Chapter 2 - Counterbalanced

This had been a bad idea. Alex glanced around as they approached Yena's house.

Maybe if he ran for the trees now, he'd get away?
He probably could, he was fast enough, but the hollow feeling in his stomach and the thought of a good meal stopped him.

He wasn't too worried about Zigzagoon.
His Pokémon would return to their hiding spot in the woods, and find enough berries to feed himself.
He just hoped Zigzagoon would find it's way out of the laboratory safely.

Yena turned around to him as they reached the front door of her house.

She stated:

"This is where I live."

Alex suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, or saying something along the lines of 'good for you'.
He simply shrugged lightly, putting his hands in his pockets.

Yena gave him one of her smiles, which he couldn't understand.
He had been nothing but rude to this girl, so when was she going to be offended and send him away?
But the warm look in her blue eyes seemed to be genuine. Her golden hair, that reached just beyond her shoulders, and perfectly smooth and shiny, seemed to be the opposite of his' own short, messy hair. Her good looks disgusted him, he didn't like handsome people much.

He thought of leaving once more, but Yena had just opened the door, and a wave of delicious smells withheld him from turning around.

"Let's go inside, Alex. The sun will set soon."

She stepped through the door, leading the way.

...

Yena found her mother in the kitchen, cutting vegetables while keeping an eye on the pans on the stove.
As she heard the two approach, the woman turned around.

"Hello, dear."

She quickly kissed Yena on the forehead, and then turned to Alex, who was still standing near the door, his hands in his pockets and his skinny shoulders pulled up.

Yena made the introductions.

"Mom, this is Alex. He'd like to join us for dinner. Alex, this is my mother."

Noting his uneasiness, Yena's mother made no attempts to shake his hand. She simply waved at him shortly.
He replied her gesture by giving her a quick nod.

"Nice to meet you, young man. You do look like you could use something to eat.
If you could just wait another fifteen minutes, I'll have dinner on the table."

"No worries, mom. We'll just be in the living room, okay? Let's go, Alex."

...

Alex hesitantly sat down on the far side of the couch, restlessly moving his fingers along the soft fabric.
He looked around the room – cheerful family pictures on the wall of Yena and her parents, a fireplace, several chairs with colors matching the couch and a television built into a giant bookcase. There was a radio on the other side of the couch, and a soft red and orange carpet on the floor. He felt very much out of place.

Yena sank down on the couch as well, and Alex was thankful for the space she left between them.
She showed him the television's remote control.

"Feel like watching some tv?"

Alex shrugged, which she apparently took as his silent way to say 'yes', because she pointed the thing at the television, and a program about Pokémon living in the desert appeared on the screen.
Yena sniffed, showing her dislike for the program, and changed channels. A music program this time.
Alex felt chills running down his spine as he watched one of the singers perform on a big stage.
He glanced over at Yena, hoping she'd change the channel again.

She didn't look like she was about to, so he reluctantly asked her:

"Anything else on? I really don't like music."

She smiled, and nodded, as if she was happy about learning something new about him.
They soon settled on a program on Pokémon coordinators, that showed reruns of the most exciting Pokémon Contests.

The program just started to captivate Alex, when he heard Yena ask:

"Do you have a Pokémon, Alex?"

He slowly glanced over to the girl beside him. Trick question or plain interest?
Why hadn't he seen this question coming?

"...Do you?"

He asked without blinking.
She nodded, and showed him the Pokéball that was attached to her belt.

"I have an Oshawott. Do you want to meet him?"

Before he could say 'no', she had the Pokéball in her hand and pointed it at the floor.
In a flash of red, the blue water-Pokémon appeared on the carpet.

"Osha!"

He climbed on the couch, sitting between his owner and Alex, studying the newcomer with big, curious eyes.
Alex pulled up one eyebrow, and figured that most people would consider this Pokémon to be cute.
He noticed Yena was watching him as well.

"Ehm. Yes. That's an Oshawott."

"So what Pokémon do you have?"

Alex scratched his neck.

"My Pokémon..."

He was saved by a man's voice in the kitchen, distracting Yena.

"Oh! That's my father coming home! Let's go and say hello, okay?"

