A Sandile Gusher of Change!

Chapter 3

A Sandile Gusher of Change

The warm sun beats down on my back, creating tiny drops of sweat on my forehead. I quickly wipe it with the back of my hand, wishing we had water or some kind of liquid to drink. I hope we hit a lake or something.

As Iris and I walk along, I put my mind to other things, like how I'm going through phases. With my age—fifteen—I feel weird not having my first relationship yet. I haven't even been kissed yet, and I feel embarrassed about it. I doubt I'll find someone who'll like me in Unova, since no one in Kanto did.

Crazily, I wonder if Trip likes me... Nah. If he did, he wouldn't act like I'm the amateur Trainer, when I've been one for five years. Besides, he's arrogant and obnoxious—so not my type.

Trying to ease the uneasy silence between me and my traveling partner, I speak up and try to start a conversation. "So, why are you coming along with me anyway?"

She glares. "Excuse me, but it's not that I'm coming along with you. It's that you're coming along with me. Get it?"

I blink. No way am I coming along with her! I didn't bug her about anything! She joined me, I didn't join her! It's my journey, not hers! "Oh please," is all I can mutter.

"It's true!" she protests. She inches in front of me while walking, but I do the same. This goes on for a while, until she groans and steps in front of me, blocking my path. "Who said you could walk in front of me?!"

Okay, now she's being completely ridiculous! "No one!" I shoot back.

She crosses her arms. "Look. I figured since you don't know the Unova region, I'd help you out. But what do I get for trying to be a little nice? Obviously not even a thank you."

I glare at her. She's really starting to get on my nerves. "I don't remember you asking me if I wanted you to come along!"

"Sure," she says, rolling her eyes and smirking. "Go ahead and act like a tough girl. You're such a kid!"

A growl erupts from Pikachu. "Oh, yeah?! You're such a kid, too!"

"Pika!" my buddy adds.

Iris glares at me. "You have some nerve saying that to me!"

We hold a vicious glare at each other, but a small shape catches my eye. I turn to see the small Oshawott who helped us with Team Rocket.

"Oshawott!" he cheers, smiling. "Osha! Osha! Oshawott!"

I gasp. "It's you!"

"Pika!" Pikachu yells.

"Oshawott!" Iris gasps.

I smile. "I remember!" Holding up my Pokédex, I scan the small Pokémon.

Oshawott, the Sea Otter Pokémon. Oshawott attacks and defends using the scalchop that can be removed from its stomach.

I smile. "Thanks for helping us back there," I say. He smiles. "It I don't understand what you're doing here now." He chirps in his own Oshawott language. "Huh?"

Pikachu smiles. "Pika pi." Using his own Pikachu language (that I can partly understand) he explains it.

I smile. "Wow! So you were following us?"

Nodding, Oshawott cries, "Oshawott! Oshawott!"

Iris squeals and seems to shove me out of the picture. "You're so cute! And you were following me!" She grabs him and squeezes him. "If your skin was any softer and your cheeks any squishier, I couldn't stand it! Of course, since you can't live without me, I promise I'll keep you as my very own Pokémon!"

I can't help feeling a twinge of hurt. If anyone had to claim Oshawott as their own, I'd love to have him as my own. Even though I already have Pidove, it wouldn't hurt to have another Pokémon on my side.

Suddenly, Oshawott jumps out of Iris's arms and shakes his little head. Iris looks confused. "Huh?" He runs over to me and climbs up to my shoulder.

"Huh?!" I gasp. "What's going on?!" Pikachu's knocked off by Oshawott and lands on the ground with a thud. "Pikachu!"

He looks unhappy. "Pika!"

"Osha!" Oshawott retorts.

Iris raises her eyebrow. "Are you saying you like Alice?"

Oshawott nods. "Wott, wott! Oshawott!" He hops off my shoulder.

Suddenly, Pikachu sends a bolt of lightning towards Oshawott, but he blocks it, using the small shell-shaped scalchop from his belly. The bolt bounces off and hits me instead. I fall on my back in the grass.

