Julius tried to open his eyes, but couldn't; they were gummed shut, with fluid secretions from his unconscious body. He struggled, managed to force one of the lids open. A shard of bright light slit his pupil. He eased open the other, blinking awake into the white and grey room. The walls were high and clean-scrubbed, windowless. Everything was strangely skewed, as if he were looking down on it. He had no idea where he was.
With a jolt Julius realised that he was looking down. His body dangled high above the marble floor, and he could see the tops of the crates that were stacked along the wall. With a grunt he tried to move his arms, but couldn't; they were bound tight to his sides with thick rope. He squirmed, and his body rocked back and forth slightly, suspended in the air. The ropes were smooth and seemed to press harder the more he struggled, pushing the breath out of him. A feeling of dread sank into his stomach. He dropped his chin to his chest and looked down at his own torso; he was wrapped, not in ropes, but in poisonous green vines. Julius felt a surge of panic and shouted to the empty room.
From below came muffled laughter.
"Ah, so our guest is awake. Pookie, why didn't you tell me?" said a voice.
From beneath Julius' feet there came a high-pitched cry. The vines holding him curled tighter.
Light footsteps echoed off the marble. Julius strained sideways to see his interlocutor, but the vines squeezed so hard that they forced the blood into his face. The voice spoke again, much closer now: "Do you know who I am?" it asked.
It sounded like a woman's voice; Julius didn't recognise it.
"No," he gasped.
"Are you sure?"
She stepped into view. The woman had platinum blonde hair and silvery skin; her lips were thin and bright red, and a pale scar traced its way down her left cheek. She was smiling, but her eyes were cold.
"I don't know who you are," said Julius, wheezing.
"Pookie, loosen up a little bit. The poor man can hardly breathe."
Another small scream from beneath his feet, and the vines loosened.
"Tsk tsk. How rude, young man, to not even make an effort to make my acquaintance. That is, before you broke into my basement."
"I didn't realise – I don't know what's going on."
The woman smiled and shook her head. "If you tell me what you were after, I might forgive you."
"Please, I don't know. I was just snooping around, and I ended up down there."
"Just wandering about innocently, taking out my guards. I certainly believe that."
A low rumbling growl echoed through the chamber. Julius felt hot tears in his eyes. He was panting, and his head felt like it might burst.
The woman was standing with one hand on her hip, waiting for more. At length she sighed, bared her teeth in a horrible simulation of a smile.
"Perhaps I should introduce you to my friend, while you're just hanging around. This is Pookie – I think he likes you."
Another shrill scream reverberated through Julius's skull, one that vibrated the vines around his body. He felt himself being tipped forward, almost flipped upside down – blood rushed up to his temples, and his body dangled limply.
Beneath him was the most enormous victreebel he'd ever seen.
It was holding him, suspended, above its giant gaping mouth. Purple-tinged saliva was gathered around it's cup, and he could see passed the jutting teeth into the abysmal black of its gut.
"Do you know much about victreebels?" the woman asked.
"No – I've only just started out as a trainer – please, let me go."
"You want Pookie to let you go? Are you sure? The acid in his cup will eat right through your skin. You'll feel his enzymes breaking down your body; it'll be slow, very slow, and you'll feel every second. But if that's what you want."
"No!" shrieked Julius.
"Then I suggest you tell me why you broke into my basement and attacked my men. What were you trying to steal?"
"Please," sobbed Julius, "I wasn't trying to steal anything. I'm just a kid."
"Hmm, according to your ID card you're 18, Julius Stowitch. Hardly a child, I'd say."
Julius could see the acid in the victreebel's gut, secreted through the walls of its cup. There was something else in there, something pink and bubbling, dissolving into the pokemon's flesh. He looked away.
"I don't think you quite understand the situation, Mr. Stowitch. See, if you don't tell me what you were trying to steal, Pookie will drop you into his stomach. You won't be able to get out – the lining of his cup is too slippery, and if you try he'll simply push you back in. It will take hours for you to be digested – days even. He'll strip you back bit by bit, your skin, your flesh, the whites of your eyes. You'll not just die but cease to exist – Pookie will absorb you and you'll become a part of him, the sheen in his leaves, the calcium in his teeth. It's beautiful, really – gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "eaten alive". So please, tell me what you were doing."
"I wasn't doing anything – you have to believe me. I was just looking for people to battle."
"And you thought the place to do that was in our secret basement?"
"I didn't know! I just wanted an adventure. I was following my instincts - a trainer has to go after the unknown."
"Hmm. It can get you killed, following your gut like that." She smiled, and the victreebel shuddered. Julius watched the pink something in its gut tremor – it almost looked like it was moving of its own accord, struggling to push through the digestive juices. Bile rose to Julius' throat.
A deep growl rolled across the room again.
"Ah, yes. I haven't forgotten you, Drudd."
Julius craned his neck back to see what was behind him, but the victreebel jerked him violently.
"Drudd has taken a liking to you too, Mr. Stowitch. See, Pookie can eat everything but the bones – they're too hard, and in any case Pookie doesn't need much of what they provide, not having any himself. So he'll spit them back up and Drudd will eat them – he likes the sensation of crushing them to dust."
Drudd emitted a low roar which sounded almost like a purr.
"Okay!" shouted Julius. "I'll tell you. For god's sake don't drop me into that monster! I was looking for the Pokemon, the ones you stole from the professor – I was going to set them free."
The woman smiled broadly. "Oh, well if that was all, why didn't you say so? Pookie, release this fine young trainer so that he can go free."
The vines started to loosen – Julius felt them slipping from around him, spasms wracking his muscles as the pressure lifted.
"Next time, don't mess with Team Rocket," the woman said, and turned away.
"Wait," he shouted as the vines untangled themselves, "No!" He grabbed at them desperately, and found himself clutching air. The low growl rumbled through the room like a hungered stomach, and the high screech filled his ears. The last thing Julius saw as he plummeted into the victreebel's bowels was the amorphous pink blob, which seemed to be reaching toward him with something horribly like a human hand, with partially digested fingers. Then pain erupted through every fibre of his being, his skin scalded by the bubbling acid, and as he felt it beginning to melt him away he blacked out.