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Attention, this IS NOT an April Fools day joke - I just wanted to upload on my favorite day of the year. Two chapters will be uploaded today. Author comments will be at the end of chapter 49.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GORE AND IS RATED M. If you are uncomfortable with gore, I would advise skipping the last half of the last section. You'll understand what is going to happen by about that time.
Previously on An Apple a Day:
While attending a fashion show in Cereal City, Anita and her Pokemon are kidnapped in a truck. Apple rescues Fiery when he nearly drowns during the kidnapping, and Splash has stolen a water stone. Erin immediately suspects Carly, but her sister (Melanie) intervenes, convincing Erin to chase the truck in Melanie's car.
Meanwhile, back in Drape Town, Landon – Liam's cousin who Liam rescued from the tsunami after traveling back in time – has escaped. Because Liam knows the Mew-DNA-tracking machine went off, and that Arkle's next move would be to try to catch Mew, when he finds out Anita and her Pokemon were kidnapped, he further suspected one of them as Mew.
In a phone call with Erin, Erin tells Liam she knows he's a gym leader. When Liam finds many of the gym leaders are chasing after Anita, Liam tells her to stop following – that it's a trap.
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Chapter 48: Of Little Faith
"I'm worried about Tweal. Griffy can't sense him any more," I said, cradling Griffy's head in the back seat of Melanie's convertible. Griffy was in desperate need of a Pokemon Center—while revives were able to bring him back into consciousness, no potion could heal the deep bite marks deforming his legs. If we weren't in need of his psychic abilities, I wouldn't have put him through the pain.
{Please, don't worry about me, Miss Erin. I can better maintain my focus without such thoughts,} Griffy said.
{And find chirp-face!} Griffy's tail added, cheerfully chewing up Melanie's back seat.
Missy was unusually solemn, watching the river we drove beside and occasionally feeding Griffy's tail a handful of stuffing pulled out of the seat.
"I'm sure Tweal's just out of your Giraffarig's range," Melanie said. Her phone rang for about the millionth time and she ignored it again, keeping her eyes on the road and frequently peering past her headlights into the darkness to look for any sign that Kyle had ventured from the river. The water gym leader was far ahead of us now, speeding down the Nutshell River on his Swampert. Tweal had relayed directions from above, keeping an eye on the truck and Kyle.
At the delta where the Krunked River split from Nutshell, apparently the ice gym leader had joined the chase. There was a track of ice right up to the delta where she and her Dewgong had hopped in the water. Kyle and the ice gym leader had turned up the Krunked River to follow the truck, which Tweal reported had been telekinetically lifted over the river.
The truck had also apparently became intangible when water and ice attacks were directed it, indicating the involvement of ghost Pokemon. I suspected the truck itself was powered by Pokemon; the truck had maintained approximately a hundred meter lead on the gym leaders no matter how much the leaders sped up or slowed.
While I had a psychic and ghost Pokemon at my disposal, neither was strong enough to lift the entire convertible across the river. We'd driven a mile downstream to where the riverside road crossed the Nutshell River and then backtracked to the delta in order to follow the truck. Unfortunately, Tweal's psychic signature had disappeared while we detoured to cross the river. Melanie was right; we could just be out of range.
I looked at my watch. It'd been a good ten minutes since Griffy lost contact with Tweal. We'd watched the dim lights of the Drape Town border come and go.
And where was Liam? He was supposed to be here minutes ago. I'd agreed to wait for him to show up before following Anita into the trap Liam so adamantly believed was lurking ahead. Of course, Melanie had made no such promises, and there was absolutely nothing I could do to prevent her from driving us after the truck. Pity.
{Stop the car,} Griffy said. Melanie gave me a questioning look, and I nodded. I couldn't remember the last time Griffy had used an imperative tone—something was wrong. Griffy's eyes fluttered shut in concentration as Melanie slowed the car. {There's an incredibly strong psychic presence half a mile ahead in the Apoosh forest.}
"Anita?" I asked.
{Certainly not Anita. She's nowhere near as strong. It feels like more than one Pokemon, overwhelming to even sense.} Griffy shuddered. {I can sense the gym leaders' presence as well, Miss. Barely.}
"Then we have to keep going. Melanie—"
{No. If we go any further, the psychic Pokemon will sense our presence. My communication of this psychic presence is lacking, but I have no words to describe the force I feel. I must advise that we wait for Liam, whose presence will not be sensed.}
"Who knows how long that will take? We need to keep track of Anita. Can you sense the truck or Tweal?"
