If you're reading this, THANK YOU SO MUCH(: I am so excited at the positive reviews I am getting, and this is driving me to make updates VERY fast. Well, enough of me talking - here's Chapter Four, and I hope you enjoy!

Jayce's hold on my waist doesn't loosen until I stop demanding why he held me back. When he finally lets go, I ask him again, but much more calmly.

"I held you back because there's no point in you getting angry. It's what he wants," he says patiently, standing over me as I gather Totodile into my arms again. "And also, because we need to get back to Cherrygrove. The aide is probably so confused."

What aide? Oh. The aide that was coming to pick me and Totodile up. To go back to New Bark. Where I've spent my whole life...

Suddenly, it's like a shock runs through my body. I stare straight ahead at the cluster of trees the thief disappeared into. "Jayce," I say slowly, as something like an epiphany hits me, "I don't want to go home."

I turn toward him. He's looking at me like I'm crazy. I don't blame him. I just sprinted away from him at top speed, tried to beat up some kid I've seen twice in my life, and now I'm saying...what am I saying?

"I don't want to go home," I repeat. "I think...I think I want to keep going."

"Keep going?" He gives me that inquisitive look that I'm getting used to. "What do you mean?"

"Like...see the region," I say quietly. I'm not even sure where I'm going with this. "Go to the Ruins of Alph, like you talked about. Meet the Gym Leaders. Find new Pokemon. I don't know..." I trail off.

"Hazel..." Jayce puts a hand on my shoulder, startling me. I turn around. "If this is about chasing that guy - "

"It's not," I say firmly. "It's about me. I mean - I'm sixteen! Sixteen, and I've seen more action in these past two days than the rest of my life combined!" I'm looking Jayce straight in the eyes now. "I can't go back to living in New Bark," I say, and I realize his hand is still on my shoulder. "I can't go back to the same day-to-day routine. I..." I take a deep breath. "I think I want more than that."

Jayce stares at me for a while, and again I'm struck by how his eyes seem to glow of their own accord. Then he slowly takes his hand off my shoulder and nods once. My heart is pounding, for no apparent reason. He looks like he's going to say something important.

"I understand."

For a second, I feel somehow disappointed that he didn't say more - but then I realize exactly how much he said. Behind the fact that he understands, there's a story.

And I surprise myself with how badly I want to know what that story is.

"Hssssssss..."

A horrible, threatening sound, like air leaking out of a tire, is coming from behind Jayce. He whirls around and a purple, snake-like Pokemon with bright, sinister yellow bands lies coiled, ready to strike.

"An Ekans?" Jayce says in disbelief. "All the way out here? That can't be ri - "

"What are you kids doing in here?" demands a voice. A young man, maybe in his twenties, steps out from the shadows behind the Ekans. He's wearing an all-black uniform with a red letter 'R' emblazoned on his chest. "Didn't you see the sign?"

I don't like the way he's looking at us. He looks just as likely to strike as the snake. I feel like I should say something, but I feel paralyzed by the Pokemon's stare. It's so...big. Its fangs are the size of daggers, and I know that the bands on its coils equal venom in those fangs.

Jayce speaks up. "I'm sorry, sir. We must have missed the sign you're talking about. We were just trying to get to Violet City - "

"Didn't see the sign? That's bull. You would've had to walk right past it." He cracks his knuckles, and suddenly I realize he's eyeing Totodile. "Hey, kid, what kind of a Pokemon is that? Never seen that around here before."

Somehow, I feel like it would be bad to tell him the truth. "Uh, I'm not sure. I just found it on the path. It - it looks hurt." Totodile immediately clutches at its leg and starts to make whimpering noises. Good thing it's smart.

"I work for a Pokemon Center," Jayce lies smoothly. "We just need to get it to Violet City."

The man opens his mouth to reply, but before he can get words out, a sleek, black motorcycle appears out of the clump of trees up ahead, kicking up dust as it comes.

When it gets closer, I see that there's a blonde young woman riding the motorcycle, dressed in the same uniform as the man. She has a small steel cage under her arm, which she dumps unceremoniously to the ground before stepping off of the cycle.

I hear Jayce's sharp intake of breath and look up. He's staring at the inside of the cage, his fists clenched. I take a closer look and find a small, furry, fiery red fox-like Pokemon with six tails curled up in a ball. Blood seeps through its fur in places, and I grip Jayce's shoulder unthinkingly.

"What are these kids doing here?" the woman asks, folding her arms and looking us up and down. "Little young to be lawbreakers, aren't you?"

"You're the lawbreaker!" Jayce snarls. "What are you doing to that Vulpix?"

The woman just smirks. "I had to catch it, didn't I?"

"You don't need to open wounds to beat it in a battle!" Jayce says, his voice rising.

She shrugs. "I don't actually recall asking your opinion."

