This episode is dedicated to the release of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon.

Also, if you haven't read it yet, make sure to check out Pokémon Cosmic Quest The Movie 2: Nemex Unleashed, the second Cosmic Quest movie, which takes place right before this episode.

Episode 83: Ne Plus Ultra

Brock and Brenda are leaning in towards Ash, trying to read something in his hands. They stand in front of a Pokémon Center. Brenda asks, "What do you think it's for?"

Ash shrugs. "I don't know. It's some kind of invitation, and it says to come here, but that's all."

Brock suggests, "Well, there's only one way to find out."

It looks like Ash has received a mysterious invitation to an unknown event. What could it mean? Was it sent by someone we know? What kind of surprises are in store?

Ash, Brock, and Brenda step in to the Pokémon Center. They look around, but see nothing of any note. Then, someone jumps behind Ash and covers his eyes with their hands. The familiar voice of a girl happily shouts, "Guess who!"

Ash appears surprised. "Lana!?" The person lets go, and Ash turns around. Behind him is his class from the Melemele Pokémon School in Alola, including Lana, Lillie, Kiawe, Sophocles, Mallow, and even Professor Kukui and his wife Professor Burnet. Notably, Lillie has swapped her traditional dress and sun hat for a white blouse, skirt, and tennis shoes. Her hair is now tied up in a ponytail, with no hat covering it. Ash's eyes go wide in surprise. "Guys! What are you all doing here!?"

Lillie explains, "After Professor Kukui got back from his last trip to Tenno, he told us all about the adventure you guys had here. Hearing about you, we all decided that it was time to have a class reunion, so the Professor offered to take us here on his next research trip."

Ash explains, "Wow, that's great! I'm glad to see you all again!"

Ash turns to Brenda. "Brenda, these are all my classmates from the Pokémon School in the Alola Region. We had a whole lot of adventures together." He stops and considers something, and then adds, "Some really…strange adventures," not sure exactly how describe their time together.

He asks Brock, "So you remember everyone from that time we took a field trip to Kanto, right?"

Brock nods. "I sure do." He walks up to Mallow and greets in a jocular manor, "So nice to see the second-best chef to ever cook for Ash again."

Mallow pretends to be taken aback. "Excuse me, second best? I think you're confusing me for yourself." They both laugh.

Ash is about to greet Sophocles, when Togedemaru leaps off of Sophocles and tackles Pikachu off Ash's shoulders, and begins to nuzzle it vigorously.

Sophocles grins. "Togedemaru really missed Pikachu."

Ash laughs. "I can tell. Those two were really good friends. I'm sure Pikachu is happy to see Togedemaru too." They laugh together.

Brenda slowly steps up to Ash. Slightly blushing, she points to Kiawe and asks hesitantly, "Hey Ash…who's the cute, shirtless guy?"

Ash, seemingly not realizing why Brenda's acting so shy, responds, "Oh, that's Kiawe. Come on, I'll introduce you."

Brenda gulps nervously. "Oh…um…okay."

Ash calls out, "Hey, Kiawe, come over here!"

Kiawe steps over. "Hey Ash, how's it going?"

"I'm great, how about you? How's your training?"

Kiawe smiles. "Everything's going great. Turtonator and I are stronger than ever. Can you and Pikachu say the same?"

Ash grins confidently. "We sure can. We should have a battle some time to find out who's gotten stronger." He then remembers Brenda, "Anyways, this is my friend Brenda. She's been traveling with me here in Tenno."

Kiawe grins and greets, "Alola!"

Brenda nervously responds, "Tenno-uh-I mean Alola. Alola is what I meant." She cowers back out of sight in embarrassment.

Kiawe asks, "What's wrong with her?"

Ash shrugs. "I don't know. She doesn't normally act like this."

Lillie and Mallow approach Ash from the side. Lillie asks, "So what have you been doing here in Tenno, Ash?"

Mallow nods. "Yeah, they don't have Trials anywhere but Alola."

Ash answers, "I've been earning gym badges so I can enter the Tenno League. Honestly, it's what comes natural to me. Trials were cool and all, but it was strange being in a region like Alola without gyms. The Trials were an interesting change, but I'm glad that things are back to normal for me." He pauses, then asks, "And how about you, Lillie? Are you getting along with Pokémon?"

Lillie nods proudly. "I sure am. I can touch nearly any Pokémon with no problem now."

"That's great, Lillie."

Ash feels something at his feet and looks down to see Professor Kukui's Rockruff nuzzling against his leg. Ash bends down and pets Rockruff. "Hey there, Rockruff. I'm happy to see you again too."

Brenda steps back up to Ash and says, "Speaking of Rockruff, there's something I've been curious about. Back when we first met Kukui, you said that that Rockruff lived with you and Kukui, but you also told me that you had a Lycanroc which used to be a Rockruff that lived with Kukui. How does that work?"

Ash explains, "Oh yeah, I guess that would be confusing. You see, there were actually two different Rockruff. This Rockruff here wasn't around nearly as much, but it was there enough for me to get to know it well."

Kukui steps forward and adds, "That Rockruff started hanging around with me a whole lot more after you left Alola."

Ash greets, "Alola, Professor Kukui. Thanks for doing all of this. It's so great to see everyone again."

Kukui grins. "Don't thank me, this was all actually Mallow's idea. I was already coming out here, so everyone else just used Follow Me and tagged along."

Ash looks to Mallow. "Really, this was your idea?"

She nods. "Yeah, I thought it would be really nice to see you again, and everyone else agreed."

"Well, I agree too." Ash then looks back to Kukui and asks, "So Professor, why are you in Tenno this time? Last time Team Planetary tricked you into coming here to use your expertise. What brings you here now?"

