When they arrived back at Melemele, Professor Kukui met them at the pier and asked everyone to share what they'd learned.
"I evolved Charjabug!" Sophocles announced proudly. "I think he's still getting used to being really fast, though, he had a while of being… not… so he keeps getting his horns stuck in trees. He's learning, though!"
Kiawe went next. "Charizard, Marowak and Turtonator have all picked things up from one another," he said. "And Charizard's got Aerial Ace down, so he can use one of my new Z-crystals, while I got a different one for doing an Island Trial and now I've got a Dragon one too – it means that I only need a Ground or Ghost Z-crystal, and I'll have one that's joint for all my Pokémon and another that's specific to each Pokémon."
"That sounds like a fine collection of Z-crystals, and time well spent," Professor Kukui told him. "What about you, Lillie? How did your studies go?"
"I found out a lot, actually," Lillie answered. "I know most of it is going to be things people already knew, but I saw some wild Mienfoo in the canyon and I didn't find any record of that Pokémon being there before."
Kukui beamed. "I'll have to check, but you might just have managed to Dig up the first official sighting of a new wild Pokémon in Alola! That's very good work, Lillie!"
Snowy nudged Lillie's leg, and Lillie nodded. "Oh – and, well, I found out that my father is probably alive?"
Kukui did a double-take.
"Your – you do mean Mohn, right?" he asked. "How?"
"It was Tapu Fini," Lillie explained. "It's actually Gladion who met her, but when she tried to bring his spirit forth it wasn't there. We're not certain, but that probably means he's alive, or… something?"
"With Ash around, you can never really rule out something," Kiawe said, sagely.
"That's true, I suppose," Kukui agreed. "But… really, Lillie, I'm astonished. If Mohn is alive, if we manage to find him… I'm sure it would make your whole family happy."
"I hope so," Lillie said. "I don't really know him, but what I know about him is good. If that makes sense."
"Well," Kukui decided. "Perhaps we should move on… who wants to go next?"
"I met Tapu Fini as well," Mallow said. "And I got to say goodbye to my mother."
She lifted up a basket next to her. "I also got a lot of Poni Radishes from the new Kahuna Hapu, and I met a new Pokémon who wants to travel with me!"
Shaymin poked her head out from the pile of radishes, and waved.
"Honestly, the surprising thing is that they're not Ash's," Kukui noted. "Are they officially yours?"
"She's interested, but I think it's… ask in a week?" Mallow checked, and Shaymin nodded. "Ask in a week."
"I see!" Kukui said. "Well, I'm sure we'll all want to taste what you do with some of those radishes… and Lana?"
"Popplio evolved into Brionne," Lana reported. "I've got a Primarium Z for her, in future, and an Eevium Z for Sandy for as soon as he learns Last Resort. We're getting much better at working together, too, Brionne and Sandy have a great Doubles strategy – I know a double battle isn't as common as a conventional one, but it's still good to have."
"It is indeed," Kukui said.
Ash held up a little silvery blob. "And I found a brand new Pokémon that Ibid says nobody's ever met before!"
"Oh, you did?" Kukui asked, fascinated.
"You did?" Lillie echoed. "You didn't mention that on the way back…?"
"No, I met them just now," Ash clarified. "They've got a lot of friends over here, but this one's interested in coming with me. They say they're called Meltan and they eat metal, but when I asked what kind of metal they weren't sure… I guess one of the big differences between metal and rock is that metal's been purified?"
He frowned. "Anyway, uh, I helped Tapu Fini and Hapu with their confidence in different ways, I guess, and I've now completed all the Trials! So that's good."
"That is good," Professor Kukui agreed. "Well, there's something I'll have to let on… anyone who doesn't have the ability to use three Pokémon should probably see about making sure they have access to some Pokémon they can borrow if they need to. I won't say why, not yet, but there's something coming up and I'm sure you'll appreciate the heads-up."
There were some confused nods.
"Does that include ourselves?" Lillie said. "I think that's the only way I could hit three, even if I could borrow the Ride Pokémon from the Ultra Guardians."
