"Run! Monsters are coming!"

"Ah! Help!"

"Mama! Waaaah!"

The city had descended into chaos. Dynamax Pokémon, their minds lost to a strange influence, rampaged through the streets. The terrified screams of people echoed endlessly as panic spread like wildfire.

Massive bursts of Dynamax energy erupted from every direction, smashing into tall buildings and shattering streets beneath them. The destructive force toppled towers like they were made of paper, ripping through concrete and steel without mercy.

The shockwaves triggered catastrophic natural gas explosions, engulfing entire blocks in fireballs that roared sky-high.

Thousands had gathered in the city to witness the Masters Eight Finals. In just moments, the festive atmosphere turned into a disaster zone.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds were caught in the devastation. Some were knocked unconscious by the blast, others lay bleeding from severe injuries, and many were trapped under the rubble of collapsing buildings.

Galar League staff rushed to direct the evacuation, but the sheer number of civilians made the task overwhelming. Even seasoned emergency workers found themselves powerless against the scale of the crisis.

One staff member froze, staring up at the sky now cloaked in unnatural darkness. A titanic shape loomed overhead, blotting out the light. His heart pounded with dread as he raised his communicator to warn other cities.

"We're under massive attack! Requesting urgent assistance! Repeat, urgent assistance!"

A flood of panicked voices erupted from the other end of the line.

"Circhester Town here, huge numbers of Dynamax Pokémon have gone berserk! The situation is critical!"

Then… silence.

The man's stomach dropped. The horror dawned on him, this wasn't just happening in Hammerlocke City. This was spreading across all of Galar.

Darkness had fallen.

And if left unchecked, it would devour the entire region.

On a street choked with dust and debris, Hammerlocke City's Gym Leader, Raihan, barked orders to his Duraludon, which braced its massive body against a tilting wall, holding it steady for survivors to escape.

"Go! Get out of the city and head for open ground!" he yelled, his voice fierce over the din.

A small group of trainers and civilians scrambled to safety.

Raihan exhaled in brief relief, only for his head to snap toward a faint, desperate cry.

"Mommy!"

His eyes widened. A hundred meters away, a little girl, no older than four, clutched a plush Pikachu, trapped in the jagged gap of a collapsed building.

His pulse surged. Without thinking, he dashed forward.

But a shadow crossed overhead.

A Dragonite swooped down, wings beating with powerful gusts. With surprising gentleness, it lifted the massive slab pinning the girl and cradled her in its arms.

Following close behind was a tall young man.

Raihan froze.

Was that… Naoki?

Naoki's gaze met Raihan's as he carefully handed the child over. "She's in your care."

"And you?" Raihan asked, almost instinctively.

Naoki's eyes sharpened, darting toward the rooftop of a distant building.

High above, a figure on a blazing Charizard streaked toward the towering form of Eternatus.

"I'm going to help Leon," Naoki said firmly.

He vaulted onto the back of his Koraidon. But before taking off, he paused, unclipped three Poké Balls from his belt, and tossed them high into the air.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

Three bursts of light flashed, revealing three sturdy Gogoat, their hooves clattering against the shattered pavement.

Naoki's expression softened. "Gogoat, the people of this city are in danger. Use your strength to protect them!"

The Gogoats looked around, instantly understanding Naoki's intentions.

"Meah!"

All three nodded firmly, their eyes burning with resolve.

Raihan watched as Naoki turned and sprinted away.

The Gogoat left behind began to glow with a brilliant emerald light.

The light formed a shimmering dome around them, then surged outward at an astonishing speed.

In moments, Raihan felt the wave wash over him.

A soothing warmth, rich with life energy, flowed through his body.

To his shock, the cuts and bruises from earlier were gone. His fatigue had completely vanished.

Lifting his gaze, Raihan saw the streets around him bathed in the same green glow.

Cradling the little girl in his arms, he leapt onto his Flygon and rose into the air.

What he saw made his breath catch.

The shattered ruins of Hammerlocke City were now blanketed in a lush emerald field, as if the earth itself had come alive.