"No need to fear, I wasn't called here under mysterious circumstances this time. I'm here on my own schedule."

Burnet laughs. "By his own schedule, he means he was dragged back here by me."

Kukui explains, "We're here because last time I was in the region, I found evidence of some Ultra Energy readings, right around this town, as luck would have it."

Brenda questions, "Ultra Energy?"

Kukui explains, "It's a certain type of energy that comes from Ultra Space, pouring into our world via Ultra Wormholes. Once in our world, it can take several different forms, including Totem Aura or Z-Power."

Brenda seems only more confused than before. "That's…a lot to take in."

Burnet chuckles. "Let's just say it's energy from another dimension, and evidence of it suggests that there might be a naturally-occurring Ultra Wormhole here in Tenno. That's what I want to investigate. Alternate Dimensions are my area of expertise, after all. As my husband might say, I just need to make like a Stoutland and use Odor Sleuth and track down its source."

Brock comments, "I've read about Ultra Space before. It's an alternate dimension that can only be accessed via holes in space-time called Ultra Wormholes. But aren't Ultra Wormholes only found in Alola?"

Burnet nods. "You've got it exactly. That's why Kukui and I got here as fast as possible. This is a mystery within an enigma, so to speak."

Kukui adds, "You could say those readings I found used Confusion on me." He then says, "Now, Burnet and I should have everything handled, so how about you kids go out there and enjoy your time together."

Everyone looks around to each other, and then Lillie steps forwards and says, "Professor, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we'd like to do whatever we can to help you out, just like we did back in school."

Kukui smiles. "In that case, let's Bounce to it. Woo!"

Kukui and Burnet have brought everyone to the outskirts of town. Burnet is staring down at some sort of handheld scanner device. It is emitting an incessant beeping tone. She declares, "This is it. The Ultra Energy readings are at their highest here. The only time I've ever seen readings this high, short of a full-fledged Ultra Wormhole, are the proto-Ultra Wormholes around Alola."

Sophocles asks, "What's a proto-Ultra Wormhole?"

"It's a small and natural seam in the fabric of space. It's not a full tear, like an actual Wormhole, but it could spontaneously turn into one at any time."

Kukui states, "So, without a doubt, this was the source of those readings I took."

Burnet nods. "Yes, you made a wonderful discovery, my dear."

Ash asks, "So what are you going to do now that we've found the source of the Ultra Energy?"

Burnet responds by pulling a mechanism out and placing it on the floor. She presses some buttons on it and begins to calibrate it. "This little beauty here should be able to put out Ultra Energy on a complementary frequency to that emitted from the proto-Ultra Wormhole, causing it to open up into a full Ultra Wormhole. That way I can study it, and maybe even learn of its origins. I don't have the freedom to open a wormhole wherever I want, but I can at least activate any proto-wormholes I come across." Recalling something, she looks up and over to Ash and Lillie. "I was able to invent this marvelous machine thanks to my studies of Nebby, so I guess I really have you two to thank for this."

Ash grins, reminiscing about the Cosmog he befriended.

Lillie comments, "Wow, Nebby is helping us out, even now."

Brenda seems a little skeptical. "Are you sure it's safe to open a portal to another world? What if one of those nasty Ultra Beast things comes out?"

Burnet reassures, "Don't worry, Ultra Space is mostly empty space. The odds of the other end opening up near something dangerous are extremely low. Besides, even if it did, I have the ability to close the Ultra Wormhole quickly enough that nothing will actually make it."

Kukui states, "That woman's a genius. It's no wonder I married her."

While Burnet continues her work, team Rocket lurks in hiding nearby. James comments, "My, my, it's a twerp class reunion."

Meowth adds, "I don't think I've ever seen so many twerps in one place before."

Jessie points out, "The more twerps, the better the opportunity."

Meowth states, "And this opportunity truly is a golden one. If they open a portal to Ultra Space, it will be a veritable all-you-can-steal buffet of primo Pokémon, the Ultra Beasts."

They all chant, "North, south, west, east! Here we come, Ultra Beast!"

Wobbuffet appears and declares, "Wobbuffet!"

Burnet finishes her calibration by inputting her last few commands, and then declares, "That should do it. Now, look up to the sky everyone, you'll be treated to a marvelous sight in three...two…one…"

On her mark, a giant hole opens up in the sky above them, an Ultra Wormhole.

Everyone looks up to it with awe. Mallow comments, "Pretty…"

Sophocles pulls out his portable holographic computer and begins to type away on it. "Wow, there's some crazy warping going on in the space-time fabric! My computer is having an impossible time simulating this!"

Brock says, "The descriptions from the books do no justice to the actual thing."

Seeing the wormhole open, team Rocket jump from hiding and rush over.

Then, something goes wrong. Burnet's wormhole machine begins to emit a blaring alarm, the wormhole seems to destabilize and grow violent. The warped fabric of space it consists of begins to vibrate and fluctuate violently. Then the ground beneath them all begins to shake.

Team Rocket freeze up.

Brenda asks in terror, "What's going on!?"

Lillie shouts, "I don't think this is supposed to happen!"

Burnet has gone back to working with her machine, trying to ascertain what has happened. Kukui asks, "What happened? What's wrong?"

Burnet shakes her head. "I don't know. This has never happened before! Something is causing the wormhole to destabilize!" Her eyes suddenly widen. "Something's coming through!" She frantically works at her mechanism's controls in an attempt to close the wormhole. She shouts in a panic, "I can't do it! With the wormhole destabilized, I have no control! I can't close it! Brace yourselves!"

