The New Forest Guardian (Patreon)

Allee sat on the edge of a cliff admiring the sunset. The sun was just starting to lower over the distant mountain ridge when she heard footsteps behind her – a set of four footfalls.

“I would like to say again how grateful I am for your help, Allee. The world is a much better place now that those thugs’ plan has been foiled.”

“Yeah, sure thing,” she mentioned. Despite her timid appearance as a young, dainty, pale-skinned blonde, she was actually quite bold. She had been adventuring for years, and together with her pokemon, she took down a terrorist organization that sought to use the power of legendary pokemon to alter reality to their whim. She had the help of another pokemon, Xerneas, who now stood behind her, but much of the struggle was only fruitful because of her help.

“You dismiss it casually, but I fully mean it. On that note, I would ask of you a favor.”

“Hm?” she hummed in interest, turning to look at Xerneas over her shoulder.

“Evil individuals such as those and their plans have made us realize that we are not prepared to deal with these kinds of ongoings. We do not want to rely on trainers such as yourself to rescue the world. That is our responsibility. However, nature guardians are not born. They are created. Arceus is reluctant to display his power directly, but has given me the authority to do something else.” Xerneas pauses for a moment, then continues. “I would like to extend to you an invitation to join us.”

Allee was confused. “What does that entail, exactly? I’m already helping you guys. I don’t plan on stopping if there’s more than needs to be done.”

“I understand. I appreciate the offer, and if you refuse, I would like that to continue. What I’m asking you, however, is if you would like to be a nature guardian, like us. I would transform you, permanently, into a pokemon of exceptional power.”

The girl gasped. “I… what, really? You’d turn me into a pokemon…? A legendary pokemon?” Her first instinct was to say no – that’s quite an extreme change. But… it was also alluring. The thought of being a pokemon was a strange, but if she was going to be a legendary pokemon, then… that might actually be a ton of fun. Legendary pokemon were powerful – it’d be like having super powers. Even at the loss of her human form, that would worth it, probably. “Okay. Can… Can I think about it?”

“Of course. Meet me here tomorrow evening and tell me your decision. My opinion of you will stay the same no matter what you choose, so do not worry about disappointing me.” After that, Xerneas retreated into the forest and vanished.

~~~~

The next evening…

Allee tentatively walked through the trees and arrived at the cliff from the day before. In the time since then, she returned home and explained the situation to her family. They were shocked, of course, and her mom was especially worried, but Allee was adamant. She was going to do this. She gave her pokemon to her little sister and asked them to look after her, and left her money with her parents. This was it. Her whole life was changing now.

Xerneas appeared behind the treeline and stepped out into the light. The sunset glinted off the jewels in its forehead.

“Hello, Allee. Have you made your decision?”

Allee nodded, wringing her hands. In the face of such a big moment, she was suddenly nervous. She was normally quite confident, but this… “Yes. I… I accept.”

Xerneas nodded. “Before I do this, I must make one thing clear: I said yesterday that this was a favor I was asking you for, not just a gift. Joining our ranks means accepting the responsibility the power comes with, and using that to better the world. You will be a guardian – you are to protect those that need it, as well as nature and the world at large. Do you understand?”

Allee swallowed and nodded. “Yes.”

“Very well. Then we shall begin.” Xerneas’s eye’s glowed a deep cobalt, and Allee’s forehead began to throb.

“Y-yikes…” she mumbled as she threw a hand up to her hairline, clutching her head. Under her fingers, she felt something shift. She took a sharp breath as she felt two bumps begin to grow out of her forehead. She withdrew her hands and began to wring them out in front of her. “R-relax, just relax. Everything will be okay…” she told her herself.

Her clothes began to feel heavy and loose on her, and she soon realized that she was shrinking. Confused, she looked herself over and noticed that a number of things were happening. Her fingers were widening, merging together, and becoming all together simpler, as well as becoming a vivid pink color. Her legs were becoming pink as well, though a much darker shade. And to top it off, her back was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Not in pain, just restricted. She undid the buttons of her coat as best as she could with her clumsy hands, and without that resistance, her shirt tore along the backside. She arced her back and looked behind her just in time to see a pair of green, gossamer wings reveal themselves from under her ripped shirt. All the while, she was growing smaller.

She let her coat drop to the ground, and much to her embarrassment, her pants went with it. She went to take a step, but she stumbled to the floor in a mess of over-sized clothing. She flailed until she was starting to become untangled. “Gah!” she cried as she finally broke free, flying a foot into the air and then she sighed in relief.

After opening her eyes, she realized she was floating. Unsteady, she struggled to turn herself around and balance herself. It was like trying to swim without knowing how, except with less drowning. “W-woah! This… this is weird!” Eventually, she righted herself and she sighed in relief again. She looked over her arms curiously. They were pink, sparkly, and tipped with three, triangular fingers. Behind her, her fragile-looking wings fluttered idly, not nearly enough to keep her airborne, and yet she floated anyway. Even more strangely was how the world looked. She was easily only a third of her previous height, so the trees seemed to tower over her. Xerneas was already somewhat large for a pokemon, but it looked huge now.

“Y-you know, when you said you were going to turn me into a legendary pokemon, for whatever reason, I pictured something… bigger. Strong looking. Intimidating, you know? H-how am I supposed to stop any evil groups like this?” Allee complained.

“How is this any different than before?” Xerneas asked and then chuckled. Rather than speaking into her mind, it appeared to just be talking now. Strange. “You weren’t intimidating as a human.”

“W-well, no, but I had my pokemon! Saying no to a little girl is one thing. Saying no to her rhyperior and gyarados is another,” she remarked. “I don’t have them anymore – now I’m just a pink, glitter fairy. What am I, anyway? I’ve never seen one like this.”

“You are a celebi. Apologies for the pink coloration. It was merely to distinguish you from the other celebi we have. In any case, you would do best not judge by appearances. Celebi may be small, but they are a legendary pokemon. Once you have mastery of your domain of power, you’ll be able to do quite a few awe-inspiring things. Namely, what celebi is known for – the manipulation of time.”

“Time? Celebi can time travel!?” Well, this changes everything, she thought.

“Among other things, yes. Celebi are also powerful grass and psychic aspected pokemon in their own right. Its connection to nature and plant-life is second only to my own.”

“Oh. Well… Um, okay, so… where do I start? How do I learn to do all the… you know, stuff? Time travel and psychic and plant stuff?” Allee asked, interest greatly peaked.

“Patience. You will need to learn slowly and naturally. I would like you to try to learn on your own before I intervene. It will build a better, more intuitive connection to your powers that will be useful when you need to act quickly.”

“Right, got it,” Allee confirmed. “Um… Any idea where to start…? I’m kinda new at this.”

“Just look inside. Your power is already there – tied to who you are. You merely need to reach for it,” Xerneas said cryptically, and then vanished into the forest.

Allee watched it disappear and then shook her head. “Vague as always. Well… I guess I have nothing better to do.”

She closed her eyes and thought deeply. She didn’t know what she was looking for, but it had to be in there somewhere, right? As she concentrated, the world seemed to drop away. There was a feeling of roaring, of rushing, a stream of boundless energy, and then she opened her eyes with a snap. Everything was bright for a moment before the light faded. She had been glowing. She was doing something. She followed her mental path back and found that place again, but this time, focused it on a tree in front of her. She gestured to it with an open hand and the tree shook violently, as if struck by large, heavy object. The new celebi smiled.

This was gonna be good.

~~~~~

Man, now this really makes me want to write fanfic again :/