A Treasured Dragon
You're sitting in the shade of your trainer's tent, the desert sand rubbing against your scales as you focus your eyes on a glowing light coming from a bulky metal contraption. It's supposed to be like those machines that humans like your trainer use to teach Pokémon new moves—through those "tee-yem"s of theirs—except it's much older.
In spite of its age, this device supposedly behaves much the same, even if you were dubious at first from its appearance. It's much bigger, and the discs it uses are fashioned from a black material that feels nothing like a "tee-yem". From the way the machine is dented and rusted in various places, part of you isn't convinced that it'll actually work. Especially here of all places: in the deserts south of Stow-on-Side, where much newer human machines regularly meet their end from the elements.
The light cuts out and the disc on the machine stops spinning. A set of human hands, belonging to a younger man with a brimmed hat grabs it and lifts it up. He looks at you as he takes the disc, which now has scratches and grooves that it didn't have before being spun, and looks down at you with an expectant smile.
"There! That should do it. What do you think, Gilbert? Feeling a bit more dragon-y right now?"
You grumble back about how it feels more like you've been staring into a light for too long and turn away. You suppose you ought to be happier at the moment. While this desert is not the same place in Galar where you grew up, the temperature is warm here and the sun is strong—perfect conditions for a Heliolisk like you to go and bask.
Except, you are unsure how much luck you will have to do so. You have come here today with your trainer for work, which unlike travels during his 'holidays', will keep you on your toes. If it's like the other journeys of this sort you two made in the past few days closer to the human Route further north, you'll be too busy to really be able to stop and enjoy your surroundings. It doesn't make much difference since the words you tell your trainer go over his head, as Pokémon's words tend to for humans. He tilts his head at you with a puzzled frown, before motioning over at the opening to his tent.
"... If you're worried about picking up the move, try breathing in deeply and letting things out from your throat, Gilbert," he insists. "The manual was a bit tatty, but the Technical Record said that's how a Dragon Pulse is supposed to be used."
… That was hardly the point that you were trying to make, but after seeing your trainer breathe in and then out with his mouth opened wide, you glance at the label on the scratched disc and notice that among the human glyphs on its bluish label, there is a circular design that looks vaguely like a dragon's head.
Perhaps if you humor your trainer, he'll opt to let things rest a bit so that way you can get in a good bask. You mimic your trainer's action when much to your surprise, heat builds at the back of your throat. Your mouth flops open wide, more from surprise than intention and a fiery blue ray sails out. It's thin and makes it about halfway to some desert rocks a few paces from the tent before it abruptly cuts out, barely singing their surface.
You tilt your head skeptically at your trainer in his brimmed hat as he stumbles back with a start. You gathered that he was unsure earlier about how you two would fare searching around in this place when there are no shortage of Pokémon that dwell in it that are wholly unfazed by your sparks. They were a handful to deal with back closer to the Route, enough so that he felt that you needed to be able to wield another power to deal with them in order to safely venture further out.
He's smiling over your attempt, at least, but you just don't understand what he expects from you. Since you don't see how you're going to be able to make a difference with a feeble power like that. Was there none related to water he could've taught you instead?
"... I'm sure you'll get the hang of it with a bit of practice. And who knows? If we're lucky, maybe you won't need to use Dragon Pulse at all."
You have overheard your trainer's friends sometimes tell him that he's "tempting fate" when he talks like that. You don't know how true it is, but it's probably for the best to stop him while he's ahead. Just in case.
You grunt and press on out of the tent with a sigh. You stop and stretch your limbs and try to get the blood in your legs pumping when you glance back into the tent. You see your trainer stop and grab a bag with a few tools set beside it. A pick, a shovel, a camera.
Tools to try and find that treasure that you two have been seeking.
