Chapter Summaries

Shen Qi practiced his new Dark Rush and Confused State skills before returning with Florges to Melemele Meadow to help remove the Flabébé’s evolution seals. As their work continued, a ring of Floette descended during Florges’s transformation into Eternal Flower Form.

• Shen Qi tested Dark Rush on Blissey, but its short range and weak execution made the attack ineffective.
• During two days off, Shen Qi practiced Dark Rush and Confused State, finding Confused State safer and easier to use.
• Shen Qi and Florges returned to Melemele Meadow and helped three Flabébé evolve into Eternal Flower Form, while the Love Savings Bank’s energy dwindled.
• Florges worried that Shen Qi was overworking himself, but he reassured her that the Slacking-Off Sleeping Bag helped him recover.
• Flabébé gathered around Shen Qi and Florges, revealing their hidden hopes to evolve despite saying they were willing to give way to others.
• As Florges began another Eternal Flower transformation, a ring of Floette holding hands drifted down from the sky.

Shen Qi and Florges used the Floette’s help to break evolution seals on hundreds of Flabébé at a time, then decided to resume the work after the Island Challenge. Before leaving, Shen Qi asked the Pokémon in Melemele Meadow to stay hidden, while Oricorio chose to remain home and promised to keep up with her manga.

• The Floette formed a circle to amplify Florges and Shen Qi’s life infinity energy, allowing more than three hundred Flabébé to have their evolution seals removed.
• Shen Qi realized the Floette’s help could greatly improve efficiency, but he and Florges reached their daily limit after three transformations into Eternal Flower Form.
• The next day, twenty Floette helped remove the seals from hundreds more Flabébé, and Shen Qi decided they should wait until after the Island Challenge to continue.
• Shen Qi warned the Flabébé and Floette to stay hidden so outsiders would not discover their evolutions or Florges’s use of life infinity energy.
• In Iki Town, Shen Qi invited Oricorio to join the Island Challenge, but she chose to stay home and promised to keep up with her manga.

Shen Qi completed the first stage of the Alolan Island Challenge by navigating Route 06 and helping simulated Wild Pokémon. He then faced Totem Gumshoos, who did not attack and instead seemed to have a problem he wanted to share.

• Shen Qi followed Route 06 through Verdant Cavern, using Pelipper to confirm the route and Lilligant to detect landmarks and Pokémon.
• Shen Qi treated a staged injury on Mudbray and calmed a group of startled Lillipup along the way.
• Shen Qi scanned at the final sensor post and completed the wilderness route trial.
• Shen Qi encountered a huge Totem Gumshoos, whose familiar aura and lack of aggression left him unsure what the next task was.
• Lilligant told Shen Qi that Gumshoos was troubled by something.

Shen Qi rescued a Manectric and her three Electrike from a ravine as part of the Island Challenge, then thwarted a Team Skull ambush. He tied up the two grunts and prepared to bring them to Totem Gumshoos.

• Gumshoos tasked Shen Qi with finding and rescuing a Manectric and her Electrike near Mahalo Trail.
• Lilligant followed footprints to a mountain crack and found the mother Manectric and three Electrike at the bottom of a deep valley.
• Shen Qi checked the Pokémon for injuries, and Golurk carried them safely out of the valley.
• Two Team Skull grunts ambushed Shen Qi, but he and his Pokémon quickly knocked them out.
• Shen Qi tied up the unconscious grunts and decided to take them to Totem Gumshoos.

Shen Qi completed the rescue assessment after capturing Team Skull grunts, then learned they were part of the Island Challenge trial. After the exhausted challengers were told to help search for those still missing, the story left Shen Qi facing more work before the next day’s captain’s challenge.

• Shen Qi settled his assessment results at the Sensor Post after showing Manectric and the three Electrike to the camera.
• Hau and the Ranger Union staff discovered Shen Qi had captured Rap and another Team Skull grunt, and Hau explained that Team Skull grunts served as simulated poachers in the trial.
• Rap explained that Shen Qi had interrupted her assessment before she could introduce herself, while Totem Gumshoos revealed he had filled in for the missing grunts so the other challengers could complete their tasks.
• The earliest challengers’ assessment time expired, eliminating those who had not returned by the deadline, and Shen Qi joined the others for a hot meal at camp.
• Captain Ilima congratulated the challengers who advanced, then ordered them to help find and bring back those still lost in the mountains.

Shen Qi prepared for his Island Challenge assessment and learned that his battle with Captain Ilima would simulate a deadly encounter with vicious Poachers in the wilderness. The unrestricted two-hour trial began as Ilima rushed into the forest, leaving Shen Qi to follow.