And it happens. A man is spat out from the wormhole, followed by the Ultra Beasts Guzzlord, Xurkitree, and Kartana. The Ultra Beasts scatter in different directions. Before anyone can react, the wormhole switches from expelling out to drawing in. The powerful force it exerts pulls in Ash, Lillie, and Brock, and then Team Rocket a moment later, before the Ultra Wormhole finally closes.

Everyone remaining runs over to the man that fell from the wormhole. Burnet asks, "Sir, are you alright? Sir?"

The man slowly begins to come to. He mumbles several incomprehensible words.

Brenda shouts, "Please, you have to help us! Our friends were just pulled into to wormhole you fell from! What happened to them?"

The man becomes lucid for just long enough to say, "Then surrender all hope. Your friends are gone." Then he descends back into babbling.

Everyone looks to each other with worry.

Who's that Pokémon!?

Light is apparently the source of its energy. It has an extraordinarily vicious disposition and is constantly firing off laser beams.

Ash, Brock, and Lillie find themselves tumbling through an endless corridor of distorted space. All around, Ultra Wormholes spontaneously open and close. They all scream in terror. After a prolonged period of this, a wormhole opens up beneath them and they fall in.

The next moment they all hit the ground with a thud. They have landed in a dark and damp area with almost no color, except for the small amount of color present in the crystalline growths that form spires all around. It almost appears like a cross between an alien world and the bottom of the sea.

Ash gets up first. Before actually looking around, he asks, "Are you okay, Pikachu?"

Pikachu slowly gets up and responds, "Pik pika."

Now Ash looks around. "Where are we?"

Brock and Lillie begin to get up. Brock points out he obvious and says, "We were pulled into an Ultra Wormhole, so we must be somewhere in Ultra Space."

Lillie looks scared. "Ultra Space? How do we get back?"

Ash suggests, "The wormhole that brought us here should be able to take us back. We just have to wait for Professor Burnet and the others to open it back up."

Brock nods in agreement, "In that case, we should get back to the point where we fell from the wormhole."

Lillie says optimistically, "That shouldn't be too hard. Where was that?"

Brock points upwards, towards the top of a tall cliff. The crystalline growths on the top of the cliff have had pieces removed from them in the pattern of a circle, tracing the outline of the wormhole that was open there moments ago.

Upon seeing how high they must reach, Lillie freezes. "Oh…"

Brock evaluates, "That cliff is much too high for us to climb straight up. We're going to have to find another way around."

Ash adds, "We'll have to hurry, too. We have to be back up there when Professor Burnet opens the Ultra Wormhole again."

Lillie looks worried. "I hope we can make it…"

Brock leads the way forward. "I think this way should get us there. Come on."

It's Necrozma!

Togedemaru is wailing, while Sophocles does his best to calm it. "Don't worry Togedemaru, Pikachu will be alright. We'll get Ash and everyone else out of there." Togedemaru doesn't appear convinced.

Togedemaru isn't the only one upset. The stranger's dire warning has everyone concerned.

Brenda asks Burnet in concern, "You can open that wormhole back up, right?"

Burnet nods. "Yeah, I should be able to. Just give me a minute to make sure my machine is still calibrated right after all that." She gets to work right away.

Meanwhile, Kukui is tending to the stranger. His babbling stopped when he fell unconscious. Kukui comments, "It looks like this man had a pretty nasty time. He's Beat Up all over."

Mallow bends down and tries to take a better look at him. "I wonder what he was doing in Ultra Space. People don't live in Ultra Space, right?"

Kukui shakes his head. "Not that we know of. But, then again, there's so much about Ultra Space we don't know. Who can really say? I have heard rumors of an entire city nestled in Ultra Space."

Kiawe asks, "So maybe this man came from that city?"

Kukui shakes his head. "No, I don't think so. I think this is a Faller."

Lana asks, "A Faller?"

"That's the term for someone who's Swallowed into an Ultra Wormhole and then Spit Up out of another."

The man begins to stir.

Sophocles proclaims, "He's waking up!"

Kukui says to the man, "Sir, we need your help. You need to tell us what you meant before."

The man regains consciousness and looks around, appearing extremely dazed and confused. He finally speaks up and asks, "What do you mean?"

Kukui explains, "Just before you passed out, you told us that our friends are gone. What did you mean?"

The man tries to think, but then becomes very confused. "I…don't know…I don't…remember." He thinks some more. "I don't remember anything…"

Brenda asks, "Nothing at all?"

The man nods somberly.

Kukui states, "It's just as I feared. This man has Faller Amnesia. Fallers often lose large chunks of the memories of their lives prior to falling from the wormhole. This amnesia ranges from temporary to permanent."

The man grimaces. "Are you telling me that I may never get my memories back?"

Kukui sighs. "I'm afraid so."

The man hangs his head in despair.

Brenda asks, "Do you at least remember your name?"

The man thinks. "My name…" After a moment, he finally replies, "Yes, I think so. My name is Darius."

Kukui asks, "Alright Darius, is there anything else you can remember? Anything at all?"

Darius thinks hard. "I…I…I think I was on some sort of important mission, I don't know what is it. Beyond that, I just have a lot of vague impressions."

Kukui ponders this. "Hmm…that's not very helpful in figuring out who you are."

Then Burnet proclaims, "Alright, I'm ready to try opening the wormhole again."

Completely on instinct, Darius shouts, "No, don't open it!"

Burnet says, "I'm sorry, but that's not an option. We've got three friends trapped on the other side."

Darius shakes his head in frustration and holds his hands up to his forehead. Sounding extremely frustrated, he shouts, "Argh! I don't know why, but I know you can't open this wormhole again! You just can't!" He clenches his fists and marches back and forth. "It's all in here, my memories, but it's like they're locked away. I wish I could explain to you what's going on, but I just can't!"

