"At least it's just a Corvisquire and not a Corviknight." Nessa said in mild relief as she stared up at the giant bird walking up to them. "I think we should be fine on our own."

"How exactly are we supposed to fight something this big?" Ash could feel his legs shake beneath him as his body couldn't make up its mind on a fight or flight response. "I don't think Pikachu's strong enough to take on something that strong."

"Pika." Pikachu didn't like the insinuation that he wasn't strong, but he couldn't help to agree with Ash's assessment.

"Actually, your Pikachu should be the key to beating this thing." Nessa replied. "Do you know how to use that thing?"

Ash looked down at the Dynamax Band on his wrist that Nessa was pointing to. "I think so?"

"Cor!" The giant Corvisquire cried out, clearly getting ready to attack.

"Then hurry up and Dynamax!" Nessa shouted.

"Right." Ash grabbed the Cherish Ball clipped to his belt and held it up. "Sorry Pikachu, but you're going to have to get back in here."

"Pi." Pikachu nodded. He wasn't keen on the idea but now was not the time to be questioning orders.

A small beam of red light shot out of the Cherish Ball and absorbed Pikachu back into it. Ash then held the ball in his right hand and clicked the small black screen on the Dynamax Band. The Dynamax energy stored within it was released and wrapped itself around the rare Pokéball, coating it in a white and red shell as the ball suddenly began to grow in his hand. Ash had to use both arms to carry the now enormous Pokéball over his head to send Pikachu back out. The results were startling.

Pikachu now towered over them at over 20 meters tall. Ash had been expecting that part. What he was not expecting was the sheer bulk added on to the yellow rodent, who looked like he had just come back from an all-you-can-eat buffet. Even more surprising was his tail, which looked like it had at least doubled in length compared to the rest of his body and was glowing white.

"I don't think I've ever seen a Pikachu Gigantamax before." Nessa noted after calling out her turtle-like Drednaw. "I didn't even know they could."

Ash blinked. He knew what Gigantamax meant, of course. It was when certain Pokémon altered their form when they Dynamaxed, usually becoming stronger in the process. He had never expected Pikachu to be able to do that, however.

"Cor!" The wild Corvisquire began flapping its wings, creating a massive funnel of wind that it aimed at Pikachu. The giant Electric-type took several steps back but was able to withstand the powerful gust of wind thanks to his newfound girth.

"Right." Ash snapped back to his senses. "Pikachu! Hit it with Thunder Shock!"

Pikachu nodded to his trainer and turned to the opponent. He squatted down on all fours and tried to send out a bolt of electrical energy like normal. Things didn't go quite as expected, however. Instead of launching the attack from his cheeks as normal, the electricity channeled through his tail and fired straight up. Rather than hitting the ceiling, however, a dark storm cloud formed around the attack and flew over to Corvisquire. The gigantic raven looked up at the cloud just in time to be struck by a bolt of lightning even larger than the one Pikachu had initially fired off. There was an explosion of electrical energy that forced both humans to back away and shield their eyes from the light. When the storm settled, Corvisquire was face-first in the ground. The blue and black corvid tried to pick itself back up, letting out a caw that sounded almost like a cough. Several giant rocks then formed above its head courtesy of Nessa's Drednaw using Rock Tomb and slammed down into the big bird.

"Cor!" Corvisquire let out one final crow before slumping into unconsciousness.

"I'll let you do the honors of catching it." Nessa turned to Ash with a slight bow.

"Um, okay." Ash replied, still trying to process everything that just happened, and pulled out an empty Pokéball. He looked at the small Pokéball in his hand, then up at the giant Pokémon lying in front of him. "Um…"

"You need to use your Dynamax Band again." Nessa explained, understanding what must have been going through Ash's head at the moment.

"Right." Ash pressed the small screen again and the empty Pokéball was engulfed in energy, growing as Pikachu's Cherish Ball had done. With effort, he chucked the now-giant Pokéball at the downed bird.

