"Woooo—"
After a grueling half-hour battle, the mournful roars of five giant dragons echoed above Hammerlocke City.
Falling from the sky, the 100-meter-tall Eternatus's skeletal form faded away. By the time it hit the ground, it had reverted to its normal size, just around twenty meters.
Thud!
Bewear landed right beside Stephen, stumbling as she touched down. Luckily, her strict husband, Zamazenta, quickly stepped forward to catch her, acting as a cushion.
"That was something," Stephen said as he helped Bewear sit down. Looking at her injuries, he couldn't even remember the last time she'd been hurt this badly.
Previously, Stephen had claimed there were fewer than three legendary Pokémon who could beat Zacian, the King of Swords.
As for those who could be sure to beat Eternamax Eternatus, it'd probably be just that one.
Even his own Bewear needed help from both Sword and Shield Kings to take Eternatus down.
Whoosh!
As Stephen waved to Little Hoopa to summon a healer for Bewear, Zacian suddenly brandished its sword and charged at the fallen Eternatus.
Rose and Leon, who were near Eternatus, jumped in shock.
There was no time to intervene. They could only watch as the sword's cold, sharp edge drew closer to Eternatus's throat.
At the last moment, a golden ring appeared out of nowhere between the dragon and the dog.
Zacian, unable to stop in time, was sucked in—only to pop out a moment later through the golden ring above Little Hoopa's head, between Sonia and Nessa.
[What are you doing!?]
Landing with a thud, the King of Swords looked like a bristling cat, angrily scolding the two girls via telepathy.
Zacian's combat power was top five among legendaries, so its anger made Sonia and Nessa both stumble back in fright.
Little Hoopa buried its face in Sonia's arms.
Mew gave an arched-brow look.
Trying to steal my spot on the bed, are you?
"Calm down, Zacian," Stephen said, smiling as he walked over, taking Sonia and Nessa's hands in each of his own to help them calm down.
"Eternatus can't Eternamax again for a while. Besides, it isn't truly evil—it just eats a lot."
Zacian reflexively wanted to argue.
But Stephen continued, "Now that Eternatus's appetite has shrunk, as long as it doesn't Eternamax, it probably only eats as much as a few Snorlax. Chairman Rose and Leon can easily feed it, so let's give it a break."
There weren't many legendary Pokémon actively hostile to humans—strong ones, even fewer: Yveltal, Eternatus, Necrozma.
But only Yveltal was truly, inherently malevolent.
The other two were pretty reasonable. Necrozma was originally the guardian of light, only going berserk because humans stole its power and left it in pain.
As for Eternatus, it just had a gigantic appetite. It nearly consumed all of Galar's energy three thousand years ago—forcing Zacian and Zamazenta to step in.
After that battle, Eternatus was left in a damaged state, severely weakened and much smaller.
But in a way, that was a blessing in disguise: its appetite shrank, so it didn't need to crazily drain energy to satisfy its hunger anymore.
Even though it's still twenty meters long, as Stephen said, its current appetite is at most a few Snorlax combined.
Ordinary trainers couldn't afford it, but with Rose and Leon as a support team, how could Eternatus ever go hungry?
[Sis... Sister, Stephen does have a point...] Zamazenta chimed in.
Zacian shot him a cold glare, making Zamazenta quickly lower his head.
Stephen added, "And Eternatus can't Eternamax again for a while, so it's no match for you. If anything happens, you can just take it down again."
What Stephen said was true. In a one-on-one, Eternamax Eternatus could overpower Zacian. But in its current state, Zacian could beat the poison dragon easily.
Just look at their type matchups.
Eternatus, lying on the ground with its beady white eyes open, wanted to rebut—but its survival instincts made it keep quiet.
"She agreed," Stephen turned to Rose and Leon.
He'd known Zacian for years and understood its personality. If it didn't talk back, that meant it agreed.
