A sudden gust of wind made her cover the face with the hands.
The trainer was walking uphill on a rocky formation, slowly making a step after another toward the top. The sun was intense that day, and Terra was sweating, climbing on that steep incline.

With a ponytail that day, the blue haired trainer was trying to reach higher ground to have a wider view of the arid sea of sands before her, and have a better idea of the vastness of Faith Desert.

As usual, Lily was walking a little far from her, snooping around rocks and trotting with a satisfied expression on the face.

Lily changed a lot since her evolution into Lilligant a month before. She became much more composed and controlled, but the innate curiosity and the endless supply of energy to spare for fulfilling her curiosity were still there. The grass pokèmon was never still in the same place, but always a short distance from her trainer.

Terra stopped for a while behind the shadow of a huge rocky pillar, passing a hand on her sweating forehead and looking at her best friend.

Before the evolution, Lily used to run around in sudden bursts of energy: now it was elegantly moving around with at a slow but constant pace, in some sort harmonic measured dance, the long petals waving in the sun gracefully. She was beautiful to look at.

Even with that blazing sun, her pokèmon was tireless. Terra was about to melt for the heat, but Lily simply didn't seem to notice the temperature, moving around nonchalantly.

And there she thought Lilligant could suffer for the heat...Lily just kept trotting around as lively as always. On the contrary, she was sweating like crazy.

Terra decided that the shadowy spot she was in was perfect for a short break, and sat on a flat rock, staring at the scenery below.

It was a beautiful sight, not a single cloud in the sky, as blue as a sapphire. The woods in the distance were separated from her by a large field of tall grass. A road was like a dusty line that was dividing the grass field in two parts.

On the road, a jeep was moving away from Faith Desert toward the woods, leaving a trail of dust behind.

Then, she briefly noticed the semi transparent figure of a Misdreavus hiding behind a rock in the path she just took, an instant before the ghost faded away.

She wondered why that prankster decided to follow her around like that. It was a few days now that it was chasing her in the distance, only to pop out of nowhere with a scream and scare her every time.

"Dream", as she called her lately, would then spend a few hours laughing and levitating around in a happy fashion, exchanging a few words with Lily in pokémon language. After that it simply faded and disappeared again, ready to pop out again from her bag, behind a rock, or hopping down a tree.

There was something unusual about that Misdreavus: the pink stripes typical of this pokèmon were longer and not limited to the tip of the hair. As usual, her mother's knowledge had a lesson for that too.

"Pokémon like Spinda have noticeably different spots on the body, so that you can't find two spinda that look the same. Unown have very different appearances. All pokémon can display different details from each others, it's just that on many species these differences are rare, or less noticeable. Think about humans: we're all different in appearance, as well as all pokémon are."

So, that made Dream some sort of "rare" Misdreavus. Nothing special, yet unique.
She got lost in thought, and her heart skipped a beat when the Misdreavus popped in fron of her with a loud scream that made her fall from the rock she sat on.
"Holy...!?"
Over her, the ghost pokèmon was laughing like crazy.
"Sigh...what's so fun?"
Dream kept laughing and spinning around, as Lily approached and helped Terra regain her sit position.
"All right...you feed on fear, but can't you go scare someone else? Am I so fun to scare off?"
The Misdreavus stopped laughing and faded, reappearing upside down in front of Terra, with a satisfied smile, nodding.
Terra pouted "Haunted by a prankster..."

Terra felt a tap on her back. Behind her, stood a man roughly six feet tall. He wore a large brown shroud, which thoroughly covered his entire body, showing only his face. The man had fairly dark skin, most likely from being in the sun for so long. His nose is fairly flat. A wide eye with black pupils stood at each side of them. He wore a smiling expression.
"Hello there" he said, pulling up his sleeve, gesturing a hand shake. He seems too friendly, though somewhat suspicious. After all, what was just some guy doing in the desert?
The sun is now falling from its zenith, slowly as though it were a defective roller coaster. A gust of wind blew eastward, picking up a bit of sand. Terra's blue hair, and the unknown stranger's cloth blew in the wind roughly before gently falling back to place.

The tall girl was surprised at the sudden appearance of the man.
He popped out of nowhere just like Dream did a few seconds earlier, and that was scary. Or he probably just approached when she was lying on the ground after the misdreavus scared her.

Lily moved beside her, and assumed a composed stance typical of waiting Lilligant, with both arms in front, and stared at the man without doing anything.

"Oh..." she said, after removing her hair from the face "Hello" replied "Where are you coming from? I probably was to busy with that mis..." she turned her head, trying to see where Dream was and show her to the newcomer, but the ghost had already disappeared.
"...that evil little..." her attention returned on the man "...nevermind!"

The girl took a step back, to have a better look at the stranger: the shroud he had on covered much of his body and the tanned skin made Terra think he was at ease in Faith Desert: some sort of explorer, a fossil hunter maybe.

Pulling out her best smile, the girl presented herself and her pokémon:
"I'm Terra, and she is Lily" she briefly scouted her surroundings for that evil little prankster, but there was no trace of her "We're heading for the top of this mountain to have a look at Faith Desert. I hope to see the archeological site from there and..." another gust of wind blew some sand on Terra's face, and the girl sneezed "...sorry!" she added.

