Counterbalanced – Chapter 17

Despite the pleasant, warm sunlight on her face, Yena felt slightly uncomfortable.
She was sitting in the grass, her knees only inches away from Chase's.

Only minutes ago, Alex had been kneeling down right here, to have an hour-long conversation with the mysterious red-haired man.
Yena had been waiting on the other side of the field, cooking dinner with Scout.
From where she had been sitting, only Alex' face was visible to her.
He had been talking almost continuously, calmly reporting to Chase what had happened since he left Castelia City.

After a while, Alex had got up, gesturing at her to come closer.
As she approached, he told her:

"Chase wants to talk to you. Don't lie to him.
Tell him the complete truth, no matter what he asks."

He paused.

"I'll see you in a bit."

Then he had stepped away from her, joining an overjoyed Scout at the portable stove, who couldn't wait to have him taste the vegetable soup she made with Yena.

Slightly intimidated, Yena had carefully taken place in front of Chase.
Gray eyes studied her, and as he hadn't spoken up yet, she took her time looking at him as well.
There were some scratches on his arms and face, as if he'd been running through thorny bushes.

The sleeve on the right side of his shirt was badly torn, and Yena almost opened her mouth to offer to repair it.
But the strict expression on his face stopped her, and she sat in silence, waiting for him to ask her a question.

After an awkward silence that lasted a couple of minutes, he told her:

"The first thing that is said between two people, sets the tone."

Unsure of what to say, Yena just nodded.
Chase slightly leaned forward, as if what he was about to ask, was of utmost importance.

"What was the first thing you ever said to Alex?"

Yena sighed, surprised by the question.

"I said…"

Her mind went back to the moment she had approached Alex at the back of the laboratory.
He had been crouching down near an open window, trying to see what was going on inside.

"I asked…"

Yena had studied him for a while, and she could now clearly remember the shade of gray his shirt had been.
She had taken a deep breath, and asked…

"…Can I help you with anything?"

Chase leaned back again, looking pleased.
The expression on his face had softened.

"It looks like that's exactly what you've been doing."

"…What do you mean?"

"I think it's obvious. He's well-fed, well-dressed and I haven't heard him utter even one swear-word since I arrived."

Chase shrugged lightly.

"Now, I usually don't mind people expressing their discontent, but Alex is exceptionally eloquent when it comes to swearing.
It's an excellent sign to see that he's calmed down so much.
That's why I regret having to take both of you to Castelia City after finishing your business here in Nacrene City."

"So… What's going on in Castelia City, that we can't afford to miss?"

"Only Ada knows, and I don't think even she is absolutely sure about the details."

"…Who is Ada?"

"You will meet her when you get to Castelia City. She's really one of a kind."

Yena could tell she wasn't going to get any more information out of Chase than this.
She waited for him to either end the conversation, or ask her another question.
Her gaze strayed a bit, and soon she was looking at Scout and Alex in the distance.

Scout was currently wrestling Zigzagoon, determined to decorate the unwilling Pokémon with one of her pink hairpins.
Alex was quietly supervising her, stopping her from rolling into the hot portable stove now and then.
The scene brought a smile to Yena's face.

Chase noticed her smile.

"You're a kind person, Yena. I think this is what Alex has been needing all this time."

"…Needing what, exactly?"

"A friend."

...

"…So it's basically hide-and-seek?"

The sun was setting, and Yena was feeling quite worn-out by the confusing day, but Chase had suggested doing a bit of training before going to sleep.
The red-haired man had given her and Alex a challenge – to hide in the forest for half an hour, without being found by his Pokémon.

As he watched Scout doing cartwheels around them, he explained:

"It has elements of hide-and-seek, yes. Alex has often been through this training in Castelia City as well.
It'll be interesting to try this in a forest environment. But here's the catch…"

Chase grinned.

"We'll be playing 'tag' at the same time. And I'm it."

Yena was still confused.

"I don't quite understand the game yet…"

Chase got out a Pokéball.

"This isn't a game, it's serious training."

Alex rolled his eyes, having heard this too often.

"You'll stop wondering why his name is Chase after this."

Yena rummaged through her bag to find her Pokédex, as soon as Chase's Pokémon appeared on the grass.

"Sawk, the Karate Pokémon. Sawk ties its belt to get pumped and give its punches an extra bit of power.
The sound of Sawk punching boulders and trees can be heard all the way from the mountains where they train.
Disturbing its training angers Sawk."

The blue-skinned Pokémon bowed shortly at its master, then assumed a fighting position, bending it's knees slightly, and his arms in front of him.
He was ready and eager to start training.