Iris and Axew giggle. I glare at them as I struggle to sit up.

"What was that for?!" I yelp, feeling the pain from the lightning. Oshawott chirps with his Pokémon language.

Iris speaks up. "Hey, Alice, I'm starting to get the feeling Oshawott would like to be caught by you."

I feel my eyes light up. "Yeah? What do you know? Well, since you really helped us out with Team Rocket, do you wanna come along with us?" He nods eagerly and I stand up. "Okay, Oshawott!" I throw a Poké Ball. "Go, Poké Ball!" It soars towards Oshawott and touches his head, but bounces off and hits the ground. I frown. "What's up with the Poké Ball bouncing off of Oshawott's head like that?"

"Oshawott..." The sea otter runs his sore head.

It all comes together in my head. "Wait a minute. Are you...are you the Oshawott from Professor Juniper's lab?!" He nods. I turn to Iris. "I guess that would mean Oshawott's Poké Ball's gotta be back at the professor's lab as well."

"That's where Oshawott went!" Professor Juniper's voice is thick with relief. "I was so worried when Oshawott left without letting me know."

I nod. "Yeah. Looks like Oshawott's been following us."

"Well, Alice, if it wouldn't be too much of a bother, maybe you can take care of Oshawott from now on."

My smile almost cracks my face. "Wow! You don't mind?!"

She smiles. "No, of course not! I'll send you his Poké Ball right away."

In the small machine next to the caller, a Poké Ball appears. I take it. "Thanks! Got it!"

"And Alice?" Juniper starts. "Since Oshawott has a tendency to disappear, keep an eye out. Thanks! See you soon!"

I shut off the caller and turn around, but only find emptiness. I gasp. "It's gone!" Iris and I run outside to search. "This is nuts! Where could Oshawott have gone?!"

Iris smirks. "Well, I guess I'll have to help you look around."

I bite my lip from retorting a smart remark. "I can do it myself, thank you," I growl.

"Now, since we're both Pokémon Trainers, you don't have to go around acting like a little kid, you know," she says.

I can't tell you how sick I am of her little kid remarks! I hate it as much as I hate her! But I try to ignore her. I turn to Pikachu. "Let's go, Pikachu."

"Pikachu," he agrees. We start to walk away without Iris.

"Hm?" She notices we're walking away. "Hey! Wait a minute! Stop being so stubborn!"

Suddenly, the ground underneath us gives out and we fall into a well dug ditch. We yelp as we land, rubbing our sore spots.

"Ugh," I groan. "That hurts!"

Iris looks up. "What's going on?"

"Looks like a trap," I answer.

"Pika," Pikachu says.

I look around, taking in the surroundings. "If it is, who could've done this?"

"Pika!" My buddy points up to something.

"Sandile," a new voice says from above.

"Huh?" Iris and I look up and see a boy about my age, looking down at us.

Once the boy helps us out of the ditch, I decide to look up the Pokémon he mentioned earlier. "Sandile?"

Sandile, the Desert Croc Pokémon. Its dark membrane protects its eyes from the sun, and buries itself in the sand with eyes and nose sticking out.

"Wow," I say, putting my Pokédex away.

Iris smiles at the new boy. "I'm Iris, and I can't thank you enough for helping us!" She motions to me. "And this is Alice."

I can introduce myself, you know.

The boy smiles. "Hi. My name's Dan, and my family and I operate a resort spa and hotel not too far from here."

"This is so cool, because I happen to adore resort spas!" Iris cheers.

"Me, too," I say.

Dan scratches the back of his head. "Well, it makes me really happy to hear that, but it makes me really sad to say we're closed right now. Because of Sandile."

My eyes widen. "Huh?"

"Our hot sand spas are our most biggest attractions," Dan says. "Unfortunately, now it looks like this." He motions to the empty sand spas.

I stare at the site. "Whoa. That's too bad."

