“Amazing!” Professor Cozmo exclaimed. “It’s like a time capsule. Many of these asteroids are leftovers from the early formation of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. They never accumulated enough mass to become full-sized planets, which means they still preserve much of the original material from when our solar system first began taking shape.”

“It’s mostly just rock, metal, minerals, and water though,” Rhea pointed out. “There are some interesting chemical combinations, but nothing particularly extraordinary.”

Even so, there was no shortage of work to do. The airship cruised through the asteroid belt, following the planet's orbit as it harvested asteroids by the thousands. The asteroids were spread extremely far apart, often separated by hundreds of thousands of kilometers or more, meaning the ship couldn't efficiently gather them by simply staying on a fixed course. Fortunately, the gravity engine was powerful enough to pull nearby asteroids toward the ship, allowing them to harvest them in bulk as they sped through the belt.

The scientists didn't waste any time, taking samples and readings from as many asteroids as they could reach. They even collected house-sized ones in their space bags for further research. They had to work quickly, though, as Guzzlord wasn't in the mood to wait and continued devouring asteroids en masse.

Guzzlord sat on the airship's open bay doors, lashing out with its tongue at any asteroid that drifted within reach. Once it had a firm hold, it reeled the asteroid toward itself before its stomach split open into a gaping maw that generated a terrifying suction. Space itself seemed to warp toward the opening as the asteroid was dragged inside, vanishing into the Ultra Beast's seemingly bottomless stomach regardless of its size.

Sable, meanwhile, started her own personal project, cracking open asteroids to harvest the precious metals and minerals hidden inside before tossing the remaining rubble to Guzzlord, who happily devoured the scraps. To let her team work in the vacuum of space, Rhea built specialized life-support harnesses that supplied oxygen and sealed their exposed airways.

Since their bodies were already durable enough to withstand the vacuum itself, the suits needed only to keep them breathing while allowing each Pokémon to move freely. Every harness was tailored to its wearer, balancing protection with mobility whether they specialized in flying, burrowing, or smashing through solid rock.

Among them were Garchomp with a breathing mask and protective covers over its gills, Excadrill sporting a tiny pointed respirator fitted over its snout, Flygon wearing a transparent dome that enclosed its entire head, Rhyperior with a long, plague doctor-like breathing mask, Dugtrio with each of its three heads fitted with its own small respirator, and Gliscor sporting a rounded bubble helmet.

The suits didn't allow them to fight or exert themselves at full power in outer space, but they were more than sufficient for carefully breaking apart asteroids so Sable could retrieve and store the valuable materials hidden inside. She was enjoying herself in her own way, gambling on which asteroids held the richest deposits based solely on their appearance, and she was slowly getting good at it.

As for Alex, there really wasn't much for him to do apart from standing beside Guzzlord and ensuring it didn't accidentally swallow any of the scientists. Other than that, all he could do was stare out into the vastness of space, lost in thought. It was cold and lonely, yet filled with endless potential for adventure, especially considering that many of the greatest threats the Pokémon world had ever faced had come from beyond the planet, perhaps even including Arceus millions of years ago.

Like this, they spent the next two weeks harvesting asteroids, taking readings, and compiling data until Alex suddenly noticed something strange. Guzzlord's Beast Boost had activated, which could only mean one thing. There had been life inside the asteroid it had just consumed.

“Rotom, are you sure you aren't detecting any life signs?” Alex asked suddenly.

“Affirmative. Continuous scans indicate no lifeforms within the immediate area.”

“What's wrong, Alex?” Sable asked as everyone turned toward him.

“Guzzlord's Beast Boost just activated, which means it killed something,” he replied.

“You mean there's life inside these asteroids that our scanners haven't been able to detect?” Professor Cozmo exclaimed in shock.

“Yes.”

“Given the sensitivity of our instruments, the only plausible explanation is an organism in an extremely deep state of hibernation with virtually no detectable biological activity. It certainly wouldn't be mammalian or reptilian, so it is most likely an inorganic lifeform.”

“In addition,” the professor continued, “it would have to be inherently alien in origin. This asteroid belt predates the emergence of life on our own planet, meaning the species couldn't have evolved here. It must have arrived from elsewhere and entered hibernation among the asteroids, waiting for enough food or fuel to continue its journey through space.”

“Do you think we fulfill that criteria?” Rhea asked excitedly.

“I believe so,” the professor replied with a confident nod.

“Rotom, Rhea, prepare for battle and increase our detection radius,” Alex ordered. “I want us to get bored waiting for them to arrive after we detect them.”

“Whoohoo! Space battle!” Rhea cheered as she readied her drone army.

“Increasing scan range and frequency,” Rotom announced.

“Shouldn't we take this opportunity to retreat instead?” Professor Cozmo asked, taking the lead as the voice of reason.

“We could do that,” Rhea replied. “But... wouldn't you want to complete your survey, Professor? I mean... it's an alien lifeform, you know, one capable of surviving in deep space hibernation for who knows how long. Isn't it our scientific duty to find out what kind of creature it is before we make our timely escape?”