The Pokéball opened up and sucked the Corvisquire inside before closing again and landing on the ground with a loud thump, creating a small crater which it rested in. Just as Ash took a step forward, the ball rolled once in the crater. Then again. After the third shake, the Pokéball clicked and began to shrink down to its normal size. The Dynamax energy dispersed as Ash walked up to it and picked up the Pokéball.

"Well, that was… different than I was expecting." Ash said as he walked back to where Nessa and the still giant Pikachu were waiting, then looked up at his starter. "So how do I…"

"Wait for it." Nessa answered his unfinished question.

After a moment, the red Dynamax energy surrounding Pikachu crackled and began to disperse as the Electric-type began to quickly shrink back down to normal.

"Pikapi!" The once-again-small Pikachu yelled excitedly and ran up to Ash. "Pipika!"

"We should get out of here now." Nessa said. "Before something else shows up."

"Don't need to tell me twice." Ash agreed as Pikachu climbed back onto his backpack.

Ash dusted himself off once he was safely above ground again. While certainly an interesting experience, Ash's wasn't sure that he would be wanting to venture into another Pokémon Den again for a while. Pikachu, on the other hand, seemed almost disappointed to be leaving. He had never felt so powerful before and couldn't wait to experience it again.

"So, where are you headed?" Nessa asked.

"Oh, um… Motostoke." It took Ash a moment to remember the name of the city.

"What a coincidence, I'm actually on my way there myself. You going to watch the opening ceremony?"

"Sort of." Ash scratched the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed. "I'm actually going to be competing."

Nessa's eyes widened, caught off-guard by that revelation. "Really? I thought, well… I kind of got the impression you were just starting out as a trainer. You know you need a sponsorship in order to enter, right?"

"Yeah, I know." Ash nodded. "I actually just got Pikachu here this morning, but I do have a sponsorship."

"Really?" Nessa was confused by the boy's reply. "Who's sponsoring you?"

"Leon." Ash answered excitedly, almost sounding like he was telling it to himself more than her.

"Wait, Leon?" That was not what Nessa had expected to hear. She could see Milo trying to sponsor a new trainer, but Leon? What was he thinking?

"I know, I can hardly believe it myself." Ash smiled weakly. "I'm not sure that I'm ready for this yet but I don't want to let him down."

Nessa glanced over at the city wall visible in the distance. "You know, if you don't feel ready, then you should consider just not entering the league yet. I'm sure Leon would understand."

"I've been considering that." Ash turned to the Pikachu resting on his shoulder. "But the more I think about it, the more I feel like I want to enter. I think it'll be a good experience for me and Pikachu. We'll do the best we can, learning and getting experience along the way, and building up our team. We may not make it to the end, but I don't think part really matters at this point. They don't stop you from re-entering the league, do they?"

"That's… actually pretty mature for your age." Nessa replied. "And you can enter the league as many times as you want. Of course, if you were to enter every year and not get very far, it would be hard to get anyone to still sponsor you."

"I'll keep that in mind." Ash nodded. "You seem to know a lot about the league. Are you entering, too?"

"Something like that." Nessa smiled. "We should get going if we don't want to be late."

Motostoke was one of the largest cities in the Galar region. Built during the height of the industrial revolution and situated between the two largest coal mines on the island, the entire city was powered by steam. To Ash and Pikachu, who had never set foot in a major city before, the sight was quite overwhelming. Nessa, on the other hand, was quite used to it.

"Come on, the stadium is this way." Nessa gestured for Ash to follow her when she realized that he had stopped to look around in awe.

"Oh, right." Ash snapped back to attention and hurried behind Nessa, who made her way to the north end of the city.

It took a while for the two to reach their destination, mostly due to the heavy crowds gathered to watch the opening ceremony that Nessa and Ash were both trying to make their way to. They did eventually reach Motostoke Stadium, however, which proved to be everything that Ash had ever imagine.

"Alright, just go inside and talk to the person at the front desk, they'll get you set up." Nessa explained.

"Wait, aren't you coming, too?" Ash asked.

"No." The young woman shook her head. "I've got other stuff to do. I'm sure you'll see me again later. Goodbye and good luck."

