Pokemon: Alola Journey VOL 1 - The Trials of Sarah

by Snow Nadder

In the Alola Region, Sarah attends her first day at the Pokemon School where she meets Ash, Pikachu and their friends. With her pokemon, Sarah will take on the Island Challenge along with Ash, but while doing the Island Challenge, Sarah discovers there may be more to her than meets the eye.

69. Chapter 68: The Shape of Love to Come

The weeks passed and once again, life in Alola was back to normal with everyone continuing to go about their business as usual. Thanksgiving had passed by in a flash of excitement for every last person and Pokemon of things being peaceful again even for a brief period. With Grid Battleforce and the Beast Morphers rangers at Coral Harbor, they were still working on the armor for Sarah's dragons, which the youngest leader accepted prior. It took much trial and error but they were progressing well with the armor and whatever improvements are made with them in the testing phases.

In doing so, Nate had Sarah bring in the dragons to them to first extract DNA samples from Silver and Venom's scales for an armored power base to build off their metallic silver armor from and make it durable to cover their weak spots and ensure that the dragons will be well-protected from Team Eclipse's future assaults.

Following the successful testing phases of durability, the armor was given strong metal properties from Melody and Echo's Amber as well as combine their armor sets with Morph-X to power their new gear up.

After two more weeks of testing, improving, modifying, and fixing through trial and error, the dragons' new armor was ready and it all came out brilliantly. It was durable and strong enough for them to withstand anything in their way and prevent anything from killing them instantly yet flexible and light enough to allow them to retain their mobility with no further complications. The rangers were also successful in making the armor weather-proof, having it being able to withstand heat, water, wind, and earth of any proportions.

Then, came the moment Sarah, Nate, and the other Beast Morphers rangers had been waiting for when the new armor was finished: how would the armor created for Shadow, Winter, and their fellow dragons be useful in practice?

The first ones to test out the newly completed Beast-X Dragon Armor were Shadow and Winter with their camouflage abilities.

When they completed their test runs, Nate was relieved to see that armor sets for the two Strike Dragons (a Silver-White set for Winter and a Silver-Black set for Shadow) were able to blend in perfectly with their scales and allow them a greater deal of control with their cloaking abilities when at night or in the clouds.

Inferno's armor set, during his test run, had small slots for his stomach grills and tail to allow him to continue blasting fire with ease without his armor getting in the way.

Sunflare's armor set was carefully coated with her Kerosene Gel in order to maximize her usage of her flaming ability during battle.

As for Skystorm, her spring-green and red-pink armor set was made to be flexible with her tail spines so they would be shot without them getting caught. Taking her spine shooting into account, he was able to cover them with steel spine covers from the armor to make them more lethal while also adding a regeneration ability to it to allow her to regenerate the armor she loses with each spine shot.

With Camo, his sapphire blue armor was infused with Morph-X and his own scales on the surface to allow him to retain his camouflage ability in battle, which he was grateful for.

With Melody and Echo, their blue-and-yellow and cyan armor sets were made to enhance the older dragon mates' shared singing, hunting, speed, and agility. The red-black-fade and black-red-fade sets developed for Twilight and Dawn enhanced their acute senses, strength, combat abilities, endurance, and stamina while giving them a form of venom immunity, much to their delight.

The other dragons also saw that their natural abilities weren't limited but enhanced when they tested the new armor as well and as Twilight and Dawn found out, they were amazed to find out that the armor crafted for them was able to snuffle out their weaknesses whenever they were activated by Sarah shouting a simple command along the lines of "Dragon Armor, Get in Gear!" from collars and leg bracelets.

The collars (created for Skystorm, Sunflare, Starfire, Melody, Echo, and Mist + Spark) and leg bracelets (suited for Shadow, Winter, Twilight, Dawn, Camo and his family, Venom, and Inferno and worn on their lower right legs closer to their front right paws), complete with tags featuring their designated dragon class, easily allowed them to carry their armor sets with them at all times and to continue waddling around with their rider fairly incognito without tipping them off. Amazingly, none of them had any problems with the armor they're wearing and none of them minded wearing them in their collar and bracelet forms despite making them look like her menagerie of exotic fantasy-esque cats and dogs.

What's more, with the addition of the new Pokemon Dragon Heart Dome, the princess and her family had an easier time looking after her Pokemon and couldn't be happier with the burden of space permanently off their shoulders.

Each day, with assistance from Danny, Danielle, Latios, and Latias, Nikki and James would cook up their homemade Pokemon food. Then, Sarah would take it to the Heart Dome for the Pokemon herself or send it to them through a newly-built food teleportation system to the dome by Burnet and Wicke for ease of delivery, the latter being a time-saving load off their minds when they first discovered it.

She even took care of the feeding stations for the dragons with their fish and berries while leaving considerable amounts of berries for the Pokemon. In addition, on a perfectly watered, warm, and soiled field, Calyrex would grow an abundance of Shaderoot and Iceroot Carrots for his sons with no worries of losing his power.

As for Eternatus... Well, unfortunately, he was still brooding in his corner of the grasslands area with his hatred for humanity still apparent. Throughout his time at his new home, Sarah managed to keep him fed which he slowly accepted much to his surprise. But, moreover, he wouldn't even try to socialize with his family, once.

Sarah was disappointed but she understood, regardless, and didn't complain once; Eternatus had 3000 years of hate and contempt for humanity under his belt and his recent return and capture didn't make things much easier despite gaining a kindred spirit in Silvally (who was patient with him and would wait until he was ready to speak more easily with them when he feels like it) and being under her care and jurisdiction.

As she found out early on, rehabilitation was a daunting and lengthy process for a giant Pokemon who was sealed away and brooding over humanity for 3000 years and not everybody can recover in the same amount of time it would take for a reformed human or Pokemon wanting to repent for any cruel sins done to reintegrate themselves into the goodness of society. Either way, she wouldn't dare think twice about keeping Eternatus nor would she even think about sealing him away underground; she made a vow to help him see the goodness in humanity and she was going to keep it.

---

On one bright Monday morning, when the holiday season was just around the corner and Alola was beginning to get into the Christmas Spirit following Thanksgiving and Black Friday, she's with her Pokemon and dragon family in the dome getting some early training down before leaving for school. For her first mock matches, Poipole and Wooloo are pitted against each other in a battle between Pokemon and Ultra Beast and Dusk and Mai in a duel between ghost mouse and wolf.

"Ah... As usual, Sarah and her family are training for their final Grand Trial and the upcoming Alola League."

"Okay, Poipole! Peck!" she cried, allowing Poipole to charge up her center head needle and fly towards Wooloo who dodged and decided to retaliate with Headbutt.

"Dusk, Rock Slide! Mai, run towards him and use Wood Hammer!"

While Dusk unleashed rock after rock with Rock Slide, Mai ran at him with Wood Hammer as she whacked at and destroyed each rock coming his way before they clashed and pushed each other back.

"Boy, those guys are really fired up all of a sudden," remarked Hashimoto as he, Charmander, Stufful, and Ching Wan watched their Pokemon siblings carefully.

"Stufful, Stuff, Stuff, Stufful, Ful," put in Stufful, seeing how they're going at each other with no hesitation and without fail.

However, as they were continuing their practice matches, some of the others couldn't help but notice that Poipole was looking at Dusk at certain points during his and Mai's training match when he displayed incredible battle talent and helped her increase her endurance and stamina with each blow she delivered.

"Poipole, concentrate and use Iron Tail! Wooloo, Tackle!" called Sarah, seeing the Ultra Beast getting sidetracked before turning her attention to Dusk and Mai again. "Nice one, guys! Mai, switch to Shadow Claw and Drain Punch! Dusk, Outrage!"

The mock battles continued as Poipole got her head back in the game as she and Wooloo continued their battle with Mai and Dusk going at each other using Outrage and a Shadow Claw-Drain Punch Combo.

But, as they continued their training fight, Poipole started to giggle as she was still enamored by Dusk's fighting and she was so smitten by him, she got in Mai's way when she tried to unleash her combo attack again and giggled before she went for the younger Dusk Form Lycanroc. Her breakaway caused everyone to gasp in shock and surprise as she then chased after Dusk, who screamed in a panic as he ran and begged for her to stop as she pokes him with Fury Attack. Her wild antics did get Eternatus' attention but he narrowed his eyes in disgust at her playfulness.

"Poipole?" Sarah gawked awkwardly.

"Okay, what's gotten into the kid? She's been doing this for months and it's getting annoying right now," groaned Silvally, not wanting to deal with Poipole's fun and games at the moment.

"Urgh, idiots," grumbled Eternatus, his back still turned as he shifted himself and continued to doze off, not interested in his family's training battles.

Now, Sarah was tempted to bang on Eternatus for being so thoughtless and insensitive to Poipole's feelings but she noticed that she didn't hear him as she continued to play-fight with Dusk and laugh as she continued to use Fury Attack, leaving the poor Wolf Pokemon with no chance of escaping from her despite running so fast.

"Uh, Poipole," called Sarah, wanting her tiny Ultra Beast to stop and leave the younger suffering Rock Type alone as he continued to run and howl in a panic. "Poipole, can you cut it out? Dusk doesn't like that!"

"Young Poipole, enough!" demanded Calyrex as he used Psychic to freeze her in place as she stopped and squirmed in surprise when she noticed she's not moving before she was brought back to Sarah. "What are you playing on about? You're in the middle of an important training session, can't you see your fun and games are making Young Dusk uncomfortable?"

