Liko - Our search for the Terastal Shiny Rayquaza, the first of Lucius' Six Heroes, took us to Galar Mine but waiting for us at the heart of the mine was a Galarian Moltres holding an Ancient Pokeball. We soon found out that it was another one of the Six Heroes! It didn't seem too happy to see us and started attacking but thanks to Sarah, we were able to escape along with everyone else. However, in the ongoing chaos, Sarah was forced to stay behind to protect us as the mine collapsed...!

At the Motostoke Pokémon Center, the heroes waited for the Pokémon wounded in the confrontation against Amethio and his Ceruledge (who managed to escape after they were brought out of Galar Mine) and Lucius' Moltres to recover while they took a little time to recuperate from their latest ordeal.

A ring of the healing room bell later, and sure enough, Nurse Joy, joined by a small army of male and female Indeedee, happily escorted the fully-healed Fuecoco, Sprigatito, Snowy, Tsareena, Shaymin, Sandy, Primarina, Inteleon, Bella, Robbie, Silvally, Tou-Tou, Blitz, Curly, Charizard, Galaxagus, Pantherra, and Cap back to the heroes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Your Majesties, we've restored your Pokemon to full health. They should be feeling much better now," Nurse Joy smiled much to everyone's relief.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy."

"Yes, thank you," smiled Liko, Roy, and Friede.

"Excuse me, Nurse Joy, but what of the miners and the Pokémon with them? Especially the Timburr, Woobat, and Roggenrola that led us to them," Lazuli inquired.

"I'm pleased to tell you that the miners and the Pokémon with them are all better, too. And, a good thing, too; they made a full recovery by the time you all came here."

"Then, you won't mind if I see those three right now?"

"Of course not, I think they will be very happy to see you, my dear. Follow me," Nurse Joy obliged as she led Lazuli to the back.

"That's great!" Roy cheered.

"But, Sarah..." Liko trailed off, worried about Sarah.


(Theme Song - Pokémon Horizons Jap. Opening 1 (Heart-Pounding Diary))

I'm starting to take a ride on this heart-pounding wave, I'll go far~

(Our opening begins with the sight of Liko and Sprigatito joined by Sarah, Blitz, Curly, her Alcremie, Silvally, and her two Terapagos enjoying the daytime breeze from the Brave Olivine's observation deck with the airship and the Dragon Craft flying together to parts unknown in the world before we pan to the heavens above and the main titles appear)

There're a lot of things I can't really put into words

Things that make me sad, always troubling my heart

But, somehow, I'll know I'll shine on today

Look at the flowers blooming, now it's time to play~

(We then see several members of Sarah's family and friends on the Dragon Craft from the right side of the screen in addition to shots of the Brave Olivine's crew, the Rising Volt Tacklers, with the first ones shown being Freide, Cap, and Charizard on the Brave Olivine's bridge and the little princess' blood family overlooking the horizon before them, Mischief, Persian, and the Tomoe Squad on the Dragon Craft's sunroof. Orla, Carkol, Slugma, and Elekid were working in the Brave Olivine's engine room while Sarah, Race, and Asha's Paldean classmates were having fun battling in the Dragon Craft's training room. Murdock and his Ruby Swirl Alcremie were cooking in the airship's kitchen with Rockruff eagerly awaiting a culinary masterpiece from them while Asha and her family were helping Sarah's Rainbow Swirl Alcremie in the Dragon Craft's kitchen as they and Sarah work on a new dish. And, Mollie and her Chansey were overseeing medical examinations for the wild Pokémon traveling with them and their friends from the Brave Olivine's medical room while Race looked out from one of the windows while he and his team kicked back in the Dragon Craft's spa room and his Terapagos watched with him from his left shoulder)

I'm running through a white fog every day

I can't even find what I'm looking for (uh)

It's this super-duper energetic-looking diary

But I said, "What's this?" and then I threw it away

No way, no way, no way, no way, no...

My heart was so dark and empty then~

(Roy and Fuecoco were seen strolling happily along a forest together while Dot and Quaxly make a Nidothing video and Ludlow was fishing from the stern at dusk before we see Liko with Sprigatito and Sarah and her two Terapagos in their respective bedrooms later that night)

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

(We see different shots of Liko, Sarah, Roy, and Race with Sprigatito, Blitz, Koraidon, Fuecoco, Robbie, and Miraidon)

But now I know I can change "No way" to "It's possible"
Floating around on this feel-good wind
Even if it's gonna be really super tough
I'll try my best to fly~

(While Liko clutches her pendant, Sarah unsheathes her Cosmic Grace as its Rayquaza Gem shone brightly with the pendant and her two Terapagos appeared in a glow they shared with the young girl's pendant. Liko, Roy, Sarah, and Race plop down on the Brave Olivine's Wing Deck and the Dragon Craft's sun deck before Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Blitz, Silvally, Tou-Tou, and Bella checked on them before the four friends laughed before we see the Brave Olivine and the Dragon Craft flying proudly in the skies together before we see something akin to a shooting star zip by)

And so, I'm riding on this heart-pounding wave!
But I'm sure that, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I won't let stories I don't get scare me

(Liko and Roy are then shown with Sarah battling together with the young trainers using Fuecoco and Sprigatito while they shoot Flamethrower and Leafage against Arcanine and Tundra with everybody else watching on happily for them before Roy, holding an Ancient Pokeball, looks on in astonishment at the sight of Lucius' Rayquaza as it appeared from a break in a distant storm)

In my sparkling daydreams, the world starts to dance!
So let's smile, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Because there's no time to be afraid, yeah

(Amethio and his Ceruledge battle against Lazuli as she, Pantherra, and Galaxagus unleash their rage towards two of those in the Explorers who were responsible for ruining the swordswoman's old life. Everybody from the Brave Olivine and the Dragon Craft was now shown in the latter's dining room as Murdock and Sarah finish cooking and bring out some completed dishes, planning to enjoy a meal together)

I just want to know myself!

Because there's still a lot, a lot, a lot I don't know, know, know, know

I just want to find myself!

If I can find it in myself to say "I'm off now"

Then I guess I'll know I've grown up a bit~

(As the opening ends, we see Liko and Sarah standing together with Sprigatito, the princess' Terapagos and Rainbow Swirl Alcremie, Silvally, Curly, and Blitz standing together as the clouds fly past them. They then noticed their friends, Lazuli, and the latter's family passing by them as they were on a dock, preparing to leave for their next adventure before they turned back and grinned at them. Roy and Race look back and stretch out their hands, prompting them to join, getting a smile out of the pair before they join in and we see them together one last time (but with the long-awaited addition of Dot following the events of "Quaxly, we can do it!"))

(End Theme Song)


While Lazuli was checking on the Timburr, Roggenrola, and Woobat she comforted and befriended from Galar Mine, the rest of the heroes were sitting together outside over some snacks and drinks to work up a strategy on how to deal with Lucius' Galarian Moltres in its current state.

"Whoo-wee! That was a real mess back there; now I understand why you, Lillie, Lana, and Mallow had so much trouble with a Galarian Moltres two years ago and why you and the others were so touchy about it, Gloria," Friede remarked to the current Galar Champion after Gloria told him and everyone else about the research mission she and Sarah's best friends undertook during their, Kiawe, Victor, Hop, Sophocles, Ash, Sarah, and Kukui's time at the Crown Tundra.

"Indeed, it was touch and go and we had to use a lot of the old 'hit and run' tactic to deal with it along with the Galarian Zapdos and Galarian Articuno with it at Dyna Tree Hill," Gloria admitted.

"It wasn't pretty," Lana admitted.

"Like everybody else with their own assignments with the temple and Calyrex, we had a lot of trouble dealing with the Galarian Legendary Birds since we don't know how to deal with them. Granted, we did watch Sarah fighting Galarian Articuno sometime before then but even she was backed into a corner before she and her Pokémon battling it were able to turn the tide against it," Mallow added.

"It's like the Galarian Legendary Birds were fighting on a completely different level compared to the original Legendary Birds. Even Gloria's team and her star partner, Inteleon, were struggling against it no matter what they did," Lillie put in.

"No way! Even Gloria's Inteleon couldn't stand up to the Galarian Moltres you girls fought before you caught it for Peony's assignment?" Roy asked in surprise.

Gloria chuckled as she admitted to Roy, "Yep. Had the situation been any different and we truly had our backs against the wall despite our last-minute saves, the only thing we could've done by then is run away."

She laughed a little along with Lillie, Mallow, and Lana and even the others joined in, all of them recalling how their battle with the Galarian Legendary Birds went before it finally ended in them capturing them all while joking around about it, much to Liko's surprise as she gaped at them.

"What's wrong, Liko?" Lana puzzled the young girl.

"Well, it...It seems like you were all having fun during that battle," Liko admitted.

Friede laughed along as he saw what the girls were getting at before he told Liko, "Well, it's exciting for many of us to come across a variety of Pokémon that powerful. It reminds us that we got room to grow and get stronger."

"Truer words never spoken, Friede," grinned Leon in agreement.

"Mm-hmm!" Ash and the Pokémon School Gang concurred happily, sharing Leon and Friede's sentiments.

"I guess it makes sense," Liko admitted.

"Kabu said something like that, 'Failure is life's way of teaching us to step it up'!" Roy grinned, immediately understanding Friede's point and recalling what Kabu taught him and Liko at one point during their training with him.

"Speaking of the Crown Tundra, getting back to the subject of Lucius' Moltres, it was also the place where Sarah met and caught Calyrex and his sons after solving the mystery about them," Victor said, deciding to breach the topic of the third of the Six Heroes again.

"But, from what you, Mallow, Lana, and Gloria told us, that Moltres was on a completely different level and nothing like the Galarian Moltres you met. Right, Lillie?" Hop inquired to the Ice Type Alumni.

"Mm-hmm, it subdued Liko, Roy, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Cap using Fiery Wrath despite Sarah protecting the rest of us with Protegopikus and it was able to knock Cap out using a barrage of Air Slash attacks, three in total at different increments before he finally fell. They weren't too effective against him but there was nothing we could do at that point," Lillie nodded.

"We never stood a chance against it," Lana sighed.

