DESERT SEARCH
Upon inspection of the area around the Key Lair, Cyril found evidence of disturbed sand, and in the absence of anything else, the group decided to search in that direction for the next hour or so. If they found nothing, they'd double back and search in another direction. It boded well, for the direction was in a direct straight line from the exit to the Key Lair, and if Rachel had fled by instinct alone, she would have headed straight.
At least they knew it was unlikely that she'd headed off to the back of the Key Lair, both for the awkwardness that would give someone possibly running from people, and the fact that behind the pyramid was a sheer drop.
Lu offered to fly wide and look for her, and the two Ashes offered to fly-by on their Charizards to look, which doubled the amount of ground they could cover, so Lawrence agreed. Cyril joined them not long after, on the back of his own Charizard, and even Baby Ash got in on looking, after trading a Mr. Mime he'd caught in the Pallet town grass with Cyril for a spare Aerodactyl Cyril had. After an hour, they hadn't yet found Rachel, but they did find a mot unusual sight-a broken ship lying in the sand. They landed, intrigued, and went to investigate.
"That's the Libra!" Lawrence said, upon seeing the ship's name. "It was a luxury cruiser full of Pokémon. I heard it went missing without a trace, but how did it end up here?"
"I don't know, but if Rachel's inside, neither your instruments nor our eyes will detect her. Let's go searching for her inside. She might have taken shelter here." Female Ash said, as the four riders recalled their Pokémon, and Lu landed in a flurry of sand.
Cautiously, they approached the hole in the side of the ship, and carefully worked their way through the ship. They found one broken open crate of pokéchow, one Cyril recognised the name of.
"I would have thought the people on this ship would have invested in Brock's, if it was meant to be a luxury cruise, not that lousy Poké Food stuff!" he said. "Poké Food's pokéchow is nutritionally balanced, but had a rotten texture and only comes in one flavour." He said disparagingly. Lawrence nodded.
"Some of this has been eaten, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Rachel has been here." He said.
They finally came out on the main deck, and somebody came out of the wheelhouse.
"I'm sure getting a lot of visitors these days!" he grumbled. "First those sinister toughs, then that pokey-headed ginger kid, then that weird girl, and now you!"
"Weird girl?" asked Lawrence, putting his hand on Cyril's arm, for he could sense him bristling up over what was possibly a careless description of Rachel.
"Yeah, she was here just a couple of hours ago." He told them. "She had this weird lilac skin, wings on her arms, funny shapes over her eyes, and a tail. And oh yeah, she couldn't talk and didn't even tell me a proper name." He said.
Cyril took two pictures of Rachel he carried with him out of his wallet. One was just a head and shoulders shot, the other a front-facing shot of Rachel in a dress he'd given her, taken not long after they'd met, and handed them to the hermit.
"Did she look anything like this?" he asked. The hermit looked at the pictures.
"Yes, except her skin was this strange light purple colour." He said. "She took off into the desert, heading that way." he said, going to the rail and pointing.
"If she keeps going that way, she'll hit Phenac City eventually." said Lawrence.
"I hope she makes it that far. She's alone in the desert, and I doubt she had any water with her." Cyril said worriedly. "We'd best start looking right away."
"I did give her a poké ball and advise her to get a Sandshrew, but she didn't seem all there, so whether she did or not, I don't know." he told them. "I also gave her a glass of water when she got here, and one when she woke up."
"Okay, thank you." Said Cyril, taking back his photos. He looked at the Ashes. "We can go from here." he said, releasing his Charizard and climbing onto its back. The two Ashes did likewise, and Baby Ash was back on his Aerodactyl before anyone could suggest he do likewise. Lu spread his wings and readied himself to take off. Lawrence closed his eyes and braced himself as the three Charizards, Lu's and the Aerodactyl's wings beat up a storm and took off. When the air and sand had settled, Lawrence made his way back to his machine the slow way, as he had no flying Pokémon or teleporting Pokémon on him. He too thanked the hermit, and walked back through the ship.
