A/N: I owe you all a massive apology. I'm truly sorry for being gone for so long, especially after all I've said about promising to get regular updates and to not let my life get in my way. Well, to tell you the truth.. Life has been hard in the past few days, I'm not going to lie. I thought being off school for study leave would leave some time for writing between exams and revision, but I was wrong. I'm sorry about everything, and I shall try to work harder for you all..

Last chapter, if you can remember that far back, we met the undead menace of Tarik, who isn't even the real enemy yet still managed to nearly kill our heroes. But in spite of that we lost sight of our heroes' goal- to find the god in the Relic Castle and to get its help against the Death Worm. Will they succeed in this goal? Well, let's see, shall we?

For the briefest of moments in the Relic Castle's treasure room and shrine to the gods, there was nothing but the light. No corner was left untouched by it, no crack left unexplored, no golden relic left in the darkness, just simple, pure light. The bright white light seemed to spill in endless waves from within the now-unlocked secret room, turning that brief moment into timelessness as it stripped away all illusions and became everything, a vacuum, a void of just the white. And then, slowly, gradually, it began to pale and reveal everything to the people in the room..

From his position lying prone on the floor having been knocked down when the light suddenly blasted into the room, exhausted both physically and mentally, Aaron Rhodes' outstretched arm provided the slightest protection for his eyes from the light. As it started to dim his eyes flickered over his immediate surroundings, taking in how dusty his clothes had been left by desert sand and centuries-old ash, how frayed edges seemed to have appeared on previously-pristine clothes, how scratches and tatter-like scars appeared to spread up his arms. He hadn't realised it, having been running on adrenaline (and running for his life) almost every single moment since he had arrived in the Desert Resort, but he was a mess, almost a complete wreck. Survival had been the only thing on his mind, and survival had taken its toll on him.

He pulled himself upright with the use of the pedestal in the middle of the room, his arms aching as he did so, and he stretched himself out as the light reached a manageable level, about as bright as the normal desert sun. With a slight intake of breath, he ran a finger along the burn to his palm from where he had slammed the red-hot obsidian gem into the pedestal to unlock whatever was inside. Dust stirred at his feet as he kicked absent-mindedly at nothing in particular, getting the giddy feel left by the light out of his mind, and he turned to his left ever so slightly, slowly at first as dizziness fought back.

"Ronnie?" he asked out loud, in a voice that remained surprisingly strong after all he had been through, but the cracked and hoarse edge was there in the background; thirst and tiredness were finally starting to rear their ugly heads.

Ronnie looked surprisingly fit and able and ready to go, given the trauma of the past few days and (in particular) the last few hours. But the signs were clear, a weary look in her normally piercing green eyes and large black bags of tiredness made clear as she turned to look at her boyfriend. "Aaron.. We did it.."

He nodded with relief that flooded his entire body and made him shake a little. "We did it.. We beat Tarik.." Then the ghost of a smile that had formed faded. "And he isn't even our enemy.."

Ronnie, despite everything, smiled, laughing a little at the desperation of their situation. "We came here to find a god to help us fight the Death Worm, and ended up fighting another monster."

Aaron shook his head, disbelieving. "This always happens to us.. Two hard monsters to fight.."

"At least this one is down," came a voice from the wall of the shrine room.

Both Aaron and Ronnie turned to see Luca, pale as the Ghosts they had just fought but with a fire gleaming in her eyes, push herself forwards from where she was leaning against the wall. After all the effort she'd put into using her Aura and all the energy that had been stolen from her by the Litwick, Aaron had expected the bubblegum-haired girl to be sliding down the wall with weariness- somehow she remained cool, and apparently ready to fight more monsters. "Luca.. You saved us.."

Luca smiled, wrapping her arms around both of them in a bearhug, as Minty the Riolu on her shoulder stretched himself with a clicking of joints. "It was nothing. You guys would do the same for me, so I helped there." She kicked at the ground beside her, and there was a clanging sound as the golden mask from the front of a Cofagrigus, the last remnant of the psychotic mummy King Tarik, bounced away across the floor. "He won't be coming back anytime soon."

"I hope so," Aaron said, shaking his head. "I've decided I really don't like mummies anymore."

"Vol..."

Ronnie stiffened as she heard the sound, a long and pitiful cry that resonated with loneliness and seemed to come from the source of the light. "Did you hear that?"

