The light of a blue supermoon showered cobblestone streets on a starry night. Pokemon crowded under it and performed a busy dance of activity. Pink, blue, and yellow streamers hung from building to building all the way down the length of the street. The skyscraper's signs mixed with the moonlight, working together to fog over and brighten the city.
A small cloth moved through all of the lights; a cloth so small that even pokemon like Mareep had to look down to see it moving about. After the cloth had passed unnoticed by them, some shoppers often shouted in alarm or grew questioning looks on their faces.
It took him five minutes at most to come and go. Eventually, the pokemon under the cloth looked around himself and relaxed as the streets grew less and less busy as he moved away from the main city. The buildings got smaller and started to look more worn as the pokemon kept moving closer to home.
The pokemon looked left and right one last time before dropping the itchy cloth on the ground. The Eevee focused on cleaning off his white fur until he thought he was taking too long. He always had to wear that cloth to cover his bright, shining fur from reflecting too much light when he went out on pickpocketing trips. That's why he was named Light, but he didn't know if that was the name his parents gave him. After a few minutes of multi-tasking, brushing his fur and walking forward, it started to glow and sparkle as it usually did.
His right eye blended into his body with a smooth white, while his left always put people off. The sharp blue color made the rest of him look like a strange ghost in comparison. His habit activated again, brushing his fur over it to look just a little bit more normal. Times he forgot, he felt like he had to explain himself for why he looked so strange.
The street grew thin, and the trees were fast overtaking where buildings would be in the more inhabited part of the city. Light had to walk on the side of the black road since it was riddled with years of potholes. All of the buildings were reduced to dangerous piles of wood and glass, except for one.
It had been the Thieves' Den for a few years now. It became a better and better hiding place as the rest of the street wilted and died as distant skyscrapers starved them of nutrients. The renovations they did to the building were only visible on the inside, but it was still homey.
He daydreamed, wandering closer to the building when a loud noise from up ahead snapped him back to reality. The noise disappeared into silence, and the yelling that broke it fell into chatter after.
It was an abandoned inn. The building itself was long, with a short section of it having a small second floor. It used to have a log cabin look, but most of the wood started to rot if it wasn't already covered in green or broken on the ground by the windows. Waves of tall grass burst up from the soil and surrounded the building on all sides, destroying any remaining road or sidewalk left and scattering their remains of black and brown chunks on the dirt.
Eevee Light stalked low to the ground as he made his final stretch towards the wall. The aggressive hisses and yelps were settling down, but he didn't recognize a few of them. He knew of a hole in the wall from the outside he could peek through before entering in on a scene.
"We're not here for them," a female voice spoke. "We're here for that stone."
"But they're thieves!" a younger girl's voice answered. "You can tell! C'mon!"
A stone? Could they mean his?
Barely anyone knew about that old relic of his. How did she?
"We'll discuss this later," she hushed. "We don't want anything else but the stone in your possession."
"We can't," another voice answered.
Light recognized the Heliolisk's calm voice, even when ragged from anxiety. He popped his head up from the grass to look inside the small hole, getting a long view of the dirty tiled floor inside.
Heliolisk and a Lucario he didn't know faced each other from a short distance. A Bulbasaur took shelter from the room near Lucario's heel.
"It's our one good in this world to protect it. It's best in small hands, or it'll fall out," Heliolisk explained. "Not your hands, Nightlight."
"Your refusal would be interference," Lucario said. "Please cooperate."
"We all need to do our share of protecting the world," Heliolisk said. "If your motto is 'For the sake of us all', that is exactly why you need to leave and deal with whatever comes of it."
"Then it would appear that we are in a conflict. Anyone who doesn't want to be apart of this may leave."
"W-what's going on h-here?"
Lucario tilted her head to look down at the Eevee as he pulled himself inside. He stayed standing in front of it, always ready to back up in case something went wrong.
"Light," said Heliolisk, "you should leave too."
"Why do y-you know about m-my stone?" Light questioned.
"I'm still willing to make talks with you over it," Lucario offered. "I know what you know about it. Please, let's be civil and work something out."
Heliolisk shifted on his feet, curling his lower lip over his top lip. The next breath he took was the only sound in the room.
"Fine," Heliolisk muttered. "Stay right there."
Light knew he wasn't walking very far away, but he was alone in Lucario's line of sight for a few seconds while Heliolisk turned the corner of the hallway and went into an old room. When he came back out, he held a white, perfectly round stone in his hand with three cylindrical gashes in his hands.
"What do you want?" Heliolisk asked.
"Just as I figured," Lucario said, "it's a living being. We'll just kill it like this. Let us destroy it."
"What!?"
"Six months ago, we became aware that your group determined this object has the same energy as a pokemon's body flowing through it on a massive scale," she explained. "We believe it's a threat, so it must be destroyed. In exchange, we Nightlights will forget your thievery and perhaps... Pay you for your service."
