Chương 30: 30-Fetch

The duo emerge from the forest back to the route and, after a glance at a compass, walk back the way they came in silence. Tanya continues her regular scan of their surroundings for threats as Amelia stares doggedly ahead. They'd trained until lunch, then the pair ate, took advantage of the waterfall to wash off the sweat and dirt, took a quick midday nap, then were back on the road again. Amelia sighs and Tanya glances up at her as she speaks.

"I said I was sorry." She grumbles. The 'mon allows her eyes to linger on the trainer's face.

"I know." They'd agreed to sleep on a watch, Amelia sleeping first, then Tanya afterward to avoid being caught unaware by a wild 'mon. She'd done her part, but her partner fell asleep, leaving them unguarded for over an hour. What's worse, with all the noise they were making, she'd seen'mon peering at them through the underbrush while they were training. None entered the clearing of the lake, but the fact potential threats were right there and they'd allowed their guard to slip is unacceptable. Amelia sighs again.

"I wasn't going to say anything, but you're jumping at shadows." She says, waving her arm at their surroundings.

"We're in a forest, not a desert, plenty of berries and roots and all that for everyone, if some 'mon was mad at us being in their territory they'd be loud enough it'd wake us up. The only thing that's a real risk is some scavenger stealing our food, but that's not the end of the world and they'd probably be loud about it too. You're being paran–" Tanya scoffs at the blatant justifications." You're trying to justify a lapse in discipline with excuses." She snaps back.

"We agreed on something to our mutual benefit, I fulfilled my part of the deal, then you reneged on yours and only now you're–""Slow down I can't… Hold on, are you saying it's just excuses!?" The trainer starts slowly, picking up indignation as she goes on.

"I was tired! I was awake half the night because of your obsession that someone's just waiting for our guard to drop! Then I exercised to exhaustion like a million times! Then, when I block out a time to nap to recover at all you go, 'oh yea, we're taking turns!'" Tanya comes to a stop, turning fully to face the trainer in the middle of the path.

"You brought up all these points before. Then we came to an agreement–" Amelia stops as well.

"And I tried! Despite it being a stupid agreement! But then I messed up, and I'm sorry! But now you're overreacting!" She shouts back, shoving a finger into her partner's face. Glare switching between the offending digit and her partner's face, Tanya keeps her silence for a few seconds to force herself to look at this situation clearly. Amelia is being illogical, and nothing productive can come from interacting with someone in an illogical fit. The 'mon takes a breath, consciously loosening her posture.

"Get. That finger. Out of my face." Her partner blinks, then quickly drops her arm and straightens up with a deep breath.

"Sorry. I just…" She trails off with the groan.

"You're right, I promised I'd stay awake. Sorry. I get it." Tanya nods, then realizes that this likely is not an admission of defeat, but an offered compromise. Meaning she'll need to offer something in kind unless she wants this to continue.

"I believe we understand each other's position as well as we can, let's table the discussion until we get more information. If we cannot agree by tonight, I am willing to take both watch shifts." She says as she starts back down the trail. Amelia scoffs as she turns to follow.

"That's silly. I'm not letting you stay up all night." She says, speedwalking a little to catch up.

"If it matters that much to you, I'll do it. But next time we see a wild 'mon or a trainer we're bringing this up with them." —-- –_– —-- As the length of the trail disappears underfoot it becomes clear that healing Amelia's exercise pain did not remove some deeper exhaustion despite carefully recovering the calories with regular meals and water. A result of this is they're making poor time as they merge back onto route 111, forced to slow and stop for rest breaks at quasi-regular intervals.

The residual awkwardness of their minor disagreement led to a long silence as they walked, but even after that awkwardness fades the quiet stays, held by the sublime ambiance of the shaded path and soft wind. But the quiet of the forest is occasionally interspersed with the rustling of branches and an inquisitive eye from the underbrush, a regular reminder for Tanya to keep on her guard as they continue forward at their steady pace.

So long is the silence that, when the foreign sound of a human voice breaks though, both flinch at the intrusion as it shatters their peace. Coming from further down the trail, the unfamiliar tone and timbre is unmistakably male, but it's too quiet to determine whether the agitation is anger, fear, or exhilaration. The duo glance at each other before picking up their pace as the voice continues at the same volume and intensity.

After a few minutes they round a bend and catch sight of the cause at the other end of a long straightaway. Unsurprisingly it's another trainer, around Amelia's age the boy is aggressively throwing a bright red ball into the forest for a poochyena with a yell. Followed by shouting and clapping his hands as the 'mon rushes into the forest. Then some more yelling as the canid rushes back out the forest, ball held firmly in their jaws, and the trainer is subsequently forced to wrestle the toy from his partner's mouth.

Tanya, for her part, feels a mixture of relief at the discovery of no present danger and a mild irritation at the reveal that the boy is there in the first place, disturbing the quiet. Amelia on the other hand, straightens up and rests her palm against her bandoleer of pokeballs, posture switching from a relaxed plodding to something akin to a compressed spring.