"Poi...?" moaned Poipole, disappointed from being caught just when she was having fun.

"Yeah, Poipole, you really should've left Dusk alone," agreed Sarah in disapproval as she held her, seeing Dusk hiding behind Luna as he crossed his arms and raised an annoyed eyebrow at Poipole. "You know he doesn't like that and Luna's not happy with what you're doing to him. There's a time for work and a time for play and this isn't the time to play right now."

But, Poipole still wanted to play as she spun around while being upside down, splurting out red and blue slime from her horns making her family yelp as they tried to dodge but ended up getting covered in spots, all while Eternatus continued to doze off in his original spot as he tuned out his family's predicament.

"What is she doing?!" spluttered Hashimoto, looking himself all over being covered in Poipole's slime spots.

"YUCK!" yelled Nebula, feeling grossed out from Poipole's slime being on her wings.

"Great Nuts and Bolts, she's getting us sticky!" cried Solar, disgusted before he flinched from her getting up to his face.

Then, she flew over to the southeastern desert area and drew a few pictures that looked uncannily like Blitz and Solar. This new development from her drew some surprised gasps from much of the group since they've never known her to have an artistic touch.

"Scor! Scor, Bun, Bunny Bun, Bunny?" asked Scorch in surprise.

Cufant trumpeted in awe, thinking that Poipole had learned to draw pictures of Pokemon as well as Solar as he watched her giggle as she drew three more pictures of Hashimoto, Umbreon, and Calyrex in the sand. Then, she drew a big heart before adding multiple hearts around them with little faces of nearly everyone in her family she can squeeze in them.

"Raboot, Boot! Boot, Boot, Raboot, Raboot, Boot, Rab, Rab!" remarked Raboot, not knowing what to make of her artistic talent.

"Gee, Poipole, I guess you really like us a lot ever since you came to us during our rescue mission involving Buzzwole," smiled Sarah as Scorch and Blitz got on her shoulders and they were given a loving nuzzle from her.

"Sarah, honey!" called Nikki, as the group looked to a nearby monitor which activated and showed her and James contacting her to go to school. "Could you give us a hand, dear?"

"You better get ready and make a Quick Attack to the store to restock on some food when you're done with school, Ponchita!" added James. "The list we finished is waiting for you when you leave!"

"Okay! Come on, guys, let's go!" Sarah called as a select group of her Pokemon and dragons including Poipole joined her while some others prefer to stay in their new home before she looked to Eternatus. "You wanna c-?"

"Out of the question!" barked the Gigantic Pokemon with a low growl, not interested.

"Well, okay, but you really got to learn to loosen up and trust us. Be good while we're gone now, okay?" she sighed before making her way out of the dome.

Eternatus just stared at her before he continued to brood and doze off in his favorite spot. "What do I care?" he grumbled quietly.

Sarah sighed sadly; she was deeply worried for Eternatus and she wondered if she'll truly keep her promise to rehabilitate the former Darkest Day and make him see that humanity and Pokemon have changed 3000 years since and after she captured him. She wondered if he even took Silvally's backstory into account since they were more alike than he would ever care to admit. But, she remained firm with a determined glare; it may be an arduous task for her to undertake still but she's not going to quit nor would she be willing to let him go whether he likes it or not.

But, after she left and Eternatus was left alone to brood again, the little princess had no idea that they were eavesdropped on by another one of Lothor's scouts. When news of Eternatus' capture and Katzenberg's failure to detain her and bring her to him, her fallen uncle was not happy and had his fellow sin severely punished for bombing his mission. But, as before, he composed himself and started to come up with a new plan to topple her niece's efforts in anything to end him. He didn't find it best in himself to whine and gripe about his group's follies and preferred to look ahead for new ideas while taking several moments letting his feelings out whenever he can.

This was not one of those moments, however, as his scout rang him up and he answered the call from his office. "Yes?" he began.

"My lord, your niece was training UB Parasite/Poipole, the Poison Pin Pokemon, earlier along with her motley crew of Pokemon along with those Galar Legends we've heard about," briefed the scout. "She also left the Gigantic Pokemon/Darkest Day, Eternatus, in her new dome home for her Pokemon and dragons. Shall we take action and capture him?"

"No, but excellent work, nonetheless. We'll need a new plan of attack to ensure that we have the princess right where we want her. I'm also betting that the Aether Foundation and Grid Battleforce have some very heavy security measures already in place after building it."

"I see... So, what'll we do?"

"Return for now and await further instructions, no point in going all out to gang tackle her after that useless and pathetic Katzenburg fouled everything up again."

"Yes, Sir," confirmed the scout before he hung up and he was left alone.

Lothor sighed as he paced his office before coming towards a framed picture of himself, Delilah, and Doug before the latter two were married and had their baby girl and he was exiled for his crimes against his own family. It was a reminder of his past and what he once treasured with his brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law before his being disowned and banished for attempting to frame Doug for fraud and committing treason by actively opposing their marriage. He angrily suppressed and threw away the memories of his happier days with them; for him, his past is gone and it no longer defines him.

Now only his hatred for them and Sarah, upon hearing of her birth from afar, are all that's left of him and for him, nothing would satisfy him more than the ultimate destruction of the family he was once a proud member of and killing off the true heir to Alola's lost hierarchy as revenge for the pain he was inflicted for good reason. There was no redemption for him; he only wanted her death along with the demise of her godfather, parents' advisor and best friend, Tsukumaro Wong, no matter who or what gets in his way.

"I've waited over 500 years for my revenge to be complete with your end that of your damn parents, Sarah Tomoe, my niece..." snarled Lothor quietly, reaffirming his vow to destroy the Alola Hierarchy and take what he felt was rightfully his, until then...

---

[Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger Opening - FULL POWER, FULL THROTTLE! (TV Size)]

(Amidst the Pokémon Titles, our heroes immediately spring into action on their Alola adventures as the episode titles for the latest chapter of the story appear as the opening song begins)

CHAPTER 68 – THE SHAPE OF LOVE TO COME!

(As the recently new Power Rangers Ultra Rescue, Sarah and her friends appear just as the introductions begin to show us our main group in the story before the rest of the crew separate)

A secret weapon that unleashes the blast of justice [Bang! Bang! Bang! Ba-bang!]

(Sarah (voice inspiration – Flora (Spyro Reignited Trilogy) ft. Cassandra Lee Morris) is the first to be introduced as she performs the Zenkaiger dance with Blitz, Poipole, and Hashimoto dancing in the background)

The companions with serious yet shining spirits

(Ash is shown along with Pikachu while he joins Sarah for the Zenkaiger dance before moving on to Sophocles and Mallow's introductions and soon, they join in on the dance and their Pokémon partners gather with Sarah and Ash's Pokémon)

Be it in a parallel world, in the past, or in the future [Bang! Bang! Bang! Ba-bang!]

(Lana and Kiawe are featured as they gave affirmative smiles before they join their friends in the Zenkaiger Dance with Turtonator, Popplio, and Pyroar dancing in the background, too)

There's a miraculous bond that unites us heroes

(Lillie is the last person to be introduced as she gave a cute smile while she and Snowy joined in on the dance, unable to contain her excitement as the others can't help but dance as well)

Let's reach out to the wind, and jump off the ground

(Sarah: Poipole, what on earth are you doing?)

(Jump! Let's jump!)

(Lusamine: Poipole can draw her feelings?!)

Like the sun that rises on the horizon

(Blitz: Pika, Pikachu, Pika!)

Let's shine for the sake of peace

(Latios and Latias bring up a screen showcasing a quick preview of what's to come in the current story chapter at certain points before the Beast-X King Key is inserted into the Beast-X King Activator before cutting to Sarah's Poke-X Morpher was activated before the gang morphed into action at the call of another Ultra Beast dispatch and do a group pose with their new individual weapons at hand)

Always shift into full-full-full-full throttle

Form a connection through technology

Once it's started, the excitement never ends

(As the song reaches its climax, Sarah, the others, and their Pokémon with them continued to dance as shots of them battling Team Eclipse and their friends and Sarah's adopted family and godfather including Burnet, Kukui, Principal Oak, Nikki, James, and Tsukumaro appear in greeting as they nodded. The young rangers are then seen looking at the stars of Alola's night sky, seeing Nebula, Nebby, and the Tapu Guardians coming together for some reason as they looked like they're preparing a ceremony of sorts or getting ready to fight for a giant battle ahead of everyone)

So just do your be-be-best, that's right

There's no limit if you have the courage

(Nebby and Nebula make their way forward into battle with Eternatus (whether reformed and rehabilitated or not at the moment) following from behind them as Sarah (riding on Solar who's on Hovercycle Mode), Salamence with Eevee and Skitty on his back, Latios and Latias, and King, her Beast-X King Zord from the Beast Morphers Rangers, joined them before the lion Zord stands ready in its Ultra Sunne and Battle Modes)

Make your desires run through an invincible gear

(Sarah and her Pokémon family along with her dragons have fun inside their Pokémon Dragon Heart Dome as they enjoy their time together with Eternatus not paying them any attention as he continued to brood and be asleep despite Sarah's hopes of having him be fully rehabilitated and more trusting of humanity and Pokémon)

Machine World Force Zenkaiger

Full power, full throttle!

