The gang are seen traveling through the forest under the dusk sky, heading forth towards the Max Lair

Gladion looks at the sky, dusk and visibly getting darker as the sun sets

"So much for getting father back before sundown...", Gladion says

"So long as we get father back at all...", Lillie says, "it's going to be worth it!"

Everyone nods in agreement

"Wait, guys...", Goh says, grabbing everyone's attention, "shouldn't we check on Lusamine? We've kinda been gone a while..."

"I'll fly back to the house on Dragonite and check up on her", Ash says, "I'll tell her we've made progress and that we're close to getting Mohn back!"

"I'll go too", Chloe says, surprising Ash

"You will?", Ash asks

"Yeah...", Chloe replies, "if you're going into a Dynamax battle against a Legendary Pokémon, there isn't much I'll be able to do"

"At least if I'm with Lusamine, I'll be able to give her company", Chloe continues

Ash agrees to this, as he sends out Dragonite and they fly back to the house, while the others continue their way to the Max Lair

"Oh, I can't wait to battle some Dynamax Pokémon!", Peonia exclaims. Gladion nods in agreement

"And I'll protect you the whole way!", Peony interjects, side-hugging Peonia giving her a nuggy

"Get off dad!", Peonia says, aggressively pulling out of the nuggy, "I don't need you to protect me!"

"I know you're a strong battler, my dear", Peony responds, "but the Pokémon aren't the only dangerous things in this place. What if rocks fall on you? You're not even wearing your hard hat!"

"I don't need my dumb hard hat to be save, dad", Peonia tells him, with a noticeable anger in her tone, "I don't need you to be safe!"

Peony, slightly defeated by this, walks up to the front with Calyrex. Calyrex pats his hand on Peony's shoulder and nods, while everyone in the back stay silent for a moment in awkward tension

"What?", Peonia says to the others, raising an eyebrow

"N-nothing!", Goh says, not wanting to get involved in anything personal

"Y-yeah, we're just ready to battle Dynamax'd Pokémon, that's all!", Lillie says

Peonia then looks at Gladion, but Gladion rolls his eyes from her and scoffs

"Oh no...", Lillie mutters quietly, knowing exactly what this meant

"Is there a problem?", Peonia says, directed at Gladion

"Don't you think you're being a little hard on your father?", Gladion responds, with a hint of sternness in his voice, "He's just looking out for you, like any father would."

"Don't act like ya know me", Peonia tells him, "let me deal with my own problems."

"I'm just making a point, and a good one at that", Gladion tells her, "if anything bad happened to him, trust me, you couldn't even begin to forgive yourself."

"And for the record, some of us would kill to have your problems.", Gladion says, before rolling his eyes and walking up to the front with Peony, leaving Peonia upset at him

"I'm sorry for my brother", Lillie says to her, "he just gets really... intense... when it comes to things he feels strongly about."

"Ugh, it's fine, I'll get over it", Peonia replies, "just tell him not to get judgey over my problems again."

Lillie nods, as the group continues to the Max Lair, though not in as high of spirits as they were before

We cut to Ash and Chloe, arriving at Mohn's house on Dragonite and greeted at the door by Lusamine

"Ash, Chloe!", Lusamine says, "How is everything?"

"Things are going good!", Ash tells her, "We caught Glastrier, all that's left is Spectrier!"

"Although", Chloe interjects, "this one is going to be Dynamaxed, so this one will be harder than the last."

"I... see", Lusamine says, looking slightly down

"It's going to be ok", Ash says, catching Lusamime's attention, "we're going to be strong enough to win this, and we're not coming back until Calyrex is back at 100%, and Mohn is back!"

Lusamine nods, and she hugs Ash

"Just make sure Lillie is safe, alright?", Lusamine tells him

Ash is surprised, but he hugs Lusamine back

"You've got it!", Ash tells her, as he breaks away from the hug

She and Chloe make their way inside, while Ash hops back on Dragonite. However, something ominous appears to be following them, something from underneath the trees

The gang then arrive at the Max Lair, with Ash meeting them once they've arrived

"Alright guys", Ash say enthusiastically, "who's ready to beat Spectrie...er...."

Before Ash fully finished, he notices that everyone isn't as enthusiastic as they were before, with Gladion and Peonia looking away from each other with angry faces while Peony, Lillie and Goh appear to be worried

"Did... I miss something?", Ash asks

Peonia and Gladion look at each other for a second

"Nope.", Gladion says. "Nothing at all.", Peonia agrees

"Let's... just go catch this thing already!", Goh says, shifting from a worried voice to an attempted enthusiastic one

Before they head in, however, something appears from the woods

"Oh no", Goh says, "is it Lillie again???"

