Remember? -A Pokémon Story-

Chapter 21

You're frozen momentarily, unable to react due to the shock of being in the presence of a Legendary Pokémon.

You stare up at this large beast in awe as it towers over your group with an intimidating glare. You can feel heat radiating off its body, warming your skin from the cold temperatures of Ultra Megalopolis.

"Solgaleo, can you help us?" Ash pleads as he steps toward the Legendary. Solgaleo doesn't move, it simply stares into your eyes, like it's reading you somehow. You shy away behind your dad, unsure of what Solgaleo is going to do. 

Then, the beast moves forward, slowly making its way over to you laying on the ground. Cato moves closer to you, warily watching the giant Pokémon get closer. You strain to see its face as it towers over you, its eyes staring deep into yours. Your heart races, but as you stare into its eyes, you can't see any hint of ill-intent.

"Solgaleo," your dad says from in front of you, his voice laced with desperation, "can you get the Ultra Beast DNA out of her?"

Without breaking eye contact, the Legendary Pokémon slowly nods its head. Your dad squeezes your hand, turning to you.

You look up at him and give a slight nod. Sycamore gives you a small smile as he kisses the back of your hand, stepping away.

You turn back to Solgaleo, ready for whatever needs to be done, and ready for all this to be over.

The Pokémon closes its eyes as the starscape on its head lights up in a brilliant blue. You can feel a wave of heat hit you as Solgaleo's mane lights up. The world around you seems to melt away as all you can focus on is the prickling sensation crawling up your spine.

With no warning, the small prickling suddenly morphs into a violent pierce. You cry out as every muscle in your body contracts and every joint locks up. It feels like someone took a hammer to every bone in your body and is proceeding to pull every bone out of socket.

Your skin crawls and goosebumps erupt all over your body as the pain spreads. Your blood feels hot, like it's boiling in your veins.

"Stop! Stop it! You're taking out the wrong one!" you hear your dad scream.

A huge wave of relief washes over you as most of the pain stops, but the ghost of it still lingers, tingling at the top of your skin. Your dad kneels down to you, making sure you're still breathing.

Solgaleo has a brief look of confusion on its face, but the puzzlement disappears when it turns to look at your dad. Following the Pokémon's movements, you stare up at your father.

"Dad? What did you mean by that?" you ask him. Sycamore runs a hand through his messy hair as he lets out a long sigh, looking away.

"Well... ma chèrie, you have more than just Ultra Beast DNA inside of you," he says quietly. You look at him with a confused expression, silently urging him to elaborate.

"When you were young, you suddenly fell very ill," he starts, "I took you to the best doctors in Kalos, but none of them could help you. They said it was a rare illness that causes the body to completely shut down. They all said there was nothing that could be done. They said I should enjoy what time we had left.

"Well, I wasn't going to take that as an answer. I had already lost your mother, and I was not about to lose you too. So, I took you to where stories said the legendary Pokémon of Life lived, and somehow, I managed to find it. I plead with Xerneas to heal you, to give you another chance at life. So, Xerneas gave you a piece of itself that absorbed into your DNA. It strengthened you, and has kept you alive."

Professor Kukui puts two and two together:

"So now that the Ultra Beast DNA mixed with Xerneas's DNA inside of her, the only way to get rid of the Ultra Beast DNA would be to-"