Gwen, Sonia, and Winnie were quiet through the car ride to the Slumbering Weald. After Gwen called Timothy, she told Sonia of his idea to save Coovers and Goh, and Sonia became at ease, believing they would be rescued. Their ease silently faded away, however, as their minds returned to the matter at hand: wondering if they would find Zacian and Zamanenta as well as the sword and shield. Sonia kept the gas pedal on the floor, honking and forcing cars to move away as she drove down the road through the Wild Area.

They arrived at the opening to the Slumbering Weald, and Sonia slammed on the break, forcing her car to come to a screeching halt on the grass beside the train tracks. Gwen and Sonia got out of the car with Gwen holding Winnie and ran to the top of the hill leading to the forest. The two women stopped as they realized there was a small mist inside the forest and took a moment to prepare themselves before Gwen put down Winnie, and the three of them went in. Gwen and Sonia waited until they felt deep in the forest enough to call out to the mysterious Pokémon.

"Zacian, Zamazenta, come out!" Gwen shouted.

"Please come on out!" Sonia called out.

"Teddiursa!" Winnie shouted.

But call out as they might, nothing came to them. There was neither sound nor shadow to imply there was a living soul in the forest apart from themselves. As Gwen, Sonia, and Winnie walked down the path, the fog grew thicker until they were surrounded by it. Winnie climbed onto Gwen's head so it didn't get separated.

"Goh said the fog got really thick when he saw Zacian or Zamazenta. We might be getting close to finding them," Gwen said.

"I hope you're right," Sonia said.

"Teddi," Winnie said.

Just then, Sonia heard a ringtone, and she took out her Rotom Phone from her coat pocket. Gwen moved closer to Sonia as she opened her phone and selected the news app, revealing a reporter speaking on a helicopter flying around Hammerlocke Stadium. The sky was covered with dark clouds, and there was a massive hole in the stadium's tower.

"There are reports from all over of Pokémon Dynamaxing against their will, and then rampaging!" The reporter said.

The camera moved to the window and zoomed in on Leon, Ash, and Pikachu flying to the hole on Charizard and Dragonite.

"It's Leon," Sonia said.

"Ash?" Gwen asked. "I thought he was with Timothy and Sere-?"

Gwen's voice died in her throat, and her face grew pale. The news helicopter moved closer to the hole, revealing a shadowy figure of a vaguely draconic shape and a skeletal appearance. Winnie squealed and buried its face with Gwen's hair.

"It seems like this behavior is caused by a red light coming from Hammerlocke Stadium," the reporter said.

But as the reporter was talking, the shadowy figure's core glowed and fired a massive beam, hitting the helicopter. The reporter let out a grunt before the screen was nothing but pink, and the audio was static.

"No!" Gwen screamed.

"Gwen, what is it?" Sonia asked.

"That was Eternatus! Eternatus has been restored and has escaped from the core!" Gwen shouted. "And...and that beam...is the exact one it used to...to..."

It took a moment for Sonia to realize Gwen was talking about her mother's death. Then her heart grew still, and she looked back at her phone, realizing Eternatus had just used the same attack against Leon and Ash. She shut her eyes and shook her head before stepping in front of Gwen and lifting her head.

"Gwen, snap out of it. You're not helping our friends by worrying," she said. "We have to believe they can take care of themselves and that the news crew are alright, but we must find Zacian and Zamazenta before things get any worse."

Gwen stared back at Sonia with her eyes still full of fear. Then she took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and pet Winnie's head to comfort it.

"You're right. We need to find them and head back to Hammerlocke fast," Gwen said.

Sonia smiled and nodded. The two women went further into the forest; the fog began to think they could naturally see the trees closest to them.

"Zacian, Zamazenta, come out! The Darkest Day has been restored!" Gwen shouted.

"If we don't do something, Galar will be destroyed! Please, come out!" Sonia shouted.

"Tedd, Teddiursa!" Winnie called out.

Just then, Gwen, Sonia, and Winnie heard ghostly howling and two sets of footsteps coming toward them. Gwen and Sonia stopped in their tracks as two tall, four-legged shadowy figures walked over to them. They stopped a couple of yards away, and the fog cleared to reveal Zacian and Zamazenta. Zacian didn't have wings, nor did Zamazenta have large armor shaped like a shield, and they each were missing part of an ear. Still, there was no mistaking that these were the mysterious Pokémon represented by the statues at Stow-on-Side.

"Zacian! Zamazenta!" Sonia said in awe.

"Thank you so much for coming! We need your help," Gwen said.

But Zacian and Zamazenta made no sound or made an expression that they heard Sonia or Gwen. After a moment of pause, they turned around and walked away to Gwen, Sonia, and Winnie's surprise.

"Wait! Don't go!" Gwen shouted.

"We desperately need your help!" Sonia shouted.

They ran to catch up to Zacian and Zamazenta, but they slowed down as they realized Zacian and Zamazenta weren't trying to lose Gwen, Sonia, and Winnie. It looked as though the lupin-like Pokemon were leading them somewhere. Gwen and Sonia silently followed Zacian and Zamazenta until the fog grew thicker than before. They ran to catch up with the Pokémon, but the mysterious Pokémon was already gone, as though they had disappeared out of thin air.

