Previously on Galarian Days...
Zander, Wufu and Calvin finally get off their tails and storm Rose Tower, fending off Turner and his swarm of Macro Cosmos grunts until they reach Chairperson Elle on the top floor. She reveals some powers of her own, but loses her chance to dip into her full repertiore after cheesing off the anthros into fusing and "PAMF"ing her. The current Gym Leaders then make a surprise entrance, along with a liberated Leon and a Policeman who takes Elle into custody on her (or rather, his) ass.
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But what happened to everyone after the G-MAS completed their mission, you may ask? Well...
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After being abandoned by irate Macro Cosmos employees who were more than happy to just up and quit, Turner eventually did muscle his way off of the gurney, but he had to scrounge for something he could use as a walking cane. He did find a push broom to unscrew the head off of, but by the time he could call for an ambulance pickup, his back was popped back into alignment, healing him.
That's not to say he didn't reflect on his actions during his incapacitation, though. After looking back on his employment at Macro Cosmos, he decided to follow his ex-subordinates' example and look for a new job. So, he went around Galar submitting applications until finally, he was hired by The Captain's Table in Hulbury... as a lobby manager.
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Elle, however, wasn't so fortunate. Taking over a corporate conglomerate, disrupting the stucture of Galar's ecosystem, pulling the strings of a traditional, annual event... All of that earned him the loss of respect of anyone he met, and as such, he was deemed unfit to carry his name change after his sex change operation. So, he was forced to be reffered to by his original name: Elliot Sweetgum.
After Elliot got his mug shots and his thumbprints stamped, he was hauled off to the prison halls in his orange jumpsuit until he was unceremoniously shoved into a cell with the bars slammed behind him.
All Elliot could do inside his cell was look through the bars at the hallway, where his cell was nestled in clusters of other cells, each with its own occupant sentenced there for different reasons. But one thing was certain: he, like everyone else had committed a wrong to society, and now they were all paying the price... being forgotten about.
After letting his situation sink in, Elliot sighed and said, "Well, I guess I'll have to accept the fact that not all people should let the world know who they are... but at least I'll be able to forget my own troubles in here, even if it means being forgotten about myself."
"Hey, mack," a different voice said, making Elliot turn around only to find out that he had a cellmate... namely, ex-Chairman Rose, who was sitting on the bottom bunk in his own orange jumpsuit! "What're you in for?"
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Back in Circhester, Sophia had recovered from her injury, all dressed up for work. But, seeing as she had a little time before she had to head out, she decided to turn on the news so she could catch up on local events.
After the opening jingle played, Galar News Network began their morning broadcast. "Good morning, everyone, I'm Lawrence Wilson, and you're watching GNN," the anchorman announced before tapping his paper stack neatly on his desk. "Our top story today: Macro Cosmos is set to be shut down in the near future. With the recent arrest and incarceration of Chairperson Elle and the resignation of its employees, the corporate conglomerate has officially gone bust. As a result, its intellectual property shares are now up for grabs, and its affiliates and subsidiaries have been relinquished to their original owners."
The camera then cut to a photo of Rose Tower... and its shattered top-floor dome before Lawrence continued. "As for its central office, Rose Tower, Pokemon League head Leon has announced that its re-transition to the Battle Tower shall remain permanent... after some structural repairs to the building, of course. Following is audio footage of the comments Leon shared in the interview."
The screen showed a photocopy of Leon's rare League Card, with a vibrating audio line below the words captioned on screen: "I'm just glad to be back in the flow of the world again, and now that I can resume my duties as the head of the Pokemon League, I'll be sure to give it my all and then some to help the Pokemon trainers of Galar rise to their fullest potentials and have a Champion time doing so!"
Now Lawrence was back on screen as he wrapped up with, "In summation, Macro Cosmos and Rose tower are history, but the Pokemon League can begin anew. Will their sponsors carry on without their parent company? Perhaps, perhaps not. And now, here is Cassandra Shore with the weather forecast. Over to you, Sandy."
