As the beam of light appeared, a rainbow-colored spatial portal slowly materialized in the sky.
"Success!"
Watching the spatial portal grow larger and larger, a trainer exclaimed joyfully.
However, the moment his words fell, the machine suddenly emitted a muffled sound, the beam of light abruptly disappeared, and the spatial portal vanished along with it.
"Ah!!!"
Another trainer let out a startled cry.
Seeing that the machine was completely silent and inactive, Nanu stepped forward and knocked on it with his hand: "Could it be broken?"
Upon hearing Nanu's words, the expressions of the trainers from Hoenn all turned very grim.
"Mr. Shimizu... what do you think we should do?"
Yuga was momentarily at a loss as well. He gently took Kartana down from the machine and noticed that it seemed to be in great pain, so he quickly used his healing abilities to soothe it. After a while, Kartana finally calmed down.
After some thought, Yuga spoke: "Let's first check if the machine itself has any issues."
"Yes!"
The trainers quickly busied themselves with the task.
After more than ten minutes, one of the trainers said, "It should be fine; no problems found."
"That's a relief." Yuga exhaled deeply. "Since Kartana can't do it, then what should we do next?"
At that moment, Cosmoem suddenly appeared by Yuga's side.
"Cosmoem~ Cosmoem~"
The sudden appearance of Cosmoem surprised the trainers greatly. Nanu's pupils contracted sharply, and a trace of shock flickered across his face—but he quickly composed himself, and no one else noticed.
"Are you saying you want to give it a try?" Yuga looked at Cosmoem in surprise.
"Cosmoem~ Cosmoem~"
Cosmoem nodded happily.
"But..."
Yuga hesitated, thinking about Kartana's condition.
"Cosmoem~ Cosmoem~"
But Cosmoem was very insistent.
"Alright, alright."
With no other choice, Yuga agreed. Maybe Cosmoem would succeed—after all, it was different from ordinary Ultra Beasts.
"Mr. Shimizu, is this also an Ultra Beast?" a trainer asked curiously.
Although the Aether Foundation and Professor Kukui had already released a Pokédex for Ultra Beasts, Cosmoem was not listed there.
"Sort of..." Yuga answered vaguely.
Nanu glanced at Yuga deeply upon hearing this.
Once the machine was adjusted, Cosmoem was placed on it. After activation, the machine behaved just like before with Kartana: a beam of light shot up into the sky, but this time it was thicker and larger.
The rainbow-colored spatial portal reappeared again. This time, everyone held their breath, fearing that the portal would suddenly disappear once more.
However, no accidents occurred this time, and after more than ten minutes, the spatial portal gradually stabilized.
"Success!"
The trainers excitedly embraced one another.
Yuga took Cosmoem down from the machine and saw its expression was relaxed, showing no signs of discomfort. He felt a wave of relief.
"Mr. Nanu, we will be entering the Ultra Space shortly, so this machine will be in your care!" Yuga told Nanu.
"Don't worry, I will look after it until you return," Nanu nodded confidently.
After placing Cosmoem into the Shadow Space, Yuga addressed the other trainers: "Then let's set off. Is there anything else you need to prepare?"
"We're ready and can leave anytime!" several trainers replied in unison.
"All right!"
So the group took flight on their respective Flying-type Pokémon and headed toward the spatial portal. In no time, they disappeared into the gateway.
However, shortly after Yuga and the others left, a group of people emerged from the shadows.
"You'd better get in quickly too, or the portal will disappear soon!" Nanu said to the newcomers.
"Thanks a lot this time. If you ever need help in the future, just say the word!" The leader who is dressed in a suit and full of smiles, spoke warmly to Nanu.
"No!" Nanu waved his hand dismissively. "After helping you this time, we're square. From now on, just pretend you don't know me!"
"All right, if that's what you want, then I'll listen to you," the man said indifferently.
Immediately, the group brought over a flying vehicle, planning to use it to enter the Ultra Space.
Before parting, Nanu suddenly called out to the leader, "Giovanni, if you really want to thank me, don't lay a hand on Shimizu Yuga!"
The leader, Giovanni, looked surprised and asked, "Why not?"
"No reason!" Nanu said expressionlessly.
"Although I really want to agree, I can't! He and Team Rocket have too deep a grudge!" Giovanni stared at Nanu and said firmly.
