Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “The Only Hope, Nihilego”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After leaving the game, Xia Chen and Mi Ling travel through Ultra Megalopolis. Because of the language barrier, Xia mainly communicates through one-sided Telepathy and observes the city and its people.
• Xia is brought to Megalopolis Tower, where he meets Xionila, chairman of the Ultra Megalopolis Management Council. He recalls Koraidon before entering, since the city does not allow it inside.
• Xionila shows Xia maps of Kartana territories. Xia identifies Sword Valley as the most promising location for finding a powerful Kartana capable of cutting open an Ultra Wormhole.
• Xionila agrees to upgrade Xia’s Rotom Phone and study his Ultra Ball technology while Xia remains in the city for several days.
• Xia asks whether the city has encountered humans from other worlds, hoping to find his missing parents and possibly Dr. Mohn. Xionila shows him records of a visitor from thirty years earlier, but the person is unrelated to Xia’s search.
• Mi Ling reveals that an Ultra Recon Squad expedition two years earlier observed two humans near the Void Sea. They appeared to be parasitized by Nihilego.
• Because Xia knows that only his parents and Mohn had entered Ultra Wormholes from his world in the past five years, he realizes the two people may be his parents.
• Mi Ling explains that Nihilego’s “parasitism” is actually a form of symbiosis. Hosts lose consciousness and become physically weak, but remain alive as long as the Nihilego survives.
• Xia asks for the location of the sighting and decides to search for the humans himself. Xionila arranges for him to accompany the next Out-of-City Expedition, scheduled in five days.
• Amamo, the expedition leader, warns Xia that the Void Sea contains tens of thousands of Nihilego and has already killed members of the Ultra Recon Squad. Despite her concerns, she agrees to take him there.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen: His curiosity about the Ultra World continues, but his investigation becomes intensely personal when he discovers evidence that his parents may still be alive. His hope returns, and he confidently insists that his Pokémon partners make him capable of surviving the Void Sea.
• Mi Ling: She acts as Xia’s guide and translator, provides crucial information about Nihilego and the expedition system, and shows increasing concern for his safety.
• Xionila: He proves pragmatic and cooperative, offering technological assistance, sharing classified records, and arranging Xia’s participation in the expedition.
• Amamo: Initially curious but wary, she strongly opposes taking Xia into the Void Sea. His confidence and determination eventually persuade her to accept responsibility for guiding him.
• Ultra Megalopolis residents: Their reactions to Xia’s appearance, Poké Balls, and Pokémon-related technology emphasize how foreign his world is to them.

Significant Themes

• Hope amid catastrophe: The isolated people of Ultra Megalopolis continue searching for a way to save their ruined world despite repeated failures and heavy losses.
• Isolation and imprisonment: The city is compared to a cage, reflecting humanity’s retreat from the Ultra Beasts and the psychological burden of survival.
• Cross-world misunderstanding and cooperation: Xia and the Megalopolis residents lack shared language, culture, and technology, but gradually cooperate through curiosity and mutual need.
• Family and perseverance: The possibility that Xia’s parents survived gives him renewed purpose and demonstrates his refusal to abandon hope despite overwhelming evidence against them.
• Symbiosis and survival: Nihilego’s relationship with its hosts complicates the distinction between danger and salvation, since the same creature that threatens humans may also be the only reason they remain alive.

Important Character Interactions

• Xia’s awkward, mostly one-sided questions to Mi Ling highlight the communication barrier between their worlds.
• Xia and Xionila negotiate an exchange involving Ultra Balls, Rotom Phone technology, and information about Kartana.
• Xionila and Mi Ling help Xia investigate previous interworld visitors, while Mi Ling’s recollection of Amamo’s expedition provides the breakthrough he needs.
• Xia and Amamo clash over the danger of the Void Sea: she sees him as an inexperienced outsider, while he confidently promises to protect her and the expedition team.
• By the end of the chapter, Xia gains a concrete lead regarding his parents and a scheduled opportunity to search for them.

Chapter Summary: “A Little Shock from an Otherworldly Big Shot”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After arriving in the Ultra World, Xia Chen decides to remain in Ultra Megalopolis for several days while waiting for:
  • His Rotom Phone’s hardware upgrade.
  • The Ultra Recon Squad’s next Out-of-City Expedition.
  • The chance to help mass-produce his Ultra Ball design as promised to Xionila.
• Xionila has Mi Ling and Amamo show Xia Chen around the city. He discovers that, despite the world’s century-long Dark Era, Ultra Megalopolis has a lively society with shops, restaurants, cinemas, arcades, and advanced technology.
• While eating, Xia Chen overhears citizens criticizing the Ultra Recon Squad, dismissing their dangerous expeditions as wasteful and unproductive. Amamo becomes furious because the Squad risks its life protecting the city.
• Seeing Amamo and Mi Ling genuinely hurt by the insults, Xia Chen secretly uses his Psychic powers to force the complainers’ faces into their meals. He admits he did it because they angered him and would otherwise face no consequences.
• Amamo is impressed and asks to learn the technique, but Mi Ling stops her, joking that she would cause chaos if given such powers.
• Xia Chen spends the rest of the day sightseeing with the girls, including shopping, dinner, and an immersive holographic movie.
• Mi Ling arranges a small high-tech apartment for Xia Chen. He finds it cramped for himself and his ten Pokémon, but appreciates the hospitality and the apartment’s advanced smart-home systems.
• The following day, Xia Chen explores Ultra Megalopolis alone. He learns more about the city’s Ultra Beast defense system and the five disaster classifications, with Orange-level disasters being extremely destructive and Red-level disasters associated with the legendary Dark Necrozma.
• Shortly after he begins exploring, an Orange-level Ultra Beast Tide approaches the city. Alarms sound, citizens panic, and Xionila urges Xia Chen to seek refuge in Megalopolis Tower.
• Instead of hiding, Xia Chen decides to face the crisis, promising to give the city a “little shock” from an otherworldly Pokémon Trainer.

Character Developments

Xia Chen

He becomes more emotionally invested in the people of Ultra Megalopolis, especially Mi Ling and Amamo. Though he recognizes that using Psychic powers to punish rude citizens is morally questionable, he accepts responsibility for acting according to his own principles. His confidence and willingness to intervene establish him as a powerful outsider who will not remain passive when his friends are insulted or threatened.

Amamo

Her passionate, impulsive personality is emphasized. She is fiercely loyal to the Ultra Recon Squad and deeply resents civilians who benefit from their sacrifices while criticizing them. Her anger quickly turns into admiration for Xia Chen after witnessing his secret retaliation.

Mi Ling

She is portrayed as mature, composed, and practical. She restrains Amamo, manages Xia Chen’s accommodations, and quietly shares the same frustration with the city’s ungrateful citizens.

Xionila

She continues treating Xia Chen as an honored guest and shows concern for his safety when the Ultra Beast Tide arrives. Her invitation to seek shelter reflects both her hospitality and her lack of awareness of Xia Chen’s full strength.

The Ultra Megalopolis citizens

They are shown as accustomed to their confined, technologically advanced society. Many enjoy peaceful lives without fully appreciating the sacrifices made by the Defense Team and Ultra Recon Squad.

Significant Themes

• Sacrifice versus public appreciation: The chapter contrasts the Ultra Recon Squad’s dangerous work with the civilians’ dismissive complaints, highlighting how easily people take protection and peace for granted.
• Justice and personal morality: Xia Chen’s punishment of the rude men raises the question of whether personal justice can justify abusing power. He acknowledges the danger of crossing moral boundaries but still believes in responding to wrongdoing rather than tolerating it.
• Comfort within a dystopia: Ultra Megalopolis appears prosperous and entertaining despite living under the threat of Ultra Beasts. The chapter suggests that people can adapt to oppressive circumstances and build ordinary lives even in a post-apocalyptic world.
• Friendship and loyalty: Xia Chen’s intervention is motivated less by abstract heroism than by his genuine affection for Mi Ling and Amamo. Their relationship develops through shared meals, teasing, and mutual trust.
• The outsider as a catalyst: Xia Chen’s arrival disrupts the city’s established expectations. His unfamiliar abilities and independent attitude foreshadow major changes in how the people of Ultra Megalopolis confront danger.

Important Character Interactions

• Xia Chen and Amamo: They develop a playful rapport. He teases her about attacking her food, comforts her after the citizens’ insults, and secretly retaliates on her behalf. Amamo responds with admiration and curiosity.
• Xia Chen and Mi Ling: Their relationship is calmer and more respectful. Mi Ling repeatedly manages Amamo’s impulsiveness and ensures Xia Chen is cared for, while Xia Chen appreciates her maturity and kindness.
• Xia Chen and Xionila: Xionila continues to trust and host him, while Xia Chen intends to honor his promises regarding Ultra Balls and support the Ultra Recon Squad.
• Amamo and Mi Ling: Their contrasting personalities create comic tension: Amamo is emotional and outspoken, while Mi Ling acts as the practical restraining influence.
• Xia Chen and the complaining civilians: Though there is no direct confrontation, Xia Chen silently intervenes with Psychic power, turning their mockery of the Ultra Recon Squad into an embarrassing punishment.
• Xia Chen and his Pokémon: He remains considerate toward them despite the cramped apartment, apologizing for the lack of proper food and promising to cook for them after returning home.
  The chapter ends with Xia Chen choosing to confront the Orange-level Ultra Beast Tide rather than seek shelter, setting up a demonstration of his extraordinary strength.

Chapter Summary: “That Green Aurora of Miracles and Hope!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ultra Megalopolis faces an Orange Disaster-level Ultra Beast Tide, far more powerful than the smaller disasters its defense force normally handles.
• Mi Ling and Amamo rush from their dormitory to Megalopolis Tower and deploy in their specialized mecha. They are ordered to support West District Three, using electromagnetic heat rays against Kartana and other Ultra Beasts.
• The city’s limited resources become apparent: the Ultra Defense Team possesses only a small number of heavily armed mecha and exoskeletons, reflecting humanity’s century-long struggle under Ultra Beast oppression.
• The Ultra Beast Tide rapidly escalates. Kartana, Pheromosa, Blacephalon, Celesteela, Xurkitree, Buzzwole, and enormous Guzzlord attack different sectors of the defense system.
• Commander-in-Chief Xionila desperately coordinates reinforcements and activates the Dual-Gravity Shockwave Device, but the attacks overwhelm the city.
• Within minutes, the defensive barrier collapses. The defense force is forced into scattered battles, while the Ultra Beasts prepare to invade the city and attack Megalopolis Tower.
• Just as humanity appears doomed, a green aurora-like force suddenly descends over the battlefield, halting the advancing Ultra Beasts.
• The command center discovers Xia Chen hovering near the city on Koraidon, accompanied by another unfamiliar Ultra Beast. He then releases several more Pokémon, apparently intending to confront the entire Ultra Beast Tide.
• Though the defense force is astonished by his seemingly reckless strategy, Xia Chen’s appearance restores their hope. The chapter ends with everyone watching anxiously to see whether he can truly defeat thousands of Ultra Beasts.

