[attr="class","bodygold"]
[break]

Sand stirs to her left and the ground churns uncomfortably. Stormy had released her Steelix a while ago to scout ahead and jostle any Pokemon hiding just beneath the surface. As it so happens, the giant steel serpent had woken a particularly angry Archeops.[break][break]

Its wings beat frantically as it gains momentum and lifts itself into the air. The scream it makes is ear-piercing and sends Steelix into a tizzy. It writhes underneath the sand, knocking Stormy off of her feet. As she scrambles to find a hold in the ever-moving sand, Steelix screeches in return. The noise confuses and harms the Archeops, distracting it for a moment while the serpent springs.[break][break]

"No!"[break][break]

Stormy cries out in desperation as she watches the snake strike. Steelix's iron jaws close around the center of the flying chicken, crunching down hard as the brute devolves into a blind rage.[break][break]

Archeops' screams of pain grow weaker as it attempts to dragon claw and wing attack from within the Steelix's grasp. Unfortunately for it, the Steelix buries itself back into the sand, digging far beneath the surface to effectively dispose of the bird. By the time the steel serpent returns, the Archeops is long dead, limp in the jaws of the iron giant.[break][break]

Stormy, meanwhile, has her fists buried in the sand as she gets to her feet, heart hammering at her inability to protect the defenseless wild Pokemon.[break][break]

She promptly returns her enraged brute, it's gargantuan body disappearing in a beam of light. The Archeops falls and she gathers it in her arms, wrapping it in the scarf she had twisted around her body. [break][break]

shady deal complete.[break][break]

[attr="class","bodygold"]
[break]

The smell of blood brings more curious and hungry creatures. Stormy tucks the broken body of the Archeops tight against her chest, unwilling to let the innocent Pokemon be fed to whatever starving creatures remain. [break][break]

Something makes a noise at her side and she glances over her shoulder sharply, hair tousling across her shoulder as her eyes harden, searching. Dust flies as an unfamiliar shape approaches her. It's small, with one bright and angry eyeball. It stares up at her with curiosity, steam rising from the crevices of its body.[break][break]

Her eyes narrow suspiciously as she takes a step back, her foot losing its footing in the sand. She rights herself, holding fast to the Pokemon in her arms. The Rolycoly rolls a little bit closer, and she instantly lunges with her foot, hoofing the thing across the sand.[break][break]

It skitters to a halt and she begins to run away, making her way for the grass on the other side of the desert. She's ready to go home, to deliver this poor Pokemon to someone who can properly lay it to rest, to do something. She is in no mood to deal with a pestering wild Pokemon that looks nothing more than the lump of coal she's bound to get for Christmas.[break][break]

Unbenownst to her, however, the Rolycoly is still close behind. It finds her way into her backpack when she isn't looking. It blends in well with the other random items in her bag, as well as the portable heat pack she carries for her sore muscles. So, when the Pokemon heats up in the confines of the bag, she thinks nothing of it as more than her heat pack warming from the hot desert air.[break][break]

She'll be pleasantly, or unpleasantly surprised to find that the Pokemon retains fire-type capabilities and be glad that it didn't just disappear into the desert.[break][break]

catching rolycoly[break][break]