Griffy shook his head.
I suddenly felt very cold. {Have suggestion,} Missy said from within my body. {Let's investigate. Won't sense me if I fade.}
{I disagree, Miss Missy. They will sense you if they're looking.}
Missy's idea was risky. But so was waiting—we could lose Anita's trail. "Melanie, if I'm not back in thirty minutes, drive to Zahavah City and alert anyone who will listen of what's happened," I said. "If Liam shows up… Well, he probably won't listen to a thing I say anyway." Melanie yelped when Missy turned my body invisible.
Griffy's tail paused momentarily from its car seat meal to inspect my invisibility. {You are the anchovies under the pizza skin.}
{Thanks, I think,} I said as Missy floated me out of the car. We followed Griffy's directions towards the psychic presence, keeping along the river for about half of a mile. The experience was less disconcerting than it had been while ghosting underground with Mel. We weren't constantly passing through solid objects, at least.
I worried how we would find the psychic presence until the ice track left by the ice gym leader in the river abruptly banked ashore, swiveling into Apoosh Forest.
Liam's words, "It's a trap" rang through my mind.
I felt Missy grin. {We trap them. We never trapped.}
{Let's just find Tweal and Anita,} I said. We followed the ice trail into the woods, remaining invisible. {There's no trail from the truck anymore,} I noted.
"Magnemite, thunderwave," a man with a low, hoarse voice ordered. I panicked. We were caught, we'd need to alert—light briefly flared behind the trees ahead of us. "Someone put that damn girl to sleep."
{No trust me? Nobody knows we're here,} Missy said.
{Let's float higher, just in case.}
Missy complied. We floated above the treetops, abruptly stopping when the clearing ahead of us came into view. I blinked, finding it odd how well I could make out every bush, tree, and human with just the moonlight.
{No need light for sight,} said Missy. {Not with me.}
I nodded and looked directly down.
Five of the eight gym leaders stood in a semicircle facing a Hypno. Abalina stood barefoot, wearing a light green dress next to her Leafeon. Aden and Kyle stood on either side of her, their Flareon and Vaporeon curled next to each other, asleep. Next to Kyle was the ice gym leader and her Glaceon. Dustin, his twin sister, and their Eevees stood on the outer edge of the semicircle. Each of their faces was void of emotion, staring at the Hypno in some sort of trance. A chill that had nothing to do with Missy ran down my back.
The clearing beyond the semicircle was dotted with over a dozen Drowzees, their arms swaying in sync. Men dressed in black stood in clusters amongst the Drowzees. An unusual cluster, standing directly behind the Hypno, comprised of a man whose bald spot was prominent from above, a serious-looking Gallade holding a Shroomish, and a blonde woman leaning against the Gallade—
{Shit, that woman leaning on the Gallade—that's Styx. She's totally knocked out.} I said. {And the gym leaders, are they being brainwashed?} I watched the Hypno swing its pendulum, looking from gym leader to gym leader. What was the psychic Pokemon communicating? The pendulum swung left and right, left and right, left—
{Doduo-head, stop looking,} Missy snapped. {See by forest edge, tire trail.}
My attention was turned from the pendulum to a set of thick tire tracks that wound through the clearing. At the edge of the clearing, where the forest suddenly thickened, the tracks disappeared. My mind fuzzily tried to understand why the tracks were more important than the pendulum…
Tweal! Tweal and Anita and the truck. There was no sign of any of them in the clearing.
I wasn't sure what was going on with the gym leaders, but Styx was only asleep. Maybe Missy could get the Gallade to drop her…
I searched the ground where Styx and the Gallade had stood moments before, only to find they were gone. My throat tightened. If they teleported Styx away, perhaps the others would be taken soon. {Alright, Missy, we've got to help the gym leaders. I want you to set me down behind the Hypno. I'll distract it while you slide through the gym leaders to see if you can break this brainwashing session, like you did with the poison Pokemon in Cereal City. Got it?}
Missy's response was to dive, cackling in my head.
We never reached the ground—mid-drop, a large black bird snapped onto the cuff of my blouse, yanking Missy and me into the visible spectrum. The bird swerved, speeding away from the clearing.
As I attempted to crane my head around, the bird released me. Plummeting, I looked up and saw large black and red wings, a funny shaped head. Had to be a Honchkrow.
