lurrien
seg four
But that only lasted for a moment. Pushed it outta my head. Just a wild hare. Stray thought. Chick didn't mean anything to me.
I turned away and glanced at Pooch. He was still staring at Chick. I turned away from him too. What was I doing here? This was getting pointless. And I felt like I had lost a friend. Or, losing him, anyway. Losing him to Chick's seductive power. He was already eating out of her hand, the pup-sucker.
I decided it was time for me to go. Goodbye Trainer Chick. Goodbye Pooch, I'll try to keep an eye out for ya, in case you ever decide you've had enough of this. Goodbye other pumped-up Pokemon, except for you, Zigg. Maybe I'll come back and kick _your_ butt someday.
But then somethin' nuzzled me, on the shoulder. Or someone. It was Zigg. She was looking at me with friendly eyes and a friendly face. "Hey, no hard feelin's about our scrap out there in the wild, huh?" she said to me. She had the voice of a female jock. Kinda like the ones who're used to kicking their friends' butts and calling it all in fun.
I dunno why I actually stopped and listened to her. Being polite, I guess. Or just stupid. Politeness _is_ stupidity, sometimes. But I said, "I guess. 'M not much of a fighter."
"Aw, don't worry about it! You'll get better!" she said back, winking at me. Don't know what the wink was for. Maybe she was trying to flirt with me. "There'll be plenty of chances for ya t' sharpen yer skills in _this_ crew, I tell ya!"
And whoever said I was sticking around? I almost said that out loud. But I didn't respond. I just got ready to jump off the table.
Then I noticed something in my way. Lovey Wurmple. He was on the floor below me, right smack in my jumping path. "Hiya! My name's Rondo! How are ya?" he said.
About to jump on you. "Busy," I said. Instead I just adjusted my path so that I landed dangerously close to his head.
"Hey!" he yelped, and at first I thought I had successfully gotten on his nerves until he added, "Where ya goin'?" as I walked away. Wasn't gonna say anything, I was just making a beeline for the door. But then Pooch spoke up.
"Where ya goin', Lady?"
I turned. He was looking down at me from the table. "Anywhere but here. See ya."
Muddy didn't say nothin'. Just looked at me with those beady black lieutenant eyes of his. Zigg on the other paw, she was all surprised and shocked. "You're leaving?" she blurted. I answered her by scooting myself out the door.
Next thing I know, my ears are picking up some commotion from back inside. Chick says something like, "Hey, where'd Lurrien go?" Then I hear the voice of the lady behind the counter say something, and Trainer Chick answers, "Yeah, my Poochyena." Then the voice of the lady again, something about "out the door." Crap. Any second now she'll be running out here after me. I skedaddle.
Humans are easy to evade. They rely too much on their eyes to find things, and it ain't hard to trick their eyes or stay out of sight. Chick was no exception. She burst out of the Center and glanced this way and that, then hurried straight ahead calling out that funky name of hers for me, while I watched her from inside a thicket some distance to her left. See? Easy. I quit the thicket and headed in the opposite direction to find me another hiding place, just in case. The only way she would've stood a chance of finding me now would've been if she'd sent her Pokemon cronies after me.
Which, she did.
Zigg found me underneath a dumpster behind the Center. I growled at her soon as I saw her beady eyes looking into mine.
"Get away! Leave me alone!"
"What're ya doin', Lurrie? Kez is lookin' for ya!"
"What's it look like I'm doing?" She already had a nickname for my non-name?? Total cronie jock-head.
Zigg didn't say anything. I could see the wheels turning in her brain, but nothing was coming out. Didn't figure her for being stupid, but I certainly couldn't see any signs that she was catching on.
Meanwhile, I was backed in a corner. Dumpster was in a little nook surrounded by brick wall on three sides. Zigg was in between me and the open end. So I said, "Look, just go away and pretend you never saw me, okay?"
"C'mon Lurrie, come on outta there. Kez'll be worried."
She sounded absolutely earnest. Poor girl, lost in cronie-land. "I ain't goin'!" I hissed. "Is that too hard for you to understand?"
