All Alone (BEING EDITED)

Chapter VI (EDITED)

I sighed and stared up at the mass of dark evergreen leaves. To be honest, I completely forgot that Petalburg Woods even existed, let alone that it was so close. Torchic peeped from behind my legs, and I looked down at him.

"Hey," I whispered and knelt down. "It's just a few trees, right? We can make it through no problem." Torchic still refused to move and just plopped down where he was. I sighed again and picked him up, cuddling him to my chest. He immediately snuggled against my chest, not even glancing at the intimidating woods before us. I smiled and chuckled. As I walked forwards, I spoke to him.

"It'll be fine. The pokemon here are all either bug or grass types. And you know what they're both weak against? Fire. And guess who's a fire type? Hm?"

Torchic looked up at me, and his eyes widened. He suddenly leaped out of my arms and puffed out his chest, trying to pull off the "don't mess with me" look. I laughed. All he managed to do was act even more adorable. I mean, let's be honest here. Who can ever find a little Torchic terrifying? Perhaps a Caterpie, but that's beside the point.

Torchic just glared at me and started walking ahead. I just shook my head and followed him into the forest.

"Now use Ember!" I shouted. Torchic raced forward and shot out a powerful ball of fire from his beak. It struck the Caterpie dead on, causing it to fall to the ground and stay there.

"Good job, Torchic!" I exclaimed. He puffed out his chest proudly and "strutted" back to me. I chuckled and knelt down, giving his head a soothing rub.

"Now we just need to make that a powerful flamethrower," I told him. He stood up straighter if that was even possible at this point.

"I guess it does need some work, but still. That Caterpie was no match against my SUPER STRENGTH!" He exclaimed with pride. I giggled, and he looked at me.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing." He snorted and turned around. I laughed, stood up, and walked towards the path.

"You coming?" I shot over my shoulder. A little patter of feet followed after me, and soon Torchic was back in the lead. I shook my head and walked after him. Torchic had really gained a huge confidence boost since we entered the forest. After all, he nearly one-shotted most of the bug and grass types that came scuttling out of the bushes. But I also knew that he would learn the hard way what over-confidence can lead to.

I glanced around the forest and frowned. It's not that forests like this are unsettling, but the gnarled trees and overgrown paths don't appeal to me that much. Not to mention the lack of sunlight is a little overbearing. Here and there a few stray rays of sun manage to break through the barrier of leaves, just enough to provide substantial light for any trainers passing through.

My blue tennis shoes crunched through the dried twigs and leaves that seemed to completely envelop the path ahead of me. A Starly flew between the trees and alighted in a tree along the path. He chirped at me, then left again to find something else to do. I watched it fly away and sighed, wished Chatot was out. I had to put him in his pokéball so I could focus on training Torchic. Chatot can be extra critical at the worst possible moments.

I smiled again and was just about to call out to Torchic so we could find another pokémon to battle when a shout rang out.

"AHHHHHH!!! HELP! SOMEONE! PLEASE!" I immediately ran forward and grabbed Torchic before racing towards the plea for help. Torchic helped me navigate through the trees, and after about a minute we burst through the foliage into a clearing. In the middle, cowering in fear, was a man wearing glasses and a white lab coat. Towering over him was another man who appeared to be the attacker. He wore red clothing with black highlights. The main attention getter was the giant 'M' situated across his chest. A red hood with small, black horns covered the man's head.