"No!" Gwen shouted. "Zacian, Zamazenta, please, come back!"

Just then, Winnie's ears twitched, and it raised its head, staring at where Zacian and Zamazenta were last seen. It jumped off of Gwen's head and ran into the mist.

"Eddie?" Sonia asked.

"Winnie, where are you going?" Gwen asked.

They ran after Winnie, barely seeing anything through the fog. Then, the fog faded away, and Gwen and Sonia, to their confusion, found themselves in front of an old, broken altar. Behind the altar was a small lake connected to a river. Gwen, Sonia, and Winnie walked to the altar, amazed by the discovery. Sonia took out her tablet, opened the photo gallery, and selected the photo of the torn tapestry.

"This looks like the same altar from the torn tapestry Coovers and I found," she said.

"But if it's the same place, where are the tombstones for the sword and shield?" Gwen asked.

"Teddiursa!" Winnie shouted.

Gwen and Sonia looked down at Winnie and found it pointing at a pile of leaves at the center of the altar. Gwen knelt down and moved the leaves away. Under the pile were a sword and a shield lying on the stone floor. Both were worn down and rusted, and the sword was missing half of its blade.

"It's a sword and shield. They are the ones that appeared in the legend," Sonia said.

Gwen looked at the rusted weapons skeptically, then shook her head.

"They don't look anything like what we saw on those statues, but if this sword and shield belonged to Zacian and Zamazenta, they may contain hidden powers that may help with stopping Eternatus just as we guessed," she said.

"Zacian and Zamazenta led us here. It only makes sense that they wanted us to take them," Sonia said.

"Teddiursa," Winnie agreed.

"Then we're just gonna have to put our faith in Zacian and Zamazenta," Gwen said. "Let's take the sword and shield and get over to Hammerlocke."

"Right," Sonia said.

Gwen grabbed the sword and shield and strapped them on her back with her backpack, and together, she, Sonia, and Winnie raced down the path to Sonia's car. As she ran, Gwen wondered if Timothy rescued Coovers and Goh and if he was also in Hammerlocke, and why Ash wasn't with him. She imagined him either occupied battling Dynamax Pokémon or finding his own way to Hammerlocke Stadium. Gwen hoped it wasn't the latter, worried he might see Eternatus escaping as grounds to use the Master Ball as a last resort as he promised. She feared the worst for Ash, Leon, and the news crew. The idea of losing Timothy before she could end this made her heart ache.

"Timothy, please hold on just a little longer," Gwen thought.

*************************************************************

"Leon, wait. We can't take it down without Zacian and Zamazenta," Coovers said.

"There's no time. We can't wait any longer," Leon said. "Ash, with me."

"You got it," Ash said. "Serena, take care of Gengar."

"Ash, wait! We need to stick together!" Serena shouted.

Ash climbed on Dragonite's back with Pikachu, and they were up in the air with Leon and Charizard before Serena could say another word. With no way to follow them, Serena watched her beloved fly to Hammerlocke Stadium's tower with Dragonite avoiding attacks from enemy Pokemon as it flew. A news helicopter flew around the tower as Ash, Leon, Pikachu, Charizard, and Dragonite went into the hole. Timothy, Coovers, Goh, Electchu, and Shockwave watched behind Serena; the former two were annoyed that Leon and Ash went in without a plan.

Suddenly, just as Ash, Leon, Pikachu, Dragonite, and Charizard went inside, a massive pink beam shot out from the hole and hit the helicopter, sending it spiraling out of control. Serena gasped and took a step to run over to the stadium, only for Coovers to grab her from behind.

"Shockwave, catch that helicopter with Psychic!" Timothy shouted.

Shockwave's eyes glowed blue and caught the helicopter with Psychic before it crashed into a nearby building. It gently lowered the helicopter to the ground, and the news crew got out in a daze. Serena tried to break free from Coovers' control, but he was too strong.

"Coovers, let go! Ash might be in trouble!" Serena shouted.

"There's no way you can get to him, Serena. The stadium's too heavily guarded, and the drawbridge is up," Coovers said. "You can't help him by charging in by yourself."

Serena struggled for a few seconds until she calmed down, accepting that Coovers was right. She looked up at the tower and subconsciously put her hand on her neck where her ribbon would be. Suddenly, waves of white beams, electricity, and mud balls came flying toward Timothy, Coovers, Serena, Goh, Electchu, and Shockwave, forcing them to go back inside the Pokémon Center. The attacks subsided as soon as they went in.

"Looks like Venarge isn't going to go so far as to attack the Pokémon Center," Goh said.

"It does look like he and those agents and League Staff are there just to keep us out of the stadium rather than trying to take us in this time. That's one thing we have in our favor," Coovers said. "Actually, it may be the only thing we have in our favor."

"So, what do we do now?" Serena asked.