Light shared a glance with Heliolisk. The surprised confusion shot between their eyes.
Nightlights were the modern day Guild. They never bribed, or so they'd heard, until now.
"What?" Heliolisk asked. "But, why?"
"We think it's a danger to the general public, and you've kept it safe all this time. The stone will be destroyed and your lives can start over right here. You two will leave free, and those other thieves won't be bothering your anymore."
"You're saying that if I go along with this, we can just leave the city and go wherever we want clean?" Heliolisk asked quietly. "You're a Nightlight agent. You work for the government. A modern day Guild. And you're covering for us?"
"Less danger, less crime, more peace," she said proudly. "This offer comes from high up. We believe this is how to best deal with this whole situation for everyone. But you need to understand that this stone is dangerous for people and that we can handle it."
"But if anyone in the world had a problem with this, it'd be our necks. So many things we don't know. Might never know."
"You're willing to take risks for him, though," Lucario said. Her eyes grazed over the Eevee. "Right?"
"Risks for his benefit," Heliolisk said. "And when I'm confident it will turn out well for him."
"Again, you lack the choice. Because of my certainty, of course," Lucario smiled. "Take your things. Take the boy. Wait outside on the lawn until the deed is done, then we will pay you and see you on your way."
Heliolisk looked at Eevee Light, silently asking him what to do. He was the one who first found the stone, and he always seemed to respect that.
It sounded too good to be true, but they couldn't say no either way. If they tried to, it would end up worse. They were found out one way or another, so it'd at least be a chance at freedom. Light looked down, then back up again. He nodded.
Heliolisk set the stone down on the floor in front of Lucario and backed away. Eevee bounded to Heliolisk as they left for the closest way out, a wide hole in the wall covered by a gritty brown cloth. They both took a last look at the still Lucario, staring at her until she was out of view when they went onto the lawn.
Neither of them talked on the walk to the street. Heliolisk took the job of pushing the grass aside while the Eevee Light stared at his back, wondering what he thought. It was usually hard to tell, but it was impossible now. His face was blank.
"There are probably more Nightlight agents all around us," Heliolisk whispered. "Sorry. I knew that stone meant a lot to you."
"It's okay," Light muttered. "W-what do we d-do?"
"Play along. I got you."
The pair reached the street and held there. Given the time of night, it was pretty unlikely any carriages would come by here. They stood in the center to be able to see over the grass, staring off towards the dark shadow of the inn. The cold, striking night air made Light's teeth chatter for a short second, but he just held his limbs closer together to counter it.
"How do y-you think they're d-destroying it?" Light asked.
"Carefully," Heliolisk said. "Maybe slowly. I dunno."
"But what if it really is a pokemon?"
"Then I'll... I dunno."
Heliolisk bobbed up and down on his feet. Light sat down as the moments started to drag on.
Light just wanted to leave. If the Lucario told the truth, he'd prefer to live in the woods. Or maybe a cave. The constant game between a rock and hard place was always bad, even if tonight was weird.
"If they're n-not lying," Light said, "what do w-we do?"
"What wouldn't we do?"' he smiled. "I'd just jump for joy following the wind, kid. Can't stand all this crap."
"Yah."
Another moment passed. The air felt like it grew warmer. Heliolisk kept his arms folded.
The air grew much warmer faster all of a sudden. Light felt dizzy.
After a short moment, he blinked uncomfortably at sudden light coming from inside. He felt heat coming from it on his face.
"Hey... Light?" Heliolisk asked.
A fiery, red explosion shook the air and rumbled the ground.
Light fell over on the ground. Black smoke and red embers plumed in the air. One or two burning chunks of wood landed nearby on the street.
Light couldn't hear, but he felt Heliolisk grip and carry him. The waving motion of his walking hurt his dizzy head, but he was set back down before he had the strength to complain about it. He struggled to bring himself back up to standing on the other side of the street.
"Light, what's wrong!?" Heliolisk half-shouted. "I need you up!"
"I feel..." Eevee huffed, "heavy..."
Light and Heliolisk turned back towards the explosion. A single, strong wind gust hit him in the gut as a crescent shadow rose in the plumes of smoke.
"Okay," Heliolisk said. "It's time to go. Light, I'm going to carry-"
Heliolisk cried out. The ground shook under their feet and stopped them from moving. Light conserved his energy by lying on his side and keeping his eyes on the fire.
He could only watch as the smoke was blown away, revealing the shadow's identity. A white wing sparkling in the light of the flames overtaking the lawn rose up along with the smoke. Huge white fur flowed in the wind underneath it, growing taller as the creature stood.
Blue eyes opened on the mass of white. They looked, left, right, down, then locked in place. Right on Light. The iris thinned into blades.