(As the theme song finally reaches its end, Sarah, her friends, and their Pokémon partners that joined them throughout the opening finished their dance before they charged into parts unknown as the next series of their Alolan adventures kicks into overdrive)

Pokémon Alola Journey Pt.3 – Dawn of Destiny

---

Evening came as Sarah and her Pokemon and dragons joining her were wandering around the Christmas-themed marketplace at Hau'Oli City upon the end of school for the day and they had finished getting the food Nikki and James needed. They were now looking to find some gifts for the rest of their family and their friends for when Christmas finally comes along.

As they were minding their own business while shopping, a young woman by a bunch of brilliantly made paintings was watching them or the marketplace around them with her thumbs and pointers like a picture frame before she got to work on her sketchbook. She looked like she was an artist with paint spots on her and from her cluster of artist's supplies including a knapsack for her art supplies, a couple of canvas stands including one that held her sketchbook, and a stool and poser's block. She even had a Pokemon partner in the form of a cute little Ribombee clinging onto her head as she sketched.

While she flew with her family, Poipole noticed the artist and her works and decided to have a look. She was amazed as she took in the art pieces that had been painted just as the woman and her Ribombee noticed a fan in her artwork while she sketched until the little Ultra Beast came across a painting that looked like a giant glowing star in the Alola night sky.

"Poipole..." she gasped in awe. To her, the painted somehow looked familiar to her but she couldn't figure out what as she continued to stare at it.

"Huh?" went the woman, noticing Poipole's reaction to her painting and what's on it.

"Alola!" called Sarah, getting her attention as she and her family joined Poipole.

"Huh, oh! Well, Alola, Alola!" the artist smiled.

"Wow, is that a Ribombee, M'am?" asked Star, seeing her Bee Fly Pokemon.

"Oh yes, she's my partner," replied the artist, her Bug/Fairy Pokemon greeting with a happy "Bee!".

"Alola to you, Madam," nodded Calyrex before he noticed the other completed paintings. "What marvelous paintings!"

"Somebody's got an eye for detail," remarked Ching Wan, impressed by the paintings showing a pack of Crabominables at Mount Lanakila, Oranguru Sensei at his treehouse, and a Primarina looking out to the sunset on the horizon.

"Bri, Brionne, Bri! Bri, Bri!" cheered Aqua, loving the Primarina painting the most.

She couldn't wait to evolve and become like Raine's Primarina as her eyes twinkled. Dracozolt looked at her in surprise, seeing how much she adored her final evolved form. "Draco, Zolt, Zolt Draco?" he asked.

"Bri! Bri!" nodded Aqua, her eyes still twinkling.

"Poipole...!" cooed Poipole again, her eyes still on the star painting.

"You like this one?" asked the artist to Poipole, the little Ultra Beast nodding eagerly with a "Poipole!".

"Ribom!" chirped Ribombee as she got on the Ultra Beast's head and fluttered her wings cutely. "Ribombee!"

The others were intrigued by this as they got closer and carefully looked at what she was going to do. "Cu, Fant, Fant, Cu, Cu Cufant?" asked Cufant, confused about the artist's partner Pokemon.

"What's a Ribombee?" asked Hashimoto.

"Oh, right. Ribombee are very rare in Galar but they're more common here. They're Bee Fly Pokemon and they can roll pollen into small puffs for them to eat or use in battle. They only showed themselves during a couple of clear sunny days at a time and they predict the weather through moisture levels and wind direction," noted Star.

"Can they?!" gasped Ching Wan in astonishment.

"No way!" spluttered Hashimoto.

"Cu-Cu-Cufant?!" trumpeted a startled Cufant.

"Incredible! Ribombee can actually predict the weather?" gawked Calyrex in awe.

---

Somewhere else in the marketplace on their way home with their things for dinner, while he was with Ash and his team, Burnet, and Kukui, Rotom-Dex sneezed loudly and looked around in surprise.

"Huh? What's wrong, Rotom?" asked Ash, everyone looking towards him.

"I don't know, sounds like somebody stole my line for a Pokemon entry," he buzzed.

---

Ribombee continued to cheer happily as everyone saw how excited and fired up she was. "Such love, such love, so much love!" remarked the artist, cooing at Ribombee's excitement and supposed love over Poipole.

Sarah and her Pokemon and dragons turned to her in surprise or bewilderment. "But, Poipole's a girl and Ribombee's a girl, how can-?" quizzed Hashimoto, tilting his head before the artist giggled at him.

"No, no, I just know this little one you're with loves to draw."

They all gasped in surprise, baffled that Poipole had a thing for art or the fact that the artist knows what her Ribombee is telling her for one reason or another. "How did you know that and without her using Telepathy, M'dear?" questioned Calyrex, baffled.

"Ribombee told me, it's that simple," replied the artist.

"Pika..." gasped Blitz.

"You can understand what your partner is saying just like that?" Mai questioned, also surprised. The artist thought for a moment and said, "I'm not quite sure."

"No, I heard Ribombee can talk with people through synchronizing their hearts with other people and Pokemon. This one already did it with her human partner and she was able to say what Ribombee spoke to her from her heart," replied Star matter-of-factly. "And, they can differentiate what powers that all kinds of flowers have from their auras. Sorta like me being able to use my Aura to connect my heart to Mommy's and read and understand her thoughts and feelings."

The artist nodded in confirmation as Ribombee floated to her hand and they smiled at each other before the Bee Fly Pokemon chirped again. "After spending so much time with her, I can pretty much understand what she's telling me and sense what she feels. At least, to me, that's what seems to be happening."

"Wow, that's incredible. That's similar to what happened to me, Mai, Hashimoto, Ching Wan, Calyrex, Silvally, and Star as well as a few other Pokemon of mine," said Sarah.

"Well, incredible or not, I'm Mina. And, you are?"

"I'm Sarah and these are my Pokemon, Star, Blitz, Hashimoto and his brother, Ching Wan, Calyrex and his steeds, Glastrier and Spectrier, Mai, Cufant, Dracozolt, Arctozolt, Raboot, Rapidash, Scorch, Yamper, Wooloo, Ponyta, Houndoom, Latios, Latias, Snivy, Oshawott, Tepig, Zarude, and Poipole. And, these dragons of mine are Winter, Shadow, Silver, Starfire, and Skystorm."

The Pokemon and dragons in question greeted Mina and her Ribombee in kind as they were introduced in turn, leaving Solar to introduce himself as he came forward and bowed to them.

"And, I'm Sarah's Beast Bot, Solar. It's a pleasure to meet you and Ribombee, Mina," he greeted politely.

"Well, nice to meet you! Nice to meet you," smiled Mina before the group left to return home just as night had fallen and everybody fell asleep.

The next morning, Mina and Ribombee were back in their original spot at Hau'Oli City's marketplace as she began to paint her new art piece with her original artworks back on display for anyone to see once the place became busy again. She had been working out the final details of her earlier sketch the previous day and was now set to add some color as she got out her brush and paints before getting to work on her canvas.

"Hi, Mina!" called Sarah, coming up to her with another group of her Pokemon but with a familiar few she already met the day prior including Solar and Poipole.

This time, Nebby, Nebula, Salamence, Eevee, Sylveon, and the Eevee Squad, Noctowl, Goodra, Mulan, Silvally, Braiviary, and Snowflake and her family along with Camo and his children, Twilight, Dawn, Melody, and Echo joined Calyrex, Spectrier, Glastrier, Zarude, Blitz, Star, and the Wushu Brothers to meet Mina and her Ribombee.

Surprisingly, with her are Ash, Mallow, Lana, Lillie, Sophocles, and Kiawe along with some of their Pokemon partners and Rotom-Dex. Following Sarah's meeting with the artist, Ash, Kukui, and Burnet also met up with her when they discovered her paintings last evening.

"Mina, Ribombee, these are my friends: Ash, Kiawe, Sophocles, Mallow, Lillie, and Lana, and this guy here's our living Pokedex, Rotom-Dex," she introduced.

"Nice to meet you!" greeted Rotom-Dex with a bow.

"And, over there's Salamence, Eevee, Sylveon, the Eevee Squad, Noctowl, Goodra, my Absol - Mulan, Braiviary, Snowflake and her family, Silvally, Twilight, Dawn, Melody, Echo, and Camo along with his kids. Guys, meet Mina and her Ribombee, we met them yesterday while we were out shopping after school."

"Mama?"

"Aren't you forgetting about us?" quipped the Sunne and Moone Pokemon.

"Geez, Mother, short-term memory loss or what?" snarked Silvally, raising an eyebrow at the princess.

"Sorry. Anyway, these two are my Solgaleo and Lunala babies, Nebby and Nebula."

"Hi!" they greeted cheerfully, bowing to Mina and Ribombee.

"They were interested to know you after I told them about Poipole's interest in your artwork and I decided to bring them over to see you. Well, Ash, Prof. Kukui, and Burnet met you, anyway, but you get the point."

"Alola!" greeted her friends.

"Ah! Alola, Alola!" greeted Mina, happy to have some company and meet new friends.

Kiawe took a look at one of the paintings she has at hand and one of them featuring a traveler and his Magmar caught his eye due to the accurate depiction of his home's signature landmark, Wela Volcano. He could hardly believe it as he gasped in delight and his eyes twinkled, his Akala Island pride burning within him as he cried with overwhelming joy, much to Ribombee's surprise as she felt his passion.

"Ah! In this painting... In this painting... In this painting..." he stuttered, unable to hold in his pride and joy for his homeland. "YOU CAN SEE THE SPIRIT OF WELA VOLCANO!"

"Wow, it's so beautiful! The ocean, Primarina...!"

