A/N: I apologize for the long wait for Chapter 3. Sincerely. I've been a little busy and I'm taking a week-long vacation this week, so I wanted to get this out as soon as possible through my busy summer schedule.

For those that have submitted OCs, I promise they will show up, but it's a gradual kind of introduction, I hope you don't mind. I want this to feel less of a fanfiction, and more like a story!

I only own my own OCs, not your OCs and Pokemon. Enjoy!

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Blonde hair glittered in the light as a man walked, accompanied by two Pokemon. One Pokemon cast a large shadow, a Golurk, stomping along as quietly as it could. The other was more petite, delicate, as womanly as a Pokemon could go. Gardevoir hovered lightly over the ground with an alien light surrounding her.

"Today's a nice day, isn't it?" The man laughed brightly, tossing and catching cans of Magikarp meat. "We've got our share of food, and some nice weather, what more can a guy ask for?"

Gardevoir stared at him, her magenta eyes disapproving.

"That food wasn't supposed to be yours, Jin," she scolded him, her soft voice echoing in the present beings' minds. The Psychic type seemed to frown. "I tell you to stop coercing those poor people, but you never listen..."

Jin let out a light sigh. "Gardevoir, don't be like that! Without doing that, I wouldn't have survived for so long, you know. Golurk, you agree with me, right?"

The large Pokemon nodded, stomping its feet. The ground rumbled and the blonde male smiled as he watched Golurk.

"See? It's no problem, then," Jin waved airily and Gardevoir only tilted her head down in silence. They continued walking and, over the horizon, the tall, black tower peeked over the road. He squinted, stopping to stare at the structure. "Gardevoir...Was there a tower here before?"

Golurk copied Jin, while the female Psychic-type murmured, "Not that I recall...It has been almost a year since we traversed this route, so perhaps a traveling band has somehow gathered the materials to—"

In the middle of her sentence, she stopped with a jerk, her neck snapping upwards and her eyes reflecting fear. "Something's coming! Jin, hide!"

"Huh?"

Before he could react, a blob of large, poisonous, purple gunk shot out from nowhere. Golurk, its yellow eyes flashing, stepped in front of the attack before it could burn Jin. The sound of the sizzling from the Sludge Bomb burning its metallic skin made the blonde flinch.

He gritted his teeth, looking around. "Gardevoir, where are they?"

"They're just—" She phased from place to place, her eyes closed tightly, scanning the area with her Psychic powers. "They...they have a Dark-type, they've taunted me—I can't—!" Her eyes flared red as she couldn't use her powers to scan the area.

Jin pressed his lips together, tense, however, it faded away into a small, almost blissful smile. He began to laugh. "These people are so prepared, it seems…We've got to put up a fight, then."

From the road, a Liepard and a Persian slunk up in front of them, their fur bristling slightly. Each had a cattish grin on their feline faces, and Gardevoir growled under her breath, something unintelligible. Jin glanced at her, but in that split second, the Liepard struck.

Throwing black waves of energy at the blonde, the Persian leapt with gleaming claws at Golurk, who was about to defend Jin from the Night Slash, but toppled to the side, knocked off balance by the sudden tackle.

"Jin!"

Gardevoir's eyes glowed blue as she shot a Psychic at the Night Slash, effectively spreading the Dark-type move away from her trainer. "Get away from here!"

The Liepard turned on her, malicious cat-like eyes glittering.

However, as the blonde male turned, in front of him, two Croagunks crouched, grinning with their hands glowing a poisonous purple. Jin was silent, trying to stare at both of them while backing away slowly.

Golurk fell to the ground with a loud thump, his electric yellow eyes dimming as he was knocked out by the victorious Persian. The cat Pokemon sat with a self-satisfied expression, paws batting at the key-like structure sticking out of Golurk's front. Meanwhile, Gardevoir was struggling against the Cruel Pokemon, her eyes furrowed in concentration.

"J-Jin!" She cried out, once she realized the advancing Croagunks were aiming their Poison Jabs for him.

Desperation coloring every cell of her body, Gardevoir let out a blast of purple-blue energy from her body, a wave that knocked the two Croagunk onto their backs, briefly stunned from the strong attack. However, the Liepard only batted at the energy lazily, turning to stare at something behind the Psychic-type.

"Perhaps you should focus less on your trainer, annnd more on yourself," the cat Pokemon purred maliciously, its voice dark and silky, but feminine. Jin focused on the collar that was snug around the Liepard's neck. Was it projecting a voice…? Or was that the Liepard herself?

Gardevoir spun around, a Moonblast forming in her hands, but before she could fire it, the Persian pinned her to the ground, the Liepard stalking around the two.

