Wins and losses
“Oh wow, this is gorgeous,” Saylee sighed, sinking into the hot water. “Gets all that sweat and ash off me from Mt Chimney. Ahhh...”
“I’ve heard of the Lavaridge springs before,” Key said, “and I’d heard they were lovely, but... wow.”
“It’s heated by the volcano,” supplied a redheaded woman soaking near them. “The water veins that run underground get heated by the magma. Fire’s amazingly powerful, it even gives us this lovely water!” She laughed, and Saylee laughed with her.
“Fire’s my favourite element!” Saylee said, dragging her hand through the hot water. “If I didn’t need a balanced team, I’d only catch fire Pokémon. My very first Pokémon was a Charmander.”
“A Charmander?” The woman said, looking confused, before snapping her fingers. “Wait, I heard of them! Those adorable little orange ones with the flaming tails, right? But I heard that they’re only found overseas, and that they’re extinct anyway.”
“Nearly,” Saylee sighed. “They used to be Kanto-native, but now I’m afraid they’re lab-native. I’m from Kanto myself, that’s how I got one.”
“You’re from Kanto? Seriously?” The woman gaped. “I didn’t think anyone was from there.”
“Well, Saylee is!” Key said. “She knows tons about Pokémon. She’s really helped me out in training my Pokémon. I’m Key,” she added. “I’m from Littleroot.”
“Nice to meet you both,” the woman said. “I’m Flannery. So what’s a Littleroot girl doing all the way out here with a foreigner? Are you two taking on gyms?”
“I am,” Key said, pointing to herself. “Got three already. I heard that Mr Moore was the gym leader here...”
“He was, but he retired recently,” Flannery said apologetically. Key groaned.
“Great,” she sighed, banging her head off of the rocky edge of the natural hot tub. “Who am I gonna get my fourth badge from now?”
“How ‘bout me?”
Saylee and Key both stared at Flannery as she stood up, hands on hips and a proud grin on her face. “You?” Key asked.
“Mr Moore’s my grandpa,” Flannery explained. “I’m Flannery Moore, and I just inherited the gym!”
“Really?” Key said. Flannery flushed under their stares, but recovered herself, pointing at Key. “Dare not underestimate me, though I have been Leader only a short time! With skills inherited from my grandfather, I shall, uh...demonstrate the hot moves we have honed on this land!”
She flushed again when Saylee clapped her little speech. “Where’s your gym?” Key asked.
“I’m a Fire Trainer,” Flannery said, “And our gym doubles as a sauna because of the heat inside! Just follow the signs to the sauna and we can have our match! Oooh, I’m all fired up now!” With that, she hopped out of the spring and dashed off.
“...What just happened?” Key asked Saylee. Saylee giggled.
“I think you just made your gym challenge,” Saylee said. “I fought a fire trainer called Blaine before, in Kanto. I love fire-types, but the problem is that they’re very easy to douse with a little water. Manami should take this one on just fine.”
“’Scuse me, girls,” an old lady said as they stepped out of the springs and onto the hot sand. “Were you the ones sayin’ that you’re travellin’?”
“That’s us,” Saylee confirmed. “What can we do you for?”
“I’ve got this egg, see,” the woman said, stopping down and uncovering a Pokémon egg covered in hot sand. “I’ve been buryin’ it in the hot sand, but that ain’t enough to hatch it. I’m thinkin’ it needs to be ‘round other Pokémon, y’know? I figure a couple’ve travellin’ trainers like you can hatch it, eh?”
“I think I’ve seen an egg like this before,” Saylee said thoughtfully, picking up the warm egg and turning it over gently in her hands, before passing it to Key. “Do you want to carry it?”
“Me?” Key said in surprise. “Well, yeah, sure... don’t you?”
“I hatched a couple before,” Saylee insisted. “It’s only fair that you get a shot. It’s really amazing when they hatch.”
“What do you think it is?” Key said, tracing a finger along the red and blue patterns on the eggshell. Saylee smiled.
“You’ll find out when it hatches,” she said lightly. “Now, how about that gym battle?”
~
The steam in the air thickened as Manami’s Water Gun hit Camerupt. Saylee fanned herself vigorously.
“Y’know, I heard Mr Moore designed this place after he travelled to a country in the north,” commented Danielle, a battle girl who was hanging around the gym with her Meditite and was currently lounging with Saylee and watching the battle. “Waaaaaay up north, where it’s all snow and mountains. He said that there, they hang around in the sauna for ages, and then when they get too hot they go outside and roll around in the snow!”
“Doesn’t sound too bad right now,” Saylee commented, as Flannery’s Torkoal collapsed in a cloud of steam and smoke. “Is that her last one?”
“Yep, your friend has her badge,” Danielle said, giving her a thumbs-up. “Congrats! Are you two heading straight out?”
“Yeah,” Saylee said, shifting her grip on the egg and standing up. “Key’s got four badges, so we’ve got a promise to keep.”
