By the time the crew stepped out of the cave, it was three in the afternoon. The sun was still high, but only for a few more hours. No time to waste, as the ritual had to be completed in daylight. Even so, they couldn't help but appreciate the imposing presence the Altar of the Sunne asserted among its surroundings. With its many steps, thousands of them straight up, it seemed more like the mountain it was carved from than any manmade structure. The wind whipped down from behind it, blowing the hair and the dresses of all present, and the Altar itself seemed to roar as majestically as a mighty lion.
Reimu took a deep breath. Everything so far, the incident and all the things she had accomplished and seen to resolve it. All of it was leading up to this moment. What came after was anyone's guess at this point. But the only thing that mattered now was getting up there and getting down to business.
She felt someone hold her shoulder. She turned around. It was Marisa.
"Ya okay?" she asked.
Reimu paused for a second, then nodded. "Yeah." The two of them knew that feeling well, after several years of resolving incidents, that moment of foreboding just before facing the zenith. But in this case, they also understood they each had different things at stake, different goals to achieve, different worlds to save. For Reimu, it was getting herself and Gensokyo back to where they needed to be. For Marisa, it was defending both the home she was born in and the one that had grown on her and shaped her life. And they weren't the only ones: Yukari's goal was the same as Reimu's, being a sage of Gensokyo and its founder. And all the people from this world, the Pokemon World, wanted the menace of Necrozma ended before it did irreversible damage to their way of life.
Reimu stepped forward to the bottommost step. She looked up, toward the summit, toward the Altar that stood there in tribute to the Beast who Devours the Sunne.
Breathing in, clenching her fist, and gathering her resolve, she took a step. Then another. And another. And she began her march up the many stone steps, everyone else following closely behind. The last one to begin the walk up was Hau. He took a moment to reflect on all the developments of his adventure across the islands. For so long, he had been looking forward to completing his Island Challenge and making his grandfather proud. How he wanted to become the strongest, the best, and do the impossible. He didn't know, and certainly didn't ask for, what would actually happen once it started. How he would be entangled in an incident of interdimentional proportions, of centuries of lore and history coming home to roost. Just days prior, he almost lost his life when he was blown off that cliff along with everyone else, but Lillie, Reimu, Elio, all of them were there with him, for him, together. And now, just a couple short weeks after his trial began, here he was doing the impossible.
Gathering his determination, he silently muttered to himself, "for gramps." Then he began his march up.
At the top, the crew was greeted with the sight of the magnificent Altar rising above the floor, with two square pools of water on either side of a massive, stylized sun actual sun, off to the west high in the late afternoon sky, shone down, pouring its countless joules of UV rays onto the bare rock, the symbols, and the skin of everyone that was there.
Looking toward the altar in front of her, Reimu first thought about how she wished the Hakurei Shrine was this grand, before taking out both flutes from her bag. She turned around, and asked the group, "this ritual needs two people. Who wants to blow the Moone Flute while I play the Sunne Flute?"
It didn't take long for Lillie to step up and take the Moone Flute from her hands. "We're doing this to save Nebby too. It wouldn't be right for me to just stand by the wayside."
Reimu smiled. "You've done well. I'm sure your mom would be proud of you if she were here."
" Our mom," Marisa cut in. "It's not just Lillie anymore."
"Of course not," Reimu laughed. "After all, the reason she used Nebby in the first place was to bring all of you back together again. Why else would that other wormhole open up all of a sudden after Necrozma showed up?"
"You think that was mom's doing?" Marisa asked.
"I see no evidence that it wasn't," Reimu quipped. "When she wakes up, if she asks, you can just tell her that it worked."
"If she's at Eientei, I'm sure the first thing she's gonna wonder is why she's surrounded by bunny girls," Marisa said. "I wouldn't put believing she's dead after what happened past her."
"I wouldn't expect Eirin to resist doing shady experiments with the Nihilego toxins she extracts either," Reimu replied. "If we're lucky, she'll just develop an antivenom or something."
"Oh please, she'll make a pill that turns you into a slime if you let her."
