You were lost. Granted, all of the dunes in this god-forsaken desert looked the same, but you should have at least been able to find your way back with Tesla your Rotom-dex. Yet he was just as confused as you, and perhaps of less use than you yourself.
You huff and glance skyward, it would be easy just to call in Minty your charizard, but it would be near impossible to ride in the sandstorm. And your tauros isn't faring too well either. His eyes were covered with goggles, so that wasn't a problem, but his constant sneezing and wheezing weren't good signs at all. Plus, his hooves kept sinking in the sand, and if he stopped for more than a minute you had to have Bouncee pull him out. The entire thing was not too pleasent to say the least.
Wait- you squint through the cloud of sand and dust. There! In the distance! Was it a cave or a darker part of the storm? You couldn't tell, but at this point you didn't care so long as you got to shelter. You heave forward, and shift in a faster mode with Cliff the tauros.
As you grow closer, you notice a concave in the dark shape, and strange stone pillars erected on either side. It seems you were right about it being a cave, but what was the deal with the pillars? Whatever, it's not like it matters as long as you can wait the storm out in it. Cliff apparently sees the cave as well, and puts on another spurt of speed towards it. You cling desperately to the reigns of the saddle, and squint to keep the stray sand from blowing into your eyes.
Soon enough, however, the two of you arrive at the mouth of the cave- well, cavern. It's larger than you initially thought, and you call Cliff back into his pokeball and place it back into the page rider as you advance. Then, Victoria pops out of her pokeball with a tweet, and silences when she sees that you're still lost. You frown at her, but she's not unnerved, and flutters up onto your head to take a look around the cavern. You huff, but make no move to get her down. She'll be fine for now, it's not like you'll be going back out into the storm anytime soon.
The cave is wide, and has strange greenish markings all along the walls. Massive boulders are filling gaping holes in the floor, making it so that you can walk freely without falling. Hey, now that you think about it, this place kind of reminds you of the Tapu Koko shrine back on Mele'Mele island. But the Tapu Koko shrine wasn't as hole filled or ominous, and you don't feel like you're being watched, just like you're unwelcome. Victoria shifts uncomfortably on your head, and you continue deeper into the cave.
It's not too far down the cave-room that you find yourself facing a doorway lined with the same strange greenish carvings that you saw near the mouth of the cave. You're not sure why, but something's compelling you to go into wherever the doorway leads, and you step into it with an interested sniffle. Victoria gets nervous from her perch, and hops down onto your shoulder instead to nuzzle her feathers against your face. It's a small comfort for the both of you, but you're only getting more and more unsettled the farther you walk.
The light from the mouth of the cave is now completely gone, and you find yourself having to squint into the darkness to gain an idea of where you're going. Eventually, the hallway opens up into another, smaller cave. Torches are lit on either side of a green stone pedestal, where you see what you can only assume to be an offering of sorts. You suck in a sharp inhale of breath as you finally realize where you are.
You're in Tapu Bulu's shrine. The guardian pokemon of Ula'Ula island, and you were standing in its shrine. Oh god, you didn't have an offering- or did you?
You bend over and send Victoria falling to the ground as you begin to rummage through your bag. A nugget, a couple of oran berries, two blue shards, and a bag of stardust. Perfect! You arrange the items on a large flatleaf that you had grabbed near the entrance to the desert in an impulsive need. It seems like your strange leaf-grabbing instincts were helping today, and you gently place your offering next to the one already on the alter. A meowth pokedoll and a couple of shiny buttons- probably from Nanu.
You sit down in front of the altar on your knees and sit for a couple of minutes. You didn't really see the point in praying to a pokemon, but it was polite. Victoria joins you too, and somehow restrains herself from eating the berries laid on the shrine. Suddenly, a low toned noise between a bell tone and a cow moo echoed through the cave. You dart up and glance around the room, Victoria fluttering up to resettle on top of your head. Something was coming...
A bright flash burns in your eyes instantly, and you keel over. Victoria herself titters angrily, apparently she too was affected. As the last flickers of light fade from behind your eyes, you notice a presence in front of you. You glance up warily, not moving from your spot, and bite your lip in shock.
Standing, or rather, floating in front of you is the Tapu Bulu. Its body is black, and green eyes seem to pierce into your very being. The halves of its shell are up, and positioned above its head. You nearly crap yourself. Victoria does likewise on the ground next to you.
Tapu Bulu's eyes suddenly twinkle in what you can only assume is amusement as it watches your display of sheer awe. You find yourself at a loss for words. The only legendary pokemon encounter you've ever had was with Faith your latias, but this was different. This was a guardian that was here to protect all that dwelt within its island, this pokemon was not only a legendary, it was a diety. It blinks calmly at you, and looks down briefly to the offering near its bell, then looks up at you and nods quietly in respect.
Then, just as quickly as it appeared, Tapu Bulu was gone in another flash.
When the light subsided, the offering and Nanu's were gone, but something was laid at your feet. You bend over as Victoria hops to look at the object and find a psychic type Z-Crystal waiting for you. A sensation of warmth and comfort flows through you, and you smile at Victoria. She tweets excitedly, and hops up and down in a comical manner, but you know better than to linger in the cave for long. You believe you've already outstayed your welcome, and you turn to walk out of the cavern with Victoria back on top of your head.
Back through the front cave you travel, and just as you're about to pull out Cliff's pokeball, something strange happens. The world around you warps, and you get a brief flash of motion sickness. And then...
And then you're standing outside of the entrance to the desert. Not outside the entrance to the cave, but another place nearly completely. What the- oh! You smile and laugh out loud as you realize what happened. Tapu Bulu must've given you a ride! How nice of it...
