Chapter 11: Home
Lillie opened her eyes, gazing at the strange location she was in. It looked like the inside of a wormhole, almost. But through the edges, she could see flashes of lightning. She appeared in an familiar looking forest, with Kartana and men in johtonian rice hats, adorned with odd ornaments, running around. It was chaos, the ground trembled, the trees fell, the bamboo shook, and wormholes were bursting out of the ground, swallowing the environment.
Lillie gasped in shock, as she noticed a very familiar Kartana screeching in distress, desperately attempting to escape the event horizon of a wormhole. "NO!" she screamed out, reaching out, but her feet would not move. Why was she seeing this? Was this because of the bond required to perform a Z-Move?
The Kartana let out a pained shriek as it was finally pulled into the Wormhole, before it re-appeared infront of her. "Kartana!" is what she tried to scream, but found herself silenced. The Kartana looked afraid, like that night, and then Lillie flinched as Kartana shot forward, but no pain came, only another white blinding light.
She awoke to the blue sky and familiar canyon walls of the Trial Site. The smell of fresh air, but no noise. She pulled herself up, glancing around. There were the signs of battle, courtesy of scuff and struggle marks in the dusty ground beneath her. But there was no Totem, no Kartana. Only a pedestal with a still glinting royal blue Z-crystal resting upon it. Lillie pondered for a moment. Did she beat the trial?
She dusted off her dress as she got up, carefully padding her way towards the pedestal and taking the crystal, looking around. She could feel no threatening gaze, but swore she was being watched anyhow. But this didn't explain where Kartana is.
However, Lillie did not have to wait much longer. A familiar white and blue spacesuit walked into the canyon ahead of her, Kartana in tow. "Ah, there you are. Is this one yours?" she inquired in an alien voice. Lillie nodded. "Uh, yeah... Are you the one that Dulse sent me to meet?" Lillie had inquired. The being nodded. "Yes, My name's Soliera. I was waiting at the altar ahead, and your lovely Kartana shot straight up the stairs, screeching as if wanting help. I humoured it." she smiled.
Kartana squeaked excitedly as it returned to its trainer, happily swirling around, now that Lillie was alright. "I'm sorry for fainting on you, Kartana. I think the Z-Move was too much for me to handle." she sheepishly spoke, scratching the back of the head and giggling, prompting an upbeat squeak from the ultra beast. Soliera then walked over.
"Come on, daylight's burning, I can't leave Lunala alone up there." she explained, hoping to lead the young trainer along. Lillie obliged and followed Soliera out of the trial site, without looking back. It was then the two people began a long trek up the hundreds of stairs that made up the Altar of the Sunne. The wind blew strongly, prompting Lillie to gently hold onto Kartana so that it wouldn't be blown away.
It wasn't long before they reached the top of the Altar, and Lillie instantly noticed the Lunala roosting on the edge of the dais. Soliera approached, gaining the Legendary Pokémon's attention, who turned a red eye towards the Ultra Recon Squad member and strutted over to her, as she rifled through a carrier bag. Producing a spare Recon Squad suit, she turned to Lillie. "Put this on, You're gonna need it where we're going."
Lillie noticed the suit was the perfect size, how did Soliera know? She turned, but was answered instantly. "Oh, don't worry, I know what you're thinking. Madam Lusamine helped us. I asked Dulse what size suit we needed, he asked your mother. Don't be alarmed!" she explained, before turning back to ensuring Lunala was ready.
Lillie made her way over to Soliera and Lunala, with Kartana in tow. She returned the ultra beast to its ball, before climbing onto the back of Lunala, with Soliera infront. "Hold on tight, Lillie! If you fall off here, there's no telling where you might end up!" explained the squad member.
Lunala flapped her wings, before letting loose a spectral screech, and blasting open a wormhole, before diving in. Lillie's vision turned to white as this happened, before fading and revealing that the two of them were now hurtling through an extraterrestrial wormhole. Lillie's eyes dazzled in wonder as countless more wormholes of different colours soared past, each providing a glimpse into the world contained behind it.
Lillie could even swear she saw some familiar Pokémon behind these portals, spotting a lombre, and then a magcargo, and even a strangely coloured drapion, that was red rather than purple. However she was snapped out of the curiosity by Soliera. "Hold on, we're going to have to take a sharp turn here!" she called.
Lunala banked to a sharp left, before crashing into a orb of golden energy, which flowed through its body as it consumed the orb. Lillie could feel the Pokémon surge forward through the wormhole, as the strange crystals outside the strange walls of the wormhole sped by quicker and quicker, before soaring around a corner. "Lunala, look out!" screamed Soliera, as she desperately tried to pull up.
However, Lunala was going to fast, and with a pained shriek, the blue orb of negative energy grazed the legendary's underside, causing both riders to scream. Lillie had reckoned if she hadn't had a helmet on, her hair would be standing up on end due to the charge. Soliera seemed to be glancing ahead, trying to find something amidst the sea of wormholes.
However, Lillie noticed something before she did. There was a field of more of the electric orbs ahead, dense enough that Lunala would not make it. "Soliera!" she called out, before pointing ahead. Soliera then saw what she was looking for. "I see, Hold on tight then, we're taking a shortcut!" she yelled, before pulling Lunala into a sharp right turn, right into a white wormhole.
Lillie closed her eyes as the blinding white light began to intensify, and screamed in fear. However, when Lunala shot out through the other side of the wormhole, the atmosphere of the wormhole had turned into a large jungle, with flexing trees. They were in buzzwole's homeworld. Lunala ducked up and over the branches of the strange trees, spotting two of the large mosquito pokémon having a flex-off atop the tree. "Hold on tight, Lillie. We're going to be going down here!"
