Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The memories flashed through their mind as their slumber continued, fleeting from one to the next with unpredictable timing. Some lingered, while others lasted just a second before the next one began. However, their dreams soon settled, and they were thrust back into the past with little warning.

They watched as the Trainer and her friends fought their way through the underground base, plowing through everyone who stood in their path. Currently, the Trainer’s Delphox seemed to be dancing as she moved through the battlefield, unleashing torrents of flame from her wand, laying waste to the enemies’ Pokémon. Across the battlefield, a Pikachu seemed to almost fly as he dashed out of the way of oncoming attacks, before countering with power that almost seemed Legendary in strength.

Finally, the group had reached the bottom, where they could sense Destruction slumbering, unaware as his energy was stolen to fuel the weapon. The men and their Pokémon faced off against the leadership, while the female Trainer walked slowly towards the cocoon.

Reaching out, she laid her hand on Destruction’s slumbering form. This sensation seemed to be enough to awaken him from his stasis. The cables that bound Destruction began to shake, as the energy that was stolen began to be reabsorbed. Destruction then began to glow, until a bright flash of light echoed throughout the chamber, and Yveltal finally awoke.

The humans in the awfully tacky uniforms quivered where they stood, while the Trainer and her friends appeared delighted at having freed Yveltal from his prison.

“All right, way to go, Serena!” the man wearing the red hat yelled out, excitement present in his voice. The Pikachu beside him seemed to echo his trainer’s feelings, a bright expression on his face.

At the noise, Yveltal turned to stare at the group of humans, but not before throwing a glance in their direction. Clearly, their presence had been noticed, and Yveltal knew what that meant for him if he acted out of bounds.

Unfurling his wings, Yveltal leapt off the pedestal towards ‘Serena’, and stared the human down. The Delphox did not appear deterred, as she set the ends of her wand alight. This seemed to please Yveltal, as he then lowered himself to look Serena in her eyes, and a flash of understanding occurred between human and Pokémon.

Serena then turned and spoke out, saying, “Alright, Yveltal, let’s do this!”

They observed as the orange-haired human’s Pokémon fell, his Mega Gyrados and Pyroar finally falling unconscious. The human seemed shocked by this outcome, but seemed to recover almost as fast, as they straightened the neckerchief that hung around their neck.

“Impressive. Simply impressive, for one so young to be able to tame the Legendary Pokémon of Destruction incarnate. However, don’t think that you have won just yet!” The human snarled that last statement before thrusting a hand into their coat.

The lights throughout the chamber died right there, leaving nothing but darkness. The trainers commanded their Pokémon to light up the room, but by the time fire and lightning had been unleashed, their opponent had fled.

However, the room was not as it had been. A large hole was now present in the pedestal where Yveltal had slumbered. Quickly, the glasses-wearing human rushed over. The ground rumbled and dust fell from the ceiling, causing him to stumble. Once he recovered, the man inspected the machine.

“Ash! Serena! It looks like this machine’s core has been taken!” Seeing their compatriots' blank stares, he looked about to explain, only to pause. “Wait, hold on. If I’m reading this correctly, the machine will still fire!”

The other humans let out shocked exclamations and spoke over one another as they questioned the man. “By my calculations, the blast will only impact the town and the surrounding areas. Yveltal reabsorbing most of his energy must have shrunk the blast zone.”

The woman, standing beside Destruction at this point, replied, “Well, I guess that’s better. The League evacuated most of the town, right?” The jumpsuited man nodded in affirmation. Next to the woman, the other human and his Pikachu did not appear happy at the knowledge that the Ultimate Weapon would still fire.

“Clemont, is there any way we can stop it?” he asked, voice desperate. Clemont shook his head no. He opened his mouth to reply, but another quake shook the room. “Ash, we have to go! Now! This place isn’t safe for us!”

Ash clenched a fist in anger, but nodded. The trio and their Pokémon ran towards the entrance, Yveltal flying behind them, taking up the rear. “So, Clemont, what did you say about Lysandre? Something about the core?” Ash asked.

Clemont almost stumbled and had to be steadied by the other man. “How could I forget! Lysandre made off with the remainder of Yveltal’s energy, all that isn’t being used by the weapon that is.”

“And that means…” Serena began nervously.

“It means a terrorist is on the loose with the power of Destruction incarnate in his possession!”

Yveltal cawed in anger and rage at this statement. The group had reached the entrance at this point. The avian made sure everyone had made it into the hallway before looking back. His teal eyes flashed, meeting the cell’s singular eye. A low growl echoed from the Legendary Pokémon of Destruction. He then turned back, escorting the humans out of the chamber.

They were shocked by this statement from the human. Reaching out their senses, they could indeed feel a mass of destructive energy on the move, heading towards… heading towards the largest concentration of life in this region!

They could no longer stand by. The world’s balance was about to be disrupted. If that energy were unleashed, it would devastate not only this region, but Galar, Paldea, and the uninhabited wilds that lie beyond Kalos. Intervention was necessary.

Quickly, they broke their connection to their cell and summoned all the cells available in this hemisphere. The remaining would take time to gather, so fifty percent would have to do for now.

If the planet’s balance was in jeopardy, Zygarde would answer!

They had rushed out of their cave once most of their cells had entered the region. They willed their 10 percent form to manifest, and sped towards ‘Lumiose City’ as quickly as they could.

Along the way, Zygarde winced as they felt the Ultimate Weapon fire and land on the coastal town. They wished they could have stopped the impact, but whatever this ‘Lysandre’ wished to do with Yveltal’s energy was more important. Xerneas could clean up Yveltal’s mess. Several young cells pinged the network, but they blew them off.

By the time they could view Lumiose Tower in the distance, their cells had reached them, allowing them to take on their more powerful 50 percent form if they needed to.

However, to their shock, the destructive energy they had been tracking seemed to disappear. No, wait, they could faintly sense it. It was underneath the city. But what was that presence next to it?

As Zygarde reached the edge of the city, they knelt, tensing their hind legs before leaping high into the air. The canine landed on one of the buildings nearby, out of sight of any humans, and concentrated on that new aura. Where had they sensed it before?

It suddenly came back to them. A few decades ago, Sky had spoken during one of the Legendary Council sessions of a meteor they had discovered, one filled with Primal Energy. Sky said that he had stashed the meteor in some Draconid ruins for safekeeping, citing that it would be useful if the planet were ever threatened.

“You stupid, overgrown, Ekans! We told the council that the rock should just be thrown into the Sun! Damn what Helios thinks!” Zygarde hissed out, anger filling their voice. “Is that why Land and Sea were active recently? They should have returned to their slumber after those maniacs in Hoenn were dealt with!”

Furious, Zygarde leapt off the building they stood on, drawing a few curious stares from the locals. They ignored this and unleashed a howl, channeling all the anger and rage that now filled every cell of theirs.

“Enough of this!” Zygarde roared out, summoning the rest of their cells to them. Their hind legs fused, elongating into one long tail. Their forelegs melted into their chest as their head moved away from the ground. Five crests grew out from their neck, fanning out to frame their head. Finally complete, Zygarde’s 50 percent form roared to the heavens, warning Lysandre and his lackeys of their fate.

They unleashed their fury on the city that lay before them. Buildings crumbled as they rushed through the city, hexagons flying every which way to prevent anyone from stopping them. A trail of destruction lay in Zygarde’s wake, one that they paid no mind to.

Finally, they had reached the city's epicenter. Directly below them lay Yveltal’s stolen energy and Rayquaza’s missing meteor. Rearing up, Zygarde charged their core with as much energy as their cells could absorb, before unleashing a bright green burst of energy directly into the earth below.

Zygarde continued to sustain Core Enforcer for nearly a full minute, until finally, they ceased the attack. The beam vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Reaching out with their senses, Zygarde could not detect the meteor or the destructive energy anywhere, confirming that they had been destroyed in the blast.

Zygarde returned to the ground wearily. Charging and maintaining Core Enforcer was extremely difficult without all of their cells to help control the energy, and they were quite drained from the effort.

Turning, Zygarde began to slither away, making their way out of Lumiose City. They beheld the destruction they had caused and felt a brief pang of regret at their actions. However, they quickly pushed those feelings aside. However, many of their younger, more rebellious cells did not seem to want the issue dropped.

“Great going, Core! You know we’re supposed to ‘protect’ the planet, right!” Zygarde had to stifle a sigh. It seemed that Cell 448-773-38 was going to be their usual aggravating self. Zygarde had hoped that their time in Paldea’s Area Zero would have helped tame their attitude, but it seemed to have only emboldened the young cell.

“Enough Cell 448-773-38! If Destruction’s energy had combined with the Primal energy inside that meteor, we could have faced a threat not seen since the Darkest Day!” Zygarde paused before conceding, “Although it is tragic, it was ultimately necessary.”

Shaking themselves out of their stupor, Zygarde began to move once more, but firmly stated to all their cells, “We are the Pokémon of Order, tasked by the Original One Himself to preserve the balance of the planet-” Cell 448-773-38 interrupted them before Zygarde could continue. “Order, right…then why have we not done anything about Area Zero? We all know how dangerous the being down there is. Now humans are accessing its power! I suppose standing by as ROBOT Pokémon invade Paldea is upholding order?”

“Robot Pokémon? What delusions are you suffering from now?”

Before Zygade could question Cell 448-773-38, their senses suddenly went into overdrive! It was as if they were surrounded by… themselves? Turning, Zygarde looked back at the crater they had left. It was glowing a bright purple, and as they watched, a beam of energy shot out from the crater, hitting the hexagonal serpent directly in the chest, launching them into the air.

Zygarde spun through the air, landing haphazardly on a row of buildings that groaned with the effort of supporting them. As the Pokémon slithered off the buildings and raised themselves back up, dead and destroyed cells flaked off their form, leaving a large, jagged scar behind where the beam had impacted.

From the crater emerged another Zygarde, this one crystalline in form and much, much larger than Zygarde themselves were. Peering closer, Zygarde could see the meteor at the center of the construct. Best the gestalt could gather, the meteor had absorbed Yveltal’s destructive energy, and together had formed a body around themselves.

“The damn rock probably absorbed our Core Enforcer as well,” they thought bitterly. The idea of another version of them existing left a bitter taste in their cells, especially a man-made creation such as this. Nevertheless, Zygarde steadied themselves and roared out a challenge, determined to take down the imposter and restore the world’s balance.

They watched as the human from the underground base, ‘Ash,’ soared through the air. He and his companions must have made it out before the Ultimate Weapon fired and impacted. The man landed on the construct alongside his Pikachu and his Greninja, who seemed to possess the ability to Mega Evolve without a stone, much to Zygarde’s shock.

Regardless, the man and his Pokémon dove deep into the construct and ran out soon afterwards, clutching a Chespin in his arms. As this happened, the construct roared out as if in pain and stopped in its tracks.

This was Zygarde’s chance! Quickly, the gestalt summoned their remaining cells and formed their ultimate form around their core. Their body grew upright, forming into a hulking titan that leapt into the air.

Concentrating, Zygarde commanded all their cells to absorb as much energy from the environment as could be taken. This time, they were determined to erase the meteor from existence.

The energy inside them continued to build until the effort was nearly tearing their form apart, energy escaping from the seams between their cells. Finally, it was ready, and Zygarde unleashed the largest Core Enforcer they had ever created. The beam impacted the construct, tearing through it like wet paper. Zygarde ensured that their signature ‘Z’ was made, and in a flash of green light, the construct vanished, leaving nothing but a new crater to dot the mountainous landscape.

They had returned to their slumber after things had calmed down and sent their cells back across the world to observe events. So far, nothing had required Zygarde to intervene, although a few did come close.

The Blinding One’s reappearance in Alola was certainly unexpected, though it seemed the Island Guardians were able to handle the Ultra Beasts that invaded afterwards. What Zygarde was not expecting was for Eternatus itself to resurrect, especially so close to their home. Everyone had believed Eternatus had been slain 20,000 years prior through the combined efforts of almost every major Legendary. Dialga and Palkia even put aside their eons-long feud to fight the invader.

Yet before Zygarde could fully awaken and intervene, Eternatus’s presence vanished. Upon further investigation, it seemed that it had been taken care of by yet another group of young men and women.

Things had been quiet since then, and so Zygarde continued their slumber, unaware of the danger they would soon face.

It began slowly at first. A cell would disappear here and there, with one disappearing a few days or so. Zygarde paid it no mind at first. Cells disappeared all the time, from Pokémon mistaking them for food, getting caught in Pokémon attacks from battles, to being accidentally destroyed by humans. Zygarde simply directed a nearby cell to investigate and undergo cellular division to replace the lost one.

However, the disappearances soon became an everyday occurrence, with entire clusters of cells vanishing. When other cells would investigate, those too would vanish.

Normally, Zygarde would always be able to communicate with their cells, unless the cell had been destroyed. This time, however, the cells were not destroyed, yet communication was still cut off. Did whoever was responsible, as this was no natural phenomenon at this point, know that Zygarde had a limit to the number of cells they could create? A restriction was placed upon them by the Original One long ago, to ensure that they could not endlessly replicate and become a cancer upon the world.

Not that Zygarde would ever do such a thing. They were meant to maintain balance, and they had no desire to overthrow that balance. But the Original One was nothing but careful.

The memories flew back faster once more, shifting and morphing into something more akin to dreams, no, akin to nightmares. Zygarde dreamt of times where they failed to stop the construct in time, where it united with the Anistar City Sundial and absorbed its energy before unleashing it, devastating the entire world at the whims of a madman.

Their dreams then shifted to all of their cells being stolen away, silenced in some sort of lair similar to the one Yveltal had been trapped in. They witnessed their cells suffering torment and experimentation, given the bare minimum of sustenance to sustain themselves and keep them from death.

These nightmares continued until they grew too much to bear. Zygarde awoke in a fit of terror, eye moving frantically as the red hexagon in their chest pulsed rapidly. As Zygarde fully left the dream, the pulses slowed down in frequency, and their emotions began to settle.

Once they had fully calmed themselves, they sent a message to their cells, hoping to still receive a response, but fearing that they were the last piece of themselves still free.

After a terrifying minute, Zygarde finally received a reply! It seemed that they still had cells out there in the world. Although their cytoplasm did flutter in agitation when they realized the respondent was Cell 448-773-38. However, as the minutes passed and the replies grew less and less frequent, they became increasingly less hopeful.

Only around 7 percent of Zygarde’s cellular network had responded, barely enough for them to take on their canine form. They’d have to forgo some of the features then, and even still, that form could break if facing strong opposition.

The continual loss of their cells presented another issue for Zygarde. The more cells they had access to, the faster they could process information, and the stronger they would be in battle. However, there was another, darker issue this presented. The fewer cells Zygarde had control over, the more volatile their emotional state would be, as each cell would have a larger amount of control over their actions, and the more their actions could be controlled by a small minority of outlier cells.

That was what Zygarde feared the most, deep down.

As Zygarde went through the list of cells that had responded, that fear continued to grow. They had only heard from their newer, younger, more rebellious cells. It seemed that Zygarde’s decision to send new cells to remote locations around the world as a learning experience was now coming back to bite them in the tail.

Thankfully, the cells they had sent to Nebel Plateau and Lumiose City remained, continuing to monitor Life and Destruction. Perhaps their fairy and dark auras were helping to mask the energy signature of the cells. But the thought of those cells being captured was greatly concerning to the Legendary Pokémon. Zygarde would lose their ability to monitor their partners, and it would allow interlopers to attack Life and Destruction.

They had some faith in the human female, Serena, to protect Yveltal, but Xerneas was all alone on the plateau.

“Ugh, enough of that,” they thought, and pushed the depressing thoughts away for the time being. They alerted the remaining cells to their situation and to look out for anything suspicious. If anything occurred, the cells needed to alert Zygarde immediately, so they could issue the return command.

The world needed to stay in balance.

Zygarde only hoped that they’d still be in control when the time came.

Chapter Text

Every step seems to pull at his shell, the pain shooting through his body with every step.

“Just… a little… further,” Grotle thought to himself, “Just… one step… after the other.”

Grotle struggled onward through the darkening forest, the canopy blocking almost all light from reaching the surface below. And what was with the mist? The forest was blanketed in a fog that seemed never-ending. Grotle hadn’t noticed it at first, but he could barely see his own feet now, let alone where he was going.

Not for the first time, Grotle berated himself for not treating the wound that split his shell sooner. “Why wouldn’t the wound get infected, you shell-less Dwebble? It was a poison-type Pokémon that caused the injury! Who needs Pecha berries to remove poison? Not me, apparently! No, I’ll let my body process the poison instead!”

Grotle tried to use the anger he felt to fuel himself onward, but he could feel his strength leaving him, leaving him feeling empty inside.

It had been a hard-won victory, although it came at great cost. Grotle, a Turtwig at the time, had somewhat of a reputation throughout the mountains of Kalos, a reputation he was very proud of. His body was covered in scratches and scars, symbols of his many victories against the denizens of the region.

His reputation had gotten him into trouble. Pokémon Rangers began to put out alerts to Kalosian citizens, warning them of a powerful Turtwig living southeast of Snowbelle City.

Unfortunately, that resulted in every aspiring Trainer venturing out into the wilds in pursuit of Turtwig. A powerful Grass-type Pokémon, one often given out to new Trainers in the faraway Sinnoh region, who could pass up an opportunity like that? Many a young child had watched in awe as Lucas, the current Champion of Sinnoh, dethroned Cynthia, taking her Garchomp down with an earth-shattering Earthquake from his loyal Torterra.

At first, Turtwig had welcomed the challenge and met each Trainer and their Pokémon head-on. That feeling quickly turned into annoyance, and then into anger, as more and more trainers challenged him to a battle.

Eventually, Turtwig was fighting multiple encounters a day, and these were no longer against aspiring Trainers. Ace trainers, Lumiose Conference hopefuls, and more had entered the valleys Turtwig called home, all hoping to capture him.

It grew too much for Turtwig to bear, and in his last battle, one against a female trainer and her Whirlipede, it came to a head.

The two Pokémon had fought for the better part of an hour at this point, trading blow after blow. Eventually, with what little strength he could muster, Turtwig bellowed to the sky above and launched himself at the opposing Pokémon. Whirlipede’s eyes widened as Turtwig almost flew through the air, with speeds rivaling that of a full-grown Fletchinder.

While hurtling through the air, a glow filled Turtwig’s eyes, quickly spreading to encompass his entire being. His shell expanded as his legs stretched and bulked up to support the new weight. Two shrubs grew out of his shell, new growth reaching towards the sunlight to absorb its plentiful energy, as a thick helmet grew over his skull.

The Whirlipede tried to maneuver out of the way, but he was too injured from the fight and couldn’t move fast enough. The newly evolved Grotle descended on Whirlipede, and the force of 200 pounds colliding with the Pokémon was enough to crack his carapace.

Whirlipede let out a screech from the pain, but was pinned by Grotle’s bulk, and couldn’t free himself.

“Finally, time for some payback!” Grotle thought, a sadistic grin spreading across his face. Pressing down firmly on Whirlipede, Grotle lifted his left foreleg, intent on bringing it down on Whirlipede. Hard.

Sweat dripped from Grotle’s brow. Merely standing was taking its toll on Grotle’s strength, but he needed to teach Whirlipede and his trainer a lesson they’d not soon forget. Distantly, Grotle could hear the woman cry out to her Pokémon, but he paid her no mind. She was not a threat and would flee as soon as Whirlipede had been dealt with, just like everyone else who had challenged him.

Grotle thrust his foreleg downward, slamming his foot into Whirlipede’s side, directly where his carapace had cracked. Again, Whirlipede screeched out in pain from the blow, but to Grotle’s amazement, he did not pass out from the blow.

Growing increasingly angry, Grotle hit Whirlipede with blow after blow, causing the cracks to expand with each hit. Despite all this, Whirlipede remained conscious, a fiery look in his eye as he glared upward at Grotle.

“Just… faint… already!” Grotle screamed in his mind. Each blow pulled at his flagging strength. Eventually, Grotle was unable to continue, and he had to cease his strikes, lest he pass out from the effort.

His chest heaving, Grotle shifted his weight slightly as he lowered his foot back to the earthen floor. This was exactly what Whirlipede and his trainer had been waiting for.

Unbeknownst to Grotle, Whirlipede’s trainer had commanded him to use Endure, allowing him to stay conscious despite Grotle’s best efforts otherwise. As Grotle shifted his weight, he accidentally let go of Whirlipede for a brief moment, allowing him to move out from under Grotle.

Whirlipede seized the freedom offered to him and spun along the ground, throwing Grotle off of him. “How can he still move!” Grotle was shocked by this action, but he struggled to get back up. His strength was gone.

Whirlipede had not escaped unscathed either. As he rolled along the ground, he swayed from side to side. Regardless, Grotle could only observe as Whirlipede bounced upwards, hitting a nearby tree before ricocheting backwards, directly for Grotle, his antennae glowing with a harsh purple light.

Whirlipede impacted Grotle’s shell, raking his antennae across it, leaving a deep gash in the shell and injecting Grotle with as much poison as he could manage. Whirlipede continued through the air, eventually landing in a heap in a bush outside the impromptu battlefield. Grotle screamed out from the pain before his body finally gave out, and he fell into blissful unconsciousness.

Awareness slowly came back to Grotle. He opened his eyes and winced at the brightness that greeted him. His whole body ached, especially his upper back and his shell. “Damn, haven’t had a fight that tough in a while. These Trainers are something else,” he begrudgingly admitted to himself.

As he pulled himself to his feet, Grotle choked back a cry as the injury pulled at his shell. Looking back, he saw that the Whirlipede had managed to pierce through his shell and cut into his flesh underneath. The flesh wound had scabbed over, but his shell would take months to fully seal, leaving him vulnerable in the meantime.

Looking around, it looked like the Trainer and her Whirlipede had vacated the area. Instead, Grotle only beheld the destruction his battle had caused. Craters littered the ground from Grotle’s tackles, while trees bore damage from Whirlipede using them to bounce around the arena. Many of the Pokémon that lived nearby seemed to have been scared off by the noise as well, and did not seem ready to return. Grotle did not want to run into the Pokémon whose homes he had damaged. He doubted he had the strength to handle even a Magikarp in the state he was in.

That had been around a week ago at this point. For the first couple of days, Grotle’s strength slowly returned to him as he continued to wander through the valleys of southeastern Kalos. However, a persistent ache had been present around Grotle’s upper back.

At first, Grotle had ignored the pain, thinking it was simply lingering pain from the wound to his shell. His mother had often complained about how many cracks in her shell would pull from time to time. At the end of day three, Grotle realized how mistaken he had been.

He was applying an Oran berry paste he had created to his wound when he noticed that the skin underneath was extremely red and puffy, with an odd yellow tinge. “Damn it, I think it’s infected!” Grotle silently exclaimed.

He tried not to panic and remain calm, although he was struggling to keep a level head. He had traveled quite a way from his usual haunts and was unfamiliar with the surroundings he now found himself in. His supplies were limited to a few Oran berries he had gathered along the way.

To Grotle’s left lay a river, likely stemming from the vast glaciers that lay in the Furfrou Mountain Range that cut between Kalos and its neighbor Paldea. The river cut through the landscape, its babbling waters slowly moving as it traveled deeper into Kalos.

Thinking to himself, Grotle eventually decided to travel along the river. It would grant him easy access to water, and he hoped that berry trees could be found growing nearby. He gathered up his meager supplies, storing them in the hedges that grew on his shell for safekeeping. Wincing from the pain, he staggered to his feet and pushed onward, plunging deep into the Kalosian wilderness.

His supplies had quickly run out, leaving him with nothing but the river to quench his thirst. No berry trees seemed to grow, the dense canopy keeping almost all light from reaching the forest floor below, starving any hopeful sprouts of much-needed light. Days passed this way, with Grotle soon losing all track of time. His routine eventually became one of simple survival - wake up, drink desperately from the river beside him, continue his trek through the forest depths, sleep, and repeat when he next woke up.

The infection spread quickly with no berries to treat it. Grotle could feel the infection sap at his flagging strength with every step he now took. It was a constant effort now to keep moving forward, his body crying out for him to lie down and take a break. Several times, Grotle found himself lying down in the earth, his eyes drooping from the struggle of staying awake.

In the back of his mind, Grotle wondered where all the Pokémon went. The forest surrounding him was silent, the only sound that of him gasping for every breath. Normally, forests like this were filled with noise. From Bunnelby and Patrat scampering through the undergrowth, Fletchinders and their flocks crying out in the trees, Scatterbugs and Spewpa mindlessly munching on ferns and leaves, forests were filled with noise. The sudden silence unnerved Grotle and drove further the fear that lurked in his mind.

“Grah!”

Crying out, Grotle’s legs finally gave out, the last of his strength finally leaving him, leading him to crash unceremoniously to the ground. He tried to push himself back up, but he couldn’t find the strength. As his thoughts faded away, the last thing Grotle heard was a melodic voice softly saying.

“Oh, what do we have here?”

She gazed out at the forest, its lush canopy visible as far as the eye could see. She then took a moment to taste the air, breathing in the crisp scent of summer.

“Hmm, it seems it’s going to rain later today. Heavily, too, based on the amount of humidity in the air. Guess Magearna was correct, like usual.”

Holly felt her leg ache at the thought of the weather going south. The Liepard had ventured out to her tree earlier in the day, hoping to get away from the hustle and bustle of Aube Village.

She’d been doing that a lot recently. If she wasn’t taking on additional patrols, she was spending time in this tree hollow, gazing out at the horizon. It wasn’t that she hated her life in the village. Far from it, in fact. It sure beat continuously failing in training under J-

She hissed, her thoughts derailing as her mind refused to say their name. Her heart pounded in her chest, and the aching stump of her left leg throbbed in pain. It felt like the sides around her were closing in, her claws digging into the bark underneath her paws.

Eventually, her breath slowed, and Holly regained control of her senses. Unfortunately, it seemed her panic had caused her to tear apart the moss and bracken she used as a nest. She groaned.

“Great,” she said, sarcasm rolling off her tongue. “Just what I wanted to do. Haul moss up this tree. Why did I make my second home 50 meters above the ground again?”

The Liepard stood up, shaking herself briefly to dislodge any remaining scraps of moss that may have clung to her pelt. She stepped out of the tree hollow, back onto the branch that grew just below it. She followed the thick branch along till the end, where she then leapt to another tree branch that grew nearby.

She loved the thrill of climbing trees and leaping unseen from high above. Maybe it was the Dark typing in her, she mused absentmindedly. Holly knew this part of Nebel Plateau like the back of her paw and could effortlessly move about.

Finally, after about 15 minutes of moving from tree to tree, she reached her destination. With a final leap, she jumped from the branch she stood upon to the forest floor below. Her tail caught on a loose twig as she descended, causing her to misjudge her balance and collapse on the ground.

“Dammit!” she cried. The Liepard pushed herself back upright with a huff, and she glared at the reason she lost her balance. It had been several years at this point, but she was still learning how to walk again.

She looked back at her hind legs. While her right leg was perfectly normal, albeit for a scattering of scars from battles past, her left leg was much worse off. Where her thigh transitioned to her knee, there was nothing but air.

Her left leg was gone, taken from her after infection had set in during her flight to the plateau, after…

After…

No, the memory was still too painful! Holly’s ears fell back against her head. Ugh, what was with her today? Why did these memories keep being brought up? She had buried her past for a reason!

Holly tried to busy herself by gathering up a pawful of moss into a bundle she could carry back with her to her tree. While she worked, she heard the leaves behind her rustle and the cry of a pair of Fletchinder mates as they landed.

“Thanks for the flight, dear. Oh, guess we found where Holly ran off to. Hello, Holly,” one of the birds called out. Holly responded by raising her tail in greetings, but continued to focus on her task.

She wasn’t all that friendly with the rest of the villagers. Sure, she made sure to be polite and kind to those she interacted with, but she wouldn’t consider any of them friends. The closest Pokémon that could qualify for that label were probably Magearna and, oddly enough, Volcanion.

“Great, my only friends are a walking Poké Ball and her shadow.” Holly wasn’t too upset by this thought, though it did irk her to realize she didn’t have anyone close to her. Should she try changing that?

“... hear what Heliolisk found earlier?” Holly’s ears perked up as she overheard what the two mates were discussing. Did something happen?

The feline quickly asked, “Wait, what happened with Heliolisk?” The Ember Pokémon turned to look at her. The male spoke up, “Oh, right. I suppose you had left by then. Heliolisk came back. You know how they like to wander, right?”

Much to Holly’s chagrin, she did. Heliolisk had an annoying habit of wandering around the plateau and the surrounding countryside. Holly kept worrying that they would end up drawing unwanted attention to the plateau if any intrepid humans ventured into the wilderness and encountered Heliolisk. The village’s best defense was its location, far away from civilization.

Holly nodded at Fletchinder’s question, and his mate picked up the story. She said, “They came back saying how they stumbled across a torn-up battlefield. Torn ground, damaged trees, the usual when it comes to humans. But what Heliolisk spoke of were the stories the local Pokémon had told them when they inquired.”

“Apparently, a bunch of humans were out recently trying to catch some Pokémon, but kept being defeated. Seems like it must have been that Pokémon all the new villagers had been speaking of. You know the rumors, right, Holly?”

She didn’t.

Holly shook her head no, and the two avians looked at her, confused. “Huh, figured you’d be on top of that sort of thing, given your drive to protect the village.” The male then interjected, holding a wing up to his beak to cover a laugh. “I’ll say! How many ‘patrols’ do you do each week? Twenty?”

A growl echoed from deep in Holly’s throat at the slight, and thankfully, the Fletchinder’s mate slapped him. “Be nice, dear! All of us appreciate the work Holly does for the village. Anyways, a lot of the newcomers had been telling stories of a Turtwig that had been prowling the nearby wilderness, seeking battle.”

Her heart raced when she heard that name. I-it couldn’t be!

“A-are you sure?” she asked. Her mouth was suddenly very dry, and she could feel her body shaking. Her stump throbbed once more.

“Why! Why did it have to be him!”

Chapter Text

A gentle breeze softly echoed through the grove, the hanging vines fluttering at its touch. A brook babbled its way off on one side, feeding her garden with the lush nutrients it needed to thrive. In the back of the grove sat a massive tree, its golden limbs reaching towards the heavens, multicolored leaves slowly falling from its boughs as summer slowly grew to a close, the autumn season growing closer with each day that passed.

She stepped through her garden, tending to each sprout to ensure that it would grow happy and healthy. She took note of those who were struggling and made sure to give those more attention, sending her power into each. Within a few moments, the flagging buds were restored, and one could never have guessed that they had been struggling.

She continued to weave through her garden, tending to it as she always had. A routine event at this point, she allowed her thoughts to wander and cast her senses out to observe the wider world.

“Hmm, it seems the Flygon tribe finally stopped feuding with the Tyranitar settlement. That’s quite a relief. If tensions had continued escalating, it likely would have spiraled out of control. Glad things seem to have calmed down.”

Her thoughts continued to stray until she sensed movement nearby. “Oh, good, it seems he’s waking up.”

The guardian of the Tree of Life ended her observation and pushed herself to her hooves. Stepping carefully to avoid injuring any of her plants, she made her way deeper into her groove, heading towards the tree she is tasked with guarding.

Pushing aside golden vines, she stepped inside the cave she called home and cast her eyes on the slumbering form of Grotle, his form shifting as he slowly awoke from the slumber he had fallen into when she stumbled across him a few days ago.

Continuing deeper into her cave, Xerneas fetched several berries to give to the Grove Pokémon once he woke up. He’d like Sitrus berries, right?

The first thing Grotle felt was softness. His entire body was surrounded by the softest moss he had ever felt. He blearily opened his eyes, wincing at the light that shone through the gaps in… were those vines?

Grotle was instantly on alert, but as he looked around, he seemed to be alone. Thinking about it, he faintly remembered passing out in some sort of grove, so how is he now in a cave?

He attempted to get to his feet, but his legs gave out from under him, and he was sent sprawling across the ground.

“Oh, I’d be a bit more careful if I were you. You’ve been asleep for a few days now, so your body is likely unused to moving.”

A melodic voice echoed throughout the cavern, frightening Grotle. He had thought he was alone! He retreated deep inside his shell and began charging Earth Power, ready to unleash it on whomever had captured him.

Yet, nothing happened. No attack came out of the dark. Several long minutes passed, and eventually Grotle poked his head out, only for an airy laugh to send him retreating inside the safety of his shell.

“Oh, my apologies, little one. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” the figure continued to speak, and Grotle watched as the majestic form of the Goddess of Life, Xerneas, entered the cave, smiling down at Grotle.

Grotle was awestruck. Here he was, hiding away while in the presence of one of the divine. He quickly emerged from his shell and attempted to bow, but his legs gave out on him once more.

“Ow!” Grotle’s voice was hoarse. He was frantically trying to remember the lessons his father, a prickly Garchomp, had tried to instill in him regarding honoring the divine, but his mind was still fogged and unresponsive. “Is it rude to look a Legend in the eye? And do you address a major Legend by ‘Your Grace’, or is it ‘My Lord’? Wait, no, Lord is for minor Legends. Dammit, I should have paid more attention to the old Sharpedo!”

Grotle snapped out of his thoughts as he heard Xerneas quietly chuckle at his antics. “It’s alright, little one. I’m not here to harm you. I simply came across your injured form a few days ago, and brought you back to my home to tend to your injuries.”

The deer then lowered her head and pushed a small pouch over to the turtle. “Here, this will help you get your strength back.”

Grotle reached inside the pouch and had to hold back a wince as he pulled out a Sitrus berry. He hated dry berries. Still, he wanted to remain respectful. He had never seen Sitrus berries this large before. Most of the Sitrus trees he knew about were guarded with near-zealotry by their owners, and when he did find one in his travels, it was usually dry, with barely enough nutrients to replace a common Oran berry.

It looked like he wasn’t able to fully hold back his distaste, as Xerneas responded, “Not a fan of Sitrus?”

“They’re a bit… dry for my taste.”

“Ah, I see. Lemme guess, you’re more a fan of sour berries. Wait, no, you prefer spicy ones.”

Grotle was slightly unnerved by how easily the Legendary was able to see through him, but he nodded slightly, unsure as to what else he could say. He busied himself instead by eating one of the berries he had been gifted.

A playful smile remained on Xerneas’s muzzle, but no more was said while Grotle continued consuming the Sitrus berries. Finally, as he finished off the last bites, Xerneas stood up and motioned with her tail for Grotle to follow.

Nervous but unwilling to disobey a god, Grotle got up and followed. Together, the two pushed through the swaying vines that protected the cave entrance from the elements and emerged into the grove.

Grotle was stunned by what he saw: a massive oak tree clad in golden bark, stretching so high that its upper limbs touched the clouds above. Rather than green leaves adorning its branches, the leaves bore every color in the rainbow. Reds more vibrant than Cheri berries, yellows more vivid than a Pikachu’s fur. Shimmering golden vines hung from its boughs and were what Xerneas and he had been pushing through. Apparently, Xerneas made her home inside the tree itself.

Shaking himself out of his astonishment, he lowered his head and observed the rest of the grove. A brook cut through most of the land on the right, with a sizable garden nearby with plenty of berry trees and other flora growing. The trees were filled with the largest berries he had ever seen. “So the Sitrus fruit wasn’t an outlier,” the Grove Pokémon thought. He spied the bright red sheen of a Cheri berry bush, and his mouth began to water as he saw how ripe the berries were.

Xerneas made her way towards the garden with Grotle following behind. He watched as her antlers shifted in color, becoming a soft golden color, and multicolored crystals emerged. He could also feel a shift in the air, a soft energy that seemed to penetrate his very being.

As the two reached the edge of the garden, Xerneas’s antlers glowed a vibrant pink in color, as she levitated a woven basket to her side.

“Come. It’s harvest time, and I want to get all these berries picked before Kyurem’s frosts come through. We can talk while we work.”

Grotle stepped forward, but froze when she spoke again, “And watch where you tread with those clumsy feet of yours. I don’t want you killing any of my plants.”

Grotle gulped down the nervousness he now felt. Xerneas said that playfully, yet there was a clear warning in her tone, and he didn’t want to discover what would happen should he misstep.

The goddess and the mortal set to work picking the various trees of their fruit, but before long, Xerneas spoke up, asking, “So how was it that you ended up on death’s door outside my home? That was quite a nasty infection you were dealing with. I’m surprised you made it so far in your condition.”

Grotle let out a growl at the reminder of how Whirlipede had laid him low. Sighing, he explained his story to the Legendary, explaining how he had been doggedly pursued by Trainers who desired his strength, and how that had worn him down over time. He described the battle where he finally evolved, shedding the shell of a Turtwig and blooming into the hardened armor of a Grotle. He chronicled his victory over Whirlipede and his Trainer, and the grievous blow Whirlipede had dealt him. Finally, he reached the end of his tale, explaining how he had wandered through the darkening forest, seeing some way to treat his growing infection, until he collapsed.

Xerneas was silent for a bit, processing the story Grotle had given. Eventually, she set her basket down and looked at Grotle, a questioning but firm look in her eyes. Whatever she wanted, she was determined to get it.

“Why did you not finish the battle with Whirlipede when you had the chance? From what you’ve told me, one more move would have knocked him out. Why did you resort to punching him?”

She was expecting an answer. Grotle swallowed the bile that rose in his throat before stuttering out, “I…uh…”

The Goddess of Life cut him off, continuing, “You wanted to make Whirlipede suffer. You used them as a way to release all your anger and frustration. That wasn’t fair to him or his Trainer. For all you know, Whirlipede was her only Pokémon, and you left her defenseless and alone in the wild.”

Grotle shivered, the intensity of her glare freezing him in place. He wished he could retreat into his shell, but he dared not move a muscle.

The cervine Pokémon spoke again, “You know, I’ve heard about you, did you know that?”

Officially scared, Grotle could only nod slightly as Xerneas continued. “Many of the Pokémon on this plateau have stories to tell. Stories about how they had run away from their trainers, been abandoned for not being strong enough. It seems that every year, more and more Pokémon are abandoned, as the Gym Circuit becomes ever more competitive, as trainers continue to grow in power, more and more get left behind, unable to keep up.”

She sighed, her antlers shifting to match her melancholy. Dazzling reds, yellows, and greens were replaced by somber blues and purples. Grotle was surprised that a Legendary Pokémon would allow a mere mortal like him to see them in this state. He had always been told that Legends were divinity incarnate, so to see one express such emotion, to see Xerneas act like any other Pokémon, was extremely unsettling.

