Watching Hope leave was a bittersweet moment for Lillie. On the one hand, it hurt to be left behind, to be told that she and her team weren’t strong enough to contribute. On the other hand, it marked the moment where someone was finally doing something about the Aether Foundation. Lillie could at least recognize that, which was why she didn’t complain (too much) when she was told to stay behind.

Either way, when Hope went up into the Pokémon Center bedroom to hide her teleport away, Lillie was left alone on a side field, practicing with her Pokémon while everyone else was gone on their mission. Though, she wasn’t completely alone. She still had her Pokémon, Nebby was with her, and her brother Gladion was here, too.

“Snowy! Use Ice Beam!” Lillie shouted.

“Counter with Tri Attack, Silvally!” Gladion shouted right back.

This wasn’t a classic battle; it was more like a spar. Brother and sister stood next to one another as their Pokémon fired off moves on the side battlefield. In front of them, a tiny, unevolved fox unleashed crackling ice-lightning, and Vulpix’s opponent Silvally unleashed a trio of glowing lights that passed through and shattered her attack.

Thankfully, Snowy managed to sidestep the move to dodge. With neither attack landing, status quo was maintained.

“I don’t understand why you haven’t evolved your Vulpix yet,” Gladion said, watching Snowy use Agility to dodge his Pokémon’s Crush Claw attacks.

“Snowy doesn’t have to evolve until Snowy wants to evolve,” Lillie promptly replied. “But it’s also because there are things she can do that a Ninetales can’t do. For starters, her size. Slip under and use Icy Wind!”

Snowy was small enough to run right underneath Silvally, where she created a gust of freezing wind that chilled the Pokémon’s four legs around her. Upon emerging on the other side, the tiny Pokémon then skidded to a halt and aimed an Ice Beam next. Silvally tried to face Snowy, but with its legs iced over, it was too slow and took the freezing beam head on.

“That’s—” Gladion paused as Silvally fired off a slow Tri Attack, but a shout from Lillie had Snowy duck under it and use Ice Beam yet again. “Alright, you’ve proved your point. I guess I see what you mean about her size.”

“To-ld you,” Lillie said in a sing-song voice.

Gladion grumbled, calling his Pokémon back, and Lillie stuck out her tongue before bursting into a fit of giggles. The spar hadn’t determined a true victor, but with Gladion calling it off, Snowy and Lillie might as well have won.

The little fox ran and jumped up into Lillie’s arms, where she was quick to hug her Pokémon and groom the Vulpix by sliding her fingers through her fur. As for Silvally, the much larger Pokémon trotted over to Gladion and tried to push its head into his chest, begging for attention. Gladion turned a bright red as he did his best to politely push his Pokémon back, but continuing attempts and a whine from Silvally “forced” him to affectionately rub his Pokémon’s beak. He also tried and failed to maintain a cool demeanor.

“How’s the rest of your team?” Lillie asked. Gladion pulled back from Silvally and adjusted his dark jacket.

“F-fine,” he sputtered, pretending that he hadn’t just been smiling. “Lucario is as strong as ever. Zoroark is still up to his old tricks. As for Crobat—”

“Not Golbat?” Lillie interrupted cheekily.

“He evolved recently.” Gladion gave Lillie a (moderately) annoyed look. “But if you want to continue training, Weavile is the latest member of my team, and since his offense is already so good, we’ve been working on dodging attacks.”

Lillie nodded, already knowing who she’d want to send out. Granbull needed more practice being aggressive in battle, and fighting a Pokémon that focused on agility like Weavile would greatly help his development.

But, rather than immediately agreeing to Gladion’s plan, Lillie’s mind drifted off to other, more important events. No matter how much she tried to throw herself into this moment with her brother, it felt like nothing more than a distraction. Her gut was filled with butterflies, and she had a feeling they wouldn’t go away until everything had resolved involving the Aether Foundation.

Her moment of solemn thought was interrupted by her brother nudging her on her arm.

