Prologue: How it all begun,
How do you start a story? Well… at the beginning I guess. I've never been much of a story teller... that was always Armor's thing… but if you want to hear it from me, then I'll try my best to tell it as well as I can.
Well… the easiest way to start, is that it all started with Arceus. But that would not be my story. My story begun in Hoenn…
-§-
„But Mommy, I don't wanna go!" Whined the little zorua to his mother at Route 101.
„We have already talked about this sweetie," The zoroark replied, as they made their way thru the bushes. „To stay healthy, you have to eat meat, and to eat meat, you have to learn how to hunt."
The zorua had to work hard to keep up with his mother's speed as he ran after her, but still tried to convince her to change her mind.
„I could eat berries!" He replied, happy to have been able to come up with an idea. „I've seen other predators eat them!" He explained, while he managed to catch up to her.
„That is true," Said his mother, still walking. "But you would still have to eat meat, since you are a growing body" She said and then paused for a moment. The zoroark checked her surroundings than looked at her son and continued her speech. "and the only way you can do that, is by hunting" True the berries would keep him alive, but to grow stronger, he needed meat.
„But I don't wanna hurt others!" Continued the zorua.
„Then don't!" The annoyed vixen replied. At this point she's got tired of her son's crying. „I taught you how to hunt, how to kill, so you can take the life of your pray, without causing it much suffering! Hunting is not about fun, but survival! You are a predator and you will take the life of others to stay alive. So now you can either start to hunt for yourself, or starve to DEATH!"
She didn't want to shout, but her sons protesting made her loose her cool. She didn't enjoy the thought of taking a life either, but to live, a predator needed to hunt. The zorua was clearly crying now and once his mother realized what she just did, she kneeled down to her son, and started nuzzling him slowly and carefully.
„I… I'm sorry sweetie… I know it's hard, but as a predator, you need to kill in order to survive. That's how the world works."
The little zorua kept crying in his mother's arms until she started slowly stroking his furry head. He always enjoyed that and the warm feeling of his mother's fur around him.
„It's only hard at first… You'll get used to it in time" Said the zoroark, still sorry for shouting at her son.
„A- and if I… find myself a trainer?" Replied the zorua. „I would be fed, and I could grow stronger by battling others…"
„But there are no guaranties, you'll be caught by a good trainer. They could just sell you to some rich people or worse... and I couldn't bear the thought of you being mistreated by some fool who thinks of you like some kind of animal. You can't trust humans these days. They're not as kind to us as they once were."
After the zorua calmed down, the two started to walk again until they reached a small glade in the forest. The zoroark looked around and after she made sure they were alone, turned to her son.
„I'll leave you to it now. If you think you can't do it, just return to the cave and we'll figure something out. Is that okay with you?"
The little zorua looked nervous, but nodded. „I will do my best… but if it doesn't work out… you… you'll still love me right?"
The zoroark knelt down again, and kissed his forehead. „I will always love you… no matter what happens. Remember that"
„Okay Mommy"
The zoroark turned away and with a powerful jump, disappeared in the forest.
As his mother left, the young hunter started to get his mind on the job at paw. He couldn't get into a fight, he can't win and even if he could win, it likely won't be a clean kill and he didn't want his pray to suffer. He needed to stick to the shadows of the trees and cloak himself with illusion so his opponent couldn't see him coming and he could launch a surprise attack. If he could hit the neck with a powerful enough scratch, his pray would be down before it could feel any pain.
„Yeah… that'll work"
-§-
After two hours of searching, he couldn't find a single zigzagoon or poochyena. That made no sense. This place was always full of pokemon before, but now, there were no one in sight. Something was wrong. The sun shined brightly and there were only one or two small clouds in the sky. It was a perfect summer day, and yet he couldn't find a sole.
"Did I do something wrong? I thought I did everything as mommy told me to, so they couldn't have noticed me… but then why isn't anyone here?"
As he thought about where he's going to find pray now, he noticed a certain sweet scent in the air. It was… sweet. That's the only way he could describe it. He couldn't tell what was it, but it smelled so good. Even if he couldn't recognize the strange smell, he just had to follow it.
„Wha… what is this?" Thought the little zorua as the smell made him go right in the middle of a clearing.
