A Strange Discovery

Iris could already feel a headache digging its claws into her temple as the winds whipped around her shelter. She bade her time, but it didn’t seem like the sandstorm was going to let up anytime soon. She checked the time using her technical display. An hour. She’d been resting here for an hour and honestly, the storm seemed to only be getting worse. She took a breath and let it out as she steadied her nerves. Pushing herself to her feet, Iris looked around, adjusting her pack on her shoulders before she pulled her scarf back up over her face and her goggles back over her eyes. Another inhale. Another exhale.

She stepped out into the raging wind and sand, immediately feeling where her protection failed to keep the little missiles from hitting her skin. It hurt, and she was starting to regret her decision to go this way rather than the bullet train. Still, she trudged on, trying her best to go in what amounted to a straight line. Brief, split second openings in the storm showed her shapes in the distance, and she paused briefly to check her map on her technical display. Somehow, she was managing to go the right way. Instinct tugged her on, and she put the map away, carefully pressing on.

The woman almost swore that the storm was not natural, with how it howled and keened and buffeted against her. A thought niggled at the back of her mind that she tried to ignore. Maybe it was a Pokemon? She wouldn’t be surprised if it was. Still, Iris pressed on, her suppressor warning her with a tiny alarm that it was close to overloading. That was going to be very uncomfortable when it did. Her clothes weren’t designed or intended to handle her wings if the suppressor failed, but what choice was she going to have if it happened? Instead, she focused on one foot in front of the other, and the grains of sand that slipped into her boots. 

She continued on, letting her instincts direct her to hopefully safety, when a glint caught the woman’s attention. Iris turned her gaze to it, and something told her it was important. She veered off her chosen path, and unexpectedly, she found herself in a moment of calm amongst the storm. The wind wasn’t quite as biting, and the sand wasn’t as stinging. Odd. Brown eyes cast around, it becoming even more solid in her mind that it could very well be a Pokemon doing this as a defense. Still, her eyes were drawn again to the glint in the sand, and she knelt down, brushing away the building pile of sand in search of the artifact she’d spotted. The smooth surface was unexpected, and as soon as she got a grip on it, images flashed in her mind - images she couldn’t quite make sense of. All she knew was when they stopped, her headache was even worse than before she’d found the item. Well… this was interesting.