A/N: This was just something rolling around in my head. I hope you like it. If you do, please review. Then if you like digimon go and check out my other fics and review.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, but I do like them
It's my life: Our Journey
Chapter One: Rough Beginnings
I opened my eyes to stare into the big blue eyes of a little girl. She looked at me with pride and pure joy. I instantly fell in love those big beautiful eyes. I wish I could see them every second of the day. The look she gives me says the same thing.
"Oh wow! An Eevee! Thanks Mom!" she cries.
"You're very welcome, Catie," a mature feminine voice answers. "What are you going to call her?"
"I think… I think I'll call her Alyssa," Catie replies.
"Eevee ee!" I cry, so happy to belong to Catie.
"I think she likes it," Catie's mother says.
Then suddenly there is a knock at the door. Catie's mother gets up and opens the door, only to be shoved aside by a tall man wearing mostly black.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Catie's mother asks the man shakily.
"That is none of you business. We only came for the pokémon. Now get out of the way or I shall be forced to move you," the man replied in the coldest voice I have ever heard.
Before Catie's mother can say anything, two other men come through the door, grab her arms and drag her away. As she gets dragged away she manages to yell to her daughter.
"Run Catie! Run!" she cries before she is swept roughly out the door.
The first man now walked towards us. I know Catie wanted to run away, but she is so scared that she is frozen to her spot. Some instinct told me what to do. I concentrated hard, and eventually a light blue aura appeared around the man, lifting him up. After hovering for a few seconds, he suddenly flew backwards but not very far. He hit a wall but it wasn't enough to stop him. He motioned towards the door and two other men appeared. To my horror one of them grabbed Catie and roughly pulled her outside. I could hear her crying and screaming.
"What's the plan, Zander?" the man on my right asked.
"You are to take this creature to my lab. Do not begin until I get there. Understood? I want this one alive," the cold voice replied. I wondered what this "Zander" had in store for me as I was picked up. I struggled, but it didn't help, so I stopped.
Outside I saw Catie and her mother being restrained by men. The scared look on Catie's face gave me the will power to fight again and I struggled violently to escape the man's grasp.
"Oh no! Mommy look, they got Alyssa! Please, let my pokémon go! Please!!" Catie's plaintive cries reached my ears. I turned my head to look at her. The wind was blowing her soft brown hair in all directions, her big blue eyes now glistening with tears. So small and innocent. Then I couldn't see her anymore as the man holding me tossed me roughly into the back of a van.
The engine roared as they prepared to drive away. The doors of the van shut and I was left in darkness. I burned everything that had just happened into my memory. Then and there I vowed that I would escape, and that I would see Catie again. The thought of escape eased me to sleep in the back of the cold, dark van.
I awoke in a cold, damp, dark and moldy cell-like cage. The squeak of the hinges told me that someone had opened the door. A lady in a white lab coat walked in and set some food on the floor of the cage as she knelt down. Grateful, I ate all that I could. Then she took a small box out of her coat pocket. I looked quizzically at the box, and sniffed it curiously. She opened the box and took out a jagged stone, then held the stone over my head.
I could feel myself beginning to glow. I felt myself getting bigger, faster, stronger. Electricity coursed through every part of me. The hairs of my fur became long and sharp like needles. Then the glow faded away, and I knew I was different forever.
"Rest now. Your training starts tomorrow," the lady said and walked out of my cage.
Training? What training? was my first thought, then another, more panicked, thought came to mind. What just happened to me? What did that lady do to me?
I began to pace around the cage. It was quite small compared to Catie's house. About five feet on each side, and six feet tall. It was then I noticed the stone water trough in the back of the cage. I walked over and looked down into the water. The reflection was not the one I had known. The creature staring back at me had big almond-shaped eyes, yellow jagged fur with white fur around it's neck, it was taller than I had been, but it had the same black nose I had.
After all this sunk in, I realized what had happened. That stone had been a thunder stone. That lady had evolved me into a Jolteon. Hatred welled up in me. They're using me! They think that I'm just one of their pawns! I will make them pay for this! I found the driest spot I could and laid down to wait.
While I waited, my mind worked furiously. I sorted out a plan for escape, and then revenge. I must gain their trust. Then perhaps they will give me enough freedom to escape from here. Yes. I must gain their trust for anything to succeed. I hate them all, but I must gain their trust.
