Previously on Galarian Days...

People have gathered at Wyndon Stadium to hear an announcement from the new head of Macro Cosmos, Elle, who has come to ring in the next Gym Challenge. Meanwhile, a wolf of a different color makes his plan known...

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One week after the announcement, Elle was back in her personal office at the top of Rose Tower, where she was holding the battles to decide the Gym Leaders that were participating in the Gym Challenge. Surprisingly, the 10 Leaders that were eliminated were all the Leaders that participated last year, all of which were taking the news in their own strides: Milo returned to his simple farming career, Nessa carried on with her modeling, which was going quite well as she became the spokesperson for various clothing companies, Kabu returned to Hoenn and started a teaching service to train Pokemon trainers there, Bea was able to enjoy sweets more due to her popularity taking a dip from the elimination, Allister decided to confront his insecurities and embrace the presence of Ghost-type Pokemon to the point where some of them became his friends, Bede eventually began to embrace his position of Fairy-type Gym Leader and still continued to socialize with others while bettering himself as a Leader, allowing Opal to finally retire in peace and comfort, Gordie and Melony reconciled with each other and began to open up to each other to become a real family again, Marnie begrudgingly accepted her position as Gym Leader, but made her brother Piers tour Galar as an apology for all the problems Team Yell caused on his behalf, and Raihan was challenged by Leon and finally defeated him, earning him that hard, sought-after victory selfie. (though it was later revealed Leon let him win out of pity)

Elle stood before the remaining 8 Gym Leaders (who stood in the shadows to protect their identities) and said, "My 8 finalists, congratulations for making it this far and finally coming out of the shadows of the Minor League. However, with higher power comes higher responsibility, which is why this next round of battles will determine which of you will be stationed at which Gym. But, before we begin..."

At that point, a tall, skinny man with black hair wearing a suit and tie walked towards Elle and handed her a small key that looked like a dress. Elle took the key and said, "Thank you, Turner. That will be all for now."

As Turner left, Elle continued, "As I was saying, this year we're going to try something different." She then pointed the key at the floor and said, "O my key! Accept the power of these wishes and bend it to my will!" The building started to vibrate and the lights flickered for 5 seconds, making everyone else anxious.

When the ruckus stopped, Elle quickly raised her free hand and said, "Now, now, there's no need to panic. All I did was simply turn off the Power Spot to see how you would all do without being able to Dynamax."

"To test our resolve even further?" one of the leaders asked.

"That, and to consolidate the process," Elle answered. "If everyone here Dynamaxed their Pokemon- and I know for a fact they would- the whole place would be too cramped for comfort!"

"Fair enough," another Leader reasoned.

Elle then clapped her hands and said, "Okay, enough stalling. Everybody pair up and get ready for combat! When you're ready to go, Turner will direct you to one of our four stations marked with tape, then we'll begin."

-

Back at the Wyndon boutique, the wolf had just changed out of his previous outfit and into a more casual long-sleeved gray shirt and blue jeans with white shoes. He then exited the boutique and decided to grab a coffee at the cafe. Upon entering, he approached the counter. The barista greeted him with, "Welcome to the Battle Cafe, how may I help you?"

"I'll just have a large mocha, please," the wolf answered.

The barista punched in the order and said, "Large mocha, got it. Can I get a name for the order?"

"Zander."

"OK, that'll be $2.95, and we'll have it right out for you!"

After Zander paid the barista, he sat down at an empty table and waited. As he waited, he looked around the cafe and took in the sights: a Milcery was bouncing milk drops around its head, Trainers and their Pokemon were sharing their cafe dining experience with each other, and outside the window, people were passing by aimlessly.

"So, this is the city where the Champion will be waiting," Zander said to himself. "They must be a powerful trainer if they captured one of my mentors." Zander then looked out the window again, and began to daydream...

But he couldn't even start the thought before a loud voice shouted, "Large mocha for Zander!" snapping him out of his thoughts. Zander got up and walked back to the counter to pick up his beverage, then walked back to his table to enjoy it.

While Zander was nursing his mocha, one of the employees was just clocking out of her shift for the week. Her black hair was tied back in twin buns, and her name tag said "Sophia," so that was safe to assume that was her name. Just before she could finish, though, her boss Richard came up to her. "Oh, Sophia! Good thing I caught you just in time!"

"Yes, sir?" Sophia asked.

"Just wanted to give you this real quick, what with it being the last week of the month and all," Richard said as he handed Sophia an envelope.

