Awakening of the Blinding One

by Suwako20

Legends tell of a blinding being of incredible power, and how it will one day come to destroy the world. The signs are already showing, pokemon are turning to stone, alien monsters are invading the world... and it all seems to have something to do with me. PMD universe. Collab work.

16. Chapter 16

"Oh, thank goodness you're all back so soon!" Lycanoroc's vice grip of a hug made me choke. I couldn't breathe...! She dropped me and then scooped up Snowflake instead. "And you're all unharmed! This is great- one less thing for us to worry about..."

Lycanroc had shrieked in shock and fear when Lunala had dropped out of the sky. It was early morning, and only the slightest peaks of sunlight was able to be seen creeping over the horizon. the sky was softening, and the air was calm and relaxed... so the sudden, giant bat creature was definitely not something she was expecting to see. but then, when I and my friends climbed off her back, her mood had shifted entirely into relief.

"I'm so glad to see you guys!" She noogied Sakura and they both laughed. "But um... who is this..?" Lycanroc hesitantly let go of Sakura and frowned nervously up at Lunala. With curiosity, Lunala looked back down at her, and then raised her gaze to inspect the area of the town around us. There were a few passerby who stopped and stared at the huge pokemon who had landed in front of the guild. I supposed that it probably was a little strange to see someone who was so big.

I placed a hand on Lunala's wing and she jerked a little in surprise, peering back down at me. "This is my friend- Cosmoem, remember?" I chuckled softly and smiled at Lycanroc. Her eyes went wide as I spoke. "She evolved into Lunala- thanks to Victini here." I said, then gesturing to the less impressive-looking new recruit.

At being addressed, Victini fluttered her strange tail-wings and flew up to Lycanroc excitedly. She grabbed ahold of her paws and shook them energetically. "Nice to meet you, doggy!" She sang happily.

Lycanroc's eyebrow twitched. "Hey, who you callin' a dog? I'm a wolf you know!" She snapped in irritation.

"Wolf, dog, who cares! Same thing!" She grinned innocently, but a part of me suspected that she was not so innocent about what she was doing. Lycanroc growled at her, but then controlled herself and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she grumbled and turned her attention back to Lunala instead, "it's nice to finally meet you properly, Lunala." She said with her hands on her hips. "I'm sure you'll be welcome here at the guild any time! But I'll have to go tell the guildmaster you're here! Oh, and Mesprit!" She exclaimed, turning back to enter the gates.

"Mesprit...?" Lunala gasped softly. I knew it must have been a long time since those two had gotten to speak. I was sure she would be happy to meet her again. They had been short friends, hadn't they... But then a sad look filled Lunala's eyes, and I frowned. Why would meeting Mesprit make her sad...?

Lycanroc disappeared into the guild and we waited together outside for a moment. Sakura, Snowflake, Hunter and I all sat together and rested after our long trip. Victini seemed a bit more energetic and peered around at the town curiously. Kubo was fiddling with something in his hands- back before we had taken off, Kubo had plucked a few of the magically reborn flowers to bring back home with us. At the time I thought he was just amazed by Tapu Lele's powers, but now he was messing with the little plants. What was he doing...?

"Guys!" Mesprit suddenly announced, flying out of the guild and doing a little excited flip in the air. We all gaped at her as she hovered up and put her hands to her hips proudly. "You're back! Just in time to see that I'm all better!" She puffed out her chest. We all smiled and Sakura laughed, happy to see her friend was okay and clearly back to full energy again. Mesprit smirked, "now you guys have no excuse to leave me behind anymore!"

I could see Kubo opening his mouth to speak, but Lunala interrupted him. "Mesprit... long time no see.." She said gently, yet a tad nervous. She seemed a bit nervous and uneasy in her presence. Mesprit looked up at her, and while she seemed unsurprised by her presence, she did seem a bit... intimidated by her size.

"Oh...! Lunala." Mesprit said. and I was almost surprised that she already knew her name. "You look.. so much like your mother." She smiled, "It's good to see you finally awake again. It really has been too long!" Mesprit giggled lightly. Despite her light and casual tone, the sad look in Lunala's eyes did not disappear.

"Mesprit... I.. I'm sorry for getting you hurt... those beasts were after me, not you. I was foolish for getting you into danger too.." She apologized weakly. It was strange to see someone with such a huge body, act so docile and shy in front of someone who was so much smaller than her.

Mesprit frowned. I could tell just from the confusion on her face that it never occurred to her to blame Lunala for anything. "It was my choice to house you," she flew up to Lunala's face and huffed in a bossy manner, "I should apologize for not protecting you like I promised!"

As much as I wanted to trust that she was all better now, seeing Mesprit so high off the ground filled me with anxiety. Lunala didn't seem bothered by it though, and simply frowned at her worriedly. "I.. I'm just sorry I had to get you involved in all of this... It's not your responsibility to protect me." She pouted. That expression did not suit her beautiful, yet ominous appearance.

"Nonsense! I told you before and I'll tell you again- I'll face any danger if it means keeping the ones I care about safe!" She crossed her arms and nodded affirmingly, as if she had just closed the conversation. Lunala frowned defeatedly and I couldn't help but blink in confusion. It seemed this was a topic she knew she couldn't make Mesprit budge on.

"Well... I... thank you," Lunala murmured awkwardly.

Mesprit nodded again and floated back down to the ground. Sakura stood and ran over to her as she landed gracefully on the ground. Mesprit grinned at her. "Plus! look at all the new friends I've made... even if it was rather embarrassing to need saving.." She huffed in embarrassment. I looked up and saw that Lunala wasn't sure whether to feel better or worse at that statement.

"It's good to see you're all better now, though, Mesprit," Sakura said with a soft smile, "I missed you on my trip!" As she spoke, Snowflake, Hunter and I walked up to them and sat down in a semi-circle. Mesprit huffed and crossed her arms.

"I still can't believe you all went without me..." she said grumpily.

Kubo hung behind, watching us from his place where he had sat after climbing off Lunala. He seemed nervous, and I wondered why. He was always so strangely shy around Mesprit... Finally, he seemed to build up his courage and- after hiding the little arrangement of flowers behind his back, Kubo finally approached our group. Curiously, Victini watched.

"Hey, um, Mesprit..." Kubo stumbled, blushing slightly and averting his eyes. Mesprit turned to him and blinked.

"Huh? Oh! Kubo," she smiled a bit slyly and I wondered why that would be, "what is it?" She asked, with a hint of teasing in her voice.

Kubo flushed deeper. "Well-! After Lunala freed Tapu Lele, she brought the entire flower field back to life. See- it had all wilted and died without her taking care of them. But!" From behind his back, he revealed the flowers- arranged in the shape of a little crown. He smiled brightly (and his face blushed brightly in tandem) and he placed the cute pink and white flower crown upon her head. "I made sure to bring back some of the resurrected flowers for you!" He finished with a little flourish.

"Ah!" Mesprit gasped with a small smile. I could tell she was genuinely touched by this sentiment. I smiled too. Even though we hadn't been able to bring her with us, we were still thinking of her. I was impressed that that's what Kubo had been preparing all this time.

"Hehehe!" Victini flew up to us and alighted on the ground softly just behind Kubo. She slapped him on the back amicably and continued to giggle. "Hehe~! Awww that's so cute! You have a crush on her!" She announced innocently.

Everyone fell silent for a moment and I was sure that Kubo was going to burst from embarrassment. If his face had been beet red before, it was a fully ripe tomato now.

"You little-!" He barked, and then opened his mouth to shoot a full-power water gun at her.

"YIPES!" Victini yelped and shot up into the air, trying to fly off as quickly as possible to avoid the water type move.

Just as this happened however, Lycanroc returned. And to my mortification- she wasn't alone. The Guildmaster followed shortly behind her, as serious and composed as ever. Heliolisk stepped out shortly behind her. Victini's quick escape was distracted by these new arrivals, and she paused, blinking owlishly at Serperior. Serperior raised an eyebrow back at her.

And then Kubo fired his attack. Victini heard it and turned towards him. "Oh NUTS!" She cried and dashed out of the way- only for the attack to hit the Guildmaster square in the face.

Everybody gasped.

Except for Victini- who simply looked around in confusion at all of our collective horror- and Mesprit. She simply stared at Serperior calculatedly. Not that I was really paying close attention to either of them- the murderous look on Serperior's face was my sole focus of attention. I could tell even without looking that Kubo was ready to bolt.

My brows furrowed in confusion, however, as Serperior turned her glare onto Mesprit for a moment, before controlling her expression again. She looked down her nose at Kubo. "It would be wise not to fight around the guild, Kubo." She said authoritatively.

Kubo nodded hastily and bowed in apology. "Of course Guildmaster! It won't happen again sir!"

Wordlessly, Serperior nodded back at him seriously, accepting of his atonement. Heliolisk looked like he was going to have an aneurysm, his expression was so stressed. He seemed completely flabbergasted by her reaction. Truthfully, I had never seen Serperior truly angry before... was it possible she had a real temper?

Reading the serious air of the scene now, Victini landed lightly on the ground, gracefully staying silent so as to not raise any more ire. She stood back as we all circled around Serperior and Heliolisk to tell them the events that transpired on our trip.

As we finished detailing the accounts of the mission, Serperior nodded stoically. "Very well done. It seems you have more than completed your mission. We can only hope the two tapu will be able to make themselves good allies to us." Despite her (relatively) pleasant tone, I could tell she was still bothered by something. Was she still bothered by Mesprit's presence? "They know the Ultra Beasts better than we do, after all," she continued casually despite her irritation, "once all four tapu are freed, we will be at a much higher advantage."

Then she turned to Lunala, and didn't seem at all uncomfortable to need to look up at her. She nodded politely. "And for you: you are free to stay here with us, Lunala. Make yourself at home."

In response, Lunala smiled shyly. But then her face dropped, and she frowned worriedly. She looked away and stared into the distance instead of meeting Serperior's eye. "I'm sorry... but I can't stay. Necrozma... he's after me, even more so now. I'm sure that he'll be able to tell that I've become a Lunala now..." she looked back down at us, nervous, afraid, and I felt my heart drop.

I had thought I had finally saved her... but she didn't feel safe with me. She was still in danger...

"I have to find a place I can hide from him... I can't burden you all with protecting me, I will only bring the danger straight to you.."

"Lunala! No, what did I just tell you!?" Mesprit snapped angrily, "you're no burden!"

"Yeah!" I cried, leaping to my feet and clenching my fists. "You're the one who brought me here, Lunala!" My eyes bored into her determinedly. "I won't abandon you!"

"That's right!" Snowflake added, standing to her feet. Kubo and Mesprit nodded in agreement as well.

I steeled my expression as Lunala looked back down at me, and I hoped she could see how serious I was. Whatever it would take to make her safe, I would do it. Even if I had to meet Necrozma head on and fight him myself- I would do it. She was my only friend who knew me, for my true self. And she believed in me, with her whole heart... She trusted. me.

I would never let that trust go to waste.

Lunala continued to watch me for a moment.. and then her expression softened. "I... I understand. But I still can't stay here."

"Then we shall go with you!" I stomped my foot seriously. "I won't ever let you be alone again! I'll protect you, it's my job after all!" I added with a small grin.

"It's OUR job," Snowflake chimed in again, leaning against my side and looking at me fondly. I smiled back, feeling a bit shy. She looked back up at Lunala. "Lunala... wherever you need to go, we'll be there. Right?" She turned her gaze to the rest of our team and I joined her.

