Pokèmon: The Anglos Region

Chapter 23: Brenstone

Jett, Luna, and King stood at the end of the mountain pass looking down at the desert city of Brenstone. A sea of sand lie beyond it towards the East. Towards the South the faint shimmer of a sliver of the Sea on the Horizon reflected in the noon light. To the North a much smaller mountain range sprang out from the tree tops of a dense jungle. 

"Told you it was desert," Jett said as he pulled his coat off and stored it in the cart. "From here on out I recommend the lightest long sleeve clothing you got."

Luna shrugged off her jacket and urged Brownie onwards.

King, expectedly, kept his threadbare jacket as cover but set Torracat down to remain cooler. 

Luna allowed Sentinel and Ember to ride on the cart or walk with it while Jett returned Larvesta and allowed Grovyle to soak in some much needed sunlight. 

When they got to the bottom of the pass where the grass and woodland of the mountains started to meld with the sand and rock of the desert they stopped to adjust themselves further. Luna transitioned the cart to hover mode to prevent the wagon from bouncing and getting stuck on the rough and difficult terrain since they didn't emerge onto the road proper. Their path did adjust for the first couple of miles to merge with the main road and Jett took advantage of the detour to look for Trapinch. Meanwhile Luna had once again commandeered Jett's pokedex and was looking through it for pokemon that could potentially live within the desert. 

King released Sandile who happily dove into the sand and began swimming along with Brownie. 

"Find anything that catches your eye in there?" Jett asked Luna.

"Just one species," she said as she closed it and handed it back over to Jett. "Apparently Salandit live within the desert and are known to gather around the city to steal food!"

"You already sound way too excited..." Jett said warily.

"Do you know how rare a female specimen is? The entire group revolves around one female that can control an entire harem of males and her numbers can double or even triple once she evolves into a Salazzle."

Jett locked eyes with her for a long, quiet minute.

"You want o-"

"I want one," she replied all too eagerly.

Jett scrunched his face and let out a sigh, "so we'll be here for a while then."

"Most likely," she smiled.

King looked up at Luna who had the biggest grin on her face. He rolled his eyes and shook his head in reply.

"She's dedicated to finding and figuring out the shiny gene," Jett explained to him. "It really isn't much of an issue though considering we'll need to spend a few days in Brenstone anyway to replenish supplies and I for one am looking forward to spending a few days in an actual bed without the threat of Murkrow and spiders and recovery looming over."

"I'll second that," Luna sighed, "as long as it's not a hospital bed and monitors I'll be happy."

King hesitated.

"I... I can't remember the last time I actually slept in a bed..."

Jett and Luna both looked at him with concern.

"Well... guess we'll put you up for a couple nights and help you get some new clothes," Jett shrugged. 

"I don't need your charity."

"For fuck's sake dude, I'm just trying to help you out," Jett growled. "Just take a room for a few nights, replace your worn out clothing so you don't attract attention by the law, and make it to where you can actually have a decent meal and clothes to protect yourself. No reason to be so hard headed for someone extending a willing helping hand."