When most humans or perhaps Pokémon like dragons think of treasure, they usually think of shining gems or the like, but the treasure your trainer seeks is apparently bygone remains left behind by humans from the distant past. Quite a few exist in the ruins on Route 6 proper, with the remnants of ancient buildings, and tall statues of people and Pokémon alike. But for reasons you don't understand, none of them were to your trainer's liking and thus your search has taken the two of you southward, off of the stony bluffs and deep into the sands.
Your trainer seems to think that you'd be excited to be here. And while it is a pleasing place to be in with the warmth and the sun's rays soaking in and invigorating you much as they're doing right now as you sit your frill outstretched…
"Heeeeey! Gilbert! Did you find anything?"
You're constantly moving about and it keeps you from being able to stop and enjoy it. You pull in your frill with a sigh, your latest attempt at a bask cut short yet again. You rise to your feet from a small pile of rocks and trudge up a dune to meet your trainer. He looks at you expectantly, then down at the tracks in your wake, and then he lets out a disappointed sigh.
"Yeah, I didn't find anything either, Gilbert. I suppose just give that Dragon Pulse of yours a try and let's move on."
You tilt your head at your trainer when he points off along the ridge. He repeats that phrase of his, when it occurs to you that he wants you to practice your new move again. You oblige, since if you put up a good showing, perhaps you can use it to convince your trainer to let you bask without making him think you're tired and pulling you into your Pokéball.
You build up heat at the back of your throat, and once again, the stream of blue dragonfire comes out. At once, you're underwhelmed by how thin its ray is, and your aim is off, as the fiery pulse finds its mark in the sand and kicks up a small spray in its wake.
Much to your surprise, a sharp yelp follows your target practice. You turn your head and train your eyes at the sand cloud, where you see a small yellow-and-black figure tumble away from your blow.
"... Oops. Didn't see that Helioptile there," your trainer says, grimacing. "Hope we didn't scare it too badly."
Well, you definitely weren't trying to do that, especially since it wouldn't take that much to rile up one of the wilds that lives in these parts. You grimace and dart over, hoping to catch the Helioptile and offer an apology for the scare. By the time you arrive, he's long gone, with the only sign of his presence being hurried footprints in the sand away, along with a black-and-yellow colored rock lying a short distance from the Dragon Pulse's point of impact.
You stoop down and pick it up as you notice orange sections between the black and yellow sides, eyeing the strange rock with a curious blink. Your trainer seems to have noticed you, since you hear his boots crunch against the sand and his voice call out for you.
"Oh? What do you have there, Gilbert?"
You turn and pass the stone along to your trainer, as he raises it and inspects it. He flips the colored surface towards himself, revealing the other side of the rock to have a ruddy color. Much like the same sandstone that the ruins further up the bluffs are made of.
"Huh, strange. It looks like someone painted one end of it."
Your trainer pockets the stone when it dawns on you: that that strange stone might actually be just what you're looking for. After all, the treasure your trainer couldn't find from all those past ruins were ancient paintings of some sort. Except… if the stone was a fragment of an ancient painting, why was there neither hide nor scale of any ruins nearby where it could have come from?
Could they be buried under the sand? Pokémon burrow into the earth sometimes to nest, so perhaps these ancient humans did the same? You eye your surroundings, noting the Helioptile's panicked tracks running off from where your Dragon Pulse struck. You don't see anything there, when you turn to check the other side of the dune and abruptly stiffen up.
There's footsteps there too, similarly frantic and looking like they were made in a hurry, along with parts where the sand is smooth and spread out in a plume, as if it was abruptly shot out.
Like there would be if someone was giving chase to the Helioptile you ran into.
"Huh? Gilbert? What are you-?"
All of a sudden the sand below your feet erupts. You and your trainer yelp, and as you tumble down the face of the dune, you throw out your frill and cast sparks all around you. They do nothing other than to draw a mocking hiss about how your kind evidently doesn't learn after evolving. You freeze and turn, where your eyes fall on a Sandaconda approaching with fangs bared.
