Chapter 6: A Little Trouble with Magma


     I was still not exactly happy when I woke up in the morning. In
fact, I was still in a relatively bad mood due to my escapades from the
day before. However, I was determined to get ahead on my journey so I
suggested to Nathan that we start off to Rustboro.

     "Aren't you still mad about yesterday?" he asked me. Haha, even
after only three days of travel, this boy knew me well enough to
recognize my bad moods. Well, he'd still be mad if he had to help some
retard catch a Pokemon...

      "Of course, but if we waited until I was happy again, we'd be
really far behind everyone else," I informed him. He knew I was right,
as I always am, so he didn't argue when I told him I wanted to leave
within the next half hour.

     It was really sunny on route 104. It was a kind of day that made
you want to sit down, relax and chat. But unfortuneately, we had work to
do so we kept walking toward the Petalburg Forest.

     All in all, until I entered the forest, I'd have to say I had a lot
of fun. We were stopped by the occasional trainer and as it is, the
trainers around this part have quite a bit of money. Some of the
trainers were so odd that they had us in hysterics. I was quickly
getting over my bad mood, and I actually walked through the entrance to
Petalburg Woods giggling.

     "Did you see that kid? He recognized me from Johto and he wanted
me-" I paused a minute to giggle even more. "To sign his shorts!" Me and
Nathan had started a new round of giggles then.

     I have to say that I was beginning to enjoy his company more and
more. When he wasn't too busy trying to act all important, he had a
decent sense of humor.

     "What about that girl who asked me to marry her?" Nathan cracked. I
started to laugh again. By then, we were seeming to come to the middle
of the forest. 

     "That was good... I'll never forget that!" I was having a blast and
for once, I seemed to let go and stop trying to quit anyone from getting
to know me.

     He stopped laughing. "So what happened yesterday with Wally that
made you so mad?"

     "Ugh... That guy is weird... I mean, seriously, he's bizarre. He
kept calling me Jenifer and he had this big crush on me. I thought he
was gonna stop drooling. I made him cry when I told him I hated him..." 

     Nathan started to crack up again. I KNEW he would find this
hilarious. He only quit laughing because we were stopped by a guy in a
red suit.

     "Have you seen any Shroomish around here? I love Shroomish..." He
seemed to be impatient. At that moment, he fell forward and another
person in red appeared behind him. This person, though, had an evil
sinister look to him and instead of a suit, he wore a uniform.

     "Team Magma..." Nathan whispered, obviously hoping that I would
step up to the rescue, as mostly I didn't care about Team Magma.

     He was wrong this time though. I cared who this person was. I cared
A LOT. Nathan looked a little more concerned because, as I'm sure, all
the color drained out of my face. Gone were my giggles and laughter.

     "Jenny? Is that you?" the Magma member asked.

The Magma member was Taylor.

     "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," I said coldly. I was hoping that it
didn't seem like I was afraid, because once again, letting my guard down
is my worst fear.

     "What am I saying? Of course it is. The one and only Jenifer Frost.
The big-shot. The princess. The winner. The over-acheiver. The girl who
ran away-"

     "SHUT UP!" I yelled and I knew I sounded like I was about to cry,
and that was what I had not wanted to happen.

     He stepped a little closer to me. "What's wrong, Jenny? About to
cry?" He was trying to intimidate me, and as much as I hate to admit it,
it was working.

     "You wish," I told him and I wished I was as confident as I was
trying to sound. 

     "Nope, you haven't changed, Miss Frost," he informed me and with
that said, he pushed me forward and I fell on my face, like I always
did. 

     "Cut it out," Nathan told him and he seemed to be a lot braver than
I was at the moment. 

    Taylor turned to the guy in the suit. "You just had to stall," he
told him maliciously. Everything Taylor did was malicious. "Hand over
the Devon papers!"

     "Leave the guy alone. He has no Pokemon. Can you only defeat the
defenseless people?"

     Taylor chuckled. I mean, he actually laughed. "Funny saying that
after I push your little friend down in the mud. But that's where she
belongs anyway."

     Anger welled up in me, but even Nathan was infuriated by that.
"Leave her out of this. You and me, battle."

     "I accept your challenge," Taylor said simply, enlarging a
PokeBall. I couldn't believe this was happening. Was Nathan battling on
my behalf. I crawled over to the nearest tree and sat with my back
against it. It seemed to be my only relief.

     "Come on out, Torrent!" called Nathan, letting out the Mudkip who
had defeated my Torchic only days earlier.

     "Let's go, Poochyena!" yelled Taylor. Out came the vicious
wolf-dog, who looked every bit as evil as it's trainer. I guess the
Pokemon really does take after the trainer.

    "Tackle!" they both yeleld at the same time. The two Pokemon
collided and fell back. I was semi-impressed. 

     While Taylor told his Pokemon to tackle again, Nathan told Torrent
to use it's new move, water gun.

     Torrent's move did a lot more damage than the Poochyena's. The dog
seemed almost woozy and it stumbled around a little bit. While Torrent
wasn't in exactly tip-top condition, he was in a lot more health than
Poochyena.

     "Tackle!" Taylor demanded again. I was worried; Torrent wasn't
budging an inch. But right as Poocyena was about to it the mudcat,
Torrent let out a powerful stream of water. At close range, the
Poochyena was knocked out.

     Taylor gave Nathan a glare, pretty much forgetting about me. I was
glad, I had taken as much as I could that day alone.

     Taylor dropped some coins in Nathan's hand and Nathan, being
himself, angered Taylor by smirking. "You better watch it, kid. And you
better tell your girlfriend to watch it too."

     That caught Nathan off guard. "What girlfriend?"

     "You know who I'm talking about," Taylor snarled. "That little
wimpy girl, Jenny."

     "She's not my girlfriend!" Nathan protested. I wanted to hit him.
Of course, he didn't stick up for me, he only protested about Taylor
calling me his girlfriend.

     "Those papers aren't worth it," Taylor said decidely. By then I had
stood up and was somewhat closer to the two boys.

     Of course, he just HAD to pass by me during his dramatic (so he
would say) exit. "You better watch it, girl, if you don't want to be hit
again. I will do it, I know it and you know it too."

     I did know it. Taylor always lives up to his threats, to my
misfortune. He WOULD hit me again, he could even go as far as to kill
me.

     He stomped off then and I was kind of in shock. Nathan wasn't as
fazed as I was, and I was ashamed to say that he was being a lot braver
than I was.

     And so he had left us there, but his evil aura still surrounded us.
It was in the trees, in the air and in my memory. I had sat down against
the tree, hoping I only looked tired and not like I was about to cry.
"Jenn? Are you okay?" I knew I was shaking, but when Nathan asked me
that, I burst out in tears. 

     "Jenn? Relax, it's going to be okay." I looked up at him with
tearstains on my face. 

     "No, it's not. I thought I would finally leave him behind when I
moved, but he just followed me here! He's never going to leave me in
peace! He's just going to haunt me until the day I die." 

     I felt so defeated and alone, like I had the day when I had been a
victim of a particularly nasty beating. That had been the time when
Bobby found out. Unexpectedly, Nathan put his arm around my shoulders
and for the longest time, I just cried on his shoulder. I felt like a
great burden had been lifted off my shoulders, and it had. I was never
going to be alone again. Nathan would make sure of that.

Or at least I hoped so.