Author's Note: So. This is new. I wrote this about... a few months ago? I don't know what will happen with this, I don't know if I will continue, but when I'm done with A New Age, I'll see about that. I'm posting it now because I want to see if people are interested. If you are and want me to actually continue, please tell me! I'd love to know what people think! Thank you, and have a good read!

The pain was excruciating. Jolts of electricity were flying up and down his body, keeping his mind from fading away in the unconsciousness he now revered so much. His vision was blurred; he could make nothing of his surroundings, but he could hear. His friends were roaring in anger and pain. Was he screaming, too? Maybe… His senses were dulled, as he could only think of the way his flesh was ripping, the way his bones were breaking. He clung to his head and ripped his hair, the spasms going back and forth through his body uncontrollably. Why was he here? He didn't know. The more times he hit his head against the glass window that kept him captive in hopes of breaking out, the less he remembered. The more his body suffered and bended in gruesome ways, the less he recalled. As one immensely powerful jolt spread from what remained of his legs up to his head, he raised himself up and screamed at the top of his lungs, only to see bubbles escape his melting mouth. Was he drowning? It would be better to just drown than to suffer like this any longer…

As his body continued shaping itself, he slammed his face against the glass and squinted his crying eyes. He could make out some shapes, outside… Lights, mostly, directed toward him. Some of these shapes were moving however, so he knew he wasn't alone in here. But why would people stand there, just watching him suffer? Couldn't they end his misery? Surely there were some buttons, some switches, to turn this infernal machine off! He lost the small focus he had found when another jolt swept away at him, making him hold his head and bend in two. Everything was gone, now. Who he was, why he was here, where he came from.

Then, something changed. More lights appeared, this time they were swinging around, and more shapes came in, making the already present ones move around.

"Freeze!" he heard through the glass, his hearing numbed and dulled.

"Drop everything and get away from that thing! Now!"

"Emily, stop that machine!"

"I'm on it."

He tried to focus, but his eyes were blurry with tears. Then, it stopped. The electricity waves came to a halt… and he remained there, floating in silent bliss. It was over… finally…

"What the hell is that thing…?"

"Is that a Pokemon?"

"I don't know, but free these ones first! There are more lined on the wall there."

"Don't free it! It's not complete, it could die if you open it!"

"You shut up! Who said you could talk, you psycho?"

He glued his face to the glass, feeling the freshness of its surface against his burning skin. His eyes opened half-way, and he saw a figure, close and clearer. A woman? Yes, it was a woman… Her face was looking down at some devices and computers for a second, but she looked up just as he settled his gaze on her. All he could see clearly were her eyes; they reflected the light emanating from his prison like two shining diamonds. Setting what he thought to be his hand on the glass, he choked on the liquid that filled his lungs when he tried to speak. He wanted to thank her, but couldn't.

What happened next was too quick for his mind to register.

"Hey! Stop that Pokemon!"

"Arcanine! Grab it!"

The glass cracked right in front of him, scaring him away from its surface. The shadows moving behind the now damaged glass were blurred and fuzzy and the lights kept blinding him. He could hear things outside; roars, shouts, calls… He didn't have the time to wrap his mind around all that was happening at the same time, for the glass shattered entirely; it was like something brutally pulled him forward as he exited his prison. He closed his eyes tightly for many brutal seconds as he spread on the ground in the remnants of the glass and choked on the sudden air invading his lungs. It was cold and crisp and his ribcage was burning.

"You're free!" he heard through a Pokemon's desperate cry. "Flee! Quickly!"

Breath raspy, he tried to look up but squinted his teary eyes; all the lights were directed at him, and all he could see were silhouettes of many forms, both humans and Pokemon. Something flew through him then, a powerful energy that felt so good and perfect… It made him dizzy and he emitted a small pained groan as he faded away into the shadows, into a world that welcomed him with open arms, for it was his home.

Home…

He liked that word.

When he opened his eyes, he wasn't in this dark place anymore. There were no shadows, no blinding lights, no glass and no evil electricity. He had to take a long moment to identify his surroundings, for his mind was still blurry. He felt like he was floating in soft veils, in rocking waves of warm light. That was what he was staring at. The sky, with a bright sun at its peak. It was noon, obviously.

He was confused. Why was he looking at the sky? Where was he? It was only then that he touched the ground, and all at once, his senses awakened, bringing in a plethora of feelings as real as the sky above him. His back on the ground felt the freshness of grass; his sensitive skin could feel every distortion in the breeze; his nose smelled the flowers surrounding the nearby pond; his ears heard the chitchat and the chirps of Pokemon close-by, and his inner eye saw their curious eyes staring at him. Blinking his eyes, he turned his head in the grass and looked around himself. As he thought, he was in the middle of a lush forest, in a small clearing that allowed the sun to illuminate this small paradise. The Pokemon that were staring at him were wild ones of course, as were all Pokemon out here. Rodents, birds, small curious creatures of all kind were looking, some stepping forward to have a better look.

With a groan, he pushed himself up, happy to see that he felt no pain like his scarce memories told him he had felt prior to his awakening. Had it been a dream? Maybe it was, and he was just telling himself stories… Even so, what was his name? Now that he thought about it, he didn't know a thing. All his movements and thoughts were natural, like they were implanted in his being without him knowing. And this was why he started floating above the ground, for he had no legs to support him. Curious, he looked down at himself, and the first thought and fact that came to him reassured him greatly.

"So I am a Pokemon. Good."

His voice escaped his being without him feeling a mouth moving, and yet, it all felt natural. His skin was blacker than ink, body shaped like an hourglass. Where his legs should have been, his skin was ripped like an old coat, almost shaped like fangs hanging down his sides. His shoulders were large and raised up in strange, misty skinned appendages that moved like smoke, quite similar to the odd tail that floated in his back. Touching his face, he felt it human-like in shape, but his hair – surprisingly soft – was covering a portion of it, raising up above his head in the same mist-like substance. From his perspective, he saw, around his neck, a sort of collar made of a bone-like substance, shaped too like fangs. Looking up at the Pokemon around him, he guessed that his appearance was perhaps frightening for them, like a ghost or dark being that could harm them.

"Please," he called out to them with his raspy voice, floating forward toward the closest group in hopes of communicating with them. "Don't be scared, I won't hurt-"

"Hide!"

"Run away!"

"He's got evil and dark powers!"

"It's an evil ghost!"

And in an instant, they were all gone; all the Pokemon that had shown themselves in the clearing left and disappeared in the woods, with the shuffle of the trees and bushes as only proof that there were creatures here. And he found himself alone, in dreadful silence, with only his aching heart echoing in his ears.

"But… Why?" he asked himself, his burning throat destroying his voice. "What am I…? Am I really… an evil ghost…?"

He looked up at the sky, and wondered why he was here, and most importantly, why he was alone with nothing to hold on to…