"I'm sure she already has." Both girls laughed. Reimu then turned around to the Altar again. She noticed the two ponds had square platforms in the middle of them, one emblazened with the Sunne emblem, the other the Moone emblem. Reimu assumed the corresponding flute player had to stand on that platform as they were blowing it. She pointed this out to Lillie, who stepped over to the Moone platform on the left. Reimu let out Stardust and left it floating above the central Sunne symbol before walking over to the platform on the right. Everyone else hung back a safe distance from the center of the pavillion and observed quietly.
Once on their respective platforms, each inspected their flutes for the notes that had to be played, just to jog their memory (they had already practiced playing the song on the Phantom's boat). Once they did, they looked at each other, made sure they were in position, nodding once they were sure they were. They then looked down, closed their eyes, and in unison, played the short but beautiful melody to summon the Beast who Devours the Sunne.
Almost immediately after finishing, the ground began to shake, and the water features on the altar lit up and glowed a vibrant orange. This orange light traveled up the wall of the Altar to converge on a massive stone dial which opened up to reveal a well of bright yellow light, drawing its energy from the afternoon sun overhead. It then cast its beam down upon Stardust, who began brimming with power as it absorbed the light for several moments. At this point, the reaction was getting to bright to safely look at. Once a sufficient amount of energy was absorbed, Stardust began to brighten intensely, before releasing a sudden, white, sun-shaped starburst which forced everyone to avert their eyes. Once they looked back, they could see it: high in the sky, a massive, shimmering, muscular white lion with a shining mane, whose roar echoed throughout the canyon before falling to the ground. Stardust, now a full-fledged Solgaleo, crashed down on all fours with an impressive smash , before bellowing its mighty roar again.
Everyone was impressed by the sight now before them, but Yukari in particular seemed awestruck. As if, she had seen this happen before but… didn't expect the result this time.
Once the dust settled, Reimu rushed up to it, and just had to reach out to feel its metallic skin. "To think," she said, "that little Stardust contained this much power."
"I'm not surprised at all," Marisa said stepping up. "It's just as Alice said: Stardust was like a protostar, super-dense for its size 'cause it contains all the energy it needs to become a sun. Or in this case, a lion that represents the sun. It's just like in alchemy: the symbol of alchemy is a lion eating the sun, and the fusion of metal to create other, rarer metal. This thing is made out of pure metal. It's not so much a lion that represents the sun, than a sun in the shape of a lion." She turned to Sunshine. "Well, whaddya think sport?"
Sunshine reached out her hand, which Solgaleo lowered down to meet with its nose. When the two touched, a bright light shined, and held for a few moments. Withdrawing her arm, Sunshine realized that Solgaleo acknowledged the tremendous power contained within her.
"It knows I'm capable," she said. "It knows I'm a Necrozma, but that I stand against the one which brought darkness to this land all those centuries ago. With our powers combined, it is confident that we will win."
"Necrozma fused with Nebby, then turned it into Lunala to use its power," Lillie explained. "So it makes sense that the only thing that can match it is another Necrozma with Solgaleo's power."
At that moment, Rotom whizzed out of Reimu's bag and scanned Stardust head-to-toe. Recognizing it as the legendary Solgaleo, it overwrote almost everything in its memory about it: replacing the artist's impression from the museum with an image of the real deal, filling in pre-evolutionary data with Cosmog and Cosmoem, filling in its "unknown" typing with Psychic/Steel, and even figuring out the moves it could learn and be taught.
"That little thing sure is impressive," Zinnia commented. "The professor really outdid himself, didn't he?"
"Bzzrt! Scan complete! Can I get juzt one more thing?"
"What is it?" Reimu asked.
"A picture! With all of ya in it!"
"Okay…" Reimu thought this was an awkward time for a photo op, but then again this was a historic occasion. So, she, Lillie, Hau, Marisa and Sunshine all huddled in front of Stardust, posed for the camera, and had Rotom snap the picture. It then uploaded the picture with the caption "ready to save the world! AltarOfTheSunne" on it.
Yukari stepped forward while clapping. "Excellent work, Reimu. I wouldn't expect any less."