"All right, all right, all right," says the man in black, stepping forward. "This isn't the point. The point is that you kids are trespassing."

"We told you, we need to get to Violet City," Jayce says. He still sounds angry. The sight of the Vulpix really shook him up.

"All right, we'll let you go to Violet City," says the woman, narrowing her eyes.

"We will?" says the man, confused. "But we got orders from up top - "

" - if you give us that," she says, ignoring the man, and pointing to Totodile.

An image flashes into my head of Totodile lying broken in a cage, like the Vulpix, and I step forward. "Not happening," I say.

"I'd like to see you stop us," the woman says, and beckons to the Ekans. It lurches forward, staring me down, but I refuse to flinch.

"Okay then," I say. "I will."

"Hazel." Jayce grabs my shoulders and turns me to face him. His intense brown eyes are locked on mine. "I left Machoke in Cherrygrove. How do you plan to beat them?"

"Totodile," I say confidently. "Trust me. We can do this."

He stares at me for a while. "I believe you," he says finally. "But I have to help."

"But you don't have any Pokemon with you!"

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a Pokeball. "I always carry a few of my favorite Pokemon around with me. I raised most of them from eggs." He tosses the Pokeball to the ground, and a fluffy, red-and-black striped dog-like Pokemon appears in a burst of white light.

"You don't have to do this..." I say.

He just shrugs.

"Teaming up, are we?" smirks the blonde woman. "Well then, I think it's only fair that it's a double battle on both sides." She detaches a Pokeball from a belt she's wearing and throws it. A blue, bat-like Pokemon appears and exclaims, in a ridiculously irritating high-pitched squeal, "Zubat!"

"Growlithe, get ready!" Jayce orders. His Pokemon steps up to face the Zubat, and I let go of Totodile and watch it face the Ekans.

"Totodile, start off with Scratch!" I say, feeling the same rush of adrenaline I had when I battled the thief. Totodile rakes Ekans with its claws, but Ekans barely seems fazed and counters with a vicious bite. Totodile cries out and twists out of the grip of Ekans' jaws.

"Growlithe, use Ember," Jayce says. He seems much calmer than I am - much more confident. I wish I could control my emotions that well.

Growlithe spits out a small spark of fire that scorches Zubat, who leaps backwards in the air with another annoying screech.

"Leech Life," the woman commands, and Zubat immediately fires needles out of its mouth that embed themselves in Growlithe. Growlithe squirms uncomfortably as the needles sap the little dog's energy and give it to Zubat.

I'm pretty sure Totodile doesn't know very many moves, and I think Scratch is probably its most powerful move. "Keep using Scratch, Totodile," I say, and I feel a surge of hope as Totodile swipes at the Ekans again and it stumbles over its own coils.

The snakelike Pokemon hisses and tries to bite Totodile again, but this time my little Pokemon is ready and scrapes Ekans' head with its claws.

"Yes!" I say, as Ekans splutters and begins to show signs of weakening.

"Growlithe, finish off Ekans with Tackle," Jayce says. Growlithe charges Ekans and knocks it backwards. The snake lets out one last, weak hiss and goes unconscious.

The woman grimaces. "Jerome, your Pokemon sucks," she complains. "Zubat, use Poison Sting!"

Zubat shoots another needle from its mouth, and this time, it is Totodile that gets hit. My Pokemon immediately starts to glow a sickly purple.

"What happened?" I cry.

"Zubat poisoned it," Jayce says grimly. "We have to finish up this battle and get it to a Pokemon Center immediately. Growlithe, use Ember again!"

Another hiccup of fire hits Zubat, and the Pokemon's wings falter. Seeing an opening, I shout, "Totodile, use Scratch one more time!" Totodile stumbles forward determinedly, leaps up, and swipes the Zubat, sending it toppling from the air and into a heap at the woman's feet.

"You have got to be kidding me!" the woman yells. "This isn't happening. We just lost to two kids!"

Jerome, the man, looks nervous. "Maybe we should get outta here, Bianca. Their Pokemon are tougher than we thought."

The woman looks like she wants to slap him. Her face is red. "This - this is ridiculous," she splutters. "I can't believe this is happening." She stomps over to the motorcycle and motions angrily for Jerome to get on. Then she whips her head around to face Jayce and I.

"You better hope this is the last time you tangle with Team Rocket. That's all I have to say," she growls, then speeds away on her motorcycle towards Violet City.

I stand, watching her go, but Jayce kneels down and picks up the cage containing the Vulpix. "I was hoping she'd leave it," he says softly, and tucks the cage under his arm. "We have to get to Violet City's Pokemon Center. For Totodile and this little guy," he says.

"Right," I say, snapping out of my daze. "Right, we should get going." I bend over and cradle Totodile in my arms again. Jayce returns Growlithe to its Pokeball.

"Ready?" he asks.

I nod, and we walk together toward the clump of trees up ahead.