As the wash of sunlight from beyond the horizon was shattered by the dense leaves of the canopy above, tiny windows of pale green light were scattered along the forest path, illuminating the dirt and grass like the wall of a cathedral. At a glance, the environment appeared almost monochromatic as it took on the dominant hue cast by the rays. A symphony of birds fought its never-ending war to overpower the rustle of the trees and the echoes of running water. This particular forest, like most others, was governed by a pervading sense of growth. It was a sensation that was quickly forgotten by its growers, being more gradual and harder to perceive than the rotation of the planet itself. And although it concerned him as well, this phenomenon went unnoticed by Flux, a rather despondent luxio who had quite a bit of growing left to do himself.
On this morning in particular, he happened to be wandering the familiar ground of the forest, completely lost in his thoughts. It had become somewhat of a habit as of late, but the fuzzy blue pokémon couldn't say that he very much minded the walks through the woods that surrounded his quaint and otherwise isolated village. They were a quiet reprieve from the anxieties of his hometown. Being a bit of an introvert, Flux had come to realize that he felt the most like himself in moments like these, when he was completely alone. It was a satisfying conclusion, from which the pokémon discovered a secretive pride.
Emerging from these thoughts, Flux realized that he had managed to lose track of his usual route. This part of the forest looked entirely new to him, and as much as the feline was afraid of being lost, his worries were overpowered by his ravenous curiosity. With a fresh and wide-eyed fascination, the pokémon resolved to explore his unintentional destination.
Eventually, he came across an area where the forest opened up. As he stepped into the clearing with his mane's dark fur brushing against the surrounding foliage, his cat-like eyes narrowed upon a peculiar structure at the center of the area.
Flux tentatively prowled towards what appeared to be a ruined shrine. Warps in the woodwork betrayed the intricate carvings and adornments the site once boasted. Embedded in the ground in front of the shrine was a circular stone sigil. Depicted in carvings on its face, Flux could make out a large tree, surrounded by a myriad of pokémon that the luxio had never seen before. Gazing into the stone platform, Flux was met with a peculiar feeling. The forest and the world outside of it suddenly felt very large, and Flux was little more than a point at the center. He was greeted for the first time by an overwhelming sense of nothingness. Something very small, very deep within the pokémon had been born, and from that moment, it lived in persistent fear of being extinguished. The woods had succumbed to stillness now, silenced completely. Flux began to wonder where the persistent breeze or chirping birds had gone, and he longed to have been taken with them.
But now the pokémon knew what being truly alone felt like. He wished for company, or at least wished that he could produce a noise loud enough to pierce through the curtain of silence. However, despite all of Flux's willpower, the quiet's grasp on him and his environment sustained, leaving the luxio with a maddening stirring in his chest and a pounding in his skull. Overcome by nervousness, Flux unsteadily lowered his paw onto the sigil and walked to its center.
At that moment, the silence was shattered by a rumbling that originated from the trees as much as it did from Flux himself. The sigil began to glow red with a heat that the luxio could not feel. The sky deepened, bending the surface of the planet with it. The ground fractured, allowing the blinding light of trapped spirits to be unleashed from beneath the earth. The sigil was white with heat now, but despite the fearsome display and seemingly impossible temperature, Flux could only feel the nervous discomfort from before. Deafening bursts of sound echoed across the forest as the trees ignited and splintered, a crude distortion of the fireworks Flux adored as a child. The wood smoke and escaped light rose, dancing in the air around one another, forming the small, panicked forms of creatures. Flux recognized many of these as the strange pokémon depicted on the sigil underfoot.
The brightest and largest of these apparitions shone from the shrine itself, which remained untouched throughout the calamity. Flux immediately recognized it as the familiar green light that pervaded the forest. It was small in proportion, almost childlike, and appeared to resemble the leaves that had crumpled to ash mere moments ago. A single word formed on the tip of the luxio's tongue. A name, he realized, that he couldn't find the origin of.
"Celebi," he whispered faintly.
The entity turned and seemed to acknowledge him. In a sudden movement, it swept down fluidly towards the sigil, its curious eyes now positioned a few centimeters in front of Flux's. The creature, who Flux took to be Celebi, focused intently on him, and in its eyes he found a helpless plea. All in a single moment, he heard the cries of a drowning child, inhaled the smoke of a burning village, felt the tears of a tortured lover, and tasted blood that was not his own. As Celebi imparted all of this to him, Flux felt himself being forced into becoming a part of something larger than himself.
"Help us."
The words applied weight to Flux's heart, but they brought with them a reserved understanding and planted seeds of ambition. Then, as quickly as they had formed, the visions flashed and dissipated, leaving behind an unchanged forest and a terrified and quite disoriented luxio that stumbled backwards from the sigil, collapsed on the pale grass underfoot, and lost his consciousness with his frantic questions trapped forever in his fleeing breath.