"Indeed, this is a historic event," Hapu noted. "I never thought I'd see Solgaleo summoned right before my eyes."
Zinnia then flashed a grin while holding a Pokeball. "I have an idea. Why don't we test its power, right here?"
"You mean a battle?" Reimu asked. "Do we have enough time?"
"Why not?" Zinnia said. "It's still light out, and Necrozma ain't going anywhere."
"I was just about to suggest something similar," Hapu said. "I became the Island Kahuna yesterday, and these trial-goers all qualify for their Grand Trial. And what better place to hold it than right here, the Altar of the Sunne?"
"If we do that, can we make it short?" Reimu asked them. "Is it possible to do a triple battle or something? I don't want to leave either of these two out."
Hapu looked around. "Do we have a third person we could team up with?"
"Why not me?" Yukari offered. "I might be new at Pokemon battling, but I've directed these two for quite some time. I'm sure they'll make fine battling partners. Plus, I want to evaluate Reimu to see how far she has come."
Hapu examined Ran and Chen both, then said, "I don't see any reason why not."
So it was settled: the Grand Trial, held between the Kahuna and two partners versus the trial-goers. The others stepped aside while the battle was being conducted. The six all agreed to limit themselves to using just two Pokemon each, and the side that still had at least one Pokemon at the end won. Reimu understood that everyone wanted to see Solgaleo in action, but she also had Sanae act as her backup, given her Flying typing. Lillie would start with Adele and send out Zygarde as needed, Hau elected to first use Crabomidable and then Hedwig. Hapu's team featured Dugtrio and Mudsdale, while Zinnia used Duraludon and Hydreigon.
Right when the battle started, Reimu commanded Stardust to use its powerful signature Sunsteel Strike, which was enough to crumple Dugtrio up like a piece of tinfoil in just one hit. Duraludon managed to wipe out Crabomidable with Steel Beam, but not before a launched punch from the crab hit it right in the face, which combined with the recoil from the attack was able to take it out as well. Interestingly enough, despite a type advantage and her massive power, Adele found herself almost matched by the wit and power of the thousand-year-old kitsune's illusions and skill, and only won out in the end because, ultimately, there was no dodging a wall of water on all sides of you. After that, Zygarde was able to mop up Chen while Hedwig made short work of Mudsdale using Leaf Blade.
That left just Zinnia's Hydreigon, which proved a piece of work due to its typing and moves. The dragon master had taught the thing Focus Energy and strapped a Scope Lens to it, which meant it could spam its Draco Meteors to no detriment to itself. It could even sideswipe Moonblasts from Adele, which would otherwise knock it out; Adele at least acted as a distraction, being able to take no damage from the barrage of draconic rocks falling from the air. In a similar vein to back at the shrine with the mystery Tapu/The Great Dragon, Hedwig used this distraction as the one moment it needed to pin Hydreigon's shadow into place, leaving it open to a Sunsteel Strike and a Moonblast in that order.
After the battle, the trainers all recalled and healed their Pokemon, while Elio and Marisa both cheered from the sidelines.
"You totally kicked their butts!" Marisa shouted.
"Your battling is impressive as always," Elio complimented in turn.
Reimu shook her head. "I didn't kick their butts. We did, the three of us as a team."
"And what a team you are," Hapu congratulated. "Working to take down a tough Pokemon with a clever strategy that you made up on the spot."
"Er… we did kind of pull it off before," Reimu said, thinking back to the fight at the Shrine.
"Well then, you successfully executed it again, I would wager even better than before."
"Oh please," Zinnia sarcastically sneered, "if there weren't laws against Hydreigon learning Nasty Plot, I would have done that instead." She then smiled, saying, "regardless, that was one heck of a fight, with you and your legendary Solgaleo. I'd say… gosh, it's been at least fourteen years since that day on top of Sky Pillar with May that I've had a battle like that."
"Indeed, it was a fierce battle," Yukari noted. "Even without your powers, I can tell this experience has made you grow as a person."
"Why do you say that?" Reimu asked.
