We dove into the crowd of terrified onlookers, Maddie pulling me through the floods of people pushing us back like they didn't exist. I barely had time to put Meowsie away and out of danger before we were being dragged across the drawbridge to the gym itself. Maddie had only one goal in mind; Raihan.
We burst through the stadium doors just as the last of the crowds had left. The entire gym was deserted, even the staff; the only sign of human life were the trio of Gym Trainers crowded around Raihan, who towered several heads above them. I could see even from afar the panicked look on his face as he tried to calm his employees down, then shift to relief as he saw Maddie run towards him with me in tow.
"What's the situation, Raihan?" Maddie asked, cute nicknames long gone from her tone. She was all-business, a side I hadn't seen before in her (but I instantly liked it). "We've got Duraludon, Gigalith, Flygon and Goodra on the loose, but only Duraludon Dynamaxed," Raihan counted off his fingers. "The rest are just terrified and ran off in fear."
"Good; that leaves three less Dynamax Pokemon running amok around Hammerlocke," Maddie said, adjusting something on her wrist. "Sebastian, Camilla, Aria; has everyone been evacuated from the stadium?" The trio nodded in sync. "Alright. Cam, make sure everyone stays away from the stadium and stays off the battlefield. Aria, search the power plant below for anything that might have triggered this. Sebastian, look for Raihan's Pokemon in the gym; Rai, take the streets. I'll handle Duraludon."
It was that moment her cardigan sleeve lifted I nearly gasped aloud. A Dynamax Band had been sitting right under my nose! "Mira?"
"Y-yes?" I said, struggling to maintain my serious composure.
"You investigate with the girls too; try the locker rooms. Maybe somebody left their Dynamax Band down there or something. This whole thing seems real dodgy, and we're gonna get to the bottom of it. Ready? Break!"
As the Dragon-type trainers took off, I made a mad dash in the other direction, looking for the door to the locker room. I wove through hallways that looked like they were constructed in ancient times, and the strange geometric design of the pillars, but there was no time to appreciate the architecture now.
Finally, after ten minutes of running absentmindedly through the establishment, I found a door that said Challengers Only. Struggling to wrench it open, I threw myself into it and froze. A pile of Dynamax Bands, sitting helplessly on the bench, were glowing the strange cherry color of Dynamax energy.
Coming closer, when I looked straight down, I realized the shape the pile took. A big, red X. This was his doing; his way of saying he wasn't ready to give up yet. Snarling, I grabbed all the Wishing Stars and shoved them into my bag, which still smelled a bit like burning leather. "Espeon, come on," I released her. "We've got to find the others.
Suddenly, the cry of a Noivern--amplified by a hundred times--tore through the building, shaking the very foundation of the city. Clutching my bag tighter, I tore down the halls in the direction of Maddie.
********
The minute I got onto the roof of the stadium, I knew we were in WAY over our heads. Duraludon was so huge, its head was the only thing visible, about fifteen feet high and absolutely enormous. The hole that its face had punctured in the roof was getting larger by the minute, and the Pokemon attacking it on the ground and in the air were like pesky Cutiefly compared to it.
It appeared that Raihan's Pokemon had all been returned to him, because I saw him fighting with a lavender, slimy Dragon-type which had to be his Goodra, evolved from Goomy. A Flygon buzzed above the Gigantimaxed Pokemon, weaving through the metal spikes that had grown on the roof, and a Turtonator commanded by one of the Gym Trainers was trying to melt them to make room for us. Gigalith was nowhere to be seen.
Maddie was leading a whole battalion of Flying-type Pokemon; Braviary and Noivern, and a bunch of other Pokemon I hadn't seen her use before. A Corvisquire with beady, red eyes slashed at Duraludon's face, a Tranquil blew Duraludon off balance with Air Slash, and a Noctowl was trying to get Duraludon's attention with Hypnosis, which was doing more damage to us than the opponent because the others kept dozing off whenever they made eye contact.
"Braviary, use Superpower," Maddie shouted. "And Noivern, use Supersonic!" She commanded her team of Pokemon effortlessly; they were one coherent unit that attacked in perfect succession. "Corvisquire, Revenge! Tranquil, use Roost to protect Camilla and Sebastien from Max Steelspike! Noctowl, keep up the Hypnosis; don't let Duraludon get a chance to attack!"