• After a night of Ranger work, Shen Qi checked the advancement list, discovered 103 trialgoers remained, and found that he had drawn Captain Ilima as his examiner.
• Shen Qi brought his Pokémon to Verdant Cavern, where he learned the island’s advancing trialgoers would be celebrated at a Courtney Festival.
• Shen Qi and Ilima met before the assessment, and Ilima warned him that he would not go easy on him.
• A staff member explained the reduced Barrier Gear protections used for wilderness battles, and Ilima told Shen Qi the assessment would simulate a fight against a vicious Poacher without rules or restrictions.
• Ilima announced a two-hour trial and rushed into the forest, and Shen Qi hurried after him.

Shen Qi entered Ilima’s forest trial, discovered that he had to protect a dinosaur doll, and survived a staged sleep attack only to find himself surrounded. He turned the tables with hidden Pokémon, but Ilima’s stronger team kept the battle close as the trial continued.

• Shen Qi followed bird cries to a recorder, a dinosaur doll, and a sign instructing him to protect the Pokémon in the forest.
• Shen Qi and Blissey pretended to fall asleep after Spore, then attacked Ilima’s Chatot and grabbed the doll when Ilima’s voice imitation revealed the trap.
• Ilima’s Pokémon encircled Shen Qi, but Shen Qi’s hidden Pokémon sprang out and formed a counter-encirclement, knocking Kangaskhan below the trial’s barrier threshold.
• Ilima’s Smeargle transformed into Decidueye and attacked Shen Qi, who flew clear with Jet Energy and summoned Lilligant.
• Ilima’s Talonflame defeated Pelipper, while Komala and Gumshoos troubled Dodo; Ilima judged Shen Qi impressive but believed he still had few options against his team.

Shen Qi defeated Ilima in the wilderness assessment with repeated Explosion Button attacks, but lost points after his backpack and the plush toy inside were destroyed. After the assessment, Shen Qi asked Ilima how he had known Shen Qi was pretending to sleep, leaving the question unanswered.

• Shen Qi used Explosion Button twice to blast Ilima and bring his Barrier Points below the assessment threshold.
• Ilima awarded Shen Qi eighty points because the explosions destroyed his backpack and the plush toy representing a wild Pokémon he was supposed to protect.
• Shen Qi accepted Ilima's explanation and thanked him for his guidance, and they shook hands after leaving the assessment area.
• Kangaskhan comforted Lopunny after their battle by letting Lopunny hold the baby Kangaskhan, while Komala fell asleep against Dodo.
• Shen Qi asked Ilima how he had recognized that Shen Qi was pretending to sleep and whether the sleep Skill Pathways had been removed.

Shen Qi passed Ilima’s field assessment, impressed him with his unusual Style Technique, and received an invitation to join the Alola Island Guard. After celebrating with the local stallholders, Shen Qi prepared for Melemele Island’s bonfire party, while Oricorio chose to stay home.

• Ilima saw through Shen Qi’s feigned sleep, and Shen Qi explained that he had used his Style Technique to send Poké Balls into position and surround the examiners.
• Ilima invited Shen Qi to stay in Alola and join the Island Guard, but Blissey’s teasing remarks caused an awkward misunderstanding before Ilima left to prepare for the next assessment.
• Shen Qi returned to the festival stalls outside Verdant Cavern, where locals congratulated him and offered free food and drinks after he advanced.
• The next morning, Lopunny told Shen Qi that Oricorio had updated her manga, and Shen Qi urged Oricorio to keep publishing regularly.
• Shen Qi learned that the day’s remaining field assessments would determine the qualifiers for the bonfire party, while Lilligant and Florges planned their outfits and Oricorio refused to attend.

After the Melemele Island celebration, Shen Qi traveled to Poni Island to continue the Island Challenge. As he arrived, he suffered a sudden dizzying sensation despite showing no physical damage, leaving him and his Pokémon worried about its cause.

• At the bonfire party, Dodo happily roamed the stalls while Lilligant and Florges learned to dance, and Blissey and Lopunny practiced cooking.
• Ilima invited Shen Qi to dance, but Hala grabbed him after joking that Shen Qi was interested in strong men.
• Shen Qi and the other 36 advancing Trial-takers left Melemele Island and traveled to Poni Old Road for the next trials.
• Upon landing near Oricorio's home, Shen Qi felt as if his soul were being violently shaken, though his HP remained full and Pelipper felt nothing.
• Shen Qi told his Pokémon about the sensation, and Florges urged him to stop the Island Challenge out of concern about his past use of Life Infinity Energy.