Tiny motes of light drifted upward from the grass, swirling through the air, gently mending the wounds of both people and Pokémon.

Is this… Grassy Terrain?

Raihan stared in disbelief.

He'd seen Naoki use Grassy Terrain in battle before, but never like this.

The Gogoat's field covered the entire city, something Raihan had never thought possible.

Could Naoki still be carrying power left over from his last battle with Leon?

Down below, the three Gogoat strode slowly through the streets. Wherever their hooves touched, the green spread farther, healing every injured person and Pokémon it reached.

It was like witnessing a miracle.

One by one, the wounded blinked in confusion, realizing their pain was gone.

They looked around, dazed, until they spotted the Gogoat walking toward them like calm, steadfast guardians.

High above, the real battle raged. Facing the massive Eternatus as it absorbed Galar's energy, Leon shouted without hesitation:

"Charizard, Flamethrower!"

Charizard's wings flared wide as it soared higher, unleashing a stream of searing fire that slammed into Eternatus's skeletal purple frame.

But the attack barely left a mark.

"No effect?" Leon muttered, frowning.

Then a voice called from behind.

"Hit the red core in its chest, that's where its power comes from!"

Leon turned to see Naoki riding in on Koraidon.

A grin broke across his face. "Here to help me too? I knew you'd show up. Let's take it down together!"

"Of course," Naoki replied, eyes fixed on their towering enemy.

Eternatus was a stain on the history of the Calyrex, and though the King never voiced it, Naoki knew he longed to see it destroyed.

BOOM!

A massive purple energy beam erupted from above, lancing down between Leon and Naoki. The blast tore through a skyscraper, splitting it clean in two before it exploded into rubble.

The shockwave rattled the air as the building crumbled into dust.

Leon vaulted back onto Charizard's back, shouting over the wind,

"This isn't the time for talk, let's finish Eternatus first!"

Naoki gave a quick nod. Switching mounts, he leapt onto his Dragonite.

Leon readied another Poké Ball, while Naoki pulled several bottles of Life Milk from his bag.

"Come here, let me help your Pokémon recover!" Naoki called.

Eternatus's attack ripped through the air again.

Leon swerved aside on Charizard, then reached over as Naoki tossed him two bottles of milk. One was given to Charizard, the other to Dragapult.

In moments, the battle wounds on both Pokémon had fully healed.

Leon's eyes hardened as he turned back toward Eternatus. "Dragon Darts!"

From the opposite side, Naoki commanded his Koraidon, "Screech!"

The two Pokémon struck together.

Koraidon let out a piercing roar, its invisible soundwaves drilling through Eternatus's skeletal frame, halting its movement for a fraction of a second.

In that instant, the red core in Eternatus's chest flared violently, releasing a purplish-red beam aimed straight toward Koraidon.

Eternabeam, Eternatus's signature move!

But Koraidon was far too fast to be caught so easily, darting aside in a blur.

At the same time, Leon's Dragapult launched its own assault from the opposite flank.

Lock-On… Dragon Darts!

Two Dreepy shot forward from Dragapult's horns like twin comets, trailing white streaks as they drilled straight into Eternatus's glowing chest core.

The impact hit true. Eternatus let out a piercing, metallic shriek, reeling from the pain.

Rage twisted through its frame, and its colossal tail whipped around toward Leon's Dragapult.

"Dodge it!" Leon shouted. Dragapult shot skyward, narrowly avoiding the crushing blow.

Seeing Eternatus's attention shift toward Dragapult, Naoki's lips curved slightly. "Let's give it a taste of Dragon Tail!"

Koraidon surged forward, its thick tail wrapped in a deep purple energy, before smashing it hard into Eternatus's bony frame.

Enraged beyond reason, the red core in Eternatus's chest blazed brighter than ever. Space and time around it warped as its ribcage opened like a cannon barrel. In the next instant, a massive beam of condensed Dynamax energy roared out with an ear-splitting detonation.

Leon and Charizard barely twisted out of its path.

Both Trainer and Pokémon stared back with lingering shock as the beam tore a gaping scar straight through the city.