Ash sighed, "I'm glad Sarah had her Galarian Moltres Gem with her; obviously, whatever was inside Galar Mine scaring all of the Pokémon there definitely wasn't Rayquaza but Lucius' Moltres."

"You can say that again," Pikachu agreed.

"And, you thought his Moltres was Rayquaza until it made itself known after your earlier run-in with Onia and Zirc from the Explorers, Roy? Especially when Sarah's Galarian Moltres Gem said otherwise?" Kiawe glowered darkly at Roy who smiled and chuckled sheepishly as he tried to explain himself.

"Come on, Kiawe, let's not be too hasty here. I mean, we had to know if Rayquaza was really in there, right?" Liko replied in his defense, sharing Roy's sheepish smile.

"Not unless you count us nearly getting killed by it when it appeared, Liko. It's a good thing Sarah also told us about the miners and the Pokémon with them at the heart of Galar Mine being affected by its Fiery Wrath attack as well. I mean, have you ever heard of a Rayquaza that was capable of using an attack unique only to a Galarian Moltres? I sure as hell don't," Sophocles reminded, unimpressed.

"Me, neither."

"Agreed, that's a scientific impossibility," Togedemaru and Vikavolt nodded in agreement.

"And, again, you should count your lucky stars Sarah was able to warn us before it attacked again thanks to her gem."

Now, Liko and Roy were curious about the Pokémon Gems (especially after they recalled seeing them briefly on her family's Sun Sword when she protected everyone in their group from Lucius' Moltres before she sent them out) so they asked everybody gathered, "But, what's the deal about these Pokémon Gems you keep telling us about?"

"Yeah, we saw them in her sword earlier but there must be something more about them we don't know about."

Realizing that they couldn't talk their way out of mentioning the Pokémon Gems, both Tsukumaro and Sarah's human family looked at each other, having a mental debate before they all finally nodded in agreement.

"Hey," Lazuli called as she, Mr. Hu, Mistral, Pantherra, Galaxagus, and Stardust along with the Timburr, Woobat, and Roggenrola she befriended (after they had been cleared to leave the Pokémon Center under her care) came over to meet with the other heroes. "What are you all on about now?"

Tsukumaro, James, Nikki, Asha, Doug, Delilah, Race, Donna (former queen), and David looked at each other again as they realized that they would also need to tell Lazuli the secret of the Pokémon Gems. Knowing they had nothing to lose since the swordswoman was firmly on their side, they relented and the old advisor immediately cast the barrier spell to keep what they were going to say to everyone not in the know about the gems between them and nobody else out in the open.

"Now, my old friends and I as well as the princess, her husband, and our friends never told anybody else this but the princess' Pokémon Gems are powerful objects originating from a magical tree her father planted centuries ago when she was still a baby. Each gem is connected to the spirits of the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon living in our world, and with their power at hand whenever possible, the princess can summon any Legendary or Mythical Pokémon to her aid or use their signature moves in battle depending on the circumstances she finds herself in," Tsukumaro explained.

"Wait, what!?"

"Summon Legendary Pokemon AND use their moves, too?!"

"HUH/DUH?!" Roy, Liko, Fuecoco, and Sprigatito balked in shock.

"…No way."

"'Scuse me?"

"Whoa, you guys and Sarah sure know your way around with those gems! I've never known anything like that let alone them in my life!" Friede, Cap, and Charizard blinked in astonishment as the Paradox Pokémon shared their shock over what they just learned about their human caretaker.

"...Damn," Lazuli finally said.

"Wow!"

"Awesome!"

"I didn't know she could do that!" Timburr, Woobat, and Roggenrola cried in amazement.

Ring-Ring-Ring! Ring-Ring-Ring!

Soon, everybody heard Friede's Rotom Phone ringing as it appeared from his pocket and the unconventional professor told everyone, "I pinged Dot earlier and asked her to do a little digging about our surprise guest back at Galar Mine."

Dot nodded in confirmation from her room as she revealed what she found out about a Galarian Moltres, "Yeah. Lillie, girls, you were right; what you all saw at Galar Mine is indeed a Galarian Moltres. I rang up Professor Magnolia and Sonia to ask them about what they learned about it after studying the Galarian Moltres from Dyna Tree Hill that was given to them and what I've learned paints a pretty grim picture; they said that once it's angry and riled up to a certain degree, nothing can stop it. The sinister energy that blazes from within its body is so oppressive that most Pokémon can't even begin to approach it. Also, a Galarian Moltres attacks by spreading its wings out wide to unleash its energy in a powerful aura that attacks the minds of its foes, thus inflicting deep fatigue as it burns away their energy from within; obviously, you know this as Fiery Wrath. But, that's not the worst of it; the aura also has the power to consume the spirit of its victims, reducing them to burned-out shadows of themselves."

"Burned-out shadows?" echoed Lacey.

"That doesn't make me feel better than it did without me knowing about it."

"Agreed," Carmine and Atticus gulped.

"I don't like the sound of that," Ortega put in.

"Yikes..." Roy nodded nervously.

"The only way to overcome the effects of Fiery Wrath is to have a strong spirit. It's been said to have a mix of a haughty personality and a calm demeanor."

This intrigued Friede and he replied, "Amazing, I wondered why there had been almost no confirmed sightings of it."

"Probably for the best due to what someone evil could do with it under its control."

"Right. Great work, Dot, thanks a bunch."

"You all be careful."

"See ya~!" Dot and Quaxly nodded as the call ended.

"And, from what Sarah told us, if it is one of Lucius' Six Heroes, then it must have an Ancient Pokeball so we can back off from it now."

"So, that's it; it's actually the Galarian Form of a Legendary Pokémon. But, we remember how angry it was earlier, especially with how Sarah went against it to buy us time to escape! What can *we* do against something that strong?" Roy gritted his teeth, wanting to challenge Moltres and get back at it, not wanting the worst to happen to Sarah.

"It's not a matter of figuring out how to beat it, that's nearly impossible given how it tried to trash us earlier."

"We need to find a way of getting through all of that pent-up rage it has on it."

"Hiccup and Zenna are right, Roy. I think what we really need to do is to understand it, and only then, would we find out if Sarah's okay," Liko agreed, much to the young adventurer's surprise as he turned to her (while she recalled seeing Hatenna's sad and bitter tear for Moltres).

The others were intrigued and the idea also caught Friede's interest as the unconventional professor inquired, "Go on."

"Back in the mine, before Sarah stayed behind to keep us out of range of its anger, I saw Hatenna...looking at the Galarian Moltres. It was brief, but, I could've sworn she was crying for it. I think it must be feeling more than angry back there; I'm sure Sarah must've realized it, too, and she stayed at the mine for that reason, too."

"So, behind that rage, Hatenna and Sarah sensed something else, huh? Even so, we still need some sort of plan."

"If only Fuecoco's Flamethrower was as strong as Moltres' attacks," Roy suggested as Fuecoco sneezed and let out a small tuff of fire from his mouth, thinking they could win through brute force. "Well, maybe then, we could win."

"But, it's not about 'strength vs. strength' all the time, Roy," Lana countered before Liko spoke up again.

"Don't you remember what Kabu said? He told us that 'winning battles isn't the only path to becoming a trainer'."

"I see. If there is something behind all of that rage, what we should do is something Sarah would pull off: trying to break through that rage and get to the heart of why it was feeling that way in the first place," Gladion nodded, seeing what Liko was thinking.

"And, that means using both brains and brawn to try and calm our Galarian powerhouse from Moltres down so we could figure out why it's mad at all," Carmine agreed.

"The only problem is how do we do it?" Kieran reminded everybody as the entire group tried to think of a plan involving their new idea.

As that was going on, the Pokémon were just about finished with their berry meals and only one berry remained as it lay in front of Fuecoco. Seeing the berry, Wattrel hopped over and tried to claim it for himself as he snatched it from his fiery brother before he could eat it.

"Wah! Hey, back off, bro! It's my berry and I'm eating it!"

"Not anymore, it's not!" squabbled the Storm Petrel and Fire Croc Pokémon angrily before they got into another fight with Wattrel pecking Fuecoco's head for the first time in days and Fuecoco desperately holding onto his berry.

"Oh, boy..."

"Well, there they go again," Atticus and Giacomo sighed, shrugging at the pair as everybody turned to them fighting.

Liko and Roy were flabbergasted when they saw this and the flustered young adventurer went over to try and break them up again as he screamed, "Come on! Knock it off, you two!"

His efforts, however, were in vain as Wattrel and Fuecoco continued to squabble while Charizard sighed awkwardly, not knowing what to do as he watched his little Paldea brother and Wattrel fight. Sprigatito opted to go for a catnap after finishing her meal, ignoring the pair's petty fighting until they lost the berry and it rolled over to her.

"MINE!" Fuecoco grinned as he lunged at it.

"HEY! You need to cool off, man," Sprigatito snapped as she slapped Fuecoco hard and patted him while letting out her sweet scent to calm him down.

Roy's team soon breathed in the Grass Cat Pokémon's sweet scent as they started to feel better and forget about their previous fighting which immediately gave Friede, Liko, and Roy a brain blast as they cried in elation, "That's it!"

"Hey, Race, where are your and Sarah's Terapagos running off to?" Atticus noted, directing the former Battle Frontier Champion to his and his wife's Terapagos Three who were quickly waddling away towards the direction of Galar Mine.

"Hey, wait! Hold it!" he cried as he caught up to and picked them up, making them whine and struggle to get out of his grip (despite knowing exactly what made them upset). "I know, we're going to get Island Girl back. But, we can't do it without a plan as well as make sure you're out of danger."

The Terapagos Three babbled and cooed frantically at him but Race was firm in his decision to keep them out of trouble until they retrieved Sarah as he told them, "If we're to have any hope of seeing her again, we need to prepare for the worst; there is a chance that Galarian Moltres back at Galar Mine could target you as well should it turn its attention to you all. But, if you stay out of danger and try not to get caught in the fray as we try to calm that big bid down, we'll find out if Island Girl's alive and you will be back with her. Promise me you'll stay out of harm's way until we find Island Girl and stop that madbird, alright?"

Knowing that their human father was right, the Terapagos Three cooed and nodded in defeat and agreement, and soon, the heroes returned to Galar Mine despite the worries over what could potentially happen.