She remained quiet for some time. As Grotle waited in growing concern, he busied himself by harvesting the plentiful berry trees. It was rather difficult trying to pick berries on 4 legs, especially with his damaged shell, but he managed to fill a couple of baskets as Xerneas was lost in her thoughts.

“If only I could use my tail. I could use it to knock the berries off the tree and pick them from the ground.” As Grotle thought that, though, he glanced over at the deity beside him and wisely decided against that action.

Eventually, Xerneas picked up her basket and continued her story, plucking berries with a glow of psychic energy, much to Grotle’s envy. “So many Pokémon nowadays… But lately, they’ve told different stories. They’ve spoken of a Turtwig, one whose power belies their small stature.”

Grotle shifted his weight, flinching slightly as the cut on his shell pulled once again. He was not looking forward to waiting for his shell to heal. He’d likely bear the scar until he evolved and bore the might of a Torterra.

Xerneas saw his reaction. “I did the best I could to tend to your injury, but that pain will stay with you. Whirlipede cut deep into your back. An inch deeper and you’d likely have lost the use of your rear legs.”

He was stunned by that statement. He could have been paralyzed! “Why… shouldn’t my shell have protected me? My mother was able to absorb blows that would have laid out a Tauros!”

“Hmm. Usually, when testudine Pokémon, like the Blastoise, Torterra, and the Drednaw line, evolve, their shells are fragile. That’s why Whirlipede was able to cut through your shell. It’s rather ironic, really. If you had remained a Turtwig, you likely would not have been injured.”

Irritation filled Grotle, annoyance at Xerneas. “Wait, I’m not annoyed at her… is it myself?”

Xerneas remained silent as Grotle tried to penetrate the tangled web that was his emotional state. “I’m angry at… myself?”

Grotle realized that Xerneas was right. If he had taken Whirlipede out with any one of his moves, he wouldn’t have been injured so badly. If he had paid attention to his parents in his youth, he likely would have remembered how soft his shell would be, and wouldn’t have been consumed by the high that came from evolution. He might not have lost himself in his rage and fought with a clear head.

He sighed and averted his gaze from Xerneas. She seemed to recognize that he had reached the same conclusion she had. “I’m not saying this to demean you, but you have incredible power inside of you. I want to help you hone that power, and to use it to help others.”

“So you want me to repay the debt I now owe you? You could have just started with that,” Grotle sneered, before adding, “...ma’am.” Xerneas did not seem to take offense to his tone, thankfully, though she did throw a wry smile Grotle’s way

“No, there is no debt. I’d provide healing to any who needed it, with no repayment necessary. If you wanted, you could leave this plateau and return to your normal haunts.” Grotle was shocked by this. Everyone he knew seemed to only do something if they were going to get something in return. To do something out of the kindness of their heart was… odd.

“Although, if you were to leave, Volcanion would likely demand he escort you from here, and he can come off rather… strong,” Xerneas said. “He’d want to ensure that this location isn’t revealed to the wider world.”

“Wait, you mean Volcanion Volcanion, as in the legendary Pokémon!” Grotle nearly yelled. “Just how many legendary Pokémon live here!”

“Just Volcanion and I,” responded the Goddess of Life, causing Grotle to realize he had said that last part out loud. He fought the urge to retreat into his shell in embarrassment. “Just what is this place?” he asked.

“Nebel Plateau. It’s a remote highland on the southeastern edge of Kalos. Volcanion has lived here for ages, along with a friend of his.” Grotle couldn’t help but notice the emphasis the deer put on the word friend, causing him to raise an eyebrow. Xerneas smirked at his reaction, but continued speaking.

“Over the years, many Pokémon have come to make this plateau their home. I said before how many of them have been hurt by humanity. Many ran away from their trainers, and others were abandoned due to being deemed ‘weak’. Volcanion found many of them in the wilderness and brought them back here. Over time, a community has formed.”

Hearing that story, Grotle didn’t know what to feel. He certainly didn’t like humanity, but could he have run into these Pokémon? Could he have hurt them when they were already downtrodden?

“Wait, what about Xerneas? How does she fit into this community?”

Grotle voiced this question, and the goddess smiled. “Was that a test? Was she testing me?” Grotle was snapped out of his suspicions when Xerneas spoke.

“I’ve lived on this plateau for millennia, watching over this,” she gestured to the oak tree Grotle had seen when he first ventured out of the cave.

“What is it?”

“That is the Tree of Life. If you agree to let me train you to become my apprentice, then I can tell you all you’d like to know. But suffice to say, it’s the task Arceus Himself has given me.”

The grass Pokémon was stunned. All he could do was shake his head and say two words, ones that would shape the rest of his life.

“I accept.”

Holly was busy cleaning her small home of dust and debris that had accumulated over the last few weeks. She had just finished disposing of all the old moss in her nest and was about to head into the forest to gather fresh moss when Magearna stopped her.

The automaton has always perplexed Holly. Sure, she’d encountered Pokémon like Magearna before, such as Klefki and the occasional Honedge, but those Pokémon were often emotionless machines, given life by an abundance of Fairy or Ghostly energy.

Magearna, meanwhile, was almost alive despite being mechanical. She had a wide range of emotions and a very expressive personality. It was she who saved Holly’s life when she first came to the plateau several years ago, after…

“Oh, how good it is to find you still around, Holly,” Magearna said, snapping the feline out of her thoughts. “I wanted to ask if you could stay a little while longer. Xerneas is arriving soon, and says she’s bringing a newcomer.”

Huh? Holly raised her brows at this news. “A newcomer? Like another Pokémon to join the village?” Holly wasn’t terribly shocked. It seemed every few months or so, a new Pokémon would wander out from the fog, having run away from their Trainer and followed rumors of a haven for Pokémon, far away from humanity’s reach.

Magearna shook her head. “No. Much to my shock, Xerneas informed Volcanion and me that she’s decided to take this newcomer on as her apprentice.”

Holly’s mouth fell open, and her eyebrows arched to a comical degree. “Huh? Xerneas. Goddess of Life Xerneas. ‘I take 30 minutes to order the same damn berries I always get.’ Xerneas has taken an apprentice?”

Magearna nodded.

“Just like that? When did she even meet them?”

“Last night,” was all Magearna said.

Holly sat down on her haunches and pressed a paw to her head, rubbing it. Unfortunately, that failed to get rid of her oncoming headache. She lowered her paw and sighed. “Fine, guess I can spare some time.”

The two Pokémon departed towards the village entrance. It seemed that other residents had also been told, as a small crowd had formed. Several of the residents attempted to make small talk with Holly. She endured for as long as she could bear, before stepping away and finding a place to sit under a nearby tree.

Around half an hour later, Holly saw Xerneas emerge from the forest that surrounded the valley where the village resided. The goddess’s brilliant antlers sparkled in the afternoon air, but the Liepard was unable to get a good look at whomever accompanied her.

A few minutes later, Xerneas reached the village and was immediately mobbed by the residents. She answered their questions and gave her greetings. For the most part, Holly tuned them out. A flash of green in the crowd caught her attention suddenly.

She tried to find where she had seen it, but it vanished. Growling under her breath, Holly pushed herself to her paws and leapt into the tree she was beneath. Digging her claws into the bark, she pulled herself higher until she reached a stable branch.

Padding out further onto the branch, Holly peered down into the crowd below her. It had thinned a bit while she had been climbing, the various residents having said their piece to Xerneas and dispersed.

It made it easier to spot the newcomer. A Grotle stood beside Xerneas, shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably. Holly stiffened as she laid eyes on the turtle. He was larger than a normal Grotle would be, and stronger too, muscles visible in the afternoon light.

Yet what set him apart was the ugly scar that split his shell almost in two, from his right shoulder to just above his left thigh. It also appeared to be inflamed, and Holly realized that Grotle was shifting on his feet, not just in discomfort at being accosted by so many other Pokémon, but to alleviate the pain from the injury.

“This must be who Heliolisk was talking about the other day,” she thought to herself. She then realized what the rest of that conversation had entailed, and she unsheathed her claws, barely holding herself back from pouncing on the unsuspecting Pokémon below. It would be so easy…

Just then, Grotle stiffened and began to turn towards the tree. Holly pulled back and channeled Faint Attack to surround herself in shadows. The attack was less effective due to the bright sun, but hopefully it’d be enough to allow her to blend into the rest of the canopy.

Grotle peered into the trees and unknowingly met Holly’s emerald gaze. Their eyes were locked for a moment, until Grotle turned back to Xerneas, who it seemed had asked him a question. Holly maintained the Faint Attack as she jumped down from the tree, only ending it once she had managed to hide behind a nearby building.

She had to confront Grotle. She was certain he was the one, the reason for…

Her stump throbbed in pain.

Chapter Text

The vines shook as Grotle emerged from the den, the crisp autumn air greeting him. He shivered, not looking forward to the incoming winter. Not for the first time, he craved the warmth of the valley he grew up in.

“I wonder how the old ‘mon and Mom are doing?”

Grotle continued his musings as he went through the daily activities Xerneas had tasked him with. Now that most of the garden had been harvested, he had to prepare the crops for winter. The berries needed to be dried or pressed into jam, the vegetables needed to be moved into the den cellar, and he grain had to be milled.

Wanting to take advantage of the sun, Grotle decided to focus on the drying process first. He grabbed one of the berry baskets and made his way to a large, flat boulder that sat opposite the creek that cut through the grove. The boulder was covered in tamato berries that Grotle had placed the other day, and upon closer inspection, had been successfully preserved.

Letting go of the basket he carried, Grotle gathered up the dried tamato berries and placed them in their own basket. Once all of them had been collected, he placed the new berries, leppa berries he noticed, onto the boulder for the sun to dry.

The entire process took around half an hour or so, best Grotle could tell by the position of the Sun. How Xerneas could tell the exact time down to the minute was beyond Grotle. “Although she could just be messing with me. I bet a month's worth of grain milling that she has one of those human time-pieces, or it’s just some Legendary Pokémon thing.”

Grotle could never tell with Xerneas. She was an incredible mentor. Whenever Grotle struggled with a lesson or a task, she never got frustrated or upset. Instead, she would join Grotle, getting her hooves dirty without any hesitation. Her kindness and understanding seemed infinite.

Yet, Xerneas was often playful and even teasing at times. One time, around a week into Grotle’s apprenticeship, he had swiped a few Cheri berries from the tree he was harvesting. He had thought he’d been subtle, but when he turned around, Xerneas had been staring directly at him.

It took her an hour to coax him out of his shell. She didn’t seem to mind Grotle’s actions at all. She even admitted that she had snuck a few Chesto berries into Council meetings before to stay awake. From what she said, ‘Zygarde could be such a stickler for order and proper procedure. It’s exhausting just listening to them drone on sometimes.’

There would always be a few Cheri berries included with his dinner from then on.

Grotle saw movement in the corner of his eye. It seemed Xerneas had woken up. In recent weeks, her winter coat had come in. Gone was the black fur that covered her body, replaced by an ashen white. It’d help the deer hide in the snow-covered landscape, but it made her stand out starkly amidst the reds and yellows of the autumn season.

A pang of jealousy ran through Grotle. He wished he had her coat to shield himself from the chill of winter. Normally, he would hibernate during the winter, but he’d endure. That jealousy quickly turned into fear, as Grotle realized how easily Xerneas could hide with her new coat, and what that could mean for him.

Another shiver ran down his shell, this one unrelated to the chill.

The goddess pranced over to Grotle and nodded at his work. “Thank you, Grotle. It seems those tamato berries are ready to be handed off to the rest of the community.” She then turned to another part of the boulder and carefully placed some of her own berries to dry in the fall sun.

Grotle grimaced at that. She meant Aube Village, the community of Pokémon Volcanion and his friend, who he now knew was Magearna, had created amidst the plateau. He had only visited once before, and the locals there made their displeasure towards him well known. He had indeed run into and fought with some of them during his wanderings. They had found their way towards Nebel Plateau, and their stories had spread like wildfire throughout the village.

He did not want to go back, but how could he tell this to Xerneas?

“Listen, Xerneas… I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be the one-”

“You think the locals will be hostile towards you?” Xerneas responded, not looking up from her task. Nervous, the turtle pressed on, “Yeah, I… encountered a few of them when I was a Turtwig. It wasn’t a friendly sort of encounter, if you catch my meaning.”

“I understand, Grotle, but that is exactly why I want you to give this to the other Pokémon. They know that you are now my apprentice, and they, or at the very least Volcanion, should know that I did not make this decision lightly.”

Xerneas stood up, her fur rippling in the autumn breeze. She set her eyes on Grotle, the crossed pupils staring deep into Grotle’s own dark irises. “If you are the one, I believe that, given time, the locals will be able to see that you are willing to change and to grow. You don’t want to spend all your time with an old deer like me, do you?” Her voice picked up towards the end, the teasing evident in her tone.

Reluctantly, Grotle could understand his mentor’s point. But as he digested her words, a smirk crossed his beak as he found a chance to get back at his mentor’s teasing. “Huh, is that why your fur is turning grey? Is your age finally catching up to you?”

Xerneas’s mouth hung open for a split second before she recovered, but Grotle knew he had won the argument. She sputtered for a moment before scowling at the Grass-type. When she spoke again, she was unable to keep the hint of an accent out of her voice, “Who do you think you are calling ‘old’, you cheeky sod!”

Grotle couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction.

After Grotle’s laughter had stopped, and Xerneas had calmed down from her ‘rage’, which Grotle was certain was an act she had put on, he moved on to the rest of his tasks.

He couldn’t help but be amazed at the setup Xerneas had put together. Somehow, she had an entire grain mill set up, turning the grain she grew into flour that could be stored and later baked into bread. All he had to do was pull a lever. Xerneas had explained the process afterwards, but it went over his head for the most part. The lever would open a diversion in the brook, which would flow over a water wheel and power the mill.

The lever pulled, Grotle shifted to the hardest task, covering the berry trees. The trees had to be covered during the winter to protect them from frost and other damage that could occur. Although simple in concept, with only a mouth and 4 ungainly legs, each tree took around an hour to be covered and protected from the elements.

He had just wrapped his third tree, but had to stop. The pain in his back was unbearable. As Xerneas had said, his back did not fully heal, and it would flare in pain whenever he moved. Although the pain was bearable for the most part, on days when he was on his feet for hours at a time, exerting himself, the pain would build and build until all he wanted to do was retreat into his shell and cry.

Eventually, the pain subsided enough for Grotle to get back to work, though he had to move more slowly than he would have liked. As the sun reached the western horizon, he had managed to wrap ten trees so far.

“Damn it, this is taking far too long,” the turtle moaned, but knew it had to be done, lest the trees suffer in the harsh Kalosian winters. Shaking his head, he grabbed a handful of berries for dinner and made his way to his nest.

The next day was much the same, with Grotle tending to his assigned tasks, though instead of drying berries in the morning, Xerneas had him take the vegetables and move them into the cellar, which was nothing more than a small outcropping deep in their den, where the vegetables could sit in storage during the season.

“Thank you, Grotle,” the goddess said once he had moved the last basket inside, before turning to glance at the sun. “I think it’s best if you set off now. You should have enough light left to make it to Aube Village and get back here before it gets too dark.”

Grotle merely nodded and hitched himself to the cart, which was overflowing with dried berries and other goods to give to the local Pokémon. He stifled another groan. The cart would likely wreak havoc on his injured back. But he swallowed the pain and set off.

As he trod through the forest, he took the time to look around. The forest was wonderful this time of year, he had to admit. Autumn was in full force, the trees covered in vibrant crimson, brilliant yellow, and all colors in between. A breeze picked up several leaves that had fallen to the forest floor, swirling them through the air before they blew away.

Grotle reached an outlook and gazed out at the vast wilderness that stood before him. The view was awe-inspiring. Part of him wanted to rest and take in the view for a while longer, but the more practical side urged him to continue. He didn’t want to be caught in the dark. He was still learning the surroundings, and didn’t want to get lost, and wanted to avoid the chill of the autumn night if he could help it.

Continuing his trek, he ventured onward, making his way to the village. Eventually, he could see a cluster of buildings and small shapes moving around them. That meant that he had reached his destination and that he’d likely run into one of the Pokémon that guarded the border.

Since the plateau was remote and isolated, there was little likelihood of humans coming here, but apparently, there had been an incident a few years prior. Xerneas hadn’t told him many of the details, but it had certainly freaked the denizens of the community out, and strong Pokémon began volunteering to patrol the border, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. But nowadays, the only thing the patrollers came across were lost, abused, and abandoned Pokémon.

Grotle’s thoughts dwelt on this for a time. What was it like to lose everything? He hoped that he would never experience something as terrifying as that. Even though it had only been a short time, he couldn’t imagine losing what he had now.

“Well, well, well. Look what the Skitty dragged in.”

Grotle’s thoughts were interrupted by a scratchy voice, belonging to the one Pokémon he had hoped to avoid while he was dropping his delivery off. He clenched his beak and turned his head to stare down the Liepard, glaring back at her.

Liepard wore a furious expression, as if his very presence ruined her day. Which, Grotle had to admit, it probably did. He sighed before rolling his eyes and responding,

“Well, hello to you too, Holly.”

“Hmph, at least you remembered my name this time.” She was referring to when Grotle had last visited the town, when Xerneas was introducing him to the local Pokémon. He hadn’t recognized her, but she had recognized him and confronted him when Xerneas left to talk with Volcanion about some private matters.

Turns out Holly and Grotle had met previously. A few years ago, as Grotle was wandering the southern Kalos wilderness, he came across a Cheri berry tree and claimed it for himself. He stayed by the tree for a few weeks afterwards, challenging any Pokémon who dared steal from his tree. He sent them all away with their metaphorical, or sometimes physical, tails between their legs.

But one day, a Purrloin stumbled upon the tree. She had clearly seen better days, her fur matted and her skin clinging to her skinny frame. She was clearly exhausted and looked like she had gone without food for several days. Grotle was by their tree at the time, but refused to give up any of the succulent berries that grew from the tree’s branches.

No matter how hard the Purrloin begged, Grotle refused to listen. He had said that if the Purrloin wanted food, she needed to challenge him to a fight. Grotle with his full belly, muscles coiled and ready to strike, versus a Purrloin who looked inches away from death. It was never a fair fight. Purrloin ran from the clearing, tears in her eyes as she cursed Grotle.

Yet, a few days later, Grotle left the tree. He had grown bored with the area and wanted to find new haunts to explore and new Pokémon to fight. If Grotle had left a few days earlier, or Holly had arrived a little later, the two would never have crossed paths.

Grotle snapped out of his musings abruptly when Holly turned and smacked him in the face with her tail. Apparently, his silence irritated Holly. She gestured with her tail. It seemed she meant to escort him to the town herself. She threw a glare back at Grotle, as if daring him to argue about being escorted. He remained quiet.

Grotle’s gaze was drawn downward. Holly hadn’t escaped unscathed from their encounter. The left side of her hip was covered in scar tissue, patchy in places where fur was able to grow. And below, where her leg would have been, was nothing but air.

That was why Holly disliked, no, why she hated him. She could have used those berries to recover some of her health, allowing her to reach Nebel Plateau in time for her leg to be saved. Instead, her strength gave out before she could reach salvation. It was only luck that Magearna stumbled across Holly when she did.

“Ironic, isn’t it. For both of us to be saved after succumbing to injuries…yet I fell due to my own tauros-headedness, while Holly was through no fault of her own… I think.” Grotle thought as he followed the feline towards the town, pulling the produce-laden cart behind him. His back ached from the effort, but he bit back a complaint, lest Holly overhear him.

Now that he thought about it, he knew nothing about Holly, and he doubted she’d open up to him, given their history. Would Xerneas know more? Then again, it’s not his business, and Grotle didn’t really care, at the end of the day. Yes, he regretted not giving her some of the berries, but the two weren’t friends, and likely would never be.

A traitorous thought pierced his thoughts, “And whose fault is that?” He ignored that.

The cart struck a rock that lay on the side of the road, causing it to lurch. He grunted, the movement pulling at his shell, sending pain throughout his body. He staggered briefly before forcefully pulling the cart, allowing it to roll over the loose rock and continue on its path.

Holly must have heard him, as she turned her head back to look at him, an eyebrow raised in a questioning manner. Grotle just glared in response, causing her to hiss at him before turning back, thrusting her head up, not giving Grotle any more attention. A scowl crossed Grotle’s face at that, but he quickly schooled his expression. The last thing he wanted to do was upset the residents more than he already had.

Finally, the pair reached the village and made their way to the food storehouse. It seemed Magearna was already there awaiting him, to his slight surprise. How could she have known he was arriving today? Holly didn’t have psychic powers to let her know in advance. Was it Xerneas then? Grotle pushed the thoughts aside for now. Trying to make sense of how the automaton worked would only give him a headache.

He unhitched himself from the cart and together helped others unload the stores he had carried, placing them along the walls where they’d be safe from the harsh winter temperatures. It took longer than he would have liked, but as the sun was nearing the western horizon, the cart was finally emptied of its contents. The sky was colored in wonderful oranges, yellows, and reds, yet all Grotle could think about was how he’d get back home.

Magearna seemed to share his concern. She walked over to him in her odd manner before speaking. “Oh, it seemed we dallied on longer than we should have.” Grotle just grunted in response. “If you’d like, we can have a bed prepared for you to spend the night. I’d hate to have you get lost on your way back.”

Grotle noticed Holly tense at Magearna’s words. Clearly, she wasn’t a fan of that idea, but she held her tongue. Grotle himself wasn’t a fan of the idea either. He frowned, but quickly realized Magearna was expecting a reply. “Uh… no. I’ll head back.”

The Grass type then realized how disrespectful that answer might have seemed, and quickly added “Thank you for the offer…ma-am?” Magearna didn’t seem to take offense, thank Arceus, and nodded at his response.

He hitched himself back to the cart and set out back into the twilight.

Several hours later, Grotle pulled himself back into the grove. Gazing upwards, he watched the Tree of Life sway in the wind, its leaves reflecting the soft moonlight. It was quite a beautiful sight, and Grotle took a few moments to watch, unwilling to break the peace.

He tried to be as quiet as possible as he unhitched the cart. The relief he felt was immediate once the pressure was removed from his back. He gave a brief sigh of relief before stepping softly and entering the den, making his way to his nest.

He retreated into his shell and closed his eyes. But no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to fall asleep, his thoughts a blur of regret, shame, and a dozen other emotions he was unable to process.

Finally, his thoughts calmed enough, and he fell into a fitful sleep.

Chapter Text

He was snapped out of his slumber by Xerneas, who, for some inexplicable reason, felt the need to toss a snowball at him!

Sputtering, Grotle glared at the deer. “What the hell was that for!” She had the gall to smirk at him, holding a forehoof up to her mouth to stifle a laugh. Apparently, his reaction was funny. His glare intensified. “It’s the middle of winter. You told me yourself that my tasks can wait until the snow clears.”

It had been several months since Grotle had entered Xerneas’s service, and winter had come to the plateau in full force. The grove was blanketed in several feet of snow, making it difficult for the turtle to navigate. The snow was higher than he was!

“I thought that it would be amusing. And it was,” the goddess said mirthfully. “But I wanted to show you something. Come on!” She turned and didn’t wait for Grotle. He scrambled out of his nest, shaking his head to remove the remaining snow, and followed Xerneas. Instead of heading out into the clearing, she went deeper into the den, deeper than Grotle had ever been before.

The two walked along in silence as the path grew darker, the light from the den entrance quickly fading. Yet, as Grotle’s eyes adjusted, he was able to see. Shocked, he looked around and realized that the walls of the cave were covered in a glowing green moss.

He paused to stare, which Xerneas noticed. She turned her head to smile at her apprentice. Grotle raised a foreleg, almost touching the moss before pulling back hesitantly. “How does it glow?”

“I first thought that it absorbed faint light, too faint for even our eyes to see, and then emitted that light. I’ve encountered several types of moss elsewhere in the world that did just that.” The deer’s voice was warm as she raised a hoof and ran it gently across the wall. To Grotle’s surprise, motes of light rose out of the moss at her touch, floating around the cave like stars in the night.

“But, as I continued studying the moss, I discovered that it absorbed the energy from the Tree of Life itself, allowing it to live in a place devoid of life. A symbiotic relationship.” Xerneas’s voice was filled with awe as she murmured, “Even after all these millennia, there are still things about this Tree that continue to surprise me…”

Grotle took in all Xerneas had said, and a question came to his mind. “Xerneas, what exactly is this tree? I know you said Arceus assigned you to watch the tree, but why is it so important?” Xerneas smiled at the question from her apprentice, and simply said, “That is what I wish to show you.”

She turned once more and beckoned with her tail for him to follow. Still awestruck, he complied and followed his mentor into the depths of the Tree of Life.

The two walked in silence for some time. As Grotle followed his mentor, he could feel the air grow warmer. Maybe he could ask Xerneas if he could sleep down here for the rest of the winter. Even if the walk would grow old pretty fast, it’d be worth it to stay warm during the harsh winter nights.

Or perhaps he could ask Xerneas to install a door to their shared den. He decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask. There had been nights when it felt like his tail would fall off from how cold it got.

The grass and ground type was snapped out of his focus, which seemed to be happening a lot, now that he thought about it. He needed to be more aware of the things around him. Saving that thought for later, Grotle gazed around at the cavern he and his mentor now found themselves in.

It was large, with a ceiling high enough for Xerneas to stand on her hind legs without hitting the top with her antlers. Above, Grotle could see roots piercing through the roof of the cave, water slowly running along them before falling into a pool below.

The cave walls were covered in more of that bioluminescent moss, setting the cavern alight in a soft green glow. Grotle walked forward and stared at the pool at the center of the cave. It was like the stars themselves swam in the pool, as motes of light swam throughout the water. And although water droplets fell into it from the roots above, the surface remained calm, undisturbed by the falling water.

“Welcome to the Cave of Spirit, Grotle,” his mentor said softly, her voice filled with wonder. It seemed that Xerneas herself was affected by the majesty before her, even though Grotle had to assume she’d been here countless times before.

She sat down next to him, and the two gazed at the pool before them. Eventually, Grotle found his voice.

“What is this place?”

His mentor responded. “That is a long story, one that will take time to explain. First, can you tell me how much you know about our world?” Grotle tried to think back to the stories his parents had told when he was young, but those memories were hazy at best nowadays.

“Arceus formed the universe, right? And his kids are responsible for managing it. Dialga for time, and… Palkia? Palkia for space. And after that, he created the planet and other deities to manage the functions of the planet?”

Xerneas nodded. “In a broad sense, you are correct, but the true story is a lot more layered.” She gathered herself, and Grotle sat down beside his mentor, eager to hear what she had to say.

“Most of what I know I have learned, either from Arceus Himself or from my own observations and studies over the centuries.

“When this universe was first born, Arceus was born along with it. Wherever he travelled, the universe expanded, and time and space were born from his power. Eventually, the strain of managing this grew too much for Arceus, and he created his children to take control of the process.

“To Dialga, he bestowed the management of time, and to his twin Palkia, he gifted the control of space. But when the twins were created, Arceus unknowingly created a third, their younger sister, Giratina.”

“Wait, there’s a third!” Grotle interrupted, as his face flushed when he realized what he’d done. Xerneas waved off his apology. “Yes, and don’t worry about speaking up. If you have a question, I’d be delighted to answer. It’s been quite a long time since I’ve told this story.”

“But as I was saying, Arceus created three children. I already mentioned Dialga and Palkia, but Giratina, well, later in her life, she rebelled against her father, attacking her siblings in a fit of jealousy and rage. In retribution, Arceus banished her from the universe.”

Grotle spoke up once more. “That… seems rather harsh. I mean, I’ve attacked other people before, and to be banished for millennia?”

Xerneas sighed heavily, her expression downcast. “You have to understand, Grotle, Dialga, and Palkia are responsible for maintaining the control of spacetime in our universe. If ever they should lose control, this universe will face disastrous consequences. Time itself could stop, or space could collapse.

“But yes, it was a harsh punishment. Arceus never spoke of this time, but even a stranger could see he regretted his actions. Thankfully, it seems Giratina and her father were able to make up recently, and Arceus has welcomed her back into the fold.”

Xerneas’s expression picked up after this statement; her mouth turned upwards in a small smile. “I’ve met her at a few of the recent Legendary Council meetings; she’s rather sweet, though she can hold quite the grudge.” At Grotle’s questioning look, she clarified, “Meetings where the Prime Legendaries, or the Legendary Pokémon created by Arceus, or responsible for large aspects of the world, meet and discuss the state of the world.

“After Giratina had been banished, Arceus focused on creating the world. Apparently, he had seen worlds begin to form on their own and decided to try his hoof at doing it himself. He created Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza to govern the land, the sea, and the sky.

“Those three then themselves created their own beings to assist them with their tasks. Groudon created Regigigas to help move the continents, Kyogre created Lugia to combat the storms, and Rayquaza created Ho-oh to govern the skies. After the planet had settled, those three soon entered their slumber, leaving their creations in their stead.

“Before Arceus departed, he created the three Lake Spirits of Sinnoh, as checks to his children’s power. Should Giratina, Dialga, or Palkia rise against their father or against the world, the spirits can force them into submission. Thankfully, this has never been needed.”

Grotle was thankful as well. Just thinking about the power that trio wielded made his head hurt. He couldn’t imagine what it’d be like if one of them decided to rise and betray their father. But wait, where did Xerneas play into things?

“Xerneas, where do you come into things?” the turtle asked, and his mentor smiled. “Was that another test of hers?”

“I suppose I did skip that part. I believe I’ve covered the Prime Legendaries, save for the Dragon Trio over in Unova, but they can be discussed another time. Arceus had been experimenting with bestowing life on the planet. He had created his children and the other Prime Legendaries, but he wanted the planet to become a garden world, one filled with flora and abounding with mortal life.

“To do this, he created myself, Yveltal, and Zygarde. I was tasked with managing life and helping it come into being, while Yveltal ferries those who have departed across to the afterlife. Zygarde, meanwhile, is our counterpart, one meant to balance the scales of life and death. Should the balance be upset, they will form and set the scales back in order.”

When Xerneas had finished speaking, she cast a glance upward, glancing at the roots of the Tree of Life. Grotle thought he saw a flash of green light, but when he tried to see what the deer had looked at, he couldn’t see anything. Just the gleaming of water droplets gliding down the roots. Could he have just seen a droplet reflecting the light that the moss emitted?

He turned back to look at his mentor, but she had begun staring at the pool, seemingly lost in thought. Grotle began to gaze at the pool as well and thought about what Xerneas had said. So Arceus wanted to create a planet filled with life. But if he was inspired by other planets he had seen, did these other planets have the same…control and care placed into their structure? Grotle doubted it. But then why create Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Groudon? Did the planet really need beings capable of controlling the land, sea, and sky? And what about Xerneas? Did there really need to be shepherds for the circle of life?

All these thoughts swirled in his head, and he could feel his head start to pound. He groaned and rubbed his head with his right foot. Xerneas looked concerned and asked him, “Are you alright? You look overwhelmed… Ugh, I knew I was giving too much information too quickly.”

It seemed his mentor was doubting herself, a side Grotle hadn’t seen until now. Again, it was shocking for him to see someone he’d considered a deity look so…normal. He shook his head and responded, hoping to comfort the goddess. “No, you’re doing great. It’s just something you said.”

She looked at him, concern still present in her azure eyes, but gestured for him to continue, and so he did. “You said that Arceus took inspiration from our world from other worlds he saw, right?” She nodded. “So then why does our world have all these… protections built into it? Why create deities guarding the land and the sea? Why did he create you?”

The deer closed her eyes and smiled before she turned to look back up at the roots of the Tree of Life. “That, that is a question that I’ve been asking myself ever since I learned this story. I don’t have an answer. As best I can tell, based on my interactions with Him, Arceus is a very orderly Pokémon. He values structure. Perhaps in his journey, he encountered conflicts that he felt could be resolved by a deity. Natural disasters, cosmic occurrences, war, famine, and so much more.

“Or perhaps, when he lost Giratina, he lost a part of himself, and kept trying to fill that hole until he realized it would never heal, which is why he left.”

Grotle didn’t know what to think when he heard that. Although he couldn’t remember many of the stories his father had told him, he remembered how faithful his father was to Arceus, that everything happened according to ‘Arceus’s will’. To learn that the lord of creation was just as flawed as any other Pokémon, well, it shattered his outlook on the divine.

He and Xerneas sat beside the pool for a while, the silence only broken by the sound of their breathing. She seemed to sense his thoughts were a blur at the moment and allowed him some time to himself. However, after about an hour, she broke her silence and spoke to her apprentice.

“Well, back to your original question, about my purpose. I said I help guide life, and to do that, I use the Tree of Life. It allows me to sense life throughout the planet, where my senses cannot normally reach.

“This tree is a veritable fountain of energy. I can use it to help heal those who need assistance, guide those through childbirth, and hardship. Using this tree, I can sense the hatching of a Pidgey in Kanto, the evolution of a Brionne in Alola, and everywhere else.

“But that is not the Tree’s sole purpose. It serves as a connection between the living world and the afterlife. I said Yveltal shepherds those who have departed across the boundary. In reality, he helps the departed souls find their way here.” As she said this, she stretched out her foreleg, hoof gesturing to the pool in front of her.

“This is the entrance to the afterlife. From here, I can communicate with those who have departed this world. I help ease the concerns of those who are gone, and help them along to their slumber.”

Grotle was shocked by that news and looked in awe at the pool before him. Yet, something his mentor said bugged him. He went through what she had said, and eventually narrowed down what was bugging him. He turned to Xerneas and spoke.

“Xerneas,” she turned at the sound of her name and looked at him as he continued. “If Arceus values order so highly, why does he create humanity? I mean, I’ve only interacted with Pokémon Trainers, but they seem to love conflict and chaos.”

Xerneas looked back at the pool before them, processing his question. She spoke, “Again, it is hard to speak for Arceus. But you are wrong in thinking he created humanity. Humanity is itself a type of Pokémon, one that has long since lost the ability to channel Infinity Energy like you or I can.”

As if Grotle’s worldview hadn’t been hit by enough revelations. “What next, aliens exist?” He made sure not to verbalize that question. He wasn’t ready for Xerneas to answer that question.

Said deer spoke once more, saying, “But if I had to guess, I would say Arceus allows humanity to exist because they help bring out potential in others. They are capable of incredible achievements, and I don’t believe Pokémon on their own would be capable of the same advancements.

“But unfortunately, as you said, humanity is chaotic. They are also capable of incredible harm. I’ve told you that many Pokémon on this plateau have been hurt by humanity. Are you familiar with Liepard Holly? You might have met during your trips to the village.”

The question threw Grotle for a loop. What did Holly have to do with humanity? And did Xerneas know of his history with Holly? And how would she react if she knew?

She continued, unaware of the worry building inside the turtle. “She used to belong to a trainer. But something happened along their journey together, and her leg was injured, and had to be amputated when she reached Nebel Plateau, the poor dear.”

Xerneas seemed to realize what she had told the turtle, as she blushed and turned to him. “Um, please keep this in your confidence. I’ve only heard the stories secondhand, but I can tell it’s a sore spot for her, so please keep silent on this matter.”

“Sure thing.” The new information merely added to the questions Grotle had about the mysterious Liepard, but he doubted she’d open up. She had built too many walls around herself, and it’d likely take a miracle for them to come down.

“Thank you for telling me all this, Xerneas. I… rather enjoyed it.” Grotle had been enraptured by the story Xerneas had woven, and wanted to learn more. How did the rest of the legendary Pokémon, the ‘non-Prime’ legendaries, relate? Many more questions swirled in his mind, and the Goddess of Life bore a wide smile on her face when he told her.

She got up and stretched. It seemed she wanted to return to their den. Grotle stood and followed her out of the cave. She turned at the cavern’s entrance and looked at her apprentice with a look of unrestrained pride.

“We’ll make a scholar out of you yet, I suppose.”

Chapter Text

Time passed quickly for Grotle. By his estimate, it had now been a year since he had first stumbled into the grove. And what a year it has been. Throughout the long and arduous winter, Xerneas had taught him much about the spiritual aspect of the world. She had summoned many different Pokémon for him to learn under, and mentored him in the ways she guided life across the planet.

Grotle was enraptured by the entire thing. He never wanted a session to end, and Xerneas only encouraged his voracious appetite for knowledge. He was fascinated by learning about the relationships between the various legendaries, the different customs and mannerisms between different species of Pokémon, and so much more.

He also learned that Xerneas was a massive gossip. Nary a day went by without her telling him some story about something a legendary Pokémon had done. One example that had Grotle questioning everything for the rest of the day was Volcanion’s parentage.

Apparently, Volcanion’s parents were Kyogre and Groudon’s child, born of a tryst after Rayquaza had locked the two titans in the Giant Chasm over in Unova after they had gotten into yet another clash, not letting them out until they had agreed to stop fighting.

According to Xerneas, Kyurem was furious at the damage done to their lair by the pair, and nearly froze Hoenn completely solid in response. It made the next few Council sessions quite ‘frosty’.

It was then that Grotle learned of his mentor’s love of puns.

As time crept onwards and the winter snows began to melt, he and Xerneas worked together to prepare the garden for planting season. He would hitch himself to the plow Xerneas had commissioned from the village, and till the soil for Xerneas to then plant her seedlings.

Unfortunately, the plow would often strain his back, and he would go to sleep at night, when he was able to fall asleep, in deep discomfort. He tried to eat Oran berries on the side, but they could only do so much. He ruled out using sleep seeds entirely after they caused him to oversleep one time. He didn’t want to make Xerneas suspicious or catch onto him. His pain was his burden to bear.

There was a worry at one point, early on in the spring, when, due to the large amount of snowfall in the winter, the banks of the brook began to overflow, threatening to flood the garden. He and Xerneas worked tirelessly to build up the riverbank, which was backbreaking work, quite literally in Grotle’s case. His back burned from the effort.

Thankfully, their efforts were rewarded, and the river did not overflow, though it did come close on occasion, thanks to a couple of storms that blew through the region.

Soon, the spring showers gave way to summer heat. Since most of the garden had been planted at this point, Xerneas and Grotle had a lot more free time. To his surprise, Xerneas had him train with her, testing his combat prowess and how he used the moves he knew. According to the goddess, he was ‘unrefined, but adaptable’.