The next day a woman and a man came to my cell. They attached a collar around my neck then attached two leashes to the collar. Then they began to lead me out of my cell and down a damp hallway. As we walked the two humans conversed with one another.
"So Rachel, what do you think the boss is going to call this one?" the man said.
"I don't know Mike, and you know what? I don't really care!" the woman answered.
"You know, I kind of wish that I had been the one to evolve it. Jackie got all the fun of seeing it. I've been here longer so I should have done it. But no! The boss said to have Jackie do it. She's like, the boss' pet or something--"
"Mike, do me a favor," Rachel interrupted, "When we see the boss, shut up okay? Just let me handle this."
"Okay, okay, geez…"
Stupid humans.
A door slid open and we walked into a large office like room. I recognized the man at the desk at once. It was Zander. I told myself to calm down before I went and did something rash. Zander stood up and addressed the two holding my leashes.
"Well done. She gave you no trouble then?"
"No sir," Rachel replied.
"Good. Now, she is to be kept under close watch from now on. We will be teaching her things outside a Jolteon's normal range."
"Yes sir, constant watch sir," Rachel again replied. Mike seemed to be heeding her advise and keeping quiet.
"Next, there is the matter of her name. Hmmm… Let us call her Armada. Yes, that will suit her well."
That's not my name! my mind screamed in outrage. My name is Alyssa!! That is what Catie named me, and that will always be my name!
"Now that that is settled, take her to lab one and start running the tests. I shall be along shortly."
And with that Rachel and Mike dragged me out the door. I was so angry at Zander, I wanted to tear him apart. Then I reminded myself that for my plan to succeed, I needed his trust. But don't get too cocky, because I still hate you, and you will die by my paw!
I was dragged into a large room with many different machines. A tall man stood next to a particularly large machine. He had dark spiky hair, and lightly tanned skin. He hazel eyes reflected the same coldness I saw in every humans eyes in this place.
"Put it in there," he said pointing to the first machine.
"Hey Rachel, what does this thing do?" Mike whispered as they detached the leashes and stuffed me into a clear box of some sort.
"It raises a pokémon's attack power to extremely high levels. After that they're going to raise it's speed, defense, and special attack powers. Then it's up to the boss to see what they do next," she answered, more calmly than before.
"Oh," was all Mike said, then he closed the door to the machine and locked me in.
"The boss wants this one alive, Yuri, so no unauthorized experiments," Rachel said to the man across the room.
"What the boss wants, he gets. And you can quote me on that Rachel," Yuri replied in a cool, silky voice.
"Yeah, well, just make sure you don't mess up this time," said Rachel as she dragged Mike, who was staring at an oddly shaped machine, out the door.
Yuri walked over and pressed a few buttons on the machine I was in.
"Please enter access code," a monotone computerized female voice said.
"Yuri3-498," Yuri responded.
"Code accepted. Please enter pokémon specifications," the computer voice said again.
"Jolteon."
"Specifications entered. Please select program."
"Run programs one through four."
"Acknowledged. Running programs."
The next thing I heard was the whir of moving parts. Yuri placed a pair of sunglasses on and stepped back several paces. A light began to develop and steadily grow brighter. When the light reached its brightest, a searing white hot pain ran through me like a thunderbolt. It seemed to activate something in my muscles, making my stronger. The light changed colors from a bright white to a light blue. This ushered in a new wave of pain that seemed to make my fur like a coat of cement, only not as heavy. The light changed again to a bright yellow; another wave of pain, and the feeling of being faster than the speed of light. The last change was by far the worst. The bright salmon colored light sent the worst wave of pain I'd ever felt. I slowly sank down from the weight of the pain. Then voices crept into my mind. I heard screams and maniacal laughter, felt people's dieing moments as if they were happening to me. It was all to much for me to handle. An earth shattering scream tore out of my throat and I welcomed the darkness that came afterwards. The darkness held no pain, and I relished the silence and coldness.
The next day the fighting began. I was lead into a large, stadium like room with a marble floor dotted with small mountains of rock. Across half the room was a field and trees. Right in the center was a large pool of water.
Zander and Yuri walked in the door behind me and the person holding my leash. My collar was undone, and I was soon left alone with Zander and Yuri.
"Begin, Yuri," Zander said with slight impatience. "I want to see if she has accepted the new abilities properly."
"Of course sir," Yuri replied in his silky voice. He motioned to a large window above us and said, "Bring in the first opponent!"
