The episode begins with Spectrier raging aloud, standing its ground and ready to fight. Fortunately for our heroes, so were they!

"Melmetal, let's do this!", Ash says, as he sends out his mythical Pokémon, Melmetal

"'Lillie'", Lillie says, "let's do this, for father!"

'Lillie' exclaims itself, ready for battle

"This is gonna take some getting used to...", Gladion whispers to Goh, who nods in agreement

Gladion has Zoroark close in with Shadow Claw, while Goh tells Flygon to use Dragon Dance. However, Spectrier uses Max Quake, hitting Zoroark and Melmetal, and hitting them hard

"Is it just me", Lillie says, "or does Spectrier appear to be more hostile than earlier?"

Spectrier fires a Max Phantasm. Zoroark tries to block it with Night Daze, but it could not withstand the full force of a Max move, knocking both Zoroark and Flygon out of the battle

"Guess all that battling earlier really wore them down...", Goh says worryingly

"Especially after the use of a Z-Move!", Gladion replies

Gladion sends out Greninja, while Goh sends in Golurk

Goh has Golurk use Shadow Ball, while Gladion has Greninja use Dark Pulse. Both connect and damage Spectrier. Spectrier retaliates with Max Phantasm, but Golurk dodges it and Greninja uses Cut, changing into the normal type and phasing right through it. Greninja then fired a dark pulse, hitting Spectrier

Lillie tells 'Lillie' to use Meteor Beam, while Ash has Melmetal use Flash Cannon. Both connect. Spectrier used Max Quake. Golurk and 'Lillie' evade it by flying while Greninja uses Arial Ace, becoming immune to the attack. Melmetal, however, tanks this hit and very much feels it

Lillie is unsure of 'Lillie's other moves, and asks what else it knows. 'Lillie' decides to use Thunderbolt, hitting Spectrier

"Wow!", Lillie says

Spectrier begins to use Max Phantasm, but 'Lillie' goes in evading the attacks. It gets up to Spectrier's face, and hits it with a dark glowing move from its tentacles, noticeably damaging Spectrier

"Wow", Lillie says, "what was that?"

"I think that was Brutal Swing!", Goh says, getting Lillie more excited

"'Lillie', keep using Brutal Swing!", Lillie commands, as 'Lillie' barrages the ghost horse with its brutal swing attacks and not letting up

Spectrier shoves it away, but 'Lillie' fires a Venoshock before making its way back down. Spectrier is then met with a Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, and Flash Cannon from the other Pokémon, drawing its attention away from 'Lillie'

Lillie looks at her Dynamax band, and wonders if it's worth giving a shot. She looks at Ash, looking to see if he thinks it's a good idea. Ash gives her a reassuring look and a thumbs up, encouraging her to do this

"'Lillie'!", Lillie says, grabbing the UB's attention, "Let's try to Dynamax!"

'Lillie' makes its way toward Lillie, and they both wonder how they're going to do this without a Pokéball

"Y'know, me and Pikachu were able to Gigantimax without the Pokéball", Ash tells her, "maybe you can try it too!"

Lillie looks back at 'Lillie', and the two begin to hold hands

"'Lillie'...", Lillie tells the UB, "let's fight this battle at our max, for our father!"

'Lillie' nods, as the Dynamax energy from the Dynamax band begins to form around it

'Lillie' grows bigger, and bigger, and becomes something of a Titan in its size, something Melmetal is fascinated by

Lillie tells 'Lillie' to use Meteor Beam, but it does nothing. Ash tells her that the max move for Rock is Rockfall, and Max Ooze for Poison, Max Lightning for Electric, and Max Darkness for Dark. Lillie nods and smiles

Spectrier readies Max Phantasm, while Lillie commands a Max Darkness. Both attacks hit their opponents

"This is pretty cool!", Lillie says

"I know, right?", Ash replies

Spectrier used Max Quake, but 'Lillie' uses Max Ooze, damaging Spectrier and floating above the attack. Although, Melmetal still takes damage, same as Golurk, who didn't dodge in time

Spectrier continues with Max Phantasm, but 'Lillie' tanks it, the others evade the attack, and Melmetal blocks it with Double Iron Bash. Ash comes up with a plan

Spectrier readies another Max Quake. Greninja is immune thanks to the flying type while the others float above it, but Ash has Melmetal spin his fists super fast and then fire it into them air, launching itself into the air and surprising everyone

Spectrier tries to shoot it out of the sky with Max Phantasm, but 'Lillie' covers it and launches Melmetal even higher at Spectrier, taking damage in the process

Melmetal, once close enough to Spectrier, hits it with Double Iron Bash on the way down, doing effective damage against the legendary Pokémon

"Thanks Gladion!", Ash says, to which Gladion nods

Spectrier sends Melmetal back, and is about to strike again with Max Quake, but Golurk and Greninja hit it with a Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse to the face, stunning the Pokémon

