want to freeze to death, that's why. I don't know how long she's going to want me out here, but I'm not going to err on the side of recklessness in this frozen wasteland." The Corviknight took off, scattering the falling snow and leaving the Trainer standing there on his own.

"...Look, fine, here," he insisted, pulling open his jacket. "Rotom, take a photo." His Rotom phone clicked, and the image of his Ballonlea uniform - framed by his heavier coat - filled the screen. "Send," he instructed, closing the jacket back up. "Look, I'm wearing it underneath. If I end up in Freezington, I'll take the coat off, alright? ...Yes. Goodbye." He tapped at the screen to hang up the call before Opal could object further.

With a sigh, he brought up his town map, and Rotom reoriented to vertical to better showcase the environs. "Now, which bloody hole did she say she wanted to meet me in?"

+x+x+x+

There were two small, tree-bearing spits of rock reaching out of the water in the southwestern corner of the Crown Tundra.

Bede's destination was a Pokémon Den on the absolute edge of the cliff facing those spits. As he arrived at the cavernous expanse within, he was surprised to find three other figures standing there - none of which were the person he had expected to find. A purple-haired boy in a fur-lined short coat; a black-haired girl in a studded leather jacket; and a bright-haired girl in what looked like a school uniform. They seemed to be chatting with each other, though Hop was the first one to notice the new arrival. "Bede?"

"Hello to you, too," Bede retorted. "Quite the motley crew we have here. The ex-Champion's brother, the punk from Spikemuth, and..." He turned to the girl in the blazer. "I don't think we've met."

"Peonia," the girl replied. "You're the new Leader in Ballonlea, right?"

Hop hooked his hands behind his head with a cocky smirk. "Can't remember the last time I saw you in that jacket," he admitted. "Something wrong with your uniform?"

Bede huffed, slipping one hand into his pocket. "Can't remember the last time I saw you out of that one," he accused. "Something wrong with a uniform that isn't for Champions?

"Oi!" Marnie interrupted, stepping between the two. "If you're done takin' potshots, Gloria called us here for a reason."

"Did she, now," Bede retorted. "And did she tell you what that reason is?"

Surprise decorated Marnie's face. "You mean she didn't tell you?"

Bede's eyes widened. "She... just said that she needed my help for-"

"Oh, I see what happened," Peonia accused. "Fancy boy with the endorsement from the chairman still can't wrap his head around the idea that he's not hot shite, even after he's had his arse kicked up and down Galar and gotten booted from the Gym Challenge. So the Champion asks him for some minor help, and he starts prattling on like he's doing her this great favour just by gracing her with his presence before she can even finish telling him what she wants his help for, is that it?"

"Be quiet," Bede snapped. "I didn't-"

"You do remember I record all my calls, right, Bede?"

Gloria's remark drew the others' attention to find the reigning Champion approaching. "I can play that one back, if you're gonna keep pretending."

Bede's face was red. "You did call us here for a reason, didn't you?"

"Yeah, Gloria," Hop concurred. "What's going on? You said you just wanted to test some theories from your mates on Nightcord, but this is a bit out-of-the-way for a spar."

"No kidding it's out of the way," Peonia concurred. "This Den is in the middle of nowhere by the standards of the Crown Tundra."

"...Which means there's no one around if everythin' should go to pot," Marnie realized. "Has this got to do with Eternatus?"

Gloria nodded. "Yeah, it does." She turned to Peonia. "Sorry, are we losing you?"

"I don't think so," Peonia insisted. "That's the legendary Pokémon that showed up when Rose lost his head, isn't it? That big bloody hand that came down over the Energy Plant in Hammerlocke."

"The Darkest Day," Bede recalled. "The chairman had me gather a bounty of Wishing Stars and provided them to Eternatus in order to amplify its power. Thus all the spontaneous and out-of-Power-Spot Dynamaxes during our Gym Challenge. And when that power became too much and drove it to rampage, Eternatus underwent a Dynamax like no other - Eternamax."

"Right," Hop recalled. "That's when me and Gloria went lookin' for Zacian and Zamazenta. Them and our Pokémon managed to bring the big guy down enough for a Poké Ball."

Marnie turned back to Gloria. "You said one of your friends saw something similar, didn't you?"

"The Terastal phenomenon, in Paldea," Gloria confirmed. "Just like Dynamax, it comes from the power of a legendary Pokémon. And just like Eternatus, when that legendary Pokémon goes through something like Terastallization, it's a big chaotic event that threatens to hurt a lot of people." She crossed her arms. "But Juliana said that Terapagos can control its Terastallization - if it's prepared for it, and its mind is in the right place when it happens."

"And you suspect that maybe Eternatus can control its Eternamax under similar conditions," Bede finished. "Possibly even under the same conditions as a Gigantamax."

"Yeah." Gloria's gaze fell. "But if I'm wrong..."

"Then we'd have a third Darkest Day on our hands," Marnie insisted. "So you want a bunch of friends who you trust before you try Dynamaxin' it. Someone who can knock some sense back into it before anythin' serious happens."

"That just about sums it up," Gloria agreed.

"Count me in, mate!" Hop insisted. "Me and Zamazenta got you covered!"

Peonia nodded. "Yeah, I'm in. Let's see if I've got what it takes for a third one!"

Bede huffed, running a hand through his hair. "I suppose you're more likely to succeed with proper help."