Kubo nodded passionately, a wide, almost excited grin on his face. Sakura seemed a bit more skeptical, I knew she struggled to share my same determination... but she knew how much saving Lunala meant to me. So she nodded, smiling at me appeasingly. I smiled and nodded back. Hunter's expression was soft... I wondered what he was thinking. He didn't know Lunala... He had helped us save her, but he had never spoken to her. And yet, he seemed touched by our conversation. Perhaps he could empathize with Lunala, because he smiled up at her, and gave a solid, confident grin of his own, a small fire alighting in his eyes.

Finally, Lunala smiled gratefully at all of us, and I could see her eyes watering slightly. She turned her gaze back to me. "I... of course. I shouldn't have expected anything less."

The Guildmaster also nodded, but hers was more businesslike. "Yes. You all have proven that you are more than able to perform such a task."

"What?" Heliolisk spoke up suddenly, looking up at Serperior worriedly, "you're going to let them all go? Is that really safe?"

Serperior turned her cold gaze to him. "No place is truly safe now... but the guild will be prepared. We shall do whatever we can to not only protect our town, but others as well." Her gaze went from Heliolisk to Mesprit for a moment, and I could see a thought suddenly occurring to her. "Also, Heliolisk..." he hastily scrambled to take notes with his clipboard, "please lead the guild while I am away. I have someplace I must go as well."

He seemed inclined to protest, but he thought twice about it and nodded reluctantly. "Yes, Guildmaster. You can count on me." He stood up tall and nodded. "I'll make sure to keep our home safe."

She nodded back at him, pleased.

"You can count on me, too."

A new voice suddenly said from behind us. My team and I all jumped to our feet in shock and spun around. There stood the old Corviknight, who seemed to have alighted down from somewhere just before he spoke. He nodded at us stoically. "I will not allow that alien freak to destroy my home." He grumbled angrily and made his way past us to stand at Serperior's side. "I'm sure we can all agree on that." He said with a curious raised eyebrow. We all nodded and agreed with that.

"But-" Kubo suddenly spoke up- "where are you going, Guildmaster?" He asked curiously. She looked at him for a moment with a sharp look in her eye. He ducked his head. I could tell she wasn't still upset about him accidentally attacking her- she was upset about being questioned. It seemed she was determined to be mysterious. Instead of answering his question, she turned and made her way back into the guild.

"Heliolisk, tell the guild to get set up for protecting the town... and to pack Moss and his friends' things." She said stoically, before she disappeared through the doors. Heliolisk nodded, and he and Corviknight followed after her.

"Rrhhh... she really annoys me, sometimes..." Mesprit grumbled once the Guildmaster was gone.

"You think so, Mesprit?" Kubo asked, his voice uncharacteristically hesitant.

Mesprit opened her mouth to respond, her expression almost bratty- but then a new voice piped up.

"Um.. excuse me?"

I blinked, and turned to find Victini had moved to stand next to me, her expression a but apologetic and nervous. From what I knew of her, I was surprised to see her looking almost hesitant. She smiled and tilted her head at me. "Um... you're Moss, right?"

I nodded. "Yes, that's me... What's up?" I frowned.

Victini stared at me intently. "May I... join your team?" She asked rather seriously. I blinked at her. What? Seeing my confusion, she smiled apologetically and hid her hands behind her back. "See- as a Victini, I have the ability to give victory to anyone I want. I could be really useful!" She stood up tall and confident, putting her hands on her hips- yet behind her boisterous grin, I could see nervousness in her eyes. "As long as I'm here, you all will be perfectly safe!"

Confusedly, I turned to look at my friends to see what they thought. As we exchanged glances, Victini's proud stance wilted a little, but the confident expression never faltered. The only one who seemed truly against her was Kubo, who narrowed his eyes as I looked at him. He was clearly still annoyed by her teasing. I turned back to Victini and fiddled with my hands nervously.

"Well, it's true that we probably wouldn't have been able to defeat that Ultra Beast or awaken Lunala without you. We all really appreciate your help, even though you were in such a bad way yourself..." I awkwardly turned to Snowflake for support and she smiled at me. I wasn't sure why I felt so unsure about this, but I was glad Snowflake would be behind me. I turned back to Victini. "But I don't know if you know how serious this is... We could be out for a really long time, and you don't even know who we are!"

For a moment, pure shock was all that stared back at me from her eyes. She clearly had never anticipated getting turned down. "What- of course I know!" She said, flustered, "I'm not making a rash decision! I know you guys are gonna be doing a lot of work to save the world! I want to help!"

"It's not all sunshine and rainbows, you know." Sakura said, her voice gentle. It seemed she had taken my stance, but only out of concern for this new arrival. "It gets hard out there... and who knows what could happen. You might be better off getting back to your family..."

"No, no!" Victini waved her arms in frustration. "This isn't how it's supposed to go at all! I can make you guys invincible, nothing bad's gonna happen to you ever again with me there!"

I exchanged a look with my friends again. we all had pity shining in our eyes, and Victini could see that. Her frustration grew. "Hey! I'm not lying!"

"It's not that we think you're lying," I said softly, unsure of how to phrase myself, "it's just that.. I don't know if you really know what you're getting yourself into..."

"Of course I do! I was there fighting off the beast with you, wasn't I?" She put her hands on her hips again, this time with an air of indignance.

"Look guys, she's clearly got the passion for it," Kubo said suddenly, moving up to stand next to Victini. She raised an eyebrow at him as he stood up tall and put an arm around her shoulder casually. "I'd say Vivi's trustworthy. And she's not gonna be getting any rude awakenings about her abilities because, well, we're just that good! Right?" He smiled at me widely.

I was a bit surprised at his attitude. Wasn't he upset with her?

"You really think so?" Victini said excitedly, a hopeful smile growing on her face now. "I swear that saving the world will go smoother than ever with me there! Just like with that beast that kidnapped me! It just wanted to use my powers- but I want to use my powers against them instead! You see that, don't you? We'll save the whole world!"

Still a bit hesitant, I watched for Kubo's reaction. He simply smiled back at her. "Sure, I think you could be a great help. Even when injured you helped turn the tides for us. And I'm sure we'll get along great!" He turned to me, continuing to smile innocently. "Don't you think so too?"

I hummed. I supposed that it couldn't be too bad... "As long as you're not leaving anybody behind by coming with us..." I said slowly.

Victini frowned sadly and her ears drooped a little. "Well, I did used to live with others of my species..." She looked away shyly, but remained in Kubo's strange hold. "I.. I just don't know where they are since those beasts kidnapped me... We're nomadic, you see..."

But then that fire lit up in her eyes again and she looked back up to me. "But no matter where they are, they're in danger! Those beasts won't be satisfied with losing me! They'll surely attack my friends and family again! I need to help you, I just gotta!"

I felt a little shocked at her conviction. I didn't think she had been taking this very seriously at all. She seemed to think saving the world was just some fun adventure. And maybe she still did... but it was clear, at least, that she knew that we were doing this for more than just glory. That made me feel a bit more confident. I smiled at her and nodded. "Okay."

"YES! Woo-hoo!" She jumped up and down in her excitement, bringing Kubo with her.

"Hey, hey!" Kubo protested, finally managing to pull himself away from her in her excited hopping. He pointed at her and grinned mischievously. "Yeah, sure you can join- only on the condition that the next time you see the Guildmaster, YOU'RE the one sending a fireball at her!"

Ah.. now that would explain his odd behaviour. He did all that just for a little payback?

"Kubo!" Snowflake snapped. "You shall make her do no such thing!"

"What?" He cried back, stomping his foot. "Why noooooot!?"

As Snowflake and Kubo bickered, Victini simply watched. Her excitement at being allowed to join still hadn't faded. As she giggled at their argument, Sakura stepped up to her side. Victini frowned and turned to her, tilting her head. "Hm? What's up?" She asked curiously.

Sakura didn't reply for a moment, and only looked back at her sadly. Then, a soft smile graced her face. "Don't worry. Once we're done, we'll help you find your family. I'm sure you'll find them." She said softly.

Victini smiled a little. "Thanks... I'm sure we will," she said brightly. Sakura continued to smile at her upon hearing that, but a part of me knew it was difficult for her to be very optimistic. Still, I was grateful that she was at least trying to be more positive.

"Now that she's on the team, I hope you don't expect to be leaving me behind again either!" Mesprit huffed, interrupting Kubo and Snowflake's bickering and drawing everyone's attention. She flew up into the air a little and put her hands on her hips. "Okay?"

"Of course not!" Kubo assured her, "after all, you can fly again!"

"That's right!" Mesprit huffed, "I finally got the ability back. It was so hard and took me a long time..." she flipped herself upside down in order to show off her skill. I gasped. She ignored my concerned reaction and continued, "but now that I can fly again, I can finally go with you!" She did a flip in the air with a flourish, and ended up right-side up again.

"But- wait..." Snowflake cut in worriedly. We all turned to her curiously and she bowed her head a little. "Now that you're healthy, wouldn't you have to get back to your lake? I mean, you have your precious stone there to protect... You're it's guardian," She frowned and tilted her head, "can you really afford to come with us?"

That made Mesprit pause. It was clear that she hadn't actually thought of that, I realized in slight amusement. "Well, yes, I do have to protect it, especially in times like these..." She hummed softly to herself. "However... I think it would be best if we take it with us."

"What?" I gasped, "isn't that dangerous?"

She nodded, and began playing with her hands thoughtfully. "Yes, it would be risky... but I think it would be much safer if it- and I- could come with you." Following her words, we all looked at leach other nervously. Victini appeared confused, but we hadn't the time to tell her about the Lunar Stone that Mesprit guarded. Upon seeing the unease and indecision on our faces, however, Mesprit tried to smile encouragingly. "But! Ah- it's also able to boost certain abilities and powers. It could be useful to us too!"

"I.. I suppose..." Lunala spoke up hesitantly. "But are you sure, Mesprit? They're already after me... I wouldn't want to put it in unnecessary danger.."

"Well, as far as I see it," Mesprit said, crossing her arms and pouting, "as strong as I am, you saw how injured I got trying to fend them off! I think it'd be safer with all of us working together to protect it..."

Lunala's expression softened, "I see... you all will be there to keep me safe.. and we will be there to protect you in turn." She said gently.

Mesprit blushed in embarrassment. "Not like I really need all that much protecting!"

"Sure," Sakura grinned teasingly, making Mesprit pout at her in particular.

Kubo frowned at the both of them, and piped up confidently. "Sounds like a plan to me! I guess the Misty Valley would be our first destination, then!" He smiled determinedly. Despite her grumpiness, Mesprit seemed encouraged by that, and grinned at him. She flew over to him and hovered in front of him, oddly close. Kubo flushed in confusion.

Mesprit giggled. "That's right, I forgot to give you something..." She hummed, and kissed him shortly on the cheek. "Thank you for the flowers~" She sang happily.

I didn't know Kubo's face could get so red. Wasn't he usually blue?

Mesprit laughed, circling around above his head playfully.

Sakura and Victini laughed along with Mesprit, and Snowflake cracked a small grin, looking over at me with a roll of her eyes. I frowned confusedly. What was all that about? Seeing my confusion, Snowflake began to laugh as well. I huffed and crossed my arms. What was so funny anyway?

In the end, we all agreed that it was best we leave sooner rather than later. Luckily for us, Lycanroc and a few other guildmembers emerged from the front gates to hand us our things, which we had left in our guild room; along with other gear and supplies we would need for the long journey. I found a lot of food along with our things, which I thanked them gratefully for. Each of us had a bag we needed to carry, and I looked around at everyone as we prepared ourselves for our journey.