Metal doors across the room began to slide open. A large green creature stepped on to the grassy field. The claws on it's feet dug into the ground and it stirred up dust by flapping it's four wings. Instead of hands it had curved, blade-like claws, and it's eyes were beady and ferocious.
"Scytherrrrr" it said in a low growl.
"No, don't attack. You can fight their control, I know you can!" I replied in pokétouge.
"What makes you so sure?" the Scyther, I now recognized as a male, replied.
"I'm sure because I don't want to have to hurt you. I don't know what they did to us, but they are evil and must be stopped!" I cried back.
"If you want to help me, then let my die like a true warrior. In battle!" He called, then began to run towards me.
I wasn't quite sure what to do. It took a few seconds, and then I realized that he wanted to die with at least some dignity. He would rather go out fighting, then slowly wither away. I decided to help him accomplish that.
Using my boosted speed I dodged him easily to the side. I ran up one of the rock formations and charged up a thunderbolt attack. The attack hit the Scyther dead center, and he faltered for a moment, but got up with ease.
"Stupid creature," Zander muttered, then called out to me. "Armada, use your Flamethrower attack!"
I have a fire attack?! Since when? I thought confused.
"Do it!!" Zander called more forcefully.
I concentrated hard. In response warmth formed in my throat. I opened my mouth and let loose a powerful stream of fire that enveloped the Scyther. I stopped attacking and saw the Scyther laying on the ground barely breathing. I jumped down from the rock ledge and stood next to him.
"I thank you for your help. You are special. You will liberate the lost ones…" His voice faded and he closed his eyes.
I was in shock. All I could do was lay down beside him and begin to cry.
Zander was not effected by the Scyther's death. He pulled out a small remote control and held his finger over a blue button.
"Get up, Armada."
Why!! my mind screamed in fury while tears rolled down my muzzle.
Zander must have taken my silence for a "no", because he pressed the blue button. Immediately my mind was filled with pain. I threw my head furiously from side to side trying to make it go away. Then as suddenly as it had come, the pain stopped.
"Disobedience means pain, Armada," Zander said softly and coldly.
My mind still shaken from the blast of pain, I did as I was told.
"Good," Zander said then turned back to Yuri. "Send in the next one."
The Scyther's body was teleported somewhere as soon as Yuri gave the signal. He waved again and the metal doors across the room opened again. Nothing happened for several seconds, then there was a rumbling in the floor. Ten feet away from me the ground fell away and a larger than normal Onix appeared.
The Onix growled and swung its' tail at the nearest rock structure sending a storm of rocks on top of me. Out of fear of being crushed, I dodged as many rocks as I could but still getting hit by some of the smaller stones. As the Onix sent more rocks down on me it got harder and harder to dodge them. After narrowly missing several large boulders, something in the back of my mind took over. I stood perfectly still and watched the largest boulder yet come towards me. I watched it slow down and stop inches from my nose, then shatter into a fine dust. Then the other falling rocks shattered and rained dust on the field.
The only obstacle left in my way was the Onix. I stared it down, and a bright blue aura formed around it. A small smirk ran across my face as I made the Onix stand on the very tip of its' tail. I closed my eyes and gathered energy. When I opened them again a bright blue beam raced towards the Onix, and when the smoke cleared it was on the ground unconscious.
I blinked several times at what I had just done. First, I had used a fire attack on the Scyther. Then I used a psychic attack on the Onix. I turned around to see Yuri and Zander with looks of shock on their faces. Zander was the first to snap out of his state and turn on Yuri.
"What did you do?!" he yelled in outrage grabbing the collar of Yuri's shirt, "I thought I told you not to give her a psychic attack until later!!"
"B-But… I-I… d-d-didn't…" Yuri stammered.
Zander looked like he was about to punch Yuri when a thought stuck him. He released Yuri and said, "That's right… She tried to use a psychic attack on my the other night. Hmmmm… that probably means that when we boosted her special attack, we increased her ability to do psychic attacks."
"One less thing for me to do…" Yuri mumbled.
Zander didn't seem to hear him because he turned towards the window and called up to the person in the room above.
"Rachel! Get down here!"
The figure in the window hurried out of the room and soon appeared at the door.
"Sir?" she asked a little bit confused.
"I want you to get Armada some food and water, then take her back to her cage. Then bring me your report on this experiment," he said with an air of amusement in his voice.
Rachel gave a curt nod, walked to the edge of the room, picked up a collar and leash, put them on me, then led me out the door. She was a bit more rough than the last time as she pulled my down the hall. Her stance was tense and frustrated.
