The battle rages on, with neither side giving an inch. The gang is left with Incineroar, Silvally, Cinderace and 'Lillie' to finish this battle, with a final Pokémon waiting on Lillie's side

"This is going to be difficult...", Goh says, with a drop of sweat forming in the side of his head

"I know it'll be hard", Lillie says, "but our efforts will be worth it, we just have to keep fighting!"

"Lillie's right", Ash says, with a smile on his face, "we may struggle and fall and fumble across the road, but they'll never win as long as we never give up!"

"Incineroar", Ash commands, "use Fire Blast!"

Incineroar jumps into the air and throws a fire blast, while Goh has Cinderace use Pyro Ball, Silvally uses Air Slash, and 'Lillie' uses Meteor Beam. All of them connect, staggering Spectrier and knocking it back

Spectrier retaliates with Max Quake. Gladion throws Silvally his flying type disk, becoming immune to the attack, while 'Lillie' floats above. Cinderace and Incineroar try to evade the attack, but they both get hit. Cinderace appears heavily damaged, but Incineroar gets right back up and roars in fury

"Looks like Incineroar's not ready to back down!", Goh remarks

"That's Incineroar for ya!", Ash says, "Incineroar, close in on Spectrier with Flame Charge!"

Incineroar charges at Spectrier with Flame Charge. Spectrier tries to ready another Max Quake, but is unable to and gets hit

"Looks like Melmetal's G-Max move is still having effect!", Lillie points out

"Everything our team does matters!", Gladion remarks

While up close, Incineroar hits Spectrier with Darkest Lariat, doing noticeable damage. Spectrier is knocked back, but then follows up with Max Phantasm

"Block it, Incineroar, with Darkest Lariat!", Ash commands

Silvally throws Gladion back his flying type disk, while Incineroar shields Cinderace and 'Lillie' from Max Phantasm with Darkest Lariat. He break through one of them and holds back the other, but ultimately takes minimal damage to it, while Silvally evades the attack entirely

Lillie has 'Lillie' close in while using Venoshock, while Goh tells Cinderace to use Pyro Ball, both connecting. Spectrier responds with a Max Strike, damaging both Pokémon

"We need to go on the offensive!", Gladion says, as he pulls out the dark type disk and throws it to Silvally

Silvally, having become a dark type Pokémon, charges at Spectrier head on. Spectrier sees this and uses Max Phantasm. Silvally cuts through one of them with Multi-Attack while Incineroar dodges the second with Flame Charge, following Silvally's lead and also closing in, while the third one hits 'Lillie', who took the hit to protect Cinderace

"'Lillie', are you ok?", Lillie asks

'Lillie' is heavily damaged by this point, but insinuated to her that it was still ready for battle

Spectrier uses a Max Strike to try and stop Incineroar. However, Ash has Incineroar to leap forward, as Max Strike hits Incineroar and launches him into the air. Ash commands a Fire Blast, hitting Spectrier right in the face. Before Spectrier knows it, Incineroar had latched onto the ghost steed with Fire Fang. Spectrier cries in pain, attempting at every turn to shake the Heel Pokémon off of it

Spectrier shakes frantically, and uses a Max Quake. It is about to hit Cinderace, but 'Lillie' grabs the fire rabbit Pokémon and throws it into the air, saving it from the attack. However, the ultra beast itself could not escape the attack, and ends up fainted itself

"'Lillie', no!", Lillie yells, rushing to see if the ultra beast is ok. Gladion also joins her, seemingly concerned for its health

'Lillie' looks up to Lillie and Gladion. It tries to respond, but ultimately faints and is left defeated

"I'll make sure you're healed after this battle, 'Lillie', however this ends...", Lillie tells her ultra beast counterpart, "I promise!"

Lillie sets the ultra beast behind her, and she grabs the Pokéball for her final Pokémon

"Absol, I hope we're ready...", Lillie whispers to her Pokéball, "because we're all that's left!"

Absol jumps out of the Pokéball, and it is ready to fight

Goh, realizing Spectrier can't use Max Quake yet, sees an opportunity, and decides he wants to Dynamax his partner

"Ready Cinderace?", Goh asks

"Cinder!", Cinderace responds, showing that he's ready for this

Goh retuns Cinderace to his Pokéball, and it begins to glow purple and grows gigantic. Goh throws the Pokéball and commands a Dynamax, but it doesn't appear the way he thought it would

When Cinderace comes out of the Pokéball, he looks different and is standing on a giant fire ball. He Gigantimaxed!