Kubo seemed relatively motivated as always, as did Victini. The fire-type was jumping excitedly, and while I found her enthusiasm a bit naive, I could tell she was keeping the mood up for the rest of us. Snowflake had a soft, nostalgic look in her eyes as she gazed up at the guild, and Sakura was keeping a smile on her face as well, seemingly just happy to have Mesprit coming with us now too.

Hunter, however, seemed fairly despondent at the idea of leaving. I knew world-saving wasn't exactly his first choice, for what he wanted to do with his life. He had only just gotten a family and place to stay... and now we were going to be leaving it behind. Not to mention how much danger we could be walking into... I supposed that that explained why he had been so quiet during this entire exchange.

I myself hadn't really slowed down enough to really think about everything. All I had really thought about was keeping Lunala safe... A part of me didn't want to have to drag my friends with me if they didn't want to come... I walked over to him and placed a hand on his head, as had become rather familiar to me lately. He looked up at me blankly, trying to hide the anxiety in his eyes. I smiled softly.

"You know... you don't have to come with us, if you don't want to..."

His eyes went wide. "What!? Are you kidding me?" His shock quickly turned to indignation. "And do what? Wait around here worrying about what's happening to all of you? What if something happens where you would've needed me?" He glared at me as if I was being ridiculous. I was shocked.

"I- I just didn't think you seemed... very happy about all of this." I stammered.

"Of course I'm not happy about it!" he huffed, "but if you think I'm going to let you go off and leave me behind, then you have another thing coming! If something happens, I want to be there!"

I blinked at him incredulously for a moment, before a small smile grew on my face. "Hey, I getcha, dude... We're in this together, no matter what it is."

"That's right," he grumbled, frowning at me offendedly. I couldn't help but smile back at him, though. Even though he was scared... he was more afraid of something happening to us. It made me happy to know that.

"Alright... it would be best that we don't linger here for much longer." Lunala said urgently, once everyone was properly set up. "Let's go!" She cried, lowering herself and her wings to the ground so we could all climb aboard.

We all climbed on, and as we settled properly upon her back, Heliolisk emerged from the guild, along with Corviknight. They waved up to us, wanting to see us off. "Take care!" Heliolisk said, "please be careful, the lot of you!" He smiled a bit anxiously. Kubo, Snowflake and I all nodded affirmingly back at him, as the rest of our team gave them a few little waves. Corviknight didn't say a thing, but I could see a serious look shining in his eye.

The Guildmaster, however, was nowhere to be seen. I wondered where she had gone off to. had she really left the guild already?

"Good luck guys! We'll see you soon, I hope!" Lycanroc called from the front gate, waving up at us. We waved at her too, and with that Lunala shot up into the sky, throwing the few of us back in our surprise, but we managed to hold on tight.

The morning had fully arrived, and now that the sun was high in the air, I wondered if Lunala would be easy to spot now. I looked out across the vast wilderness that spread out below us, and turned back for a moment to see the guild, and the town, slowly falling away into the distance. Snowflake saw me looking back, and shifted closer to my side. I looked up at her, and smiled reassuringly. My family was here with me... with them here, we would be okay.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder what adventures awaited us. We were on our way to Mesprit's lake and the Lunar Stone, but beyond that, who knows? We still had two tapu to free... I leaned against Snowflake and stared out at the mountainous world around us. I knew sooner or later, things would sort themselves out. They had to...

It was a few hour's later that we landed down next to the destroyed castle that used to be Mesprit's home. Lunala had let us down by the water, but Mesprit told us to wait on the beach. To my surprise, she flew into the lake, leaving us to wait and look around the small island. I had expected the stone to be inside the castle. But maybe it was safer in whatever underwater cavern she had stowed it... I took the moment to see how different things were now.

It was sunnier out this time, but there was still a thin layer of fog resting over the lake. It was difficult to see through it to the mainland. The broken castle was, of course, not in any better shape. It looked a bit older now, with moss and vines growing through a lot more of the cracks of grey, broken brick.

Victini hummed, looking around curiously. "So this is where Mesprit is from? Doesn't seem like a very nice place." She said frankly.

Sakura frowned at her, baring her small fangs in irritation. "It was destroyed! By those Ultra Beasts! It used to be a really tall and beautiful castle! I used to live within this valley, before the beasts came..." She wilted a bit sadly.

"Oh. Like Tapu Lele's place?" Victini tilted her head. Sakura frowned at her for a moment, before nodding quietly. "Okay... well, that makes sense then. It's a shame I didn't get to see it when it was pretty!" She sighed pityingly. I could see confusion in Sakura's face, clearly unsure of whether this response made her feel better or not. In the end, she chose not to be offended on the behalf of the destroyed castle, and stepped up to me instead.

"This place... if feels strange to be back here again," she murmured softly. I nodded.

"Yeah... it feels like ages ago.. and so much has changed."

"And yet so little time has passed," Sakura turned to Lunala as she rested along the beach, "I'm glad that we were able to save her in the end... I remember how scared and upset you were." Sakura turned back to me and frowned up at me. I peered back down at her, confused at where she was going with this. She smiled apologetically. "I... I'm sorry I was so pessimistic."

I blinked. I had forgotten she had even been that way... and I told her as such. "You don't have to still worry about that... we saved Lunala, and that's all that matters to me."

"Right..." Sakura smiled softly in return.

It was then that Mesprit emerged from the water, her hands closed around something. There were small streams of light shining out from between her fingers.

"Woah!" Kubo gasped and rushed up to her. "Is that it? Can we see?" He asked energetically. Mesprit grinned and nodded, lowering down to sit on the ground so we all could crowd around her. Even Lunala drew closer, wrapping her wings over all of us as we gathered together. She peered down curiously. We all stared in amazement as Mesprit opened her hands.

Sat there in her palms, was a small, pearly white opalescent stone. It shone with its own light, white and twinkling. It was perfectly spherical, and well-polished. There certainly was some kind of mystical air to it...

"It's beautiful..." Sakura murmured.

Mesprit grinned playfully. "Yup! It's a real beaut!" She raised it up and turned it over in her hands. "I never really get to even see it... See, I hid it in the lakebed instead of the castle cause I thought it'd be less obvious. Nobody's gonna dig through the dirt for an all-powerful stone!"

"Oh, cool...!" Kubo grinned, his eyes sparkling with admiration. "That's so clever! It seems that it worked, since the castle got destroyed, but the stone was still safe."

"Mmhmm," Mesprit smiled brightly, "and now it'll be extra safe with us!"

Snowflake hummed at that, and eyed the stone curiously. "So... you said it would boost some abilities and powers. Like what? Because, I can feel some kind of energy flowing from it... It's soothing." She said, looking up at Mesprit.

Kubo nodded. "Me too! Does anybody else?" He looked at the rest of expectantly. Hunter voiced his agreement, and Lunala nodded wordlessly. But I found myself confused. What were they talking about? Sure, I could see the light that emanated from it, and it seemed to have some kind of energy within it.. but nothing I could really sense.

Mesprit hummed and turned the stone over in her hands. "Well, the moon has certain impacts on the world. It moves the tides, and it rules over the darkness and cold of night. There are certain powers that come from the dark... An ice type like you- Snowflake- or a water, dark, or ghost type like Kubo, Hunter and Lunala, would all have the moon and the night to thank for the strength of your powers."

We all listened intently as she spoke, and I wondered what other types would be impacted... not a grass type like me, huh...

"That sounds like a lot of us get helped by it," Hunter said cautiously, "I guess it really will be useful." Mesprit nodded.

"Here!" Kubo pulled a small handbag from his pack and held it up to Mesprit. "We'll keep it safe in here!"

"Good idea," she smiled at him softly. Gently, she slipped it into the bag, and Kubo tied the opening shut. He gave it to her and she placed it cautiously into her own pack, her hands brushing against his as he handed it over. He blushed slightly at the touch, not noticing the small grin threatening to break through her calm expression.

"Now that we have this, we'll be even stronger! We'll be unstoppable!" She said proudly, flying up a little to put one hand on her hip. and thrust the other into the air over her head.

"YEAH!" We all cheered together.

We traveled farther and farther from our home in the mountainside. We passed many mountains, though we went in the opposite direction from the way Corviknight had taken us, to bring us to Tapu Lele. This time, we were on our way to Tapu Bulu.

Initially I had been uneasy at the idea of going to save Tapu Bulu right away. Mainly because Lunala had said it was important that she hide- going straight to one of the portals didn't seem like a very safe place for her. However she had protested, saying that she wouldn't let us be impeded from our goal on her behalf. She would be safer with us anyway, that was already proven clear... not to mention she'd be much safer with these last two portals shut.

Still, I wasn't so sure... I didn't want anything to happen. But she was right, and without her we wouldn't be able to save the tapu's from their stone prison anyway, so there was no way I could protest. I could only hope things went well...

We travelled farther and farther, taking occasional stops so we could inspect the map again. Many hills, villages and lakes passed us by as we flew. But we never stopped anywhere for very long. A few days came and went, and in the evening we needed to find a secure enough place to hide Lunala. She was huge, so it wasn't easy.

But we would all huddle together to keep warm, and something about it was comforting. I knew that none of us were happy about our current situation... needing to camp out every night, and not having a secure roof over our heads, it wasn't easy. Yet it gave me comfort to know we were all in this together, that we were there for each other, that none of us would go hungry or cold because we would make sure we were all safe.

Even Victini- who was so new to our group- was cheerfully willing to help us; teaching us about how one can comfortably live a nomadic life. She was already more helpful than I expected...

It was three days after we set off from Mesprit's lake. We were flying over a jungle, making our way ever closer to the volcano that Tapu Bulu resided. We would reach the volcano today, the landmarks said we were close enough. But then Mesprit peered down and noticed something, "Wait! Wait- wait- Lunala! Stop for a second!" She cried, flying back and hovering in the air, looking down at the jungle below.

Lunala's sudden stop threatened to throw us off- but we managed to hold fast. She turned to Mesprit worriedly, "huh? What is it? What's wrong?" Slowly, she glided back over to her.

"Look!" Mesprit called, pointing down into the trees.

We followed her gaze, and noticed a group of pokemon- it was small, about the same number of pokemon as our own. They were all sitting in a bunch, clearly discussing something. From up here, there was nothing extraordinary about the small gathering of pokemon. Snowflake turned and frowned at Mesprit. "What about them?" She said, asking what we were all thinking.

Mesprit shook her head. "We need to help them... they're all in horrible pain- the sadness and grief that I can feel from them... i could sense it even from up here!"

"Really..?" Lunala frowned worriedly, "well... what could we do?" She asked sadly. Lunala didn't seem confident in our ability to aid them...

"We can at least hear them out!" Mesprit huffed in annoyance. But beneath her peeved expression, I could see genuine concern for these pokemon in her eyes. I had no idea what she could be sensing, and why it would be so important... but if she thought this was serious, I was going to listen.

"Then let's go," I said seriously, breaking the silence. Mesprit nodded, and guided us down to the ground.

As we drew closer, some of the pokemon spotted Lunala, and cried out in shock. The few that had been back-facing us jumped and spun around to see what was approaching. They screeched fearfully and scrambled back. I could understand being afraid of such a large and frightful pokemon descending upon them, but there seemed to be panic in their eyes as well. They wholeheartedly expected Lunala to hurt them... I looked to her and saw pain in her eyes. She was hurt by their fear...

They all leapt to their feet, facing us defensively. Despite their preparations to attack, I could tell they had little hopes of standing a chance.

I couldn't allow them to start a fight... we were here to help! I climbed up on Lunala's head and waved down at them with my paws above my head. "Heeeey! Up heeere!" I called to them. The group, alarmed and confused at the little pokemon sat atop this monster's head, loosened their fighting stance as they looked up at me.