“It’s going to be okay,” Gladion said. “They’ll win.”

This time around, he didn’t try to hide his smile.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

With her free hand, Lillie started to reach for Granbull’s Pokéball to start the next practice bout, but she never got that far. Instead, the automatic doors to the Seafolk Village Pokémon Center opened behind her. She turned to see a woman in a suit striding forward.

“Is Alex here?” the woman asked, eyes locking right onto Lillie.

Seeing that, Lillie immediately went on guard. Gladion’s eyes narrowed, and Silvally stepped forward, already preparing itself to defend.

“What’s it to you?” Gladion snapped.

The woman stopped where she was walking, looking caught off guard by the sudden, harsh tone. She took in the boy, her eyes scanning over his body and lingering on his belt of Pokéballs. It took a full second before she shook her head and sighed, relaxing and running a hand through her light purple hair, then adjusting her gloves.

“I’m Anabel, a member of the International Police,” the woman said.

“I remember you,” Lillie replied. “You showed up in the middle of my training camp with Alex.”

“Yes. I did,” There was another sigh. “Back then, I showed up to give you a warning. And now I’m here to do the same. Do you have any Pokémon that can teleport? If not, I can help. You two—all of you—need to leave the region right now.”

“Excuse me?” Gladion hissed.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lillie could see him unconsciously grab his own arm, something he did when stressed.

“My position as a member of the International Police gives me an insight into the Aether Foundation few others have,” Anabel explained. “I’m only as calm as I am right now because I’m trying not to make a scene. Believe me, I would be freaking out otherwise. Please, you need to leave before Lusamine gets her hands on you—specifically, your Pokémon. She’s in the middle of something right now, and we can’t let her—”

“No,” Lillie interrupted.

“Excuse me?” Anabel blinked.

“I’m not leaving the region unless I want to. Nebby is staying with me, and it doesn’t matter what Lusamine does. We’re going to keep him safe, and no one can stop that!”

Gladion stepped forward to better stand alongside his Pokémon and Lillie. Despite the damage Silvally had taken from Snowy, it also stood tall, ready to fight against the International Police agent if pressed.

Though Anabel didn’t attack; she glanced between them with an inscrutable look in her eyes.

“...Nebby,” she repeated, as if unfamiliar with the name.

“He’s my Pokémon. A Cosmoem,” Lillie replied.

On cue, the Pokémon in question popped out of his Beast Ball to hover over Lillie’s shoulder. He was as tiny as ever, but somehow the pride in his expression was visible to Anabel, even from several feet away.

“Wait, that’s the Cosmog? It evolved?”

“Yes. He evolved a long time ago,” Lillie said, narrowing her eyes. “And that’s part of the reason we’re on Poni Island: so that he can evolve again if needed. I’m surprised that you don’t know more about him. If you’re a member of the International Police, shouldn’t you have known more if they’re after him?”

Anabel looked like she wanted to reply, but her hand went straight to a Pokéball at her waist instead. Gladion was stiffened to ready an order besides Lillie, but Lillie lightly touched him to get him to stop before anything could happen. After all, Anabel was no longer looking at them, but at a spot behind the two.

“We have to go,” Anabel said, doing her best to keep her words quiet.

Unfortunately, she was overheard anyway.

“Go where?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

The curse that left Anabel’s mouth was not one that should have been spoken in polite company. Her expression remained placid, but all the color drained from her face. To Lillie, that was not the response she would have expected. Despite presenting herself as a professional, Anabel almost looked afraid.

Lillie turned. Nebby remained on her shoulder while Snowy hung in her arms. Gladion turned too, and Silvally visibly glared at the person who had spoken. Though, it wasn’t just one person approaching, but two. Both wore helmets with visors that completely obscured their faces, and their classic white lab coats marked them as Aether Foundation researchers.

“Lusamine told us to collect you,” one said. “If you were already planning to leave, we can escort you to her while you travel.”