The gang look at Goh, confused by what he said

"The ultra beast!", Goh says, "Isn't it called 'Lillie'?"

Before anyone can respond, something jumps out of the woods. It's Zoroark!

"Zoroark?", Gladion says, surprised to see his father's partner here

"Zoroark!", Zoroark says

"What does it want?", Goh asks

"It wants to battle by your side, Gladion", Calyrex says, possessing Ash's body once again, although this time the gang isn't as surprised as before, save for Lillie, who jumps a bit

"It... does?", Gladion asks, before looking back at Zoroark

"If this battle determines the fate of your father", Calyrex continues, "then of course Zoroark wants to help secure your victory!"

Gladion looks at Zoroark for a moment, and then puts on a confident smile

"Zoroark", Gladion says to it, "let's get our father back!"

"Zoro-Zoroark!", Zoroark says out loud, as Gladion returns it to its Pokéball

Before heading into the Max Lair, however, Peony offers to give everyone a Dynamax Band

"This is how we Dynamax Pokémon?", Lillie asks

"Yup!", Peony replies with enthusiasm, "Just grab your Pokéball, hold it to your Dynamax Band, and throw it big!"

Lillie nods, and the gang proceed into the Max Lair, including Calyrex

"So... what's the plan?", Goh asks

"Well we can't just use our Pokémon randomly", Gladion says, "whatever Pokémon we use against Spectrier are going to need to be at full strength."

"Tough Guy's right", Peonia says, begrudgingly agreeing with him, "anything less than that is a no-go."

"I think we should pick which 3 of our Pokémon we want to use against Spectrier", Lillie tells them, "and have the rest of them battle whatever Dynamaxed Pokémon we find in our way."

Everyone nods in agreement, and begin to think of which Pokémon they want to use

As they continue walking, they stumble upon a Gigantimaxed Pokémon, one with a million cannons on its shell and a blue glare that practically spells doom

"What is that???", Goh says

"I think... it's a Blastoise!", Ash says

"What it is, is in our way", Gladion says, as he grabs a Pokéball, "go, Lucario!"

Lucario comes out, while the others send in Ash's Pikachu, Goh's Scizor, Snowy, Peony's Excadrill, and Peonia's Luxray

"Let's not waste any time!", Gladion says, as he grabs his key stone and mega evolves Lucario

"Lucario, use thunder punch!", Gladion commands

Lucario charges in with thunder punch, but Blastoise fires a barrage of G-Max Canonade it's way, sending Lucario back while the others dodge

"Charging head on won't work", Peony says, "we need to get crafty!"

Ash thinks for a moment, and then he comes up with an idea

Ash gets closer to Peony and whispers something in his ear

"Sounds like a good idea!", Peony says, "Everyone, draw Blastoise's fire!"

Everyone nods, as they have their Pokémon sending in attacks and using moves

Lillie has Snowy set up hail and Aurora Veil, while the others send attacks. Gladion has Lucario firing aura spheres from the left, Peonia has Luxray firing discharge from the right, Peony has Excadrill dig below, and Goh has Scizor using Flash Cannon from the front

Blastoise fires its G-Max Canonade around it, to where the mountain starts shaking and dust begins to form around the battlefield. Blastoise is about to send a Max Hailstorm, but Pikachu jumps onto it and scales the attack, ending up above and firing a powerful Thunderbolt, damaging Blastoise and sending it back

Blastoise begins to retaliate, but by this point, Lucario and Luxray had made their way to Blastoise and began climbing its shell. Blastoise tries to shake them off, but the two Pokémon begin scaling to the top

Pikachu falls and almost hits the ground, but catches itself at the last minute with electro web

"Ready, kiddo?", Peony asks

"Ready!", Ash replies

Lucario and Luxray make their way to the top of Blastoise, where they strike it on the head with thunder punch and wild charge respectively. Both connect and do critical damage. Blastoise sends them both back, but Gladion and Lucario sync together and use their aura to bounce Lucario towards Blastoise. Lucario begins striking Blastoise with thunder punches as it falls

Blastoise, now tired of this, sends Lucario back where Luxray had fallen, the opposite side of the battlefield. Blastoise begins to fire another G-Max Canonade, but Excadrill strikes Blastoise from below and it continued its assault with drill run. This does very little damage, having struck the mere shell of the beast, but it did surprise Blastoise

Excadrill digs underground once again, while Lucario and Luxray fire aura spheres and discharge from their front. Blastoise charges up another G-Max Canonade, this time a big one, and begins to fire again...