Aaron nodded, the forlorn and quiet cry on the very edge of hearing but very much there. "I heard it." He turned to see the 4 guard Darmanitan, somehow completely unaffected by the wrath of Tarik and somehow oblivious to the nausea-inducing effects of the light, bowing towards the secret room that had been unlocked by the obsidian gem's placement on the pedestal, an ethereal chant of no recognisable Pokemon language escaping their lips. "I think we may have found our god."

Luca nodded. "Shall we?"

In silent agreement, the trio of humans edges forward, closer and closer to the hidden room in the temple, the shrine room of the palace of the Relic Castle. After so long, they would finally learn the identity of the god, the deity with the power of the Sun itself that had assisted the White Hero in the defeat of the Death Worm all those years ago..

As they turned around the corner and gazed upon the majestic being, Aaron finally realised the truth behind the god. The hieroglyphs and the tapestries of the Castle had all referenced a blazing sun, allegedly referring to that as the great power, and the humans had falsely assumed that this being of fire was the Dragon of Truth itself Reshiram. That had confused Aaron the most- after all, everyone knew how Hilbert Grey had liberated Reshiram from the Light Stone, before befriending it and assisting it in stopping Team Plasma for taking over Unova. If they were going after a god in the Relic Castle, then surely Reshiram was already gone? Not least the fact that the White Hero of the past had arrived with Reshiram, meaning the god had to be another Legendary, but which one?

That however, he realised, was a huge assumption. He had overlooked the simple fact of Pokemon training that not every powerful Pokemon came from the Hall of Origin, and everything clicked into place; in the ancient world, one Pokemon with immense power had risen to such a level of reverence that it had become a god. It wasn't a Legendary, it wasn't a Dragon, it was literally as the tapestries had said- the Sun itself. The Sun Pokemon had ruled over the Desert, the greatest Pokemon in the land, the vanquisher of the Death Worm...

The world seemed to shimmer as a sea of fiery scales floated in midair, scattered across the shrine room, the source of the glimmering white light that filled everything. But something was wrong- these ember scales should have been constantly produced, they should have been continuously spread by the serenely graceful flapping of six majestic orange wings that surrounded the Pokemon in the middle of the room in an orange corona, a halo of light. But they weren't...

"There's something wrong," Aaron said in a hushed whisper, taking in the scene. "I've never seen any Pokemon like this before.."

"That's a Volcarona?" Ronnie breathed as she gazed at the creature in the middle of the room, the subject of the Darmanitan's reverence.

There was a click, and an unnecessarily bright female voice came on from the speakers of the device Luca was pointing at the god. "Volcarona, the Sun Pokemon, and the evolved form of Larvesta!"

Aaron turned as Luca, having confirmed that the god was Volcarona, clicked the volume of her Pokedex down. He noticed that as the loud sudden noise came on the Volcarona seemed to twitch ever so slightly, the normally iridescent blue compound eyes dull but widening in fright as it took in its visitors. "Luca, you'll scare it!"

She held up a hand defensively in response. "Hey, I'm just checking on it! If you'd like to know, it has one HP left, yet full PP..."

"You can check that with a Pokedex?" Ronnie said, retreating round the corner and looking at Luca with a questioning face as the Sun Pokemon feebly shook itself, crying pitifully.

The girl nodded. "Most people don't know how though. I'd say something stole most of its health while it was imprisoned there..."

"Wait, imprisoned?" Now it was Aaron's turn to be surprised.

Luca sighed. "Can't you see the chains?" She pointed, and indeed, Aaron could see thick black chains holding the injured Pokemon to the back wall, restraining its wings. "I bet while he was down here, trapped, Tarik imprisoned it to prevent it from helping fight off his own army. Considering it hasn't lost PP, it wasn't fighting Tarik, and hasn't been able to, so.."

"So?" Aaron and Ronnie both echoed.

Luca clicked her fingers. "That's how Tarik has managed to survive this long- he's been draining off the life energy and HP of Volcarona. He used it to come back from the afterlife, to anchor himself here as a Ghost in order to wait for more to come.."

Aaron looked at the Sun Pokemon with pitying eyes. "Two thousand years as an energy drain for a monster.. It must be strong if it survived this long.." Then his eyes hardened. "We must do something for it, we must help it!"

"Aaron...?" Ronnie asked, as her boyfriend turned towards the former god, hands deep in his Bag searching for something. Then her eyes widened with alarm, as suddenly one of the Darmanitan leapt from its worshipping position with a snarl to tackle him to the floor, pinning him down and glaring at him while its flaming eyebrows blazed even harder than before. "What the hell?!"

