The Hero of Sword and Shield Beneath the Darkest Night!
Leon made up his mind—if this incident could be resolved smoothly,
he would definitely make another trip to Alola afterward.
Ash's Ten Million Volt Thunderbolt had left an incredibly deep impression on him!
"Mega Charizard X! Dragon Pulse—go!"
"Mega Blastoise! Hydro Pump!"
Facing Eternatus,
Leon—who only possessed a single Dynamax system—had no way to use Dynamax at all!
With no other choice, Leon could only grit his teeth and send Charizard straight into battle!
One black and one crimson silhouette spiraled upward through the air.
Interweaving with Mega Charizard X's Dragon Pulse
was Leon's Charizard's Air Slash!
Below them came Hydro Pump from Mega Blastoise!
With the Mega Launcher ability boosting it,
Mega Blastoise's Hydro Pump was more accurately described as Origin Pulse!
"I really didn't expect that after all these years, your strength would improve this much, Gary."
It sounded like praise—almost surprise.
But coming from Ash, Gary couldn't feel happy no matter how he tried.
This kid was definitely implying something!
The triple attack surged straight toward Eternatus in the clouds!
At this moment, everyone watching the live broadcast clenched their fists!
It had to succeed!
This was an attack that determined the fate of all Galar!
The prismatic dragon slammed into Eternatus's metal-like exoskeleton!
The heavy blow carved a deep groove into Eternatus's body!
Immediately after, countless leaf-like blades smashed into the wound Mega Charizard X had created!
It was like rubbing salt directly into an open injury!
The immense pain made Eternatus roar in fury!
However—!
At precisely this moment,
the water pillar—called Hydro Pump but truly Origin Pulse—poured straight into Eternatus's mouth!
"ROAR—GLRK!!"
The roar was cut off abruptly!
"Now! Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"
"Electivire! Thunderbolt!"
Ash and Gary seized the opportunity, launching a decisive strike at the immobilized Eternatus!
In an instant—
Golden radiance lit up the darkened sky!
At this moment!
Everyone's hearts surged with emotion!
The Dynamax particles that had been converging on Eternatus suddenly froze in place!
It worked!
Everyone waited eagerly for what would happen next!
However—
The twist came far too suddenly!
High above the clouds!
Eternatus twisted its body!
The purple-red core at its center erupted with even more dazzling light!
The lightning was dispersed!
The frozen Dynamax particles rushed at visible speed straight into Eternatus's core!
In a single moment, a bewitching purple-red glow enveloped the entire sky!
At the same time!
A soul-shaking purple beam blasted forth from the core!
Even from far away, the people atop the Battle Tower could feel the danger contained within!
"Mega Charizard X! Dragon Claw!"
At the same instant—
The purple beam pierced through the clouds, aimed directly at the Battle Tower!
Facing this overwhelming ray of destruction!
Despair descended upon everyone!
The three atop the tower had no way to dodge!
The attack was wide enough to engulf the entire tower!
The strike was about to land!
Everyone closed their eyes—no one wanted to witness this scene!
The invincible Champion… had fallen—
[Mustard: Chairman Rose! Look at what you've done! You've put Leon and Ash in mortal danger—and plunged all of Galar into a crisis of annihilation!]
[Rose: No! That's impossible! This wasn't what I envisioned!]
[Professor Magnolia: Face reality! Eternatus cannot be controlled! It's a ticking time bomb—a demon capable of destroying the world! And you brought that demon into existence!]
[Misty: Ash! Please, don't let anything happen to you!]
[Cynthia: Ash…]
Despair filled every heart!
When a god seeks to destroy the world, how can humans resist?
Would a miracle happen?
If only they could become light themselves and lend their strength to Ash!
…
On screen—
Is this how it ends…?
No! Not yet!
Carrying the final hope, Mega Charizard X soared through the clouds!
Emerald-green Dragon Claws wrapped around both of its arms!
Mega Charizard X!
Everyone's last hope!
The final seed of fate!
Flying beneath Eternatus, Mega Charizard X raised its razor-sharp claws and slammed them upward into its jaw!
Finisher—Dragon Claw Rising Uppercut!
At this very instant!
The world focused on you!
Mega Charizard X—the last hope of Galar—struck a heaven-defying blow!
Under that crushing strike,
the beam aimed at the Battle Tower was forcibly deflected!
The massive purple beam—thick as the Battle Tower itself—barely skimmed past it, blasting toward Hammerlocke instead!
A bone-deep ravine split the entire city!
Even the edge of the Battle Tower was completely shattered by the residual shockwave!
Had that attack hit the tower directly—
The entire Battle Tower would have been reduced to ashes!
