Volcarona

Volcarona felt weary; it was hard to hold out her wings, but they felt so stiff that drawing them back wouldn't be much better. With her energy waning, the fires she produced were losing brightness. It had been a long day, after a long day yesterday, and the day before that… it had been two months now, right? She wasn't sure, but felt like it had been forever.

Yet, she hadn't moved far from this spot the whole time. The rock under her feet had darkened from her heat, with small groves forming where she sat. She had kept her fire going, but had not used it for attacking. While that usually kept energy consumption down, she had been maintaining this fire for hours. At times like this, she wondered if it was worth keeping this up.

She looked up at the sky, which gave her reason enough to stay. It was raining ash dust, little dry white, gray, and black fragments falling from above. Above that, the ash clouds glowed with the sun's light, but did not let it all the way through. It had been like that ever since the nearby volcano erupted explosively. She hadn't minded it much herself, feeling home at the volcano, but all around her it had been panic and fear… and death.

That catastrophe had lasted only a few hours, but what followed showed no signs of letting up. The ashes stayed in the sky, slowly falling but never ceasing. Without sunlight, the plants and Grass Pokémon should have browned and died. But Volcarona's fire emitted light just like the sun. Feeling sorry for those who couldn't tolerate these conditions, she had settled on this rock, above a place where humans grew their crops.

Grass Pokémon who would have normally steered clear of her flocked to her side instead. A few times, other Pokémon had attacked this place, but they had all banded together so that she didn't need to fight. All of the plants here had turned their leaves towards her, finding the energy to produce fruits, vegetables, and grains for the humans and other kinds of Pokémon to eat. Because she was here, the others could survive in this time of darkness.

Thankfully, the colors of the sky were shifting to red and orange. The sun past the clouds was setting and soon, she could let her fires go out and rest. As usual, a small group of humans came into the garden. One was dressed in long brown robes and a strange feather and bone headdress. A Petlil had told her that this man was a holy man to the humans. Every day, he would come here and speak near her. Volcarona didn't understand the humans, but she liked the tone of his voice and the Petlil had said that it was a prayer of blessing and thanks. She was starting to let him touch her, which he would do with great respect. Before this, she wouldn't have thought herself worthy of that kind of attention. But she was the focus of their hopes right now. For that, she would endure these long draining days.

And then a shaft of sunlight broke through the clouds and reached down to them.

…

Black entry: When volcanic ash darkened the atmosphere, it is said that Volcarona's fire provided a replacement for the sun.

Someone got me hooked on writing really short stories.