Chapter Summaries

An Xiu traveled to Sinnoh to find Dialga and Palkia and learn when Arceus's avatar would awaken. After Chic Freya forced the two Legendary Pokémon to appear and began overpowering them, Cynthia headed toward Mount Coronet and Giratina joined the battle, prompting An Xiu to tell Chic Freya to finish things quickly.

• Rose arranged a Pokédex and private plane for An Xiu, who flew from Galar to Jubilife City in Sinnoh.
• An Xiu sensed Dialga and Palkia near Mount Coronet and asked Chic Freya to create a panel showing Pokémon levels and information.
• Chic Freya forced Dialga and Palkia to appear at the Spear Pillar, then attacked and overwhelmed them.
• Cynthia sensed the battle from Mount Coronet and rode Garchomp toward the summit to investigate.
• Giratina emerged and charged at the weakened Dialga and Palkia, but An Xiu told Chic Freya to finish the fight quickly.

An Xiu and Chic Freya drove Giratina back to the Distortion World, then An Xiu questioned Dialga and Palkia about Arceus’s awakening. He learned Arceus would awaken within two months and left Mount Coronet after Cynthia learned his name.

• Chic Freya struck the fleeing Giratina with Dimensional Transcendence Cannon, sending it back to the Distortion World and shaking Mount Coronet with the blast.
• The aftershock swept Cynthia and her Garchomp away, but An Xiu caught Cynthia and brought her safely to the ground.
• An Xiu told Cynthia that Chic Freya had driven off Giratina, then questioned the injured Dialga and Palkia about Arceus.
• Dialga and Palkia said Arceus would awaken within two months and that the Michina Clan planned to return the Jewel of Life; An Xiu revealed the jewel was fake and promised to help stop Arceus.
• Dialga and Palkia agreed to notify An Xiu when Arceus neared awakening, while Cynthia reported the incident and asked An Xiu his name.
• An Xiu introduced himself as a Braver from the Galar League and flew away with Chic Freya.

An Xiu traveled to Alola and challenged Aether Foundation chairwoman Lusamine, defeating her team with Regigigas before using Chic Freya’s reality-distorting power to make Lusamine comply. He led her to her private quarters, where he began touching her.

• Cynthia realized Garchomp had not returned and flew off on Togekiss to search for it.
• An Xiu chose the Alola region as his next destination, targeting Lusamine rather than Lillie.
• An Xiu crashed into the Aether Foundation’s secret experimental site and demanded a battle with Lusamine.
• Lusamine sent out five Pokémon, but Regigigas defeated them all under An Xiu’s commands.
• An Xiu used Chic Freya’s power to alter Lusamine’s response, and Lusamine dismissed the staff before taking him to her private area.
• An Xiu followed Lusamine into her private quarters and began touching her.

An Xiu used Chic Freya’s ability and Soul Supply to win Lusamine’s devotion, then directed her to continue researching Ultra Space and recover Lillie and Cosmog. Lusamine’s people captured Lillie, who refused to hand Nebby over when brought before her mother and An Xiu.

• Lusamine willingly joined An Xiu in the private room, and after several hours of intimacy she became deeply attached to him.
• An Xiu told Lusamine to continue researching Ultra Space, bring Lillie back, and protect the Cosmog she carried; Lusamine agreed and offered him ownership of the Aether Foundation, but he declined.
• Lusamine ordered Aether Foundation personnel to search near Professor Kukui’s home, where they found Lillie and escorted her to headquarters.
• Lusamine demanded that Lillie return Cosmog, promising to forgive her, but Lillie refused to give up Nebby.

An Xiu calmed the conflict between Lusamine and Lillie by promising that Nebby would not be subjected to further experiments, then evolved Cosmog into Solgaleo and created a permanent passage to Ultra Space. He asked Solgaleo to become Lillie's Pokémon, and Lillie accepted the responsibility with determination.

• Lusamine threatened to disown Lillie unless she answered An Xiu, but An Xiu calmed her and asked why she was protecting Nebby.
• Lillie explained that she did not want Nebby to suffer through painful experiments again, and An Xiu promised to help it regain its power instead of studying it.
• Nebby approached An Xiu, and Lillie agreed to let it return to Aether Paradise if the experiments stopped.
• An Xiu used the Eternal Core's power to evolve Cosmog directly into Solgaleo, which thanked him and opened a passage to Ultra Space.
• An Xiu permanently stabilized the passage and asked Solgaleo to become Lillie's Pokémon; after An Xiu explained why he had chosen her, Lillie accepted.

Lillie caught Solgaleo, but Necrozma arrived seeking its energy, forcing An Xiu to defeat it. An Xiu restored Necrozma to its Radiant One form, and Lusamine captured it, leaving the group to postpone discussing the Alola League until the next day.

