A Warm Heart For Hoenn (Part 2)

Zeraora Wants to Go?!

Zeraora was very attracted to that Ultra Wormhole. I don't know why though. Steven and Erika just stood there gaping at it. I bet Steven had no idea what he was looking at.
Hala and Hau just burst out of the bushes and looked up, mouths open wide.
Emolga flapped and tapped my shoulder, pointing my left. Zeraora was slowly walking towards it.
"Wait! Zeraora! Where are you going?" There was slight nervousness in my voice as I put a hand on its shoulder.
"What am I looking at?" Cilan asked.
"That's what I was going to say," Steven said.
"This is an Ultra Wormhole," Iris explained.
"Uuuuuh," they both said blankly.
"We'll go get Kukui fast, come on," I told them, "Then I'll give you answers."
And just like that, we burst into his house, making him jump and I ran up to Kukui, shaking his arm and explaining everything that happened so fast, even I didn't know what I was saying.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Cool...your...jets, it's okay. Now start over slowly," he said.
"WE FOUND AN ULTRA WORMHOLE!" Me and Iris shouted at the same time.
"WHAT?!" He yelled.
"Emo! Emolga!" Emolga nodded.
There was a moment of thought before he ran upstairs and slipped a book out of his bookshelf, flipping through pages until he stopped at a page with a title saying 'Ultra Space'.
Steven and Cilan kept yelling at us to tell them what they saw and what it was supposed to be so Kukui quieted them down and started to think.
"Rock-Ruff! Ruff!" His Rockruff barked and sniffed at Erika's feet, making Kukui smile at her and say: "New to the Alola?"
"No I live here, I'm just staying at Melemele so I could compete in the Tournament," she shrugged.
"There it is," Kukui's fingers traced down a paragraph and nodded, marking it with a highlighter, "Steven, Cilan? What you two saw out there was called an Ultra Wormhole. It leads to many dimensions but it is most likely to take you to the Ultra Space. That is where all Ultra Beasts are."
"What are they?" Cilan asked.
"Think of them as Legendary Pokémon but they aren't in the same time...people don't know what they are supposed to represent: Mythical Pokémon or Legendary Pokémon, but what we do know is that they are dangerous and that they can't be captured except with one of these—"
Kukui slid open a drawer and took out one of the famous Beast Balls. Steven hid a wow and Cilan looked at it with wonder.
"These are called Beast Balls, designed specifically to catch Ultra Beasts temporarily so we would be able to bring them back to their home before releasing them," Kukui said.
"When did the Ultra Wormholes start showing up?" Hau asked.
"Well, nobody knows. They say that the Ultra Wormholes started to release Ultra Beasts since ancient times. Some of them don't even exist now. But that one out there is most likely to release a strong one, so people better secure it," Kukui said, "For now, let's go get some sleep everyone—"
BANG!
Thunder tumbled outside and Zeraora jumped up and did a flip down the stairs (pff, show off), running to the window.
Everything fell into sudden darkness which wasn't likely at all. How did that happen? Could it be Necrozma? I haven't seen it in a while.
Last time I remember, Emolga somehow managed to give out Thubderbolt powerful enough to make it go away.
"Zer..." Zeraora growled softly, looking the direction where the Ultra Wormhole was.
What was up with it? A thought went inside my head and it terrified me. I pushed it out again, ignoring that thought and then rubbed one eye.
I just hoped Zeraora was thinking what I thought.
That night, Steven was really happy he got his Stickpin back and he lately put an Everstone on Rowlet. Something about its sleepy attitude he loved.
Zeraora has its back against Swampert as it slept and I kept my eye on it. Just in case. Sceptile and Houndoom were curled up together and Emolga was sitting on the window sill, breathing softly. Sylveon was on the bed, paws on my arm and her ribbons slightly tangled in my legs like she was saying please don't let me go.
"Hey Sylveon," I stroked her and she purred, rubbing her head against my arm.
Zeraora shifted and Steven's Rowlet flapped its wings, landing on its head. Now if Zeraora tries to get up and go somewhere, Rowlet would wake up.
"Steven? Are you up?" I asked softly.
No response. We were all tired. And eventually I did start falling asleep. That was before...
"Zera."
Zeraora got to its feet so gently, Rowlet didn't fall off its head. It caught Rowlet with its paws and put it next to Steven's Togedemaru and Meltan easily so it wouldn't wake up (probably never will) and then crept down the stairs and past Rockruff and Cutifly.
My nerves snapped and I sat up, barely waking up any of my Pokémon and saw Zeraora gone. Oh man, anything but that.
I shook Rowlet awake and it gave a startled hoot, looking around.
"Rowlet! Zeraora is GONE!" I pointed out.
"Roo?" It shook its head and glided onto Emolga, using Peck to wake her up.
"EMO!" Emolga shot up and gave Rowlet the stink eye.
"Roo!" Rowlet brought down its beak hard on Steven's forehead and he yelped, rubbing it in pain.
"Ow!" He complained, "Rowlet?! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT YOU'RE AWAKE!"
"Shhhh!" I said, putting my finger on his mouth, "Steven! Zeraora is gone!"
He gave a muffled 'gone?!' and I nodded, removing my hand off his mouth. He stood up and wrapped his coat around his neck again by the sleeves, nodding.
"Let's go find it."
Rockruff would have woken up but thank goodness it was sleep day for him that night. I snuck outside the house with Emolga and Sylveon by my side.
Rowlet landed on Steven's shoulder and we looked around the area for it. Nothing. It must have gone out to look for that Ultra Wormhole again.
