Chapter 1 - Counterbalanced

Yena laughed as her Oshawott sprinted across the room, leaped on her desk and managed to catch the treat before it hit the wall.
She clapped in her hands as she crossed the room, and scratched the top of Oshawott's head.

"You're getting better at this. Want an even trickier toss this time?"

Oshawott grinned, and nodded happily.

Yena turned around and leaned against her desk, getting another delicious Pokémon treat from her pocket.
She threw it across the room, her water Pokémon jumping after it with great enthusiasm.

She smiled, but didn't get to see the end of Oshawott's chase, as she was distracted by a slight movement outside.
Yena moved closer to the window, studying the person that was hanging around Professor Juniper's laboratory on the other side of Nuvema Town. The young man seemed to currently be peeking through one of the windows, while slowly walking by. Apparently not satisfied with the result, he turned around, walking by again, then turning a corner, disappearing out of sight as he stepped behind the laboratory.

This had been the third time she had spotted him on the edge of town.
Pondering on her observations, Yena turned around, finding Oshawott standing in front of her, nibbling on the treat he caught.
She reached down and patted him on the head.

"You did good, Oshawott. Hmm… You know what? Let's go out for a bit."

As she walked down the stairs, Yena called out:

"Mom? Do you mind if I bring home a guest for dinner this evening?"

As Yena peeked into the living room, she was met by her mother's questioning look.

"Sure, dear. Who will that be?"

Yena shrugged.

"I don't know his name yet, mom. I just have a hunch that he'll be hungry."

She walked up to her mom, and kissed her on the forehead.

"I think I'll be leaving for my Pokémon journey soon, too."

Yena's mother sighed, grabbing her daughter's shoulders while looking her in the eyes.

"Be careful, Yena. I trust you to do what's right, but your sense of adventure is overwhelming."

Yena smiled, placing her hands on her mother's shoulders.

"It'll be alright. Besides, I still have Oshawott to protect me."

The otter-like Pokémon looked up from Yena's feet, nodding with great determination.

...

Alex allowed himself a little sigh of relief as he watched the professor's assistants leave the laboratory.
They would not notice him, carefully concealed behind the trees and bushes that almost completely surrounded Professor Juniper's lab.
He heard their animated chatter disappearing as they entered one of the houses nearby.

Slowly, he left the safety of the trees, and approached the laboratory.
He would walk by once, glare through the window's glass to see if there were any assistants left in there.
If not, tonight could be the night.

As he casually strolled by, Alex tried to look through the laboratory's windows as inconspicuous as possible.
He immediately caught a glimpse of movement from inside. One of the assistants was still working.

Alex turned around, making his way back to his hiding place.
He'd have to wait until even this over-achiever went home.

Silently cursing to himself, he turned the corner around the laboratory.

However, his mood lifted immediately as he heard a Pokémon calling out to him at the next corner, leading to the back of the lab.
A small brown and white Pokémon appeared, and Alex sped up his pace to meet the raccoon-like Pokémon.
His Zigzagoon happily approached him, rubbing his head against his owner's legs and then running back to the where he had come from, clearly enthusiastic about something.

They were now at the back of the building.
There was no backdoor, but there were some small windows, probably leading into the toilets.

"Did you find something?"

Alex whispered as Zigzagoon came to a halt.

Zigzagoon nodded wildly, and pushed his nose against one of the small windows.
Alex gave a little gasp of delight as the window opened a bit.

"That's great, Zigzagoon!"

Eyeing the small window, he continued:

"I can't squeeze through there, though. I'd get stuck in a heartbeat."

He scratched Zigzagoon's bristly fur. "But I think you could probably do it!"

The Pokémon looked up to him, and grinned.
Then he proceeded to push his nose against the window, to open it up even further.

"Hold on, Zigzagoon. If you're going to do this, you'll have to be really quiet, you hear me?
One of the assistants is still at work in the front of the laboratory. And I described it to you many times, right?
You know what to look for."

Zigzagoon, hardly able to contain it's enthusiasm, nodded frantically again.
Alex grinned at his Pokémon.