“Check it out!” Key said, showing off the flame-shaped badge. “Thanks for holding that. Right, we’d better return that meteorite, and then let’s head back to Petalburg!”
“We’ll have to go back over the mountain,” Saylee sighed. “I’m not looking forward to going through Fiery Path twice...”
“Key? Is that you?”
“Brendan?!” Key said in surprise. Just outside the gym, Brendan had skidded to a halt. He was on his bike and covered from head to foot in sand. He levered a pair of thick goggles and his hat off of his face, pouring more sand out of the latter and wiping his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, ummm... migration patterns,” he said, trying to wipe sand off of his face. “I had to follow ‘em through the desert... it’s a good shortcut from Mauville to Fallarbor, but it’s a horrible trek.”
“We couldn’t even get through before, with all of the sand in the air,” Key said. “How did you manage it?”
Brendan swung his goggles around one finger. There was a breathing mask attached to the lower part of them. “I still got covered in sand, but at least I could see,” he said, before tossing them to Key. “You can have them, if you want. I don’t think I need to go back through the desert.”
“He did say it was a shortcut from Fallarbor to Mauville,” Saylee said thoughtfully, digging in her bag. “Here we go! My old flight goggles! Got ‘em from a guy named Falkner,” she added, displaying the old brown goggles. They also had a breather, though it was much larger and less elegant in design than the one on Brendan’s goggles, and appeared to have been hand-stitched on. “They make it way easier to fly at altitude.”
“Isn’t it cold when you go up high, though?” Brendan asked.
“Not with my ride,” Saylee said with a grin. “So, what do you think?” she added to Key. “Shall we return the goggles, then hit the desert? I’ve never seen a desert before. Well, a sandy one, anyway. Without a dangerous level of psi radiation.”
“...Kanto really isn’t a tourist spot, is it,” Key said, wiping off the goggles. “Thanks, Brendan. I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Brendan said, ducking his head. “I’m gonna go check out those famous hot springs... have a safe trip!” He wheeled his bike away, shedding a trail of sand behind him.”
“You know, speaking of tourist spots,” Key added as they headed for the mountain trail, “That shop up at the crater should be open. I remember that we visited it once, when I was really little, and they had the best cookies...”
~
“The Professor’s been really down,” the young woman said quietly as she let them into the lab. “It’s really hard to see him so sad.”
“We’ll cheer him up,” Key promised as they spotted the Professor, sitting at a desk with his head in his hands.
“I can’t believe that I was conned into telling Team Magma where you can find meteorites...” he moaned. “That Meteorite from Meteor Falls... It’s never going to be mine now...”
“Professor Cozmo?” Saylee said, pulling the meteorite out of her bag and tapping him on the shoulder with it. He jerked up, staring blearily at her, and then jumped out of his seat when he spotted the Meteorite.
“Oh!” He cried. “Hah?! That item... Could it be? Is it the Meteorite that Team Magma took from Meteor Falls?”
“Indded it is,” Saylee said, balancing it on her hand.” We got it back from Mt Chimney.”
“Please, may I have it?” He begged. “I’m not asking for it for free. How about in exchange for this TM?” He pulled open a drawer and offered Saylee a TM.
“Hey, we were just gonna give it back anyway, but thanks,” Key said, leaning over and taking the TM from him. The Professor ignored her, taking the Meteorite from Saylee and hugging it.
“Oh, I can’t believe it,” he sang happily. “This is really, really great! This is really going to help my research!” He danced off to examine the Meteorite.
“Thanks,” the assistant said as Saylee and Key left again. “It’s nice to see him so happy.”
“No problem,” Saylee said, waving as they left.
“Give him a kiss, make him even happier,” Key teased. The woman blushed bright red and slammed the door behind them. Key giggled. Saylee tried to stay stern, but then she caught Key’s gaze and couldn’t stop laughing. Both of them just leaned against the wall, their laughter feeding on each other until they were both bent double, clutching their guts with laughter.
“Why was that so funny?” Key gasped as she pulled herself back upright.
“Damned if I know,” Saylee laughed, “but I can’t even remember the last time I laughed like that. Oh, wow...”
“Really...” Key said, looking a little sad. “You know, I’d like to hear more about them sometimes. Your Pokémon. If you feel like telling me.”
“Yeah... maybe I will, one day soon,” Saylee said, pushing off from the wall. “But for now, we need to get you back to Petalburg for your gym battle!”
~
The perpetual sandstorm stung at their exposed arms and legs and whipped their hair into an uncontrollable frenzy, until Saylee stopped in the lee of a cliff to tie up her headscarf as a hairnet and Key released Wanda, who happily wound herself up in the hair and shielded Key’s head from the sand with her wide, vibrant wings. There was no direction in the stinging sand, at least until Key caught a Trapinch named Topaz who was happy to guide them southwards. Topaz was a gentle, happy soul, who led them into a tower in the desert when it began to grow dark. The desert would be freezing at night, and they didn’t want to be caught out.