Character Developments

• Mi Ling and Amamo demonstrate courage and professionalism by immediately entering combat despite having no experience with an Orange Disaster of this scale. Their preparation and knowledge of Ultra Beast tactics emphasize their competence, but the overwhelming enemy exposes the limits of conventional technology.
• Xionila struggles internally with fear and grief but maintains a composed exterior. He understands that showing despair would destroy the morale of the defense force, so he continues issuing commands even as the situation becomes hopeless.
• Xia Chen is initially distracted and exhilarated by the sight of mecha, joking about piloting one and imagining being given a machine like “Crimson Typhoon.” His excitement reveals his playful personality, but he quickly refocuses on the crisis and chooses to help.
• Koraidon reacts with confusion and mild annoyance to Xia Chen’s mecha obsession, yet remains loyal and supports his decision to join the battle.
• Xionila’s view of Xia Chen changes from regarding him as merely an unusual visitor to recognizing him as a potential solution to Metropolis’s greatest crisis. Xia Chen’s ability to command Pokémon may offer an entirely new method of fighting Ultra Beasts.

Significant Themes

• Technology versus overwhelming nature: Humanity has relied on advanced weapons and mecha for a century, but the Orange Disaster proves that technology alone may not be enough.
• Hope appearing at the point of despair: The green aurora arrives precisely when the defense system collapses, symbolizing a miraculous reversal and the return of hope.
• Traditional defense versus new possibilities: The Ultra Defense Team represents disciplined, resource-limited technological resistance, while Xia Chen introduces the unfamiliar possibility of using Pokémon to fight Ultra Beasts.
• Leadership and morale: Xionila’s determination to remain calm demonstrates how leadership can preserve courage even when victory seems impossible.
• The outsider as savior: Xia Chen, a visitor from another world, becomes the figure on whom Metropolis’s survival may depend.
• Confidence and overwhelming power: Xia Chen’s decision to spread his Pokémon across the battlefield suggests that he possesses extraordinary confidence—or power—far beyond what the defense force understands.

Character Interactions

• Mi Ling and Amamo work together as defense force captains, responding to Xionila’s orders and fighting according to the weaknesses of specific Ultra Beasts.
• Xionila communicates with the battlefield units and later recognizes Xia Chen on the surveillance feed, recalling their earlier meeting and considering the implications of his Pokémon.
• Xia Chen and Koraidon exchange humorous dialogue about mecha, with Xia Chen enthusiastically imagining Koraidon as a machine while Koraidon responds with dry irritation.
• The defense force members discuss Xia Chen and his Pokémon, speculating about why Ultra Beasts obey humans in his world and whether he can save Metropolis.
• Xia Chen’s arrival unites the command center emotionally: although they do not know him, his presence gives the desperate soldiers renewed confidence and something to believe in.

Chapter Summary: “Mutual Aid Between Two Worlds”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xia Chen’s Pokémon arrive across several battlefields in Ultra Megalopolis, turning the tide against the Orange-level Ultra Beast Tide.
• Volcarona and Ceruledge devastate hordes of Kartana and Pheromosa in the East District, while Gholdengo and Goodra effortlessly withstand Naganadel’s corrosive attacks in the South District.
• Other Pokémon, especially Koraidon and Zeraora, overpower the formidable Guzzlord and Celesteela. With the surviving Defense Team members’ assistance, the Ultra Beasts are defeated or driven away.
• The crisis ends in just over an hour, producing Ultra Megalopolis’s greatest victory against an Ultra Beast Tide since the Dark Era.
• Xia Chen is publicly praised as the savior of Metropolis, though he remains modest and privately questions whether his arrival somehow triggered the disaster.
• In a private meeting, Xionila offers to repay Xia Chen. Xia initially considers asking to pilot a mech but instead requests access to the Ultra World’s advanced scientific knowledge.
• Xionila explains that directly transferring technology between universes may be difficult because the two worlds could operate under different physical laws. He proposes long-term academic exchange once a stable connection between the worlds is established.
• Xia realizes that Xionila is interested in obtaining Pokémon as a defense against future Ultra Beast invasions. They tentatively agree to exchange Pokémon for technological knowledge, creating a mutually beneficial partnership.
• Xionila reveals that Ultra Megalopolis is developing spatial-jump technology to travel to Earth, while Xia intends to search for a Kartana capable of opening Ultra Wormholes as an additional means of contact.
• Xia’s heroic contribution is kept secret from the public at his request. He later visits injured Defense Team members Mi Ling and Amamo in the hospital.
• Amamo is impressed by Xia’s strength and asks to meet his Pokémon. Xia releases Sylveon and Gardevoir, partly because they are well suited to the hospital room—and partly to show off their appearance.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen: Demonstrates confidence in his Pokémon and calmly accepts recognition, but remains practical and ambitious. His goals expand from merely piloting a mech to acquiring advanced technology that could benefit his home world. He also shows a sense of responsibility by helping Metropolis and considering the broader consequences of interworld cooperation.
• Xionila: Proves himself politically perceptive and pragmatic. Though he sincerely wishes to repay Xia, he redirects the conversation toward a strategic exchange that could secure Pokémon protection for Ultra Megalopolis. He is willing to prioritize his world’s future despite feeling slightly embarrassed about turning repayment into a trade.
• Mi Ling: Shows gratitude and loyalty toward Xia, defending him when Amamo complains about his concern for the upcoming expedition.
• Amamo: Moves from joking resentment about her injuries to genuine admiration for Xia and his Pokémon. Her curiosity and enthusiasm reinforce how extraordinary his companions appear to the people of Ultra Megalopolis.

Significant Themes

• Mutual aid and reciprocity: The chapter’s central idea is that both worlds can help one another. Ultra Megalopolis offers advanced technology, while Xia’s world can provide Pokémon capable of fighting Ultra Beasts.
• Technology versus natural power: The Ultra World’s technological civilization and Earth’s Pokémon coexist as different forms of strength, each compensating for the other’s weaknesses.
• Strategic cooperation: Genuine gratitude gradually becomes a practical alliance. The proposed exchange benefits both societies rather than serving as a one-sided favor.
• Responsibility and ambition: Xia’s desire to obtain technology is motivated not only by personal curiosity but also by the possibility of improving humanity’s future.
• Public recognition versus private purpose: Xia avoids unnecessary fame, valuing meaningful benefits—such as technological access or mech piloting—over public admiration.
• Interworld uncertainty: The planned partnership faces major obstacles, including establishing stable travel between worlds and determining whether Pokémon and technology can function normally across different universes.

Important Character Interactions

• Xia Chen and Xionila: Their conversation shifts from formal gratitude to negotiation. Xionila offers repayment, while Xia asks for scientific knowledge. They ultimately agree to pursue technological and Pokémon exchanges, establishing the foundation for future cooperation.
• Xia Chen and Mi Ling: Mi Ling recognizes Xia’s decisive role in saving Metropolis and defends him from Amamo’s teasing.
• Xia Chen and Amamo: Their banter reveals Xia’s blunt practicality and Amamo’s playful personality. Despite complaining about her injuries, Amamo clearly admires him and wants to meet his Pokémon.
• Xia Chen and his Pokémon: Xia credits his partners rather than himself for the victory, yet he also proudly presents Sylveon and Gardevoir, revealing both his humility and his affectionate pride in them.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sylveon and Gardevoir win over two hospitalized Metropolis girls almost immediately, despite the city’s long history of fearing Pokémon-like Ultra Beasts. Xia Chen concludes that appearance and perceived friendliness strongly influence people’s attitudes.
• Xia Chen considers using cute, approachable Pokémon—especially Eevee and its evolutions—as the foundation for future cooperation between Earth and Metropolis.
• Before leaving on the Out-of-City Expedition, Xia Chen studies Metropolis’s research on Ultra Beasts. He learns that separating Nihilego from a host after more than a year usually results in the host’s death from organ failure and toxins. This leaves him without a clear way to save his parasitized parents.
• His Rotom Phone receives a major technological upgrade, gaining immense computing power, vast storage, holographic projection, virtual reality, advanced medical functions, and the entire digital collection of the Metropolis Library. The new knowledge gives Xia Chen hope that he can eventually reproduce Ultra World technology on Earth.
• The Out-of-City Expedition begins two days later. Xia Chen joins a nine-person Ultra Recon Squad that includes his friends Mi Ling and Amamo. Equipped with flying scooters and exoskeleton armor, the team travels toward the Void Sea.
• Three days into the journey, the team reaches the area near the Void Sea, a vast, dark plain inhabited by more than ten thousand Nihilego. Because of the danger, Xia Chen proceeds alone with Koraidon and Gardevoir.
• Amamo worries about him and offers to accompany him, but Xia Chen refuses, jokingly calling her dead weight. He tells the team to leave if he has not returned within two hours.
• Xia Chen, Koraidon, and Gardevoir enter the Void Sea. The Nihilego swarm attacks, but Koraidon’s speed and strength allow them to cut through the horde unharmed while Xia Chen and Gardevoir search psychically for his parents.
• Just as Xia Chen’s psychic power is nearly exhausted, Gardevoir locates the targets. Koraidon grabs two Nihilego and rapidly escapes the Void Sea, leaving the rest of the swarm behind.
• After landing safely, Xia Chen discovers that the two Nihilego are parasitizing a middle-aged couple—his parents. They remain calm because Nihilego can share memories with their hosts and create dreamlike illusions through neurotoxins. The chapter ends with Xia Chen wondering what life his parents are experiencing inside those dreams.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen: Continues balancing strategic planning with personal desperation. His inability to find a cure for Nihilego’s toxin worries him, but Rotom’s upgrade restores some optimism. He demonstrates confidence and courage by entering the Void Sea alone, while his concern for his parents drives him to exhaustion.
• Amamo: Shows genuine concern for Xia Chen and offers to risk entering the Void Sea with him. Her irritation at his teasing masks her affection and anxiety.
• Mi Ling: Acts as a responsible captain, trusting Xia Chen’s strength while visibly worrying about his safety.
• Koraidon: Displays unusual seriousness and overwhelming combat ability, protecting Xia Chen and Gardevoir while carrying out the rescue.
• Gardevoir: Proves essential to the mission by helping Xia Chen search through the Nihilego swarm and ultimately locating his parents.
• Xia Chen’s parents: Are revealed to have survived, but remain deeply endangered and psychologically trapped by Nihilego’s parasitic influence.

Significant Themes

• Appearance and prejudice: Metropolis residents quickly accept Sylveon and Gardevoir because of their beauty and gentle appearance, suggesting that fear can be overturned by familiarity and attractiveness.
• Hope through cooperation: Xia Chen imagines Pokémon and Metropolis technology working together against the Ultra Beasts, emphasizing the potential of interworld alliances.
• Knowledge versus capability: Metropolis possesses extensive research on Ultra Beasts but lacks the military strength to act on it. Xia Chen’s access to Pokémon power and advanced technology may bridge that gap.
• Science and uncertainty: Despite enormous technological progress, the cure for Nihilego’s toxin remains unknown, showing the limits of even advanced civilization.
• Family and sacrifice: Xia Chen risks himself in the Void Sea because saving his parents is more important than his own safety.
• Dreams and identity: Nihilego’s ability to absorb memories and create illusions blurs the boundary between parasite and host, raising questions about whether Xia Chen’s parents are truly living—or merely continuing life inside artificial dreams.

