After Alex Baxter successfully captured Golem, Onix continued carrying the three of them deeper into the desert.
Along the way, they suffered several attacks from small wild Pokémon, but thanks to Professor Harris, they were never in real danger. In fact, Alex Baxter took advantage of the opportunity to capture a Sandshrew with good potential, hoping it could one day match the level of Ethan Black's Sandshrew.
Finally, after half a day's journey, Onix brought them to the edge of the desert, where there was a small area of natural sandstorms.
"This is incredible! I never imagined a natural phenomenon like this could exist!" exclaimed Ethan Black and Alex Baxter, stunned by the sight. The winds roared fiercely, lifting the sand into a column that rose high into the sky.
"Ethan, release Sandshrew. This is the place we wanted to reach. Here is where Sandshrew will complete its evolution," said Professor Harris seriously as he observed the phenomenon.
"Alright!" Ethan Black responded, taking a deep breath and releasing his Sandshrew. Then he spoke to him with a mix of emotion and nervousness: "Go, Sandshrew! Evolve in the middle of this sandstorm!"
Sandshrew also understood this was a crucial moment for him. He nodded to Ethan Black and slowly walked toward the sandstorm, letting the stones and grains of sand strike his scaly armor, producing a constant, dry clack clack clack.
BOOM!
In the next instant, under Ethan Black's excited gaze, Sandshrew's entire body was enveloped by a brilliant white light that quickly covered his emerald-green figure.
"It's begun!" said Professor Harris, who had already set up measuring instruments and was recording the energy fluctuations in the environment.
As the evolution unfolded, a massive amount of Ground-type energy converged from all directions toward Sandshrew's body, merging with him and accelerating his transformation. His silhouette began to change, slowly revealing the figure of Sandslash.
The white light flashed and vanished in a matter of seconds, and when it cleared, what appeared before them was a Shiny Sandslash, with a unique appearance.
Normally, Sandslash has pale yellow skin, but the Shiny Sandslash had a yellowish-green tone. If you didn't look closely, it didn't seem too different.
But the true change was in the spines on his back: while a normal Sandslash's are dark brown, the Shiny Sandslash's were a brilliant red, so intense they were dazzling.
"Wow! Your Sandslash looks amazing! Those red spines make him way cooler than the regular brown ones!" shouted Alex Baxter, visibly jealous.
"Hahaha! Of course, my red-spined Sandslash is way more stylish than those boring brown-spined ones!" Ethan Black laughed proudly. Although Shiny Sandslash didn't seem to have any special abilities because of its color, its appearance alone was worth it.
"Careful! Something's approaching!" suddenly exclaimed Professor Harris.
"What is it?" asked Ethan Black and Alex Baxter tensely, but no matter how much they looked around, they couldn't see anything.
Zas zas zas!
At that moment, several white lights burst out from within the sandstorm, turning into sharp energy needles that shot straight toward Sandslash.
"It's Pin Missile!"
"Sandslash, use Gyro Ball to block it!" Ethan Black quickly ordered.
Sandslash, now evolved, executed the move, spinning like a silver projectile that easily repelled the incoming needles.
"Now, find the enemy and use Sand Attack!" Ethan Black commanded immediately.
"Sha!" roared Sandslash, coating sand with Ground-type energy and hurling it violently toward the direction the attacks had come from, completely covering one sector of the storm.
Zas zas zas!
Suddenly, sharp leaves appeared in the air, forming a wall that blocked all the incoming sand.
But Sandslash reacted instantly. After using Sand Attack, his red-spined body blurred in the sandstorm and launched himself straight toward that wall of leaves. His huge claws gleamed white—he was using Metal Claw.
Compared to when he was Sandshrew, Sandslash's claws were now several times stronger. They cut like blades, slashing through the barrier of leaves and lunging toward the figure hiding behind it.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Ethan Black could see flashes of white light as Sandslash began a close-quarters battle with the figure concealed in the storm. The impacts thundered throughout the area.
"It seems Sandslash can detect that Pokémon. What kind of Pokémon could hide like that inside a sandstorm?" murmured Alex Baxter, surprised at how evenly matched the fight was.
Ethan Black frowned. The fact that it could hide in a sandstorm made him think of one ability: Sand Veil. The mysterious Pokémon must have that ability, and on top of that, it could use the moves Pin Missile and Magical Leaf...
BOOM!
The battle intensified. Even though Sandslash had just evolved and wasn't fully adapted to his new body yet, the fact that this wild Pokémon could fight him so evenly was astonishing.
At one point, the mysterious Pokémon also used Sand Attack, darkening the storm even more and completely blocking everyone's vision.
But even if they couldn't see, the sounds of blows and collisions continued echoing powerfully inside the storm.
"Sandslash, use Rapid Spin!" Ethan Black ordered, his voice anxious.
Sandslash obeyed immediately, spinning at high speed and creating a sand tornado that absorbed all the loose sand around him. The storm transformed into a swirling vortex of sand.
From within the whirlwind came a sharp cry, and they could faintly see a figure being dragged upward by the rising current, lifted into the air and trapped in the spiral of sand.
(End of Chapter)