"So it really did evolve… but Damian, why'd Nebby stop moving after that?"
Lillie's brow pinched in confusion. She'd figured out on her own that Nebby had changed—Cosmoem looked nothing like Cosmog—but this new silence bothered her.
Before, Nebby was all energy and curiosity, always drifting around like it couldn't sit still. Now it barely reacted to anything. It just… slept.
And that made Lillie's stomach twist with worry.
"Because it's charging up," Damian said.
He unwrapped a piece of candy and held it near Cosmoem's mouth.
Cosmoem's eyes stayed shut, but the sweet smell must've reached it. Its mouth cracked open a little.
Damian let out a quiet laugh and popped the candy inside.
"Cosmoem needs a ridiculous amount of energy to evolve again," he explained. "So it's not wasting time."
What he didn't say out loud was the ugly part: if Cosmoem tried to stockpile enough energy on its own, it could take years. Maybe decades. No one was waiting that long.
That was why Damian was going to nudge it along.
"Oh… okay." Lillie nodded slowly, relieved it wasn't "sick."
Then curiosity took over.
What was Nebby going to become?
A sharp click interrupted her thoughts.
One of the Poké Balls on Damian's belt sprang open, and white light spilled out.
Tapu Fini appeared at his side.
It didn't look around. It didn't posture. It didn't waste a second.
It stared straight at Cosmoem—unblinking.
Lillie jolted. "Wait… that's—"
Even if she wasn't a Trainer, she knew that silhouette.
One of the Tapu.
And Damian had it.
She looked at him with a mix of shock and starry admiration, like this was just one more impossible thing he'd pulled off.
Tapu Fini finally shifted its gaze to Damian, like it was trying to read him.
Damian raised a brow.
"Yeah, you recognize it."
Tapu Fini didn't answer, but it didn't need to. It had recognized Nebby back when it was still Cosmog.
Damian tilted his head.
"You wanna help?"
Tapu Fini blinked, genuinely caught off guard.
Help?
It had wanted to. It just hadn't expected Damian to be the one asking.
The island guardians weren't strangers to the Sun and Moon legends. In old stories, when Solgaleo and Lunala came from beyond, the Tapu fought them—hard.
They lost.
After that, they swore loyalty, and in return they were granted Z-Power.
So seeing Cosmoem here, on Alola soil… Tapu Fini's instinct was to support it, to help it fully wake up.
Damian smirked, catching the look Tapu Fini was giving him.
"Hey. Don't look at me like I'm some cartoon villain." He casually ran a hand through Tapu Fini's long, flowing 'hair' like it belonged to him. "If you're in, go to Exeggutor Island and bring back the flutes."
Tapu Fini stiffened like it had just seen a ghost.
How do you know that?
But it didn't stop to argue. It shot upward in a clean burst and took off toward Poni—fast enough to kick up a rush of air as it went.
Lillie, who'd been listening from the side, leaned forward.
"Damian… do you know what Cosmoem evolves into?"
She'd always known Nebby was special. Before everything with her mother got fixed, she'd planned to dig through ruins and libraries across every island to figure it out.
But she hadn't had the chance yet.
Damian glanced at her, then down at Cosmoem.
"Yeah," he said. "And it's not small-time, Lillie. Just… don't freak out when it happens."
He rubbed Cosmoem's cheek with his thumb.
Cosmoem's eyes stayed shut, but its expression shifted—those tightly sealed lids curving faintly, like it was smiling in its sleep.
Like it could hear them.
Lillie's eyes went wide, excitement bubbling up despite her nerves.
Nebby wasn't just her Pokémon.
Nebby was her closest friend.
Two days passed like nothing.
Tapu Fini returned from Exeggutor Island with both instruments: the Sun Flute and the Moon Flute.
And while Damian set his pieces in place, Lusamine started moving hers.
At Professor Kukui's lab, Kukui stared at the stack of documents in his hands like he couldn't believe they were real.
"...This is the data you got from Ultra Space?"
He flipped through page after page—detailed notes on multiple Ultra Beasts, down to standard height, weight, habits, and behavior patterns.
It wasn't guesswork.
It was field research.
"It's real," Lusamine said smoothly, wearing a gentle smile like she hadn't just spent over a week in another dimension. "It took effort. But it paid off. This should help you a lot, Kukui."
Kukui looked up, eyes bright with disbelief and excitement.
"Help? This is huge!" he blurted. "President Lusamine, you just did Alola a massive favor!"
For years, Ultra Beasts had been a headache—especially with the whole "different dimension" problem. The Aether Foundation had been chasing answers forever. Even Professor Mohn had vanished while researching wormholes.
Kukui hadn't expected this kind of breakthrough.
Not like this.
"I'm glad," Lusamine replied, calm and composed. "I'm from Alola too. This is what I should be doing."
She tapped the documents lightly.
"Add it to the Pokédex. If an Ultra Beast shows up again, people won't be blind. They'll have real information."
Kukui nodded, already half-lost in the pages again.
"Yeah. I need to go through all of this properly. And…"
His brow furrowed.
Before, he would've taken this data and immediately pushed Kanto for approval to establish the Alola League.
But now there was another shadow in the room—Team Rocket's presence in Alola.
For a moment, he hesitated.
Then he made the call.
"The Alola League has to happen," he said, firm.
Whatever threat Team Rocket posed, a League was the stronger foundation. A structure. A defense. A future.
Lusamine's lips curved into a poised smile—elegant, and just a little unreadable.
Night fell.
Stars scattered across the sky, and a bright crescent moon hung above the world like a watching eye.
Deep in Poni Canyon, at the Altar of the Moone, the air felt ancient—quiet, desolate, grand.
Three people stood on the altar.
Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini stayed close, like living guardians at the edge of a ritual.
Damian stepped forward and handed over the instruments.
He placed the Sun Flute in Lillie's hands.
Then the Moon Flute in Caitlin's.
His smile was easy, but his eyes were sharp.
"Alright," he said. "This part's on you two."
The plan was simple—and old.
Play the Sun and Moon Flutes as an offering. Call the altar's power. Wake the sleeping star.
Trigger the ritual.
And push Cosmoem into its final evolution.