“Now I wasn’t expecting this.” marveled Rodney
“Who would’ve figured an oasis would be out here.” marveled Brock
They continued to look at the green grass that cover the ground in front of them swaying back and forth with the wind. Farther back pass the grass was a large pond of water with clear blue water that sparkled under the blazing desert sun. Behind the pond was a lush green forest that looked untouched by the harsh desert climate. They walked through the grass looking around still amazed at the discovery that they had just made. Rodney bent down and grabbed a hand full of soil rubbing it through it hands while letting it fall back to the ground.
“The saturation is really good, but I don’t understand. How could a place like this thrive in the desert like this for so long without anybody finding it.” wondered Rodney as he stood back up.
“Who knows.” shrugged Misty looking in the clear blue water.
“Maybe there’s some kind of large underground spring around her.” thought Brock
“Maybe, but even if that may be the case a place this size somebody should have found it by now.” replied Rodney
“Maybe that large sandstorm has something to do with it.” noted Ash
“Chu.” said Pikachu
“You might be right.” agreed Rodney as he walked up to the lake beside Misty.
“Hay Rodney do you think that this water is ok?’ asked Misty
Rodney stared at the lake for a few minutes before he notice a small wave in the water. He looked up and on the other side of the lake two pokémon were drinking from it.
“Well I wasn’t sure at first, but now I guess it is.” laughed Rodney
“Slash…Sand…Sand!” shouted Sandslash excitedly
Ash looked at Sandslash and saw that he was eying both of the pokémon that were drinking from the lake. Ash walked closer to the edge of the lake to get a better look at the two pokémon and saw that they resembled a Sandslash. The only difference was that these two pokémon were a bite larger land a normal Sandslash with larger brown paws, a red belly and the spike on it back were flaming.
“Wow who’s that pokémon?” wondered Ash
“Their called Sandburn and their on of Sandslash’s evolved forms.” smiled Rodney
“Sandslash…Slash…Sand.” smiled Sandslash
“A Sandburn….” said Ash as he pointed his pokédex.
“Sandburn the Fire Mouse Pokémon and the evolved form of Sandslash. Sandburn are fearsome pokémon that live in desert areas and they create their nest underground. If provoked they will curl up into a ball and attack the flaming spikes in its back.” said the pokédex
“Sandslash.” dance Sandslash still excited.
“What’s up with Sandslash Rodney…he seems offly excited?” asked Misty
“Sandslash is excited becase it’s rare that we get to see a Sandburn. He idolize’s other Sandburns and hopes to become strong enough to evolved into one himself oneday.” laughed Rodney
“Slash.” nodded Sandslash
“Growl.” smiled Tidus
“Cool.” nodded Ash
“Pika…Pi.” smiled Pikachu
“Hay it’ll be dark in a couple more hours, maybe we should set up camp here for tonight.” suggested Brock
“Sounds good…I can take a few pictures for Timothy.” nodded Rodney
“I’ll cook us a little lunch.” declared Brock
They all began to set up the camp for the day as the sand continued to move across the sky.
………………………
Little did Rodney, Misty, Ash and Brock know that from within the forest a pair of yellow eye’s had their sights set on them. The creature watched as Ash and Rodney set up four tents around a small camp fire. It watched Misty take two capsules out of her pouch and tossing them in front of her before one exploded in a large picnic table and the other into a cabinet. She reached into the cabinet and brought out several plates setting them down on the picnic table. It’s eye’s glared at Brock who was stand over a stove stirring something in a pot that filled the creatures noise with a strange, but delightful smell.
It’s gazed then moved over to Tidus, Sandslash and Pikachu who were all playing in front of the lake. Pikachu was by the water’s edge being chased by Tidus and Sandslash, and he then used his tail to splash them with water. Tidus quickly jumped out of the way of the water while Sandslash jumped into the water splashing Pikachu in the possess. The creature let out a low toned growl that caused the surround trees to shake and it sat there continuing to watch them.
……………………
It was late dusk before everybody had finished setting up the camp and sat down at the picnic table to eat. After they had finished eating and the kitchen utensils away all sat around down around the camp fire.
“So Rodney did Alice come back yet…I haven’t seen her around lately. To be honest after Timothy left to go train I’ve been trying to do my own thing lately.” smiled Rodney
“Have you been training any lately?” asked Ash
“Yea a bit, but I try not to over do it…we’ve been doing a little traveling of our own lately. What about ya’ll what have you all be up to since the Chunin Exams?” asked Rodney
“Chu.” said Pikachu as he sat in Ash’s lap
“Nothing really just relaxing and having some fun.” shrugged Ash
“Well there nothing wrong with that.” laughed Rodney
Ash looked over at Rodney and saw that he was looking down at Tidus and Sandslash while rubbing them on the head. He then looked into the fire as it continued to burn dimly as sparks flew from the fire onto the ground beside it.
“Hay do you guy’s hear something?” asked Rodney
They all looked around into the darkness of the night that surrounded the camp and listen closely for any strange sound.