• Lillie caught Solgaleo with its willing cooperation, and An Xiu planned for the group to help establish the Alola League.
• Necrozma flew toward Lillie and Solgaleo, but An Xiu sent out Chic Freya, who defeated it with Tyrant Strike and False Swipe.
• An Xiu infused the fallen Necrozma with the Eternal Core's energy, restoring it to Ultra Necrozma, the Radiant One.
• Ultra Necrozma thanked An Xiu and agreed to serve as Lusamine's Pokémon, and Lusamine captured it in an Ultra Ball.
• An Xiu decided they would return for the day and speak with Professor Kukui about the Alola League the next day.

Lillie and Lusamine trained with Solgaleo and Ultra Necrozma while An Xiu helped prepare the Alola League assessment. After League headquarters sent Lance and Diantha to evaluate the region, An Xiu and the others set out to meet them.

• Lillie worried that Lusamine had deceived An Xiu and resolved to rescue him from her mother.
• Lusamine told Professor Kukui she would help establish the Alola League, and An Xiu urged him to submit the application immediately.
• Chairman Charles Goodshow assigned Lance and Diantha to assess the Alola Region's application.
• During the following half month, Lillie became a rookie Trainer and trained with Lusamine on an island An Xiu had equipped with Exp. Share items.
• Lillie and Solgaleo battled Lusamine and Ultra Necrozma, but Lusamine won after Solgaleo began to tire.
• Lusamine received word that the visiting Champions had arrived, and An Xiu agreed to head out to meet them.

Professor Kukui lost the Alola League assessment battle against Lance, who judged his strength insufficient for the region to pass. Lusamine then stepped forward to challenge Lance herself, and the chapter ended as Lance sent out his Shiny Gyarados.

• Lance and Diantha explained the League assessment, and Professor Kukui volunteered to battle Lance on the nearby coast.
• Professor Kukui’s Incineroar and Lance’s Hydreigon knocked each other out, but Lance’s remaining Pokémon defeated Kukui’s team after he took down two more of Lance’s Pokémon.
• Diantha considered Kukui’s strength sufficient to protect Alola, but Lance rejected the assessment and said the region had failed.
• Lusamine volunteered to take the assessment after Kukui’s defeat and revealed her powerful level 78 Bewear.
• Lance accepted Lusamine’s challenge, recalled Dragonite, sent out his level 78 Shiny Gyarados, and commanded it to use Rain Dance.

Lusamine used Ultra Necrozma to defeat Lance’s team and secure approval for the Alola League, then named Lillie as a prospective Elite Four member. Diantha challenged Lillie to test her strength, and Lillie accepted.

• Lusamine’s Bewear defeated Lance’s shiny Gyarados, but Lance’s Dragonite then knocked out the badly injured Bewear.
• Lusamine sent out Ultra Necrozma, which defeated Lance’s Dragonite, Aerodactyl, Kingdra, and final Dragonair, forcing Lance to concede.
• Lusamine explained that she had found Ultra Necrozma weakened and helped it recover, and Lance and Diantha approved Alola’s League assessment.
• Lusamine said she intended to run for League president and serve as Champion, with Professor Kukui and Lillie as two of her Elite Four candidates.
• Diantha challenged Lillie to a battle, and Lillie accepted before Lusamine could respond.

Lillie accepted Diantha’s challenge and defeated all six of Diantha’s Pokémon with Solgaleo, including her ace Gardevoir. After the battle, Lillie’s team had grown stronger, while Diantha hurried to the Pokémon Center.

• Lillie agreed to battle Diantha in a six-on-six match, and both Trainers sent out their first Pokémon.
• Lillie’s Solgaleo overwhelmed Diantha’s Gardevoir, breaking through Protect and knocking it out with Sunsteel Strike.
• An Xiu and Lance urged Diantha not to surrender, so she continued the battle and sent out Aurorus.
• Solgaleo defeated Aurorus, Gourgeist, Goodra, Tyrantrum, and Hawlucha in succession, giving Lillie the victory.
• Diantha left for the Pokémon Center, and Lillie’s Pokémon gained levels after the battle.

After Lillie defeated Lusamine’s Milotic, An Xiu left Alola for Galar, leaving Lusamine and Lillie focused on building the new Alola League and unconcerned about Gladion. An Xiu returned to Stow-on-Side, where Rose learned that he had helped establish the Alola League and questioned how closely he was involved.