Character Interactions

• The hospitalized girls eagerly adore Sylveon and Gardevoir, demonstrating the Pokémon’s immediate emotional impact.
• Xia Chen receives extensive support from Xionila, whose willingness to share Metropolis’s technology and research strengthens their alliance.
• Amamo and Xia Chen exchange affectionate insults before his departure. Her offer to help and his attempt to lighten the mood reveal their growing emotional closeness.
• Mi Ling silently accepts Xia Chen’s decision to proceed alone, showing respect for his abilities despite her concern.
• Xia Chen and Gardevoir work together through their psychic connection to search for the hidden hosts, while Koraidon serves as their shield and means of escape.
• The chapter closes on Xia Chen confronting his parents’ helpless condition, shifting the expedition from a rescue mission into a deeper emotional and psychological dilemma.

Chapter Summary: If I Had Never Seen the Light

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xia Chen creates a massive disturbance in the Void Sea by drawing a swarm of rampaging Nihilego away from the Ultra Recon Squad. His strength and speed leave the squad astonished.
• He returns to the squad with two Nihilego and their human hosts: a middle-aged man and woman revealed to be his parents.
• Xia Chen is deeply shaken by seeing them. Although he had initially viewed rescuing them as a duty to the body’s original family, their appearance awakens genuine emotions, suggesting that his soul and this world’s Xia Chen have fully merged.
• Xia Chen takes his parents back to Metropolis for medical care, leaving Zeraora behind to protect the Ultra Recon Squad while they continue their expedition.
• At Megalopolis Tower, doctors determine that Xia Chen’s parents have been parasitized by Nihilego for roughly five years. The toxins have likely spread throughout their bodies, making immediate removal dangerous or impossible.
• The doctors can preserve their current condition, since the hosts and Nihilego now appear mutually dependent. Xia Chen leaves them in Xionila’s care and returns to the expedition.
• After rejoining the squad, Xia Chen prepares a hotpot meal for his Pokémon and the team. Amamo is awakened by the smell and enthusiastically joins them.
• During the meal, Amamo asks about Xia Chen’s world. Xia Chen realizes that she has never seen true sunlight or natural landscapes because the Ultra World has been dark and barren for generations.
• Rather than hide the beauty of his world, Xia Chen shows Amamo a video and photographs of sunlight, nature, Pokémon, and his past travels.
• Amamo is overwhelmed but inspired. She asks for copies of the images and declares that she will one day visit those places and photograph them herself, giving her hope for restoring the Ultra World.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen: His rescue of his parents reveals that his emotional connection to this world and its people is deeper than he previously admitted. He acts responsibly toward the Ultra Recon Squad, ensuring their safety while balancing family obligations. He also becomes a source of hope for Amamo.
• Amamo: She shows her admiration for Xia Chen and his Pokémon through her eagerness to share their meal. After seeing the light and beauty of his world, she experiences sadness but transforms it into determination to restore her own world.
• Mi Ling: She demonstrates understanding and practical judgment, allowing Xia Chen to handle his family while agreeing to continue the expedition under Zeraora’s protection.
• Zeraora: He proves dependable and disciplined by guarding the camp in Xia Chen’s absence. His loyalty and calm presence reassure the squad.
• Xia Chen’s Pokémon: They display familiarity, affection, and playful camaraderie. Their teasing of Sylveon over Xia Chen’s old video highlights their shared history and close-knit bond.
• Xia Chen’s parents: Though unconscious and physically altered by years of Nihilego parasitism, their condition introduces the unresolved question of whether the humans or the Nihilego now possess greater control over their bodies and minds.

Significant Themes

• Family and identity: Xia Chen’s reaction to his parents suggests that identity is shaped not only by memory or responsibility but also by emotional and spiritual connection.
• Light and darkness: The chapter contrasts the literal darkness of the Ultra World with the sunlight and vitality of Xia Chen’s world. Light represents beauty, freedom, possibility, and hope.
• The danger of knowledge: Xia Chen worries that showing Amamo the light might make her existing life unbearable, reflecting the idea that ignorance can sometimes make suffering easier to endure.
• Hope as motivation: Amamo chooses to see the beauty of the outside world not as a source of despair, but as a reason to fight for restoration.
• Mutual dependence and blurred boundaries: Xia Chen’s parents and their Nihilego hosts appear to have become biologically intertwined, complicating the distinction between parasite and host.
• Companionship and trust: Xia Chen repays the squad’s help, entrusts Zeraora with their safety, and shares food and memories with Amamo, strengthening bonds across worlds.

Important Character Interactions

• Xia Chen and Mi Ling discuss his plans, with Mi Ling recognizing his need to care for his parents and Xia Chen promising to protect the squad in return for their assistance.
• Xia Chen entrusts Zeraora with guarding the squad, demonstrating the trust between trainer and Pokémon.
• Xia Chen and the medical experts discuss the grim but manageable condition of his parents.
• Amamo shares a meal with Xia Chen and his Pokémon, revealing her unfamiliarity with rich food and deepening her friendship with Xia Chen.
• Xia Chen and Amamo discuss whether learning about sunlight would make her unhappy. Amamo confidently chooses to see it, framing the experience as motivation to restore her world.
• Xia Chen shares his memories and recordings with Amamo, and her response transforms the chapter’s melancholy into optimism for the future.

Chapter Summary:

Z-Crystals and a Radiant Stone Vein!

Key Plot Points and Events

• After another largely unproductive ten-day Out-of-City Expedition, Xia Chen returns to Metropolis. Although the expedition yields no clues about Ultra Necrozma’s madness, it does bring back useful metal ores.
• Metropolis is optimistic because research into Space Jump technology is nearly complete. Xia Chen volunteers to participate in its dangerous first tests, but first seeks a Kartana capable of cutting open Ultra Wormholes.
• He travels alone to Sword Valley, where numerous Kartana live. Because stronger Ultra Beasts are usually more severely mentally contaminated, Xia Chen faces a dilemma: weak Kartana may be cooperative but lack the necessary power, while strong ones are likely impossible to communicate with.
• Xia Chen uses Koraidon and Deoxys as bait, provoking the Kartana into battle. They defeat and retrieve several powerful individuals, including two with energy levels equivalent to 0.8 Zapdos, placing them at Legendary-level strength.
• Deoxys scans the valley and discovers a huge ore guarded by an unusually powerful Kartana. This Kartana possesses 0.9 Zapdos-level energy, yet contains none of the Haze-like contamination found in other Ultra Beasts.
• Koraidon breaks the massive stone into pieces. Its jade-like interior contains a strange, powerful energy and resembles a possible Radiant Stone, though Xia Chen cannot yet confirm its identity.
• The injured Kartana awakens and angrily demands to know why Xia Chen destroyed the “Holy Stone.” Unlike other Ultra Beasts, it can communicate coherently and remains mentally stable.
• Xia Chen learns that the Holy Stone is apparently what protects Kartana from losing its identity and becoming contaminated like the other Kartana. He asks it to explain further.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen demonstrates increasing strategic caution. He limits his team to Koraidon and Deoxys to avoid unnecessary injuries in Ultra World and relies on observation, testing, and manipulation rather than direct confrontation.
• His confidence and resourcefulness are evident in his willingness to act as bait and personally investigate dangerous Kartana.
• Xia Chen also shows social adaptability. He uses Kartana’s respect for strength to calm it, then adopts a gentler tone to build trust after destroying the Holy Stone.
• Koraidon remains Xia Chen’s overwhelmingly powerful partner, easily defeating threats and breaking ore that even a Legendary-level Kartana could barely damage. It also detects the unusual energy within the valley.
• Deoxys proves valuable as a scout and detector, locating the mineral vein and bringing back both the ore and its guardian.
• The unusual Kartana is revealed to be exceptionally strong, mentally independent, and capable of speech. Its attachment to the Holy Stone suggests it may hold important knowledge about the contamination affecting Ultra World.

Significant Themes

• Exploration versus limited resources: Metropolis’s expeditions rarely uncover major answers because Ultra World is enormous and humanity’s power is restricted, yet even ordinary resources remain essential for survival.
• The danger of progress: Space Jump technology offers hope but may require nearly fatal experimentation, emphasizing the risks of pursuing new possibilities.
• Strength and cooperation: Xia Chen must find a balance between power and communication. The strongest Kartana are generally the least approachable, making cooperation difficult.
• Environmental and mental corruption: The mysterious Haze appears connected to the Ultra Beasts’ psychological deterioration. The Holy Stone may provide protection against this corruption.
• Identity and preservation: Kartana fears becoming like the others and “losing itself,” suggesting that contamination threatens not just behavior but personal consciousness and individuality.
• Hidden causes behind Ultra World’s decline: The extraordinary strength of the Kartana population and the unusual ore may be linked to the unknown force that corrupted Ultra Necrozma.

Character Interactions

• Xia Chen coordinates closely with Koraidon and Deoxys, using their complementary strengths: Koraidon for combat and cutting power, Deoxys for scanning and detection.
• Xia Chen treats the defeated Kartana with caution because injuries are difficult to heal in Ultra World.
• His confrontation with the special Kartana shifts from hostility to negotiation. Xia Chen challenges its accusation by pointing out that it had also cut the stone and could not stop him because he was stronger.
• Recognizing Kartana’s grief, Xia Chen attempts to comfort and persuade it, promising to find another stone. Kartana rejects this, insisting that the Holy Stone is unique and essential to preventing its mental collapse.
• The chapter ends with Xia Chen realizing that the stone may be the key to understanding Ultra Beast contamination and asking Kartana to explain its nature.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xia Chen learns Kartana’s history through questioning. Kartana was once an ordinary Ultra Beast but was corrupted by Haze for over thirty years, becoming mindlessly violent and driven to slash everything in sight.
• Kartana eventually discovered an indestructible stone and attacked it obsessively until it cracked open, revealing a Radiant Stone. Its energy entered Kartana through its blade and gradually eliminated the Haze, restoring its sanity.
• Kartana called the object the “Holy Stone” and used it to remain clear-minded. It hoped to use the stone to cure the other Kartana in its valley, but Xia Chen accidentally shattered it.
• Xia Chen argues that Kartana’s plan would be impractical: awakening every Kartana would take too long, they might refuse to cooperate, and the stone’s energy might not be sufficient for all of them.
• He proposes a larger solution—restoring the entire world and thereby saving all the Kartana indirectly. He persuades Kartana to leave with him and “supervise” his efforts.
• Exploiting Kartana’s dramatic, self-important personality, Xia Chen declares it the “chosen blade” destined to save the world and recites deliberately incomplete heroic poetry. Kartana becomes increasingly excited and finally agrees to join him.
• Kartana enters an Ultra Ball, though Xia Chen views their relationship as a partnership rather than a conventional capture. Deoxys heals Kartana, and Xia Chen returns with it to the Metropolis.
• Xia Chen presents Kartana and a fragment of the shattered Radiant Stone to Xionila, asking the Metropolis to analyze the stone and determine why it counters Haze.
• Kartana startles Xionila by slicing off some of his hair when he approaches too quickly. Xionila accepts that studying the Radiant Stone should become the Metropolis’s highest research priority.
• Xia Chen asks only that Xionila remember to build “Crimson Typhoon” for him once the crisis is over.

