Chapter 9: The Chase

Skylark sprinted and breathed heavily as he carried his best friend down the grassy path and out to what he hoped would soon be an exit. However, he had only managed to stumble into the woods even more, entangling him into this maze of trees. If he only had a map of some sort, he could be able to navigate his way to safety and escape these people. But that was obviously not the case, so Skylark had to think of something else.

Finally, he heard a noise of leaves ruffling. Bulbasaur leapt from his arms and onto the ground, prepared to fight. "Jigglypuff, tackle!" From the bushes shot forward a Jigglypuff, who ran toward Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur shot and whipped her with some of her vines, and Jigglypuff fell over. It appeared to be weak, possibly a level four or five. "Dude! That's my Jigglypuff!" A frantic trainer sprinted from the bushes, cradling the Pokémon in his arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to leave!" This time Bulbasaur just ran behind Skylark, who had begun to run again.

"Guys! Over here! He's over here!" The trainer shouted, attempting to blow Skylark's cover. Skylark's chest burned and his lungs stung. He needed to take a break. Finally, falling over onto a log, Skylark rested and breathed heavily, frantically thinking of an escape plan from this forest.

From the bushes shot out a trainer and his…Magikarp. Without even commanding Bulbasaur shot into action with a tackle, throwing it on the ground and rendering it useless and defenseless. Skylark stood up and ran again, finding out that his safety spot had been found out.

For the next three hours Bulbasaur and Skylark fought amongst the weakest of Pokémon in their attempt to escape the forest and return to the city. Finally, he neared the exit of the forest. Driven by exhaustion he ran toward the exit…or so he thought.

Skylark ran out into a large grassy arena with a pond in the middle, with a small stream pouring into it. If it was daytime it would have been a beautiful area, but instead it was just dark and disappointing to him. As he wandered forward he began to drink from the water, a voice shot through the night. "Haha, long time no see Skylark!"

From behind some trees Tony wandered forward. Following him was no longer the small Growlithe that he once used, but now it was an Arcanine, big and tall with a menacing look upon his face. "You see my Growlithe now? He's an Arcanine, level 12. I won the firestone to evolve him in the underground."

Skylark stared, but he could barely remember anything he ever did with Tony. Finally, it hit him. He was the boy he beat who vowed to come back and win. But was now really the time? "Tony, listen, you have to get me out of here, I have to get back home."

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave Skylark. We know you're going to tell the police and ruin our whole tournament."

"So what, are you going to kill me?" Tony gave no answer. The situation grew dark, and Skylark's stomach churned. Bulbasaur jumped from his arms, ready to fight. "Crap, Bulbasaur, he's going to kill you!" Skylark panicked.

"Arcanine, hit him with an Ember!" Just like before, Arcanine shot out beams of fire, aiming directly for the small Bulbasaur.

"Run into it to avoid the pain!" Skylark commanded again, hoping to end up like it did last time. Bulbasaur ran forward into the oncoming flames, but this time was different. The flames hit Bulbasaur with a force so great, causing her to stop in her tracks and endure the fiery flames. Skylark gasped, and before he could command his next move the Arcanine moved in to attack again.

"Arcanine, Fire Fang!" The Arcanine ran forward to the slowly recovering Bulbasaur, but as she looked up at the giant dog running toward her she couldn't move in time. The dog jumped forward and bit, leaving big marks of fire on her.

"Stop it Tony! It wasn't your turn to attack!" Tony gave no reply. "Bulbasaur, use your tackle!"

"Alright, time to use our TM move Arcanine." Tony smiled. "Use Flamethrower!" Skylark's heart stopped. Arcanine's mouth began to glow as Bulbasaur approached, still following through with the orders of her trainer. Skylark's instinct kicked in as the flames began to come from Arcanine's mouth, and he ran over and covered the Bulbasaur, absorbing not only her tackle but also the flames of the Arcanine.

Skylark's body lay on the ground, burnt to a crisp, and Bulbasaur remained unmoving either. "Good job Arcanine. You really saved us here. Let's go back." Tony recalled Arcanine and started to leave, and soon called out to everyone else that the job was done. Skylark, one of the most popular championship trainers, now lay covering his most prized possession: Bulbasaur.

One hour later…

Bulbasaur struggled out of Skylark's arms, expecting Skylark to get up and for them to keep moving. She stared confusingly at the body. Why wasn't he moving? She wandered around the body, seeing the burn marks on his back and his blood on the ground. Why was he hurt? Bulbasaur looked around frantically, hoping to find something to soothe the burns of her trainer.

She ran over to a bush, biting off multiple berry twigs and putting them next to her trainer. They were berries meant to ease the burns of Pokémon, and she hoped that they would do the same for him. But he still didn't move. She began to tear up, and finally broke into tears. The first trainer to ever show her love was now hurt and unmoving. By her instinct she ran away, going down the dirt path of the forest in an attempt to escape and lead people to Skylark to save him.

She left her trainer momentarily in order to save him. She ran down the path of the forest alone. Finally, she burst out into an opening. It was where Skylark and Bulbasaur had first met, on the long path between the Academy and Skylark's house. Bulbasaur, remembering which way was which, ran down the road to the Pokémon Center. She had to save Skylark.