“I suppose that is a sound argument,” the professor conceded with an intelligent nod. “Very well. Getting a peek and a few readings shouldn't be too dangerous.”

The scientists accompanying the professor groaned at how easily he had been tricked. It was obvious the little engineer was simply looking for an excuse to see some action. Still, they would be lying if they claimed they preferred safety over a new scientific discovery. The thought of witnessing first contact, and perhaps even a battle with an alien species in the depths of space, stirred something inside them.

Nothing happened over the next few days apart from Guzzlord gaining more and more Beast Boosts. They still hadn't recovered a single hibernating organism, as they were incredibly rare. The creatures were impossible to distinguish from the countless rocks, metals, and minerals they had gathered, meaning the only way to identify one was for Guzzlord to spit it back out, which, as they had observed and learned from its behavior, was impossible. Even Alex couldn't convince it to do that for anything in the world.

“Warning! Incoming high-speed energy signature detected from the rear! Estimated threat level, Master rank or higher! Brace for impact!” Rotom suddenly blared as red lights flashed throughout the ship.

“Rotom! Line up the ship so Guzzlord takes the brunt of the attack,” Alex ordered immediately.

The ship pitched forward before rotating slightly counterclockwise, barely finishing the maneuver in time as a brilliant orange beam slammed into the open docking bay where Guzzlord sat. Having spent the past two and a half weeks doing nothing but feeding, it simply opened its mouth and accepted the offering, continuously swallowing the thick beam of light.

3 seconds passed, then 5, then 10 before the continuous stream of energy finally came to an end. Guzzlord let out a soundless burp and patted its stomach in satisfaction. The offering had been almost as filling as the mountains of asteroids it had devoured since they arrived.

“Source of the attack detected. It appears to be an alien spaceship with low life force and significant heat signature,” Rotom announced as it produced a holographic visual.

Projected before everyone was a long, box-shaped vessel colored a dull turquoise, its silhouette resembling the squared barrel of a massive cannon. One end was completely open, glowing a brilliant orange as waves of heat shimmered from the aperture. It had no visible wings, bridge, or protrusions, only a smooth, angular frame with the glowing opening pointed directly at the airship. Despite its simple, almost crude appearance, it was closing the distance at terrifying speed, growing larger with every passing second.

“What an oddly simple shape for a spaceship,” Professor Cozmo remarked.

“It's modular,” Rhea pointed out. “It's made up of multiple smaller components locked together to form the ideal shape for firing an energy beam.”

“Ah, yes. That would explain it.”

“Rhea, deploy your drones,” Alex commanded as he released his space worthy pokemon. “If it’s modular, it can quickly break up to form an army.”

“Right!” Rhea exclaimed as hundreds of 2-meter-wide spherical drones, each equipped with a pair of autocannons, emerged from the airship.

Every one of them possessed its own miniature gravity engine locked onto the ship, giving it high mobility within a short operational range. Their weapons were modest, each no stronger than Elite ranked at most. They spread outward into a concave formation, resembling a giant satellite dish with the airship at its center.

As for Alex's Pokémon, there were Raticate, ready to Mega Evolve inside its Poké Ball, Aegislash, Dusknoir, Ceruledge, Ditto, Chandelure, Grim, Knight, and, of course, Guzzlord. They were the members of his team capable of operating in the vacuum of space without life-support.

Surprisingly, that included Grim, likely because it had already reached the peak of Champion rank, or perhaps because it was a Paradox Pokémon. Either way, it could maneuver freely through space using Dragon Rush, while the Ghost types required no air to begin with. Ditto, Knight, and Guzzlord likewise had no need to breathe.

“Incoming!” Rotom announced as another energy beam shot straight toward them the moment the barrel had seemingly cooled down.

Guzzlord simply opened its mouth and swallowed the beam whole, happily feeding on the concentrated energy as its satiety filled faster than ever before. It repeated the feat with the third, fourth, and fifth beams, but by the time the alien spaceship finally entered engagement range, something unexpected happened. Guzzlord suddenly collapsed, fainting with a blissful smile still plastered across its face, having literally eaten itself into a food coma.

“Um... does that mean we're dead if that thing fires again?” Sable asked nervously.

“It's fine,” Alex replied calmly. “My other Pokémon can still block it.”

Ultimately, it didn't matter as the alien spacecraft suddenly came apart. Its internal barrel-like frame, charred black and fused together by the intense heat, remained drifting motionless through the vacuum while the outer hull peeled away, breaking apart into countless familiar shapes.

“Are those... Beldum, Metang, and Metagross!?” Professor Cozmo exclaimed. “Amazing! It had always been theorized they were an alien species, but this is definitive proof. What an incredible discovery!”

“That's nice!” Rhea interrupted with a feral grin. “Now it's time for a space battle!”

The silent void erupted with multicolored flashes as hundreds of drones opened fire around the airship, while the swarm of Beldum, Metang, and Metagross charged through the barrage, returning fire as they closed the distance.

Against the endless black backdrop of space, streaks of red, blue, green, and orange crisscrossed between the two forces, illuminating the battlefield like a good old fashioned space battle.