Untitled Heat Story
Endless, pristine white dunes? Check.
Cloudless blue sky? Check.
Sun blazing brightly far above? Check.
Temperature? 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Something was definitely wrong with Haina Desert. The blonde girl double-checked the thermometer. The temperature had been dropping steadily for the past few days. She shook her head and looked at her companion, a small, green, jelly-like creature with a red crystal embedded in its core that was being carried in her bag.
"Where do you think all the heat's gone, Squishy? Deserts aren't supposed to be this cold." She shivered as a gust of wind blew past.
"I told you to wear warmer clothes for this, Bonnie. This level of heat is quite worrying. Haina Desert is a fisher kingdom."
"What does that mean?" Bonnie pulled a dark jacket out of her bag and wrapped it around herself.
"Hmm, the best way to put it, is that the health of Tapu Bulu has a physical effect on Haina Desert. When Tapu Bulu is doing well, the desert functions as normal. When it falls ill, the desert undergoes an ecological crisis, and vice versa, the state of the desert can affect Tapu Bulu's health. The same is true of the other island guardians. Koko is connected to Iki Town, Lele to Wela Volcano, and Fini to Vast Poni Canyon. The guardian deity of Ulu'Ulu must be in very poor health at this very moment."
"And we've been sent to figure out the cause. Why us?"
"To prove yourself, of course. Whatever you asked of Arceus, it seems that this is the task you must carry out in order to fulfill your wish, which you've kept hidden from me for all this time."
"It's supposed to be a big surprise, silly."
The duo made their way through the desert, heading for the Ruins of Abundance, the habitual residence of Tapu Bulu. As they traveled, Bonnie checked the temperature every so often. After an hour, the temperature was forty degrees. White patches of snow began to appear on the ground. Two more hours. The white patches had given way to an unending white blanket of soft and crisp snow and the temperature had fallen to thirty degrees and stabilized there. Snow was falling harder now. .Bonnie hugged her jacket more tightly to her body, trying to keep warm.
The Ruins of Abundance were coming into view. Massive cliffs of rock, topped with out-of-place pristine snow. The snow was falling heavily now, making it impossible to distinguish the identities of two silhouetted figures at the base of the central rock. Bonnie gasped as the creatures came into view. There, at the base of the rock, encased in thick, translucently blue ice, was Tapu Bulu, the island guardian. And standing in front of it, blasting it with its powerful icy breath, was the Boundary Pokemon, Kyurem. Kyurem's head pricked up, having heard the sharp intake of Bonnie's breath. The large dragon turned around to stare at the duo.
Squishy jumped out of the bag. A green glow surrounded Squishy, and streaks of light strode across the sky toward his small form. His body grew larger, and took on the shape of a black dog with green patches here and there, and a green scarf that flailed in the blustery wind. He growled at Kyurem while pacing around Bonnie. And then came the wave.
An undulating pulse emanated from Kyurem. The pulse was clear but visible. It moved too rapidly to dodge out of the way. It passed through Squishy and Bonnie harmlessly, though Bonnie dropped to her knees in shock, Squishy using his body to prevent her from fully falling. And one word was imprinted directly onto their minds.
RUN.
"K-kyurem, I don't understand. Aren't you the reason Haina Desert has lost all its heat? Didn't you freeze Tapu Bulu?" She struggled to her feet.
"Bonnie, GET DOWN!" Squishy knocked the blonde girl into the bed of snow. She saw a shape crash into Squishy at high speed, sending him flying toward the ruins. The shape chased after Squishy's reeling body and Bonnie gave pursuit. Squishy crashed into the rock next to Tapu Bulu. Bonnie tried to approach, but was held back by Kyurem. The thing that had attacked Squishy stood in front of his unmoving body. Bonnie peered closer to determine what it was.