[Professor Oak: Well done, Ash! I knew you could do it!]
[Mustard: Thank goodness—Ash had Mega Charizard X attack at the critical moment! Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable!]
[Professor Magnolia: Rose, you should be grateful—otherwise, you'd be Galar's greatest criminal!]
[Rose: I never meant for this to happen… I…]
"So, it's not too late!" Leon said, his blazing gaze turning toward Rose.
This was only the beginning—there was still a chance to undo everything!
Rose nodded with difficulty.
The thought that Leon might die because of his mistake sent chills through his entire body!
Galar could lose him—but it could never lose Leon!
Thankfully… it could still be fixed!
"Ash, create a miracle," Rose murmured.
Ash truly possessed something called miraculous power.
He would become the key to breaking this deadlock!
…
On screen—
The lower levels of the Battle Tower.
Rose stared helplessly at the shattered walls around him.
The Battle Tower—built to withstand Dynamax battles—had been destroyed so easily by Eternatus!
Through the broken walls, Rose saw Hammerlocke in ruins!
A breeze blew past, sending a chill through his body.
At some point, his back was already soaked with sweat.
What had he done…?
Hammerlocke—Galar's second-largest city—destroyed just like that by Eternatus!
Then what meaning did everything he'd done even have?
If not for evacuating the citizens in advance,
Rose would have been nailed to Galar's pillar of shame forever!
Subconsciously, Rose reached into his pocket and grasped a Poké Ball.
A mistake was a mistake—he had to atone for it!
This specially made Poké Ball…
Rose knew he couldn't handle it.
It had to be entrusted to someone more suitable!
"Copperajah! Ferrothorn! Return—"
Rose turned, about to call out to his Pokémon—
But the sight before him made Chairman Rose feel suffocated!
What was he seeing?!
His invincible Copperajah and Ferrothorn were both down on the field, unable to battle!
And they had been defeated by merely two Pokémon that hadn't even reached their final evolutions!
No—wait!
After defeating his Pokémon,
those two Pokémon belonging to the young man named Ash had both evolved!
Standing before him were the truly invincible Lucario and Cinderace!
"Lucario!"
'Senior Sister! Mission complete!'
"Cinderace!"
'Told you—stick with Senior Sis and you'll live the good life!'
At this moment, both Pokémon stared at Rose with dangerous gazes.
Sweating now, huh, kid?
"I mean… this is all a misunderstanding, right?"
Rose wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
Are Pokémon these days really this terrifying?
Or had he been away from battling so long that the meta had changed?
More importantly—
He now had to figure out how to gracefully make it to the very top of the Battle Tower!
Unfortunately for him, Lucario and Cinderace clearly weren't going to give him that chance!
—
At the Battle Tower above!
Seeing the attack diverted, Leon and Gary finally breathed a sigh of relief!
Everything had happened too fast—only Ash had predicted the danger in advance and successfully changed Eternatus's attack trajectory!
"Thanks… for that," Gary said awkwardly, turning to Ash.
"As expected of you, Ash!"
Leon didn't hold back his praise.
That level of prediction and reaction speed was the best he'd ever seen!
"Be careful—Eternatus has completely gone berserk! It's absorbing Dynamax particles even faster now!"
Ash didn't turn his head, his eyes locked firmly onto Eternatus in the clouds!
Above them was now a sea of purple!
Countless Dynamax particles poured into Eternatus's core!
Visibly, the damage the three had inflicted earlier was rapidly healing!
"Mega Charizard X!"
To Gary and Leon's confusion,
Ash called Mega Charizard X down from the sky!
Then—Ash leapt straight onto its back!
"Gary, Mr. Leon—please create an opening so I can get close to Eternatus! I'll see if I can communicate with it!"
As he spoke, Ash directed Mega Charizard X back into the clouds!
"Don't mind it—Ash is always like this,"
Gary shrugged helplessly.
Ash's recklessness gave him constant headaches.
Leon, however, laughed heartily.
He released another of his Pokémon—the Galar pseudo-legendary, Dragapult!
Ash must have his reasons!
In that case, he'd just cooperate!
Let's go crazy together!
The two figures shot out of the Battle Tower!
Just then, Rose—being escorted up by Lucario and Cinderace—witnessed the scene!
Rose's face went pale instantly!
In his eyes, Ash and the others were basically charging toward death!
"What have I done…?!"
With a thud, Rose dropped torose dropped to his knees.
Endless regret swallowed him whole!
He was Galar's sinner!
And that Poké Ball he had always regarded as his secret weapon—
Couldn't even be used.
Because defeating Eternatus had always been nothing more than wishful thinking!
