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Lush Jungle certainly lived up to its name. Every tree and fern seemed to curl in amongst each other, thick leaves and twisted vines melding together in patchwork harmony.
It would be unfair to call it overgrown, Lillie thought. Lush Jungle was grown exactly as much as it was supposed to be. It was wild, unrestrained, free to grow as it pleased; the roots disregarding human-made paths.
In an odd way, Lillie envied it.
She and Selene made their way through Lush Jungle at a steady pace. The midmorning sun dappled through the gaps in the leaves, odd shadows trickling across their uneven path. The light breeze danced along, toying with Lillie’s hair, the island challenge amulet on Selene’s bag. Fairy Pokémon fluttered about, rustling the leaves in the distance.
Still, as magical as the jungle seemed, Lillie doubted the “super-cool fairy-princess Pokémon hiding in the jungle” that Hau claimed to have seen was actually real.
Selene however, had no such reservations and thus, Lillie found herself knee-deep in jungle flora.
Not that she really minded.
“Ah.” Selene said, coming to a sudden stop.
Lillie stumbled slightly, bumping into Selene’s back.
“Wha—? What is it?”
“There.” Selene said, pointing off into the distance.
Lillie peered over Selene’s shoulder, gaze following her fingers. Very faintly, through the weave of trees and plants, was a bright glint. Something silver. Something metallic.
“Let’s go.”
Selene grabbed Lillie’s hand, pulling her forward through the brush.
They stumbled to a stop at the edges of wreckage, a clean circle that flared out into the jungle. Lillie touched the tip of her toe to the ground; there was still smoke curling off the now-dry grass. The trees and bushes in the immediate area had all been knocked over, splintered apart, or burnt. The smell of gasoline and embers mixed with the scent of earth and grass burned Lillie’s nose. Bright light shone down in a ring, a break in the trees allowing the sun to pour down across the wreckage. Lingering at the edges, Morelull and Comfey poked their heads out from where they hid in the leaves.
And there, in the centre of it all, was a large, strange creature.
A Pokémon… probably.
It was all metal, but its silver body had a green sheen, somehow a shade alien to all the greenery around it. Its body was clearly mechanical, yet something about it resembled a human. Sheets of metal suggested cascading hair, a layered dress. Its needle-like neck unnerved Lillie, seeming so fragile in comparison to the sturdy bamboo stalks on either side of it. One lay against its side on the right, propped up by the rest of the body. The other; the left, lay flat against the jungle floor, obscuring the base of where the creature sat.
A Pokémon: metallic and alien, and yet somehow beautiful.
Selene sucked in a breath. “Rotom. Who’s that Pokémon?”
At the sound of its name, Rotom Dex zipped out of Selene’s shoulder bag, hovering in place in front of her.
“Bzzt. Scanning.”
The display circled for a moment before loading to a page as Rotom read aloud.
“Celesteela, Bzzt. The Rocket Pokémon. Witnesses have seen it burn down a forest by expelling gas from its two arms. An Ultra Beast.”
“Celesteela…” Selene whispered, tucking the words in under her breath. “Thanks, Rotom. Back to sleep.”
“Bzzt. Zzz.” And Rotom zipped itself back up into Selene’s bag.
Lillie turned to Selene, asking for elaboration wordlessly.
“UB: Blaster. Ultra beast. Dangerous. Wicke told me.”
Even without touching, Lillie could feel Selene bristle beside her. There was an undercurrent layer of electricity that ran through Selene’s veins when she was preparing to fight, that energy now crackling to the surface. Without Selene even prompting it, Primarina flickered out from its ball. Its flippers brushed against the dirt, the Pokémon looking towards its trainer for the signal.
Perfectly in sync, as always.
“Ah—no!” Lillie squeaked out, pulling back on Selene’s hand.
This time Selene startled, whipping her attention over to Lillie. Primarina did the same. “What?”
Heat rose to Lillie’s face, but she tried not to care. “That… that Pokémon! You can’t fight it!”
“Why?” Selene asked. She wasn't angry, Lillie knew. She was always unflinchingly sincere. “I know you don’t like battles but—”
“Not that!” Lillie interrupted, embarrassed blush growing. “I—I’m sorry, but! It doesn’t want to fight!”
Selene stared Lillie down. She wore the same neutral expression as always, asking without words for Lillie to explain herself.
“I—It—it looks hurt! See, right there!”
Lillie pointed out at it, towards the left stalk. When Selene squinted she could see a jagged tear that slashed deep into the creature. Instead of any wiring or casing peeking out from the inside, all that spilled out was darkness.
“Ah…” Selene hummed. She held back; Primarina did the same.
She was still tense though, Lillie still felt that static in the air.
“It doesn’t look like it wants to fight…” Lillie repeated, voice cautious.
It wasn’t that she thought Selene wouldn’t listen. It wasn’t that she thought Selene would argue, or even disagree.