Xerneas was an absolute beast in combat. If she managed to finish casting Geomancy before Grotle was able to counterattack, the battle would be over soon afterwards. Many times, the grass type thought he would be able to blitz the Life Pokémon, only for her to finish casting in time and send him flying with a Moonblast, or for the act to have been a feint, and again, send the turtle flying.

But slowly, Grotle began to improve. He began to see the subtle tells Xerneas had, how her tail would flick when it was a feint, how her eyes would betray where she was targeting. Further, his strength grew in strides. He could move faster, hit harder.

However, this improvement again came at the cost of his back injury. Each battle would cause the injury to flare in pain, each incident becoming harder and harder for Xerneas to ignore. It grew to the point where, during one session, as Grotle was charging towards the deer, pain surged through his back. He missed his mentor by a country mile, his legs giving out from under him, his body wracked with pain.

Said mentor cried his name out, rushing to his side. Yet, Grotle said nothing. He was too ashamed of his failure. It seemed Xerneas let the issue be when the turtle said he was fine, though he knew she could see through the bravado.

Annoyingly, Xerneas cut back the training sessions after that incident. Did she not think he could take her training? That thought refused to leave Grotle, and so to distract himself, he went for a walk through the plateau.

That soon became an everyday occurrence for the Pokémon. He enjoyed feeling the summer breeze blow across his shell and loved wandering through the wilderness. His favorite spot had to be a clearing on the edge of the plateau. From there, he could stare out at the lush Kalosian southeast, verdant plains and rushing water as far as he could see. If Grotle turned to the left, looking at the rest of the plateau, he could see the shimmering lake at the plateau’s center, surrounded by gorgeous waterfalls, and backed by the mountain at the plateau’s western edge, separating Kalos from the rest of the continent.

For once in the turtle’s life, he was at peace.

Unfortunately, that sense of peace did not extend to Grotle’s interactions with the locals. Although many now treated him rather neutrally, seeing him as nothing more than Xerneas’s apprentice, which, while impressive, was no longer as novel as it was when Grotle first arrived a year ago.

But his relationship with Holly had not improved. He seemed to run into her every time he was near the village border. Did she have a permanent post set up there? Regardless, whenever the grass and dark types interacted, their conversations were terse, with barely a word being exchanged.

It had been pouring nonstop for the past month, causing Xerneas to fret about the state of the garden and crops. Together, she and Grotle worked to drain the garden by digging new irrigation channels to draw the water away, but it was backbreaking work once again, not helped by the rain turning the soil into little more than mud.

Xerneas may have been able to avoid most of the mud with her long legs, but Grotle had no such luck. Each day meant getting mud everywhere! It was nigh impossible to clear mud out of his shell. He was cranky, on the best of days.

This was not one of those days, though. Earlier, his mentor had asked if he could make an unscheduled drop off at the village. She was worried the rain would cause some of the produce to rot, and felt it should be moved to the village storerooms, where it was better insulated from the horrible conditions.

He reluctantly agreed and hitched himself up once more to the cart, his back already aching from the effort. The ache had steadily intensified as he walked through the forest. Evidence of the downpour was everywhere. Trails had been washed out, and rocks now lay scattered along the path, forcing the Pokémon to divert from his normal path, putting further strain on his injury.

The river he was following, the same one that cut through his home, had overflown its banks, flooding the surrounding landscape, further exacerbating how difficult this trip had become. Normally, it took him about an hour, but it had been around 3 so far, and his sense of direction had been washed away in the flood.

He was currently ankle deep in floodwater, trying to pull the cart over a rock the right wheel had struck. He almost had it and gave it one last tug. “Almost there. Almost there.” The turtle repeated, only for a surge of pain to wrack his body. Crying out, he jolted forward, only to slip on the wet ground and fall onto the ground below.

“Could this day get any worse?” the Pokémon asked the heavens. He was miserable and just wanted this day to end. Water and mud were covering his body, slowly leaking from his shell. Groaning from the pain, he pushed himself to his feet carefully, trying his best to avoid falling once more.

Thankfully, as he looked back, the cart seemed unharmed, the tarp covering the contents still firmly tied to the cart’s corners. Although it was completely soaked through. Grotle had to hope the berries would survive this trip. It’d be a difficult winter otherwise.

Pulling once more, the cart finally dislodged the damn rock that had caused this entire ordeal, and Grotle set off once again to the village. About an hour later, Grotle recognized where he now found himself, and he emerged from the forest and into the meadow where the village lay. The village was quiet, its streets empty. It seemed that all the sane Pokémon had the correct idea and wisely decided to stay inside.

“Holy Arceus, you look like shit.” Apparently, not everyone had the right idea. Grotle couldn’t help but groan as he looked upwards at Holly. She lay on a branch of the tree he had just passed, but raised an eyebrow as he groaned.

“Oh, great. You again.” Grotle didn’t want to deal with her right now. All he wanted was to drop this stupid cart off and sleep off the pain he was dealing with. “Is that offer from Magearna still open?”

It seemed that the Liepard didn’t catch his displeasure, as she hopped down from her perch. “No need to be testy, just stating a fact. Why are you out here?” Grotle’s mood continued to darken. “Xerneas wanted this food to be delivered before the rain spoiled it,” the turtle said, an edge to his voice. “What, you think I want to be out in this weather, soaked to the bone and mud filling my shell?”

“Well, you could have said no, right? She wouldn’t force you, and I’m sure the food would keep for a few more days.” Grotle clenched his beak, his annoyance at the feline continuing to build. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. After his breathing had settled, he spoke, making sure to keep his tone carefully neutral. “I owe Xerneas my life. If she says this needs to be done, then I owe it to her to do it.”

Holly didn’t seem convinced by his argument, and what she said next made him see red. “What, afraid she’ll see you as the useless waste of space you actually are?”

Grotle’s fury raged inside him at the comment. “How dare she!” Before he could stop himself, he responded in kind, hurling, “I suppose you’d know what it means to be useless, right? Given how your trainer abandoned you, you must have been pretty useless.”

Immediately, Grotle knew he had screwed up. He regretted opening his mouth; he regretted everything. But he had said what he did, and couldn’t take it back, no matter how much he wished he had.

Holly was frozen, her green eyes mere pinpricks amidst the whites of her eyes. Slowly, her lips peeled back, a snarl echoing in her throat as her claws extended outwards. “H-How. Dare. You! You. Utter. BASTARD!”

The feline Pokémon pulled her foreleg back as if to strike Grotle, dark shadows twisting in her paw. Yet, she hesitated, much to Grotle’s shock. Instead, she wavered, tears appearing in her eyes, before she turned and fled into the woods behind her, tears falling to the forest floor amidst the torrential rain.

Grotle could only stand there, rain cascading off his shell, and say one thing.

“Shit.”

Eventually, the grass type began to move once more and made his way to the village. He was silent the entire way, his thoughts dwelling on his mistake. He needed to apologize to Holly; he knew that.

“Maybe I can catch her before I leave? But what do I even say? I doubt I can stroll up to her and be like ‘Hey, yeah, I’m sorry I brought up your trauma after I promised my mentor I wouldn’t bring it up.’”

Grotle scoffed at that statement. If someone had apologized to him in that manner, he’d tackle them into next week. But maybe that was Grotle’s problem. He kept approaching situations with violence. He wasn’t good at feelings. But he needed to figure out a way to make it up to Holly. He owed her that much.

It seemed Xerneas had let Magearna know that he’d be on his way, as she was waiting in the storeroom. Together, along with some of the other village residents, they unloaded the produce. They had to make sure that this delivery was stored separately from the rest. That way, any spoilage would not carry over to the rest of the stores.

It was another backbreaking two hours before the cart had finally been unloaded, but in that time, Holly had not returned. The storehouse was located on what was considered the main thoroughfare of the village, so Grotle would likely have seen her return.

He was sitting at the entrance of the storehouse when he noticed Magearna had walked over. Still a bit unnerved by her presence, even after all this time, he started when she spoke, “Oh, I see Holly still hasn’t returned.”

“Did she know?” Grotle stayed silent, but the automaton continued, asking him, “Grotle, on your way over, did you run into her? She tends to patrol that area of the forest.” The turtle hesitated before answering, but finally decided he needed to tell the truth and stop running from his actions towards the Liepard.

“Yeah, I-we ran into each other before I dropped the cart off.” The automaton seemed to understand where the conversation was heading. She spoke, “And I take that it didn’t go well? She usually accompanies you.”

Grotle swallowed, a glum expression on his face. “Yeah… I haven’t had the best time of things recently, with all this rain, and she said something that irritated me and caused me to snap at her. I said something I shouldn’t have, and she ran off into the forest.”

The ancient automaton was silent, but Grotle could practically hear the gears in her head turn as she processed what he had confessed to. Grotle spoke again, “Can I leave the cart here for the night. I-I need to go find Holly and apologize for what I said.”

Magearna nodded and waved him off. He stood up, wincing from the pain in his back as it briefly flared up. He stepped out into the storm, but turned to look back as his name was called.

“Grotle, you’ve been very helpful to this community, despite your rough edges. But please, remember that the world doesn’t revolve around you. Everyone is dealing with their own issues inside.” She paused, tapping her metallic hands together before continuing. “Please, find a way to resolve your differences with Holly. I know the two of you have had your differences, but I believe that given time, you can come to an understanding.”

The grass type lowered his head, regret filling his body before he looked back at the metallic Pokémon and nodded. “I-I’ve hurt Holly, not just physically, but emotionally now as well. But I promise that I’ll take your words to heart and work to become a better Pokémon. Holly deserves nothing less.”

Grotle turned back and ventured off into the growing night until his form was swallowed by the darkness.

Chapter Text

The storm only grew in intensity, wind and rain lashing at the trees. It made the already difficult terrain almost impossible to navigate for the grass type. Yet, he knew he had to find Holly, not just to apologize for his actions, but to make sure she didn’t get washed away in the flood.

He staggered as the ground gave way under him, but managed to catch himself before he fell into the rushing water. This was a nightmare. Where could Holly have run off to? He paused for a moment, thinking back to his interactions with the feline. She always managed to sneak up on him, much to his annoyance. But was that due to her dark type, or…

“She travels through the trees! I’ve been looking down all this time, when I should have been looking up!” He tilted his head back and peered at the treeline, but he couldn’t see anything. But wait, he’d been following the direction she ran off to, and based on where he was now… Yes! A large tree grew nearby, at the base of the mountain that bordered the edge of the plateau.

Grotle had stumbled across the tree during the summer, when he was learning his way around the plateau. The tree had a large hollow about halfway up its trunk. It would be an ideal place if one wished to get out of the storm.

The turtle pushed forward, ignoring the pain in his back and the water and mud filling his shell. His legs felt like they were going to fall off, but that merely fueled him to push on forward. Finally, he reached his destination. The area around the tree was absolutely flooded and filled with debris. Overturned rocks stabbed at his feet, fallen leaves and sticks swirled in eddies and fled downstream.

He noticed a branch had broken from the tree, hanging only by a few fibers. Based on how long it was, Grotle guessed that it had previously stretched to the neighboring trees. If Holly had been leaping from tree to tree earlier, was that what she used to get to the hollow?

The turtle’s eyes widened. “Does that mean Holly is now stuck inside? Can she even climb down with only 3 legs? With how wet it is, I doubt her claws could find much purchase.” He glared at the twisted roots and rocks that littered the base of the tree. If the cat fell, she’d be severely injured, or worse.

Grotle moved to the base of the tree, stepping carefully to avoid the rocks. Once there, he pushed himself to his hind legs and placed his forelegs on the trunk to balance himself. The grass and ground type could see the hollow above him, and he closed his eyes, trying to listen for any noise that could signal a Pokémon was inside. He listened for a moment, and-yes! He heard what sounded like sobs coming from the hollow.

He tried his voice. “H-Holly!?” The sound stopped. Enough time passed for Grotle to begin to believe he might have imagined the noise. Finally, said Liepard emerged from the hollow above, her green eyes sparkling in the darkness.

She wore a fierce glare and snarled at him. “What do you want!?” She had to yell to be heard above the storm around them, but Grotle could still hear the tremor in her voice. She continued, “You’re the last ‘mon I want to see. So get out-”

Grotle cut her off, “I’m sorry!” She seemed stunned, and he took advantage of her silence. “What I said was unacceptable, and I wanted to apologize. I was severely out of line.” Holly renewed her glare and jabbed her paw at the Pokémon below. “I don’t want your apology, especially when I know you don’t mean it. So go!”

Grotle was about to open his mouth when he felt a droplet of something hit his beak. It didn’t feel like rainwater. He tapped his foot against his beak, and it came away crimson. He was standing under Holly. Was Holly injured?

The turtle sighed before digging his claws into the bark of the tree. He opened his mouth and dug his pointed beak into the bark as well. Slowly, he pulled himself upwards and began climbing the tree.

He’d never climbed a tree before, and his claws were blunt, meant more for digging burrows than piercing bark. The rain didn’t help at all either. Several times, he lost his footing and nearly fell, only for his beak to arrest his fall.

His back was on fire! Each movement put further strain on it, but he persisted.

Holly was silent throughout his endeavor, but he couldn’t see her expression. He was too focused on not falling and shattering across the rocks below. A small part of him wondered how he’d get down, but he ignored it for now. That was future Grotle’s problem.

After a back-melting effort, Grotle pulled himself into the hollow. His beak ached, and he had torn several of his claws, but he made it. He struggled to catch his breath, but Holly seemed to be fed up with his actions and demanded an answer from him.

“Why?”

In between breaths, he spoke. “Because… a better Pokémon… wouldn’t have left… you alone.”

She didn’t seem to believe him. “A better Pokémon, huh. Is that what you are now?” She scoffed. Grotle moved to the side of the hollow, allowing Liepard more room. It was rather cramped, so he pulled his tail and rear legs into his shell. Now that he saw the feline, he noticed that her left foreleg had a large scratch running along the underside, blood slowly dripping to the floor.

The sight worried him. Thankfully, ever since he joined Xerneas’s service, he had begun storing berries in the hedges on his back. If he was lucky, there should still be an Oran berry or two inside. He moved his head, shaking his back to dislodge any berries.

Yes! An Oran berry fell out. He grabbed it with his jaw before carefully moving over to Holly. She tensed at his approach, but stopped when he placed a berry at her paws. “Eat this. You don’t want that cut to get infected. Especially in all this rain.”

She raised another eyebrow at him, but scarfed down the berry. Already, he could see the blood flow beginning to stem, and the wound began to knit back together. He then registered her question from before. “No, I-I want to become a better Pokémon. To help those who need help, and to make amends towards those I’ve hurt.”

Holly digested that statement. “Is that why you’re here? To ease your conscience?” Grotle quickly spoke, denying her allegation. “No, I’m here because I hurt you. I brought up something that clearly hurt you when I was told that in confidence. I betrayed not only you, but my mentor as well.” The turtle stopped, but realized that wasn’t the entire truth. “A-and I was worried. You hadn’t returned, and this weather is a death sentence.”

Holly hissed at that, glaring at her injured paw. The wound had mostly been sealed at this point, but Holly likely wouldn’t be able to put any weight on it. If she did, she ran the risk of the injury reopening. She was stuck.

“What happened?” Her glare was redirected to the turtle beside her. He shivered at the intensity in her eyes, but did not back down. She sighed, slumping to the ground in defeat.

“After I… left, I ran into the forest. I come here often, usually when I need time away from the village or need to think. It’s peaceful.” Grotle could sympathize with that. He spoke up without thinking, “I get that. Sometimes, if training is done or my back is in too much pain, I go to this overlook I found. Something about it helps clear my head.”

The Liepard simply grunted in response, though she seemed curious for some reason. “Why is she looking at me like-shit, I brought up my back, didn’t I?” Grotle bit back a grimace at that realization. “But, maybe that’s a good thing. I said I needed to stop hiding from my mistakes.”

Holly continued her story. “I usually use the trees to get around, and I know them like the fur on my paw. But the wind was making it difficult to keep steady, and when I leapt to this tree, I misjudged my leap and collided with the branch.”

She chuckled, an exhausted look in her eyes, “As if the universe wasn’t laughing enough, the branch then broke under my weight. Guess the weather had stressed it to the breaking point. I barely made it into the hollow before it broke, and cut my leg in the process. Now I’m stuck here. Can’t get down without killing myself.”

Grotle winced in sympathy. It was his fault she was in this situation after all. Since she had been doing most of the talking so far, he thought he should pick up the conversation and explain his actions.

“Look, Holly. Like I said, I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. It was uncalled for, and there’s no excuse. But… would you care if I explained why that occurred? I-it still doesn’t excuse what I said, a-and I’m not looking for sympathy or anything.”

He got another grunt in response, but he seemed to have her attention. So, he began to explain the issues he had been holding inside. “I haven’t even told Xerneas this, but when I first came to this plateau, I had been in a pretty bad fight against a Pokémon Trainer.”

Holly responded, “Right. Some of the others overheard your battle back then during their patrols, and I guess connected the battle with your sudden appearance soon afterwards.” He nodded. “Yeah, that wasn’t my finest moment. A lot of trainers had been after me around then. Guess they wanted to try and catch me for their team or something. After a while, the constant fighting began to wear on me, and I made a mistake and got this in return.”

While he spoke, he carefully turned and showed Holly the long, jagged scar that crossed his shell. She hissed in sympathy. “That wound pierced my shell and cut deep into the flesh below, and got infected due to my not treating the issue. According to Xerneas, if the cut had been any deeper, I’d have lost the use of my legs.”

The feline’s eyes widened at that statement, likely making the connection to how she lost her own leg. Grotle lowered his eyes, gazing at the ground in anger and regret over his past actions. “Truth be told, this injury has never fully healed. If I move too much or overwork myself, it flares up, sending pain throughout my body.”

The dark type was quiet, but it was evident that she was deep in thought. After a minute or so, she looked back at the turtle. “So, I assume that today was really painful then, right? I saw you having trouble pulling the cart, but I thought that was just due to the weather.”

“It was both. My back felt like it was on fire, pulling that damn thing. I kept having to navigate around rocks the flood had moved, washed out sections of the trail, and stuff like that. Didn’t help that I had just fallen and gotten my shell filled with mud.”

The purple cat stretched while she listened to his words, before beginning to groom herself. As he spoke, he took some time to actually look at the Pokémon he sat across from. Holly’s eyes were bloodshot from crying, and her fur was tangled and matted, torn in places where branches had lashed at her during her frantic flight through the forest. Bits of debris also clung to her form, and although the flow of blood had ceased, her left foreleg was still covered in blood from her injury.

Holly seemed to notice his staring and sent a glare his way. “I’m surprised Xerneas never told you that it’s rude to stare.” It was then that Grotle realized his gaze could be taken in a different manner entirely. He snapped his head away, blood rushing to his face. He stuttered out, “Um, sorry.”

The feline’s glare didn’t dissipate, but was that a hint of a smile on her muzzle? Was she just teasing him? Then the rest of her comment caught up to him. “Wait, what are you insinuating? That I stare at my mentor i-in that way!” That got a full laugh out of the Liepard.

Grotle could only stare at her, slack-jawed. “Why would I do that?” Holly rested her head on her front paws and leaned forward, still smirking at the stunned Grotle. “Oh, come on. You’ve seen her, haven’t you? She’s stunning!”

“She’s a menace, is what she is,” Grotle said in response. “Although, did you want me to let her know what you think?” He smirked as she scrambled to deny his question. After she had calmed down, the pair grew quiet, the only noise that of the still raging storm outside.

“Grotle?” Holly broke the silence.

“Hmm?” Said Pokémon let out in response.

“Why didn’t you tell your mentor about your back issue? Wouldn’t she have understood?” For some reason, Holly seemed to have… concern in her voice? Why was that? The grass type processed her question before begrudgingly admitting that he already knew the answer, deep down.

“Because I don’t want her to see me as useless.” He finally let out the fear that kept him up at night, the fear that drove him to fight and grow stronger. He was afraid of being weak, of being looked down upon.

He was afraid of being useless.

Holly’s green eyes were filled with… something. It wasn’t shock, nor was it sympathy. Grotle gazed into them, losing himself in the emotions that dwelt within. He finally understood what she was looking at him with.

She was looking at him in understanding.

“You have the same fear as I.” It wasn’t a question.

She nodded slowly, a faraway look in her eyes now. “I-I used to belong to a trainer,” she stammered out. “I’ve kept it in so long at this point that just thinking back to those days hurts. What that asshole did to me!” Her voice was filled with venom, but her eyes were filled with tears.

Grotle didn’t know what to do. Should he interrupt her, since this was clearly a difficult conversation for her, or let her continue? She listened to him as he brought up his past. In the end, he moved closer, silently supporting her as she shook.

Holly seemed grateful for the support, at least that was what Grotle assumed, based on her tail wrapping around his front leg, squeezing it for all it was worth. Eventually, the tears in her eyes began to fall, but her breathing evened out, and she looked back out into the storm, slowly watching the rain fall.

“I used to belong to a trainer. I first met him when he was just a small little thing, as he and his parents walked into the Pokémon store. I was just a Purrloin back then, and I never knew what it felt like to be loved before then. There I was, sulking in a corner of the cage as the rest of the Pokémon, Espurrs, Bunnelbys, Pikachus, and so on were crowding around the family, desperately hoping to be chosen.

“Yet Jules, I-I mean, the boy pointed at me, and I heard him say, ‘Mommy, Daddy, can I get that one?’ They tried to dissuade him. I think they could sense my attitude, but they asked the store owner if they could see me. She picked me up and held me out to the child.

“He looked at me with such wonder in his eyes, and it was then that I felt love for the first time.”

Holly continued to shake as silent sobs racked her body, her tail somehow squeezing even tighter around Grotle’s leg. She sniffled before wiping her eyes with a paw and continued her story.

“The two of us were inseparable growing up. We played together, ate together, and he even got in trouble at school - several times - when he brought me with him to his classes. But like all children, he was fascinated with Pokémon battles. Hell, he had the championship battle between Serena and Diantha practically memorized, and he would count down the days to his 16th birthday.

“He talked about how he and I would take the Kalos League by storm, and be the ones to dethrone Serena and her Delphox. He had it all planned out. Then the day came when he turned 16, and the two of us set off from Aquacorde Town.”

Holly paused her story at that point, leaving Grotle alone with his thoughts. She still spoke with so much love and affection towards the boy, even after the venom she spat earlier. How… complicated it must be, to still feel some measure of affection towards someone who had wronged you so much. He hadn’t failed to notice how she stuttered when she said the boy’s name earlier. Was it that painful? To not even be able to say his name?

The feline licked her lips and swallowed. She had been speaking for a while, and her throat was likely dry as a result. “Wait, I should still have-” The turtle cleared his throat, drawing the attention of his companion. “Holly, I might still have a few berries in my hedges if you wanted to check.”

Holly wore a puzzled expression, but sat up, and reached over into his hedges, and to her surprise, pulled out a couple of Cheri berries. “Hmph, at least you have good taste in berries.”

She bit down on the berry, and Grotle watched as they vanished seconds afterwards. Her dry throat somewhat now soothed, the feline cleared her throat, and continued her tale.

“Jules-ahem, the two of us traveled through the Gym Circuit, challenging the leaders of Santalune and Cyllage City. Somehow, he learned that Gym Leaders usually have two separate teams, and demanded they use their ‘real’ team against his team.”

That last statement confused the turtle, and he asked the feline next to him what she meant. “Basically, the Pokémon League, that is, the main body that governs Gym Leaders and all that stuff, usually places restrictions on what Pokémon a Gym Leader may use in their battles. Since challengers usually go in a certain order, Gym Leaders at the front of that order usually use younger Pokémon, so they don’t overwhelm new Trainers from the get-go.”

That thought confused Grotle. Why would someone restrict how strong their Pokémon can be? Strength meant everything in the wild, so to hear the opposite just made him question humanity even further.

Holly seemed to sense his confusion. “Yeah, it didn’t make sense to me either when J- my Trainer first explained the idea to me. But, if a challenger wishes, or if the Gym Leader feels the challenger is up to it, they may use their personal team. These are Pokémon the Leader had trained themselves, and usually are a lot stronger and more experienced.”

Having explained the confusing idea of ‘real’ versus ‘provided’ teams, Holly went back to her story. “The two gyms were difficult, but we made it past them with only a couple of issues. But when we got to Shalour City-” she choked, unable to get the words out.

Grotle cautiously raised a leg and ran his foot down the Liepard’s back, stroking her fur. He was hoping to provide some comfort to her, and it seemed to work, as the feline pressed herself against his shell, softly shaking from the memory.

“Holly, if this is too much-” She cut him off, “No. Like you said, I can’t keep this in any longer.” She inhaled slowly, steeling herself as she prepared to dive back into the painful memories.

“W-when we reached Shalour City, everything fell apart. My trainer… He had been pushing the rest of the team and me quite a bit, even though there was a while left in the League Season. But the losses at the previous Gyms weighed on him, and so he kept having us plunge into training. Often, we’d be up at the crack of dawn and not rest until the dark of night.

I-it wasn’t sustainable. I had tried to tell him this at one point, that he was wearing us down, but he didn’t listen. The rest of the team was growing increasingly angry at his treatment, but I… I was too blinded by love to see the cracks forming.”

A singular tear fell from Holly’s eye, gleaming in the darkness of the storm, but after that, no more tears fell. She turned to look at Grotle, but instead of sorrow and loss, all the turtle saw reflected in her eyes was a sense of tiredness.

“He challenged the Shalour City Gym Leader, Korrina, and demanded she use her real team, including…” Here she paused and swallowed, continuing a moment later, “including her Mega Lucario.”

Grotle sharply inhaled at that. To challenge a Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution, and with a team of young Pokémon, including a Dark type! That was suicidal!

Grotle had heard tell of Mega Evolution from Xerneas and conversed with a few spirits who had managed the feat. In every conversation, they spoke of the rush of power that came with such a power-up, but they also spoke of how difficult it was to control, how easily the mind could slip, washed away amidst the surge of battle.

Most of the spirits he had spoken with died from Mega Evolution.

“However, Korrina denied his demand. She believed that he wasn’t ready. She was right. He would make poor calls, tell us to fight in manners that failed to work. We lost. Several times. And after each loss, he would push us even more. Eventually, things grew too much to bear, and everything fell apart.

“Kadabra was the first to leave. He simply said he had had enough and broke his ball in the night before teleporting away. That opened the floodgates. Fletchinder flew off during training, and Inkay just disappeared. Only I was left at that point.

“That seemed to break something in him. Gone was the loving boy I had grown up with, and in his place was an angry, embittered teenager, angry towards everything around him. He couldn’t look inwards and recognize how he’d pushed his friends away. He thought the world was out to get him.

“He challenged Korrina again and demanded she fight him with her full strength. She refused once again. In fact, she refused the fight entirely. All she did was bring out her Lucario. But what got to me was the look in Lucario’s eyes. He was looking at me with pity. But I was still too blind to see what my trainer had become.

“My trainer was screaming at that point, demanding I attack Lucario, and so I did. I threw attack after attack at the fighting type, but nothing seemed to affect them. After a while, I simply collapsed from exhaustion.”

Grotle was silent. His heart ached for Holly. He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for her to see her entire world fall apart in front of her. She had opened herself up to him, a near-stranger, and someone she barely got along with. Was it just because she was tired of keeping all the hurt inside?

Whatever the case, Grotle wanted to show his appreciation towards the feline. Carefully, he raised his leg and placed it over Holly, and drew her to his side, hugging her. She gasped, but didn’t push away from the turtle. Instead, she placed her head against his, and the two sat in silence for a time.

“What happened afterwards?” Grotle finally broke the silence. He felt pretty confident about the answer, but he felt Holly should finish her story. Her left ear flicked in his direction, showing she had heard the question. She opened her eyes, green light reflecting in the dark hollow.

“I think Korrina took me to the Pokémon Center to be treated after I passed out, but I don’t know what happened to J- my former Trainer. The Pokémon League probably yanked his license.

I woke up in the Pokémon Center, my Poké Ball sitting on the table nearby. I-I can’t remember much after that, to be honest. I think I broke the ball and escaped the Center. After that, I was adrift, going from place to place, town to town.

It was difficult, trying to find food. A lot of people are still rather distrustful of dark types, and many were unfamiliar with my species. We’re not seen much outside of Unova. At one point, I think in the forest outside of Santalune City, a group of Elemental Monkeys jumped me.”

Holly paused for a moment, her ears falling back. Grotle tightened the hug, and the purple cat softly smiled at him before her gaze fell. She stared at the ground. “I-it had been a few days since I had last eaten, and I had finally found a berry bush. I was gorging myself on berries when the three brothers jumped me. Apparently, I was stealing from their bush.”

Holly said that last part with a snarl in her voice, the fur on her neck prickling upwards at the memory. “I wasn’t able to fight all of them at once, and during the battle, Pansear hit my leg with Rock Smash, shattering it instantly.

I don’t remember much of what happened next. I think the three stopped out of fear of attracting unwanted attention from the local Pokémon, but when I woke up, I was alone, unable to walk on my left leg. Infection set in afterwards. It was around then that I heard a rumor of this place, a place for Pokémon to live in peace, far away from humanity, battles, and everything that could hurt me.

I tried to make my way here, but it was nearly impossible, what with the weather growing worse and my injury. Food was growing scarce, and every Pokémon I encountered was unwilling to help.”

Regret filled Grotle with that statement. “I-if I hadn’t chased you off that day…” The Liepard seemed to understand what he was asking. “Would I still have lost the leg? I don’t know. It might have bought me a few more days, but my leg was dead weight at that point.”

She paused and looked the turtle in his eyes, emerald green meeting onyx black. “Why didn’t you help?” It wasn’t an accusing question, but Grotle still flinched. He tore his eyes away from Holly’s, unable to look her in the eye any further.

“Because I was a jackass who thought that might made right. I wanted a challenge, and when you didn’t fight me, I saw you as weak. I was wrong.”

Silence once again reigned supreme after that, both Pokémon caught up in their thoughts. Eventually, Holly lowered her head and closed her eyes, but to Grotle’s surprise, she never moved from her position.

Grotle lowered his head as well, the toll of the conversation and the storm finally sapping the last of his strength. As he lay down to rest, he softly said to the feline beside him.

“I’m sorry.”

Chapter Text

Awareness came slowly to Grotle, the previous day having worn the turtle out. Thankfully, his sleep was a dreamless one, so he woke feeling refreshed. As he opened his eyes, he was struck by the unfamiliarity of his surroundings. It took him a minute to recall what happened yesterday. He was about to stand up when he felt a warm body pressing up against his side.

He looked over and was surprised to see Holly curled up against him, her fur still matted from last night’s flight through the forest. Thankfully, it seemed the injury on her foreleg had closed during the night, but she’d likely still have difficulty descending the tree they were nested in.

At that, Grotle winced. How would he get down, now that he was thinking about it? He pulled his front leg out of his shell and stared at his claws. They had been blunted and torn in places from the climb, but he had to hope they’d hold up on the climb down. Otherwise…

Well, it was a long way to fall.

The feline next to him shifted, slowly opening her eyes to reveal the emerald irises underneath. She let out a large yawn before entering a full-body stretch, her back arching as she did so.

It was rather cute, Grotle thought, before he blinked. “Where did that thought come from?” Thankfully, Holly didn’t seem to notice his expression, as she was too busy looking out of the hollow.

When Grotle followed her eyes, he realized that they must have overslept. It was bright out, a stark contrast to the gloom that had hung over the plateau as the storm slowly raged. He could even see the blue sky in places where the cloud coverage was thin. Had the storm finally ended?

The two Pokémon sat in silence for a moment, observing the landscape now that the storm had subsided. Broken tree limbs littered the ground, while the soil was still flooded in places, making traversal difficult, if not outright dangerous in places.

Eventually, Grotle broke the silence, turning to Holly. “So, um, how are you feeling?” The Liepard blinked before turning to him. There was an odd emotion in her eyes, one Grotle couldn’t place. As Grotle looked back at her, the odd emotion vanished, replaced with happiness?

Holly smiled and said, “Honestly, I’m actually feeling a lot better. I feel a lot better, finally getting that off my chest. Thanks for listening to all that.”

Grotle smiled back at the feline. “No problem. But um… how do we get down?”

Her smile vanished as she looked at the broken tree limb she had used to reach the tree the previous night. She hissed as her ears pulled back against her head. “Damn it,” she muttered.

The turtle let out a sympathetic sigh and tried to think of a solution to their shared problem. The two sat at the edge of the hollow for a bit before an idea came to Grotle. It was stupid, but they couldn’t stay in the tree forever.

“Well, what if,” he began, as Holly looked at him. “What if you hold onto my shell, and I climb down the tree?”

Holly’s expression was almost comical, as she looked at him with a mixture of bewilderment and slight anger. Her voice was deadpan as she responded. “If you fall, we’re both dead. At least if you go alone, I’d still be alive.”

Grotle was slightly irritated by her response, but he kept his voice level. “How much weight can you put on your front leg at the moment? Can it support you as you climb down?”

Holly’s ears once again went back. She tried to put some weight on her injured leg, but winced at the pain. She then asked Grotle, “Wait, doesn’t Earthquake involve you hitting the ground from high above? Why don’t you use that?”

The same thought had crossed Grotle’s mind. His parents had been incredibly skilled at wielding Earthquake, his mother especially. One time, when the two were sparring, his father managed to launch his mother into the air using Bulldoze. Grotle had been very young at the time, but he could never forget his mother’s next actions.

She surrounded herself in Ground Energy, enough to cover her entire form in dirt and dust. She somehow managed to correct her position while still in the air, and when she hit the ground, she unleashed an enormous impact that could be felt for miles around.

“Unfortunately, I won't learn Earthquake until I evolve into a Torterra. I can't control the necessary amount of Ground Energy as a Grotle.” Grotle admitted, annoyed at how easily the problem could be dealt with if he were stronger.

The Liepard somehow seemed to sense where his thoughts were going, as her tail flicked his beak, throwing him out of his self-deprecation. “Hey, it’s fine. J-just be careful, alright.”

Grotle nodded and knelt for Holly to climb on his back. She climbed up and wrapped her forelegs around his neck, while her tail curled around his own. Slowly, he exited the hollow, digging his claws into the tree bark. Thankfully, it seemed the sun had dried it somewhat, though it was still too wet for Grotle’s liking.

Slowly and cautiously, Grotle began to descend the tree. With each step down, he dug his claws as deep as he could. He used his beak as an additional anchor, but that prevented him from speaking to Holly. The feline was almost choking him with how hard she was gripping his neck, but he was able to bear it.

After about an hour, Grotle had to stop. His back was on fire once again, and his legs felt like they were about to fall off. He pressed his head against the trunk, sucking in deep gasps of air. In between breaths, he tried to speak. “H-Holly… How much… further?”

The feline hesitantly looked below and then tightened her grip around Grotle’s neck. He gasped from the pain, but Holly was too scared to notice. “A-about halfway there.”

Grotle bit back a curse at that news. Only halfway. Great. Nevertheless, he began his descent once more. Slowly, the pair descended the tree. After another hour had passed, Holly spoke up once again.

“Almost there. I think I can-” With that, the purple-furred feline leapt from his back, nearly giving Grotle a heart attack in the process. Thankfully, he heard her speak just below him, “You’re about 5 feet from the roots.”

With the weight of Holly now off his back, he was able to reach the roots of the tree in just a few minutes. As his aching, sore legs finally reached solid ground, Grotle collapsed. He felt completely exhausted and vowed never to climb a tree again.

Blessedly, Holly gave him some time to catch his breath. She seemed just as worn out from their endeavor. Grotle was slightly annoyed at that. He was the one doing all the climbing!

“Wait. It probably wasn’t easy to keep a hold of my body for several hours straight, and it seemed she didn’t like looking down.” Grotle decided to let it go after that, and the two sat and recuperated for a while afterwards.

The sun was high in the sky once the two Pokémon decided to end their rest. Holly was the first to get back to her paws, allowing Grotle to see the slight wince as she put weight on her injured paw.

“Will you be able to walk?” Grotle didn’t want to upset Holly with the question, but he also didn’t want her to risk reopening the injury. Thankfully, she wasn’t upset by his concern.

“I-I,” she stuttered, before her ears drooped and she admitted, “No, probably not.” Hearing this, Grotle bent back down, silently offering the feline a ride back to Aube Village.

The Liepard seemed surprised by this gesture. She tried to wave him off, saying, “I-it’s fine. I don’t want to risk your back.” Grotle cut her off. “Holly. It’s fine. Besides, it’d give you some time to get your pelt in order. I noticed how prideful you are about your appearance.”

She seemed to accept this answer and climbed back onto Grotle’s back, sitting between the two hedges that grew on either side of his spine. He set off towards Aube Village, the only sound that of his footsteps as he trekked through the forest, and the soft rasp of Holly’s tongue as she groomed herself.

As he hiked back to civilization, Grotle was able to see just how much damage the storm had done. Many trees had fallen, and many more branches lay strewn about the landscape. Rocks protruded from the ground, slowing the turtle down as he had to watch his step. Parts of the forest had been washed away, and Grotle audibly sighed, catching the attention of his companion.

“What’s wrong?” Holly asked. “Just,” Grotle paused to gather his thoughts. “I’m just annoyed at all this damage. It’s gonna be a royal pain to navigate, especially with the cart.”

Holly was silent for a moment, but then she spoke. “Yeah, the plateau had weathered storms before, but I’ve never seen one this bad before,” Grotle grunted a response, focusing on navigating a tricky bit of terrain at the moment.

Holly paused, anxiously observing as Grotle managed to reach the end of the muddy land, and then continued. “I can see if some of the other Pokémon can help clear a path from Aube to the grove if you want.”

“Please, that’d be a great help.”

Holly was silent after that, but Grotle could feel her shifting on top of him. It felt like she was lying down, and he could feel something pressing against his head. With his limited range of motion, he turned his head and saw the feline resting her head on top of his.

At his glance, she smirked. Grotle rolled his eyes at her before turning back to the path ahead of him.

“At least you make a decent coat,” he quipped. “Thanks for blocking the wind.”

Holly responded by slapping his tail with her own.

It took longer than Grotle would have liked, but as the sun was reaching the western horizon, he and Holly finally reached the clearing that Aube Village was nested in. It looked like it had been relatively untouched by the storm, and he could see the various residents running about, cleaning up the minor damage and debris.

