The man behind the desk of the Suncoast City Sand Centre smiled, his finger hovering above a button, "Using the Sand Centre's sand costs money, but challenging Sandra's Gym Challenge is free for Pokemon Trainers. What are you interested in?"
Riley explained how he was a Pokemon Trainer and pointed to the badge on his bag's strap.
"The Gym Challenge it is! Go right ahead, then." The man behind the counter unlocked the crossing bar and it slid up, allowing Riley to pass. "But before you do, you'll want this." He handed Riley a bottle of Fresh Water. "Being around warm sand can really dehydrate a person or their Pokemon. You'll want this."
And so, Riley progressed to the right, then turned forward into the sand pit. He took his shoes and socks off so that they wouldn't get sandy, and walked into the pile of moist sand. It was thick- perfect for building with- and his feet barely sank when he walked in it. At the entrance of the giant two-storey sand castle was a drawbridge made of driftwood. The castle was surrounded by a moat, so Riley would have to cross the drawbridge to get to the sand building. At the foot of the castle, right after crossing the drawbridge, was a little girl tracing pictures in the sand with a stick.
The moment the little girl spotted Riley, she stood up, holding her stick in front of her like it was a sword or wand of something of the sort. "I'm making art so that the Sand King and Sand Queen won't get bored while walking around their sand castle! I've hit an art block, though! Show me a cool Pokemon so I can get my inspiration back!"
The girl sent out a strange Ground-type Pokemon, Sandygast. "Sandygast, use Mud Sport!"
The sand-pile Pokemon threw wet mud around, coating everything around it, including Riley's Darwing. Darwing, however, wasn't affected by it, as it simply dripped off its slick feathers. It used Water Gun, which was super effective on Sandygast, but not enough to make it faint.
Sandygast used Astonish, but Darwing didn't receive much damage. Darwing attacked Sandygast with another Water Gun, causing it to faint!
"That was a really cool Pokemon! I'm gonna draw it!' And so, the little girl went back to drawing in the sand, drawing Darwing now.
The next Trainer along the line was waiting in front of a window that was on the second floor of the castle. When Riley tapped his shoulder to pass him, he instead asked for a battle! "My Worum is such a strong Pokemon! I'll show you just how strong it is! It's so strong that it built a secret passage through the castle!"
He sent out the Bug- and Ground-type worm Pokemon, and Riley scanned it curiously with his PokeDex. "Number 17, Worum. Bug- and Ground-type. The Invertebrate Pokèmon. Worum are great diggers, and almost never come out of the ground. Their eyes are hidden inside of their mouths for protection. Because they're very sensitive to light and can only use their eyes to see in very specific situations, they use the ground to sense things moving around them. The tiny hole on the front of their body is their mouth. It's hard to notice, but the balls on Worum's body actually move."
Riley, again, sent out Muddyfoot Darwing to take care of it. Darwing used Water Gun again, and it caused Worum to go down in only one hit!
But Riley's opponent had one more Pokemon, and that was Asterfish. The sand castle constructor sent out the starfish-like Pokemon, and it landed on the ground, its star-like shell facing the ceiling. Its six huge, versatile tentacles slithered out of its underside and pushed it up so that it could fight! It used Hydro Pump, which seriously depleted Darwing's health, but Darwing's Water Gun also did tons of damage to Asterfish. It did so much damage, in fact, that one of Asterfish's tentacles fell off, as well as one of the points of its star. Specifically the one that wasn't covered by its cracked shell.
Riley used his Fresh Water on Darwing, the water trickling down its feathers and restoring its wounds in a similar way to how a Potion would. Darwing was unable to dodge Asterfish's Tackle. More interestingly, though, is that the piece of the opposing Asterfish that was broken off by Darwing's Water Gun also attacked Darwing, doing a sixth of the damage that Asterfish had done with its Tackle.
Darwing used Water Gun again, and both parts of Asterfish fainted. "Maybe my Worum isn't as strong as I accredit it for..."
