1. Ash's Story (Part 10: Galar)

Chapter 35: Resting Sand

Before we left Hammerlocke for Route 6, we stopped near the school grounds to make sure our bags, Poké Balls, and fossil records were organized. The city still hummed behind us with stadium energy, but the road west looked drier, higher, and harsher than the Wild Area we had crossed.

A girl waited near the path with a folded letter clutched in both hands. She looked young enough that the paper seemed heavier than it was. When she saw our Gym Challenger bands, her eyes widened with sudden hope.

"Excuse me," she said. "My name is Paula. Could you deliver this letter to a boy named Frank? I cannot go myself."

Alice accepted the envelope carefully. "We can help. Where should we take it?"

"Stow-on-Side," Paula answered. "Please give it to him when you reach town."

Her voice made the request feel older than a simple errand. I did not press. Some promises only opened when they reached the right hands.

Pikachu leaned toward the letter, ears softening, "This paper is carrying someone who cannot walk the road with it."

"We will protect it," I said.

Paula smiled, relieved, and hurried back toward the school gate. Gloria watched her go, then glanced at the cliffs ahead. "So Route 6 starts with a letter and fossils in our bag. That sounds like Galar asking us to be careful."

"Galar asks by throwing rocks later," Meowth said.

I hoped he was joking.

The first stretch of Route 6 was all sunlit stone, ladders, sand-colored cliffs, and narrow paths that made every step sound louder than it should. The heat bounced off the rock walls, and even after Hammerlocke's heavy city air, the dry wind felt like walking into an oven with stairs.

Arrokuda's Poké Ball shook before we reached the first bend. A thin stream ran below the rocks, catching sunlight in quick flashes. When I let Arrokuda out, it shot through the shallow water so fast that the surface split into glittering lines.

"Still carrying that Bridge Field speed?" Alice asked.

Arrokuda did not slow. It turned once, then cut forward with sharper aim than before. The water burst around it, and light wrapped its body mid-sprint. When the glow broke, Barraskewda speared through the stream and stopped so suddenly that the splash arrived after it did.

Pokédex Entry Updated — Ash and Alice's Shared Galar Record

Barraskewda, the Skewer Pokémon. Water type. It spins its tail fins to propel itself, then charges forward at speeds of over 100 knots before ramming prey and spearing into them.

Barraskewda snapped its jaws once, eyes locked on the cliff path ahead, "Point me at the opening, and I will cut through hesitation."

"That sounds useful for this route," I said.

The route answered almost immediately. Up ahead, two Team Yell grunts were blocking the path around a sleeping Silicobra half-buried in the sand. They were whispering so loudly that the silence suffered more than the Pokémon did.

"What a cute Silicobra," the male grunt said.

"Just look at those adorable eyes," the female grunt added.

A woman with a travel bag approached quietly. "If I promise not to wake it, may I pass?"

"Course," the male grunt said, stepping aside. "You look like you know how to be quiet."

The woman slipped through with careful steps. That made the blockage feel less like protection and more like a rule they were choosing to use against challengers.