Serena wasn't sure how long they'd been riding on Solgaleo's back along the colorful tunnel. Maybe minutes or maybe hours, but it was tricky to outline.
Just as she was wondering if the tunnel would ever end, a gleaming opening appeared in front of them and Solgaleo flew through it.
They ended up in a peculiar place that resembled nothing they had seen before. The place was dark and was surrounded by howering islands of different sizes. Nowhere was anything green visible, but instead they saw crystal-like and sharp rocks growing from the ground.
"We're there," Ash said as Solgaleo landed on one of the islands. They landed off its back and looked around in wonder.
"A strange place," Mallow noted, staring at the rising rocks in front of him. "I've never seen anything like it"
"Yeah, neither do I," Serena said, shivering instinctively as she looked around as well. "And I don't like this place, it scares me"
"Let's find mom and then quickly get out of here," said Gladion and the others nodded. "The sooner we get them out of here, the better"
They were just heading forward when Pikachu seemed to hear something and quickly turned in the direction of the sound. "Pika!" it said and Ash turned to look at his partner and asked, "What now, Pikachu?"
"Pikapu, pika!" Pikachu said and his cheeks sparked as he looked at something in front of him and Ash turned to look. "Not good," he muttered when he saw what Pikachu was staring at.
In front of them hovered many similar Ultra beasts that had been kidnapped Lusamine. They did nothing but float quietly in place, but already seeing them made the crowd nervous.
"Let them be," Lillie suggested. "If we don't do anything to them, they won't do anything to us."
"Yeah," Ash said, looking at the Ultra beasts hovering in front of him. "Maybe we should split up, we could find Lusamine faster that way."
"Split up? I don't want to go wander here alone, it sounds scary," Mallow said clearly against the idea, and the others didn't look excited either.
"I know!" Lillie exclaimed suddenly and the others turned to look at her. "Let's bring out our Pokemon! Maybe then we won't be scared so much"
"Good idea," Ash said, picking up his Pokeball. "Then, Litten, Lycanroc, Rowlet, come out!"
"You too, Sylveon and Braixen!" exclaimed Serena and also threw her Pokeballs into the air.
"Snowy, come share your courage!" exclaimed Lillie too and Mallow also said, "Steenee, you too!"
"And you, Popplio!" said Lana and Sophocles said, "Togedemaru, Charjabug, you too!"
"Turtonator, Marowak, come out!" also exclaimed Kiawe and finally Gladion said too, "Now, Silvally, Lycanroc and Umbreon!"
The Pokemons appeared in front of them and looked clearly confused when they ended up in a completely different place than they were used to.
However, their trainers did not have time to explain the situation to them, for just then Solgaleo growled and suddenly in front of them, a short distance away, a creature, resembling one of the many Ultra beasts still hovering around them, but with something terribly familiar at the same time, appeared.
Lillie breathed when she saw it and Ash said, "Is that..."
"Yes, it is," Gladion finished his sentence and Lillie exclaimed, "Mom! What has that monster done to her!?"
It seemed that the Ultra Beast had partially merged Lusamine into itself. Lusamine's legs hung outside the Beast, but the rest of the body was inside the transparent head of the Beast. Lusamine's blond hair had turned purple and the Ultra beast itself seemed to have grown and turned darker.
Gladion growled and Ash said, "We have to save her. And quickly!" "But how?" Serena asked and then Solgaleo roared.
Upon hearing the roar, Lusamine's eyes burst open and she shouted, "No! No! Go away!" Her voice echoed in the unnaturalness of the place and Lillie and Gladion looked confused.
Then Silvally growled and Lillie's confused look became determined. "Don't worry, mom, I'll save you!" she exclaimed and set out to run towards her mother and the Ultra beast that had merged with her.
"Lillie, what are you doing?!" Gladion exclaimed and set off to run after Lillie. "That's dangerous!"
"But mom is in trouble and needs to help!" Lillie shouted back and Ash also left to run after her and Serena of course followed Ash.
Lusamine/Ultra beast clearly did not like Lillie's plan, as it spun and swung its tentacles and plunged many sharp rocks that formed the wall between the rescuers and her.
Suddenly, sharp spikes protruded from the front of the rescuers as well, and one of them was to pierce Lillie. "Watch out!" Ash exclaimed and snatched Lillie away just in time.
"Umbreon, use Dark Pulse!" exclaimed Gladion and Umbreon plunged its move towards the spikes that exploded when Dark Pulse hit them.
Then the rocky wall exploded and the road to Lusaminen/Ultra beast was free again. The rest of the gang also came to them and Mallow asked, "What is that Ultra beast going to do to Lillie's mother?"
"Mom's powers are sucked empty if they merge," Gladion said quietly and Serena shivered.