Once he reached the source of the scent, he heard a male voice call out.
„Sleeping Powder!"
And before he passed out, the last thing he remembered was a round object hitting his head.
-§-
„And what are you two so happy about?" Asked a man in red suit to the other two, who just arrived.
„You won't believe it boss! We couth a zorua!" Sad one of the two.
„Like real man! It was like Sweet Scent! Sleeping Powder! Pokeball! And BOOM! We got a zorua!" Shouted the other. „The boss will be so pleased!"
„We could even get a promotion!" Shouted the first one.
„Or we could just sell it and earn a big pay" Sad calmly the one in charge.
The other two just stared at him in confusion.
„What?" They asked the same time as their boss started explaining his plan.
"True, we could give it to the boss and earn a promotion, but then what? We get a harder job with more work. Or…"
„Or?" The other two asked still trying to process, what their leader is telling them.
„Or we could just sell it to the right guy and earn ourselves lots of money for little work." Finished the man, with now a big gin in his face. The other two were quick to jump at his offer.
-§-
You've probably guessed it by now and yes… that zorua was me. As they sad, the three men sold me to someone with a lot of money and experience in the underground fighting arenas. They got their money and I got a shiny little collar around my neck to keep me in line. If I tried to use my illusion ability or any special attacks, I got myself shocked. That took me a few days to figure out. That kind of equipment is not easy to find or get, so my special collar only made me more valuable in the eyes of my owners. It was hard to get used to. Switching the beautiful forest, to the small cage they kept me in between duals until death. The stealthy and calm lifestyle to never ending death-matches.
At first I cried. After my first kill, I felt sick to my stomach. I started to deny… I said I didn't have a choice… but in the end… I was the one who made the decision. It was 'Kill or be killed' and I made the choice to kill in order to survive. After all… that is how the world works.
The hard truth was… I was good at it… and I kept doing it, until one day...
-§-
It has been ten years since the zoruas' capture. Since then, he had lots of different owners. Some were kind to him, others... not so much and even more simply didn't care. They all had something in common thought… they were all humans… and all they wanted from him is to kill others, so they can earn money on the matches.
There was only one exception. His current owner. He was smarter than the others. The man bought him after he evolved into a zoroark. He gave him a name, a weapon, a better cell, a mate… and all he needed in return… was for the zoroark, to put on a good show in the arena. His arena.
The Rangers did a very good job in shutting down the illegal fighting rings, but that only made this one, more popular to the underground fighters. It was only referred to as "The PIT". This was an underground prison once, with only one entrance in the surface, currently owned by the man, all the there kept Pokemon called Master. The same man the zoroark was going to see.
-§-
"Is he really that good? A zoroark without illusions or special attacks, doesn't seems to be such a big deal"
"Oh, he is! He has been here for five years now and never lost a match since. And to do that with only physical attacks... he certainly is something. Even managed to escape three times by now. We only managed to catch him because of his collar"
"That really is something. Better keep my eyes open"
"Relax... as long as there are two of us watching him, he can't do a thing"
"I could always kill one of you"
The two men froze on spot as they heard the deep voice. They were both in full body armor, pointing weapons at the zoroark, who they were ordered to lead down the hallway to his owner's office. They were certainly not expecting the zoroark to talk to them. The older was the first to recover from the surprise, and answered.
"Well, look who decided to finally join the conversation!" Answered the man, without any worry in his voice. The younger on the other hand...
"IT CAN TALK!?"
The zoroark covered his sensitive ears at the sudden scream. He always hated loud voices. Being a creature of the night, it only made sense.
"It can also hear you, so stop screaming!" Replied the annoyed fox, still covering his ears.
The younger man, still in chock turned to his partner, grabbed him by the shoulder and started shaking him. "It can talk! Pokemon are NOT supposed to talk!" Only for the older to smack him in the face.
"Get a hold of yourself kid! And don't let your guard down!" Said the older, as he pointed his gun at the zoroark. "What makes you so talkative today Grimm? Hasn't heard you talk since last month." Asked the man from the smirking zoroark.
The smirk in Grimm's face only grew bigger as he answered.
"Just messing with the newbie" He replied before busting out laughing.
After the younger guard had calmed down, the three continue on their way. The old hallway was lighted by old neon lamps extinguishing every once in a while.
