Chapter 4: A Blooming Bond

"Now Lillie, please be vary careful of the Team Skull thugs! I don't want to have a repeat of what happened in Malie. And I want you back as soon as you finish your grand trial with Officer Nanu!" Lusamine sternly told her daughter. "I'll be fine mother, Mister Guzma said he'd sort the issue out. Please, trust me." responded Lillie.

In a few days time, she was due to challenge Nanu for her Ula'ula grand trial, and she already had a game plan. After scraping by Acerola's trial and then going back for Sophocles, she'd received a few pointers from both about a supposed 'Secret' new Pokémon that the kahuna had. Luckily, Having two Pokémon that were already strong against dark types was a good omen for her. But considering her abrupt fourth, she just hoped that Bewear, Clefairy and Vulpix would be good enough. She had confidence in those three.

But as she stepped off the boat at the oasis south of Haina Desert, waving goodbye to her mother, she had plans. After a brief stop by to the Aether House, and a quite frightening Sharpedo ride, courtesy of Mister Grimsley, across the watery Route 16, which she was grateful for her iron grip on the Pokémon, as she wasn't a strong swimmer, she had made it to the Ula'ula Meadow.

Briefly looking around the secluded grove she had entered, only spotting a few Oricorio who were curious about her, she knew she was alone. Right, it was time to solve this situation with her new team member. Steeling herself, she cautiously threw out the Pokéball containing Kartana, and the Ultra Beast sprung out, still very nervous from their last encounter. The sudden change in atmosphere must have frightened it, because it had let out a fearful screech and soared into an unforunate tree, felling it instantly.

The Oricorio flew away in fear at the beast's power, and Lillie scrambled to helpfully calm the paper-like Pokémon. "Kartana, please, calm down! It's okay! You're safe here!" she yelled out to the timid beast, and it acknowledged her, because it had seemingly cooled off significantly, before floating curiously up to her. Lillie giggled, surprised at how easily she had calmed the beast down. She always did have an interesting gift for calming Pokémon. Gently rubbing the flat sides of its blade arms, carefully avoiding the sharp edges after learning her lesson, she began to speak again.

"I'd like you to meet my other team members, Kartana. Please don't be surprised, especially at Clefairy. They mean no harm, I promise!" she explained to Kartana, as it span in the air, seemingly interested about learning what a Clefairy was.

It was then that when the pink fairy type was released, the air became tense once again. Clefairy barked out an adorable but serious command at her trainer to get back from the beast, whilst Kartana began to shake, but threateningly waved its bladed arms around, ready to strike again if it had to. Lillie stepped in between the two. "Please, stop! Clefairy, Kartana is the newest member of our team, it means no harm, It was scared that time in the cave." she pleaded desperately with her Pokémon. The Clefairy frowned but it eventually agreed to stand down.

But it wasn't over yet, the Fairy Type strode up to the Ultra Beast, and the two seemingly had a stern talking, as they chattered at each other in their own forms of language. Most likely agreements and threats that sounded like 'If you hurt my master again, I will END you.' and apologies from the receiving ends of threats. Lillie took this opportunity to release Bewear and Vulpix and brief them on the situation. The Large Bear said nothing but simply stared over Lillie at Kartana, as if processing something in his head.

Vulpix however wasn't as convinced. She let out a concerned whine at her trainer, as if nervous about meeting the beast, pawing at Lillie for reassurance. Lillie smiled warmly and scooped the ice type into her arms, allowing her to watch from a safe distance whilst being near the safety of her trainer.

It was then that Bewear began to slowly stomp its way over to Kartana. Clefairy gave it a questioning look as it did so, and Kartana seemed to freeze up in fear. Bewear did not attack however, quite the opposite. The Normal Fighting type sat down with a thud and reached out to the Ultra Beast, slowly pulling it in for a gentle bear hug, much to the Kartana's shock. Lillie was also surprised at how her Pokémon was seemingly unfazed about the sharp edges of Kartana's arms.