When they arrived back at Galar Mine and entered through the entrance, they were surprised to find the tunnel leading to the shaft Sarah and Moltres were currently at in such a catastrophic state; the wooden shaft pillars were shattered, dozens of rocks were piled on top of one another, and Moltres' claw gashes were seen on them, indicating the fight it was having with her.

"Whoa, look at the damage Moltres has done to this place!"

"Aww, man, this is depressing."

"I never knew how powerful a Galarian Moltres actually was until seeing all of this," gulped Giacomo, Drayton, and Goh, looking around.

"Yuck, Ol' Firebird Healy's having a bad day by the looks of this dump," Prinplup snarked over Moltres' "handiwork".

"You think Sarah and Moltres could still be going at each other right now, Mr. Friede?" Braixen chirped to the unconventional professor worriedly.

"Could be, let's follow these tracks and hope they lead us to them through the debris left behind in their wake," Friede nodded warningly before he turned to Liko and Roy (who were doing their best to keep themselves cool-headed despite their lingering fear of Moltres and its power as well as what would've happened to Sarah as she was fighting it). "Now, listen, you two; if that Moltres of Lucius' ends up running wild and attacks us again, don't hesitate, just run."

The young trainers recalled how monstrous and powerful Lucius' Moltres was after it had outmatched Fuecoco and Cap as well as the other Pokémon with them and their party a short while ago, realizing how close they had become to becoming charred Galarian barbeque from the Malevolent Pokémon's assault and its Fiery Wrath attack.

"...Just remembering that," Roy shuddered as Fuecoco whimpered, both of them not wanting to remember their group's failure of a struggle against it until he reassured himself and his partner, "N-No way, let's not think about that! We got to stay brave!"

"Let's!" Fuecoco agreed as the two of them began to chant in song to lift their spirits and keep themselves from being scared of Moltres' power.

"Someone's found their groove," smirked Cap to Friede who shared his amused smirk.

With Liko, she couldn't help but recall what she now felt was sorrow and pain mixed with hatred from Moltres as she mused, "Galarian Moltres seems to be suffering..."

"Liko?" Sprigatito meowed to her.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I got you on my side," Liko quickly reassured her partner, trying to hide her thoughts about the pain and suffering Lucius' Moltres could be going through.

However, as they got closer to the mining camp where Sarah and her party along with Cap first found and confronted Moltres, the heroes heard an angry roar from said Pokémon along with an explosion that followed suit further down. Everyone felt tense and the Terapagos Three cooed frantically, knowing that it must've been the third of Lucius' Six Heroes and the little princess continuing to duke it out (with everyone else save for the royal family not knowing about Sarah's new Cosmic Fury ranger power).

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

BOOM!

"So much for hoping it would've calmed down by now," Friede sighed in slight disgruntlement, seeing that they're going to have to work a little harder on their current plan of action.

"Agreed," Cap concurred.

Soon, they arrived back at the mining camp in the heart of Galar Mine, and lo and behold, there were Lucius' Moltres and Sarah (now morphed as the new Cosmic Solgaleo Ranger) going at each other as they fought. By the looks of how they had been getting on since the others' escape, it seemed as if no time had passed since then and they were reaching an impasse in their ongoing struggle.

"Look, there it is!"

"Ah/Hey!"

"Galarian Moltres!" Liko, Friede, Cap, and Roy gasped, seeing Moltres before Roy noticed Sarah in her new ranger form below it. "Hey, guys, who's that over there fighting it?"

"Moltres! Calm down, Solar Slash!" Sarah roared as she swung her Solar Flare Saber and unleashed a powerful spinning left-to-right slash of scorching solar energy that struck Lucius' Malevolent Pokémon with intense heat.

But, despite the pain it felt, Moltres was furious at the little princess for her assault and unleashed an Air Slash attack at her, thus prompting its little opponent to defend herself with the Moon Shield.

"It's Sarah!"

"She's the Solgaleo Ranger again!"

"What happened?!"

"I don't understand, her Wrist Com was destroyed while we were dealing with Void Queen!"

"When did she find time to morph again?" Ash, Mallow, Lana, Kiawe, and Sophocles gasped in shock, immediately recognizing the Moon Shield, the Cosmic Solgaleo Ranger's fighting style, and her voice.

"Uh, Gladion, do you know anything about Sarah getting new ranger powers?" Lillie asked Gladion, aghast.

"I didn't, how was it possible?" Gladion breathed, looking just as astonished as his sister.

"I think she owes us an explanation as to what's going on with those new powers of hers," Burnet glowered, narrowing her eyes at Sarah.

"We'll need to act with a burst of Agility since we have bigger problems to worry about!" Kukui reminded as everybody saw Lucius' Galarian Moltres noticing the other heroes having returned.

Sarah looked at her family and friends and gasped in horrified shock as she barked at them, "What?! No, get back!"

"Too late, queenie! We're getting you out of this mess right now!" Lazuli shouted back as Galaxagus and Pantherra stood before Moltres, the two looking ready to fight while the Timburr, Woobat, and Roggenrola she befriended stayed close to her, Mr. Hu, and Mistral.

"Hang on, Sarah! Charizard, come out!" Friede boomed, sharing Lazuli's sentiments and sending his Charizard back out to do battle with Cap joining in as he tossed his hat into the air.

"Friede, if you got a plan before you all get roasted on Moltres' menu, I'd love to hear it!" Sarah shouted to the unconventional professor.

"We're not sure what you're doing right now, Sarah, but we got something you're going to enjoy! But, we'll need to work together as a team and draw its attention!"

"HA-HA! Let me have a shot at that freak first, Travel-Brains! Flamethrower, YEAH!" Chi-Yu laughed as he quickly used his Flamethrower attack at the Malevolent Pokémon only for Moltres to fly over to the right to dodge.

"Take it to 'im, Liko!" Astrid shouted to Liko.

"We'll cover you and Sprigatito! Come on, gang, move out!" Hiccup added as he and his friends along with their Pokémon and dragons flew around and surrounded Moltres to prepare for any counters to the heroes' plan of action.

Nodding at the Viking Teens in thanks, Liko ran forward with Sprigatito before she issued the next phase of their plan, "Now, Sprigatito! Go!"

"Right!" Sprigatito nodded as she emitted her sweet scent and tried to build it up as fast as she could.

But, to her horror, Moltres noticed what she was trying to do and fired an Air Slash attack to stop whatever she and everyone else had in mind, causing Liko to gasp in fear for Sprigatito's safety and forcing Friede and the others to act to protect her (bypassing the Viking Teens in the process).

"Cap, go!"

"Pikachu!"

"Turtonator, Pyroar, Charizard/Tsareena, Shaymin/Togedemaru, Vikavolt/Snowy/Primarina, Sandy!"

"Umbreon!" Friede, Ash, the Pokémon School Gang, and Gladion bellowed to their respective partners/teams.

Immediately, the Pokémon in question used Thunderpunch, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Discharge, Magical Leaf, Blizzard (which was one of a small series of new attacks Snowy learned during her and Lillie's recent travels in Kanto), Sparkling Aria, Swift (which is one a few new moves Lana and Sandy had been learning and perfecting since going off on their research voyages with their family), and Dark Pulse to counter and cancel Air Slash, saving Sprigatito from what would've been a total knockout.

"Cinderace, Inteleon, keep Moltres off of us with Pyro Ball and Snipe Shot!" Goh added, sending out his Cinderace and male Inteleon and allowing them to fire Pyro Ball and Snipe Shot at Moltres to keep them off their backs.

"Let's get him!"

"Right!" the Viking Teens shouted as their entire group ganged up on Moltres to buy everybody else more time to figure out how to execute their plan's phase involving Sprigatito's sweet scent properly.

"They won't keep it bugged and us out of its sight for long!" Ash gritted his teeth, knowing they haven't got much time in the heat of the moment.

"We've got to make our shots count so Moltres will calm down and listen to what we have to say!" agreed Gladion.

"Uh, Guys, would you mind explaining to me what you're on about right now?!" Sarah asked as she joined her family and friends.

"Just watch! This is it, Liko!" Friede reassured as he signaled Liko to start now.

"Now's your chance, go!" Goh added in encouragement.

"Sprigatito, use Leafage!" Liko screamed, allowing Sprigatito to properly start Phase 2 of their plan as she emitted her sweet scent again.

"Up, up, and AWAAAAAY!" she howled, using Leafage to carry and blow her sweet scent towards Moltres and her howl alerting the Viking Teens to get clear so it can hit the Malevolent Pokemon.

"Alright! Leafage with Sprigatito's scent!" Roy cheered.

"But, will it work should it hit Moltres?" Sarah remarked worriedly just as everybody saw Moltres flapping its wings to blow Leafage and Sprigatito's sweet scent away from it.

"Cheeky," grunted Cap in annoyance at Moltres.

"Sprigatito, again!"

Sprigatito tried to use her Sweet Scent Leafage combo a second time, but like with the first attempt, Moltres flapped its giant wings and blew it away, essentially the heroes stuck between a rock and a hard place while the Galarian Legendary Bird eyed them daringly as it hoped for a better challenge from its supposed enemies.

"It's no good, we can't hit it," Liko breathed in dismay.

"Not enough power," Friede deducted, realizing that they needed to hit it with a stronger dose and/or at a much closer range.

"So, what now?" Roy asked, wondering what they should do now to stop Moltres' rage.

"Liko, have Sprigatito climb aboard Galaxagus' back. We'll try and get it as close as we can," Lazuli suggested, lending the young girl her father's Night Pegasus Pokémon and allowing Sprigatito to climb aboard his back.

"Thanks, Lazuli!" Liko thanked as Galaxagus took off with Sprigatito aboard his back and they made their way to Moltres.

"Circle around Moltres and use Flamethrower!" Lazuli shouted to her father's partner, allowing Galaxagus to fire Flamethrower only for Moltres to dodge his attack effortlessly again.

"We've got to keep it from flying around like that so we can hit it in one spot!" Goh grunted, gritting his teeth as he saw what the problem was.

"Well, Goh, let's help them out!" Roy suggested.

"Good idea!" Friede agreed as Fuecoco, his Charizard, and Goh's Cinderace stood together for a combined Fire Pokémon frontal assault.

"Fuecoco/Charizard/Cinderace, Flamethrower/Pyro Ball!"