Before anyone can say anything else, there is suddenly a very strange noise, which sounds like a cross between a grumbling growl and the buzz of electricity. Everyone looks in the direction of the sound. Standing there, out in the open, is the Xurkitree that escaped from the wormhole.

Brenda quickly pulls out her Pokédex. "Xurkitree, the Glowing Pokémon and an Electric and Light Combo-Type. This Ultra Beast's entire body serves as a conduit that channels millions of volts of electricity. It has been observed grounding itself so that lightning will strike it, presumably recharging it. Does not Evolve."

Brenda says in disbelief, "Wow, an Ultra Beast…"

The wonder quickly ceases when the Xurkitree suddenly leaps forward, lunging toward Darius with vicious intent. Darius shouts, "Save me!"

Kiawe pulls out a Pokéball and throws it. "Turtonator, let's go!"

Turtonator appears, ready for battle. "Turtonator!"

"Flamethrower, now!" Turtonator breathes an incredible breath of fire, which puts a stop to Xurkitree before it reaches Darius.

When the attack ceases, Xurkitree turns to face Turtonator and attacks back with a massive burst of electricity.

Turtonator braces itself to absorb the attack via its shell, but even its strong shell isn't enough to withstand the attack. Turtonator takes massive damage. "Tuuuurt!"

Xurkitree then returns its attention to Darius. It lashes one of its arms through the air, causing a shockwave of electricity to appear from it.

Darius manages to leap out of the way, and the attack sails right past him. However, in doing so, it hits Professor Burnet's wormhole machine, causing it to overload. Sparks fly from it and it begins to smoke.

Burnet shouts, "No!"

Kiawe shouts, "Turtonator, let's finish this!" Turtonator knows exactly what he means and they each step into a pose. After several more poses, Kiawe shouts, "Inferno Overdrive!"

Both Kiawe and Turtonator become cloaked in a red aura, then Turtonator unleashes a massive blast of fire that is aimed directly at Xurkitree. The sheer size of the move alone makes it appear to cause massive damage. When the effects of the move wear off, Xurkitree is sent fleeing.

Brenda swoons at seeing Kiawe display such power and prowess, but then reality quickly sets in and she asks in panic, "What just happened!? Why'd the Ultra Beast attack us?"

Burnet explains, "The Ultra Beasts may look like monsters, but they're actually just like us. An Ultra Beast in our world has been cut off from its home, and its number one priority becomes returning home. They're able to sense Ultra Energy and move towards it, assuming it an open Ultra Wormhole. In this case though, that Xurkitree got a whiff of the residual energy on Darius."

Darius groans. "Not only have I lost my memory, but now you're telling me I'm going to be targeted by those monsters?"

Burnet responds, "I'm afraid so, but that's not even the worst part."

Lana asks, "What could be worse?"

Burnet looks down to her still-smoking machine. "I'm afraid that the Xurkitree did a number on my machine. I'm not going to be able to open that wormhole back up."

Everyone gasps. Brenda asks, "But what about Ash…?"

Ash, Brock, and Lillie have begun their trek through Ultra Space to reach the location of the Ultra Wormhole. Brock posits, "I wonder why we haven't seen any Ultra Beasts yet. You would think we would be seeing them all over, if this is their native habitat. I guess we've been lucky."

Lillie, trying to sound brave, but also looking obviously nervous, declares, "I'm not afraid of any Ultra Beast."

Ash, actually sounding excited, adds, "Yeah, it would be pretty cool to see some Ultra Beasts. Hopefully we get the chance."

Lillie looks to him with disbelief.

Then Brock points ahead and says, "I spoke too soon, look!"

Up ahead, three Nihilego float into sight. Lillie freezes up instantly.

Ash cheers, "Alright, some Ultra Beasts!"

Brock says, "That must be Nihilego, also known as UB-01 Symbiote. It was the first Ultra Beast catalogued."

Lillie has begun to tremor. She is completely locked up and unable to say or do anything. She seems to be trapped within her own mind.

At first, the Nihilego seem to float there, completely harmlessly, but then things take a sudden, vicious turn, and the Ultra Beasts lunge at Ash and the others.

Brock warns, "Ash, Lillie, look out!" Both he and Ash pull out Pokéballs to defend themselves with, while Lillie remains frozen.

Ash sends out Turtsol while Brock calls upon Blissey. All three Nihilego attack by refracting light though their glass-like bodies, a Power Gem attack.

Ash shouts, "Turtsol, use Flamethrower!"

And Brock commands, "Secret Power, Blissey!" The two attacks are able to stop the incoming Power Gems, but only just barely.

Ash looks back to Lillie. "Hey Lillie, what's up? Send out a Pokémon and help us out!"

Lillie slightly comes to and says meekly, "Yeah…a Pokémon…right…um…" She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She says to herself, "It's just a Pokémon…it's just a Pokémon…it's just a Pokémon…and I'm not afraid of Pokémon…" Having at least been able to half convince herself, she pulls out a Pokéball and throws it. "Come out, Snowy." From the Pokéball elegantly appears an Alolan Ninetales. Lillie, refusing to look at the Nihilego, keeps her eyes on the ground and says, "Use Ice Beam…" sounding mostly unsure of herself.

Ash grins at seeing Snowy the Ninetales, and then tells Turtsol, "Let's throw in your Molten Slag!"

Brock declares, "And we'll add our Egg Bomb!"

Each move hits a different Nihilego, managing to cause damage to each of them.

From the resulting smoke of the attacks, one Nihilego bursts out. It's hurtling towards Snowy, preparing to latch onto it with its tentacles.