Holly hopped off his back, sending a slight twinge of pain throughout his body. He ignored it and turned to look at the purple cat. She met his gaze, and the two stood there, shifting uncomfortably.

Finally, she broke the silence. “Hey, um. Thanks. For everything I mean.” Grotle chuckled, the tension now broken.

“It’s fine. It’s my fault you were out there anyway.” The Grass type trailed off, regret filling his thoughts. Holly waved him off.

“No, it’s fine. I know that you didn’t mean what you said, and why you said it. Water under the bridge and all that… It’s just nice to finally have that story out there, to not keep it bottled up all the time. So thank you, Grotle.”

Grotle nodded, unsure of what to say. Holly seemed to take that as an end to their conversation and turned to head back home.

“Holly, wait!” Grotle exclaimed as she turned to look back at him.

“Look, I-I’m planning on telling Xerneas about my back issues, and explaining what happened last night.” At the feline’s shocked glance, he clarified. “I’ll keep your story under wraps, since that’s not mine to tell. But I think it’d be good for you to let other people know. You said it’s nice not having it bottled up inside, right?”

She nodded and appeared to be thinking over his words. “Alright, I’ll think about it. And Grotle.”

He looked into her shimmering green gaze. “If you’re serious about wanting to become a better Pokémon, then well,” She smiled, a purr in her throat, “I’m looking forward to seeing how much you grow. Take care now.”

Holly turned, flicking her tail in farewell. Grotle was stunned by her words, but silently vowed to one day be that Pokémon she wanted to see.

He turned and departed, making his way back to his home and his mentor.

The sun had set a little while ago as Grotle reached the grove. As he pushed through the ivy that hung by the grove entrance, he was tackled by Xerneas, as she pulled him into a backbreaking hug.

“Huh, guess I should have predicted she’d be worried. Oops.” The turtle thought.

After almost a minute of hugging, Xerneas finally pulled back and scowled at her apprentice. “Where were you! All I get is a message from Magearna that you won’t be making it back last night. No details, nothing! Are you hurt? Are you all right?”

Grotle tried to process the flood of questions his mentor had, but it seemed never-ending. Eventually, he cut her off. “Xerneas! I’m fine. Something came up that I had to deal with. I’m sorry for not letting you know sooner, but I couldn’t wait.”

Xerneas didn’t seem to like that answer and wanted more of an explanation, but she remained silent as the grass type continued speaking. “I can explain, but can you follow me? I want to show you something.”

The deer raised an eyebrow at the question, but she nodded, rose to her hooves, and followed the Grotle. He stood by the grove entrance and watched as she grabbed a basket, antlers glowing pink as she levitated the basket alongside her. At his glance, she said, “Thought we’d get hungry.”

“Oh, thank Arceus,” Grotle thought. He hadn’t eaten in over a day at this point, and he could feel his stomach grumble at the thought of food.

He exited the grove, Xerneas following behind him, and began walking towards his overlook. The pair walked through the forest without saying a word. It was clear to Grotle that Xerneas was curious as to where they were going, but she held her tongue.

After around 15 minutes or so, the mortal and the goddess arrived at Grotle’s overlook. Grotle sat down on one side and stared out at the night Kalosian sky. Xerneas sat down on the other side, and the two slowly ate from the basket the deer had carried.

Grotle couldn’t help but smile at the collection of berries the basket contains. Cheri Berries and Sitrus Berries. He should have known that Xerneas would grab their favorites. He ate till his hunger was sated, before setting aside the berry he had been eating, and turned to Xerneas.

It seemed the Goddess of Life had finished her meal as well and was gazing up at the starry sky above. As she watched a meteorite streak across the sky, she spoke, “Even after all this time, there are still things I’m learning, things I’ve yet to experience.”

She lowered her head, and her blue eyes met the black irises of Grotle. “Now then, you said you had something to share?” Grotle swallowed nervously, the words he had planned suddenly leaving him. How had it been easier sharing this with Holly of all Pokémon? The two of them never got along before last night.

Why was he struggling to talk to his mentor?

Grotle realized that Xerneas was looking at him with concern, and he spoke without thinking, hoping that it’d make sense to the deer.

“I-I… I’m sure you’ve noticed the issues I’ve been having recently with my work, right?” At her nod, he continued. “Well, I didn’t want to tell you at first, but it’s my back. You were right about it never fully healing. If I exert myself too much, it flares up in pain. Even moving like this,” he extends a foot to grab a nearby berry, “hurts.”

Xerneas’s expression was clouded. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of concern and disappointment. “I’m sorry that your back never healed properly, and I can’t help but blame myself for not being able to heal it fully. But I have to ask, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Her voice was stern, and Grotle involuntarily winced at her words. He looked down at the ground before returning his gaze to Xerneas. If he was admitting to everything, he was going to face it head-on.

“Because I was worried you’d see me as weak. As useless. And you are wrong, it wasn’t your fault, my back never healed. You did more than I could have asked for.” In a quieter voice, Grotle admitted, “More than I deserved.”

At the turtle’s words, Xerneas’s gaze softened. She spoke softly, “Grotle, I could never see you as useless. You’ve done so much already, and I just know that you’ll go on to do great things one day. You’re the furthest thing from useless.”

Grotle looked at his mentor and smiled at her words. “Thank you, Xerneas. That means a lot. But”, and here he paused before taking a deep breath and continuing, “that isn’t the only thing.”

She looked at him questioningly, and so Grotle explained everything that happened the previous day, from his unkind remarks towards Holly, followed by her flight into the forest, to his venture after her and their stay in the hollow.

The Goddess of Life remained silent throughout Grotle’s story, but her body language expressed a multitude of emotions. Her eyebrows furrowed in disappointment as he admitted to his treatment of the purple feline, while her gaze lowered to the ground as he mentioned, in broad strokes, Holly’s life before the plateau.

He made sure to keep the details vague, as it was not his place to tell, and he wanted to keep his promise to Holly, saying only that the Liepard had been previously owned by a Trainer before the lifestyle of a Trainer tore their relationship apart.

Finally, Grotle reached the end of his story, where he and Holly parted ways outside of Aube Village. His mentor was silent for a long time, gazing at the stars. Grotle turned to look up as well.

It truly was a wonderful sight. Since the plateau was so far from human civilization, there was little light pollution to obstruct the cosmos. Stars glittered in vibrant colors thousands of light-years away, while the moon was little more than a sliver at the moment, slowly making its way towards the western horizon.

Grotle was content to observe the night sky, though he was starting to get concerned as his mentor remained silent. Eventually, she spoke, snapping him out of his stargazing. He turned his head to look at Xerneas.

The goddess spoke slowly. “Well, that certainly explains a lot of what has been going on.” Her voice was carefully neutral, and Grotle winced. “Look, Grotle. I’m rather disappointed that you’ve been hiding this from me for over a year now, and how you took it out on an undeserving Pokémon, regardless of your past issues with each other.”

She sighed, but when she met Grotle’s eyes afterwards, it was filled with a warmth he was wholly unexpecting. “But, I am very proud of you as well. You went out of your way to help someone you had wronged in the past, regardless of the toll it would take on you. Just… let me know of these things ahead of time, alright?”

Grotle nodded his head, and Xerneas smiled at him. Together, they turned their gaze back towards the night sky above, and they spent the next hour or so in silence, watching the time go by.

Eventually, a breeze blew across the overlook, and Grotle shivered, drawing his tail inside his shell. Xerneas noticed this and got to her hooves. “Well, thank you again for finally letting me know about what you’ve been dealing with, Grotle. And thank you for showing me this place. I can see why you like coming here.”

Grotle got to his feet as well. Together, the two Pokémon departed, heading back to their den inside the Tree of Life.

As Grotle was about to step back underneath the cover of the trees surrounding the overlook, he heard a faint buzzing noise. He looked around, but he couldn’t seem to identify the source.

“Must be a random bug, I guess.” With that, he quickly ran to catch up with the retreating form of his mentor.

“Sir, looks like the energy readings are correct. It seems the last cell, at least the last one that is easily accessible at this time, is at Nebel Plateau.”

The figure turned and looked at the one who had brought the news to them. They smiled and looked at the display in front of them.

“Fantastic. Bring up the recording from the drone. I want to see it for myself. Start when the signal source is confirmed.”

The employee nodded and tapped on the device he was holding. The large display began playing a video, taken by the drone the organization had deployed to the southeastern region of Kalos.

The drone flew across the treetops as a line was drawn in the corner. As the drone continued onward, the line became stronger, and the signal grew more powerful. Eventually, the drone reached a plateau, one with an incredibly large tree in the center. The signal was almost overwhelming at this point.

The figure turned to their employee and spoke. “Wonderful, have the men-”

The figure paused as the Goddess of Life, Xerneas herself, stepped into frame, accompanied by a Grotle. The two Pokémon sat down at the edge of the plateau, seemingly lost in conversation, thankfully unaware of the drone that hovered several hundred feet overhead.

They gathered their thoughts before turning back to the employee who had brought the news. To the employee’s credit, he seemed just as stunned as they had been. The figure cleared their throat, and the employee jumped back to attention, straightening the red glasses that clung to their face.

“This is an unexpected boon. Have our men prepare to capture this lost cell, and make preparations to capture Xerneas as well. She will prove… most effective at speeding up our operations, and provide a safeguard in case testing goes awry.”

The employee nodded, typing furiously on the tablet he held. He turned back to his leader and asked. “Sir, how do you want us to draw the Legendary out?”

The figure turned back to the display as they spoke. “First, we need to see what else lives on the plateau. We’ll investigate over the winter and prepare to move next spring. That should give us enough time for reconnaissance and to determine the next steps.”

The employee nodded before hurrying away, leaving their boss alone once more.

They were still gazing at the Goddess in near reverence. “Soon, everything will end. And you, my dear, will help us bring life to our new world.”

Chapter Text

A fierce gale nearly sent Grotle into the air. He managed to dig his claws into the ground in time, but the wind still tore through his hedges, snapping the branches and sending debris hurling into the darkness.

A blizzard had ensnared the plateau and refused to let go. It had come on suddenly, giving Xerneas and her apprentice little time to prepare. They went to sleep earlier in the night, only to be forcefully woken up by the howling of the wind and the creaking of the Tree of Life.

The two Pokémon were currently making their way to Aube Village to seek shelter and safety amidst the residents there. Grotle looked upwards and could barely see the outline of his mentor against the snow. The only reason he could see her was because her antlers were currently active, serving as a beacon for the turtle to follow. She seemed to have paused, and Grotle could barely hear her voice.

“What!” he yelled, voice swallowed up in the storm. He tried his best to close the gap and quickly made it to her side. He looked up and beheld the haggard state his mentor was in.

A scowl marred her face as icicles, sticks, and leaves clung to her antlers. She gritted her teeth in anger, but when she looked back at Grotle, her gaze softened. She again tried to speak, and thankfully, Grotle could hear her this time.

“Stay as close to me as you can. I don’t want you getting lost in this storm.” She paused and spoke once more, venom in her voice. “Next time I see Kyurem, I am going to kick their ass!” She began muttering various obscenities towards the dragon husk, but they were lost in the wind.

The two started moving once again, making their way towards the village. As they trekked through the storm, Grotle’s back pulled at him, sending pain throughout his body.

Since he had confessed to Xerneas earlier in the fall, she had come up with a few exercises that were meant to help with the pain. They tore at his back, but over time, he noticed the pain slowly becoming easier to manage.

The two Pokémon continued onwards. Several times, Grotle had to navigate around fallen tree limbs, branches, and entire trees that had fallen due to the storm. Holly had kept her word, and after the previous storm, he had encountered Pokémon helping restore the damaged trails that cut through the plateau. Unfortunately, their progress hadn’t fully finished before the blizzard hit, and now even more debris was scattered across the landscape.

After about an hour, the master and her apprentice reached Aube Village. It looked mostly unharmed, though Grotle could see that a few of the homes had been damaged by the wind. But the place looked deserted. Where is everyone?

Xerneas seemed to know where she was going, however. He followed as she made her way to the food storehouse and raised a hoof. She slammed it against the door three times, and it opened a fraction.

Magearna’s glowing eye could be seen inside, and as the automaton looked at the two newcomers, she quickly opened the door, frantically calling for the two to come inside. As they did so, she and Volcanion hurried to close the door. As soon as the door was closed, Volcanion separated that weird tube thing that he had and pointed it at Grotle.

The Mythical Pokémon smirked and said, “Open wide!” Grotle’s eyes widened.

“Wait, wha-” He was hit by a blast of steam, which warmed him up, but filled his shell with moisture. That always felt awful when that happened.

Condensation dripping from his shell, Grotle glared at Volcanion. “Thanks,” he said, voice utterly dripping with sarcasm. He turned away and saw Xerneas and Magearna talking in hushed voices.

He walked closer and could see that Magearna was clearly worried about something. Her arms kept tapping together, while she frantically pranced on her legs. As he approached, he heard her say.

“... not back yet. Oh, can you sense her Life?”

Wait, a Pokémon was missing? Grotle looked around the storeroom and tried to see if he could recognize who was missing from the group. The Talonflame family was over in the corner, while the Gurdurr twins were nearby, playing with the steel beams they carried everywhere.

He shifted his gaze, but it looked like everyone was accounted for. Everyone except…

“Shit! Where’s Holly!” Grotle swore, catching the attention of Xerneas and Magearna. Both glanced at him with worry in their eyes, and Grotle’s stomach plummeted. Finally, after several agonizing moments, Magearna spoke.

“W-we don’t know. She said she was going out for a walk last night. She usually does this from time to time, coming back early in the morning the next day. But since this storm was unexpected…”

Grotle silently cursed. He knew exactly where the feline had likely gone off to. He moved to the door and spoke to Volcanion. “Open it. I’m going after her.”

Said Pokémon raised an eyebrow at Grotle’s demand. Maybe he should have been a bit more respectful, but his thoughts were consumed by worry for Holly, and Grotle had long since lost his reverence for Legendary Pokémon.

Grotle could hear Xerneas approach from behind. “Grotle, think about this! What about your back?” He cut her off. “I am. I’m the only one here who knows where she could have gone, and you all need to stay to keep everyone else from worrying!”

Anger tore through Grotle. The more time wasted here, the longer Holly would be out in the storm all alone! He stared down Volcanion. After a moment, the Mythical opened the door, allowing Grotle to exit.

“Finally!” he thought as he exited the storeroom. As he left, he turned to Xerneas, wanting to provide her a bit of comfort. “Xerneas, I’ll be fine. I promise. I need to do this.”

She looked as if she wanted to argue, but she tore her eyes away from her apprentice. Softly, so soft he could barely hear her above the wind, she said, “Alright, Grotle. Come back safely, alright.”

He nodded, and the door closed behind him, leaving him alone in the whiteout.

He gathered himself the best he could and looked towards the forest, trying to recall the direction Holly’s tree was located. As he looked, he could have sworn he saw a flash of light, as if light was reflecting off of something.

“What is that?” As Grotle peered closer, he saw the flash again briefly and heard the same buzzing noise he had in the fall. “That is definitely not a Pokémon!” Anger surged through Grotle, but he was unable to identify the source of the sound. It quickly vanished, torn away by the howling wind.

Growling, he set off into the forest, praying to whatever Legendary Pokémon he could think of that Holly would be unharmed.

After an infuriating amount of time, Grotle reached the edge of the clearing where Holly’s tree grew. He looked around frantically, but he could barely see past his own beak at this point. Somehow, the storm had grown even worse. His hedges had torn away, leaving his shell barren.

“Holly!” he cried out, hoping his hunch was right and that the Liepard was here.

“Grotle!” Relief flooded him as he turned to the left and saw his quandary emerging from behind a nearby tree. She looked as haggard as he felt, her pelt messy and torn in places. Her pink nose was tinged blue from the wind. Her ears were pressed against her head, and she shook with every step.

She approached as fast as she could, and to his surprise, drew in into a hug. After a moment, he raised a leg and returned the hug. The feline was almost frozen solid with how cold she was.

She broke the hug and looked at the turtle before speaking. “What the hell is going on?”

He spoke, “No idea. A freak blizzard blew in overnight with no warning. We need to get back to the village. Everyone is staying in the storeroom.” Holly nodded at his response, but he could see just how worn out the feline was. She’d been out here for too long at this point, and Grotle was concerned she’d collapse at any moment.

An idea struck him. He and Holly were too far from the village now. They’d never make it in time. But the Tree of Life was relatively close by. The two could seek shelter in the Cave of Spirit.

“Alright, Holly, we need to get out of here!” He had to yell to be heard over the wind, but the purple cat still had to press against him to listen. He continued, “There’s no way we’ll make it to the village, so we’ll go to the Tree of Life. There’s a place inside that should work.”

His statement stunned Holly. “W-what! The Tree of Life? Is that even allowed?” Grotle rolled his eyes and said, “I don’t care. It’s the closest place I know that offers shelter, so move your ass!”

The feline’s back arched at what he said, but she turned with him, and the two were about to reenter the forest surrounding the clearing when a great rumbling noise was heard in the distance. It seemed to shake the entire ground, as if a Pokémon was unleashing Earthquake,

“What’s happening?” Holly was unable to hide the tremor in her voice, while Grotle bent his front legs and kneeled on the ground. Despite lacking the Ground typing until he evolved, Grotles were known to be able to detect clean water located underground. He was hoping he could use this ability to determine what had happened.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the ground beneath his feet. Immediately, he was struck by a strong shaking sensation, almost knocking him off his feet. What could cause this? The only things around them were trees and the mountain protecting the edge of the plateau.

“The mountain!” Grotle’s eyes sprang open as he yelled out to Holly. “Get to the tree now! Avalanche incoming!”

The feline’s eyes filled to the brim with fear, and she leapt forward, hurrying to her tree as fast as her three legs could carry her. Grotle fell in behind her, and the two reached the tree in a few short moments.

Grotle’s heart was pounding in his chest, fear trying to take hold of him. They had to reach the hollow above and hope that the tree would hold once the avalanche impacted. He tried to sense the ground again to judge the distance, but his heart was pounding too much to get a good reading.

Wait, why wasn’t Holly climbing yet! She was scrabbling against the tree, her paws desperately trying to get a grip on the bark. Now that Grotle could see the tree up close, he could see that it was completely iced over. Holly’s claws could barely pierce the ice. He watched as Holly slid down the tree before falling to a heap at the bottom.

As she pushed herself to her paws, he could see tears falling from her eyes before freezing on her cheeks. She tried to speak, her voice quiet and filled with terror. “Grotle, I-I can’t get up…”

Anger filled Grotle’s chest. Anger at their situation, that the two of them would die so soon after finally moving past their issues. This rage blossomed in Grotle and continued to build and build, until, with a cry of rage, Grotle turned away and glared at the oncoming avalanche, now close enough to be audible above the storm.

“NO! We will not die here! Not to a Xerneas-damned avalanche of all things!”

The rage consumed Grotle, as a white glow surrounded the Pokémon. His shell thickened and grew, tail and legs thickening with new muscle to support the additional weight. A tree blossomed out of the shell, with three large spikes extending out of one side. Grotle’s eyes were alight, the dark irises replaced with a crimson hue, as spikes extended on either side of his jaw. He doubled in size while tripling in weight.

Grotle, no, Torterra’s senses became alight. Suddenly, he could sense that the avalanche was moving at incredible speeds and determine the exact distance it was away from them. He could feel the vibrations through the earth and knew instinctively that not much time was left.

He channeled this new energy inside of him and rose onto his hind legs before throwing himself back to the ground, unleashing a massive wave of energy. Rocky outcroppings and jagged stones were thrust upwards, but Torterra could see that this wouldn’t be enough to protect him and Holly from the avalanche. He was too inexperienced with molding Ground Energy at the moment, and anything he created was likely to crumble away.

A low growl filled his throat as he turned back to Holly, who was staring at him in open-mouthed awe. “Holly”, his voice echoed out, lower than it had been previously. “Press yourself against the tree as much as you can.”

The feline stared at him as if he were insane, but did as he asked. He approached and stood up, pressing his forelegs against the tree above Holly. He was going to shield her from the avalanche with his own body.

The feline seemed to recognize this. “Grotle, err, Torterra! What are you doing! You’ll die!”

The colossal turtle responded. “Then at least I’ll die protecting you.” He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to remember a conversation he had had in the summer.

Grotle was excited. It was another day where Xerneas would summon a spirit for Grotle to talk with and learn from. He could barely stay still as the pair walked towards the Cave of Spirit.

His mentor chuckled at his antics before sitting down at the pool and gesturing for her apprentice to join him. He walked up and sat down, and the two looked down at the pool.

“Now, Grotle, I want you to be the one to summon the spirit this time.” Grotle’s eyes were comically large at what Xerneas said. She wanted him to try and summon a spirit! Can he even do that?

The goddess seemed to sense his nervousness. “Don’t worry. The spirit I want you to summon is already aware and waiting. You just need to be the one to create the initial connection. Just reach out, like how you can sense water underground.”

The turtle gulped but nodded, closing his eyes and focusing. He could feel… something. He tried to focus on the sensation. It seemed to build until it vanished, and he heard a new voice speak.

“Greetings, ma’am. This the guy you wanted me to talk to?” Their accent was strange, definitely foreign. Grotle opened his eyes and saw on the other side of the pool a Serperior coiled up and staring at him.

Xerneas nodded before standing. “I’ll be back in a little while. Grotle, behave yourself.” Grotle was bewildered by that statement, but he could see the teasing look in her eye as she turned. He groaned, and the Serperior stifled a chuckle.

“Aight then, kid. Goddess says that I’m to teach ya about what it means to be a Grass type.”

The memory came to Torterra, and he tried to channel what Serperior had taught him. He focused deep inside himself, on the energy that dwelt within. His thoughts were filled with spring, sunlight, life, and growth, and he could feel the energy respond.

“Remember, kid. Grass Energy is the energy of life itself. Xerneas herself may be a fairy type, but I guarantee she’s got grass flowing through her veins.”

The energy coalesced around the tree that grew on his back, and he could feel it begin to grow, the roots slowly reaching across his shell. He tried to encourage the growth to hurry up, the avalanche growing ever closer with each passing second.

“My vines? Shit, if you can master your own vines, you’d be unstoppable. Forget about needin to reach your opponent yourself, you could just stand there and let your vines do the talkin for ya. There’s no limit to how far mine can grow. All you gotta do is focus, channel that energy.”

The roots spread across Torterra’s back, wrapping around his legs, and piercing the frozen soil. Torterra continued to encourage the roots to grow, to anchor him to the ground and block the oncoming tide of snow from hitting Holly.

Said feline seemed to realize what he was doing, and watched as his roots, now a proper Frenzy Plant at this point, bound the two to the tree, hopefully preventing them from being swept away by the avalanche. She gasped slightly as a vine wrapped around her torso, binding her to Torterra, who looked down at her in alarm.

“I-it’s fine, Torterra. Thank you.”

He nodded, and together, the two Pokémon remained silent, each praying that they’d make it through this venture alive.

“Xerneas, please let this work. For Holly’s sake, if nothing else,” Torterra prayed, hoping that he had wrapped enough roots around the pair to block the avalanche and protect them from being swept away.

Finally, agonizing moments later, the avalanche could be seen. It tore through the treeline, snapping branches wherever it could reach, carrying stones, branches, and other debris along with it. It reached the tree the two Pokémon were huddled against, crashing into the roots Torterra had wrapped around the tree and burrowed into the ground, snapping them like twigs.

The two Pokémon were buried under feet of snow, unable to be seen, as the storm raged ever onward.

Xerneas was absolutely terrified at the moment. Her apprentice had never returned from his venture into the storm, and she had been unable to sense his energy, the chaotic nature of the storm blocking her senses.

“The next time I see that Arceus-damned husk of a dragon, I’m going to kick their ass from here to Kanto!” She was furious at Kyurem, who decided to unleash a massive snowstorm blanketing all of Kalos, with no warning whatsoever. “Maybe I could get Zygarde to help. They can’t be pleased that so many of their cells are now frozen. And I know Yveltal will need no convincing whatsoever.”

Xerneas knew that she wouldn’t actually do this, but she needed something to take her mind off the disappearance of her student. She continued to fret anxiously, barely recognizing that Magearna had approached.

“Life, I-I need to tell you something.” Why Magearna constantly insisted on referring to Xerneas by her title irritated the deer, but the irritation was overwhelmed by the flood of concern that filled the deer, recognizing that tone of voice.

“What happened!” she practically demanded of the automaton. The automaton tapped her arms together, a downcast expression on her mechanical face, before she looked at Xerneas. “My sensors picked up vibrations occurring near the area Grotle had said he was going to look in. Given the storm outside, it was likely an avalanche, and a rather large one at that.”

The mechanical Pokémon grew silent, as Xerneas’s heart stopped beating. An avalanche, while Grotle was outside, alone, with no Aspear berries with him to ward off frostbite or hypothermia.

Xerneas swore, cursing her creator’s name. The faces of those around her blushed from her language, but she didn’t care. Yet, before she could continue for long, her ear flicked towards the door. Was that a knock?

There it was again! She bounded over to the door and helped Volcanion pry it open, the steam having frozen the door to its frame. Together, they were able to break the ice and wrench the door open.

A frozen shape flew through the opening, followed by a much larger shape seconds later. A deep voice then cried out, “Just us, close the damn door!”

Xerneas hurried to shut the door, Volcanion having left to heat the newcomers. Once the door was shut and sealed, the Goddess of Life turned, and her heart leapt into her throat.

It was Holly, fur frozen to her frame and trembling from exhaustion. And beside her was a Torterra, tree snapped in places and slumped to the ground. Xerneas’s voice trembled as she spoke,

“Grotle?”

Torterra’s eyes opened slowly, but his crimson irises met Xerneas’s cerulean ones, and he nodded. Tears fell from the deer’s eyes as she hurried over to her student’s side, already casting Heal Pulse to heal the battered and bruised bodies of the two Pokémon.

The Continent Pokémon went to speak, but Xerneas waved her hoof. “Rest, Torterra. You’ve done enough currently. You and Holly can explain everything later.”

He nodded and lay his head on the ground, falling quickly asleep. To Xerneas’s surprise and slight joy, Holly curled up against Torterra, falling asleep beside him.

“Torterra and Holly, huh? Now there’s an idea…” She brushed those thoughts away for now and focused her efforts on healing her student and his friend, while the storm continued to rage outside.

Chapter Text

The tiller cut through the garden, loosening the hardened and compacted dirt and preparing the garden for crops to be planted in the coming months. As its occupant reached the end of the row, Torterra paused, taking a deep breath.

He was amazed at how much faster he was able to pull the machine along now. He was faster, stronger. If he hit a rock, it no longer caused the tiller to jolt and send pain rushing through his back.

Speaking of which, his back had finally healed. When he evolved, the damaged tissue in his back that caused the pain had healed. Now, whenever he moved, he no longer had to deal with pain flaring up. The continent Pokémon was astonished at how big his range of motion now was. Was his back that damaged as a Grotle?

Torterra shook these thoughts out of his head and turned to begin the next row in the garden. It had been a couple of months since that blizzard tore through Kalos, and springtime was in full swing now. He and Xerneas had to get the garden ready in time for the crops to be planted before the heat of summer set in.

Thankfully, outside of the freak of nature that was the snowstorm, it had been a relatively mild winter, which meant that the river was not in danger of flooding as it had been the year before. Thoughts like this floated through Torterra’s mind as he continued to lug the tiller along until, as the sun was reaching its zenith, he reached the end of the garden.

With a modicum of pride, Torterra admired his work. Last year, it took him several days to plow the garden and get it ready for seeding, but it took him half that time this year.

“I’m impressed, Torterra.”

Torterra turned and watched his mentor stride out into the grove, vines clinging to her antlers until she shook them off. The deer walked to his side and admired the work he had just completed.

She nodded at his work, “Thank you, Torterra. You certainly made good time. I reckon that we’ll be able to get the seedlings in almost a week ahead of schedule now. The harvest will definitely be bountiful.”

Torterra couldn’t help but smile as he basked in his mentor’s praise. Since the two Pokémon could plant the crops earlier now, they’d be able to grow more by harvest time, and hopefully result in a higher yield.

Xerneas turned towards the cellar, where she had been carefully growing the seedlings she wanted to plant, a mixture of berries, vegetables, and other types of produce. These seedlings would take up around half of the field, while the other half was already planted with wheat and other crops, planted in the fall and left to sit until the spring.

Torterra followed and entered the cellar after his mentor. Her horns were already alight with psychic energy, as she levitated trays of the seedlings she wanted planted.

“Alright, Torterra, can you take these out?” asked the Goddess of Life. She levitated a tray over to the turtle. He raised a brow at his mentor. “How am I supposed to-” He stopped, as the tray was placed on his shelf.

Many more trays followed, until Torterra had trays stacked up to the tree that grew on its shell. He huffed and sent a glare towards Xerneas. She just laughed and motioned with a hoof for him to leave.

Torterra left the cellar and made his way back to the field where the produce was to be planted. Since he didn’t have psychic powers of his own, he was unable to get the trays off of his shell, and he doubted Xerneas would like it if he dumped all her work onto the ground.

So, the continent Pokémon lowered his body to rest upon the dirt beneath him and pulled his legs and tail inside his shell. The sun felt wonderful on his shell. He closed his eyes, eventually dozing off.

When he woke, the sun had reached the western horizon, and the sky was colored in wonderful shades of red, yellow, and orange. He turned his head and watched Xerneas plant another seedling into a row he had tilled earlier in the day.

Shock filled his system as he withdrew his legs and tail from his shell and made to stand.

“Ah, careful, Torterra. We don’t want those trays to fall!” exclaimed his mentor. Torterra paused, and yes, he could still feel the trays resting on his shell. An exasperated look appeared on his face as he stared at Xerneas.

“You didn’t take them off?”

She shook her head and said, “No. I didn’t want to disturb you.” Her antlers lit up, and Torterra could feel the slight weight of the trays leave his shell, and watched as they floated through the air and were placed gently beside him.

He rolled his eyes, but smiled at his mentor. “Thanks.”

Xerneas merely glanced at him and then returned to her planting. She moved a hoof and gently covered the berry seedling in dirt. She grabbed the next one to plant a few feet away.

Torterra stood up and moved to assist his mentor. Together, they worked in silence, Torterra digging holes in the soil, and Xerneas carefully planting the sapling or vegetable seedling into the provided hole.

The work continued until the sun had set, and the half moon was rising in the sky. Finally, the final plant was planted. Torterra cracked his neck to alleviate the pain that had built up throughout the day, and Xerneas arched her back, likely to do the same.

“Thank you for the assistance, Torterra,” Xerneas spoke, “Will you turn in for the night?”

Torterra shook his head. “No, I’ll stay up for a while longer. Probably will head to the usual spot.”

Xerneas nodded her head. This had become a usual thing for the two Pokémon. If Torterra was headed out for a while, he gave Xerneas a heads-up as to where he was going. Torterra didn’t mind it too much. After he had disappeared twice in a few short months, he felt it was nice to alleviate his mentor’s worries.

The blue-furred deer went inside the den, while Torterra went to the cellar, hooking a small container that hung on the wall onto a branch of his tree. Once he was sure the container was secured, he went and exited the grove, making his way to the overlook.

He arrived at the overlook after a brief walk through the darkened forest and looked out once more at the Kalosian wilds. “Arceus, no matter how many times I see this view, it never grows old.”

The wilds sprawled beneath him, filled with flora slowly blooming after winter had concluded. Munching on the berries he brought with him, Torterra turned to look at the night sky above, and traced the constellations, reciting the tales Xerneas had told him over the past year.

He could see Aurum, the Lucario hunter who would constantly chase after the constellation Aurelia, his sister, stolen away from him by the Arbok constellation, Ouroborus. Further to the north, he could see a cluster of stars that shone bright in the sky.

According to Xerneas, that cluster was the entrance to Arceus’s domain, and if one were to enter His domain, they would be granted a singular wish from the Lord of Creation. The other stars were the entrances to the domains of His children.

Torterra doubted Xerneas had been telling the truth. How would any Pokémon even get there to have their wish granted?

Now and then, Torterra would see one of humanity’s strange flying machines cross the sky above, leaving those cloudy trails behind. The sight irritated the Pokémon, but he tried to ignore it. He didn’t want such a beautiful night to be spoiled by humanity.

“BZZZ!” A loud buzzing noise rang out. “Again with this shit,” Torterra grumbled. He looked around, and… there! He saw a strange object floating in the trees above him, just hovering there. Was it looking for something?

Torterra channeled his energy, and a root grew from his tree. He launched it at the strange machine and managed to wrap the root around it. The machine tore at the root, but he managed to reel it in and get a better grip on the strange device.

Now that the grass type was able to get a good look at the device, it seemed to be one of those handheld flying machines a few humans had used to track him down as a Turtwig. It had 4 spinning blades and an odd box in between the rotors. As he peered into the box, it seemed to adjust before focusing on the Pokémon.

The rotors stopped spinning, and the device began to smoke. What was happening?

Torterra held the device away from him in case anything else happened. The device was silent, and soon the smoke ceased. He inspected the odd machine and discovered an insignia was inscribed on the top of the device, above the strange box that had been leaking smoke.

It was a drawing in a flowing script, consisting of a straight line going downwards. At the top of the line, a curve flowed to the right until curving back to the line, and met at the center of the horizontal line.

From that point in the middle, a long, flowing line was drawn to the right, going till the edge of the machine.

Was it one of the human letters? Maybe he could show it to Holly, or perhaps Xerneas.

Still, the idea that humanity was growing closer to Nebel Plateau angered Torterra. This place was meant to be a safe place, where hurt and abandoned Pokémon could live far away from humans.

He growled, and, using the root he had withdrawn, shoved the machine into his tree, resolving to show it to Xerneas in the morning.

His night now spoiled by that discovery, Torterra departed the grove and went back to the grove. He gently stomped around in his nest until it was to his liking, and settled down, withdrawing his limbs into his shell and going to sleep.

He woke at the crack of dawn the next day, right as the sun was cresting the eastern horizon. Carefully, he withdrew his limbs from his shell, trying to avoid waking his mentor, who slumbered nearby. Despite his best efforts, she tossed in her sleep. Thankfully, she settled back down quickly, and Torterra was able to leave their den.

After taking a drink from the brook, he wiped his beak with a foreleg and went to the cellar to grab another container of berries. When he saw the selection left, he winced. “Damn it, all out of Cheri Berries.”

The continent Pokémon let out a sigh and grabbed a basket of Nanab Berries. Hopefully, the saplings would fruit quickly. He wasn’t looking forward to a diet of dry berries over the next month or so.

Torterra sat down beside the garden and spent his time reviewing the tasks he needed to accomplish for the day. “Let’s see, the rest of the plants need to be planted. Oh, and the wheat probably needs some fertilizer spread and water, too. It hasn’t rained for a little bit, so the soil is probably dry.”

The turtle lost his train of thought when he remembered the strange object he had encountered last night. He needed to ask Xerneas about it. Yet, something still bugged the Pokémon. Was he forgetting something?

“Oh, wow!” a soft voice exclaimed from the entrance to the grove.

“Right, I invited Holly to the grove when I was in the village last week,” the turtle paused, before his blood ran cold, as he realized he forgot to ask permission from Xerneas. “Hopefully she won’t mind, right… Ah, hell, there’s going to be a ton of teasing, isn’t there?”

Torterra sighed, but turned and smiled at Holly, who was pushing back the vines guarding the grove’s entrance, staring with wide eyes at the Tree of Life.

“First time here?” he asked the feline. She nodded her head and said, “Yeah…” before trailing off. He chuckled and gestured for Holly to sit beside him.

“You’re here rather early. Have you had anything to eat yet?”

When Holly shook her head no, he rolled several of the berries he had been eating her way. At her wince, he smiled and said, “Yeah, looks like we’re out of spicy berries. Basically, everything left is dry.”

The dark type bit into a berry before responding, “Guess that’s better than sour berries. Can’t stand those things.” She stuck her tongue out, as if the very thought turned her stomach. The sight caused Torterra to feel slightly funny, as if Butterfree were in his stomach.

“What was that?” he thought, before he pushed the unknown feeling aside for now. He sprouted a root from his tree and used the vine to reach into the canopy, withdrawing the flying machine he had found. He decided to put a few Nanab Berries in his tree as well, saving them as a snack for later.

“Holly, do you know what this is?” At her name, her ears perked upwards, and the Liepard looked up from the berry she was currently digging into. She peered at the device Torterra was holding and said, “Looks like one of those drones humans like to use.”

“Drones? What are those?” the continent Pokémon asked, unfamiliar with human technology. Holly began to scratch behind her ear as she responded, “I saw them from time to time while I was travelling. They’re flying contraptions that humans can control. Usually they have a camera, that is, a device that allows them to see places from far away, attached to them.”

Torterra processed the information Holly had said. “So this drone-thing was spying on us? Why?” Holly shrugged and said, “I don’t know. Most of the drones I saw in use were used by the crews that recorded Gym Battles. Think it helped them get the ‘action shots’ that would look good on TV.”

Torterra didn’t know what a ‘teevee’ was, but it sounded like Holly didn’t have any answers. He turned his gaze downward, expression downcast at the lack of information.

“It could have belonged to the group of humans coming to visit the plateau.” A new voice joined the conversation. Torterra and Holly turned and watched Xerneas emerge from the den, yawning slightly before shaking her head.

Xerneas’s gaze locked with Holly’s, who stiffened at the look Xerneas bore. The goddess’s gaze then shifted and locked eyes with Torterra’s. A singular brow raised, the question going unspoken.

Torterra nervously laughed, drawing Holly’s attention as well. “So… could I invite Holly over to visit the grove?” Both their expressions fell at Torterra’s question, and Torterra could barely overhear Holly whisper, “Arc dammit Torterra.”

Mercifully, Xerneas did not seem angry at Torterra’s uninvited guest, though the smirk she now wore made her apprentice wish she were angry. It was then that the words Xerneas had said caught up to Torterra.

“Wait, the hell do you mean humans are visiting the plateau! Why?” he demanded, alarmed that humans would invade this sanctuary.

“Calm down, Torterra. Volcanion knows these humans, or at least, he knows one of them. And if Volcanion is comfortable with them, it’s fine by me. They want to investigate how Pokémon live here, and investigate what would drive Pokémon to be abandoned or flee from their Trainers.”