He spoke as if the outcome were obvious. Why wouldn’t Lillie want to go to her mother?

“...What? Why? Doesn’t Mom want nothing to do with me?” Lillie snapped. “Why give me that form for emancipation, then?! Why would she suddenly care now?!”

Gladion put a hand on Lillie’s shoulder to calm her breathing, and she closed her eyes to try to force herself to relax. Meanwhile, the two scientists paused where they were walking and exchanged a tense look. Anabel moved up to stand behind Gladion and Lillie, firmly placing herself on their side.

The scientists then quietly traded a few whispers between themselves, but the only words Lillie could make out were “...doesn’t matter.”

“We weren’t informed of any such forms, but she made it clear she needs her Pokémon back,” one said. Lillie could almost feel the waves of tension that came from Anabel, behind her. “If you aren’t going to pass it over peacefully, then—”

A whistle. Gladion called Silvally forward. This time, it actually intended to battle rather than just loom menacingly. And then, to add to the implied threat, Snowy squirmed and pushed out of Lillie’s arms to join it on the field.

“That’s not happening. We aren’t going to go with you!” Lillie shouted. “I know what you want! Back off! You aren’t taking Nebby!”

No reaction was visible under the pair of obscuring visors, but it must not have been happy as the two researchers quickly released Pokémon of their own. Despite no further words being exchanged, it was clear a battle was due to start. However, the moment the scientists’ Pokémon appeared, Anabel let loose a yelp.

Released onto this outdoor battlefield were two identical yet alien Pokémon. Specifically, these ones in specific disturbed Lillie when she was hit with the realization that she used to resemble them in one way or another. Bulbous mounds floated in the air with jellyfish tentacles swaying back and forth beneath. White flesh tinted blue in the late morning sun. What drew Lillie’s eyes the most, though, were the blue, netted Pokéballs they were released from.

“Nihilego,” Lillie said flatly, identifying the species. “Ultra Beasts. You have Beast Balls.”

Staring at them, she felt her hands clench, and a tight grimace appeared on Gladion’s face.

In the end, the scientists were the ones to call for an attack first.

“UB-01, use Acid Spray,” one of the two said.

Rather than operate individually, the two identical Nihilego reacted to the same command. They pulled up tentacles that were hung off to the side like arms, and a dark liquid sprayed out towards where Lillie’s and Gladion’s team members stood.

“Snowy! Come back!” Lillie shouted desperately.

“Protect, Silvally,” Gladion ordered much more calmly.

With the current distance between the two sides of the battle, Silvally was easily able to dart forward and come to a halt right in front of the Vuplix. There, it reinforced its body with Protect to shield the fox from any super-effective splatters. Around them, dark liquid sizzled onto the ground and ate through the dirt. Snowy quickly vanished into a Pokéball, and Lillie did her best to regain her voice and speak up.

“They’re Rock and Poison Types,” she said.

“Got it,” Gladion immediately replied.

Lillie sent out Primarina, and then she and her brother both issued their commands.

“Air Slash into Metal Sound!”

“Hydro Pump!”

Silvally charged the two floating Ultra Beasts, sweeping its finned head through the air and carving a blade with its path. Once formed, the Air Slash blade hurtled forward and cut into the Nihilego on the right. Much to Lillie’s surprise, the usually hard-to-defeat Ultra Beast actually reared back in pain.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Silvally was designed to fight Ultra Beasts,” Gladion shouted, loud enough for the scientists to hear. “But Aether tried to imprison them—enslave them! We’ll never let Pokémon suffer under you again!”

The second he was done talking, Silvally opened its mouth and screeched. The two Nihilego tried to react with Rock Type Power Gems, but the beams failed to land when Silvally’s sound waves caused them to shake in pain. Primarina, laying on her side in front of Lillie, quickly took advantage of that lowered defense. She opened her mouth and shot out a super-pressured stream of water. The Hydro Pump tore into the Nihilego, dealing a significant amount of damage thanks to both Type advantage and Silvally’s extra-effective attacks.

