Chapter 8 – Counterbalanced
"You're injured, and your plan could be dangerous…"
"I told you, I'm okay! Don't you want to free those Pokémon?"
"Of course I do, but…"
"They're wild Pokémon, but it doesn't feel that way.
How would you feel if you were locked up like that?"
"I would feel horrible. But why don't you…"
"Why don't you try and live on the wild side of life for once?
Just give it a go, find out how exciting it can be.
And don't you dare to say it's not for girls, because that's the lamest excuse ever."
"…I wasn't going to say that."
"We're going to put my plan into action when it's dark.
We might as well wait here."
"…You're not going to change your mind, are you?"
...
The flash from Alex' Pokéball lit up the dark trees around them.
Yena slightly backed away from the impressive Pokémon as Tauros appeared in front of them.
She found him to be even scarier at night than by day. Holding Oshawott tightly against her chest, she glanced over to Alex.
Even in the dark, she could see his shoulder looked a lot better now that the thorn was pulled out, but Yena worried about the poison that was still in his body.
Even though she protested greatly against his plan, he had bluntly refused to come with her.
It had been leaving or helping him, so she decided to assist him in every way she could, and then rush him to the nearest hospital.
He now carefully approached Tauros, and after giving the Pokémon a moment to sniff his scent, he proceeded to stroke the large bull's nose.
Tauros scraped one of his hooves across the ground, but accepted the surprisingly gentle touch with a sniff.
Zigzagoon, completely stressed out since Alex got hurt, hadn't left its master's side for even a second.
The raccoon-Pokémon looked up at Tauros, and barked shortly at the bull.
Tauros lowered his head, enabling the two Pokémon to touch noses as a greeting.
Alex pointed through the trees, now talking to Yena, Tauros, Zigzagoon and Oshawott at the same time.
"It's a five-minute walk from here.
I don't think the owner guards the enclosure well, since he has an electric fence around the field anyway."
He turned to Yena.
"Do you understand the plan?"
She nodded. How could she not?
He had been explaining it over and over again while they had been waiting for the sun to set.
"Yes. I'll go first, with Oshawott and Zigzagoon, and run around the enclosure until I find the power source of the electric fence.
It will probably be shielded from wild Pokémon, and have a lock on it."
She exchanged looks with Zigzagoon.
"Zigzagoon will open the lock, if possible."
The Pokémon nodded, and she continued.
"If the power source is open to us, Oshawott will use his Water Gun attack, causing a short circuit and the electric fence to turn off.
If everything goes well, Zigzagoon will bark three times, and you and Tauros can do your part."
Her eyes had found Alex again.
"If Zigzagoon fails to open the lock, we'll return here, where you'll be waiting."
"That's right. I'm not expecting the lock on the power source to be a complex one, though."
"…Alex, are you sure you want to do this now?"
Alex sighed impatiently, his pale face barely visible in the dark.
"Are we still having this conversation? If you're so eager to get me to Striaton City… get going already!"
Yena's heartbeat seemed to go faster as she placed Oshawott on the ground to walk on its own.
She wanted to call Zigzagoon, but the Pokémon had already appeared by her side the second she had started walking away.
Alex, quietly standing next to Tauros, seemed to slowly disappear in the dark as she made her way to the enclosure.
Yena swallowed with difficulty as she stumbled forwards, holding out her hands in front of her, in case she overlooked an obstacle and bumped into it.
Encouraged by Zigzagoon and Oshawott by her side, she spent the next couple of minutes finding her way through the forest.
When the number of trees decreased, she could see the fence twenty steps away, barely visible in the sparse moonlight.
"Okay, there we go."
Even her hardly audible whisper seemed loud on the silent field.
There were no sounds coming from inside the fence, either.
Zigzagoon rubbed its head against her left leg, which she explained as an encouragement to approach the fence.
Careful not to touch it, she peered through it, but there were no Pokémon to be seen.
The ground was much more accessible around the fence.
She whispered at the two Pokémon, who followed close behind her:
"Keep your eyes and ears open, guys."