I only had a moment to worry about falling to my death before the Honchkrow was under me. I landed with my back to the Honkchrow's head and was surprised to find myself face to face with a Mightyena. How odd.
A flash of red momentarily blinded me. When I blinked, I Liam was sitting across from me nearly on the Honchkrow's tail, his feet hooked behind the Honchkrow's wings. He wore a long cloak, billowing behind him in the wind.
"Nice of you to finally drop by," I said dryly. "I'm sure your bird appreciates the extra wind drag you're hauling along."
Liam frowned. With dark bags under his eyes and the wind whipping his hair, he looked tired and disheveled. "You were supposed to wait."
"How'd you find Missy?" I asked. Liam raised an eyebrow. The Mightyena, I thought. The attack Odor Sleuth makes ghost Pokemon visible to the user. "Nevermind," I grumbled as I internally checked that Missy was still in my body.
She confirmed her presence by declaring, {I make us fast escape to find Anita if he gives us beefy answer.}
{Beefy?}
{Beefy like fighting type. Dumb, 'cause goes right through me.}
Another time, I thought, lifting my head to glare at Liam. "I wasn't going to sit here and wait while those creeps took Anita further away. And I have no idea what they've done with Tweal. While you were lollygagging, I was trying to save my kidnapped friend and Pokemon."
"And here I thought you were attempting to get yourself killed." Liam's voice was scratchy. I could barely hear him over the wind.
I ignored the jibe. "If you had given Missy the chance to de-brainwash the gym leaders, or undo whatever spell that Hypno had on them, they'd be able to help. By the time we come up with a plan, the Hypno might be long gone, and who knows what'll happen with the gym leaders."
"If Missy was given an attempt to counter the Hypno's brainwashing, you would both be dead. Missy could not undo what has been done."
"You weren't at Cereal City—when Missy flew through brainwashed poison Pokemon, they returned to normal."
"It would not have worked here," Liam insisted.
"Right, what do you know about brainwashing?" I asked. Liam didn't answer. He instead peered over the Honchkrow's wing. "That's right, didn't think so. Now let's turn this bird—"
"Honchkrow, drill peck!"
Suddenly we plummeted downwards. The ground was rushing towards us much to quickly, and I was pretty my stomach had been left fifty feet behind us. I saw the Honchkrow's target a moment before we hit—a Yanmega, giving off an angry sound. Had my hands not been clutching the Honchkrow's feathers, I would have covered my ears to shut out the painful noise.
The Honchkrow's attack knocked out the Yanmega. I turned around and saw Liam had released his cloak. It covered a shape plummeting to the ground, struggling to escape.
Liam's Honchkrow fluttered to the ground. Melanie's car was just ahead.
Liam leapt off the Honchkrow. "The man who kidnapped Anita is Jamie Arkle. As I'm sure you recall, Dustin Blavoid arrested Arkle in Cereal City. He escaped, evidently. The Yanmega and Togekiss that we were nearly attacked by are his Pokemon. You can be sure that when Arkle has the resources to do so, he'll send more." Liam returned the Honchkrow to his Pokeball before I had the chance to get off. I landed on my butt. Hard.
"Now if you are finished sitting around," Liam continued, the green tint of his eyes reflecting brightly, "I'll tell you and your sister all about Jamie Arkle and his brainwashing techniques so we may devise an organized, well-thought-out plan to rescue Anita."
o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o
I awoke to soft whistling. It was a repetitive irritating sound, like an alarm clock that I couldn't reach.
My head felt like it'd been hit by a Rhydon, and my body felt like I'd been hugged by one. When I opened my eyes, my vision was a blur of shadows. I tried to rub my eyes, but found both of my hands were tied behind my back pressed against a cold stone wall. I tried to send out my mind, but discovered I could not.
My breath came up short. This had to be a dream. I yanked my hands sharply, and my wrists snapped back into the wall, as if held by a rubber band. I gasped as pain ricocheted up my wrist to my elbow.
I remembered darkness at the catwalk. I remembered falling.
The whistling stopped. "Anita Parkwood, good to see you're finally awake," a voice said in a silky tone that reminded me of Carly's when she was preparing one of her petty schemes. This voice, however, was deep and rough, utterly contrasting the high lilt of Carly's.
I blinked until I could see. I was in what appeared to be some sort of prison cell. Three walls were made of dull grey stone, splotched with patches of white mold. There were no windows. I had no way of telling what time it was.