Nanu was silent for several seconds: "Then do whatever you want, it's none of my business anyway!"
Giovanni didn't say anything further. He gave Nanu a long, deep look, then without looking back, boarded the flying vehicle and entered Ultra Space.
In truth, Giovanni knew in his heart that he might not be able to do much to Shimizu Yuga right now. That person was growing too fast, and he had already lost the best chance to deal with him.
Meanwhile, Yuga and the others passed through the spatial portal and arrived in an unfamiliar place.
"Is this Ultra Space? It doesn't look particularly special!" one trainer said, looking down at the hills below.
"Yeah, it's not much different from outside."
Several trainers began to chatter amongst themselves.
"All right, let's first take a look around the surrounding environment!" Yuga suddenly said.
"Yes!" the accompanying trainers replied in unison, then each mounted their flying Pokémon and left the original spot.
Not long after Yuga and his group left, a flying vehicle passed through the spatial portal and appeared in the same place. But the next moment, it activated its stealth mode, as if it had never appeared at all.
After splitting up from the four companions, Yuga began carefully observing the surrounding environment.
The place where they landed was, overall, a range of gently rolling hills, but none of them were tall; strictly speaking, they were just small mounds.
The vegetation on the hills was not abundant, but surprisingly, there was plenty of food. Most of the trees were fruit trees, heavily laden with fruit, some of which Yuga recognized, and others he did not.
Yuga wandered blindly through the forest with Sawsbuck and Serperior following close behind. He casually picked a fruit he recognized, wiped it with his clothing, and took a bite.
Juices overflowed, and the taste was very good.
However, at that moment, a grayish-white shadow flashed by rapidly, clearly targeting Yuga.
Bang!
Sawsbuck collided head-on with the white shadow and was knocked flying backward.
Sawsbuck was an Elite level Pokémon!
Only after the white shadow quickly retreated did Yuga get a clear look at it.
It was a Pheromosa!
The Pheromosa in front of Yuga was tall and slender, with a graceful and alluring appearance. Its movements swayed elegantly, but its eyes revealed a fierce glare—clearly angry that Yuga had picked its fruit!
Indeed, you can't just pick wild fruit recklessly!
The Pheromosa flashed its figure again and charged toward Yuga once more. Seeing this, Serperior flicked its tail and unleashed Leaf Storm.
The green storm swept toward the Pheromosa, forcing it to abandon its attack on Yuga and leap to the side to dodge.
At this moment, the Sawsbuck that had been knocked away had already stood back up, opening its mouth to spit out a cluster of dark green seeds.
The Pheromosa was incredibly fast; with a sudden burst of speed, it vanished from the spot, causing Sawsbuck's seed bomb to hit nothing but air.
However, just as the Pheromosa landed after dodging the seed bomb, a pillar of green light shot up from the ground, engulfing it entirely.
"Tch!!!"
The Pheromosa let out a miserable scream and dropped to its knees.
Seizing the opportunity, Sawsbuck charged forward with electricity crackling all over its body, using a frenzied Volt Tackle against the Pheromosa.
Boom!
"Tch!"
The explosion and the Pheromosa's wails rang out simultaneously, and the Pheromosa writhed on the ground before collapsing.
Though the Pheromosa was fast and had strong physical and special attacks, its biggest weakness was fragility — just a couple of solid hits were enough to bring it down.
Yuga casually threw out a Pokéball and caught it, then thought for a moment and decided to head back to regroup with his companions.
Not long after Yuga returned to their original landing spot, the others came back one after another, but some of them were injured.
"Did you encounter an attack?" Yuga asked.
"Yeah, I ran into a Pheromosa!" one of the injured trainers replied.
Since they had been selected to enter the Ultra Space alongside Yuga, they naturally had some understanding of Ultra Beasts and couldn't possibly fail to recognize a Pheromosa.
"I encountered a Pheromosa too!" another injured trainer echoed.
"Me too!"
"Me too!"
…
Everyone began discussing it excitedly; almost all of them had encountered Pheromosa, and these Pheromosa were very powerful. Some barely escaped with their lives.
"Looks like we've fallen into a Pheromosa colony," Yuga said thoughtfully, listening to the chatter.
"Mr. Shimizu, what should we do next?" a trainer asked.
