1. Ash's Story (Part 10: Galar)

Chapter 8: The Wild Area Opens

Morning came with the smell of tea, curry spices still lingering in Professor Magnolia's kitchen, and Hop already acting as if sleep had been a wall he had defeated.

"It's morning at last!" Hop burst out, nearly knocking his chair backward as Wooloo blinked beside him. "Time for our adventure to truly start!"

Victor rubbed one eye with the heel of his hand. "You said the same thing yesterday."

"Yesterday was the warm-up," Hop said, then caught Leon's look and straightened. "I mean, yesterday was brilliant too."

Gloria sat beside Scorbunny, her new endorsement letter tucked safely into her bag even though she still did not plan to take the Gym Challenge. She had accepted the letter because Leon and Professor Magnolia wanted every new Trainer in the group to understand the road ahead, but she touched it with a careful kind of distance.

Scorbunny watched Hop bounce in place, then planted both feet as if trying to prove it could be the mature one.

Scorbunny's ears stood high while one foot twitched against the kitchen floor, "Running sounds wonderful, but she is still waking up."

Gloria noticed only the twitch and placed one hand near Scorbunny's shoulder. "Not yet."

Sonia leaned across the table before Hop could start another speech. "Ash, Alice, Gran told me you really saw something strange in the Slumbering Weald. Two Pokémon you did not recognize?"

Alice looked at me first, and I understood why. The fog, the silhouettes, and Pikachu's Thunderbolt passing through them still felt like pieces of a dream that had refused to become clear after waking.

"There was dense fog," I said carefully. "Two shapes appeared inside it. They looked like Pokémon, but the attacks passed through them. After that, everything blurred."

Pikachu's tail lowered against my shoulder, his ears flattening at the memory, "They were there, but not waiting to be touched."

Sonia frowned, not at Pikachu, but at the small amount I could give her. "A right fount of information you are."

"I know," I said. "I wish I had more."

Professor Magnolia set her teacup down with patient authority. "Mysteries do not always answer themselves on the first morning. For today, I have something more practical."

Leon had already fastened his own Dynamax Band before we arrived, but he watched Professor Magnolia instead of rushing the explanation. That helped. When Leon stopped acting like excitement alone could carry a person, everyone else listened harder.

She placed several bands on the table, each fitted with a Wishing Star from the night before. The stones no longer looked like fallen sky. Set into the bands, they felt like responsibility made wearable.

Hop reached first, Victor second, and Gloria only after watching Scorbunny's ears lift. Alice accepted hers with a quiet smile. I took mine last, feeling the weight settle against my wrist differently from a badge, Ribbon, or Z-Crystal. Galar's power had its own shape.

Alice drew a soft breath. "So these are Dynamax Bands."

"Yes," Magnolia said. "I made them by fitting the Wishing Stars you found into the bands. With the right conditions, they allow a Trainer to Dynamax a Pokémon."

Hop reached for his with both hands. "Brilliant! It's just like the one Lee has. Now we can Dynamax like him!"

Magnolia's gaze sharpened without becoming unkind. "My word, you do not waste any time. It is not so simple as putting on a band and shouting. There are conditions, proper locations, and responsibility involved."