Character Developments

• Kartana: Regains its sanity, develops a strong desire to save its fellow Kartana and the wider world, and becomes convinced that it has a heroic destiny. Its chuunibyou-like behavior makes it highly susceptible to Xia Chen’s theatrical encouragement.
• Xia Chen: Demonstrates his ability to reason strategically and manipulate situations through psychological insight. Although he genuinely wants to oppose the Dark Era, he also openly exploits Kartana’s naïveté and heroic fantasies to recruit it.
• Xionila: Shows both caution and curiosity toward the unusually calm Kartana. Despite losing more hair, he recognizes the Radiant Stone’s importance and commits the Metropolis to researching it.
• Koraidon and Deoxys: Koraidon silently mocks Xia Chen’s manipulative methods, while Deoxys assists by healing Kartana and remains bewildered by Kartana’s exaggerated reactions.

Significant Themes

• Hope and restoration: The Radiant Stone represents a possible weapon against Haze and a path toward healing both individuals and the world.
• Individual salvation versus collective rescue: Kartana wants to save its valley directly, while Xia Chen frames the problem as part of the larger mission to restore the entire world.
• Manipulation and trust: Xia Chen’s recruitment of Kartana blends sincere cooperation with calculated exploitation, raising questions about whether shared goals justify deceptive methods.
• Destiny and self-identity: Kartana eagerly embraces the idea that it is a chosen hero, showing how myths and grand narratives can give purpose to someone emerging from corruption and isolation.
• Science and survival: The Metropolis’s technological research is presented as essential to understanding the Radiant Stone and defeating Haze.

Character Interactions

• Xia Chen repeatedly challenges Kartana’s assumptions, weakening its objections through logical questions before offering the larger goal of world restoration.
• He then shifts from rational persuasion to dramatic “heroic” rhetoric, successfully feeding Kartana’s love of grandiose sword-themed ideals.
• Koraidon reacts skeptically to Xia Chen’s transparent manipulation, while Xia Chen ignores its disapproval.
• Kartana’s first interaction with Xionila establishes that sanity does not equal harmlessness: it calmly demonstrates its swordsmanship by cutting Xionila’s hair.
• Xionila and Xia Chen exchange comic banter over Xionila’s thinning hair before returning to the serious matter of researching the Radiant Stone.

Chapter Summary: “Kartana VS Volcarona!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After handing the Radiant Stone to Metropolis’s research institute, Xia Chen reviews the gains from his trip to the Ultra World.
• He has found Kartana, one of his main objectives, but still does not know whether it can cut open an Ultra Wormhole.
• Xia Chen realizes he has neglected his promise to search for Professor Mohn. Although he feels guilty, the Ultra World is too vast for a thorough search, so he decides to look around if time permits.
• Determined to test Kartana’s abilities, Xia Chen takes it outside Metropolis, where there is enough space for battle.
• Unsure how to teach Kartana the technique for opening an Ultra Wormhole, Xia Chen asks Volcarona for help.
• Volcarona approaches Kartana to sense its abilities, but Kartana interprets the intrusion as a challenge. Xia Chen allows the battle to proceed, believing it will resolve tensions, test Kartana’s strength, and potentially help the Pokémon bond with him and his team.
• Volcarona opens with Heat Wave, but Kartana effortlessly slices through the attack with Sacred Sword and seriously wounds Volcarona.
• Volcarona withstands the blow thanks to the tremendous power it gained from absorbing Ultra World energy. It traps Kartana inside a refined Fire Spin, exploiting Kartana’s severe weakness to Fire.
• Kartana refuses to surrender. Drawing on an instinctive surge of power, it performs a single overwhelming slash that breaks through Fire Spin.
• The slash unexpectedly creates a small Ultra Wormhole, proving that Kartana possesses the ability Xia Chen was seeking.
• Xia Chen is thrilled by the discovery, while Volcarona and its mysterious teacher, Light, each misunderstand or reinterpret how the breakthrough occurred.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen: Demonstrates flexibility and patience by letting Volcarona and Kartana settle their conflict through battle rather than intervening. He also becomes more aware of his neglected responsibility to search for Professor Mohn.
• Kartana: Establishes itself as an exceptionally powerful and determined fighter. Despite limited battle experience, it possesses Legendary-level attack power, a proud temperament, and extraordinary talent. Its refusal to yield allows it to instinctively master the Ultra Wormhole-opening slash.
• Volcarona: Shows major growth after absorbing Ultra World energy. It can now challenge a Legendary-level opponent and displays sophisticated control over Fire-type techniques, particularly its specialized Fire Spin.
• Light: Continues maintaining an image of omniscience in Volcarona’s mind, claiming Kartana’s breakthrough was part of a plan even though the event surprised him as well.
• Xia Chen’s Pokémon team: Kartana’s potential conflict with the group is acknowledged, but Xia Chen trusts that battle can help integrate it into the team.

Significant Themes

• Growth through struggle: Kartana discovers its unique ability only when pushed to the brink by Volcarona’s flames.
• Talent and instinct: Kartana needs no formal instruction; its innate genius allows it to reproduce the necessary slash through determination and battle instinct.
• Trust and integration: Xia Chen permits the battle because he believes honest conflict can resolve tension more effectively than suppression.
• Unexpected gains: The Ultra Wormhole appears as an accidental result of a fight, reinforcing the chapter’s theme that important breakthroughs may arise from unforeseen circumstances.
• Perception versus reality: Volcarona believes Light planned everything, while Light privately admits he was improvising. The chapter humorously contrasts characters’ assumptions with the truth.

Character Interactions

• Xia Chen encourages Kartana by appealing to its potential role in restoring light to the Ultra World.
• Volcarona attempts to assess Kartana but unintentionally provokes it into battle.
• Kartana and Volcarona treat their confrontation as a test of pride and strength, each refusing to back down.
• Xia Chen observes rather than interferes, using the battle both to evaluate Kartana and to allow the two Pokémon to resolve their hostility.
• Volcarona consults its “teacher,” Light, after the battle begins, while Light secretly improvises to preserve his reputation.
• The resulting Ultra Wormhole satisfies Xia Chen’s objective and elevates Kartana’s status as a uniquely gifted Pokémon.

Summary: “The Impending Journey Home”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Kartana’s powerful slash accidentally opens a small Ultra Wormhole. Xia Chen ends the battle between Kartana and Volcarona so he can investigate the rift.
• The wormhole lasts less than a minute and is only large enough for one traveler, making it unsuitable for mass transportation. Xia Chen realizes that crossing between worlds may be dangerous because travelers could become lost in spatial currents.
• Xia attempts to get Kartana to reproduce the wormhole-opening slash, later naming it the World-Rending Sword. Kartana fails at first, but eventually learns to control the technique through improved energy control and practice.
• Xia searches the Ultra Megalopolis for Professor Mohn but finds no trace of him, despite spending an entire day exploring and continuing the search over the following weeks.
• During Xia’s month in the Ultra World, Metropolis develops Ultra Balls, advances spatial-jump technology, and researches Radiant Stones.
• Xia’s Pokémon help Metropolis prepare its citizens to accept Pokémon by appearing in publicity campaigns. Their popularity—especially Sylveon’s—makes Pokémon seem friendly, appealing, and suitable as human companions.
• Metropolis’s advanced technology is adapted to Pokémon training and biological research, accelerating the team’s development.
• After thirty-seven days, the Space Jump Machine successfully transports nine of ten intelligent robots between worlds. The tenth robot, along with the machine, disappears into the spatial currents, casting doubt on the safety of Xia’s planned return journey.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen becomes more cautious and analytical about interworld travel. He studies the wormhole’s limitations, continues searching for Mohn, and balances scientific curiosity with concern for his Pokémon and companions.
• Xia demonstrates a growing understanding of Kartana’s personality. He learns that poetry, heroic language, and appeals to Kartana’s pride and chivalry motivate it more effectively than force.
• Kartana develops from an impulsive, prideful battler into a more disciplined Pokémon capable of deliberately using the World-Rending Sword. Its technique is extremely powerful but consumes so much energy that it can only be used roughly two and a half times at full strength.
• Volcarona experiences the most dramatic growth, advancing from barely Elite Four level to Champion level in one month. Its mysterious connection to the Ultra World may explain its unusual development.
• Diancie remains the weakest member of the group because it lacks the ambition and competitive drive of the others. Xia accepts this rather than forcing it to train.
• Xia’s other Pokémon also improve steadily, reaching approximately Champion “gatekeeper” strength with the help of Metropolis’s technology.
• Xionila supports the development of Pokémon-related technology as preparation for a future in which Pokémon become part of everyday Ultra Megalopolis life.

Significant Themes

• The danger and uncertainty of scientific progress: Interworld travel appears possible, but even a 90% success rate leaves serious risks, including permanent disappearance.
• Persistence and controlled experimentation: Kartana’s wormhole-opening technique is achieved through repeated practice, refinement, and understanding its limitations.
• The value of communication and emotional intelligence: Xia succeeds with Kartana by recognizing its pride and finding the right emotional approach rather than relying on authority.
• Cooperation between worlds: Pokémon and Ultra Megalopolis technology complement each other, advancing research, training, transportation, and social integration.
• Healing and restoration: Radiant Stones can remove the Haze from corrupted Ultra Beasts, offering hope to the people of the Ultra World.
• Acceptance of individual differences: Xia allows Diancie to progress at its own pace, reflecting his respect for Pokémon autonomy and well-being.
• Homecoming and uncertainty: The chapter builds toward Xia’s return to Earth World, but the failed robot experiment leaves his journey home uncertain and dangerous.

Important Character Interactions

• Kartana and Volcarona maintain a rivalry, repeatedly provoking one another even after suffering serious injuries. Xia must prevent them from immediately restarting their battle.
• Xia encourages Kartana with sword poetry and deliberately presents himself as the weaker party, stimulating Kartana’s pride and heroic instincts.
• Xia’s Pokémon interact with Metropolis’s citizens through public demonstrations, helping humans overcome their unfamiliarity with Pokémon.
• Xia works with Metropolis’s researchers, contributing knowledge from Earth World while learning from their more advanced technology.
• The relationship between Xia and his Pokémon remains supportive rather than authoritarian: he motivates them, protects them, and accepts differences in ambition and temperament.

Chapter Summary: “Heroes Return”

Key Plot Points and Events

• More than a month after the Ultra Beast invasion, Alola begins rebuilding. The disaster caused over a hundred deaths, thousands of injuries, widespread Pokémon casualties, and enormous economic damage.
• The appearance of Legendary Pokémon during the crisis—especially Cynthia’s Heatran and Caitlin’s Cresselia—sparks worldwide debate about whether Legendary Pokémon are becoming more accessible to ordinary Trainers. Other Trainers begin searching more aggressively for Legendary partners.
• Lusamine is held responsible for secretly researching Ultra Beasts and triggering the invasion. After a joint trial by the Ten Leagues, the Aether Foundation is absorbed into the Alola League, and Lusamine is sentenced to death—the first such sentence in two centuries. She accepts the verdict but requests that it be carried out only after Xia Chen returns with news of her husband.
• Ultra Beasts are officially recognized as Pokémon and added to the Pokédex. The surviving Ultra Beasts are divided among the Ten Leagues, with Alola receiving the largest share and the Donghuang League receiving a substantial portion due to Xia Chen’s contributions.
• Researchers attempt to study and domesticate the Ultra Beasts. Because their mental contamination cannot currently be removed, scientists experiment with Ditto reproduction, hoping future generations will be born without the inherited Haze.
• On March 2, a new Ultra Wormhole opens above Ohana Town. Local Trainers prepare for another invasion, but Xia Chen emerges instead. His arrival is initially met with a barrage of attacks before he protests that this is a poor way to welcome him home.
• Xia Chen spends hours briefing Alolan officials, Champions, researchers, and other elite Trainers about his month-long journey through the Ultra World, including the contaminated Ultra Beasts and the technologically advanced but isolated Ultra Megalopolis.
• After the meeting, researchers overwhelm Xia with questions until Caitlin uses Psychic powers to remove them. Xia then returns to Melemele Island and arranges dinner with Cynthia, Caitlin, Steven, Wallace, Valerie, and others at Suiren’s family restaurant.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen returns as the central hero of the crisis, bringing vital information about the Ultra World. Despite his strength and importance, he is exhausted and eager for ordinary companionship after his dangerous journey.
• Lusamine accepts responsibility for her actions and shows no resistance to her sentence, though she remains emotionally focused on learning her husband’s fate.
• Cynthia and Caitlin are further established as powerful Champions capable of partnering with Legendary Pokémon. Caitlin also demonstrates her loyalty to Xia by helping him escape the relentless researchers.
• Suiren remains fond of Xia and is excited to see him return. Her interaction with him reinforces their previous connection and gives Xia a chance to reconnect with familiar people.
• The various Champions and elite Trainers who remain in Alola show continued solidarity with Xia and the region by attending the briefing and helping with the aftermath.