Marnie set a hand over her chest. "I don't know how much we can do, fightin' a legendary Pokémon," she admitted. "But I'm not about to back down when a friend needs help."

Gloria smiled. "I appreciate it," she admitted. "But don't jump the gun just yet - I wasn't planning on setting off the Eternamax without evening the field, first."

Hop started. "Woah, Gloria, are you-?"

"Yeah," Gloria insisted. "I've got a few friends to help even the field." She seized a Poké Ball off her belt. "First and foremost, Marnie..."

A large ursine Pokémon emerged from the Ball, touching one fist to the ground as he landed. White lengths resembling the tails of a headband flowed from the back of his head, waving skyward as though caught in an updraft; he had flares of fur pointing skyward from his knees and brow, as well. Hardened points rested on the backs of his knuckles and the ridges of his feet, and as he rose tall he had both feet planted firmly on the ground.

"The Armour of Darkness," Marnie gasped. Then, with an awed smile on her face; "Nice to meet you." Urshifu nodded, pressing one fist into the other palm in a martial-arts salute as Marnie looked over his body. "Alpha, but the mightiest Pokémon always look so cuddly." She turned to Gloria as the Champion got close, handing her Urshifu's Ball. "I'll be enjoyin' this no matter how it turns out."

With a nod, Gloria pointedly stepped past Bede as she drew a second Poké Ball. "Peonia, familiar friends for you..."

Peonia did indeed recognize the Pokémon that emerged from the Ball - both of them. A towering equine Pokémon in frigid white, with ice-shod hooves and a glacial half-mask over one eye. Seated on its back, with his hands on the bully's reins, was a short humanoid Pokémon with long limbs, sporting an expansive cape and a massive crown-like bud atop his head, glowing with floral light.

"Your Majesty." Peonia was wearing a rather more familiar smile, and Calyrex returned it, nodding his head. Glastrier huffed, frigid air forming a fog around his nose, and Peonia hummed. "Riding for Ice makes sense, if Eternatus is a Dragon. Still, you sure you're alright with this?" The High King Pokémon only nodded, and Peonia turned to Gloria as the Champion handed her Calyrex's Ball. "Alright, then, I got this."

Sighing, Gloria finally turned her attention to the last member of the group. "As for you, Bede..."

Whatever haughty retort Bede had planned faltered when the Ball opened. A massive canine Pokémon in a coat of cyan and tan touched down, clad in golden armour that much resembled wings; ribbons of bright pink trailed down her sides, and in her maw was a great golden blade.

"...The Fairy King's Sword," Bede forced out. As the Warrior Pokémon stared him down, he tried to find some disparaging remark to make - to claim he was the obvious choice, or accuse Gloria of the process of elimination - but the implications of the situation promptly reared their ugly heads, and he turned to Gloria in bafflement. "If you're entrusting Zacian to me, then-"

"I don't know what's going to happen to me if this all goes to pot," Gloria insisted. "Maybe I'll be fine, or maybe I'll be knocked on my arse. I'd have to be a right bloody moron to take that risk."

She handed Bede the Ball before stepping away; Hop quickly seized one of his own Poké Balls, tossing it forward to deploy another massive canine Pokémon in magenta, clad in similarly bewinged - though rather more defensive - golden armour. Zamazenta and Zacian traded looks, and then they, Urshifu, Calyrex, and Glastrier all turned towards Gloria as she seized a fourth Poké Ball.

One last legendary Pokémon emerged - a titanic, serpentine Pokémon whose body seemed to consist of bones in noxious purple, its body seeming to be joined by translucent crimson energy. The skeletal tendrils of its wings flexed as it beheld the environs of the Pokémon Den; then Eternatus turned round, finding Gloria standing there with trepidation.

"Are you ready for this?" she asked.

Eternatus nodded slowly.

Gloria took a deep breath, reaching into her bag and drawing out a Wishing Piece. "Then... here goes everything."

She hurled the shard skyward; as it vanished into the darkness of the Den, everyone's Dynamax Bands illuminated. Gloria raised her arm before her, staring at the glow of the indicator; then, after a long moment, she thrust her arm skyward.

And her Dynamax Band began to shine.

The four other Trainers each took a step back, and the legendary Pokémon braced themselves as Eternatus began to glow with power.

"Moment of truth," Hop proclaimed. "Is this gonna be awesome, or terrifying?"

"You say that like they're mutually exclusive," Peonia argued.

"It doesn't have the bounty of Wishing Stars that made the Darkest Day so long-lasting," Bede pointed out. "Even if it does Eternamax, the duration should still be limited."

"Bede's right," Marnie agreed. "A wild Dynamax lasts, what, an hour? And we've all got our own Pokémon, too. Even if these four can't knock it out, we should still be able to wear it down - one way or another!"

Gloria screamed, and her Dynamax Band shattered as she fell to her knees, the Wishing Star tumbling out of the casing.

Eternatus threw its head back and roared, and a blinding light began to well in its chest cavity.

"Oh, Mulch."

Draco: The opening of Sword/Shield indicates that Dynamax can be performed without using the Poké Ball as a medium. I imagine the whole "withdraw your Pokémon, Dynamax through the Ball" method has more to do with positioning the Pokémon than anything to do with the empowerment itself; even setting aside the gameplay mechanics, most Pokémon battles in the core series have the Trainers closer to each other than a Dynamaxed Pokémon's feet.