Yukari giggled. "Dear Reimu, I've watched over you for so long. Others see you as lazy and cranky, and you might think that of yourself. But deep down, you're a caring person who can lead, fight with and direct others expertly. Perhaps that's why you get so many 'unwanted' guests at the shrine. But until now, you haven't faced an incident that truly brought out those latent qualities of yours. It took a major incident almost tailor made to make you rely on them for you to show just how skilled, witty and personable you really are."
Reimu didn't know what to think. Straight praise like this from Yukari was very rare. So she just smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
Hapu then turned to Lillie and Hau. "As for you two, you both are also new trainers but already battle at the level of experts, and it's no doubt because of her. I think you both are much stronger and more capable, both as trainers and as people, with her at your side aiding and guiding you."
"Thanks!" Hau smiled. "It's really nothing."
Lillie also smiled confidently. "I appreciate it as well."
Hapu approached the three, then reached and pulled out three Groundium-Z's, one for each of them. "As proof of your mastery, I present these." And each accepted their respective Z crystal. With the Groundium-Z in her possession, all eighteen types were now at Reimu's command. Her Island Challenge was now nearly complete.
Once the little ceremony was done, all their attention turned to resolving the incident at hand.
"Now then," Reimu directed, "with Solgaleo… no, Stardust at our side, it's time we take down that son of a bitch Necrozma. Show it that you do not mess with Gensokyo if you value not being rendered into space dust. Now, Stardust, if it's possible for you to-"
At that moment, Stardust let out yet another mighty roar, which resonated all throughout the canyon. Just after, Reimu felt something warm in her bag.
"Hm?" She looked inside to see what it was, and saw something incredible: it was the yin-yang orb, dormant for so long due to lack of power but now glowing white, seemingly reacting to Stardust. It floated out, and in a quick flash, changed shape and appearance so that it now appeared as a stylized sun symbol, the same as the one on the Altar.
"What's going on?!" Reimu exclaimed. But then she realized: Solgaleo was revered as a god by the Alolan people. Reimu's power was to channel the power of gods, which in turn was powered by faith. And now that faith combined with Stardust's own abilities were pouring into the orb, causing it to exude untold amounts of power, power which now coursed not only into Reimu herself, but also her gohei and her previously useless spell cards which were revived and transmuted to ones which reflected Stardust's capabilities and moves.
And with that power, she did something she had not in a while: she began to float. Everyone else simply looked on as this unfolded, taken aback at her simply floating in the air in a way that seemed unnatural.
All Reimu could do was look at Stardust, who looked back at her. They didn't need to exchange any words for them to understand what was happening: Stardust was thanking Reimu for saving it from the Sphere Doomers and keeping it safe up to this moment, and in return it was lending her some of its power, realizing her ability to make use of it.
Reimu looked at herself, and to the onlookers observing her. And she smirked.
"Well then, it would seem the Hakurei Shrine Maiden is officially back in business," she said. "It might not be with the patron kami's blessings, but I have now absorbed power from one of the legends of Alola. And with this power, I will personally crush Necrozma between my fingers."
"Amazing," Elio said quietly. Hau and Lillie were similarly amazed, since they were used to her battling capabilities but until now had never actually seen her shine maiden powers, so seeing her floating in the air and quickly demonstrating her regained abilities by firing a powerful pattern of bullets in one direction seemed surreal and even a little scary.
"I gotta admit," Marisa said, "just when I think I see everything outta ya, you come and show you still got even more tricks up your detached sleeves."
Lillie commented, "I agree. I've never even seen you using the powers you've described… hm?" Her Pokeball shook. It was Zygarde's. Curious, she let it out, and Zygarde slithered over to one side of Stardust. Then, it rose up into the air, and the scene seemed to darken as, suddenly, everyone felt the presence of many.
"What is this?" Reimu shouted looking around.
"I don't know!" Lillie said trying to keep her stance. "It must be gathering power!" And gathering power it was, as cells and cores rushed from all around into Zygarde's body, resizing and reshaping it before settling on a very bizarre design, one which resembled a mecha, which crashed down onto the ground and screeched a piercing roar all around.
