Pokemon Island Sun (on hiatus)

[EmeraldSky]

Letter 17: Circles (and other things) in the Sand

Dear Serena,

Our adventures keep getting more and more interesting--what started as a day at the beach took a terrifying turn. But on the bright side, Popoki did learn a new move (not that Fire Fang will be any help against Lana, but I'm still proud he learned a new move)

It all started yesterday morning, on one of the rare sunny days around the hill. Tarina had found a beach close by the Pokemon Center, so we decided to just relax on the beach (and I could get some training in for Lana's trial)

Misty was probably the happiest to be on the beach after the long journey here, and wasted no time in getting settled on a towel to work on a tan. Tintri and I decided to train for the trial, and Brock helped Tarina build a sand castle, to the accompaniment of Mahina's ukulele as she serenaded the waves and the Wingulls overhead.

The problem started when Tarina found what she believed to be a sand castle that someone had forgotten to finish. Imagine her surprise when she discovered that it wasn't a sand castle, but a Pokemon!

Sparks had this to say about Tarina's discovery:

"Sandygast, the sand heap Pokemon. Born from a sand mound playfully built by a child, this Pokémon embodies the grudges of the departed.

Tarina didn't seem to heed Sparks' warning--she noticed the picture on Sparks' screen and the Sandygast before us had a huge difference--our Sandygast had no shovel on its head, and it seemed saddened it had lost it.

Being the brave Pichu she is, Tarina offered to help the Sandygast, despite Brock's misgivings. Brock, Hikina, Popoki, Kia'i, and Mele came with Tintri and I, just in case Tarina ran into trouble.

We did eventually find the shovel in a small cave near the beach, but when Tarina tried to pick it up and give it back to the Sandygast, the shovel somehow flew off! Naturally, this angered the Sandygast, and it evolved into a huge sand castle...thing.

Hekili warned us:

Palossand, the sand castle Pokemon. Buried beneath the castle are masses of dried-up bones from those whose vitality it has drained.

Poor Tarina--I don't think I've ever seen her run that quickly to get away from the vengeful Pokemon. Mele distracted it with a Bubblebeam, which bought us enough time to return to the beach, and form a strategy as to how to defeat or otherwise appease the enraged Palossand.

Tintri wouldn't be much help, and neither would Popoki, even though he insisted on protecting Tarina--she was only trying to do a good deed, he explained. Hikina replied that good deed or not, Palossand was still a very dangerous Pokemon, and there were very few ways to appease it or defeat it.

About then, Lana found our hideout (for lack of a better way to describe it), and after we filled her in on what had happened, she told us that the only way to appease an angry Palossand was to appease the spirits inside of it, which would make it disappear, and cleanse its presence from the beach.

The question was--how were we supposed to appease it?

As we were debating our options about what to do next, the Palossand found us--intent on adding Tarina to the many people and Pokemon it had killed.

Popoki was not about to see Tarina die, and charged to meet the Palossand. With Mele supporting him, we watched in awed as his fangs turned red--a Fire Fang!

That Fire Fang was enough to burn the Palossand, so Lana took that opportunity to begin the cleansing ritual

The prayer for banishing evil spirits goes something like this, as per Lana's translation:

O wandering spirits from antiquity,
Caught between heaven and earth
The gods of heaven see your tears, and have mercy upon you all
They await your arrival in heaven, where you will receive your eternal rest
Trouble us no more on earth
Your time here is over
The prayer is freed

The cleansing ritual worked like a charm, and the Palossand disappeared into the sand, never to return again.

We were all relieved Tarina was okay, but she wondered what had happened to the shovel she was trying to return to the Sandygast before it attacked. Brock just smiled and told her "I'd like to think it went to heaven with all the spirits that made up the Palossand."

He went on to gently tell her that not everything was a friend, and not every Pokemon was nice. Misty went on that while what Tarina wanted to do was commendable, not everything would appreciate or want her help.

I was especially proud of Popoki--but he just gave me his trademark fanged smirk and told me that he was just doing the right thing and protecting Tarina.

Our beach excursion went without any further incident. Mahina thought our encounter would make a good ballad, so after she wrote the lyrics, Brock wrote some music for it (with both guitar and ukulele chords--it's a little complicated for me still, but I'm perfectly fine with improvising on open chords and easy songs for now--as well as a few session tunes that work really well on ukulele.

Tarina did not want to leave Popoki's side--the two of them even slept together last night. (Popoki's body kept Tarina warm, so she didn't need a blanket.

We're getting closer and closer to the hill itself--I can hardly wait to prove myself in Lana's trial. But we still have a ways to go, so for now, the adventures will continue!

Until next time,
Ash