"DAR MAN DAR DAR TAN!" the Blazing Pokemon yelled furiously, ferociously, with something almost maddening in the depths of its eyes.

Minty the Riolu's eye twitched as, still on Luca's shoulder, he tried to keep up with the Darmanitan's ravings and translated to his mistress.

Luca narrowed her eyes. "You.. must not touch It's Eminence.. It is a crime worse.. than murder.. Are you for real?" The girl turned to glare angrily at the Pokemon. "It's Eminence is sick, nearly dead, and you won't let him intervene to save its life?!"

"DAR dar man itan.."

"We cannot heal it, we protect it. Our duty is to stop it from being harmed, oh really? You didn't do a good job of it, did you?! You got frozen into statues and let Tarik slowly siphon off your god's life force to stay alive! How do you feel about that?"

The Darmanitan was, from what the humans had seen, the toughest of the four guards and the leader of the group, yet somehow its cool evaporated as Luca advanced, a bead of sweat forming on its brow. "Dar.."

"You failed, didn't you?" she said, prodding it angrily in the chest. "Now step aside and let someone else save your god!"

For a moment the Darmanitan appeared to quite literally flare up even more in anger, but as Luca's glare turned more piercing it became unsure, looking nervously over to its unseeing brethren and back again like a Buneary in the headlights. Finally, after what seemed like an age, the Blazing Pokemon stepped back off of Aaron's chest and skulked back over to its chanting brothers, joining in the chant but warily and apprehensively shooting glances at Luca every so often.

Aaron pulled himself upright again, noticing the tattered scratches left in his T-shirt by the Darmanitan's claws, and unfurled his clenched fist to reveal a small bottle. "Thank God I always carry a Full Restore around. I never imagined when I bought it I would be using it like this though..."

Stepping over the four grovelling Fire-types to a growl from one of them, he approached Volcarona anxiously, concerned how dim the blue eyes appeared to be compared to how bright the twinkling scales of fire were around it. "Volcarona.."

The Sun Pokemon, a fallen god of a forgotten kingdom, left to rot and waste in the darkness of the ruins by an evil who wished to see it all perish, lifted its head and shivered painfully. "Rona.."

Aaron took a deep breath as he looked into the deep eyes, the sadness all too clear. "You've been trapped by a monster all this time, all alone down here. We're here to help."

As Aaron placed his hand in the fuzzy white fur on the Bug's body, it felt so cold to the touch, not warm like any Fire-type should be- Volcarona was weak. But as Aaron crouched down to open up and apply the Full Restore, Volcarona shook all of a sudden, not from its pain, but from wild fear that had suddenly appeared in its eyes. "Vol vol ca!"

Aaron stopped halfway through unscrewing the bottle, and jumped back from the Pokemon, feebly struggling against the heavy metal bonds. "Luca.. What's up?"

Pausing briefly, Luca looked concerned as she translated. "It's scared.. But what of? What are you scared of, Volcarona, we're here to help you.."

"Rona.."

"Her.." Luca's head whipped up and looked at Ronnie, looking shocked from what the Sun Pokemon had just said. "Tarik.. I don't believe it.."

"Believe what?" Ronnie said, looking anxious, backing away a little from Volcarona which had, by now, worn itself out and had slumped back in its chains.

Luca paused, disbelieving. "It appears.. the Cofagrigus we just fought, the evil Dark Knight.. It appears you are of Tarik's bloodline. You are family."

Ronnie looked stunned. "No way!"

Aaron meanwhile crouched back down in front of the weakened Pokemon, trying to soothe it by rubbing its fluff. "Shh.. You think she's like her ancestor, don't you? You're worried she'll finish the job.."

Volcarona looked up at him with those soulful blue eyes. "Vol.."

Aaron shook his head. "Believe me, she's almost the exact opposite of her ancestor. She's my girlfriend, and I love her to bits Volcarona- we trust each other until the end, we would fight to the death for each other." He paused. "And we've had to.."

The Sun Pokemon tilted its head to one side, the light from the fiery scales reflected in the compound eyes. "Carona?"

Aaron nodded, sighing. "We came here to find you Volcarona because we need your help. We fought Tarik to get to you, and nearly died down here, but we've nearly been killed so many times in the past few days, by another far greater monster.."