"Okay then, this is it. It's really important we get this right, so give it your best. Now go!"

Zigzagoon nodded one last time, and wiggled through the small window, landing on the floor on the other side with a small thump.
Alex could hear the small Pokémon moving away from the window.
Wanting to follow Zigzagoon's movements as best he could, Alex leaned closer to the half-open window, completely focused on what was going on inside.

His heart seemed to stand still as he suddenly heard a voice from right behind him:

"Can I help you with anything?"

...

Yena discovered the young man crouching near an open window at the back of the laboratory.
He was doing his best to peer inside, and was so caught up with his activity that he didn't hear her approach.
Yena took a moment to take a closer look at him.

His brown hair was messily cut, as if a small child had given him a haircut.

He was wearing a long, sleeveless grey shirt, that was hanging loose on his white shoulders.
His wide pants seemed to be three sizes too big for him, and probably used to be a good shade of brown, now looking quite pale and full of grass stains.

Yena took a deep breath, and asked with a clear voice:

"Can I help you with anything?"

She had expected him to be a bit startled, but could never have foreseen his response to her presence.
He immediately jumped up as if he'd been stung by a bug-Pokémon, and as his dark, wide eyes found her, a furious expression formed on his face.
His mouth opened to reveal a long line of quite creative swear words, clearly stating what he thought of the fact that she had snuck up to him. His voice was raw, not matching his slim figure.

Yena quickly recovered from her surprise, folded her arms and waited.
As the young man noticed she was not going to run away crying at the first sign of strong words, the waterfall of swear words subsided, and eventually he went quiet, but his hands were still clenched into fists, as if he was ready to punch her in the face if she decided to attack him.

There was a moment of awkward silence.
Yena unfolded her arms, lowering them.
She smiled at him, hoping to make him feel more at ease.

"My apologies. I seem to have startled you, and I didn't mean to."

His dark eyes narrowed, and his hoarse voice sounded sceptic.

"Tell me what you want already."

Ignoring his rude tone of voice, that was clearly meant to pick a fight, Yena continued to give him assuring looks and made her own body language the least threatening she could.

"I was just wondering if you could use some help."

Encouraged by the surprised look on his face, she continued:

"I've seen you around here a couple of times now, but you don't seem to have any relatives in Nuvema Town you can stay with.
Do you have enough supplies? Where do you sleep?"

He slowly closed his eyes, as if to get himself together.
When he opened them, his mouth formed into a sarcastic grin.

"Oh, so you're a charity, eh? You came all this way to feed helpless ol' me? Well, good for you. But I don't need any help.
Go and help some other poor soul. I'm sure your help will be more appreciated elsewhere. Besides, I'll be out of here by tomorrow.
Now go away, shoo."

To enforce his words, he stepped forward, as to manipulate her into leaving.
Yena, however, didn't move an inch.
As the young man came closer, she took the opportunity of putting her hand on his shoulder.

"You feel like you could use a good meal. When's the last time you had a full plate of warm food?"

He jumped backwards, shaking her off as if Yena's hand was scorching his skin.

"Don't you touch me!"

"I-... I'm sorry. I meant no harm."

More shocked by this than by his behavior earlier, Yena closed her eyes, expecting him to have run away by the time she opened them again.
But when she did, he was still standing there, more upright than before.

There was something else on his face this time. She had said something that had attracted his attention.
As she observed him, he spoke up.

"I think you owe me a warm meal now."

Her smile returned as she recognised the look on his face – he was hungry.

"I think so too. Let's go, my mom makes the best food in town."

The young man glanced at the open window once more as he hesitantly followed her around the laboratory, into Nuvema Town.
When he noticed Yena watching him, he snorted and shook his head.

"People shouldn't leave windows open like that. You never know what might sneak in."

"Good thing it's such a small window, then."

He slowly nodded.

They awkwardly walked next to eachother, her way of walking much more relaxed than his.
Yena cast a look on his face.

"My name is Yena. What's yours?"

He returned her look, as if considering to ignore her question.

After a pause, he replied:

"I'm Alex."