Chapter 6 – Counterbalanced

Alex' dark eyes narrowed as the wild Purrloin hissed with annoyance, shaking off the water that Oshawott had propelled towards her.

"Yena, don't let Oshawott use its Water Gun attack. He hasn't mastered it yet.
You're just making Purrloin angrier, instead of weaker."

Yena nervously observed the wild Pokémon.

"Alex, I don't know what to do…"

His reply was merciless.

"Of course you don't. It's the first time you battle. Figure it out."

Yena frowned, trying to think of a suitable strategy to use, or any strategy at all.
But the Purrloin seemed tired of waiting.
The feline Pokémon growled as she jumped forward, moving quite fast, and her claws extended.

"Oshaaa…"

Panicking, Oshawott looked back at Yena for help.

Yena shook her head, trying to think clearly.

"Ehm…Try to tackle Purrloin!"

Her water-Pokémon put on a brave face, running up to its opponent, his little arms stretched out in an attempt to do as much damage as possible. But Purrloin was faster – she jumped around him, causing him to stumble. Her claws delivered a blow to his back.

Tears sprang to Yena's eyes as she heard Oshawott cry out in pain.

"Oh no, Oshawott!"

She turned to Alex, who was calmly observing the battle next to her.
Zigzagoon was on the ground beside him, currently making angry barking noises against the feline Pokémon.

"I'm losing the battle, Alex! What should I do…?"

He shrugged.

"This is your business. I didn't ask for your advice when I was battling Professor Juniper either, did I?"

"…That's just mean, Alex."

Her eyes widened as she saw something purple move from the corner of her eyes.

"Oshawott, watch out!"

Rolling to the side, Oshawott managed to avoid getting scratched a second time.
But the Purrloin seemed to be enjoying the chase, because she meowed, and bounced after the fleeing water-Pokémon.

Yena tried looking back at Alex, tears running down her face, but he purposely folded his arms and looked away.

…How could she get out of this fight?

In the meantime, Purrloin had spotted the yellow seashell on Oshawott's stomach, and made an attempt to try and steal the thing.
Tugging at it with his claws, she caused Oshawott to hold on to his precious possession with all his might.

An idea popped into Yena's head.
She immediately yelled:

"Oshawott! The shell! Use the shell! It's sharp!"

Because Oshawott was leaning back from his feline opponent, Purrloin cried out in shock as the water-Pokémon suddenly redirected his balance forward, giving in to her pull. Detaching the seashell from his belly, he made a slashing movement with it. Purrloin screeched as it cut into her flesh, and jumped away from Oshawott as fast as she could.

Alex made an approving sound beside her, but she paid no attention to him.
She ran to her beloved Oshawott, taking him into her arms.
As she did so, the Purrloin they had been fighting jumped away through the trees with one last meow.

"You were so brave, Oshawott."

She gently patted him on the head.

"Well done."

"Not so eager to catch another Pokémon after all?"

Alex' croaking voice sounded behind her.

Yena got up, facing him.

"I can't even get my Pokémon through his first battle without him getting hurt.
I don't think I'm ready for a second Pokémon, Alex."

He nodded in agreement.

Yena had been excited about battling.
As soon as they left Accumula Town, she had asked Alex to refrain from chasing away all the wild Pokémon.
And without Zigzagoon's repelling work, they had been quick to spot a wild Purrloin.
Yena had always loved elegant Pokémon, and their cute faces, so she had been quick to send out Oshawott.
But the reality of her Pokémon getting hurt was scary to her.

"Should we go back to Accumula Town, Alex? I think Oshawott's scratches need medical attention…"

Alex leaned forward, studying the scratches on Oshawott's back.

"Don't baby him too much, Yena. Do you want him to be strong, or will you raise him to be a wimp?
Those scratches are barely bleeding. It would be like going to the hospital for an innocent bruise.
I'm sure that, among wide variety of unnecessary things you brought with you, there's some salve to put on that."

Taking every piece of advice, Yena immediately started going through her things.

"It must be here somewhere…"

She looked up at Alex for a second.

"I would've liked a bit of help in there."

She could hear him breathe in to give a sharp reply, but she didn't give him the opportunity to do so.

"And yet… I understand why you let me do it on my own. I need to learn to stand on my own two feet."

She finally got a hold of a small tube of ointment, and started putting the soothing creme on Oshawott's back.