...
As soon as Yena had disappeared out of sight, Alex made his way to a tree trunk, and sat down with a sigh.
He felt Tauros' eyes on him, and quietly stared back for a while.
"Don't worry. This will work. I always keep my promises."
Tauros sniffed, but it was impossible for Alex to see its expression in the dark.
"This is a nice place for wild Pokémon. Your friends will be able to live around here quite happily.
Maybe they'll run into a nice trainer, who captures them after a fair fight."
Another sniff, but a lighter one this time, and Alex continued while staring in the distance:
"…Maybe I'm not big, or strong, or anything you expected of your future trainer.
But I have developed the incredible talent of getting into trouble, so you'll get plenty of opportunities to run wild, destroy things and fight other Pokémon."
He heard Tauros' hooves on the mossy forest ground as the Pokémon stepped closer to him.
Alex backed away slightly as Tauros' nose nudged his hurt shoulder.
But the Pokémon persisted, nudging it again, then licking it.
Alex pushed Tauros' head away with his hands.
"Alright, alright. So you're worried about me as well. Yena and you should form a club.
Let's panic about this after we released your friends, okay?"
Alex pulled a face as Tauros snorted near his face.
"Very charming, thank you. Now shush. We don't want to miss Zigzagoon's signal."
...
Yena was jogging around the enclosure counterclockwise.
Panting slightly, she squinted her eyes to spot any abnormality near the fence.
Nothing so far, but at one point, she jumped and nearly screamed as a wild Pokémon from Route 2 suddenly crossed her path.
Immediately, Zigzagoon sped up his pace, and chased away the equally shocked Lillipup.
Slowing down for a moment, she looked down at the two Pokémon by her side.
"What if we can't find that power source at all?"
Oshawott, who was looking slightly worn out, shrugged.
Zigzagoon jumped ahead, and looked back after a few steps, encouraging them to go on.
Yena sighed, trying to get her breath under control.
"Let's go, Oshawott."
...
Yena's heart sank as they arrived at a small, wooden building against the electric fence.
This was through where all contestants, including Alex, had entered the enclosure.
Which meant she had almost completed the circle around the fence, without finding its source of power.
The building had no windows. But Zigzagoon placed its ear against the door, listening intently.
When he looked back with some enthusiasm on its little face, Yena approached the building, closing her eyes as she tried to hear anything from the other side of the door. She could feel Oshawott moving near her legs, imitating her as he placed his head against the wooden door.
There! If she concentrated, she could hear the slightest buzzing sound.
It was such a soft noise, that it was not strange she hadn't noticed it when she had waited inside this building for Alex to come back from his challenge earlier that day.
Yena kneeled down next to Zigzagoon and Oshawott.
"The powersource must be inside. What are we going to do now?"
Zigzagoon determinately pushed his head against the wooden door. He wanted to go in.
Yena shook her head.
"How are we going to get in here?"
She didn't get much time to think about it.
At the last moment, she heard footsteps from inside the building, and a key turning inside the doorlock.
With a gasp, Yena stumbled back, just in time to avoid the door that suddenly opened.
The angry-looking owner of the enclosure was standing in front of her.
He grumbled.
"What are you doing here, sneaking around like that?"
Yena's face instantly turned red as she panicked.
"I… I was just…"
No lies came to mind.
The owner clicked on the flashlight in his hand, and a ray of light instantly blinded Yena.
"Wait. You're that girl. With the lad. That took my Tauros."
Another angry growl.
"Why are you here?"
On that moment, Zigzagoon started to bark.
The high-pitched noises seemed unusually loud in the quiet forest, and the owner's attention was instantly drawn to the Pokémon.
"Shut up! Let that thing shut its mouth!"
Yena shrugged, and gathered some courage.
"I can't. He's not my Pokémon."
She gestured at the Oshawott by her side.
"This one is, though. Oshawott, Tackle!"
In the confusion of Zigzagoon's constant barking, Oshawott sprinted forward, jumping at the last minute, and hitting the man's stomach at full speed.