I looked to my right and found I was not alone in the cell—beside me, Sunflower was strapped with her right side to the wall. Metal cuffs trapped each of her legs to the wall and a dark band nailed to the wall held down her tail.
Because I couldn't grasp my gift, I assumed I was tied to the wall with a dark band as well.
The wall across from me was actually a large mesh door. Directly behind the door was a gaunt man with large glasses and hair combed over in an unsuccessful attempt to hide a bald spot. He was wearing a lab coat and baggy jeans, both of which swallowed his body with their size.
"Who the hell are you?" I spat. "What do you want?"
"I'm Jamie Arkle. As to what I want, well, that depends on what you are."
"What I am?" I squinted beyond the man. There was a small window high on the wall behind him, but I couldn't see whether it led to the outside or not. Besides the window, the wall behind Jamie made of the same bare stone as my holding cell. A man in a dark outfit walked past my cell, not sparing me a glance. I'd seen those outfits before. "You're a Glop'emm member." Panic rose in my chest—or rather, more panic. "Where are my other Pokemon?"
"Your Pokemon will be safe as long as you tell me the location of Mew. Or if you happen to be Mew, a simple demonstration is all that is necessary."
Was this man related to Liam? Liam had flown off… had he been working for this Arkle? What had he told this man? I fought tears and the clenched feeling of my throat. Would Liam really betray…?
Yes, a small voice in my head confirmed. And you've known it since day one you stupid, stupid girl.
I should have run with Apple when I had the chance.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I managed to whisper. The lie sounded flimsy, even to me.
"Nonsense. You've gotten to know a good friend of mine very well over the past month—one Liam Mendol. I'm sure you know by now that he is a very bright boy… so when he informed me you had a connection to Mew, I knew it was true."
Liam? Or maybe Arkle was just baiting me. Angrily, I pulled my wrists again, to no avail.
"So Anita, where is Mew?" Arkle asked, smiling slightly.
"I. Don't. Know," I said through clenched teeth. I silently wished ceiling tiles would fall and crush his skull. "You're certainly looking in the wrong places, though. Everyone knows Acceber doesn't have legendary Pokemon."
"You do know where Mew is," Arkle said angrily, rattling the mesh door with his hands. He took a step back, the cool façade returning to his face. "Guess I'll just have to torture it out of you."
He wouldn't… But there was a feverish gleam in his eyes. My stomach clenched and my toes wriggled uncomfortably. I'd do anything for Apple, I told myself. I repeated the mantra, but the fear didn't leave my stomach. "I don't know anything."
"Well, it doesn't matter, really. Even if you don't know, even if you're not Mew, you'll be an excellent experimentation subject." Arkle grinned. "I win either way."
"I have powerful friends and connections. The gym leaders will find you. If you torture me, you can be sure my friends will do the same to you and more."
"Oh, it's not you I intend to hurt. Not physically, anyway. And I doubt I'll have to worry about the gym leaders."
I stared after Arkle as he walked away briskly.
Closing my eyes, I tried to force myself into the calm state of mind. I had to get Apple out of here.
Anything for Apple. Anything.
o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o
I was pacing across the cramped, pitch-black cell when Fiery awoke. My paws made no sound against the smooth rock floor as I paced. The cell was so small that if I took four steps from one wall, my nose was flattened mid-fourth step against the opposite wall. Thus, I paced across the cell in sets of three steps. My tail brushed across a stone wall each time I turned, creating just a whisper of a rustle, like a broom sweeping a slick floor.
Fiery was oblivious to the sound of my tail brushing the wall in his sleep, but he leapt to his feet in surprise when he awoke to the soft rustling. Attempting to attack, he drew a small fireball in his mouth. The red, flickering light momentarily lit the rings on my legs, tail, and ears. Then the fire extinguished, and the room smelled of smoke.
"Idiot," I coughed. "There's only one small vent in this place. We could choke to death."
"Apple, sorry," Fiery said in a rough voice. I blinked, not expecting the apology. I heard him lay back down, shuddering. Even as a dark-type Pokemon, with the ability to see in near darkness, I couldn't see through this veil of black—I needed any small flicker of light.
I paused my pacing, and lit my tail with an iron tail attack. Fiery was sprawled across the floor with his head between his paws, exhausted. The golden-yellow shimmers that danced across his fur whenever I moved my tail did funny things to my stomach, which I chose to ignore.