The man put on a warm smile as Terra did. "Your expression doesn't need to be so rented" he chuckled.The man looks left and right. "The archaeology site-" the man paused as though he were setting up a punch line "I've been there nce before. Can't say it's really my cup of tea, then again, I don't like tea." He moved back and forth somewhat awkwardly.
As he moved, he eyed the girl, until stopping as she sneezed on his cloth. Quickly, the man looked down and blinked quite rapidly, saying "Bless you" to the girl. As he regains composure, he slowly tilts his head up until seeing the peak of the mountain.
"Tell you what? I'll take you there, but on one condition. You have to beat me at a pokemon battle. I haven't had a good one in a while"

"Mmh..." Terra studied his opponent for a second, then glanced toward Lily.
Her lilligant nodded slightly, and stepped back.
"You look like an expert from this area, your assistance will surely be of help. If I can beat you!"
She picked a pokéball from her bag: apparently she wasn't going to use Lily yet: "All right, this will be my..." another gust of wind sent some sand into Terra's eyes "...oh, damnit!" she started gesturing with her hands on her face "What's wrong with the wind today!?"

The man giggled as Terra was buffeted by the sands. He tugs the tip of his left sleeve, pulling the other arm inward. You could see the arm making its way to his waist, and to his side. Arm arm pops out again. The man now holds a pokeball in his hand. He takes several steps backwards, and flicks the pokeball forward at your direction.
A red beam made its way out of the ball quickly taking the shape of a cactus. Materialising in front of you, was a cacnea. The man smiled warmly at you, gesturing that its your turn.

With her eyes full of tears for the sand, Terra stared at the cacnea. Bad start for her, as two of her pokémon were water Type, Lily was grass and Dream was totally unreliable.
Wait, why was she considering that ghost as part of her team?

"Swirl, time to hit that cactus quick and hard!" Terra sent out her poliwrath, and swirl readied himself with a few punches in the air.
"With a few tricks to begin with: Swirl, use Hypnosis and sent it into dreamland!"

It didn't take long for the cacnea to knock out. "Good move" said the trainer nonchalantly, approaching his pokemon. An aerosol bottle popped out into his right hand, which he used on his pokemon, which quickly woke. He calmly steps back to his original position, and holds out an arm. "Absorb" he commanded with a neutral tone. His cacnea quickly sprang up, and held its arms open toward "Swirl" and used its attack, hoping it would hit.

The time her opponent spent to awake his cacnea was enough to let Swirl be more than ready to dodge the incoming attack as soon as Terra shouted "Dodge!"

The water pokèmon managed to avoid the energy suction ray stepping sideways and getting closer to the grass pokémon.

"Well done Swirl! Now, Body Slam!" the Poliwrath pounced forward, charging with the whole body. Hopefully the hit could be so well executed to stun the cacnea in a full paralysis, thus giving Swirl the needed advantage to win against the cacnea without a scratch.

"Pin missile while he's coming right at you!" Cacnea waited for Swirl to beat the right position- almost a point blank shot. Its arms stretched out and glowed white. Thousands of needles rushed out through then going straight forward.It was almost impossible for the attack to miss, though almost too probable. The trainer clenched his teeth, though still had the same expression put on. This was his :pokerface:.

Well...that was...not so bad actually.
Terra's inner panic at the cacnea's sudden reaction faded almost istantly: Swirl got caught by the attack at point blank range, but barely noticed.
Her water pokèmon managed to shrug off damage from that attack, thanks to its resistance to it, being half fighting type.

Now the cacnea could only be hit by the body slam, being too close to dodge the poliwrath's attack. Terra crossed her fingers hoping for a paralysis and an easy win.

Cacnea was knocked away by the attack, but made a quick air recovery. "Alright. Now! Leech seed!" the trainer had a fire in his eyes. This match, he wasn't giving up so easily. He shook a little, as though shaking off cobwebs. There is a feeling in Terra's gut: this would not be so easy.
Two brown ball like sacs flew out of cacnea's "crown". They were bound to each other as though shackles, and flew toward Swirl.

All right, that was an irritating move to be hit with, yet it was rather harmless in a short time period, even on a water pokémon like Swirl.
Terra thought fast, before Leech Seed could start its draining effects she had to plan for the next move.

That cacnea could not resist one or two blows more before fainting, while her poliwrath was in almost perfect shape.
Going for an all out attack could be the best course of action to reduce the damage from leech seed, but Terra decided to play safe.

"Fine! Swirl, Hypnosis one more time!"

Again, cacnea fell into a deep sleep. It tumbled around this time. It thrashed, and flailed its limbs around seemingly randomly, before using an absorb attack, and eventually falling to the ground. Its trainer did nothing this time. It was almost clear that swirl would be the victor, though something was a bit off, though in a good way. The other man doesn't look like much of a cheat though. The wind picks up. A miniature "tornado" forms, picking up a swirl of sand going straight across the field. The sand rests gently.