The owner of the enclosure's arms waved as he fell backwards, and landed on his back.
He shouted some obscenities at Yena, but she wasn't going to stay there to hear them.
Her face still red with excitement, she jumped over the man on the floor, instantly followed by the two Pokémon.
She quickly looked around the small house.
There was not much to be seen, except a bed in the corner where the man had been sleeping, some posters on the wall of tough-looking Pokémon, the big wooden door to the other side of the electric fence, and…
…in the far right corner, a little box containing a buzzing generator, with wires coming out of it, leading outside to power the electric fence.
"Oshawott, there!"
The words had barely left her mouth, when a strong arm grabbed her around the waist and effortlessly lifted her off the ground.
Yena shrieked as the man tossed her over his shoulder, and made his way to the other wooden door, that led to the inside of the enclosure.
While kicking in Zigzagoon's direction, who was furiously trying to bite his heels, the owner of the enclosure told her:
"I don't know what the law says about breaking and entering, little lady, but I think spending some time in my little backyard is quite a suitable punishment for you. Weren't you going there in the first place? You must've been jealous of your friend, catching a strong Pokémon like that. Well, have fun!"
Unimpressed by Yena's attempts to kick him, he opened the thick, wooden door, and threw her off his shoulder.
As he prepared to close the door behind her, Zigzagoon managed to jump past his legs, joining Yena outside of the building.
The door slammed shut.
Panicked, Yena got up and threw herself against the door.
"Oshawott! Oshawott, get out of there!"
Sounds were still coming from inside the building.
Oshawott was proving difficult to catch, because she could hear the owner cursing loudly.
Yena kicked against the door, feeling both worried and frustrated.
This isn't how it was supposed to go!
Zigzagoon had started barking again.
Yena slowly turned around as she heard other Pokémon reply, from within the enclosure.
She hissed at Zigzagoon:
"What are you doing? Those other Pokémon will attack us!"
The wild Pokémon's cries got louder, and she began to see their silhouettes appear from the dark.
Fighting back the tears that had started to run down her face, she began to yell at the approaching Pokémon.
"Don't attack us, please! We're not here to harm you, or catch you!
We came to release you, and destroy the electric fence around the field! Please believe me! Zigzagoon, tell them!"
But the Pokémon at her feet kept producing frantic barks.
When Yena backed away from the wild Pokémon as far as she could, standing with her back against the wooden door, she could hear a cry of pain from inside the building.
"Argh! You little-…!"
Yena breathed in deep. Oshawott was not giving up, and neither would she.
A movement from outside the fence, near the building caught her eye, at the same time Zigzagoon abruptly stopped barking.
Feeling an incredible relief, Yena's legs nearly gave up as she ran to the electric fence.
"Alex! I'm over here!"
Alex was running along the fence, stopping dead in his tracks when he reached her.
Panting slightly, he pointed at the building.
"Is the powersource over there?"
As she nodded, he produced one loud whistle, which was replied to by a ominous mooing sound from the forest, and the sound of hooves on the forest ground. Then, he cast one look at Yena and Zigzagoon.
"Where's Oshawott?"
Wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, Yena replied:
"He's still in there! We were attacked by the owner of this place!"
A flash of panic appeared on Alex' face.
"Run back there, and tell Oshawott to get to the side of the building, quick!
Then get out of there, Yena! Tauros will not stop until he hits something!"
Yena could hear the whipping sound of Tauros' tails as she sprinted back to the small wooden building.
Completely ignoring the wild Pokémon around her, she screamed:
"Oshawott! Get to the generator, fast!"
She wanted to get closer to the building to warn him again, but Zigzagoon had suddenly jumped in front of her feet, causing her to fall over.
The next moment, there was an incredibly loud crash as the front door was shattered by the rampaging Tauros.
Only one second later, the backdoor flew out of its posts.
It may had been impenetrable from the outside, but the thick wooden door was no match for the strong Pokémon from inside the building.