Snowy shouts, "Niiiine!"

Lillie takes a peek up and freezes again upon seeing the incoming Nihilego. A shockwave of fear passes through her body.

Ash shouts, "Lillie, you have to tell Snowy what to do! Give it a move to use!"

Lillie tries to say something, but she can't form the words. She is stuck in the grasp of horror and trauma.

Just in the nick of time, Ash shouts, "Rapid Spin!" Turtsol, withdrawn into its shell and spinning, crashes into the Nihilego, just before it latches onto Snowy, and knocks it back into the other two Nihilego. With this, they decide to flee, realizing that their targets won't be easy for them to latch on to. Ash recalls Turtsol. "Thanks for that."

Brock also recalls Blissey.

Snowy walks up to Lillie and asks, "Nine?"

Lillie grips her fists, closes her eyes, and begins to take deep breaths to calm herself. Lillie then opens her eyes and looks down to Snowy. She pets its head and apologizes. "Im so sorry, Snowy. I'm a terrible trainer…" She sighs. "I guess some things never change…"

Ash asks, "What was that, Lillie? What just happened? You said you got over your fear of Pokémon."

Lillie hangs her head in shame. "Well…I did…of Pokémon…but not Ultra Beasts…not Nihilego…"

Ash realizes what she means and nods in understanding. "I'm sorry, Lillie. I didn't even think about that. I should have realized. I shouldn't have made you join that battle."

Not wanting Ash's apology, Lillie shakes her head. "No, this is not your problem, it's mine, and I've got to get over it. I have to face my fears, just like I did with other Pokémon." She looks back down to Snowy and pets it again. "Just like I did with Snowy."

Snowy looks up to her and smiles. "Niiiine!"

Lillie pulls Snowy's Pokéball back out and returns it to it. She looks to the Pokéball and says, "I'm sorry I let you down, Snowy…"

Ash says sternly, "Hey, don't go thinking that way, Lillie. It's not your fault. You can't help the way you react to Pokémon."

Lillie shakes her head. "No, it is my fault. I was able to get over my aversion to every other Pokémon I've met, why not Nihilego?"

Ash emphasizes, "You know why, Lillie."

Lillie shakes her head again. "It doesn't matter. Nihilego's just another Pokémon. I can't let it get to me like that. I won't let it get to me like that. No way!"

Ash declares, "I believe in you, Lillie. If you say it, you can make it happen."

Pikachu encourages, "Pik pika!"

Lillie smiles and nods. "Thank you, Ash." She still appears shaken from the encounter, but also has renewed confidence blossoming.

Burnet has finished her assessment of the machine. Sophocles asks, "So what's the matter with it? Can you fix it? Please tell me you can fix it."

Burnet looks up towards everyone else. "Well, there's good news and bad news."

Mallow asks, "What's the good news?"

"None of the machine's internal circuitry has been badly damaged. It should still be able to function as is, at least in theory."

Lana then asks, "Then what's the bad news?"

Burnet sighs. "That overload caused by Xurkitree completely messed up any calibration I had going. It wiped the computer's hard drive clean. In order to attune this thing to the frequency of the Ultra Wormhole, I need to know the precise frequency of the Ultra Energy used to open it. All of the research I had from studying Nebby is back at my lab in Alola. We don't have time to retrieve it."

Kukui comments, "This is quite the Struggle. What should we do?"

Darius suggests, "Hey, didn't you say that I'm covered in that Ultra energy stuff? Can't you just get the frequency from me?"

Burnet shakes her head. "No, it's more complicated than that. The Ultra Energy you give off may be strong enough for the Ultra Beasts to detect, but it's not enough for me to get accurate enough readings from. I'd need more samples, stronger samples." She thinks for a moment, and suddenly inspiration hits. "That's it! More samples!"

Brenda asks, "What? What is it?"

"We have three perfectly good specimens running around, outputting massive amounts of Ultra Energy."

Everyone at once realizes what she means and says, "The Ultra Beasts."

Burnet nods. "Exactly. If we could capture all three of those Ultra Beasts, them, along with Darius, might just put off enough Ultra Energy for me to get accurate readings."

Brenda exclaims, "Then we can get Ash and the others back!"

Sophocles says with concern, "There's just one problem with that plan. It means we have to find and contain three Ultra Beasts…" As he says this, everyone realizes how difficult that will be.

Brenda suggests, "Well, we can battle them and catch them in Pokéballs."

Burnet shakes her head. "Pokéballs have a hard time working on Ultra Beasts, since their biology is so different. We'd have to use specially-made Beast Balls, but we don't have any."

Lana speaks up, "Well…We might be able to use Primarina's balloons to capture them. We've been working extra hard on making strong balloons that don't pop."

Kukui says, "That just might work, great thinking Lana! All that leaves is the need to find the Ultra Beasts in the first place." Upon him saying that, everyone turns to Darius.

Darius sighs. "I'm not going to like this idea, am I?"

Ash, Brock, and Lillie are now climbing a large and steep hill. Brock says, "This hill should get us most of the way up to the top of that cliff. Once we get to the top of it, it should just be a small walk until we make it to the wormhole's location."

Ash says, "Perfect, I'm more than ready to get out of here." He looks back to Lillie. "How're you doing now, Lillie?"

Lillie smiles at him. "Much better, thank you. Hopefully we won't have to see any more of those Nihilego, and everything will go fine."

Ash nods. "You bet." He's about to say something else, when something sparkly catches his eye. "Hey, what's that?"

He climbs over to a crystal column and pulls out the object from behind. It's black metal bracelet with a round face on top. Several diamond-shaped crystals are attached around its side, with one attached to its top. Ash quickly realizes, "It's a Z-Ring with Z-Crystals!"

