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To say that Kenley was feeling a bit bitter this fine morning was nothing to be surprised about. To the small wurmple-child, there was far more negatives that kept poking around the child than there were positives, and despite struggling to ignore this fact, it was persistent. While it may have been a common occurrence, the child was actually trying to perfect the art of lessening its effects on him.

Yes, that's right. Kenley was actually attempting to better himself.

He sighed at the thought, annoyed that it had already taken so long to get to where he was in his life, and still not at all satisfied with the results he had managed thus far. The vicious cold of the day didn't help brighten his demeanor at all, and the fact that people continued to insist they could cut through his property dampened his spirits. How many had he been forced to throw out? How many had actually been successes?

Maybe it would have been easier had he, at the very least, tried to see things from his opposition's perspective. Deep down, he knew very few of them were actually trying to break into his unmarked forest, but in his paranoia to keep something for himself, to establish a sense of stability in his otherwise chaotic life, he always jumped to the wrong conclusion. Had he someone to talk to about everything, he may have found solutions over the course of a fraction of time, but he didn't like to think of someone being that close. Nobody ever was, and because this was the only way he knew how to live, it stayed that way. Change was terrifying sometimes, and he was having enough trouble merely adapting to life in the wilderness without having to worry about figuring out what that frilly word "friendship" meant. Outside of meaning "freeloader" at its worst, at least. "Patrolling is suppose to help me feel better," Kenley quietly grumbled to himself, "and instead, all I do is think harder on it. There's got to be a method to this..." He growled, rubbing the side of his forehead in irritation.

Due to the thoughts clouding his head in a daydreaming manner, though, he didn't even notice that he was in an area he rarely investigated, and standing in a section of it he had never set foot. Sure, he had wanted to scope out the farther reaches some time, but only when he was actually paying attention enough to study the layout. Instead, he got a harsh kick back to reality when he literally stumbled across a half-hidden hole in the ground. He hissed at the pain from his unexpected landing, taking a few extra moments to investigate where the heck he was now. "A... a tunnel?" he queried, surprised by something he thought was more than a little bizarre, "I never knew there was something like this here... Who made it?"

As if on cue, a small yellow figure scampered past in the darkness. While Kenley didn't see what it was that had actually moved, it didn't fail to catch the wurmple-child in a cold shock. Out of reflex, much like a skittish human would had they seen a spider, Kenley shot a Poison Sting in the direction the fleck of color but remained frozen. One may be surprised to note that he was not a deer, and the tunnel was not bright in the least.

Even though, technically-speaking, the tunnel was still within Kenley's self-proclaimed boundaries, there were a few reasons the child felt that the situation felt too wrong to be comfortable. For one, he didn't even know that such a place existed right under his feet. How many times had the caterpillar-child traversed along these channels, directly above? How many entrances (or exits) did this place have in his fortress? Did someone live here, or was it a means of sneaking to and from... wherever the other end of the cavernous system was?

However, despite territory, he just didn't feel like this place was part of his forest. Glancing up toward the hole in the ceiling he had fallen from, he could still see the long patch of grass that covered half the opening. It was within reach, but the tunnel just didn't seem part of it. His home was a forest, not a series of interconnecting, underground passageways. He didn't feel comfortable here, which only proved to maximize his uneasiness about his presence in the dark. He couldn't see, and he was lost, what was there to feel optimistic about?

He heard a warning voice wrapped in the shadows ahead, but even though instincts were screaming at him to run, he couldn't seem to get his legs to unlock themselves. "Who's there!?" he asked gruffly, sounding immensely more confident than he actually felt. His question came about the same time as someone else spat something his way, but all he had time to do was jump from his seat on the floor as a bright web was flung at him. It seemed to be far more effective than Kenley's own String Shot, covering the child in the sticky silk and trapping him in place. Not only that, but it was barbed in electricity, something he was definitely not expecting. The currents across the net bit into his purple-tinged skin, and although his Shield Dust ability was working to keep the web from sticking to him so readily, the amount of damage he was taking was enough to negate such natural skill. He gasped a bit at the sting of the shot, but he couldn't stay conscious long enough to do much else. Luckily, he hadn't much further to fall before he passed out.