"Hmm, good question," Kukui admitted. "I… Ash, do you count as your own Pokémon for official matches?"
"Yeah!" Ash agreed.
"There you go, then," Kukui said.
"Okay, here we go!" Ash said, back at Kukui's house twenty minutes later. "I've got a whole collection of things so you can decide what you like most. This is some copper."
He put a piece of old piping down in front of Meltan, who inspected it carefully.
"Eat copper?" they asked.
"Yes," Ash agreed, and Meltan touched the copper. It sort of melted and melded and dissolved, all at once, and Meltan made a pleased noise.
"What do you think?" Ash asked.
"Fast!" Meltan answered. "Is nice!"
"Then let's try this one," Ash went on, putting a screw down. "This one's iron."
"Eat iron?" Meltan checked.
"That's right!" Ash nodded. "Well done, you've really taken the lesson about asking to heart!"
Meltan absorbed the iron, declaring it to be 'tasty', and next came a stainless steel screw.
"This is what's called an alloy, so it's a mix of more than one metal…"
"You know, boss, I have no idea whatsoever what your sleep schedule looks like any more," Salazzle observed.
He contemplated his Casteliacone, then took a lick.
"It is a bit odd these days," Zygarde agreed. "Or nights. Perhaps it is Dartrix's presence on the team, or perhaps it is attempting to make sure that Nebby does not feel especially constrained to spend more time as a Solgaleo."
"Could be," Salazzle said. "What do you think?"
"I think it's great to get used to all hours of the day and night, if you get the chance," Ash replied. "You never know when a new idea's going to come in… plus, I don't know if Meltan has a preference for daytime or night time yet."
"Makes sense, I guess," Salazzle agreed.
He finished the ice cream, then crouched down. "And we don't know anything about them? You've not encountered them before, Zygarde?"
"I have not been able to match any anomalies to the Meltan," Zygarde confirmed, stretching. "Observing their absorption of metallic particles in the sand and soil has not been illuminating. I suspect they may be a new Pokémon, but further information may change this conclusion."
"If they are a new Pokémon, they might be like Magearna, right?" Ash asked. "Meltan is a Steel type, so that could be related."
"Yeah, perhaps," Salazzle agreed, making a little tracery of smoke in the air and touching it off. Meltan gasped, jumping back, then curiously leaned their hex-nut head forwards.
"Eat air?" they asked.
"Yeah, that was a Steel type explosion," Salazzle agreed. "See what you think, okay?"
Meltan bounced in place, then began absorbing the faint metallic mist in the air.
"Cute," the big Totem Pokémon said. "Where did the others end up, anyway?"
"Lusamine's sort of hired them for the Ultra Guardians base," Ash told him. "Clefable pays them in screws and things… they don't mind rusty iron, actually, which is good because that's the kind that's sort of useless as actual screws and nails."
Salazzle nodded, then frowned and stood up.
"Huh," he said, looking out into the night. "Don't mind me, boss, I'll be a while. Not really something you can help with."
"Sure!" Ash agreed. "Think you'll be back by tomorrow evening?"
"I'll get in contact by then if not."
"Ash!" Professor Kukui said, leaning out of the door some minutes later. "There's an emergency Ultra Guardian alert! I know it's late, but it's important."
"Got it!" Ash replied, recalling Meltan and Dartrix. "Zygarde, do you want to come along?"
He went through the Pokémon he had on hand, then sent out Zacian. "Are you okay with giving me a lift?"
"I'm no Thunder Bird, but I suspect I'll do," Zacian said.
"And I can come along," Zygarde agreed, stretching, then jumped up into Ash's arms. Pikachu hurried out of the house, yawning, then joined Ash and Zygarde, and Zacian lifted off with a faint swirl of sparkly dust.
"Making connection," Arc stated, then Lusamine appeared on their screen.
"Ash, you're already on the move?" Lusamine asked. "Good. I'm sending out the Ride Pokémon for the others. There's reports of Z-crystal theft from several places on Melemele, and just now we noticed an Ultra Wormhole signature – problem is, it's more than an hour old. We don't know where the Ultra Beast is now… and, for some reason, the thefts aren't being reported immediately."