Chase explained the rest of the game to Yena:

"You'll each be using both of your Pokémon.
They're allowed to help you, and do their best to fight Sawk.
Because when my Sawk finds you out there…"

He gestured at the forest behind them.

"He'll try to catch you, and bring you back to me.
If he's unable to bring you back here within thirty minutes, his training will have failed…"

Sawk growled at this comment, not liking the thought of losing.

"…and you will have won. But believe me when I say that it's been a long time since anyone achieved this."

Scout joined them where they were standing, tugging at Chase's shirt.

"I'm on your team, right?"

Chase grinned.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot to tell them. Scout will assist me in tracking you."

Alex breathed in fast, causing Yena to look up in surprise.

"Will that… make a difference?"

He nodded.

"Definitely. Scout has the best tracking skills, and her eyes and ears are amazing."

The little girl giggled at the compliments.

"I'll find you!"

"That's right!"

Chase pointed at the forest.

"And because Yena hasn't done this before, you'll both get a headstart of five minutes.
Leave your Pokémon egg here with me. Now go!"

...

After Alex and Yena had been running through the trees for a minute or so, four alert Pokémon at their side, Yena grabbed Alex' arm, stopping him.
They hadn't been alone since Chase and Scout joined them, and something had been troubling her for a while.

"Alex…"

He was reluctant to stop running.

"What…?"

He caught a look of Yena's teary eyes.

"Oh wait… I think I know where this is going…
You want to hug me and tell me how sorry you are about my parents."

Yena sniffed.

"Well, that's not a strange thing to do, is it? You could've told me, Alex…
Why would you keep your parents' death a secret?"

Alex sighed deeply.

"Because this would've happened."

He gestured at her tears.

"I really don't know how to deal with crying people."

Yena wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand.

"Sorry for crying, Alex… I just… can't imagine… to even lose one of my parents…"

Alex looked around nervously, making the Pokémon around them scan the area for any danger.

"It's… not something I can recommend, no."

He sighed again, seeing how he wasn't going to get out of the situation easily.

"You know we'll have a really strong Pokémon coming after us soon, right?"

When Yena sniffed, and wiped some more tears away, he had no other option.

"Oh, alright. Come here."

Yena immediately closed the gap between them, and put her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
She sobbed uncontrollably on his shoulder.

"Alex… I'm so sorry… It's just so… sad."

He awkwardly patted her on the back for a moment.

"Okay, stop it now.
You're going to ruin my sweater with your tears, and get us caught by Sawk at the same time."

Yena stepped back, looking into his face.
She opened her mouth to say something, when Chase's voice echoed through the trees.

"That's enough hugging for today, kids!
Now get going, I'll give you two extra minutes!"

"Let's go, or he'll catch us within the first ten minutes of the chase.
I don't think I'll ever hear the end of that."

As she followed him, Yena looked back with wide eyes.

"Could he see us from where we left him…?"

"Chase? No. But Scout could. She really has extraordinary eyes."

"Wow…"

...

Yena tried to sit perfectly still as she crouched down behind some particularly thick trees.
To her right, Oshawott was lying on his belly, trying to hide his bright blue body and white head under some shrubs.

She slowly turned her head to the left, and quickly spotted Munna, a couple of meters away.
The pink Pokémon was still in plain sight, and Yena wished she knew some sign language to let Munna know to hide behind some trees.

She held her breath when she heard footsteps coming closer.

As she peeked around a tree, she was shocked to spot Chase's Sawk, carefully scanning his surroundings with his eyes.
Yena withdrew her head, trying to stay in the exact same position, since any movement would cause a sound.

"Muuuu…!"

Munna had seen Sawk as well, and was now glowing, preparing a Psywave attack.

"Sawwww…"

Sawk had immediately noticed the brightly glowing Pokémon among the trees to Yena's left.
Yena couldn't quite see what was going on, but she heard Sawk move away when a wave of light was fired off.

Munna disappeared from her sight as well, swirling away as Sawk followed her.

Everything went quiet again.

Yena nearly jumped when Oshawott touched her hand.
The Pokémon had crawled up to her, and was letting her know he was ready to defend her.
She smiled at him, and plucked some leaves off a nearby bush to cover his body.

There had been no sign of Alex since they split up, and went in different directions.

Just when she considered repositioning herself, because her legs were going numb, she heard Zigzagoon's wild bark, not too far away.
She peered through the trees, and wished the sun had waited setting a little bit longer.
But this new kind of hide-and-seek was so exciting to her, that the spreading darkness only made things more thrilling.