Torterra snorted at the statement. “Isn’t it kinda obvious? You said it yourself that battling is becoming increasingly difficult, and the only contact you have with the rest of the world is the spirits in that tree!” He pointed at the Tree of Life as he spoke, but balked at the glare his mentor threw his way.

“Torterra.” Xerneas’s flat tone was enough to silence the Pokémon, and Holly shifted uncomfortably, clearly picking up on the change in atmosphere.

After a few tense moments, Xerneas relaxed. “I’m not too comfortable with the idea either. Volcanion has assured me that this group of humans will stay near the village and the surrounding area. From what he said, this ‘Foundation’ merely wishes to gather evidence to help their cause of helping Pokémon.

“Besides, the person I mentioned, the one Volcanion is familiar with? He and his friends helped protect the plateau several years back, and helped Volcanion reunite with Magearna after she was kidnapped.”

As Xerneas finished speaking, Holly’s ears pricked up. “Wait, I’ve heard that story!” Torterra turned to look at the feline, and she continued, “It was before I came to the plateau, but a few of the older residents of the village spoke of several humans they considered to be ‘honorary Pokémon of the plateau’. You’re telling me that one of them is with this Foundation?”

The Goddess of Life nodded and looked down at the drone Torterra had found spying on him. “That being said, that they would spy on us is rather concerning. Though I am loath to reveal my location, I might have to make an exception and ask this group what they are doing.”

Xerneas spoke with an edge to her voice, a side Torterra had never seen before. He turned the device over and displayed the odd symbol to the two Pokémon. “Either of you know what this is?”

Holly peered at the symbol and said, “It’s the letter ‘R’. Though it doesn’t look like any human logo I’ve seen before.”

Xerneas said something similar. “A few spirits spoke of an organization that plagued Kanto and Johto in decades past that used R as their logo, but that was far more blocky and not as grandiose as this icon is…” She trailed off.

“It’s settled. Holly, Torterra. I want the two of you to accompany me to the village. I don’t believe it’s safe for anyone to be on their own, and I feel this foundation needs to be-”

Xerneas stopped speaking abruptly, her antlers flaring. A snarl appeared on her visage, and she slammed a hoof against the ground.

“You two! Behind me, now!” she all but screamed, as the forest around them lit up in flames.

Chapter Text

Torterra was blinded by the flash of light. He clenched his eyes shut, but he was surrounded by a chaotic ringing noise. He tried shaking his head, yet the sound wouldn’t go away. What happened? All he could remember was Xerneas’s antlers glowing as she yelled at the two of them.

Wait, Xerneas! And Holly! Where were they?

Torterra tried opening his eyes and blinked the stars out of them. Mercifully, he was able to see once more, but he didn’t recognize the sight before him. Tears fell from his eyes before evaporating from the extreme heat that surrounded the Pokémon.

The grove, his home, was consumed in flames. Leaves burned and branches snapped in the blaze, a cacophony that tore at the turtle’s heart. The disbelief that this was happening quickly ignited into anger, and Torterra threw his head back and forth, trying desperately to understand what had happened.

There! A few feet away from him, Holly lay sprawled out across the forest floor. He stomped over to her and placed a leg against her neck. He could feel a pulse. Torterra let go of the breath he realized he had been holding in, and shook the feline awake.

“Holly! Get up!” The Liepard shifted and opened her eyes, emerald irises meeting Torterra’s crimson. She looked around, and the same flurry of emotions passed through her mind before her eyebrows knit together and a growl echoed from her throat.

“What the hell is going on, Torterra!” Holly questioned, her fur on end. “No idea, but we need to find Xerneas and get out of here,” he responded. Both Pokémon looked around, but froze as they could hear shouting over the blaze. Slowly, they turned and watched as humans invaded the grove, pushing through the burning vines that had once protected the entrance.

Each human wore some sort of mask on their face, likely to hide their identity and protect them from the smoke that surrounded the clearing. Yet the thing that stood out the most to Torterra was that each human wore a set of red glasses upon their face, completely hiding their eyes from view.

The humans swarmed the grove, and Torterra could see many clenched Poké Balls in their hands. The balls were tossed into the air, and at the apex of the throw, burst open. Houndours, Skorupi, Sneasels, and other Pokémon surrounded Torterra and Holly, pushing them back towards the den.

Torterra watched as the interlopers destroyed the garden he and Xerneas had worked tirelessly to cultivate. Seedlings were crushed underfoot, and the carefully tilled soil was compacted by human footsteps.

Torterra saw red. Channeling the energy inside him, he quickly sprouted two thick roots from his shell and raised them before him, the threat implicit. Next to him, he heard Holly’s claws unsheath, and her form began to darken as Dark energy collected around her body.

Before Torterra could move, the very forest seemed to shift. Enormous vines erupted from the ground, and the very air was permeated with an intense energy. The humans froze in shock, as their Pokémon glanced around anxiously.

“LEAVE MY HOME!” a furious voice cried out, and Xerneas descended from the Tree of Life, antlers glowing in majestic colors. Yet, the expression she wore was anything but. Her teeth were clenched in a snarl, and her muscles were taught, ready to spring at any sudden movement.

Unfortunately, the humans recovered from their shock and commanded their Pokémon to attack. The Pokémon sprang into action, charging towards the trio, claws and fangs glowing with concentrated energy.

“Torterra. Holly. Protect each other.” With that simple demand, Xerneas leapt into action, unleashing the full might of her power. The vines she summoned swung through the air, colliding with any Pokémon that was unfortunate enough to find themselves in their path. Her limbs were a flurry of motion as she moved this way and that, dodging attacks before retaliating with pinpoint accuracy.

Torterra knew from experience that Xerneas could fend for herself, so he shifted his attention to the Pokémon that surrounded him. Two Sneasler, a Houndoom, and a large Drapion. Not great in terms of typing, but Torterra had never been one to back down from a challenge, regardless of whether or not he held a type advantage.

The Pokémon seemed amused at Torterra’s bravado. The Sneaslers’ claws began to glow with a hard blue light, sending snowflakes tumbling down to the ground. The Drapion let out a harsh cackling noise, and her pincers glowed with sickly purple energy, acid dripping and sizzling onto the ground below. The Houndoom snarled at Torterra, flame dripping from her maw.

Torterra glared back at his opponents, vines raised before him. “Alright, assholes, let’s dance!”

With that, Torterra launched his vines forward. The Sneasler were the greatest threat, and so he targeted them first. Vines whipped across both of their bodies before digging into the ground, binding the pair in place, at least for now.

With those two taken care of, Torterra shifted his attention. His eyes widened, and he was forced to leap out of the way. Moments later, poisonous darts impacted the ground he had previously occupied, courtesy of the Drapion.

The Houndoom followed up the Drapion by sending out a large Flamethrower, blanketing the area in intense flame. Torterra was forced to endure the pain, and he could feel the leaves on his tree begin to burn away. He needed to end this quickly!

After a moment, the flames ceased, the Houndoom unable to keep up the torrent for long. Torterra created two more vines and launched them towards her. The dark-type Pokémon jumped away from the attack.

Torterra smirked. He anchored his vines into the ground. He then jumped into the air and used the vines to launch himself towards the stunned Houndoom. After Torterra had launched himself, he shed the vines and channeled his energy once more.

His body began to glow a dusty brown color as Ground Energy encompassed his entire body. The flying turtle collided with the Houndoom, who was carried along until Torterra hit the ground, unleashing a massive Earthquake that shook the entire grove.

Slightly shaking from the effort, Torterra pushed himself back to his feet. He looked down, and Houndoom was out cold. It seemed the super-effective move had also hit Drapion, who was slowly pushing herself back up off the ground.

Before she could get fully upright, Torterra grew more vines and ensnared Drapion, leeching her remaining strength. The bug type fell unconscious, and Torterra was able to regain some strength.

Wait, the Sneasel! He quickly turned to where he had left the Ice-type Pokémon, but when he finally found them amidst the chaos, he saw the two lying unconscious upon the ground. Above the pair, licking her paw, was Holly.

“...Thanks,” Torterra huffed. It seems his strength still hadn’t fully come back after that last attack just yet. He needed to practice using moves in quick succession once this had been dealt with.

Holly’s ears flicked, but she said nothing in response. Her form was battered as well, with scratches littering her sides, and her fur was torn in places. Torterra probably didn’t look much better.

“You idiots! Can’t even deal with two wild Pokémon!” a feminine voice cried out. Torterra and Holly watched the humans stiffen. A new human, a woman, emerged from the flames.

She had long auburn hair tied back in a braid, and wore torn and well-travelled clothes. 6 Poké Balls hung from a belt on her waist. Notably, she had chosen to forgo the red glasses the rest of her compatriots wore, allowing Torterra to see her stormy grey eyes, filled with a complicated emotion the Pokémon couldn’t hope to decipher.

Torterra felt he knew this human from somewhere, but where? He hadn’t interacted with humans for over a year at this point.

The woman threw out a well-worn Poké Ball, which burst open, and the hulking red mass of a Scolipede appeared in the grove. His amber gaze met Torterra’s, and rage filled the bug’s expression.

Now Torterra knew where he had seen the woman from. It was the same trainer who had tried to catch him almost a lifetime ago, the one whose Whirlipede nearly cripled him.

The one who is responsible for Torterra’s life turning out like this.

Holly watched as Torterra froze, staring at the Scolipede that faced him. Why did he freeze like that?

“Torterra,” she hissed at the Pokémon. He didn’t respond. She tried again, this time batting his face with her tail. “Torterra!”

“Huh?” the Pokémon responded. “Pay attention! You were spacing out!”

Torterra shook his head and refocused on the bug type across from the pair. “Right, sorry. Just… my past coming back to haunt me.” Huh, what did Torterra mean by that?

Scolipede finally spoke then. “Oh, is that what you call beating me to a pulp?” His voice was low, and Holly could practically see the venom he was spitting. Torterra flinched, and Holly was worried he’d be able to fight effectively. She knew his back no longer bothered him, but he had difficulty with his past, and here he was facing the Pokémon that caused the issue in the first place.

“Look, Scolipede, I’m sorry-” the centipede interrupted, “I don’t care. Save your apologies for someone who will fall for them.”

Alright, ouch. That was rather harsh of him, though Holly couldn’t deny she could see where Scolipede was coming from.

Something moved out of the corner of her eye, and she watched as one of the humans Xerneas was confronting had managed to escape and was dashing across the clearing. Her eyes widened as the human entered the cave underneath the large tree at the center of the grove.

“Torterra, one of the men, ran inside that cave!” She pointed with her tail as she spoke, and Torterra’s eyes narrowed in rage when he followed her tail.

“Are you kidding me! Invade my grove, now they invade my den!” the Continent Pokémon yelled out.

“What!” Xerneas roared out, fury filling her voice. “One of you, stop them at once! They cannot be allowed inside there!

Torterra made to move towards the cave entrance, but Scolipede spat out a glob of venom, which collided with the ground Torterra was about to step on. It hissed as it collided with the dirt and began to eat away at the plant life, the leaves and stems dying at the slightest touch. If Torterra was hit by that move…

“Like hell you are leaving. We have business to settle!”

Torterra shifted back to face Scolipede, widening his stance and growing two vines from his shell. He spoke, voice even. “Holly, go after that human! In the back of the den, there’s an entrance to a tunnel. Follow it until you reach a cave.”

What! Torterra wanted her to leave him on her own! She tried to respond, to argue with the Grass type, but Torterra was having none of that. He interrupted her before she could open her mouth and yelled at the feline.

“Go!”

Holly jumped slightly at his volume, but wrapped herself in darkness, fading away from view. By channeling Feint Attack, Holly was able to dodge the rest of the Pokémon that were sent after her by the other humans, and dove into the den, following after the intruder.

She quickly reached the end and found the tunnel Torterra had been talking about. She tasted the air, trying to scent the human who ran inside. The scent was still fresh, but she couldn’t determine the Pokémon the human had with him.

She sprinted down the tunnel as fast as her three legs could carry her. Her body ached from the effort quickly, as she bounded down the weaving path. Maybe she should have made more of an effort to maintain her physique and spent less time eating Cheri berries.

She winced as the thoughts of training quickly led to memories she wanted to keep buried, memories of her life with Jules. Her breath caught, and she nearly tripped over her own paws.

“No! Torterra is counting on me. Focus, you stupid Purugly!” Holly forced the painful thoughts out of her head and charged down the tunnel once more.

Thankfully, she was able to see in the dark, courtesy of her Dark typing, and could see where the tunnel twisted and turned, and avoid the roots that poked through the walls, which would have tripped any other Pokémon.

There! A soft green light shone ahead, and she leaped out of the tunnel, finding herself in a large cavern, covered in mossy walls with roots reaching down from the ceiling.

The human was standing before a large pool of water, holding a bag in his hand and a Poké Ball in the other. The man cried out, “Alright, Gourgeist, grab the cell and bring it here!”

Holly looked up and could see an average-sized Gourgeist floating between the roots above, its strange hair-hands glowing with ghostly energy. As she watched, a small green shape was leaping between the roots, trying desperately to avoid the Gourgeist.

”Oh, to hell with this! Gourgeist, Phantom Force!” Gourgeist smiled, it-no, her visage frightening Holly, and she unconsciously took a step backwards. Gourgeist surrounded herself in shadowy phantasms and sank into the shadows.

The strange green being seemed to turn around, anxiously trying to determine where the ghostly pumpkin had disappeared. A shimmer in the shadows drew Holly’s attention, and she cried out towards the small thing.

”Hey, Greenie! Behind you!” The human turned at Holly’s cry, now realizing that he was not alone in the cavern. He grabbed another Poké Ball, but had to divide his attention between the Liepard and his quandary.

Despite her warning, the cell was unable to avoid Gourgeist as she came charging out of the shadows, colliding with the cell and sending it flying into a cavern wall. It fell limply to the ground, allowing Gourgeist to pick the cell up and restrain it.

The ghost type cackled and brought the cell to her Trainer, who stuffed the thing into the sack he had been carrying. “Great job, Gourgeist. Now, let’s deal with this pest!”

Holly snarled, unsheathing her claws as her ears fell flat against her skull. She channelled her energy, and her pelt darkened, the dark energy crackling against her body.

”Bring it on, asshole!

Torterra stared down Scolipede, the noise of the other battles fading away as he gazed at his opponent. The bug type leered back at him, and Torterra could tell he had been waiting for this day to come.

A pang of regret ran through Torterra. If one looked close enough at Scolipede, they could see cracks, long healed at this point but still visible nonetheless, covering a part of Scolipede’s carapace. Both Pokémon had left their mark on the other, it seems.

The rest of the humans, at least those not engaging Xerneas, had drawn back, allowing the woman and Scolipede to face off against Torterra alone. Did the woman hold some sort of rank within this group?

At once, both Pokémon attacked. Scolipede charged forward, pincers glowing with sickly poison, while Torterra batted at the bug with his vines. He managed to get several hits in, but Scolipede covered the distance surprisingly quickly, and before Torterra knew it, Scolipede was on top of him.

The Megapede Pokémon hit Torterra with blow after blow, barely giving Torterra time to focus. Thankfully, unlike last time, his shell was hardened and able to withstand the attacks. When Scolipede came down with another hit, Torterra caught the pincer in his jaws, beak crackling with shadowy energy.

The crunch shattered the Poison Tail, and Scolipede leapt back, gaining some ground from the turtle. In terms of speed, Torterra was thoroughly outclassed. Scolipede seemed to only be getting faster as the fight wore on!

Seeing this, Torterra reared onto his hind legs and glowed with dusty brown energy for a second before he slammed down onto the ground. He needed to break up the battlefield, make it difficult for Scolipede to move unimpeded.

The Earthquake rippled outwards, tearing apart the grove and sending stones flying into the air. One lucky rock managed to hit Scolipede, tearing his cheek and causing blood to flow freely.

”That was a mistake,” Scolipede’s voice was deep, filled with anger at the injury, causing Torterra to shiver involuntarily. The bug rushed forth once again, and Torterra could barely manifest his vines before the bug was upon him once again.

The two Pokémon traded blow for blow, yet Torterra could feel himself losing ground. He was being pushed back, and for every blow he landed on the bug, Scolipede was able to land two or even three.

As the fight progressed, Torterra soon realized something! Scolipede had a pattern. He would always try to attack Torterra from the back and then follow up with a larger attack on Torterra’s front.

He needed to test this. As Scolipede reappeared across from him, Torterra readied himself for the next attack.

The woman called out an attack, telling Scolipede to get in close once again. The bug type tensed and launched himself forward. At this point in the frenzy, Scolipede’s speed had grown sixfold. He was nothing more than a blur, and Torterra couldn’t hope to follow him with his eyes alone.

He concentrated on his senses, and there! He felt something heavy impact the ground behind him. A poisonous pincer lashed across his shell, before Scolipede appeared from thin air in front of him.

Torterra had been correct! As Scolipede launched yet another Poison Tail at the Continent Pokémon, his pincer was blocked by a shimmering barrier. Scolipede’s amber gaze widened, while Torterra smirked at his opponent.

”Got you all figured out now!” he said, before a vine burst from the ground and wrapped around Scolipede. The Pokémon tried to free himself, but his struggle was interrupted as Torterra smacked the ground with his tail.

The ground erupted, sending the Megapede Pokémon flying across the ground. Scolipede struggled to get up, the Earth Power and Earthquakes finally taking a toll on the Poison Type.

Yet Torterra knew that he was not much better off. Scolipede had managed to hit Torterra with countless Poison Tails. He could feel his stomach churn, and knew poison was sapping away at his health. At this point, the next attack would determine the victor.

As secretly as he could manage, Torterra snaked a few vines into the ground, weaving them around himself. If the Trainer knew her Pokémon moves, she’d likely think he was trying to use Ingrain and recover some of his flagging strength.

Yes! The woman yelled out, “Alright, Scolipede, get in there with Poison Tail! He can’t move!”

Scolipede vanished from the battlefield, but Torterra could sense his many legs pounding across the ground. In mere moments, Scolipede would be behind him.

Torterra pulled his vines taut, and immediately, he was surrounded by layers of tripwires. He sensed Scolipede attempting to pivot, to get away from the trap Torterra had set, but he couldn’t cancel his momentum in time.

Scolipede hit the trap and went sprawling across the grove. He landed in the now destroyed garden, kicking up fragments of sapling and rock. With a bellow, Torterra roared out,

”Enough! It ends here, Scolipede!” The largest vine he could manifest launched out of his shell, flying towards the dazed bug type. The vine collided with Scolipede’s chest, shattering his carapace and digging deep into the flesh and tissue below.

The woman screamed out Scolipede’s name, as her Pokémon was nearly impaled by the attack. Blood coated the vine, and Scolipede faintly coughed, blood dripping from his muzzle.

Ignoring the battle, the woman ran to her Pokémon, tears flying from her eyes as she desperately grabbed at her bag. She pulled out an odd bottle of some kind and shook it. It sounded nearly empty, and her tears only flowed ever faster afterwards.

Scolipede gasped, “Audra… I’m sorry.” The woman, Audra, held Scolipede’s head in her hands before she pressed her forehead against her Pokémon’s.

Seeing this display, Torterra was filled with regret. If he closed his eyes, he could see Holly in Scolipede’s place, crying desperately as her own Trainer abandoned her. Once again, Torterra was responsible for hurting someone else.

Resolve filled him. He withdrew the vine that was stuck inside Scolipede, trying his best to avoid injuring the Pokémon any further. Despite his best effort, though, Scolipede still moaned as the vine exited his chest and glared at Torterra.

Drawing the vine back to him, Torterra reached into his canopy. “Please let it still be there…” He felt around in the tree, hoping the berries he had placed earlier in the day were still in there, and hadn’t fallen out in the chaos or been burned by the Houndoom from earlier.

“Yes! Let’s go!” he thought, his vine grasping the Nanab berries. They were somewhat singed from the fire, but they still appeared to be in relatively decent condition.

He approached the duo and watched as Audra stood in front of her Pokémon, throwing herself in harm’s way to protect Scolipede. Slowly, he pulled out the berries and brought his vine over to Audra.

She gaped at Torterra before she recognized what she had been given. Quickly, she gave the berries to Scolipede, who ate them as fast as he could. His wound began to shimmer as the healing juices of the berries took effect, but Scolipede was still losing blood.

Torterra walked closer and made it to Scolipede’s side. Audra looked unsure at his presence, but she spoke, a quiver in her voice.

”Please, he’s all I have.”

Torterra nodded and pressed a leg against Scolipede’s chest. His foot was quickly covered in blood.

Closing his eyes, Torterra concentrated on the energy inside him. This time, rather than the feeling of dirt and ground, Torterra focused on the feeling of growth, the feeling of life itself.

His canopy shimmered and began to glow, pale green light filling the grove. Slowly, too slowly for Torterra’s liking, the wound began to close. Scolipede’s amber gaze met with Torterra’s, and Torterra made a decision.

He focuses all the energy he was gathering into Scolipede, forgoing any effort to heal himself from his injuries. Immediately, the poison filling his bloodstream came back, and Torterra staggered from the pain, nearly falling unconscious there and then.

He pushed through the pain, continuing to focus on healing Scolipede’s injury. With each second that passed by, Torterra could see the wound begin to close. Less and less blood poured out of the gaping hole in Scolipede’s chest, and he could feel Scolipede begin to breathe easier, his lungs knitting back together.

Finally, the wound sealed shut, but there was still a large scar on the bug’s chest. Torterra flopped to the ground, utterly exhausted. He barely noticed as Audra gently placed a berry in front of him.

Wincing, he shifted to look at the offering. A small Pecha berry lay on the ground before him. Immediately, he gulped the berry down and groaned as its antidotal properties made their way through his system, purging the lingering poison.

His eyes met Audra’s, crimson meeting stormy grey. She clasped her hands together, clearly unsure of what to say. Torterra could sympathize; the two were enemies on opposite sides minutes prior.

But Torterra wanted to become a better Pokémon; he wanted to fulfill the promise he made to Holly after the storm last spring. No matter what happened, he did not want to harm anyone. Not again.

A slow clapping sound rang out through the grove. The other humans froze at the noise, most of their Pokémon lying at their feet, courtesy of Xerneas. She froze as well, looking around, trying to determine the origin of the sound.

“My my. That was quite a wonderful display, my dear Audra. Simply magnificent. Though I do believe your orders were to take no prisoners.”

A man appeared from out of the forest. Well dressed, with black hair slicked back, and a pair of those odd red glasses clipped to his chest. He wore a pair of shimmering white gloves, and oddly enough, no Poké Balls hung from his person.

Audra stiffened, nervousness emanating from her body language. She turned to face the newcomer and spoke, “S-sir! My orders were to distract the occupants of the forest while Jean captured the cell.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Torterra spotted Xerneas tensing at this revelation, before her eyes narrowed. He’d never seen his mentor look so utterly pissed off before.

The newcomer closed his eyes before nodding his head. “I suppose you are correct in that regard, Audra. But next time, know that there are to be no witnesses!” The human nearly hissed those last words, causing Audra to flinch. Scolipede attempted to stand up and protect his Trainer, but he was still too injured from the fight with Torterra.

The figure turned and stared at Torterra and Xerneas. “Well, aside from that, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Xerneas. Having you at our side will prove most effective at securing the Renaissance.”

The Goddess of Life snarled at the man, “As if I’d ever lower myself to work with someone like you. I can feel the sins you carry just by looking at you.”

The man did not seem phased by that accusation. He just simply shrugged and said, “Well, what a pity. I’ve come all this way, and unfortunately, my dear, I’ll not leave without you.”

From the den came a human, clutching a squirming bag with a Malamar floating beside him.

“Ah, Jean. How nice of you to join us. Now then, Audra, please give him to me.”

Audra stiffened beside Torterra before reluctantly unclipping a Poké Ball from her belt, a different one in style compared to the other 5 she held, and handed it over to the strange man.

He grabbed the ball and then spoke, “Thank you, Audra. Now take your Pokémon and depart. Now!” Audra flinched at the intensity in the man’s voice, but she complied, returning Scolipede to his ball in a beam of red light, and left to join the rest of the men, who Torterra noticed were now leaving the grove.

The man threw the Poké Ball into the air, where it burst open. A blue crustacean burst out, burning eyes locking onto Torterra. A Clawitzer, Torterra gulped as he realized. He’d never faced one before, but his father had, and swore that the hole in his fin was courtesy of a Clawitzer he had fought as a Gabite.

Rumor had it that shots from Clawitzers could pierce through solid metal, and Torterra doubted his shell could hold up to the force required to puncture solid steel. He barely had enough energy to stand, let alone fight.

Still, he pushed himself back to his feet and squared off with the Howitzer Pokémon. He saw Xerneas bound over to his side, only to skid to a halt as a purple barrier surrounded him and the crustacean. Turning back to the humans, he saw the Malamar’s eyes glowing, sealing him off from outside help.

He was trapped.

Chapter Text

“Gourgeist, Moonblast Liepard now!”

A shimmering ball flew towards Holly. She surrounded herself in shadow, fading away into the darkness of the cavern. Quickly, she leapt to her left and avoided the ball of Fairy energy.

Gourgeist hovered above the pool of water, with her Trainer on the other side of the cavern. Between them was Holly, the only thing preventing the duo from escaping the cave with the squirming bag and forcing Torterra into a two-on-one confrontation.

Holly knew that Torterra needed her help. From what she could tell, based on the larger-than-normal muscles in his legs, Scolipede likely had the Speed Boost ability. Torterra had great defense, but even that would eventually fail if he couldn’t land a hit.

She refocused on Gourgeist, who was currently looking around the cavern, trying to find her. Thankfully, Holly’s dark type made her immune to most psychic-based senses, so she hadn’t yet been spotted.

The purple cat lowered her front legs into a crouch, tensing her muscles before pouncing at Gourgeist, Feint Attack flowing off her body. She collided with the sentient pumpkin, causing her to scream out from the pain.

“Dammit, Gourgeist, try Moonblast again!” the man cried out. He was at a severe disadvantage using a Ghost type against a natural Dark type like Holly. A grimace lit up Gourgeist’s visage, but her hands clasped together and began to sparkle with the pink Fairy energy.

“Shit! Gotta move!” Holly thought. She dropped the remnants of Feint Attack, and instead, her body lit up with white light, Quick Attack propelling her to the ground as fast as she could.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t quite fast enough. Moonblast scoured her hind leg and tail, and sent pain throughout her body as the mysterious energy tore at her fur. She landed unevenly and sprawled against the cavern floor, the rocks digging into her belly.

She groaned and forced herself back to her paws. She couldn’t take another attack like that. Summoning more shadows, Holly melted back into the darkness.

“Oh no, you don’t, you damn cat! Gourgeist, Moonblast!” With that, the Pumpkin Pokémon put her hands together and rapidly launched Moonblast after Moonblast, forcing Holly to dodge throughout the cavern.

Each successive attack tore at the shadows Holly had cloaked herself in, until she was left visible once more. “Alright, that’s it, you damn ghost!” Holly cried out, snarling at the floating Pokémon.

Yes! She flinched. At least something good came from Jules teaching her Snarl. Holly kept up her tirade, forcing the Gourgeist off balance. After a little bit, the trainer called out to Gourgeist once more, demanding that Moonblast be launched again.

That was what Holly was waiting for. Hopefully, she had reduced Gourgeist’s control over ranged attacks and forced her to spend more time charging each attack. She cloaked herself in darkness yet again and leapt towards Gourgeist, her powerful hind leg propelling her into the air.

This time, she wasn’t trying to use Feint Attack, so she could be seen by the ghostly pumpkin. Instead, wisps of shadow curled off her front right paw. Right as Gourgeist had finished charging Moonblast, Holly collided with the Pokémon, sucker punching the Pumpkin directly in the Jack-O-Lantern on her stomach.

Moonblast fizzled away, the punch breaking whatever concentration she had. The two Pokémon tumbled through the air, and Holly fought with her opponent, forcing Gourgeist to be underneath the feline.

The two hit the ground, and once the dust cleared, Gourgeist was unconscious.

“Arceus, dammit!” the Trainer cried out, fumbling with a Poké Ball before finally catching it. He held it out to his Pokémon and called out, “Gourgeist! Return!” With a flash of red light, the Pumpkin Pokémon vanished into the ball. The man muttered something to the ball, which Holly could not pick up.

“Alright, Liepard,” the Trainer’s voice had turned cold, his hands reaching for a Poké Ball at his belt. “I didn’t want to use him, but you and your friends will not stop the Renaissance! This world shall be reborn!”

The Poké Ball was tossed, and it burst open moments later, unleashing a brilliant white light that lit up the cavern. Once the light coalesced into a Pokémon, Holly found herself facing… a Malamar?

Holly couldn’t help but smirk. Did this Trainer just have Ghost types? Yet the sight of a Malamar brought up uncomfortable memories for Holly, memories of a fun-loving Inkay who had slowly been beaten down by their Trainer’s descent into despair.

“Focus, Holly!” she screamed at herself silently. Why did she keep getting caught up in these memories?

Malamar slowly opened its eyes, a sickly yellow gaze eventually falling on Holly. The squid stiffened in shock before its beak clenched in unrestrained anger.

“You,” a deep male voice echoed from Malamar’s throat. “How fitting that I encounter you, after all this time.” He began to chuckle, the chuckle quickly breaking out into unrestrained laughter.

Okay, this was starting to get weird. Holly shifted on her back leg uncomfortably, the movement catching Malamar’s eye.

“Hahaha, oh, how fitting it is that you are left a cripple. Was that because of Jules?” Holly froze, her mind going blank. How did he know that name?

“H-How?” she stammered out, her heart leaping into her throat.

“Oh, how she asks? You always were rather dim. How do you think, Holly?”

T-that wasn’t possible. Holly couldn’t breathe, her heart hammering in her chest. She tried to speak, but her throat was dry. Eventually, she finally found her voice.

“Inkay?”

Malamar glared at her, all emotion draining from his face. He vanished before reappearing in front of the feline, caressing her face with a tentacle. She batted it away, but he merely laughed at how uncomfortable she was.

“Ring-a-ding! You are correct! Here’s your prize!” Malamar wrapped multiple tentacles around Holly, forcing her to look the crazed squid in the eyes. She tried to move, but she couldn’t. Malamar had too strong a grip.

Her heart felt like it was going to give out at any second with how fast it was beating. Her ears pressed against her skull, and she shivered at the feeling of Malamar’s tentacles holding her in place. The sensation made her skin crawl and her fur stand on end.

“This is what you get, Holly! You refused to see how poorly Jules was treating us, how every day he forced us to train harder and harder until we gave out!”

Tears spilled from Holly’s eyes as Malamar ripped into her past, tearing open wounds that had only recently started to heal. Memories flashed through her mind unbidden, memories of Jules.

“Alright, Holly, you and I are gonna take Kalos by storm when we’re older!”

“Come on, Holly, today’s the day!”

“Holly, Quick Attack the Abra!”

“Dodge Holly, and hit Vivillon with Assurance!”

“Dammit, Holly, we lost again!”

“Another Arceus damned loss. We’re training again tomorrow at dawn!”

“Holly, get up and fight Lucario! Get up, you worthless cat!”

Malamar pressed up against Holly, whispering into her ears, “Now die, you worthless cat!” He wrenched his tentacles up, hoisting Holly into the air. She tried to flail her legs, but she could barely move. The tentacles tensed, muscles coiling underneath. Dimly, Holly could see bright orange energy, Fighting energy, circling the tentacles. With a superpowered throw, Holly was launched into the air.

The feline flew at incredible speeds before she collided with the roots above, snapping several roots and several of her ribs in the process. Pain racked her body, but she couldn’t even cry out in pain. Had her lung been punctured?

Lifelessly, she fell from the ceiling and landed in the pool of water underneath. As she fell to the bottom, she could faintly see the Trainer and Malamar make their escape. “How fitting, for me to die here, failing to protect those I care about. Now Torterra will face them alone.”

“What a worthless cat I truly am.”

Torterra could barely stand at this point. Despite the Pecha berry taking the edge off the poison, he could still feel a slight burn flowing through his blood. He needed proper medical treatment to eliminate the rest of the lingering poison. Otherwise, he’d fall unconscious in a matter of minutes.

Every breath was a challenge, but Torterra glared at the Clawitzer opposite him. The blue shrimp didn’t even spare him a glance. Instead, he was inspecting his oversized cannon, polishing it with his other claw.

Slowly, Torterra tried to use Synthesis once again. If he could regain a bit of his strength, he might be able to beat the water type. The barrier would have to be lowered for the human leader to withdraw his Pokémon, and Torterra knew Xerneas was waiting for that moment.

His mentor paced along the outside of the barrier, her antlers and eyes aglow with psychic energy. She was testing the barrier, probing for a weak point she could exploit.

His canopy began to softly glow, but the humans didn’t seem to notice Torterra. He could barely absorb more than a trickle of energy at this pace. Any faster, and his tree would light up the grove and assuredly draw attention to himself. It had to be enough.

“Well, thank you, Jean. I assume you have the cell in your possession?” the leader asked the newcomer, holding his hand out expectantly.

“Yes, sir! We managed to capture the cell inside the cave like you said, though we did have to deal with a Liepard that tried to fight us.” Torterra’s eyes widened, and his beak twisted in anger.

“The hell did you do to Holly!” he shouted, drawing the attention of Malamar and Clawitzer. The latter pointed the cannon at Torterra, but the former merely chuckled. The twisted squid spoke, raspy voice grating against Torterra’s ears.

“That weak scrap of fur? Well, I’d say she’s probably drowning right now. Quite sad, really,” the Pokémon let out a harsh laugh before smirking at Torterra. “Oh, who am I kidding? Holly deserved nothing less. You’ll join her soon, don’t you worry your grassy little head.”

Torterra turned red with anger. He cancelled his Synthesis and rose onto his hind legs, front legs glowing with brown energy. He threw himself to the ground, sending out the strongest Earthquake he could muster.

The ground around him shook from the quake, causing Clawitzer to stagger. Yet, when the vibrations reached the barrier, they stopped. Had Malamar been able to cancel out his move? He didn’t even look winded from the effort!

“Arceus damn it!” the Continent Pokémon thought to himself. He needed to come up with a plan. Guess he’ll have to take out Clawitzer after all, and hope that the barrier is lowered once the shrimp is out for the count.

Torterra shifted his focus back to Clawitzer and drew his tail into his shell. If he was to survive this battle, he needed to boost his defense as high as it could go. He had a vast disadvantage in speed, so he focused on stacking as many Withdraws as he could.

Slowly, his shell hardened around him, thickening and growing until it surrounded his body. This, unfortunately, hampered his speed due to the additional weight, but it had to be done.

During that period, ‘Jean’ and his boss continued to speak. Jean reached into the sack he carried and pulled out a squirming green being. Was that a Shiny Wurmple? The odd creature squirmed in Jean’s grip, but stopped moving when its eye met with Torterra’s.

A chill ran down Torterra’s spine at the look he was given, and he couldn’t move. Mercifully, the creature broke the staring contest and shifted its gaze to his mentor. Xerneas froze, a singular tear falling from her left eye.

Softly, so softly, Torterra could barely hear her above the still-burning forest. She whispered, “I’m sorry, Zygarde.”

That green thing was Zygarde! Torterra returned to watch the humans and saw the leader pull out a green cube. Green glowing lines traced the cube, and the creature began to squirm once again, trying desperately to escape Jean’s grasp.

The cube was held up to the cell, and a small opening appeared, sucking the cell inside. The opening disappeared, and the man put the cube inside a pocket on their coat. He smiled and held up his hands, speaking to his compatriots.

“Thank you! Everyone, this makes 93% of all cells now captured! With this achievement, we can proceed with the Renaissance! This is because of you!”

A cheer ran up through the crowd. He smiled and turned back to Torterra and Xerneas. “Now then, Clawitzer, let’s end this quickly.”

Clawitzer nodded and fired his cannon. A lance of water flew out of the barrel, and Torterra could barely withdraw his head before the bolt impacted his shell. The impact drove Torterra back several feet, his claws digging into the ground to keep himself upright.

“What the hell!” Torterra thought. He manifested his roots and sent them flying towards the shrimp. As they neared Clawitzer, the crustacean pointed his cannon to the ground and fired.

Clawitzer flew high into the air. With several additional shots, Clawitzer evened out his trajectory and aligned his sights on Torterra. Another shot rang out, and another bolt shattered across Torterra’s shell.

This continued for some time. Torterra tried to swat his opponent out of the air, but each attack missed. The Clawitzer was too agile, too precise with his shots. His roots were severed, and during the scant moments it took to grow new ones, his shell was peppered with bolts of high-powered water.

Torterra could feel its shell crack. With each new impact, a piece of his shell was torn away. In no time, the defense he had crafted around himself was shattered, and Torterra fell to the ground, breath heaving.

“Well then, Clawitzer, you’ve had your fun. End this!” the leader commanded. Clawitzer nodded. The Howitzer Pokémon had fallen to the ground, allowing Torterra to stagger to his feet. Torterra was in terrible shape. Bruises covered a vast majority of his back, and his shell had been torn away. The spikes on his shell lay in fragments at his feet, and Torterra’s tree had been carved away, leaving a stump behind.

Torterra coughed, blood spattering the ground. His ribs were broken and pierced his lungs, and he couldn’t breathe. His rear legs had been nearly severed, with holes in places where watery bolts tore through his bones and muscles.

Slowly, agonizingly, he turned, looking at his mentor for what might very well be the last time. Tears fell freely from Xerneas’s eyes as she looked at the horrible state her apprentice was in. He was dying.

“Stop this, I give in!” the goddess begged. “Spare his life, and I’ll go with you!” Her voice cracked as she spoke.

“No,” was all the strange man said. He nodded to Clawitzer. The shrimp pointed his cannon at the ground and fired. The Pokémon was launched into the air, arching over Torterra.

As a dazzling blue ball of energy appeared in Clawitzer’s cannon, Torterra’s beak clenched. He summoned the scraps of energy he had left and forced them outward, molding them into a shimmering, sparking shield around himself.

Clawitzer fired, but rather than a speeding water bullet, a dazzling beam of frost launched out of the cannon. It tore through the air, hitting Torterra’s Protect in mere seconds. The shield shattered.

The beam continued onward, hitting Torterra square in the back. The pain was immeasurable. It tore apart his shell, ate through his back, and continued moving through his body. With a disgusting noise, it pierced his stomach, sending blood to the ground, and impaling the Continent Pokémon.

Torterra nearly passed out from the pain there and then. He tried desperately to move, but the jagged bolt of ice had frozen him to the ground. He couldn’t move, he could barely even think, his mind growing ever colder with each passing moment.