You huff and glance skyward, it would be easy just to call in Minty your charizard, but it would be near impossible to ride in the sandstorm. And your tauros isn't faring too well either. His eyes were covered with goggles, so that wasn't a problem, but his constant sneezing and wheezing weren't good signs at all. Plus, his hooves kept sinking in the sand, and if he stopped for more than a minute you had to have Bouncee pull him out. The entire thing was not too pleasent to say the least.
Wait- you squint through the cloud of sand and dust. There! In the distance! Was it a cave or a darker part of the storm? You couldn't tell, but at this point you didn't care so long as you got to shelter. You heave forward, and shift in a faster mode with Cliff the tauros.
As you grow closer, you notice a concave in the dark shape, and strange stone pillars erected on either side. It seems you were right about it being a cave, but what was the deal with the pillars? Whatever, it's not like it matters as long as you can wait the storm out in it. Cliff apparently sees the cave as well, and puts on another spurt of speed towards it. You cling desperately to the reigns of the saddle, and squint to keep the stray sand from blowing into your eyes.
Soon enough, however, the two of you arrive at the mouth of the cave- well, cavern. It's larger than you initially thought, and you call Cliff back into his pokeball and place it back into the page rider as you advance. Then, Victoria pops out of her pokeball with a tweet, and silences when she sees that you're still lost. You frown at her, but she's not unnerved, and flutters up onto your head to take a look around the cavern. You huff, but make no move to get her down. She'll be fine for now, it's not like you'll be going back out into the storm anytime soon.
The cave is wide, and has strange greenish markings all along the walls. Massive boulders are filling gaping holes in the floor, making it so that you can walk freely without falling. Hey, now that you think about it, this place kind of reminds you of the Tapu Koko shrine back on Mele'Mele island. But the Tapu Koko shrine wasn't as hole filled or ominous, and you don't feel like you're being watched, just like you're unwelcome. Victoria shifts uncomfortably on your head, and you continue deeper into the cave.
It's not too far down the cave-room that you find yourself facing a doorway lined with the same strange greenish carvings that you saw near the mouth of the cave. You're not sure why, but something's compelling you to go into wherever the doorway leads, and you step into it with an interested sniffle. Victoria gets nervous from her perch, and hops down onto your shoulder instead to nuzzle her feathers against your face. It's a small comfort for the both of you, but you're only getting more and more unsettled the farther you walk.
The light from the mouth of the cave is now completely gone, and you find yourself having to squint into the darkness to gain an idea of where you're going. Eventually, the hallway opens up into another, smaller cave. Torches are lit on either side of a green stone pedestal, where you see what you can only assume to be an offering of sorts. You suck in a sharp inhale of breath as you finally realize where you are.
You're in Tapu Bulu's shrine. The guardian pokemon of Ula'Ula island, and you were standing in its shrine. Oh god, you didn't have an offering- or did you?
You bend over and send Victoria falling to the ground as you begin to rummage through your bag. A nugget, a couple of oran berries, two blue shards, and a bag of stardust. Perfect! You arrange the items on a large flatleaf that you had grabbed near the entrance to the desert in an impulsive need. It seems like your strange leaf-grabbing instincts were helping today, and you gently place your offering next to the one already on the alter. A meowth pokedoll and a couple of shiny buttons- probably from Nanu.
You sit down in front of the altar on your knees and sit for a couple of minutes. You didn't really see the point in praying to a pokemon, but it was polite. Victoria joins you too, and somehow restrains herself from eating the berries laid on the shrine. Suddenly, a low toned noise between a bell tone and a cow moo echoed through the cave. You dart up and glance around the room, Victoria fluttering up to resettle on top of your head. Something was coming...
A bright flash burns in your eyes instantly, and you keel over. Victoria herself titters angrily, apparently she too was affected. As the last flickers of light fade from behind your eyes, you notice a presence in front of you. You glance up warily, not moving from your spot, and bite your lip in shock.
Standing, or rather, floating in front of you is the Tapu Bulu. Its body is black, and green eyes seem to pierce into your very being. The halves of its shell are up, and positioned above its head. You nearly crap yourself. Victoria does likewise on the ground next to you.
Tapu Bulu's eyes suddenly twinkle in what you can only assume is amusement as it watches your display of sheer awe. You find yourself at a loss for words. The only legendary pokemon encounter you've ever had was with Faith your latias, but this was different. This was a guardian that was here to protect all that dwelt within its island, this pokemon was not only a legendary, it was a diety. It blinks calmly at you, and looks down briefly to the offering near its bell, then looks up at you and nods quietly in respect.
Then, just as quickly as it appeared, Tapu Bulu was gone in another flash.
When the light subsided, the offering and Nanu's were gone, but something was laid at your feet. You bend over as Victoria hops to look at the object and find a psychic type Z-Crystal waiting for you. A sensation of warmth and comfort flows through you, and you smile at Victoria. She tweets excitedly, and hops up and down in a comical manner, but you know better than to linger in the cave for long. You believe you've already outstayed your welcome, and you turn to walk out of the cavern with Victoria back on top of your head.
Back through the front cave you travel, and just as you're about to pull out Cliff's pokeball, something strange happens. The world around you warps, and you get a brief flash of motion sickness. And then...
And then you're standing outside of the entrance to the desert. Not outside the entrance to the cave, but another place nearly completely. What the- oh! You smile and laugh out loud as you realize what happened. Tapu Bulu must've given you a ride! How nice of it...