"Got it," Ash said. "Hmm… I guess it'd be really bad if we didn't manage to stop whatever this Ultra Beast is, if it's really stealing Z crystals… I wonder what it wants to do with them."
He frowned. "Actually, maybe this Ultra Beast wants to get home, like the others?"
"Can you explain?" Lusamine requested. "Oh – and since we don't have a position yet, orbit over Hau'Oli City until we have further information."
Ash gave a thumbs-up. "So, we know now that Z-crystals are condensed fragments of Necrozma's light, and Necrozma is able to make Ultra Wormholes… maybe this Ultra Beast is basing what they're doing off that? Trying to find a way to make an Ultra Wormhole to get home by using Z crystals?"
"That's a plausible hypothesis," Lusamine said. "Hopefully you'll be able to establish communication."
Zacian reached a point over Hau'Oli city and began circling, but about five seconds later there was a big multi-coloured explosion off in the distance.
"That's where the Gumshoos's Island Trial is!" Ash said. "Director, Zacian, we should go there and have the rest of the Ultra Guardians meet us there!"
"I agree," Lusamine said immediately.
Zacian sped down towards the mouth of the Verdant Cavern, then slowed, and Ash jumped off her back as soon as they were close enough to the ground.
Zygarde got clear as well, and Zacian drew her sword.
"I don't suppose we know anything about typing?" she asked.
"Don't think so," Ash replied.
Then there was an explosion from inside, and an odd white insect- and lady-like Pokémon came flying out of the mouth of the cave.
Ash's Salazzle followed her, arms folded.
"Try and pheromonize me, huh?" he asked. "Hmf."
"Hi, Salazzle!" Ash waved. "I guess you got here first?"
"Yeah, I was picking up something like a pheromone," the Poison-type explained. "Wasn't sure where from, volunteered myself."
"This feels like an anticlimax," Zygarde noted. "Do we send them home now?"
"I… actually think we might need to wait for Lusamine," Ash said. "Because we don't have Nebby, Necrozma or anyone else who can make an Ultra Wormhole… actually, Zacian, can you do illusions to show what we're trying to do? I guess we don't speak their language yet, and it might have to be Salazzle who does once we know how to translate it, but pictures can be understood, right?"
He turned his attention to Salazzle. "Ultra Beasts often have weird Types. I guess you just did a melange of every scent at once?"
"Good guess, boss," Salazzle confirmed. "Yep. I think the Flying one was especially good though."
Zacian got to work with pictograms, attempting to explain to the Ultra Beast that the point was to get them back to where they'd originally come from, but the Ultra Beast seemed to mostly be preoccupied with cleaning itself off and getting rid of all the mud from being hurled through the air.
It seemed to be by far their highest priority, with even their stolen Z-crystals being abandoned in favour of getting as clean as possible, and after some thought Ash got Salazzle to provide some hot water and sent Ibid for Suicune to keep the water purified.
The rest of the Ultra Guardians started to arrive at that point, a bit tired because it was the middle of the night and they had theoretically normal sleep schedules, and Pikachu yawned.
"Are you the one doing tomorrow's lesson?" he asked Ash. "Because if so, it should be about how to battle when sleep deprived."
"I'm not, but that does sound like the sort of thing it'd be useful to study," Ash said, as Suicune stepped onto the surface of the hot water pool and made sure it would stay fresh. "Or, at least, get a good idea about dealing with in general… I'll have to think about it!"
"Ash, we're about to arrive," Lusamine said, and Ash looked around.
Silvally and Gladion's Ride Noivern both touched down a little further from the Verdant Cavern entrance, Gladion riding Silvally, and Lusamine started unloading equipment from Noivern.
"We'll need to analyze the Ultra Beast and find where the original Ultra Wormhole was," she explained. "Our equipment can't open an Ultra Wormhole just anywhere, at least not without help from a dish full of Cosmog or a single Cosmoem. We think."
She frowned, stopping halfway through unloading a large cube with a small satellite-dish-looking thing on it. "Actually, that's probably something we'll work out how to do near the end of the series. I should tell Brains to focus on that."