Distantly, he could hear Xerneas cry out in pain and rage. He tried to move and managed to get one eye on his mentor. He watched her antlers light up brilliantly as the atmosphere was tinged with mysterious pink energy.

He could see, too late to warn Xerneas, that the purple barrier around him had faded. He couldn’t do anything but watch, and Clawitzer spun through the air and set his sights on the Goddess of Life.

With one last crack, a glob of sickly purple energy was fired from Clawitzer’s oversized cannon. It ate through the pink energy and hit Xerneas.

Her antlers shattered, fragments flying across the grove. His mentor, his master, his mother fell to the ground, bleeding from the stumps where her antlers once were. Poison racked her body, sapping her strength.

The leader strode over to Xerneas and pulled out an odd-looking Poké Ball, its purple color shining like night against the crimson and saffron hues of the dying embers of the forest fire. He placed the ball against Xerneas’s bleeding forehead, and she vanished in a flash of red light. The ball shook once, and a click rang out.

His master had been caught.

“...up…”

“Wa… up”

“Wake up!”

A deep voice cried out, its voice echoing through Holly’s mind. She groaned, the voice forcing her into consciousness. “What do you want?” she muttered.

Her fur was damp, and her chest ached. Why was that? The last thing she could remember was… Malamar!

Holly’s eyes widened as she suddenly remembered what happened. Malamar had captured her and thrown her into the ceiling of the cavern! She scrambled to her paws and found herself at the edge of the pool she had fallen into.

“Wha?” she whispered, clearly confused by what had happened. “How am I not dead?” She sat down on her haunches and pressed a paw against her chest. She hissed from the pain, but miraculously, her ribs were not broken. She was certain that they had broken, puncturing her lungs, so how did they heal so quickly?

Her emerald eyes turned to the pool of water beside her, shimmering waters sparkling. Was it the water that healed her? And what was the voice she had heard telling her to get up? Holly looked around, but she was alone in the cavern. Who had spoken?

Wait, what was that in the water? Holly padded closer and inspected the pool before she jumped back in alarm! Who was that staring back at her!

Cautiously, the feline crept back to the pool, and an unknown figure stared back at her.

It looked like a Liepard, same body at least, but gone was the vibrant amethyst colored fur, replaced with a deep purple, almost black hue. Instead of yellow spots and belly, the fur was a bloody red in color. White stripes like veins crossed the feline’s body and limbs, and at the end of their tail, a wide hand sat, ivory talons slowly flexing.

Instead of the emerald eyes and the bright pink mask that covered the face of a normal Liepard, a stark white mask sat, with two turquoise eyes staring back at Holly. A billowing light purple scarf was wrapped around their neck, moving despite the lack of wind in the cavern.

Art by Raph

Holly blinked, her eyes widening as the figure in the pool did the same. “What the f-” Holly stopped, her jaw falling open. The figure was matching her movements perfectly.

“This… this can’t be happening,” the Liepard thought to herself, closing her eyes. This had to be a dream. But Holly could still feel lingering pain from when Malamar had thrown her into the roof. Could a dream simulate pain?

Nervously, Holly opened her eyes and looked down at herself. To her mounting horror, deep purple and blood red fur greeted her. Somehow, the purple and yellow pelt she was so proud of had vanished, replaced with this! Around her neck lay the same light purple scarf that she glimpsed in the reflection.

She cautiously places a paw on the odd scarf. “Huh, it feels like… feathers?” To Holly’s shock, the scarf seemed to be made of feathers, rather than fur. How was that possible? She turned and inspected the rest of her body.

Her left leg was still gone, and a wave of relief swept the feline, followed by feelings of irony. To think she was happy her leg was gone. At least one part of her remained unchanged. But as her gaze continued to sweep her form, she ended at her tail, and beheld the strange hand that lay at the end.

She tried to move her tail, and it obeyed her, the hand swaying in the air. At least it seemed to listen to her.

Holly was silent, thoughts a blur as she tried to process these changes. Why did this happen? As she tried to calm herself, a shiver ran down her spine, forcing her back to arch and her fur to stand on end. “The hell was that?”

It felt as if someone was near death.

The feline shook her head. She could figure out answers later. Right now, she needed to get back to the surface and help Torterra. She rose to her paws and made her way to the tunnel entrance.

She raced through the tunnel, odd scarf-thing billowing in the air behind her. As she approached the den, her heart leapt into her throat. She couldn’t hear anything, no fighting, no humans shouting orders to their Pokémon.

Nothing.

She reached the end of the tunnel and almost flew through the den, strong legs propelling her forward with every leap. There! She could see the glow of the fire between the vines covering the den entrance.

She tasted the air. Blood, lots of blood, mixed in with the smell of smoke and rainwater, and tinged with something darker. Much darker. Finally, after too much time had passed, she parted the vines, only to find destruction greeting her.

The grove was absolutely destroyed. The garden that Xerneas and Torterra tended to so carefully, which provided for the village, was torn asunder. Shattered saplings and plant matter were strewn about, and the garden was nothing but a pile of mud and ash. The surrounding forest was little better, broken trees and burnt limbs, still smoldering as the rain finally put out the raging fire.

She exited the den, trying to find her friends. Where were they? Desperate, she tasted the air once more and followed that horrible dark scent.

As Holly rounded the corner of the vast tree that grew in the middle of the grove, her heart sank, and tears fell from her eyes.

Torterra was lying on the ground, unmoving. A slowly melting pillar of ice sprouted from his back, and he lay in a pool of blood.

“Shit! Torterra!” Holly cried out, flying to her friend. She trembled, unsure of what to do. She placed a paw against Torterra’s neck, trying to find a pulse. “Please, please, please,” she begged the heavens above.

With a faint groan, Torterra opened his eyes, meeting Holly’s tearful gaze, “H-holly?” he asked, voice faint. He could barely speak.

“Shh, save your strength, Torterra. Just let me…” she trailed off, trying desperately to find anything she could use to save Torterra. Inwardly, she cursed herself for not paying more attention to the first aid videos Jules used to watch as a child.

Everything around the pair had been burned or destroyed. Nothing suitable for helping Torterra. The tears fell ever faster from her eyes as Holly realized that her friend, her only friend, was going to die in her paws. Somehow, she could feel him dying, feel his heartbeat still and his breath ebb and flow, each one shallower than the last.

Torterra’s foot met her paw, and she gasped. With the last of his strength, Torterra had shifted to hold Holly’s paw and met her gaze. “H-holly, it’s alright…” he gasped. He struggled to breathe, each word taking its toll on the Grass type.

“Thank you, and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to become the Pokémon you wanted…”

Torterra’s voice fell, and his gaze lowered. A singular tear fell from his eye before the foot Holly clasped in her paws went limp, and his chest stopped moving. In the back of her mind, she felt Torterra pass, felt his soul leave and begin to make its way to the afterlife.

Holly yowled to the stars above, crying as she held the body of her friend. Her ear flicked upwards as she heard something move outside the clearing. A gruff voice could be heard, “This way!”

The exhausted Liepard tensed, claws unsheathed, weird tail-hand crackling with dark energy, until she saw Volcanion charging his way into the grove. When he saw Holly, he stared at her in shock until he recognized who she was standing over. His expression fell, but he cried out in alarm.

“You three, over here! I found them!”

Zygarde watched through Cell 389-510-730’s eye as the events unfolded in Nebel Plateau. Were these the ones responsible for the disappearances of their cells?

Their cytoplasm quivered in anger at the thought. Still, they could only observe as the cell was captured by the male Trainer and his Gourgeist. To their surprise, a wild Liepard then challenged them. How a Liepard managed to get into the Tree of Life was another matter entirely, but Zygarde observed as the Gourgeist was dealt with quickly.

Clearly, a Trainer had previously owned the Liepard. Her combat knowledge and battle prowess were too skilled for any ordinary wild Pokémon, but she was clearly out of practice.

When the Trainer tossed out a Malamar of all things, Zygarde thought little of it. The Liepard would be unaffected by Malamar’s psychic hypnosis and could easily avoid any attacks the squid would throw.

To their surprise, Liepard just stood there, fear and shock coating her like a cloak. Zygarde quivered in anger at her lack of fighting spirit. Instead, they could only watch as the feline was launched into the ceiling, falling limply into the Pool of Spirit below, drowning in the water.

Zygarde lost the connection to Cell 389-510-730 as the Trainer fled into the tunnels under the Tree of Life, but thankfully regained the connection once the human had reached the surface. To their utter shock and horror, Xerneas’s home was destroyed. Though they hadn’t interacted with their counterpart for a few centuries at this point, Zygarde still cared about her and knew how much effort she put into maintaining the grove.

Annoyingly, Xerneas had not slain the intruders and instead had chosen to fight like an ordinary mortal. They watched her struggle against the Malamar’s psychic barrier, forced to observe as a Torterra stared down a Clawitzer.

That was the last thing Zygarde could see before the connection was lost. Returning to their senses, Zygarde’s singular eye narrowed in anger. The enemy had revealed itself at last, but why they were after their cells was a mystery.

An alarm ran through Zygarde’s network. When they went to investigate the source, they realized that the cell in Lumiose City, the one tasked with monitoring Yveltal, had just gone silent as well.

“Wait, why did Yveltal’s aura just flare up!” With their now limited range, the Order Pokémon barely felt Yveltal’s energy rapidly surge in Lumiose City before dying back down to his usual level. What was going on? Enough was enough!

“By the Creator!” Zygarde issued the command and ordered all the cells they had remaining to return to them immediately. Hopefully, there would still be enough to construct their canine form.

A little while later, the first cells began to arrive in Terminus Cave. Irritatingly, the first to arrive was Cell 448-773-39, but to their credit, they remained silent, likely also realizing the urgency of the situation.

Once the last cell arrived, they gathered together around Zygarde’s Core. 4 legs formed around a body, as their head formed, followed by a muzzle, two ears, and a long flowing scarf.

“Yes!” Zygarde’s network cried, each cell thankful that their 10 percent form could be constructed. Yet, as they looked closer, they could see shimmering green lines flowing through their body. It was taking more effort than normal to keep their form stable, and any large attack could likely cause them to collapse and fall apart.

Zygarde dashed out of Terminus Cave, gazing out at Kalos. The sky was dark with clouds, and if Zygarde extended their senses enough, they could taste the rain and the smoke in the southeast, where Nebel Plateau lay.

The cells conversed, and Zygarde came to a decision. They extended their senses and reached out towards the Plateau, trying desperately to find those who had attacked Xerneas.

Instead, he couldn’t find anything. When they reached the plateau, the men and women responsible for the attack had vanished. They strained their senses to their absolute limit in this form, trying to pick up anything at all.

There! Zygarde could faintly detect the Torterra they had seen less than an hour ago. But Torterra was in poor shape. His energy was fading rapidly, and then, it ceased.

Zygarde felt some modicum of sadness at the loss of the Pokémon. Xerneas had trusted him enough to make him her apprentice, and they knew that the goddess would take the loss hard.

Wait, why did Yveltal’s energy just flare up in that direction? He was just in Lumiose City! The gestalt glanced back towards the capital of Kalos, but they were able to confirm Yveltal still resided in that city at the moment.

What was going on? The God of Order returned to observe Nebel Plateau, and that was Yveltal! How was he in two places at once? Zygarde moved their senses around and discovered Groudon and Kyogre’s estranged son nearby, conversing with…

Zygarde lost the connection, concentration broken by what they had discovered.

“What the hell is that man-made monstrosity doing there! Why is the Aether Foundation in Kalos!”

Chapter Text

“…still no word from local authorities on the cause of the blaze, but we can confirm that 90% of the Nebel Wildfire has been contained at this time. When asked by our local correspondent, the Snowbelle City Police Chief said that they are currently accepting donations, both financial and medicinal supplies, to help the injured Pokémon who have been displaced by the wildfire.

“CEO of Quasartico Inc., Jett Quazar, has already pledged to donate 2 million Poké to help those affected. Speaking of Quasartico Inc., the company is reporting that its long-controversial plan to rebuild Lumiose City will be completed by the end of the year.

“As viewers are no doubt aware, Lumiose City suffered massive damage when the Legendary Pokémon Zygarde, once thought to be little more than a myth, rampaged through a large part of the city several years ago.

“Following the attack, Quasartico Inc. won the rebuilding contract and vowed to transform Lumiose City into a ‘place where people and Pokémon can coexist’. Critics have compared their plans to Ryme City, whose founder, Howard Clifford, has recently been sentenced to life in prison for the events 6 years ago, following a lengthy and drawn-out trial…”

Holly drowned out the noise the television was making, her thoughts consumed by the events of the past few days. She fell into her memories, heart burning with the pain of entering those thoughts once again.

After Volcanion had charged into the burning grove, he found her standing over Torterra’s body, weeping from the loss of her friend. She barely paid attention as he called out, but she couldn’t help but watch in disbelief as humans entered the grove!

Was it not enough for her home to be destroyed, for her to lose her only friend? Now Volcanion decided to bring humans to one of the most sacred places on the planet, a place he very well knew needed to be protected.

But these humans looked different from the ones who attacked her. Holly’s eyes narrowed as she stared back at the two men who entered the grove. Both lacked those irritatingly bright red sunglasses, and they wore concerned and shocked expressions on their faces when they looked at Holly and Torterra. Neither went for their Poké Balls, a rather admirable feat as a vengeful Liepard glared at them, body crackling with energy.

Both men were tall, taller than the average human male at least. The one on the right, Hollow could tell, was a Kalosian native. He had shoulder-length blond hair, and his blue eyes were hidden by wire-frame glasses. He was clad in a full-body jumpsuit, stained with ash and grease, and torn in places. He wore a strange backpack, and several Poké Balls hung from the bag’s shoulder straps. Holly thought he looked familiar, but she couldn’t tell where she had seen him before.

The second man, the one on the left, Holly recognized immediately. After all, who couldn’t recognize the head of the Aether Foundation, Gladion Mohn? He single-handedly propelled the company into the Destiny 500 following the strange disappearance of his parents when he was a teenager.

Gladion wore a black suit with red accents, covered by a billowing lab coat that had been singed and burned by the flames. The jeans he wore were torn at the knees. His long blond hair covered half of his face, with the rest pulled back into a flowing braid that went past his shoulders. A string of Poké Balls hung from his belt, and an odd bracelet adorned his left wrist.

“Wait,” Holly thought, trying to remember something she had heard Jules’s parents discuss when she was a kitten. “Didn’t the Foundation get in hot water for something? Jules looked into it as a kid…”

As she tried to recall this thought, her new senses went off again, and she felt a strange presence coming up behind the two men. It felt unnatural, as if its very existence defied death.

The vines covering the entrance were torn away, as the strangest Pokémon Holly had ever seen bounded into the clearing, eyes darting around before finding Gladion. The Pokémon raced to the Foundation leader and nuzzled the human.

The Pokémon, for it had to be a Pokémon, was tall, almost as tall as Xerneas was when her antlers were deactivated. Their face was avian, but metal seemed to cover their face. Further down, their body was canine in origin, but two large claws lay where forepaws would normally have been. Rather than a normal tail, a fin from a fish jutted out, and their flanks were covered in scales.

Gleaming grey eyes met Holly’s, and she realized that the strange Pokémon had met her gaze, glaring at her as their odd face seemed to rotate. Wait, it actually was rotating, Holly realized! Their cheeks were glowing with energy, and appeared to be spinning as the Pokémon’s gaze narrowed. She felt her fur rise instinctively at the threat, and the last piece fell into place.

“The Aether Foundation is found criminally liable for violating the Cinnabar Pact, and will pay restitution of 100 million Poké for unethically creating new Pokémon as weapons and experimenting on them against their will. All ‘Silvally’ they possess shall be relinquished to the Pokémon League, and Aether Branch President Faba shall receive life in prison.”

The Aether Foundation created artificial life, a violation of the Cinnabar Pact that all major regions had signed following the disaster at Cinnabar Island decades ago.

According to the news at the time, Team Rocket, the crime syndicate that had plagued the Kanto region back then, had commissioned the creation of a Pokémon, one created from the DNA of Mew itself.

It was said that the Pokémon, a clone of Mew, had broken out of its containment and destroyed Cinnabar Island. Originally, the Pokémon League had blamed a volcano for the destruction, but as sightings of Mewtwo became more and more common, and Team Rocket fell apart, the cover-up was leaked and eventually revealed to the general public.

A wave of outrage swept through the regions. People everywhere were appalled that a Pokémon was created to be nothing more than a tool. While humans have indeed created their own Pokémon, such as Porygon to protect the internet from those with ill intent, or were created accidentally, such as Muk and Grimer, creating a Pokémon to be a slave was unheard of.

Galar had been the one to propose the pact, and eventually, all major regions, even ones such as Orre and Ransei, signed onto the pact. Each region vowed never to create a Pokémon to act as a weapon, and expressly forbade research into cloning technology.

Only twice had the pact been violated since. Once, when Team Plasma was terrorizing Unova, they revived and experimented on an extinct species of Bug-type Pokémon, welding cannons onto their backs, resulting in the birth of Genesect. And then, when the Aether Foundation created Silvally in their attempt to artificially create a Pokémon that could rival Arceus.

The news about the Aether Foundation had broken while Jules was in school. One of his teachers had assigned research papers on a topic of their choosing. Jules chose to research the ethics of creating artificial Pokémon, and Holly was subject to his frantic research during the next few weeks.

A chill ran up Holly’s spine, one wholly unrelated to her thoughts about her former trainer. She broke her staring contest with Silvally and peered around the grove. It felt like something was watching her. She could almost sense a presence, but nothing was there.

“Holly, the hell happened!” She was snapped out of her thoughts by Volcanion. Why did he still seem wary of her? Her ears folded against her head, but she shook her head. “H-humans attacked. They k-k…” her voice broke. She couldn’t say it, couldn’t admit it.

Volcanion seemed to understand, and Gladion pulled out a phone from his coat pocket. He nodded to the man next to him, who left the grove. Gladion tapped on the device before holding it to his ear and speaking. “Gladion here. Need an evac at my position. Prepare for burial proceedings.”

Burial proceedings! Evac! The hell was he talking about?

She soon had her answer. A continuous noise broke the silence of the grove soon, and she watched as a helicopter hovered overhead, shining bright lights into the grove, illuminating the extensive damage the invaders had caused.

“Volcanion,” she warned the Steam Pokémon, but he just grunted. “Easy, Holly, I trust them.”

That thought didn’t exactly provide the black and red feline much comfort at the moment.

Several more humans rappelled down from the helicopter and made their way to Torterra, pulling out tarps and putting on protective equipment!

When Holly realized what was happening, she had to be restrained by Volcanion and Silvally. She couldn’t let them take Torterra away! She wouldn’t allow it.

A growl built up in her throat, the odd white lines on her body pulsing with light. But before she could attack, something hit her in the back of her head, and she was knocked unconscious.

Later on, she woke in a sterile white room, an IV drip in her right foreleg. Her head was pounding.

“Urgh, w-what the hell happened?” the feline asked.

“We’ve been wondering the same thing, kid.” A low voice spoke nearby, and Holly turned and saw Volcanion lying on a pad by her bedside, Magearna asleep next to him. Carefully, he nudged Magearna, and she sprang out of her ball form, toddling over to Holly.

“Oh, it’s wonderful that you’re awake, Holly. We were so worried when you didn’t appear with the rest of the village residents during the evacuation.” Concern etched the automaton’s voice, but a few things stood out to Holly.

”Wait, evacuation? What happened, and where am I?”

Volcanion and Magearna looked at each other, a silent debate going on between the two. Quickly, Holly grew irritated at their lack of an answer. “Someone say something already! What happ-“

Holly stopped, finally catching a glimpse of her reflection in the window. The strange new coloration, the mysterious hand at the end of her tail. “So it wasn’t a dream,” she trailed off, before her eyes widened in alarm. “Wait, where’s Torterra!”

She didn’t want to know the answer, but the sympathetic and sorrowful gaze the two Pokémon gave her spoke volumes. Tears streamed from her eyes, constant pleas ran from her muzzle as she begged the two to be wrong.

”No, no, no… this can’t be happening…”

Magearna brought her into a fierce hug, and even Volcanion wrapped his arm around the sobbing feline.

That had been several hours ago. After that, Holly had been inspected by Magearna and cleared from the hospital. Apparently, Gladion’s Silvally hadn’t taken kindly to her threatening his trainer and had knocked her out. Afterwards, she was brought to Aether Paradise in Alola.

She was still in the same room where she woke up, listening to the TV drone about the ‘mysterious’ wildfire that had broken out in southeastern Kalos. According to ‘experts’, the various channels brought on, the leading theory was that several Moltres or Entei had gotten into a clash over territory, and a stray attack sparked the blaze.

Holly snarled at that accusation when one of the talking heads brought it up. “Typical humans. Always blaming anything but themselves!”

Another chill ran down the Liepard’s spine, and she thought she saw something in the corner of her eye. But when she went to look, nothing was there. The same thing happened when she was at the grove.

The door to the waiting room slowly opened, and Volcanion and Magearna entered, causing Holly to lose her previous train of thought. Well, Volcanion could only stick his head through the door; he couldn’t fit his large bulk through.

Magearna approached Holly, and Holly could see the slight apprehension the Pokémon carried. Shock and irritation filled Holly. Did Magearna think Holly would hurt her!?

Holly had to bury the growl that rose at that thought. Thankfully, it seemed the pair hadn’t noticed her reaction.

”Holly, Volcanion and I…er,” Magearna stuttered. Holly raised an eyebrow at this. She never usually had trouble sharing her mind, so why was Magearna having trouble now?

Volcanion picked up where Magearna left off. “The two of us have to head back to Kalos.” Holly’s eyes widened, and her heart dropped at the news. “We’ve spoken to the head of the Aether Foundation, and we need to help the residents of Aube rebuild and ensure that no humans discover the secrets of the plateau.”

The emphasis the mythical Pokémon placed made it clear what he meant. Holly nodded bitterly, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. “Holly, d-did you want to come with us?”

Holly couldn’t have expected that question. Her thoughts stopped, her heart skipping a beat. Leave Torterra? “N-no, I-I can’t leave. Not without-“ Holly froze. Torterra was gone, and she was expected to move on. Just like that?

Thankfully, Volcanion and Magearna understood what she was trying to say and nodded. Volcanion backed out of the doorway, allowing Magearna to exit the room. With her hand on the doorknob, Magearna spoke to Holly, trying to reassure the lost Pokémon. “Holly, I know things are hard, and you feel lost. Believe me, I know all too well the feeling. But you have people around you, us, who you can turn to. Don’t shut us out, alright? We’re one call away.”

Holly swallowed and nodded before she lowered her head, utterly exhausted from the conversation. As she fell asleep, she heard the soft click of the door closing. But the cold sensation she kept feeling never left, and her traitorous thoughts refused to let her go.

“Worthless cat, he died because of you.”

When Holly woke up, the clock on the wall said it was the afternoon. “Guess the jet lag hasn’t worn off yet,” she thought to herself. Slowly, she pushed herself to her paws.

For some reason, it was easier to do so than it normally would have been. Holly looked back and realized that her tail had moved on its own, and it helped push her to her paws, acting like her missing leg.

“Huh,” was all she could do, still utterly overwhelmed by recent events. But now that the danger had passed, she was left to wonder what had happened to herself.

Her paws took her out of the hospital room and down the halls. She continued to wander until she pushed open a door and found herself in an absolutely massive area. She couldn’t even see the other side from where she stood.

Instead, what she saw was Pokémon. Lots, and lots of Pokémon. Some species she had never even seen, while other Pokémon were everyday occurrences in Kalos. Cottonee and Whimsicotts floated through the air, chased by small yellow Pokémon she had never seen before. Finneon and Quilfish swam through the waters that cut through the area, while sentient sandcastles played with Lillipups and Woopers.

The warm sun beat down on her fur, causing her to realize just how cold she had been. A breeze blew through the area, ruffling her fur and making the odd ruff around her neck ripple in the gentle breeze.

Holly found herself wandering the area as she tried to piece together the puzzle of her new appearance. “Let’s see,” she muttered to herself. “That bastard Malamar sent me flying into the cavern roof, breaking several of my ribs in the process. Then I fell into that pool below those roots, and woke up like this.”

Holly stopped. “I should have died… I should have drowned in that pool. Why didn’t I?”

Aside from that issue, the main question Holly had was what the pool of water she fell into was. Unfortunately, she had little to go on. She had asked Torterra what it was like as Xerneas’s apprentice, but most of what he told her was related to his tasks and normal duties.

Things like the part of the garden he cultivated that day, the next batch of produce he would deliver to the village, complaints about his mentor's sense of humor, things like that. Very rarely did he speak about the spiritual side of things, outside of a few brief mentions here and there, like a spirit he talked to the other day.

Holly paused, snapping out of her thoughts as she watched an adorable pink bear Pokémon toddle along the riverbank. The child looked almost like a stuffed animal with how cute they were. As Holly observed the child, the child noticed her watching, and seemed frightened by Holly.

“What?” As Holly watched, the child ran to another Pokémon, a hulking black and pink bear that glared daggers at Holly. Slowly, the mother put her fists together, and the crack her knuckles made was audible from where Holly stood. She tried her best not to look threatening, but she realized that other Pokémon around were glaring at her, either in anger or out of fear.

Several incredibly tall Exeggutor were glaring down at her, while a Krokorok and a Snorlax were getting to their feet.

She needed to leave, now! As fast as she could, Holly fled the area, but she could still feel the burning stares of the Pokémon watching her flee.

She failed to notice the Primarina watching her with a curious yet pitiable expression. The Primarina had been sunning herself on a cluster of rocks in the middle of the river, but had been woken up by the increasingly tense atmosphere.

“Come on, Aqua! You’ll be late!”

“Alright, alright. Keep your scales on!” the Primarina called out, before diving into the water and swimming over to the Milotic who had called out her name.

Chapter Text

Holly ran through the refuge, not stopping until she couldn’t sense any Pokémon around her. Somehow, she was able to just know where nearby Pokémon were. If she wasn’t terrified, she’d wonder how she seemed to now possess extrasensory perception, despite her species not possessing any psychic abilities.

Panting, she found herself at a small hill overlooking the rest of the refuge. She couldn’t detect any nearby Pokémon, and so finally decided to stop. She walked to the tree that sat at the top of the hill, lying down in the shade it cast.

“What is going on?” she asked. Pokémon were afraid of her, these strange senses, and the persistent chill and presence that refused to go away.

Holly tried to focus, tried to breathe, and calm her mind. As she focused on her breathing, Holly looked out at the area around her.

Thankfully, it seems the Pokémon had let her go without a fight and went back to their normal activities. She could see distant specks of Pokémon moving around, talking. A community she had been rejected from.

Her heart ached at that knowledge. It had been difficult enough for her to gain acceptance in Aube Village. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just humanity that held onto prejudices. Many Pokémon themselves held onto long-standing beliefs that Dark types like her were dangerous.

It wasn’t her fault that she could move silently and accidentally sneak up on people. The number of times she had been told off for that from other residents…

When Torterra entered Holly’s life once more, she had been contemplating leaving the village entirely. She didn’t spend so much of her time patrolling just because the village needed it, but because it gave her space away from others.

Torterra… her thoughts towards the turtle were an incredibly complex web that she couldn’t even hope to unravel. He was irritating at first, and she still harbored some distaste towards him over what happened with her leg.

Yet, she watched as he grew, slowly becoming a better Pokémon, someone she considered a friend. She never spoke of Jules and her time as a domestic Pokémon, yet Torterra somehow got it out of her. He protected her from the avalanche.

But she failed to protect him, and he died as a result.

Holly’s eyes began to water, but no more tears fell. “Guess I’m all cried out,” she thought somberly. At this point, her breathing had evened out, and she was able to return her thoughts to her strange situation.

“So after Malamar sent me into the pool, I woke up with black and red fur, strange white stripes on my legs and belly, this strange hand on my tail,” said hand waved at Holly as she spoke, “and this constantly moving scarf around my neck.”

Holly rolled over onto her back, looking up at the sky. To her surprise and slight amusement, she discovered that the tree she lay underneath was a Cheri Berry tree. Her stomach rumbled, and she realized that she hadn’t eaten since she shared the Nanab berries with Torterra. “That had to be several days ago by now.”

Holly rolled back over, got to her paws, and climbed the tree, making her way to the top of the tree. Once there, she stared back out at the scenery and reached for a few berries to snack on.

She watched as her tail reached for a few berries further away, grasping them in its talons and bringing the fruit to the liepard, who stared at the offending appendage with a confused look before shrugging.

Biting into the food, she continued speaking, “So, the only thing that changed between the end of the fight and me waking up was that dip into that water.” Holly tried to think back on what she knew about the grove.

“So the grove is where Xerneas and Torterra lived, right? They tended to the garden and the Tree of Life. That pool had to be underneath the Tree of Lift, right? There were all those roots covering the roof of the cavern.

“But what’s the purpose of the Tree of Life? Ugh, I wish Torterra had been more forthcoming with that side of his job.” Holly swallowed and bit into another berry. “Obviously, it has something to do with life, hence the name. So did the waters help save me?”

A thought came to Holly then, “But wait. Xerneas is the Goddess of Life. She’s primarily blue and black, not red and…white.” She paused, a despairing thought surfacing deep in her mind.

“Red and white are opposite colors of blue and black…and the opposite of Life is,” the feline gulped, unable to finish that last thought.

“Ah, so she finally figures it out,” a deep voice echoed in Holly’s mind, scaring her out of the tree she lay in. With a yelp, she fell to the ground and was nearly sent sprawling if not for her tail-hand helping her land on her paws.

“Oh, so the rumors are true. Your kind does indeed always land on their feet.” The voice sounded almost amused. Holly darted her gaze around, but she couldn’t see anything. She was alone on the hill.

“W-who are you?” she asked, a tremor in her voice. That presence she had been sensing, the chill, it was everywhere.

“I believe you already know the answer to that question, my dear.” The shadows around Holly seemed to coalesce, her own shadow growing and stretching in front of her. It morphed from its feline form, the legs melting into outstretched wings and short talons, the tail thickening into a broad hand.

Two turquoise eyes stared at Holly, eyes that Holly knew now looked back at her whenever she looked at her reflection.

“Y-you’re the Pokémon of Death,” she stammered, barely able to speak with how terrified she was. Her ears were pressed against her skull, and she knew that any Pokémon nearby could smell her fear scent.

“Pokémon of Destruction, to be more precise. I am Yveltal, Holly. It’s a pleasure to meet you, and please, relax. I mean you no harm.” The voice sounded genuine enough, but Holly couldn’t force her fur to lie flat.

The shadow let out a sigh before it shrank in size until it was about the same size as Holly herself. The shadow then sat alongside the Liepard, gazing out at the wildlife refuge.

“It’s quite remarkable what the humans here have done, wouldn’t you say?” W-was he trying to make small talk with her? It was official, Holly had died in that pool. That was the only explanation for the direction her life had taken.

The shadow chuckled, “No, my dear. You did not perish, although you were quite close, I must say. You were lucky that you landed in the Pool of Spirit.” Holly’s ears perked up at that statement.

“Wait, you can hear my thoughts? And what do you mean by ‘lucky’? I’m lucky that my best friend is dead?” Her voice took on an accusing tone as she finished speaking, irritated and angry that Yveltal would think that.

“Peace, my dear,” the shadow said, waving his wings in a calming manner, “I didn’t mean it that way, but I suppose I could see how one could take it in that direction.

“I meant that if you had not landed in the Pool of Spirit, I could not have reached your dying form and given you some of my power, allowing your body to heal from your injuries.

“Unfortunately, I believe my power is the only thing keeping you alive at this point. Even if you heal all the way, if you lose my power, you will die.”

Holly stared at the shadow incredulously, trying to process what she had just been told. Eventually, she asked, “The f-”

Yveltal cut her off, “Easy, there are children around here!” Holly didn’t believe her eyes could have gotten any larger, but somehow they did. Was this what it was like for Torterra when he met Xerneas? Her beliefs about Legendary Pokémon had certainly been shattered during the conversation so far.

Holly huffed and spoke, her tone carefully neutral. “The hell,” and she made sure to emphasize that word, “do you mean you gave me your power! And what’s that about me dying without your power!”

“Exactly that,” Holly’s right eye twitched. She would have punched the shadow if she were sure it would connect. “And regarding your second question…” Yveltal trailed off, tapping his wings together nervously.

“Your body had already died by the time my power reached you. It was able to preserve your mind, keep your soul from departing into the afterlife, and heal your beaten and battered body, but once a body dies, it is no longer suitable as the host for a soul.

“My power merged with your body, and it keeps your soul bound to it. You feel, you breathe, you eat, but you do not beat.” What? What did he mean? She did not beat?

“Feel for yourself, little one, but I am truly sorry I was not faster.” The Destruction Pokémon mimed pressing his wing against his neck. Cautiously, Holly did the same. She rested her paw against her neck, where one would normally feel for a pulse. She didn’t feel anything.

Wait.

She didn’t feel anything.

She had no pulse. Holly began to breathe faster, but to her shock and mounting horror, her heart did not race like it should have. She pressed her paw against her chest, trying desperately to feel her heartbeat. She couldn’t feel anything.

“W-what the hell? What the hell?” She begged the god for an answer. “How is this even possible?”

“My trio, that is, myself, Xerneas, and Zygarde, we are all connected to the Tree of Life. It serves as the connection point between our world and the afterlife. Xerneas tends to the worries of the spirits on the other side. I shepherd the departed, and Zygarde, they ensure that the planet and the afterlife stay balanced.

“When you fell into the Pool of Spirit, I was able to feel you dying, and I could feel Xerneas across our bond. I decided to use my connection to the Tree and channel my energy into you.”

The shadow looked up to the sky above. Distantly, Holly could see a plane cutting across the cloudless sky. Yveltal continued his tale, “Just as Xerneas can sense life across the planet, so too can I sense death and destruction. I can feel a school of Wishiwashi as they are consumed by a Gyarados duo, just outside this structure. I am there when an elder passes away in their sleep. Death comes for everyone, no matter how they may fight.”

“I-is that why it’s so cold, and so loud?” Holly asked. “Yes, my dear. Believe me, I am sorry I thrust this upon you without your consent. But I had no choice, and if in the end, you wish to bring me to justice, demand I atone before Arceus’s hooves, I will not begrudge you.”

Holly couldn’t keep the snarl out of her throat. “Why!” she demanded from the God of Destruction. “Why do this to me!”

The shadow turned and locked eyes with Holly, turquoise eyes meeting turquoise eyes. “Because I had no other choice!” he yelled at the stunned feline. “My counterpart, my mate, is stolen away. Zygarde is practically falling apart; they’ll be of no help. You are the only one left who has seen our opponent.”

“Better, they think that you are dead. That means that you’ll be able to move undetected, under their radar. They won’t suspect anything until it’s too late.”

Holly couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The plan was insane, so insane that she started laughing. “Haha, the thought of me being able to do something like that. It’s almost comical if it wasn’t so sad.”

Yveltal shifted, and although Holly couldn’t see the god’s expression, she could tell he wasn’t happy. She didn’t quite care at this moment. “Let me tell you one thing. I’m nobody. I’m not powerful, I’m not strong. I’m…”

“Worthless?” the shadow provided. Holly sucked in a breath. Sure, that was what she was about to say, but having a deity point it out to her still stung. “My dear Holly, you’re the furthest thing from worthless. There’s no such thing. You have a fantastic skillset and a wonderful personality. Torterra could see it, Xerneas could see it, so why can’t you?”

Yveltal almost sounded like he cared. Why would he? But to the deep purple and crimson-furred cat, the shadow drew closer and wrapped his wings around Holly. He was… hugging her? That unleashed the waterworks. Holly had thought she had cried enough today. Apparently, she had more to give.

Between her sobs, Yveltal softly spoke, “Shh, little one, it’s alright. You feel tremendous guilt over your friend, but it wasn’t your fault. What happened to your Trainer and your old friends wasn’t your fault either. It’s not a crime to love, and Jules’s choices were his and his alone.”

Holly’s breath hitched, and she realized that she had never been able to properly grieve for the loss of her old life. She had run from the Pokémon Center, run across the region. Has she ever stopped running?

Underneath the Cheri Tree, wrapped in the wings of the god who saved her life, she finally grieved for what she had lost.

An indeterminate amount of time passed while Holly was swaddled up in Yveltal’s shadow. But eventually, her eyes had cried her last tear, and she pulled away from the embrace. She rubbed at her eyes with a paw, dreading her current appearance. She could picture it now, bloodshot eyes and messy, tear-streaked fur.

“You’re not far off from reality, little one.” Holly shot the shadowy bird a glare, but began to groom her fur while she spoke, “That’s something we need to address. Can you read my thoughts?

Yveltal nodded, causing Holly to groan. “Great, I got a god in my head. Is that where this headache is coming from?”

“No, that’s due to lingering pain of Silvally hitting you quite hard with a Fairy-type Multi Attack and dehydration. You’ve cried quite a lot and have not had much fluid since you woke up.”

“Oh, great,” Holly muttered, “I got a parent in my head. What next, you gonna set a bedtime for me?”

“Only if you misbehave,” the deity chirped. Holly didn’t think Yveltal would have a response ready and was silent. Yvetal said, “Torterra complained endlessly about his mentor’s sense of humor. Where do you think she got it from?”

“Ugh, so what’s the plan now? Why can’t you do this yourself?” Holly asked her sentient shadow. He stared at the ground, idly playing with a Cheri Berry that had fallen alongside Holly.

“I wish I could. Unfortunately, I am too high-profile a Pokémon. Our enemies undoubtedly have technology they can use to sense my energy. They’d know I’d be coming. On top of that, they are in possession of both Xerneas and Zygarde. Dark types don’t play well with Fairies, and Zygarde was created to turn Xerneas’s and my powers against ourselves. I’d be defeated instantly.”

Holly had to give the avian some credit; he had clearly thought this through. “Well, shit. And I suppose that’d allow this mysterious organization to use your powers as well.” Said avian nodded.

“Yes. I was asleep the last time an organization attempted to use my power to destroy all life on this planet, but I refuse to allow myself to be used like that again!”

Holly looked at Yveltal questioningly. Why would he object to life being destroyed? He’s a destroyer, isn’t he? When Yveltal glared at her, she shrank back in terror. When he spoke next, ice flooded Holly’s veins.