Noticing the extreme reaction, Tanya raises her guard and looks more carefully to try and pick out the reason why this person has Amelia immediately looking like she's preparing for a fight. It's certainly not the stranger's situational awareness, as they make it to within earshot before he seems to notice them with a jolt, pausing as he winds up to throw the ball again and transitioning the raised arm to a wave.

"Hello!" He shouts, quickly moving the ball out of the way of the poochyena's leap to get it out of his hand.

"You headed to Mauville?"

"Yep!" Amelia smiles back, speeding to a light jog to close the distance between them.

"What about you?" Poochyena leaps again for the ball and the boy hurls the toy back into the woods before continuing.

"I dunno! But look!" He shouts back despite the rather short distance between them now, and starts rummaging around in his pocket.

"I beat Wattson!" He pulls a small case from his back pocket and opens it with one hand, showing off a single sparking badge. Amelia seems inordinately impressed by the accomplishment, leaning in to get a closer look before looking back up with a wide smile." Wow! Congrats!" She cheers, before tilting her head.

"So what's his team comp this year? I want to be prepared!" There's a pause where the boy blinks, completely taken aback before he looks from Amelia's face, to her hair, to the pokeballs on her hip, then to Tanya while she watches a quickly approaching poochyena as he comes from behind. Finally he closes his badge case and points an accusative finger at the nurse in training.

"Hold on! You're a trainer!?" He asks incredulously.

"But… you're a…" Amelia hesitates, and only due to Tanya's experience with her partner's expressions does she pick out a hint of anxiety before it's replaced by self righteous indignation.

"I'm a what?" The boy pauses again, then shakes his head as his partner begins to leap across the final distance between them.

"Nothing! That's so cool! I– Agh!" He cries out as Poochyena slams into him from behind, nearly sending them both to the ground.

"Oh that is it! C'mere you!" From there he grabs the ball in Poochyena's jaws in one hand and shoves him from the side in the other, trying to send the 'mon to the floor. Poochyena does not comply, whipping his head from side to side to pull his partner to the ground as well. From there, things devolve. Tanya, for her part, glances up at Amelia as the chaos unfolds, her partner looking back down with the same slightly awkward side eye.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. After half a minute of this frenetic combination of wrestling and tug-of-war, Poochyena finally releases the ball and trots backward a few bounding steps.

"Ok! You got the ball! Now throw it!" He barks, rearing up and slamming his front paws into the packed dirt.

"C'mon! Throw it! ThrowItThrowItThrowIt!"

"Not yet! Hold on a second– Look!" He says pointing in the opposite direction then, once Poochyena looks away, grabs a pokeball from his belt and retrieves his partner in a flash of red, before clamping down tight on the writhing ball with both hands and looking back at Amelia.

"Ok, I'm not just – hng– gonna tell you! If you want anything from me you gotta beat me first!" Amelia doesn't skip a beat at the sudden change of topic, stepping back with a nod and speaking over her opponent's final syllable.

"I accept your challenge. Does five hundred dollars from me feel fair?" She says, continuing at the boy's slightly off guard nod.

"Good. On your mark then." Tanya steps forward in front of her partner as the mild surprise of being called to fight so suddenly disappears under the perfect focus she feels every time combat is about to begin. She's brought out of that focus almost immediately by Amelia whispering from behind.

"Oh, uh. Sorry. I forgot to ask if you were up to it… I can cancel if–" Tanya cuts her off as she looks over her shoulder, keeping a careful watch on the opposing trainer out the corner of her eye.

"No, getting Wattson's team is an advantage, and this is how we get it." Plus, fighting the team that beat Wattson will be invaluable in determining where she stacks up against the challenge they'll face in the future. Their opponent slowly eases his grip on Poochyena's ball as it stops bucking in his grip and settles to a kind of excited shiver before buckling it into his bandoller. He hovers his hand over three other pokeballs, staring across the space between them. As he does, Amelia calls out softly.

"You got this?" Tanya nods, then, remembering the fact that their opponent can't understand her, gives a more complete description of her plan.

"Focous on gravity, egg bomb to irritate and create openings, try to get into close range." Amelia gives a short affirming hum from behind. The boy's eyes flick between the two for a second longer before grabbing the middle ball from his belt.

"Oh, almost forgot. My name's Wren, what's yours?" His opponent pauses as if changing mental gears before giving a response.

"... Amelia." Wren smiles.

"Nice to meet you Amelia. Now." He rips the ball from his side and reveals a magnemite in a flash of light.

"Let's do this!"

"Right!" Amelia calls back.

"Ok Chansey, keep your distance! Getting paralyzed now would…" She trails off as Tanya's eyes glow purple and the electronic 'mon slams into the earth like a video on fast forward, creating a small cloud of dust and an indent. Wren's eyes widen.