"Burn, baby, BURN/Take THIS!" "FOOOOOOORE!" the three Fire Starters roared as they fired off their respective or shared Fire Type attacks and struck Moltres in the chest, backing and pinning against one of the cavern walls.

"GOOOOOAL!" Goh's Cinderace grinned with a fist pump.

"It's working, we got Moltres!"

"It's pinned to the wall!" Lana and Roy realized, seeing their chance.

"Liko!"

"Do it now!" Friede and Sarah signaled and Liko nodded, knowing it was now or never.

"Sprigatito, Leafage!" Liko cried.

"Eat Sweet Scent Leafage, buster!" the female Grass Cat Pokémon bellowed as she fired her trademark attack covered in her sweet scent in a last-ditch effort from Galaxagus' back now that they were much closer to Moltes.

By this point, however, Moltres, angered and humiliated by the fight the heroes were putting against it, had had enough. It roared furiously as it unleashed its most powerful Hurricane attack by far, blowing away Sprigatito's Sweet Scent Leafage for a third time as well as the heroes and their Pokémon and dragons fighting against it away from it. This included Fuecoco, Sprigatito, and Galaxagus as the Fire Croc Pokémon landed in Roy's arms, Cap caught Sprigatito as she fell, and Galaxagus was blown into a cavern wall.

"Sprigatito!"

"You okay, Cap?" Liko and Friede called to Sprigatito and Cap as the heroes quickly regrouped.

"We're fine!"

"Yeah!" Cap and Sprigatito nodded just as Galaxagus recovered and returned to his family's side.

"Are you alright, Galaxagus?" Lazuli asked as she gently caressed her father's partner and helped him back to his hooves after he knelt in pain from the hard smack he took from hitting one of the cavern walls behind him.

"I am, child. No need to worry," the Night Pegasus Pokémon grunted.

"Charizard, are you doing alright?" Friede asked his Flame Pokémon as he regrouped with the heroes after recovering from hitting one of the cavern walls as well.

"Frosty," his Charizard replied reassuringly as everybody watched Moltres roar in agonizing grief and fury.

Realizing that they had no other options left, Liko decided to reach out to Lucius' Malevolent Pokémon with her heart as she steeled herself and stepped forward to talk with it to which Friede noticed as he cried, "Liko!"

The young girl, however, ignored him and she faced the Malevolent Pokémon before shouting out, "Moltres! Can you hear me? Please, listen to me, we're not your enemies!"

She then took out Arboliva's Pokeball, hoping that the sight of it and the knowledge of the second of Lucius' Six Heroes traveling with her and the other heroes would calm it down, "We mean you no harm, we have two other Pokeballs like the one you have in your talons!"

"We were looking for a Shiny Rayquaza that came out of this Pokeball, too!" Roy added as he showed Moltres the Pokeball belonging to Lucius' Rayquaza.

Moltres just roared at the pair in anger as it tried to stir up another powerful gust of wind to blow them away but Liko stood her ground and continued to speak with it, "Tell us! Please! Why are you so angry?!"

"ENOUGH! DIE, MORTALS!" Moltres screeched defiantly at her as it prepared to unleash Fiery Wrath.

"It's about to use Fiery Wrath again!" Friede warned.

"Run for cover!" squealed Altaria.

"Everybody, hide!" Donphan screamed frantically as everybody ran for cover.

"Take to the hills!" Raging Bolt roared as everybody chose a hiding spot to shield themselves from Fiery Wrath.

Roy and Fuecoco frantically chased after them to join the heroes in hiding but Fuecoco accidentally tripped and Roy had to get him. But, in doing so, they were directly in the path of Moltres' Fiery Wrath attack and he was frozen by the sight of the Malevolent Pokémon's unparalleled prowess that threatened to burn him and his partner to a crisp.

"Roy, come on!" Friede shouted to Roy before Cap and Blitz rushed forward to buy him and his partner time to get moving again. "Cap, wait!"

"Blitz/*lBlitzy, come back!" Sarah and Curly screamed in shocked horror.

"You better make a U-turn if you don't want to get burned, kid! I don't need help!" Cap called to Blitz.

"You probably won't, Cap! But, I'm just here for insurance!" retorted Blitz cheekily, getting an amused smirk out of the Brave Olivine captain before they performed Volt Tackle and charged at Moltres, managing to hit it but caused themselves to be blown back hard as their Volt Tackle charge didn't do much damage to it.

"CAP, BLITZ, NO!" Roy screamed in horror, seeing Blitz and Cap being thrown back to Friede, Sarah, and Curly and sporting heavy bruises from their failed assault.

"Blitz, Cap!"

"Blitzy!"

"You two alright?!" they gasped as Curly went to Blitz and nuzzled her mate.

"Ugh, just, great..."

"Ngh, yeah... Nothing, to it," they grunted, trying to push themselves back up.

Thinking back to how Liko and Roy tried to reach out to Moltres with their hearts, and having figured out how the young girl discovered how the Malevolent Pokémon was feeling underneath its anger and rage, Sarah nodded as she stepped forward and removed her helmet to show herself again to Lucius' Galarian Legendary Bird and speak with it calmly despite her previous fight with it.

"Moltres! Listen, this fight is getting us nowhere! My friend and I know you're angry right now but you must understand we didn't mean you any harm! We were only defending ourselves because you attacked us, thinking we wanted to hurt you! We don't know what caused you to act like a monster with how you're destroying Galar Mine just to kill us, but if you please try to tell us what's happened to you, we'll understand how you're feeling and help you!" Sarah pleaded as she held her arms out, making herself a human shield while standing between her family and friends and Lucius' third partner.

"MOVE, MORTAL!" Moltres barked at Sarah, looking irritated.

"I won't! You're in pain right now and we want to help you; please listen to what we have to say! You're only pushing everybody away by lashing out as you did!"

"Moltres, please listen to my friend! Sarah understood the pain you're going through more than any of us ever could! You must understand that we, her family, and the rest of our friends don't have any intention to harm you!"

"Haven't you figured out that we're not what you assumed us to be?!" Liko and Sprigatito concurred as they joined the little princess.

"I'VE HEARD ENOUGH!" Moltres snapped as it prepared to use Air Slash to kill Sarah, Sprigatito, and Liko first, forcing Liko to shield her partner and Hatenna as she crouched down (unknowingly dropping Arboliva's Pokeball as she did so as it rolled next to her) and Sarah to draw her Solar Flame Saber and bring out her mother's Moon Shield to safeguard them and take the full brunt of the assault. "NOW... DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!"

"STOP THIS RIGHT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!"

Suddenly, Moltres was soon attacked without warning by a flying blur with a human figure on it, the latter taking Arboliva's Pokeball and the blur ramming into the Malevolent Pokémon from all directions before the human brought out a bronze-studded staff from Dynasty Warriors and thrusted it at Moltres.

Despite being such a minuscule weapon compared to the Galarian Legendary Bird, the human figure was able to use it effectively against Moltres as with that one thrust, it forced Lucius' partner back hard before it crashed into the cavern wall behind it again (knocking the wind out of it completely).

Seeing that they would get the Moltres' attention, knowing it would recover soon and after saving Liko, Sprigatito, Hatenna, and Sarah despite cutting it close, the figure and the blur landed in front of them from their left or right before the human figure barked at the Malevolent Pokémon in a woman's voice, sounding like it was angry at Moltres for what it was about to do to them.

"I thought I knew you better than to devolve into a bloodthirsty demon after all this time, Moltres!"

Sarah, Liko, Hatenna, and Sprigatito blinked and looked at each other in surprise as they found themselves unharmed before they looked up to find out who saved them from being killed by Moltres who was just recovering from the unexpected assault and readying itself to kill the intruders that dare to stop its impending killing spree. However, along with a flabbergasted Liko, Sarah, Sprigatito, and Hatenna, the Malevolent Pokémon let out a baffled caw and its eyes widened before its pupils shrunk in fright at the figures that attacked it.

There, standing defiantly before it were Reader and a familiar woman who was actually Sarah's human advisor from Dragonstone: Marena. But, Moltres' attention was firmly stuck on Marena as she glared in extreme disappointment at it, her staff held behind her as she clutched it, ready to strike it down should it get any ideas to attack her and Reader along with their charge and her friends again.

Sarah, Race, and Asha's Paldea classmates as well as the Paradox Pokémon were baffled by Marena's appearance but Sarah's family and old friends were stunned beyond belief to see her after so long as they cried out to her in shock, "MARENA/MARENA/MARENA!"

Unsure of what to think, say, or do as its gaze was still stuck on Marena, Moltres tried to attack her but something inside it was holding the Malevolent Pokémon back each time it tried to go at her and Reader, warning it not to strike her down or it'll be sorry.

Finally, as its will to fight started to dwindle, the only thing it could do was speak to her (albeit fearfully as her harsh gaze was starting to frighten it), "N-N-No! It-i-Impossible! Y-y-You can't be! How-?! M-Marena! But, b-but, why?! After all this time...! You can't be here! You're dead!"

"Maybe you've forgotten all of the fun times you had with her, Lucius, and your pals, Mr. Hothead! Because you tried to fry our charge, her family, and her friends so you can serve them up as your dinner, when I found out what you were trying to do and clued Marena on the Explorers and what they're doing, I knew I had to bring her along to give you a good head-bashing!" Reader spat at Moltres.

Marena scoffed in agreement as she glared at Lucius' Moltres and told it with a mother's tough love, "What a plight it is to see you like this, Moltres! I was hoping to find out what happened to you all, especially Rayquaza and Lucius after all these years. But, we don't remember you becoming the monster you are now! I'll admit, I shouldn't have taken this long to find and meet you all again but what you're doing right now is where I draw the damn line with you and the others!"

"What?!"

"For real?!"

"She knew Lucius, but how?!" Lazuli, Roy, and Friede balked at the reveal.

"I never dreamt in all my life I would have to fight you all for one reason or another but I do have my limits, and right now, you've just crossed the line! I taught you all to exercise compassion for your friends and everyone around you, to have courage in the face of danger, and to be kind in the face of hate and adversity. But, I also told you to balance your wild hearts with a cool mind! Have you forgotten what I taught you in Lucius' stead?!"