"So he could talk the whole time?" The newbie kept asking, as he kept his eyes at the zoroark before him all times, his hands shaking slightly.
"As long as I've been here, he could" Replied the older calmly, but paying more attention now. This was not his first time escorting Grimm and he knew the fox wouldn't attack them, as long as they keep calm and don't let him out of sight. At least they still kept their eyes on him...
Grimm on the other hand was very amused. All this time, being captive and forced to fight, his favorite source of fun was to mess with the guards. He knew he couldn't escape. There was only one exit and even if he could make it past the guards, the collar would zap him unconscious. That didn't stop him from trying though. And boy he was good... These two were already nervous. If he played his cards right, he could even make the younger faint. Now that would be hilarious.
As they kept walking the guards continued on their conversation, still keeping their eyes and weapons at the fox, only blinking now and then.
"How do you think he learned to talk?"
"If I had to guess, I'd say one of his previous owners taut him. On the other hand, he only talks to insult the boss, or annoy the other guards, so that's unlikely"
"Insult the boss? Why on Earth would he do that?"
"No idea... You should ask him"
All three of them stopped, as the zoroark suddenly turned to the young guard. His deep red eyes glowed as the lights extinguished for a few seconds. Still wearing his smirk full of sharp teeth. His blood red claws and mane, made him look even more dangerous in the dark.
"Ask away kid... I won't BITE... we still have some time to KILL!"
That was it. The guard leaned to the wall next to him and fell on the ground unconscious.
The zoroark also fell on the ground, not from fright, but from laughter. However it only took a few seconds to turn that laughter to painful screams, as his collar activated. Pain shoots true his entire body as the electricity traveled true his veins and mussels. This was nothing like the he felt during a dual. Cracking bones, cutes on the skin, burns, or even freezes. This was pain, he couldn't do anything about.
While the zoroark was in agony, the older guard, who have been trying to wake his unconscious partner was now frozen in fear... but not from the zoroark. The two only reason Grimms' collar would activate was, if he had gone outside, or if his master activated it remotely... and now he was in the building.
"I asked you to bring that pathetic creature to my office and you couldn't even do that much!"
The voice belonged to a tall skinny man, dressed in black suit, with dark blue hair, just long enough to cover his cold blue eyes. He was in his early twenties, young enough to appear innocent, but smart enough to run a fighting arena, without the rangers noticing. The man was companied by four muscular bodyguards, wearing similar equipment as the two, who supposed to escort the zoroark to him.
"Wait, Boss! It's not our fault! He started to talk and me... I mean us... I mean-" The man tried to talk himself out of it, but to no avail. His employer didn't even let him finish as he started walking to them, finally letting go of the collars remote controller in his right hand.
As the pain stopped, the zoroark tried to get his racing heart and rapid breathing under control again. Still lying on the floor, exhausted by the collars effects, he could only watch as his master approached the panicking guard.
"Tell me what pathetic excuse, do you have for this disgrace" He talked, ever so calmly, but his cold blue eyes never left the guard's as he walked past the washed-up fox.
He only stopped walking, when he was so close, their noses almost touched.
"You are going to grab that sorry excuse of a guard, you call your partner and disappear from my sight before I count to ten, or you'll find yourself in a cage full of hungry Pokemon at the next fight. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Sir!" The guard did as he was told without a moment hesitation, and ran as fast as he could, carrying his young partner in his arms.
"You are testing my patience Grimm." Said the young man to the zoroark as he turned to face him. "We'll talk about this at a later date... I have something very important, to talk to you about"
Grimm didn't like the sound of that, but had no choice at the matter. Still paralyzed by his collar, the four guards have picked him up and carried after his owner. Once they entered the office, the guards dropped him on the flour and moved to their position at the room. The room itself was very well decorated. The walls were full of pictures of pokemon winning competitions, there were some plants at one corner, a big desk, with a computer on it facing the entrance and the wall behind it, which was made of glass, giving a perfect view to the arena below.
The man takes his seat behind his desk and started his speech.
"I am very displeased with you Grimm" He began, looking up some papers as he continued.