A huge cloud of dust followed the bovine Pokémon outside.
When the dust settled, Yena shakily got up.
She coughed once, before she could call out to her Pokémon again.
"Oshawott! Please be okay, Oshawott!"
She gave a sigh of relief as her beloved Oshawott replied to her from the remains of the building.
As she looked through the destroyed doorway, she was just in time to see her brave water-Pokémon produce a strong jet of water, that hit the generator. Sparks flew from the electric fence's powersource as the water caused a short circuit, and the machine went quiet a couple of seconds later. Oshawott turned to her, and jumped into her open arms with great enthusiasm.
A growl behind her made Yena look over her shoulder.
Shocked by the massive Pokémon crashing into the house, the big man had fallen back for a minute.
Realising the doors were missing, and the wild Pokémon were preparing to escape, his rage was building fast.
But before he could do anything to the girl in front of him, Alex seemed to appear out of nowhere, delivering a carefully placed punch with his left fist. While not incredibly powerful, the attack had been accurate. The man sank down on the ground, unconcious.
Looking down on the knocked out man, he led the speechless Yena away, back to the enclosure.
Tauros was waiting for them there, along with Zigzagoon and the ferocious-looking wild Pokémon.
Alex turned to Tauros.
"Your words will mean more to them than mine. Please tell your friends that they're free to leave."
While Tauros turned to the wild Pokémon and told them this, Alex continued.
"I saw that Oshawott killed the power of the electric fence.
If the Pokémon here know how to cut or slash, it might be wise of them to destroy the fence, so that it'll take a long time for that man to rebuild his business."
When Tauros bowed his head in acknowledgement of his comments, Alex added one last thing.
"Also, tell them that they should live in peace with the people populating this area.
There'll be no attacking and hurting trainers anymore, but only fair challenges."
...
An hour later, the last wild Pokémon left, leaving the fence of the enclosure completely destroyed.
One by one, they had disappeared into the night, but their delighted cries could still be heard in the forest around them.
Yena and Alex were sitting on the grass, resting, with their backs against the remains of the wooden building.
Inside, the beat up man was sticking to one of the walls, as a result of several bug Pokémon's String Shot attacks.
He would be unable to move around until his gambling buddies found him the next morning.
Yena lovingly patted Oshawott's head.
"You've been really brave, Oshawott. I'm really proud of you."
She pulled her Pokémon closer for another cuddle.
Alex voice sounded softly beside her.
"I think his owner deserves some words of appreciation as well.
You did some courageous things in there."
Surprised by the sudden compliment, she looked at the young man next to her.
"Thank you, Alex… But it was a good thing you came to save me."
Alex had his eyes closed, the back of his head also resting against the wall behind them.
"Of course. Can't let you have all the fun…"
His comment was somewhat lost when his voice trailed off at the end of the sentence.
Slightly apprehensive, Yena reached over and held her hand against his forehead.
His high temperature confirmed her worries, along with the fact Alex made no attempts to shake off her hand.
"Alex, you have a really serious fever! That poison is still affecting you. We have to get you to a hospital, now.
…Come on, can you stand?"
Yena got to her feet, grabbing Alex' arms to encourage him to stand up.
Her efforts to help him up were interrupted by Tauros, who had been closely following the conversation.
Yena quickly let go of Alex when Tauros shoved her.
Still impressed with the big Pokémon, she stepped back a little.
"We have to get Alex to a hospital, can't you see?"
Tauros had a plan of its own. Folding its legs under him, he lay down and leaned against Alex.
The short, but loud snorting sound he made woke Alex up a little.
Feeling Tauros' warm manes brush against his arm, he reached over, and got a hold of them.
Yena, now understanding Tauros' intentions, helped Alex to place one of his legs across Tauros' back.
"Alright, hold on Alex."
Carefully, Tauros got to his feet, and started walking towards Striaton City.
Yena quickly collected their things, and with both bags on her back and Oshawott and Zigzagoon at her feet, hurried after the bovine Pokémon.