Not-So-Brief Training In The Sand

"...And that'zzz why I speak like thizzz!" Zazz's voice chippered, echoing through the dark tunnel. Her wings flapped rapidly, keeping her in the air as she kept up with her companions. Although it still emitted an irritating buzzing noise, she had somehow managed to silence it to a more tolerable level.

But that was not the concern at hand. The duo gaped at her with horrified faces, unsure of how to react to her disturbing explanation. Angel was about to speak, but the Sandile immediately stopped her by rapidly shaking his head. No, it would be best not to comment on the topic. The Riolu silenced after some hesitance, deciding to just taking a few steps away from the dragon type. The Sandile continued to walk beside the Vibrava, with Angel now on his other side. He frowned at the canine's actions, but didn't blame her. He could still feel the chills on his spine from having to hear what Zazz had told them. Silence plagued the traveling duo as they continued down the dark, sandy tunnel.

"...Um, so are we close to the exit yet?" The Sandile finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence. They'd been walking for a while now, and he could clearly see that the Riolu beside him was getting very impatient.

"Yeah, I'm getting tired and REALLY thirsty." Angel added, annoyance in her raspy voice. She'd expected the trip to the ruins shortened using the tunnel, but by now it seemed like they'd been walking for ages. Her throat was begging for water, while her fur continued to sting in irritation at the sand that clung to it. She brought a paw up, patting away some of the sand. She was getting sick of these deserts, and tunnels were not far behind on her hate list.

"Oh, it shouldn't be long now! We're probably not far behind Zzzandzlash, Baltoy and Zzzandshrew. They're the onezzz carrying the pillar to camp!" The Vibrava happily replied, surprisingly unfazed by their earlier rudeness. She looked ahead, seeing a few figures further down the tunnel. Something large seemed to be accompanying them. Immediately, she buzzed with excitement. "That muzzzt be them! C'mon guyzzz, pick up the paze!"

And with that, the trio sped up. As they drew closer, they began to get a better view of the moving figures. On one end was a large Sandslash, carrying one side of the pillar while the other was being carried by a Sandshrew and a Baltoy. The Sandslash exhibited impressive strength, able to hold the end of the pillar without much difficulty. The Sandshrew, on the other hand, needed assistance from the Baltoy's psychic powers in order to hold up the other end of the pillar. They stopped upon hearing a familiar buzzing noise.

"Zeazzzar! Emer! Zzzandy!" The happy Vibrava called.

"Zazz! There you are! We were so worried, you took forever!" The Sandshrew replied, looking genuinely concerned. Letting the Baltoy hold the weight temporarily, she walked over and hugged the Vibrava.

"Hehehe! Zzzorry about that! I had to pick up a couple of friendzzz!" Zazz giggled, enjoying the hug. Once the sand mouse let go, she flew over to the duo waiting. "You guyzzz remember Zzzandile right? Well, thizzz izzz hizzz girlfriend, Angel!"

"Nice to meet- WHAT! NO!" Angel retaliated, raising her voice to the point that it bounced off the tunnel walls. The Vibrava and the Sandshrew laughed, sharing a few good-hearted chuckles. The Riolu felt a tinge of red on her face, and the Sandile was not any different. The Baltoy remained unreactive, while the Sandslash gave a small snicker and an eye roll.

"Heehee! I like you Angel, you're funny! Like what Zazz said, my name's Sandy! The Sandslash over there is my brother, Ceasar! The Baltoy there is Emer, he doesn't talk much." The Sandshrew said, "So, why are you guys coming along?"

"Well, miss Angel is lost. We need to help her out of the desert." The Sandile explained.

"Oh! Then our trainer could definitely help! Come on, let's get to camp!" The sand mouse moved back to her place at the other end of the pillar, raising it up as best as she could with the help of Emer. The Sandile tried his best to help, followed by Angel who also decided to assist. Zazz also helped out, making the trip all the more quicker as they went further into the tunnel.

After several more minutes of painstakingly carrying the pillar through the tunnel, the group was finally greeted by light. However, getting back to the surface proved difficult, and they spent nearly an hour hauling the large pillar out. Once the pillar was safely outside of the pit, Zazz assisted in flying Angel while Emer floated and the ground types simply dug their way out. After such a long trip, they finally made it to Inja Ruins.

The Ruins were quite a sight. The grounds were of sand, though much softer. Old stone temples littered the area, as well as other ancient buildings. But most were already showing their age, chipped off or simply in rubble. Many stone columns, statues, and even a few stone floors were spread about, making it clear how there had been civilization there in the past. Although it all looked old, the Riolu seemed pretty impressed by this. She knew what humans were capable of- being raised in a lab and all, but these ruins had an odd... atmosphere around them. Like an odd haunting, yet calming feeling. If it weren't for the fact it was still daytime, this place would've been pretty terrifying.

"Angel, zzznap out of it! We have to get to camp!" Zazz's usual chipper voice rang, interrupting the canine's sightseeing.

The duo began making their way to the edge of the ruins, with the Vibrava's nonstop blabbering taking up most of their conversation. In all honesty, it really was annoying, and the Riolu was on the verge of screaming at the dragon type to shut up. It was only the sight of a large tent did the aura pokemon stop minding her companion's talkativeness. The pillar had already been set nearby, and they could already hear the chattering of other pokemon from within the large tent.