"His name is Faba," Gladion reminded his mother.
"Yes, him," Lusamine agreed.
Then there was a bright flash overhead.
"Isn't that Nebby?" Lana asked, shading her eyes and looking up. "I'm surprised to see him as Solgaleo at night."
"I don't think that's Nebby," Ash replied, waving. "Hey, Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu's Thunderbolt blasted upwards, alerting their visitor, and the Steel-type dropped to land in front of them.
"Oh, that's Ultra Convenient!" Solgaleo announced. "I told Lunala I wouldn't have to look far for you! Excuse me a moment!"
He blew a hole in the universe with Searing Sunraze Smash, and vanished through. The Ultra Wormhole closed up again a moment later, and Lusamine checked her equipment.
"Well," she said. "I could re-open that Ultra Wormhole if I really wanted, but I've got no idea where it's going."
Then another Ultra Wormhole opened, about ten feet above where Solgaleo had vanished, and an Ultra Beast none of them had ever seen before came through. It had a big purple abdomen with a large needle attached, along with two smaller flanking needles, and the rest of its draconic body was the same sort of purple colour.
"Hii!" it announced, waving. "I got it sorted out! It's great to see you guys again!"
"You were Poipole, right?" Ash asked, and got a nod. "You evolved, congratulations! What are you now?"
"Na-ga-na-del," the newly named Naganadel spelled out. "Poison and dragon type! I had to learn a Dragon move to evolve, and now I can do Ultra Wormholes myself!"
"Congratulations!" Ash said, giving him a hug. "You're big now, huh! You're okay with that, right?"
"It was nice being small, but being big has advantages too!" Naganadel replied. "I can give people rides!"
His wings buzzed. "It's so much nicer back home now that Necrozma is back, but I think I like it here too. Here has friends!"
"Well done for keeping up with the language, too," Pikachu complimented. "You properly speak both languages now, right?"
Naganadel nodded, then tried to give a thumbs-up, but just had three fingers and no thumb. "Um. Yes!"
He looked over at the Ultra Beast in a steaming pool of very clean water. "Who's that?"
"I can answer that," Arc said. "In our language their name would be rendered as 'Pheromosa'. Salazzle, I will need your assistance to speak in their language."
"Sure, I guess my help makes scents," Salazzle decided.
Pheromosa was sent on her way before long, and everyone went back to bed.
Or, in Ash's case, eventually went to bed after introducing Meltan and Naganadel to one another, and wasn't woken up until around lunch by Professor Burnet.
"You're going to want to see this," she explained, turning on the TV. "I know what's coming, but this is a big deal and I think you're going to like it."
She flipped channels until getting to a news program, and Ash frowned.
"Huh, that's a podium, right?" he asked. "And that's Kukui's Incineroar!"
"Not quite," Burnet said, with a chuckle. "That's local Alolan celebrity, the Masked Royal's Incineroar."
"Oh, right, yeah," Ash realized. "So is the Masked Royal going to make an announcement?"
"No, Kukui is," Burnet corrected him, clearly very amused. "Thank you for pointing out to him about kayfabe, by the way, it's made the whole thing hilarious."
At about that point, Kukui walked up behind the podium, and adjusted the microphones.
"Thank you all for coming!" he said. "It's everything I could Wish for!"
He smiled. "Now, I've got a class to get back to later today, so I'll keep it brief. After some organizational work, I'm proud to officially announce the upcoming, inaugural, Alola Pokémon League!"
Reporters immediately started asking questions, and Kukui held up his hand.
"Please, I'll take questions in a moment," he said. "The conference itself will be held next month, and will be the Manalo Conference. After discussion with the four Kahunas and with Director Lusamine of the Aether Foundation we have decided to institute a Pokémon League to replace the defunct Mount Lanakila battle ritual. There will be no requirement for Gym Badges to enter, and we have made every effort to reflect the Alolan culture in this Pokémon League."
He smiled. "I hope it'll be an excellent experience! Now, I'll take some questions."
AN:
Ash has plenty of Mimics, so it only makes sense for him to have a Rusty.