"..."
Hey, where's that carrot, huh? I'll bite your carrot clean off in one chomp, how about that?
Having just used Surging Strikes, Iono looked a little exasperated.
Why did she have to end up as the substitute again? She didn't even know whether that blue-haired woman was really the "Lana" Lillie kept going on about.
But… Haru suddenly felt that something wasn't right.
Why was there something hard in Lana's mouth? And not just hard—it was sharp, too?
"HISSS—!!"
With a sharp intake of breath, Haru finally realized what was going on.
But seriously, why the hell did "Lana" have shark teeth now?! Didn't she have normal teeth before?
Looking closer, this wasn't Lana at all—it was clearly Iono, the Electric-type Gym Leader from Paldea!
She might've looked a bit disheveled, but Haru was sure he wasn't imagining it.
What the hell are you doing here, cosplaying as Lana all the way from Paldea? Still want that Gym Leader title or what?
And how'd she even find him here, across literal dimensions in Ultra Space?
What are you, a living Xurkitree or something?
Haru was stunned. He hurriedly pulled back his electric toothbrush.
This was… yeah, definitely traumatizing. This level of surprise transformation was straight-up nightmare fuel.
As for Iono—this was her first time going through so many "fancy tricks," and clearly, she wasn't handling it well. She had originally come here to rescue Haru.
So how the hell did it turn into a "Sorry, Lillie…" kind of scenario?
But realizing her appearance had returned to normal, she calmed down a bit.
At least she wasn't playing stand-in anymore. She'd definitely have a word with Haru about all this later.
Compared to the two of them, the most traumatized person right now was… Lillie, who had just witnessed the whole thing through the now-shattered Ultra Wormhole.
You could draw a full dragon tattoo across her face and it still wouldn't look out of place.
This was betrayal. She had been betrayed again! Betrayed by that girl who claimed to be Iono!
While she had been fighting desperately outside, that damn woman was doing this?! So that's why she begged to come to Ultra Space?
So it was all lies, huh? Everyone just wanted to take Haru from her… they all wanted to hurt her…
Why did they do this to her? What had she done wrong?
They were all bad girls—bad girls who deserved punishment… She had to teach them a lesson.
Lillie's face became expressionless. In its place was a calm—an eerie, terrifying calm.
There was nothing left to fear. All the pain and suffering had led her here. All she could do now was clench her fists… and break everything that stood in her way.
From the depths of despair, Warrior Lillie had been born. And she was ready.
Through the broken wormhole, Haru finally saw the transformed Lillie—and the two Legendary Pokémon with her. Two clearly hostile Legendary Pokémon.
"Li… Lillie? What are you doing here?"
"And those two Pokémon… Lunala and Ultra Necrozma?! What the heck happened?!"
"Did the Ultra Showdown start early? Wasn't Lana just…"
But Lillie had no intention of explaining anything to Haru now. She brushed back her golden bangs, covered half her face, and practically screamed her feelings:
"I'm the one Haru loves most! Not any of you!"
"You shameless women—stay away from him!!!"
Then she turned to the only one who had never betrayed her. The one who would never lie to her:
"Nebby, let's do it! Take back everything that belongs to us!"
"Z-Move! Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom!"
She had never even completed the island challenge and had never been taught how to use Z-Moves, but in that moment of furious resolve, Lillie unleashed Lunala's exclusive Z-Move like she was born to do it. She didn't even bother with the awkward pre-Z-move dance.
Of course, this had a cost. The moment the Z-Move activated, she visibly weakened.
But she wasn't going to stop just because of some backlash. She would take everything back. She had to.
Even if it hurt her, it was worth it!
A fierce, natural force enveloped Lunala. Its wings turned pure white, radiating with full-moon power.
Unlike Shadow Shield or standard moves, Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom had a base power of 200 in the games—double that of Moongeist Beam.
It was a ridiculous stat. Most powerful moves cap around 120, and even those usually come with drawbacks—recoil, stat drops, or needing to recharge.
Take Rayquaza's signature move, Dragon Ascent—it drops the user's defenses after hitting.
Sure, game stats can't fully reflect real-world power, but this attack? Charged with the will of a broken-hearted girl? There was no way it could be blocked by a regular Pokémon.
Hell, who could even stand up to this?
To make things worse for Necrozma, it was doubly weak to both Ghost and Dark moves thanks to its Psychic typing.
You get it, right? Dream fan meme.jpg
"Not good, Lana—this move's too strong! Use a Z-Move to counter it!"
"If it lands, we're screwed!"
Inside Ultra Necrozma, the voice of Nezzy screamed out in warning.
"Alright. Let's do this."
Lana unfurled her wings, appearing larger and more divine than ever—this was her true god form.
"I'll say it again, Lillie. If you can beat me, you can use me as your mattress."
"Hell, I'll even help you aim and push from behind if you want—as long as you win! But the truth is, you never stood a chance!"
"Z-Move—Light That Burns the Sky! Obliterate her!"
But just then, a man's voice rang out from behind Lillie.
"Let me help you! Mew, Flutter Mane—lend your power to Lillie!"
"Wha—Mew… Mew?!"
Hearing that name, Lana froze for just a moment.