“Return.”

“Come back.”

The pair of scientists recalled their Pokémon at the same time.

“Fleeing already?” Gladion mocked.

One of the scientists pressed a finger to the side of their helmet. When interior lights lit up, Lillie realized they had made a call.

“...stronger than... ...unable to... ...backup?” the scientist said, just barely audible to Lillie. A single second passed before the one on the call stiffened and snapped their head to face their ally.

“We’ve been told to unleash UB-Gluttony,” they said.

The other scientist briefly froze as well.

From behind, Anabel stepped forward from where she was standing behind the siblings. She put a shaking hand on Gladion’s shoulder to gently move him to the side. As the woman walked to the front of the group, Lillie noticed that Anabel’s eyes were as wide as they could go.

“You told us you didn’t have one,” Anabel whispered.

“It was in reserve,” a scientist replied.

“You can’t release it. Y-you can’t. The destruction it would cause— The destruction I’ve seen it cause—”

She cut herself off when the second scientist pulled out a Beast Ball from within their coat. It was different from the normal Beast Ball, as rather than a normal button release, it had a knob on its very top. To the growing horror on Anabel’s face, that scientist twisted the knob, placed it on the ground, and took several, long steps back. The other followed until the two came to a halt quite some distance away.

Both sides of the field were tense. Nobody seemed to have the courage to get close. The twisted knob slowly turned, quiet ticking barely audible over the silence that permeated the field.

Then, a snap. Like a timer, a metallic ring came from the modified Beast Ball. One of the scientists shouted “Come out!” and the ball shattered, allowing for a new Pokémon to explode onto the field.

This one was large enough that Lillie had trouble believing a species like it could even exist.

On its own, this Pokémon could barely even fit on its side of the battlefield. The Ultra Beast’s body stretched past the dirt of these outside training grounds and reached the start of the nearby route. Half of the skyline was obscured by its body, and it stood larger than most two-story buildings. A toothed maw stretched across its stomach and opened up. There, rows and rows of spiraling blue teeth lined its inside, and a trash compactor-like interior mouth gnashed together in preparation to eat.

Not just that, but hooked into its lower jaws were a secondary set of much larger, clawed arms. These were at least three times as large as the tiny claws coming out of its upper body, but they looked to end in mouths of their own. They stretched out and snapped at the air. Above them, eyes stared out from the creature’s chest. A tiny head on the towering Pokémon's top twisted to look around.

Lillie only knew what this was thanks to Alex.

“Guzzlord,” she said.

“N-no. They—they can’t!” a voice yelled from beside her.

Anabel was visibly shaking.

“UB-05, Gluttony!” one of the scientists yelled. “Cut off their escape.”

The hulk of an Ultra Beast closed its enormous mouth and caused its body to undulate. A thick tail slammed into the ground, shaking the earth, and the Guzzlord swished something inside of it, as if gargling. Only a few seconds later, the Pokémon lurched and spat something out in regurgitation. A Belch sent darkened gunk over Lillie’s head, over Gladion’s head, over Anabel’s head, and then past the side of the Pokémon Center itself.

The attack landed on the docks that connected Seafolk Village to Poni Island. Thankfully, there had been hardly anyone else nearby, but a few people still shouted in alarm as the wood dissolved from the attack.

Lillie struggled to not drop her jaw. To put it lightly, that one attack was ridiculous. Not only was its aim impeccable, but the power contained within the move was something else, too. They couldn’t exactly run into the oceanic village with the entrance burned away. Now, the only place to flee was deeper into the island itself. The scientists recognized that, as one pointed forward as if to ready a new command.

“Good. Now—”

Except, the scientist never managed to order their attack. Instead, they were cut off when one of the Guzzlord’s massive claws tore out a chunk of the earth and shoved it into its mouth. It did the same again, and again, barely bothering to chew and already mindlessly eating whatever it could latch its claws onto.