"Huh?" was Lillie's only response, before the Lunala dropped altitude again, flying right down to the canopy below, grazing atop the roof of the dense jungle. Ahead was a volcano, given away by the plumes of smoke rising from its summit. There was an opening in the side however, that of which Lunala flew into. Sharp stalactites shot past overhead, as the winding tunnel opened into a large cave, complete with pools of lava. "Hey hold on a minute, I thought there were only buzzwole here?" Lillie inquired, gesturing to the families of slugma and magcargo that had gathered around the pools.
Soliera didn't turn around to respond, instead speaking whilst looking ahead as Lunala continued to navigate through the treacherous cave. "Buzzwole gains its energy from sucking the energy from other Pokémon with its proboscis. It cannot do that to slugma or magcargo, because it would be like drinking magma!" she explained, as Lunala suddenly swung around a corner. Ahead was another wormhole. "Over there!"
Within moments, the two of them were back into the wormhole again, although this time there were far more orbs of negative energy, rather than positive energy. "Hang on, it's going to be a bumpy ride!" she warned Lillie.
It's true, Lunala may have been able to dodge many, but she was grazed by a few of the orbs, causing Lillie to close her eyes in fear as the energy surged through them all, and slowed Lunala down considerably. But it didn't matter much. "We're almost there. There's our target!" Soliera pointed out to another white wormhole, but this time there was something different behind it. Lunala banked to the right as the wormhole came closer, and soon enough, was within its gravitational pull.
And with a final flash of white, the wormhole faded into a familiar but alien world. Lunara slowly came to a halt and landed on the patterned sand of the zen garden-like area, Already Lillie looked up in wonder as a few kartana of varying sizes and sharpness flew overhead, some racing, others sparring. Lillie then began to take off the Recon Suit, as per Soliera's guidance, and brought out her own Kartana.
The ultra beast twitched briefly, before noting the familiar environment, and letting out a very high pitched squeak of joy, before twirling around and up to its fellow kartana. Lillie smiled warmly at this display of excitement at finally being home. She didn't notice the white robed man in a rice hat walk up to you.
"Ah, stranger from a distant land, you are?" he said, in an unusual accent. It had sounded Johtonian. Lillie glanced back down to the man. "Oh! Hello. Yes... I uh, I'm not from here. Miss Soliera helped." Lillie explained as she gestured back to the recon squad member, who had stepped forward and bowed in greeting to the man. He returned the gesture.
"I see you have brought back young kartana to us, little one. Great turmoil passed through, weeks ago." he said as he gestured up to the group of five or so kartana, one of them hers, dancing around playfully. "Good care you have taken of it."
Lillie smiled. "It was no easy task. I think it's grown on me too!" she happily exclaimed, recalling times with Kartana. Soliera frowned at this. "No easy task indeed. Kartana take dedication to raise. You are strong of will to have accomplished this." the Kartenvoy smiled. However his face quickly turned to a frown. "However, it is not ready to leave this place. I sense great illness within this one. Ripped from this world before it was ready."
Lillie looked up. "Kartana was just a child?" she inquired. Soliera then stepped forward. "It would seem so. Lillie, as much as I hate to see the bond between you and Kartana broken, you're going to have to release it."
Lillie pondered this for a moment. Sure, she had known this time was coming, but now of all times? Kartana drifted down to her, looking at her eyes as they began to well up, telltale signs of tears prickling at the edges. It let out a reassuring squeak at her, prompting her to run forward and hug it carefully again, tears now flowing freely down her face, but not making a sound.
"Kartana. I know our time together was short, but, we had some good times, yes? I've never felt more brave in my entire life before I met you, you've helped me just as much as I've helped you. We've learned together, had fun together, and its these moments that I will never forget."
Lillie reached into her pack, and pulled out the photo of the two of them at Ula'ula meadow. She handed it to Kartana, who daintily cradled the photo with its bladed arms, careful not to cut it up. "I will never forget you either. I love you Kartana, but this is where you belong." she smiled through the tears. The Kartenvoy behind Kartana nodded, before quietly speaking. "Great courage flows from you, young one."
The two friends broke their hug, before Soliera urged Lillie back towards Lunala. "Come on, Lillie. We should get going, this isn't our place to stay." Lillie nodded tearfully, wiping them away with her forearm and sniffling. As Lillie put on her recon suit again, the two of them climbed onto the back of Lunala, who flew down from its roost, and took off into the leafy skies of the forest.
Kartana cooed sadly, as it watched its trainer and friend leave, but it thought quickly, before soaring off to a rock, and set to work. It slashed, and cut, and sheared at the rock, and when the dust settled, it squealed in delight, and called out to Lillie. The girl in question turned as Lunala flew through the skies. She noticed the dust settle around the stone, and spotted Kartana's piece of art. It was a statue that held the likeness of Lillie, carved with love.
Lillie's heart thumped against her chest as she saw this, aching that she could not return home with her Kartana, but nonetheless called out to her friend. "Goodbye Kartana! I will never forget you!" her voice carried through the air before she vanished into a wormhole. She was gone.
Lillie looked sadly back forward at Soliera. She pondered what would happen next. As the area shifted and morphed back into the wormhole's usual surroundings, one thought was clear. She would miss her new friend greatly.
"You know, Lillie. You could always come back and visit. Nothing's stopping you from leaving your world, after all." Soliera spoke softly from the front of Lunala.
Thoughts bloomed in her head as she considered this information. They would see each other again, that was for sure, a smile crept across her face, as she realised that this was most certainly not the end of their story together.
She would return, someday. But for now, it was time to go home. It was funny though, how in a quick flash of the blade, that more than one life would change forever.
The End