"You have been here for two years and still haven't learned your place yet. You tried to escape three times, let thirty-two other pokemon escape, killing twenty guards' and injuring twelve at the process" The man stopped and take a deep breath before continuing. "The amazing fact is, I would still overlook these things, if you'd do as I told you to do"
Grimm clearly didn't like where this was going, but said nothing. It would do him no good to interrupt him in his monolog.
"The only thing I asked, for all I gave to you was to put on a show. Winning is important if you are challenging others, but since I own this place, the only thing you need to do is to be entertaining, so more and more people would come to see, or challenge you... But no matter what I do, you keep finishing off your opponents, with one strike, which is impressive..., but doesn't look entertaining, and cuts the match really short"
As he finished, he stood up from his desk and headed back towards the big glass wall, looking out at his arena, hands behind his back.
"All in all... I decided that you are clearly more trouble, than you are worth. So the only logical solution is to... get rid of you... so to speak"
As the paralysis had gone away, the zoroark slowly and carefully stood up, not wanting to risk hurting himself any further. His red eyes searched the room for his collars controller, finally locating it, still in his owner's hand.
"If only I could get my claws on that..." He taught, his eyes not leaving the target.
He took a small step forward to the man, but as soon as he did, he was targeted, by all the guards in the room. The zoroark froze in place, than slowly took a step back, not wanting to risk getting shot.
The man let out a chuckle and held up the small device. "Still wanting to get this I see..." He said, as he turned around to face the fox. "And what would you do whit it? It's not like you could leave if you have it"
"I could shove it down your throat and watch you suffocate from it. It would be quite amusing" Grimm replied, with a big smirk in his face, eyes still on the device. He could not have it... not now anyways. But there will be a chance. He'll make a mistake... at some point. They always do.
"Back to the matter at hand" The man replied, not affected by the zoroark's empty threats. He walked back to his desk and took a seat again.
"Fine" Grimm replied, unhappy that his threat had no effect in his owner. "But since you already revealed your plan... how about we play all-in on this one?"
"I'm listening"
"We bough know the only reason you don't kill me, is because the money you spent to get me. You spent money on me and if I were to die, that money would be lost. And I know you well enough to know, that you would never do such a thing" The zoroark paused for a minute and then continued. "You can't sell me either, because I know quite a tale, about you and your precious little fighting ring. If I would 'talk' to your rivals... or the Ranger Union..."
The man sighed. The fox did have a point there. Thankfully, he had a plan to solve all that.
"I believe it is my turn..." He began. The zoroark was surprised, that his owner was so eager to share his plan, but stayed calm and listened. "You do have a point... If I sell or kill you, I won't benefit from the outcome. But over the past ten years, you managed to become quite famous around the illegal fighting rings, to both humans and Pokemon alike. There are lots of Pokemon who would fight you for the glory and fame"
"If there are so many, why are most of my opponents unskilled or weak?" Asked the zoroark. "If you want me to put up a fight so much, the least you can do is give me a worthy opponent"
Grimm was very annoyed by the fact, that his opponents were no mach to him. Most of the time, they were half trained, inexperienced, beaten, starved, or rarely even children. Those were fights, he was not proud to win. He finished them off, with one strike, at a vital point, not wanting to extend their suffering. Even after ten years... that much didn't change.
"This time, you will have a worthy opponent"
Grimm could not believe his ears. Did he really just... going to give him, what he wants? "No" He taught. "I know better than, to expect him to just give in"
As the man saw the zoroarks' confused look, he started playing with his blue tie, as he started to explain his plan. "You refuse to put up a show in the arena, because of your moral code or something. I really couldn't care less. You're more trouble, than worth, so I need to get rid of you. The easiest solution... "
"Is to put me up against someone with enough skill to defeat me, but not enough moral to refuse you" Grimm finished for the man. So he did have a plan. And not half bad.
"You get your fight... and I get my new champion" The man said. He was clearly proud of his solution. He leaned back in his chair, turned around whit it and let out a happy sigh. He let his thoughts wonder. How he's going to order his new pet to kill Grimm. How he's going to get all that money back... and more. But suddenly he heard a chuckle. Grimm's chuckle.
"So you truly are playing it all-in huh?" He heard the zoroark ask, still chuckling.
He angrily turned around and stood up from his chair. "And what do you find so amusing?!"