After his examination showed no health problems, Shen Qi learned that Lillie was investigating Pokémon stress responses she believed were caused by unusual Infinity Energy fluctuations. He continued the Island Challenge on Poni Island, where a geyser drenched him and Charmander.

• Shen Qi received normal test results, reassured his Pokémon, and met Lillie at the hospital as she argued that Comfey’s stress response had an unusual cause.
• The doctor told Shen Qi that Lillie had reported similar cases before, but she could not provide evidence for her claims about special Infinity Energy fluctuations.
• Shen Qi continued the Island Challenge at Poni Old Road after the examination cleared him to participate.
• A geyser erupted and drenched Shen Qi while Charmander laughed in his arms.

Shen Qi accepted Ribombee’s optional Totem trial in Poni Canyon, where he was tasked with subduing a Pokémon suffering a dangerous stress response without harming it. He prepared his team to restrain Ribombee safely and began testing her strength, but the battle remained underway.

• Shen Qi accepted Ribombee’s optional task and followed her to Poni Canyon, where Totem Alolan Dugtrio stayed behind to assign the other trials.
• Ribombee explained that Shen Qi needed to subdue a ferocious Pokémon experiencing a stress response, and Shen Qi prepared his team to avoid injuring her.
• Shen Qi used evasion moves and ordered Lilligant to try Sleep Powder, but Ribombee stayed awake.
• Shen Qi sent out Lopunny to gauge Ribombee’s level, then used [Silence] to block her Bug Buzz while Pelipper prepared Wide Guard against Dazzling Gleam.

Shen Qi defeated Totem Ribombee in the special assessment and learned that she was Lillie’s Pokémon. Ribombee explained Lillie’s theory that strange energy fluctuations caused Pokémon’s stress responses and left behind Totem Auras, leaving Shen Qi curious as he headed back toward Poni Old Road.

• Shen Qi used Blissey’s enhanced speed to reach Ribombee and knock her unconscious with a massage, passing the special assessment.
• Shen Qi asked Ribombee how Totem Pokémon gained their aura, but she said no one knew and that Totem Pokémon appeared only in Alola, especially Poni Canyon.
• Ribombee revealed that she had suffered a strange dizzy spell and mental disturbance in the wild over three years earlier, then received care from Lillie.
• Ribombee explained that Lillie believed energy fluctuations caused Pokémon’s extreme stress responses and left them with Totem Auras, though others doubted her theory.
• Ribombee directed Shen Qi back toward Poni Old Road, and he asked her to describe the strange sensation as they traveled.

Lillie's recurring dream of a mysterious, star-speckled Pokémon revived questions about her father's unexplained death and possible special energy fluctuations. Hapu recognized Lillie's description as connected to an ancient Alolan legend and called Kiawe to ask about the Child of the Stars.

• Lillie dreamed again of a deep-blue, cloudlike Pokémon with pale-blue ears and starlight, then woke outside the examination area.
• Lacey teased Lillie about dozing off and heard her insist that the dream Pokémon was becoming clearer and had warned her to be careful.
• Lacey recalled that Lillie had witnessed Professor Mohn's death nine years earlier, and that Lillie and Gladion had later explored Poni Canyon seeking answers before being rescued.
• Lacey told Hapu about Lillie's increasingly clear dreams, and Hapu recognized the description as resembling a dark cloud with pale-blue clouds and starlight.
• Hapu called Kiawe and asked whether he remembered the legend of the Child of the Stars, which Kiawe identified as a secret of the Ancient Alola Kingdom's royal family.
• Lillie's Totem Ribombee returned to her, and she thanked it for its hard work.

Lillie’s unexplained sleep episodes and dreams worried Ribombee and Gladion, while she learned that Shen Qi had taken her Totem stress test seriously. Shen Qi suffered a sudden dizzy spell after meeting them, then went home to rest while Gladion took Lillie to the Aether Foundation.

• Lillie planned a visit to Poni Canyon and asked Ribombee whether anyone had chosen her special Totem Pokémon test.
• Ribombee told Lillie that Shen Qi had investigated her theory about how acute stress could turn a Pokémon into a Totem.
• Lillie fell asleep while trying to find Shen Qi’s contact information, and Ribombee called Gladion to collect her.
• Gladion recognized Shen Qi, who had come along after meeting him at the festival stalls and discussing racing and Totem Pokémon.
• Shen Qi experienced a sudden bout of dizziness, similar to the one he had felt upon arriving on Poni Island.
• Shen Qi decided to go home and rest instead of visiting the Aether Foundation for a checkup.