Dan turns to us. "It just happened a short time ago." He tells us how the Sandile who just came for the hot sand and relaxation suddenly turned destructive. "So for now, I'm afraid we're going to have to stay closed."

"I don't understand how a bunch of furry Sandile could've gotten destructive," Iris says.

"Yeah," Dan sighs. "We don't have any idea either."

I smile. "So, why don't we help 'em find out? C'mon!" In a flash, I'm wrapped up in sand and relaxing. "Man, it doesn't get any better than this..."

Iris glares. "I give. What are you doing?"

"Well, before we figure it out, we need research first," I answer.

"All you care about is checking out the hot sand," Iris accuses me. I ignore her and feel the hot sand melt away the tense muscles in my body. I hear Axew shuffle in the sand and sigh happily. "Not you, too."

I sigh. "This is the best..."

"Alice, I thought we were searching for Oshawott! Remember?" Iris snaps.

I gasp and jump from the relaxing hot sand. "I forgot!" I turn to the side. "Hm?" I run to one of the hot sand baths and see Oshawott. "Oshawott!" I say, relieved. "Hold on. Have you been lying here this whole time?"

"Oshawott," he answers.

I smile. "That's one happy Pokémon."

"Huh?" Suddenly, the ground erupts from behind us and a brown Pokémon reveals itself.

"You see?!" Dan shouts, pointing to it. "That's the leader of the Sandile!"

"Huh?!" I gasp. It has on a pair of red sunglasses.

The Sandile leaps up and locks its jaws around Axew. "No!" Iris shouts. "Axew!"

I stand straighter. "We'll save you! Don't worry! Pikachu, Thunderbolt, go!"

"Alice!" Iris shouts at me. "If you use Thunderbolt, then Axew will get hurt!"

"Huh?" I remember the type disadvantages and everything. Sandile looks like a Ground-type, and Electric-type moves like Thunderbolt will only hurt Axew, since it'll have no effect on Sandile.

Iris runs to the Sandile, kneels down and starts pulling on it. "Now, let go of my Axew or else!"

I help pull. "Open your mouth! Come on!" Pikachu and Oshawott even help out. "Let's pull hard, all at once." We do, and Sandile let's go of Axew, but grabs Pikachu and Oshawott. "Pikachu! Oshawott!" I scream.

The Sandile starts to scurry away with them, but is lifted off the ground by some kind of machine in a truck. I look at the drivers and recognize them as Team Rocket.

"Open your ears, the question indeed," Jessie starts.

"The answer to come as we feel the need!" James finishes.

We bring the white light of evil into the future!

Hammering justice on the black universe!

Carving our names in the rock of eternity!

The fiery destroyer, Jessie.

With thunderous emotion, I am James!

Wisest of the wise: Meowth!

Now gather under the name of Team Rocket!

I grit my teeth. "Team Rocket!"

"Don't you ever give up?!" Iris yells at them.

"Give us back our Pokémon!" I scream.

Jessie leans out the window. "There's a huge flaw in your presence since they're now our Pokémon." They drive the truck away, along with Pikachu, Oshawott and Sandile.

Slipping on my jacket, Iris, Dan and I chase after the truck. A small canister flies out to the back from the from and it explodes, sending smoke everywhere.

"Ugh!" I groan. I wave away the smoke, trying to see clearly.

"Alice! Up there!" Iris yells. She points to a small mountain, where the truck is.

We climb the mountain and hide behind a rock, seeing Pikachu, Oshawott, Sandile and many other Sandile. Other kinds of wild Pokémon are there, too.

"There they are!" I hiss, relieved.

"Yeah," Iris whispers back to me. "And check out all those wild Pokémon, too."

"So, what's going on?" Dan asks us. I shrug my shoulders.

Suddenly, the ground begins to rumble beneath our feet and a burst of water shoots from the ground. I gasp.

"What's that?!" I yelp.

"A geyser!" Dan answers.

I tilt my head. "Huh?"