Keldeo stood there, proud and dark. The Colt Pokemon was cackling like mad. Its eyes were burning coals and its red mane lashed about in the wind, looking for all the world like blood come to life. It snorted and wheezed and pawed at the ground with its hoof. It charged toward Squishy, who dodged out of the way just in time for Keldeo to lodge its horn into the rock where it lodged firmly. Keldeo's cackling grew wilder and louder as it struggled to free its horn.
Squishy walked slowly back to Bonnie. The Order Pokemon was heavily injured from Keldeo's attack.
"Bonnie...take a close look at Tapu Bulu," he groaned quietly.
Bonnie did as requested and went to investigate. Inside the ice, she saw the Land Spirit Pokemon, island guardian Tapu Bulu. Its eyes were closed and its hooves were clasped together as if in prayer. On its left side was a grievous wound, a hole that was dark with blood. The loss of heat in the desert had not been from Kyurem. Kyurem had merely successfully put a stopper on the injury as they had approached to find and fix the problem. Bonnie knew what had to be done, and softly tapped a PokeBall to the crystallized Tapu Bulu. A flash of light engulfed the island guardian, and the PokeBall wobbled not a single time before giving its signature dinging which signified capture.
"Kyurem...please take Tapu bulu to the nearest Pokemon Center." The large gray Pokemon took the PokeBall in its mouth and stomped off into the distance.
In the background, Keldeo was growing more frantic. Its horn had not budged despite all of its efforts. Its cackling grew even louder and its horn began to glow a dark, muddy red. Squishy ran up to Keldeo and attacked it, but the fourth Sword of Justice merely knocked him away with its hooves. Squishy took on a green glow once again as more lights began streaking across the sky and into Squishy. The black canine body morphed into a larger, green serpentine body with a black head. Squishy sluggishly moved toward Keldeo once again. He blasted the Water/Fighting type with a Dragonbreath attack. Keldeo did not react to the assault. Its horn had finished transforming, and was now much larger and cerulean in color. It shone with the sharpness of a freshly-forged blade. Keldeo scraped its new horn through the rock and freed itself. It charged toward Squishy and landed a powerful slashing attack with its horn. Squishy groaned in pain and blasted Keldeo away with a Dragon Tail, but Keldeo came right back, charging lightning fast. Squishy was too slow to dodge once again. This process continued to repeat for several minutes, and Squishy seemed to slow down as time went on. Squishy began to look very haggard.
Why is he so slow? thought Bonnie. Squishy shouldn't be this slow.
She drew a sharp breath as the realization hit her. The heat. Or rather, the lack of it. Squishy was extremely sensitive to cold temperatures due to his Dragon/Ground typing. Bonnie started rushing toward Squishy as he blasted Keldeo away for the umpteenth time. Keldeo seemed stunned for the moment.
"Squishy, let's get out of here! There's not enough heat for you to move properly."
"Bonnie, get back! That thing is extremely dangerous!" roared Squishy.
"We need to get you out of here! You can't fight much longer! Come on!"
"Not until that thing is dealt with. Its reign of terror will end today."
"But, look, Squishy, it's already over."
Keldeo was not moving. Its body lay still in the snow. Squishy morphed back into his 10% Forme.
"Maybe you're right," he said. "I could do with some rest."
"That's my-MOVE!" Bonnie shoved Squishy with all her might as Keldeo ran fast as lightning toward the canine. Incredible pain shot through her body as Keldeo pierced her with its horn. She fell face-first onto the ground.
"BONNIE!" Squishy shouted with a thundering voice.
The blonde girl looked up at him, with half-lidded eyes. A small smile graced her lips.
"Seventeen years…" she muttered. "Not bad. I'd have liked to stay a little longer." Her eyes closed fully. "But what really matters, is that you, my most precious friend, are safe. Sorry I didn't listen to you about this. You'll make it through just fine. I know you will." Her smile widened. "I'll be watching you, Squishy. I love you." She collapsed fully, and her body grew still.
