A winding path, dense shrubbery, and non stop attacks from bug-types and their trainers were the only problems in my way. Excuse me for being a little melodramatic before. Since my kind of people weren't given at least an older model of a Pokedex, I had to result to learning Absol's move by trial and error.

I held out a moleskine, jotting down the moves she knew quickly throughout the battle. I was never good at memorizing things like Pokemon moves, so a small little notebook was a big advantage to me.

"Scratch!" I called, and her claws glowed with a faint white energy before slashing the Wurmple across the face. That was the last one out of six- this trainer would have his hands full when they all evolved.

I knew that the transaction of my winning money was done, and I waved to the trainer, who picked up their own butterfree net and returned the wave. Granted, I was annoyed by the plethora of bugs in this damn forest, but I had some decency to act like a normal human being.

Absol walked up cheerily behind me. For a dark-type, she had an a weird sunny disposition, and i sprayed her with one of my last Potions I had found. I came to a stop, finding a fork in the road...Err, foliage, could be more correct. The dirt path I had been following seemed to end, and left me off on a cliffhanger on where I should go.

"Now what?" I wondered, sliding my moleskine back into my bag's pocket. My Pokemon responded by sitting at the edge of the dirt trail, before curling into a tired ball. "Gee, that's helpful."

She grunted back at me, as if saying, what do you expect me to do? There were no other Pokemon on my team, or even a kind wild Pokemon to lead me out. I cursed at my own thoughts- the latter only happened in movies. Happy movies, with no depiction of real life whatsoever.

I sighed. Jasmine and Jasper, through cooperative teamwork, had gotten through the forest already, waiting patiently for me at Rustboro. Maybe they were catching up with old friends, or having alone time together. A simple thought of what could happen when two hormonal teenagers in love, while they were alone, nearly made me giggle.

Perverse thoughts have passed a certain mark to where the world "perverse" is an understatement. Trust me.

I ended up leaning against a tree, Absol curled by my side, in a certain bliss you couldn't get in the city. No loud cars (albeit there were few to start with), no tall buildings, no rich people. No rich, snobby people- Jasmine and Jas seemed to be the only exception, as far as I knew. Some of the rich kids at school were pretty nice, but they just avoided me generally. Or was it the other way around?

After about ten minutes of tranquility, I stood up, aggravated. I wanted out of the damn forest. Absol, startled by my sudden movements, sat up, yawning and stretching. I looked to the dark-type, determination set in my eyes. "We're going to get out of this damn forest if it kills us."

She nodded happily, willing to do anything. I remembered when I was that trustful, but everything seemed to change in seconds. Pushing negative thoughts out of my head for the time being, I focused on the problem ahead of us- the splitting road. I took a hesitant step down one path, one with thick trees and branches hanging low enough to catch you across the face, but a second later pivoted on my heel and headed down the other path, praying I made the right choice.

Bug-types seemed to attack me more often, but Absol was strong enough to swat them away. And bug-types were generally weaker than the trainers we fought, and the aforementioned trainers weren't as tricky as presumed.

I moaned through the sticky humid heat that seemed to plague our nation. I never liked the heat in Hoenn; Mom once took me to Mt. Chimney. Never again. Absol was panting, also, and it seemed like she wasn't used to this heat.

"Hot, Absol?" She understood me, and nodded. I pulled out a water bottle from my bag, and pouring a bit of the sacred liquid into my palm, stretched it out to her. Her tongue was coarse as it liked my bare skin, but she drank up half of the water in my bottle before I capped it again. I smiled at her. "Better?"

Still panting, she nodded. I thought it was amazing how Pokemon could just understand us sometimes, and sometimes on a deeper, emotional level. Don't mind my random philosophical ravings sometimes.

We wandered through the thick for a while more- I never had a watch, so I couldn't check the time. My phone was out of question as it was on its last battery. A sudden, shrill voice filled the air, and I knew it could only come from one person.

Jasmine.

It didn't sound like one of her "help-me-i'm-in-danger" screams, at least. It had a happy tone, and the next thing I know, I was being squashed by a white-and-blue blob, with dirt stains covering heavy white combat boots.

"JASMINE!" I shrieked, trying to push the girl off me. She sat up, in a daze, wondering what just happened. I was, also. Why did she randomly drop on me like that.

"Nadia?" She chirped in shock. "I didn't see you there!"

I bit my tongue to hold back a snide remark. "What a coincidence. I didn't happen to see you land on me," is what I really wanted to say. Instead, it came out as, "Ow." She helped me up instantly, but I still glared.

"I'm sorry!" She whined, before turning to Jasper, who was walking through the thicker woods. "Jas, I found her!"

Jasper looked like he had walked through hell and back- his white pants were stained with dirt. I rolled my eyes, suppressing a grin. Only Jasmine was able to make Jasper walk through the woods like that. His Ralts, Zytha, walked close and next to him, trying to copy his movements.

"Now that we're all reunited, we can get out of this forest!" Jasmine cheered, her fists in the air. Her arms locked around my neck and Jasper's neck, as if we had no other choice. Absol whined in confusion of the weird girl. I couldn't agree more. "C'mon, the exit is this way!" She ran ahead of us.

I glanced to Jasper, who kept his mouth pursed in a line. "Annoyed?"

"I love that girl," he began, sighing. "But damn she can be a little aggravating." He began to jog again, attempting to catch up with his girlfriend. Jasper was the most athletic of all of us, but Jasmine beat him in energy by a mile. Or however that saying goes.

The exit was, in fact, easy to find. I was amazed that I had managed to get through the forest in one day. Lets say, my family has a history of terrible navigators. Dad told me stories of when he was younger and he got lost in the desert on Route 111. A tinge of heartbreak overcame me, reminiscing of my father always brought it.

Absol nudged my hand, and we began following the squeals of Jasmine and the worried exclamations of Jasper.

I glanced down to Absol before we stepped out of the forest. "They're crazy, if you hadn't noticed."

She rolled her eyes in response.