Two of the four Tapus had been successfully kidnapped by Cipher. There wasn't anything that could be done about that part, but the Ultra Guardians still had to defeat and detain Cipher. That's why the battles on Poni Island were still important, even if Tapu Fini was snatched away. Elizabeth, Rui, and Hapu were struggling against the uniqueness of Blacephalon that Miror B could make good use of. Meanwhile, Mina was just watching from afar, taking a picturesque view of the battle for her next painting. "Whoa…this is so dope…" Mina said, totally out of sight and mind for those battling.

"Okay, so this thing has thrown its head at us several times now…" Elizabeth grumbled. That wasn't a statement she expected to say, but Alola just kept forcing her mouth. Her Zoroark wasn't sure where to progress in a fight like this.

"What are we going to do against this thing?" Rui asked. Umbreon was on its last legs as well, panting from the number of explosions it had to dodge.

"We have to give it a decisive strike in before it makes another move!" Hapu stated. Mudsdale had the stamina to spare, but if the battle continued at this rate even it would slow down.

"Oh, come now! This groove is only just getting started!" Miror B said with his usual excited tone. "Don't tell me this dance is wearing you out already? I could keep this rhythm going allllll day! Use Shadow Ball!" On his command, Blacephalon formed an orb of darkness within its hands, and threw it towards the trio.

"High Horse Power!" Mudsdale sprinted forward, turning around mid-sprint, so its hind legs kicked forward. With all the power Mudsdale possessed, it was easily able to break the Shadow Ball before it could cause any harm.

"Umbreon, Dark Pulse!"

"Zoroark, Night Daze!"

Umbreon and Zoroark fired off their two attacks at the same time. They merged together, forming a gigantic beam of darkness that rocketed forward, slamming into Blacephalon's body with incredible force. Since the Ultra Beast was part ghost type, the dark type attack was extremely effective and succeeded in throwing it off its feet. "A hit!" Rui said excitedly.

"Now that just won't do! Don't interrupt my funky groove!" Miror B spun around, snapping his fingers at the end of his twirl. "Show them the beautiful fireworks once more! Mind Blown!"

"Here it comes again…" Hapu narrowed her eyes. The chances of them being able to survive an attack like that one more time were slim. Blacephalon grabbed its own head and tossed it at the trio once more, waiting for the potent explosion that would follow.

This time, however, Rui was prepared to deal with this. "Umbreon! Hit it back with Iron Tail!" Umbreon darted forward, swinging its tail violently to slam against the head that was thrown at it. With the force of the smack, the head of Blacephalon was tossed right back at it!

This made Miror B panic and for good reason. "Oh no no no! Ludicolo, use Hydro Pump!" Ludicolo used Hydro Pump in an effort to push the Mind Blown back, but it was losing ground quickly and the explosion overtook it, KO'ing it instantly due to the sheer power behind the rebound. "Ack!"

"Now's our chance!" Elizabeth yelled.

Hapu stomped one foot on the ground, arms crossed as her Z-crystal began to shine brightly within her Z-ring. "I'll bring this to an end. Those who dare to defile Alola…prepare to face the power of the crumbling earth! TECTONIC RAGE!" The Z-power flooded into Mudsdale, who let out a loud neigh before slamming its hooves onto the ground. This caused the ground to crumble and rupture under Blacephalon. The Ultra Beast lost its footing and fell into the earth's crust, Mudsdale actually pursing it into the depths of the earth. There was no chance of Blacephalon enduring this attack as Mudsdale slammed into it, a gigantic explosion occurring from within the earth and towering into the sky. Blacephalon was thrown out of the hole and into the air, landing on the ground with a harsh thud. It didn't have eyes, but it was clearly KO'ed.

"Oh no…! Cut the music!" Miror B's eyes widened behind his shades. The next course of action was clearly to turn and run; he knew when he was beaten! The moment he turned to exit stage left, Hapu's Golurk landed menacingly in front of him, towering over him. "Oh…!"

"You're not goin' anywhere." Hapu stated. She was exercising her ability and position as Island Kahuna. Despite her size, she could be extremely intimidating when she wanted to be. Now was that time.

"I guess my song's over…now isn't that a shame." Miror B sighed. "Looks like there won't be an encore from me anytime soon. Oh well…luckily for me, we're beginning the second act soon enough!"

"…What is he talking about?" Rui asked the others.

