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Chapter 14

I was furious as to the treatment Allen had given me. Granted I knew that once we had gotten to the building eventually I would have to go into the ball for that thing to fix me up, however it ends up doing so but I had thought that he would have at least had the decency to let me choose to go into my ball rather than force me into the ball in the manner that he did. And of course the worst part of it all is the fact that in this experience-less state I have no way of being able to tell time and no way to really control my fate on when I'll be let out again. So as far as I can tell I could have only been in this place a few seconds, maybe a few minutes and quite possibly a lot longer. I wouldn't be surprised if just like last time when I come out the sun has fallen. I do feel the sort of energy flowing into this center and then a moment later I can see light flooding my vision as well as the rest of my senses returning to me.

I look around me and notice that Caleb, Sanaline and Shoul have all been released but thankfully we do still seem to be in that building at the entrance to the forest, unless of course there is another building that smells and looks exactly like this one. I don't know humans nearly well enough to be able to know for certain if it is or not.

"Why did you do that to me?" I complain at Allen.

Allen responds by basically bashing me in the side of my head with my own ball, causing me to stagger a bit.

"We simply don't have time to wait for you to grow up. I'm not going to baby you anymore and if you don't get over this insipid little fear of not being in your ball then I might have to fix the problem by leaving you in a ball for weeks on end until you get over it. You are going to spend time in this ball whether you like it or not. It's simply the byproduct of what all we're doing. I humored you by letting you limp along with us because there was no way to know how you'd respond if I did so beforehand if we then got into another fight. Now," Allen states before putting my ball back into the bag and then pushing the bag at me, "as you are likely to be almost completely useless for the gym in the next town I don't really see much of any need to keep training you for the time being. So as of now you are going to play the part of the trainer. And as I think it could do you good I'm going to have you carry the bag for a while. Share the responsibility. If you want to complain I could easily just throw you in your ball again and let Caleb or Sanaline be the trainer and just don't let you out until we're done with the forest. Your choice. Bag or ball?"

My ears pull back as he continues to berate me but though I don't really look forward to having to try and balance that large bag on my back and walk normally at the same time I dread having to be stuck in that ball even more so to me the answer is rather obvious.

"Bag," I state as my head drops to the ground.

"Very well then," Allen nods, sounding more than slightly pleased with himself as he puts my ball away and brings the bag over.

Given his attitude towards me lately I expected him to basically berate me and threaten me until I got the bag on. What I find almost surprising is that not only is this not the case, but he is actually being helpful in that regard. He even goes to the trouble of helping my get the bag on and oriented in such a position that my balance is not completely shot and actually would be at least somewhat comfortable to wear. I know for a fact considering how much he was playing around with the straps that I would have had no chance to get it nearly to that state on my own.

Once he had gotten the straps and the bag are situated in a manner that he is satisfied with he turns and starts walking out of the door back into the forest. Having no other choice and still somewhat puzzled at his behavior towards helping me put on the bag. While I walk I notice a new alteration, which is I notice some new thing bobbing back and forth. At first I had thought that it was just something that wasn't secured correctly but when I turn and look I notice that the thing swinging around is the device we use to input all that information. It seems to be connected to a sort of string that loops around a part of the bag.

We spend the first little while all but avoiding the grasses that we were walking through but I half attribute this action to his statement earlier about wasting time. Considering how far away the next human location is and when we left the first time I'm pretty sure he had wanted to be able to make it there and then stay there till the next morning and train us along the way. But considering how much time has passed since we first entered the forest to now I don't think we'll be able to do that. Even if we rush as fast we can and never get into any fights we aren't likely to reach it until after the sun has set. Not much further down the way, though, I can start to pick up a scent of a human. In an effort to try and gather more information as to how long ago he was here my head drops a little closer to the ground as I start to rapidly inhale and exhale, all the while making sure that my shoulders stay stiff enough that the bag wouldn't slip.

"So you've noticed too, huh?" Shoul comments as he notices what I'm doing, the sound causing Allen to pause in his march.

Caleb seems to stop as well since he was hopping along behind me but Sanaline doesn't really seem to care.