They had just entered Ultra Space and were already facing such a strong group of Ultra Beasts — clearly, this place was fraught with danger.
"Sigh~ We'll have to ask the locals," Yuga sighed and then pulled out a Pokéball.
The companions looked at the Pokéball in Yuga's hand, momentarily unsure what he meant.
Yuga pressed the button, and with a flash of red light, a Pheromosa appeared before everyone.
"It's a Pheromosa!" the crowd exclaimed.
"As expected of Mr. Shimizu, you actually caught a Pheromosa!"
"Yeah, Mr. Shimizu is amazing!"
"Mr. Shimizu truly is the hall-level trainer of Hoenn!"
…
Everyone was filled with joy, admiring Yuga greatly — they had all struggled to escape Pheromosa, yet Mr. Shimizu had simply caught one!
Yuga gave the Pheromosa a quick treatment, and before long, it slowly regained consciousness.
Enemies meeting always makes them extra hostile. Once awake, the Pheromosa glared fiercely at Yuga and immediately tried to attack again, but Yuga hadn't fully healed its injuries — the moment it moved, sharp pain surged through its entire body.
"Can you tell us about this place?" Yuga asked.
But the Pheromosa continued glaring angrily, giving no response.
Yuga suddenly remembered the Pheromosa probably didn't understand him, so he released Kartana to act as a translator.
Though also an Ultra Beast, Kartana had lived with Yuga since birth and could understand normal Pokémon languages, human language, and Ultra Beast language.
"Pheromosa!!!"
However, this Pheromosa was extremely proud. No matter how Yuga tried to coax or threaten it, it remained indifferent and refused to answer any questions, leaving Yuga momentarily at a loss.
Suddenly, there was a stir in the jungle, and before Yuga and the others could react, they found themselves surrounded by a swarm of Pheromosa— at least a hundred strong.
Each Pheromosa exuded a powerful aura, especially the leader, whose presence rivaled Yuga's own Florges.
Seeing so many Pheromosa appear, the trainers quickly released their Pokémon in defense, cold sweat breaking out on their foreheads.
The captured Pheromosa called out desperately for help, but their leader arrogantly glanced at it with disdain, its eyes filled with contempt.
"Pheromosa~"
Yuga could understand all Pokémon calls with ease, including those of Ultra Beasts, and naturally grasped the leader Pheromosa's meaning.
It despised the captured Pheromosa for being useless enough to get caught by the enemy; it refused to accept it back into the colony and intended to expel it.
The captured Pheromosa looked struck by lightning, staring at the leader in disbelief as if it had lost its soul.
Yuga quietly told his companions, "You're injured. Mount your flying Pokémon and leave first. I'll cover the rear."
Pheromosa can't fly, so as long as they took to the sky on their flying Pokémon, no matter how strong the Pheromosa were, they'd be powerless.
"Mr. Shimizu, what about you?" his companions said with disapproval.
Yuga gave them a reassuring look. "Don't worry, with my strength, do you think anyone can stop me if I want to leave?"
Hearing this, the companions reluctantly agreed, releasing their flying-type Pokémon and preparing to flee at any moment.
The Pheromosa, seeing Yuga and company preparing to move, took defensive attack stances warily.
At that moment, Yuga pulled out a Pokéball, and Ninetales gracefully landed.
Ninetales hadn't gone out with Yuga in a long time; this time, it was the one to initiate.
"Ninetales, Inferno!"
"Ninetales~"
With Ninetales' long howl, a ring of fire suddenly appeared centered around Ninetales and Yuga, rapidly expanding outward. The blazing flames rose sharply, forming a fiery wall.
The intense heat forced the surrounding Pheromosa to retreat.
"Alright, go quickly!" Yuga commanded softly.
"Mr. Shimizu, be careful!"
His companions mounted their flying Pokémon and swiftly took to the sky.
Outside, the Pheromosa prepared to launch attacks to knock them out of the air.
Suddenly, Ninetales' fiery wall exploded, countless flames scattering like meteors in all directions. Because of the massive number of flying embers, many Pheromosa were caught off guard and hit, their screams echoing all around.
Ninetales' flames burned with extraordinary heat, making the Pheromosa suffer greatly. Taking advantage of this, Yuga recalled the Pheromosa he had captured into its Pokéball — it was still dazed and immersed in the shock of being rejected by its colony!