"Didn't mean to make the smoke," Fiery rasped. "Was the last of the fire power I had left extinguishing." Fiery met my gaze and abruptly said, "You saved me."
I knew he wasn't talking about the smoke. Trapped under water, swimming beneath the glass floor. Dragging Fiery desperately. Feeling the edges of my vision darken from lack of oxygen. The memories flashed briefly before me, like snapshots of a nightmare. Another minute under water and Fiery would have died.
Closing my eyes, I shivered. When I opened my eyes, Fiery was standing before me. He licked my nose. "Thank you."
I moved forward, rubbing my face against Fiery's soft mane. I was pleased when he didn't move away. "Don't thank me yet," I said, my voice muffled by Fiery's fur. "We're trapped in an underground Team Glop'emm base."
"The others?"
"Reaching out with my powers, I felt Tweal four cells to our left," I said, sniffing in Fiery's warm, sooty scent, like wood burning in a fireplace. "I overheard one of our kidnappers say that there was no room left in the cells down here for the others, but I don't know who else that includes or where they might be. I haven't felt Anita at all, but my psychic powers only extend about twenty meters in any direction at the moment and this place is much bigger than that. We're on the lowest floor, and there are at least two floors above us."
Fiery tensed. "Any way out?" he asked.
I briefly sent out my mind. Perhaps, this time I would find…
Nothing.
I took a step back, shaking my head. "I haven't found a way out, and I don't have the strength to read any of the guards' minds—I can't even communicate with Tweal. He's too far," I said bitterly. "We can iron tail our way out eventually, but there's a solid meter of stone in any direction." I didn't want to tell Fiery the rest, but now that I was speaking, I couldn't seem to stop. "The other Pokemon here… there's something wrong with them. Some of them never stop shaking, and others stare blankly, sitting in the same position for hours like they're stuffed dolls. I saw a Vulpix knocked out by sleeping gas through the cell vent and taken away—"
"We'll be okay," Fiery said. He matched my step backwards with a step forwards.
I realized my paws were trembling and nearly snorted. How pathetic. Forcing my paws to still, I said, "There's one way out—Team Glop'emm's is after Mew."
"You don't know that."
I gave Fiery a how-dense-can-you-get look, but said, "Whether or not Team Glop'emm is after Mew, transforming back into Mew and then into a ghost Pokemon will give us the chance to escape and find the others."
"And then?" Fiery's eyes were intense, glittering with something more than the reflected light from my tail.
Looking at Fiery's eyes, there was no need to answer his question. We both knew what would happen. Escaping the cell by transforming would prove I was Mew. Even if we managed to escape this time, Team Glop'emm would have the knowledge of who I'd travelled with. Anita or Fiery or Splash or Erin or anyone might be captured and tortured, either for information or because they knew I'd reveal myself as soon as one of my friends was in danger.
And we were certainly in danger now.
If I turned myself in now, I could at least ensure their safety.
"Don't," Fiery said. He took another step forward, rubbing the tip of his nose from my cheek to my ear, down my neck—
"I have to," I said.
Fiery's ears were laid back, his head just below mine. "Do you trust Anita?"
"Of course."
"What about Erin and my siblings? What about the gym leaders we've met, Mel, and Styx? What about everyone who fought with us in Cereal City—"
"Yes, I trust them, too."
"Then have some faith. One of our friends will rescue us—Team Glop'emm can't have captured all of them. Anita has worked tirelessly to ensure your identity wasn't discovered. If you transform now, you'd be betraying your trust in her." Fiery met my gaze steadily. I found it ironic that Fiery, of all Pokemon, was lecturing me on trust. Fiery, who barely trusted anyone, who barely trusted Anita.
"…alright," I said.
Fiery's nose skimmed my belly so unexpectedly that I released my iron tail. I nipped his ear, and soon we were two balls of fur rustling and rolling in the dark, blissfully ignoring the trouble brewing outside of our cell.
Faithfully awaiting our rescue.
o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o
"Splash, wake up." Something wet nudged the underside of my foot, like the time I'd stepped on a squishy frog. "Oi. Come on, Spash—ow!"
I grinned, peeking an eye open. Allo lay with his head next to my foot pawing at his nose. Having spiky fur was awesome.
