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Tales from Oasis Outpost

Chapter 1

≈ Desert Disaster

Running a trade caravan can get exhausting at times. We had experienced one setback after another before finally getting on our way; one of the Tauros pulling the caravan was missing, a few boxes of merchandise had been misplaced, and after those had been sorted out a wheel broke right off of our wagon. Just how unfortunate can one get?

Once everything was put into place, we rushed straight out of Treasure Town in order to deliver our cargo on time. With how late we departed, we simply couldn't afford to stop, even to rest. After all, Oasis Outpost was quite a ways away.

As we travelled, my companion, a young Sentret by the name of Scout, stood guard at the front of the wagon while I had my face buried in a map at the back, ensuring we were on the correct route. My perusal was interrupted by a small paw tugging at my arm.

"...Hey, Strauss."

I set my map aside for a second to see what she wanted. I found my companion squinting out the caravan's window, pointing ahead with her other paw.

"Kecleon have good night vision, right? Look over there," she said, "Doesn't it look like that cactus over there is wearing a mask?"

"What?" I set my map aside and peered out the side of the caravan. I strained my eyes against the darkness to try and make out whatever it was my partner had seen. However, despite having the 'good night vision' of a Kecleon, I saw no sign of any such masked cactus anywhere in our vicinity.

"What do you mean? I don't see anything of the sort." I turned back to her and folded my arms, "Are you sure you saw something like that? Or are you just imagining things again?"

She seemed put off by that, if only for a moment.

"I guess the long night's just getting to me." She sighed. "I could'a sworn, though…"

I unfurled my map and sighed as I went back to looking it over. "Take a nap then, if you're tired."

"Don't treat me like I'm still a kid, Strauss!" she grumbled. "I'm not tired at all! If anything, you should be the one going to sleep! You're always overworking yourself, and- and you… aahh…"

Whatever it was she was trying to say was interrupted by the onset of a loud yawn that would've made a Slowpoke jealous. Blushing, Scout pulled her bushy tail in front of her face in an attempt to hide her embarrassment from me.

"Take a nap," I insisted, trying my hardest to hold back a chuckle. "I'll wake you once we arrive, alright?"

"But…"

I shook my head and smiled, "Scout. Even adults need their sleep when they're feeling tuckered out. I promise you, I'll keep an eye out for any sneaky cacti while you rest. Just worry about catching some shut-eye for now, okay?"

She mulled over my words for a moment, before letting go of her tail. Puffing out her cheeks, she bounded over to my side of the caravan with a sudden short burst of energy and scooted herself up against my side.

"Fine," she said, "but you'll have to be my pillow, Strauss!"

Before I could even open my mouth to object, she pressed her fuzzy little cheek against my arm and shut her eyes. Within seconds, I could hear her faint, raspy snore as she fell asleep. I chuckled quietly and shook my head.

After my partner had drifted off to sleep, I found myself sitting in near silence. The dull puff of the Tauros' hooves kicking up sand and the rumbling wheels of the caravan were all that kept me company as I rode through the night.

Ridiculous as Scout's claims of a strange, masked cactus may have been, I couldn't help but take another glance out the window. No cacti, of course. At least, no masked ones. I masked my smirk with one claw and shook my head. She may have claimed otherwise, but she certainly had a wild imagination, her mind full of bizzare ideas one could only hear from a child.. I placed my chin atop my palm with a sigh and looked out the window. For a while, all I did was gaze out at the vast, sandy landscape. Endless stretches of desolate desert surrounded us, reaching all the way to the edges of the horizon.

The Northern Desert… what a dull place to be. I'd heard tales that the desert was a dangerous place to visit, especially at night, but - for better or worse - nothing really exciting had happened thus far. Normally I'd have played it safe and went the longer way around Drenched Bluff, but we wouldn't have had a hope of reaching our destination on time otherwise.

The decision to pass through the Northern Desert wasn't an easy one to make, but we had ultimately decided that it would hopefully be worth the risk. Scout volunteered to keep watch for anything suspicious while we traveled, and I trusted that our burly team of Tauros could hold their own in a fight if need be - and so, we considered ourselves fit to travel, even taking into account the possibility of danger.

Every now and then, I glanced back at our map to double-check that we were on the right path; we simply couldn't afford to have another setback with all that had gone wrong before we'd even set out. If I had another mishap now… Neither my brother nor my wallet would ever forgive me.

"Mrrk…"

I was jolted out of my thoughts by a loud snore from my partner. She had rolled away into her own seat. She looked so peaceful, curled up into a little striped ball and clutching her big, fluffy tail tightly. I just couldn't help but want to pet the little ball of fluff.