"Dragon Darts!"
"Air Slash!"
Eternatus twisted its body, raising its claws to swat Mega Charizard X out of the sky!
However, Leon's Dragapult and Gary's Aerodactyl intercepted the attack!
Thanks to that—
Ash was able to reach Eternatus safely!
Perhaps because Mega Charizard X's earlier strike had left a deep impression,
Eternatus didn't hesitate at all!
Another attack surged straight toward Ash!
Ash tried to establish a connection!
Eternatus: Sorry. Rejected.
Ash: You reject me just like that? Aren't you giving me any face at all?!
Hoopa warning!
Facing Eternatus's attack!
Ash extended his right hand!
Aura power—fully unleashed!
But then—
Something absurd happened!
The aura power that had always been unstoppable
was instantly absorbed the moment it touched Eternatus—sucked into the core on its chest!
Even the surrounding Dynamax particles were being absorbed at the same terrifying speed!
"Ash! Get away—now!"
Leon and Gary shouted anxiously!
Something about this was deeply wrong!
But before they could get any closer—
A dazzling crimson light burst forth from Eternatus's core!
In an instant, the brilliant red glow swept across the battlefield!
Including Ash!
All humans and Pokémon were blasted back by the shockwave!
Next, the red light enveloped Eternatus's body!
In an instant, its form began to rapidly expand!
At the same time!
Another powerful shockwave erupted outward with Eternatus at its center!
Ash and the others—who had just stabilized themselves midair—were caught off guard and smashed down onto the Battle Tower!
The impact wasn't just impact—
It was filled with boundless energy!
To protect the Trainers on their backs,
Dragapult, Aerodactyl, and Mega Charizard X were all heavily injured!
They could barely hold on!
The already dire situation became even worse!
No one could be certain that Eternatus's combat power would weaken after this transformation!
This—
Was true despair!
Wrapped in red light, Eternatus's body visibly expanded!
Leon was extremely familiar with this phenomenon!
Dynamax?!
No—
Eternamax!
The core inside Eternatus drifted out of its body!
Then, the skeletal structure peeled away piece by piece!
Next, Eternatus's original body reorganized around the core!
Most of its form spiraled and coiled into a gigantic serpent, attached to the vortex in the sky!
Near the core, five heads extended outward—
Five heads forming a colossal claw that grasped everything!
Heaven and earth lay in its palm!
This was the culprit behind the legendary Darkest Day of Galar!
Eternatus's true form!
Eternamax — Eternatus!!!
[Steven: What kind of monster is this?! Even Primal Groudon and Kyogre from Hoenn legends aren't this terrifying!]
[Flint: By comparison, the Sinnoh Creation Trio could be called "delicate."]
[Diantha: This is very bad. That shockwave wiped out most of Ash's side's combat power. Aside from the Pokémon on the tower, Leon's Dragapult and Ash's Mega Charizard X have almost no strength left.]
[Gary: Then it's time for the true savior—me—to make my entrance. Don't worry, everyone, I'll erase this disaster completely.]
[Cynthia: Not entirely! Leon's Charizard still has fighting strength, and Ash's Pikachu is still at full power.]
[Bruno: Exactly! Ash's Pikachu hasn't even gone all out yet! This is the Pikachu that overwhelms Zapdos in Electric-type power—the true Thunder God Pikachu!]
[Gary: Don't ignore me, hey!]
[Lance: Gary, even if your grandfather is Professor Oak, what kind of Champion are you? A vacuum Champion doesn't count.]
[Gary: ...]
[Lorelei: Seems like someone else isn't a Champion either.]
[Lance: ...]
Lance: Damn it, forgot about that.
You couldn't really blame anyone.
Ash was the Alola Champion.
Leon was the World Championships Champion.
And Gary was just… a researcher at the Oak Laboratory.
The power hierarchy was pretty obvious!
Watching Lance roast him mercilessly,
Gary clenched his fists!
Damn it—just a Champion title, right?!
One day, he'd take it back!
…
On screen—
Ash recalled Dragonite and the others.
Gary also recalled all his Pokémon except Blastoise.
Leon let out a sigh.
All of his Pokémon were Champion-level, but to bring out their full strength required Dynamax!
Against Eternatus, however, Leon's specialty—Dynamax battles—was completely banned!
Recalling Dragapult,
the only Pokémon that could still fight under these circumstances was Charizard!
This was a battle where everything was on the line!
And in a corner no one noticed—
The Sword and Shield, recovered from Slumbering Weald,
seemed to respond to some kind of signal.
They flickered continuously—
One blue, one red—
Two faint lights.
…To be continued.
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