"Zygarde's complete form..." Zinnia mumbled.
"Come again?" Lillie asked.
"Zygarde's complete form," Zinnia explained. "This is the form it takes when the balance of nature is seriously threatened. It doesn't assume this form for anything less. Zygarde must recognize the threat Necrozma poses and was waiting until this very moment to gather all of its strength and face it fresh."
Yukari was intrigued, and reached up to feel it. "A single being made of many cells, spread across looking over nature, coming together to combine their power in times of need."
Seeing two legendaries in front of them, Reimu asked, "so, now we have two powerful legendaries, plus Sunshine. Anything else?" And as if on cue, something which sounded like a jet flew from the south right toward the Altar. Peering at it to try and make it out, Marisa realized what it was: the Black Arwing.
The craft slowed, then came to a hovering stop just above the altar floor. The glass window lifted open, and out popped Alice wearing a helmet and visor and with two dolls at her side.
"I figured you guys could use an extra hand?" she asked them.
"Alice?" Marisa exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"I knew you all had everything you needed to safely get here, I was just waiting for you to get ready to face Necrozma. Now come on, let's do this!"
Hau looked up at the Arwing and couldn't believe it. "No way… is that…"
"A long story, for another time," Marisa told him. Whipping out her broom and in one swift motion, she scooped up Lillie and Hau, dropping them on top of Zygarde and Solgaleo, respectively, before pulling up alongside the Arwing to act as Alice's wingwoman. "Reimu!" Marisa shouted. "Let's shake a leg!"
"Got it!" Reimu affirmed. "Stardust, can you lead us to where Necrozma is?" After a moment, Stardust turned to face the Altar wall, roaring once again to create a ripple in spacetime. It then jumped up, with Hau holding on, and used Sunsteel Strike on the ripple, tearing it open into an Ultra Wormhole and disappearing inside.
"Alright," Reimu commanded. "Let's bring this to an end. Everyone, follow me!" She flew straight into it, followed by Lillie and Zygarde, the two witches and Sunshine, the dancers, and finally Elio, who rode atop Alduin, held up his Mega Bracelet, and mega-evolved Alduin into Mega Charizard X just as they flew in.
Afterward, Hapu, Yukari and Zinnia were left behind, staring at the still-open wormhole. Zinnia turned to Yukari and asked her, "you think they'll be alright in there?"
"Oh, don't you worry," Yukari assured her. "I talked around and made plans before coming here. Professor Kukui gave me a device I could use to track Reimu's Rotom Dex which should work in Ultra Space." She looked at her watch. "And it's getting close to the agreed upon time…"
Zipping through Ultra Space, weaving between the bands of energy and bursts of electricity that coursed throughout, Reimu, flying gracefully with her gohei in one hand and with everyone else trailing behind, felt a rush of adrenaline as they barreled through in search of their target with a big fat smile on her face.
"Alright, buckle up guys," she shouted, "we're going full speed ahead!"
"Roger that!" Marisa affirmed.
Hau, riding atop Stardust, was absolutely exhilarated. "This is flippin' awesome!" he exclaimed. "Am I right, Lillie?!"
Lillie, looking out from on top of Zygarde's back, took a moment to respond, before flashing a wicked grin and an evil look.
"HELL YEAH IT IS!"
"That's the spirit!" Reimu said.
As they continued forward, they soon caught sight of various energy creatures fluttering in front of them, hoping to obstruct their path. Squinting, Reimu could just barely make them out.
"What are those things?" Elio asked.
"Doomers," Reimu told him. "I guess Ultra Space is their home." She readied an attack. "Y'all want to see a danmaku demonstration? 'Cause we're about to rock and roll!" And with one swift motion, her yin-yang orb split into four, firing a steady stream of needles at the Doomers, mowing them down by the dozen, supported by fire from the Black Arwing and Alice's Dolls which flew alongside, stars from Marisa, and light beams from Sunshine, who was also aided by her Pokemon. Zygarde began to attack by sending out scale-like pulses, which Lillie could direct by pointing at a target. Hau summoned Hedwig to shoot arrows and Shadow Balls at key targets, while Elio opted to get up close and personal, letting out Dragonite and allowing it and Alduin to slash, claw and breathe fire at the Doomers. The dancers mostly focused on support, increasing the fighter's abilities so they wouldn't completely fizzle out fighting the legions of Doomers attempting to kill them.