“G-Gluttony, use—”

The second command didn’t matter either, as a claw reached over and snapped the trunk of a nearby tree before shoving it into its mouth. The sound was horrendous, with splinters the size of Lillie’s arms sent flying out as its teeth ground through the wood. Both scientists started to cautiously move back. One of them already turned as if to run.

“Perhaps... perhaps we should observe this from afar,” one said.

“Yes! We should take notes. Of course. Notes!” the other replied.

Before anyone could stop them, a Mr. Mime appeared from a Pokéball and brought the pair away with a single Teleport.

(In other words, the scientists abandoned this living form of mass destruction for Lillie and the rest to handle on their own.)

“That... thing,” Anabel spat. “It attacked when I... when I fell. Entire buildings, gone in seconds. No matter how much anyone fought, it wasn’t enough.”

The Guzzlord wasn't paying attention to the group, or anyone at all, for that matter. It tore entire chunks out of nature itself solely to shove it all into its gut. Thankfully, it wasn’t moving toward the Pokémon Center, but that wasn’t good news for the nearby route. Devastation was left in its wake as it ate anything it could, and each and every footstep caused the ground to crack and shake underneath it.

“We have to stop it before it gets worse,” Lillie said.

Anabel mumbled something about needing to flee instead. However, with a hardened look to his eyes, Gladion sent his Pokémon forward before she could run.

“Crush Claw,” he ordered.

The command came out far too confidently for what was going on in front of them.

Right away, Silvally loyally ran forward and leapt into the air. A claw sliced down onto the Guzzlord's back, but it was like a kitten trying to hurt a panther.

“What Type is it?” Gladion asked.

“Dark and Dragon,” Lillie promptly replied.

Anabel mumbled “Dark Type,” as if she almost expected it, and Gladion called Silvally back. Unfortunately, while Silvally failed to deal damage, the attack did gather the Guzzlord’s attention. Briefly, its unending hunger ceased as its two sets of eyes stared at the group.

“At least it stopped eating?” Lillie said awkwardly.

Despite being posed to attack, the giant Pokémon merely stood there and watched.

In the intervening tension between Ultra Beast and the group, Gladion moved up to Silvally, reaching into his pack.

“Open up. Take this,” Gladion said.

A whirring sound, and a metallic circle on the side of Silvally’s head spun and opened up. Gladion pulled out a rack of discs, removing a pink one in particular and slotting it into the newly revealed opening.

“Against Dark and Dragon Types, the Fairy Type will be our best method of attack. Lillie, your team is one of our answers to this right now. Can you help?”

She grinned.

“Yes!”

At that moment, the Guzzlord was finally fed up with waiting. It let loose a powerful roar before closing its mouth and beginning to undulate once again. Belch was normally only usable after a Pokémon ate a berry, but with the sheer amount of mass it had already consumed, the amount of “ammunition” it had was more than enough.

Once more, a Belch formed in its mouth. Lillie and Gladion darted to the side with Anabel barely following, and their two Pokémon moved with them, heading onto the route to lure the Guzzlord further away from the Pokémon Center.

“Moonblast, Primarina!”

“Silvally, use Multi-Attack!”

Gladion and Lillie continued to run while their Pokémon paused off to the side, allowing the humans to create even more distance from the impending battle. Anabel followed hot on their heels as Lillie’s Primarina pushed up to balance on her tail. Between the seal’s white fins, a hot pink sphere formed before being pushed forward. As the Moonblast sailed through the air, Silvally chased after it. Guzzlord finally let loose the Belch, but the Moonblast managed to burn a hole in it before disintegrating away, giving Silvally the exact opening it needed to get close.

“Go!” Gladion yelled.

Claws snapped, and Guzzlord’s massive mouth tried to bite down on the approaching Pokémon. However, its large size meant it lacked the agility Silvally excelled in. Gladion’s Pokémon leaped into the air, hopping on and pushing off of one of those assaulting appendages. Using that as a springboard, it landed on top of the beast, right next to the Guzzlord’s tiny head, and then it began to attack with everything it could.

