"This place is depressing." said Cougar as they rode through the ash covered plain.
"The ash from Mt. Chimney all settles here, making it inhabitable only to very hardy species of wildlife. Some Pokemon are exclusive to this area." explained Tessa, brushing a bit of ash off her shoulder as she talked.
"This is very interesting. What kinds of Pokemon live here?" asked Jaycou, who was looking all over for a sighting of some mysterious life form though the falling powder.
"Mostly Spinda, but we might see Skarmory and Sandshrew as well." answered Tessa; she pointed out a blurry shape in the distance.
"That's a Spinda there, and a few feet away there's a Skarmory. I wonder what it'll do?"
They watched as the Skarmory slowly crept up on the small Spinda. It suddenly pounced, and the Spinda let out an earsplitting shriek as the metallic predator brought it down. Cougar cringed at the sound, and looked at Tessa.
"Couldn't we have saved it?" he asked.
"The Skarmory needs to eat, and it keeps the populations balanced. The next meal it has its eye on may fight back and kill it, leaving one less Skarmory as well. Its nature."
"Oh, yeah."
"Come on, let's go. There'll be nothing more in the area for quite a while." said Tessa, turning her bike to give the feeding bird a wide berth and continuing down the path.
Cougar hesitated, and then followed. There was nothing more in the ash fields while they biked through. They came to the edge of the wasteland, and stopped cold.
"It's just like the desert!" exclaimed Cougar, looking at the expanse of swirling sand before them.
"This isn't right!" said Tessa.
They donned their Goggles and passed through the new obstacle. The wind was fiercer here, and the sand stung their exposed skin like needle pricks. The only one in the group that seemed at home was Jaycou, and even he was not used to such high winds.
The group finally passed through the sands, to be faced with a disaster area. The town of Fallarbor was nothing but sand blown houses, and it was obvious what had happened. They slogged through the mess to the Pokemon Center, which was one of the less devastated buildings.
"What happened here?" asked Tessa, worry making her look older than she was.
"A feral Pokemon attacked the town! Only one person got a decent look at it, and no one even knows what it is! The damage to the town is massive! Who are you?" asked the close-to-hysterical Nurse Joy at the desk.
"I'm Tessa. I was sent by Professor Birch to investigate this incident."
"Aren't you a little young, dear?"
"I'm sixteen. Besides, I've never met a problem I couldn't handle yet!"
"Wait, you look familiar in a way.... Oh! You're the famous girl from Jhoto, aren't you? They call you the Shiny Assassin?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Oh, then I'll show you to the Mayor, and he'll show you the sketch the local artist made of the Pokemon he saw."
"Okay. Let's go, Cougar."
"Coming." said Cougar, picking up Sparkle and letting Jaycou follow him.
The group walked to a building next to the Pokemon Center. A weary looking man was leaning on his hands behind a desk, but he looked up as they arrived.
"Hello, what's this?"
"The girl has been sent by Professor Birch to investigate the incident, Mayor."
"Really? Why would the Professor send a young girl to this kind of investigation?"
"She's the Shiny Assassin."
"Well, that's all well and good, bu- What? She's the famous Shiny Assassin?"
"Yes, sir." said Tessa proudly."
"Really? Well, that changes things! We have a sketch that our artist made of the beast, can you identify it?" said the Mayor, handing Tessa a paper.
She looked at it carefully. It was a truly well done sketch, although it was drawn from the artist perspective, so only a few scant details could be seen of the creature. She recognized it immediately; and if the first witnesses were correct, the colors coincided with it being a Shiny as well!
"Yes, I know what it is."
"Good, good! Tell us."
"It's a Flygon. Really high level too, and a Shiny."
"What! A Shiny, you say? Well, that's interesting, but we still can't have it terrorizing our town."
"I understand that, Mayor. I propose that I go on an expedition to capture it and relocate it to a new, not to mention safer, area."
"Good! But isn't that dangerous?"
"Not for me."
Sparkle felt funny. She had gotten so much stronger with her training sessions, but now it felt like she had so much strength she would burst! She whimpered quietly, though she knew this meeting was important and she shouldn't make noise.
"What's wrong?" whispered Cougar, stroking her head soothingly.
"I feel weird..." she said softly.
Suddenly, the room was quiet. Every human was staring at her. She cringed, thinking she'd done something wrong. Tessa came up to her and stroked her fur, whispering softly for her not to be afraid. She wondered what that meant.
"Put her down, Cougar, she's about to evolve." Tessa said to her trainer.