"Pop, Pop!" put in Lana and Popplio, their eyes hooked on the Primarina painting with Popplio's eyes twinkling and, like Aqua, hoping she'll also become a Primarina.

"Popplio, that's your and Aqua's final evolved form," noted Rotom-Dex, coming alongside her.

"Pretty, isn't it?" remarked Sophocles, looking at another painting with Togedemaru agreeing before he noticed something about it that amazed him. "Hold on, isn't that... A night sky full of Minior?"

"I'm so impressed that you noticed," Mina complemented, intrigued he was able to pick out such details.

"Oranguru Sensei," smiled Mallow as she and Tsareena looked at the photo depicting Oranguru at his treehouse.

"Vul!"

"Snow, it's probably Mount Lanakila," said Lillie and Snowy, amazed from seeing the painting of Crabominables playing at Mount Lanakila.

"So, what are you painting now, Mina?" asked Mallow, curious about her new piece.

"Oh, that one," she directed with everyone crowding around to see the new canvas painting.

The painting is an impressionist piece of art of Sarah and a few of her Pokemon that she met along with Solar including Poipole, Calyrex and Spectrier, Blitz, Star, Ching Wan and Hashimoto, and Mai atop of Solar, which the gang gasped in amazement and shock. "Wow, is that us from last night?" gasped Sarah, completely awestruck.

"Hey, guys, that's me! Man, did I look good or what?" cried Solar, astounded by Mina's impression of him.

"Pika, Pikachu..."

"Neat!" perked up Blitz and Hashimoto as Poipole happily hugged them.

"Believe it or not, the first of a few family portraits I'm doing for her," Mina replied before bringing out a portrait she did featuring Ash, Kukui, Burnet, Munchlax, Pikachu, and Rotom-Dex. "I've managed to finish this one and I'm working on Sarah's family portraits since she told me her family's quite extensive."

"Hey, that's me!" buzzed Rotom-Dex noticing himself on the portrait.

"Family portraits?" asked Ash.

"Sarah's family and Ash's Alolan family!" Lana replied happily.

"An Alolan family," repeated Ash, amazed before Poipole chirped happily as she twirled and splurted out more colored slime all over the group.

"Oh!" gasped Mina, surprised as they tried to cover themselves.

"What are you doing, Poipole?!" screamed Ash in shock as everyone got covered in slime spots.

"At least someone's happy today over an artist's depiction of her and her family," remarked Solar once she stopped.

"Nice going, Turkey Brain," growled Silvally, feeling humiliated as he twitched an irritated eyebrow.

"Great, now I got slime spots on my fur all over again and I just had a bath last night!" snapped Star before everyone noticed her drawing what looked like the Electric Type symbol found on Electrium Z-Crystals and Sarah and Solar's heads on the road.

"Whoa, what's Poipole doing now?" Ching Wan questioned, seeing Poipole continue to paint.

Mina gasped in amazement, inspired as she sketched out the same symbol and heads on her sketchbook. "See, Poipole?" she asked, showing her symbols and heads.

Poipole looked over to Mina's sketch and when she saw that it looked exactly like her own drawings, she twirled excitedly. "Poi, Poi, Poi!" she cheered, Mina laughing with joy from her eye for artistic detail and painting as everyone looked on.

"I wonder what they're up to," Sophocles remarked.

"Miss Mina, are you all right?" asked Calyrex, getting through to her as she gasped and smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, dear. Sorry, sorry, it's just that I was amazed and inspired by Poipole's drawings that were made with incredible emotion."

"So, what do you see?" pondered Kiawe.

"Ribombee, would you?" smiled Mina to her partner, who agreed as she got back on Poipole's head again.

Poipole became confused as Ribombee chirped excitedly to her human partner while the others were confused by what she was telling her since aside from the ones the know Telepathy, they couldn't understand what the Bee Fly Pokemon is saying to Mina. Sarah and Ash didn't mind since they knew why she was able to do that.

"Ribombee can synchronize her heart with Mina's to speak what she's saying from her heart," clarified Star.

"Hey, that's my line!" spluttered Rotom-Dex, looking at the Shiny Aura Pokemon in disbelief while the others gasped in realization.

"Yeah, well, I called it first, buster. Get your own," she snarked at the living Pokedex.

"She says Poipole loves, really loves you and all your friends and family, Sarah," Mina translated happily once Ribombee had finished, making the others smile happily from what they were told.

"So, that means..."

"She loves, she really loves..."

"All of us," clarified Lana, Lillie, and Sophocles to everyone's delight.

"We're her family but Sarah and her own family are the ones she's the most attached to," agreed Mallow warmly.

"She said that?" remarked Kiawe in awe.

Silvally squirmed uncomfortably for a moment over this, not being one for anything too lovey-dovey for his taste, as Star and Blitz looked at him with a shared knowing smirk. "Well, bro?" she perked with a wink.

"Um... Urgh, okay, she grew on me, too, after a while..." he admitted with a small smile but hiding it to avoid embarrassing himself.

"I must say, she did make quite an impression on my sons and I when we got to know her further after arriving in Alola," nodded Calyred with a soft smile, remembering his, Glastrier, and Spectrier's first moments with Poipole.

"Hey, Mama, remember what Poipole drew on the sand in our dome's desert area back home?" gasped Nebby, remembering the pictures of Blitz and Solar she drew the previous morning.

"You mean the ones that looked like Blitz and Solar?" Sarah responded in surprise.

"Yeah, Poipole's drawing of Blitz looks like him and Pikachu and Solar's right on the dot!" nodded Nebula, getting what Nebby was thinking.

"And, now, she drew you with them as well!" added Sophocles to Sarah, realizing what the young Alola Legendaries are saying.

"That means us, Blitz!"

"Pika...!" breathed Sarah and Blitz together.

"She really loves you!" nodded Lana, Lillie, and Sarah, happy for their friend and Blitz.

"Poi! Poi!" nodded Poipole excitedly as Sarah started getting tears in her eyes before she approached her with her arms open.

Seeing what her human mother wants, Poipole cheered and flew into her arms as she hugged her with her family joining is as they all laughed together. Their lives really have changed once again ever since Poipole came into the party after she helped them and the gang with the Buzzwole mission even if her presence was unexpected, to say the least. The little Ultra Beast really enjoyed her new life with her new family as well as her new friends and as she laughed with them, she thought she was in for the time of her life after showing how much she loved them. To her, no matter what happens, everything seemed perfect and she was going to be just fine.

---

That evening, when Sarah and her friends went their separate ways and returned home with Mina promising to finish the portraits of her and her family after she was given photos of them for more inspiration, the little princess made a call to Kukui, Burnet, Lusamine, Wicke, and Faba to tell them the exciting news.

Needless to say, they were amazed and gobsmacked by what Poipole could do to express herself and her love for her family. They certainly were not expecting this apart from Burnet and Kukui when he told them what the gang learned about the little Ultra Beast.

"Oh, my!"

"What did you say?!"

"Incredible!"

"Astounding!"

"Poipole can actually draw her feelings?!" balked the five adults from one of the dome's computers to Sarah as she and her family watched (barring Eternatus who was listening but with his back turned in his lingering distrust at his favorite brooding spot).

"Yeah, surprised us too when Mina told us what she's feeling according to her Ribombee," nodded Sarah.

"Baa, Baaaaa, Baa, Baa, Baa, Baaaa, Baa," pondered Wooloo, thinking why Poipole didn't enter an art contest.

"Ampha, Amp, Ross, Ampharos, Ros, Ros," Candy replied, surprised that she really loved them all so much.

"Interesting, so those drawings on the desert area from yesterday morning and the others she drew of the other Pokemon and dragons when you came back after we checked the dome showed that she loves all of us but our family most of all," recapped James, intrigued by what he was told as a camera drone built for the Pokemon Dragon Heart Dome showed the pictures Poipole drew on the desert area's sand.

"That's so sweet of her to think of us that way," cooed Nikki.

"She really loves all of you? That's so delightful!" agreed Wicke, her eyes twinkling.

"I'd much rather prefer a scientific explanation other than an emotional one," deadpanned Faba.

"That means we now know from our interactions, more importantly, you and your family's interactions Sarah, Poipole is capable of possessing an incredible degree of intelligence. Don't you think?" Lusamine explained.

"Yep, that's about it, Lusamine," nodded Solar.

"Excellent. Continue to watch her closely and please, report anything you have to notice. So, until next time, take care of yourself."

"Take it easy, Lusamine," nodded Sarah, ending the call.

Later that night, as everyone was now fast asleep, Solar was sleeping in the Pokemon Dragon Heart Dome having decided to go on Guard Duty for a night to make sure nothing is done by any outside force to break inside. So far, nothing seemed out of place and all was peaceful but just when he thought he could sleep easily, he heard scratching from somewhere and carefully looked around the dome. There was nothing unusual from the other areas but when he got to the desert area, he noticed Poipole drawing something peculiar.

"Poipole?" he asked curiously, coming to her and getting her attention as she finished drawing. "What's wrong?"

"Poi, Poipole, Poi, Poi," she said worriedly, pointing him to the drawing beside the ones of him, Blitz, Sarah, Hashimoto, Calyrex, and Winter and Shadow.

But, when the lion Beast Bot saw the drawing and what it depicted, he gasped, "What's this?!"

What he saw from Poipole's new drawing was of Sarah's Sun Sword and what looked to be a giant Ultra Beast but not like Poipole and the Ultra Pillars encountered so far including Buzzwole, Kartana, and Pheromosa. The Ultra Beast that was drawn featured two arms with long claws and a bulky appearance and remembering the legend about the Blinding One that Sarah and her family told him when he was let in on Sarah's royal lineage and the Blinding One and what it eventually became, he came to one conclusion.