"Your smell is better than mine. What does it say?" Shoul asks.

"It's strange. One human has passed by this way repeatedly, a male probably a few years older than that girl at that Oak human's place. No sense of fear or anger. There are traces of excitement and curiosity. It's almost like he is just wandering around randomly in the forest. Freshest scent is only a few minutes old."

"Okay then. That's certainly strange but not something we need concern ourselves with," Allen comments before beginning his march at a slightly slower pace than before.

"And why is that?" Shoul asks.

"Well as of right now we are all fresh while this human has been here far longer than we have. As we cannot see him he's obviously in the grass so he's likely gotten into at least one fight with the denizens of this forest. So if he fights us we'll have the advantage provided he isn't far beyond our league. And if he doesn't want to fight us no reason to worry anyway. We have everything we need to prove we are a legit trainer and pokemon."

Having no real choice in the matter I follow behind Allen and the others, though I notice that every single one of us, especially Allen seems to be a lot more alert than we had been before that little discussion. As such none of us were really all that surprised when a moment later a human steps out of the nearby tall grass. He recoils slightly at the sight of us, having apparently been surprised by not only our appearance but the fact that there were no humans with us. From what I can tell the human is little more than a child and is dressed in a much less formal manner than most humans from what I can guess. From what I've seen of humans culture it seems like they like very almost uniform colors for most things and then bright colors to stand out when they want to get attention. This child seems to be different in that he's wearing something very colorful and somewhat worn down and stained greatly, implying that the quality of the outfit is of no concern to him.

"Well aren't you the weirdest lot I've ever seen," the child states as he reaches down to try and touch my head.

I duck my head down and away as best I can but with the bag still on me this proves to be a little difficult.

"It's okay little fella. I ain't gonna hurt ya," he responds quickly and in a fairly high pitched voice but does not make another move at me. "I'm sure ya'll are wondering why I'm here? Well I just like being in the forest. Real pretty, ya know?"

Even though his statement to try and sooth me he doesn't try to touch me again, though he does move over to try and touch Shoul's head instead. Shoul seems hesitant and I can definitely notice him stiffen up but he doesn't move out of the way. The kid rubs at Shoul's head for a moment and pays particular attention to his ears before resuming his one sided conversation, Shoul not really looking pleased or displeased at the attention.

"Most others here work for various people. Most seem to work for some factory in the next town. Some juice from the bug's final form so they's here to train and capture the buggies they find. If they's see you though they's likely to challenge ya for a change in pace. Don't worry bout it from me though; this place too nice to want much violence in it. I's rather just talk and watch the scenery than fight. But I suppose I aught to let ya'll go. I needs to get back home and get my homework done before my folks get mad at me again. I imagine before too long most of the others will be starting to head off too, either back to town or the checkpoint. Good lucks to you all," he comments before walking past us back towards where the entrance to the forest is."

"What a strange little human," I comment. "Couldn't understand most of what he was talking about but he certainly seemed enthusiastic about saying it."

"Why would anyone just randomly walk through a forest just because?" Allen asks as we begin walking again.

Shoul stares at him a moment before walking again, "Let me guess, you never really got outside of a human establishment, did you?"

"No, I did not. But what would that have anything to do with it?"

"Because when you've lived in the wilds like we have," Sanaline remarks, "exploring the area is just about one of the only things that effectively pass the time when you're not actively trying to find food or avoid anything that would attack you. Any intelligent being that's grown up outside of the chaos Humans bring know all about the feeling of just walking around and seeing the sights just to do so."

"I don't think that that is completely the truth," Allen comments.

"Well, if you don't have anyone else to do things with, what else are you going to do?" Shoul retorts.

"Well..." Allen begins but doesn't really finish saying. "I think it'll be in our best interest to not be walking along the path. If what that kid said is true we can probably expect pretty soon to see quite a few humans passing back this way on their way back home and I would rather face the devil I know than the one I don't," he replies in as confident a tone as he can manage before beginning to walk back into the taller grasses.

"What does that mean?" I ask, having never heard of that phrase before.

"Don't worry about it. It's probably just some stupid human phrase he picked up while living in captivity," Shoul retorts.