Moltres flinched in response at this before it tried to change the subject, feeling hurt over how ashamed and furious Marena was of it, "N-N-n-n-No! I haven't! Believe it! It's just...I-i-It's been so long, over a century! Where have you been, you and Lucius, all this time?! Why didn't you two say anything? Why did you leave me to rot in this accursed mine for the last century?!"

"I know leaving you here in Galar Mine for the last one hundred years would leave you abandoned, angry, and rotten to the core but I was worried for you and the others! I talked it over with Lucius and he said it was for the best; I didn't want to go through with it when he told me what could happen to you, even after I came up with it in the first place but he supported the idea, knowing it was the only way for us to keep you safe from those who would want to use you for evil! He didn't want to leave you, too, but we didn't have a choice!" Marena continued, feeling her heart growing heavier with guilt the more she talked with the Malevolent Pokémon.

As she, Sprigatito, Sarah, and Hatenna listened in, Liko couldn't help but stare in surprise and confusion at Marena as she mused, "Wait, Moltres was left here? This woman, Marena, brought Moltres to Galar Mine and left it there 100 years ago? But, why? What were she and Lucius thinking back then?"

"Look, I'm sorry, Moltres... I just...I didn't want to give you and the others the wrong idea after Lucius and I went through with the plan to protect you and neither would he! We were scared for you, worried that you would eventually end up as weapons in the hands of humans who wanted your power for personal gain or worse. So, we stayed quiet...left you all in the dark so we didn't have to worry you for our sakes. I never stopped thinking about you and neither did he. I always held hope you would somehow still be alive after all this time despite the danger present in this new era..."

Marena shuddered as she did her best to restrain herself and keep herself from crying while tears started to well in her eyes, continuing despite her growing sorrow while hanging her head, "I won't ask you to forgive us let alone me since it was all my fault... But, I just want you and the others to understand; family is complicated, it's something we're still trying to learn about despite our friendship. But, we only did what we did because we loved you too much to let you go... The same reason the princess would do anything and everything to protect the people she loved, the same reason why the young girl with her tried to reach out to your heart after she found out what her Hatenna showed her; Lucius and I, we cared too much for you..."

The little princess' human advisor could no longer hold back her tears as she sniffed and showed her face to Moltres, the Malevolent Pokémon reeling back slightly as it saw her tears trailing down her cheeks, "You, Lucius, Arboliva, Rayquaza, and the others; you all were family to me like the people in my clan. But, you all... You guys were the best thing to ever happen to me in years. I wouldn't trade you for anything else in the world; you're worth much more to me than all of the riches this universe has to offer. I know Lucius might be gone forever but I know he would want us to live on, to be happy, for his sake... If you and the other Heroes want to, in his honor and memory, I would want nothing more than you to have me as your partner again... Your mother twice over, if you can forgive me, forgive us..."

Everyone gathered fell silent as they waited for Moltres' next move, feeling just as touched and heartbroken over Marena's confession and apologies to the Malevolent Pokémon and the rest of the Six Heroes.

The Galarian Legendary Bird belonging to the Ancient Adventurer didn't know what to think but Arboliva's Pokeball shook in Marena's left hand before it opened, revealing the Forest Guardian as she stood next to her.

"Brother," she began.

"Arboliva...?" Liko breathed as she and Sarah looked at Arboliva in awe as she continued to stand next to her human mother and before her Pokémon brother before she noticed her pendant starting to resonate with both of them present. "Uh, Sarah...? My pendant..."

"Liko?" Sarah asked quietly as the young girl showed her her pendant and they looked back at Arboliva, Marena, and Moltres.

"Mother speaks the truth, brother. Her words come from her heart, please come back to us," she hissed kindly, having heard everything and being the first of the Six Heroes to accept Marena as their mother again and forgive her for what happened in the past.

"Arboliva," Moltres began, its heart suddenly stirring to see the Forest Guardian after so long but also narrowing its eyes.

"Two of Lucius' Pokemon facing off!" gasped Friede in astonishment.

"Can you help us, Arboliva?" Roy pleaded to the Forest Guardian.

"If you do think she speaks the truth, Sister... You'll have to convince me! RAAAAAAGH!" Moltres decided, defiantly firing an Air Slash attack at Arboliva who stood her ground and tanked the Flying Type attack as best she could (not wanting to fight her brother unless she was forced to).

Marena managed to survive the assault but she tearfully glared at Moltres as she quietly growled at it, "Alright, you... We'll match you man-to-man and Pokémon-to-Pokémon if you want the truth!"

She then summoned Baxcalibur and her trusted dragon friend, Stormcloud, and the three of them joined Arboliva as the quartet braced themselves for their first-ever family spat with Lucius' Malevolent Pokémon.

"I guess it needs a little more convincing if it wants to trust Marena again!" Kiawe realized, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"Moltres is being really stubborn!" Lana growled.

"Doesn't it know that it's only hurting itself by doing all of this?" Ash grumbled.

"How are we supposed to battle something this powerful?" Roy wondered.

"I don't know," Fuecoco whimpered, losing hope.

"We're not battling Moltres anymore," Sarah spoke up as she retrieved her helmet.

"Huh? So, then..."

Liko smiled as she and Sarah braced themselves while the young girl told her adventurous friend (all while recalling her first meeting with Hatenna and how she came to be her second Pokémon as well as the kind of trainer she wants to be), "Sarah's right, Roy. The answer's right in front of us the whole time and we have to help Marena and Arboliva give it to Moltres. Training is more than battling; it's about bonding with Pokémon, we can try to understand what they're going through, what they're feeling...and help them. That's the kind of Pokémon Trainer I want to be"

As they shared a knowing nod, having an idea on how to help Arboliva and Marena make Moltres see the truth, Liko and Sarah put their new plan into action as the little princess canceled her morph and donned her Pokémon Nurse outfit, whistling to any Pokémon in her family that knows any healing moves on them to join the pair, Hatenna, and Sprigatito. Whatever they have in mind, they'll do whatever it takes to reach out to Moltres and help it open its hardened and closed heart to others and its own family again (something they transmitted to Arboliva through their hearts as they gazed up at her determinedly).

Knowing what the girls wanted, Arboliva activated her Seed Sower ability, turning the entire cavern into a field of green with Grassy Terrain, energizing the Grass Type Pokémon they had on them including Liko's Sprigatito and Rosie as they meowed loudly.

The other Pokémon and the dragons were feeling Arboliva's Seed Sower coming into effect as they felt rejuvenated while the Pokémon with Liko and Sarah readied themselves for their final confrontation with Moltres in its enraged state.

"Double team?" Sarah suggested to Liko.

"You got it. It's up to you and everyone with us, Sprigatito!" Liko nodded while calling out to her energized partner.

"Right! Come on, Rosie!"

"Wait for me!" the girls' supercharged Grass Cat Pokémon bantered as they got together and faced Moltres down as it cawed at them.

Marena, Baxcaliber, and Stormcould suddenly see what was going on as they stopped in their tracks, wondering what Liko and Sarah had in mind to subdue Moltres and its rage.

"Restrain it!" Sarah began, allowing Gogoat, Snivy, Mew (after becoming a Venasaur), Nyasi, and Wo-Chien along with Slurpuff, Delcatty, Sho, Arrietty, Skitty, Blissey, Wigglytuff, Eevee, Sylveon, and the original Eevee Squad (all using Copycat) to use Vine Whip to ensnare Moltres and trap it before it could do the pair any harm. "Liko, now!"

"Use Leafage!"

"Twice the fun...!"

"Two for the price of one!" Rosie and Sprigatito chirped determinedly, firing a more powerful rendition of their Leafage attacks combined with their species' sweet scent as their combined attacks began to overwhelm the Malevolent Pokémon.

Moltres cawed furiously and tried to blow their Sweet Scent Leafage away but it only cut the effectiveness of their combined assault in half despite being restrained; Sprigatito was starting to get worried but Rosie was still determined to calm it down for Marena and Arboliva's sake as she nudged her fellow Grass Type and gave her a determined nod. Liko's partner realized they and everyone else had come too far to give up now, and sharing Rosie's determination, she readied herself for another combined assault on Lucius' Legendary Bird.

"You two reached it but I don't think it's enough!" Friede fretted.

"We're not finished yet! There's still a chance we can get through to it! Hang in there, everybody!"

"We have to keep going until we get it to listen to all of us! Sprigatito, Rosie, again!" Sarah and Liko reassured as they encouraged their Pokémon with them to keep going, hoping that their efforts would pay off in the end.

Understanding their determination, Friede then told everyone, "Let's help them, gang!"

"Right/Yes/Okay!" the entire group agreed.

"Yeah," Roy nodded determinedly as he turned to his partner, "Alright, Fuecoco, get ready!"

"Ready!" Fuecoco squeaked, preparing to jump in.

After scanning the entire area and seeing what they had to do, Friede grinned as he realized what they needed to do to help Sprigatito and Rosie make their combined Sweet Scent Leafage attacks hit Moltres, "That's it! Everyone, we cannot let Sprigatito and Rosie's Leafage attacks touch the ground!"

"You're right, Friede! If we can redirect their Leafage attacks with a Gust of wind, we can redirect them to Moltres and cover them before it has a chance to blow them away!" Kukui grinned, seeing where Friede was getting at before he turned to the rest of their party. "Call out or have any Pokémon on you that knows Gust or has a pair of wings and put them to work! Lift those leaves back into the air!"

"What a great idea, Professors!"

"¡Genio absoluto! Our Pokémon that know attacks like Gust or Whirlwind or even have a pair of wings can stir Rosie and Sprigatito's Leafage up!"

"The leaves brought back into the air will surround Moltres and their sweet scent being carried on it will finally calm it down!"

"That's awesome!" Penny, Nemona, Goh, and Ash grinned excitedly.

"Sounds like a plan and I know just the Pokémon to do that! Wattrel!" Roy grinned as he summoned Wattrel and the Storm Petrel Pokémon held onto his brother's head as he flapped his wings.

"Alright, Vikavolt, Nitro, flap away with your wings!"

"Killowattrel, show your stuff!"

"Galaxagus, wing time!"

"Breezeon, Amber, Kaji, Altaria, join in!"

"Let's go, Frosmoth, Reshiram, Ho-Oh!"