"That's Sarah's family sword and..." he trailed off as he looked at the beast drawn next to it, his lights shining on it. "...This is, the Black Beast!"

Then, Poipole gave a sad sigh as she directed him towards the drawing next to it which featured an Ultra Beast that looked a lot like her but about three times larger and which drew his curiosity back and made him look at her in surprise. "Wha-Who is it?" he asked gently.

Poipole didn't answer, she just continued to stare sadly at the drawing of the second Ultra Beast before she flew off to one of the doors leading outside and it opened, making him follow before she came outside and looked at the moon with him standing a few feet from her.

She then thought back to a place she originally came from, a large tree housing a big nest in another world that looked like a giant canyon filled with other Poipole just like her. But, the Poipole there are crying out as they sounded worried and sad, the world around them being literally black and white as darkness covered their home. In the middle of them, under what looked like their remaining light source, there was also a large wasp-like Ultra Beast with Poipole's colors also masked by the darkness surrounding it which looked very important to the other Poipole living in the world.

But, it also looked very weak as it couldn't hold out for some reason as it cried out "Naaaaaggggaaaaa..." before the light went out and soon, the tree went completely dark.

Poipole's heart wrenched from what she had as a premonition she got before one time which she assumed was a bad dream as she held her chest at the spot where her heart is. But now, realizing the gravity of what was at stake in her own world, with her own people, and her supposed leader, she sounded like she remembered something she had to do but soon became torn with a duty she has to her dying homeworld or her wish to stay and be happy with her current family.

"Poi..." she squeaked sadly and quietly as a stray tear fell from her eye as she looked at the full moon.

As she was once again left to her own thoughts, Solar could only watch on, worried for the Ultra Beast that loved her family very much. The Poipole he was seeing was not the same Poipole he and everyone else knew and loved for she was always so upbeat, energetic, loving, and always eager to make new friends and play. Now, she looked sullen, sad, and conflicted like unbeknownst to everyone, she had realized something she had to do for some reason but didn't want to lose the happiness she had gotten with her new family in turn.

Solar eventually became so worried for her that he decided to leave her alone for a bit and returned to the dome to sleep, making sure to take photos of her new drawings in addition to the ones she had already drawn. The earlier drawings were for memories' sake but the three recent ones he felt were more important, deciding to show Sarah and her friends whenever possible. He didn't know what got Poipole so torn when she drew them (the third one being the only one on her mind) but he was determined to help her and understand what she was concerned about even if he would have to learn a hard truth about her.

---

The next morning, everyone was back at the Pokemon School for another day of class. While their Pokemon (barring the still sulking Eternatus still at the dome) played with each other inside and at the beach, the only thing everyone could talk about on their minds was Mina.

Poipole, in the meantime, had gone back to her cheerful and energetic self as she drew paintings of Blitz, Sarah, and Solar on the chalkboard. But, Solar kept a concerned gaze at her, remembering her drawing of the second Ultra Beast and wondering if she's trying to hide her sadness over her premonition from the previous night behind her overwhelming love and happiness.

"Mina's such a wonderful person!" said Lana.

"I know! Her paintings are wonderful, too! I can't get enough of them!" agreed Mallow.

"So is her Ribombee! I'm amazed by how close they were and how they were able to speak what other Pokemon are feeling, especially with Poipole!" added Lillie.

"Pikachu?"

"Pika?"

"Poipole, you okay?"

"Uei, Uei-Uei?" called Pikachu, Eevee, Blitz, and Mai, the group turning to see Poipole also drawing tear shapes next to her artwork and becoming more torn and sad.

But, Poipole ignored them as she continued to draw, her premonition from the previous night of her world decaying and being shrouded in darkness with her people and leader suffering and being afraid being the only thing on her mind now. Her usual love and boundless energy were both gone and everyone couldn't help but wonder what went wrong with her. Solar turned away sadly with a sigh, he knew what was about to come and he didn't want to add to her growing pain.

"Poipole?" asked Ash when he and Sarah came over to her, only to end up being ignored as she kept drawing in her sorrow. "Hey, Poipole?"

Poipole thought back to the wasp-like Pokemon back on the large tree next in her world and remembered its pained and deeply worried cry calling out to her from her premonition. She was feeling more torn than ever and she wasn't snapped out of her thoughts until she felt Sarah tapping her and turned to her human mother and her family and friends.

"Poipole, are you okay?" Sarah asked, now looking worried.

"You don't look like your normal wild self from the past two days, Kid, what's up?" questioned Silvally.

Solar eventually sighed again before he got up and joined his partner to look at Poipole, the tiny Ultra Beast seeing the Beast Bot approach her and gently nod to her, allowing her to let out her feelings and not bottle them in. He didn't need to say anything, Solar knew exactly what she was thinking after seeing her recent drawings the previous night.

"Poi, Poi... POI!" Poipole screamed, now crying her heart out as she held Sarah tightly, unable to hide her fears anymore.

"Hey, you're crying!" gasped Ash as everyone watched on, now looking terribly worried for Poipole.

"Oh, Poipole... I'm here, shh," soothed Sarah, rocking her gently as she continued to cry.

"What's wrong, Big Sis?" squeaked Mai, tilting her head at Poipole with great concern as the others looked at her new drawings.

"Are these..."

"Poipole's..."

"...Feelings? Yeah, I think so," observed Sophocles, Kiawe, and Lana, seeing how sad Poipole depicted herself after seeing the tear shapes as Rotom-Dex took pictures of them for data updates and references.

"Data update on Poipole's drawings," he buzzed, also sounding concerned for her.

Everyone could only watch on as Poipole continued to cry in Sarah's arms over what she had seen of her fellow Poipole, their leader, and her old world, unsure of what they could do to cheer her up. "Oh, Poipole..." mourned Solar quietly, unable to take in her sorrow and sadness over what she's feeling despite not knowing about her premonition.

---

Meanwhile, as the gang was busy with things at the Pokemon School, Rapp, Tupp, and Zipp were at the Hau'Oli City marketplace as they decided to go out and hang around for a bit. With Guzma still brooding over Kukui's words, they decided to get some fresh air and for a bit of action. But, everywhere they looked as they walked, there was just nothing fun going on for their tastes and things seemed pretty boring for them.

"Being a little too quiet lately, don't ya, Tupp?" quipped Zipp.

"Quiet? No way!" snarked Tupp incredulously as everyone minded their own business and didn't pay them any attention. "As long as Team Skull's around, quiet will never come to Alola."

"But still, everyone looks so happy," replied Rapp, feeling unusually chirpy before she gushed at several Pokemon she thought as cute like a Morelull, a Comfey, and an Alolan Raichu, much to Tupp and Zipp's worry for her and how she loved the city's peacefulness despite their presence.

"Look at Rapp enjoying the peaceful life! It's not good," Zipp commented, sweatdropping with worried frustration.

"I agree, this may seem like a little too much peace and quiet for Team Skull to handle," admitted Tupp, no longer trying to deny it. "And, that's compounded by the fact that we've yet to swipe away that Eternatus away from the princess."

As they were trying to figure out what to do, the trio came across Mina as she was working on another sketch. She had managed to finish the family portraits of Sarah and her family to date and had them wrapped up as presents for them while having her completed paintings back up on display for everyone to see again while she waited for them.

At first, they've taken a keen interest in her works and made some sketches with her but eventually, they went back to their old tricks as they summoned their partners to make some trouble as the bullies they are despite whatever signs of kindness they have in them. Mina and Ribombee did their best to defend themselves despite their being incensed by Rapp, Tupp, and Zipp's troublemaking but when Tupp had Salazzle use Toxic on them, a quick Venoshock from nearby shocked them.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" screamed Tupp in shock as Sarah, Blitz, Star, Poipole, and Calyrex with his steeds came up to defend them.

Wanting answers for Poipole's sorrows after noticing her tear shapes from her drawings back at the school after leaving, Sarah and her family decided to pay Mina a visit until they saw Team Skull clashing with her.

"Poipole!" cried Poipole, no longer feeling sad even for a little bit but angry as Sarah (riding on Solar to test his new Hovercycle Mode and getting off) approached them.

"Well, well, well, I might've known you'd be back here already. Trying to gang up on Mina and Ribombee?" she scoffed, annoyed at the grunt leaders.

"What the hell is wrong with you ambushing them like that after we saw you guys getting drawing lessons from her?!" spat Star, disgusted with them, too.

"Isn't it dishonorable of you scoundrels to go at her with three against one? Have you no shame in what you're doing?" questioned Calyrex furiously as he glared at them, their family also glaring at them as they stood by.

"Pika!" nodded Blitz in anger.

"Who cares, Princess? Salazzle, now's your chance, use Toxic again!"

"Zubat, get batty with Air Cutter!"

"Garbodor, soak her with Venoshock and make her stink like crazy!" snapped Tupp, Zipp, and Rapp, commanding their Pokemon to attack Sarah and Mina at once.

"That's enough. Ribombee, use Pollen Pop!" ordered Mina, allowing her partner to fight back and throw a powered-up ball of pollen and throw it at Zubat, making the Poison Type eat it before it suddenly exploded like a bomb.

"Zubat!" screamed Rapp, seeing her partner knocked out.

"Blitz, use-!" began Sarah towards Blitz, allowing him to fight before she felt a hand on her shoulder before she turned and found Zarude smiling gently at her.