"Now's our chance!", Ash exclaims, as he throws his cap into the air and Pikachu catches it onto his head

"Oh yeah!", Gladion says. "Here it comes!", Lillie says

"Here what comes?", Peonia says, before seeing Ash's wrist glow a bright color

"Where we're from, we have something a little different than Dynamax", Gladion says, "we have..."

"Z-Moves!!!", Ash says, as he crosses his arms and the symbol for their Z-Move forms

Ash fistbump Pikachu, and slaps its tail. The two then make their final pose, and the Z-Move symbol appears in front of them

"Pikachu", Ash shouts, "use 10 Million Volt Thunderbolt!!!"

In that moment, Pikachu jumps into the sky, and unleashes a barrage of rainbow colored lightning and fires it at Blastoise. Blastoise tries to block it with Max Guard, but it is ultimately a futile effort. The Z-Move breaks right past Max Guard and hits Blastoise with all its might

Blastoise, now heavily weakened, reverts to its normal form and can barely stand

"Now's my chance!", Goh says, "Go... Pokéb-"

"Pokéball!", Peonia says, interrupting Goh, as she throws her Pokéball and catches Blastoise first

"Wahoo!", Peonia says aloud, "First G-Max, baby!"

Everyone claps and celebrates their efforts, though Goh remains a little salty that she robbed him of his catch

"Father, here we come!", Lillie says, as she charges past where they battles Blastoise and the gang proceed

The gang face a few Dynamax and Gigantimax Pokémon along their way. They battle an Alolan Raichu, a G-Max Toxtricity, a Salamence, and a Florges. Peonia catches the Salamence, but Goh caught all the others in an effort to not repeat the same mistake as he did with Blastoise

Eventually, the gang find themselves wandering through a longer distance than from when they'd usually encounter a Dynamax Pokémon

"Where is this thing?", Goh says, "I'm pretty sure it's night right now!"

Calyrex possesses Peony, at this point not even slightly surprising the gang

"My steeds can be either easy to spot as the stars, or as hidden as a single leaf in a tree", Calyrex tells them, "we'll find it eventually."

"Yeah, but...", Lillie says, "I can't help but feel like something's following us. Something ominous..."

This causes Gladion and Ash to get slightly defensive, walking closer to Lillie and beginning to watch out for anything that shouldn't be here

Before anything can be said, however, they all feel a big trembling. As if something near has awakened

Calyrex unpossesses Peony, who is then caught by Peonia & Gladion, as the gang look up, and they see a giant dark horse standing up, yawning after a long nap

"This must be it", Goh whispers to the others

"Stay quiet get into positions", Lillie whispers to them, "maybe we can get the jump on it..."

"Yeah", Gladion whispers back, "maybe we can even trap it once it heads outside where it's not Dynamaxed-"

"Holy smokes, is that Spectrier???", Peony shouts, having just woken up after being possessed, "We've been looking for that thing!"

The sound echos, causing Spectrier to immediately stare at the gang and get enraged by their presence

"Never mind", Gladion says, with a look of extreme annoyance on his face

"Heh, wouldn't be a challenge if it were easy!", Ash says, as he grabs his Pokéball

The gang send out their Pokémon. Ash sends in Gengar, Gladion sends in Zoroark, Lillie sends in Magearna, Goh sends in Flygon, Peony sends in Copperajah, and Peonia sends in her newly caught Blastoise. The battle begins

Ash has Gengar use shadow ball, while Goh has Flygon use scorching sands and Peonia has Blastoise use Hydro Pump. However, all three attacks are overpowered by Max Phantasm. The Pokémon narrowly avoid the attack

"Magearna, set up a Reflect!", Lillie says

Magearna puts up a reflect, reducing the physical damage done to Pokémon on her side

"Wait, didn't Magearna know light screen?", Ash asks

"We had our Pokémon learn a couple new moves while we're waiting.", Gladion says

Ash smiles and nods

"Gengar", Ash commands, "get up to its face and use Dazzling Gleam!"

