Night has fallen in the region of Alola. However, at Iki Town, the Z Festival rages on, and the Announcer, named Chair-Taro, wonders which contestant will emerge victorious in this semi-final round. He points out that Moon's Grimer has completely immobilized Gladion's Porygon by entangling its body around it, and it appears that the polygonal Pokemon would not be free itself from its opponent anytime soon.

Moon watches as Porygon struggles under Grimer's grip, and wonders to herself why it isn't retaliating with its powerful Psybeam. At its proximity, it would have caused massive damage, which is why she has her next stepped well planned in case that happens. Yet, it doesn't seem as if the Porygon plans to fight as she expected, which is frankly causing her a bit of frustration. Gladion notices the look on Moon's face, and wagers a guess that something is amiss in her anticipation. He recalls what she said about sharing knowledge to ensure the match's fairness, and decides to reveal to her that Grimers that reside in Alola are of the Poison and Dark type. Hearing that, Moon's gasps in bewilderment, and Gladion knows his guess was correct that the girl still regards Grimers as having the Poison mono-type.

Samson Oak steps up to explain that the climate of a habitat may cause changes in a Pokemon's body, and such an effect alters not only the appearance but even the type of the Pokemon, causing it to become something almost entirely different, which is scientifically referred to as regional variants. The Announcer thanks Samson Oak, who is a top authority in regional variants to educate them on the issue, and Sun, who has been laughing all this time, mocks at Moon for not knowing such a phenomenon, since the average Alolan people would know this since infancy. Moon grunts with annoyance that she is not a resident of Alola, but secretly admits to herself that she indeed deserves mockery, since she also noticed the physical different in Sun's Meowth but never bothered to ask about it. She believes that lack of knowledge is nothing to be ashamed of, but one should actively seek out answers for things they do not know. After all, in order to turn knowledge into one's own, one must seek it and then prove it through verification and experimentation.

With that, Moon gestures to Grimer, who quickly engulfs Porygon with its slimy body to suffocate it. Moon grins that Porygon must be suffering and suggests Gladion surrender, but the blonde boy simply scoffs at her absurdity and points out that Porygon is an artificial Pokemon created through the powers of science to navigate through cyberspace. That said, it does not need to breathe and would therefore not suffer from suffocation. At that moment, a powerful surge of electricity courses through Grimer's body, and instantly faints it. The Announcer exclaims that Porygon has retaliated with a powerful Discharge, and declares Grimer no longer able to fight.

Moon compliments Grimer for its work as she retrieves it, and sends out Mareanie out next. As soon the blue and purple starfish gets onto the battle arena, it starts dashing around erratically, and Gladion can see that it is attempting to evade Porgyon's Psybeam with its random footwork. However, he points out that it is useless, since the strength of artificially programmed Pokemon lies in their ability to read apparently irregular patterns and make correct predictions.

Moon grins at the word 'artificial', and realizes that it was exactly the feeling she got when she saw Gladion's other Pokemon, Type: Null. Apparently synthesized from a multitude of Pokemon, its strength was clearly too strong and required the metallic mask for suppression. Its design itself shouts man-made, which gives it the vibe of an artificial Pokemon. She wonders if Gladion has an affinity for artificial Pokemon, but the blonde boy thinks he does not own her any answer. Moon relents that it is a pity, since she thought he encourages fairness and did ask her if she had a fondness for Poison type Pokemon. Gladion glares at Moon for her peskiness, and Moon immediately gets apologetic, stating that she couldn't help but feel acquainted with him since everything feels so 'science' about him and she actually hails from a family of scholars.

Gladion hardly sympathizes, however, and coldly states that he has heard enough pointless babbling. He believes Porygon has finished analyzing Mareanie's moves, and gets it to deliver to finishing Psybeam. However, much to his shock, the attack misses, and Moon wears a big grin on her face. Sun bolts with realization at that moment, and Hau wonders what it is that he noticed. Sun points out that Porygon has been inflicted with the poison status, and now understands that Moon didn't mean suffocation when she said it suffered. Rather, it was hit by Grimer's Poison Gas while being engulfed by its body. Hau realizes with a start as well that Mareanie's running around and Moon's incessant talking were means to buy time for the poison to eat away at Porygon's health, and the two boys quickly hug each other in fear, their minds boggling at the venom girl's tactics.

Moon snickers at how ridiculous the boys are behaving, and sees that Porygon is still hanging on a slither of health. She believes that its physical condition will no longer spare it time to calculate Mareanie's moves, but Gladion tells her to stop insulting others. In that instant, Porygon fires off a Zap Cannon, and knocks Mareanie out with the super effective attack. Moon cries out in astonishment, and couldn't understand why Gladion would choose such a low accuracy move when Porygon already has trouble aiming. Gladion snorts that Pokemon battles are not only about knowledge and skills, and when the ability of two opponents are comparable, the result will be determined by whoever shoulders a greater burden on their back.