Evolve, what was that? Cougar set her down, and she looked around curiously. Suddenly, a white light blurred her vision, and she felt herself expanding. Her tails split and became bushier; her nose lengthened into a fine muzzle. Lastly, her legs and torso became longer and more graceful. The white light left, and Sparkle found that she was much taller than she had been; all the humans were looking at her in awe.
"What?" she asked, surprised at how her voice had become sleeker as well.
"You're now a Ninetales!" exclaimed Tessa happily while the Nidoran on her shoulder clapped.
"Really?" she looked herself over in a mirror that the Nurse had provided.
Her fur had changed from gold to a rich, silky silver. She looked beautiful, more so than even a Dragonair! She flipped her new, longer tails and posed.
"That's one nice lookin' Ninetales you have there, sonny!" said the Mayor, "You could put her in a beauty contest if you feed her some Poke'blocks."
Cougar just stroked her luxurious fur and smiled happily. She yipped and leaned up to lick his face.
Tessa smiled again at the new Ninetales. The fox was happily smothering Cougar with licks, so Tessa turned back to the Mayor.
"So, when should I set off after that Flygon?"
"What? Oh, yes. Well, I think you should start tomorrow, seein' that you just got here and all. I'm sure Nurse Joy has a few rooms available at the Pokemon Center?"
"The place is almost empty since that creature got here." replied Nurse Joy, looking out the window at the sand.
The group left the Mayor's office and walked back to the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy gave them both their room keys, and Cougar set off to his room. Tessa hung back at the PC, and she sent Orange back to her house.
A Sceptile's head came up on the screen.
"Hi, Tessa! Who do you want to be sent to you?"
In a second, she saw Orange's face on the monitor as well.
"Yeah, and why'd you send me back?"
Tessa smiled at the two, and sighed.
"I've got a secret plan. Orange, you wouldn't be very good at fighting a Flygon, I should know! Dapwood, will you go get Snap for me?" she said, addressing the Sceptile.
"Can do, boss!" said the Sceptile cheerfully.
"He knows I hate it when he calls me that." sighed Tessa.
"Yeah, that's why he does it." answered Orange, a slight smile appearing on her face.
"I know. I'll see you soon, okay?" said Tessa as she saw Dapwood coming back in the background.
"Sure thing, boss!" said the Persian, smiling evilly as Tessa gave her an exasperated smile.
A Poke'ball appeared in the machine beside the PC, and she picked it up. If she was right, Snap would be an essential part of her plan. She'd fill her and all the rest if her Pokemon in on the situation when she got to her room.
Tessa and Cougar sped down the trail to where the Flygon was supposed to be denned. The sand flew around them, and the visibility was not good; they never saw the Flygon leave the huge cave just before they arrived.
When they got to the cave, Tessa examined the interior. There was nothing to be found but a small, steel chain link in the corner. Tessa pocketed it and turned to leave when a distant roar alerted her to the closeness of the beast. She ran outside to where Cougar was waiting just in time to see the Pokemon flying northward through the sand.
"If it keeps going that way it'll be in Jhoto in no time!"
"I get the sinking feeling that that's where it wants to go." said Tessa uneasily.
"Well, can we ride on Flame to follow it?"
" Flame's wings aren't wide enough to glide for that long with passengers; he would tire out and fall into the sea. Besides, we need to inform Fallarbor where we're going first." said Tessa, pulling out a cell phone from one of the many pockets in her jeans.
She dialed the number for the Fallarbor pokemon Center, and Nurse Joy popped up on the veiwscreen.
"Yes? Oh, Tessa! How is your mission?"
"The Flygon has decided to fly over the ocean. I'm going to follow it. Cougar will have to travel back to the Pokemon Center because Snap can't take two passengers."
"Hey, how will I follow the Flygon that way?" protested Cougar.
"You can go by boat and follow the updates made by Tessa?" supplied Nurse Joy.
"Yeah, that'll work. But how will he afford a boat ride?" asked Tessa.
"It'll be free, provided by the town of Fallarbor."
"Okay then, I'll have to go now if I want to be able to follow it, bye!" said Tessa, clicking off the Phone as the Nurse said 'bye'.
"I'll travel back to Fallarbor, then. Bye for now!" said Cougar, getting on his mach bike.
"Bye, safe trip!" called Tessa.
She sent out Snap as Cougar sped down the path. The dragon Pokemon spread her wide wings, beckoning Tessa to ride. Tessa laughed as Snap lifted off, and felt the cool sea air ruffle her hair. She saw the Flygon in the distance, and pointed him out to her Pokemon. Snap let out a soft cry and adjusted her path to follow the beast in the distance.