I could see them clearly now from my perch on Lunala's head. They were a group of five- and they appeared to be a Lilligant, a Steenee, a Hattrem, a Mudkip... and a regular, fire-type Vulpix. I found myself staring at the Vulpix as I called down to them again. "We're no threat to you! Our friend here just happens to be really big!" I said, trying to smile disarmingly.

They did not attack as Lunala landed on the ground. She lowered her wings to the ground and the group of pokemon watched in shock as each of us dismounted. They were clearly amazed (and a bit uneasy) at how many of us there were. Finally, I climbed down Lunala's face as she lowered it to the ground, and I smiled up at her softly. She smiled back. I could tell she was grateful for my help.

Mesprit flew in a circle above our heads for a moment, before coming down to hover at my side. "Greetings! I could sense your peril and we decided to come help!" Mesprit said with an emphatic gesture of throwing her arms into the air.

The Lillgant stepped forwards, and I could tell by the defensive way she opened her arms to shield her friends, that she was the leader of them. She eyed us suspiciously. "Why should we trust you..? Your friend is awfully..." her gaze roved to Lunala nervously, "...beastly."

Lunala wilted slightly in disappointment. I frowned, anger seizing me for a moment as I felt the need to defend my friend. My fists clenched. "She's not a beast..." I grumbled darkly, my eyes locked on the grass. Seeing my frustration, Snowflake stepped up next to me and Mesprit- moving in front of us. Seeing her approach, Lilligant's stance grew even more defensive- until Snowflake held something up in her paw.

It was our Guild badge. "See this? We're members of the Serperior Guild! We're an exploration team, and it's our job to help pokemon in trouble, like you!" She said gently.

Kubo nodded from somewhere behind us. "Yup! Like Mesprit and Snowflake said, we're all here to help!" He said proudly.

Lilligant looked back at her friends, and the lot of them exchanged worried glances... before they all relaxed somewhat. Rather than fear, exhaustion and sadness grew in Lilligant's expression instead. "I'm sorry we suspected you, and your friend... We were... attacked earlier." She said softly, her gaze dropping to the ground as she played with her leafy hands anxiously.

"Attacked?" Mesprit parroted. Lilligant nodded.

"Yes... by a beast. It was huge, and... after what happened with us- with our home- we're just really on edge right now about any large, unknown..." her eye flickered up to Lunala, "...creatures. We're sorry we were suspicious of you.." As she finished speaking, her gaze dropped again, but this time she dipped her head, bowing apologetically. Seeing this, her friends followed suit and bowed along with her.

I felt my anger fade. Lunala still seemed saddened by this, but I knew she felt the same way I did. These pokemon... they had been hurt by an Ultra Beast. It wasn't their fault that they needed to be more on edge... I shouldn't blame them for their fear. I smiled at them softly, and waved my hands to get their attention. They raised their bowed heads curiously. "It's alright... You were smart to be on guard. But what happened to you guys? Can you tell us?"

Lilligant hesitated. Seeing her pause, the others of her group exchanged worried glances. The mudkip shied away and hid behind Lilligant fearfully. The steenee sighed and stepped forward, leaning on Lilligant's arm. She spoke softly in her young voice. "We come from a village, that's deeper into the Eastern Jungle. It was suddenly attacked by a number of giant, raving beasts..." Steenee whimpered and her voice trained off.

Hattrem spoke up for her, a brave expression on her face. "Those things- there were at least five of them. and they were huge, towering over us- and they ate everything around them. Absolutely anything!"

"That's right!" The vulpix suddenly spoke up, making me jolt and turn to him. His deep brown eyes were the same shape as Snowflake's. I couldn't help but find that curious... "It was like some sorta black hole!" He said seriously. "It ate everything! Houses, trees- dirt, even! It was just a giant mess of mouths"

"It's a wonder we even got out of there..." Hattrem said grimly.

For a moment following their words, we all paused and sat in silence. Hunter looked around anxiously his ears twisting in search of the sounds of a distant rampage. Victini and Kubo looked around too, searching for a sign of the beasts. But we heard nothing. Who knew how far away this group must've ran...

I didn't hear anything either, but I neglected to look around the jungle as my eyes were still curiously stuck to the vulpix, his head held high and proud despite the terror and tragedy he had surely just witnessed. It made me turn to look at Snowflake, still standing a little ahead of me. I wondered what she thought of him...

The tense silence was broken very suddenly by Victini's light and unserious voice. "Giant black hole monsters? Really?" She asked skeptically.

I could see small licks of smoke snort out of Vulpix's nose as she said that. The rest of the group likewise bristled angrily, but it was Vulpix who spoke up first. "You don't believe us?" He growled and his lip twitched. "Why would we lie about something like this! If you think we're lying- go there and see for yourself!" He snapped, flames igniting between his teeth as he spoke.

Snowflake took another step forward, her head bowed a bit apologetically. "Excuse me- I'm sorry for her, she's a bit... well- can you tell us more about this beast? We want to help you and your village, but we need to know what we're up against..." She asked politely, hoping to distract them away from Victini's tactless words.

Vulpix pouted back at her, but his incensed expression had faded. In fact, he began to gaze at Snowflake with intrigue. Why would that be... But as he didn't speak up, Steenee nervously mumbled instead. "Uhm... more about them.. like what?" She asked.

"Well," Snowflake hummed softly, "like, what colours did it have? What kind of body did it have, besides its... mouth? Do you remember?"

"Hm..." Steenee worriedly looked down, and I could tell the memory was painful to recall. She opened her mouth to reply, but then shied back and hid her head in Lilligant's shoulder. Lilligant wrapped an arm around her to comfort her. From my side, I could see Mesprit flinch slightly. Could she feel their pain...?

"I can tell you," Vulpix said stoically, his eyes fiery and determined. "It was mostly black, but it had yellow parts too... it's teeth were yellow, I think. It had mouths everywhere- on its hands, on its body... I don't think it even had room for a stomach. It had a tail too... and glowing eyes." He finished grimly.

"Ah..." Lunala spoke up for the first time since we had landed. Her voice made them jump minutely. "I think I know which Ultra Beast you speak of..."

"Huh? You... you do?" Lilligant asked incredulously. "What are they?"

"The species is known as Guzzlord. It's a dark, dragon-type Ultra Beast." Lunala said softly, an apologetic look in her eyes, as if simply knowing of this beast's existence was regrettable. "Its constant hunger causes it to eat anything in its path. Its hunger is.. insatiable. It's one of the largest and most powerful Ultra Beasts- defeating just one would be difficult enough.. but with so many of them...?" She trailed off anxiously.

I didn't know how to reply to that. I too didn't know how we were going to be able to defeat these creatures- these Guzzlords. Snowflake turned back to me nervously, eyeing me in concern. I bit my lip and shrugged at her gently.

I couldn't help but wonder how many places were being ravaged by these Ultra Beasts... We had never gone out of our way to seek them out and defeat them before. It was always them being drawn to me, or drawn to Lunala... but so many pokemon were probably struggling with attacks like this. We just happened to come across this group. How were we going to help everyone? All we could do was close their doors into this world. Would that be enough?

I suddenly felt an arm slung over my shoulder, startling me from my thoughts. I turned and saw Kubo grinning at me with determination in his eyes. "Don't worry guys! I know we can handle them, we just gotta come up with a plan."

"But we've been trying to come up with a plan the whole time we've been hiding here in the forest!" Hattrem said defeatedly. Kubo let go of me and hopped up next to Snowflake, putting his hands on his hips.

"But you didn't have all the facts! Lunala!" He pointed at her suddenly. She jumped and yelped softly in surprise.

"Y-yes?" She asked nervously.

He smirked confidently. "You said they're dark and dragon types, right?"

She furrowed her brow confusedly and nodded, "yes..."

I gasped in realization. I knew exactly what Kubo was thinking. "So we know how to take them down! All we need to do is hit them with the right stuff, and knock them out- or at least scare them off!"

"Exactly," Kubo said, nodding at me and crossing his arms seriously. "Snowflake is an ice-type, and I know an ice move I could use too. Ice is great against dragon-types."

"Hmmm..." Lilligant considered our plan, brining her leafy hand to her chin. "If that's the case, most of us wouldn't be of much help..." At her words, Vulpix scowled knowingly, frustrated at the idea that his moves wouldn't be much help.

Hattrem, however, held herself up higher on her hair. "I could help with my fairy moves, though! That would be a huge weak point for them!"

Lunala nodded gently. "Fairy moves would be exceptional against them. But... I don't believe most of us know any moves like that. And as ghost and psychic type myself, I would only hold us back..." She frowned at the thought of being a burden to us.

I couldn't stand to see her feeling like that. "You've already helped plenty, Lunala..." I said intently.

She peered back down at me softly, and smiled despite her anxieties. "Well, I suppose there is one more thing I could do for you all..." Everyone else all looked up at her together with curiosity in their eyes. She ducked her head shyly at our attention but managed to continue. "I have the ability to open small ultra wormholes, for a short period of time. Since I won't be able to really fight, maybe... if you could weaken them enough, we could force them back into the worlds they came from..."

I gasped. Of course! She had been the one to bring me here, so those powers could be useful in getting rid of the beasts. I nodded energetically. "That sounds great!"

"Now all we have to do is defeat them..." Hunter said softly, discomfort obvious in his voice. He didn't seem very confident about our odds.

Lilligant frowned... she cleared her throat to draw our attention again. "Hey, you... you mentioned that- most of us might not have helpful moves." Lunala nodded at that and she brightened up a little. "Well! uhm.. maybe we can help you with that," she said, and then stepped aside in one swift motion to reveal the little mudkip who had been hiding behind her the entire time.

Mudkip flinched at the attention suddenly being on him, and curled up tighter around a bag that he seemed to be in possession of. Lilligant smiled gently down at him. "Mudkip, would you please supply us with the TM's?"

Mudkip blinked owlishly up at her, before slowly nodding. "Okay, miss..." he pried himself away from the bag and began unfastening it. I frowned and stepped closer with my friends at my side as Mudkip pulled out a wooden box and handed up up to Lilligant. TM's? What did that mean...

Lilligant opened the box and tilted it down for us to see. "See? We managed to salvage many from the village.." She said softly. I looked down and... found a number of CD's within the box. Or- they looked like CD's... I was flabbergasted.

TM's were actual technology? I felt my mind race. I didn't think this world had tech like that. What did they do? Did these pokemon have a video player with them too? How much were they going to blow my mind today...

"Oh! This will be great!" Sakura cried excitedly. She quickly reached in with her tail and pulled out some ice and fairy type moves. "Now we'll all have useful moves to use," she smirked, handing a dazzling gleam to Snowflake and keeping a blizzard for herself. I just stood back and watched in amazement as they learnt their moves, Kubo sorting through the box for something he could learn too.

"I don't think I can learn anything helpful," Hunter mumbled, and I turned to him. He pouted at me worriedly. "Will I be any help?"

I smiled reassuringly. "You're always lots of help- with your illusions ability we'll be able keep them distracted."

"Right, right..." he grumbled again.

"And with the help of MY ability, you'll be invincible!" Victini cheered suddenly, flying up behind us and wrapping an arm around my shoulder excitedly. "We're an unstoppable team!"

"Y-yeah," I smiled uneasily, "I don't think I can learn any ice or fairy moves either, though..."

"Oh! that'll be no problem at all, dude!" Kubo said suddenly, walking up to me and pressing a fighting-type move into my hand. I blinked down at it stupidly. Brick break... Kubo smirked. "Fighting moves'll hit them pretty hard too! So let's not slack off!" I looked back up at him and nodded a bit awkwardly. How was I going to learn this..? But before I could ask him, he turned and walked back to the box to rifle through it, helping the group of pokemon to find moves they could use as well. Having extra pokemon here to help us would be a big help.

