Chapter Text
The air hung thick with the sickly sweet scent of decay and musty dirt over the graveyard of Dormez Bien. While Ghost type Pokémon like Gastly and Honedge played between the gravestones, ducking and weaving between them like they were nothing, other Pokémon like Spinarak merely clung to them, perhaps waiting for their next meal.
Even in an area like this, even at a time like this, Floette felt out of place. Too floral and full of vivacity, too full of colour, too… alive. She felt the many watchful eyes of Dormez Bien's guests drill into her soul, almost wishing her death. A shiver went up her spine. She had to do this. She had to wait a whole year of Team MZ and Hotel Z turning over a new leaf to return the favour.
Don't worry, Master, Floette thought to herself, I'll bring you back, no matter what.
What her trainer did was a miracle. While some called it a performance from the Devil itself and others decried Floette's trainer as someone who spat at the eye of Arceus, Floette herself said it was both a blessing and a curse. An eternal life given and a war ended, but at the cost of thousands, if not millions of Pokémon and people's lives. It made her feel sick to her stomach if she thought about it for too long.
So it only made sense for Floette to commit the same actions her beloved master once did all those 3,000 years ago. One set of actions to destroy her grief and let her see her master again.
While Floette's mind had wandered, she had stumbled upon her goal, her destination, and her fallen friend's grave.
There, in the middle of the cemetery, an impressively-sized gravestone stood proudly. Whoever did the stonework for the monument did a magnificent job. Countless flowers and mementos covered its base and if one was observant enough, they would be able to see words inscribed on it:
"TO OUR ONCE-GREAT RULER OF KALOS, AZ. KIND, YET FEARSOME. HE ALWAYS WANTED WHAT WAS BEST FOR HIS PEOPLE, EVEN IF HE HAD TO CREATE ADVERSITY TO GET IT.
CARPE DIEM, CARPE NOCTEM, CARPE AETERNUM."
Admittedly, Floette had to shed a few tears for her best friend, but she had to do it for him.
Using her flower as a pencil, she drew a circle around the grave. Then another. And another. In fact, after a full hour of scribbling glyphs and runes into the ground, taking the admittedly less-impressive gravestones into consideration, Floette had created an intricate form of summoning circle that looked suspiciously close to the Ultimate Weapon or her own Eternal Flower, petals and all. A few beads of sweat dared to trickle out onto her forehead after all that effort, especially for a Pokémon as tiny as herself.
At this point, curious groups of Gastly and Honedge edged closer to see what was going to happen next, taking care not to disturb the Single Bloom Pokémon's drawings. One Gastly even tried to sneak up behind Floette before being smacked by her special flower. This made the group of ghosts giggle to themselves before Floette glared at all of them.
"Back! Away with you lot!" Floette seemed to say, "Away with you, I said! Back off before I blast you all away with my Light of Ruin!"
Soon enough, the gaggle of ghostly bystanders dispersed and hid behind the gravestones they loved, their bodies and souls shuddering. Whatever Floette was planning to do terrified even the most fearless of Pokémon in this graveyard.
Taking in a deep breath and positioning her flower just right, Floette took aim at the night sky and launched her most devastating attack: a full-powered Light of Ruin. At that moment, a bright pink beam of energy rocketed up in the sky like some sort of erratic shooting star before it crashed back down to Earth and smashed into the grave of Floette's trainer, activating the summoning circle as it did so.
Soon enough, both Floette and the graveyard were bathed in that same pink light before it subsided, leaving behind a charred circle and destroyed gravestone.
All was still for a moment or two. Nothing dared to breathe a word or move a muscle (or lack of muscle).
Is it over? Did I finally do it? Floette thought to herself as she anxiously looked at the destroyed grave.
Then she felt the ground shake.
Whatever it was, it wanted to claw its way out from the depths of its subterranean prison right now. The grave bulged, trying to keep whatever infernal creature it was underground. Strange noises could be heard, but they weren't familiar to Floette. It wasn't a Pokémon, that was for certain. Still the strange, inhuman sounds continued.
After what seemed like forever, a gigantic, scaly arm appeared. Covered in what seemed like gunmetal-grey and pale yellow scales, as well as purple rose-like thorns on its elbows, and tipped with short, yet sharp claws on its surprisingly humanlike hands, it gripped the earth and deeply gouged the dirt. It seemed to be searching for…something.
Floette could only watch in fear as she looked upon her new twisted creation like Victor Frankenstein himself.
Another identical-looking arm appeared as it tried to push whatever was still buried of its body upwards, disturbing more and more dirt as it did so. If a trainer had to compare it to something, they would compare it to a Ninjask bursting from its shell from underground, but more grotesque. It was strangely majestic in its own way.
Just when Floette thought it couldn't get any worse, the thing stopped, the grip of its claws loosening, before two long necks pushed out of the ground. Appearance-wise, they looked nothing like what Floette had anticipated: vaguely draconic-looking until their bottom jaws split apart like a grotesque flower to reveal rows of sharp teeth. A row of petal-like protrusions even added to this floral guise. Luckily (or unluckily) for Floette, the heads were easy to tell apart by their colours; red for the right, blue for the left.
What have I unleashed? Floette thought to herself as the heads scanned their surroundings and took in the scents of the world. It seemed they were looking for something, but what?