Lillie asks in surprise, "Really?" She and Brock climb over to have a look.

Brock says, "Huh, it sure is. I wonder what it's doing here."

Ash looks it over carefully, and notices words engraved on the bottom of its face. He reads, "Issued to Leaper."

Brock suggests, "That must be the name of the person who lost it."

Lillie comments, "What a strange name. How does someone even lose something in Ultra Space? Do you think there might be someone else here?"

Brock points out, "It's possible that it was somehow dropped into an Ultra Wormhole and ended up here. Actually, I bet there's a lot stuff like that all over the place if we looked close enough."

While they were talking, Ash has slipped on the Z-Ring. He strikes a pose and asks, "What do you guys think?"

Lillie laughs. "I guess you might as well put it to use."

Ash nods. "Exactly what I thought. Now if we see any more Ultra Beasts, I can stop them with Z-Moves."

Brock urges, "That's great, but we really should be moving. We don't want to miss them opening the wormhole back up."

Lillie and Ash both nod, and they continue their ascent.

Darius walks with uncertainty. He calls out, "Oh Ultra Beasts, where are you? I've got a way back home for you, just sense the energy coming off of me!" He sighs. "This is never going to work."

From behind some bushes, Brenda says back, "Just keep on trying it! You remember what Professor Burnet said, they're attracted to you."

"I hate being bait…"

Then, leaping out of a nearby tree, a Kartana appears. The foot-tall Ultra Beast is leaping straight at Darius. Darius laughs. "Wait, this little thing is supposed to be dangerous! Ha!"

But then Kartana extends an arm, and the blade edge of it suddenly grows to be several times its natural size. It prepares to slash at Darius.

Darius' eyes go wide, realizing the mistake he's made.

Brenda shouts, "Glitterfly, use Signal Beam!" A beam of energy from Glitterfly knocks the Kartana away just before it can slash at Darius. Then Brenda shouts, "Do it now, Lana!"

Lana steps forward, alongside her Primarina. "Okay Primarina, do it! Make a balloon to catch Kartana!"

Primarina stands upright on its tail and generates a bubble of water over its nose. It then sings, "Primaaaaaaa!" and sends the bubble at the quickly recovering Kartana. The bubble envelops it completely.

Kartana attempts to hack and slash at the water encasing it, but it just flails about and is unable to escape.

Lana cheers, "Yeah, that should do it!"

Mallow congratulates, "Great job, Lana! You too, Primarina!"

Sophocles points out, "Now we only have two more left to go. I think we can actually do this!"

Darius sighs. "I guess I've got to go back to being the bait again."

Before anyone responds, a shockwave of electricity is launched at Darius, electrocuting him. Everyone turns to see that the Xurkitree has returned.

Kiawe and Turtonator step forward. Kiawe declares, "Looks like you're up for round two! Turtonator, use Dragon Tail!" Turtonator leaps at Xurkitree, preparing to slam its glowing tail down onto the Ultra Beast.

Xurkitree whips one of its arms at Turtonator to knock it away, but before it can, Mallow shouts, "Tsareena, use Leaf Storm!" Mallow's Tsareena appears and unleashes a powerful storm of leaves, which pins Xurkitree down to the ground and stops its attack, allowing Turtonator's Dragon Tail land.

With it now damaged, Sophocles jumps in and commands, "Vikavolt, immobilize it with Bug Buzz!" Sophocles' Vikavolt flies forward and creates a powerful buzzing noise, causing Xurkitree to fall to floor. Sophocles shouts, "According to my calculations, now would be the perfect time for Primarina to its thing!"

Lana nods. "Alright Primarina, another balloon!"

Primarina once again creates a water bubble and throws it at Xurkitree, capturing it just as it did Kartana. Just like Kartana, Xurkitree attempts to escape, but to no avail.

Everyone cheers. Kukui says, "That's two down, one to go. Way to go, kids!"

Ash, Brock, and Lillie have one more hill ahead of them. Ash asks, "We can't be too far now, right?"

Brock nods. "If I've mapped everything right, then the top of this hill should be our destination."

Ash cheers, "Alright!" He and Pikachu run up the hill in excitement, but come to a dead halt when they see what's at the top.

Lillie asks, "What is it Ash?"

Ash says worriedly, "You guys might want to see this…"

Brock and Lillie look to each other in confusion, and then run to catch up with Ash. Upon reaching the top, they are greeted to an amazing and equally scary sight. Sprawled before them is a massive gathering of Ultra Beasts of all different kinds, including Nihilego, Buzzwole, Phermosa, Xurkitree, Celesteela, Kartana, Guzzlord, and even the Ultra Beasts codenamed Burst, Assembly, and Adhesive. On the other side of the swarm of Ultra Beasts, the pillars damaged by the Ultra Wormhole can be seen.

Lillie gasps in surprise and fear. "That's a lot of Ultra Beasts…"

Brock says, "I don't know much about Ultra Beast behavior, but I can't imagine this is natural."

Lillie asks, "What are we going to do?"

Before anyone can respond, a Phermosa turns its head towards them. Upon seeing them, it shouts, "Mosa!" With this alert, all of the Ultra Beasts turns their attention to Ash, Brock, and Lillie. Only moments later, a stampede of Ultra Beasts is heading in their direction.

Ash pulls out a Pokéball. "Looks like we're going to have to battle our way through." He grins, anticipating the challenge.

Kukui is leading the others along a trail of destruction. He shouts back to the others as they run, "With this much blind destruction, Guzzlord has to be at the end of the trail. That Ultra Beast will eat anything and everything!"