I looked down at the TM in my hands, completely stumped about what to do. Confused at my hesitation, Hunter and Victini stared at me.

Mesprit flew up above our heads and looked off into the distance. I distracted myself from my conundrum to watch her curiously. She hummed thoughtfully and tapped her chin. I wondered if she could feel the location of the Guzzlord somehow? She nodded resolutely to herself before she turned and flew back to us. She frowned at me. "I'm not sure I will be able to be of much use either... They are part dark-type, so I'd be weak to them..." I frowned worriedly at that. She had only just gotten better after all, we didn't want her getting hurt...

"True, but you won't be totally defenseless," Hunter said with a weak smile, "I'm sure you could learn something..."

"You think..?" She smiled softly and wrung her hands, "I guess I could look." She flew over to Snowflake, Sakura, Kubo and Lilligant to see for herself. As she hovered over Kubo's head, he looked up at her and blushed slightly. Still, he controlled himself enough to look back down and pick up an ice beam and dazzling gleam to hand up to her.

"I have a feeling these would suit you," he said shyly. Mesprit took them gratefully.

"Thank you..." She hummed thoughtfully before flying down to hug him. He froze in shock and stuck his arms out almost as if alarmed. Vulpix snickered at his shock and Snowflake couldn't help but giggle a little as well. As Mesprit pulled away, she completely ignored the amused pokemon, only focusing on Kubo. "I think these would be great help for defending myself." She said happily, before turning and flying off to learn them.

Vulpix grinned at Snowflake as Mesprit left. "It seems to me like you might be the best bet out there," he said smoothly. Snowflake tilted her head curiously. I felt a frown form between my eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" Snowflake asked.

Vulpix grinned. "Well, you're an ice type! There's no real fairy type in your team, so you'll be hitting them the hardest with your moves! Plus you seem pretty powerful to me."

"I suppose that's true..." Snowflake hummed thoughtfully, "and- thank you... but I don't know, we all have our strengths."

I narrowed my eyes at them and huffed softly to myself. Why was I so bothered to see him talking to her? I wasn't sure, but it made my blood boil. Snowflakes reaction seemed to discourage Vulpix from continuing his compliments, which made me let out a sigh of relief. Now that they weren't talking and distracting me, I could focus back on my own problem...

Preparations were getting close to ending, and I knew I would soon need to figure out how to learn the brick break TM that I still held in my hands. I wasn't willing to embarrass myself by asking for help, though...

"Do you have enough supplies for this?" Hunter asked me. Ah! A perfect distraction. I placed the TM into my bag as I opened it to look through what I had. There were plenty of reviver seeds and even a luminous orb... although I wondered if a flash of light would even slow the beasts down at all.

"I have enough for me, I think," I said slowly, "but I think after this fight we're going to need to restock."

Hunter nodded, "I think so too."

It was a few moments later that we were climbing back on Lunala's back, to make our way towards the beasts, and the village that they ravaged. Mesprit did a few loops in the air in front of Lunala's head, ready to guide us. I had been right, and she did in fact know where we were off to. She could sense the fear growing larger.

Lilligant and her group crowded around Lunala to see us off. She had ultimately decided that since only one of them- that being Hattrem- would be of any real help, that they should stay behind. I understood that... we were an official exploration team, they were just civilians. They shouldn't be participating in the fighting.

I looked down over her shoulder to see Lilligant waving with a hopeful smile. Hattrem had her arms crossed, disappointed at not getting to come help. Steenee held Mudkip in her hands, the two of them eyeing us worriedly. I could tell they were concerned about us going to fight such monsters. Vulpix, however, was completely fuming. His tails were bristled angrily at the idea of not getting to come. The vicious snarl on his face could scare the Guzzlord away all on it's own.

"Good luck!" Lilligant called, waving with one arm and holding the other to her chest. "Please be careful!"

"We will!" I called back, holding myself up on a paw so I could wave back with the other. "Thank you for your help! You're all very kind!"

She smiled earnestly, but I could see genuine concern in her eyes as well. "Please.. save our home.." she pleaded.

"Will do!" Victini suddenly chimed in excitedly, jumping up on my head. "Now let's go alreadyyyyy!"

We didn't need to follow Mesprit's direction long before we found them. Sunset was already descending over us as we travelled, but it only took a few minutes before we started hearing loud roars from the distance. Lunala was flying just above the trees, so we couldn't exactly see them yet. "We're getting closer!" Mesprit announced, falling back to grip onto Lunala's back with the rest of us. "That way!" She pointed out before us. This way Lunala could go at her full speed.

"Alright, hold on!" Lunala said, reaching her large crescent wings all the way up and bringing them down in one heavy SWOOOOSH! We shot forwards, moving much faster now. The roars were getting louder. The dark black shadows that stretched across the ground from the trees made it hard to see what it was we were looking for. But there was no denying it now.

As we came closer, we could hear the sounds of pokemon screaming in terror first. From my side, I could feel Victini stiffen. The rest of us were already prepared to hear such sounds. Then we could hear the crunching of tree bark, and the sounds of loud metal screeching. It almost sounded like bulldozers, screeching and clanging as the metal teeth crashed together.

Then finally, we could see them. Lunala came up upon the scene, raising her wings up and spreading them wide, so as to smoothly drive us to a stop. She flew there in the air, looking down in horror at the scene below. The area before us may have once been a town integrated closely with the foliage of the jungle, but now the trees were uprooted, the houses smashed, and most of the debris was missing. most likely all that was missing had been swallowed up in the huge gaping maws of the Guzzlord. There were indeed five of them, and the insides of their mouths glowed like the bed of an incinerator. Even their eyes shone through the darkness of the evening with a sinister light.

I couldn't believe my eyes. These beasts were ginormous, equal in size to the exotic trees that surrounded them. Besides the Ultra Beast that had attempted to kidnap us along with Hunter, I had never seen a beast this big. The path of destruction they left in their wake looked nothing more than a pure deforestation. The horrified screams of the pokemon told us that many had already lost their homes...

And perhaps more..

"A-alright guys! It's time to stop them!" Victini cried, jolting me out of my thoughts. She was back to her old energetic ways, even though she still seemed shaken by what she saw- and heard. I shook my head to rid myself of my morbid thoughts and turned to her.

"Right. Hunter!" I called to him, making him yelp, "make sure Lunala and the rest of us are invisible to their eyes. We don't need them catching us in those claws."

"Y-yes, of course!" He nodded, his startled expression fading into one of pure determination. It seemed this carnage inspired something other than fear in him. His eyes flashed, and a slight haziness hovered over us. The illusion was in place.

Seeing this, Lunala began descending towards the ground- letting us off and into the bushes of the jungle that the Guzzlord had yet to reach. She smiled hesitantly down at us as we stepped down into the grass. "Good luck.. I shall prepare to form Ultra Wormholes once you've gained control over the situation... I- I hope I can be of help."

"Thank you," I replied with an easy smile, and with that Lunala flew off into the sky.

We arranged ourselves with the heavy hitters to the front and the more supportive individuals to the back. Victini was annoyed at being left in the back with me and Hunter, but it didn't dampen her enthusiasm much. Kubo, Snowflake, and Sakura were in the front, whilst Mesprit and I were behind them, with Hunter and Victini in the furthest behind us.

"Okay... we're good to go.. now what?" Hunter asked with a nervous tilt of his head.

"Now... we attack!" Kubo announced, pointing out in front of us towards the towering beasts.

We leapt out of the bushes and raced towards them. They towered high over our heads. Snowflake started the attack, shooting an ice beam directly at the leg of the nearest Guzzlord. It didn't expect the attack and roared in confusion and pain as Kubo and Snowflake joined her in using their ice attacks. Mesprit flew up higher above us and flashed brightly, illuminating the area with her dazzling gleam. the Guzzlord shrieked in anger and turned to us. It could not see us, but I could tell it would be determined to destroy everything in its path towards us.

Hearing its rageful cries, the other four Guzzlord turned towards it and began moving towards us as well. If we were to survive these things, we'd need to stay out of their way.

"We should split up and confuse them! If they don't know where to direct their attacks they won't be able to get us!" I cried.

"Right," Snowflake nodded, but didn't take her eyes off the Guzzlord. She immediately dung her heels into the ground to run off in the other direction, before Victini shot out and grabbed onto her tails.

"Waaaaait! You guys need my power-up before you go!" She implored Snowflake.

Snowflake blinked at her in shock. "What are you doing?! We can't afford to wait- gaah!" Her protest was interrupted by the nearest Ultra Beast stomping its foot down much closer to us, sending a shockwave about the area that threw us off our feet. We all cried out in shock as we were thrown to the ground.

"Ugh..." Victini groaned, her arms still gripping onto Snowflakes tails. She lifted her head and shook the dizziness away. She looked up and gasped, "look out!"

At her call we all looked up in time to scramble out of the way, as the Guzzlord reached down towards our general area, scooping up a claw-full of dirt and shoveling it into its gaping mouth.

"We don't have time for your games, Victini, we need to go now!" Snowflake yelled, "just come with me!" She continued, flicking her tails up so the small fire-type would be flung onto her back. With that, she ran off to the left, and the rest of us made our ways around in hopes of confusing the Guzzlord from figuring out where to attack.

From her new position, I could see an ice beam shoot out at the Guzzlord. Seeing this, I turned to Kubo and told him to attack as well. He shot another ice beam at them from the right, and I could see the group of Ultra Beasts become confused in their intended targets. Thanks to Hunter's illusion they still couldn't see us. Hopefully nobody would get hit and we wouldn't need to ever worry about getting caught.

However the beast closest to us roared loudly again and let out a suddenly pulse of dark energy that erupted from its body and swept out across the area. The Guzzlord clearly didn't care about hitting its friends, as the dark pulse hit them as well as us. They growled and flinched as it hit, but I barely noticed, as I was knocked from my feet and thrown back onto the ground.

"Gaah!" I gasped, wincing as I looked up to see how the others had taken it. Hunter managed to stay on his feet, but Kubo had also been tossed back. Snowflake seemed to have dodged the attack thanks to Victini, who had grabbed her around her chest and flew her up into the air. Sakura had also been hit from her place though. That meant most of us had been unveiled from Hunter's illusion...

"GGRRROOOOAAAAHHHH!" The five Guzzlord began stomping towards us again, opening their large mouths wide and charging hyper beam attacks to shoot at us. We scrambled to push them back, Kubo and Sakura sending ice beams and blizzards at them, with Mesprit, Snowflake and Victini trying to distract them with their moves too. But all we managed to do was divert their aim, and as the hyper beams blasted at us, only two of them were properly directed at us.

Three of the blasts show out just above the treetops, shaving off layers of leaves and erupting in a BOOOM in the distance.

I cried out as the bright white lights shot at me and my friends. I covered my face with my arms and ducked my head as if that would protect me from the blast... as I cowered there for a moment, I found the attack was taking quite a long time to reach me. I frowned. I slowly peeked out of my arms and gasped.

"Kubo! Sakura, Hunter! Look!" I cried, and we all uncurled to find Mesprit hovering before us, with her arms outstretched and somehow blocking the hyper beams. The huge powerful blasts weren't hitting her, instead they were struggling against some kind of invisible cage. Mesprit had a bright pink aura surrounding her as she brought her hands together as if to crush the attacks, and they fizzled into nothing.

"Mesprit...!" I gasped in shock as she sighed in relief and started hovering down to our height.