"I believe you've heard of the Death Worm?" Luca asked. "After all, you're the Sun God who vanquished it so long ago.."

Aaron tried not to smile at the angry fire and rage that lit in Volcarona's eyes in that instance, at the growl that arose from the Sun Pokemon's lips that rivalled the growl of the Darmanitan. Even in its weakened state its anger was clear. "You are the strongest Pokemon in the desert, the only one who can fight the Worm. We've tried, and failed, and we are lucky to be here, but we need your help. If we heal you, will you help us?"

Volcarona's head turned to him, the entire body of the Bug/Fire type straining suddenly against its chains, so ready to go and fight, and it nodded with renewed energy. "Vol CA!"

"Thank God for that," Ronnie said, smiling at the Sun Pokemon. "Thank you!"

For a moment Volcarona appeared unsure, but then a ghost of a smile appeared on its face, and it chirped happily. "Vol!" Then, as Aaron finally applied the Full Restore, the shivers of pain became happier, the glow of the Sun Pokemon seeming to intensify, more fiery scales firing from its wings and joining the sea of light as the light became even more blinding, Volcarona and the crouched Aaron at the centre...

With a snap, the metal prison flew off the Sun Pokemon as it surged out of its millennia-old chains, nearly striking Ronnie in the head as they whirled past and buried themselves in the wall of the room. Volcarona's six wings were now emanating their own incredible pure light, the fiery scales dancing joyfully in the room as the four Darmanitan blazed harder than ever before in victory. The blue compound eyes, once dim with defeat, now shimmered with life, but the fire still blazed in their depths, the fire of determination- it was going to defeat the Death Worm.

The Bug gave a gleeful chirrup, finally free after so long, and wrapped its wings around Aaron in an exceptionally grateful hug. "Rona vol ca!"

"No problem," he said with a smile as the heat spread through his body and energised him- any tiredness and fatigue from the long days was instantly washed away. "Are you ready to fight the Death Worm?"

"VOLCA!" the Pokemon cried in response, before, hovering in midair, it moved back from Aaron and began to spin slowly, a ring of fiery scales surrounding itself in a beautiful dance that made the Sun Pokemon look even more powerful and graceful than before..

"Quiver Dance," Luca said in a hushed voice. "Its beautiful.. And it's ready to fight when it starts its dance.."

Volcarona gradually stopped its light dance, the twinkling scales around it still orbiting it like a million stars, and turned to the four Darmanitan with a look of determination. Lining up with two on either side of the Sun Pokemon, the Blazing Pokemon roared fiercely and defiantly, their eyebrows blazing even harder, before all five Pokemon shot fire at the wall..

The resulting explosion seemed not to affect them, but the shockwave knocked the three humans to the floor. Yet as Aaron pulled himself up, he saw it was a deliberate move- the fireball had blown open a secret passageway behind the temple wall, a passageway that appeared to lead a long way out towards a door around of the corners of which natural light seeped in.

He smiled, seeing the natural light of the world for what seemed like the first time in ages after the experiences of the shrine room, and slowly began to walk forwards towards that door. He stopped, waiting, and turned to look at Volcarona, expectant. Both Pokemon and human shared a warm smile, ready to do what they had to, and Volcarona flew forwards gently, at the head of the group. Behind the Sun Pokemon Aaron and Ronnie walked slowly, side by side, with Luca and Minty behind them, the four Darmanitan bringing up the rear.

As they walked, the three humans were sharing the same train of thought. After the fury of Tarik and the darkness of the Relic Castle, Volcarona had shown them a light of hope. It may have been millennia old, having not fought another Pokemon in an age, and it may have been weakened when they found it, but the Sun Pokemon was now restored to its powerful self, the desert's deity. And as they headed out down the passageway towards natural light, perhaps finally they had something powerful enough to fight the Worm. Perhaps finally the monster could be destroyed once and for all by the power of a god..

A/N: Well, what kind of story would it be if they didn't find what they were looking for? A very short one, put it that way... I know a few of you guessed the god's identity would be Volcarona, so congratulations for that!

Next chapter (hopefully soon)- whatever happened to the real enemy, the Death Worm? Where the hell has Lynch gone? And will Volcarona be able to shine?

Thank you so much for reading, for your patience with me and your supporting PMs when I disappeared off the face of the Earth! A review is always appreciated, and until next time, adios amigos! :D

Sharkness