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Tapu Koko, the guardian of the island of Alola, had lived for centuries.
Such an immense lifespan, paired with its status as a legendary Pokémon, granted it terrifying depth in one particular domain.
Not the body.
Not raw energy.
But the mind.
Though its physical growth and energy reserves had long since plateaued, its mental domain had expanded without limit.
Had it not been constrained by its elemental nature, unable to wield Psychic-type abilities, it could have easily been mistaken for a half-Psychic legendary.
Even a Pokémon as minor as Grumpig had managed, in the moment before death, to glimpse the abnormalities buried within Kael's fate through a sudden surge of clarity and mental power.
Tapu Koko had seen far more.
The moment it noticed Kael, it sensed something deeply unsettling.
His destiny did not lie cleanly on the world's board.
It was faint.
Ashen.
As if it could vanish at any moment.
And yet—
It carried an inexplicable sense of permanence.
An anomaly.
A variable.
An existence that did not belong to the established order.
That intuition told Tapu Koko something important.
This strange, off-colored Machoke might be the key to saving a world already collapsing into darkness.
That realization reignited the last spark of hope within Tapu Koko's fading consciousness.
And it solidified its resolve.
"To stake everything on something so intangible?" Kael asked, stunned.
"On a feeling you can't even explain?"
Tapu Koko nodded calmly.
For a legendary Pokémon already at the brink of collapse, its body ruined, its energy nearly exhausted, and its mind eroding under corruption, rational certainty had lost all meaning.
All that remained—
Was instinct.
"There isn't much time left," Tapu Koko said, cutting off further protest.
The lightning that had used to drive away Guzzlord had already drained the last of its remaining reserves.
Saving Kael had pushed it closer to the edge than ever before.
Its time was nearly gone.
One reason it had brought Kael here was to reveal the truth of this world's crisis.
The other—
It was to accelerate his growth.
In Tapu Koko's view, every step Kael climbed reduced the odds of total annihilation.
A sharp hum rose through the empty plaza.
Brilliant white light burst from Tapu Koko's body.
But this was not the glow of evolution.
Evolution refined life from the outside in.
This light was the opposite.
It erupted from within, the radiance of a structure collapsing at its most fundamental level.
Like a meteor disintegrating in the atmosphere, countless fragments of white brilliance scattered outward, rushing toward the Ultra Wormhole behind it.
Tapu Koko raised one trembling claw toward Kael.
Its voice was faint, as though it might dissolve before the sentence ended.
"Promise me…"
"If you can…"
"…save this world."
Kael's body jolted.
For a moment, he seemed frozen.
Then he lifted his head and met Tapu Koko's eyes directly.
There was no hesitation.
No bravado.
Only sincerity.
"I promise."
The instant the words left his mouth—
Thunder roared.
A bolt so powerful it felt capable of tearing the earth apart detonated through the ruins.
Pure white lightning erupted from Tapu Koko's body.
The golden storm that once defined it was gone, replaced by crystal-clear brilliance born from its very origin.
That final surge crossed the distance instantly and poured into Kael's body.
This was not an attack.
It was a gift.
The last legacy of a guardian who had stood alone for centuries.
For the first time since the light began to consume it, Tapu Koko smiled.
Warmly.
Peacefully.
Kael's answer, no more than a spoken promise, was enough.
The weight it had carried for hundreds of years was finally lifted.
Tapu Koko looked away from Kael and toward the sky.
As if its gaze could pierce the ceiling.
The sandstorms.
The clouds.
As if it could see the vast, clear blue above the world it had protected.
"Heh…"
A final breath.
A sound filled with nostalgia and release.
Tapu Koko's form dissolved completely into light, merging with the Ultra Wormhole until both vanished together.
Silence returned to the building.
The spiraling white passage was gone.
And so was the lone guardian who had watched over this dead land for centuries.
All that remained in the plaza—
Was Kael.
Electric arcs still wrapped around his muscular frame as the final traces of Tapu Koko's essence flowed into him, reshaping his growth in ways not yet visible.
Time passed slowly.
Eventually, the sharp crackle of lightning faded.
Kael stood motionless on the cold floor, head bowed.
The changes within his body barely registered.
They did not matter.
In the span of half a day, he had come to regard Tapu Koko as something far greater than a legendary Pokémon.
A protector.
An elder.
Someone worthy of trust.
And just as he had begun to believe he could learn from that presence—
It was gone.
The guardian of a ruined homeland had offered up its broken life, pouring hope into a world drowning in darkness.
The act may have seemed small in the face of such a vast catastrophe.
But it was brave.
And it was enough to light the first spark.
Grief settled heavily in Kael's chest.
His crimson eyes dimmed as he stood there in silence, paying tribute in his own way to the fallen guardian.
Not with words.
But with resolve.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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