I made to reach over and pet her, but I was interrupted by a loud bellow from the Tauros leading the wagon, with two more following shortly after. Before I could process what had happened, the entire caravan came to an abrupt and painful halt. The wagon had suddenly toppled onto its side, tossing merchandise and passenger alike all around the splintering interior.

A wooden support beam cracked loudly as it broke, sending a jolt of panic down my spine. Through the chaos, I caught sight of my skin turning a pale shade of yellow as we tumbled about. The entire thing began to groan and creak as it finally stopped rolling. However, our troubles weren't over - we were beginning to dip lower and lower below the surface of the sand.

At this point, my instincts took over. I couldn't let Scout get hurt! Leaving my merchandise where it fell, I scooped Scout up into my arms and dove out the window. Icy cold sand greeted my face as I tumbled out of the sinking caravan, clutching my partner securely against myself.

"What happened?" I shouted at the Tauros as I struggled for footing in the shifting sands."What's going on out here!? Answer me, Tauros!"

No response came. I climbed out of the crater of sand I had fallen into - no small feat, mind, as I still had to carry Scout with me - and hurried forward to investigate. When I got to the front of the line a short while after, a disastrous scene awaited me: All three leading Tauros had fallen unconscious, lying in a huge, tangled mess at the bottom of a massive sand trap.

"Who did this?! Show yourself!" I edged around the sizeable pit, looking around for anyone who may have been responsible. I detected a faint sound from the middle of the pit. Snapping my eyes over to the source, I noticed that a Trapinch had crawled out from underneath the knocked-out Tauros and climbed atop them, sporting a victorious grin.

"What's the meaning of this?!" I demanded. The little bandit spared me no response but a wry grin. Now literally bright red with anger, I swung my arm through the air in the direction of the miscreant and seethed, "Get them out of there, now!" This time, the Trapinch did respond - by firing a chunk of gritty sand right into my face.

"Agh!" I stumbled backward, my eyes burning from the sandy assault. During my panic, the unconscious Scout rolled out of my grasp, tumbling onto the cold sand and tumbling away.

"Scout!"

My partner continued to roll over the dunes like an out of control wheel for several feet, before uncurling herself. She glanced around for a few seconds, her eyes still unfocused and cloudy from sleep, before she turned to me.

"Strauss!" she said, "What's going on? How did I get outside?"

"Now's not the time for questions like that!" I shouted back at her. A feeling of relief washed over me when I saw her answer with a nod. Thank goodness... She didn't seem to be injured.

Despite being worried for my partner's well-being, I had more pressing matters to attend to. I spun around in the sand, glaring back at the cackling Trapinch in the sand pit. The Trapinch saw my furious gaze, and gave me another raspy, coarse-sounding cackle before calling out to someone out of our sight.

"You're clear, Boss!"

"Boss?!" Another bandit?! I whipped around, glancing toward where the Trapinch was looking, but I found nothing but the inky blackness of night. Right as I was about to turn back around, however, a shadowy blur raced past and nearly knocked me off my feet.

"S-Strauss!" Scout had leapt to her feet and was pointing behind me. "It's him! It's the masked cactus!"

My new assailant came into full view as I pivoted on my heel to face him. Illuminated by the bright desert moon, looming over me like an imposing beast, was that suspicious character my partner had spotted. A masked cactus… no, it was no mere cactus! It was a Pokémon; a Cacturne! A Cacturne clad in a bandana for some odd reason, as if he thought it would somehow conceal his identity.

"W-What do you want out of me?" I asked, trying as best I could not to let him hear my voice shake. However, my skin betrayed my intentions. Pale, ashen gray - I was blanched with fear.

"Kyeheheh… I was thinkin' you'd be smarter than that, bein' a merchant and all!" he growled, showing an icy-cold demeanor. Every syllable he spoke was laced with a disgusting layer of snideness, as if he was taunting me with every word. "Seems to me I had it all wrong! Now… unless you and your little Sentret buddy are thinking of stopping us - Bonnie and Clyde, the Desert Bandits! - We'll be helpin' ourselves to your cargo there!"

The Cacturne doffed his hat in my direction, a malicious glint in his eyes. Then, before so much as giving me the chance to respond, he made a beeline for the toppled caravan.

"Wait, stop-!" My desperate shouts reached nobody. Soon, right before my very eyes, the audacious criminal began to hurl crate after crate of my precious cargo out of the caravan's crumbling remains. As each crate landed, it was sucked under a newly-formed vortex of sand, no doubt to be carried off by his Trapinch accomplice.