• Lillie defeated Lusamine’s Milotic in battle, proving she had reached Elite Four level without relying on Solgaleo.
• An Xiu told Lusamine and Lillie he planned to leave Alola, then flew to Galar with Chic Freya; Lusamine and Lillie resolved to develop the Alola Region and left Gladion where he was.
• During the flight, An Xiu used the Mega Monster Battle Nizer and drew Hyperion, a Merafissian, and Gatanothor.
• An Xiu landed at Stow-on-Side Stadium, reunited with Bea, and discussed recent events, including the Alola League’s establishment.
• Rose met An Xiu and asked whether he had helped establish the Alola League; An Xiu confirmed that he had assisted its chairwoman, Lusamine.

An Xiu showed Rose how a Trainer’s bond with a Pokémon could become battle power, offering a potential solution to Galar’s dwindling Dynamax energy. After Bea and Machamp demonstrated the power, Leon arrived to test it in battle, and the chapter ended as Machamp charged his Charizard.

• Rose learned that An Xiu knew about the Legendary Pokémon beneath Hammerlocke and listened as An Xiu proposed a way to address Galar’s energy crisis.
• An Xiu had Chic Freya draw out the bond between Bea and Machamp, and Bea channelled that power into Machamp, raising its strength to the Champion level.
• Rose summoned Leon to Stow-on-Side Stadium, where An Xiu arranged a battle between Leon and Bea to test the bond power.
• Leon sent out Charizard, and Bea and Machamp resonated with one another, boosting Machamp’s strength to match or surpass Charizard’s.
• Leon ordered Charizard to use Air Slash, and Bea sent Machamp charging through the attack to strike Charizard with Dual Chop.

An Xiu explained that Bond Power could be collected and used to solve Galar’s energy crisis, then proposed a worldwide Pokémon tournament with the Galar and Alola Leagues. Rose agreed to organize it and tried to win An Xiu’s favor by offering to arrange a meeting with Nessa.

• Bea’s Machamp and Leon’s Dynamaxed Charizard exchanged powerful attacks until both lost the ability to battle, producing a draw.
• An Xiu explained Bond Phenomenon and had Chic Freya gather the Bond Power left behind by Bea and Machamp’s battle.
• Rose realized Bond Power could help resolve Galar’s energy crisis and pleaded with An Xiu to grant the ability to more Trainers.
• An Xiu proposed a worldwide tournament jointly hosted by the Galar and Alola Leagues, with Chic Freya granting Bond Phenomenon to the selected Trainers, and Rose agreed to proceed.
• Rose showed An Xiu a modeling magazine featuring Nessa and offered to arrange for her to appear in his bed within three days.

Rose brought Nessa and Sonia to Stow-on-Side Stadium, where Nessa lost badly to Bea before Rose secretly drugged both women. An Xiu revealed what had happened as they struggled with the effects, leaving them shocked and asking why Rose had targeted them.

• Bea said her battle against Leon had exhilarated her, then returned to training to improve.
• Rose arrived at Stow-on-Side Stadium with Nessa and Sonia, intending to offer them to An Xiu; Sonia also wanted to ask him about Bond Phenomenon and his Legendary Pokémon.
• Nessa battled Bea in a six-on-six match, but Bea defeated all six of Nessa’s Pokémon without using Bond Phenomenon or Dynamax.
• After the battle, Rose handed out drugged water; Nessa and Sonia drank it, while An Xiu noticed the water was suspicious.
• Rose left with Bea, and An Xiu told Nessa and Sonia that the water had been tampered with as they began feeling its effects.

An Xiu explained that Rose had offered Nessa and Sonia to secure his support for Galar, then persuaded Nessa to stay and train rather than seek futile revenge. Half a month later, Nessa had grown strong enough to defeat Bea’s Hawlucha, while Rose viewed her and Sonia as ties that could keep An Xiu aligned with the Galar League.

• An Xiu told Nessa and Sonia that Rose had treated them as bargaining chips, and he brought them to his room after they were weakened by the altered water.
• Afterward, Sonia accepted the situation more readily, while Nessa prepared to leave but paused when An Xiu offered to train her and help her gain the Bond Phenomenon.
• Nessa agreed to stay for training, and Sonia remained with An Xiu as well.
• Over the next half month, An Xiu gave Nessa the Bond Phenomenon seed and Exp. Shares for her Pokémon, while Bea also trained with Exp. Shares.
• Nessa’s Drednaw defeated Bea’s Hawlucha, marking a major improvement in Nessa’s battling strength and command.
• Rose praised the two Gym Leaders and considered Nessa and Sonia potential anchors tying An Xiu to the Galar League, despite Nessa’s continued resentment toward him.

An Xiu rushed to Sinnoh after Dialga and Palkia warned that Arceus’s avatar had awakened early and threatened to destroy the world. When Arceus attacked the Sinnoh trio, Chic Freya broke through his Plate-based defenses with bond power and struck him, leaving Arceus shocked.