"Is this what your fights look like?" Hau asked.
"This is just a normal day for me!" Reimu told him. Seeing a particularly large swarm of Doomers heading straight toward her, she decided to call upon her tried and true trump card. In a swift, natural motion, she tossed out a card, which soon erupted into lights and then a seal, binding and then nuking the Doomers all at once.
"Excellent," she said. "Fantasy Seal still works just as well as ever."
She used a brief lull to get creative with her tactics, and found she was fully capable of using Stardust's Sunsteel Strike attack. Once another swarm appeared, she tried it out, allowing her to rocket straight through, knocking aside all the Doomers in her path before striking and obliterating a particularly large one which could fire missiles. The stragglers were all picked off by her comrades, and it was hoped that the onslaught had ended.
Slightly further down, a single figure floated in place, prompting Reimu to pull up and see who it was, and as it turned out it was a face she had not seen in a while.
"So then," she said, "you show yourself again. Whose orders are you following this time?"
Ultra Medicine turned around, and revealed that she, like Ultra Reimu, had changed since Reimu saw her last: now more like the real Medicine as opposed to the crystalline mismash they first met at the meadow. In place of Poipole, a Murdoll, similar to the one Ultra Alice and Marisa used in their battle against their counterparts. It seemed to be a rule that "Ultra" counterparts had differences from their genuine articles; in this case, Ultra Medicine had a dirtier blonde bordering on brown and a blue dress with white accents and bows similar to the kind of dress Alice wore when she was young. She also carried a foxglove, as opposed to a lily-of-the-valley. Her Murdoll had a similar coloration which could be assumed to be its "shiny" color, and wielded a misericorde.
"You came," she said plainly. "The way you defeated all of the Doomers is most impressive."
"I wouldn't suppose you are the one directing them?" Reimu snarled.
"They were directed by nothing but themselves," Ultra Medicine explained. "They get riled up whenever there is a disturbance in the level of Ultra Radiation, and are drawn to rich sources of energy. They are the natural predators of Cosmog, but fully evolved Solgaleo and Lunala smite and prey on them in turn, drawing their sustenance from their cores. So it's only natural that a few would manage to travel to Alola in search of these disturbances. The master understood the danger they posed to you, and would have saved you from your falling deaths if it knew you otherwise would not be able to survive it. But that boy came to your aid and you gained another ally, a most impressive quality that the master treasures in you."
Reimu drew her weapon and further pressed, "tell me right now exactly what it is your master wants with me."
"I will answer," Ultra Medicine replied. "The master has been watching you ever since the day you were born, and has been overseeing your entire journey. He has placed trials in your path to determine your abilities, observed how you resolve incidents and conduct yourself, how you form relationships and alliances. In other words, he has been testing you all this time, and grooming you in order to challenge you Himself, in order to see your potential firsthand."
Reimu gave her a stern look. "Picking a fight with me cannot be the only reason for all the disruption it has caused."
"There is a method to His discord," Ultra Medicine said. "Gensokyo's existence within the Hakurei Border was unstable in the long term, something which He recognized long ago. In order to protect it and its inhabitants, He sent the original off to a safe realm - the Pokemon World, in this case - and is in the final stages of creating its replacement, which can exist and prosper for all time."
Reimu was just about ready to punch Ultra Medicine in the face, but was also deeply troubled by what she said. She had feared that the Hakurei Border would weaken and destabilize at some point, a concern she shared with Yukari and a few others. Supposedly, Necrozma had this concern as well, but why would it have a stake in Gensokyo's fate? In what way did it feel Gensokyo was vital to its interests? Why was transporting the original out and replacing it with a replica or some other replacement necessary in its view?
