After we completed our task, there was little reason to stay on the official Route. The Pokémon we had been facing on it were simply too weak to hold either of our interests and while Nuts needed to get some training, that could be left for later.

And so, instead of returning to the Route and following it north, we remained off the beaten path, navigating by compass and landmarks. Initially, after leaving the spring, the area we were travelling through was not that much more interesting than the official Route, a few slightly stronger Pokémon but nothing that knocked our socks off. Nothing that made me interested in catching them, either.

We continued on our way for another day and a half, at which point the terrain started to change, the slope we were on getting steeper and the forest around us thinning a little. There were still trees but they were smaller, no longer towering giants but slender things that could withstand the wind and weather. In addition, there were countless large and small rocks that dotted the area between them, some of them close enough together that we had to carefully climb over them, if we didn’t want to make a large detour.

The Pokémon that we encountered changed, too. Gone were the ubiquitous Bidoof, and the various bug-Pokémon we had encountered, replaced by Geodudes and we even stumbled across a Psyduck relaxing near a small brook. The large, yellow duck was a bit of a surprise while I had expected the Geodudes, thanks to the information in the Gym.

The Geodudes were incredibly annoying, their habit to curl up and look like nothing but a rock, until someone stepped too close to them made the encounter sudden, unexpected and utterly annoying. There was no time to consider, not if the rock you wanted to step over suddenly uncurled a pair of hands and reached for you. At that point, you jump back, hope to dodge and send out one of your partners, hoping that they’ll be able to deal.

That neither of my partners was particularly effective against the Geodudes didn’t help my mood. Certainly, Vio could mess with their minds, her attacks striking past their impressive defence, but poor Charm would have a hard time. It was so bad that I let Claire take the lead most of the time, as even Nuts was more effective than Prince Charming, despite its lower level.

The little Seedot turned out to be somewhat amusing, at least in my eyes. During our stops, Claire tried to slowly acquaint it with my presence, letting it observe while hiding behind her legs, as if it was afraid I was about to jump out and start eating it or something. Maybe turn it into supplies, if the nut and berry mixture we used to spruce up the porridge that was a staple of our diet ran out.

After two days of that, the little guy no longer started to whine, if he just saw me. He still preferred to have Clare between us, and tried to hide behind her whenever there was the need, but it wasn’t as bad. In some ways, he was similar to Vio’s behaviour, right after I had caught her. Just far less adorable.

By the time evening rolled around, things got annoying. There was a high-pitched sound in the air, one that I had heard before and Clairea apparently couldn’t hear. The ultrasonic waves sent out by Zubat, looking for prey and, conveniently, mess with the sense of balance of everyone in the area.

Knowing they were around, I even had to focus on the noise, instead of trying to filter it out or block my ears. But knowing when they were coming was important.

And so, when I noticed the first source of that sound approach, I sent out Vio, knowing that she’d be best to deal with the attackers.

“There’s a foe coming from the left.” I warned her, as she appeared out of her Pokéball. Behind me, Claire was shaking her head, as if trying to get rid of an annoying fly, a feeling I could empathise with. The noise was certainly giving me a headache and even if she couldn’t consciously hear it, the sound had to play merry hell with her inner ears.

Vio, maybe feeling my pain, turned in the direction I had indicated and before the Zubat was even visible, her horns started to glow violet. The moment the bat appeared between the trees, coming straight for little Vio, the same glow was mirrored around its head and it started to drift sideways, clearly confused. Vio never let up, the glow intensifying, and instead of continuing on its way, the Zubat swerved even further, crashing right into a tree with a painful sounding smack.

As it fell to the ground, fainted, I remembered one of the rare and incredibly annoying traits of Zubat. They were moving in cauldrons with up to fifty members and were rather territorial. They would come for us, and we’d have to either flee or fight.

“Vio, I’ll be relying on you.” I quietly told my partner, indulging her when she reached up to give me a brief hug.

“You are my cute partner and I know you can knock those silly bats for a loop.” I encouraged her, ruffling her hair for a moment before setting her back down.

“There’s another one.” I told her, gesturing in the direction I could hear the sound coming from. Moments later, another bat appeared, only to get its mind muddled by Vio and smack into a tree moments later.

When I tried to continue moving on, Claire grabbed my arm, holding on. Looking back, I could see that she was swaying, her eyes scrunched shut in pain. After a moment of consideration, I dragged her arm around my shoulder and helped her forward, my own sense of balance messed up to the point that I was swaying myself. Vio, next to me, reached out, taking my hand and holding on, either trying to help me, or in need of help herself. Or maybe both.

Regardless of how ungraceful our movement was, we somehow managed to keep going, swaying with every step as I was looking for some sort of hiding place. Anything, really ,that would give us a bit of shelter or concealment, even just hiding beneath a shrub would do.

Noticing an opening between the roots of a tree, I started to stumble towards it, hoping that there was a large enough space beneath. From afar, the hole looked large enough to let either of us in,

By this point, I was losing track of the sounds around us, relying on Vio to smack down the Zubat that were attacking us. Or maybe attacking her, it was hard to tell. Falling to my knees before the hole that hopefully offered salvation, I realised that there was a small space below, large enough for a person.

Helping Claire get down there was difficult, her balance utterly shot. Regardless, it had to be done, with force if necessary. I was pretty sure that she’d have some bruises the next day, but she was safe in the earthen hole.

Looking down, I realised that I wouldn't be able to join her, the space was simply too small. No matter how we stuck together, unless I was willing to break bones and dislodge joints, our parts were too large. The extra head of height I had on Claire by now didn’t help either.

“Vio, I’ll need you to protect me.” I implored my partner. Reaching up, I wiped across my face, my hand coming away bloody.

After giving little Vio another brief hug, I pushed myself to my feet. There was no way I would go to my fate kneeling.

Anger roiled up within me, and as the waves of sound battered me, I started to shout back, to roar in defiance against the annoying bats. If they wanted to mess with my senses, I would scream in an attempt to drown them out.

Next to me, little Vio joined in, her own voice just as loud, maybe even louder than mine. For a moment, a smile stretched across my face as I realised that little Vio was harmonising with me, and so, I started to sing. Or maybe singing was not quite accurate, as what I was making was not music. It was a pure, outpouring of defiance, as I was telling the Zubat, the world and everything else in existence, I would not kneel.

And Vio was with me, her voice lending strength to my rage, just as my rage gave direction to her power.

Together, we would not kneel.