Coovers frowned and rubbed his chin in thought.

"Judging by the size of that beam and where it came from, it's fair to say Eternatus has indeed broken out of the Energy Plant and might be in the stadium's battlefield," he said. "Gwen and Sonia should be in the Slumbering Weald by now. If they find Zacian and Zamazenta and convince them to fight with the sword and shield, then theoretically, we have an ace in the hole to subdue Eternatus."

"But what do we do until then?" Goh asked.

"Well, there isn't anything we can do apart from waiting for our Pokémon to heal," Coovers said.

"But we can't just do nothing when Eternatus is loose. Ash and Leon might be facing it right now," Serena protested.

"I know, but even with all of our Pokémon in hand, we're outnumbered," Coovers said.

"Which also means Sonia and Gwen will have trouble bringing Zacian and Zamazenta to Eternatus if we don't do something about that security," Serena pointed out.

Coovers opened his mouth, then stopped himself and scratched the back of his head.

"You're right. Bringing Zacian and Zamazenta might not mean anything if they can't get inside," he said. "Though if we're lucky, maybe they are so powerful that they can take out all those agents by themselves."

Goh sweatdropped and said, "I don't think they're quite that powerful, Coovers."

"Hey, you don't know. They took down Eternatus and a bunch of Dynamax Pokémon with just two guys to aid them. A band of minions might be a cakewalk for these mysterious Pokémon," Coovers said.

"That's putting too much faith in two Pokémon we only know so much about, Coovers," Timothy said.

"Maybe, but how else do you expect us to get in?" Coovers asked. "Right now, it's just the four of us, and the only Pokémon we can use for transportation is Ash's Gengar once it's fully healed. Even if we can fly our way in, we'll still be met with heavy resistance and would have to battle our way through Venarge and an army of agents and staff just to lower the drawbridge so Gwen, Sonia, and Winnie can get in with Zacian and Zamazenta. That's not including the probability of encountering Ezria while trying to get to Eternatus. If Leon and Ash hadn't recklessly left on their own, we might have had a better shot, but realistically we can't get into Hammerlocke Stadium on our own."

The lobby grew silent as everyone accepted that Coovers was right. Goh lowered his head with his hands turned into fists and Serena had her hand where her ribbon used to be again. Timothy looked out the window to see the security protecting the stadium. He frowned in frustration, wishing he could get all of his Pokémon staying with Professor Oak, from Gengar, to Titus, to Fenrir, and storm the castle-like stadium so Gwen could get in and save her home region. Timothy even imagined Arceus itself clearing a path or dealing with Eternatus itself since it was his Pokémon for a short time and he wanted to face Ezria one last time in hopes that he may reach out to Knightblade and get it back. If he could save one soul from imprisonment, even if it meant abandoning its brother and its original partner, he would choose Knightblade. Electchu and Shockwave stared at Hammerlocke Stadium next to Timothy, wishing they could bring back the new member of their family.

Timothy's train of thought was suddenly interrupted when a pink beam burst through part of the tower. Coovers, Serena, and Goh rushed to the window and saw Eternatus come out of the hole and fly up to the top of the tower. The Gigantic Pokémon let out a roar and countless tiny orbs of red energy flew toward it from all directions beyond the city limits and into Eternatus' core.

"Is that the Darkest Day?" Goh asked.

"Sure looks that way and it's collecting Galar Particles," Timothy said.

"But what happened to Ash and Leon? Something could've happened to them," Serena said.

"It's no good dwelling on that right now, Serena," Coovers said. "That said, if Eternatus is almost fully restored, things have just gotten a little more complicated."

"You think? We need to think of a way through Venarge and the chairman's security now," Timothy said.

"Raichu," Electchu said.

"Gardevoir," Shockwave said.

"But, how will we get in when the drawbridge is still up?" Goh asked.

Timothy rubbed his chin, and Coovers scratched his head, unsure of how to answer the question. Serena looked out the window, staring at the hole inside the tower, hoping nothing had happened to Ash or Pikachu.

She then noticed from the corner of her eye that people and Pokémon were in the street staring at Eternatus, either confused or afraid. Some of them saw the damaged news helicopter on the road, where the reporter continued to report, and wondered if the creature flying above Hammerlocke Stadium was behind it. Another news helicopter flew towards the stadium, keeping itself far from Eternatus. Serena looked back at the bystanders with a sympathetic look. She wished she could warn them of their danger without the enemy attacking her.

As Serena thought of that, something clicked in her mind, and her eyes widened. She looked back between the citizens, the newscast on the ground, Timothy, and Coovers as she brainstormed until she snapped her fingers.

"Coovers, do you still have the footage of Ezria taking Timothy to the Energy Plant?" Serena asked.

Coovers gave Timothy an annoying glare for sharing details of his mission without his consent before turning to Serena.

"Yes, I do," he said.

"Perfect. Timothy, how popular would you say you are in Galar?" Serena asked.

"Probably more than I want to be, thanks to Ezria," Timothy said. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

Serena turned her head to the window again, looking at the newscast with a smirk.