"Ivory, Ivy, Swirl, use Fairy Wind!"

"Brave, Tuschowl, Talon, Pathangle, flap your wings!"

"You too, Braviary, Claudia, Beautifly! Blow those leaves over to Moltres!" Lazuli, Ash, Nemona, and the Pokémon School Gang cheered, allowing the Pokémon they and Sarah have on them to make use of their wings and Flying Type Attacks.

"Friede, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah, no reason to let them have all the fun!" smirked Kukui and Friede as they allowed the Alolan Professor's Braviary and Charizard (much to Fuecoco's delight) to join in on the actions, making use of their wing power to blow Rosie and Sprigatito's Leafage falling on the ground back to Moltres.

Moltres flapped even harder to blow their Leafage away but no matter how hard it flapped and blew the sweet-scented leaves away, they would always be redirected back to the Malevolent Pokémon at twice the wind power being thrown at it.

"It's like everyone on our side is giving your combined Leafage power a boost!" Liko grinned, seeing hope coming for Moltres thanks to everyone's combined efforts.

"That's true!" Sprigatito replied, impressed.

"True? You think, Sprigatito? This is great, we'll have Ol' Hotfoot-Joe down on ground zero with Ms. Marena in no time!" Rosie cheered, her optimism for their success rising high.

Marena smiled in elation and admiration along with Baxcaliber and Stormcloud as she realized what the heroes and her and Reader's charge were doing, "Amazing! The princess, her friends... They're geniuses; by circulating the air using all of the wind and wing power they have on them, they're filling this entire mine shaft with those kittens' Leafage!"

"I suppose they won't mind me giving them a hand if we're to get Moltres back, Aspiro!" Stormcloud shouted, the female Storm Dragon casting her wind spell to create a powerful gust of wind to add to the wind power boosting Rosie and Sprigatito's Leafage just as Moltres prepared to unleash an Air Slash attack to stop everyone dead in their tracks.

"Xatu, grab Ogerpon and use Quick Attack! Ogerpon, Power Whip!" Tsukumaro called, allowing Xatu to quickly grab Ogerpon while Ogerpon readied herself with her Teal Mask and Power Whip as they zipped towards Moltres (using the wind currents to their advantage) before turning to Friede and Cap. "Sir Friede!"

"Double Team, now!" Friede signaled to Cap, having him help Ogerpon and Xatu distract Moltres.

"Disperse!" Cap shouted, creating various clones of himself using his speed and agility as they surrounded the Malevolent Pokémon who became flabbergasted, not knowing which Pikachu to attack first.

Without warning, the clones charged at Moltres and ambushed it, forcing the Galarian Legendary Bird to try and dodge them while also being unlucky to get hit by Xatu and Ogerpon through their Quick Attack and Power Whip combo (with the latter's Defiant ability kicked into high gear thanks to her Teal Mask), giving Liko, Sarah, Sprigatito, and Rosie the opportunity they needed for one final push.

"Nya-nya-ny-nya-nya! You're losing, Slowmo-poi!" Ogerpon sniggered as she briefly took off her Teal Mask and blew a cheeky raspberry at Moltres.

"It's time for your best Leafage yet, Sprigatito, Rosie!"

"This one's for Lucius and Marena, you two! Unleash the power!" Liko and Sarah shouted to their Grass Cat Pokémon.

"We, have...THE POWER!" Rosie and Sprigatito screamed, unleashing the full power of their combined Sweet Scent Leafage attacks.

"We want to fight, too!"

"Let's get 'im!"

"Yeah!" Clover, June, and Catnip meowed determinedly as they and Melon came forward in front of their owners.

"Mm-hmm! Mama?" Melon nodded, turning to Deliah with a determined glare on her face.

"Right! Let's give Baby and Liko a helping hand!" Delilah nodded, sharing Melon's sentiments before turning to Donna (former queen), Nikki, and Diane as Clover, Catnip, June, and Melon stepped forward, wanting to assist Rosie and Sprigatito.

"Yeah!" the other three ladies in the royal family agreed as they and their Sprigatito got ready.

"Melon/Catnip/June/Clover, use Leafage all together!"

"HYYYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Melon, Catnip, Clover, and June meowed loudly, unleashing their Leafage attacks and mixing them with Roise and Sprigatito's combined assault.

With everyone's combined efforts, after much toil and strife and an insane amount of toing and froing, the heroes managed to land a hit on Moltres using Rosie and Sprigatito's Sweet Scent Leafage attacks. But, it wouldn't have been made possible without the additional help of Delilah, Diane, Nikki, Donna (former queen), Melon, Catnip, Clover, and June providing the final push they needed at the eleventh hour to win the battle and end the family spat between Moltres and Arboliva & Marena.

As soon as it was hit, the sweet smell of their species' scent managed to calm it down as it lost the hate-filled glare in its eyes and landed on the ground to join Arboliva along with Marena, Liko, and Sarah. After they regrouped and came face to face with Moltres (and after two of the Terapagos Three reunited with their human mother, prompting her to carry them while Race and his Terapagos watched on happily), the three of them stepped forward to meet with the Galarian Legendary Bird belonging to Lucius as the others watched anxiously with bated breath.

But, as they met up with it, Liko's pendant resonated with Moltres' presence in its currently calm state.

"So... You were with her all along...Is that it?" Moltres began, eying the pendant as it shimmered in response.

"Is it talking to Liko?" Roy asked.

"No," Friede replied.

"Come on, you can come out now."

Liko looked at the pendant and took it out as she realized what Moltres was doing, "Are you, talking to my pendant?"

She soon got her answer as she held it out while it continued to shimmer and shine and this time, it fully transformed into the heroes' fourth and final Terapagos in Liko's care (no longer remaining in its dormant form, much to the amazement of Sarah and Race's Terapagos Three as the former BF Champion and his Terapagos came over to join in). After leaving its dormant form behind, it then babbled at Moltres, sounding happy to see it again as if it had been friends or family with it for some time.

Marena was speechless by what she saw, astounded to see the fourth Terapagos as it and Moltres spoke to each other, the youngest of the newly-established Terapagos Four continuing to babble happily at the Malevolent Pokémon (who was very surprised to see the little Tera Pokémon as they continued to chat, now having calmed down from its rage-filled state and taking in everything from its and Marena's emotional exchange prior).

"I wonder what they could be saying to each other," Liko mused to herself, wondering what Moltres and her new Terapagos were talking about.

Finally, as tears started to well in its eyes in a brief moment of silence, Moltres eventually gave off a loud, moaning cry before it raised its head and closed its eyes just as a tear of sadness tricked down from its right eye. At that moment, a familiar pink mist emerged along with a shower of rain, leaving everybody inside a void Liko, Roy, Sarah, and Race knew all too well.

"It's almost as if it's crying..."

"Rain?"

"In a place like this?" Lana and Mallow puzzled, feeling the raindrops.

"It can't be, we're inside of a cave," Friede stated in confusion.

"It's just like when we met with Arboliva before you two and the others met us," Liko told the two girls and the rest of the group who were not in the know about the mystery involving the Six Heroes and Lucius, remembering what she, Roy, Race, and Sarah went through after gaining Arboliva's trust and helping her restore her forest home.

"What is going on, what is all of this?" Burnet questioned in awe.

Suddenly, everybody saw what looked to be Moltres landing in front of two figures; they were none other than Lucius and Marena, both of them wearing hooded capes at the time the memory shown to the heroes was taking place.

"Yes, Moltres," Lucius told Moltres as it chirped at them.

"Are you guys seeing this?" Liko breathed.

"That's Lucius, the Ancient Adventurer, right?" Roy asked before he noticed Marena with them. "Marena, is that...?"

Marena nodded, sadly looking at Lucius while a stray tear fell from her left eye as Liko thought, "It's kind of amazing..."

After petting and caressing Moltres, the two adults and the Malevolent Pokémon gently touched heads together as the Ancient Adventurer promised his Legendary Bird, "We will find Lakua, my friend... I promise you and my dear Marena that."

"Find Lakua...?" Liko echoed just as Liko's Terapagos cooed and the Mist of Memories faded when the memory of Lucius' promise to Moltres and Marena ended.

"Okay, that was weird..." Kiawe admitted.

"What was...that about?" Gladion questioned, awestruck.

"Whatever it was, it sure was cool," Roy commented.

"That's for sure. I wonder what Lucius meant by 'Find Lakua'," Ash agreed, pondering over what everybody heard from the Ancient Adventurer.

"Does 'Lakua' mean anything to anyone?" questioned Liko to no one in particular.

"Nope, never heard of it," Friede admitted before turning to Marena. "By the way, Marena, why were you in...whatever that was, too?"

Marena wiped away her tears before she revealed to everyone, keeping her back turned so nobody would see her break down at the sight of Lucius, "You wouldn't know about that... I know about Lucius' Pokémon, because, well...he's, uh... He's my husband."

Everyone looked at each other curiously as they tried to take in what they heard, but eventually, once it had completely sunk into them, they were flabbergasted as their eyes bugged out and they ended up comically falling over one another before picking themselves back up in their total shock.

"Husband?!" Lillie, Mallow, and Lana shrieked.

"You're married!?" Ash, Kiawe, and Sophocles balked soon after.

"Y-You mean to tell us that Lucius was your husband years ago?!"

"And, that's why you knew about Moltres and Arboliva and the rest of the Six Heroes!?" Roy and Liko screamed.

"You were actually married to Lucius a century ago before we met you?" Sarah gulped at her human advisor from Dragonstone.

"UUUHH/HUH/WHAT?!" the Pokémon and Dragons added, their jaws dropping in total shock.

Marena just gave them a bittersweet smile as she chuckled, still thinking about Lucius as turned her back to them again and replied, "What can I say? I've lived for beyond a millennia; about 1,600 years, to be precise. It does get boring going solo after a while, you know. I've got to try my first stab at love sooner or later, and believe it or not, when Lucius came into my life, I was drawn to him..."

"...Uh, I'm sorry..."

"WHAT?!" the Uva and Blueberry Academy students, the Pokémon School Gang, Liko, Roy, Ash, and Gladion along with Lazuli shrieked in bewilderment.

"B-B-But, if you're 1600 years old, how were you able to survive all this time?!" Roy questioned frantically, wondering about her appearance given her staggering and unrealistic lifespan.

