[ti]location[/ti] NOONLIGHT SHRINE

Asper's ASCENDED MOLTRES was roosting atop the tree comprising the MOONLIGHT SHRINE. With the Pokémon Center busy and Josh headed away from the Surge Steppes, the shrine here was the most convenient one for him to visit. He took a glance upward, beholding the legendary creature's rainbow-colored wings. What an incredible steed such a creature would make. Of course, he couldn't imagine being able to bring one into his party until he reached endgame content. He was still in early game hell, even the most common encounters bringing his party to their knees.

Taking a knee much like he would at church, the wannabe knight genuflected before the Shrine's altar and touched it. His peripheral vision would catch the life and tech bars of his Pokémon filling up, completely healing them and making them ready for battle again.

The good thing about coming out to the Noonlight Shrine was that it wasn’t too far away from where the Grookey was waiting for him to return; beady eyes affixed on the Vulpix since they had been expressly forbidden from fighting the thing—

“Alright, alright, I’m coming, give me a few minutes,” he would say to nobody in particular as he swore under his breath and touched the shrine’s structure with one of his hands.

(And no, he wasn’t going to subject his other Pokémon to the Vulpix—not yet, at least.)

time to throw hands again!

Had Don been a man with a shred more common sense or the slightest experience with video games, he might have noticed that no one else around the shrine seemed as panicked as he was. Instead he rushed up, an exhausted Wilson in his arms with his health bar blinking an empty red.

Don had had to read so many pages of the guide to figure out where he was supposed to go to heal his Pokemon. The adrenaline racing through him certainly hadn't helped. If he'd been a bit more coolheaded, he might have noticed the handy search function or remembered how to mark a waypoint on his minimap.

So it had taken far longer than he liked, but he was here. As he approached the shrine, he saw a mass of technicolor light high in the glowing tree. He had neither the time nor the inclination to wonder what it might be. Instead he pressed himself as close to the base of the shrine as he was allowed, only sighing in relief when Wilson's health bar filled back up.

He remembered the dark-bodied Moltres that was the symbol of the rebellion back home; certainly the one high up in the trees didn’t look like that!

A variant, maybe? (Or was that the original?)

Either way, he was more than a little overdue for another quick return here; and so he was accompanied by the Grookey (as the Murkrow was holding the line) before he looked up into the canopy far above him.

“I wonder.”

here and back again

Shalin had a lot of offensive-minded Pokémon, but she needed a healer. Badly. The Ponyta she had caught with her racing-crazed acquaintance would do nicely... with a small makeover. After doing a little legwork, she knew where she could get that makeover done: the MOONLIGHT SHRINE.

As Shalin and Reynir stood in the shrine's light, the girl pressing her hand against the tree's trunk, she felt a warm presence: that of a MOLTRES. The legendary Pokémon's multicolored light shone down upon the Ponyta, causing her to glow purples and pinks. The girl gasped when she saw his silhouette change form, the light eventually getting so bright that her entire field of vision faded.

Before her was a Galarian Ponyta, who promptly touched Shalin with the flat of his horn. Positive energy flowed through the glitch hunter, working together with the shrine's healing energy to completely restore her and her team. "The transformation cutscene is really detailed," she said to herself, peering up at the Moltres and waving at it before she headed back to town.

Xira's wings roared like an engine as the duo raced toward Noonlight Shrine, the ASCENDED MOLTRES' giant eyes opening to answer Josh's prayers once he was within the shrine's primary zone. The area transitions felt a bit laggier than normal. Perhaps it was because Josh was in a hurry?

His thighs were happy once they had landed. While it was convenient being able to at last fly, a Yanmega's vibrations were hair-raising, his exposed skin covered in goose bumps. Not only did she sound like an engine, she felt like one, too. The giant dragonfly let Josh dismount right in front of the shrine's monument, just outside its reach. Once he slid off, he rest both his hands against the sacred structure, feeling the MOLTRES' sacred warmth...