[ti]spawn[/ti][S][SPAWN] Sandy Surprise

Nothing seemed to be coming her way; Sandy's ambient hum seemed to have no effect attracting wild Pokémon. Thankfully for Shalin, she knew the way the desert dragon attracted prey: letting her wings rip.

"Sand-Attack, Sandy!" the insectile dragon's rider ordered.

Opening her jaw wide, the green Pokémon spread her wings and churned them at a rate that made her and her surroundings. And yet... the dragon would not take to the sky. Was it because she had not trained the Pokémon for flight with a rider yet? Her question would be answered when the "mounting" icon in the corner of her HUD began to blink, prompting her to touch it.

Shalin squeezed the insectile dragon's sides more tightly, but the Vibrava seemed to only hover. Was the game expecting her to steer? Grabbing the reins hooked on the saddle's end, she directed the Pokémon upward, downward, and laterally. Each motion was swift and sudden, much like when she rode Flit in the Whimsical Woods. When was that Yanma going to evolve already? She wanted to be able to fly on the curious insect without relying on fae mischief in the Whimsical Woods.

Shalin dismissed a second pixelated prompt, lurching backward as she felt Sandy quickly accelerate, the vibration becoming more intense. What power there had to be in those wings to shake her so much. Reaching a certain speed, the Pokémon stopped accelerating and flew straight ahead at a quick but not blistering clip. Were Vibrava, and by extension Flygon, really this fast?

That high level requirement was one of the reasons Shalin had decided to keep Sandy a Vibrava until then, even if the dragon-type became evolution-eligible. Even in her second-stage form, she was strong; strong enough for dizziness to set in even after just a medium-length flight. "Sandy, I don't think I'm used to this yet," she admitted, sounding like she speaking from the far side of a fan. The flitting insectile dragon gently landed, letting the girl slide off, a tingling sensation shooting up her slightly pixelated legs.

"Whew, that gets tiring!" Shalin exhaled. now firmly on foot. Withdrawing Sandy for her Espeon, Starr, she embraced the large support Pokémon before attempting to take to her back.

"If you're comfortable with it, Shalin, I'd actually prefer to have my reins removed," Starr voiced her concern. "I'm a psychic-type Pokémon. I can read your mind and know exactly what you want to do."

"I... never thought about that! The reins aren't just for turning, though; they help support me, too. Help me keep my balance."

"I can help with that, too."

The stunned explorer remained silent. Just how powerful was Starr's mind?!

The powder not only caused skin irritation, but it also caused drowsiness, the Shroomish's SPORE leaving them unable to hold their bodies up. Both curled up and fell asleep in the middle of the woods, leaving them vulnerable to any wild Pokémon looking for an easy snack.

Their deep sleep left both unable to detect a wild Pokémon sniffing around next to her backpack. Carefully opening it, their gluttonous thief would pilfer it completely clean of Berries. It would take the Pokémon spilling a Chesto Berry from its pilfered feast to wake Shalin from her slumber. With a yawn and a stretch, she accidentally flicked the Berry toward Starr.

It was painstaking work, and the blade had to be cleaned from time to time, but Shalin was able to get most of the sticky string off Starr. Riding her was still not am option, both due to what remained on her, as well as Shalin's level being insufficient. "Come on, Starr... let's look for a lake to give you a bath and get the rest of this icky stuff off," the Beta Tester suggested.

"I don't want to see another bug-type," the Espeon huffed. "I'd prefer if you put me back in my Poké Ball until we get to the lake."

"Yeesh, testy today, aren't we?" With a perplexed look on her face, Shalin did as the psychic-type ordered and looked for a body of water large enough to cleanse her clearly distressed partner. It seemed even "harmless" bug secretions were like venom to Starr!

At last, Shalin had arrived at the lakefront. While it wasn't a large one, it was big enough for Starr to take a bath -- and she wouldn't mind one, either. The early autumn air made the water temperature just right. Not too hot, yet not too cool.

Once they were both in the shallows, Shalin withdrew Michiko for Starr, then began rubbing her hands over the waterlogged silk. Once she had waded into the water, the string lost much of its stickiness and floated to the top of the lake due to it being lighter than water. "Stay still, Starr. We're almost done," Shalin tried to calm her partner as she cleansed the Espeon's fur of the natural irritant.

Those experiments would need to wait. After such a terrifying encounter, all Starr wanted to do was float on the lake's surface and relax. Far away from the grove's nasty bug Pokémon. "Might not be a bad idea... just taking five and floating wherever the water takes us. Especially since if we ever get too far away, fast travel back to Briarbane is always an option," Shalin mused as she raised her legs and floated on her back.

With all the aquatic terrain in Asper and Ostellia, perhaps investing in a splash of the Swimmer class wouldn't be a bad idea. If anything, it would be trivial for her to turn it on and off when she needed to. She had other priorities, though... including preparing for a world-altering boss battle. She felt Alicia Westfield , Laguna , and the others wouldn't ever live it down if she didn't keep preparing. Plus, every adventure brought her closer to leveling up -- and level 8 was a big one. For soon, she would be crossing UNOVR on the back of Dondon, her Tropius.