Yena tapped on Oshawott's head, and gestured away from the sounds when he looked up.
She wanted to get away from Sawk, hopefully until the thirty minutes had gone by.

She slowly got to her feet, and inched away from where she last saw Sawk.
Trying to hardly make a sound at all, she whispered at Oshawott:

"Should we run for it?"

He nodded, and clawed his way from her leg to her shoulder, holding on tightly as she started sprinting.

A loud, high-pitched voice ringed through the trees.

"Theeeere! Chase, someone's running right there!"

Yena bit her lip as she continued to rush through the forest. Scout's sharp eyes had spotted her within seconds in the half-dark.
There was more to this girl than met the eye.

Scout's yelling had not only alerted Chase to her presence, but Sawk as well.

Behind her, Zigzagoon had stopped barking, and Yena was sure she could hear footsteps on the forest floor behind her.
She glanced over her shoulder for a moment, and her suspicions were confirmed – Sawk had locked eyes on her, and was running faster than her legs could ever go.

Yena, caught up in the game, cried out in panic as Sawk's three-fingered hand scratched her arm as the Pokémon tried to grab her.
Oshawott, still perched on her shoulder, chose this moment to jump off, landing right in Sawk's face.

Yena almost stopped running to see how her Pokémon would do, but then remembered the objective of this game – for her to escape Sawk for the full thirty minutes.
She didn't have a clue how much time had gone by, but she was determined to last as long as possible.

Yena made a sharp turn to the left, hoping to shake off Sawk by going in a different direction.
Behind her, she could hear her beloved Oshawott growl, and water showering down on the forest floor.

Shock was the only thing that stopped her from screaming as a shadow appeared from the trees before her, and a hand grabbed her, pulling her behind another group of trees. The sight of Alex' pale skin and dark eyes made her sigh of relief, but he gestured at her to be really quiet.

He brought his mouth to her ear, his whisper barely audible.

"Tauros will be charging by here soon. I'll jump on, and you should run in the opposite direction.
Sawk can't go after us both. I think it's almost time."

Before she could signal she understood the plan, the heavy sound of hooves on the ground approached their group of trees quickly.
As soon as Tauros appeared, Alex leaped forward, grabbing the Pokémon's manes and climbing onto his back in mid-gallop as if he'd been practising it for years.

As soon as the large, brown Pokémon had passed her, Yena turned around to run into the direction Tauros had appeared from.
But a surprised cry from Alex behind her made her look back over her shoulder, and then stop in her tracks again.

Sawk had thrown his full weight against Tauros' side, knocking the bull over.
As the Pokémon hit the forest floor, Alex rolled off, pulling his legs back before Tauros landed on them.

He scrambled for the nearest trees, but Sawk was not letting him go that easily.
The blue Fighting-Pokémon leaped over Tauros, grabbing the back of Alex' sweater.

When Alex swung his arm around to Sawk to defend himself, Sawk easily caught the youth's fist, then smoothly twisted his arm to his back.
Then, he grabbed Alex around his waist, hoisting him in the air to carry him back to Chase.

Alex, who felt there was no escaping from the muscled Pokémon, stopped struggling.

But when he saw Yena, still standing where he had left her, he yelled:

"What are you still doing there? Run!"

Barely held back by Alex, Sawk was standing in front of her before she could even turn around.
She didn't put up a fight as Alex had done, but allowed the Pokémon to grab her arm, and guide her back to Chase, instead of being carried.

...

Scout was cheering as Sawk stepped from between the trees with both Alex and Yena.

"Yaaay, Sawk!"

The little girl grabbed Alex' arm as he was put down by Chase's Pokémon.
She giggled as she told him:

"You both got caught."

"Seems that way, right?"

Chase was looking pleased.

"Not a bad effort, kids. Twenty minutes in total."

He pointed at the trees.

"Your Pokémon gave it their best as well."

Munna, Oshawott, Zigzagoon and Tauros appeared from different parts of the forest, and Yena was glad to see they weren't badly hurt.
It seemed like Sawk had merely shaken them off instead of really attacking them, as that had not been his main objective.

Chase explained:

"This is not only a stealth-exercise, but also one to train your Pokémon in thinking independantly.
You can't always give them commands when you have to be really quiet, so the Pokémon have to think for themselves.
If you guys want to challenge the gym here…"

He nodded to where Nacrene City was.

"…I have some other training methods up my sleeve.
You'll be walking out of that gym with a badge in no time at all, if it's up to me."