Significant Themes

• The changing relationship between humans and Legendary Pokémon: The increasing number of Trainers with Legendary partners challenges the traditional boundary between mythical beings and humanity.
• Human ambition and responsibility: Lusamine’s downfall illustrates how curiosity and personal obsession can become destructive when pursued without ethical restraint.
• Scientific progress versus morality: The forced breeding experiments involving Ditto and Ultra Beasts reveal that humanity’s advancement often involves morally troubling compromises.
• Rebuilding after catastrophe: Alola’s recovery emphasizes both the enormous cost of disaster and the resilience of humans and Pokémon working together.
• The unknown and future danger: The Ultra World, Haze contamination, and unpredictable Ultra Wormholes remain unresolved threats, ensuring that the crisis is not truly over.

Character Interactions

• The League and elite Trainers cooperate closely during the new Ultra Wormhole alert, with Cynthia and Caitlin leading the defensive response.
• Xia’s return begins humorously when the assembled Trainers attack him before recognizing him.
• During the conference, Xia shares information with Cynthia, Caitlin, Steven, Wallace, Valerie, Hala, researchers, and other officials, creating a bridge between his personal experience and the world’s future policy.
• Caitlin protects Xia from overzealous researchers, showing both her practical support and personal concern.
• Xia later reconnects with Suiren at her family’s restaurant, where their warm conversation marks his emotional return to ordinary life after the Ultra World expedition.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Xia Chen discusses the aftermath of the Alola crisis with Suiren. Lusamine has been sentenced to death by the Ten Leagues for her crimes, while Lillie is struggling emotionally despite insisting that she is fine. Gladion is coping better and supporting her.
• Cynthia and Caitlin arrive at a private room in Hot Aurora. Cynthia is visibly furious with Xia Chen for entering the Ultra World alone, believing his actions were reckless and that he should have relied on his friends.
• Xia Chen attempts to justify himself by explaining that he had gathered information about the Ultra World and possessed powerful Pokémon capable of supporting him. Caitlin exposes his explanation as partly misleading, forcing him to admit that he withheld important details.
• Xia Chen eventually apologizes—not for entering the Ultra World itself, but for failing to inform Cynthia and Caitlin or invite them along. He promises that they will explore the Ultra World together once matters in Alola settle, successfully reconciling with them.
• The group gathers for a banquet attended by Wallace, Steven, Valerie, and others. Xia Chen shares more detailed accounts of the Ultra World, including Ultra Megalopolis, the Void Sea, the century-long Dark Era, and the civilization’s struggle to survive.
• Rotom’s holographic projections allow the guests to see the Ultra World’s desolation and Ultra Megalopolis’s advanced technology. Wallace compares the city to a beautiful oasis in an endless desert, while Xia Chen remains fascinated by its mecha.
• Steven becomes interested in the Radiant Stones Xia Chen brought back and speculates that they may function like Key Stones, Mega Stones, or Tera-related items. He agrees to investigate them, possibly by excavating in Alola.
• Kartana becomes the center of attention among the Pokémon. Its intelligence, strength, and unusual nature attract the other Pokémon, especially Steven’s Steel-types.
• Xia Chen explains that Radiant Stones may be responsible for Kartana’s resistance to Haze corruption. Wallace wonders whether the stones could help end the Ultra World’s Dark Era.
• After the late-night gathering ends, Cynthia and Caitlin continue staying near Xia Chen’s former residence. Xia Chen, Cynthia, and Caitlin take a relaxed nighttime walk along the beach with their Pokémon.

2. Character Developments

• Xia Chen shows his characteristic confidence and willingness to take on danger alone, but he also demonstrates emotional intelligence by recognizing that Cynthia’s anger comes from concern rather than simple disapproval. He learns that his friends resent being excluded from major burdens, not merely the risks he takes.
• Cynthia shifts from cold anger to warmth after Xia Chen acknowledges her desire to stand beside him. Her reaction reveals how deeply she cares for him and how frustrated she is by his habit of handling everything alone.
• Caitlin remains perceptive, sharp-tongued, and difficult to deceive. She sees through Xia Chen’s selective truthfulness and forces him to be more honest.
• Suiren sympathizes strongly with Lillie and is moved by her suffering. She also observes Xia Chen’s reconciliation tactics with amusement, joking that the champions are being “PUAed.”
• Lillie is portrayed as emotionally devastated by Lusamine’s punishment but still resilient enough to reassure others. Gladion appears more composed and becomes a source of support for her.
• Steven becomes intensely fascinated by the Radiant Stones and eagerly accepts responsibility for researching them, reinforcing his obsession with rare minerals.
• Wallace provides a poetic but insightful interpretation of Ultra Megalopolis and recognizes the possible importance of Radiant Stones to the Ultra World’s future.
• Kartana begins as somewhat uncomfortable around the other Pokémon but soon adapts and socializes, especially with Steel-types.

3. Significant Themes

• Responsibility and accountability: Lusamine’s punishment emphasizes that serious crimes have consequences, while Xia Chen’s situation explores the difference between taking responsibility for one’s choices and recklessly excluding others.
• Care expressed through anger: Cynthia’s hostility is revealed to be rooted in love, fear, and frustration at Xia Chen’s refusal to rely on her.
• Trust and companionship: The reconciliation highlights that true partnership means sharing danger and responsibility rather than allowing one person to carry everything alone.
• Hope amid devastation: Ultra Megalopolis represents civilization and hope surviving within an otherwise ruined world. The Radiant Stones may symbolize a possible path toward restoration.
• Discovery and scientific curiosity: The gathering turns the Ultra World, Radiant Stones, and Kartana into subjects of shared investigation, blending wonder with the possibility of future technological or ecological breakthroughs.
• Humor and social manipulation: Xia Chen’s ability to calm Cynthia and Caitlin through carefully chosen emotional appeals is played for comedy, especially through Suiren’s observation that he is effectively “PUAing” the two champions.

4. Character Interactions

• Xia Chen and Suiren discuss Lusamine, Lillie, and Gladion, with Suiren expressing personal sympathy and Xia Chen focusing on Lillie’s welfare.
• Xia Chen and Cynthia have a tense confrontation over his solo journey into the Ultra World. He first defends himself, then apologizes for excluding her, restoring their closeness.
• Caitlin challenges Xia Chen’s honesty and exposes the flaws in his explanation, while also participating in the eventual reconciliation.
• Suiren watches the exchange between Xia Chen and the two champions with disbelief and amusement.
• The broader group bonds over Xia Chen’s stories and holographic demonstrations of the Ultra World.
• Steven enthusiastically discusses Radiant Stones with Xia Chen and later interacts with Kartana through his Steel-type Pokémon.
• Wallace and the others reflect on the Ultra World’s suffering and the possible role the Radiant Stones could play in saving it.

Chapter Summary: “Cresselia’s Dream”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xia Chen, Cynthia, and Caitlin walk along Melemele Island’s beach and discuss when he will return to the Ultra World. Xia Chen explains that he must first handle several matters, including transporting promised Pokémon Eggs and searching for Xerneas, whom he hopes can restore his parents’ lost vitality.
• Xia Chen’s parents, previously parasitized by Nihilego in the Ultra World, are now being cared for at a sanatorium in Aether Paradise. Conventional healing moves have failed because their condition appears to involve depleted life energy rather than an ordinary illness.
• Caitlin proposes that her Pokémon, Cresselia, use its Dream Mist to help them. Xia Chen agrees and visits the sanatorium the following morning.
• Cresselia places Xia Chen’s parents into a peaceful dream. With Caitlin’s guidance, Xia Chen enters the dream through his psychic power and witnesses an idealized version of his childhood.
• The dream shows his parents raising him in their old home, watching him grow alongside Pokémon and eventually become a successful Trainer. It then extends into an imagined future in which he marries Marnie.
• Embarrassed that Caitlin witnessed this vision, Xia Chen argues that the dream reflects his parents’ wishes rather than his own. Caitlin explains that Cresselia’s dreams are shaped by the deepest desires within the dreamer’s subconscious, teasing Xia Chen about the possibility that the future also represents his own wishes.
• Xia Chen later wonders why Marnie appeared in the dream and privately imagines the bride’s face changing into Cynthia’s.
• After returning to Hau’oli City, Xia Chen attends the Ultra World symposium. He presents the proposed trade with Metropolis, offering Pokémon in exchange for advanced technology. The ten major Pokémon Leagues immediately accept, considering the deal overwhelmingly favorable.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen remains focused on rescuing and healing his parents, showing both determination and emotional vulnerability. The dream forces him to confront his parents’ longing for a normal life with him and hints at desires he has not fully acknowledged.
• Cynthia continues balancing her personal relationship with Xia Chen and her responsibilities as Sinnoh Champion. She handles League affairs, shares domestic moments with him, and remains a possible romantic presence in his thoughts.
• Caitlin demonstrates concern for Xia Chen and his parents by arranging Cresselia’s help, though she masks her affection with sarcasm and teasing. Her colder attitude afterward may suggest embarrassment, jealousy, or discomfort over what she saw in the dream.
• Xia Chen’s parents are characterized through their subconscious dream as loving, devoted figures whose greatest wish was to watch their son grow up and build a happy future.
• Cresselia is shown as capable of creating highly personalized, emotionally meaningful dreams rather than merely providing sleep or comfort.
• Kartana has become excited by its arrival in the human world but remains loyal to Xia Chen and committed to helping save the Ultra World.

Significant Themes

• Family and lost time: The dream highlights the years Xia Chen’s parents lost after being taken to the Ultra World and their wish to experience his childhood.
• Healing beyond the physical: Although Cresselia cannot cure Xia Chen’s parents directly, its dream offers emotional comfort and reveals their deepest hopes.
• Subconscious desire and identity: The dream blurs the line between what Xia Chen’s parents want for him and what he may secretly desire for himself, particularly regarding love and marriage.
• Alternate possibilities: The imagined future raises the idea of the life Xia Chen might have lived had his parents remained with him.
• Duty and personal emotion: Xia Chen must balance his family concerns and complicated relationships with the broader political responsibility of negotiating cooperation between Earth’s Pokémon Leagues and the Ultra World.
• Exchange and power: The symposium emphasizes the enormous value of Metropolis’s technology and the willingness of the Pokémon Leagues to cooperate to obtain it.