Wanting answers, Reimu knew that they needed to reach their world as quick as they could, in order to see for themselves. "I want to see this 'replacement' for myself. Will you let us through before I bust the obstruction myself?" she threatened.
Ultra Medicine assumed a battle stance. "The master asked me to evaluate your skills one more time, here within Ultra Space, before allowing you to proceed."
"If you insist!" Reimu shouted, before unleashing a volley of needles and ofuda toward Ultra Medicine, followed up by waves of shots from her allies. Ultra Medicine soon demonstrated she was no rookie danmaku fighter, weaving between all the shots with expertly coordinated dodges.
Reimu did not expect that Ultra Medicine would fight exactly as regular Medicine did, but still took caution in case she began to spew poison. And sure enough, Ultra Medicine's first offensive action was to toss out danmaku grenades which burst and released psychoactive gas. Anyone passing through them was immediately overcome with disorienting and frightful hallucinations, incapacitating them and leaving them open to follow-up attacks, either from Ultra Medicine herself, or a Night Slash or Sucker Punch courtesy of Murdoll.
Wanting to control the poison gas, Lillie sent out Hecatia in order to absorb the gas which was being spewed. Being a poison gas ghost herself, Hecatia grew stronger and stronger the more she absorbed, and converted that power into supercharged Shadow Balls. Despite being a danmaku battle, everyone realized that their Pokemon could be used to support them in the fight. Magnezone, for example, was immune to the poison and could knock out Murdoll with a super-effective Flash Cannon. Alice supported by blasting at Ultra Medicine with her single blaster cannon, bolstering it by also using her spell cards through her doll proxies outside. Marisa threw her Mini-Hakkero up into the air, splitting it into three copies of itself which fired bullets and also shot lasers which combined into one powerful beam aimed right at the target. Elio found Ultra Medicine herself unsafe to approach, he sent out Victreebel out to absorb the toxins while focusing on trying to knock Murdoll out. Eventually, the combined efforts of Magnezone and Alduin were enough to knock it out and force Ultra Medicine to recall it. The fact that it wasn't replaced indicated that it was her only Pokemon. However, losing Murdoll proved to be nothing more than a mere setback for Ultra Medicine, who immediately fired off her more potent spell cards, dropping spreading poison entirely in favor of sheer firepower. At this point, none of her patterns matched anything the real Medicine used, as they consisted of complex prismatic arrays radiating out and attempting to fence in their targets.
Reimu ordered everyone else to fall back and support from afar while she dove in attempting to search for a break. With lasers closing in on her, and an escape route seemingly absent, she flipped through her cards to see if she had an effective counter to it. Because the source of her powers was different than the one she was used to, all the ones besides her signature Fantasy Seal and Fantasy Nature were different than the ones she used normally. But as she searched, she found the same weak counterattack card she had demonstrated the day she arrived in Alola. Except now, it was powered up by Solgaleo, turning it into "Alchemy Sign: Sun Eater." Reimu decided to give it a shot, and what the card unleashed was nothing short of amazing: metallic grey lasers shot out, intercepting and cancelling the prismatic array, then closed in and "bit" Ultra Medicine like a set of fangs. The attack was strong enough to cause Ultra Medicine to stagger, creating an opening for Reimu to swoop in and slash her with her gohei, the decisive blow needed to end the fight in their favor.
Weak and unable to continue the battle, Ultra Medicine retreated, and Reimu and the crew gave chase. Their pursuit led them to a nearby wormhole, one with a white entrance as opposed to the colored entrances the ones around them possessed.
Pulling up in front of it, Reimu closed her eyes and focused, trying to get a feel for the aura emanating from it. The clear signature of the Hakurei Border could be sensed on the other side, leaving no doubt that this portal led to her world.
"Well?" Marisa asked her.
"This is it," Reimu answered. "This is the wormhole leading to Gensokyo, or at least where it used to be. There's no doubt Necrozma is there, too. Now, are you ready to come with me to face it?"
Looking around at their psychedelic surroundings, Hau slyly replied, "well, we're kinda committed now, aren't we?"
Reimu chuckled at his honest answer, before turning right around and heading straight in, with everyone else following suit.