Your body tenses up and your mouth drops open with fright. You've never met a Sandaconda that wasn't trained, but you know enough about them to know that in nature, they hunt for prey. Your mind turns back to the Helioptile's tracks as you see the way she eyes you with a piercing stare as you realize she's changed her target:
To you.
You throw your frill out to make yourself larger and try to muster the largest-sounding voice you can, which despite your best efforts still comes out with a nervous stammer. You insist that you are companions with a human and you are not hers to take. That it is by divine providence that you and her leave each other's lives be.
She snorts up a small amount of sand and gives a mocking sneer in reply as her words come out dripping with a venomous threat that chills your scales: that you've already forfeited your protections, since you and your human have intervened in the ways of the wild and cheated her out of her prey.
Whatever thoughts you have of trying to plead your case are cut off by the Sandaconda rearing up and throwing her body down to the sand. It strikes the ground with a stomping tremor and promptly throws you off your feet. You fall onto your side and hear your trainer's voice, trying to get up with legs that now feel stiff and uneasy. You feel scales brush against yours, and in a panic, you throw sparks once again. It does nothing and in a flash, the Sandaconda's body wraps around yours and starts to tighten as you thrash and frantically try to pull yourself free.
"G-Gilbert! Use Dragon Pulse!"
You hear your trainer's cry as you start to feel the air get squeezed out of your lungs, and without thinking, you build up dragonfire in your mouth, spewing it at the Sandaconda's body just below your snout. She shrieks in pain and loses her grip on you with her coils as you dart off, gasping for air and scrabbling on all fours as you fight to keep balance. You briefly see her slither off the other way, her own movements frantic and unfocused as your trainer's legs fill your vision. He raises his Pokéball and shakily taps the center, as in a flash of light the desert surrounding you melts away.
About an hour later, you're back in the tent where the disc reader was. Lying on your side against an open sleeping bag and still shivering from your ordeal as your trainer applies a Potion to damaged scales along your legs.
"I'm sorry, Gilbert. I should've known it was a bad idea to go this far off the Route on our own."
He finishes, and you warily sit up, giving an uneasy paw at some raw patches on your body. The entire time, your trainer's expression is downcast, and every time your eyes meet, you can see a flash of guilt in them. All his thoughts about his treasure have faded away after the shock of your close call.
It's moments like these that you wish he could understand you better. You try to tell him that it wasn't his fault and that it was thanks to the power he helped you learn and his direction that you were able to escape.
… You just wish that you had a way to repay the favor.
"Helio!"
Your trainer turns and freezes, which prompts you to follow his gaze. There at the front of the tent is a quartet of Helioptile, tense and poised for battle. One of them steps to the front with his side frills flared as he levels a claw and cries out to you:
To give him back his treasure. That he did not brave a predator's territory to retrieve it only to see it be stolen by you.
"... Gilbert? Do you know what's going on here? Why's that Helioptile pointing at you like that?"
The voice of the Helioptile at the head of the group comes out shaky, and a closer examination you see that he's trembling. His companions appear to be similarly nervous, much in the same way that you were when you faced the Sandaconda. Clearly, they're worried about their odds of besting you in battle.
Fortunately for you and them, you think that you can resolve things on a more peaceful note. You reach a hand into your trainer's pocket and fish around. He raises his voice with a start, but you brush it off—it'll be easier to explain afterwards—and pull out the black-and-yellow stone from earlier.
"Lisk?"
You take it and show it to the Helioptile, who confirms that it is indeed his treasure. You apologize for the earlier incident and are about to stoop down to return it, when you realize there's something that you should ask him first.
"He… lio?"
You ask where the Helioptile found the stone, to which he and his companions reply that it came from the "Heliolisk of the Stone Wall". You notice your trainer casting a befuddled look between you and the wild Pokémon. One of the Helioptile tilts his head as well and asks how you as a Heliolisk don't know of the Heliolisk of the Stone Wall yourself.
That one is easy to explain: you're not from around here.
You hand the stone off and there's a moment of hesitance among the Helioptile before their leader turns and motions for you to follow with his head.