Then Kiawe shouts, "Professor Kukui, look!" Sure enough, Guzzlord lies ahead of them, ravenously shoveling up anything it can get its claws on and dumping it into its mouth. Right now, it's devouring the side of hill.

Darius breathes a sigh of relief. "At least I don't have to act as bait for this one."

Lana shouts, "Alright Primarina, get it in a balloon!" Primarina creates its largest balloon yet and throws it at Guzzlord.

Guzzlord somehow senses it incoming, turns around, and bites down on the balloon, swallowing most of the water that it consisted of. The rest splashes to the floor.

Mallow says, "It's no use, we have to draw its attention away first."

Brenda wastes no time and throws a Pokéball. "Rabbolt, use Shockwave!"

"Raaaabbolt!" Rabbolt attacks Guzzlord with electricity, but Guzzlord literally swallows the attack.

Sophocles is baffled. "It just ate the Shockwave!? How is that even possible!?"

Guzzlord roars, "Guuuuuuuuzz!"

Kiawe says, "I guess that the Professor wasn't over-exaggerating when he said it would eat anything and everything."

Mallow declares, "Well, if it's a meal it wants, then I'll cook it up a feast! Tsareena, use Leaf Storm!"

Tsareena's attack sends a flurry of leaves at Guzzlord, but the Pokémon proceeds to eat it all.

Mallow quickly follows up, "Try it again, but then add a Trop Kick!" Once again, the leaves are devoured, but while it's busy eating, Tsareena leaps in and lands powerful kick on Guzzlord's side, knocking it slightly off-balance.

This is enough for Kiawe to come in, throw a Pokéball, and order, "Marowak, use Iron Head!" Kiawe's Alolan Marowak appears and rams powerfully into the already off-balance Guzzlord, forcing it onto its side. "It's up to you now, Lana!"

"Try again, Primarina!" Primarina creates another massive bubble, and this time successfully encases Guzzlord. Once in the bubble, Guzzlord does its best to chew through the bubble, but it can't.

Everyone cheers. Brenda says, "We did it! We got all three Ultra Beasts! Now to get that wormhole open again!"

Several Ultra Beasts are knocked out of the way as Pikachu uses Volt Tackle to clear a path. Ash, Brock and Lillie run after it. From the side, a Kartana leaps in to attack them, but Ash's Arborrior quickly punches it away with a Fire Punch.

When a massive Celesteela lands in front of them, completely obstructing their way, Brock's Blissey leaps into action, picking the entire thing up, and then flinging it out of sight.

Lillie has Snowy use Ice Beam to freeze a group of incoming Phermosa in place. Seeing that they're nearing the location of the wormhole, Lillie shouts excitedly, "We're going to make it!"

But then a Nihilego lowers down in front of Lillie, causing her to instantly freeze up in panic. Ash and Brock don't notice this and keep on running. As the Nihilego floats closer, Lillie screams in terror.

Ash looks back. "Oh no, Lillie!" He turns to help her, but the Ultra Beast codenamed Assembly drops down between him and Lillie, blocking his way to help her.

Nihilego grows ever closer to Lillie. Snowy looks back to her and urges, "Nine!"

Traumatic memories rush through Lillie's mind, keeping her completely frozen.

From behind the Assembly, Ash shouts, "Lillie, you have to remember, it's just a Pokémon! You can do this! I believe in you!"

Snowy steps up to Lillie and forces its head under her hand, to make her pet it. Lillie then has a flashback to the first time she touched Snowy, back when it was only a Vulpix. She also remembers how she first touched Pikachu, and then other Pokémon. She then clenches her fist and stomps a foot on the ground, declaring loudly, "It's only a Pokémon!" She puts her attention entirely on the incoming Nihilego and shouts, "I'm not afraid of you any longer! Snowy, use Dazzling Gleam!"

Snowy leaps up into the air and puts off a mystical and shimmering light, which explodes outwards, knocking the Nihilego back. "Now use Sheer Cold!"

Snowy begins to glow with a harsh blue-white light, then in a sudden cold snap, everything around it freezes. "Niiiiiiiiine!" Nihilego is frozen solid and tumbles away.

As this is happening, Blissey finally manages to get the Ultra Beast blocking them out of the way. Ash runs up to Lillie and congratulates her, "You did it, Lillie! You overcame your fear completely!"

Lillie nods. "And it was all thanks to you." She looks down to Snowy, "And you too, Snowy." She grins and it smiles back. But then Lillie is surprised by something she sees ahead. "Look!"

Ash and Brock turn to see that the Ultra Wormhole has opened back up. Brock shouts, "They've opened it again! We need to get over there, and fast! Who knows how long they'll be able to keep it open for this time!"

They begin to run, but it quickly becomes apparent that the Ultra Beasts have all been attracted to the wormhole as well. Within moments, the once relatively clear path to the wormhole is now completely blocked by the swarm of Ultra Beasts. Lillie shouts in despair, "We're not going to make it!"

Ash shouts, "Oh yes we will!" He looks down to the Z-Ring on his wrist and takes note of the fact that the Grassium Z is currently set on its face. He looks to Arborrior and tells it, "Arborrior, I need you to copy my movements exactly, okay?"

Arborrior affirms, "Borrior."

"Alright, let's do this!" Ash and Arborrior both pull in their arms and then crouch low to the ground. Green energy begins to amass around them. They then both spring up hold their arms upwards in a V shape. Ash shouts, "Go, Bloom Doom!"

"Arbooooorrior!" Green energy begins to pour out from Arborrior and sinks into the floor. This energy causes flowers to grow everywhere in the ground. Then there's a massive green explosion centered at Arborrior. As it travels outwards, the Ultra Beasts caught up in it are flung away. Once the explosion clears, there is a clear path to the wormhole.