While normally Kenley's unconscious state would have remained with him a bit longer, a dull -- if increasingly familiar -- throbbing pain stirred him out of his forced shutdown. He tried to reach a hand up to his head, but found that he hadn't the means to accomplish such a simple feat. Opening his eyes, his vision immediately focused on something almost blindingly yellow, two sets of blue eyes staring back at him. "GAH!" he jolted, suddenly much, much more awake. The boy squirmed a bit, but the webbing holding him was too strong for someone just out of a faint state to break through.

Wait wait wait, a web? And large enough to trap a child? Kenley tried to back up further into the wall that he was already currently attached to in an attempt to keep the swarming joltiks from coming anywhere near his face. This terror was not helping his headache, but it was temporarily masking it with the kick in adrenaline it was causing, "D-Don't eat me, I don't taste good!" This was worse than being caught by a bird; at least that would have been a quick death!

When the nearest of the joltiks decided to abandon ship off of Kenley, the boy felt his tensed muscles loosen a little. He was still petrified, but without the near proximity to his face being in the most immediate danger, it allowed him a little breathing room. As the pokémon conversed with one another, the dazed child began looking for a way to loosen the web around his body. If only his Shield Dust ability would work through trappings so thick, this would be nothing...

His spine was still tingling from the shock, but he caught the mention of being a pokémon. His attention was once again pointed forward instead of finding a way to break free, finding it strange that there were actually pokémon out there that instantly considered himself to be one and the same. Okay, so at least it sounded like the one talking to him was open-minded, that could make things easier. So then, if coccooning the boy hadn't been to suck him dry like a spider might, why didn't they just tie his hands and feet? Why so much excess?

Of course, he couldn't find the mind to do more than ponder the meaning of it in silence. That and being disturbed that there were even larger joltiks than he had previously ever known. The lack of static on his person was a pleasant surprise, considering the currents tearing across his nerves hadn't been a very pleasant experience, "Oh, um... thanks, I guess?" Even though they had been the cause of it... but Kenley thought better than to go spouting off at someone when he was in no position to move and lacked the vantage of his trees. No, better to leave as soon as possible and without ruffling so many feathers considering fainting was not among the pleasantries he had ever experienced...

Unfortunately, as Calliope interrogated him, he was a little too stunned into submission. She had a good reason for attacking him... but would she think the same of him? Well, he wasn't the best at lying, so the truth was probably better to use in a time of crisis such as this. Turning his eyes to the hole in the ceiling further down the tunnel, he twitched his head toward it to indicate it for the massive joltik. "I kind of just dropped in," he explained, "As soon as I landed, I saw something move in the shadows... I thought it was going to attack, so I tried chasing it away." His eyes narrowed as he looked at Calliope, but more in assessment than provocation, "It doesn't really seem like... I was too far off in assuming that." She patrolled, huh? Well... he knew how that went. Hadn't he shot a Poison Sting at the surrounding area when he had been on patrol in his own domain a week or two ago, too? Déjà vu...

"Yeah, it wasn't there last I was out patrolling topside, either," he countered, beginning to feel like a prisoner of war. Kenley was feeling a mite miffed by this point with his nerves set on such an edge as they were, but it could have also been the onset of his migraine talking as well. He tried fidgeting loose again, but not to such thrashing to knock any joltiks off -- he didn't want to be needlessly attacked again. Huffing, he grumbled, "Of course I'm not the cause, why would I want to do that? Not to mention, I'm not that heavy!" His demeanor was turning more and more defensive, feeling like he had the need to stand up for himself regardless of the risks. Even if they did say they weren't carnivores, they were still dangerous enough to have leveled up to such an extent to automatically K.O. their opponent.

Kenley almost tossed in a sarcastic tone in there, but held his tongue on the matter. He was a forest-dweller, of course he wasn't a rock type! However, there was no point to arguing the matter if she was agreeing before even asking. He bristled at her comment, and the biggly's mobile peanut gallery in the back didn't help his welling anger diminish any. "You see something run past after you've fallen in what could very well have been a trap set for you, and tell me you wouldn't have done the same!" he hissed. Releasing a breath held back from tensed lungs, he darted his eyes away, a reaction to a touch of embarrassment, "Besides, that attack's never worked..."