Gladion has Greninja climb on top of 'Lillie', getting it ready to jump from a higher vantage point

Spectrier continues and uses Max Quake, but Lillie has 'Lillie' grab it with its tentacles and land a Max Lightning, damaging Spectrier, causing an Electric Terrain, and ending its Dynamax run

Melmetal and 'Lillie' hit Spectrier with Flash Cannon and Meteor Beam respectively, drawing Spectrier's fire from Greninja. Greninja jumps onto Spectrier and hits it with a Dark Pulse, while Goh has Golurk fly in close and barrage it with Shadow Punch. Both attacks do noticeable damage

Both Pokémon return to the ground, readying their attacks again. However, Spectrier interrupts them with Max Strike, hitting Greninja, Melmetal and 'Lillie'

All 3 Pokémon appear damaged, while Spectrier remains high and mighty. They know this Pokémon will be tough to take down

We cut to Lusamine, Chloe and Mohn at the house

Lusamine, while no longer on the brink of crying, is still very saddened by Mohn's inability to remember her. Chloe sees this, and asks if she wants to pet Eevee. Lusamine agrees to this, and ends up giving Eevee a big hug. Eevee is noticeably uncomfortable by this, but, seeing how Lusamine feels, decides to take one for the team

"Lusamine...", Chloe says, grabbing Lusamine's attention, "I don't know how things are going to go, and I know it must be hard not to know what will happen next, it's something I feel all the time..."

"But it can hurt a lot less to have faith in the people around you", Chloe continues, "Ash is the strongest battler I know, nothing can stop Goh from catching a Pokémon, and your children seem very capable too!"

"If there is any chance of capturing Spectrier and getting your husband back", Chloe continues, scooting a little closer to Lusamine, "then we have to have faith that my friends and your family can do this!"

Lusamine looks at awe for a moment, and she hugs Chloe with tears in her eyes

"You children are so sweet and wonderful...", Lusamine says gently

Chloe is surprised, but she ends up hugging Lusamine back and pats her on the back

Mohn walks in, and is surprised to see the girls hugging each other

"Uh... did I miss something?", Mohn asks

"Nothing at all", Lusamine says, patting Chloe on her head, "here, let me fix is some tea. You'd love it!"

Mohn smiles, and shows her the way to the kitchen

We cut back to the battle against Spectrier, as it keeps raging on

Golurk uses Shadow Ball, while Greninja uses Dark Pulse. Both attacks are completely overwhelmed by Max Phantasm, critically damaging Golurk

"I think I'm going to try Dynamax!", Gladion exclaims

"Remember", Goh tells him, while counting the moves on his fingers, "it's Max Airstream for Flying, Max Darkness for Dark, Max Strike for Normal, and Max Geyser for water!"

Gladion nods, as he returns Greninja and gives Dynamax a try. He throws the giant Pokéball and sends out his newly Dynamaxed Greninja

Gladion commands a Max Darkness, causing big damage to Spectrier. Spectrier responds with Max Quake, but Greninja uses Max Airstream, becoming immune to the attack while raising his team's speed, though this did not save Melmetal from taking damage

Gladion recognizes he's running out of time, and commands a final Max Airstream, while Spectrier uses Max Phantasm. Both attacks connect, the speed of the gang's team is risen and Greninja returns to normal size

Gladion has Greninja use another Dark Pulse, but Spectrier overpowers it completely with Max Phantasm, heavily damaging Greninja. Meanwhile, the gang launch Shadow Ball, Meteor Beam, and Flash Cannon respectively, all connecting and damaging Spectrier

Spectrier gets up set, and readies another Max Quake

Ash thinks of what to do, until Melmetal falls to him. He signals that he wants to grow bigger. Ash agrees to this enthusiastically, as he returns Melmetal to his Pokéball and Dynamaxes him... or so he thinks

When he throws out the Pokéball, Melmetal changes. His legs are longer and taller, his middle is but a single bolt, and his arms are beefier and appear more swollen than before

"What the heck just happened???", Ash says

"I think Melmetal is Gigantimaxed!", Goh tells him

Ash pauses for a moment, but gets thrilled to see it

"Wow!!!", Ash exclaims, "Melmetal, you're so cool!"

"Mel-metal!", Melmetal says loudly, indicating its happy with Ash's praise

Ash commands a Max Steelspike, however, Melmetal does something different. His supposed to be Max Steelspike had a liquidy addition to it. This move does big damage to Spectrier

"The heck was that?", Goh asks

"This must be Melmetal's G-Max move!", Gladion says, "...right?"

"Yeah... I guess it is!", Ash says, "I'll call it G-Max Meltdown!"

