The island’s vegetation grew gradually denser as Poppy and Lavender neared their destination. By now oak trees too thick to embrace towered over them, filtering out most of the sunlight.
“I know I’m not the ecologist here,” said Lavender as she slipped between the branches of a serviceberry shrub, “but this doesn’t seem natural.”
“You can say that again,” Poppy agreed. “The soil here shouldn’t be able to support… all this. And check this out.” She grasped the branch of a blueberry bush between her toes and bent it hard. The leaves rustled, but the branch held despite its thinness. “These plants… I’m not sure it would even be possible to cut down one of these trees.”
“Maybe it’s the same reason why the pokemon here are tougher, too. There’s something going on we don’t know about.”
“Yeah. Hopefully we’ll learn something from team Chlorosteel. Speaking of which…” Poppy took a deep breath. “Laurie! Scotch!”
“You’ve got to be louder than that,” Lavender teased. She turned her head forward. “Like this—Laurie! Scotch!” She looked back at Poppy. “See, they’ll have a much easier time—”
Lavender was interrupted by a distant but piercing screech—if a chunk of metal could crash to the ground and shatter like glass, that’s probably what it would have sounded like.
“Huh, good job,” said Poppy. “I haven’t heard any skarmory on this island so far, so I’m willing to bet that’s our quarry.”
Lavender smiled. “Thank goodness. Let’s get over there!”
Poppy and Lavender threaded their way through the understory, until they saw a glint of steel through the bushes.
“Scotch!” Lavender picked up her pace. “Is that you?”
The skarmory’s head peeked through the leaves of a sumac. “Hey, Lavender!” he called, his voice rough like grinding stones. “It’s good to see you.”
Poppy and Lavender closed the distance between themselves and Scotch and gave their greetings. Poppy gave Scotch a cursory look and was relieved to see he seemed uninjured. It took her a little longer to notice the comparatively diminutive lurantis that stood behind him, a little off to the side. The way she held herself, with her legs close together and arms half-hiding her face, suggested someone introverted.
“How are you two doing?” Lavender asked. “We were told you had some trouble dealing with ferals around here.”
Scotch nodded. “That’s right. Laurie was injured badly by an arbok earlier. Wasn’t poisoned, thank goodness, but we took it as a sign that we should call for help.”
Laurie, the lurantis, stepped forward and held out her arm. There was a jagged spot of swollen flesh there about as large as a coaster, resembling a burn.
“Heavens.” Lavender clucked her tongue. “That must have been really bad. How long ago was it?”
“Well, that’s the thing… It’s only been two days. I mean, I thought… I thought she was gonna die at first when we were treating it, but… she’s already fine.”
Lavender frowned and looked Scotch in the eye. “Two days? You’re sure?”
“I mean, I was there.”
Lavender shook her head. “Not that I’m unhappy to hear it, but even with good treatment, that doesn’t make sense.” She hummed, swiveling her head. A breeze rippled massive leaves audibly. “Then again, what does make sense around here?”
“That’s just the thing—we’ve been thinking it’s related. If our guess is correct, all of us could be passively benefiting from the power that permeates this island. Just like all these plants here.” He struck the tree beside him hard with his wing; the sound reverberated across the forest like a gong. But he didn’t so much as chip the bark. “And maybe the feral pokemon are strong because they’ve been here for longer. Just a thought. But either way, things keep getting crazier as we move further inland. If we keep going, we might be able to find the source of it all.”
“Sounds exciting!” said Lavender.
“Sounds dangerous,” said Poppy.
The two looked at each other, and then Poppy glanced away awkwardly. “I mean, I know we’re here to explore, but I can’t help but think something that powerful should be left alone.”
“The opposite could be true, too, don’t you think? If we don’t know what’s causing this, it could bite us later.”
“I guess,” Poppy said, and then frowned. “I’m just worried about the guildmaster. You were there for our last conversation. I don’t trust him with… whatever we find.”
Lavender nodded. “I understand that, Poppy. But it’s too late to pretend this doesn’t exist, so we may as well finish this mission and get paid.”
“Sure,” she mumbled. “May as well.” Poppy began to walk, but her gait was slow, chin lower than usual. The others followed shortly after and soon overtook her.
The irony in having a strong, four-pokemon team is that it made having a strong, four-pokemon team unnecessary. Even the more threatening ferals like rillaboom and arcanine recognized they were at a numerical disadvantage and scrambled off through the bushes when the explorers neared them. Meanwhile the vegetation around Poppy, Lavender, and team Chlorosteel continued to grow to more extreme—if not frightening—proportions. There were paw-sized serviceberries and tree trunks nearly large enough to live inside, like something out of a fairy tale. Poppy was covered in itchy scratches where she had tried to push through a patch of brambles only to realize that the stems and thorns were as rigid as steel. Lavender seemed excited (“Look at how big that flower is!” “Poppy, try this dandelion!”) but Poppy just felt like she was somewhere she didn’t belong.
At night, the sounds of wind and rain, low pitched through massive leaves, distracted Poppy. Even the cicadas sounded foreign. Despite shorter shifts, she slept little.
After 5 days, an unusually steep ridge appeared on the horizon—a nearly perpendicular slope that led to an ashen, volcano-like crater.
“We might want to go around that,” Poppy suggested.
Lavender gestured with her tail to the tip of the crater. “But look, Poppy, there’s something glowing at the top there. We should check it out!”
Poppy, along with Scotch and Laurie, looked up. It was faint, but there was indeed a strange white glow coming from the center, like moonlight.
“Lavender is right,” Scotch said. “That might be the source of all this power.”