Now the screen showed a brunette in front of a map of Galar saying, "Thank you, Lawrence. With the start of spring, you can expect things to warm up a little all across Galar... and that includes Circhester. That area will be warming up to below-freezing temperatures up to 58 degrees Farenheit, so expect some of that silver-white winter to melt into spring!"
Sophia caught wind of her hometown's shoutout, so she turned off the TV and walked out the door... and sure enough, the outside did feel warmer than usual, which she welcomed. She then took out her phone to call for a Flying Taxi ride, but once she opened the home screen, her Mail app had a red "1" dot, so she opened it up. The new e-mail she got had the title, "Project Status," and when she tapped it, the message enclosed said, "We regret to inform you that due to the imminent shutdown of Macro Cosmos, the Miniasma project has been permenantly canceled. We, however, appreciate your input and feedback, and apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you, and have a nice day."
Now that her browsing was over, she finally got to sending for that cab, but suddenly her phone started ringing. The caller ID was her boss, so she tapped "Accept" and spoke. "Hello, sir, I was just about to send for the ride to work when you called."
"Well, good, because I have some good news for you, Sophie," Richard said. "I've decided to promote you to kitchen duty, where you'll be learning to prepare the baked goods!"
That put such a smile on her face that she squeed before saying, "Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you so much! I'll be right over as soon as I can!"
"That's what I like to hear!" Richard said. "See you then, and take your little friend with you."
Sophia was about to ask, "What friend?" but Richard had already hung up. "Mil!" She then tuned around and saw Milcery hovering next to her, having been thawed out!
"Oh, hello," Sophia said to her new company. "You must be the little friend my boss was talking about, aren't you?"
"Milcery!" the little dollop of milk confirmed as the cab flew in to pick them up.
"Well, nice to meet you, Milcery. I'm Sophia," she introduced as she stepped inside the cab, her new friend following. "This looks like the beginning of a lovely friendship, right when my dreams are coming true..."
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Back at Wyndon Stadium, the audience seats were crammed full as another day of the open invitationals was underway. Somewhere in those seats, a cinnamon bear and a tan deer were splitting a large bucket of popcorn, waiting for the first round to start...
"Kind of a shame that we don't get to keep the colors we were marked with," Wufu said after he swallowed his mouthful, "but I guess it's understandable."
"Tell me about it," Calvin replied as he scooped up another handful. "I was kind of getting used to the idea of being green."
"Well, I'm going to miss being able to splash and punch with those cool special effects," Wufu said as he let Calvin chew. "And I don't know about Zander, but I'll bet you're going to miss having Glastrier and Spectrier around. Hey, I know I will."
Calvin swallowed before he piped up, "Oh, we still keep in touch. They've just gotten a lot more tame to socialize with the folks back home, and I let them know about the carrot fields, so they'll be fed plenty. In fact, you should come by sometime. I hear an empty house just opened up next door to the inn, so... maybe we could be neighbors?"
Wufu smiled at that. "Throw in a coffee maker and plenty of creamer bottles, and you've got yourself a deal."
"Deal," Calvin said, and they both shook on it. "Wow, Zander was not kidding, you have a very confident handshake."
"Thanks," Wufu replied, but then he noticed the countdown timer was almost to zero. "Oh, speaking of which, the battle's about to start!"
As soon as the last second ticked away, the announcer's voice said, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another day of the Galarian Gym Challenge open invitationals. Are you ready for some Pokemon battles?" The audience cheered, but the voice said, "Come on, people, you can do better than that! I said, 'Are you ready for some POKEMON BATTLES!?'"
That put the crowd in a total uproar as they strained their vocal chords, flailed their noisemakers, and even Wufu roared and Calvin screamed to pile on the volume!
