Counterbalanced – Chapter 16
Waving at her parents one last time, Yena pushed a button to hang up the phone.
"Muuunnn…"
Munna's light voice made her turn around to her Pokémon.
To her surprise, there was a little girl standing behind her, petting Munna's nose.
Yena estimated the child, that seemed to be alone, to be about five years old.
She kneeled down next to the girl, but before the could say anything, the child turned to her.
With a big grin on her face, she told Yena:
"Your Pokémon is so soft!"
Yena smiled.
"She is, right?"
The girl had quite a striking appearance – two pink hairpins decorated the child's long, dark hair, that fell straight down past her shoulders.
Bright green eyes were looking into Yena's face.
She was dressed in a simple, gray dress, worn over a pink shirt that matched the pins in her hair.
There was a yellow bag hanging from the girl's right shoulder.
Yena looked around for a worried parent. The girl had surely strayed from her father or mother, distracted by the pretty pink Pokémon.
But she found there were hardly any people present in the Pokémon Center.
"What's your name?"
Another wide grin from the girl.
"It's Scout! Now you tell me yours!"
Confused by the girl's unusual name, Yena hesitated.
"My name is Yena…"
"Ah, I like that name!"
"Thank you, Scout. Listen… are you lost? Where's your mom?"
Scout grabbed Yena's hand.
"Will you help me look, outside?"
Yena reached for Munna's Pokéball, to call the Pokémon back.
She hoisted the glass egg case along with her.
"…Of course I will."
...
The moment Yena stepped outside, the girl pulled her arm, and gestured at the trees at the edge of town.
"There!"
A month ago, Yena probably would've followed the child without question.
But Alex' constant vigilance had made her more alert, as well.
She stopped in her tracks as the girl pointed at the forest again.
"Scout, what's over the-…"
Yena backed away as a man appeared from the forest, stepping into the sunlight.
"Who…"
Before she could ask the complete question, the man spoke up.
"You must be Alex' friend."
Yena blinked, and took another step back.
"How…"
"Very good."
The man looked around.
"So where is he? We're in a hurry."
Yena let go of the little girl's hand.
Scout ran for the man, and clinged to his shirt, completely comfortable in his presence, and unaware of Yena's nervousness.
"Why are you looking for him?"
"I'll tell him when he gets here."
The man had wild, red hair.
The gray bandanna around his neck was matched by his gray gloves.
The rest of his clothes were torn and dirty, and mostly in shades of brown.
Looking at both him and Scout, it suddenly struck Yena that the gray fabrics they were wearing were the exact same shade as Alex' shirt had been when she first met him. The way he was constantly looking around reminded her of Alex as well.
"…I don't know where he is right now."
The man's eyes scanned Nacrene City again, while absently placing his hand on the girl's head.
"He'll be here."
To her left, Yena could vaguely hear Tauros' hooves on the ground, announcing his arrival.
Leaving the two mysterious figures standing near the edge of the forest, she ran back to Route 3, where the sound was coming from.
Hoping to stop him before he ran into the shady character in Nacrene City, she waved at him as soon as he came into view.
Fortunately, Alex slowed Tauros down, eventually coming to a halt when they reached the blond girl on the path.
"What's going on, Yena?"
"Alex! There are two people in Nacrene City, looking for you!"
He frowned.
"For me? Who…?"
"I don't know, but there's…"
A high-pitched squeal interrupted her.
"Aleeex!"
Alex' eyebrows went up in surprise, as Scout came running down the path, as fast as she could.
The red-haired man was following at a slower pace.
"Scout…?"
Sliding from Tauros' back, he was just in time to catch the little girl as she flew into his arms.
Her short arms around Alex' neck and her legs around his waist, she hugged him tightly.
"You know them…?"
Alex nodded.
"It's okay, Yena."
To Yena's astonishment, he made a small, respectful bow at the mysterious man.
"Chase, I didn't expect to see you here."
The man, apparantely named Chase, nodded and looked at Alex from head to toe.
"It's been a while, Alex. Things must've happened, if you abandoned your clothes."
Alex reply was immediate, complete and honest.
"I was hospitalized. The nurse took my clothes, and Yena bought me new ones."
He nodded at Yena while saying this.
"I see…"
Now getting right to the point, Chase patted Scout's back, who let go of Alex immediately, dropping to the ground.
Venturing closer to Tauros, not intimidated by the beast in the slightest, she proceeded to touch his nose, feel his manes, and whisper in the Pokémon's ear.
With Scout out of the picture, Chase told Alex:
"I have a message for you from Ada."
Alex nodded, and bowed his head.
"I'm listening, Chase."
"You and your friend should head to Castelia City. She says you have an important part to play."
Alex looked slightly taken aback.
"…When?"
"As nothing is binding you to this place… immediately."
"…Yena as well?"
"I think you heard me."
Yena was looking at both men with a growing sense of confusion.
Chase, about ten years older than she was, seemed to have some authority over Alex.
Now they were talking about her, as if she wasn't standing right next to them.
"How much does she know?"
"She's had half a look into my nightmares when we stayed in the Dream Yard, that's all."
"Can she be trusted?"
Yena felt compelled to interrupt.
"Ehm… Excuse me? I'm glad you two know what's going on, but I don't have a clue."
Chase's grey eyes focused on her.
"It's unusual for an outsider to be summoned. I understand that the situation is confusing.
We'll tell you more as we cross the Skyarrow Bridge."
He lifted his head.
"Scout! We're leaving."
"Yes, Chase!"
The girl stopped tickling Tauros' legs, and took Chase's hand, ready to go.
Yena exchanged glances with Alex.
He shrugged lightly, letting her know there was not much to be done about the situation.
As Chase and Scout turned around, and Alex prepared to follow, Yena called out:
"But wait…! You can't just…"
The red-haired man turned around, staring at her.
Yena's face turned red immediately, but she continued:
"…You can't just… come and take us away. I don't know you, and we had plans here in Nacrene City!"
Something Chase had said could help her…!
"You said… There was nothing binding Alex to this place! But there is…!
He has an agreement with me!"
Alex turned around to her as well, curious to see where this would lead.
Chase looked disgruntled.
"What kind of agreement?"
"I made his Pokédex work… and in exchange, he promised me to guide me on my journey, as far as Castelia City.
But we've only just arrived here. Part of being a guide is to show me around, yes?
I also plan on challenging Nacrene City's gym, before leaving for Castelia City."
Grey eyes went to Alex.
"Is this true?"
When Alex nodded, Scout cheered, jumping around as she did.
"Yaaay! We can stay here a little longer, right Chase?"
Chase thought for a moment.
"You shouldn't make promises like that, when your original plan was to return to Castelia City as fast as possible.
But it can't be helped."
Glad about the extra time to figure out this complicated situation, Yena stated:
"Looks like I'll be cooking for a company of four, then.
In the meantime, can you please explain to me how you and Alex know eachother?"
Chase's reply was slow.
"I suppose it doesn't hurt to tell you now…
The three of us are part of the Gray Guardians.
We're an organisation in Castelia City that fosters children that have lost both of their parents."
He gestured at Scout, then at Alex.
"Scout has been with us since she was a baby, so she can't remember her parents.
Alex, on the other hand…"
He ignored the deeply unhappy expression on Alex' face.
"…Only joined us about two years ago, after his parents died in a fire."