I retraced my steps until I found that clearing again and oh man it was still open. Either Zeraora decided to leave for a forever trip or something decided to pay a visit here and hurt it.
"Zeraora? Zeraora!" I whispered, looking for it, "Where are you?!"
"Hey! Zeraora?" Steven called quietly.
The last thing we wanted was to attract a not so friendly Pokémon to us. I crouched down and Emolga sniffed the air for my lost Pokémon while Sylveon followed, bringing her nose down to the ground and sniffing.
"Syl! Sylveon!" Sylveon called, pointing at paw prints.
I was about to let a sigh of relief but then I realized they weren't Zeraora's prints. It was something else. Something that must have come out of the Wormhole.
Great. Now not only am I missing a Pokémon but an Ultra Beast is also in the Alola running wild.
"Steven? Something was here..." I said.
"What? You found it?" He asked.
"No but I did find footprints that belongs to another Pokémon. And by the looks of it, it's big. Tons big."
"Oh no," Steven gulped, "Rowlet? What is it?"
Rowlet was giving a steady hooting before its wings snapped open and gave out a terrified hoot. A fist launched out and banged Steven in the back hard, sending him flying into the nearest boulder.
"Stev—"
Another arm swung at me and hit my stomach, launching me into a tree. So it was an Ultra Beast I dealt with before. And it was the one I hated most. Last time I saw that thing was when me and Sophocles almost got squashed pancakes.
And that means it was—you guessed it—Buzzwole. The Ultra Beast that can smash a truck to bits and pieces with a single punch.
"Owwww..." I moaned, "Buzzwole?"
It gave a grunt and swung its fist at me in rage. I yelped and dropped to the ground, rolling aside as its fist bashed the tree behind me into splinters. Sylveon lightly stepped back to me and Emolga stuck out her tongue at it.
I grabbed them both and jumped next to Steven as another swing of the fist brought down hard and launched dust everywhere.
"Steven! Wake up!" I shouted, shaking him.
Still unconscious. Rowlet was having a panic attack, waving its legs around and flapping its wings like crazy.
"Sylveon use Moonblast!" I yelled.
"SYLVEOOON!" Sylveon shrieked and launched a ball of pink light into the target's face.
Well that sure didn't do anything. I gulped as it raised a fist high, ready to squash me and Steven together whole before...
"ZERA!"
Zeraora slammed its fists in the side of Buzzwole's chest hard and knocked him to the ground. They were both strong and mighty but Zeraora was even faster than him. Like One Punch Man.
"You came back?" I asked.
Zeraora gave me a gentle smile and focused on Buzzwole.
"Alright Zeraora, use Close Combat!" I ordered.
Shooting up, Zeraora filled its fists with lightning and slammed them over and over into Buzzwole.
It was about to use Focus Punch so Zeraora used Plasma Fists and the sphere of thunder in its paw met with the powerful fist, blowing it up in his face.
Proves that we've done training.
"Now use Electro Web!" I commanded.
Zeraora flung an electric blue web at Buzzwole and trapped him inside.
"Okay Zeraora, finish it off using Thunder Punch!" I said.
Roaring, Zeraora tackled the trapped Buzzwole and punched him right into the Ultra Wormhole.
Now that is what I call adrenaline rush. I fell to my knees and Zeraora gave Steven a zap that woke him up.
"Whoa! I'm awake!" He panted.
Rowlet extended a talon and he fist bumped it. Sleepy buddies, oh yeah. I put my hand on Zeraora's fur and stroked it. Steven shook his head and raised his arms saying: "Hey you found it!"
"Well it found us more likely," I shrugged, "Zeraora? Why did you leave?"
"Zera..." it looked up at the slowly shrinking Ultra Wormhole and I sighed heavily.
Zeraora wanted to go. And it was ready to see its original home again. I clenched my fists and murmured slightly.
"I know what you're trying to tell me. You want to go. To be released and I get it, believe me. It's just that...ever since Guzzlord, we've bonded great and I thought we would stick by each other forever...
"I know you miss your home and once there you can't get back. Since I have a life in this world then that means I can't leave but you can. So if you want to go, I understand. Just keep me in your heart okay?"
"Ora?" It asked.
"Yeah you can go, remember that I'm only feeling sad because I'll miss you okay? Not because I'm doing something I don't want to do. Iris will miss you and so will Haxorus so don't worry about me. I'll tell them why you left. Now if you want to go, just go before the portal closes."
Zeraora looked satisfied but it was also pretty upset. I never saw Zeraora cry before but then I realized its tears were slowly shoving their way into its eyes.
I looked down and Sylveon rubbed its head against Zeraora. Emolga cried and sat on its head, rubbing her cheeks against its head.
"Just go!" I cried, letting Steven put a hand on my shoulder.
It extended a paw to me and I sniffed, looking up. Zeraora nodded and I took its paw, lifting up. Then, as fast as lighting, it pulled me into a hug.
What I know about my pal here is that:
1- no hugs
2- no tears
3- no sudden exposure to water
But he was doing all these (except number 3). I hugged it back and buried my face in its shoulder.
I don't know how I'll feel without it around.
When we parted, Zeraora gave me a sad look and turned around, looking up at the Ultra Wormhole. It was now just small enough for it to jump through.
"Goodbye Zeraora, I'll miss you," I whispered.
When I left the area, Steven put an arm around my shoulder.
"Thanks Steven..." I burst into tears and he softened up, dragging me near him, "I'll miss Zeraora so much..."
"I know how you feel...it's okay," he said.
"Zera!"
My heart beat almost stopped.
"Zeraora?" I muttered.