"I'll have you know," Allen argues without turning around, "that it is a rather valid phrase. It's a comment on how it is much safer and wiser at times to pick a route where you know what you're getting rather than take a chance on something that may end up being far worse."

"Oh, okay?" I reply, not really satisfied but willing enough to accept his answer.

"It means, my little dearie," Caleb informs, "that we are in a situation where we are almost certain to run into several other trainers that may wish to battle us or go back to the grasses and not see much of any. Since we don't know how strong the trainers will be and being unable to rely on your beautiful flame Allen has thought it more prudent to simply go back to dealing with what he knows we can handle without problem."

I don't respond again but accept that Allen must know what he's doing. He does have a full ten years on me, after all. However, I was unable to resist reacting to the shiver that ran down my spine when Caleb called me 'dearie' and I notice out of the corner of my eye that that there is a slight little glimmer of a smirk coming from his eyes after I do so. I ignore the look and continue on as best I can, finding passage through the grasses slower going than before with the bag strapped to my back. As I had expected a few moments after we entered the tall grasses again the device starts beeping again, alerting us of another pokemon being nearby. Allen moves over to me as I sit down carefully to keep from having the bag land hard onto my tails. Even as I am still almost half standing I can feel it start to pinch them a little bit, which is more than slightly uncomfortable. When Allen reaches me he grabs at the device and gives it a nice tug and it comes right off the bag. He then moves over and assists me in taking the bag off since he was the one that helped me put it on in the first place and could get at the straps that I cannot.

Once off I take the pen that I noticed had also been attached to the bag and we begin the standard battle like normal. I notice the entire time while doing so that Shoul is watching me far more than he is watching the battle. But as we have begun to get the hang of beating up these poor pokemon who still seem to be drawn to us for whatever strange reason. Once the battle is over Allen returns without a word and then hooks the device and pen back onto the bag before grabbing one of my tails when I don't immediately head over to put the bag on again. Yelping slightly at the pain I try and turn on him, intending to even the score a little but all he does in response is hit me in the head with half his normal force and then begins strapping me into the bag again after giving me a stern look.

I shake my head slightly in response to the blow but otherwise behave myself. Once I'm strapped in again we begin moving again, with Allen in the lead. Shoul frowns a moment and shakes his head before jogging up to Allen.

"You shouldn't have punched him," he scolds.

"Yeah, well it's none of your business. He's never complained. Besides, he attacked me, remember?"

"He only attacked because you yanked on his tail. And the reason that he's never complained is because he knows you could easily do a lot worse to him if you started using your water and you know it. If I see you try a stunt like that again I'm going to make it my business," Shoul threatens.

"And I could just as easily put you in your ball and never let you out."

"I'm sure the kid would let me out. And who gave you permission to treat them this way, anyway. I know I'm the new guy to this group but just because you've been here longer does not give you permission to bully everyone into doing what you wants, especially when they have no way of standing up to you."

"Now see here! That's not at all how it is!" Allen confronts while stopping completely.

"Yes it is. You treat him like your own personal slave," Shoul interjects, the word slave making Allen recoil. "You force him to do what you want. You make him and all of us fight repeatedly without once asking if we want to. On top of that you make him do everything you want him to and if he doesn't he gets beat, right? I'm guessing he also gets beat if he happens to even question your orders and when he didn't immediately do what you want fast enough you punched him and then claimed it was his fault. You don't seem at all different from all those stories I would hear about how those human trainers behave. The only reason he probably hasn't tried to leave yet is that he's too young and slow to realize what you're doing to him is wrong."

Allen is speechless for a moment or two while he tries to come up with some form of response, though I can see his expression change from that of shock and surprise to something more akin to anger. Before he lashes out again I speak up.

"Stop this," I whine, before taking a moment to collect myself further. "I-I know that we may not all agree with each other on everything and I know I haven't been as good at doing what you all want me to do as well as I should but I am trying. If I understand things right we're going to be together for a while so we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other. So please, let's not kill each other right now. Think of how bad an impression it would have on that human."

"What human?" Allen asks.

"Well what do we have here?" a voice asks from nearby.