"What was that?" Sakura asked.

Mesprit turned back to us and smirked rather proudly. "That.. was called imprison. My legendary abilities are bound to come in handy sometimes!" She giggled. Even better, the illusion on her was still active. The Guzzlord were enraged now, confused about how their moves could've failed. They had not seen who it was that had imprisoned their attacks.

Still, though... we were not going to be able to last long if we kept going as we were. The Guzzlord were barely injured and we were flying by the skin of our teeth. These beasts were so strong... together...

I blinked. Now that was an idea...

"Mesprit!" I called her back before she could fly away, my hands clenched tight, "we have to separate them and take them down one at a time! They're too strong for us all at once," I said seriously.

She frowned as she realized I was right. "We've already got one of them pretty hurt- I'll tell Snowflake and Lunala!" With that she shot off into the sky. Watching this exchange, Kubo nodded.

"Sounds like we've still got a lot of work on our hands!" He smirked and fired another ice beam at the nearest Guzzlord. It roared and turned to us again, before another attack came in from Snowflake's location. Confused, it flailed its clawed hands and tried to dig into the earth around it. We had to jump out of the way, but as we did so, we attacked it again- but this time aimed at its feet.

It stepped away from our attacks and began to move. I wasn't entirely sure what the plan was, until I saw Snowflake and Victini's moves were blocking the others from following. So defeating this Guzzlord was up to us. We'd do our best.

"GGRRROOOOAAAAHHHH!" It cried again, but this time, as it looked around, it realized that it was being drawn away from its fellow beasts. I could see that it was shocked to find itself being brought away without realizing it.

"Okay!" Lunala soared over our heads and called down to us, her illusion still in place. "Get ready! I'm going to open a portal behind it- you must push it back inside its own dimension!"

Her eyes flashed- and the air behind the beast began to waver and change as if the matter was being distorted. It warbled and shifted like the surface of water. Kubo, Sakura, Hunter and I all attacked the Guzzlord's feet, trying to force it backwards. It stumbled back, roaring in confusion and rage. A spark of light ignited behind it, and with a loud SHWING! sound, a glowing blue vortex suddenly opened.

"Now!" I cried, and we all attacked at once- even a dazzling gleam from Mesprit- which forced the Guzzlord back. it cried out in anger, but it couldn't do anything against our attacks. it finally collapsed, falling back into the portal. The moment its reaching claws disappeared within the bright blue light, the vortex sealed shut.

One down, four to go!

"Yes!" Kubo cheered, throwing a fist into the air.

"We actually did it!" I cheered along with him.

"Woohoo!" Sakura jumped up and down, turning to grin at Hunter. He smiled brightly, but besides that didn't cheer along with us. He was clearly hesitant to celebrate until all of the Guzzlord were defeated.

I looked up in surprise to find Snowflake running up to us, with Victini flying close behind her. "Snowflake!" I gasped as they slid to a stop on front of our group, "what're you doing here?"

"We're going to get- exhausted- if we keep this up. Do we.. have any items- that could speed this up..?" She asked, panting as she spoke.

"Hmmm..." I hummed worriedly and looked into my bag. In the distance, the other Guzzlord were looking around in confusion for their lost fifth member, and for the little nuisances that had attacked them. Inside my bag I could see a couple helpful healing items, as well as... "We have some orbs we could use?" I said skeptically, lifting a totter orb and a petrify orb out of my bag.

"Aha! That'll help!" Mesprit cheered, grabbing the totter orb from my hand and flying up a little ways into the air. "I'll use this to stop them in their tracks at the right time!"

My friends and I nodded at that. Mesprit flew off into the air to join Lunala again, and as I looked back over at the Guzzlord again, Sakura called out to us in alarm. "Guys! Two of them spotted us!"

And indeed whn I looked up, I could see two of the remaining four beasts were glaring right at us, their large mouths opened wide. "GROOOAAAHH!" They roared together and began charging us as best they could with their heavy, lumbering bodies.

We sent our attacks at their feet, slowing them down and making them stumble as they charged. But this time they were much too determined to be stopped- instead they retaliated by thundering the ground with their feet in a stomping tantrum. A deep rumbling and trembling in the ground knocked us off our feet. It barely did anything to me, but the others- especially Victini- seemed to be brutally tossed down, and the Guzzlord were not slowing down.

Soon they'd be here and we'd be unable to stop them...!

I narrowed my eyes, realizing what I had to do. I pulled the petrify orb from my bag and threw it at my feet, shattering it like glass. Bursting from it in a bright surge of electric power, energy zapped around the Guzzlord. The two beasts froze in their places, their feet planted firmly on the ground. the electricity raced up and down their bodies, rooting them in place. They were paralyzed... now all we had to do was push them back.

I called for everyone to attack, and we sent every powerful move we could directly into their faces. Behind them, two shimmering blue portals opened up just in time for them to stumble backwards for balance. Lunala flew overhead, circling the two Guzzlord as they screeched and roared angrily. As their thundering feet stomped backwards into the two vortex, the crashing of their feet became hidden behind the loud SWOOSH of the portals. Finally their roars were muffled as the Guzzlord were both finally pushed inside. Lunala hastily shut the portals, closing them with a definitive SWISH!

Only two more to go, and they seemed to have decided to stomp off in the other direction, still confused and distracted by the attacks that Snowflake had sent at them from the other direction. Now that they were no longer being attacked, they had returned to ripping out trees from their roots and showing them into their large, gaping mouths.

"Hah! Those fools!" Mesprit laughed, flying down to our height so that she could talk to us again. She playfully spun the totter orb on the top of her finger. "They might be able to do all the last of the damage for us..."

"What do you mean?" Hunter asked, tilting his head in confusion and looking up at her worriedly. Mesprit smirked at him.

"This totter orb will do all the talking! Trust me!" She giggled mischievously and took off into the air again, making her way over towards the two beasts.

"Ah-!" I gasped, rushing after her hastily. The rest of my team followed close behind, racing after her and barely being able to keep up. From our distance we could see her raise the orb up above her head. Then she threw it, and it was much too see as it shot towards the ground. But then it shattered, and a bright light shot out between the two Guzzlord.

Shocked, they paused in their rampage and turned towards the light, "GRROOAAAAHH!" They cried angrily, raising their claw hands up to try and shield their eyes. While the light was no blinding, it certainly seemed to dizzy them. As they began to shake their heads and tails, trying to dispel some strange feeling. They were effectively distracted.

"Now that they're confused, we can get their to attack each other!" Mesprit announced from her position hovering in the air. "attack them from the right angles and they'll do all the work for us!" She laughed, clapping her hands excitedly as she flew off to send dazzling gleams and ice beams in their directions.

Hastily we ran to join in. Now I could understand her plan. We wouldn't need to do any work at all of the two remained confused enough. All we had to do was try and keep out of the crossfire.

A blizzard from Sakura made the closest Guzzlord cry out in a furious rage, turning and using dragon tail on the entire area behind it, in the hopes of hitting its attacker. The tail swiped through a few trees before it slammed into Snowflake, knocking her aside. "Snowflake!" I ran to her worriedly. Even though she had been hit, so had the other Guzzlord. Slamming its mace-like tail into its fellow beast, the other Guzzlord shrieked in pain and retaliated, blasting a gush of dragon rage out of its large mouth.

"Snowflake, are you alright?" I ran to her worriedly, looking around her body for injuries. She seemed bruised but the large spikes on the beast's tail had not hit her. Thankfully...

"I-I'm fine, Moss," she wheezed, struggling to climb to her feet, "we have to keep attacking-"

But as she spoke, the dragon rage no longer remained pointed only at the other Guzzlord. In its confused rage, the beast turned its head and began blasting its attack out everywhere in all directions. I had to lift Snowflake into my arms so I could jump the both of us out of the way of the incoming attack. I ducked us behind a tree as it passed by us, and as I kept shelter there, I looked over to find the rest of my friends struggling to dodge the attack.

Kubo and Sakura were hit, but I could tell they weren't down and out yet. Victini had managed to lift Hunter up into the air away from the attack, but now he was panickily struggling in her grasp. Mesprit had managed to protect herself against the attack, and Lunala was still flying a safe distance away from the fight. Seeing the attack get drawn away from us, I raced out from behind the tree to regroup with the others, holding Snowflake tightly against me.

She curled into me, resting her head on my shoulder. It took an odd amount of willpower for me to remain focused on my destination of Kubo- and rather on the vulpix in my paws. But it was only moments later that I reached him, and I gently placed her down on the ground.

"She got hit by it's tail," I explained, "are you hurt too?"

Before Kubo could answer, Snowflake indignantly spoke up. "I'm not hurt! I can still fight!"

I sook my head, "you can hardly stand!"

"That can be easily taken care of!" Victini's voice suddenly announced, joining us by diving down and landing Hunter on the ground, sitting down casually on his back. He collapsed onto the ground urgently- not out of injury, though. He just hated flying.

I frowned at Victini. "What are you talking about?"

"Now's our chance to take out the last of them!" She said excitedly, pumping a fist into the air. "Now's our time to power up and hit them with all we've got! I'll power up Snowflake and she'll be right as rain again!" She leapt into the air as she spoke, placing her two orange hands on Snowflakes back, a warm glow quickly emitting from them.

"Now's not the time for-" Kubo began to say, but then as the glow faded and Victini drew her hands away, Snowflake quickly jumped to her feet. She stood with a strong, sturdy stance and incredulously smiled at Victini.

"Thanks?" She said. Victini giggled and nodded back at her. She quickly zipped around to the rest of us, placing her hands on us. As she came to me, I found the sudden rush of power and energy to be exhilarating.

"Now let's go!" Victini cried energetically. For once, I was inclined to follow her lead.

We made a circle around the two Guzzlord, attacking them at just the right angles that they would retaliate and hit each other instead of us. There were a few more close calls with their tails, but thanks to the reinvigorating energy given to us from Victini, we were able to barely dodge them.

Finally, they seemed on the brink of fainting, stumbling back and losing their balance. "Now, Lunala!" I cried, and in response, the strange watery effect on the air behind the beasts began to appear. "Fall back!" I ordered everyone to move out of the way, and we jumped back just as the portals opened.

As the SWISH! echoed through the area, the two Guzzlord roared out in fury, stumbling back and falling into the vortexes, their deafening "RROOOOAAAAAAAHHH!" cries were silenced as they disappeared into the ultra wormholes, and finally fell to silence as they finally shut, sealing up with a flash of light and a gust of wind.

Silence fell upon us for a long moment. All I could hear was the wind through the trees. Slowly, I loosened my stance.

The battlefield was barren of trees or even shrubberies or grass. If there had been a town here, there was no trace of it. It was as if large plows had come through and demolished the area. But the cries and roars had silenced, and following in its wake was a stunned hush that fell over the area. Night had fallen during our battle and now it was completely dark, if not for the moonlight shining down and casting shadows from the trees. Wind whistled. Slowly, frightened pokemon peeked their heads out of the trees to peer at us standing in the middle of the destruction.

It was done... we had defeated them...

"Hah... hahaha!" I laughed in amazement, blown away by what we had managed to do. From the small distance that my friends were standing, I could hear them laughing as well.

We did it...! We did it!

"Hahahaa! Hah- hah..."

I didn't even notice how exhausted I was until I had already passed out.

I had never felt more sore than I did when I woke up. I was laying on my back on top of something soft and comfortable, but I couldn't properly appreciate it when my muscles were screaming out in protest. I could understand them being angry at me, but could they quiet down a little bit?!