Silvally’s front claws tore into the Guzzlord. Its back paws stomped down onto pitch-black flesh. The fin on Silvally’s head swiped across Guzzlord’s face as a beak bit down and squeezed. All the while, parts of Silvally’s body glowed with bright pink energy.

“RKS System,” Gladion said, panting as the group continued to lure the battle deeper and deeper into the Poni Island route. “That’s the name of Silvally’s ability. I snagged the necessary discs for it back when we escaped from Aether. The discs are called memories—slotting them in lets Silvally change their Type and the Type of the move, Multi-Attack, too.”

As Silvally continued to attack, Guzzlord howled. Not only did RKS System allow Silvally to enhance its attack via a shared Type, but its temporary Fairy Type let it attack with four-time effective damage. Even the smallest of swipes tore into the Guzzlord, and Primarina supported the attack with attacks of its own: Hyper Voices modified into the Water Type thanks to her own ability, Liquid Voice.

“Just a bit more, and Silvally will—”

“You don’t understand. It won’t be enough,” Anabel interrupted.

Gladion never got a chance to ask what she meant. Injured and enraged by Silvally’s assault, the Guzzlord puffed up with rage, and its body seemed to explode with energy.

Every single limb—every ounce of its mass—was thrown into a chaotic and violent Thrash. Despite the difference in size, Silvally could not hold on and was thrown to the ground.

The impact meant Silvally landed hard on its side. Gladion shouted out of fear as the Guzzlord began to flail and stomp forward. His fear meant he fumbled when he tried to grab his Pokémon’s Pokéball. In only a second, it looked as though Silvally would be crushed under the Ultra Beast’s weight.

“No!”

Rescue came at that moment. Lillie caught movement out of the corner of her eye. This whole time, Anabel had been overwhelmed by fear, but finally—finally—she acted. Seeing a Pokémon in danger seemed to allow her to snap into focus.

“Alakazam, bring them back!”

Her Pokémon appeared with a flash of light, and a Psychic telekinetically grabbed Silvally and yanked them out of the way.

Less than a second later, a foot crushed the ground where Silvally had just been. Guzzlord’s charge continued forward, skidded to turn, and then out of uncontrolled rage, continued to unleash its Thrash to destroy the environment of the route around it.

The destruction it was causing was worse than before, but thankfully, the earth-shaking nature of the giant Ultra Beast meant the wild Pokémon here had already been scared away. The Guzzlord wasn’t technically putting anyone in immediate danger, but if it turned around in just the wrong way to move back towards Seafolk Village, someone would inevitably get hurt.

“Anabel, are you...”

Looking at Anabel, Lillie realized she was still shaking. Anabel could barely stand and looked as white as a ghost. However, as terrified as she was, she refused to fall. Her entire focus was locked onto the Guzzlord, and Lillie knew Anabel wouldn’t stop until the Ultra Beast was defeated.

She’s so cool.

“Where’s Tapu Fini? Isn’t it supposed to defend Poni Island!?” Gladion shouted, enraged.

“If it’s already engaged in battle somewhere else, it won’t be able to come here,” Anabel said through gritted teeth.

The boy groaned in anger and annoyance while he tugged at his own hair. Meanwhile, Guzzlord continued to strike at the route around, but it was less focused, now suffering from confusion after that Thrash.

“We need a way to take the Guzzlord out. Silvally’s too injured to act on their own,” Anabel continued. “I’m worried that if the Aether Foundation has other Ultra Beasts, we won’t be able to heal up enough to fight them after this.”

Other Ultra Beasts?

It wasn’t exactly silence that fell over the group, because the Guzzlord was loud in its destruction.

Then, as everyone did their best to think up a plan, a shout rang out. With that sound, hope bloomed in Lillie’s chest. From the direction of the Pokémon Center, a trio of boys began to shout and wave their arms as they approached. From what they were yelling, they had apparently been busy helping trapped people back at the damaged docks.