Riley climbed up the narrow stairwell of the sandcastle, exiting onto the roof, where a trainer that really stood out was waiting, sitting on a throne made of shells and sand. She had hair the colour of the sky at the golden hour, and gorgeously golden eyes. She had a locke of hair that had several beads in it hanging over her right-side temple, and a large, rhombus-shaped hairpiece pulled all of her hair on the right side into a long ponytail that reached all the way down to her thighs. She had a large, smooth rock-like earring in each ear, had a thick-rimmed watch around her right wrist, and was wearing a green crop top, blue-jean short-shorts, and colour high-top boots that looked comfortable even to Riley.
"Hello there! I'm Sandra, the Gym Leader of Suncoast City. I'm so proud of the Trainers that train in my gym! They all pitched together with their Pokemon to build this astonishing sand castle! I'm the youngest of the Gym Leaders in Chinocko, and I inherited the Hourglass Badge from my parents- my dad working to run Suncoast City's popular motel, and my mother being the former Gym Leader- but that's no reason to underestimate me!"
She sent out a Pokemon that looked really similar to Darwing. It had a bored, tired expression on its face, and it had a rather fat body. Its wings and back had red feathers, and its belly had white feathers, sort of resembling a robe since its wings dragged along the ground like long robe sleeves. Overall, it had a regal air to it.
Riley scanned the Pokemon with the PokeDex, and the PokeDex explained, "Number 32, Darwing. Subterrain Form, one of Darwing's six forms. Ground- and Rock-type. Subterrain Darwing use their strong, sharp jaws to eat rocks and even cacti. They often dig through the ground, before popping up to deliver their attacks. This form of Darwing often feed on Pokèmon such as Worum and Maractus as a result of their habitat, but they usually eat non-conscious cacti. Their wings have claws that they can use both for combat and (more commonly) digging."
Riley's comparison of this Pokemon to his Darwing was more accurate than he'd expected. So, he sent out Muddyfoot Darwing to take care of the other Pokemon of its species.
Darwing used Water Gun, and its Subterrain opponent fainted after just one hit, as its Ground and Rock typing was double weak to Water. But Sandra had another Pokemon to send into battle! Asterfish!
"Aster!" it screeched. "Asterfi!" It pulled itself up with its tentacles, and spun its shell around to show its status. It used Hydro Pump, and Darwing unfortunately fainted! Riley didn't have a plan to deal with a Ground- and Water-type Pokemon except for with Muddyfoot Darwing, but now he had to resort to an alternative!
"Pup!' barked Pupsky, who playfully hopped around in the sand of the roof of the sand castle. It ran up to Asterfish and used Bite! A critical hit! A piece of Asterfish's body broke off again. Asterfish used Water Gun on Pupsky, and its broken-off part also used Water Gun, but only with a sixth of its parent's power.
Pupsky used Bite again on Asterfish's bigger half, and it fainted!
"That was my last Pokemon...!" Sandra gasped. "Alright, here you go, as the rules of the Pokemon League say." The Gym Leader handed a badge to Riley. It was really mesmerizing, as it was filled with sand, and when he turned it upside down the sand trickled down the glass pendant on the front of the badge. "This Hourglass Badge is proof of your victory over me. Now that you have two Gym Badges, you should be able to send Pokemon in your PC to the Virtual Paradise, which is a usueful tool for training Pokemon as well as a large amount of other things. Check it out when you get a chance to check your PC."
She sighed. "I'm only twelve , but I try to stay strong so that I can prove to the world that even young people like us can be powerful and fulfill our ambitions! Oh, and by the way, now that you have my Hourglass badge, I should also give you..."
Crash!
Sandra paused when she heard a loud explosion that rumbled the gym. Thankfully, the sand castle didn't collapse, but it was terrifying to hear.
"What was that!? As Gym Leader of Suncoast City, I will take action to protect my city's people and Pokemon!" She slid down the slide that had been built into the sand castle. "I'm sorry, Riley, but my other gift for you as a reward for beating my Gym Challenge will have to wait!" She ran out the door of her gym, her ponytailed hair flowing behind her from running so fast.