I tried to stick my tongue out at Allo, but something was heavy in my mouth. I gagged, but that accidently lodged the thing in my mouth into my throat. Shakily, I rose to my feet, trying to hack up whatever was caught. Maybe Jolteons could get cat qualities—that would explain the spiky fur ball in my throat. Jolteon fur balls had to be spiky.
Something hit the back of my neck. The object in my throat promptly fell out. It was a water stone.
"Whoa," I said, staring at the glittering stone. "That's the best power…" I suddenly realized the room I was in was very small. So small that sitting up, my ears brushed the ceiling. The walls, floor, and ceiling were squishy and white, like toothpaste that didn't stick. Light streamed through one window stretching across an entire wall, illuminating the room with bright, fluorescent light. "Huh, where are we? Where's Anita?"
Allo frowned, his tail lowering from above my head. "You don't remember?"
"Remember what?"
"Getting knocked out and kidnapped."
"Oh. I thought Anita returned me to my Pokeball." That's what she usually did to keep me from having too much fun. Fiery always said too much of my fun could get me killed so I was glad I had Anita.
But it looked like that wasn't the case this time—we were trapped like pickles in a jar. Suddenly, the enclosure seemed much too small. I shivered, my spiky fur rising to hackles, poking the foamy ceiling. I turned to the window and charged.
"Splash, don't—"
I hit the window. Hard. Pearly swirls of blue and white light floated in my eyesight. I almost giggled, maybe someone shoved a blender in the sky.
"My iron tail wouldn't break through. It's useless to try," Allo said.
Slowly, my vision cleared. Our enclosure was built into the wall, a long way up from the tiled floor covering a long corridor. Below, people wearing lab coats and Pokemon carrying clipboards scurried between long blue lab tables. Looking left and right, I couldn't see the end of the huge hallway. There was a familiar blonde girl wearing a lab coat like any of the others. I squinted.
"That Ditto girl who took care of us in Cereal City is down there." Three people in lab coats surrounded her, like Murkrows around a carcass. Only the girl was directing them. One lab coat man with large glasses and an ear that something must have nibbled at some point waved a large needle in front of her, but she shooed him away. I shivered again.
"We have to get out of here," I said, feeling a spark flicker across my fur. Thundershock, I ordered to myself, just the way Anita would. Sparks flew from my fur.
Allo growled. "You're only electrocuting me, not breaking out of here."
I scrunched my nose. Allo was always such a dumpy downer. "Well, I've got better escape plans than you," I said, preparing another thundershock. Not that I had to actually decide to prepare—my fur was awesome and automatically formed more static.
Allo sighed. "Actually, I do have a decent idea." I turned my head around and found Allow sniffing the water stone. He glanced up. "It involves me evolving and you peeing."
"Okay, I'm in."
o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o
Two men dressed in white lab coats led me through a twisted passage, my arms still tightly secured behind my back by a dark band. We passed several tall doors, some with dark windows and a few with 'Security Clearance Necessary' signs. A small diamond-shaped device jutted out of the wall next to each door, which I realized was a thumbprint scanner when a Glop'emm lackey scanned a door open to drag through a cart of Pokeballs.
I searched the passage for an exit, to no avail. As I was pushed through the hall, I didn't see a single window or feel a breeze from any open door. Escaping would be a problem; even if I could get away from my two guards, there was nowhere for me to run to, and the thumbprint doors limited the available hiding places.
Where was Apple in this maze?
I couldn't even wake Sunflower up, I thought miserably as I dragged my shoes across the tiled floor. Trapped next to my Espeon, and I couldn't get her to budge in all four hours I'd been awake. If all of my other Pokemon were knocked out, I couldn't rescue them even if I knew their location. Even if I wasn't tied.
What did Team Glop'emm want with Mew? I looked from one guard to the other, wondering if the two were twins or if Team Glop'emm had finally invented a creepy clone machine. Both guards had hard, stoic faces accented by wiry mustaches that hid their mouths from view. Did these two want Mew, too? Would they get to share in the glory of capturing or destroying Mew? Did they even know what their leader, this Jamie loon, thought I was?
I cleared my throat to ask, but when I opened my mouth all the words seemed to be sucked down the passage, ricocheting off of walls and mocking my inability to speak, to rebel, to do something.
The guards finally stopped in front of a door that looked no different to me than any of the others. On my left, mustache guard number one reached forward to scan his finger. I took the opportunity to make a run for it—
A large green Pokemon barreled into my stomach, knocking me back towards the open door. I managed to grunt an, "Ooph" before falling to the ground, my legs a twisted mess and my hands crushed under my weight.