"Wouldn't Mel-Meltdown make more sense?", Goh asks, "Y'know, because Melmetal's call Melmetal, so putting a Mel before it..."

Ash shrugs, looking slightly at the fourth wall and back

Spectrier gets mad, and readies another Max Quake. Everyone braces for impact... but nothing happens

"What's going on?", Lillie asks

"Maybe this is G-Max Meltdown's effect", Goh suggests, "it can't use the same move twice in a row!"

"That's awesome!", Ash exclaims

Spectrier roars, grabbing everyone's attention, and fires at them with Max Phantasm and hits their Pokémon, but Melmetal tanks it. Spectrier then goes for another Max Quake

"Guess it's a quick study...", Gladion says

"Yeah, but it's not ready for this!", Ash exclaims, "Melmetal, slam your fists onto the ground!"

Melmetal slams its fists onto the ground, nullifying the Max Quake and shaking the entire mountain. Everyone falls over, and rocks begin to fall, but 'Lillie' blasts them out of the air before they can hit Lillie and Gladion

"Thanks, 'Lillie'!", Lillie tells the UB

"Y...yeah!", Gladion says, slightly surprised by the action, something Ash notices and picks up on

Spectrier readies another attack, but Melmetal rushes up to it and uppercuts it, knocking it back and dealing massive damage, surprising everyone

"I have a distinct feeling someone's mad about all the quakes...", Goh says

"Can't say I have a problem with that!", Gladion responds

Melmetal goes in for another hit, but Spectrier knocks it back and uses Max Strike. Melmetal tries to slam its fists on the ground again, but it's not fast enough and gets hit. Spectrier uses another Max Quake, while Melmetal counters with G-Max Meltdown

Gladion tells Greninja to climb on top of Melmetal, while Goh's Golurk and 'Lillie' Fire Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt respectively. Both connect. Spectrier attacks everyone with Max Phantasm, Melmetal shields 'Lillie' and Golurk from the hit while Greninja, jumping off of Melmetal, charges in with cut, phasing through the attack, and hits Spectrier with Dark Pulse the first moment it gets

Ash tells Melmetal to slam Spectrier again but Spectrier uses Max Quake. Melmetal redirects its attack to the ground, once again canceling out the Max Quake and shaking the mountain. This throws Greninja off balance, and before they know it, Spectrier uses Max Phantasm. Melmetal blocks some of it, but it ultimately takes out Greninja and Golurk

"Oh boy...", Goh says, seeing that he and Gladion are down to their final two Pokémon

"Mighty Beast, Silvally, win us this battle!", Gladion says, as he sends in Silvally

"Let's go, Cinderace, I'm counting on you!", Goh exclaims, as he sends out his partner Pokémon

Cinderace uses Pyro Ball, while Silvally fires an air cutter. Both connect and hit Spectrier. Spectrier is about to use another Max Quake, but Ash has Melmetal slam against Spectrier once again, knocking it to the ground. Ash then commands one final G-Max Meltdown, one bigger than the other two and dealing big damage. Melmetal shrinks back to normal size

"Great job, Melmetal!", Ash says, causing Melmetal to cheer in joy

However, Spectrier once again gets up from the attack, although noticeably damaged from the efforts of the Gigantimaxed mythical Pokémon

Spectrier rages, and hits the team with a Max Darkness, taking out Melmetal in the process

Ash retuned Melmetal and thanks it for its efforts. Ash then takes out another Pokéball, one containing his final Pokémon

"I hope you're ready...", Ash says, as he gets ready to throw his Pokéball, "you're my last hope!"

Ash throws his Pokéball, and Incineroar lands onto the battlefield, roaring as it is ready to battle

"Oh yeah!", Goh says

"Remember when Ash's Incineroar beat the Masked Royal's as a Torracat?", Lillie says to Gladion

"I know, this is exactly what we've needed!", Gladion replies

Incineroar roars at Spectrier, ready to show the ghost steed Pokémon who the true final boss of this battle is

The episode ends with everyone's final Pokémon staring down the legendary horse, unsure of how ready they are to make another move... or so we thought

We cut to Peonia and her father, with Calyrex just outside of the Max Lair. She treats him to some ice, hoping it'll help his injuries and wake him up. He has yet to wake up, which causes her to worry, but Mawile urges Peonia to have faith that her dad is going to be fine

The episode ends with her looking to the Max Lair, hoping her new friends come out of this ok as well

What is the fate of the Great Peony? Will the power of Ash's Incineroar be enough to finish this battle off? And what will become of the Aether family by the end of this? Find out next time, as the journey continues!

Writer's Talking-

I know I know, I work fast when I'm locked in. I'm gonna make it a goal for the rest of this Max Raid battle will be like this. I can't say it's a promise, but I can say that I'm excited to begin 2025 with a bang!

Stay tuned for the next chapter, I think you're all gonna love what I do with it