If that blast had connected…

"Stay sharp! This isn't even its full strength yet!" Naoki warned, his voice hard. "Koraidon, Draco Meteor!"

Against an enemy of such overwhelming size, no attack was more fitting.

A pulse of draconic power surged from Koraidon and streaked high into the storm-wracked sky.

In the next heartbeat, the sky turned crimson.

Dozens of blazing meteorites erupted from the clouds, each trailing fire as they came crashing down toward Eternatus, the air trembling with the roar of their descent.

The crimson glow painted the entire sky in shades of red.

High above, Eternatus was the first to take the impact.

One… two… three…

Countless blazing meteorites, each infused with overwhelming Dragon-type energy, crashed down upon its massive body.

The pain was unbearable. Eternatus twisted and roared in agony, its cries echoing through the skies.

Unable to keep its massive frame stable, it plummeted from the sky and slammed into the ground with a deafening crash that shook the ruins of the city.

Leon urged his Charizard forward, calling out, "Alright! Now's our chance, let's catch it with a Poké Ball and calm it down!"

But Naoki shook his head, his eyes fixed on the fallen Pokémon. "Not yet."

Eternatus had just absorbed the lifeforce of the entire Galar region, yet it still stood strong.

Leon blinked, caught off guard. "What?"

The answer came almost instantly. A violent pulse of energy erupted from Eternatus's body, flooding the battlefield with raw power.

In the blink of an eye, its enormous form dissolved into a beam of searing purple light that shot straight into the clouds, disappearing from sight.

BOOM!

The storm clouds above twisted and churned wildly, the very fabric of space and time around them beginning to warp under immense strain.

The ground rumbled. Fierce winds whipped across the city, dragging shattered buildings, broken stones, and chunks of earth into the air. Debris swirled around them like a deadly cyclone.

From within the writhing clouds, an enormous purple claw tore its way into view, attached to a colossal, serpentine body that seemed to merge with the storm itself.

The oppressive force of its presence was suffocating.

Before that giant claw, both human and Pokémon felt impossibly small.

Eternatus's true form had revealed itself, its Gigantamax form, its power now pushed to the extreme, with a strength beyond imagination.

Leon's eyes went wide. "What… is that?"

"That," Naoki said quietly, "is Eternatus at full Gigantamax power. It's absorbed all of Galar's energy… and now it's gone completely over the limit."

"Gigantamax…" Leon echoed under his breath.

"Come on! This is our last battle, we have to bring it down!" Naoki shouted, pulling a Poké Ball from his belt.

A deep, resonating hum suddenly filled the air, vibrating through their bones.

High above, countless streams of energy from all around the region were converging toward the center of Eternatus's claw.

Without warning, a massive beam of light erupted downward.

Leon's Charizard swerved hard to avoid it, but even the near miss sent a shockwave so strong it threw Charizard off balance. Leon's battered sword and shield, artifacts he had been carrying, slipped from his grip and clattered to the ground.

Naoki steadied himself, only to see the fallen relics burst with a radiant light.

From within the glow, two majestic shapes emerged.

One held a gleaming sword firmly in its jaws.

The other bore an unyielding shield upon its body.

Zacian and Zamazenta had arrived.

The legendary King of Swords and King of Shields stood tall, their eyes locked on the towering form of Eternatus looming above, the very Pokémon that had nearly brought Galar to ruin.

Zacian tightened its hold on the blade, gaze shifting to the human in the air, the one chosen by their "king."

At that moment, both Zacian and Zamazenta knew the time had come.

Naoki spotted them as well, a faint smile tugging at his lips. He released another Poké Ball.

"Come on, Pawmot!"

As one of the successors to the power of the kings, Pawmot instantly recognized Zacian and Zamazenta's presence, and they, in turn, sensed the same royal connection within it.

'Was this the one chosen to fight alongside us today?' Zacian thought.

Leon's expression lit up as he took in the scene.

Charizard, Dragapult, Dragonite, Koraidon, Pawmot, Zacian, Zamazenta…

Everyone was here. And now… the final battle was about to begin.