Character Interactions

• Xia Chen and Cynthia: They discuss the Ultra World and his parents, exchange playful banter over battling, and share a comfortable domestic breakfast. Their closeness is reinforced by Xia Chen’s later imagining of Cynthia as the bride in the dream.
• Xia Chen and Caitlin: Caitlin acts as both mentor and emotional support, bringing him to Cresselia and teaching him how to enter the dream. She then relentlessly teases him about marrying Marnie, creating tension that leaves Xia Chen unsure why she becomes distant afterward.
• Xia Chen and Cresselia: Their interaction is indirect but intimate; Xia Chen enters the dream Cresselia has woven around his parents, gaining insight into their feelings.
• Xia Chen and Roserade: Roserade prepares breakfast and exchanges polite, affectionate remarks with him, adding warmth to the household atmosphere.
• Xia Chen and his parents: Though they do not communicate directly, the dream allows Xia Chen to witness their love and their imagined vision of his future, deepening his emotional connection to them.

Chapter Summary: “Three Visits to Xerneas”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After concluding his affairs in Alola, Xia Chen prepares to travel to Kalos to seek Xerneas’s help in saving his parents, whose life force is being drained by an Ultra Beast.
• Before leaving, he visits Lusamine, who is being held on a secluded island, and Lillie.
• Lusamine asks whether Xia Chen has found her missing husband, Professor Mohn. Xia Chen admits that he found his own parents but has no news of Mohn. Lusamine responds with subdued acceptance rather than visible grief.
• Lusamine also asks Xia Chen to take Lillie to Donghuang. Xia Chen agrees to ask, but Lillie refuses, choosing to remain in Alola with her brother and teacher.
• In Kalos, Xia Chen seeks information from Diantha and Professor Sycamore. They tell him about a strange mountain incident in which travelers repeatedly found themselves returning to the same path, apparently due to an invisible illusion.
• Suspecting that Xerneas may be hiding in the mountains in the form of a Sacred Tree, Xia Chen travels to the Alabaster Mountains with Koraidon, Gardevoir, Zeraora, and Dragapult.
• The group discovers traces of Xerneas’s life energy among the local Pokémon and eventually reaches the looping-path illusion.
• Rather than forcibly breaking the illusion, Koraidon helps Xia Chen bypass it without damaging Xerneas’s “home.”
• Inside, Xia Chen finds Xerneas transformed into a magnificent, radiant ancient tree. Xerneas soon returns to its deer-like form and agrees to help because of Xia Chen’s past contributions to peace in Kalos.
• Xia Chen explains that his parents are in Lumiose City and asks Xerneas to accompany him there, leaving the chapter at this point.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen remains practical and compassionate. He avoids political disputes, prioritizes his parents’ treatment, and personally travels to Kalos rather than expecting Xerneas to come to Alola. He also shows emotional sensitivity toward Lusamine while respecting Lillie’s independence.
• Lusamine appears mentally weakened but outwardly composed. Her reaction to the lack of news about Mohn suggests she has moved beyond denial and anger into a deeply resigned acceptance. Her request concerning Lillie reveals continued concern for her children despite her imprisonment.
• Lillie demonstrates determination and maturity by refusing to leave Alola. She wants to remain near her brother and Xia Chen rather than seek safety elsewhere.
• Koraidon acts as both guide and comic foil. It understands the nature of Xerneas’s illusion, discourages Xia Chen from violently disrupting it, and jokes about his tendency to trouble Legendary Pokémon.
• Xerneas is characterized as patient, benevolent, and detached from ordinary human time. It remembers Xia Chen warmly and agrees to help without demanding anything in return.

Significant Themes

• Family and responsibility: Xia Chen’s main goal is to save his parents, while Lusamine’s concern for Lillie and Lillie’s loyalty to her family reinforce the importance of familial bonds.
• Acceptance and grief: Lusamine’s restrained response to Mohn’s disappearance reflects the painful process of accepting uncertainty and loss.
• Respect for nature and power: Xia Chen cannot simply force his way to Xerneas; he must understand and respect its protective illusion and secluded existence.
• Independence and choice: Lillie’s refusal to leave Alola emphasizes her agency and willingness to face circumstances on her own terms.
• Human–Legendary Pokémon relationships: The chapter portrays Legendary Pokémon not merely as sources of power, but as beings with personalities, boundaries, and their own perspectives on humanity.
• The passage of time: Xerneas’s perception of Xia Chen’s absence as only a brief interval contrasts with human urgency and mortality.

Character Interactions

• Xia Chen and Lusamine: Their restrained conversation centers on Mohn, loss, and Lillie’s future. Xia Chen offers continued help searching for Mohn, while Lusamine entrusts Lillie’s welfare to him.
• Xia Chen and Lillie: He accepts her decision not to leave and encourages her to seek his help if she ever needs it, establishing a supportive teacher-student relationship.
• Xia Chen and Koraidon: Their exchange combines strategic discussion with humor. Koraidon warns Xia Chen not to attack Xerneas’s illusion, comparing it to destroying someone’s house to wake them.
• Xia Chen and Sylveon: Xia Chen jokingly suggests that Sylveon steal more life energy from Xerneas, highlighting his irreverent attitude toward danger and Sylveon’s discomfort with the idea.
• Xia Chen and Xerneas: Their reunion is respectful but familiar. Xia Chen sincerely apologizes for disturbing Xerneas and explains his parents’ condition; Xerneas responds kindly and agrees to attempt to save them.

Chapter Summary: “Tired. Let It All Be Destroyed”

Key Plot Points and Events

• On March 7, 2026, Xerneas enters the human world for the first and last time, arriving in Lumiose City. Xia Chen becomes its guide through the city.
• Their walk along Spring Boulevard attracts enormous public attention, with citizens photographing the legendary Pokémon. Xerneas tolerates the attention but remains wary of humans after earlier people attempted to capture it.
• Xia Chen asks Xerneas about the Ultra World, where the sun has apparently vanished and Ultra Beasts have become irrationally violent.
• Xerneas reveals that Kalos suffered a similar catastrophe roughly ten thousand years earlier. At that time, humans were merely one ordinary Pokémon species, and Kalos’s landscape was very different.
• Yveltal was the first Pokémon affected by a mysterious “Haze,” which spread to other Pokémon and caused them to lose reason, attack indiscriminately, and become stronger.
• Zygarde intervened because the crisis threatened Kalos’s ecological balance. After a three-year war, Xerneas and Zygarde defeated the corrupted Pokémon and uncovered the true cause: an unintelligent energy parasite attached to Yveltal that emitted the Haze.
• Xia Chen identifies this entity as resembling Dark Matter, a composite force born from Pokémon’s accumulated negative emotions. Dark Matter seeks to return the world to nothingness and can infect Pokémon, spread negative energy, and grow stronger.
• Xia Chen realizes that the Ultra World’s crisis may involve Dark Matter in an evolved and more dangerous form, possibly parasitizing Ultra Necrozma.
• Though Xerneas and Zygarde defeated Dark Matter in ancient Kalos, Xia Chen fears the current enemy is far stronger. He doubts whether he can gather enough powerful Legendary Pokémon to help and questions whether they would even care about saving another world.
• The chapter ends with Xia Chen feeling overwhelmed and tempted to abandon the Ultra World entirely: “Tired. Let it all be destroyed.”

Character Developments

• Xia Chen is shown as knowledgeable, cautious, and increasingly burdened by the scale of the crisis. He understands that humanity is not truly the dominant force in the Pokémon world and recognizes the danger of underestimating Legendary Pokémon or cosmic threats.
• His conversation with Xerneas gives him a major breakthrough: the Ultra World’s disaster may be connected to Dark Matter rather than being caused solely by a corrupted Ultra Necrozma.
• Xia Chen’s confidence declines as he realizes that defeating Dark Matter may require the combined strength of numerous top-tier Legendary Pokémon. His sense of responsibility conflicts with exhaustion and uncertainty.
• Xerneas is presented as aloof and ancient but not entirely emotionless. It dislikes crowds, reacts with mild irritation to Xia Chen’s interruptions, and shows personal judgment toward Yveltal.
• Xerneas also becomes more cooperative and conversational, sharing secrets about ancient Kalos and its past battle with Dark Matter.

Significant Themes

• Human weakness and humility: Xia Chen rejects the idea that humans rule the world, noting that many Legendary Pokémon could destroy civilization. Survival depends more on avoiding arrogance than on possessing power.
• The cyclical nature of catastrophe: The ancient Kalos crisis and the Ultra World’s current disaster appear to be manifestations of the same fundamental force.
• Negative emotion as a destructive power: Dark Matter represents the accumulated despair, frenzy, and hostility of living beings. Evil is portrayed not as a conventional villain but as an inevitable byproduct of the world’s emotional energy.
• Responsibility versus detachment: Xia Chen struggles with whether he has an obligation to save a distant world, especially when the crisis may require immense sacrifice from beings who have no connection to it.
• The limits of power: Even with access to powerful allies, Xia Chen doubts whether strength alone can overcome an enemy tied to the fundamental forces of the world.
• Ancient history and lost knowledge: Xerneas’s memories reveal that humanity’s origins and Kalos’s distant past are far more mysterious than modern people understand.

Character Interactions

• Xia Chen and Xerneas: Their walk develops into an unusually candid conversation. Xia Chen asks probing questions, while Xerneas answers with ancient knowledge but occasionally becomes irritated by his interruptions. Their interaction balances Xia Chen’s curiosity and anxiety with Xerneas’s calm, superior perspective.
• Xia Chen and the people of Lumiose City: The citizens admire Xerneas intensely, photographing it and treating its presence as a historic spectacle. Their enthusiasm contrasts with Xerneas’s desire for distance.
• Xerneas and Yveltal: Xerneas describes Yveltal as previously foolish but still rational, emphasizing how dramatically Dark Matter changed it.
• Xerneas and Zygarde: Their partnership is revealed as crucial to stopping the ancient Kalos catastrophe. Together, they fought for three years to restore ecological balance and defeat Dark Matter.
• Xia Chen and the potential Legendary allies: Though they do not appear directly, Xia Chen considers whether figures such as Xerneas, Mega Rayquaza, Eternatus, Mewtwo, Deoxys, and others could be persuaded to fight for the Ultra World, highlighting the political and emotional difficulty of assembling such an alliance.