“We’re lucky it’s here,” Topaz said as they helped Teddy build a small fire. “It isn’t always.”
“What do you mean, it isn’t always here?” Saylee asked. Topaz shyly snuggled into Key’s side.
“Well, sometimes it’s here,” she said, “and sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes there’s just sand.”
“That’s odd,” Saylee said, looking around. “I wonder what it’s for?”
“Y’know, I don’t feel like sleeping yet,” Key opined. “Do you want to go have a look around?”
“I’m game,” Saylee said, getting up. “The fire’s burning pretty well on its own, so we can come back to camp when we want to.”
“Alright, then!” Key said, getting out a flashlight. The pair of them, along with Topaz, Teddy and Wanda, began to explore the tower.
It was mostly empty, but an upward sloping dune led them to another floor. Parts of the floor crumble to sand at a touch, so Saylee released Steele just in case and began carefully toeing her way across the floor, jumping over some suspicious patches.
“Check this out!” Key said, waving her flashlight at a podium in the middle of the floor. Clambering up to it, they found two small drifts of sand. Saylee kicked at one and swore when her toe struck something hard under the sand.
“Have a look at this,” Saylee said, brushing the sand away and uncovering a small rock with a root pattern on it. “Oh wow, I think it’s a fossil!”
“There’s one here, too!” Key said, brushing the sand off of a second fossil. “Wow, are these valuable?”
“Extremely,” Saylee said, tracing her fingers over the root pattern, “and more importantly, ancient Pokémon can be revived if DNA is preserved in these fossils...”
“Sweet!” Key breathed, picking up her fossil. Saylee picked up the root-patterned fossil, turning it over to examine the backside. Something slithered.
A second later, the ground fell out from under her feet.
“KEY!” Saylee screamed as the ground collapsed under her. She could hear her friend screaming, but it was drowned out by an ominous rumbling, and suddenly many heavy objects were falling all around her. She felt Steele’s claws grabbing for her, Teddy’s talons, and then she slammed hard into the ground and darkness enclosed her.
~
Saylee drifted awake, blinking a few times in an attempt to clear her muzzy head. She blinked a few more, trying to decide if she was finally blind or if it was just dark. She turned her head, finally hitting on a vague source of light, filtering down from a crack above her. Crack? In what...?”
“Saylee, are you awake?” she heard Teddy say. “Saylee?”
“It’s me,” Saylee mumbled, trying to pick herself up and being pressed down by something solid.
“Don’t move,” she heard Steele caution. “We’ve got ourselves propped up here, but try not to move and dislodge anything until we can figure out a way out.”
“I’ve tried kicking out, but I can’t move safely without bringing half the stones down on us first,” Teddy said apologetically. Saylee looked over at him and, but without her glasses couldn’t differentiate him very well from the sand and sandstone around them. She figured that he was probably propping up the boulders above them with his powerful legs.
“I hope Key’s alright,” Saylee mumbled, fumbling for her Pokénav. Thankfully, her bag was still intact, but the Pokénav got no signal at all. “Fat lot of good you are.” She repeatedly tried to get a signal, but couldn’t connect to anything. Something must have heard the frantic beeping, however, because something crunched above them and a boulder shifted.
“I found you!” a voice called breathlessly. Light broke in, and squinting through it Saylee saw a large round silhouette block it out.
“Topaz, right?” she heard Teddy call. “Topaz! Is everything alright?”
“Saylee, you have to come quickly!” Topaz said, chewing away more of the stone, enough for Teddy and Steele to both push up and free them. The sun was low in the sky; Saylee hoped that it was sunrise. She was worried enough by the prospect that she’d been out all night. At least the days were long and the nights short in Hoenn. “You have to help!”
“Is Key alright?” Saylee asked, sitting up and allowing Teddy to pull her to her feet. Saylee swayed on her feet, the world spinning slightly, but shook it off, worried for her friend.
“She’s not hurt too bad, she fell into a sandbank, but... Wanda... You have to come help!”
Saylee threw a hand up over her face as sand stung into her eyes. She felt something leathery touch her arm, and she grabbed her goggles, pulling them over her face. They felt odd, not propped up by her glasses, and it blinkered her vision, but she could see vaguely through the swirling sand, and looking around she caught a blob of dark colour among all of the yellow. She stumbled towards it, supported by Steele and Teddy.
Drawing close, she could make out a kneeling figure. She reached out and felt a boulder, and below it, a vividly coloured wing was visible. She didn’t need to see more details.
The stone tail slammed down, the terrible splat, only a wing peeking out from under the unforgiving stone-
“Saylee!” she heard Key sob, grabbing her hand. “You- you’ve got to help her! We can help her, can’t we? Please... please say we can help her...”
“I’m sorry,” Saylee said, kneeling down next to her and feeling the stone, stroked a gentle hand over the limp and unresponsive wing, and put her arm around Key’s shaking shoulders. “I’m so, so sorry...”