I forgot to say previously, the place where Sapphire lives looks like Yellowstone National Park. So if you search google images for 'Yellowstone forest / plains / Amethyst Mountain' you can get an idea of what it looks like.

How could I be so stupid? How could I be so STUPID?! How did I go from celebrating my victory against the poachers to running for my life from them?!

So now I'm running on all fours –or threes seeing how I have an arrow sticking out of my shoulder blade- as fast as I can possibly muster through a prairie, the sound of the poachers practically seconds behind me. This is the first time that I actually feel terrified. My heart is pounding against my ribcage and my arm and leg muscles are starting to get extremely hot from the speed I'm going at. But it seems that this extra rush of adrenaline is making me run faster. Good, I need this. The rocks and trees fly past me in a blur. I must have been running for some time now.

I can hear the sound of the hoof beats subside a little behind me as I run. Their Ponyta must be tiring. But as this happens, it suddenly dawns on me that I had no idea what I am going to do about this! I don't have a plan! I haven't thought of anything to do in this situation! Most Pokemon I come across in the wild leave me alone and do not try to hurt me. Probably because I- Oh I don't know- leave them alone?! This is the first time that I've had to evade danger. From other humans that is. I've escaped many wild Pokemon before. Speaking of wild Pokemon, they all flee from the sight of me and the poachers. There are even some shiny ones but the poachers only seemed interested in getting hold of me.

On an impulse, I duck behind a rock. And I hear the sound of the Ponyta thundering past me. As they go I can hear the poachers yelling in anger and confusion as to where 'the thing' had gone and that they'll 'find it!'

Yeah, sure.

I walk to a small stream and pull off my camouflage. When I look in the clear aqua, I can see my reflection. And the arrow sticking out of my shoulder. I do not think it hit anything other than the bone of my shoulder blade. It feels that way at least. I sit cross-legged and attempt to pull it out. I try not to roar as I try. But the stabbing pain is too much and all I can do is break the stick and leave the arrowhead stuck firmly in me. I wince at the pain but I ignore it. But I can still smell the blood from my wound.

I run my tongue over my mouth and notice that my throat feels parched and dry. I use my hand as a cup as I drink from the stream. Every now and again, I sit upright to look around or have a sniff…. Nothing. All I can sense is the presence of wild Pokemon. And the blood from my wound. I need to figure out how to get that sorted. I don't want any predators to smell it and come after me. I suppose I should go back to my cave. There are some herbs that I could use to try and heal it. Or get Toro to pull it out. Just something, I want this damned arrow out of me!

I pull on my leafy outfit and start the walk back towards my cave. I keep trying to roll my shoulder, hoping that would dislodge the arrow and it would fall out, but it won't. It could be worse. What would those creeps do to me if they actually caught me? Well… they'd realise that I'm actually a human and let me go, right? Pfft, as if.

A scream rings through the forest, a swarm of Taillow race from the trees and into the sky. The scream sounds as if it is from a Blazikin. Toro!

Ignoring the agony in my shoulder, I take off in the direction of the scream. Once I get closer, I suddenly get the scent of the poachers again. Were they after Toro?! They better not be! I swear to Arceus if they are…

As I run into an open plain, I suddenly notice what Toro was so upset about.

"Get her legs!"

"Watch her beak!"

"Take her down!"

"She's ours now!"

The six poachers are standing knee deep in a river, all with ropes and with Toro in the middle of it all. I can see her partly through the thrashing waves of the river. She has ropes tied around her legs and her neck, being forced to the ground. She screams as her beak is grabbed by one of the monsters and they attempt to tape it shut. Toro snarls and violently bites the hand of the man trying to do that to her, making him yell and jump back. I stifle a laugh, nobody messes with my girl!

Toro tries to escape the river but she is quickly wrangled by another poacher, a rope coiling around her neck. The Blazikin yowls and tries to take off. Then one of them do something that drives me over the edge.

One of them shoots her in the arm with a gun. Toro shrieks and collapses at the agony it causes.

I jump into a tree, run along a branch while grabbing a vine. Once I am sure I am above the creep that shot her, I leap off of the branch and swing at him, letting out a war-cry.

"What the- ARRGH!" The man only sees me for a brief second before I kick him off of his Ponyta. As I jump onto the grass, I hear the sound of Toro racing away. Good. Hopefully she runs back to the cave. That way I can help her. And maybe she can help me as well, I still need this arrowhead out of my shoulder!

"There it is!"

Oh damn…

I take off into a run again, the sound of hoof beats drumming behind me. GREAT! But as I run, I realise that now only four of the original six were after me. I can still pick them off! I race around a big Pine and towards the territory of the Ursaring family I had seen before. The cubs had already evolved but were still with their mother and father, forever protective. They usually accept me in their territory, but I highly doubt they would tolerate poachers close to their family!

My suspicions prove to be correct as when I charge through with the poachers on my tail, I hear an enraged roar behind me and I just notice the father leap out from behind a bush at the side of my eye. Behind me I hear two guys screaming and galloping away from the angry Ursaring. But despite this, the last two seemed to be able to avoid the bear-like animal and were still on my tail.

I leap out of the forest and –unknowingly- down a steep slope, causing me to lose my footing and partially tumble down it. The sound of hooves suddenly becomes much louder as they are far closer. I take off again but I suddenly realise that I am now between the two Ponyta. I try to run faster but I'm beginning to feel tired. I can't see any way to get away from them!

Out of no-where, I feel something constrict around my neck, making me gasp for air as it tightens. It must be a rope! What are they trying to do? Hang me?! I can't let them get me! They'd make me go back to Littleroot! I know it!

I feel that the rope was being held by the man riding the Ponyta on my left. Getting an idea, I watch the gallop cycle of the Ponyta on my right and –during the moment of suspencion- I throw myself under the legs of it. I feel the rope tighten around my neck and I hear a scream, I turn around to see that I have managed to drag the man off of the horse like Pokemon, causing the Ponyta above him to scream and leap into the air, tossing his rider. But I still feel him gripping onto the rope. I struggle against it, feeling it dig into my neck further. But I keep running, despite my exhaustion. I can hear the body of the man being dragged behind me. It is only when I climb too high up a redwood that, I feel that the pressure on my neck is much looser and I can hear the man below cursing his head off at me.

It is darker now but as I look around, I notice that everything was unfamiliar. I don't recognise anything around me. In my panic I must have ran much further than I originally thought. I decide that I should try going back the way I came, but I'm exhausted and haven't eaten since noon yesterday and there doesn't seem to be any berry trees around. And I do not know if the poachers are gone or not. I sigh as I lie on the spongey branch of the redwood. I lie on my side since I still have the arrow in my shoulder. Everything hurts. My stomach from lack of food, my neck still feels tight and bruised, my palms and feet are bloody and all of my limbs feel heavy and stiff.

But at least those young Pokemon are safe, and I hope those poachers never come back.

I hope nobody else period comes back…