"Thank you so much," Rose bowed slightly in gratitude.
All those years of fawning finally paid off.
"Congrats, man!" Raihan, who'd been helping evacuate civilians, came running over to slap his buddy on the shoulder with a grin.
With Eternatus, Leon now had a legitimate claim to being the world's third-best trainer.
But the next second, Raihan noticed something was off.
Because Leon was just standing there, dazed.
Following his gaze, Raihan saw he was staring straight at Sonia, whose hand Stephen was holding.
Leon, Raihan, Sonia, and Nessa—they'd all traveled together as kids and were quite familiar with each other.
If this were a typical slice-of-life anime, as adults, Leon would end up with Sonia, and Raihan with Nessa.
But the reality was nothing like that. Leon only cared about battles, Raihan only cared about Leon, and as for the two girls, everyone knew how Sonia felt. Nessa and Raihan, meanwhile, weren't even close.
In canon, Nessa saw Melony as her rival—not Raihan.
As for the reason... well, let's spare the girl some dignity.
After nearly two years, seeing Sonia again, Raihan was a bit stunned.
Since getting together with Stephen, Sonia had become fuller-figured and dressed more maturely. Her beige coat and tightly-fitted pencil pants hugged her long, curvy legs, giving her a sophisticated, womanly charm.
Even the pastel sweater underneath couldn't hide her formidable assets—enough to rival Lorelei.
Whoa, is this Sonia?
No wonder the Lumiose Times always suspected she was pregnant.
"Go!" Rose, now alert, gave Leon a swift kick.
Rose was usually indulgent with Leon, but this time was different.
What are you looking at? Is that something you're allowed to see?
"Dr. Stephen, will you be joining Chairman Goodshow's operation against Team Plasma?" Rose quickly changed the subject.
Stephen smiled, "I don't need to, do I? With Mr. Lance and Kyurem, and Leon with Eternatus, Team Plasma doesn't stand a chance."
Rose nodded in agreement. "Chairman Goodshow has announced that the entire operation will be broadcast live—obviously to show off Lance and his Kyurem's power. Hmph! Do they think Galar has no strong trainers? It's the perfect chance to show off Leon's new strength!"
Stephen: …
Chairman Rose does have to compete with the Indigo League on everything.
Not far away, Leon had already caught Eternatus with a Master Ball.
"Chairman Rose, we'll head out now," Stephen said as he glanced at the chaos in Hammerlocke.
Forget it. He'd have Bewear healed in Alola instead—too messy here.
Rose nodded, exchanged a few pleasantries, and watched Stephen's group step into a portal.
Watching the golden ring fade and finally disappear, Leon stood there silent for a long time, his face showing none of the joy of catching a top-tier legend.
Raihan nudged his friend, "What's up? Regretting it?"
"I—no, I'm not!" Leon snapped out of it, waving his hands.
Rose, uncharacteristically stern, said, "Leon, you need to understand: a missed chance is missed forever."
"...Yes, Chairman. I understand," Leon forced a smile.
...
Back in Alola, Stephen's whole group started dinner.
To celebrate Sonia's first win at the Pokemon Contest, everyone held a grand party in the plaza of Aether Paradise.
Besides Sonia's victory, Chairman Goodshow's upcoming operation against Team Plasma was also a hot topic.
"Team Plasma's pretty strong, but N is already locked up, and Zekrom's been absorbed. With Lance and Leon each having a top legend, I can't see how the League could lose. No wonder Chairman Goodshow wants to broadcast this—clearly to show off the League's strength," Green said, raising a glass of red wine.
But before she could take a sip, Cynthia snatched it away. "You're ten years too young to drink this."
Green pouted. Time to give Cynthia a hard time.
"Joker-sama, what's Team Rocket's move?"
Stephen had found a chance to tell Green about his secret identity. She'd been terrified at first but had gradually gotten used to it.
Sure enough, Cynthia's face changed immediately at Green's words.