Light forced himself up out of fear. Heliolisk was already half on his feet, looking in the same direction he was. His lower jaw rumbled.
"Don't l-look away," Heliolisk whispered. "We need to back up... Nice and calm. Okay?"
They only managed to get on their feet when something interrupted their play. A bright yellow projectile fired at the unknown pokemon from a nearby tree. The electricity hit it in the eye, but the pokemon didn't even blink. It responded with a stream of fire from its gaping maw aimed at the tree.
An Electivire fell to the ground as the tree caught fire. It rolled around on the ground to smother the veil of flames on its fur while the white pokemon swiveled its head back to Light and Heliolisk. Its head moved back a little, just like before the last attack.
Its head swiveled to the right before it fired. This time, the attack was a blue gale of energy and wind that struck the ground like lightning.
When Light looked where it fired, he realized that a few pokemon were charging at it from all directions. The wall of flame from the lawn held them back, but they started firing attacks. A Sandslash and Golduck ran up from behind them carrying a huge, long rope between them.
"Light, stay back," Heliolisk ordered.
"I k-know..."
Heliolisk raced forward and helped a Swadloon that fell on the ground back to her feet. As he did, a Golduck and Sandshrew spat water and flung dirt on the fires to move forward. The rope they were carrying fell apart along the ground as they charged and threw what was left of it on the dragon.
Their throws went far. Hoops of rope went over the huge pokemon's head and all around its body. It reeled back, but was too sluggish to avoid it. Its wings flapped and blew a mess of ropes back towards Light.
Light tripped and fell. Ropes pulled taut on the ground all around him. He tried to stand up, but they circled around his legs; then his arms.
The ropes pulled and tangled him tighter every time the pokemon pulled back.
"Hey!" Light screamed. "H-hey! Someone c-cut this!"
Eevee Light tried to pull his head up to scream louder. A rope went taut over his forehead.
Light and tangled ropes went airborne, then hit something solid. The ropes firmly tied him against a wall of white fur. None of his limbs budged.
"Help!" Light cried. "Jonathan!"
Heliolisk heard his name being called. He turned away from the Swadloon back on the street. He only had a second to afford for shock to settle in, then sprinted forward.
Flames were still scattered on the dry grass, but Jonathan ran through them. The white wings over Light's head rose high in the air and started shaking back and forth. The heat on his back increased with every step Jonathan took closer.
A sudden burst of energy behind his back. Heliolisk covered his face with his arms as he drowned in red light and fire. Winds whipped at Light's exposed fur and the ropes he was tangled in. Jonathan's pained yells didn't reach high enough to follow.
Hours passed. The ropes that strapped Light to the dragon's body were fireproof, but not immune. They faded away as it continued to burn through the night sky. The first rope to give way was around his chest, letting him move his head more than he could before.
When Light looked down, he saw nothing but darkness. It was his first view of the ocean in person. The only patches of light on the water were the reflections of stars and the flying meteor he was tied to.
No longer wanting to look down, Light looked towards the back of the dragon's body. The fur was burning to a black color, creeping closer to where he was. He had to untie himself to avoid getting burned alive.
He started to gnaw at the ropes, but they started to release by themselves. They were reaching their limits all at once, loosening his whole body. Before he could fall, the Eevee gripped hard on the white fur with his claws. The ropes fell one by one from around his back into the ocean.
Freed, the white Eevee started to climb the dragon's side. The underside of its white crescent wings was an easy-to-climb round shape, but he took it slow. He always kept a tight grip with three out of four limbs, moving up one at a time.
When Light reached the pokemon's back and had a clear view, he didn't want to fall off. Two long tendrils were streaming back from the dragon's head, tipped at the end with red from the heat. Getting it to land was the only way to keep himself from falling.
Even on its flat back, Light kept his grip. He crawled perpendicular to the wall of screaming wind. Its neck was long and thinner, but he kept up the same strategy moving up its long, thin neck to make slow but real progress. He angled his climb in between the tendrils to avoid getting burned. There was a small stump of fur to climb to get up to its forehead, but he pushed his burning muscles to make the last leg.
Maybe he could reason with it.
Light's jaw tensed as he reached his paw over the huge dragon's eye. It blinked, then its eye pointed at him.
Its wings flailed.
Light screamed trying to hold on, but his legs gave way leaving only his arms to hang on with. The pokemon's twists and turns swung him around until its white fur slipped through his fingers.
The white Eevee flew up in the air, grabbing up for anything to hold onto at the apex. He let out a tense breath as he started falling.
The rush gave him wasted adrenaline. The dragon remained in the air, hissing and screeching at him as he fell reaching up towards it. Its thick tail started to glow red until it blasted off out of sight, blending in with the stars in the night sky.