• Rose told An Xiu that plans for the joint Galar-Alola tournament had stalled over choosing a venue, and An Xiu considered ways to create one.
• Dialga and Palkia urgently warned An Xiu that Arceus was about to awaken, so An Xiu left for Sinnoh with Chic Freya after informing Nessa, Sonia, and Rose of the danger.
• An Xiu met Dialga, Palkia, and the hidden Giratina near Michina as they prepared to confront Arceus’s avatar.
• Arceus arrived and nullified Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina’s attacks with the power of his Plates, then battered the three Legendary Pokémon.
• An Xiu sent Chic Freya to attack Arceus, and her bond power, reinforced by reality-warping, pierced his defenses and sent him crashing to the ground.

An Xiu and Chic Freya defeated Arceus’s avatar, then An Xiu proposed testing whether the world’s people would show compassion when faced with destruction. He released Gatanothor, whose darkness engulfed the world, leaving Arceus to decide whether to intervene as the League regions struggled against the spreading black mist.

• Chic Freya overwhelmed Arceus with Bond Power and defeated it with Dimensional Transcendence Cannon.
• An Xiu told Arceus he would not demand that it abandon its hatred, but urged it not to punish the innocent world for the humans who betrayed it.
• An Xiu proposed a bet and released Gatanothor from the Mega Monster Battle Nizer near Sunyshore City.
• Gatanothor’s darkness spread across Sinnoh and then the world, while Volkner, Cynthia, and Wallace reacted to the growing catastrophe.
• The Leagues evacuated civilians and sent Trainers to attack the black mist, but their efforts failed and people and Pokémon vanished when swallowed.
• An Xiu told Arceus that no one was in mortal danger yet, but warned that it needed to make its choice before his control over the darkness ran out.

As the black mist spread across the Pokémon World, Cynthia rode Garchomp to confront its source, the enormous Gatanothor. Steven Stone, Wallace, and Lance joined her, but their combined attacks barely affected the monster, leaving the four Champions facing an enemy they had no confidence of defeating.

• Leon, Bea, and Nessa fought to hold back the black mist while Sonia tried to analyze it, and Xerneas and Ho-Oh sheltered people at great cost to their strength.
• Ultra Necrozma protected Alola's central island as Lusamine and Lillie organized aid and evacuated civilians.
• Cynthia flew toward the black mist's source and encountered Gatanothor rising from the sea; despite Professor Carolina's warning, she ordered Garchomp to attack.
• Gatanothor's tentacles struck Garchomp, but Steven Stone and Wallace arrived and used psychic force to save Cynthia and her Pokémon.
• Lance joined Cynthia, Steven Stone, and Wallace, and the four Champions launched a coordinated attack that barely diverted Gatanothor's tentacles.

Arceus agreed to abandon his hatred of humanity and went to face Gatanothor after An Xiu refused to recall the monster immediately. Arceus’s attacks barely affected Gatanothor, while a gold-blue light rescued the exhausted Champions from the sea.

• Lance’s Dragonite struck Gatanothor with Dragon Claw, but its attack failed to damage the monster’s hard carapace.
• Cynthia, Lance, Steven Stone, and Wallace boosted their Pokémon and launched their strongest moves, but Gatanothor remained unharmed and knocked them into the sea.
• Arceus told An Xiu he would let go of his hatred, and An Xiu said Arceus had to defeat Gatanothor with help from Chic Freya.
• Arceus flew to the battlefield and attacked Gatanothor with Judgment and a powerful charge, but neither attack caused significant damage.
• Wallace and Cynthia struggled to stay afloat as the Champions drifted apart, until a gold-blue light lifted all four into the air.

An Xiu and Chic Freya helped defeat Gatanothor, whose black mist had plunged the Pokémon World into despair, and An Xiu was summoned into a consciousness space by Arceus’s true body. Arceus thanked him and agreed to a friendly relationship, but An Xiu still needed to learn how they would contact each other.

• An Xiu and Chic Freya returned the Champions’ Pokémon and sent Cynthia, Steven Stone, Wallace, and Lance to safety.
• Chic Freya used Wings of Soaring Hope, drawing Bond Power from people across the Pokémon World and blasting Gatanothor back twice.
• Chic Freya and Arceus’s avatar unleashed their strongest attacks, and An Xiu recalled Gatanothor as the attacks cleared the black mist.
• Arceus’s true body brought An Xiu into a consciousness space, thanked him for resolving his avatar’s anger, and asked why he had come to the Pokémon World.
• An Xiu explained that he had come to establish a mutually helpful relationship, and Arceus agreed before An Xiu asked how they could contact each other.