A Gallade hovered over me, the Pokemon that had apparently tackled me.
My two guards picked me up by the elbows and dragged me into the room as the Gallade watched emotionlessly, leaning against the doorframe. I was in a laboratory. Cabinets of pristine glassware lined the walls hovering over spotless counters. Like the hallways, no windows provided light—only harsh florescent bulbs that reminded me of a hospital. The room smelled like a hospital, too.
There was a large lab table in the center of the room. My heart thudded in my throat as the guards pulled a chair in front of the table and pushed me into it. I struggled to keep my composure, to keep from bolting to the door and getting thrown down by the Gallade again. Something about the room made my skin crawl. Even as the guards began to tie my legs and arms to the chair, I frantically searched for an escape, for something. Anything.
My eyes fell to the Gallade. A blond boy stood just outside the doorway, speaking quietly to the Pokemon.
I blinked, recognizing the bleached hair. My heart pounded wildly as it grabbed onto a glimmer of hope. "Reece!" I yelled.
The guards tying me didn't flinch or try to keep me quiet, continuing their work as if they didn't hear me. Reece turned his head and looked at me through hollow eyes, wearing a solemn expression that I had never expected to see on his face. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at me, as if fighting an inner debate.
Jamie passed behind Reece through the doorway into the lab. Reece closed his eyes slowly, turned, and walked away from the doorway. The Gallade followed him, shutting the lab door.
Only after hearing the soft clang of the closing door, did I notice I could hear a smothered screech. Goosebumps rippled up my arms as I located the source—Jamie held Vanilla by her ears. Her mouth was covered with a piece of tape, and her paws and tail were tied to her chest with a scarlet ribbon.
Anger and fright twisted through my stomach, the vortex making my limbs lash wildly. "It's not you I intend to hurt. Not physically, anyway," he had told me. I wanted the florescent lights to burst, the ceiling to crash down, the guards to be splotches of blood on the laboratory wall. I wanted to force my consciousness into Jamie's head and terrorize him until he'd rather eat his own flesh than touch my Pokemon again.
And only the small black band rubbing against my wrists stopped me.
"Let her go," I said coldly, fighting the feeling of helplessness that was worming its way back through my anger.
Jamie gestured, and one of my guards dragged a chair in front of Jamie. Vanilla was dropped sideways on the chair, her eyes conveying terror my mind couldn't reach.
"Please, I'll do… anything," I said. It was a lie. I wished it wasn't.
Jamie frowned. "Disappointing. You don't even know what I'm going to do, yet, and you're already pleading. Keep it up and this won't last as long as I wanted. No fun in that." Jamie reached into his lab coat and pulled out a large pair of shears, the sharp metal glinting as he turned it over in his hands. He suddenly reached down and yanked Vanilla upright. He held the shears in his left hand, opening them over the tip of Vanilla's ear.
"Tell me where Mew is or I'll slice off your Eevee's ear sliver by sliver."
My legs were trembling. Vanilla's eyes pleaded. I forced myself to keep my gaze on her as I said, "I don't know where Mew is."
A soft snip. The tip of Vanilla's ear plopped to the ground. She thrashed, but didn't utter a single sound as blood streamed down her ear, weaving through her fur, and trickling across her face.
Jamie moved the shears lower on Vanilla's ear. "Provide a decent piece of information about Mew, and perhaps I'll only cut off one ear."
How could the guards just watch? How could this man torture Vanilla and keep a smile plastered to his face? I felt sick, unclean, as if maggots dug into my skin, dug through to my heart. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be my life.
I signed up to be a trainer, to protect Apple, to help my Pokemon get stronger.
Snip.
Another ear sliver. This one fell on the chair, leaving a bloody print as it slid towards Vanilla's thigh.
"Mew's in Cape Caution," I said desperately. "I met her in a mansion—"
Snip. "Lies."
"I run errands, more a messenger—"
Snip.
Pleading. Lying. Screaming. Nothing stopped Jamie from severing Vanilla's ear a slice at a time. Vanilla's terror first transformed into agony, then into acceptance, and finally into fury. She stared at me as tears formed in her eyes and dripped into the puddle of blood at her feet.
I couldn't stop it. I deserved her fury. I deserved her pain.
I couldn't stop it.
So I watched.