"Oh, thank you, Richard, sir!" Sophia said with joy. To her, the last week of the month meant one thing: payday.

Richard added with a smile, "Just keep up the good work, my good lady, and there'll be plenty more where that came from! Now, see you next week, bright and early!"

"Will do, sir!" Sophia said, then finished her clock-out. She then hung up her apron and left the cafe just as Zander finished up his mocha and threw away his cup. Without thinking, he followed Sophia out the door and walked back to the elevator by the Rose of the Rondlands, then took it to Wyndon Station, where he boarded the train to the Wild Area Station. Once he was comfortably seated on the train, he tried to start his daydream up again...

-

Zander was in the Slumbering Weald, navigating through the thick fog... only his head fur was a dull, ordinary gray instead of the dual colors it currently is. You see, for some unapparent reason, animal people had become accepted in the Pokemon world, though very few were actually around.

Anyway, Zander was tiptoeing through the tall grass, hoping to not disturb any wild Pokemon. But he wasn't trying to be a trainer. No, the reason Zander was sneaking around was because he heard of two Pokemon who could help him. But the deeper into the weald he got, the thicker the fog got until it reached a point where he couldn't even see past his own muzzle. The condensation was starting to cling to his fur and dampen it, forcing him to hike up his shirt and wipe his  face with it, revealing his gray torso and white tummy fur.

Suddenly, the fog was thinned out in a patch of clear air, and when Zander looked up and set his shirt back, two feral wolves were standing in front of him. One was a cyan wolf with long, pink braids, the other was a magenta wolf with navy hair and a scruffy face, both of them were covered in scars and each missing an ear. Zander recognized them as the Heroes of 1,000 Battles: Zacian and Zamazenta.

"Um... hello," Zander greeted them nervously, having never met the two Pokemon personally, but understood that all Pokemon, wild or trained, can understand human speech. (most of them just never cared) "My name is Zander, nice to meet you. I really like this place you have here. Enjoying the, uh... atmosphere."

But Zacian and Zamazenta simply stared at Zander, so he continued. "Anyways, sorry to disturb you both on such short notice, but a little Rookidee told me that you two are experts at dealing with these giant Pokemon that have been popping up lately, and, uh... recently, they're becoming more and more of a problem. Can you help us, please?"

Just then, a leaf had finally wiggled itself loose and popped free from its branch, fluttering down to the two Pokemon... only for it to pass through them both and distort them a little, revealing that they were only illusions!

Feeling silly that he was practically talking to the air, Zander said, "What the? All this time I was speaking to some holograms? Well, doesn't that just beat all!?" He then stormed off between the two "Pokemon," who surprisingly turned around and growled at him. But all Zander said in response was, "Oh, don't give me any of that! What could the both of you possibly do to me anyhow!? And to think, I thought you two could face an army of giants, but you can't even take a little leaf!"

The two illusions suddenly rushed towards Zander with wrath in their eyes, making him regret what he said. But it was too late. They both lunged at him, and everything went white...

When he came to, Zander found himself lying on his back, still in the Slumbering Weald. "Ooh... not one of my better choices," he said to himself as he slowly got up and checked himself for damage. Wanting to be extra sure, though, he walked towards the stream to check his reflection. But what he saw was that his gray facial fur was completely changed: half had turned cyan, and the other half magenta! Hoping it could be washed off, Zander tried scooping up some water into his paws and splashed it on his face, but the color stuck fast. Fearing the worst, Zander took off his shirt and jeans, leaving himself in just his underwear and saw his fears were right: apart from his white tummy and white paw fur that reached up to mid-forearm and mid-calf, any fur that was previously gray had color-changed into half cyan and half magenta. He even looked behind himself and saw to his shock that even his tail suffered the same fate!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

-

"Sir? Sir, we've arrived at your stop," the conductor said, nudging Zander out of his thoughts.

"Oh, thanks," Zander said before getting up and disembarking the train. He then exited the station and entered the Wild Area, a place in Galar where items could be picked up anywhere, Pokemon ran wild and free all over the place, and the weather was unpredictable from one place to the next. But something was off; usually the Pokemon Dens dotting the Wild Area were giving off a faint, rose-colored glow, with some even spewing pillars of light, but anywhere there was a den, any light was as dead as dirt.

Zander didn't want to dwell too much on the fact, though, and set out to burn off his mocha preparing for the upcoming Gym Challenge, knowing he only had a week to do so...

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Closed captioning sponsored in part by...

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