Jin's hands were trembling.

Both his Pokemon were down, and the two feline Pokemon were still limber and ready to battle. All he had was a knife that was clutched tightly in his right hand…

"Are you still going to struggle?" From where the Liepard and Persian slunk from, a man, dressed in all black stood, sunglasses covering his eyes. A greasy smirk was on his face and he tossed a taser up and down in his left hand. "When both your Pokemon are KO'd? If you will, then you're either an idiot or ready to die."

Jin grabbed his Pokemon's Pokeballs and returned them, his eyes hard.

"Oho, making it easier to transport them to the Master? It's like you're tying the ribbon on the present, kid," the man laughed mirthlessly and the blonde only glared at him silently.

"No matter, no matter. Promise I'll make this as painless as I possibly can." The sharp edge of his voice made it all seem like lies and Jin was right. From behind him, the Croagunks jabbed their glowing fists into Jin's sides, making a howl of pain rip itself out of his throat.

As he fell to his knees, clutching at the burnt spots of his clothes and the irritated skin, the man stood over him, looking more like a shadow than a person.

"G'night, kid." Without hesitation, he jammed the taser at Jin, shocking him into submission.

"Now, friends," the man called, raising his hands up slightly. "It's time to bring back the catch to the Master."

He glanced behind him, at a certain patch of bushes. "But before that, we'll take care of the trash."

Pain. Just a throbbing festival of Explouds thumping and screaming in my head.

The first thing I saw when I tried to open my eyes was just a lot of blurry gray. I kept blinking, trying to ignore the headache.

Then I remembered what the hell happened.

"Shit!" I jolted up, but then cringed. I couldn't move my hands and they were tied tightly behind me. My back ached like something terribly, but at least my vision cleared after the pain. I tried to stand up, but I stumbled back down, face-first, painfully. The stone ground really didn't help the headache and I just laid there, my cheek squished against the cool stone. I couldn't do anything anyway. I had bruises all over my body (presumably, since everything hurt), and I just wanted to close my eyes and go back to sleep. I tried not to think about the mess that was my throbbing shoulder.

But Zangoose…

"Get up."

I turned my head, my shoulder jutting uncomfortably against the floor.

What the hell.

A Shiftry. The leaves and woody skin and all. Talking. What the heck was it doing in here, and was it telling me to get up?

"Yes, I told you to get up," The masculine voice was definitely coming from him. How was he talking? I bit down a gasp and struggled to get on my feet. I didn't think I could do it; my hands were tied and I was too tired to clench those abs to get up.

"Too weak?" Shiftry stared at me with his neon yellow eyes. Piercing. I shivered and grunted. Hopefully he would get the hint as I flopped my tied hands. "Don't think I'm going to untie your hands, human."

I sighed. So much for that attempt.

He clopped closer, his wooden geta-like shoes like high heels against the floor. Or maybe like a horse. His leaves firmly grasped my arms and I pressed my lips together. His mane of white was scratchy against the ripped parts of my clothing. But he smelled like forests, something I wished I was in. Anything was better than here.

He let out a grunt. "I wish I could go back to the forest as well," when he spoke, it was slightly wistful, but in a moment's notice, his eyes hardened again.

"But I obey the Master."

I forgot that Shiftry could read minds.

"Yes, you did." With a rough pull, Shiftry helped me to my feet, supporting me with an angry expression. If I asked him who the Master was, he'd get angrier. And I wouldn't get a reply anyway.

"Smart one."

I couldn't blame him, though. This place made me a little angry, all dreary and cold, so why couldn't he be angry? Whatever he was doing, I was putting more work for him.

But really, wouldn't it be easier to just let me go on my merry way? And find Zangoose, for that matter?

"I can't do that—" His face suddenly changed, morphing into one of surprise. I blinked, staring at him. Did I smell bad or something?

"Sorry, I might be a little dirty from being thrown mercilessly onto the ground, so excuse that," I replied dryly, turning away.

"No…" Shiftry sniffed me slightly and continued looking confused. "Never mind. You smell familiar."

I shook my head. What a weirdo. Shiftry sent me a dirty look and I just laughed sheepishly. He prodded my back with his leaf hands and we began walking. But I was right; it was dirty in here. Maybe it would get cleaner, but I wasn't sure. Right now, the entire tunnel was stone and it was strange, hearing nothing but our footsteps echoing. No noise.

Was it soundproofed? Why did it even need to be soundproofed?

There were small niches in the tunnel. I was probably thrown into one of them, but most of them were empty. It seemed like two of them were occupied by people, males, both of them. They were in different areas, but I presumed they were caught at the same time.