Inside the tent were two metallic bed frames with thin mattresses. At the back of the tent were several bags and a small table that had piles upon piles of papers stacked on top. A single oil lamp dangled above, though it was turned off. Sitting on one of the beds was a girl, who looked around her mid teens. She had long brown hair that was tied in a ponytail, green eyes, and a bright smile on her face. She seemed to be wearing an odd uniform of sorts, probably one that was made to withstand the desert. She was petting a familiar Sandshrew on her lap, while seeming to be conversing with a Baltoy, a Sandile and a Sandslash. She turned to the entrance of the tent upon hearing the sound of Zazz's buzzing wings.

"Zazz! Welcome back! Oh, and I'm guessing this is your friend, Angel! Hello!" The girl greeted warmly.

"Wait, she already knows my name?!" Angel gaped, clearly bewildered. She took a step away from the girl, not knowing if she could trust the human.

"No need to be alarmed, Riolu. This is my doing." The Baltoy replied with a monotone voice, "I am part psychic. A very skilled one, at that. I simply translated our conversations to her via telepathy, an ability which allows me to send messages to another being's mind."

"...You Psychics are freaky." The blue canine replied bluntly. Psychic types were odd in the eyes of Fighting types, and now she knew why. Her ears twitched as she heard the girl stand up from the bed, heading over to the back of the tent. The human rummaged around in the bags, before taking out an odd circular item. She approached the Riolu, waving the circular item in front of it. Angel could hear the sound of water. Immediately, she grabbed the item, fiddling it for a little while before popping its cap open and chugging down the water inside.

"Hahaha! You sure are a clever little Riolu. Don't drink so fast, you could choke!" The girl chuckled, watching as the blue canine shook the canteen, attempting to get the last drop of water. "Emer already told me you want to be brought out of the desert. But how did you get here in the first place? Were you separated from your trainer?"

Angel gave a nod, peeking an eye through the small hole of the canteen to see if there was still water inside.

"Alright, well, no worries. I could probably find your trainer in a few days, but I may need further description. Emer!" The girl snapped her fingers, causing the Baltoy to immediately float over. And thus, the interrogation began.

It took a while, but the girl finally received enough details about the Riolu's trainer to begin her search. Bringing a few of her pokemon along, she reassured the canine that she would find her trainer soon. But for the mean time, Angel was sent to investigate the nearby ruins with Zazz while she waited. After all, she did have to repay them some way. The bipedal dog didn't protest, curious about the ruins. With the girl gone, she and Zazz finally made their way to one of the temples.

"So, why are we investigating again?" Angel asked, walking on the cracked stone floors. Although she was speaking to Zazz, her eyes were focused on the stone walls. There were these... painting things. Paintings of pokemon, humans, and weird objects that looked eerily similar to the tools they had in the laboratory. Along with this, there were ancient words scrawled with the pictures, none of which were understandable.

"Well, my trainer zzzaid there was some weird activity here when she checked thizzz morning. She zzzaid there were more zzzand flooding the area than normal and zzzeveral itemzzz were either broken or put in the wrong plaze." The Vibrava replied, rapidly moving from one area to another in hasty search.

"Huh, probably ghosts or something. Don't you feel like this place is haunted?"

"Why? Are you zzzcaaaaared?"

"No way. I'll kick 'em to the afterlife!"

As if on cue, a loud ghoulish screech echoed throughout the temple. Angel and Zazz immediately stopped moving, taken back by the sudden cry. The Riolu's ear twitched, before she suddenly leaped to the side, just barely dodging as a stone slab was thrown at her. The slab broke as it collided with the stone floor, showing how much force was put in the throw. The aura pokemon growled, turning around to see who dared to try and attack her. Floating not too far from them was a small ghost, a Misdreavus.

"AFTERLIFE? AFTERLIFE?! I'LL SEND YOU TO THE AFTERLIFE!" The ghost screeched, before unleashing a wave of psychic energy.

"Angel, take cover!" Zazz lunged at the Misdreavus, enduring the powerful wave. Her insect-like body was surrounded by dark energy as she rammed into the ghost, doing her best to use Faint Attack. The Misdreavus cried out in pain, taking the hit. The ghoul's cry was frighteningly loud, erupting in the Vibrava's small ears and causing her to flinch. It went in for another Psywave, not willing to be defeated by the dragon type.

Meanwhile, Angel took a step back from the fight. Her ears were ringing from the Misdreavus' deafening screams along with the amount of psychic energy it was exerting. She staggered, trying to keep on her feet. Taking a few steps back, the Riolu ended up tripping backwards, falling onto her backside. She gave a yelp, her back hitting the ground. She looked at the thing that caused her fall, glaring at it. It seemed to be a large hunk of brown stone but... The canine's eyes widened as she saw the mound of stone suddenly move, uncurling to reveal the form of a Sandile.

The reptile gave a yawn, shaking its head. It growled, feeling grumpy after being abruptly awaken from its peaceful slumber. Looking around, its dark beady eyes landed upon an odd blue pokemon in front of it. It bared its fangs, blaming the canine for waking it up. Its eyes gave a glint, causing the bipedal pokemon's defenses to fall in surprise. It lunged at the Riolu, jaws open for a powerful bite.

Angel acted quickly- moving out of the way just in time. The Sandile