"Sarah, allow me," he requested through Telepathy before he came forward and used Power Whip on Salazzle, knocking it out in an explosion.

Poipole, furious at Team Skull for trying to hurt Mina and Ribombee went all out and used Fury Attack on Garbodor, lashing out at him furiously before she knocked him out as well before she regrouped with Zarude and Ribombee to keep them from going at their new friends.

"Well, are you going to try and harm Sarah and her new friends again or do you want another round of discipline?" warned Zarude towards the trio.

"Ugh, there's more to Ribombee than just cute!" grumbled Rapp as they returned their battered-up Pokemon in defeat before the trio scrambled out of town and screamed, "WE'LL REMEMBER THIS!"

"Well, Sarah doesn't really need to," smirked Kiawe as he and the others joined her and her family.

"Nice job with that Power Whip, Zarude," complimented the princess towards her Rogue Monkey Pokemon. "You really do know your way with attacks like that."

"Pikachu," nodded Blitz, impressed with Zarude's power.

"Just glad I could help before they could try to hurt your new friends," smiled the Dark/Grass Type before they turned to Mina and Ribombee. "Are you okay and Ribombee, Miss?"

"I'm all right, thanks for helping me. I may be a former Poni Island Trial Captain for the Island Challenge but it's always nice to have some help when we needed it," smiled Mina, causing the gang and their Pokemon to blink in surprise and gawk in shock by this revelation.

But, they didn't have time to gawk any further as Solar came up to her with something on his mind regarding Poipole's recent drawings. "Mina, I know this isn't our business but could you and Ribombee translate what Poipole was feeling from her latest painting?" he asked.

"Really, what did she draw?" questioned Mina curiously.

With Rotom-Dex's help and pulling out a small TV monitor that had been built into him along with his camera program from Nate, Solar showed them the pictures they took of the little Ultra Beast's school drawing fueled by her sorrow and pain.

"This is what Poipole drew earlier," put in Rotom-Dex.

"Poipole didn't even hear me calling while she was drawing, it's like she completely tuned us out until Sarah reached out to her," Ash explained.

"She just kept on drawing her feelings out, anyway, until Sarah snapped her out of it," added Lillie.

"Ribombee?" asked Mina to her partner.

"Ri!" agreed Ribombee, getting onto Poipole's head and translating her feelings to the former Poni Island Trial Captain.

"Hmm, she seems to be in a good mood now," she translated, much to everyone's relief only to blink when she spoke again. "But, I can understand what Poipole was feeling when she was drawing what you've shown me even without using Ribombee's powers. I can feel her pain and inner turmoil from her heart just by looking at it."

"How is she feeling? By the sound of it, not good, right?" quizzed Sophocles.

"Is there something bothering Little Poipole that we're not aware of?" pondered Zarude, concerned for her just as Solar squirmed quietly with a sigh as he turned his head away without anybody noticing.

"She's sad, sad..." mused Mina, closing her eyes in thought.

"She was sad..."

"Very sad..."

"Really sad..." repeated Lillie, Mallow, and Lana, now even more worried for Poipole.

"I thought so," said Ash thoughtfully as he looked at his hands in contemplation.

"But, why is Poipole sad? I'm confused," remarked Kiawe, not getting the full picture (figuratively) as Ribombee translated Poipole's feelings to Mina again.

"Sounds like Poipole must be carrying a big weight of some kind on her little shoulders."

"A big weight?" pondered Ash.

"You mean like there was something important she had to do before she came into our lives, something that caused her to meet up with me?" asked Sarah, joining Poipole and Ribombee before the latter rejoined her human partner.

"Like some kind of big mission she was entrusted to take care of but what kind of mission, I have no idea," Mina finished, not noticing Solar continuing to look down in thought and worry as his partner took Poipole in her arms again.

"Poipole, is that why you're so miserable earlier?" she asked worriedly, getting a slow nod from the Ultra Beast. "Look, I don't know what kind of mission you have on you or why it's bothering you but I want you to remember one thing..."

"Poi?" quizzed Poipole.

"You'll always have me and our family to see you through to the end no matter what happens."

"Yeah, you'll always have me on your side, too."

"Pikachu!"

"I feel the same way!" agreed Ash, Pikachu, and Rotom-Dex enthusiastically.

The others nodded as well, all of them agreeing to support the little Poison Pod Pokemon/Ultra Beast through whatever troubles she has on her mind. She looked very happy now as she twirled around while cooing before she noticed Solar and flew to him to get his attention, cooing if he can help her since he was entrusted with her secret involving the drawings she made the previous night.

"...Yes, of course. Poipole, you'll have my help and support as well," he replied quickly, making Poipole very happy as she twirled around and hugged him before she hugged Sarah back.

---

That night, as everyone parted ways for home once again and when they returned to the Pokemon Dragon Heart Dome, Poipole and Solar looked at the drawings she drew of the Sun Sword, the Black Beast, and the strange Ultra Beast while everyone else was minding their own business and playing around before bedtime. They looked at each other and nodded, deciding it was time to tell their family what he had discovered and what was on her mind.

"All right, you two, what's going on?" questioned Sarah in bewilderment. "Why have you brought us all here to the desert area and what are those drawings?"

"What's with your stupid mumbling about them, anyway? You know we can hear you if you're blabbing away, you know-OOF!" remarked Silvally before he was slapped with a small Vine Whip from an unimpressed Zarude.

"Let them speak, it's obvious they've something important to say if they're that secretive," he scolded before he looked at the drawings. "I must say, I wasn't expecting these to come from her and for Solar to know something about them"

Winter warbled to them, asking what they're on about. They had managed to gather their family in the dome and when they showed them her drawings, they were stunned and in shock from what they were judging from how they all looked.

"How did she even manage to draw them in the desert area without us knowing?" put in James, flabbergasted as he looked over the drawings.

"I'm amazed she even drew such things with meticulous detail and they mean something personal to her since they've been what's bothering her while she was at school with you, darling," added Nikki to her adopted daughter.

"*I didn't know she even drew those things until they brought us here and showed us what they're leaving out*," Star said before she looked at Calyrex. "*Got any clue as to what the drawings mean, Calyrex?*"

Regretfully, Calyrex shook his head in confusion as he scrutinized the drawings, "I have no idea. My boys and I know the Sun Sword but the other two, I've never seen them before and they're not like the other Ultra Beasts you told us about."

"Neigh, neigh!" gasped Ponyta as Rapidash nuzzled her.

"But, doesn't that big beast look familiar to you just by its shape from what you told us? You know, about what you've learned of your royal lineage from a book in Acerola's library before your Ula'Ula Island trials?" Hashimoto questioned.

"Wait, now that you mention it, I think I remember seeing it before..." pondered Sarah, just as her memory begins to kick in.

She thought back to the time when she had seen an image of the same Ultra Beast Poipole had drawn when she and Ash were with Acerola at her library on Ula'Ula Island before their trials against Nanu. As they looked at a book containing images of the Ultra Beast

"...Wait, I remember now! That Ultra Beast Poipole drew, that's actually the Blinding One! The Legendary Ultra Beast Ash and I heard about from Acerola through one of her library books!" she gasped in shock before she looked at Poipole. "Poipole, you were feeling off when you read about the legend with us and you looked like you know that Ultra Beast, didn't you?"

"Poi," nodded Poipole.

"But, you've read that book months ago but why is she drawing all this now?" quizzed Nikki.

"Good question..." James responded, despite not knowing an answer.

"So, wait... I thought that creature looked like the Black Beast when I caught sight of her drawing of it last night but I couldn't exactly get a good luck at it until you said it was this Blinding One. Is it really what you said it is?" questioned Solar as Nebby crawled forward and looked at the drawings of the Blinding One, the new Ultra Beast, and the Sun Sword, feeling completely breathless.

"No, Solar, it was only named the 'Black Beast' because Lothor and Team Eclipse tried to take it and its power for themselves and they tried to use it to destroy my true family and I during the Ultra Beast War. It was attacked by the Seven Sins and others from the Ultra Recon Squad and that ended up making it lose its light before they were sealed away by my parents and Tsukumaro using a sealing art from him to cast it away for who knows when," countered the princess, thinking about her lost birth parents.

"So, the Black Beast only existed because humans had gained control of it before during the heat of war and caused it to lose the light it carried just so Lothor and his goons could use it to destroy you?"

"Roc," nodded Dusk.

"Poi, Poipole, Poi, Poi, Poipole, Poi," said Poipole, facing her family.

"Stuff, Stufful, Stuff?" asked Stufful, wondering what Poipole's saying.

"Raboot," Raboot shrugged, not having a clue.

Surprisingly, before Solar or Sarah could answer, it was Nebby who finally spoke up and he looked shaken up. "*She's... She's saying it's time you guys knew the truth about why she came here,*" he breathed, turning to them slowly as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Nebby?" asked Sarah, concerned after seeing his tears.

"Poipole, should I...?" Nebby asked his fellow Ultra Beast.

Poipole nodded slowly, appreciating his help to translate what she's saying to them. And so, without further ado, she began recalling why she crossed from the Ultra Dimension in the first place.

"The world Poipole came from called Ultra Space was sustained by an endless supply of light given to them by a creature named Necrozma or who you may call, the Blinding One. It shined down on her world with neverending light and provided her and her people with food and light, it was paradise for them and they were as happy as can be. That is until the Ultra Beast War commenced when humans came across it and took control of it. When they used it to take out your world and the Alolan Royal Family, its light was stolen and it eventually became the dark creature known as the Black Beast," Nebby translated with a heavy heart as Poipole pointed to the drawing of the Ultra Beast, now known as Necrozma.