With that, Nessa turned and hurried off, leaving Ash alone by the stadium entrance. A bit thrown off, Ash hesitantly walked up to the front doors, which opened automatically for him. Once inside, he strode across the room. Before Ash could reach the front desk, however, a familiar voice called to him.

"Hey, Ash!" Hop waved, signaling Ash to come over. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

"Yeah, I got a little help up on my way." Ash admitted. "How was your trip?"

"Uneventful." Hop sighed. "But I guess that was the point. I've pretty much just been waiting for you and Leon to get here."

"Wait, Leon isn't here yet?"

"No." Hop shook his head. "With his sense of direction, Charizard could have dropped him off just outside the building and he'd still get lost. So, who knows when he'll get here?"

As if right on cue, the room suddenly fell silent as the sliding doors opened and a familiar figure walked in. Ash and Hop barely had time to register who it was before nearly everyone else there ran up to the Galar League Champion. It took a while for Leon to make his way through the crowd, greeting his fans and signing autographs along the way, and meet up with his younger brother and neighbor.

"Sorry I'm late." Leon smiled. "I had stuff that I needed to take care of. In fact, I only have a few minutes to spare right now, so can we make this quick?"

"No problem." Hop nodded and held up his registration form. "I've already filled most of this out, I just need your signature as my sponsor."

"I still need to get one of those." Ash glanced at the form. "I'll be back in a moment."

Ash turned and headed over to the front desk, as he had initially been planning. Fortunately, there wasn't a line at the moment and he was able to go straight up to it.

"You here to register for the Galar League?" The man behind the desk asked.

"Yep." Ash nodded.

"Great, then I'll just need you to fill out one of these forms and bring it back to me." The man handed Ash a registration form and a pen with the Galar League logo on it. "You can keep the pen."

"Thanks." Ash smiled before turning and heading back to Hop and Leon.

It didn't take long for Ash to fill out the form and hand it over to Leon to sign. With that done, Ash and Hop returned to the desk and handed the man their forms back.

"Thank you." The staff member glanced over both forms. "Everything seems to be in order and… wow, the Champ's sponsoring both of you? You two must be something special. Anyway, the men's locker room is back there, you'll need to head back there to pick up your uniforms and await further instructions. Welcome to the Galar Pokémon League!"

The roar of the crowd that filled the Motostoke Stadium was unlike anything Ash had ever heard before. He and the hundreds of other trainers waiting to walk out onto the field stood by watching a screen that showed the president of Macro Cosmos as he announced that the Galar Gym Challenge had officially begun before calling out the league's eight Gym Leaders. Although only seven figures could be seen walking onto the green as the smoke that signaled their entrance cleared. The cameras zoomed in for a close up of each leader as they walked.

Ash was an avid follower of Galar's Pokémon battle scene and was sure that he knew of all of the league's top trainers, including the gym leaders who all stood at the top of the competitive scene. That was why he was thrown for a loop as the cameras focused in on Gym Leader in particular. How could he have not noticed it earlier? She had even told him her name after they fought that raid battle together just an hour or two earlier. How, for the love of Arceus, had he not realized that the young woman who had helped him earlier was Nessa, Hulbury's Gym Leader and Galar's foremost expert on Water-type Pokémon, not to mention one of the regions top models. He even had a poster of her in his room, though he had never hung it up to avoid some potentially uncomfortable questions from his mom. Though in his defense, he had similar posters of all the gym leaders.

"You alright, there?" A black-haired girl standing next to Ash asked him.

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing." Ash replied Wooloo-ishly. "Just nerves."

"Don't be nervous." A blond boy standing in front of them turned his head. "It's not like you're going to make it past the first gym, anyway."

Before Ash had a chance to retort, chairman Rose called for the league challengers to enter the field and the league staff members standing ahead of them signaled for them to go. Almost in unison, the crowd of trainers both young and old made their way out onto the green. Ash hadn't been lying when he said that his nerves were getting to him, and the loud volume of both the cheering crowd and the fanfare blaring over the stadium's speakers along with the bright lights shining down on them certainly did not help matters. What followed was a blur that Ash could barely remember, yet it would be quite some time before he was able to forget.