Chapter 11

Amos was starting to get confused as he, Leia, and White walked through the forest. White kept ignoring his questions, and wouldn't tell him and Leia everything about Team Plasma. All he knew was that they had to get them out of the forest.

He didn't even dare ask the older trainer how she was able to communicate to her pokemon and figure out how Team Plasma was here in the first place. Everything was just confusing.

Leia didn't seem to notice anything. She just obeyed White without a remark. Then again, Leia had told Amos that she looked up to White and how she admired the way White battled.

White's Zoroark was also a confusion. Amos thought the Zoroark seemed strange, and didn't seem to get along with anyone's pokemon. He was also curious about who she traded with to get Zoroark.

Zoroark suddenly gave a small howl and White stopped beside it. Leia stopped and turned to White.

"What's wrong?" she asked nervously.

"I believe your brother is nearby, along with my Espeon." White said coolly. Amos turned his head toward the place the Zoroark was staring at.

Sure enough, Amos saw Hugh struggling over tree branches, and a Espeon was striding next to him. Hugh had a triumphant expression on his face. The Espeon how ever looked annoyed, and hissed at White as it walked past.

"Hey! Did you guys know Team Plasma is in this place?" Hugh asked as he got closer.

"Yep. We took down two. I think there are three more." Amos explained.

"Actually, I think that just leaves one." Hugh said. "I also defeated two."

Amos saw his cousin look sideways at White, but she didn't seem to be watching him.

"Do you know where he could be?" Leia asked White.

She shrugged and looked down at Zoroark.

"No, but Zoroark might know where this one is." she replied, glaring as she returned her Espeon to her pokeball. Zoroark growled and started walking back into the forest, followed by White.

Hugh looked at Amos. "What's up with her?" he asked.

"Don't know. She won't tell us much." Amos said.

Leia poked her older brother and said in a sign song voice, "But she told us that she helped take down Team Plasma last time!"

Hugh looked at her in surprise. "She did? You're joking." he
responded in disbelief.

"We aren't." Amos replied, starting to follow the trail White had walked down.

"Then White must have been real tough! The trainers who take down organizations like that have got to be in the elites!" stated Hugh, walking beside Amos.

"White's tough! You have seen her battle!" Leia said, following her brother and cousin's pace.

"But this was two years ago! She must have been a little weaker back then!"

Amos's cousins continued to talk about White and Team Plasma for the fifteen minutes that they walked.

Amos then bumped into White, who had suddenly stopped. White growled at him and pushed him back. He heard Leia yelp and White's Zoroark snap, which meant that she had stepped on the pokemon's tail.

"What did you stop for?" Hugh hissed at her. White tilted her head toward something a few yards away. Amos looked over her shoulder.

A Team Plasma grunt was tackling a Herdier to the ground. The Herdier, a furry canine pokemon, was howling in pain, which made Amos shudder.

"He's hurting it!" Leia squeaked in shock. Hugh growled, and his hand moved toward one of the two pokeballs on his belt. Amos noticed that White's face was red with anger.

"I'm gonna kill him!" he heard White hiss, and she stepped out toward him.

Hugh and Amos tried to grab onto her, but she was too strong. Leia squeaked again and followed her. Amos sighed and ran after them with Hugh.

White was standing a few feet behind the grunt. She was flexing her hand.

"What are you doing?" White asked him, her voice cracking a bit. Amos was surprised that the grunt didn't turn around when he answered.

"I'm trying to get this mutt out of the forest! Three kids and a champion are in the forest trying to make me and my friends get out!" he said.

The word "champion" seemed to linger longer.

White was a champion?

"What kind of kids are you talking about?" she asked, as if he said nothing about her identity.

"I think they were three rookies. The oldest kid forced us out last time!" the grunt snapped, still not looking at her.

"I did do a good job at that, didn't I?" White replied thoughtfully.

This some how made the grunt let the Herdier go, and he faced White. His eyes were filled with terror.

"It's you! You tricked me!" he shouted.

"No I didn't. You were just being stupid." White sneered. The grunt snarled and threw a pokeball into the air.

"Go, Sandile!" he shouted, and a small brown crocodile appeared in front of him. Amos stepped forward, but White put her hand on his shoulder.

"I can take care of this one." she hissed, as Zoroark ran up to meet his opponent.

"Sandile, Bite!" the grunt ordered. The Sandile gave a screech, and chomped down on Zoroark's leg. Zoroark must have been stronger than Amos expected, because he didn't even flinch.

"U-Turn!" White commanded. Zoroark yowled and slammed into Sandile. The dark pokemon then returned to his pokeball, and White's Arcanine was brought out.

Amos didn't know what the point was of bring Archy out, because the Sandile had fainted. The grunt was yelling furiously.

"Why do kids start so young in life?! Why don't you get out of this forest?!" he yelled.

"Because we weren't doing any harm! Now leave, or I call the cops!" White said sternly.

The grunt growled and returned his pokemon. He gave White one last look and ran away.

"You're a champion?!" Hugh demanded when the grunt was gone.

White didn't answer, because she was kneeling down and petting the Herdier. It looked calmer, and it was barking happily at her. Archy gave a bark and turned his head toward Hugh.

"I was." White finally answered, picking up the Herdier. "But Alder took my place."

"You keep a lot of secrets from us." Amos said.

"I don't like telling people about my past. It leads to awkward questions. Here, take him," White added, and she gave the Herdier to Leia. "This pokemon's owners live on the farm that is near the river. I have something to do right now."

"Where are you going?" Leia asked as White got onto Archy's back.
"Virbank City. Don't worry, I'll meet you there," White assured them. "I advise that you travel to Virbank today. Team Plasma can still be around here."

Before they could protest, Archy barked and ran off. Hugh sighed and turned to Amos.

"She leaves awful slow." he said sarcastically.

"No kidding." Amos agreed and looked at Leia.

"So what do you guys think?" Leia asked.

"About what?"

"What should we do next? Do we take the Herdier back, and head toward Virbark?"

"It seems like the best thing to do." Amos answered, and put his hand on the Herdier's head.

"Do you guys have the feeling that White is hiding something from us?" Hugh asked them.

"The idea did come to my mind." replied Amos with a smile.

"She does seem secretive." admitted Leia.

"From what we know about her, I don't really blame her." Hugh said thoughtfully.

Leia yelped as the Herdier bit her hand playfully. "Lets get this guy back to his trainer, ok?" she whined. "He's getting heavy, and he keeps nipping at my hand!"

"Ok, but I'm gonna beat you all!" Amos stated, and he ran back into the forest, with Hugh and Leia racing after him.