"Wha– Magnemite get up! Use thunder wa–" Magnemite shoots up into the air as Tanya cuts off gravity for just a moment, then slams back down again from higher than before. The resulting plume of dust obscures the 'mon for a few seconds while Tanya pulls an egg from her pouch." Magnemite!" His trainer shouts as the dust begins to clear, revealing a disoriented looking 'mon weakly cracking with electricity.

"Owwww…" It buzzes.

"Magnemite, can you…" He trails off as his partner's eyes close with a pained groan, shortly after they disappear in a flash of red. The trainer squints at Tanya across the improvised arena as he places the ball back on his belt.

"Alright then." He says, switching balls.

"Let's change up the pace a little." Throwing out a shroomish, he's about halfway though an order before the 'mon staggers under her own weight, cries out as an egg crashes into her face and explodes, then a punch from Tanya sends her flying into a tree bracketing the trail with a thud.

"Shroomish!" The trainer cries out, then frowns as he recalls his second'mon. The boy glares at Tanya as she steps back toward her partner. As she does Amelia begins quietly muttering, just barely loud enough for her to hear should she wish, but Tanya tunes it out after realizing it's just more tactical suggestions. Their opponent growls and rips his final ball from his belt.

"Ok." He bites out.

"let's see how you like…" He lifts the ball up to his mouth and whispers something before tossing it high in the air as it pops open." This!" Before the white light even has time to disperse Poochyena shoots off to the side like a rocket, the dust in his wake falling to the earth in a wave as if chased by some kind of eraser as Tanya struggles to keep up. Wren grins, victorious.

"Yes! Now close in! Sand attack into bite!" Poochyena switches directions on a dime as Tanya cuts off gravity and recreates the zone in front of him, somehow noticing the effect before stepping into it.

"Gotcha bud!" He barks back, a dark grin on his face as he closes the distance in a stuttering ark.

"Now lemi gets a taste– yipe!" But just as he tries to leap at her in a bite, all four paws shoot off in different directions in Tanya's grip. With that his forward momentum suddenly becomes an uncontrolled tumble right into Tanya's grip as her reaching arms find purchase on a collar underneath the fur around his neck. Gripping the collar beneath the chin, she uses another arm on his belly to lift the 'mon over her head and slam him into the ground.

There's a pause as Tanya waits to see if her opponent wants to continue.

"Poochi–" His trainer starts, but then the 'mon begins to struggle. So she does it again. This time Poochyena doesn't try to move, and disappears in a flash of red shortly after. Rising to her full height and halfheartedly trying to brush herself down, Tanya feels… a vague sense of anticlimax. She's not exactly sure why, but looking back at her partner she's reasonably sure the feeling is shared. Wren on the other hand, looks unhappy, glaring at Amelia as he walks over and gives a quick handshake.

"Good battle." He grunts out.

"You're strong, but I think I've got your tricks, it'd be much closer if we fought again." Both Tanya and partner pause for a fraction of a second.

"Oh?" Amelia immediately perks up.

"If you wanna go again Chansey can heal your team!" She says as the 'mon's left arm flares green.

"We could make it a best two out of three?" The boy blinks, surprised.

"Er– I mean–" The trainer stutters out before adjusting his bag on his shoulders and brushing past her.

"I'm already running late! I need to get to the next town before dark!" He says, breaking into a light jog and calling over his shoulder.

"You're a great battler! Hope to see you again!" Amelia blinks rapidly and turns around to look at the quickly retreating back.

"Uh– oh… Ok? I can still heal them if you… And he's gone." She says confusedly, before twitching with a realization.

"Hey wait! What's Wattson's team!?" The boy doesn't slow down as he looks over his shoulder.

"He's got two magnemite and a minun! Bye!" He shouts with a wave.

"…Bye?" She calls back, then looks down at her partner as the boy moves out of earshot.

"Did that feel weird to you?" She asks quietly. Tanya shakes her head.

"No, he was posturing to soothe his ego after he lost, then you called his bluff." She says. A common issue amongst young men, especially in the military, where the casual violence within a unit means an endless font of comedy from green recruits boasting and posturing then being completely shocked when someone sends them into the mud for it. Amelia blinks slowly, then looks at the other trainer as he speeds away without so much as a backward glance.

"... huh." She says, then turns and continues on her way.

"Well if he beat Wattson we can probably retask some of our training hours into studying ahead." Following along, Tanya gives a conflicted hum.

"Perhaps, we can drop the egg multitasking but I'd like to keep training with gravity and speeding up my egg bomb, and I think your endurance and reflex training will be invaluable." Her partner nods.

"Right, we don't touch that, but no new training and lets set a target time and speed instead of just 'as fast as possible.'""Agreed." From there they begin to discuss a reasonable target time, but after a few minutes, Amelia cuts herself off with an irritated hiss." Darn it! We forgot to ask him if he sleeps in shifts!"