The two Gym Leaders that fully embraced off-the-wall challengers returned to Ultra Sea for a second time. While harvesting Dynite Ore was the aim of their trip if the League's records were the only thing to go by, Josh had a secondary goal in mind. One of his objectives was to build rapport with Aleph. If the Type: Full manual was to be believed, the normal-type loved to battle Ultra Beasts more than anything else. The young man had raised many unruly Pokémon before. From his experience, the best way to soften their hardened hearts was to pamper them and give them what they wanted. If Aleph wanted to embrace violence against Ultra Beasts, Josh wouldn't stop him.

Sygna Suited up and seated on his Manectric, Josh stood behind the BIrdfather. "You stuck your neck out for me. Now it's my turn to stick mine out for you." Josh's four lions got to work, joining the aerial savant and his Pokémon in search of rare minerals. They had to work quickly to ensure the team's saddlebags were filled as much as realistically possible.

Alex's Pokémon would be the first to catch wind of Ultra Beasts floating toward them due to their position. Josh's lions could not see them. Saber could not see them. Most tragically, Aleph could not see them. The Type: Null let out a loud yawn before falling asleep from boredom. No more than a minute or two later did the swarm of Nihilego float around the corner to where they could clearly be seen. "Aleph, wake up! They're here! Aleph!" Josh desperately cried. The normal-type did not arouse. Not even shaking him woke him from his slumber.

With his Ultra Beast killer on the sidelines, Josh tapped into the power of his suit that let him withstand super speed. Creating an ELECTRIC ZONE centered around his synced trainer, Saber was ready to bound toward the poison-types with disregard. "I'm going on ahead to handle them!" the Mauville Leader shouted back before spurring his mount into overdrive. The ELECTRIC ZONE amplified the wolf's speed, looking to disable as many of the Nihilego as possible with a debilitating DISCHARGE.

The BLEAKWIND STORM and DISCHARGE together brought down most of the Ultra Beasts, but not all of them; the few that were outside the electric attack's range surrounded the snoozing Aleph, wrapping their tentacles around him. By the time Josh realized what was going on, it was too late; Aleph had been reduced to a TRI-ATTACK that was worthless against the poison-types directly on top of him. The Type: Null desperately started writing in an effort to get away, but to no avail. One landed on the Normal-type's head and began draining the creature's mind.

By the time Aleph could dislodge them, it was too late; under the control of the Nihilego toxin, the Ultra Beast Killer roared and faced Alexei Ivanov 's Tornadus, pointing a TRI-ATTACK beam at the shard legendary Pokémon. "Aleph, stop!" No response; the multicolored light show was headed toward Alex's "Patron", and fast. "We've got to make all the Nihilego faint. All hands on deck!" With that, all of Josh's Pyroar stopped their mining operation and lunged toward the Ultra Beasts.

The Fortree Gym Leader using his Pokémon to corral the Ultra Beasts into a tight space was Josh's cue. "Cover your ears, Alex - this is gonna get loud!" Taking the hint, Josh reined Saber away from the battleground, Aleph following for his own safety. "Alright, Pyroar squad, HYPER VOICE!"

The four lions inhaled deeply before simultaneously expelling scream-like bellows from their lungs. The shockwaves, while ineffective against the Nihilego on their own, clashed in ways that tore at even their rocky bodies. Working together, the Ultra Beast threat was no more. There was just one problem.

The sonic explosion was so powerful that its shockwave had displaced and scattered all the loose Dynite Ore the duo had mined up to that point. With the mine's walls growing more and more purple-pink by the moment, they might not have time to pick it all up, especially with the horrors that were to emerge from the Eternatus core.

Even with his ear protection, the four HYPER VOICES were loud, Josh able to physically feel the reverberation of the disturbed air. The day he learned of Isaac Merlo 's true identity as a Rocket, he had also learned just how powerful a Pyroar's lungs were. Whether a standard Hyper Voice or the greater volume of his Z-Move, riding the lion during such a sonic discharge would subject him to numbing vibration. Perhaps that would be something to see if Shalin liked the next time they met.

Once the rumbling ceased, the Gym Leader shouted in Alex's direction, "Yes sir!" The sound was so loud that it even threatened to burst one of Saber's eardrums. Giving his Manectric somewhat of a rest, he slid down from the electric-type's back and onto that of his Shiny royal lion.

The amalgamated monstrosity before them was positively hideous, disrespecting the forms of both bird and dragon alike. Thank Arceus it wasn't hostile - in the absence of Ultra Beasts, the normal-type went berserk. Lunging at Josh from behind, the Type: Null knocked his trainer out of the saddle and began tearing into him. The scars across his chest from the last time this had happened had still not completely healed.

All on his own, the weakened Saber emerged from Josh's Poké Ball, a quick THUNDER WAVE causing Aleph's muscles to buckle. No longer pinned, Josh huffed, parts of his Sygna Suit in tatters. Stumbling to his feet, Josh whistled for Aslan to come near him again, the lion crouching to let Josh aboard. Dripping blood stained the Pyroar's golden fur as Josh slumped forward, covering his chest. "Alex... how much do you know... about Aleph's kind?"