Gladion's words knock Moon into a state of frenzy, as she feels that her world is turned upside down. She fails to understand if this is merely luck or what people would call the strength of the mind. She refuses to accept that she has lost to something so unscientific, and grabs her head with an utterly devastated look on her face. As the Announcer declares Gladion the winner of the match and thus the opponent of Sun and the finals, Moon, still in her trance, is slowly escorted off the stage by Sun and Hau while Gladion treats his Porygon with some Berries. The blonde boy is soon approached by Hala, who wants to know if he is comfortable with a consecutive battle and offers him a 30-minute rest. However, Gladion deems it unnecessary, and turns the question to Sun. The young courier states that he prefers to go straight into battle as well, since he may claim his prize earlier that way.

And so, the final match of the Z Battle Tournament commences, and Gladion sends out Type: Null while Sun calls forward Dollar. The Alolan Meowth wastes no time in lashing out with a Night Slash, but its claws instantly turn numb upon contact with the steel-hard surface of its opponent's metallic mask. Sun grunts in frustration, and knows he must find a way to get past the mask. He turns around to Moon, vowing to seek revenge for his customer, but the girl apparently has her back turned to the stage and remains in a trance, much to Sun's disappointment. Before long, Type: Null closes in on Dollar with an X-Scissor, and faints the Alolan Meowth with the supper effective hit.

The Announcer gasps at Type: Null's overwhelming dominance, and Sun proceeds to switch out En to deliver an Ember. Unfortunately, Type: Null's metallic mask once again fends off the attack, and Sun starts to get really irritated by it. Suddenly, he gets an idea, and believes that he may try attacking from beneath the mask with En's fur if he cannot go through it from the outside. With the strategy in mind, he cautions En to Type: Null's Iron Head and X-Scissor attacks, and gets it to start focusing on the quadruple Pokemon's collar.

At the judges' area, Olivia wonders what Nanu anticipate would happen, and the grey-haired man snickers that the outcome is clear, that the boy using the masked Pokemon will win. Olivia agrees, and recalls the overwhelming strength the boy displayed during his match with Moon. Nanu admits to be intrigued by the boy, however, since he feels like he has seen the Pokemon's metallic mask before, probably from the data files at the old hideout. If that is the case, he would imagine that the burden the boy shoulders is something truly heavy. Olivia faintly remembers that while registering for the Z Battle Tournament, the boy talked about being able to meet the Pokemon called Tapu if he manages to emerge victorious. Nanu acknowledges the fact with a half-surprised mumble, but decides to leave it at that.

Back on stage, the battle ensues, and the Announcer points out the oddity that Litten seems to be entangling itself around Type: Null's collar without actually inflicting any damage. Gladion easily sees through Sun's strategy, and feels irritated by it. He barks that Sun should stop attempting his little tricks, and gets Type: Null to thrash its head around, shaking En off its body along with the many fur-balls trapped within its mask. Sun feels disheartened that he has been busted, and Gladion regrets having wrongly credited Sun as someone with a burden when he saw him got back on stage with a broken wrist. It turns out that he is just someone who speaks and does nonsense, and Gladion's comment instantly ticks off Sun.

The young courier feels genuinely tired of Gladion's speeches, and hollers that he should stop insulting people because he thinks everyone with a burden should act serious like him. He states that he along with En and Dollar together shoulder a burden, and that is to collect 100 million yen on his own. With that, he grips the cast of his broken wrist, and suddenly feels an energy emanating from within. In a blinding flash of light, the silk threads that hold the cast together get torn away by a mysterious force and reveal the narrow piece of mysterious rock used to stabilize his wrist underneath. Hala and the Masked Royal gasps in astonishment that it is a Sparkling Stone, and wonder how Sun came to possess it. At that moment, Hala notices the posture Sun is taking, and a blinding light shoots down from the crevice in the sky to energize the Sparkling Stone. The beam of energy subsequently bounces onto En, and Sun could feel the tremendous amount of power channeling through him towards his Pokemon. In the next instant, the little Litten straightens the furs on its back and fires out a powerful blast of flames towards Type: Null, fainting it with one hit as everyone else watches in bewilderment.

As Type: Null crashes down on the stage, En is clearly startled by what is has done as well. Sun feels glad that they have made it, and starts to drop to his knees as a wave of exhaustion washes over him. Before he passes out, he wonders what kind of move En used, since it resembled Ember but clearly wasn't Ember. He finds it strange that he is all of a sudden so sleepy, and wills himself to get his prize exchanged for money as soon as possible…

A while later, Gladion steps out from Iki Town, and muses on the fact that he has lost his chance to meet the Tapu. He knows that the 'moment' will not wait, however, and shall keep training himself up in a place where he will know when the 'moment' arrives, the 'moment' when he shall fight the mysterious creatures from another dimension known as the Ultra Beasts.

The sun shines high above in the sky, and Sun wakes to find himself showered in its rays. He wonders what ever happened to the tournament, and suddenly spots the Island Challenge Amulet lying on his belly. He quickly remembers his victory and happily picks it up, and thinks he should go exchange it for money right away. However, he soon realizes that he is looking at an endless ocean, and wonders where he is. A somehow robotic voice comes on to reply that they are currently at sea, and Sun turns around in shock to see a mysterious electronic device with eyes floating in midair. He demands to know what it is, and more importantly, why he is sailing on a yacht-boat in the middle of the open seas…