"That's horrible!" she exclaimed and Gladion said, "I don't know for sure, but it's one possibility."
"Then we don't have time to waste!" said Ash and ran towards the Lusamine/Ultra beast.
However, it flew farther and Mallow said, "It's escaping!" "Yeah and if we go after it, it's probably going to defend itself," Kiawe exclaimed and Ash stopped.
"Go away!" Lusamine shouted. "I don't want you here, go away!" She closed her eyes, which had changed from bright green to cloudy yellow, and looked suffering.
"I have studied and thought about this for a long time, and when I finally get to experience this connection, I do not want to you block it!" Having said that, she turned and set out to hover away, leaving behind a path made up of floating rocks.
"Hey! Wait!" Ash exclaimed and started running after her. Pikachu and Serena followed him and Lillie exclaimed, "No! Mom!" Then she also left to run after Lusamine and the rest of Alola's gang followed.
"What's wrong with her?" Lana thought aloud as they ran after Lusamine and Kiawe said, "Maybe that creature rule her."
"Maybe, but there's truth involved," Gladion said. "Mom has always studied Ultra beasts and her biggest wish has been to get in touch with one. Now that wish has come true."
"Literally," muttered Sophocles, and Kiawe exclaimed, "But that creature is trying to merge her!"
"Maybe, but mom doesn't think so. She thinks she's got a new toy and doesn't want to part with it. She probably sees us as a threat trying to take the toy away and she doesn't like it!"
"Whether she liked it or not, we'll save her!" said Ash firmly and stopped. The Lusamine/Ultra beast had also stopped a short distance away and stared at them from there.
"Exactly!" said Lillie resolutely. "And I'll bring her back to her senses! Snowy, make Powder Snow!"
Snowy cried shrilly and made an icy blow towards Lusamine. "No! Stay away!" she exclaimed and formed in front of her a high wall of sharp stones, which effectively repelled the blow of Lillie.
"Oh, she can do that too," Kiawe stated, and then Lusamine hovered out from behind the wall, shouting, "I hate you! Go away!"
"You hate us?" Lillie said quietly, but Mallow told her, "Don't listen to her, she's not her own self."
"Right. Mom's speech doesn't make any sense now," Lillie said to herself and Lusamine hovered farther.
****
"How did it not make a trace of it?" Gladion said in disbelief when his Lycanroc's Stone Edge hadn't made a scratch on Lusamine's wall.
They had tried to clear the wall of their way with various blows, but nothing had affected it in any way. Now their ideas were a little over and Lillie was starting to get a little uneasy.
Suddenly Solgaleo stepped hard in front of them and roared. "Right, I get!" Ash gasped and exclaimed, "Solgaleo! Let's go!"
A solar pattern appeared on Solgaleo's forehead and it began to shine brightly again. Then it roared again and crashed towards the wall.
As the smoke from the collision dissipated, the wall was gone and they again had a straight path to Lusamine. Lusamine, though, wasn't very excited about it and she shouted, "Leave me alone or I'll do something even worse!"
She then threw a Pokeball in front of them, where appeared a black, lizard-like and somehow a feminine Pokemon.
"What is that?" asked Ash, confused when he saw a Pokemon unknown to him, and Serena scanned it with her Pokedex:
"Salazzle, Toxic Lizard Pokemon and an evolved form of Salandit. Poison and Fire-type. Its poisonous gas contains lots of pheromones that attract male Salandit"
"Gladion, is that mother's Salazzle?" Lillie said quietly and Gladion nodded seriously.
"It is. I'm sure of it," he said, and then Salazzle jumped in and attacked towards them.
"Turtonator, Flame Thrower!" Kiawe exclaimed and Turtonator threw a large vortex of fire towards Salazzle from his nose and the collision of the attacks caused an explosion.
In all silence, Lusamine set off hovering away and Sophocles exclaimed, "She's getting away!"
"Go! Leave Salazzle to me and go after her!" Kiawe exclaimed and the others looked at him in amazement.
"Now, before it attacks again!" Kiawe repeated and then Ash nodded and said, "Okay, see you later!" and then they left after Lusamine, leaving Kiawe to take care of Salazzle.
****
Solgaleo let them ride on it back again and so they got ahead much faster. Their Pokemon ran after them and everyone looked serious.
They arrived at the end of a stone staircase and ended up on a large island, in one of which Lusamine hovered. Seeing them, she yelled angrily and threw three Pokeballs in front of them, and Lilligant, Mismagius and Milotic appeared.
"More Pokemon ahead!" exclaimed the Sophocles and then these three Pokemon attacked.
"Popplio, use the Bubble Beam!" exclaimed Lana and Mallow shouted, "Steenee, Magical Leaf!"