Kenley watched as all but one of the joltiks evacuated from the coccoon tying the boy up, and with them, some of Kenley's tension moved on as well. He could at least tell that the one interrogating him was observant enough to do that much, for which he was grateful, but it didn't sound like she was fully listening to what he was trying to explain. Either that, or he was doing a poor job of conveying it, which he wouldn't rule out under the pounding of his head. "If you had been listening," he stated, less venomously this time, "I said that I thought it was a trap. I was defending myself. Or, at least... I thought I was. You moved so fast, I thought you were coming at me for a moment." Was it even worth the effort to try to clarify? It may not get through to her if she was completely secluded to what it was like to be scared, but with the way the joltik had acted that he had first seen upon awakening, he thought that an impossibility. Regardless, he had enough mind to realize that she was, indeed, not trying to attack him when he had first fallen through the ceiling. Or floor, as far as he had been concerned...

With the crowded feeling gone, Kenley actually managed to smile a bit as Calliope explained how she handled intruders in the central part of their home, "Paralyze, huh? Heh, I tend to do the same. Well... with a String Shot, at least." Weird... was she actually a lot more similar to him than he had believed? "You know what else is unnecessary and unproductive?" he huffed again, trying to get an arm free with little success, "Fear. I hate it when that thing surfaces." It was more than a subtle hint, but he hoped it wasn't lost on her again. When did panic ever make a person think things out logically?

It was difficult for Kenley to truly realize the sort of impact that Calliope was attempting to make on the child when moves that were not damaging were not moves that he considered as being 'aggressive.' String Shot was a precautionary measure, because otherwise, the other would likely ignore any discussion that was to follow. Bug-types were, after all, not pokémon that the rest of the world particularly took seriously, considering they tended to be one of the weakest types. He was taking things literally in her explanation, such as strength equating to physical damage. He wasn't sure what Calli was hoping to gain from this, and sighed as she explained. Was she trying to show him that she was the better pokémon or something? She sure liked to talk, and it felt like she was only talking down to him. Like a child who thought they were an adult might after being scolded by a parent, Kenley began acting coldly aloof in retaliation, "Could you just untie me? It's completely unnecessary..." All she was doing was trying to prove that she was right with everything, he felt like his words and logistics were being passed by because she had it stuck in her head that he was 'just a child.' He didn't want to listen to it anymore, and couldn't be reasoned with when all he thought he heard was a constant string of 'you're wrong, you're wrong.' At this point, even though his mental complaints about the joltik rang more true to himself, he shut his emotion off to her and began pushing her away. "I already told you why I 'attacked your kin' before, just drop it already," he growled, "Of course I'm not going to do it again, all I'd get for it is a worse headache." Ugh, all he wanted to do was go back home and sleep this off...

In all honesty, Kenley wasn't expecting to be released so easily. She seemed to like to talk, he thought he'd have to sit through more of it beforehand. Unbeknownst to him, Calliope had his learning deficiencies down to striking precision, and he was only grasping at straws for her's. She was remarkably patient for having to deal with a pokémon of such short years and even shorter temper, but having to look after such a range of naive joltiks was sure to sharpen such a skill over the time that it had. Hopping to the ground, he bounced back against the wall to regain his balance on tingling feet, more than a little bewildered. "Oh, um... thanks," he stumbled for the words. He couldn't really deny that she wasn't all that bad, especially after she displayed her ability to listen to him. Without the trappings of those claustrophobic threads, Kenley could breathe easier, and one could even feel his previous rage drop in level quite suddenly. It almost made him cold.

The thing was, when he was not being targeted about everything that was wrong with the way he acted, he could see things with a more level-head. Perhaps with one thing at a time, his demeanor would not bubble up with all the rage as he tried to filter through conversation. After all, he wasn't all bad, but he felt like he had a hard time convincing others when he was so prone to snapping. This, of course, would have been clear to most others that gave the time to observe. It was also about then that he noticed that... none of these joltiks were really all that bad. Despite pointing out all the flaws without taking a breath, they didn't really mock him. He couldn't handle the concentrated criticism, but that wasn't the focus at the moment, not anymore. "Um... I'm sorry for attacking. Who was it that almost got hit, anyway?" he tried to sound sincere, but wasn't sure if his inexperience with apologies was conflicting with conveying that.