Lillie could only smile when she saw them.

“What if we got help?” she asked.

Gladion and Anabel turned around. A second later, Gladion actually let loose a single laugh.

“Fight fire with fire. Overwhelming force with overwhelming force!” he said. “Hey! You all! Attack the Guzzlord with us!”

“You got it!” a certain boy with a red cap replied.

Gladion gained a feral grin that Anabel matched, and then everyone sent their Pokémon forward.

“Silvally, Air Slash!”

“Moonblast, Primarina!”

“Miracle Eye into Psychic, Alakazam!”

Then, after Gladion, Lillie, and Anabel shouted their commands, the three boys gave their own orders as well.

“Sacred Sword, Gallade!” yelled Wally.

“Incinerorar, use Flare Blitz!” shouted Elio.

At the back of the group, Ash Ketchum threw his best friend into the air.

“Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!”

Every attack landed at the same time.

Miracle Eye let Anabel’s Alakazam damage the Dark Type, and the powerful Psychic Type was just barely able to hold it in place for a single second. Air Slash sliced through the air, striking true right on the Guzzlord’s side. As for the Moonblast from Primarina, the four-times damage left a discolored welt on the Ultra Beast’s pitch-black hide. Sacred Sword was super effective as well and came from an inordinately powerful Gallade, and the full-body, flaming slam that came from the Incineroar would have knocked the Guzzlord back if it wasn’t for the Psychic holding it down.

Then, to tie everything together, a truly powerful Electric Type attack struck the Guzzlord and utterly cloaked it with electricity. The Ultra Beast flashed yellow and white from the sheer amount of power coursing through it. All of the Pokémon stood back as it stumbled, suffering from the enormous amount of damage it took.

But, it stayed standing.

“It’s not down,” Lillie said.

“We can Mega Evolve,” Wally replied.

“How about a Z-Flare Blitz?” Elio offered.

“We might not have anything special like that, but Pikachu and I refuse to ever give up,” Ash added.

For some reason, that statement reassured Lillie the most.

In the end, though, it was Gladion who provided the solution, as he took one look at the smoking form of the Guzzlord and said something unexpected.

“Let’s catch it.”

“W-what?!” Anabel looked horrified. “How can you even propose something like that?! It’s not a Pokémon, it’s a—”

She went quiet. Everyone was staring at her, determined expressions on their faces. Yes, it was an Ultra Beast, but it was still a Pokémon, and all Pokémon could be caught.

Lillie was the one to speak next.

“I trust my brother. And I trust Alex, too. That’s why you’re all here, right?”

The three boys all nodded.

“Then, here’s the plan. I’m giving everyone a role, so listen carefully...”

Lillie proceeded to quickly explain, and then the battle began anew.

Right away, the Guzzlord tried to charge with a Dragon Rush, its entire body alighting with Dragon Type energy in a charge forward. Silvally and Incineroar did the insane and leaped in front of it, using their trained strength to slow it down while bracing themselves with Protect.

Then, Anabel jumped in, ordering her Alakazam to use Power Swap. In the background, Gallade had been beefing itself up with Swords Dance, but the boost hadn’t been for itself. Instead, Power Swap transferred the enhanced physical potential to Alakazam, and then Alakazam used Power Swap again to transfer that potential to Ash’s Pikachu. A Water Gun from Primarina made sure that Guzzlord was properly soaked and vulnerable, and then Ash turned his hat around and grinned.

“Let’s go, Pikachu. Use Volt Tackle!”

By far, this was Pikachu’s most powerful move outside of Thunder. Running along the ground, a natural static charge built up to form a massive coat of electricity that pulsed around the yellow rodent. However, that wasn’t it just yet, as the sheer physical potential transferred to Pikachu allowed the Volt Tackle to build further, and then further. Distracted and held in place by the Incineroar and Silvally, Guzzlord looked up a moment too late.

