Damian and Lusamine continued wandering through Ultra Space.
Even without Nebby at their side, powerful Ultra Beasts could also open Ultra Wormholes, and Ultra Space itself wasn't particularly stable.
Random Ultra Wormholes would appear from time to time.
Using these Ultra Wormholes as passageways, Damian and Lusamine kept moving between different Ultra Spaces.
Ultra Crater, Ultra Jungle, Ultra Ruin, Ultra Deep Sea…
How many days had passed already? Damian wasn't sure.
What he was sure of was that his bag was now a lot heavier with Ultra Balls, each holding a different Ultra Beast.
A huge haul.
"We've only got enough supplies for two more days, Damian. We need to head back."
Lusamine lowered her voice as she spoke to Damian. She'd prepared a lot of food and water for this Ultra Space trip.
But now, they were almost out. By her rough estimate, they'd been in Ultra Space for over a week.
Originally, she'd only planned for two or three days at most.
"Yeah, it's about time."
Damian bent down to pick up an Ultra Ball from the ground, glancing at the Poipole and Naganadel lying lose the ability to fight nearby.
That's right—the Ultra Space they were currently in was Ultra Megalopolis.
"Let's go find an Ultra Wormhole."
He looked off into the distance. The sky above was endlessly dark and oppressive, dragging at one's mood.
Ultra Megalopolis had once been a thriving, beautiful world full of life.
But thanks to the stupidity and short‑sightedness of its former inhabitants, this world now stood on the brink of death.
There was no "light" here anymore. And without light, there was no life. In a world like this, nothing could truly survive.
The two of them mounted their Dragonite and began searching for an Ultra Wormhole.
Because of the dim, lightless environment, the Dragonite didn't dare fly too fast—especially since this world's resident Ultra Beast, Naganadel, could also fly.
About half an hour later…
"Hm? Damian, look over there."
Lusamine had spotted something and pointed into the distance.
Damian followed her gaze. In this sea of darkness, even a small point of light was glaringly obvious.
"That looks like… a city?!" Lusamine squinted at it, stunned.
A city meant human civilization.
"What's so strange about that? Ultra Ruin had humans once too. They just all moved away."
Damian didn't find it odd at all—but his eyes were firmly locked on the shining tower at the city's center.
That was Megalo Tower. And Necrozma was sealed inside Megalo Tower.
Yes—this was Necrozma's prison, and he was now very close to it.
"Are we going over?" Lusamine asked.
"Go around. No need to start a fight we don't have to."
After a moment's thought, Damian shook his head. As much as he wanted to see Necrozma with his own eyes…
His reason still won out, pushing down that restless urge.
The timing wasn't right.
If Necrozma appeared in the world right now, it would just be a rampaging, uncontrollable beast. No one would be able to stop its destruction.
Necrozma craved light. And if it could freely travel to the real world in that state, it would be a full‑on catastrophe.
Damian stayed calm. On top of that, he couldn't be sure whether just climbing Megalo Tower might provoke the sealed Necrozma and cause it to break out early.
"Alright." Lusamine naturally followed Damian's lead.
They steered their Dragonite in a wide arc around the black city, continuing their search for an exit Ultra Wormhole.
Back in the Alola of the present.
"Faba, Mother still isn't back yet?"
In front of Lusamine's manor, Lillie stood with a backpack on her shoulders, anxiously questioning Faba.
"...We haven't detected any abnormal fluctuations so far. But please rest assured, Miss, there won't be any unexpected incidents."
Faba wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, trying his best to reassure her.
In truth, he was just as panicked—but he had to keep his composure.
"But it's already been ten days!"
Lillie bit her lip, then her eyes hardened with resolve.
"Faba, prepare the machine for another experiment. I'm going in to find Mother and Mr. Damian."
"Eh?! That won't do, Miss! You're not even a Trainer. A place that dangerous…"
Faba's face went pale as a sheet as he hurried to talk her down.
A girl who wasn't even a Trainer going into Ultra Space? No way.
"But…"
Lillie's expression dimmed. Her slender fingers tightened around the strap of her bag until her knuckles turned white.
She was just so worried about Lusamine and Mr. Damian.
Right then, a net‑like Ultra Wormhole opened up in the air, immediately drawing both Faba and Lillie's attention.
Two Dragonite flew out of the rift.
"Mother! Mr. Damian!"
Lillie's face lit up as she saw the two figures riding on the Dragonite.
The Dragonite descended, landing steadily on the ground.
"Mother!"
Lillie ran over and threw herself into Lusamine's arms.
"There's no need to worry. I'm fine."
Lusamine held her daughter close, gently patting her back with a soft voice.
She could feel the confusion and fear that had been churning in Lillie's heart, and it warmed her from the inside.
"Phew… the sun and air in the real world really are better."
Damian stretched long and lazily, lifting his face to the warm sunlight.
"Miss Lillie really loves to cling, huh? We've got an audience, you know."
"Mr. Damian, don't tease me like that…"
Lillie's cheeks flushed crimson, and she quickly let go of Lusamine.
She really didn't want Damian to think of her as some spoiled, clingy child.
"Mother, Mr. Damian, did everything go smoothly in Ultra Space this time?" she asked curiously.
"Very smoothly. All thanks to Mr. Damian's protection, we managed to figure out everything we needed to know about the Ultra Beasts. Once I organize it, I'll send it to Professor Kukui."
Lusamine smiled faintly and lifted the notebook in her hand slightly for Lillie to see.
"Yay! That's great!"
Lillie's big eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands happily in front of her chest.
Ever since she'd reconciled with her mother, the gloomy version of Lillie from before had slowly vanished.
"Does that mean the Alola League can finally be established?"
"It should be no problem now. With Kukui applying using proper Ultra Beast data, the chances of success will be much higher."
"That's wonderful. Oh, right, Mother, Mr. Damian—look at this."
Something seemed to occur to Lillie. She swung her backpack around to her front and unzipped it.
Inside was a Pokémon wrapped in nine yellow shell‑like plates, with something resembling a tiny nebula at its center.
"Ever since the last time we opened an Ultra Wormhole, Nebby turned into this. It doesn't really move much anymore—it just sleeps."
Lillie looked troubled as she held the bag up.
"That's Cosmoem. Nebby evolved."
Damian gave Lillie a strange look.
According to the Pokédex, Cosmoem weighed 999.9 kilograms—and Lillie was just holding the bag with Cosmoem inside like it was nothing, without feeling any weight at all.
(ps: Little trivia—in the games, Lillie literally carries Cosmoem in her bag from Aether Paradise all the way to Poni Island.)
Then again, Cosmoem clearly wasn't completely asleep. It probably had the ability to manipulate its own weight.
Since it had already evolved into Cosmoem, the next step was to take it to the altar for its final evolution.
Altar of the Moone, or Altar of the Sunne?
Damian eyed Cosmoem with great interest.