Pokémon Mars

Chapter 50: Busy

Sandygast's arms reached Callerya's boots. They were much stronger than they looked. She doubted she could escape. Sandygast suddenly looked like a shy child as it tapped her boots. Its arms shot back to its sides. It turned, as if to flee, but it hesitated. Callerya knelt. She held out her hands.

'Hello. I'm Callerya.'

She shone her flashlight at her helmet so Sandygast saw her smiling. It turned to flee again.

'No! No! Don't go! I want to be friends!'

She knew it couldn't hear her, but she hoped it somehow could, as Pokémon and the Harmonias heard each other without even physically speaking. Maybe it did. It turned only to shyly look up at her again.

'Come here. I won't hurt you. I'll leave you right where you are. I promise.'

Sandygast hesitantly reached to prod one of her extended hands. Tiny grains of rust-shaded sand dusted her glove, but were sucked back into Sandygast's body when it moved.

'Aren't you awesome? That li'l antenna suits you!'

Perhaps because of how it formed, it seemed to baffle Sandygast that anyone wanted to befriend it. Callerya rummaged around in her bag for her takeaway coffee cup. It could never be used again once it touched the toxic soil, but it was worth it to befriend a Martian Pokémon. She scooped up all the sand she could find. Sandygast watched her curiously. It flinched when she emptied the cup onto it. Then it beamed. Usually, Sandygast had to possess people to add sand to its body, but Callerya did it of her own accord. She wandered off to find more sand. She kept glancing back, afraid Sandygast would disappear, but it shuffled slowly after her.

'Bro, I saw so much sand on the way here! It was all there was! If I just climb down from here...'

Sandygast couldn't follow when she jumped from the rocky ledge to the sandy ground below. It lost sight of her. Its smile faded. Now Sandygast was the one who seemed afraid that its new friend would disappear.

'Actually...'

Callerya's flashlight illuminated a dumpster's orange paint. She pulled out a sheet of metal. Sandygast was startled by the rumbling and clanking as she rolled the dumpster to the ledge and climbed up to hold out the metal sheet.

'Come here! There's loads of sand!'

Sandygast hesitated again. It glanced from the sheet to Callerya's smile.

'I won't drop you. I promise! I'm stronger than I look! I used to play football, y'know! Not that silly soccer – the best kind of football! Come on! Let's get you some more sand!'

Slowly and nervously, Sandygast shuffled towards the sheet. Callerya was stronger than she looked, but Sandygast was much heavier than it looked. The ones on Earth were usually at least 70 kg, or 154 lbs, but the iron-rich soil of Mars made this one almost twice as heavy despite the low gravity. Callerya forced herself not to wince as she lowered the sheet onto the dumpster. Sandygast still noticed her arms trembling. It began to tremble itself. She exhaled noisily once Sandygast was safely on the lid of the dumpster.

Now she had to lower it to the ground. She jumped down and reached for the sheet. That was a bad idea. She clambered back up onto the dumpster. Why was it that even now, moving on the Martian surface left her so breathless? Perhaps it was breathing pure oxygen in the heavy spacesuit when there was a hostile vacuum outside, or perhaps she was just nervous. Sandygast looked even more worried. It fixed determined eyes on the ground.

'No!'

Sandygast tumbled off the dumpster. Its disintegrating arms flailed as it fell. It lost its antenna. Callerya jumped back down and knelt by the featureless pile of sand. She saw the stones that were Sandygast's eyes.