"Tile! Tile!"
Those "Heliolisk of the Stone Wall" happen to be close to here, he tells you. And if you wish to have a treasure of your own, perhaps there'd be another one there for you to claim… even if it might require a bit of digging since the site periodically gets buried by the desert sand.
… You're not sure how your trainer will take this, since blindly trusting the word of Pokémon—wild Pokémon at that—which you've just met is quite the leap of faith. But nevertheless, you tug at your trainer's arm and motion off after the Helioptile yourself. It takes him a little bit, but it dawns on him as to what your request is.
"Huh? You want me to follow after them? What's going on, Gilbert?"
The Helioptile already start scampering off. You start after them, only to turn back to face your trainer. You hop on your legs and call out, motioning for to him to follow.
He gets up, unsure of what to make of things. As are you, but at this point, what do you two have to lose?
About ten minutes later, you're entering a set of ruined walls, half-buried in the sand, with an entrance through a ruined doorway with a clearance so low that you have to stoop to all fours and your human has to crawl through it to enter. You make your way through and spot the Helioptile who then point off at a sand-covered wall, just in time for your trainer to catch up and follow along when he catches a glimpse of a corner.
At once, his eyes light up in excitement.
"Ah! Gilbert! This is it! This is one of those murals we've been looking for!"
You turn and follow your trainer's eyes as he comes across flecks of paint in a half-buried chunk of wall. He calls you over and fetches a few brushes which he uses to start removing the sand and you join in with careful strokes from your paws. Every stroke takes a little more of it away, and as the sand clears, you begin to see worn depictions of squarish human structures and humans in strange garb. You breathe out a sigh of relief, happy that all your efforts over the past few days alongside your trainer haven't been in vain when your digits brush away some more sand, you come across a glimpse of black and yellow.
"H-Helio?!"
You cry out in surprise as you uncover a picture of a Heliolisk alongside the painted human, with a missing chip along its neck. The Helioptile come over, saying that there's more of these Heliolisk below the sand and offer to help you see them.
You accept, and as your combined efforts clear away more and more of the sand, you find yourself gaping in disbelief as you come across a growing number of paintings that resemble you on the wall. Paintings of Heliolisk and humans intermingled with one another. Others with Heliolisk marching alongside humans bearing shields and spears. One with Heliolisk standing guard over treasure as humans heap them up for counting.
There is one in particular that catches your eye: of a Heliolisk at a human warrior's side alongside a Duraludon, spewing a ray of what looks like blue fire at a Garchomp, who is turned away and fleeing.
Is… Is that the same power that you learned today? Does it really have the strength when mastered to turn back foes that strong?
"Ah! This is exactly what I was looking for, Gilbert!"
You look up at your trainer confusedly as he comes over and stoops, patting your head.
"I had a feeling you'd like the murals when we found them. The desert civilization that used to be out here is said to have introduced Heliolisk like you to Galar, and they were particularly valued by its people."
These people… brought your kind here? You find it a bit hard to believe, but the murals are clear. These ancients cherished your kind enough to immortalize them in their history, and some way, somehow, gave the ones that dwelled with them the strength to fight and stand among the ranks of dragons.
You can't help but feel a glimmer of pride and subconsciously wag your tail and raise your head tall and proud. There's a moment's pause, when you see your trainer look away briefly, and kick uneasily at the sand.
"I… just hope that this makes up for everything. Even before what happened today, you haven't really seemed happy with me lately."
So your trainer noticed all this time? If only he could've understood your words. Perhaps this whole misunderstanding could've been cleared up on the first day.
It's then that your eyes notice the sunlight coming down in the center of the ruins, through the gaping hole where the now-nonexistent roof is where the Helioptile that helped you are resting under its warmth. You make your way over, and settle in alongside them, frill flared out as you face towards the sun. You turn back to your trainer, speaking up in your tongue with a quiet chuckle.
You'll call things even with him, you tell him. As long as you get to properly soak in the sun for once today.