"Well...Kez sent me to find ya, and I found ya. So I ain't movin' either!" Though unlike me, she was smiling. She was having a ball with this.
I glared at her. Her eyes were sparkling with delight. Made me madder. I tried one last time. "Go away or I'm gonna kick your butt!" I said through clenched jaws. Wasn't no idle threat. Though I doubted I could make good on it. She was still better-trained than me.
Her jaw flopped open and she like, coughed as if she couldn't believe what she just heard. "Aw, there's no need to be like that!" she grinned, sounding all shocked and amused at the same time. "We're on the same team now!"
Whatever.
I let her have it. Charged right out of my hidey-hole and barreled into her, roughing her up with my teeth and claws like mad before breaking away and trying to make a run for it. So okay, it turned out to be an idle threat after all. A diversionary surprise tactic instead of a butt-kicking. Just enough for me to get past her without trying to mix it up something serious, 'cause I knew I would've lost. Strange thing was, I thought it would've been harder than that to break past her. But she didn't put up any resistance. She just let me run her over. It didn't make sense...but I didn't bother with trying to figure it out. I just ran.
A quick look around...not a sign of Trainer Chick's Pokemon. I darted into a patch of nearby woods. Zigg was bound to come after me, I was sure. Pokemon are harder to evade than humans. Stupid scent. Gives me away. Still, I tried to lay low in hopes that she wouldn't come after me. But she came outta that dumpster nook and picked up my trail, just like that. She was making a beeline for me. I turned and darted deeper into the woods. I could lose her in these trees, I knew. 'Cause I grew up here. I knew all the tricks and trails and hiding places of these woods, as well as some tricks for throwing her off my scent trail. She'd never find me.
But I didn't think about it until right then, that maybe she knew these woods too. For all I know she could've grown up here, just like me. Plenty of Ziggs around this neck o' the woods.
For whatever reason though, she didn't follow. Guess I just got lucky. Last I heard of her was her wailing out, "Lurrie!! Lurrie, where ya goin'?!" like an older sister callin' out to a subordinate sibling. Which I hated that kind of condescending tone. I wasn't inferior to her.
seg four
But that only lasted for a moment. Pushed it outta my head. Just a wild hare. Stray thought. Chick didn't mean anything to me.
I turned away and glanced at Pooch. He was still staring at Chick. I turned away from him too. What was I doing here? This was getting pointless. And I felt like I had lost a friend. Or, losing him, anyway. Losing him to Chick's seductive power. He was already eating out of her hand, the pup-sucker.
I decided it was time for me to go. Goodbye Trainer Chick. Goodbye Pooch, I'll try to keep an eye out for ya, in case you ever decide you've had enough of this. Goodbye other pumped-up Pokemon, except for you, Zigg. Maybe I'll come back and kick _your_ butt someday.
But then somethin' nuzzled me, on the shoulder. Or someone. It was Zigg. She was looking at me with friendly eyes and a friendly face. "Hey, no hard feelin's about our scrap out there in the wild, huh?" she said to me. She had the voice of a female jock. Kinda like the ones who're used to kicking their friends' butts and calling it all in fun.
I dunno why I actually stopped and listened to her. Being polite, I guess. Or just stupid. Politeness _is_ stupidity, sometimes. But I said, "I guess. 'M not much of a fighter."
"Aw, don't worry about it! You'll get better!" she said back, winking at me. Don't know what the wink was for. Maybe she was trying to flirt with me. "There'll be plenty of chances for ya t' sharpen yer skills in _this_ crew, I tell ya!"
And whoever said I was sticking around? I almost said that out loud. But I didn't respond. I just got ready to jump off the table.
Then I noticed something in my way. Lovey Wurmple. He was on the floor below me, right smack in my jumping path. "Hiya! My name's Rondo! How are ya?" he said.
About to jump on you. "Busy," I said. Instead I just adjusted my path so that I landed dangerously close to his head.
"Hey!" he yelped, and at first I thought I had successfully gotten on his nerves until he added, "Where ya goin'?" as I walked away. Wasn't gonna say anything, I was just making a beeline for the door. But then Pooch spoke up.
"Where ya goin', Lady?"