Anything better than answering difficult questions. After Yena had called back her Oshawott to it's Pokéball, Alex followed her through the livingroom door into the kitchen, to immediately be greeted by a lively man with blond, short hair. Alex froze as Yena's father grabbed his hand, shaking it with great enthusiasm. As he managed to pull himself from his tight grip, Alex noticed the man's attire.

Yena's father was wearing a lab coat.
Alex opened his mouth, then closed it, not knowing what to say.

"You must be Alex. Nice to meet you, my wife told me you were staying over for dinner."

Alex nodded, still eyeing the man with great suspicion.
This man worked at Professor Juniper's laboratory. Was this some kind of trap?

Yena's mother jokingly shoved her husband through the living room door.

"Why don't you go and get changed, dear? I'm putting the food on the plates in a minute."

She then gestured at Alex.

"You have a seat over there now, Alex."

...

The meal consisted of mashed potatoes, carrots and sweet corn.
There was some fish on the side as well, but Alex couldn't tell if it was Magikarp or Goldeen they were having.
The smell of food was overwhelming. The meal had started when Yena's father finally joined them at the table.

Trying to eat as slow as possible, but hardly able to contain himself, Alex tried out the cooked vegetables.
They were delicious, even though anything warm would've tasted lovely anyway.

"Want to hear something exciting, something that happened to me at work today?"

Yena's father asked in general. When Yena and her mother urged him on, he continued:

"Something got stolen just now. Not by a person, but by a Pokémon! I saw it all happen."

The mashed potatoes suddenly tasted like mud to Alex, and his throat went dry.

While reaching for his glass of water, he croaked:

"What happened?"

Yena's father sat back, wanting to take his time telling the story.

"I was working late in the lab, when I heard something going on at the back of the lab. When I went to look, I was nearly tackled by a Pokémon running by!
It ran into the front door, knocking it open with his head, and ran for the woods.
When I did a quick inventory check, I noticed that a Pokédex was missing. It must've been in his mouth as he ran past me."

He laughed.

"Now what would a Pokémon want with a Pokédex? I can't figure it out. But I did call the police, just in case.
They said they'll be here first thing in the morning."

He sighed.

"These things only seem to happen when the professor's out of town."

Yena's mother reached over and patted her husband on the arm, saying it would be alright.
Alex could see Yena staring at him from the corner of his eyes, and he suddenly had trouble breathing.

"Weren't you two outside just now? With nothing else ever happening in town, you could've had some kind of adventure as witnesses of a crime.
Did you see anything suspicious?"

Yena's mother was now looking at them, and Alex slowly took another sip of water.
This was the moment where Yena would tell them she found him near an open window behind the laboratory, he was sure of it.
He anxiously awaited her reply.

After a short moment of silence, Yena laughed.

"I wish! The last exciting thing that happened here must've been a hundred years ago, and now we missed it.
I'm lucky Professor Juniper already gave me my Pokédex before she left for her trip.
And a good thing I'm leaving tomorrow to make my own adventure, right?"

She looked at Alex, who returned her look wide-eyed.

"And did I tell you that Alex and I will be travelling together for a while? At least until I get used to being on the road.
He promised to show me around, since he's such an experienced traveller. Right, Alex?"

Her eyes widened for a moment, urging him to reply. The look in her eyes was unmistakable.
Agree with it, or she would be sharing the suspicious circumcumstances in which they had met with their parents.
Alex swallowed with some difficulty, then nodded.

"Right."

Yena's mother clapped in her hands with delight.

"That's great, Alex! It's good to have someone look after my daughter, at least until she catches more Pokémon, and gets stronger.
Oh, this calls for some celebrating. Let me get some icecream for dessert."

As his wife was going rummaging through the freezer at the other side of the room, Yena's father looked at his dinner guest.

"Where will you stay tonight, Alex? There's no Pokémon Center in Nuvema Town to stay in. Do you have any relatives here?"

He had to get out of here. Fast.
Alex was feeling like a trapped animal.

"I'm camping just out of town. The nights aren't cold at all.
I should probably go back there soon, to check on my things there, if there's some thieving Pokémon active around here."