"How were you able to survive the craziest and worst years of human history since either the better part of the mid-19th century?" Friede put in, also having trouble wrapping his head around what Marena had told everyone.

Liko, however, gasped as she realized what Marena was capable of that allowed her to live for so long, "Animus Magic! I get it; Sarah told us that Animus Magic can enchant anything or anyone who learned it to do whatever the user wants. Marena, when you first learned how to use such magic, the enchantment done on you must've allowed you to live for more than 1000 years. That's incredible!"

Sarah's human advisor gave off a quiet yet amused chuckle as she simply told the young girl while handing Liko Arboliva's Pokeball, "It was only a small perk akin to the Elixir of Life when I first started learning it, really."

She then returned her attention to Moltres who gave her an apologetic yet forgiving look on its face, letting out another long cry before it relinquished its hold on its Ancient Pokeball and willingly went inside it.

"Hey, look! Moltres went inside his Pokeball!" Kiawe gasped in amazement.

Then, Arboliva returned to her Pokeball as it floated out of Liko's hands and landed next to Moltres' Pokeball, leaving Sarah's human advisor to approach the two balls and gently pick them up, feeling happy that Arboliva, and most importantly, Moltres, were able to forgive her (knowing that she still had a lot of apologies to give to the rest of her and her husband's best friends and family).

"Does that mean... Moltres wasn't to join us in our adventure?" Liko pondered as she watched Marena hold Moltres' Pokeball close to her chest in silent gratitude for his forgiveness to her.

Friede smiled as he stated to Liko, "I think, by the looks of it and after forgiving Marena, that's exactly what he means as well as what he wants given how much she and Lucius meant to him."

"But, why would he be so angry?" Roy wondered.

"He must've felt the same way Eternatus once felt; being abandoned and alone for over 100 years, not knowing what happened to the ones who cared about and loved him and the rest of the Six Heroes... Seeing Marena again after all this time, and the heated exchange they had, he became surprised... Even if Lucius is gone and we don't know what happened to him, Marena is still here with us. I think her presence is what gave Moltres the hope he lost when she left him inside Galar Mine for his own protection. It's the exact same thing that happened with Eternatus when Sarah opened her heart to him and helped him to regain his trust in humanity after everything he went through...and I believe it to be true."

Feeling happy for her partner, Sprigatito jumped onto Liko's right shoulder and nuzzled her warmly.

"I couldn't have put it better myself, darling," Marena smiled as she gently patted Liko's head. "Especially since I was responsible for separating them and scattering their Ancient Pokeballs in the first place."

"Whoa! You were the one responsible for scattering their Pokeballs to the ends of the world?! Why would you do that to them?" Roy gasped again.

Marena sighed as she turned a little and sadly retorted, "I had to; remember, it wasn't easy for me or Lucius when I told him what we had to do to protect the Six Heroes after he explained to me what could happen if anybody else finds them and takes them from us to use their power for personal gain or worse. I knew, by that point, we couldn't let them fall into the hands of evil. As you already know, Pokémon that fall to the dark side can easily become deadly weapons when their talents and skills are honed and bread for evil. I didn't want that for them and neither did Lucius so we made the difficult decision to split them up and have them go their separate ways without telling them why.

She sighed sadly as she looked at Arboliva and Moltres' Pokeballs before she steeled herself and made a solemn vow regarding the Six Heroes today should they all be found and reunited one day, "It was only natural for Moltres to act as he did earlier; I never bothered to tell them why we had to split them up so what happened to them after that is my fault. I failed the Six Heroes by not telling them why I did all of that to protect them with Lucius' help, and now, I've got to make things right with them."

"I see; he felt that you and Lucius abandoned them when you left him in Galar Mine for the last century without any explanation as to why you had to protect him and the rest of the Six Heroes as you did. He probably thought Lucius somehow died without warning and he had no idea where you had gone, it must've devastated him to a point when he'd finally snap," Gladion empathized.

"There was nothing you could've done back then to make things right with them, Marena."

"All you can do now is to push forward with your Superpower and find the rest of the Six Heroes with us so you can start anew with them," Burnet and Kukui sympathized with the Dragonstone advisor.

Marena sighed again as she feared how the other reunions would go but then said, "Well, if you really think that..."

Friede smiled as he approached Marena and held her right shoulder as he reassured her on everyone's behalf, "Even if the other Heroes and Rayquaza won't be as forgiving as Arboliva and Moltres, we'll still do everything we can to help you explain yourself to them and give you all a fresh new start on life together as the family you're meant to be in Lucius' memory and honor."

Marena smiled as another stray tear left her right eye and she nodded, holding Friede and everyone else with them to their promise, "Thanks, my friend..."

With Sarah and Race, the two of them watched as their three Terapagos babbled and nuzzled the little princess happily, leaving the latter to chuckle at his wife and smile, "They were really worried when they found out you weren't with us so they tried to toddle their way back here to find you. You scared us all when you decided to stay and keep that fiery birdbrain at bay, you know that?"

"Sorry, Race, that's just how I roll with you all whenever your lives are on the line," Sarah smiled back as she held her two Terapagos in her arms and Race took his own back in his arms.

"Uh, Sarah, when we saw you morphed earlier..."

"We noticed that you didn't use your Dino Charge powers, especially after your old Wrist Com was destroyed."

"And, your old powers were lost forever as a result."

"But, when we came back to find you, you were fighting Moltres."

"And, in a new suit similar to your old one, no less."

"What had you been doing yesterday while you were at the mountain close to your castle?" Ash and the Pokémon School Gang questioned Sarah as they joined the royal couple and their Terapagos, now wanting answers about her new powers.

"And, how exactly did you get them restored in a new form?"

"We've never known something like this to happen, what was that about while you were fighting Moltres before Marena arrived and revealed the truth about him?" Burnet and Kukui added as they also joined in, giving Sarah expectant glares.

Sarah wasn't sure if she should tell her old friends, her old teacher, and Burnet about her new powers from the Morphin Masters and the Guardian Spirits right away since they've yet to know about Lord Zedd's imminent return along with Zayto. However, she decided to not spill the beans on the latter two but give them the lowdown regarding the Astral Haven Zords and the Celestial Sanctuary Zords in the meantime, hoping to reveal to them about Zayto and Lord Zedd's return when the time is right (and praying that they won't be too mad at her for keeping them in the dark about such a thing).

"Well, you remember when my family and I went over to the mountain not far from my Galar castle yesterday? It just so happens that it was actually a hiding place housing a series of ancient and powerful Zords known as Astral Haven Zords belonging to five Power Rangers from the past known as the Celestial Rangers, their old partners. They're no longer amongst the living now but they're still in our world as what they're called now, Guardian Spirits, and they gave me their blessings to use their Zords for what lies ahead for us," she informed, getting intrigued nods from everyone with her and Race.

She then revealed her Cosmic Morpher (from her new Dino/Cosmic Fury Wrist Com) and her Solgaleo Sphere as she continued, "And, not only that, when Master Red and Master Green arrived and told me about them, they all gave me a new morpher called a Cosmic Morpher which allowed me to morph into the Cosmic Solgaleo Ranger, a new and improved version of my old alter-ego, by using this Cosmic Orb called the Solgaleo Sphere in conjunction with it. Now, all I have to do is find the Celestial Sanctuary Zords that were also from my vision and they'll be ours."

The Pokemon School Gang, Ash, Burnet, and Kukui were stunned by what they had been told but Ash and Sophocles couldn't help but have massive grins on their faces as they realized, "Doesn't that mean...?"

"Yeah! Doesn't that mean that...?"

Sarah looked between them and the others before she smiled and nodded in confirmation as her Cosmic Morpher changed back into her new Wrist Com, prompting her old classmates to cheer excitedly for her and Burnet and Kukui along with Gladion and her entire family smiling heartily and proudly at the little princess, all of them knowing what this meant; the Solgaleo Ranger, the leader of the Power Rangers Ultra Rescue is back in action, better and stronger than ever.

Then, everyone watched as Race and Sarah's Terapagos looked over and cooed at their fourth sibling as it appeared from behind a small rocky outcrop in front of the entire group, curiously overlooking them before it noticed the other three Tera Pokémon with the princess and her husband and cooed happily at them. Knowing that they had to meet, the royal couple lifted their Tera Pokémon babies to their sibling with the Levitation Charm and allowed them to finally be together, all of them nuzzling their heads together.

Everyone smiled warmly at what they were witnessing; they didn't need to say anything and even Petunia could only babble and clap happily at seeing the four Tera Pokémon belonging to Liko, her human mother, and Race finally reunited for the first time in years (being the only ones of their species in existence).

With Moltres in safe hands, and with the reunited Tera Pokémon joining them, the heroes returned to the mine entrance where they found Kabu with a miner searching for them (having gotten word about Galar Mine's collapse and hoping to find and rescue his pupils and their friends from harm).

"Hi there, Kabu!" Liko called as she and Roy saw the Motostoke Gym Leader.

"Well, what do you know? Look who it is!" Kabu grinned, seeing his pupils as they and the others joined him, the miner, and a Timburr who was his partner.

"What are you doing down here?" Roy asked in surprise.

"I heard there was a tunnel collapse here in the mine. I came here to make sure everything is under control."

"Hey, Kabu. The name's Friede, nice to meet you," Friede smiled, introducing himself to the Motostoke Gym Leader. "I heard you've been helping Liko and Roy from our group a lot yesterday, I owe you a big 'thank you'."

"No, no, no 'thanks' are necessary. They were quite entertaining," smiled Kabu before he noticed Moltres' Pokeball in Lazuli's hands. "Liko, what is that your friend has got there?"

Liko smiled as Marena (knowing what she wanted to show Kabu) gave her Moltres' Pokeball and she told him while holding it out for him to see, "It's a Galarian Moltres belonging to our friend, Marena."

Kabu was amazed as he inquired, "Is that so?"

"He was acting all wild and crazy! But, then, Marena helped Sarah, her mother and grandmother from Asha's side and her own, and Liko to calm it down and it decided to trust us on her behalf! And, what's more, we found out that Moltres actually belonged to her" Roy added excitedly.