I groaned and rolled on my side. There was a slight rustle as I did so, and I realized I was laying on a bed of large palm leaves. The air felt temperate, but any comfort I could've gotten from it was ruined from how exhausted and sweaty I felt. My muscles ached, keeping me from returning to sleep even though that's all I had in mind to do. I sighed, an slowly opened my eyes.

I was in an unfamiliar place I had never seen before. It appeared to be a room in a little wooden hut, where I was curled up on one of many beds laid out on the floor. Hunter was the first one in my vision, but as I lifted my dizzy head to look at the rest of the room, I could see Kubo, Snowflake, Sakura, and Victini as well. Everyone was resting- but there was one pokemon standing in the room who was definitively not asleep.

It was... a little mudkip boy.

Oh... I shook my head a little to clear away the fogginess. Was this... that same boy from those pokemon we had met before? That would explain where we were right now...

Mudkip noticed my movement and jumped a bit in shock. He turned to me suddenly and stared at me with wide, timid eyes.

"Uh..." I weakly managed to say, "hello... um, what happened..?" I raised my paw to rub at my temple.

Mudkip made a small, fearful keening noise before jumping to his feet. "One moment...!" He announced rather quietly. "I'm gonna... go get someone..!" And with that he quickly turned tail and dashed to the door, opening it and quietly closing it behind him.

I slowly managed to lift myself into a seated position. I took a closer look around as I waited for someone to arrive. There was a table lining one of the walls that held all of our bags, as well as some medical supplies. Upon looking down at myself, I found bandages wrapped here and there around my body. It seems those pokemon had taken it upon themselves to patch us up...

Upon looking to my friends, I could see that Snowflake was the one with the most bandages. I hoped that hit from the beasts tail hadn't broken or strained anything...

But then my attention was suddenly drawn away as the door opened again. It was Lilligant who cautiously stepped inside, making sure to not to wake us. In her free hand, she held a tray of food and water. Upon seeing me sitting up and awake, she smiled and shut the door behind herself.

"Good morning..." She trailed off, worldlessly asking for my name.

"Moss," I said with a smile. She smiled wider and nodded.

"Good morning, Moss... you and your friends were understandably exhausted after that fight... I am relieved to see you are alright." She said softly. With that, she placed the tray of food on the end of my bed. I smiled and took an oran berry from it.

"Thank you," I said softly.

"Of course," she sat down graciously next to my bed and still managed to be looking down at me. "I... forgive me, but I have to ask... how did you all manage to defeat those monsters?" She seemed absolutely blown away, her expression was one of awe.

I flushed, and looked down at my food. I took a bite and shrugged. "Team work, I guess," I stumbled. I wasn't so sure how to explain myself. Even I was shocked at what we had been able to accomplish. We had never taken on beasts that big before- let alone so many. Yet we had still managed to come out of it okay... I frowned, and looked around the room again.

"Where's Mesprit? And Lunala?" I asked curiously.

"Oh!" Lilligant gasped with a soft smile, "of course- there's no need to worry, they are both fine. They didn't need to rest, so they're outside relaxing after your fight."

"I see..." I hummed and took another bite of my berry. "How long have I been out?"

"A few hours- it should be morning soon. If you wish, you could still get more rest..?" She asked cautiously. I shook my head and declined. There was no way I'd be getting back to sleep with this headache.

Instead I asked if I could leave the room with her- I didn't want to disturb my teams' slumber. So Lilligant took the tray back into her hands, helped me to my feet, and guided me out of the room.

Outside the bedroom, there was one singular room that made up the rest of the hut. Closest to us was the kitchen, which contained a large round table with stools, and a fireplace with a cooking grill over it. Farthest from the bedroom sat what must've been the living room, or at least the pokemon equivalent of one. It housed little toys and games stored in boxes on the wall- and it seems that young mudkip had been playing with a ball until he saw us enter the room. Now he had scuttered his way outside the front door.

I could hear voices from outside as he opened and shut the door. It was dark out.

"Come, sit here.." Lilligant lead me to one of the stools and put my food there. I sat down and thanked her, then turned to continue eating my food. This was a rather comfortable place. I smiled happily as I ate. This was a safe place... I was glad that they were safe now. These were rather kind folk, weren't they?

I jovially chowed down everything on my plate, not paying attention to Lilligant as she opened the front door and called out to the voices outside. Thus I was rather shocked when a sudden small crowd of familiar pokemon rushed in and took the other seats around the table.

"You're awake!" Hattrem announced excitedly as she and Steenee sat down at the table opposite of me. They beamed at me as Vulpix jumped up on the stool next to me. Slowly, Lilligant followed them, with Mesprit calmly following after her. Seeing me, she flew up to me and hovered over my head. Mudkip kept his distance, quietly watching from his seat by the door.

"You gave us a right scare, Moss! Good to see you're alright," Mesprit smiled at me kindly before taking the seat to my other side. I turned to her and smiled back.

"Did I miss much?" I asked wryly. Mesprit shook her head.

"No... Although Lunala was quite worried about you when you fainted. She took us here at Lilligant's direction." She said, pointing towards the grass-type, who inclined her head politely. Mesprit grinned proudly, "we really showed those guys who's boss!"

"Yeah!" I cheered a bit tiredly, and the other pokemon all joined in. But they were quickly hushed my Lilligant, telling us to be considerate of my slumbering friends. I couldn't help but chuckle softly to myself.

"If only you all got here sooner," Hattrem sighed, but despite her words I could tell she was still in good spirits, "a large part of Eastern Jungle still got destroyed..."

"That's alright," Steenee replied rather flippantly, "it can grow back!"

"But won't that take a long time?" I asked worriedly.

To my surprise, Steenee shook her head. "Nope! There's a lot of grass pokemon here that can help it along... not to mention... we have a guardian who keeps the jungle lush and healthy. He'll bring things back to normal in no time!"

I perked up at the mention of a guardian, and from the corner of my eye I could see Mesprit had done the same. Hattrem sighed at Steenee's words.

"Yeah, but he hasn't really been spotted in a while... You'd think he'd have come out to fight those beasts off, or something..." She leaned her chin on her elbow.

"This guardian... he wouldn't happen to be called Tapu Bulu, would he?" I asked hesitantly.

"Huh?" Vulpix frowned, tilting his head. I blinked at him. "You know about Tapu Bulu? I didn't think pokemon outside Eastern Jungle would know of him..."

"He's the reason we came here, actually," I replied, inspiring a rather perplexed look from him. From my other side, I could hear Mesprit giggle at his expression. "Would any of you happen to know where his shrine is?" I asked, "it's very important that we find him."

Lilligant, Steenee and Hattrem shook their heads. I wilted, but then Vulpix grinned, nodding his head energetically. "I know the way! The shrine is farther into Eastern Jungle, near a volcano called Mt. Inferno. A lot of fire-types like me live there. We often go there to worship him... I could lead you there, if you like, but I cannot promise he will appear to you."

"No worries about that," Mesprit said with a sad look growing on her face. "It'll just take a bit of looking. But we'll find him."

Confused, Vulpix looked between me and her. "I... okay?"

"Don't worry about it, things will be fine," I assured him, "thank you for your help."

He grinned back, and opened his mouth to say more- but then the door to the bedroom slowly creaked open. We all jolted a bit in surprise and turned to look at who had woken up. It was Snowflake.

I smiled excitedly upon seeing her. She brightened up a bit and smiled back in relief. Had she been worried about me..? She trotted up to the table and furrowed her brow seeing the two seats at my side were taken up. Seeing that, Vulpix quickly climbed down from his own seat and offered it to her. "You can sit here is you like!" He said cheerily, smiling at her amicably. I raised an eyebrow but chose not to think too much about it, as Snowflake nodded at him thankfully and sat down next to me.

"Good morning, Moss..." she said softly, smiling at me, "I'm happy to see you're alright."

"You too." I said, noting as Vulpix took the seat next to Snowflake instead.

"Just so you know- I know the way to Tapu Bulu's shrine, so I'll be guiding you guys there," Vulpix chirped, coaxing Snowflakes attention over to him. "It's not too far, but I'd be honored to help."

"Oh?" Snowflake blinked, smiling politely at him, "that's great! That'll be a huge help."

Vulpix grinned at her, and for some reason, that strange feeling I had had about him before returned to me. Why did he have to have such interest in Snowflake? They were both vulpix, yes, so that was probably all it was... but something about it really twisted my gut. I frowned. From my side, I didn't notice as an amused grin slipped onto Mesprit's face. She looked between the three of us, a mischievous look in her eye.

It was about an hour later that we were all set up and prepared to set off. The rest of my team had eventually awoken, and had been rather excited to hear that we had a guide. But to my chagrin, Vulpix continued to jovially barrage Snowflake with attention. He would ask her about the fight with the Guzzlord, and would act deeply impressed by Snowflake's bravery and strength. What did he think he was doing!?

Furthermore, Vulpix would be the only one accompanying us. Lilligant and Hattrem helped restock our supplies, even though we insisted there was no need. The small group saw us off with a wave as we followed Vulpix away, opting to walk rather than fly. Lunala flew in circles above our heads, keeping an eye on us and looking out for incoming trouble as we walked. Even Mudkip sat on Lilligants shoulder and waved to us along with the rest of them.

"See ya! I'll be back before nightfall!" Vulpix called back as we grew farther and farther away. Once we were out of earshot, he sighed happily. He turned to us excitedly. "I've never gotten to do something so important before," he said passionately, "I'm real lucky to be able to help you out." Even though he was addressing all of us, I knew he was talking to Snowflake in particular. I huffed in annoyance but tried my best to hide it.

Mesprit flew up beside me. "Your help is dearly appreciated," she said with a grin, "right, Moss?" She turned to me with a forcefully innocent look on her face. My yes widened in shocked as I stumbled to hide my discontent.

"Ah- uh, yeah, of course!" I stumbled.

It wasn't long before we were leaving the jungle behind. It had been hard to see approaching through all the foliage, but it wasn't long before we came upon Mt. Inferno. The area became rocky and uneven, with large boulders and cliffs rising up above our heads. It became a bit harder to see where Lunala was circling above us.

"Ah... hah..."

"What's wrong, Snowflake?" Vulpix paused, turning back to watch Snowflake as her tails and ears sagged a bit, and her pace slowed slightly. He frowned worriedly.

I couldn't help but also find myself wilting a little. The Eastern Jungle had always been a bit of a hot and humid place, but now it was dry, and the heat had increased considerably now, without the leaves of the trees to hide us from the early morning sun. Not to mention... I was sure it was even hotter inside the large, active volcano.

It was no surprise to me that Snowflake and I were struggling a bit more than the others. In fact, Victini seemed overly peppy, zipping around energetically in the air as she inspected the area.

Snowflake shook her head. "I'm fine... it's just a bit hot..."

"Ah, right," Vulpix flushed bashfully. "I forgot.. it may be a bit uncomfortable for you. But I assure you, his shrine isn't too far inside. Come! Let's be quick about it!" He did an encouraging little hop and turned to continue leading us up the mountain.

"I don't know what the problem is!" Victini pouted as she wanted Snowflake and I pant tiredly. "The heat is good for a fire-type like me. I feel like I could beat up at least ten beasts by myself, all at once!" She announced, doing mock little punches and kicks into the air. Snowflake and I exchanged an unimpressed glance before glaring at her pointedly.

"I'd like to see you try, Vivi!" Kubo quipped, folding his hands behind his head.

Victini frowned at him. "You think I can't!?"

Kubo looked away innocently. "I dunno! Won't know until you try!"

"I'll show you, little froakie!" She then shot at him in the air. But she didn't move fast enough, as Kubo jumped out of the way just in time. He laughed as she pouted at him.

