Previously on Galarian Days...

Back in their suite, Zander feels disappointed that his attempts to stop the opposite crisis still yielded no results, prompting Wufu to empathize by telling him how he overcame similar travails on the Isle of Armor. Back in good spirits, both the Wolfen Knight and Ursine Retainer of Galar have their minds set on a new destination: the Crown Tundra.

-

As they walked down the hallway to check out, Wufu suddenly piped up, "Uh, Zander? Something just occured to me."

"Yes, Wufu?" Zander asked. "What is it?"

"How exactly are we going to get to the Crown Tundra? Only train passengers with a Crown Pass are allowed there, of which we currently have none."

"Don't worry about it," Zander said. "I'll just use the same methods I used to get my Armor Pass... or at least try."

"And how did you obtain your Armor Pass," Wufu skepticized as both anthros entered the lobby, "if I may be so inclined to ask?"

"Soon as we get to the station, I'll show you." With that, Zander returned their room key, then he and Wufu exited the hotel and rode the monorail to the station. As soon as both anthros were inside, Zander said to Wufu, "Now, watch closely."

"Watching."

Zander then said out loud in a bit of mock acting, "Oh, no! My friend and I want to go to the Crown Tundra, but we don't have a Crown Pass!" He then sighed and said, "If only we could get a Crown Pass of our own somehow!"

"Excuse me?"

Zander and Wufu turned towards the voice, and saw a female Swimmer with a green card in her hand. "Did I hear you two say you were looking for a Crown Pass? There's no way I'll be able to use this and keep my image as a Swimmer, so you can have mine."

"Really- wait a minute," Wufu mulled. "How can this not have a catch?"

"What? There's no catch. You need a Crown Pass, I have one and don't need it." She then held out her hand with the pass to prove her point.

Not wanting to pass up the chance, Zander took the pass and said, "Thank you, miss. You have no idea how much you've just helped us today."

"Think nothing of it, cutie," the Swimmer said before she left, making Zander blush lightly.

"Okay, I will admit, I had my doubts that saying 'if only' would work," Wufu said, "but strike that! We can get to the Crown Tundra now!" And so, the two anthros boarded the train... and made their connection in Wedgehurst before they boarded it again.

"So..." Zander asked Wufu as the clickety-clack of the rails provided white noise to their ride, "someone actually called you a fish-eating teddy-graham river-bum?"

"Not all at once," Wufu explained, "but I don't want to talk about it."

"Say no more, I get it," Zander said as he dropped the subject.

Just as soon as there was a lull in the ride, Zander looked out the window and saw the train was about to cross the snow-line to the Crown Tundra. There, a pair of Snorunt waved at the train's arrival, and Zander waved back. "Attention, passengers," the voice on the intercom announced. "Our estimated time of arrival to the Crown Tundra Station is in 5 minutes. Until then, enjoy the ride, and thank you for choosing Macro Cosmos Rail services."

"Okay, 5 minutes," Zander said as he tried to re-spark a conversation with Wufu. "How much more of your Master Dojo story will you be able to tell in that amount of time?"

"Hold on there," Wufu stopped. "I've been spilling my story, but I don't recall you telling me any of yours."

"...Fair enough," Zander said, "I'll just give you the short version, since we're strapped for time. Starting from the beginning, I was a spectator at Wyndon Stadium, watching last year's Champion's Cup when Chairman Rose was spelling the beginning of the end for Galar as we knew it. Soon as he announced that he was restarting the Darkest Day, I did what everyone else at the time thought to do then, and cheesed it out of there. Unfortunately, while I had the idea to fetch Zacian and Zamazenta to stop the Darkest Day... again, I burned myself out on the hike there and passed out in front of the Daycare in the Wild Area. When I came to, I tried to warn the staff that the Darkest Day was back on, but in a fit of being ignored, I ended up smashing an egg, resulting in having me tossed as far as the Wild Area Station, where I blacked out again. Alas, by the time I came to again, the crisis was already resolved, and it took some encouraging words from the ex-Champion Leon for me to restart my course to the Slumbering Weald, where I met up with Zacian and Zamazenta's mist illusions, which marked me with the royal colors, and, well... the rest is history."

"Whoa," Wufu said.

"Yeah, whoa." Zander replied. "So, is that enough of an ear for your ear?"

"It is," Wufu said. "Now, picking up where I left off last, I had just completed the three trials, and Klara and Avery were just banished..."

-

(Flashback) 

As Wufu (still cinnamon) was escorted back into the Master Dojo, he was anticipating his prize with eagerness and nerves. Only after he, Mustard and Honey were in front of the doorway again did everyone focus on the three again.

"Student Wufu," Master Mustard said, "you have completed the three trials of the Master Dojo, and as such, have earned its secret armor. But," he added as he took out two Poke Balls, "get ready for an even bigger surprise!" 

Mustard then threw both balls into the air, and flashes of light burst from them. When the light faded, two bear-cub-like Pokemon in white headbands were visible: Kubfu! Both of them then struck battle poses and sparred with each other before their gaze was met with Wufu's... and their childlike shyness made them hide behind Mustard, both heads peeking out from behind a leg.

"This is the secret armor of the Master Dojo?" Wufu asked.

"Not yet, but it will be," Mustard said.

"And I get two of them, or do I have to choose one or the other?"

"It's a twofer, love. Do you know what a 'twin egg' is?" Honey asked.

"I believe I do," Wufu said. "Isn't that one of those rare occasions where an egg is so large, it contains two yolks?"

Mustard nodded and said, "Well, these two Kubfu actually hatched from a twin egg, and they've been inseperable ever since. So, we decided to make an exception and give them both to whoever completes the three trials."

"Oh..." Wufu said in realization. "THAT'S why the Double Battle was issued. If Klara and Avery had won, and weren't banished, they would've each gotten one. Now I get it." He then got down on one knee to make himself less imposing to the Kubfu and said softly, "It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you. Come here."

Both wushu Pokemon slowly crept out of hiding and approached the bigger bear. As soon as they were close enough, they each placed a paw in one of his. Sensing no hostility in him, they expressed as much of a smile as they could, and Wufu smiled back at his two new friends.

-

(End of flashback)

"So, along with Wigglytuff, Luxray, Bisharp and Krookodile," Zander said as he counted on his fingers, "you got not one, but two Kubfu?"

"Not to keep, though," Wufu said.

"What do you mean, not to keep?"

But before an answer could be said, the intercom spoke again. "Attention, passengers, we have now arrived at Crown Tundra Station. Again, thank you for choosing Macro Cosmos Rail, we hope to be of service again, and, of course... mind the gap."

"Ah, that's a story for another time, I'm afraid," Wufu said as he and Zander got up from their seats. "But for now, let's get started on finding our third team member."

And so, Zander and Wufu disembarked the train to explore their newest frontier...