Chapter Summary: Xerneas’s Memento

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xerneas heals Xia Chen’s parents, removing the Nihilego toxins from their bodies and restoring their vital signs. However, they remain unconscious because their minds are still recovering from Nihilego-induced dream illusions.
• After briefly touring Lumiose City, Xerneas returns to its ancient forest and prepares to resume its slumber as the Tree of Life.
• Xia Chen gives Xerneas what he believes may be their final farewell, reflecting on the vast difference between short human lives and the near-eternal lifespans of Legendary Pokémon.
• As a parting gift, Xerneas gives Xia Chen a small, glowing fragment of its horn. It explains that Xia Chen’s descendants may one day use it to find Xerneas.
• Xia jokingly suggests digging up the sacred tree and taking it to Origin Spirit Island, prompting Xerneas to lash out with a vine. He and Koraidon flee playfully, ending the farewell on a lighter note.
• Xia brings his still-unconscious parents to their old home in Zhijiang, believing the familiar setting will help them recover.
• He also delivers advanced technology obtained from Ultra Megalopolis to the Donghuang League. The League plans to establish a major research institute at Cloud Marsh Lake, with Xia contributing the technology and Christina managing his side of the partnership.
• After a week of administrative work, Xia returns to Alola and prepares the first official expedition into the Ultra World.
• The League Investigation Team is formed: Xia Chen, Champions Cynthia and Caitlin, and Elite Four members Lance, Acerola, and Rika. Other Champions remain behind to prevent instability in their home regions.
• Xia trains the group on Ultra World conditions, emphasizing caution because Dark Matter has dramatically empowered many Ultra Beasts.
• He provides each member with maps and a Gholdengo coin, which can serve as a tracking device.
• On April 1, 2026, the six-person team enters the Ultra World through an Ultra Wormhole opened by Kartana.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen becomes more introspective, contemplating mortality, the passage of time, and the inevitability of separation from long-lived Pokémon. Despite his sorrow, he retains his playful humor.
• Xerneas demonstrates affection and concern for Xia Chen through its healing, farewell gift, and willingness to acknowledge their bond, despite preferring isolation and sleep.
• Koraidon develops a deeper appreciation of its relationship with Xia Chen. It realizes that the few years spent with him have created stronger memories than the many centuries before their meeting.
• Xia’s parents are physically saved but remain psychologically trapped in the remnants of Nihilego’s dream state, leaving their reunion with Xia delayed.
• Christina continues to gain Xia’s trust through her work, though Xia deliberately maintains safeguards and control over her.
• The expedition members are introduced and begin shifting from powerful regional representatives into a coordinated team. Xia especially connects with the straightforward Lance, while Acerola and Rika make favorable first impressions.

Significant Themes

• Mortality and the passage of time: Xia’s farewell to Xerneas highlights how brief human life is compared with the existence of Legendary Pokémon.
• Memory and meaningful relationships: Koraidon’s reflections show that emotional experiences can make a short period feel more significant than centuries of uneventful existence.
• Farewell and continuity: Xerneas’s horn fragment symbolizes that relationships and legacies can survive across generations, even after direct contact ends.
• Nature versus civilization: Xerneas’s eagerness to leave Lumiose City reinforces its affinity for untouched nature and its discomfort with human environments.
• Trust and controlled cooperation: Xia works closely with the Donghuang League and Christina while still protecting himself through strategic limits on trust and authority.
• Exploration and responsibility: The expedition is not merely an adventure; it represents humanity’s attempt to study and cooperate with the Ultra World while respecting its dangers.

Character Interactions

• Xia and Xerneas share a sincere but humorous farewell. Their exchange moves from melancholy to teasing, showing mutual familiarity and affection.
• Xia and Koraidon quietly share the emotional weight of parting from Xerneas. Koraidon’s loyalty is reinforced when it carries Xia away after Xerneas attacks his joke.
• Xia’s relationship with his parents remains unresolved because they have not yet awakened, though his decision to return them to Zhijiang reflects care and consideration.
• Xia collaborates with Christina on the technological and political consequences of the Ultra World expedition, balancing trust with caution.
• During preparation, Xia interacts with Lance, Acerola, and Rika, becoming acquainted with their personalities. His mistaken assumption about Rika’s gender creates an embarrassing but ultimately friendly introduction.
• Xia acts as mentor to the investigation team, warning them against arrogance and preparing them for the unusually powerful Ultra Beasts they will encounter.

Chapter 532 Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xia Chen and the League Investigation Team arrive in the Ultra World through an Ultra Wormhole, emerging into a completely dark, barren region filled with enormous cube-shaped rocks.
• The rocks are revealed to be a large group of Stakataka, whose red eyes glow in the darkness. The Ultra Beasts immediately launch a massive Rock Slide attack on the newcomers.
• Lance and Dragonite prepare to defend themselves, but Cynthia effortlessly halts the falling rocks with her Psychic powers, demonstrating her overwhelming strength.
• Lance releases several powerful Pokémon, including Aerodactyl, Gyarados, Charizard, and Salamence. The rest of the team joins the battle as they emerge from the wormhole.
• Although the Stakataka have been strengthened and mentally influenced by Dark Matter, the investigation team defeats the several-hundred-member group after roughly thirty minutes. Xia Chen does not need to participate directly.
• After the battle, the group rests and reorganizes. They confirm that all 279 Poké Balls and 136 Storage Balls are accounted for.
• Rotom Phone determines that they are over 3,000 kilometers from Ultra Megalopolis. Xia names the location “Stakataka Plains.”
• Xia Chen plans a two-day journey to Ultra Megalopolis, using Lance’s slower Dragonite as the group’s travel-speed benchmark and arranging rest and guard rotations.
• The journey passes quietly through the lightless, oppressive Ultra World. The group gradually becomes closer while traveling together.
• After two days, Lance spots Ultra Megalopolis. The team is greeted outside the city by the Ultra Defense Team, including Mi Ling, Amamo, and their leader, Xionila.
• Xia introduces Xionila, whose position is comparable to a Pokémon League chairman and Champion combined. The chapter ends with Lance admiring the Ultra Defense Team’s mechanical exoskeletons, while Xia enthusiastically calls them an example of “men’s romance.”

Character Developments

• Xia Chen demonstrates leadership and extensive knowledge of the Ultra World. Although he initially tries to avoid acting as captain, he accepts responsibility by organizing the team’s supplies, route, speed, and safety procedures.
• Cynthia displays extraordinary Psychic power by stopping an enormous Rock Slide single-handedly. She also shows practical leadership, calling Xia out when he shirks responsibility and ending Rika and Acerola’s playful quarrel.
• Lance makes a dramatic entrance and immediately proves his battle instincts and professionalism. Despite being startled by the Ultra World’s danger, he contributes heavily to the fight and becomes visibly excited upon seeing Ultra Megalopolis.
• Rika is portrayed as carefree and humorous. Because her Ground-type Pokémon are poorly suited for aerial combat, she contributes less during the opening battle, leading Xia to tease her.
• Acerola boasts about Gengar defeating many Ultra Beasts and playfully provokes Rika. Her childish appearance and speech contrast with her desire to be treated as mature.
• Caitlin remains reserved but is amused by the others’ antics.
• The team as a whole grows more familiar and cooperative during the two-day journey, finding emotional comfort in one another and their Pokémon amid the bleak Ultra World.

Significant Themes

• Strength and preparedness: The team’s overwhelming power allows them to survive a surprise attack by hundreds of enhanced Ultra Beasts, but planning and logistics remain essential for long-term survival.
• Leadership and responsibility: Xia’s reluctance to act as captain contrasts with his actual competence. Cynthia recognizes that his familiarity with the Ultra World makes him the natural decision-maker.
• Camaraderie in an alien environment: The barren darkness of the Ultra World highlights the importance of companionship, humor, and cooperation.
• Contrast between darkness and civilization: The team travels through a lifeless, sunless wasteland before reaching the brightly illuminated and technologically advanced Ultra Megalopolis.
• Humor and interpersonal warmth: Teasing, hair-ruffling, photography, and shared excitement soften the chapter’s dangerous setting and strengthen the group’s bonds.

Important Character Interactions

• Cynthia protects Lance and Dragonite by freezing the incoming Rock Slide with Psychic power.
• Xia teases Rika for avoiding most of the battle, while Rika and Acerola playfully argue over who contributed more.
• Rika treats Acerola like a child by ruffling her hair, prompting Acerola to retaliate. Cynthia eventually stops them.
• Xia secretly records the exchange with Rotom Phone, while Cynthia criticizes his failure to act like a proper captain.
• Xia ruffles Acerola’s hair later, but Gengar warns him off.
• Xia and Lance bond over the mechanical equipment worn by the Ultra Defense Team.
• The team receives a friendly welcome from Xionila, Mi Ling, and Amamo, marking their arrival at Ultra Megalopolis.

Chapter Summary: “Searching for Z-Crystals”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Metropolis holds a formal welcome banquet for Xia Chen, Cynthia, Caitlin, and the other visitors from Earth. The two civilizations exchange information and strengthen their alliance.
• Xionila explains that two more Ultra Beast Tides have attacked the Metropolis since Xia Chen left. Although they were only blue- and purple-grade, their increased frequency is alarming.
• Xia Chen realizes that the arrival of his powerful Pokémon may have attracted Dark Matter’s attention, possibly causing the first Ultra Beast Tide and influencing later attacks.
• Xia Chen considers—but rejects—the possibility of relocating the Metropolis’s population to Earth. He concludes that the two civilizations might not coexist safely because of their different origins, abilities, and resource needs. His preferred solution remains defeating Dark Matter and saving both worlds.
• The Earth group brings pregnant female Pokémon rather than Pokémon Eggs, since the Eggs cannot pass through Poké Balls. The offspring will be observed to determine whether Pokémon born in the Ultra World are vulnerable to Haze, Dark Matter’s mental pollution.
• Xia Chen and Xionila agree that Radiant Stones are vital because they are currently Dark Matter’s only known weakness. They plan an expedition to Sword Valley to mine more, with Xia Chen leading the dangerous operation.
• The Space Jump Machine has been improved and will soon allow safe, fixed-point, two-way travel between the Ultra World and Alola, eliminating the unpredictability of Kartana’s space travel.
• Xia Chen questions Volcarona about special stones containing Pokémon-type energies. Through its connection with [Light], Volcarona learns that these are Type Crystals, which can combine with Radiant Stones to create immense bursts of power.
• [Light] warns that Type Crystals strongly counter Dark Matter and could attract Ultra Necrozma’s attention. Since the group is not yet strong enough to confront Ultra Necrozma, Volcarona lies and claims not to know where the crystals are.
• Xia Chen recognizes the lie but chooses not to force Volcarona to reveal the information, reasoning that it will eventually share the truth when ready.
• The next day, the travelers rest or pursue individual interests while the Metropolis prepares the Sword Valley expedition. Acerola sleeps after being carried throughout the journey, Rika explores local life, and Lance watches Defense Force mech training.
• Caitlin persuades Xia Chen to join her and Cynthia on a sightseeing and investigative trip to the Daman City Ruins. They fly there slowly, encounter several hostile Ultra Beasts, and defeat them with ease before arriving at the abandoned city.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen becomes increasingly burdened by the responsibility of saving the Ultra World. He displays caution and moral restraint by rejecting the idea of relocating the Metropolis people to Earth, despite its practical advantages.
• He also demonstrates strategic thinking by connecting Ultra Beast Tides to Dark Matter’s reaction to powerful Pokémon and by prioritizing Radiant Stones and Type Crystals.
• Xionila becomes even more dependent on and respectful toward Xia Chen, recognizing him as the Metropolis’s greatest hope. He actively supports the alliance and volunteers the Metropolis’s resources for mining and technological development.
• Volcarona shows loyalty to Xia Chen but also develops a private bond of trust with [Light]. It conceals the location of the Type Crystals, apparently out of concern for Xia Chen’s safety, even though this requires deceiving him.
• [Light] provides important knowledge about Type Crystals and demonstrates a cautious, strategic attitude toward Dark Matter and Ultra Necrozma.
• Caitlin acts confidently and independently, inviting Xia Chen to accompany her and ensuring he does not remain isolated in his responsibilities.
• Cynthia continues to show her scholarly interest in ancient civilizations and joins the investigation of the Daman City Ruins.
• Acerola is portrayed humorously as exhausted after secretly engaging in unknown activities during the night.