Blow after blow rained down on the steel dragon from all directions, confusing it so much it didn't know which way to attack; until, of course, its eyes landed right on me, frozen in place, and it let out a screechy howl. A huge slab of stone rose from the ground, making the whole building shudder until it towered even above Duraludon. Then, with another roar like steel scraping steel, the rock started to fall towards us.
"Braviary, Superpower!" The huge Normal type zoomed to my side and broke the rock into pieces with the move, sending little bits and pieces of it everywhere that swirled around into a sandstorm. "Maddie," I hollered to get her attention over the roaring winds and dragon. "How do we calm it down?!"
"We don't," she yelled back before pulling her Noivern back inside its Pokeball. "We get it to tire out, then wait for it to shrink back down to its regular size from exhaustion! At this rate, it'll keep going with Max Moves until all of Hammerlocke is made of steel spikes! That's why we have to even the score." The Pokeball in Maddie's hand grew huge with Dynamax energy, and she tossed it straight above Duraludon. "Noivern, Dynamax," she shouted.
I had grown used to seeing the incredible size of Dynamaxed Pokemon while being in Galar, but even seeing Noivern fly over my head with sluggish wingbeats was spectacular. "Everyone, get out of the way!" Raihan bellowed over the clashing cries of the two Dragon types.
"Noivern, use Max Flutterby!" Maddie screamed. Huge insects made of jade green energy surrounded the silver Pokemon, exploding whenever they landed on its shiny surface, now tarnished and scratched by the attacks from other Pokemon. "Don't let it recover! Use Max Airstream and get it off balance!"
A huge tunnel of wind exploded from Noivern's ears, trapping Duraludon in the horizontal cyclone and pushing it off its feet, simultaneously blowing away the sandstorm. "That's the ticket," Maddie cheered as I blinked sand from my eyes.
"Now, Noivern, let's finish this nice and proper-like! Max Airstream!" The cyclone picked up again, blowing Duraludon even further off balance, crashing through more of the ceiling we were standing on and causing the very foundation of the building to shake.
"Everybody, arses in gear! Now RUN," Maddie hollered as Duraludon's face shrank beneath the ceiling. Noivern, also shrunken, grabbed Maddie in its claws and carried her off the roof just in time for most of the thing to cave in, raining debris all over the stadium floor, but we were alive. Sandy, weather-beaten and in desperate need of a shower (others a change of shorts), but alive and well.
Raihan instantly charged down the stairs to the elevator, taking them four at a time and nearly tripping over his own feet as he raced to the stadium to check on Duraludon. The other trainers were retrieving their fainted Pokemon and following their Gym Leader, and Maddie was rubbing Noivern affectionately behind the ears. "That was absolutely amazing," I said after everyone else had left. "You and Noivern are really something else."
"Of course we are, love," Maddie grinned, turning. "We're one of the best teams in-" her voice trailed off as her eyes widened to the size of bagels. At first, I panicked as to why she was staring--another Dynamaxed Pokemon raging out of control?--until a wisp of cream colored hair blew right into my face. My wig, which had been all Maddie had seen until now, had been lost in the sandstorm Duraludon created.
"M-Mira?" Maddie asked, shying away, an emotion glittering in her eyes I had seen too many times to count. Hurt. Betrayal. Confusion. Fear. "Wha...what're you--BLIMEY!" I cursed loudly as the leather straps of my bag, under the stress of Salazzle's fire and the hurricane I'd just been through, snapped, littering what was left of the roof with the stolen Dynamax Bands.
"I'm sorry it had to be this way, Madz," I sighed as Salazzle burst open from her luxury ball. "But Team Rocket doesn't like witnesses spilling our secrets to the world." Espeon and the lizard stalked closer, growling in their own languages as Maddie scrambled back. Noivern made to try and aim an attack at us, but a snap of my fingers and she was instantly hurled off the building with Psychic.
The look of terror on Maddie's face shouldn't have affected me. This was what I was supposed to do; all outside witnesses to Team Rocket's plans would either be recruited or eliminated, and I knew Maddie was too pure of heart to join a corrupt syndicate bent on world domination. And yet, looking at her cowering as the hole in the floor grew closer and closer to her edging feet, I suddenly held up an empty palm. "Wait."
Salazzle and Espeon both stopped, confused. This was my job; why was I disobeying explicit orders? Slowly wetting my lips, I returned them both to their luxury balls. Giving a solemn nod to Maddie's trembling form, I swiftly turned and vaulted off the side of the stadium, trusting the tarped roofs of the local bakeries to break my fall.