Pokémon: Sandstorm Sovereign

Chapter 71: A Sudden Turn of Events

After observing them for a while and failing to notice any significant differences, Basalt decided to wait for the Cacnea to wake up before assessing them further.

"Cac-nea~"

About five or six minutes later, the swirls in the Cacnea's eyes vanished as they regained consciousness. But when they woke up and saw the wicked smiles on the faces of Basalt and Drilbur, the three little Pokémon instantly huddled together, trembling in fear.

This Drilbur was terrifying!

"You! Step forward!" Basalt commanded, pointing a finger at one of the Cacnea at random.

The chosen Pokémon nearly wet itself in fear, its body shaking like a leaf. It was clear how terrified it was.

"Am I really that scary?" Basalt chuckled to himself. He had intended to put on a stern face to intimidate them, but he hadn't expected them to be this timid. They were as cowardly as a... Rattata?

"Drilbur!" (╬￣皿￣)=○

Seeing the Cacnea refuse to obey, Drilbur immediately raised a sharp claw and held it menacingly over the creature's head.

"Cac-nea!" ┗( T＿T )┛

Tears streamed down the Cacnea's face. Sir, I surrender! Please don't hurt me!

Drilbur's claws were simply too intimidating. They were as large, thick, and sharp as a Scyther's scythes. Having one held to your head was enough to make any Pokémon's courage vanish.

"Wow, Drilbur really gets it," Basalt marveled. It even knows how to play 'bad cop' now? A true credit to my training! I'll have to give it extra snacks tonight as a reward.

Left with no choice, the terrified Cacnea tearfully stepped forward.

"You. Show me every move you know," Basalt ordered. He positioned himself so the sun was at his back, casting a long, imposing shadow over the little Pokémon. He wanted to give it the full "master villain" experience.

"Cacnea..."

Though frightened, under the threat of bodily harm, the Cacnea obediently complied. In addition to Pin Missile and Needle Arm, it also knew Poison Sting, Absorb, Sand Attack, and Ingrain. A decent, if standard, moveset.

But when Basalt saw the power of its moves, he was deeply unsatisfied. They were incredibly weak, almost pitifully soft. In a one-on-one battle, this Cacnea would probably rank in the bottom half of his class back home.

Not ready to give up, Basalt tested the other two Cacnea, only to find they were even worse than the first. This whole group was a bunch of slackers.

"I guess finding a truly promising Pokémon in the wild is a lot harder than I thought," Basalt sighed, shaking his head.

Most wild Pokémon grew up without the drive to become stronger, so the majority of them were unremarkable. Only the rare elite members of a species had real potential for training.

"Alright, you can go," Basalt finally said, dismissing the three Cacnea.

It had all been for nothing. His standards had been raised by Drilbur's incredible performance, but even if they hadn't, he still wouldn't have been interested in these Cacnea. Their moves were weak, their physical stats were poor, and they were hopelessly timid. Besides their Sand Veil ability, they had nothing going for them.

Basalt hopped back onto his beloved Numel and continued deeper into the dunes, a tiny sliver of hope still flickering in his heart. What if I get super lucky and run into a rare Psychic-type? That would be amazing.

The further he went, the more frequently he encountered wild Pokémon. What was once a kilometer-long trek between sightings was now only a few hundred meters. Sandshrew, Diglett, and Cacnea were the most common, with the occasional Geodude or Cubone making an appearance. But none of them were rare, and they all shared a common problem. Life in this quiet part of the desert was too easy. They were all weak, with timid personalities, completely unfit for serious battling. None of them could hold a candle to his Drilbur.

Basalt glanced at the sun, then at the time on his Pokédex. "I'll go a little further, then head back," he decided. It was already 4:00 PM. At Numel's pace, the return trip would take at least an hour. The park closed at six, so he still had some time. He would push on for another half-hour.

"Oh, mighty Arceus, please grant me your blessing," Basalt muttered to himself. When it came to finding a good Pokémon in the wild, it all came down to luck.

He stopped himself before making any grand promises; he still remembered what happened last time.