But…
Selene was the strong one. Selene led the charge, iron will and nerves of steel. If something needed to be done, Selene was doing it. It was always Selene. Never Lillie.
Selene looked Lillie up and down, then nodded towards the Ultra Beast. “Alright then. What do you want to do?”
Lillie didn’t move for a moment, only blinking in place. “What?”
“Your move,” Selene replied, waving her arm out. “Directions?”
Lillie felt the weight of expectations pass onto her shoulders like a brick. But at least it was a solid weight, it was a weight Lillie wanted to try and carry. She wanted to prove she could handle it.
“A-alright!” Lillie called, plunging her arm into her bag.
Her fingers curled around the Heal Ball at the bag’s bottom. It was smooth, the feeling of grasping it still unusual to Lillie. She could feel Nebby’s breathing, its soft body brushing up against her wrist. Nebby was sleeping now, and Lillie was grateful. Taking a breath, Lillie tossed the ball up with a gentle flick of her wrist.
“Clefairy, come out! Please!”
In a flash of light, Clefairy materialized, standing vivid pink against the forest floor.
The nearby fairy Pokémon skittered a bit, turning their attention to Clefairy while keeping their distance from the girls as a whole.
Lillie crouched down to meet Clefairy at eye level. “Clefairy, go and use Life Dew on Miss Celesteela, please.”
Clefairy looked towards the beast, then back to its trainer.
After a moment of hesitation, it nodded, and began walking closer.
Selene bristled.
“Selene?”
“Nervous.” She replied. “Steel. Not good with Fairies. Don’t want Clefairy to get hurt.”
Lillie felt her stomach turn for a moment, the heat of the jungle only making her that bit more nauseous.
Still. Clefairy could do this. Lillie knew she could.
And she believed in Celesteela, too.
As Clefairy approached, it raised its arms up, a soft blue glow materializing in the air above it. Energy clouded together, forming a crystalline water droplet. It seemed to flicker forward, settling above Celesteela’s head before splashing over her.
Lillie held her breath.
What if the move wasn’t strong enough? What if Celesteela ended up hurting Clefairy? It would be all Lillie’s fault for trying to help and-
“Look.” Selene’s voice, strong and sturdy, sliced evenly through Lillie’s anxiety.
A Comfey flitted out from its perch in a tree. With a colourful array of petals, Comfey used Floral Healing. The pink and green flowers glowed with energy before making contact, light seeping into the wound.
With a little squeak, a particularly small Morelull crawled out from under a log. It latched onto the side of the metal stalk, slowly crawling its way up towards the wound. Once it got there, the Pokémon glowed brightly. A shining beam of pink light scattered down from the bright sunshine as Morelull used Moonlight.
Each move mixed into a vibrant illumination, pouring into the dark gash in Celesteela.
Glowing, the area around the injury appeared to grow, metal plates converging together, until all that was left was smooth steel.
Lillie breathed a sigh of relief. The fairy Pokémon chittered among themselves, evidently just as relieved.
“There…” Lillie’s voice came quiet, gentle smile stretching across her face. “Does that feel better?”
A pause. After a moment, Celesteela’s head bowed down, then back again. It was nodding, Lillie realized.
“Ah—wonderful!” she said.
Lillie had only taken one step forward towards her Clefairy and Celesteela, still several meters away from being able to even touch the Ultra Beast.
But the second she got closer, a metallic scraping sound emitted from Celesteela’s mouth and Lillie jolted back. Selene bristled again, taking a step of her own closer to Lillie. Her fingers twitched at her side, prepared to send Primarina forward at a moment's notice.
“Wait a moment!”
Lillie whipped her head around, braids bouncing across her back with the motion. “Selene, please, I—”
She turned her head back towards Celesteela, craning her neck up to meet its gaze. Or tried to, its expression baring permanently closed eyes.
Its mouth however, or at least what Lillie assumed to be a mouth, turned downward in a frown.
It was subtle, Lillie realized, its expressions mild and unassuming.
“Celesteela…” Lillie tried, raising her hands above her head, “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise! Is something else wrong? I can help you—I just need to get a bit closer to see…”
Even as she tried to convince Celesteela, Lillie could hear her own voice trembling.
No wonder Celesteela wasn’t listening to her, she was hardly even a trainer. Maybe she’d directed Clefairy wrong and the injury hadn’t healed right? Maybe Celesteela didn’t like her because of how close she’d been to Clefairy, the fairy’s aura clinging to her? Maybe Celesteela could just sense that she wasn’t a strong enough trainer to help.
Lillie gritted her teeth. Even if she was weak, she wanted to help Celesteela.
“Clefairy, please try and get closer to Celesteela’s fallen stalk if you can. But be gentle!”
“‘Lefairy!”
Clefairy gave a quick nod, then slowly walked towards Celesteela.
Lillie held her breath, prepared to cover her ears in case Celesteela began screeching again.
Instead, the sound never came, and Clefairy proceeded behind the fallen stalk.