“Needless death and destruction violate the natural order. I am a destroyer, yes, but I only destroy if necessary, just as Xerneas only restores life if necessary. Too much of either can cause irreparable harm to the ecosystem. Too much death and destruction, and recovery is impossible, but too much life will eventually choke itself out, as it consumes all resources till none are left.

“Balance is the key, not just in the ecosystem, but in ourselves.”

For some reason, that phrase stuck with Holly, sinking deep into her mind. She shook her head; she needed to stay on topic. Focus on saving Xerneas and Zygarde for now, process fortune cookie sayings later.

Distantly, Holly heard the Destruction Pokémon snort as she compared his saying to a fortune cookie, but hey, it works.

“Where should I start? Do you have any leads?”

Somehow, Yveltal seemed to shrink even further into himself than he already had. “Unfortunately, no. This group doesn’t leave much of a trace. If they had, Zygarde would’ve caught them months ago, but here we are now.”

Dammit. This’d be so much easier if Torterra were here. The only thing she had seen, aside from the grunts attacking the grove, was the woman with the Scolipede and the man with the Gourgeist and the Malamar.

“Hmm. That’s rather unfortunate…” Wait, why did Yveltal say that line in such an odd way? Holly turned and stared intently at the shadow beside her. He was hiding something. The avian met her eye, and his eyes shifted upwards, almost as if he were smiling.

Slowly, he put a wing on Holly’s shoulder and stared deep into her eyes. “Holly, what I am about to tell you must remain a secret. No one, and I mean no one, can know we possess this power. It violates the natural order, and I once swore never to use it, and I expect you to do the same. I’ve only ever broken this vow once before.”

“What is it?”

“The power to defy death itself, and bring someone who has departed this world back. All you need is a suitable vessel to house the departed soul.”

Holly went over what the God of Destruction and Death had told her, before her eyes widened as she pieced the puzzle together. She could barely speak the words, too terrified to know the answer, but she needed to know one way or the other.

“Can I bring Torterra back?”

Chapter Text

The shadow bobbed his head, and Holly’s heart jumped into her throat. Wait, if her heart no longer beat, did that expression still apply?

The feline shook her head. She could contemplate figures of speech later. “What’s needed for a vessel!” she demanded from the god. She had one singular goal in mind at the moment.

Bring her friend back.

“Slow down, my child,” Yveltal said, waving his wings in front of him. “One thing at a time. From what I’ve overheard throughout the years, this place once created artificial Pokémon, correct? They could still have some vessels that your friend could inhabit, since his original body is no longer suitable.”

The Silvally! Was it possible that the Aether Foundation still had the research that was used to create them? She needed to talk to Gladion, find some way to convince him to give her a Silvally body.

“Once I have a suitable vessel, what then?” Holly asked the shadow beside her. “I can walk you through the process. But, my dear, everything has a cost. What is lost cannot be replaced, and disturbing Order always has a cost. Trust me, I know all too well…”

Holly didn’t care for Yveltal’s warning, much to the avian’s chagrin. If he didn’t want her “violating Order” or whatever, well then, he shouldn’t have brought up the idea in the first place.

”Right,” she mewed, getting to her paws and stretching. “I need to find Gladion. Any suggestions on how I could convince him?”

“I’ll try and think of a few things, but remember, you must not tell them about this power.”

”Alright, I promise, Yveltal.”

With that, the shadow faded away, and the last thing Holly saw was the turquoise glow of Yveltal’s eyes locked onto her. Holly then looked around the area and scented the air, trying to see if she could detect any trace of Gladion.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t detect any humans, just other Pokémon. Did the humans not come to this part of the artificial island? Quickly, Holly retraced her steps back to the entrance of the refuge, making sure to cloak herself in darkness, leaping from shadow to shadow to avoid the ire of the Pokémon who called the place home.

There! She approached the door she had used to enter the preserve, and opened it using her tail-hand. Now that she knew more about her strange new form, she could appreciate some aspects of it. The tail-hand certainly made things like opening doors and picking up objects much easier compared to her paws.

She moved throughout the facility, drawing several strange glances from white-clad humans, but no one moved to stop her as she continued to wander. Did Gladion let his employees know of her presence?

Or were these employees so used to strange occurrences that the sight of a strange Liepard barely bothered them? That thought rather disturbed Holly, and she quickly turned her thoughts elsewhere.

“You know, I’ve heard rumors about Alola. They say it’s a hotspot for interdimensional activity.” The unwanted voice in her head spoke up. “Wait, interdimensional, as in-“

Yveltal interrupted her, “Yes, as in not from this universe. Have you heard the legends of the Blinding One? Oh, and you can just think your thoughts to me, no need to say them out loud.”

Holly bit her tongue and rolled her eyes at the bird’s response. “Somewhat. They were a golden being responsible for governing light, right?” she asked her companion.

“Mostly correct in broad strokes, but the details are missing. The Blinding One, or Necrozma, was an interdimensional dragon of light who befriended Arceus at the dawn of the universe. Though they’re a bit more than friends now.

”But that’s not why I bring this up. In recent years, Alola has become Ground Zero for visits from other universes. That was the primary reason cited for the development of Silvally: to protect Alola from threats normal Pokémon couldn’t hope to defeat.”

Wow. That certainly was something to learn. Holly could feel her headache coming back. Was Yveltal going to tell her that aliens existed as well?

“I mean-“ the voice began, before Holly yelled at him, “Nope! We’re not doing this right now!”

How was it so damn hard to find someone in this place! It felt like Holly had been wandering for hours at this point, yet she was no closer to finding Gladion. She was just rounding a corner when she felt it, the same feeling of unnaturalness that she felt back in the grove.

“Silvally. Their creation violates order, as most man-made Pokémon do, but especially those Pokémon created to be weapons.” A somber note filled Yveltal’s voice as he spoke in Holly’s mind. As she tried to focus on that sensation, she realized that it was above her. Had she only been checking one floor this entire time?

With a groan, Holly made her way to the nearest staircase and began the arduous task of climbing stairs with only three legs. Thankfully, her tail was able to keep her steady as she ascended, so she could focus on the conversation Yveltal had started.

“Is that a bad thing? To violate order, I mean?” she asked her companion. Yveltal let out a sigh before speaking, “It depends. I don’t have a problem with artificial Pokémon. Most of them live and die just like normal Pokémon. It is the ones crafted to be weapons that I am wary of. Mewtwo, Silvally, Genesect. All of them are immortal beings, and incredibly powerful to boot.”

“So you’re concerned they may try to overthrow the gods?” Holly asked. Again, the voice sighed. “No. Most of them just want to be left alone. The original Mewtwo has said to the Legendary Council that he just wants to be left alone, and his younger sister is content helping Pokémon in need. An admirable trait.”

Wait, there are TWO Mewtwo? “Yes. Humanity’s arrogance knows no bounds sometimes.” Yveltal’s voice was clearly tinged with anger at that line, sending a shiver down Holly’s spine and causing her fur to stand on end.

“Where was I? Ah, right. I don’t have a problem with artificial Pokémon, and I know Xerneas doesn’t either, the big softie that she is.” Was that affection in Yveltal’s voice? “But Zygarde… they view all artificial Pokémon as a violation of the planet’s balance. They fear that as artificial Pokémon continue to be made and spread across the planet, they will eventually crowd out normal Pokémon, leading to an extinction-level event.”

Wow, that was certainly a lot to process. Wait, wasn’t the end goal to free Zygarde? Wouldn’t they react poorly if rescued by two Pokémon they saw as ‘disorderly’?

Noticeably, Yveltal was silent as she thought this. “I’ll get an answer out of you before this is over!” she hissed to her unwanted guest. The conversation died after that, and Holly focused on climbing the stairs, following this strange new sense of hers to a door. She pushed open the door and stepped out onto an exterior deck.

Holly wandered over to the fence that bordered the deck and stood on her hind leg (and tail), allowing her to gaze over the fence and look out at the tropical Alolan Ocean that surrounded the floating wildlife preserve.

It was an incredible view. The sapphire waters shimmered as the warm sun hung overhead, with a gentle breeze softly blowing through her fur and disturbing the water’s surface. As Holly watched, she could see fish Pokémon swimming through the ocean far below, and even a few jumping through the waves.

She blinked. Did one of the Pokémon just flex at her? A chuckle rang in her head, “Ah, Palafin. Many of them style themselves after those superheroes that were popular a decade ago, flexing muscles and all.”

Shaking her head to try and bury that memory, she got down from the fence and tried to focus on that feeling of unnaturalness she had been following. It took up most of her senses at the moment, so Silvally had to be nearby. She wandered around the deck, her ears flicking upright when he heard two voices speak.

“... she’s gotten better recently, you know that?” a soft voice spoke, feminine in tone.

A gruff, masculine voice responded, “I’m not going to talk to her, Lillie. I still can’t understand why you choose to keep her in your life.”

Holly rounded the corner of the deck and finally found Gladion, his arms crossed as he stared out at the ocean. Across from him was a woman, long blond hair tied back in a ponytail. She wore ripped blue jeans and a flowing white shirt, and wore a pair of glasses. On her shoulder sat a well-groomed white Vulpix, currently sleeping in the warm sunlight.

She was glaring back at Gladion, her arms also crossed. It was like Holly was staring at a mirror image of Gladion, and she could almost be convinced they were identical if not for the two clearly being different genders.

Holly heard a huff next to her. She spun her head and realized that the large form of Silvally was lying on the ground beside her. Silvally opened his eyes and stared at the feline. She froze, clearly remembering what happened the last time the two crossed paths.

Silvally’s eyes and his odd tail and head-thing shifted from white to a dark pink before eventually settling on a lighter pink coloration, but beyond that, he didn’t react. Instead, he turned his focus back to the arguing humans and muttered, “Great, they’re at it again.”

Again? Quietly, she whispered back, “D-does this happen a lot?” Silvally’s head crest-thing, was it a crest? Silvally’s head crest deflated slightly, the glowing pink blades shrinking and pressing closer together.

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” the chimera responded. He raised a claw and rubbed his forehead while grimacing. “So what brings you here? Doubt you’d want to see me after the last impression I left.”

Holly winced at the reminder. “Yeah, look,” she said, “I’m sorry for how I acted, and I don’t blame you for attacking. I-I wasn’t in a great state of mind.”

The strange Pokémon nodded, “Yeah, I’m sorry for your loss.”

The two were silent until Holly realized she hadn’t actually answered Silvally’s question. “I need to ask Gladion for something.”

“Oh, really? What is it? I could tell him for you, those two are likely to be at it for a while,” he muttered.

Holly froze. “Shit, how am I supposed to say I can bring Torterra back without actually telling them!”

“Relax, young one, and breathe. I’ve given it some thought, and I believe what I have should suffice. Just repeat after me.” Yveltal’s voice echoed in her mind.

“I-I can revive Torterra, my friend. I just need a suitable vessel to put his spirit into, a-and I was hoping-” Holly trailed off, seeing the look of suspicion and anger appearing in Silvally’s eyes.

Slowly, the chimera got to his paws, and Holly realized just how much he towered over her. He was like twice her size! Her ears fell back against her skull, and she had to force herself not to take a step backwards.

This drew the attention of the two humans, their conversation ending. “Easy, big guy, calm down,” Gladion said, rushing over to Silvally and stroking the feathers on his chest. Gladion then turned to Holly, gazing at her with a questioning expression.

“You want a Silvally body!” Silvally nearly roared the question, causing everyone else to jump in fright, and causing the Vulpix to fall from Lillie’s shoulder and hit the ground.

“Oof! Ow, seriously, Silv! Why’d you go and do that?” a soft voice asked, as Vulpix opened her blue eyes and glared at the towering chimera.

Somehow, this seemed to calm Silvally down, and he realized what he had done. His crest deflated, and the pink glow on his body vanished, replaced with the previous white coloration. Regret filled his eyes, and he looked back at Holly.

She had crouched down, trying to vanish from Silvally’s piercing glare, but she was able to get back upright once the Pokémon stepped back. Gladion continued to stroke the Synthetic Pokémon’s side, but spoke, “Alright, you two, enough! Liepard, could you start over for us?”

Holly nodded and began to speak, “I-I can bring Torterra, that is, my friend, back. I just need a new body to put his spirit into.”

Gladion pressed his hand against his mouth thoughtfully, while Lillie gasped, picking Vulpix back up off the ground and holding her in her arms. “Is this because of Yveltal? You look remarkably like him.”

How did he know of Yveltal? Gladion seemed to recognize her shock and elaborated, “One of my friends tended to run into Legendary Pokémon during his travels. He spoke of the time he was in Kalos, where he and his friend encountered the Destruction Pokémon.”

Yveltal muttered in her mind at that reveal, “Arceus’s plates. Ash, that was meant to be a secret!”

Uncomfortable with how easily Gladion had been able to see through Holly, she nodded reluctantly. “H-he said that I had somehow managed to capture Torterra’s spirit before it fully passed on. If I can find a suitable body to put his spirit into, he should be able to come back!”

Lillie glanced at Gladion, who was rubbing his forehead with his hand. Holly was left to wonder just what their relationship with each other was. They looked too similar to one another, so siblings? She could look into it later.

“How do you know this will even work?” the Aether Foundation president asked. “Furthermore, why is Torterra important?”

“Gladion!” Lillie chided her brother, but he just threw his hands into the air. “You understand what she’s asking of us, Lillie! I need more to go off besides grief! The Foundation is only just now recovering from the negative press that surrounded Mother and Faba violating that damn Pact! Not to mention Rose stealing our records and making his own Silvally!”

Holly interrupted Gladion before his rant could continue, “Because he saw the ones responsible for destroying the grove. The ones responsible for kidnapping Xerneas and stealing all of Zygarde’s cells!” She paused, trying to catch her breath and calm her raging emotions.

“Because he’s my friend, and he’s only dead because of me.” Distantly, Holly could hear Yveltal trying to assuage those feelings of hers, but she ignored the Legendary Pokémon.

“Yveltal chose me to be the one to stop these people, but Torterra was the one who knew what happened after I went to try and stop one of the grunts from stealing Zygarde’s cell. Please…” she ended her plea, a solitary tear leaking from her left eye.

She broke her gaze away from Gladion, unable to look at the human. She had little faith he’d grant her wish. Her ears against her head, and her tail low to the ground, she began to walk away.

Suddenly, she heard Lillie speak up, inserting herself into the conversation. “Gladion, isn’t this the whole reason you went to Kalos in the first place?” What?

Wait, that’s a good point. Why was the Aether Foundation in Kalos to begin with? Holly turned around and walked back to the group. “Why were you in Kalos to begin with, anyway?” she asked the blond.

With a sigh, Gladion explained, “We were there to investigate Nebel Plateau, and to gather evidence we could use to drum up support for the Foundation.” At Holly’s curious gaze, he continued.

“The Aether Foundation is dedicated to helping and rehabilitating sick and injured Pokémon. But we also investigate causes and reasons for Pokémon being abandoned, to garner support for more humane laws regarding Pokémon treatment and care.

“Recently, one of my friends, Ash Ketchum, told me about a place in Southeastern Kalos where abandoned and lost Pokémon congregate, one protected by a Legendary Pokémon. I had some employees investigate, and they confirmed Ash’s story.

“I wanted to investigate this place, and Ash directed me to one of his friends, Clemont Liscio, whom he traveled with in Kalos. Clemont helped me get in contact with Volcanion and convince him to allow the Foundation to enter the plateau and investigate the Pokémon there.”

When Gladion said Clemont’s name, Holly realized where she had seen the other human in the grove from! He was the former Lumiose City Gym Leader! If Jules and Holly had managed to get past Korrina, he’d be the next Gym Leader they’d face during their circuit.

“So I get why your Foundation was there, but why were you there?” she asked Gladion. She noticed that Lillie seemed to glare at Gladion as she asked this question. Gladion returned Lillie’s glare, but then he rubbed his face with his hand once more.

“I heard from some of my contacts-” he was interrupted by his sister. “Your underworld contacts, you mean!” she said with a huff.

“Lillie, it’s Guzma! I don’t have any ‘underworld contacts’, it was just Guzma and Plumeria!” he said, glaring at his sister. Holly couldn’t help but notice Silvally and Vulpix roll their eyes at this exchange. Was this common?

“Can we focus!” she yowled, drawing the attention back to her. She had to force her fur to lie flat; otherwise, she’d snarl at the two humans for getting off topic.

“Er, right,” at least the two looked embarrassed for having fought in front of their Pokémon. Gladion cleared his throat and continued his story. “One of my friends let me know they had heard odd rumors in Kalos, rumors saying that old members of Team Flare were beginning to stir.”

“I joined the squad the Foundation was sending to Kalos as a way to keep an eye out for these rumors, and to make sure that nothing went wrong while we were there. But then…”

Holly took up where Gladion left off, “But then the fire broke out.” He nodded.

“Yeah. Silv, Clemont, and I were with Volcanion when it happened, and we worked with local Pokémon Rangers and the Snowbelle City authorities to try and contain the blaze and evacuate the village of Pokémon that lived in the plateau.

“Once we had finished the evacuation, Volcanion told us that you were unaccounted for, and told us three to follow him deeper into the forest. Imagine our surprise when he told us that this was where Xerneas herself lived.”

Gladion ended his story there. A thought came to Holly, and she voiced it to the group. “You said you joined to watch out for this group. You saw this group, saw them set an entire forest ablaze to get what they wanted. Torterra saw their leader; he saw what they looked like, where they went!” Her voice had risen as she continued to speak, until she was nearly shouting at the end.

“It’s not that simple-” the blond man began to say, until he was cut off by Silvally. “Do it.”

“Huh, wait, what? Silv, are you saying?” The chimera nodded, “She’s right. Torterra is our only lead right now towards stopping this group.” Silvally’s glowing parts seemed to cycle through various colors before settling on a harsh red.

“Silvy, are you sure?” Vulpix asked, staring at the other Pokémon with concern in her eyes. He nodded once more. “I am. Gladion, you once offered me freedom. You were prepared to snap that Poké Ball on your waist and let me go free, even though I knew it would tear you apart inside.”

“I chose to stay, and you three accepted me as family. I know that you’d do anything to help me if I needed help. You were prepared to take on the entire Pokémon League by yourselves if they tried to take me away after the investigation.”

Silvally swallowed, voice quivering slightly before he continued his speech. “Now this group threatens everything I, no, we hold dear. And Holly here has a solution that can help us. She and Torterra fought to their last breath to try and stop these men and women, so shouldn’t we do the same?”

Gladion was clutching a dented and battered Poké Ball in his hand, his hands shaking as he looked at Silvally with love and support in his eyes. Lillie didn’t look much better, several tears welling in her eyes as she clutched Vulpix, who stared at Silvally with love and pride in her light blue eyes.

“Alright,” Gladion said. “I’ll inform the Pokémon League and give them a slightly modified version of events. With any luck, they’ll approve our plan, and we can bring your friend back to us.”

That did it. Tears streamed from Holly’s eyes as she wrapped her forelegs around Silvally. She could barely reach halfway around his chest, but she buried her face in his feathers and whispered, “Thank you.”

When she finished crying and had dried her tears, she realized that the others had left, leaving her alone with Silvally.

“Why?”

He turned and looked at Holly. “Because it’s the right thing to do. Besides, I want my kind to be seen as more than weapons, as more than something to fear. So many people right now see us as evil, nothing more than the unnatural spawn of a wicked program. Only due to recent discoveries have opinions started to change.”

“If bringing back Torterra from the afterlife can help change this view of my species, then I’m all for it. ‘Sides, it’d be nice to have another Silvally to talk to.”

Holly nodded, before she realized what Silvally had said, “Wait, what do you mean by ‘from the afterlife’? I have his spirit with me.”

The Synthetic Pokémon rolled his eyes before bringing his beak to Holly’s ear. “That might have fooled the others, but I would have sensed his spirit. Perks of having Psychic memories. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me, kiddo.”

The chimera stood, leaving Holly standing stunned on the deck of Aether Paradise. Both she and Yveltal had the same thought at that moment.

“Shit!”

Chapter Text

Eventually, Holly managed to recover from her shock and reentered Aether Paradise. She tried to retrace her steps as best as she could, but still got lost a few times, and had to ask an employee for directions to the wildlife refuge.

It was then that she realized that the employee had understood her. Fully understood her, with nothing getting lost in translation. That was difficult for most trainers, and only the most experienced trainers, who had spent years with their teams, could claim such a feat.

“Yveltal,” she thought, calling out to the resident avian in her head. The god groaned, the deep noise resonating through her mind. “Yes, my dear?”

“Okay, first of all, are you alright? You sound tired?” she thought back to Yveltal. Another groan followed until he spoke, “It’s the middle of the night in Kalos currently. I’d been up for several days straight trying to help you and deal with things here. I basically conked out after that conversation was over.”

Guilt filled the cat, but Yveltal swept it aside. “It’s fine, Holly, just please, don’t call out to me for the next day or so, alright? Now then, what is it?”

She repeated her question, wondering how humans were able to understand her so effortlessly. “Oh, right. I forgot to tell you. You are technically a Legendary Pokémon now,” Holly’s hackles raised in alarm at that statement, her tail freezing in place. Yveltal continued, “The minds of Legendaries are compatible with humans, allowing them to understand us with no effort on their part. Normally, it requires time for human and Pokémon minds to sync enough for them to be understandable, but we skip the process entirely.”

Okay, wow. And here Holly had thought she’d have enough world-shattering revelations for one day. Wearily, she walked back to the Cheri tree she had found earlier and tucked her muzzle under her paws. Her tail wrapped around herself, and she fell asleep within moments.

“Holly, come on, wake up.”

Something poked her in the side, and she batted it away with her tail.

Then it happened again. Blearily, she opened her eyes and tried to make out the offender. A hand withdrew from her vision, and she could make out a smiling face staring down at her.

“Wha-Jules?” she asked. She pushed herself to her haunches and looked around the area, trying to figure out where she was and what was going on.

“Come on, Holly, don’t you remember?” another voice said, and Holly’s eyes widened. She wiped her head around and stared in shock at the Inkay that hovered above her, bobbing up and down gently through the air while holding a berry in his tentacles.

“What’s up, kitty-cat? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?” the Revolving Pokémon asked. “Everything alright?”

Holly found her voice and carefully meowed, “Uh, yeah. Just a bad dream.” Jules bent down and rubbed behind her ears, the place she could never reach on her own. Without realizing it, she leaned into the touch, a purr rumbling in her throat.

“Alright,” Jules called out, and Holly realized that Kadabra and Fletchinder had been nearby. Both looked up as their trainer began speaking. “We should be able to reach Shalour City this afternoon, and it sounds like there’s a week to wait until we can challenge Korrina. You guys up for some training once we reach the city?”

Holly’s breath caught as she realized what was going to happen. Could she stop it, help Jules realize that the team wasn’t ready?

“Er, Jules, can you and I talk? A-alone?”

Jules looked at her with an eyebrow raised, and the rest of the team stared at her. She tried to keep her hackles from raising and not draw suspicion, but she hadn’t done something like this before, and knew the other Pokémon would want to know what they talked about.

”Sure, Hols. You guys mind?” he asked the other three Pokémon. When they all shook their heads, he pulled out their Poké Balls and returned them. Once he had shrunk the balls down and clipped them back to his belt, Holly leaped to his shoulder.

She nearly fell off, unused to moving with all 4 legs, and in the smaller form of a Purrloin. Jules grabbed his backpack and set off, walking down the remainder of Route 11 towards Shalour City.

Currently, Jules and Holly found themselves walking the mountain ridges that bordered the Kalos coastline. It was a majestic view, as the chilled ocean breeze ruffled Holly’s fur. If she looked to the north, she could almost see the shores of Galar.

”So, Holly, what did you want to talk about?” her trainer asked, softly stroking her tail. Holly couldn’t help but lean into the sensation. How long had it been since she experienced physical affection, outside of being comforted during her grief? Was it when Torterra hugged her in the tree?

The Purrloin shook her head and watched the clouds roll by overhead as she tried to gather her thoughts. Eventually, she found the words.

”Jules, we can’t challenge Korrina. Not as we are now.”

The human stopped abruptly, causing Holly to fall from his shoulder and land on the ground. Irritated, she glared at her Trainer, but he met her gaze, rage filling his eyes, and she noticed that his hands were clenched into fists.

“Why!” He demanded from his Pokémon. “Is it ‘cause you’re too worthless, too useless? You could barely beat Grant’s Tyrantrum, and we only won because Fletchinder had managed to inflict a burn, allowing you to stall the dinosaur until it fainted!”

Where the hell had this come from! She scowled back, “We are not ready! You want us to go up against experienced Pokémon much stronger than us! Next up is Korrina and her Mega Lucario! Inkay and I will be thrashed by him, Kadabra is too frail to last, and Fletchinder isn’t fast enough!”

Jules sneered at the cat. “Says the one who wasn’t strong enough to save her ‘best friend’. You let him die!”

Holly’s breath hitched, her tail falling to the ground as her ears folded back. If she had a heartbeat, she knew it would have stopped. Wait, her heart didn’t beat… was this just a dream?

It was! Holly looked down at her paws and saw the red fur and white stripes that marked her strange new form, rather than the purple pads of a Purrloin. The Liepard stood and jabbed her tail-hand into Jules’s chest. “Screw you, asshole!”

The human looked behind her, smirking at the feline. “Why don’t you tell that to him! He’s right there.” He pointed behind Holly, and her senses flared up. Someone was approaching her. She began to hyperventilate, her paws shaking. Slowly, unwillingly, she turned and saw the cold, dead form of her friend.

The corpse slowly opened his eyes, milky red irises meeting Holly’s turquoise gaze. “Why didn’t you save me?” a raspy voice spilled from the body’s maw. It took a step forward, then another, until it was charging at Holly.

”No, no, no! Stay back!”

“Stay back!” Holly cried, her eyes flying open as she scrambled to her paws, her chest heaving from her nightmare. Yveltal’s presence returned to her head, likely woken by her terror.

”Whoa, whoa, easy there!” a melodic voice sang out. Between gasps for air, Holly turned around and found that a Primarina was beside her, rubbing her back gently.

Holly broke away from the water type, her fur standing upright from the sudden intrusion. “Who… who are you?” she asked.

The Primarina realized how close she was to Holly and moved back a little bit. “Oh, sorry about that. I’m Aqua! I saw you the other day and thought you looked kinda funny, so I wanted to get a closer look! But when I came over, I saw you sleeping, so I didn’t wanna bother you, but then you started shaking and woke up screaming. Are you alright?”

Holly blinked. After she had processed the word salad this ‘Aqua’ had given her, her eyes narrowed. “Looked kinda funny, huh?” she hissed.

To Aqua’s credit, she seemed to realize she put her fin in her mouth and shrank back. She rubbed her head with a flipper, “Ooh, sorry. I tend to just speak before I think. I’ve been told similar things by others. But you didn’t answer my question.”

Aqua seemed actually concerned for Holly. As Holly decided whether to answer, a voice rose in her head, “I’d like to know as well, little one. That wasn’t an ordinary nightmare; that was guilt manifesting.”

Holly huffed and spoke so both Yveltal and Aqua could hear her. “It was just a nightmare. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Thankfully, both seemed to drop it. Holly felt Yveltal leave her mind, though she should still feel a faint tendril connecting her to the god. Primarina was silent, and Holly took some time to observe the Pokémon.

Aqua looked like any other Primarina, not that Holly had seen many over the years. Her only experience with the Pokémon was when Jules and she watched the current Champion of Alola win the second Alolan Pokémon League, sweeping the competition with their loyal Primarina.

However, Aqua stood apart from others of her species in one notable regard. The gorgeous locks of azure hair that all Primarina had were cut short in Aqua’s case, only reaching her shoulders. The pearl strands that normally bound a Primarina’s hair instead hung around Aqua’s neck.

Said Primarina seemed to notice Holly staring at her. She smirked and tossed her hair back, saying, “Didn’t your mother ever tell you it’s rude to start?”

Holly’s fur burned from embarrassment, and she knew that her cheeks would be crimson if not for her new fur coloration. Distantly, she heard Yveltal cackling. Now she understood how Torterra felt when she said the same thing to him.

Mercifully, her senses twinged, and she could feel the unnatural feeling of Silvally approaching her position. She looked towards where he was approaching and watched him climb the small hill to where she lay.

“Ah, Aqua, I see you’ve befriended our newest guest,” the chimera responded flatly. Holly guessed that this wasn’t a one-time thing, given Silvally’s tone. Aqua responded cheerfully, “Yep! Hadn’t seen her around before.”

“Right. She was present during the Nebel Fire and is helping the Foundation figure out what happened. Please give her space if she asks Aqua, and don’t pester her.” Silvally threw a glare at the Soloist Pokémon for good measure. To Holly’s surprise, Aqua didn’t seem phased by Silvally’s tone. Instead, she just grinned and signed an ‘X’ over her chest with a flipper.

“You got it, boss! Scout’s honor,” she said with a smile.

Silvally sighed heavily before he turned and gestured for Holly to follow.

“Later, Liepard!” Holly then realized she hadn’t even introduced herself to the Pokémon. Before she got up to follow Silvally, she spoke, “Oh, right. Name’s Holly. Gotta go… but thanks for the talk.”

Aqua’s smile was practically blinding.

Holly ran to catch up to Silvally, who was making his way back to the entrance of the Pokémon preserve. “So, you gonna tell me what this is about?” Holly asked.

Silvally glanced down at the Dark type, but continued walking. “Gladion wanted to talk to you in his office. Couldn’t send you a psychic message very easily since you’re a Dark type, so he sent me down to find you.”

Holly padded after the artificial Pokémon as he strode through the halls of Aether Paradise. Before long, they found themselves standing inside a large office.

The office was sparsely decorated, though there was a small photo on a shelf along the wall that depicted Gladion and Lillie, much younger, and in front of two adults, likely their parents. Along that shelf lay numerous other photos. Holly saw photos of Gladion and Lillie as teenagers, standing next to a native Alolan and two other humans, a boy and a girl.

Gladion’s hair was much shorter, and he was clad in ratty clothing. He was almost glaring at the camera, though he could also be glaring at the native Alolan who had his arm around the blond’s neck. It looked like he had been dragged into the photo.

The native Alolan teenager wore an enormous smile, wearing a black shirt and bright yellow swimming trunks. Lillie stood beside him, staring nervously into the camera. She wore an incredibly oversized hat that nearly fell into her eyes, though Vulpix was wrapped in her arms.

At the end of the line were those two humans Holly had spotted. They looked Kantonian-borne, and were too similar in appearance not to be siblings, twins if Holly had to guess. The girl wore a pastel t-shirt and a strange, floral hat lay on her head, while the boy wore a blue and white striped shirt and black cargo shorts, with a black baseball hat on his head.

What really caught Holly’s attention was the Pokémon that crowded the edges of the photo. Silvally had rested his head on top of Gladion’s, while a Primarina, Incineroar, and Decidueye sat in front of the 4 humans. Numerous other Pokémon could also be seen, likely the other members of each teenager’s team.

But behind the humans, a gigantic purple bat smiled at the camera, wings outstretched. It was Lunala, the Legendary Pokémon of the Moon, counterpart to Solgaleo.

“My friends, Hau, Selene, and Elio,” a voice spoke next to Holly. She realized that she had walked over to the photo for a closer inspection, and Gladion had approached her from behind.

The Aether Foundation president picked up the frame, looking at it fondly. “This was after the four of us had finished the Alolan Island Trials. Hau wanted us to celebrate the occasion and dragged us in.” A cough from Silvally interrupted the Trainer. Gladion threw a glare at the Pokémon, who stuck his tongue out in response.

“Fine, Hau dragged me into the photo. Everyone else was more than happy to participate.” Gladion smiled and put the frame back onto the shelf. He walked back to his desk and gestured for Holly to sit on a padded chair on the other side of the desk.

She leapt up onto the chair. To her delight, it was rather comfortable and certainly beat lying on the ground. Gladion had turned to his computer and was typing away at something. While he was busy, Holly took the time to groom herself and fix her appearance. She was sure she looked ragged from the nightmare she had.

The only sound in the room was the soft rasp of Holly’s tongue as she got her fur in order, and the clack of the keyboard Gladion pounded away at. Several minutes passed this way until the blond slammed his finger down on one final key and turned to look at the feline across from him.

“My apologies for that, Holly, just had to send one last email. Now then, you wanted to know why I called you here, yes?”

Holly paused in her grooming, her tongue sticking out as she held a paw close to her muzzle. She nodded and focused on Gladion. He said, “I contacted the Pokémon League yesterday, letting them know a slightly altered series of events.”

“I informed them that the Aether Foundation had come across a seriously injured Pokémon while we helped the local authorities contain the Nebel Fire. We had them airlifted and brought them back to Aether Paradise for treatment, but they were likely to pass away without extensive surgery.

“In that email, I asked the League for permission to operate on the Pokémon and transfer them to a Silvally body. I let them know we already had consent from the Pokémon,” Gladion cut off there, and stared intently at Holly. “If anyone asks, you agreed to this procedure. You are hereby designated as Torterra’s next of kin, and thus have authority over his medical care, and you agreed to this procedure.”

Holly nodded, meeting Gladion’s emerald gaze. “Just tell me where to sign,” she meowed.

Gladion nodded. “They got back to me earlier today.” Holly’s heart leapt into her throat, her breath picking up immediately. “D-did they?” she asked.

Both Gladion and Silvally looked at each other, then back at Holly, smiles on their faces, “They granted us permission.”

“Oh, thank Arceus, Xerneas, anyone!” she thought. Relief flooded through her, and she nearly collapsed to the floor. She could bring Torterra back!

Gladion looked over to his computer once again as it chimed. He moved his mouse and clicked on one of the buttons, his eyes skimming across the monitor screen. “I just informed the employees who were involved in the Beast Killer Project, those who remain anyway, to prepare for the creation of a new Silvally body, and to retrieve Faba’s old notes.”

At that moment, Holly felt Yveltal perk up and speak, “Tell him that spirits are much more willing to bond to bodies that are similar to their original bodies. Less chance of rejection if the Types are similar.”

Holly repeated what she had just learned, and Gladion nodded, tapping away at his keyboard. “Gotcha, so we’ll likely need to modify the body’s appearance, make it more similar to a Torterra. Might have to modify the RKS System to always have Grass active. Hey, bud,” he called out to Silvally, whose crest fanned open as he looked over to Gladion.

“Can you help me brainstorm this? Want to pick your brain.” Silvally nodded and walked over to Gladion, staring intently at the computer monitor.

Holly tuned out the rest of their conversation, much of it going over her head. She was still coming down from the elation she now felt knowing her best friend could soon come back to her.

It had been a week since that meeting with Gladion. Since then, Holly had spent her time getting used to her new form, as well as trying to get back into shape. That fight with Gourgeist and Malamar had proved to Holly that she needed to get stronger, and fast.

Thankfully, Yveltal had plenty of advice to share. He regulated much of her training regimen. Every day, he woke her up when the sun was just cresting the eastern horizon and had her run laps around the wildlife preserve.

She drew plenty of attention from the local Pokémon, but no one seemed to want to attack her like they had almost done when she had first arrived. But they were still overly wary of her. Several times, she noticed Aqua waving at her, and she often waved back with her tail, unable to do much else. Yveltal would get on her case if she slacked in her training.

One major benefit of this training was that it helped Holly acclimate to moving with only three limbs. While she had learned how to walk and climb during her time in Aube Village, it had never been the most refined spectacle to watch. Now, though, Holly could spring to her paws from a sitting position, climb a tree with ease, and run without tiring for minutes at a time.

All of this was possible without the use of her tail. While it was helpful in many regards, Yveltal had cautioned her against relying on it too much, saying it could become a crutch. He believed that it could be useful in other ways, like defending herself from other Pokémon. She could send Dark Pulses from her tail on instinct and attack with Shadow Claws anyone who dared sneak up on her from behind.

Throughout the week, Silvally, sometimes accompanied by Vulpix, visited Holly underneath her de facto home under the Cheri tree to let Holly know what was happening with Torterra’s new form. For the first few days, Gladion and the scientists were busy drawing up a fusion between Torterra and Silvally, then they needed to source the necessary parts and begin assembling the body.

After that, according to Silvally, came the difficult part. The scientists needed to program the body and modify the RKS System inside the vessel to always have the Grass memory active. One of the scientists had come up with the idea of modifying the program to incorporate the Overgrow ability, to make it more familiar to Torterra’s spirit.

That sparked an entire buneary hole of discussion that flew right over Holly’s head. According to Silvally, it would allow Torterra to activate a secondary memory while his Grass memory was still active, effectively dual-typing at will.

The strange Liepard had just finished her daily run around the wildlife preserve, panting from the exercise and utterly dripping with sweat, when she sensed the approach of Silvally and Vulpix once again.

She flopped down under the Cheri tree, grabbing a handful of berries with her tail. She opened the channel with Yveltal while she ate. “Hey, Yveltal. What do you think the relationship between Silvally and Vulpix is?”

Confusion flooded across the connection as Yveltal thought of a response. “I didn’t realize you were a gossip, little one. Perhaps Xerneas should have taken you as an apprentice instead of your friend.”

Holly rolled her eyes. “Come on! Humor me, there’s practically nothing else going on here. They’re definitely more than friends.”

Holly could almost feel Yveltal rolling his eyes at her antics, but he played along anyway, “I’m not sure. Definitely closer than friends, but whether that’s more of a sibling bond like their Trainers have, or something more akin to mates, is anyone’s guess.”

At that point, the two Pokémon had begun ascending the hill, and Holly closed the connection with the avian. She got to her paws and approached the pair of Pokémon.

“What’s up?” she asked. Vulpix responded, “Gladion and his team have finished assembling Torterra’s body. We figured you’d want to see it.”

Holly needed no further convincing. She bounded towards the preserve entrance, the two Pokémon running after her. “Hurry up!” she cried. She reached the entrance and ran towards the elevator, frantically pressing the button with her tail.

“You know, tapping the button repeatedly doesn’t make it go any faster,” Silvally deadpanned. “Besides, we’re going down for this, not up.” He pressed the other button on the panel, and the doors opened. Holly ran inside. She could barely stand still!

Once Silvally and Vulpix entered the cabin, Silvally pressed a button on the panel, and Holly could feel the elevator move downwards. It kept moving for several minutes, enough time for Holly to feel the change in the air. She puffed her fur up to try and keep the chilly air away.