"I take it this Galarian Moltres was responsible for the cave-in earlier, correct, Your Majesties?" Kabu questioned Doug, Delilah, Donna (former queen), David, and Tsukumaro.

"It certainly was, Sir Kabu. But, thanks to our efforts and those of our friends as well as the immense assistance from my goddaughter's advisor, the crisis involving our new legendary friend here in Galar Mine has been averted," Tsukumaro reassured on behalf of his family/friends.

At this, Kabu couldn't help but feel proud of Liko and Roy as he sang their praises, especially Liko's (realizing she had taken his advice to her at heart and put it into practice), "I can't believe it, a Legendary Pokémon! I guess your training really paid off, didn't it?"

"Yeah!" Liko smiled, nodding in response.

"And, I think we're closer to finding Rayquaza!" Roy concurred.

"Well, next time we meet, let's have a real Pokémon battle. I look forward to seeing just how much you've grown!"

"That sounds like fun!"

"I can't wait to show you everything we're learning!" the young trainers agreed.

"Yeah, that'll be great but we really should get going. Nice seeing you again, Kabu!" Sophocles grinned, seeing Liko's Terapagos (which was covered by Friede's jacket to hide it from any curious or suspicious eyes) squirming in Friede's gentle hold.

"Yeah, we'll look forward to battling you and showing you what we've learned, too!"

"Bye, Kabu!"

"See ya!" Kiawe, Mallow, and Lana added as everybody went past him and the miner to head back to the Brave Olivine and the Dragon Craft just as dusk fell, leaving Kabu to smile at them.

"Phew, that was too close."

"Yeah, I thought for sure Kabu would've noticed Liko's Terapagos squirming inside Friede's jacket despite us having wrapped it up well," Mela and Kieran sighed, wiping their brows in relief once everybody was far enough away from Galar Mine and Kabu.

"Well, he is one of the wisest gym leaders in all of Galar and the most tactical out of all of them, too."

"If anything, I think we just scraped through the edge of the barrel with him on that," Gloria and Hop noted.

"Do any of you think my Terapagos would ever go back to becoming a pendant again?" Liko asked everyone, knowing they now have a small problem regarding her Terapagos.

"Not sure, I mean, everyone back in Alola was fine with ours and even the people of Paldea weren't fazed by our Terapagos besides the Explorers."

"So, for the most part, unless something goes wrong for us involving them, we're home free," Sarah and Race admitted as they held their respective Terapagos in their arms.

"Yeah, I don't know. As we did with Sarah and Race's Terapagos beforehand, we'll keep yours safe either way," Friede replied.

"Okay... Last ones back to the Dragon Craft and the Brave Olivine swabs the deck!" smirked Kieran as he rushed on ahead, making the walk back a race.

"Hey, Little Bro, that's cheating!"

"You little sneak!"

"Not if I get back to them first!" laughed Carmine, Giacomo, and Drayton as they and the others followed from behind, running after them.

Everybody laughed as they raced each other back to the Brave Olivine and the Dragon Craft while Liko happily mused to herself, "It's like one thing keeps leading to another..."

Then, she turned to Sprigatito and said to her, "But, that's what an adventure is! Right, Sprigatito?"

"More fun for us!" her partner smiled from atop her left shoulder.

But, as the heroes raced back to their respective ships in the setting sun, they had no idea that they were being watched by Amethio, Onia, and Zirc as they appeared from the forest above them, seeing them going back to the mooring spot of their ships with Amethio eying the bundle carried in Friede's left arm.

"Are you sure about this? They're right there."

"And, all of them are walking away with that big Pokémon from before," Zirc and Onia remarked to their leader.

"The Pokémon that once lived in the mine was not our intended goal," Amethio replied matter-of-factly.

"Not to be disrespectful or anything, Sir, but we came to Galar and we're standing here empty-handed today after all the trouble we went through."

Amethio chuckled a little before he reassured them, "Oh, I wouldn't say that. You both saw it, too, right? That pendant, or rather, that fourth Terapagos... The same Pokémon the princess and her husband have, three in their hands, so to speak... All of whom that radiated with such a remarkable light."

Zirc balked in amazement as he replied, "So, there were *four* of those things all along? And, one of them was with Liko the whole time?"

"Indeed."

"You mean the little ones said to be the last of their species according to our research on them and the Terastal Phenomenon? And, what about the big one we missed out on?" Onia questioned, not getting where Amethio was going.

"We will follow them. And, in doing so, when the time comes, we will steal those Pokémon and be rid of the princess, her family, and Lazuli, all in one shot. No matter what it takes..."


Epilogue

As night fell, while nearly everybody was already fast asleep, before they could prepare for an early start the following day to find Diana and her castle so they could inquire her about the Terapagos Four, Lucius, and the Six Heroes, Sarah was currently pacing around her bedroom in the Dragon Craft. After what had happened in Galar Mine during the heroes' previous confrontation with Moltres, the little princess was now debating on whether or not she should tell her team, Burnet, Kukui, and Lusamine about Master Green, Master Red, and Reader's warning about Lord Zedd's imminent return.

She promised the two Morphin Masters that she wouldn't tell them about his release from his crystal prison and their reunion with the Dino Fury team and Zayto so they could all deal with him together and the new powers Ash and the others would have. But, now that they, her old teacher, and his wife were in the know about her restored powers, she was wondering whether or not to break that promise if it meant sharing the burden of the inevitable war against the Emperor of Evil (even if it was the true Zedd's dark side this time).

She had done well throughout the previous month to keep them in the dark about it all, but after what happened earlier, she was starting to worry whether or not they could take the news well and if they would forgive her for not telling them about Zedd since then.

Sighing heavily as she went over to her bedroom vanity desk and mirror, seeing her new Wrist Com lying on the desk before she went over and turned it into her Cosmic Morpher, completely conflicted and unsure of what to say to Ash, Burnet, Kukui, and the others.

"What am I to do, Masters?" she breathed as she put down her new morpher and ran her hands through her hair before holding her face in exasperated misery and self-loathing, hoping that the Morphin Masters would help her with her latest predicament and forgive her for breaking her earlier promise to them.

"Well, isn't this a familiar sight?" Kukui remarked, making Sarah whirl around to see him, Burnet, Lusamine, Mohn, Gladion, Ash, and her old friends as they had just entered her room (after seeing them appear from her vanity mirror). "You haven't had a brain crunch like this since our final struggle with Team Eclipse and Lothor let alone our final battles with Evox and his forces."

"You've been thinking too hard and straining your brain to no end since we got back, Sarah. What's gotten into you since you told us about your restored powers?" Burnet questioned.

Sarah was silent, unsure of how to put the topic of Lord Zedd lightly to them until Mallow told her, "You wouldn't happen to know something from the Morphin Masters about the return of Lord Zedd, do you?"

Sarah winced in response to this as she rubbed the back of her head nervously and questioned, "So... I'm guessing Reader told you all and Marena about that earlier, too?"

"Well, Marena was told about Zedd's return first after Reader informed her according to what they told us. But, for the most part," put in Kiawe.

Then, everyone told her, "...Yes."

Sarah groaned as she hung her head at this but Race joined them shortly after, reassuring his wife, "I know you want to think about others and handle the brunt of what the Morphin Masters told you by yourself for everyone's sake... Especially since you only found out about his impending return after...Zayto's... sacrifice that day. But, Reader told them why you never wanted to reveal the warning she, Master Green, and Master Red gave you when you were in the Morphin Grid with them, Tommy, and Zayto. Also, I'm sure you haven't forgotten that they and the other Morphin Masters foreshadowed what was about to happen last year after they gave us our Mystic Staffs when we graduated except we didn't know they implied back then."

"...I know," Sarah sighed.

"Not to mention everything we learned about the real Lord Zedd in Ranger History Class," Sophocles reminded.

"It still scares us when we think about it...the fact that his revived evil can still use the same tricks he and Rita pulled on us should he make us his next target in addition to the rest of the universe and our world. The Green Candle, the candles he used on Zack, Trini, Billy, and Kimberly, the attacks he launched to force Tommy to decimate his original Green Ranger powers..." Ash added sympathetically.

"Not to mention the potential risk of targeting you specifically just so he could put you out of the picture like how he learned finished off Tommy before he became the White Tiger Ranger," Lillie mentioned.

"He's not going to be easy to deal with, we know," Lana agreed.

"And, it makes it harder for you since you have to worry about both him and the Explorers since they found out about you and Race and who you were as Power Rangers. It doesn't help that you had to hide your other powers from the Rising Volt Tacklers, Roy, and Liko so you don't put them in more danger than you already had," Gladion corroborated.

Lusamine nodded as she also told her, "Listen, Sarah, we're not mad at you for not telling us. But, we do worry for you given what you went through for the last two years; please, make sure to let us know regardless so we'd still be ready to help. We know you didn't want to trouble us with your problems but don't think that means we're unreachable if you plan to do everything yourself. It's not that we don't appreciate Reader's foresight; we didn't want you to suffer more through your personal struggles than you already had."

Mohn nodded in agreement as Ash then sealed the deal for everyone, finally telling their team's leader, "We know you didn't want to run yourself into the ground as you did with your uncle and Team Eclipse when they were alive, knowing that Lord Zedd will be coming despite your and everyone's countermeasures from Dragonstone. But, you'll need us to help you, Zayto, and his friends stop him when he makes his move."

He smiled sincerely as he placed his right hand in front of the little princess (prompting everyone else to place their hands above his own in the form of another solemn vow they're willing to take for the good of the universe (with the addition of Mohn's hand)), all of them now smiling at her before he finished, "All for one and one for all; that's how it's been with the Power Rangers and it won't be any different for us. You know how we always did things against the forces of evil, right? Rangers forever...?"

Sarah looked between her old friends, Kukui, Burnet, Race, Gladion, Lusamine, and Mohn as they all nodded at her, reassuring her that they got her back in the inevitable war against Lord Zedd as well as being there to assist her along with her family, her other friends, and the Rising Volt Tacklers fight against the Explorers whenever she needs their help.

Eventually, she had to give them a soft smile in gratitude as she placed her hand atop Mohns and nodded, "...Defenders together."

To Be Continued...


Occurred Events

Liko's Terapagos awakens now making all four Terapagos awoken (Sarah's Pair - Larmina and Topaz, Race's Terpagos - Garnet)