Everyone else is surprised that this, but Goh is overwhelmed by excitement

"Oh heck yeah!", Goh exclaims, ready to fight with his partner at its most powerful

We cut to outside the Max Lair, where Peony is lying in the snow without his jacket. Peonia set him that way in the hopes that the cold would help heal him and even wake him up

She looks at her father, battered and unconscious. She can't stop thinking about what happened in the cave, about how her father protected her and got hurt in the process

The mountain shakes. Peonia looks back at it, and gives a concerned look for her new friends

"I can't believe this", Peonia says, with a tone mixed with regret and frustration, "my friends are having the fight of their lives, and I can't do anything to help!"

"I-I couldn't even keep my own dad safe!", Peonia continues, entering a more pedantic tone, "I know he can annoy me sometimes, but this is..."

Peonia looks back at her father, still unmoving. She gets closer to him and sits next to him, right over his chest, and begins resting her head on him

"Dad... I don't know if you can hear me...", Peonia whispers, "but I need you wake up! We have so much ahead for us!"

"I-I won't complain about spending time with you anymore, I promise!", Peonia continues, as tears begin to form in her eyes, "Dad please..."

She rests her head on her father's chest, and she begins to cry, scared for her father's well-being

It takes a minute, but eventually Peonia hears a grunt and feels her dad's body moving a bit. As she looks up, she finds her dad waking up in front of her

"W...what... happened?", Peony asks, slowly and clearly dizzy

Before anything else can be said, however, Peonia leaps at him for a hug

"Dad!", Peonia says, with heavy relief present in her voice, "I'm so glad you're ok!"

Peony is surprised and pauses for a moment, but he then gives his daughter a hug. However, he immediately feels a sharp pain in his arm

"Yikes! Looks like my arm has seen better days", Peony says, while also attempting to laugh it off, though that failed miserably on account of the laugh hurting as well

"What happened?", Peony asks

"Some rocks fell on you while we were battling the big horse", Peonia tells him, "we won't be able to do anything to help them out..."

The two look at the Max Lair, watching it shake from time to time

"I hope they'll be ok...", Peonia says

Peony looks up at the mountain and nods

"They've got a reason to fight, don't they?", Peony says

"Yeah...", Peonia replies, "they need to get their father back."

Peony gives a confident smile and nods

"Then they'll be just fine...", Peony continues, "cause that's the strongest force of them all!"

Peonia thinks for a moment on what her father said, and looks back at the mountain

"Let's hope so...", Peonia thinks to herself

We cut back to the fight

"Alright Cinderace, use G-Max Fireball!", Goh says

Cinderace follows, and launches a G-Max Fireball at Spectrier, hitting the ghost steed Pokémon. Spectrier retaliates with Max Strike, but Goh tells Cinderace to jump off of its fireball, evading the attack entirely

Ash then commands Incineroar, who is still latched into Spectrier, to let go and use Darkest Lariat on the way down. Spectrier, damaged by this move, knocks Incineroar off with its front hoof

Gladion has Silvally close in with a Multi-Attack, while Absol attempts to draw Spectrier's fire with Psycho Cut. However, Spectrier ignores Absol and uses Max Quake, stopping Silvally in its tracks while also hitting Cinderace and Incineroar

"This Pokémon is so strong!", Ash says

"I'll say", Gladion replies, with a drop of sweat flowing down the side of his head

Spectrier then goes for a Max Phantasm, but Goh has Cinderace counter it directly with G-Max Fireball, shielding the attack from hitting the others entirely. Spectrier uses Max Strike on Cinderace, causing big damage to it

"Incineroar, try and close in using Flame Charge!", Ash commands

"Absol, you do the same with Night Slash!", Lillie says, following Ash's lead

Both Pokémon charge in with their respective moves. Spectrier attempts to hit them with Max Quake, but this time Incineroar is fast enough to dodge it and Absol evades it with Detect

Goh decides it's time to deliver the grand finisher

"Cinderace, use G-Max Fireball, and put everything you've got into it!", Goh says, commanding his ace

Cinderace kicks it's fireball into the air, and slams it with its feet so hard into Spectrier that it's knocked back and screams in pain

"Nice shot!", Ash says

"Thanks!", Goh replies

Cinderace returns to its normal form. However, Spectrier gets back up, and immediately fires a Max Phantasm at the team. Incineroar and Absol evade this attack with Darkest Lariat and Detect respectively, but Cinderace and Silvally are hit

Spectrier then goes for another Max Quake, which, despite everyone's efforts to dodge it, hits the entire team. Everyone is now heavily damaged, and struggling to get back up

"Grr, that's it!", Ash says, "Incineroar, close in with Flame Charge!"