Finally, the cabin ceased moving, and the doors opened with a chime. Holly nearly flew out of the elevator and found herself in a new location entirely. The area was chilly, cold enough for Holly to see her breath in front of her. Giant cube-like structures rose all around her. The entire floor was dark, only lit by hanging lamps far above.

“Where are we?” she asked her two companions as they exited the elevator behind her. Silvally answered, “The Aether Foundation Labs. It has to be this cold to ensure a controlled environment. Many of the tests that are conducted here require extensive atmospheric control, so a low temperature is required. Come, it’s this way.”

With that, Silvally set off, weaving between the labs, Vulpix sitting on his back. Holly trod after him, and the two walked to one of the cubes. Silvally rapped on the door with his claws, and it slid open, revealing Gladion.

Gladion looked like he hadn’t slept for several days. Deep bags hung under his eyes, and he hugged a steaming cup of coffee like it was a lifeline. Behind him, Holly could see Lillie, who was currently stifling a yawn and also holding a coffee cup.

The trio of Pokémon entered the lab, the door sliding closed behind them. Compared to the exterior, the interior of the lab was bright. A desk sat on one of the walls, nearly overflowing with books and notes. A nearby bookshelf was barren of its contents, and strewn coffee cups littered the floor.

Then, Holly noticed it. At the center of the room sat an operating table, and upon it sat a Silvally. It was unlike any Silvally Holly had ever seen. Instead of white feathers covering its chest and head, dark forest green feathers lay in their place. Instead of the strange head crest Silvally possessed, a tree jutted out of the body’s head.

The tree was similar to the head crest, though. It had three branches extending back towards the body’s rear, and each branch was covered in leaves. Further down, Holly could have sworn she was looking at Torterra’s face. The facial structure was still Silvally in broad strokes, but instead of the rotating cheek bolts Silvally possessed, Torterra’s cheek spikes were set. The same could be said for Torterra’s beak.

Further down, a sea of leaves and foliage grew on the body’s chest, where two clawed forelegs extended from. However, Holly saw that rocky spikes jutted out from the chitinous appendages, and each foreleg was capped by stone talons, reminiscent of Torterra’s own legs.

The belly of the vessel was also similar to Torterra, eventually following past the rear legs into a long reptilian tail. It seemed the designers had discarded the fish tail Silvally had, and chose to replace it with something much more similar to Torterra. Two rocky spikes protruded from the tail vertically, and Holly realized that three additional spikes jutted out from the vessel’s spine as well.

As Holly continued to inspect the body, she discovered that the rear legs were covered in rocks. Hopefully, that would remind Torterra of its own shell. Furthermore, moss grew around those rocks, growing along the rear legs to cover his flanks.

It seems the designers had also decided to make the form much more similar in color to Torterra. Brown fur instead of black, tan and brown instead of purple and silver.

It was ugly, but as Holly continued looking at it, she couldn’t help but find the design beautiful. She prayed Torterra would too.

Wait. Holly paused, just now realizing what she was going to do. She was going to forcefully bring her deceased friend back to life and shove his soul into an unfamiliar body. Did he even want this? What would happen if his soul rejected his body? What if he hated his new body? How would their relationship be affected?

These thoughts filled Holly’s mind. She could feel panic start to set in, only for Yveltal to open the connection and wrap his mind around hers. It was almost like a hug, but focused on her mind.

“Shh, easy there, Holly. Now you see why this practice is forbidden. It is a curse, not just on the one brought back, but on the one performing the process. I have only done the process once before, and…” the avian trailed off, but Holly felt her stomach plummet. Yveltal didn’t need to speak for her to guess the outcome.

“What do I do?” she asked her savior. “You proceed onwards. This must be done, Holly. He is our only lead. And if he decided to blame someone, lay all the responsibility on me. My trio has become unbalanced and threatens the entire world. If anyone is to shoulder the responsibility for what happens next, it should be me.”

Holly gulped. She leapt on top of the operating table and cautiously made her way onto the vessel’s stomach. She looked over at the others, “Um, could you all leave the room? I’m not sure what will happen next, and I don’t want any of you to get caught in this.”

They all nodded, though each bore a concerned and worried expression on their face. Once they had left, the door sealed behind them, Holly widened the channel fully, and watched as the shadows in the room merged, allowing for Yveltal’s phantom to step forward.

“Alright, so what next?” she asked.

“You must sleep. I will guide you to the afterlife, and then once you are there, you need to find Torterra. But you must be wary. While this line is open, it could allow other, more malevolent Pokémon to escape, and possibly seize this vessel for themselves. I will do what I can, but you must hurry. Additionally, you have to make sure not to close our connection. Otherwise, well, you will be stuck there, unable to return.”

Holly stared at the closed eyes of the body in front of her. With any luck, they’d soon be open, filled with the spirit of Torterra. She looked back at the phantom, resolve filling her soul.

“Let’s bring my friend back!”

Chapter Text

Once Holly had lain down on the body and closed her eyes, sleep quickly took her. She slumbered for a while, her dreams a formless mess. But eventually, her thoughts stilled, and she soon felt a warm, gentle breeze ruffle her fur.

She stirred, yawning as her eyes opened. Once she managed to wipe the exhaustion from her eyes, she realized where she was. She wasn’t in the bowls of Aether Paradise, lying on top of a body created to house the soul of her friend.

Instead, she lay in the softest grass she had ever felt, gazing down at a valley lit by the setting sun. She sat in the shadow of a tree, from what she could tell, the shadows cast by the leaves rippling in the soft breeze. She looked above, and her eyes widened as she gazed at the Tree of Life. How was it here? Wasn’t it in Nebel Plateau?

“It’s the doorway to the afterlife. Doors can be seen from both ends.” Yveltal whispered, his voice strained from the effort of keeping the connection open.

Brilliant golds, oranges, and reds seared the sky above, as faint wisps of clouds ran across the sky. The valley, from what Holly could see, was filled with Pokémon.

Pikachu, Eevee, Buizel, and thousands more Pokémon ran through the valley, so many that Holly quickly lost track of things. Babbling brooks cut through the valley, with bridges allowing the denizens access to areas the water otherwise cut off.

Everywhere Holly turned to look, there was life. Yet, Holly could feel a solemness, a gloom that was inherent to the valley. The smiles of the Pokémon, particularly those who were older, seem strained.

Was this the afterlife?

”Yes, my dear, this is where those who pass on come once their souls depart your world. One of Xerneas’s many tasks is to alleviate the burdens of those who live here. Without her, souls will eventually become restless.

”In most cases, this is nothing to fear, but powerful Pokémon unable to be calmed will have their spirits decay into shadow spirits, who can escape the afterlife and cause issues with the living.”

Holly stiffened as Yveltal spoke, the urgency in his voice apparent. “So the longer I take to rescue Xerneas,” she began, and Yveltal picked up on her train of thought. “Yes, the more souls will begin to stir, and the greater the risk to the living realm.”

Shit. Holly moved faster, hurrying towards the mass of spirits. She tried desperately to find Torterra, but quickly realized that it was like trying to find a Weedle in a haystack. Her senses were overwhelmed by all the spirits around her.

“Um, excuse me,” she asked a nearby Pokémon, a white rabbit she believed was from Galar, but they shied away from her. She tried to ask a different Pokémon, but the same thing repeated. Over and over again, Pokémon fled from her until she was alone.

“For f-,” the presence in her mind increased, Yveltal making his displeasure known. Holly sighed and tried again. “For crying out loud, I just want to find my friend,” she yelled at the sky above. The longer she spent here, the more she risked not being able to return!

”Um, excuse me, miss,” a quiet voice called to Holly. Her ears pricked up, and she turned towards the source of the voice. A small green and white Pokémon was peering at her from around the corner of a nearby building, pink flowers growing on her back.

She looked like a walking bush, though Holly made sure not to verbalize that thought.

The small Pokémon continued, “Are you looking for someone?”. Holly nodded her head. “Yes, I’m trying to find my friend, Torterra, a bit taller than me.” She motioned with her tail to show how tall Torterra was. “A bit grumpy and stubborn, would have arrived a week or so ago.”

Holly watched as the Pokémon’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Oh yes, I think I saw him. He looked terribly upset and lonely. I believe he went towards the forest. A lot of spirits go that way. Hope you find him.”

The spirit pointed her tiny paw in the direction Torterra went, and Holly turned to look. The forest grew along the mountain that created one side of the valley. Holly’s ears folded back. “How am I supposed to find Torterra in there? I can’t even see the end of the forest.”

As Holly continued to observe the forest, her eyes locked in on a small overlook, where the trees peeled back, and a small outcropping of rock jutted out. She smiled, knowing exactly where Torterra would have gone.

”Thanks for the help,” she said to the spirit. She raced towards her new destination, hope rising with every step.

Holly flew through the forest, leaping from tree branch to tree branch as fast as she could. Within a short time, she reached the overlook she had spied from the valley. Her still heart was in her throat. She prayed to any Legendary that could hear her that her hunch was correct, and that Torterra was indeed here. If he wasn’t…

Well, she was still deciding what she’d do.

With one final leap, she jumped from the tree branch she stood on and landed on the forest floor, soft grass and leaves crunching beneath her paws. She exited the forest and moved to the edge of the overlook.

She stopped and stared at the slumbering Torterra that sat at the cliff edge, snoozing without a care in the world. Was it indeed her Torterra? Tears welled in her eyes as she spied a faint scar crossing the turtle’s shell, directly where Scolipede had once torn through his shell oh so long ago at this point.

“T-Torterra?” she asked, padding over to the Pokémon. He stirred and opened his eyes, crimson irises staring at Holly with shock and recognition.

“Holly?” he asked, getting to his feet and taking in her new appearance. Holly couldn’t wait any longer, and she pounced on Torterra, wrapping her forelegs around his head and pressing her muzzle into his cheek. She breathed in Torterra’s scent, a deep mix of wet dirt and cut grass.

She felt Torterra stiffen beneath her hug, but after a few moments, she felt him lift a leg and wrap it around her barrel, returning the hug. The two friends stayed like that for a few moments, just taking in the knowledge that the other was there in front of them.

Eventually, Holly felt Yveltal pull at their connection, and she pulled away from Torterra. “H-holly, what are you doing here?” Torterra asked. She rubbed her forelegs together nervously, “I came to get you out of here. I can explain more once we’re back home.”

Torterra’s eyebrows rose dramatically as he took in what she said. Sceptically, he said, “Holly, I died. There’s no coming back from that.”

Holly’s tail lashed against the ground, and she had to hold back her annoyance. They had to hurry! “Torterra, I have a plan, you just need to trust me. Please!” she begged. Torterra’s eyes narrowed, and he took in Holly’s new appearance one more time, observing her strange purple and red coloring and the rippling scarf around her neck.

“Yveltal,” he muttered. “Holly, what did you do?” he asked, eyes widening at the realization.

“He saved my life, Torterra, and he’s giving me this chance to save you. Now come on, the longer the connection stays open, the higher the chance for things to go wrong!” Her tail-hand grabbed at Torterra’s leg, pulling insistently at the stubborn turtle.

Torterra tore his leg away from Holly’s grip, taking a few steps back. “No,” he stated firmly. Holly’s frozen heart plummeted when she said that, and she snarled at Torterra, her fur standing up, and her teeth bared.

“The hell do you mean no! You’re the only one who saw who kidnapped Xerneas and Zygarde, the only lead Yveltal and I have! Surely Xerneas told you why she has to tend to the afterlife!” she screamed at Torterra.

He flinched at her accusation, but he stood strong against Holly’s tirade. “Holly, this violates the natural balance of things-” She cut him off. “This entire series of events violates order! I’m still alive, yet my heart doesn’t beat! I don’t give a damn about preserving order or anything like that. I did it because Yveltal said I could save you, atone for my failure!”

Torterra’s eyes filled with confusion and curiosity as Holly confessed her true reason for coming to the afterlife, but she could tell he still needed convincing. “Torterra, please. Didn’t you say you wanted to become a better Pokémon, to help those who have been hurt? This entire shitstorm threatens everything we know, everything we care about.”

“They stole your mentor, your family, away from you, Torterra.”

Torterra sighed deeply, and a part of Holly felt bad at throwing his words back in his face, but she needed him to come back with her, and she didn’t know how else to convince him. She watched as the Grass type thought over her words. Finally, he met her gaze, smiling at the feline.

“Alright, Holly, let’s go home.”

Holly couldn’t suppress the mew that rose in her throat, and she tackled the Pokémon, wrapping her paws around his neck once again. Torterra nuzzled her back, and a fierce purr echoed from the Liepard.

She had to force herself away from Torterra and turned towards the forest. “Alright, we have to head back to where I entered, and then Yveltal should be able to pull us out.”

Torterra followed close behind, his eyes scanning the forest for danger. Holly asked, “Expecting trouble?” The turtle nodded and moved his gaze to the Pokémon beside him. “Yeah, a lot of the more troublesome Pokémon tend to live in this forest, far away from the society that has built up in the valley below. We’ll have to cross some of their territory to get to the Tree of Life.”

Oh, great. Turf wars. Holly groaned and informed Yveltal through their bond that she’d be returning with Torterra and to prepare to bring them back from the afterlife. Yveltal silently acknowledged Holly’s update and sent her an emotion.

It took her a few minutes to decipher the strange emotion, the distance from Yveltal making it difficult to understand what he was trying to say. As best as she could work out, he was curious if she had told Torterra.

“Told Torterra what exactly?” she thought. She had said she’d save her story until they had left, though she had alluded to the guilt she felt towards failing to stop Malamar in the cavern. So what was Holly missing?

It hit her like someone had used Bulldoze on her. The body! She hadn’t told Torterra that he wouldn’t be returning to his original body. Inwardly, she cursed and shifted to look at her companion.

He looked happy, with a small smile on his face. She hoped he’d still smile when she told him the truth. “Torterra?” she asked hesitantly. He turned and looked at her. “I could get lost in those crimson eyes,” she thought, before she mentally slapped herself to focus. Distantly, she could feel Yveltal’s amusement, and she told him to shut it.

“The body we had created, the one to hold your spirit. It isn’t exactly your old body, nothing close in fact.” Torterra’s brows knit together in concern, but he seemed to understand what she was saying. “Cause a soul can’t return to a deceased body, right?” he asked, causing Holly to look at him in shock.

The turtle shrugged nonchalantly as they continued to pad along. “Xerneas didn’t say much about this topic, but a few of the spirits that I talked to mentioned this sort of thing.” Torterra lowered his head, looking down at the ground. “Not like there was much of my body left, with how that damn shrimp tore it to pieces,” he growled.

Shrimp? The only shrimp Pokémon Holly was aware of was the Clawitzer line. Did Torterra face one of those after she had left? It would explain the injuries he had suffered.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Torterra spoke, “What is this body like?” Holly paused, trying to think of how to describe the Silvally form created for him by the Aether Foundation. “It’s… artificial. The people I was with tried to make it similar to a Torterra, but they were limited in what they had access to. But it had a sort of majesty to it, a sort of regalness that suits you.”

Torterra was lost in thought, and the companions drew silent as they continued through the forest. Suddenly, Holly’s senses flared up! Something malevolent was quickly approaching.

“Torterra!” she said, but it seemed Torterra had sensed the entity’s approach. He lowered his body, two vines extending from his shell. Holly did the same, unsheathing her claws and seeping her fur in darkness. Together, they stood side by side as several spirits surrounded them.

Holly was able to identify an Arbok, a Musharna, a Larion, and a strange teal bug carrying a swirling orb of psychic energy. Was that one of those Paldean Pokémon? She wasn’t familiar with the Pokémon from that region. Paldea had only recently ended its isolationist period and reopened to the wider Pokémon world.

She opened her senses and felt psychic and bug energy emanating from the unknown Pokémon. Inwardly, she smirked. All the Pokémon they faced were weak to either Holly or Torterra.

“Well, well, well, lookie at what we have here, boys!” the Arbok spoke, their raspy voice grating at Holly’s sensitive ears. “Seems this lovely little Liepard is the cause of all this darkness. Think, if we take her out, can we take her place in the living world?”

This got a round of laughter from the other three Pokémon. Holly hissed, spitting at Arbok, “Like hell I’ll let you take our place!”

Torterra responded by slamming his powerful tail against the ground, causing a small quake and sending dust and rock flying upwards. At once, the Liepard and Torterra leapt forward, attacking their opponents as one.

Holly’s Feint Attack took Musharna by surprise and sent the Drowsing Pokémon flying backwards. Holly pressed her advantage. She couldn’t let Musharna regain their composure and gain some distance. If Musharna were able to flee, they would rain down ranged attacks, and there was little cover in this part of the forest.

As Holly slashed at Musharna, she saw Torterra taking on the other three Pokémon by himself. Yet, she watched as Torterra’s form glowed with dusty brown energy. Arbok and Larion’s eyes grew wide as Torterra used his vines to launch himself into the air, only to come crashing down moments later and unleash a massive Earthquake.

The impact struck Larion straight on, the super-effective move knocking the Rock type out immediately. Larion collapsed to the ground, as Arbok groaned from the pain.

The strange bug launched psychic attacks at Torterra, who retreated into his shell and began to glow, as his Withdraw strengthened his defensive capabilities.

Musharna struggled to escape Holly’s attacks, but they unleashed a frantic Moonblast, blinding Holly. The attack did little damage, but it caused Holly to relent for enough time to allow Musharna to escape, fleeing into the woods.

With her current foe gone, Holly quickly wrapped herself in darkness and snuck up upon the annoying bug. With a quick Feint Attack, the strange Pokémon collapsed to the forest floor, unconscious.

“Thanks, Holly,” Torterra said, huffing from the strain of holding Withdraw for an extended period. “Musharna?”

Holly shook her head. “Fled into the forest. Sorry, she caught me off guard.” Torterra waved off her concern with his tail. “It’s fine, but we need to hurry then. They’ll probably be back with others.”

Just then, a roar echoed through the forest, and Holly could sense a massive amount of spirits heading their way. She turned to Torterra, who was getting back up from the ground. He had been sensing their approach as well, and grimaced.

“Run!” he yelled, and the two Pokémon sprinted towards the entrance to the afterlife.

The two ran through the forest, and soon, the ground began to rumble from the number of Pokémon chasing after them. In the corner of her eyes, Holly could see shadows moving through the trees, Pokémon catching up to her and Torterra.

“Torterra!” she cried. “I see them!” he yelled back. Another pair of vines grew out of his shell, thickening until they were as thick as his legs. He whipped the vines around, slamming them into trees, chopping them down.

The trees groaned and fell towards the ground behind the two. That seemed to force some of the spirits chasing them back somewhat, though they soon caught up to Holly and Torterra. She could feel them nipping at her paws.

Her tail unleashed Shadow Balls and Dark Pulses upon any spirit who grew too close, but there were too many for her to keep away. With a gasp, Holly fell to the ground, tripping over a tree root.

“Holly!” Torterra screamed her name as countless spirits flooded over her, trampling her into the ground, tearing at her fur. Holly could feel Yveltal’s fear leak over her bond as she tried to get back to her paws.

“Gah!” Again, she was forced back down, unable to move.

Suddenly, an enormous Earthquake shook the forest, sending spirits flying back and off of Holly. She spied a vine racing towards her and wrapped her tail around the vine, holding onto it with all her strength.

The vine launched her into the air, allowing her to land on a tree branch. Beneath her, she saw Torterra glance up in concern. “I’m fine, move your ass!” she yelled. Torterra nodded and began to sprint once more towards the end of the forest.

She leapt from branch to branch, but noticed that other Pokémon had entered the canopy. “This isn’t going to work!” she said. With another leap, Holly jumped down onto Torterra’s shell. He looked up in alarm, only to calm slightly when he realized who it was.

“Keep running,” she said, “I’ll keep them away from us!”

With that, Torterra continued to run as fast as he could, while Holly retaliated against any spirit who dared come too close. Finally, they cleared the treeline and charged towards where Holly had woken up.

They were an odd sight, and Holly knew they were drawing suspicion from the residents of the valley, but they wisely stayed away from the pair. Holly directed Torterra where to go when she glimpsed the Pokémon that had pointed her towards Torterra.

Holly waved her tail at the Pokémon, and she smiled in return. Then, she was gone, vanishing amidst the sea of spirits.

Finally, Holly and Torterra arrived at where Holly had woken up. Chest heaving, Torterra collapsed to the ground, sending Holly rolling off of his shell. “Oof”, she said when she hit the ground.

“Yveltal, get us out of here!” Holly yelled to the sky, widening her bond with the Legendary as much as she could. She felt him acknowledge her request and felt his power surge.

“Holly,” Torterra said in between gasps. “If this doesn’t work”

“It will,” Holly promised. He nodded, gratefulness filling his eyes. He approached the feline and pressed his face into her fur. Softly, he said, “Thank you.”

Holly felt Yveltal’s power surge around her, and everything went black.

“Ah!”

Holly gasped, her eyes darting open. She was back in the lab, lying on the Silvally body she had fallen asleep on. Beside her was the phantom form of Yveltal, looking down at her with a worried expression on his face.

“Yveltal, d-did it work?” she asked, heart in her throat.

He turned his attention to the Silvally body and simply said, “Feel for yourself.” He vanished, the shadows in the room returning to normal.

Carefully, Holly pressed her paw against the body’s neck, feeling for a pulse. It was faint at first, but it slowly grew in strength until Holly could feel it with her entire body. The body was alive!

“T-Torterra?”

Slowly, the body moved, and Torterra’s eyes opened once again.

Chapter Text

The first thing he felt was a weight on his chest.

Then, he was surrounded by an immediate sense of wrongness. His very being felt wrong, out of place. He stiffened. A soft voice spoke close to his ear. Wait, why did he have ears at all!

He groaned and opened his eyes, wincing at the bright light that greeted him. For some reason, he could see better, make out finer details. He could easily register the human letters on the papers across the room. Normally, he struggled to see fine details from far away. Nearsighted, his mother had explained to him at one point.

As he tried to process all these new sensations, something entered his vision. Once his vision adjusted, he looked up at a cat with crimson red and dark purple, almost black fur, with teal eyes and a white mask covering most of their face.

He tried to recall where he had seen this cat before. They looked similar to a Liepard, and the only Liepard he knew was Holly. But Holly had normal purple and yellow fur, with green eyes surrounded by a pink mask, right?

Everything came rushing back to him at that moment. The attack in the grove and having almost almost killed Scolipede. The disastrous fight against Clawitzer, his mentor’s kidnapping.

His death.

He couldn’t breathe. He shouldn’t be alive! How was he alive!

The Liepard on his chest murmured something at him, but he couldn’t hear anything over the sound of his pounding heart. His body moved on its own, and he rolled off the surface he had been lying on and fell several feet to the floor below.

“Oof,” he distantly heard the Liepard say as they fell off of him. “Torterra, are you alright?” they asked, worry filling their, no, her voice.

Torterra? He was Torterra, right?

But what he saw looked nothing like his body. When he had fallen to the floor, he was able to take a look at the body he now inhabited. Strange metallic claws sat at the end of his forelegs, more like the claws of a Flying type than the bulky limbs he remembered. He felt lighter, too, much lighter.

If he had fallen from that height before, he would have cracked the cold tiles he now lay sprawled on, but the tiles were perfectly fine. It felt like his entire range of motion had increased. He could twist his head in ways he never could before, contort his body in positions once impossible as a Torterra.

Wait. Why was he thinking like that? He was still a Torterra, right? He froze, the thought tearing through his mind. If he wasn’t a Torterra, then…

What was he?

Suddenly, his head began to throb, the pain overwhelming him. What attacked him! The Pokémon threw his head back and forth, trying to identify the source of this mysterious attacker. But the only thing he saw was the Liepard standing nearby, nervousness apparent.

He could see the faint worry in her eyes, smell the fear she was trying to suppress, mixed with hope. What was she hopeful for?

The pain grew too much, and he had to escape this place, escape this pain. There! He spied movement, a door sliding open as a human voice spoke up. He couldn’t make out the words, but if humans were here, then he needed to escape. He must have been captured by the ones who captured his mentor!

He somehow managed to get to his paws, nearly thrown off balance by the change in his center of gravity. To his increasing horror, he was much taller than he had been before.

As the door continued to slide open, he took his chance. With a cry from the pain in his skull, he charged through it, nearly bowling over a human who was about to enter.

He found himself in a freezing cold area, dimly lit with large metallic cubes towering over him. He nearly froze from the chill, the cold eerily similar to how it felt fighting against Clawitzer.

How it felt to die.

He had to get out of here! He chose a random direction and just started running. Voices cried out after him, but he paid them no mind. They’d be calling for backup, and he’d get trapped down here.

What was that? He saw a large tube in front of him, with several humans inside it. The humans descended, the platform they stood on coming to a halt. Translucent doors opened, allowing the humans inside the tube to exit. That was his way out.

He charged towards the tube and heard the shouts of the humans as they dove out of the way. In the nick of time, he managed to get inside the platform before the strange doors closed behind him.

He saw a series of buttons next to the doors, with the bottom one lit up at the moment. Did that indicate where the platform currently was? He pressed on the top button with a strange claw-talon thing, and the button lit up from his touch. He staggered as the platform moved underneath him and slowly began to rise, hopefully taking him away from this waking nightmare.

The last thing he saw was Liepard running towards him.

“Well, that was… unexpected.”

“Yveltal, either shut the hell up, or tell me what happened!” Holly demanded of the god. She was in no mood to listen to his chipper attitude right now.

How could things have turned south so fast? One moment, she was with Torterra as he woke, the next she watched him have a panic attack before fleeing like Arceus Himself was after him.

The two humans were in similar states. Gladion tapped on his phone after having nearly avoided Torterra’s rampage, and Lillie spoke to the employees who Torterra had almost trampled in his rush towards the elevator.

“I believe he had a panic attack, as you said, likely due to waking up in a strange body in an unfamiliar place. Perhaps we should have done it elsewhere, in a more familiar environment.”

Are you serious! “Perhaps you should have told us this before we brought him back!” she screamed over their bond, hurling all the venom she could muster towards the Pokémon. She was able to feel him wince as her emotions poured over Yveltal, and felt a small hint of satisfaction.

“I’ve redirected the elevator towards the wildlife preserve and informed the employees there to move all the Pokémon he’s likely to encounter out of the way.” Gladion spoke up, putting his phone away.

The blond turned to Holly, asking, “Your friend say anything?” Holly folded her ears back, rubbing the stump of her leg with her tail. “Yeah, he says it’s probably due to waking up in an unfamiliar body.”

Gladion sighed. “Well, I suppose we should have anticipated this. Silvally had issues when he first woke up, but I thought that was due to him not being alive before then, rather than an issue with his body.”

Beside him, Silvally stiffened, before he dragged a claw across his face in obvious irritation. “Damn it!” he yelled, drawing the attention of the rest of the people present. “We forgot to disable the RKS System!”

Lillie approached the chimera. “What do you mean? We needed it to be active so he could have the Grass typing.” Silvally looked over at Lillie and said, “Yes, but the spikes on his body, the ones on his cheeks, back, and tail. They were cycling colors, which means he was probably overwhelmed by all the changing sensations. The same thing happened to me!”

Holly swore. “Is there a way to stop it?” she asked hurriedly. Silvally nodded, saying, “He needs to calm down. Breathing exercises, that sort of thing.”

The Liepard nodded and ran to the elevator, pounding on the button to summon it. Slowly, she watched the platform descend once more, bereft of the occupant it had just carried. Once the doors opened, she darted inside and pressed the button for the preserve area.

“I’ll let you know what happens,” she said.

The doors of the strange tube he was in slid open, as an annoying ding rang out, irritating his sensitive ears. He winced and growled at the noise, but sprang out into the corridor. He glanced around and saw a door slide open.

Did whoever controlled this place want him to go through that door? He huffed, but he could see no other way to go. So reluctantly, he ran through the door, his eyes widening as he found himself in a vast swath of nature. Rolling hills and strange trees he had never seen greeted his eyes. A warm breeze ran over his body, ruffling the strange leaves on his chest.

He instinctively relaxed and leaned into the sensation. He felt his mind calm somewhat, the numerous sensations slowing. He strode out into this strange area. It felt like other Pokémon were nearby, but he couldn’t find any of them.

He heard a rustling to his left and saw a pair of eyes staring back at him. A bright pink face popped out of the bush, an absolutely adorable Pokémon following. He took a step backwards. Normally, Pokémon this young were accompanied by their parents, and he was in no mood to fight a Pokémon when he could barely control his new body. The only reason he could run was that adrenaline was flooding his system.

“Hi, who are you?” the Pokémon asked.

He didn’t have an answer. Who was he? Was he still Torterra?

“I-I don’t know,” he said after a few moments.

“Stufful, where are you?” a voice cried out. He jumped back in fright as a massive Pokémon emerged from the bush behind the small Pokémon. She was absolutely huge, body rippling with hidden muscles under her plush fur. He had to tilt his head back to look the newcomer in the eyes, and he felt something on his head fan out in alarm.

The mother stared him down, freezing him in place. “What are you doing with my son!” she demanded, voice booming throughout the area.

“N-nothing! Nothing, ma'am. I was just leaving!” he stammered, heart hammering in his chest.

“Hmph,” she grunted. “Leave. Now!”

He needed no convincing. He whirled around and raced into the trees, trying to get as far away from that Pokémon as he could, as fast as he could. Branches tore at his body, hitting unfamiliar areas that only increased the pervasive sense of wrong he had been feeling since he woke up.

His instincts cried for him to withdraw his tail into his shell as if it had been snagged by a particularly annoying thorn, but his body refused the command. The strange sensations began to return as he grew frantic. One moment, it felt like he suffered from the worst sickness imaginable, like he had been thrown back in time and had to deal with the infection inflicted by Whirlipede over a year ago. Then, the next moment, it felt like his body was on fire, leaves burning away.

His heart nearly gave out when he felt the same coldness that Clawitzer’s Ice Beam had caused, the same feeling he felt when he died. Mercifully, thank Arceus, the feeling quickly passed, but the knowledge that he could still feel it stayed with him.

“Ah!”

Water splashed over him, shocking him enough for his thoughts to clear. He hadn’t been paying attention to where he went and had fallen into a pond. Thankfully, it seemed he had only tripped from the mud, grabbing onto his claws, and was able to stand upright once he realized what had happened.

He doubted he could swim.

Something in the water caught his eye, and once he had climbed out of the pond and sat along the edge, he gazed into the water to try to find what he had spotted. What he was greeted with was his reflection.

He sat there, stunned by what he saw. One of the ugliest and disturbing sights greeted him. The head vaguely looked like a Torterra, same beak, same eyes, same spikes on the cheeks. But ears poked out above the head, and…

Was that a tree on his head? Bewildered, he bent down to inspect the strange thing on his head. It sure looked like a tree, one with three branches filled with leaves. He was left with one thought. “Why the hell is there a tree on my head!”

Once he had finished processing the sheer absurdity of his head, he moved his gaze down, following his neck to his chest. It looked like a bush had sprouted on his chest, growing out to encompass his entire front, wrapping around to cover his shoulders and the back of his neck.

His forelegs were a strange mixture of various features. They ended in avian talons, but his forelegs possessed an incredible range of motion. He experimented, and he found he could even scratch the back of his head and his spine with his talons. Annoyingly, he found himself grateful for that revelation. It had been a massive pain to scratch his shell with the limited range of motion his feet offered.

He continued moving his gaze downward, glancing over the barrel and belly of his new form. His back and belly were covered in scales reminiscent of a Torterra, but in between the two areas was a line of thick brown fur, slowly thinning until it met his rear legs.

His rear legs confused him. They were clearly canine legs, with the same digitigrade skeleton, and wide paws at the ends. But his thighs, shins, and angles were covered in rocks, with moss growing around them. “Why do I have rocks growing on my rear?" he grumbled.

Finally, his tail. At least he still had his tail, though it had two spikes sticking out of it, unlike his old tail.

Artwork by Raph

Once he had finished trying to figure out his strange new body, he was left feeling exhausted. He slumped against the pond edge.

His fur prickled. It felt like someone was watching him. The strange shifting sensation he had felt previously happened again, and his mind was suddenly awash with new senses. He could sense the presence of many different beings, most of them on the other side of the area, far away from him.

He tried to control these strange senses, and he found they listened to him. Slowly, his mind withdrew until he could only feel himself and one other presence. Adrenaline flooded his system as he realized he wasn’t alone. He tried to figure out where this new mind was, but he could barely control this strange sense, let alone interpret it!

“Oh, that’s cool. So those spikes change color when you type shift, huh?” A melodic voice sang out next to him. He yelled out in alarm and jumped backwards. Unfortunately, he had turned around to try and find the presence he had felt, and so he fell back into the pond.

The sense left him once his concentration had broken, but he could still hear laughter ringing out throughout the area. He blinked the water out of his eyes and saw a strange white Pokémon staring at him, holding a flipper to her muzzle as she laughed. “Oh, sorry for startling you like that. Though I must say, it’s been an interesting couple of weeks. First, Holly shows up and frightens everyone, and then you do the same. The whole preserve is on alert.”

Huh? This Pokémon knows Holly? He groaned and pulled himself back out of the pond. In the back of his mind, he cringed at the thought of water getting into his shell, but he then realized he had no shell anymore. “You know, Holly?” he asked. His voice was raspy from disuse, and he realized his throat was incredibly dry. As he took a deep drink from the pond, the Pokémon next to him responded.

“Yep. Met her about a week ago. Though we weren’t able to talk much. Silv came and took her away before I could ask her all the questions I had. Like, what’s the deal with the color of her fur? Aren’t Liepards supposed to be purple and yellow? Or is she a Kalosian Liepard, kinda like how Snowy is a different colored Vulpix compared to the ones in all the other regions? Wait, does that mean she uses a different name for her variant of Liepard? Like how Snowy is a Snowpix, is Holly a Darkpard, or maybe a Ghostpard? Evilpard!”

Does she ever run out of breath? Whoever this Pokémon was, she had a never-ending stream of questions, quickly overwhelming him. She seemed to recognize this, as she trailed off and looked at him in concern.

“Um, are you alright? I heard the other Pokémon talking about how you were rampaging through the woods. Seems you accidentally ran into Bewear.”

Was that who that Pokémon was? He’d never heard of a Pokémon named Bewear before, though he could assume from the name how dangerous she must have been. “W-where am I? And who are you?” he asked.

“Right, sorry about that, I just lose track of myself sometimes. I’m Aqua, Primarina Aqua to be specific, and you’re in the Alola Region, the best place in the entire world!” She smiled as she held her flippers out on either side of her, as if welcoming him.

Alola, he had spoken to one or two spirits from this place, hadn’t he? It was one of the more remote regions, not as isolated as Orre, but not considered a major power compared to the likes of Kanto, Kalos, or Galar. Xerneas had never mentioned the Legendary Pokémon of this place, although she had mostly focused his learning around the Prime Legendaries. Were there no Prime Legendaries in Alola? He struggled to remember.

“So, who are you? Haven’t seen you around before, but you look really similar to Silv now that I get a good look at you.” Aqua was still speaking, he realized, and he turned his head to look at the Primarina.

Wow, he towered over the Pokémon. She barely came up to his chest when she sat on her tail like that.

He spoke slowly, but his anger quickly boiled over, “I don’t know. I just woke up like, like this!” he yelled. He clenched a claw and slammed it against the ground in anger, sending bits of dirt flying into the air, some of it landing in Aqua’s blue hair.

She glared at him, though it quickly softened as she saw just how upset and scared he was. “Well, do you know who you used to be?” she asked cautiously.

“T-Torterra, I used to be a Torterra. I was from Kalos. I lived with Xerneas and apprenticed under her.” Part of him was worried he shouldn’t tell this to a stranger, but most of him felt relieved at saying this. Like he reclaimed a part of himself.

“Well, do you still want to be Torterra?”

“I-I want to be a better Pokémon.”

Aqua looked at him thoughtfully. “Who says you can’t be a better Pokémon? You know, now that I know who you are, I wanted to say that I’m sorry.” He looked at her quizzically, not sure what she meant or what she apologized for.

The Water type continued, “Snowy, that is, the Vulpix you’ll see around here, told me what happened to you and Holly. About the fire, and what happened to you, and how you…died.” Her voice was much quieter when she said that last word, as if she was worried it’d set him off. He simply grunted. He knew he had died, but he just didn’t know how he came back.

Unbidden, a memory rose to the surface, one of him and that red and dark purple Liepard running through a forest. He could feel the ground shake and see shadowy figures race through the trees towards them. “What was that?” he wondered. That Liepard had been there, but he was sure he had never met them before. But the memory seemed so real…

Just then, Aqua clapped her flippers together, startling him out of his thoughts. “Alright, if you don’t know who you are, why don’t we go to the ‘mon who does know!”

He didn’t know what she meant. He was alone in this place…wait, she had said she knew Holly. Was Holly here! He asked this question to Aqua, and she nodded her head excitedly.

“Yeppers! And I’m pretty sure I know where she is. Come on, it’s just up this way. Pretty sure you’re hungry as well, and there’s some Cheri Berries just waiting for you!”

His mouth began to water, and his stomach growled at the thought of food. He hadn’t eaten in days, from what it felt like. He got to his mismatched paws and followed after the Primarina. She was slowly ascending a hill, making her way towards a tree at the top.

As the two Pokémon drew closer to the summit, he recognized the tree that grew there. It was a Cheri Tree! A small pang of regret and worry went through his mind, the sight reminding him of the garden he and Xerneas had cared for, cultivated so carefully.

“Yo, Holly! I found Terra!” Aqua called out, her volume irritating his sensitive ears. Was this going to be a persistent thing going forward?

Hold on, did she just say ‘Holly’? His eyes flew forward, and he saw the same Liepard from before jolt upright. They had been lying below the tree, but they quickly took off running, heading straight for the pair.

Another memory entered his mind. He saw himself and Liepard standing below the Tree of Life, but the two weren’t in the grove. Instead, they were in a valley, the soft glow of an eternal sunset setting the feline’s red and purple fur alight. In his memory, he heard himself softly say, “Holly, thank you.”

He broke from the memory and gazed at the Liepard. How hadn’t he seen it before? His eyes locked onto the Liepard’s left side, where her rear leg would have been, if not for the mistake he had made so long ago. His eyes welled with tears as he staggered forward, embracing Holly as she nearly bowled him over.

“Holly, is it really you?”

She purred, and the tears flowed freely as she said one word.

“Yes.”