"In your native element and you still can't catch me~!" He teased.

"Why, you!"

As the two bickered, I was almost surprised at how Snowflake didn't intervene. But, I could tell she was a bit distracted- I myself couldn't be bothered to stop them either. We were both trailing behind the group a little.

Seeing our exhaustion, Hunter slowed down to walk at my side. "Are you alright?" He asked. I mustered a nod. He frowned. "You know- if you two are too tired, maybe we could call Lunala to carry you."

I blinked, and turned to him. I hummed softly before looking to Snowflake. She nodded, and I smiled weakly. That would be good. No more exhausting uphill hiking for me, thank-you-very-much.

After we had called her down and climbed aboard, Lunala flew a bit closer to the ground. Sakura and Hunter hand joined us on her back as well, leaving Kubo and Victini to continue their bickering. Vulpix hadn't minded, although I felt a sting of guilt at seeing him worried about us. Mesprit flew up to our height for a moment, making sure we were okay with a nervous expression on her face.

"I hope we don't encounter any more beasts up here," she said worriedly, "Those last ones were bad enough..."

"Yes, I hope so too," Sakura said, her head held high and inspecting the area. We had climbed a good ways up the mountain by now. Lunala said nothing to that, and in fact, had barely said much at all since we had woken up this morning. She seemed deep in thought. I wondered why that could be...

It wasn't long before we arrived at a cave entrance. It was huge, almost reaching all the way up into the cliffside. There was no question that Lunala could fit inside it. And to my shock, two arcanine were guarding it. Was this the entrance to the shrine? Upon seeing the approach of our group- and particularly Lunala- the two pokemon snarled and raised their hackles. They crouched down, as if ready to attack at any moment. Oh no, what were we going to do..?

"Hey! Don't worry- it's alright!" Vulpix called out to them. The two large pokemon paused as he rushed up, stopping a safe distance from them. "They're no threat to the shrine, I guided them here," he said and bowed his head respectfully.

The two arcanine looked at each other skeptically before returning their gaze to him. "Then what business do you have here?" The one on the right asked.

"These pokemon are an exploration team. They came here to help us, and they managed to fight off those huge beasts that had been attacking the Eastern Jungle just yesterday!" He replied proudly.

The arcanine that had spoken raised his eyebrows in shock. "Really? Well it's true that they've stopped rampaging..." He grumbled thoughtfully. They both seemed rather surprised to hear this. But the one on the left frowned after a moment of thought. "What does that have to do with the guardian?" He growled.

"Ah..." I tried to climb off of Lunala so I could speak, but I was much too sluggish. I, along with everybody else who had taken a ride on Lunala, slowly made our way to clamber off. Picking up my slack, Kubo stepped forwards to stand beside Vulpix instead.

"Well! I'm sure you all must've been wondering where Tapu Bulu is?" He asked, but didn't wait for a response before continuing, "why did he not intervene when those huge Ultra Beasts attacked? Normally it would be his job to protect the place from such harm, right?" He paused, this time waiting for them to answer. Hesitantly, the two fire-types nodded. Kubo grinned. "And yet he hasn't shown himself... As an exploration team, we are here to investigate what's going on with him."

The left arcanine scoffed. "Do you really think you are capable of 'saving' our guardian?" They both seemed mildly offended.

"Well they were able to defeat the beasts, weren't they?" Vulpix growled back just as confidently, as if he wasn't puny in comparison to them. "Just let us take a look around, you can kick us out if we cause trouble."

They mulled over this for a moment longer, before finally relenting. "Fine. But only members of the exploration team may go. If you aren't a member then you'll go no further."

"What!" Vulpix cried indignantly. "But-"

"Don't worry." Snowflake said, stepping up beside him and shaking her head at him. "You've done a world of help for us already. Thank you." She smiled gratefully at him. I felt my stomach twist and I clenched my fists. He smiled in return, and acquiesced.

"Alright, alright... but you better find him- and.. be safe." He tilted his head shyly.

Snowflake nodded. "Can do!" She giggled and he laughed along with her. I felt my lip twitch, and I looked away. As I did so, I saw Mesprit grinning mischievously at me.

But with that, we finally began entering the cave. There was a sudden gush of heat and I felt my stomach twist for a different reason. This heat was making me feel absolutely sick...

But we kept marching forward. It felt like we were walking in the middle of a huge crevice. Lunala seemed a bit claustrophobic in here, hovering close behind us. I was thankful for her shade. She helped keep a bit of that hot air from reaching us. Still, I couldn't help but pant tiredly.

Suddenly, Snowflake and I were both sprayed in the face with a gush of water. "Waah!" I spluttered, cowering in shock. When the water stopped, I found Kubo grinning victoriously.

"Aha! Now that's bound to help you two out. No more sulking, alright?" He put his hands on his hips proudly.

To my surprise, Snowflake now finally had enough energy again to chastise him. "Kubo! You're not supposed to just spray someone when they have no idea!"

He gasped. "What! Who made that a rule! You guys were gonna be sick if it weren't for me!"

"Ohh! Who asked you," She huffed back, turning up her nose at him. In reaction, he simply sprayed her again. "Kubo!"

I watched the exchange with no small amount of relief. At least Snowflake was feeling better... and it was much better seeing her being friendly with Kubo rather than that other Vulpix...

"You don't like that Vulpix, do you?" Mesprit asked knowingly, making me jump. I turned to her. Had she somehow read my thoughts!?

"What? What are you talking about? I have no reason to dislike him..." I frowned at her grumpily.

She grinned. "I know. So it seems a little strange that you still do~"

I blinked at her, completely perplexed. She laughed at my confused expression and did a small flip in the air. "You're so easy," she shook her head fondly. I felt myself blush in embarrassment. She could read my emotions, couldn't she?

"That's not funny..." I pouted.

"Yeah!" A voice interrupted. I turned and found Hunter rushing up to try and bump Mesprit away with his nose. She giggled and flipped away from him effortlessly. "Don't mess with our emotions!" He barked indignantly. I was honestly quite relieved to have someone on my side with this. Even if he had no idea what it was about. Mesprit had teased him about his emotions too, hadn't she...

"Ohhh fine," she sighed, but didn't seem actually put out at all, "you're both babies." Instead she flew off to chat with Sakura, who happily welcomed her. I sighed in relief to see that she was willing to not bother me anymore. She acted like she knew my emotions so well, when I still had no idea what she was on about...

I didn't have any reason to dislike Vulpix... so why did he aggravate me?

"Oh... Moss, look!" Hunter cried, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked up and found that the tall crevice finally opened up into a huge underground desert, with the ceiling stretching high above us like a cathedral. Set up far in the back of the huge room, there stood a pile of ruins. They were familiar, looking just like the ones we saw with the other Tapu. The shrine was in disrepair, which seemed strange considering how pokemon supposedly would come here to worship their guardian. Those Ultra Beasts... they must have destroyed them.

And just like with Tapu Lele, there were old dried vines creeping up the walls; with cacti wilting and drying up. Thankfully, though, the area was quiet, and seemed more abandoned than anything. There were no beasts... but Tapu Bulu had to be hidden somewhere. What if he had been buried in the sand?

"Where should we look?" Sakura asked in concern as we made our way over to the ruins. "Tapu Bulu has to be somewhere around here..."

We stepped onto the stone and looked up and around. The open portal could be found hudden just inside the building of the shrine, but the ceiling above it was caved in and crumbing around the floor around it. Dead and dried leaves were crunched under the rocks and debris. I peeked out through the hole of the ceiling and could see nothing but huge stalactites reaching down from the roof of the cave. Everything was so dry and hot in here... Where could he be?

Lunala craned her heck looking around. She softly shut her eyes, before slowly opening them again. As her eyes opened, a third one opened on the crown of her head. All three were glowing a bright blue. I gasped. "Lunala... can you find him..?" I asked incredulously.

She didn't respond. Instead she lifted up into the air, circling the entire room. Kubo frowned in confusion. "What's she up to..?"

As we puzzled her strange behaviour, she suddenly stopped. Hovering over the sand to the left to the shrine, she lowered down and he eyes flashed a brilliant blue colour. The sand shifted, bulged, and finally exploded out. I could hear Sakura (and Hunter) squeal in fear. But to all our shock, the explosion was no attack, but it was Tapu Bulu, bursting from the sand and ringing the bell on his tail furiously.

He turned to Lunala and glared. "What is this!" He snapped.

Lunala didn't respond, only tilting her head quietly. He growled darkly, before a strange understanding overcame him. "Wait, are you...?" He turned suddenly, looking around. I felt the instinctive need to duck my head and hide, but his gaze passed over us carelessly. When he spotted the open portal, he snarled. "Yes... I remember now.." He snarled, flying over to the portal and ringing his bell furiously again.

We watched with bated breath as he shut the portal. It shimmered and warped, before finally losing shape. It collapsed, shutting with a SHWING! As he finished his task, he slowly stopped ringing his bell. Then he turned, and looked over each of us again. Lunala looked back as well, but now her eyes were no longer glowing, and the third one was nowhere to be seen.

Tapu Bulu looked down at us stoically. "Thank you. All of you. ...I know why you all are here, so there is no need to explain." He sighed, and hovered down to be more at our level. "I can't stand that this all happened as it did. We were not supposed to be defeated..." Tapu Bulu growled angrily under his breath.

"You and the other tapu?" Sakura asked. Tapu Bulu nodded.

"Yes. It's rather infuriating to need to be saved..." he huffed, "but without you, who knows where we'd be... so your assistance is appreciated." He looked around at the lot of us. Most of us were still sporting bandages and bruises from our fight with the Guzzlord, and we were all rather overheated from being inside this volcano. We must've looked rather pathetic to him...

But to my surprise, he nodded softly to himself. "Please, take a rest here. There is much you've been through, that much is obvious." He paused suddenly. "...I must go. Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele have sensed me, and they call to me. Tell me- can I trust in you to save Tapu Fini as well?" He asked sseriously.

I stood up tall, gaining his attention. I nodded seriously. "We'll be going for her as soon as we can." I said.

He nodded back at me. "Good. But before I go... Let me help you to some food." He quickly shot up into the air, as as he flew, a trail of green light sparkled down from him, sinking into the sand. I frowned and peered at the sand, wondering what this was supposed to do.

Then, a sprout peeked out of the sand, before quickly growing up to its full size, towering over my head as a palm tree grew up to its full height, a bushel of coconuts growing underneath its large palms. I gaped up at it, before a small forest of palm tees followed it. From the far side of the cave, Tapu Bulu rung his bell, bidding the sand dunes to shift and move away, revealing an old dried up pond of water. But with the sand moved aside, the water began to flow again. Flowers began to bloom, and the vines covering the walls began to climbed higher and higher up them. I gasped in awe as the underground desert was quickly transformed into an oasis.

It was... beautiful.

"Eat to your fill!" Tapu Bulu roared, ringing his bell again. "And be strong!"

"Thank you!" Victini cried, and we all joined in with her. Following in the wake of our thanks, Tapu Bulu shot up and out of the cave, no doubt making his way to meet with his siblings.

I stared after him. We had saved another... only one left to go. Those monsters thought that they could come here and destroy this beautiful world? Well... I looked to Lunala. She was still looking after Tapu Bulu, but I could see a hopeful look in her eyes too.

She had brought me here. I hadn't thought I would have it in me to do the task she set out for me. But... recently, I had started to feel more and more like...

We would actually be able to do this. We could win!

And with that sentiment in mind, we all took the time to do as Tapu Bulu asked. For the moment... we would relax. We would celebrate!

Nothing could stop us now!