Gengar floats up to Spectrier. Spectrier gets ready to attack, but Megearna hits it with Zap Cannon, Zoroark does with Night Daze, and Blastoise does with Hydro Pump, drawing its attention. Before Spectrier can do anything though, Gengar gets up to its face, mocks it with a funny face, and used Dazzling Gleam, blinding the ghost steed Pokémon

"Now!", Peony tells the others

The gang charge up high powered attacks, with Flygon charging up Scorching Sands, Zoroark Dark Pulse, Magearna Fleur Cannon, Blastoise Hydro Cannon, and Copperajah Steel Beam. All attacks connect and cause a huge explosion. When the dust clears, Spectrier just roars at them, hardly even scratched by the barrage of attacks

"Was that thing even damaged???", Goh says, reacting to the ghost steeds immense durability

Spectrier used Max Quake, hitting everyone's Pokémon save for Gengar and Flygon, due to their flight

"Oh no!", Lillie says, in reaction to the super effective attacks that have been landed on Magearna and Copperajah

"I guess we're gonna have to take this up a notch!", Peony says, as he returns his Copperajah

Peony begins to Gigantimax his Pokémon, surprising the Aether twins & Goh, exciting Ash, and causing Peonia to smirk

Peony throws his Pokéball, and sends out his Gigantimaxed Copperajah, leaving everyone astonished

Peony has Copperajah use G-Max Steelsurge, damaging Spectrier and knocking it back. Spectrier retaliates with Max Phantasm, but Copperajah stands its ground and tanks it. Spectrier readies a Max Quake, but Ash has an idea

"Gengar, help everyone dodge it with Psychic!", Ash commands

Gengar flies into the air and picks Magearna and Blastoise up with Psychic, while Zoroark jumps onto Flygon. Copperajah tanks the attack and is heavily damaged

Spectrier uses Max Phantasm, while Copperajah uses Max Darkness. Max Darkness blasts through one of the Max Phantasms and hits Spectrier directly, while the other two fire at the rest of the team. Zoroark and Flygon dodge it, but the rest of the team take damage. Spectrier keeps pace using Max Quake, hitting Gengar, Magearna, and Blastoise

"This thing is powerful!", Peonia says

"Lillie, Gladion, I have an idea!", Ash says, before coming closer to then and whispering something into their ears

"I like it!", Gladion says

Lillie nods, as the three turn back to their Pokémon

Spectrier fires another Max Phantasm. Lillie has Magearna use Ice Beam and Gladion has Zoroark use Night Daze. One of the Max Phantasms hits Copperajah, while the other two collide against Lillie and Gladion's moves

"Now Gengar, use Dazzling Gleam!", Ash commands

Gengar charges at the collision of the attacks and adds onto it with Dazzling Gleam, causing a big explosion and a wave of flog to surround the area

The gang fire Fleur Cannon, Hydro Cannon, Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse, Shadow Ball, and G-Max Steelsurge. All of them connect and knock Spectrier down, while Copperajah turns back into its normal form

"Did we do it???", Lillie says, hoping that final attack might have done the job

Spectrier gets right back up, still looking well and ready to fight, worrying everyone

"Alright Gengar", Ash says, as he takes out Gengar's Pokéball, "time to Gigantimax-"

Before Ash can finish, however, Spectrier begins trampling around, causing the ground to shake and knocking everyone around, tripping them over like an earthquake

Spectrier used another Max Quake, a larger one this time, hitting everyone's Pokémon

"Oh no!", everyone says

The dust clears, and it is seen that Gengar, Copperajah, Magearna, and Blastoise are all knocked out

Their trainers return their Pokémon, and begin to send out their next ones. However, Spectrier roars and a huge gust of wind comes their way

Everyone else ducks to the ground and is knocked back only a bit, but Peonia stands there shocked by what's happening. Before she can react, Peony tackles her to the ground

Being the only one standing all the way up, Peony is sent into the wall of the cave, and rocks begin to fall on him

"DAD!!!", Peonia freaks out, rushing to her dad to see if he's ok

Calyrex, with much effort, removes the rocks from Peony. He's knocked unconscious

"Come on dad, you've gotta get up!", Peonia says, as tears begin to form in her eyes, desperately trying to wake her father up

Everyone looks concerned for Peony, especially Gladion, who begins to form an aura of rage. However, the pity party is interrupted by the gust of wind Spectrier is producing

"What is with this thing???", Goh asks

"I think it's trying to force us out of the lair!", Lillie says

The wind intensifies, everyone begins to get knocked further back

"Calyrex, you need to get Peony out of here!", Gladion says

Calyrex nods. It summons its power, and it teleports himself, Peony and Peonia out of the Max Lair

The others struggle to stay in the cave. Lillie looks saddened by their apparent loss, while Goh is still shocked by what's happening

"I guess this is it...", Lillie says, as a tear begins to form in her eyes

Ash looks concerned at Lillie

"No...", Gladion says, as he begins to stand up and shares a mutual look with Zoroark

"We're either walking out of here with the key to getting