He flinched as Yena's knee knocked against his. She was still looking at him intently.

"I don't think it's a good idea to go out right now, it's dark outside already.
We have a spare bedroom, why don't you just spend the night here?
We'll have time to discuss our upcoming journey, and we'll go to check on your things first thing in the morning as we leave.
I doubt if one Pokémon would take something as big as a tent."

That little, manipulating...! Alex couldn't even find a suitable swear word, and felt increasingly powerless.
The food was lying in his stomach like a stone. He clenched his fists under the table, trying to hide his frustration.
He managed to squeeze out a couple of words.

"Sure, that sounds good."

He couldn't think of anything that would be more of a lie.

...

The icecream would've tasted delicious at any other moment.
But on that moment, dinner seemed to last forever and the icecream seemed to taste vile.
Alex, feeling slightly nauseous, felt ever so relieved as Yena announced she would now show him the spare bedroom.

As she led him up the stairs, Alex felt his anger building again.
He couldn't wait to tell this girl his thoughts on the whole situation.

As they entered the spare bedroom, and the door closed behind him, Alex was seething with anger.
He was ready to punch Yena in the face, but stopped in his tracks as she sent out her Oshawott.
The water-Pokémon took its place between the two of them, ready to defend its owner.
The otter-like creature probably had some sharp teeth, too.

"You...!"

A violent stream of curse words escaped from his mouth, as to replace the physical attack he had planned before.
She waited patiently, her hands on her hips.

He calmed down a little, starting to ask questions instead.

"Do you think you can manipulate me? Why would you even do that?
Why would you ever want to travel with me, if you know that the Pokémon that stole that Pokédex is mine?"

Her calm smile frustrated him to no end.

"Alex, I think us working together could be good for us both.
I had no time to talk to you about it before dinner, but I really want you to be my guide for a while."

Alex sighed audibly.

"Ugh. But why? I'm no good as a guide, I promise. I'm not a good travelling companion either.
I haven't been nice to you for even one second, you know that I send my Pokémon out to steal things, and you still trust me to be your travelling buddy?
You make no sense. Name one thing that you see in me, that made you decide to pull me into your evil little scheme. One thing."

Again with the smiling. Did this girl ever frown?

"I could name more than one thing, if you'd want me too. I'm quite good at reading people, you know, even in such a short time.
I can see you care about your Pokémon. You're a brave person, very determined once you set your mind on something, and you know how things go in other parts of Unova. You're good at surviving without money in your pockets, so you must be clever as well. Want me to go on?"

Alex didn't know what to do anymore.

"I'm really much happier on my own."

Yena studied his face.

"Are you sure? To me, you look like you could use a friend."

"I have my Pokémon."

"A human friend. I don't know what happened to you, to make you resist all friendly things that come your way, but I can be a good listener."

Alex folded his arms tightly across his chest.

"Yeah, well, I'm not a good talker."

His raw voice was strained.

"Please? I've never been any further into Unova than Accumula Town. Will you at least accompany me to Striaton City?
What if I promise to cook a good meal for us every evening?"

Now it was Alex' turn to study her face.

"Why didn't you just ask me when we first saw eachother?"

"You would've said 'no' for sure. But something about you attracted my attention, I'm sure I can help you with your problem, as well, if you'll just tell me what it is."

Alex snorted.

"Pft. There's no way you can help me."

Yena shrugged.

"Okay, you don't have to share it with me."

She stretched out her arm, holding out her hand to Alex.

"So we have a deal? At least until we reach Striaton City?"

He slapped her hand away.

"Tsk. Fine. Don't expect me to become a cheerful companion, though.
We're not friends, and the food you make better be good."

He was unwillingly rewarded with a beaming smile.

"Fantastic! I'll give it my best. Then I wish you a good night, I'll leave you for now."

She stepped past him, opening the door.
Before she closed it, she turned around once more.

"Oh, just so you know... My father keeps the windows and doors of the house locked at night, and we have a pretty advanced alarm system set up."

So there was no way to escape.
Alex rolled with his eyes.

"Good for him."

"Good night!"

"...Whatever you say."