Poipole and Nebby were having a hard time composing themselves until Danny, Danielle, and Nebula came to comfort them and allow them to continue the story with their support. Everyone else listened in, stunned in silence by what they were being told.

"You and your parents and godfather were caught in the middle of the conflict to stop Necrozma and its evil masters from doing harm to your dimension but it had gotten so bad, they were forced to send you to the future to protect you and used some sort of seal to stop them and end the Ultra Beast War. When the violence ended, without Necrozma looking after us, her world started to lose its luster from the light that was taken from her and her people and their world ended up becoming desolate and lifeless. There were no more plants, no more water, no more life after Necrozma became the Black Beast of the Ultra Dimension."

Eventually, Poipole couldn't take it anymore as she started bawling and flew into Sarah's arms, slamming her tiny arms at her chest as she remembered the pain she and her people had gone through following Necrozma's downfall through Lothor and Team Eclipse's hands.

"With everything that happened, her mother, Queen Naganadel, was left with no choice but to find a new world for her people to live in."

"Neigh..." Rapidash neighed sympathetically, feeling Poipole's pain as her children hugged her.

The dragons crooned softly yet sadly, feeling sorry for what Poipole and her people and their queen had to do after they lost the one Ultra Beast crucial to their world's survival and their own. If anything, this served to boil their shared loathing for Sarah's true enemies and they vowed to make Lothor and his goonies pay for what they've done to not just Sarah but also to Poipole and her people and world.

By now, everyone was horrified by what they've heard and they still didn't know what to say as Poipole continued to bawl her eyes out, her sadness and anger at the evil humans' actions over the loss of their guardian Ultra Beast and the Light of Alola and the Ultra Dimension having boiled over completely.

"Poipole, Poi. Poi, Poipole, Poi, Poi..." she continued as she shivered in her overwhelming pain and sorrow.

Nebby carried on as well, trying to stay strong for Poipole, "*But now, her mother is weak and she no longer has the power to find a new home for their people to live in and so, she passed down the responsibility of finding our new home to her. As the heir to her throne, and in a last-ditch effort to find her people a new home, she crossed through dimensions to find the person destined to bring back Necrozma until she ended up in our dimension.*"

This revelation about Poipole threw everyone for a loop as they all gawked at the tiny Ultra Beast in Sarah's arms. "Jolt! Jolteon, Jolt, Jolt?!" screamed Jolteon, shocked from Poipole's own royal lineage.

"That's why she goes by the title of 'Princess' according to her people and mother, Big Sis Jolteon," put in Nebula.

"Whoa! You're a princess just like Master Sarah?!" gasped Hashimoto with widened eyes.

"Focus on the story, Hashi," interrupted Ching Wan. "If you recall what Sarah told us earlier, she mentioned a prophecy about a girl who would save Necrozma on the day it was to come back."

"So, Master Sarah's the heroine mentioned in that prophecy?"

"Yes, if anything, she's the one who's going to be responsible for not only saving our world but also Poipole's home. Lothor's evil may have done more damage to other worlds than just our own all those years ago."

"I remember that mumbo-jumbo garble; neither Mother, Stoutland, or I could figure out what it meant when we found it at that strange campsite where we found it along with that toothpick and my Memory Drives on that treasure hunt last year," recalled Silvally thoughtfully, remembering what he, Stoutland, and Sarah found in the cave at Akala Island. "And, it wasn't until we found out about her royal lineage from that captain's book that we discovered that she was the lost Sun Princess and that she's connected to the legend surrounding that giant bug."

"Yeah, that so-called bug was actually Necrozma before its light was stolen and when everything was still peaceful back then," nodded Star.

"And, if Necrozma isn't saved and restored as the Blinding One, her world would die and they'll have no place to live anymore," finished Nebby.

This left everyone completely speechless as they tried to soak everything they heard from Poipole and Nebby's translation. This was more serious than anybody first thought; because of Lothor and Team Eclipse's actions along with those who allied with them during the Ultra Beast War, not only has the human dimension been affected by the ramifications of the conflict but Poipole's home in the Ultra Dimension also suffered from the loss of Necrozma and the only means to her people's survival.

Sarah now felt her position very deeply and with a renewed confidence and respect. Now, the pressure's all on both her and Poipole to do what they must to save Necrozma and ensure that the destruction of their worlds never comes to pass. But, this time, having known about the little Ultra Beast's own struggles, the burden she carried was much easier to bear between them both.

"Poipole, you really love Necrozma, don't you?" she asked quietly, getting a nod from Poipole as she stroked her. "I promise you, your world won't be gone and neither will ours be destroyed. Necrozma will be brought back and this time, I'll make sure Lothor doesn't use your world's lifeforce for evil, forever."

Poipole could only smile as she cried happily this time, relieved that she doesn't have to share the burden of her mission alone anymore. The others watched on, smiling as they nodded, knowing that they'll lend her their support as well. With Sarah and her family on hand and once her other friends are in the know about her goal, she'll be able to salvage her home world in the Ultra Dimension and bring back the one lifeforce crucial to their happiness and longevity. Eternatus was the only one who showed no interest but if anybody looked at him more closely, he would've been seen looking in intrigue over everything he heard from Poipole and Nebby. That didn't last long though as he eventually left himself to brood again as he went back to sleep but it was a start nonetheless, albeit a slow one.

---

"What will happen to Sarah and Poipole when Necrozma, the former Blinding One, returns and Team Eclipse makes their move upon its ressurection? And, how will they be able to save their worlds when that day finally comes? The plot thickens next time, as the journey continues..."

---

Epilogue: "Where are you Going, Eevee and Friends?"

Another day, another beautiful day at Melemele Island and at the dockside on Hau'Oli City with many people and Pokemon going through their lives happily.

Amongst the Pokemon living their lives to the fullest was an energetic male Eevee with shaggy-fur hanging over its face, covering its eyes. With the energetic Normal Type are two older Normal and Electric Type Pokemon in the form of a female Prim Pokemon, Delcatty, and a male Dog Pokemon from the Galar, Boltund, all of whom had arrived from a faraway land to Alola.

They were living their lives as if nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the dockside town they're on and while they do their best not to stick out like sore thumbs, some people couldn't help but coo at them from how cute they were and how strange they were as a family. Right now, they were walking peacefully from an oceanside city until Eevee sniffed around for some food, his stomach growling as he whined before he plopped down in hunger.

"Eevee, Uei, Uei..." he moaned cutely causing the two Pokemon to chuckle before they nuzzled him.

But then, he spotted what he smelled like food from a bowl before he cheered and dive in before eating until he felt something hot touch him. He looked up and saw what looked to be an angry Houndour who was extremely pissed off that he was eating off of a family dog bowl meant for him. Eevee looked at the symbol on the bowl and sweatdropped from his mistake as he stuttered an apology.

"Dou...?!" snarled the Dark Hound Pokemon angrily.

"Ev... Eve, Eevee?" squeaked Eevee with a nervous smile which only served to make Houndour madder than ever as he barked, "DOU, DOU, DOU!"

"VEE! VEE, VEE, VEE!" he screamed in a panic as he ran away before Boltund quickly grabbed him by his scruff and he and Delcatty took off with the already hopping mad Houndour in hot pursuit.

They made a hard right to get away from the Dark/Fire Type before they came across a group of people waiting to board a ship leaving for the Alola Region. They looked back and saw Houndour getting closer which frightened poor Eevee even more. Boltund and Delcatty looked around for a way out until they saw the ship departing for Alola, which was their only chance of getting away from Houndour.

"Nya, Nyaow, Nyaow," whispered Delcatty to her mate.

Boltund nodded in agreement before they used Quick Attack to hide amongst the people and Pokemon boarding for the Alola Region, effectively losing Houndour as it sulked from losing them and returned home.

---

(Pokemon POV)

When the three Pokemon boarded after escaping the angry Houndoom, Delcatty and Boltund looked around to see if they were found or if Houndour would've seen them on the boat and go after them again. When they saw that Houndour, the passengers, or the crew didn't see them, they came out of their current hiding place with a sigh of relief before the Dog Pokemon gently placed Eevee down and the two gave a warning glare at him as he withered in shame.

"Son, what did your mother and I say about taking or eating things that don't belong to you?" warned Boltund.

"Uh... Don't?" he squeaked again with Boltund nodded in confirmation.

"Oh, my boy, you know better than to steal anything that's never yours to begin with," sighed Delcatty as she rubbed his head. "But, at least we got you away from that Houndour before he could hurt you."

"Still, I'd advise that you think before you act so rashly and pull a stunt like that. You're still young so we'll let you off this time," smiled the Dog Pokemon as he nuzzled Eevee.

"Where are we going, Daddy?" asked Eevee as they looked to the horizon ahead of them, wondering where they'll be off to once they depart.

"Who knows, wherever this boat is taking us and these passengers. I have a feeling our new lives away from Unova are only just beginning..."