What was I to do? As a merchant by trade, it was rare that I would find myself in a situation like this. Combat training? In the past, it seemed foolish to me to waste my time with such frivolities. To be a merchant, all one needs is a silver tongue and a penchant for business! After wandering off the beaten path and winding up in this situation, though, I begun to consider that perhaps I'd made the wrong choice in abstaining from training myself a bit.

I had no more time to think about that, though. If I continued to lay there, stunned like a dozy Stunfisk, those dastardly thieves would have made away with all of my precious merchandise! I glanced over at Scout. She seemed to be sharing in my dilemma, looking on at the fiasco with her mouth agape.

Unfortunately, it seemed my only options were to risk a fight or to stand idly by and let this crook ruin my livelihood. Gritting my teeth, I caught Scout's attention with an inconspicuous signal, uncurling my tail and whipping it at the sand. To my relief, she noticed, and sent an attentive nod back to me. With no time to dawdle, I motioned at the Cacturne, keeping my arm by my side to avoid drawing his attention. If there was any hope for success, then it was only if we attacked together!

At once, the two of us charged at the bandit while he was occupied tossing our cargo to his accomplice. I lashed out with a furious barrage of claw swipes, while Scout launched herself toward him in a full - body tackle, using her springy tail to propel herself into the air.

The Cacturne reacted to our combined assault with startling speed. He carelessly tossed away the crate he was holding, and ducked down low to the ground in a sort of boxer's stance. Scout flew right past him as he lowered himself and crash - landed inside our wrecked caravan. I, on the other hand, was caught off-guard and quite severely punished for it. Before my claws could even reach his masked face, he sprung back up with insane agility and sent me sprawling back onto the cold sand with a single punch.

"Kyehehehe…" the Cacturne stomped down on my chest and leaned over me, giving me a good look at his masked face. "So close… not! Did'ja really think a weakling like you could stop the likes of Clyde, Desert Bandit? Don't make me laugh! Kyeheheh!"

"You… why are you doing this?"

The bandit tilted his head, letting a few grains of sand slip off his face. "Why? You're seriously asking me that, why am I doing this? Kyeheheh… that's funny." He got off my chest and hollered over at his Trapinch partner. "'Ey, Bonnie! Gimme a reason as to why we're robbing these jokers!"

"Money!"

"...Really? That's all you can come up with?" the Cacturne clamped his hand over his face and shook his head. He glanced at me and shrugged, "What can I say? My partner ain't the brightest Lanturn in the sea."

"You… you won't get away with this…!" I growled in a vain attempt to threaten him.

"You ain't no shinin'' Litwick yerself, merchant," he tapped my nose with his hands, prodding me with his spiny thorns. "I heard Kecleon have great night vision, but you look like you're totally blind! We've already won! Your stuff? It ain't yours anymore! Kyeheh! Kyehahahahah!" he reared his head back and cackled into the night.

"Listen, how's about I cut you a deal, merchant?" he said. "The desert's deadly cold at night, and I'm a pretty generous Pokémon! So how 'bout this? You give us your stuff... and that Sentret too. And I might think about leaving some provisions behind for you! Kyeheheh!"

"T-That Sentret? I… I most certainly refuse!" Scout… as if I would ever let these dastards have my Scout! She was my responsibility; she's my charge! She's mine; I simply couldn't let them take her! Howling out of rage, I pulled myself to my feet and shot a determined glare at our attacker. Adrenaline coursed through my body, turning my skin a radiant gold. Swallowing the dull, throbbing pain from the blow that Cacturne dealt, I charged past the bandit and leapt inside the caravan.

Before the Cacturne could stop me, I scanned around the inside of my destroyed caravan. To my relief, my partner was only knocked out cold against a piece of lumber. Scooping her up in my arms, I pulled Scout out of the wreckage and bounded back out onto the desert sands. Hiding her unconscious form behind a dune, I peeked back over at the bandits. The Cacturne and the Trapinch had both ignored my daring rescue, and were rushing off into the distance with our cargo in tow.

"Well, you can't win'em all, eh?" I heard the Cacturne shout. "You can keep your brat, Kecleon! We'll be taking the rest! Kyehehahahah!"

I could feel my skin burning a furious red as I watched them race off, that manic cackle fading into the distance. I wanted to attack them, to charge toward them and hope for a better outcome. But… my common sense told me that it was a foolish idea. I had already escaped with my life, as well as Scout's. To pursue them any more would be reckless, endangering not just my well - being, but hers as well.

In the end, I had no choice but to let them go. My burning red skin faded to a dull, blue hue as I felt my helplessness overcome me. I glanced over at my partner. The Sentret's eyes were closed, her little chest heaving as she rested her body. A part of me was glad that Scout was still asleep.

I'd wager she would have cried if she had seen the look on my face.