"It's boiling water that shoots up from under the ground," Iris tells me.

"I've never seen a geyser around here!" Dan says.

We see the Sandile "talk" to the Pokémon, and they start to walk.

"Looks like the Sandile with the sunglasses is guiding them all somewhere," Iris says.

Dan stands up. "I'll bet you that the Sandile are trying to protect the other Pokémon! I'm beginning to wonder that's the reason they came to the sand baths in the first place! That they were really just trying to warn us all about danger from the geyser!"

"Is that why Sandile stole Axew?" Iris asks.

I turn to her. "It was trying to save Axew! That Sandile's alright." I see Pikachu. "Hey! Pikachu!" He looks at me and smiles.

The ground rumbles again. "That sounds huge!" Dan says.

More geysers break out, and in a flash, the Pokémon—not including Oshawott, Pikachu and the Sandile—are surrounded by hot, boiling water.

"They're surrounded by boiling water!" Iris yelps. "Now what to we do?!"

"There's gonna be trouble if another big one flows!" Dan says.

The ground shakes again. "Like right now!" Iris whimpers.

I glare. "Alright!" Gritting my teeth, I run towards the water and dip my leg in, but with even my jeans, the water melts right through, leaving a burning feeling on my leg. I yelp and shrink back to the land, clutching my leg in pain.

Iris and Dan run towards me. "Alice, you can't wade through that boiling water!" Iris says.

"But I've gotta do something to save them!" I protest.

The Sandile seem to understand me and bite onto each other's tails. They form a long chain.

"What are they trying to do?!" Iris asks.

I smile. "I know! The Sandile are making a bridge!"

"Good luck, Sandile!" Dan yells.

"You can do it!" Iris cheers.

The Sandile stretch across the boiling water, creating a bridge for the wild Pokémon to cross over. "Yeah!" I shout. "Awesome! Everyone, cross over the bridge!" They don't move.

"What's the matter?" Iris asks.

"They're all scared," Dan answers.

I bite my lip. "Hey! You've gotta hurry and cross! I've gotta help them!" Pikachu and I run across the Sandile bridge and go over to the wild Pokémon. "C'mon! Let's all get on the Sandile bridge and cross over together!"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu encourages them.

One by one, the Pokémon cross over to the other side to Dan and Iris. "Okay," I say. "Hurry!" I feel more water coming towards us.

"Keep it up!" Iris yells to them.

"There's not much time!" Dan shouts.

I turn to Pikachu. "Pikachu, why don't you go on ahead?"

"Pikachu," he says, nodding. He runs across the bridge in a flash.

The Sandile on the small piece of land starts to slip into the water. Gasping, I grab onto it, holding onto it and pulling it back.

"Oh, no!" Iris yells. "Alice!"

"'Kay," I grunt. "Hang on a little longer! You can do it, Sandile! Just a little bit more!" A gush of hot water jumps from the hot lake and aims for me. Another blast of water blocks it from me, and I turn to see Oshawott cheering. But he's in the air. And he falls towards the hot water. "No! Oshawott!" I grab his Poké Ball. "Oshawott, return!" He does. "Great, Oshawott."

The Sandile I'm holding slips out of my grasp, and just when I think I'm a goner, a hand grabs my arm. I smile once I see Iris, who's climbed the Sandile bridge to help me.

"That was pretty crazy, Alice," she says.

I smile. "Nah. That was nothing. Sandile, give it just one more push, 'kay?"

He yelps and the bridge goes straight upwards, lifting Iris and I up into the air. "Awesome!" We crash to the ground, hurt but relieved.

I hate to admit it, but relaxing in hot water is way better than hot sand. "Hot water feels awesome!" I sigh.

"Yeah!" Iris agrees. "Five stars without a doubt!"

Dan smiles. "Wow! Thanks."

"We now have a brand new attraction!" Dan's dad announces proudly.

"Yeah," I say. "There's nothing more relaxing than a hot spring."

Iris nods. "Yeah."