However, they failed to stop the attacks of the three Pokemon. When Mismagius sent a new, electric blow towards them, Sophocles threw Togedemaru to absorb the electricity.
"Go, we can handle this!" Mallow exclaimed and Ash nodded and so the remaining four continued their journey with their steel lion.
****
Meanwhile, while Lana, Mallow, and Sophocles were left to take care of the Lusamine's Pokemon, Ash, Serena, Lillie, and Gladion continued their journey on Solgaleo's back, with Lusamine leading them forward. Litten and Rowlet had been left to help the trio with the Pokemon and Ash hoped they would survive.
However, Lusamine had no intention of surrendering. She threw another Pokeball into the air again and this time Absol appeared before them.
"Absol!" it growled and Solgaleo stopped sliding in front of it and Gladion said, "I know that Absol. It was Umbreon's faithful training partner."
Absol did not need greetings, but sent a blow against them. Gladion did not hesitate, but jumped off Solgaleo's back and exclaimed, "Umbreon, use Dark Pulse!"
It and the Absol's blow collided and caused an explosion in the air. Lusamine hovered away in the middle of the smoke and Gladion said, "Great Umbreon."
Umbreon looked pleased with himself and Solgaleo stepped up to him and Lillie asked, "Big brother, are you okay?"
"Yeah, just keep going, I'll take care of that Absol," Gladion assured and Ash nodded and said, "All right. Let's go!"
After they left, Gladion thought as Absol attacked again: That beast that controls the mother apparently controls her Pokemon as well. By the way, Absol would never have attacked Umbreon.
Meanwhile, Ash, Serena, Lillie, and the remaining Pokemon faced Lusamine. Lusamine didn't look pleased with the situation, but shouted, "I hate you! I really hate you! Why don't you leave, why don't you?! I want you to go AWAY!"
She threw another Pokeball into the air and now Clefable appeared in front of them. It did look anything but happy, though, and Lillie jumped off Solgaleo's back.
"Lillie, let us take care of that Clefable," Ash suggested, but Lillie shook her head.
"No Ash, I have to take care of this," she said purposefully. "That Clefable was my mother's Pokemon all closest to me. So, let me take care of it, go after my mother."
That's when Clefable made Moonblast towards Lillie and it would have hit if Ash's Lycanroc hadn't intervened. It slammed on the blow and settled defensively in front of Lillie. "Thank you, Lycanroc," Lillie said and Ash exclaimed, "Great, Lycanroc! Stay here with Lillie, then we'll go after Lusamine!"
Lycanroc barked in agreement and Lillie said, "Do you promise to save mom?"
"Of course!" Ash said and Serena nodded. Then Ash exclaimed, "Pikachu, let's go! We have work to do!" and Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder.
Then Solgaleo roared again and set off. Lillie looked after them for a moment and then she focused on the Clefable in front of her.
"Listen, Clefable, now you snap up back!" she shouted at it, but Clefable made a Dazzling Gleam and rushed towards her.
However, Lycanroc didn't like the idea and crashed towards Clefable, colliding with it and causing Clefable to slide backwards. "Snowy, Powder Snow!" Lillie instructed her Vulpix and Snowy blew an icy blow towards Clefable.
Clefable responded with a new Dazzling Gleam, but Lycanroc's Rock Throw stopped it and caused Clefable to fall to the ground.
Lillie got the idea. She took her backpack off her back and dug something out of it. "Look at this, Clefable!" she exclaimed and showed Clefable her Clefairy plush toy. "Look at this and wonder if anything comes to mind!"
At the same time, she went for a walk towards Clefable and held the Clefairy plush in her arms. "Listen. I'm not very good at battling, so I'm doing this in my own way."
She approached Clefable cautiously, who seemed ready to attack at any moment. So it did and made another new Moonblast towards Lillie.
However, Lycanroc blocked it with his new Rock Throw and Lillie was able to move forward safely. "Clefable, do you remember all those times when we played with this Clefairy doll all the time?" she asked and at the same time, all those memories of her and Clefable flooded her mind.
"Remember how much fun we had?" Lillie said quietly. "When we play house almost every day? Do you remember that, Clefable?"
Clefable seemed to be at the final point and then suddenly it started to shine, as if planning to make another Dazzling Gleam again. Lillie smiled tenderly at it and then she wrapped her arms around Clefable and hugged it tightly.
"Clefable, remember. Remember all those moments together," Lillie whispered and Clefable seemed to have an internal struggle going on.
Then suddenly, the glow around them disappeared and Clefable looked normal again. Lillie looked at her with a smile and said, "You remembered, Clefable"
"Fable!" Clefable said happily and Lillie said, "Wonderful! And now, let's go save mom!"