Chapter4
Alex whines softly in the cold semi-darkness as she rests her head onto her swollen paws and closes her eyes. "I should have known...I'll never be free." Alex said aloud. "So, you were caught too?" Alex lifted her head suddenly and looks into the darkness. "Who's there?" Alex calls. A small, slightly skinny Vulpix with ruffled fur appeared out of the darkness. "Who are you?" Alex said, slightly nervous. Could this be friend or foe? The Vulpix sighed and sat down next to her. "My name is Sparkle. I was captured too..." The Vulpix said no more and lay down on the floor. Silence lingered on for a while until Alex said, " I...I'm Alex. Where are we going? What's happening?" Without turning her head, Sparkle said simply "The pound." "Oh" Alex said, having no idea where the pound was...or what it was. Silence again. Finally, Alex said, "What's the pound?" The Vulpix turned and looked at her for a moment, then turned around again. "The pound is a place for unwanted pokemon...they can stay there for days or weeks before getting taken home...or...if someone doesn't come to get them...they..." Sparkles voice drifted off. Alex didn't say anything more...she didn't want to. She just lay back down onto the floor and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
******************
Alex was awoken by a sound of an open door. Out of habit, she quickly went into the corner to hide, remembering opened doors meant Master was coming...but something wasn't right, Alex noticed. She suddenly remembered all that had happened and relaxed, but only for a moment. She and Sparkle were quickly picked up and taken to a small carrier where there was soft blankets on the floor. Alex cuddled up in the blankets and sighed. She licked her slightly swollen paws as she was swung back and forth in a new surronding. "A least this is more comfortable than..." She stop, flinching at the thought. She shook her head, trying to forget her past when suddenly she stopped moving. She slowly lifted her head as a strange man outstretched his arm and grabbed her by the neck. Alex growled softly, but it was useless. She didn't have the strength to stuggle. She went limp and allowed the man to carry her to a medium sized cage. She was dropped in there and without a word, the man left. "...Alex?" a voice called softly. "Sparkle?"
"Yeah, it's me..."
"What are we going to do? We have to think of something!"
"There's nothing we can do but wait, Alex." Alex could here some movement in the cage beside her and she knew Sparkle had given up. "Come on, Sparkle, we have to escape!" Sparkles voice suddenly grew louder. "Don't you think I've tried that? I've been out there before...three times. And each time I was easily caught! Now I'm just giving up...it's no use." After that there was silence for quite a while. Alex sighed and looked around the cage. There was a sparkling bowl of water and she swiftly went over to it and drank the whole thing, eating the delicious smelling food too. "Wow," she thought, "I have never eaten food that good." She then lay down on the soft blanket under her and slept.