Alex let this breath escape in a sigh.

"…You're probably the most positive person I've ever met."

She rewarded him with a beaming smile.

"Thank you, Alex!"

"It wasn't even a compliment, I'm actually quite terrified by your ability to look at everything on the bright side."

Yena grinned, and looked at Oshawott, already back on his feet, carefully playing a game of chase with Zigzagoon.

"You're just not used to thinking like that. Look, you were right. Oshawott isn't hurt as bad as I thought he was."

She grabbed her Pokémon as he ran by, hugging him again.

"We did learn a very cool attack, didn't we?"

She giggled as Oshawott enthusiastically licked her face as his response.

...

Route 2 was generally a longer, and more complicated road to take than Route 1.
But to Yena, it seemed like a breeze.

Alex seemed to be more at ease, and why wouldn't he be?
Professor Juniper had given him his Pokédex, and would report back to her lab that it was all just a big mistake, so that they would not be investigating the case any further.

Alex gave up his plan to travel to Striaton City off-road, and Yena kept Oshawott outside of his Pokéball, so that he could play with Zigzagoon some more. The two Pokémon seemed to really get along, happily chatting with eachother in their own language.

As they walked, Yena tried to coax some information out of Alex.

"It must've been good seeing a friendly face again."

He glanced at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, how long had it been since you last saw Professor Juniper?"

Another brief look.

"What are you playing at?"

She gently smiled at him.

"I'm just being curious, Alex. That's all.
It's not like anything you tell me will be in the newspapers tomorrow."

He lightly jumped aside as Zigzagoon dashed by, chased by Oshawott.

"It better not be."

After a moment of silence, he sighed, giving in.

"I think it's been a little over two years since I last saw Professor Juniper."

"Wow, two years, huh?"

Yena hesitated before she went on.

"When you saw her, did you still have your… old identity?"

He gradually slowed his pace.

"You're threading on thin ice, Yena."

When Alex came to a halt, Yena turned around apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Alex. I didn't mean to pry…"

But something else had caught Alex' attention.
He was studying a piece of paper on the side of a tree.
He nodded at it as she walked back, and peered over his shoulder.

"Look."

It seemed to be some kind of advertisement.
Big, red letters seemed to scream out their message to them.

'Are you up for a challenge?
Can you ensnare one of the rare Pokémon in our field?
You keep what you catch!'

The drawing at the lower half of the paper showed a big, brown Pokémon attacking a man with its horns.
The drawing itself was quite amusing, but the text at the bottom of the page warned them:

'Our challenge isn't a walk in the park.
Participating is at your own risk.
Dangerous Pokémon roam our grounds!'

Yena looked at Alex, who was waiting for her to finish reading.
He pointed west, through the trees.

"When I was travelling through here, I actually stumbled upon the place where they keep this challenge.
I'm sure it's highly illegal, if they hide it in the woods like that. I saw three guys trying it.
They weren't allowed to take their Pokémon with them, only empty Pokéballs."

Impressed, Yena asked:

"What happened?"

"Well, what do you think? The Pokémon there don't belong to anyone, but they're fenced in all the time.
I'd get aggressive as well, if someone locked me up like that. They attack anyone coming into the enclosure."

Seeing how the story horrified Yena, he grinned, and continued:

"One of the guys was beat up by a high-leveled Tangela.
The keepers of the grounds had to send out their Pokémon to free him from those tentacles.
Because he had needed their help, he lost the challenge, and was sent away from the grounds.
The second man that tried actually got quite far. I think he set his mind to one of the Manetric they had there, but those Pokémon weren't having any of that. I was watching from outside the grounds, but I could see the lightning, and hear his screams.
And the third man… he was unlucky. He came across the most furious Pokémon in the enclosure.
He practically flew through the fence when that Pokémon attacked."

He gestured at the Pokémon drawn on the paper.
With big eyes, Yena studied the drawing closer.

"I don't even know what that is… I've never seen that Pokémon before."

"Oh, but you will soon."

Yena didn't know what to say when she looked at his face.
His dark eyes seemed to have lit up, and he grinned excitedly.

"…You're planning on taking that challenge."

"Yes, and above all, I plan on catching an amazing Pokémon."

He ripped the paper from the tree, and turned west.

"Let's go, Yena. We're going to take a detour, before we go to Striaton City.
I know the way."