Then after a moment, buzzing softly, a tiny Cutiefly rose out from the folds in Celesteela’s dress. It floated around for a moment, disoriented. Its tiny wings beat particularly hard, still dipping slightly despite its efforts.
The Comfey squeaked, spinning around in a loop before darting over to Cutiefly. It wound its flowers around the tiny fairy bug, lifting it up and escorting it over to where the Morelull sat on Celesteela.
Morelull trilled, glowing a vibrant pink and using Moonlight once again, this time on Cutiefly.
The Cutiefly buzzed loudly. It darted over towards Comfey, then back to Morelull, much faster than before.
All three Pokémon erupted into ecstatic chitters, Comfey twirling about so fast it became a blur.
Cutiefly flew up, hovering close to Celesteela’s face. Gentle, it pressed against Celesteela’s cheek. Comfey followed slowly behind, soaring up to the spikes protruding from the side of Celesteeela’s head. With one final twirl, it bestowed its wreath of flowers, dropping the ring on one of the spikes. Morelull settled for gently headbutting the side of Celesteela’s stalk.
“They’re thanking it…” Selene mused quietly.
Understanding washed over Lillie in waves as she watched the scene unfold.
“Oh, Celesteela… you were protecting that little Cutiefly?”
Again, Celesteela hesitated for a moment… and then nodded ever so slightly. The flowers on its head swayed back and forth with the motion.
Lillie approached again, and this time Celesteela didn’t stop her.
“Even when you were already hurt… you wanted to protect it, didn’t you?”
Lillie felt her heart clench for a moment. There was something about it that just pulled at her.
“For a Steel Pokémon… It gets along so well with fairies. Not Steel-like at all…” Selene mused.
Lillie couldn’t help but envy and admire Celesteela at the same time. A strong princess of steel, someone able to protect others.
“Celesteela,” Lillie whispered, “You’re…”
“Just like you.” Selene filled in, stepping forward to place a hand on Lillie’s shoulder.
“Huh? Selene, I—”
“It’s tough. And protects little Pokémon. Even when it’s hurting…”
Lillie looked to her feet, heat rushing over her face. “But I’m not—”
“Just like you,” Selene repeated. “You and Nebby. Graceful and tough.”
Lillie looked up, meeting Selene’s smiling face. “I—really? But—”
“No buts!” Selene shoved her palm over Lillie’s mouth. “Take the compliment!”
And finally, Lillie laughed, the sound spilling out from behind Selene’s hand. “Thank you, Selene.”
Selene just grinned, removing her hand to sling her arm around Lillie’s shoulder. “Anytime.”
Clefairy walked back over to its trainer, content with its work.
“Good job, Clefairy. You did great.” Lillie murmured, bending over to give Clefairy a gentle pat on the head. “Return for now.”
Selene looked up towards the sunlight beaming in from the hole in the forest canopy. The vibrant light had begun to tint orange; sunset was soon approaching.
“We should go. It’ll be night soon.”
Lillie nodded, though couldn’t help but feel the slightest twinge of disappointment.
“Yeah… you’re right…” Stepping back, she gave one last look towards Celesteela. “I-it was nice to meet you, Celesteela! Take care of yourself!”
“Hope we meet again.” Selene added, and recalled Primarina to its ball.
With that and a deep breath, the girls turned and began to walk away.
Celesteela hummed again, a lighter noise this time. Lillie turned, attention caught.
“Celesteela?”
Comfey flitted down to Lillie. With its tiny hands it grabbed one of her braids and tugged her backwards.
“Wh—whoa! Wha— hey!”
Lillie stumbled back, until she was just close enough to touch Celesteela.
“Celesteela?”
Celesteela looked down at Lillie, a wide smile on its face.
Selene and Hau had talked about connecting with their Pokémon before, knowing what they were trying to say without words. And for once… Lillie thought she understood it, too.
“Celesteela…” Lillie began hesitantly, tightening her grip on her duffle bag. “Would… would you like to come with me?”
Celesteela nodded.
“Ah! I want you to come too! Then—”
“Here.” Selene pressed a Poké Ball into Lillie’s hand. Actually, when Lillie looked closer, a Moon Ball. “This fits best.”
Lillie smiled. “Thank you…”
Gently, Lillie pressed the Moon Ball against Celesteela. In a shocking light, Celesteela dissipated, leaving Cutiefly and Comfey to swoop down and catch Morelull before it fell to the forest floor.
The ball in Lillie’s palm shook.
Once.
Twice.
And a third time, letting off a set of star-shaped sparks.
“I—I got a Celesteela!” Lillie cheered, hugging the ball close.
Selene leaned over, hugging Lillie. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you!”
Selene pulled away, leaving one arm around Lillie’s back. “Now. Go brag to Hau.”
Lillie pulled back, laughing. “Selene!”
“No. We gotta. Come on.”
Pulling her forward, Selene and Lillie ran off through Lush Jungle, laughing all the way.