Significant Themes

• Moral responsibility and cultural coexistence: Xia Chen questions whether advanced civilizations can peacefully coexist and refuses to risk Earth’s safety merely to save the Metropolis.
• Alliance and mutual dependence: Earth and the Metropolis increasingly rely on one another for technology, Pokémon, knowledge, and survival.
• The escalating threat of Dark Matter: Its influence is revealed to be instinctive rather than intelligent, yet its unconscious reactions still shape the disasters facing the world.
• Preparation versus immediate power: The heroes must gather resources, study Haze, improve transportation, and strengthen their Pokémon before confronting Ultra Necrozma.
• Knowledge as both salvation and danger: Type Crystals may provide a decisive weapon against Dark Matter, but discovering or using them too soon could expose the group to an overwhelming enemy.
• Trust and secrecy: Volcarona’s lie introduces tension between loyalty, obedience, and protecting someone from dangerous knowledge.

Important Character Interactions

• Xia Chen and Xionila: Their banquet conversation reinforces their alliance. They discuss Ultra Beast Tides, Pokémon breeding experiments, Radiant Stone mining, and the Space Jump Machine.
• Xia Chen and Volcarona: Xia Chen questions Volcarona about Type Crystals. Volcarona hides the truth, while Xia Chen silently recognizes and tolerates the deception.
• Volcarona and [Light]: [Light] explains the nature and danger of Type Crystals, advising Volcarona not to reveal their location prematurely.
• Caitlin and Xia Chen: Caitlin draws Xia Chen away from work and persuades him to join the trip to the ruins, highlighting their comfortable but assertive relationship.
• Cynthia, Caitlin, and Xia Chen: The three travel together to Daman City, combining sightseeing, historical research, and the possibility of finding clues about Ultra Necrozma.
• The Earth travelers and the Metropolis Defense Force: Their cooperation expands beyond diplomacy into military training, scientific observation, resource gathering, and technological exchange.

Chapter Summary: “A Terrifying Theory”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Rotom Phone records reveal that Daman City was once the capital of the advanced Plantagenet Federation, a powerful regime in Ultra World. The city is now a vast ruin marked by attacks from countless Ultra Beasts.
• Xia Chen launches a powerful flare to illuminate the ruins, unintentionally attracting a large horde of Ultra Beasts, including unusually strong Pheromosa ranging from Gym Leader to Elite Four level.
• Xia Chen, Cynthia, Caitlin, and their Pokémon battle the swarm. Garchomp, Milotic, Metagross, and others defeat the attacking Ultra Beasts without relying on Koraidon or Deoxys, using the fight as valuable training.
• Caitlin demonstrates her strength by crushing an Elite Four-level Pheromosa with Psychic power. She also pranks Xia Chen by forcing another Pheromosa onto his face, only to be unsettled by his bizarre claim that anthropomorphic cockroaches are cute.
• After securing the ruins, the group explores the rooftop of a surviving skyscraper, once a luxurious sky garden. Cynthia records the remains and becomes troubled by the possibility that Earth could one day suffer the same fate as Ultra World.
• Xia Chen realizes that Dark Matter, after consuming Ultra World, might return to Earth stronger than before. He explains that Dark Matter has previously corrupted Earth’s Pokémon and civilizations, including Yveltal and ancient Kalos.
• Caitlin and Cynthia recognize Xia Chen’s fear and encourage him to share serious concerns rather than carrying them alone. Xia Chen then tells them and all his Pokémon everything he knows about Dark Matter.
• The group concludes that Dark Matter should be defeated in Ultra World before it can destroy that world and potentially invade Earth. Volcarona confirms that Dark Matter could travel between the two worlds because their connection is already strong.
• Volcarona explains that defeating Dark Matter requires three stages: defeat its host, Ultra Necrozma; battle Dark Matter’s true body; and banish it into the void.
• Light secretly withholds important information, believing that revealing too much too early could alert Dark Matter. The group therefore lacks the details needed to carry out the plan.
• Their search of Daman City produces no direct information about Ultra Necrozma. After returning to Ultra Megalopolis, they conceal the discovery from Lance, Rika, and the others while continuing their normal activities.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen shifts from cautious exploration to openly confronting the possibility of a future catastrophe. Although initially overwhelmed by the thought of Dark Matter reaching Earth, he regains his composure and commits to stopping it proactively.
• Cynthia shows emotional vulnerability when she considers the destruction of her own world, but quickly supports Xia Chen’s plan and reinforces the importance of confronting the threat before it grows stronger.
• Caitlin remains sharp and perceptive, recognizing Xia Chen’s pessimism and correctly identifying his fear. Her teasing interaction with him also reveals a more playful side.
• Volcarona becomes an important source of knowledge about Ultra World and Dark Matter, though it is clearly uncomfortable being questioned and does not possess all the answers.
• The Pokémon team gains combat experience by fighting the Ultra Beast horde without the strongest members taking over the battle.

Significant Themes

• The fear of repeating history: The ruins of Daman City force the characters to consider whether Earth could suffer the same destruction.
• Proactive resistance versus passive survival: Rather than waiting for Dark Matter to finish destroying Ultra World and become stronger, the group decides to make Ultra World the battlefield.
• Trust and shared responsibility: Xia Chen’s decision to reveal his fears strengthens his relationship with Cynthia, Caitlin, and the Pokémon.
• Civilization’s fragility: The advanced Plantagenet Federation was reduced to ruins, emphasizing that technological progress does not guarantee survival.
• Uncertainty and incomplete knowledge: The group knows the general method for defeating Dark Matter but lacks crucial information about Ultra Necrozma, Light, and the true nature of the threat.

Character Interactions

• Caitlin’s fear of insects contrasts humorously with Xia Chen’s indifference, leading to her Psychic prank involving a Pheromosa.
• Cynthia notices Xia Chen’s unease and gently reminds him that he promised to share major concerns with her.
• Caitlin directly challenges Xia Chen to admit that he fears Earth will be destroyed, helping break through his silence.
• Cynthia and Caitlin accept Volcarona’s warning because they trust Xia Chen’s judgment, even though they do not personally trust Volcarona.
• The group unites around the decision to aid Ultra World and eliminate Dark Matter before it can threaten Earth.

Chapter Summary: The Metropolis Pokémon Craze

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xia Chen leads a joint League Investigation Team–Ultra Defense Team expedition to Sword Valley to mine Radiant Stones. He leaves Deoxys and Zeraora behind to protect Ultra Megalopolis from Ultra Beast Tides.
• The expedition reaches Sword Valley safely, despite occasional Ultra Beast ambushes. The Ultra Defense Team is deeply impressed by how Pokémon dramatically reduce the dangers of wilderness travel.
• The team begins an efficient mining operation. Advanced Metropolis laser technology cuts the extremely durable Radiant Stones, and over five days they collect more than 3,000 tons.
• During the mining period, Lance, Rika, and Acerola decide to capture Ultra Beasts:
  • Lance catches a juvenile Poipole.
  • Rika captures a Celesteela.
  • Acerola captures a Blacephalon.
• Poipole quickly bonds with Dragonite, while Xia Chen gives it a Radiant Stone bracelet to help cleanse the Dark Matter corruption in its body.
• Rika and Acerola’s Ultra Beasts are much harder to tame because they are powerful and more heavily corrupted. They are confined with Radiant Stones, whose energy gradually heals their minds.
• After returning to Ultra Megalopolis, the group discovers that the Pokémon brought from Earth have laid Eggs. The Metropolis treats the Eggs as priceless symbols of hope, broadcasting them around the clock and gathering in public squares to watch them hatch.
• Xia Chen, Cynthia, Caitlin, Lance, Rika, and Acerola begin teaching Metropolis residents how to hatch, raise, and breed Pokémon.
• After several weeks, Celesteela and Blacephalon recover mentally through the Radiant Stone purification process and develop trust in Rika and Acerola.
• Xia Chen names this healing method “Purification.” Xionila adopts two major long-term strategies: Pokémon breeding to strengthen the Metropolis immediately and Ultra Beast purification to create a powerful defensive force.
• Meanwhile, Ultra Beast Tides become larger and more frequent. Although the Pokémon repel every attack, Xia Chen realizes that the Dark Matter controlling the World Will is beginning to react to the mining and purification efforts.

Character Developments

• Xia Chen becomes increasingly important as a strategist and organizer. He recognizes the practical value of Radiant Stones, develops the Purification method, and helps the Metropolis establish long-term plans for survival.
• Lance reveals his enthusiasm for Dragon-type Pokémon and seeks an Ultra Beast companion. He catches Poipole and begins forming a relationship with it through Dragonite.
• Rika chooses Celesteela, valuing its strength and distinctive qualities. She patiently builds trust with it after its capture.
• Acerola chooses Blacephalon and similarly works to calm and rehabilitate it.
• Cynthia and Caitlin remain important protectors and teachers, though neither actively pursues an Ultra Beast. Cynthia leaves the matter to fate, while Caitlin prefers Pokémon with Psychic typing.
• The people of Ultra Megalopolis shift from fear and despair to excitement and hope. Pokémon Eggs, breeding, and training become a source of collective enthusiasm and national optimism.
• Celesteela and Blacephalon progress from violent, Dark Matter-corrupted creatures to calmer Pokémon capable of trusting their new Trainers.
• The chuunibyou Kartana grows even more prideful after Xia Chen praises Kartana’s strength and appearance.

Significant Themes

• Hope in a dark age: Pokémon Eggs and living Pokémon give the Metropolis a renewed sense of purpose and optimism after a long period of despair.
• The partnership between humans and Pokémon: The expedition demonstrates that Pokémon provide protection, exploration, companionship, and military strength beyond what technology alone can offer.
• Healing through patience and cooperation: The Purification process shows that corrupted Ultra Beasts can recover through the interaction of Radiant Stone energy, controlled environments, and human trust.
• Preparation for the future: Breeding Pokémon addresses the Metropolis’s immediate survival needs, while purifying Ultra Beasts creates a stronger long-term defense force.
• Technology versus living power: Metropolis weapons are useful for mining but are too rigid and energy-intensive for real combat, highlighting the flexibility and superiority of Pokémon.
• The consequences of resistance: The increasing Ultra Beast Tides suggest that the Dark Matter and World Will are responding to Xia Chen’s efforts, foreshadowing a larger conflict.

Important Character Interactions

• Xia Chen and Lance joke about Lance’s preference for Pokémon whose names contain “dragon,” revealing Lance’s straightforward and eccentric tastes.
• Rika and Acerola share their interest in obtaining unusual Ultra Beasts, while Xia Chen humorously questions their preference for Celesteela and Blacephalon over Kartana.
• Xia Chen gives Poipole a Radiant Stone bracelet, helping cleanse its corruption and symbolizing his effort to combine care with practical healing.
• Dragonite feeds and bonds with Poipole, becoming a protective companion figure. Poipole expresses affection by spinning around Dragonite and spraying smiley-face venom graffiti.
• Rika and Acerola repeatedly visit their captured Ultra Beasts, and their patience helps Celesteela and Blacephalon regain emotional stability and accept them.
• The Trainers collectively teach Metropolis citizens about Pokémon care, transforming their relationships with the population from foreign rescuers into mentors and symbols of hope.