A major battle between the League and a criminal syndicate, while Team Rocket sits back to profit?
Wasn't this the same as what happened at Indigo Plateau a few years ago?
"Giovanni plans to pick up the pieces. After all, there's a lot of talent in Team Plasma, and many aren't even united," Stephen replied.
Team Plasma's situation was unique.
The members could broadly be divided into two groups:
Those loyal to N, or who shared his ideals—believing Pokémon and humans should be separated.
Those loyal to Ghetsis, or rather, who supported his ambitions. They only used "liberating Pokémon" as a front, but were just villains chasing profit—like Team Rocket.
The second group, Giovanni thought, could be recruited.
After all, they were after money, power, and strength.
If Team Plasma could offer that, so could Team Rocket—better!
And the mad scientist Colress was definitely in this group.
He had zero loyalty to Team Plasma—he just worked with them for research funding and materials.
Giovanni figured he could poach this guy.
"If we don't go, Team Rocket probably can't beat the League, but Silver's dad hates Lance, so if he goes to Unova, there's bound to be a fight," Green said. "I'll go too. Whether it's Giovanni or Lance, if either dies, Silver will be heartbroken. Poor kid…"
That topic piqued everyone's interest.
Right now, Silver, Giovanni, and Lance are in a delicate situation.
At the Indigo Conference, Giovanni had planned to kill Lance, but Silver stopped him.
In the past six months, Giovanni had had plenty of chances to take him out, but knew that if he did, his newly-mended relationship with his son would shatter again.
Lance also wanted to kill Giovanni, but probably wouldn't care too much about Silver's feelings.
The most pitiful, of course, was Silver, caught in the middle.
"If both League powerhouses go off to Unova, what if other criminal teams act up? Like Team Galactic..." Cynthia sighed. "I'll just protect my homeland as best I can."
After the battle at Sinnoh's ruins, Cyrus declared, "Everything's ready." He'd probably act soon.
And with the League focusing on Team Plasma, it was a golden opportunity for Team Galactic.
Will chimed in, "No need to worry about Team Galactic, right? With your strength, Cynthia, if you lost to Cyrus, you might as well retire and raise kids. At least your kids wouldn't starve."
Cynthia rolled her eyes, gripping her plate to resist smacking Will.
Now she understood why Karen was always chasing Will around to punch him.
His mouth was just too annoying.
Before Cynthia could act, Karen had already kicked Will in the butt from behind.
...
The party lasted past ten at night.
A rather tipsy Will lay in his Jynx's arms.
"Hey! Should we strip this guy and toss him on the road?" Karen asked Cynthia, possibly the first time she'd started a conversation with her.
"That's… not a good idea," said Cynthia kindly.
With so many Alola tourists, if any had certain fetishes, she was afraid Will would end up trending in tomorrow's headlines—naked, cross-eyed, and making peace signs…
"Then let's find somewhere else," Karen grinned mischievously.
...
The next day, Stephen didn't get up until almost noon.
"That jerk Karen dumped me at a Hoenn moving company! The whole place was full of Machoke and Machamp!" Will yelled, storming into the living room.
He'd woken up to find himself naked, surrounded by Machoke and Machamp—a memory that would haunt him forever.
Stephen just laughed and picked up the newspaper.
To his surprise, Kanto's Goldenrod Daily had Leon on the front page, headline: "The League's Three Powerhouses."
The article read: "After Indigo League Champion Lance gained the recognition of the mightiest dragon Kyurem, we have now learned that Galar's Champion Leon has also caught the legendary Eternatus, a Pokémon from three thousand years ago. Together with Dr. Stephen, these three top League powerhouses are leading the League into a new era. Chairman Goodshow has officially declared that a full assault on Team Plasma will take place in one week, with Champions Lance and Leon personally leading the charge. The operation will be broadcast live, so everyone in the Pokémon world can witness this historic moment."