"Then let's welcome our first competitors to the pitch!" the announcer said. "First up, we have a local Pokemon trainer who's been breeding for the best members to his roster. Let's hear it for challenger 365, Derek!"
There was some loud cheering in the audience as Derek stepped onto the pitch, but even he wasn't expecting who his opponent would be...
"And now, in the white corner is his opponent," the announcer said, building up to a grand entrance for the other side. "He conquered the current Gym Leaders, and now he's here to conquer the open invitationals! Give it up for challenger 210... ZAAAANDEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR!!!"
And from the other side of the pitch, all dressed up in his own Gym Challenger uniform was the wolf in question... though his fur coat was back to its original gray color, but that didn't stop the cheering for him, especially from two certain others.
"YEAH! WHOOOO! ZANDER!" Wufu shouted!
"That's my friend down there!" Calvin cheered!
Both competitors approached the center of the pitch when Derek realized something. "Wait a minute... Hey, I remember you! You're that wolf who smashed one of my eggs at the Daycare in the Wild Area last year!"
"I remember," Zander replied. "It's a shame one of us has to be crushed because of that. I was hoping we could forgive and forget."
"Well, let's see how this goes... wolf," Derek said with a smirk. "Notice how I didn't say dog?"
"Ah, good times," Zander said wistfully before he and Derek took their places, took out one of their Poke Balls each, and threw them in the air...
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Galarian Days
Gym Leaders' fates
Annie had met up with Milo after her reign as Insect Princess, and thanked him for letting her give the mantle of Turffield Gym Leader a try. But, she decided to return her position to Milo, and now the two work together tending the fields. Occasionally, they need to separate the Wooloo from the Joltik.
Selene returned to her initial passion as an artist, letting Nessa return to Hulbury and allowing Klara to regain her position as the Poison-type Gym Leader, which she accepted in a heartbeat. To show that there are no hard feelings between the two Poison trainers, she designed a new album cover for Klara's latest hit single, "Melt with Me, Please." 20 copies were sold, breaking her last record of eight.
Raphael and Kabu finally meet, and one expresses their admiration for the other and vice versa. They both exchange and compare their battle strategies with each other, and decide that they should battle each other as a test of will. As of now, a date has not yet been decided.
Basil meets up with both Bea and Allister, surprisingly at the Battle Cafe in Hammerlocke. He was only planning to grab a white chocolate mocha, but found Bea enjoying a strawberry shortcake at one table while Allister was sipping hot chocolate at another. Unfortunately, he was too nervous to strike up a conversation, so he left with his cup. The cafe was tipped 20 Poke.
Monty was about to air the season finale of "What Could You Possibly Know?" featuring a surprise guest... his brother, Avery. The two had reunited happily as they deeply regretted their actions that led to their separation. After the episode was concluded, Avery introduced Monty to a friend he met on the Isle of Armor: the Fairy-type Gym Leader, Bede, who, in turn, introduced them to his mentor, Opal. The game show is currently on hiatus.
With a feel of how his family took on the Gym Leader status, Winston returns to his family with newfound respect for his wife and pride in his son. Before he was called to begin the groundwork on a new grocery store, he tells Melony and Gordie that he's happy to be on the sidelines if it means they're not at each other's throats. He wants them to go back to that.
Parcel decides to retire from being a Gym Leader so he can give being a Flying Taxi cabbie a real try. Admittedly, he claims to enjoy the experience as he makes the first stop of his flight Route 9. He is pleased to discover that Marnie and her Gym Trainers are enjoying the cleaner state of Spikemuth... though her brother Piers has a different opinion. The role of the next Flying-type Gym Leader has yet to be cast.
Lady Cona and Raihan have no immediate plans to interact. This is due to the fact that while Raihan has his sights on defeating the current Champion, Lady Cona has chosen to return to Kalos so she can report her current achievements to her superiors. They would have enjoyed each other's company.
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And that is the story of how a group of unlikely heroes got together to save the Galar region and its traditions and customs.
The end.