If I had to, I could consider sacrificing Drilbur's future love life, he mused, glancing mischievously at his partner trotting ahead. He's still young, and romance would just be a distraction from training anyway... But in the end, he couldn't bring himself to jinx his partner like that.

As he continued, the sun began its descent, and a light wind started to blow across the dunes, kicking up fine grains of sand that stung his face. He was grateful for his goggles.

"Huh? What's that?"

After cresting another large dune, he peered into the distance and saw three tiny, ant-like figures on a dune three or four hundred meters away. Squinting, he made them out. "Are those... wild Numel?"

The figures' coloration blended in almost perfectly with the sand. If they hadn't moved, he would have missed them completely. He couldn't just pass up a chance to check out these "little Groudons." He had to at least get a closer look and see what he was dealing with.

But as he urged his own Numel forward, he noticed the wind was picking up, and dark clouds were beginning to blot out the sun. A shadow fell over the desert.

"What's going on? Is a storm rolling in?"

Basalt tensed, pulling on the reins. He realized with a start that he was now in the middle of a massive, swirling dust cloud. He hesitated. It would be a shame to abandon the wild Numel, but his own safety was more important. A moment ago, the sun had been shining brightly, and now this. Was a full-blown sandstorm about to hit?

He chickened out. Pokémon were great, but his life was more valuable. With one last, regretful glance at the wild Numel, Basalt turned his ride around and started back. He could always try again tomorrow. Staying alive was the priority.

"Come on, buddy, we need to hurry!" Basalt urged, lightly tapping the Numel with a small switch. It took the Pokémon a few seconds to react before it reluctantly picked up the pace.

But soon, Basalt realized something was very wrong. The sand was getting thicker, and the sky was growing darker. It was only a little past four, but it looked like seven at night.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

Basalt panicked and pulled out his Pokédex, intending to message his cousin Faye. The sudden change in weather was terrifying. How could the desert weather turn so violently? He then noticed that this bizarre weather seemed to be confined to the area directly beneath the dark cloud over his head. Kilometers away, the dunes were still bathed in brilliant sunshine, the sand glittering beautifully.

Then, his panic turned to sheer terror. His Pokédex screen read: NO SIGNAL.

"Oh, crap!" Basalt swore. This was getting serious.

"The park entrance should be... that way!" Fortunately, he hadn't lost his sense of direction yet. He wasn't too far out; he could still backtrack.

"Drilbur, stop fooling around! We need to run for it! Protect your master!" he yelled, his voice strained.

Clinging to the back of the Numel, his clothes whipping in the wind, Basalt looked at his partner with a mix of fear and disbelief. Drilbur seemed completely unaware of the danger. As the wind and sand intensified, its Sand Rush ability was going into overdrive. Its speed was breaking past its usual limits, pushing it to an even higher level. As a result, Drilbur was ecstatic, dashing back and forth through the sand, showing off its power, oblivious to the fact that its trainer was about to have a heart attack.

"Drilburr?" (ω)

Drilbur didn't understand. Sandstorms were great! What was its human so afraid of?

The wind howled in Basalt's ears as the storm grew even stronger. He could no longer see the dunes a few kilometers away. His vision was a swirling vortex of gold. Cold sweat beaded on his palms. He had a very, very bad feeling about this.

Crimson City Weather Bureau.

A middle-aged man burst into the director's office. "Director, it's back! The special magnetic field has appeared again!"

"What? Are you sure?" The bald director, who sported a thick mustache, shot up from his chair.

This strange magnetic field had first appeared over a month ago, then again two weeks ago. Now the interval was getting shorter.

"Can you pinpoint its location?" the director asked urgently.

"No, sir. We can only detect its general vicinity, somewhere to the north. We can't get a precise location yet."

The director nodded grimly and slammed his hand on his desk. "In that case, dispatch all Forest Rangers, Sand Rangers, and police in that sector. Have them spread out. I want to be notified the second they find anything unusual!"

"Yes, sir!" The staffer hurried out of the office.

The director turned to the massive map of the region hanging on his wall, his brow furrowed with deep concern.

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