When Peter exited the Dream Space, Whitney had already gotten up and finished washing up.
He first mailed a copy of the newly acquired items to Devon Corporation, then quietly stuffed the pink-purple Pokémon Egg into the bed covers before casually heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
The Audino Egg paired perfectly with the Keystone and Mega Stone he'd gotten earlier.
He planned to give his Miltank girl a surprise.
"Eh??"
Very soon—
Whitney's surprised voice came from the bedroom.
A second later, she came running in holding the Egg.
"Honey! Did you prepare a Pokémon Egg for me?"
Peter blinked innocently.
"Hm? I have no idea."
Whitney didn't doubt him.
"Huh? Then where did it come from?? I found it under the blanket! Don't tell me Ursaluna and its girlfriend secretly had a baby!"
Peter: "…(°ー°〃)"
"Why don't you just say we had it…"
Whitney blinked and answered seriously,
"Well… that does make sense… but I'm not a Pokémon?"
As she spoke, she even lifted her pajama shirt and rubbed her flat stomach thoughtfully.
Peter instantly lost it.
Pfft—
Toothpaste foam sprayed everywhere.
"Babe… are you trying to kill me with laughter…"
Whitney scrunched her nose proudly.
"Mhm~ It was you, wasn't it?"
She leaned over and planted a loud kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you, Honey~"
"Actually, I already guessed~ Hehe! Don't tell me what Pokémon it is though. I want to look forward to hatching it!"
The Miltank girl happily skipped away.
Peter shook his head with a smile.
No matter how much time passed—
she remained just as innocent and carefree.
After breakfast, Peter and Whitney headed to the Dimensional Research Lab in Heahea City.
Burnet had already contacted him.
The simulation experiment for reproducing an Ultra Beast aura was ready.
The moment they entered, Burnet greeted them.
"You're here, Peter. And this must be Whitney? Nice to meet you~"
"Hello, Professor Burnet."
She smiled.
"Come with me."
Burnet led them through the facility and out to an open beach area connected to the lab.
"Since your goal is attracting Type: Null, we'll run the simulation here."
Peter nodded.
"Thanks for your help."
"No problem. I'll get valuable research data out of this too~"
Burnet sat down and began typing rapidly.
A strange presence slowly gathered overhead.
Deep within a forest somewhere on Akala Island—
Type: Null raised its masked head and looked toward the coast.
"Tai…"
With several powerful leaps—
it sprinted toward the source of the sensation.
At the same time—
a luxury cruise ship slowly approached Heahea Beach.
On the deck—
Lusamine was rubbing her cheek against the blonde little girl in her arms.
"Mother… could you please stop sticking to me…"
The girl pushed desperately at her face—
to no effect.
She could only wear an expression of complete defeat while enduring the affection.
Lusamine giggled.
"Aww~ But when you were little, my Lillie loved clinging to Mommy!"
"You always wanted me to hold you~ Don't be shy~"
As she said that—
her hands shifted toward the sweating blond boy nearby.
"Gladion, do you want Mommy to hug you too~?"
"…N-No thanks, Mother."
Gladion turned away instantly.
That's right—
this was Lusamine's family.
After learning what Lillie and Gladion had gone through—
she had immediately returned to her villa on Melemele Island.
Over the last two days, she had explained everything and finally earned Gladion's forgiveness.
But—
Lillie's memories still hadn't returned.
So she brought both children to Akala Island to seek Burnet's advice.
And perhaps—
take a vacation together.
"James. Drive us to the research institute."
"Yes, Madam."
The butler opened the door and ushered the family inside.
The limousine departed smoothly.
Meanwhile—
inside the research lab—
the simulation device continued humming.
Artificial Ultra aura spread across the beach.
Whitney hugged the Egg and looked around.
"Hmm… why isn't anything happening?"
Peter stroked his chin.
"Maybe… this artificially created aura doesn't work on Type: Null?"
Burnet looked at the readings.
"Peter, our energy reserves are running low. We can only sustain this for another twenty minutes."
Peter thought briefly.
"Professor Burnet… can you increase the output?"
She hesitated.
"I can try… but it might become unstable."
Her fingers flew across the keyboard.
The device immediately began trembling.
Powerful energy fluctuations spread through space.
None of them noticed—
that high in the sky—
a thin white crack had widened slightly as the aura intensified.
The process was slow.
Difficult.
But it continued.
Several minutes later—
the energy finally stabilized.
Peter looked around once more.
Disappointment filled his face.
Type: Null never came.
Burnet lowered her eyes.
"Sorry, Peter. If I'd prepared more energy…"
Peter shook his head.
"This isn't your fault."
He stared quietly into the distance.
"Maybe…"
"It already came."
"It just doesn't want to trust humans anymore."
That was the conclusion he'd reached.
Even though he had helped free Type: Null—
this place was still a research institute.
A place filled with memories of confinement.
Its refusal to appear—
made sense.
Peter suddenly walked toward the sea.
He raised his voice.
"HEY—!"
"If you're here…"
"Take this with you!!"
He threw a bag of food into the distance.
Inside—
fresh Malasadas, Treasure-grade Pokéblocks—
and a Rare Candy.
Splash.
The bag hit the water.
Ripples spread outward endlessly.
But—
Type: Null still didn't appear.
Whitney wrapped her arms around his.
"It's okay, Honey. We'll take it slowly~"
Peter nodded.
"Yeah…"
"No need to rush."
Just then—
an assistant hurried inside.
"Professor Burnet! President Lusamine has arrived!"
Burnet blinked.
"Hm? Lusamine? Bring her in."
Before anyone moved—
a familiar voice came from the entrance.
"Haha! No need, Burnet—I'm already here~"
Soon—
the group entered.
Lusamine smiled brightly.
"Peter and Whitney too? What a coincidence!"
Peter smiled.
"Yeah~ I came to ask Professor Burnet for some help."
Then he looked toward the two children.
"So you're Lillie and Gladion?"
"I'm Professor Peter—your mother's friend. I hear about you two all the time~"
The siblings bowed politely.
"Hello, Professor Peter."
Lusamine curved her eyes.
She had just started explaining their reason for visiting—
when suddenly—
the sky tore open.
A dimensional tunnel appeared overhead.
A strange and overwhelming aura descended.
Everyone instinctively looked up.
Whitney stared.
"That is…?"
Peter, Burnet, and Lusamine's expressions changed at the same time.
Their voices overlapped.
"An Ultra Wormhole?!"
Before anyone could react—
a white humanoid jellyfish drifted out.
Its body resembled a bell-shaped jellyfish.
A translucent upper shell marked with star-like patterns.
Blue edges.
Long tentacles resembling a young girl's hair.
"Utsa…"
Without hesitation—
the white jellyfish stretched out its tendrils—
and lunged straight toward the nearest person.
Peter.
"AHHHHH—!!!"
The instant she saw it—
Lillie clutched her head and collapsed to the ground.
Pain and terror filled her face.