"You can retire your pokémon if you want" Terra said, while Swirl took the first damage from Leech Seed "There's no need to have it faint now. This isn't an official battle after all, and there's no need to strain our pokémon more"
Terra recalled swirl into her pokéball, before further damage from leech seed could weaken it further.
"Lily, it's your turn now"
The Lilligant stepped in front of Terra, bowing slightly.

The trainer looked at Terra with a smile. "No, we're just getting to the good part" the trainer withdrew his cacnea, throwing another ball out "besides, you want to get up the mountain right?" Out of the ball emerged a large frightening silhouette of a bird- braviary. It rose upwards, like a dragon, until stopping itself mid air, turning at its opponent. "Were just getting started" he mumbled to himself with a twisted smile. "We're only getting started.

"I don't like where this is going" Terra commented, aware of the current disadvantage Lily had "I'm pretty much out of options, but I give it a try anyway. Sleep powder!"
From the red flower on Lily's head, a yellow cloud of pollen was dispersed around, in a cloud headed toward the opposing bird.

Braviary's strong muscular wings easily blew the poison away, dispersing it in the sand where it can't hurt anyone. The fierce pokemon let out a caw, showing its power. "Sky drop" the trainer commanded. Braviary switched its wings, and dived to the ground where Lily stands. As it makes its attack, wind spirals around it. Sand orbits the bird pokemon as though they were trapped meteorites to a large planet. The attack is closing in quickly. Terra has to think fast, otherwise be struck hard.

"Use sleep powder again, Lily! It has to dive in it to get you!"
Her only real hope to start an effective strategy against the bird pokèmon was to put it to sleep, to give Lily room to boost herself with Quiver Dance.

Terra took a risk and lost earlier.
Now that bird pokémon was about to hit Lily hard, and she was sure the Lilligant couldn't dodge in time.
Terra had to take another risk.

Shrouded in her sleeping powder, Lily would suffer a hard blow, but should manage to put her opponent asleep.
With that menace neutralized even for a few seconds, she could be able to Quiver Dance once or twice, and heal herself effectively with Giga Drain.

After that, she could gain the power to hit that braviary hard enough to send it packing with a Petal Dance, even if it was resistant to grass.

The braviary made a rough impact on Lily. Being super effective against grass types, the attack was able to push the pokemon a good distance. As it tumbled, the spores began to take effect on braviary. Its eyes began dimming. It hits the ground rolling until stopping at its rest. It is now vulnerable, though the trainer does seem to have a twinkle in his eye. Perhaps there is a trick up his sleeve.

Lily got hit hard, and Terra felt really sorry for her friend. The Lilligant trusted her in that risky manuever being badly hurt in the process.
"Power up Lily! Quiver Dance!" with the braviary temporary knocked out, Lily successfully managed to boost her abilities.
"Great! Now, Quiver Dance again!"

The two quiver dances gave braviary enough time to awaken. "Good. Now use aerial ace!" the bird disappeared from plain sight. Next thing Terra knew, it was in the air, banking hard, and making a near ninety degree turn towards Lily. The hit came quickly like a bullet, and would hit like a hollow point. The previous strategy seemed to be working, though fate only knows what would happen next. The trainer put on a sly smile. Something was up, Terra could feel it. It uneased her. She can feel the wind blowing. Not natural wind, but wind from the attack.

Two quiver dances were enough to overcome by a good margin the resistance of the braviary to grass attacks. And dodging the attack should have been an easy thing to achieve for a Lilligant with two stages of speed boost. The risk taken was about to yeld an high reward, the trainer could feel it.
"Lily, dodge!"
With a sudden quick step sideways that looked like a pirouette, the Lilligant easily avoided the bird's attack, exploiting the large speed advantage she gained.
"Good job!"

Now, terra had to choose an all out attack with a storm of leaves of Lily's powerful Petal Dance, or trying to heal her friend with Gigadrain.
Terra took enough risks, but the heal she could receive from her doubly boosted drain attack was probably not enough to resist another flying attack.
Damn, she had no other option than keep risking.
If Lily was going to faint though, the battle could be consdered over, as all her other pokémon were too weak or weakened to put up a fight against that braviary.

"Lily, it's all or nothing..." Terra showed all her concern in her tone "Use Petal Dance!"

The petal dance managed to hit the braviary, plucking it out of the sky. It dropped like an exalted fly onto a bed of gold. No. It wasn't over yet. Though petal dance was powered up enough to over come being weak to flying types, it wasn't quite so strong yet. It also tends to cause confusion. "Aerial ace, again" the trainer commanded. Braviary understood its trainer completely, flying upward into the heavens as the messenger god Hermes does, delivering words to other gods. Downward, it descends, going into Hades, but turning back at the river Styx. Quickly, it makes its way toward Lily. This could mean bad news.

Terra could do nothing, as Petal Dance was a long move. She simply watched in silence, staring at her pokémon and pondering.
Lily was still performing her Petal Dance, pirouetting in a large whirlpool of sharp leaves.
If the bird really wanted to hit her petilil with that direct attack, he could not avoid being hit by the vortex surrounding her. Lily had very good chances to faint it before being hit.

Terra crossed her fingers.