"What have you done?" growled Squishy in a low, cold voice. There was a tranquil fury in his tone. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
Streaks of light, green streaks of light, many more than had streaked across the sky before gathered around Squishy and his form changed. He grew larger and larger. He took on the shape of a black humanoid. Large bits of the humanoid were missing, giving it a skeletal appearance. Squishy towered over Keldeo, whose cackling reached a feverish pitch and became higher in tone, gaining a rasping quality. It locked eyes with Squishy and gave off a menacing grin, laced with razor-sharp teeth. The giant Squishy unleashed a huge burst of energy toward Keldeo, who deflected much of it with its newfound weapon.
"Arise, child." A calm, deep voice drifted through the air.
"Huh? Arceus?" Bonnie rubbed her eyes. She saw her body lying on the ground. "Am I dead?"
"For now," said the Alpha Pokemon. "To grant your wish, your death was necessary. You already proved yourself worthy all those years ago, when you fought the malevolent Team Flare and took the life of their leader. I foresaw that this task would lead you to death the quickest. The lack of heat accelerated it so the pain was not drawn out. Are you ready?"
"Yes. Thank you so very much for this. I promise to do right with it."
"I've foreseen great things in your future. Now watch closely."
Bonnie watched her body begin to dissipate on the ground. It dissolved into many distinct green cell-like creatures, with one larger one with yellow crystal in its center in the middle. Arceus shoved Bonnie's spirit toward the central creature. She felt herself being dragged in by some unseen force. Arceus walked calmly back into the sky, fading all the while.
Bonnie blinked. She couldn't feel her arms or legs. She then remembered she had none. She concentrated with all her might to rebuild her body from the newly-created Zygarde cells. Streaks of green light surrounded her, crisscrossing in all directions in a magnificent swirling aurora of viridian. She felt her arms and legs forming, bit by bit. The light dissipated. She was standing up again, her wound gone. A lock of hair fell in front of her eyes. Green. Her hair was green now. She would have to figure out how to fix that later. She ran toward the fight between Squishy and Keldeo. Both Pokemon looked extremely tired and were barely moving.
"Squishy!" cried Bonnie.
"GET BACK!" he roared. "You've just been killed, and your first idea is to come running here and…"
Bonnie smiled at the Order Pokemon.
"Bonnie! You're alive! And your hair has changed color. But how?"
"Remember that wish I didn't tell you? Turns out I had to die for Arceus to be able to grant it. And my hair isn't the only thing that's changed."
Bonnie began to dissipate, her cells fusing with Squishy's titanic skeletal form. Bit by bit, they filled in the missing parts. Zygarde 100% was complete once again.
"How do you like this, Squishy? Now we can fight together! Let's end this!"
"So this is why you kept it a surprise. Get ready, Bonnie!"
Keldeo stared up at the giant Pokemon. Its cackling had finally stopped, and its mane was no longer being blown about by the wind. Its eyes remained burning red embers. It began charging towards the duo. Squishy grabbed the Colt Pokemon with one claw. Bonnie transformed the other arm into a cannon and pointed it directly into Keldeo's face. A hot, burning sensation went through her as the cannon charged up its attack. The heat felt perfect after spending so long in the cold. The cannon grew hotter and hotter and glowed brighter and brighter. Keldeo began to scream. A desperate scream, a final wail.
BOOM!
A rush of fiery, draconic energy slammed into Keldeo point blank, incinerating it and continuing through the surrounding area. The snow melted and turned the ground to slushy mud. Bonnie and Squishy diffused into their separate bodies.
"Thank you, Bonnie. I wouldn't have won without your help."
"No need to thank me. It was supposed to be a fun surprise. I didn't mean to put you through all that worry."
"It's not like I had time to worry. You came back quickly. I was still enraged. Speaking of worry, we should check on Tapu Bulu."
The duo began walking out of Haina Desert.
"Yeah, I hope Kyurem got him to a Pokemon Center." Bonnie picked up her bag from where her body had lain. She checked the thermometer inside out of habit. Forty five degrees Fahrenheit. Heat was finally returning to Haina Desert.