“No I don’t hear anything.” said Brock shaking his head.
Just then the ground began to shake around them causing the tents around them to collapse in on themselves.
“Growl!” howled Tidus as he got to his feet.
“What’s going on?” wondered Misty
All of a sudden there was an explosion and something hit the ground in front of them sending up a cloud of dust. Ash, Rodney, Misty and Brock all got back to their feet cough in the cloud of dust.
“What was that…what hit?” wondered Ash coughing
“Pika.” coughed Pikachu
“I can’t see anything.” said Brock
Rodney began to glow blue and he raised his hand firing a blue sphere of energy into the sky above them illuminating the surrounding area. They looked on the ground where the fire had been and there they saw a pokémon laying on the ground it’s body covered in wounds. It was similar to a large dog, but its body was covered in brown plates except for parts of its legs and under belly which were orange in color. It had a white beard and a mane that was created from fire protruding from the back of its head. It also had a samurai like mask on its face with a horn on the top of its head and three ribbon like tails behind it.
“Who is this pokémon?” asked Ash as he looked at the creature on the ground.
“It’s a Helikos, but I’ve never actually seen one before.” glared Rodney
“It looks hurt.” said Brock
Rodney was up to the pokémon and put his hands on its side just as it opened its eye and looked at him.
“Don’t worry…we’re not going to hurt you.” Rodney said in a soft voice.
“Helik.” moaned the pokémon
“Hay Misty think you can heal it real quick?’ asked Rodney
“Sure.” nodded Misty
Misty walked up to the pokémon and got down onto her knees while holding her hands out over the pokémon. Her hands started to glow with a green energy around the which spread around the pokémon until it engulfed it’s entire body. All of a sudden they heard something roar from out of the forest causing the ground to shake.
“What was that?” asked Ash as he looked at the forest.
Just then they noticed a flash of light from the forest and they noticed that it was headed straight for them. Rodney jumped in front of the attack holding out his hands and stopping the white ball of energy just as it got near him. He then threw his hands up tossing the ball of energy into the air and it exploded. Just then the ground started to shake again as if something was stomping toward them. They continued to look at the forest as the trees as the tree shook from the tremble of the stomping.
All of a sudden out of the forest stepped a large sandy brown dragon like creature. It had two large horns sticking out the top of its head along with a large neck frill also with spikes sticking out of it. It had wing like membranes attached to its arms as well as two smaller horn like figures coming out of its mouth. The creature looked down at Ash, Misty, Brock and Rodney before roaring at them.
“Its that a pokémon?’ asked Ash looking up at the towering pokémon.
“It’s a Diaburosu.” glared Rodney
“I’m done.” said Misty
Misty stood up and backed away from the pokémon as it got to it’s feet looking up at the pokémon.
“Helikos!” roared the pokémon.
Just then a white energy began to surge on the Diaburosu’s horn and a white sphere began to form in between them.
“Move that’s Mega Blast!” shouted Rodney
They all jumped out of the way just as the Diaburosu fired the blast which hit the ground and created a large explosion. They all landed several feet awayh from the large cloud of dust as the Diaburosu stepped out of it.
“Sand…Sand!” shouted Sandslash
“Growlith!” growled Tidus
Rodney sat both of his pokémon down beside him and stood back up looking at the cloud of dust.
“Is everybody ok?” Rodney asked looking around.
“Yea.” replied Ash
“Chu.” nodded Pikachu
“I’m ok.” nodded Brock
“Why did that attack us…what did we do to it?” asked Brock
“Who knows.” shrugged Rodney
Just then the Helikos jumped in front of them and fired a stream of fire that collided with a sphere of white energy that erupted through the cloud of dust. The two attacks exploded on impact creating a powerful shockwave. The Diaburosu came dashing through the cloud of dust with its heads close to the ground toward them. They all jumped out of the way as the pokémon sped past them and came to a stop several feet away from them.
“Pikachu quick use Thunderbolt!” shouted Ash
“Pika.” nodded Pikachu
Pikachu jumped jumped off of Ash’s shoulder and fired a large bolt of lighting at the dragon pokémon. The bolt of lightning hit the dragon pokémon and surged across its body, but it didn’t faze it in anyway.
“Tidus use Fire Blast and Sandslash you use Focus Blast!” shouted Rodney
Tidus fired a huge stream of fire from it’s mouth while Sandslash created a sphere of white energy and threw it. The attacks hit the pokémon head on, but the Diaburosu roared creating a powerful shockwave that caused them to slide back. Ash, Misty, Brock, Rodney and their pokémon all held their ground trying not to be blow away. The pokémon then stopped roaring before sliding its feet across the ground like it was getting ready to charge at them again.
“Man that pokémon is powerful.” noted Ash
“Chu…Pika…Pi.” agreed Pikachu
“I never thought that I would ever see a Diaburosu, but now that I have I wish I never did.” laughed Rodney
To Be Continued……….