Pikachu slammed into it, and Guzzlord let out a horrible cry of pain.

“Now!” Lillie yelled.

In this group, there was only one person who had a spare Beast Ball. When passing them out, Gladion had turned it down since he already had Silvally, and Lillie had done the same given that Nebby was with her. The person to throw the ball was Elio, someone Lillie had encountered a few times in the past.

He had saved her on Melemele before she met Alex. He was at Ula’ula’s Library when she was browsing local legends. He was at Po Town, too, and he had bravely taken on Guzma before Alex and Hope fought the man.

Now? Elio’s Beast Ball sailed through the air, smacking the heavily wounded Guzzlord right between the eyes. The entire creature turned red as it was converted into light, and the massive Pokémon was neatly sucked up into the ball.

When the Pokémon disappeared, everyone held their breath. They could only watch and hope everything would work out in the end.

One shake—Ash caught his falling Pikachu, who had suffered from the recoil of that Volt Tackle.

Two shakes—Anabel clutched her arms around herself, eyes filled with worry.

Three shakes—Lillie grabbed her brother’s arm for support, and Gladion briefly looked down before staring at the ball once more.

Then, a single sound echoed out across what seemed like the entire island. It was like a buzzer signifying the end of an important match.

The click of the Beast Ball marked that the Guzzlord had been successfully caught.

“YES!”

No one knew who shouted that out, but the word was what started the cheers. Pokémon and trainer alike raised their arms and shouted in victory. Wally literally slumped to his knees out of relief as Gallade moved to his side. Nearby, Incineroar embraced Silvally, laughing and shaking back and forth. Gladion shifted back and crossed his arms, trying to look cool and pretend that this outcome was obvious and expected. Then, Ash swung Pikachu around, and as for Elio, he simply walked over and picked up the filled Beast Ball.

“This isn’t over,” Anabel said. “Lusamine is still going through with the rest of her plan.”

And just like that, everyone stopped and turned to the agent of the International Police. She might not have looked as pale, but there was still fear clear on her face.

“Where is my mo—” Lillie cleared her throat. “What is Lusamine doing?”

A grimace.

“She’s at the Altar. She wants to do something with the Ultra Wormhole energy there, but I can’t tell you what. I don’t know.”

The silence was depressing, but Lillie didn’t let it last too long.

“So we’ll stop her,” she declared, and everyone easily agreed. “We’ll stop her and prevent her from succeeding. You all will help me, right?”

“Yes!”

“Of course!”

“Right!”

Lillie grinned.

“Great! But we need a plan. If we’re going against the Aether Foundation, Anabel, your Pokémon can teleport, right?”

The question was met with a suspicious look and a silent nod of a head.

“That’s good. I think... I think we can use that.” Lillie hummed and rubbed her chin. When she turned, everyone was looking at her, already listening intently. Somehow, she had taken charge without realizing it, and now everyone here was expecting her to lead. Lillie might have been the youngest person here, but at the same time, her tutoring under Alex meant she was the one person who knew the most about what Ultra Beasts the group was soon to face.

She took a moment to blink, and then Lillie slapped her own cheeks to make sure she was properly ready to share her plan.

“Alright, I have an idea. Here’s what we’ll do: we’ll head to the center of the island to fight Aether off and push them away from the Altar. Gladion will take point with Silvally, and we’ll do our best to support him and weaken any Ultra Beasts for Silvally to knock out. But you, Anabel, we need you to stay behind. You’re our best bet at bringing people in.”

The woman frowned and shifted between her feet in thought.

“Who? Alex? And Hope?”

Lillie shook her head to say no.

“Not them. They’re too busy right now. Instead... we need to call someone else. If we’re going to fight an entire organization, let’s call in one of our own, yeah? To fight Lusamine, we need numbers. And we have numbers waiting on us. Anabel, for us to fight the Aether Foundation...”

The idea was ridiculous. She couldn’t stop her grin.

“What do you think about bringing in Team Skull? All of them, I mean.”