(End Pokemon POV)

---

Sarah's Team:

1. Pikachu

Moves - Thundershock, Tackle, Thunderpunch, Double Team, Thunderbolt, Electroweb

2. Lycanroc (Dusk Form)

Moves - Rock Throw, Bite, Tackle, Rock Slide, Protect, Accelarock, Outrage

3. Lycanroc (Midnight Form)

Moves - Rock Throw, Bite, Tackle, Protect, Rock Slide, Outrage, Counter, Accelarock

4. Silvally

Moves - Crush Claw, Air Slash, Hyper Beam, Swords Dance, Dragon Claw, Multi Attack, Tri Attack

5. Mudsdale

Moves - High Horsepower, Double Kick, Mud Slap, Bulldoze, Iron Head

6. Wooloo

Moves - Wild Charge, Tackle, Electro Ball, Volt Tackle

7. Ponyta (Galar Form)

Moves - Dazzling Gleam, Moonblast, High Horsepower, Heal Pulse, Psybeam

8. Meowth (Alola Form)

Moves - Thunderbolt, Scratch, Iron Tail, Dark Pulse

9. Brionne

Moves - Pound, Water Gun, Icy Wind, Bubblebeam, Aqua Jet

10. Milotic

Moves - Dragon Pulse, Ice Beam, Twister, Mirror Coat

11. Ampharos (Shiny)

Moves - Thunderbolt, Confuse Ray, Power Gem, Signal Beam, Discharge, Iron Tail, Thunderpunch, Dragon Pulse

12. Sylveon

Moves - Tackle, Tail Whip, Copycat, Shadow Ball, Light Screen

13. Goodra

Moves - Water Gun, Protect, Tackle, Dragon Breath, Dragon Pulse, Rain Dance, Aqua Tail

14. Noctowl

Moves - Wing Attack, Foresight, Air Slash, Confusion

15. Meowstic (Male)

Moves - Helping Hand, Psyshock, Light Screen, Future Sight, Dark Pulse

16. Meowstic (Female)

Moves - Heal Pulse, Psyshock, Dark Pulse, Future Sight

17. Snivy

Moves - Vine Whip, Leaf Storm, Twister, Leaf Blade

18. Oshawott

Moves - Water Gun, Razor Shell, Icy Wind, Iron Tail

19. Tepig

Moves - Flamethrower, Flame Charge, Solar Beam, Rock Tomb

20. Vulpix (Alola Form)

Moves - Protect, Powder Snow, Ice Beam, Iron Tail, Aurora Beam

21. Dragonite

Moves - Dragon Rage, Iron Tail, Ice Beam, Hyper Beam, Dragon Rush, Dragon Claw

22. Hydreigon

Moves - Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, Wing Attack, Flash Cannon, Dragon Rush, Tri Attack

23. Flygon

Moves - Crunch, Dig, Rock Slide, Steel Wing, Dragon Rush, Dragon Claw

24. Solgaleo (aka Nebby)

Moves - Sunsteel Strike, Focus Blast, Teleport, Flamethrower, Wild Charge, Cosmic Power

25. Lucario (Shiny)

Moves - Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Aura Sphere, Dig, Vacuum Wave, Shadow Claw, Focus Blast, Dragon Pulse, Bone Rush

26. Poipole

Moves - Venoshock, Fury Attack, Peck, Iron Tail

27. Mimikyu

Moves - Shadow Claw, Drain Punch, Wood Hammer, Psychic, Mimic

28. Umbreon (Shiny)

Moves - Dark Pulse, Psychic, Moonlight, Shadow Ball, Iron Tail, Flash

29. Jolteon

Moves - Thunder Fang, Thunderbolt, Double Kick, Shadow Ball, Pin Missile

30. Vaporeon

Moves - Water Gun, Swift, Iron Tail, Shadow Ball, Dive

31. Flareon

Moves - Fire Fang, Flamethrower, Double Edge, Shadow Ball, Ember

32. Espeon

Moves - Psychic, Psybeam, Iron Tail, Shadow Ball, Light Screen

33. Leafeon

Moves - Synthesis, Energy Ball, Solar Blade, Shadow Ball, Leaf Storm

34. Glaceon

Moves - Shadow Ball, Ice Fang, Icy Wind, Ice Shard, Iron Tail

35. Eevee

Moves - Helping Hand, Protect, Dig, Double Edge, Swift, Tail Whip

36. Skitty

Moves - Doubleslap, Ice Beam, Iron Tail, Copycat, Double-Edge, Play Rough

37. Braviary

Moves - Superpower, Sky Attack, Brave Bird, Close Combat, Steel Wing, Aerial Ace

38. Absol (Shiny)

Moves - Night Slash, Psycho Cut, Shadow Claw, Hyper Beam, Flamethrower, Shadow Ball

39. Houndoom (Shiny)

Moves - Thunder Fang, Solar Beam, Sludge Bomb, Flamethrower, Crunch, Stone Edge

40. Latias (Shiny)

Moves - Safeguard, Psychic, Mist Ball, Dragon Pulse, Steel Wing, Recover

41. Latios (Shiny)

Moves - Steel Wing, Psychic, Giga Impact, Dragon Pulse, Luster Purge, Charge Beam

42. Salamance (Shiny)

Moves - Incinerate, Hydro Pump, Dragon Tail, Dragon Rush, Protect, Steel Wing

43. Rapidash (Galar Region)

Moves - Psycho Cut, Mystical Fire, Megahorn, High Horsepower, Heal Pulse

44. Yamper

Moves - Wild Charge, Fire Fang, Play Rough, Double Edge, Dig

45. Scorbunny

Moves - Quick Attack, Double Kick, Flame Charge, Ember, Headbutt

46. Stufful

Moves - Force Palm, Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Focus Punch, Brick Break

47. Calyrex

Moves - Psychic, Magical Leaf, Agility, Pound, Solarbeam

Calyrex (Ice Rider)

Moves - Psychic, Headbutt, Mist, High Horsepower, Icicle Crash, Double Kick, Glacial Lance

Calyrex (Shadow Rider)

Moves - Psychic, Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, Agility, Phantom Force, Double Kick, Astral Barrage

48. Glastrier

Moves - Headbutt, Thrash, High Horsepower, Mist, Icicle Crash, Double Kick

49. Spectrier

Moves - Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, Calm Mind, Agility, Phantom Force, Double Kick

50. Lunala (aka Nebula)

Moves - Teleport, Magic Coat, Moongeist Beam, Psychic, Phantom Force, Safeguard, Moonlight

51. Charmeleon

Moves - Ember, Fire Spin, Dragon Rush, Metal Claw, Flamethrower, Dragon Claw

52. Kubfu (aka Hashimoto)

Moves - Counter, Aerial Ace, Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Ice Punch

53. Urshifu (Single Strike Style) (aka Ching Wan)

Moves - Brick Break, Revenge, Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Ice Punch, Wicked Blow

54. Eternatus

Moves - Dragon Pulse, Dynamax Cannon, Recover, Enternabeam, Cross Poison

55. Arctozolt

Moves - Freeze-Dry, Discharge, Ancient Power, Bolt Beak, Charge, Hydro Pump

56. Raboot

Moves - Ember, Counter, Double Kick, Electro Ball, Acrobatics, Reversal

57. Cufant

Moves - Iron Head, Play Rough, High Horsepower, Superpower, Iron Defense, Rock Tomb

58. Dracovish

Moves - Hydro Pump, Dragon Pulse, Ice Fang, Dragon Rush, Earthquake, Fishious Rend

59. Dracozolt

Moves - Pluck, Dragon Tail, Bolt Beak, Discharge, Dragon Claw, Dragon Rush

60. Zarude

Moves - Jungle Healing, Close Combat, Darkest Lariat, Solar Blade, Vine Whip, Power Whip

---

Sarah's Dragon Companions:

1. Winter - Light Fury (F)

2. Shadow - Night Fury (M)

3. Skystorm - Deadly Nadder (F)

4. Mist and Spark - Titan Wing Hideous Zippleback (M)

5. Inferno - Singetail (M)

6. Sunflare - Monstrous Nightmare (F)

7. Starfire - Stormcutter (F)

8. Silver - Razorwhip (F)

9. Venom - Triple Stryke (M)

10. Camo - Titan Wing Dramillion (M)

11-15. His pack of five - Dramillions (3 F and 2 M)

Yellow Dramillions: Mimic - F, Violet - F, Sunflower - F

Red Dramillions: Ocean - M, Tidal - M

16. Melody - Death Song (M)

17. Echo - Slithersong (F)

18. Twilight - Deathgripper (F)

19. Dawn - Deathgripper (M)

---

Sarah's Pokemon Gems (Original):

1. Cresselia

Moves - Psychic, Moonlight, Moonblast, Magic Coat, Psycho Cut, Protect

2. Giratina (Origin/Altered Form)

Moves - Shadow Force, Dragon Pulse, Aura Sphere, Will-O-Wisp, Dragon Claw, Iron Tail

3. Rayquaza

Moves - Draco Meteor, Hyper Beam, Dragon Rush, Dragon Claw, Dragon Ascent, Twister

4. Zacian (Hero of Many Battles/Crowned Sword)

Moves - Iron Head/Behemoth Blade, Metal Claw, Sacred Sword, Wild Charge, Solar Blade, Swords Dance

5. Zamazenta (Hero of Many Battles/Crowned Shield)

Moves - Iron Head/Behemoth Bash, Metal Claw, Close Combat, Dazzling Gleam, Focus Blast, Iron Defense

---

Sarah's Pokemon Gems (Non-Original)

1. Dialga

Moves - Roar of Time, Flash Cannon, Draco Meteor, Dragon Claw, Aura Sphere, Protect

2. Palkia

Moves - Spacial Rend, Hyper Beam, Dragon Claw, Fire Blast, Aura Sphere, Protect