Shen Qi felt a summons drawing him toward Poni Canyon and went there in the night, suspecting Cosmog was calling him. After Gladion reported that Lillie had suddenly left Aether Paradise, Shen Qi sent Florges to alert him that Lillie might also be headed to the canyon.

• Shen Qi reasoned that his dizzy spells might be connected to Totem Pokémon and wondered whether Lillie's connection to Cosmog explained his own symptoms.
• Shen Qi dreamed that a voice asked him to avert a disaster, then woke at three in the morning and felt drawn toward Poni Canyon.
• Shen Qi found Oricorio playing a racing game, told her to rest, and flew toward Poni Canyon with Pelipper.
• Shen Qi activated a [Script Detector] as he approached the canyon, and Gladion called to say that Lillie had suddenly left Aether Paradise with only her Pokémon.
• Shen Qi told Florges to contact Gladion and report that the summons came from Poni Canyon and that Lillie might be there too.

Shen Qi found Poni Canyon tearing open into Ultra Space, where Nihilego’s psychic call lured Lillie toward the rift. He carried her away as Cosmog emerged and began closing the breach.

• Shen Qi realized spatial fissures were spreading through Poni Canyon and fled deeper into the canyon to avoid them.
• Ultra Space’s energy distressed Pokémon and wildlife, while Shen Qi remained unaffected.
• Shen Qi found Lillie walking toward the aurora under Nihilego’s psychic influence and carried her away with Ribombee.
• Nihilego appeared through a small rift and called out to draw living creatures toward it.
• Cosmog emerged through another rift and pressed against it, causing the opening to gradually close.

Shen Qi and his Pokémon fought to help Cosmog seal the Ultra Space rift, but more Ultra Beasts began forcing their way through. The chapter left Shen Qi stunned when Mime Jr. from the Mega Evolution World Line emerged from Ultra Space.

• Ribombee released Magearna, who attacked Nihilego with Fleur Cannon and drew power from nearby injured Pokémon through Soul-Heart.
• Shen Qi coordinated with Florges in Eternal Flower Form, and she used life infinity energy and Magical Leaf to help suppress Nihilego while Cosmog repaired the rift.
• Florges exhausted her transformation and returned to her Luxury Ball as Cosmog and Magearna narrowed the opening almost to a close.
• Buzzwole and Guzzlord began trying to force their way through the rift, threatening to let more Ultra Beasts enter the world.
• Mime Jr. emerged from Ultra Space, and Shen Qi recognized it as the Pokémon from the Mega Evolution World Line that had called him in his dream.

Shen Qi used the Final Key Stone to adapt to Ultra Infinity Energy and Dynamax Dodo to hold back the Ultra Beasts until Solgaleo and Lunala arrived to seal the spacetime rift. After evacuating, he reunited with Gladion and saw Tapu Fini helping contain the disaster on Poni Island.

• Mime Jr. taught Shen Qi to coordinate Ultra Infinity Energy through the Final Key Stone, allowing him to create a safe area for his Pokémon.
• Shen Qi Dynamaxed Dodo and used Max Strike to knock Buzzwole back and slow the Ultra Beasts, but Dodo's Dynamax ended before Cosmog could repair much of the rift.
• Solgaleo and Lunala arrived, suppressed the Ultra Beasts, and gradually contracted the spacetime rift as Hapu and the Trainers entered the area.
• Hapu evacuated Lillie and Shen Qi, and Shen Qi captured Mime Jr. before leaving the mountain.
• Gladion thanked Shen Qi for sending word of the disaster, while Tapu Fini transported injured Wild Pokémon and contained the Ultra Infinity Energy around the rift.

After helping treat Pokémon injured by the Sun and Moon Gods’ attack, Shen Qi collapsed and woke in a Detention Room with his Energy Chakra changed. He gained the ability to perceive Steel- and Dark-type Infinity Energy, then confronted Mime Jr. with his suspicion that it was the Ultra Beast Blacephalon.

• The Sun and Moon Gods unleashed an explosive attack on the mountaintop while Tapu Fini contained the shock waves, and Shen Qi and Lilligant were tossed around by the winds.
• Celebi gave Shen Qi deity power to treat nearby Pokémon, but Shen Qi exhausted himself and Officer Jenny took him into custody.
• Shen Qi woke in the Detention Room and discovered that he could perceive Steel- and Dark-type Infinity Energy, which completed his All-Type Infinity Energy Chakra.
• Shen Qi examined the changes in his perception and reviewed the rewards from Mime Jr.’s Emotional Script, including the [Cold Fireworks] item.
• Shen Qi summoned Mime Jr. and asked whether it was the Ultra Beast Blacephalon.