Incineroar roars, and begins to charge in with with Flame Charge

"Ash, what are you doing?", Gladion asks

"Finishing this battle!", Ash replies

Spectrier sends a Max Phantasm at Incineroar, but Incineroar dodges two of them. Ash then commands a Darkest Lariat to deal with the third, but the Max Phantasm came so fast that the best Incineroar could do was catch it

Spectrier readies another Max Quake, but Ash has an idea

"Incineroar!", Ash says, grabbing the Heel Pokémon's attention, "Grab the Max Phantasm, and send it right back with Darkest Lariat!"

Incineroar roars in approval, and with all of its might, Incineroar redirects the Max attack, and it spins around with Darkest Lariat. With all its power, Incineroar throws the move right back at it, damaging Spectrier and causing it do scream in pain

"Now, Incineroar, climb it!", Ash commands

While Spectrier is shaking its head, Incineroar climbs on Spectrier and begins scaling the ghost steed Pokémon. Spectrier tries to shake it off, but this only ended up launching Incineroar higher up, landing right in Spectrier's face

Incineroar jumps off of Spectrier, and lands a Fire Blast right in the face of the Dynamaxed legendary, causing the Pokémon to shreak and even burning it

"Incineroar...", Ash says, catching his Pokémon's attention, "let's finish this off!"

Ash swaps out his Pikashunium Z for his newly received Incinium Z, and let's it glow in the air, grabbing everyone's attention

Ash crosses his arms, and performs the Dark Type Z-Move pose. By the time Ash is done with the pose, Incineroar lands right in front of Ash, with its two legs and left arm on the ground and it's right clenched into a fist, as it surrounds itself in Z-Energy

"It's time, Incineroar", Ash says, with his iconic voice of conviction and determination, "win this battle, with Malicious Moonsault!!!"

Incineroar roars into the air, and jumps on the wrestling ring in front of it, and jumps into the air. Before Spectrier knew it, the Heel Pokémon surrounded itself in what appeared to be a big dark fire blast, ready to slam itself right into its target

Spectrier tries to counter this with Max Phantasm, but Malicious Moonsault plows right through the Max attack and slams right into Spectrier, creating a massive explosion that shakes the entire mountain

As the dust formed, Spectrier returned back to its normal size, as Incineroar landed back with its fellow teammate Pokémon

"Did... did we do it?," Lillie says to herself

"We won!!!", Goh exclaims

Everyone begins celebrating, glad to have finally won this long, hard fought battle

However, Absol notices something from the smoke. Its eyes widen, and it makes its sound to alert everyone

Before they knew it, the entire rest of the Pokémon team got it with a powerful purple attack, surprising everyone

To everyone's surprise, it was Spectrier, barely standing and ready to finish this fight. That attack took out all of their remaining Pokémon, worrying everyone... that is, save for one

They hear a familiar sound, it's Absol! Seemingly undamaged by the attack

"How is that possible???", Goh says

"Absol must have used detect at the last second!", Lillie says, "We still have a chance!"

Goh and Gladion begin to get nervous, but Ash snaps them out of it

"Spectrier is powerful, but there's no way it can take much more", Ash says, "you can do this Lillie!"

Lillie softly smiles at Ash, and then looks back at Absol. Absol is very much ready to battle. Lillie then looks at her mega keystone

Lillie takes a deep breath, and looks back at the battle

"Do you really think she can do it?", Goh whispers to Ash

"She'll be fine", Ash replies quietly, with an unwavering confidence in his voice, "if anyone can finish this, it's her!"

"We can do this, I know we can!", Lillie thinks to herself

The episode ends with Spectrier and Absol charging at each other, ready to enter the final stage of this battle

After a plethora or valiant efforts from our heroes and their Pokémon, we finally enter the climax of this battle! Will the Aether family finally be reunited after this fight is finished? Will Lillie and Absol's efforts be enough? Find out next time, as the Journey continues!

Writer's talking-

Wooooo! Finally, we are entering the climax! I hope you all enjoyed that chapter as much as I did, we're in the endgame now!

See you all for the climax of this battle, I can't wait to see you there!