"Dunno, but I'm tired of hearing this guy talk." Elizabeth shrugged. "Just tell us what we want to know!"

Miror B shrugged. There was no point trying to hide anything at this point. The second act was already well on its way to starting.

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Honchkrow and Kartana flew at each other in the sky, clashing every time they passed one another. Drill Peck vs Sacred Sword, a clash for the ages as the two Pokemon created shockwaves every time they passed each other. While Kartana was dueling with Honchkrow in the air, Darmanitan and Poliwrath were locked in ground combat, hands held as they wrestled against each other in a contest of pure power. "Man, this thing is super strong…!" Takeba grunted. Honchkrow was losing the content of pure power, just barely able to keep up with Kartana's ferocity.

Gorigan just laughed in response. "These Ultra Beasts really pack a punch! Do you really think you can trump us that easily!?"

"This isn't the first time we've faced your organization." Scott said. "And this is your third attempt at a revival? Why don't you just throw in the towel already? What do you have to gain from so many attempts?" Darmanitan exerting its strength against Poliwrath was perfect. He needed to make sure they were in a stalemate, to prevent Poliwrath from interfering with Honchkrow and Kartana's aerial battle. "All Cipher knows is defeat…yet you keep trying. For what reason?"

"…" Gorigan was silent for a moment. Of course he was simply a die hard admin of Cipher, but nobody really asked him why. "Master Greevil picked me up when I was down. So I swore my allegiance to him and Cipher, do I need another reason then that?"

"Greevil was put in jail ages ago, was he not?" Scott asked, black hair wavering in the wind from Honchkrow and Kartana's clashes. "What was it he desired when he allowed himself to be imprisoned? Didn't Michael tell you? Eldes, even?"

Takeba wasn't saying a word. It was pretty interesting to see how Scott was attempting to talk Gorigan down out of this. But in the event things didn't work out, she had to stay ready and defeat this powerful Ultra Beast. "Keep fighting, Honchkrow! Just hold out a bit longer."

"…Master Greevil saw the error of his ways. But then Wes came along and wanted to revive that dream." Gorigan explained. "And then he paid the price for that dream…"

"Exactly." Scott took a step forward. "Cipher hasn't managed to conquer anything. Even Lovrina saw the error of Cipher's ways. All you've managed to do is harm good people and Pokemon. Shadow Power is too dangerous to be kept in play. This is the chance to end this cycle of darkness once and for all. Anytime Cipher rises, they fall. Do you truly wish to keep returning only to be beaten down?"

Gorigan didn't have anything to say. Scott did raise good points. Gorigan lost sight of what it was he truly wanted along the way, clinging to the dream of a man who had long since given up. Perhaps he should've noticed something with how Lovrina turned sides a long time ago… "I see…I've been going the wrong way all this time."

"Yeah, yeah!" Takeba finally chimed up. "It's never too late to do the right thing! You can call Kartana off and we can stop all this together! …You'll still probably go back to jail though, for all of this."

There was no avoiding that. Gorigan sighed and conceded. Despite his motivations going into this plan, it was clear that he now lacked the resolve to see this through. Pure strength wasn't always the answer; he could see that unlike Dakim. "Poliwrath. Kartana. We're yielding."

Kartana relented as did Poliwrath. They were naturally confused at this turn of events, since violence was the option they were running with. But they did as they were told nevertheless. Takeba sighed in relief. She did not think they had a good chance against Kartana with how strong it was. "Whew…that's a relief." Her attention then turned to Gorigan. "Thanks for making this easy for us. I like Pokemon battling, but I hate when there are so many stakes behind it. This whole day been extremely exhausting…"

"You guys might want to hurry to Melemele." Gorigan said, just sitting down. He made it clear that he wasn't going to go anywhere. Whenever the authorities came to arrest him he'd just take it. "Ein's gonna act soon and it won't be pretty."

"What's his plan!?" Takeba crouched down, staring at Gorigan with the need to know what was happening.

"He's gonna take all the Tapus and force them to merge together with Z and shadow power." Gorigan stated.

"What!?" Takeba's eyes widened. "I have no idea how that works, but it sounds really bad! That's like…violating everything about Alola as far as I know. How do we stop it!?"