Either way, being in the embrace of the bear Pokémon had calmed the beast down significantly, allowing Lillie and Vulpix to approach and sit down with the other Pokémon. She then spoke up to her entire team. "Everyone, meet Kartana. It's our newest member of the team, and don't treat it differently because it's an Ultra Beast. Nebby was an Ultra Beast too."

Clefairy perked up at the mention of Nebby. So that's why this beast had a similar feeling to that of the large Solgaleo that the Sun Man travelled with. At this point, Bewear had let go of the Ultra Beast, and it had floated down to the last member of the team it hadn't met. Vulpix.

The small fox Pokémon carefully sniffed the metal limbs on the creature, before cooing approvingly at it. Kartana whistled happily and carefully brushed its icy fur with the smooth sides of its arms. It was then which Lillie realised something. She pulled out her Pokédex, which wasn't a Rotom Dex due to the model of dex being rare, and began to scan Kartana, much to the Ultra Beast's surprise. It floated over to her strange machine, to see what it had to say.

"Kartana: The Drawn Sword Pokémon. Type: Grass and Steel. CAUTION: This Pokémon is an Ultra Beast, designation UB-04: BLADE. Exercise extreme caution." Lillie frowned at this, It wasn't dangerous, just misunderstood. "This Ultra Beast's body, which is as thin as paper, is like a sharpened sword. Although it's alien to this world and a danger here, it's apparently a common organism in the world where it normally lives."

Lillie looked at Kartana, who seemed slightly put out about the last part. "Kartana...? Do you miss your home?" The Ultra Beast glanced up at her. It let out a low metallic whine, but then danced around playfully, Vulpix joining in. Lillie mused that whilst it did miss home, It was enjoying its time with Lillie, despite the shaky start.

Lillie giggled and got up, and began to play with all of the Pokémon, excited that it all went off without a hitch. Sure enough, the local Oricorio had also come to play, dancing away with their dashing red feathers. Lillie had debated catching one, but decided against it.

And then came the telltale rumble from everyone's stomachs that it was lunch time. She cracked out the Pokébeans, much to all of the creatures delights, barring Kartana, who looked on at this treat. It floated up to it curiously, and gave Lillie an inquisitive look.

"Oh, Kartana, that's right, you've not tried a Pokébean before, have you? Here. Take this one, you'll like it!" she smiled at the beast as she held out a green coloured bean. The Kartana carefully bent its paper-like arms towards the bean, and wrapped around it, before taking a test nibble, and then another, and before she knew it, the bean was gone. Kartana ecstatically soared around the clearing, adoring the taste of the beans.

And then she noticed the time on her PokéGear. It was almost time to face Nanu! Although, she had a very good idea. Gathering up her team, Kartana included, as well as the Oricorio, she took a memory photo, a group picture of them all. She'd have to thank Gladion for the gifted PokéGear when he next swung by to visit. Sadly, it was time to leave the clearing now. Nanu wasn't the most patient of Kahuna's after all. Waving goodbye to the Oricorio and returning her Pokémon. She headed up north to the gloomy Route 17, where the Grand Trial awaited.

A/N: Right, time for some answering of reviews.

Moonlight Butterfree: First of all, thanks for the wishing of good luck! It's much appreciated. Regarding the reasoning to why Kartana is there, no, it won't be revealed as part of the story. Might be good if I ever decide to rewrite this though. It is however there because of Necrozma's attack as seen in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, where Ultra Beasts are summoned throughout Alola. Our Kartana was an unwilling participant of this.

Allon: Thanks for the kind words!

Ri2: Kartana can indeed understand human language. In the later chapters, you'll find out why. If this were another Ultra Beast, sure, maybe it wouldn't be able understand (or fit in Lillie's Room), but Kartana is a special case.

Finally, something quite important I need to mention regarding reviews. Please keep them limited to the story. If you have concerns about other users reviewing, please put them in private messaging. I honestly don't mind the criticism, however 'flamey' you claim it to be, and if you have a problem with it, take it up with me in PMs.