I felt sorry for them.

But I kinda felt more sorry for myself than them. I couldn't afford to care about anyone at the moment. Shiftry glanced at me and I shrugged.

Can you stop reading my mind, sheesh.

"I can't help it," He spoke out loud. It almost sounded like he was laughing. "Without even asking, I can hear your thoughts echoing in my mind. It only gets worse the more people there are."

Shiftry began to walk faster, poking my sides. The tunnel had cleared and the floor was no longer stone. Beneath our feet, the clattering of the wiry metal walkways echoed around the dome-like chamber. Here, it was much louder. Screaming, wailing, crying, everything seemed to be amplified tenfold and I couldn't help but cringe.

No wonder why Shiftry looked so angry.

Leading me past several barred cells, discomfort settled under my skin. I still had no idea what the heck was going on. Zangoose was still missing, and I was disoriented, and all in all, this wasn't a good scenario for me. The chances of me finding him was getting slimmer each step I took.

From behind the cells, I could make out people-shaped shadows. Some of them were curled up, maybe crying. Others were shaking the bars desperately, their faces twisted and bloody. I bit my lip. It looked like an abusive prison...

"Here's your cell," Shiftry growled brusquely and opened the gates to a smallish cell. With a flick of his arm, he cut the bonds, then slammed it shut. For a moment, he was still, and I was still. We were looking at each other, trying to understand each others' intentions, but he broke it, choosing to walk away.

I crawled to my feet, my butt aching. Rubbing my bottom, my eyes still needed to adjust to the darkness. However, I soon realized I wasn't alone. I heard a shuffling coming from the corner, where a bunk bed was propped up.

"H...hello?" My voice shook.

No reply, just more shuffling. By now, I could make out shapes and inched forwards. Slowly. I hoped whoever I was sharing this cell with was normal and sane and not a serial killer or something.

Then I made out blonde hair and a familiar childish, heart-shaped face.

Her eyes widened once she recognized me as well.

"You're stuck here too?" I managed to croak out. She nodded, pulling her knees closer to her body. She was sitting in the farthest corner on the bottom bunk, as if she wanted to phase out of existence.

I released a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

"Well, why don't we start off our...erm, re-introduction a little better this time?" I walked closer to her and stuck out a grubby hand. She looked equally grubby so I was sure she wouldn't mind.

"What's your name?" I prompted her, staring at her pointedly.

She muttered something that I couldn't hear and a frown crossed my face.

"I can't hear you," I dropped my hand.

"I said," her voice almost gravelly, "my name is Viola."

My frown was quickly replaced with the sunniest smile I could muster. "A pleasure to meet you, Viola. What a pretty name!" I wanted to avoid the topic of my name. What was my name, really? I could barely remember and could barely gather my thoughts.

I had never really needed one. No one called me, and perhaps, in those years spent traveling, I had forgotten. But if that was the case, Zangoose probably remembered.

Viola briefly made a discontent noise.

"What's...your name?" She asked, averting her eyes.

"Oh, me?" I laughed, trying to cover my panic. Palms sweaty. Names floated in my head like a bunch of confused Spinda. "My name's—"

Before I could blurt out the first word I thought of, the sudden crackling behind me made me jump up in fright. Viola covered her eyes, but peeked through her fingers at whatever made the noise.

When I turned, I realized there was a TV in the room. Admittedly not the best kind, it was kind of a dinky, big, black antique nailed to the wall in a haphazard way. A part of me was afraid it would fall and end up crushing me.

The screen fuzzed out for a moment, but even through the heavily pixelated screen, I could make out a boy. Or a man. He had dots of reddish brown hair that presumably covered his head. He was in a ring, bright with lights and stunningly white. Beside him, a green blob kinda fluttered, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"This is some bad shit, huh? Looks like a 100 pixel icon!" I exclaimed. They were moving at least, but to the center and not out of the ring.

The crowd was cheering wildly, and the intercom buzzed to life.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The lights dimmed in the crowd and the resolution began to clear up. Bandages and blue, hard eyes were all I could see of the man/boy standing there. "We will present our little hero! Our first, and only S-classified guest in our fun game! No one other than,"

Lights flashed and the crowd went wild again, the hoarse yelling and screaming almost blowing my hearing even though it was just through some stupid, shit-quality speakers.

"Vincent! Vincent Feng, a prodigy at surviving and a prodigy at killing!"

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A/N: And another OC is added to the fray, or maybe two more, if you count the "trash!" And our second OC name has come up, and maybe a few more will be introduced next chapter, we'll see!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter; leave your thoughts and comments below on what's gonna happen next chapter~

-Vis