Grimm was full out laughing now. "You pathetic fool... That is your plan?" He continued laughing. "You'll invite half the street gangs and crime families in Hoen to bet on me, the unbeaten champion, only to lose their money to you and expect them to just pay up and go about their lives?! Even if it would work, I will not lose to a Pokemon, who would obey you and once I beat him... I can watch your precious kingdom go out in FLAMES"
The man was furious at this point. Not only he figured out his plan, but he even managed to find a weak spot in it. And to top it all, he was laughing again. He hated when he laughed.
The zoroark's laughter stopped as he felt his collar activate again. However this time, it didn't last long. Just long enough for Grimm to fall in all-fours and to dig his claws into the carpet as he tried to endure the pain.
Once the fox stopped laughing and looked him in the eye, the man spoke again. "You are correct about one thing..." He started, but to everyone's surprise, he didn't sound angry at the slightest. "If I were to lose the bat... it would be quite... catastrophic for me. So I won't take any chance" He said as he walked past Grimm and opened the door behind him. He stepped out the room and started closing the door behind him slowly. "The boys will explain the rest"
-§-
The zoroark slowly started to wake in a dark room. The room itself wasn't much. No windows, no lamp, no nothing... just a thick metal door and an old bad, he was lying in. It wasn't comfortable, but it was still way better, than his old cage. He didn't remember much. Some parts of talking to the Master... He even let out a small chuckle as he remembered how he laughed at his face.
"Ouch" It hurt to laugh... he must have pissed him off again... no mystery there...
His head hurt... his body hurt... and he couldn't breathe quite as easy as he remembered.
"Must have cracked a few ribs again." He though. But as he looked down, he noticed, that someone was lying on his chest. A delphox. A female delphox, who was lying in his chest, sleeping peacefully and hugging him tightly to herself, as she nuzzled him. He took a deep breath, ignoring the pain it caused him and sighed. As his chest lifted and sank down, the female slowly started to wake. She was a few years younger than the zoroark. Only hit her second evolution, half a year ago. She opened her beautiful leaf-green eyes and looked the male beneath her.
"Why did you wake me?" She asked in a sleepy, whining voice. Trying to get back to sleep, she covered her face in the zoroarks' fur and started to hug him even tighter. At the feel of the females' tight hug, Grimm let out a low growl of pain. As she realized she was hurting him, she quickly set up on her knees, trying to avoid causing any more harm to him. At this position, someone would assume they were doing some rather... private things.
"Are you okay?" The delphox asked, concerned for the zoroark.
"No... Not really..." He replied. "But I'll live..."
Grimm expected her to be angry. She always was, when he got hurt because he did something stupid. What he didn't expect was her, to slap him in the face, with her right palm.
"Ow... What was that for?!"
"For being an idiot!" She replied, still on top of him. "I've told you a thousand times. Getting him mad, would only get you hurt! You should just do as he says!"
"And be nothing more, than a pet?" She could feel his anger rising as he continued. "No, thanks. And you should know better than to think I would"
"I was just looking out for you! I don't want you to get hurt"
"And who asked you to do that?! I can look out for myself just fine!"
*SLAP* -came another blow from the fox. No surprise there. He knew he had it coming. What he didn't expect, was the feeling of her tears failing on his chest. She was crying.
"You… you know I'm NOT on his side! The only reason I say you should obey him, is because I don't want to see you get hurt!" She was screaming now. Every time they had an argument about this, it ended the same way.
Grimm just looked away, and calmly said "You wouldn't understand. You were born in this pit… I want to get out of here, and live under the sun again."
After a few seconds of silence, the delphox looked away as well. "You know we'll never leave this place alive." She said calmly. "You're by far the strongest of the Pokemon who are trapped in here, but even you must realize… you can't keep fighting forever."
"No" He replied calmly. "Not forever. Just as long as someone stronger beats me. It won't be long, now." He paused a little. "If what he said is true, this will be my last fight, either if I win or lose."
"What?"
"Just keep your eyes open. If you see the opportunity to run, just run and don't look back."
"I will not let you-"
"Please Cinder. If I'm right, this will be your only chance to taste freedom. Promise me you won't waste it."
He rarely called her by name, but when he did, he was serious. She didn't want to leave him behind, but if it truly meant so much to him…
"I promise."