Floette's thoughts were interrupted by a third head pushing its way out of the ground, coughing as it did so. Unlike its counterparts, this head looked vastly different and more conventional-looking, minus the stringy horselike mane of white hair running down its neck. It didn't pay attention to Floette as it continued its attempt of escaping its underground prison for what seemed like hours.
After a while, the… thing, although it finally achieved its goal of seeing the surface for the first time, was exhausted and gave a weary, resigned sigh before lying down.
"Something must've happened with the resurrection," Floette mused to herself, "but I don't know what…"
Taking a deep breath in, she drew close to the creature that had risen from her friend's grave and looked up at it. In response, the creature let out a peculiar hum and inched its hand closer to Floette, almost as if it recognised her.
IS THAT YOU? the creature seemed to ask, IS IT REALLY YOU, FLOETTE?
Floette could only hug the creature's snout as she began crying. It really WAS her friend! Sure, it wasn't AZ as she knew him, but it was still him. The creature chuffed and nuzzled its beloved friend.
"I missed you for over a year, Master," Floette said through tears, "It nearly killed me, so I wanted to bring you back by any means necessary. I didn't care if you came back as a person or a Pokémon or something else entirely. But I never expected you to come back as… this."
The creature exhaled and gently stroked Floette with its claw, almost as if it was consoling her.
Floette continued, "If only Team MZ were able to see this, they'd be over the moon to see you…"
That's when she got an idea.
Wiping her tears away, Floette looked at the creature with a warm smile, "Wait there. I'm going to tell them you're back and I'm gonna bring them here. Don't cause trouble while I'm gone, alright?"
The creature nodded slowly and watched as Floette left the cemetery, unsure of what to do next.
For one thing, if it decided to take a casual, albeit unbalanced stroll around Lumiose, not only would it have to deal with smashing buildings with every step it took, but the fear of being perceived and known terrified it. So, for now, it merely stayed where it was, trying to comprehend what had transpired.
"She's been gone for AGES now!" Lida groaned exasperatedly as she checked yet another cupboard in Hotel Z's dining area before slamming it, "At this rate, we'll never find her. Only Arceus knows where she's gone."
In another part of the room, Urbain sighed, checking the table for the third time this evening "I'm sure she'll be alright, Lida. Besides, she can handle herself just fine. If she's ever in danger, I'm sure she'd let off a Light of Ruin to protect herself."
At this time, the atmosphere of Hotel Z nearly reached a boiling point with its frustrated and worried inhabitants before Floette calmly and soundlessly entered the room.
"Well, I guess I found her, guys," Naveen stated casually, smiling as Floette planted a tiny kiss on his cheek, "and I think she's in a good mood."
This immediately calmed everyone down.
"Kyuru kyururu~!" Floette began excitedly as she approached Urbain.
"So…" Urbain trailed off in response as he tried to think about what to say next as casually as possible, "where did your nighttime shenanigans take you this time, Little Lady?"
And so Floette told the team about her adventures and shenanigans of that day before capping it off with her actual reason for returning to Team MZ.
"You what?!" was Urbain's shocked response.
Floette smiled, refusing to elaborate.
"But Floette, you can't do that! You can't bring back people from the dead like that. That's just straight-up illegal!"
Lida and Naveen looked at each other awkwardly, conflicted about what to do next. Sometimes, Urbain could become a bit too worried and anxious about things.
"Do you think we should let Harmony know about this when she gets home from the Z-A Royale?" Lida whispered.
Naveen shook his head, "Maybe not immediately when she steps foot into this hotel. We should let her rest first."
"Ooh, good choice!"
At this point, Urbain's feelings of annoyance and worry towards Floette subsided. "Can you take us to AZ, Floette?"
Floette nodded vigorously. She couldn't wait for Team MZ to meet her new and improved friend!
Meanwhile, back at the Dormez Bien graveyard, the creature waited patiently for Floette to come back. While she was gone, it nearly had an existential crisis over what it had become. Not just a dragon of old, but a sort of kaiju amongst dragons. All 200 metres of it shivered at the thought of being yet another form of danger to humanity.
"AZ! AZ! I brought the group!" Floette shouted as three familiar-looking teenagers followed her lead.
The creature was surprised at this.
URBAIN? LIDA? NAVEEN? the creature seemed to say in recognition as it craned its long neck closer to the ground, I MISSED YOU ALL SO MUCH.
The group, however, was slightly unnerved and cautious.
"AZ," Urbain said, his voice tinged with a hint of fear, "is that really you?"
The creature nodded.
"T-this is the most terrifying moment of my life. Just don't eat us, please…"
Lida gave Urbain a light smack on his head, "Cut it out! I'm sure he wouldn't find us all that filling anyways, what with us being mostly sinew and bone."
"And inedible clothes!" Naveen added.
"Exactly! So I think as the group strategist, I suggest we treat AZ with respect."
This statement was followed by an awkward pause.
"What? Was it too preachy?" Lida laughed nervously.
Still, the creature seemed amused at Team MZ's antics and let out a laugh-like chuffing noise before nuzzling the group.
"I know we're glad to see you too, AZ," said Naveen gratefully as he continued patting the dragon's snout.
That could've gone worse, Floette thought to herself, but it could've gone better. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.