"….Might be too late." Gorigan sighed. "We've all made sure to capture the Tapus at the same time. So it'll only be a few more minutes until Ein gets his hands on all of them. Once that happens…"

"There's gotta be a way to stop it!" Takeba furrowed her brows. "The Tapus are gonna die if they're exposed to all that energy. And with Alola's island guardians gone, who knows what'll happen to the region itself!"

"That was his plan. With the Tapus then under his control, he intended to take over Alola and slowly reach outward to the rest of the world." Gorigan explained. "Miror B was the one who enabled this plan by freeing Ein from prison, and all he wanted is to capture every Pokemon in the world for his own weird deeds. So even if the execution turned out sloppy, the end result might still be the same…"

"Scott, we gotta go!" Takeba turned to Scott, but he wasn't moving. "Scott?"

Scott was having a vision. Blurry forsight of the immediate future. It was difficult to make out, but he could see a gigantic earth titan standing above Moon and Lillie, its large fist rushing down to crush the two of them. There were a few more quick images that flashed into his mind, but he couldn't make them out. "Tch…this isn't good. The future looks grim at this rate."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" There were visible question marks above Takeba's head. She was no psychic so she did not see what Scott saw, unfortunately.

"We have to leave, immediately." Scott told Takeba. "I don't know if we'll be able to contribute in time, but better safe than sorry."

"Er…right!" Again, Takeba had no idea why Scott was in such a hurry. Even more than she was, at least…

.

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Alolan Persian slid backwards along with Mega Metagross. The two of them were putting up quite a show. Nanu was surprising Nascour with his resilience in this bout. "I see. So this is the power of an Island Kahuna…" Nascour mumbled. "How troublesome."

"I told you, I'm just doing my job." Nanu scratched the back of his neck. As bored as he looked, he was taking this seriously. His demeanor really did catch Nascour by surprise. The admin thought this battle would be a wash, but clearly he underestimated this man's strength.

The real secret was Alolan Persian's ability: Fur Coat. It halved physical damage taken, so it gave it greater durability against Mega Metagross' blows. "Don't flatter yourself. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable." Nascour motioned his head. "Meteor Mash."

"Foul Play." Nascour said calmly. Alolan Persian lunged forward as Metagross closed in. Persian used Mega Metagross' own Attack power against it. The two clashed and an explosion occurred, blowing the two of them back. The tricky nature of using one's own power against it is what kept Nanu in this bout, even if Persian looked a little beat up.

"I see…" Nascour folded his arms over his chest. "Flipping a Pokemon's own power against it is a proper strategy. But can you really hold out that long to see the results?"

"That depends." Nanu sighed. "Can you even hold out long enough to see this 'plan' of yours fail?"

"Cute." Nascour scoffed, but he was done entertaining these games. Clearly, Tapu Bulu wasn't going to show up unless he upped the ante. "Bullet Punch." Metagross' red eyes flashed and it turned into a blur, speeding across the ground to slam all four of its arms into Persian. Before it could get too close, it was stopped in its tracks by a third party. "What?!"

"Oh. You showed up." Nanu let out another sigh, but he could at least smile this time. He was getting too old to keep up with all these youngsters and their fierce world saving battles. That's what he kept telling himself anyway.

"Sorry for the wait." Cynthia said while hopping off of Garchomp's back. It repelled Mega Metagross and now Nascour was left scowling. "Oh, why the long face? I thought you'd be happy to see me. Or are you upset because you're fully aware of how every encounter between us will go ever since that last one?"

"You…are a consistent thorn in my side." Nascour grunted. Cynthia was the last person he was expecting or hoping to see at the height of Cipher's triumph. But here was the Sinnoh Champion, being a pain in his… "You continue to persist…"

"I already told you, didn't I?" Cynthia stood next to Nanu, arms crossed. "The future of this world belongs to those young trainers fighting out there, not to people like you. The fact they continue to fight even against the darkest times proves their resolve is unbending and unbreakable. You cannot defeat their hearts."

Nascour didn't want to hear any of this. "That's enough! I will not be defeated again and again by a group of young children!"

"You can't win against adults either." Nanu pointed out. "If you're mad about losing to kids, what makes you think you got the strength to take us on either? Looks like you're the type of guy who just loses no matter what."

"GRR! I've…!" Nascour was about to make another remark, but that's when he got a transmission from Ardos, who was also on Ula'ula Island.

"Nascour. We've captured Tapu Bulu. Tapu Koko is the only one that remains…"

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Next Time: Ultimatum.