I turned. He was looking down at me from the table. "Anywhere but here. See ya."
Muddy didn't say nothin'. Just looked at me with those beady black lieutenant eyes of his. Zigg on the other paw, she was all surprised and shocked. "You're leaving?" she blurted. I answered her by scooting myself out the door.
Next thing I know, my ears are picking up some commotion from back inside. Chick says something like, "Hey, where'd Lurrien go?" Then I hear the voice of the lady behind the counter say something, and Trainer Chick answers, "Yeah, my Poochyena." Then the voice of the lady again, something about "out the door." Crap. Any second now she'll be running out here after me. I skedaddle.
Humans are easy to evade. They rely too much on their eyes to find things, and it ain't hard to trick their eyes or stay out of sight. Chick was no exception. She burst out of the Center and glanced this way and that, then hurried straight ahead calling out that funky name of hers for me, while I watched her from inside a thicket some distance to her left. See? Easy. I quit the thicket and headed in the opposite direction to find me another hiding place, just in case. The only way she would've stood a chance of finding me now would've been if she'd sent her Pokemon cronies after me.
Which, she did.
Zigg found me underneath a dumpster behind the Center. I growled at her soon as I saw her beady eyes looking into mine.
"Get away! Leave me alone!"
"What're ya doin', Lurrie? Kez is lookin' for ya!"
"What's it look like I'm doing?" She already had a nickname for my non-name?? Total cronie jock-head.
Zigg didn't say anything. I could see the wheels turning in her brain, but nothing was coming out. Didn't figure her for being stupid, but I certainly couldn't see any signs that she was catching on.
Meanwhile, I was backed in a corner. Dumpster was in a little nook surrounded by brick wall on three sides. Zigg was in between me and the open end. So I said, "Look, just go away and pretend you never saw me, okay?"
"C'mon Lurrie, come on outta there. Kez'll be worried."
She sounded absolutely earnest. Poor girl, lost in cronie-land. "I ain't goin'!" I hissed. "Is that too hard for you to understand?"
"Well...Kez sent me to find ya, and I found ya. So I ain't movin' either!" Though unlike me, she was smiling. She was having a ball with this.
I glared at her. Her eyes were sparkling with delight. Made me madder. I tried one last time. "Go away or I'm gonna kick your butt!" I said through clenched jaws. Wasn't no idle threat. Though I doubted I could make good on it. She was still better-trained than me.
Her jaw flopped open and she like, coughed as if she couldn't believe what she just heard. "Aw, there's no need to be like that!" she grinned, sounding all shocked and amused at the same time. "We're on the same team now!"
Whatever.
I let her have it. Charged right out of my hidey-hole and barreled into her, roughing her up with my teeth and claws like mad before breaking away and trying to make a run for it. So okay, it turned out to be an idle threat after all. A diversionary surprise tactic instead of a butt-kicking. Just enough for me to get past her without trying to mix it up something serious, 'cause I knew I would've lost. Strange thing was, I thought it would've been harder than that to break past her. But she didn't put up any resistance. She just let me run her over. It didn't make sense...but I didn't bother with trying to figure it out. I just ran.
A quick look around...not a sign of Trainer Chick's Pokemon. I darted into a patch of nearby woods. Zigg was bound to come after me, I was sure. Pokemon are harder to evade than humans. Stupid scent. Gives me away. Still, I tried to lay low in hopes that she wouldn't come after me. But she came outta that dumpster nook and picked up my trail, just like that. She was making a beeline for me. I turned and darted deeper into the woods. I could lose her in these trees, I knew. 'Cause I grew up here. I knew all the tricks and trails and hiding places of these woods, as well as some tricks for throwing her off my scent trail. She'd never find me.
But I didn't think about it until right then, that maybe she knew these woods too. For all I know she could've grown up here, just like me. Plenty of Ziggs around this neck o' the woods.
For whatever reason though, she didn't follow. Guess I just got lucky. Last I heard of her was her wailing out, "Lurrie!! Lurrie, where ya goin'?!" like an older sister callin' out to a subordinate sibling. Which I hated that kind of condescending tone. I wasn't inferior to her.