“I see,” Poppy replied. “Then here we go…”
The teams picked up their pace slightly, though it was still slow going with all the foliage. Scotch led the way, flattening the shrubs where he could, while Laurie slipped through gaps in the branches like water. Lavender wrinkled her nose as she emerged from under a burdock shrub.
“You smell that too?” Poppy asked.
“Yeah,” Lavender said as she picked a burr off her flank. “You don’t know what it is, do you?”
Poppy shook her head. “Never smelled anything like it. Sweet, but not floral… I don’t think it’s botanical in origin.”
“I think it smells more like a pokemon… Maybe it’s a species we haven’t seen before!”
Indeed it is.
The psychic voice was floaty, ethereal, like the sound of rubbing a wineglass. Everyone started. “What was—”
Light flashed in the corner of Poppy’s eye, so she whipped her head around to look, and then did a double-take.
Azure and cobalt highlights on black fur. Antlers as tall as Poppy herself, spread wide like the mouth of a goblet. Fading white motes from teleportation. She scrutinized every feature, looking for the telltale shimmer of a zoroark’s illusion, the misshapen artifacts that would signify a transformed ditto, but found nothing. This island wasn’t even that far from the guild; had Xerneas really been here the whole time?
Xerneas’ gaze swept twice over everyone gathered before it, and the air seemed to chill several degrees. Poppy hadn’t got the impression of such a severe figure from Lavender’s myths. I do not know why you all are here, but unless it is something pressing, I implore you to leave.
“O-okay,” said Lavender, blinking like she’d got dust in her eyes. “Can I ask why? We came all this way to explore the island…”
To explore the island? Xerneas tilted its head and examined Lavender’s pouch, with its guild badge affixed to the front. Its eyes narrowed fractionally. Guild members. I see. I am distantly aware of your organization.
The ensuing silence was long, but Poppy didn’t want to speak up. Eventually Lavender opened her mouth, but Xerneas interrupted her. “Leave no stone unturned.” A common saying amongst your ilk. Tell me, if you return home without having completed your exploration, what do you think the guild will do?
“They’ll send someone else,” Poppy said. “They’ll send fliers too high for you to reach, or psychics.”
Xerneas nodded slowly. I think so as well.
It was silent yet again. Scotch and Laurie shuffled their feet as crickets’ calls sizzled throughout the understory. Xerneas stood still, statuesque, and stayed that way even as it resumed speaking.
I would prefer to keep this place secret, but I know that to be a naive prospect. As a gesture of goodwill, I will tell you what lies at the center of this landmass—and I hope that information inspires you and your ilk to act responsibly.
The explorers nodded.
Doubtless, each of you has already realized the unique qualities of this island’s lifeforms. And, as you have speculated, they arise from that source over there. It gestured with its head to the top of the crater. That crater goes far underground, nearly to the center of the planet. It exposes the planet’s energy itself, which bubbles up like a spring.
Lavender spoke up, kneading the ground with her paws the way she did when she was excited. “Oh, I’ve heard of that. The ancient civilization of Quile used it to power advanced technologies like shuttles and lights and heating systems… Or that’s what they say, anyway,” she added sheepishly, perhaps thinking better of explaining Xerneas’ history to it.
That is true. But what the stories neglect to mention is the energy’s original use. Surely, at some point, you must have wondered about how us pokemon acquired our power. About what separates us from animals.
“That’s because of this energy too?”
Yes. Though it is especially strong here, it actually permeates the entire planet. And pokemon, by nature, can harness it in myriad ways. Xerneas looked up to the sky. In the past, pokemon were far more powerful. You may have heard stories about it; about how skarmory used to be able to fly, for example. It pointed at Scotch. But populations have grown, meaning that there is now less of this power for each individual to draw upon. I bring this up to illustrate that the planet’s energy is a finite resource that warrants protection. I am here to provide that protection and ensure that it remains freely usable by all.
“That’s interesting,” said Lavender. “But aren’t we missing out on a lot if we can’t harness this stuff with technology?”
Who, exactly, do you mean when you say “we?”
“Huh? I mean—” She stopped partway through her response and scrunched up her face. Thinking.
Poppy stepped forward, into Lavender’s view. “I think Xerneas has a point. We probably shouldn’t interfere with something so fundamental.”
Lavender pouted at Poppy. “Aw, why not? Otherwise all that energy is mostly just going to be used for fighting, and that kind of seems like a waste.”
“It’s more than just fighting. For example, if that power were depleted, I might not be able to use my vines as effectively. That would affect a lot more than just combat.”
Lavender frowned. “Pokemon are smart. It shouldn’t be too hard for us to invent a way around—”
“Just because there might be a way around it doesn’t mean it’s okay to curse every pokemon on the planet with unnatural deficiencies.” Poppy’s face grew hot. “And what about pokemon with healing abilities? Should we contrive replacements for them as well? Sounds like we’re well on our way to creating a solutionist dystopia.”
I agree with the leafeon, Xerneas said. The natural order is too important to be tampered with.
Lavender wrinkled her brow. “But for emergencies? If we had an influx of refugees, say, and had to provide homes or heating? Could we use it somehow then?”
There is no use that will not harm others. The answer is no.
Lavender turned toward Scotch and Laurie. “And you two? I take it you feel the same?”
“Er…” Scotch shuffled his feet. “I don’t know. I didn’t expect something like this; I just wanted to explore the island. I’ll have to think about it.”
Meanwhile, Laurie just held still.
“Fine.” Lavender turned and stomped away, crushing the fallen leaves beneath her paws. Scotch and Laurie followed shortly after.
“Lavender…” Poppy took a step toward her partner, then stopped and turned toward Xerneas. “I’m sorry about that. Good luck.”
Xerneas simply bowed its head.