Ash shouts, "Come on, let's go!" They all sprint for the wormhole, but many Ultra Beasts that were out of the way from the Z-Move give chase. They leap in.

After once again falling through the bizarre in-between space of the Ultra Wormhole, they are all dropped back were they first were pulled in from.

Brenda shouts, "We did it! They're back!"

Ash shouts, "You have to close the wormhole! Quick!" He looks up to it to see the silhouettes of several Ultra Beasts forming.

Lana says, "We can't do that yet, we have to get these three Ultra beasts back in there too!"

Ash looks the Ultra Beasts helplessly floating in their bubbles. He looks back to see the first of the Ultra Beasts beginning to emerge from the wormhole. He quickly swaps the Z-Crystals on his Z-Ring and shouts, "Everyone, we have to force them back in!"

Kiawe and Lana both realize his meaning. The three of them all begin to use Z-Moves at once. Kiawe shouts, "Inferno Overdrive!"

Lana declares, "Hydro Vortex!"

And Ash yells, "Gigavolt Havoc!"

Pikachu, Primarina, and Turtonator all unleash their full-powered Z-Moves at the wormhole, forcing the emerging Ultra Beasts back in, just in time.

Lana then says, "Get those other Ultra beasts back in there too, Primarina!" Primarina sings, and causes the bubbles to float right into the wormhole. The moment they're all in, Burnet closes the wormhole.

Once it sinks in that they're all safe again, everyone suddenly becomes abuzz with happiness. Professor Kukui congratulates, "Great job, each and every one of you. I'm very proud of you all. You've all come so far since those days back at school."

Kiawe asks, "Hey Ash, where'd you get that Z-Ring?"

Ash pulls it off. "I found it in Ultra Space, and I figured it would come in handy. Apparently it used to belong to someone named Leaper."

Upon hearing this, Darius' eyes go wide with realization. He says with surprise, "Leaper…that's me…"

Ash looks to him. "And who exactly are you?"

Sophocles explains, "That's Darius, he's a Faller who came from the wormhole along with those Ultra Beasts. He doesn't have any memories."

Darius explains, "Actually, I do now."

Everyone's surprised. Mallow asks, "Really? How?"

"Hearing the name Leaper, it's all I needed to spark everything. To tell the truth, Darius may be my real name, but Leaper is the name I go by. It's my codename."

Brenda questions, "Your codename?"

"Yes, I'm a member of the International Police, Alola Branch. I was sent here to investigate reports of Ultra Energy several weeks ago. I was unfortunate enough to arrive here right as the proto-Ultra Wormhole momentarily transformed into a full-fledged one, and I was sucked in. On the other side I learned that a massive and unnatural gathering of Ultra Beasts on the other side had caused space to stretch thin here, creating the proto-wormhole. I fought for my life for weeks against those things, and I knew that if that wormhole ever opened again, those Ultra Beasts would pour out into our world and we would have a crisis on our hands."

Burnet questions, "But what caused the gathering of Ultra Beasts? According to my research, Ultra Beasts typically remain in their own corners of Ultra Space. I've never heard of something like this before."

Darius shakes his head. "I wish I knew. I'll have to report this back to base. Maybe they can figure it out. Until then, we'll have to restrict access to this site to avoid any future accidents."

Burnet nods. "I concur." She thinks deeply. "Still, there is a great mystery at play here. What could possibly be the answer?"

Kukui, Burnet, Darius, and Ash's former classmates all stand in front of a large plane on an airstrip and face Ash, Brock and Brenda.

Darius says, "Now don't you worry about your friends, this International Police plane will get them all home safe."

Ash nods. "Glad to hear it." He looks to everyone. "Well, I guess this is goodbye."

Sophocles nods. "I guess it is."

Togedemaru begins to wail and tackles Pikachu to floor again to nuzzle it one last time.

Mallow points out, "Now it's your turn to visit us in Alola next time, alright?"

Ash nods. "Only if you promise to cook when I get there."

Mallow grins. "It's a deal."

Kiawe says, "Bye Ash, make sure you don't go too soft without me there to battle you."

Ash shakes his head. "I won't."

Brenda steps forward and nervously says, "Bye, Kiawe…"

Kiawe grins, "Bye, Brenda." Brenda blushes and quickly retreats backwards.

Darius encourages, "Alright, we best be off now."

Ash, Brock, and Brenda wave as everyone steps back onto the plane. Ash shouts, "Bye, everyone!"

Who would have thought a simple class reunion ever could have turned out so crazy? Fortunately, everything worked out in the end, and our heroes, new and old alike, all came out safely. And you know what? What's a day in the world of Pokémon without a little excitement? Our heroes are all the better off for having such a thrilling adventure.

But wait…something's not right. Am I forgetting something?

Jessie, James and Meowth all sit on the floor of Ultra Space, looking utterly depressed. Meowth groans, "I said I wanted to capture Ultra Beasts, not live with them."

Jessie shouts in anger, "How do we get out of here!?"

James answers melancholically, "The only way out is the way we took in. We'd have to find an Ultra Wormhole."

Jessie sighs. "And the hopes of that is nonexistent."

They all shout at once, "We're doomed!"

Abruptly, an Ultra Wormhole opens up to their left and a Bewear leaps out of it as it closes again. Team Rocket are all completely shocked. The Bewear grabs ahold of all three, then leaps to the right, just as another wormhole opens, and lands in it.

In their confusion, Team Rocket shouts, "Off with an old-new blast!?" as the wormhole closes behind them.

To Be Continued…