Stray not from thy path

Stray Not from Thy path
By *Baron*poison*
Part 1



I suppose I still am adventurous, always have been always will be. That's what got me in to trouble... Well, back then I was only a young Gulpin... I was weak in my body, strong in the head and I was reckless. Ah, recklessness, that is what I miss most about my old life, my parents always told me "You're to reckless, young one! It will get you into trouble one day!" but they would always smile and I never thought anything of it... how wrong I was...

It was one of those days, it was hot and clammy, the Volbeat were biting and the bikers on the Cycling road were spitting and sweating into the grass below where I lived. But, ignorant and boastful as I was, I had to practice my poison gas attack. I had just levelled up and learnt it, you see. A young trainer was walking past the place where I was sleeping, I awoke at the sound of his heavy footfalls and silently slid towards him...

He was tall and gangly, his dark hair stuck up at the front and his face was creased into a permanent frown, but this weather-beaten and experienced look did not fool me, I know he was a young trainer, only one pokéball graced his leather belt and the lapels of his jacket had no badges. I snorted and prepared to leap out from the undergrowth into battle, but suddenly and Elektrike zoomed past me, ears back and hackles raised. The boy noticed and pulled his pokéball from his belt, "GO! COMBUSKEN!!!" he yelled and, from his pokéball, a tall and striking Combusken emerged, straightaway , the Elektrike recoiled and whimpered in fear, the Combusken kicked it and it whined painfully. "POKEBALL GO!" screamed the young lad, his face purple with excitement, a pokéball flew from his hand and the Elektrike was captured inside, it rocked and a single bead of sweat trickled down the trainers incredibly ugly face...

There was a slight ping and the boy jumped miles into the air "YES!!!! I HAVE ELEKTRIKE!!" he yelled and he scooped the pokéball up from the grass and hitched it onto his belt. I was glad I hadn't attacked him, the single pokéball had deceived me, Elektrike was a tough pokemon to crack and his Combusken had got it in one single strike. Slowly I slithered back into the grass to await my time....

The next day I heard much heavier footfalls and I raced towards the source of the sound, I was eager to practice again after my missed chance yesterday. In my haste and recklessness I rushed straight into the clearing like a crazed Rhydon and threw all caution and pretence of silence to the winds, it was the boy again... "A Gulpin!" he chuckled "well I never! Go! Elektrike!" even as he spoke, his freshly caught Elektrike, now stronger and sleeker, whipped eagerly from the pokéball and sank its teeth straight into my flesh. I cried out in pain and sent a weak wave of poison gas in the direction of the electric pokémon. Elektrike coughed and winced as the poison took hold , I took this opportunity to turn tail and slide with all my considerable speed back into the glass and away from the boy.

The leader of our tribe, a wizened old Swalot, looked down on me severely. "Thou risked thine own freedom for the folly sake of practice ?!" as he said this he seemed to grow taller and his long, grey, droopy moustache quivered in rage "Verily would thou destroy the hearts of thy family, thus, for this hideous crime, I punish thee to seven days in solitary confinement!" with that, he stormed off muttering curses at me. Solitary confinement was nothing new, such was the kind old heart of the Swalot that I would be fed and watered as well as I had been at home. But nevertheless, it was not what I expected as a punishment, so what if I strayed from the path and into the clearing? What did it have to do with my freedom? Yes, I was tough and no snotty beginner was going to catch me, I had a whole life ahead of me...

A week past very quickly and not once did my mind leave the young trainer and his two super powered pokémon... as I was let out from the room where I had been kept, the tribe leader warned me "Stray not from thy path, young one, do not leave thy grassy areas which shall protect thee, wander not into open clearings where trainers and other, tougher, foes await thee..." at this I nodded meekly, but I fully intended to prove myself and go completely against his warning. As soon as he had departed I dashed towards the edge of the grass by the clearing where I had seen the trainer appear twice already and I settled down...

The young trainer did not approach for a while, and when he did, I noticed a big change about him immediately, he walked taller and more confidently, and behind him trotted a powerful looking Blaziken, with 3 badges pinned to its fur, those of Roxanne, Brawly and Watson. I gulped and started to slither backwards into the undergrowth but it was too late, he noticed me! "Blaziken! Low kick!" he said quickly. The Blaziken stuck its foot out and thumped right onto my tender, exposed flesh. I wailed in pain and braced myself, trying not to slip into unconsciousness, I opened my mouth wide and prepared to expel a yawn, right into the leering face of the Blaziken, but the foot came down again, flaming this time and it badly burnt my back. I squeezed my eyes tight shut and screamed at the immense pain, this trainer was CRUEL! He had no need for a weak Gulpin like me so why did he taunt me and hurt me so much? I opened my eyes, and in my rage went charging forward in a lusty tackle at the Blaziken's feet, but it was all to no avail, I felt the all consuming and healing darkness... I was in a pokéball! I found my strength and threw myself at the walls of my prison... but it was, again, no use, nothing I could do would free me. I was a pokémon, a simple tool of war, and I had a trainer.