'Rachel do this! Rachel do that! Isn't anyone else capable of taking care of one pokémon?!' her thoughts rang clear in my head.
Am I capable of reading thoughts? I wondered quietly. I looked up at her wondering if I could send thoughts too.
Rachel's posture relaxed and she began to slump through the halls with me right beside her. 'I'm so tired of this. I need a vacation…' she thought.
So why don't you quit? I asked telepathically.
'Quit?!' she thought laughingly, 'I would nev--'
Rachel stopped dead in her tracks and looked at me with her mouth hanging open. She stood there gaping for a few minutes then sank to her knees beside me.
"I… had no idea…" she gasped, "You're…You're…"
I'm what? A freak of nature?
"Oh no! I didn't know you were psychic," she said still rather surprised. "None of the others have ever accepted a psychic ability before, even the more rare ones who were born with weak psychic powers."
Others? There are more like me here?
"Yes. There are at least six that I know of, but none of them have strong psychic abilities. Not like yours anyway," she said looking at me in awe.
How many pokémon are kept captive here? I asked her very seriously.
"Three dozen. All with boosted abilities. That's, of course, not counting the trainers pokémon. Why? You're not thinking of escape are you?" Rachel asked suddenly worried.
Of course I am.
"You shouldn't. Not right now," she seemed to be panicking more now.
Why not?
"Because you won't get as far as you want to. Top security is devoted to this place, and to the pokémon here. If you do manage to free yourself, there are still many obstacles to face. And what about the others like you? You don't seem like the type to leave them behind," she was looking strait into my eyes, so I could tell she was telling me the truth.
How do you know that? And… why do you care anyway?
"Why else would you ask?" she said simply, then began to answer my other question, hesitated, and changed the subject. "We should get going. We don't want to be caught like this." Then she stood up and started walking again.
You still haven't answered my question, I pressed.
'Because I can't,' was all I got in response.
I decided to leave it there. For now, anyway.
Do you have a plan?
'Get stronger,' Rachel responded. 'Once you get strong enough, you will be able to carry out your own plan. It's really that simple.'
We turned a corner and I could smell food cooking. Rachel pushed open the door and the smells and sounds became very prevalent. What surprised me most was the distinct sound of a bass voice humming old opera songs.
"'Allo! Welcome to ze kitchen! May I 'ave ze pleasure to serve you tonight?" the chef said in a French accent that made my head spin.
"Actually Arnaud, I came for some food for Armada here," Rachel said gesturing towards me.
"Ahhh, so zis is ze beautiful Jolteon I 'ave 'erd so much about! I shall be 'onered to serve you. I shall be making you ze someting special," Arnaud said with flourish, then went about humming and preparing "ze someting special". Within four or five minutes Arnaud was back with several dishes piled high with food that looked so artistic that to eat it would almost be a shame. But try telling that to a very empty stomach.
Arnaud set the dishes on the floor and I ate until I was filled to the bursting point, but there were still several dishes untouched. Rachel must have anticipated this because she politely asked, "I think we'll take the rest 'to go' please."
"Of course!" he said then ran off, brought back a couple white boxes, and expertly packed the dishes into the boxes. Then he placed them neatly into a carry case and handed it to Rachel.
"Merci, Arnaud," Rachel called as we walked, or as close as was possible, out the door.
"It is ze no problem!" he called back.
Rachel giggled as we went down the hall at Arnaud's last attempt at popular English.
If he does "ze someting special" every day, I don't know if I will be able to stand it! I sent Rachel telepathically.
Rachel giggled louder at this. I almost told her to giggle a little softer, but I held it back. She probably didn't get to laugh much. Then I turned serious. There were so many burning questions and so little time before Zander would become suspicious.
Rachel, where are we?
'Somewhere between Celadon City and Fuchsia City though I'm not exactly sure,' she answered.
How can you not know where you are?
'Don't know that either. We travel up route 17, turn off about halfway up, and about a mile later everyone except Zander falls asleep. I guess it's a security measure in case there is a spy,' she told me sounding a little concerned herself.
Why all the security? Who are you and Zander working for?
My question was soon answered as a young man wearing a black uniform with white gloves and boots, no older than 19 or so, scampered around the corner almost loosing the hat that shaded his eyes. Skidding to a stop in front of us, he straitened up and saluted.
"Lieutenant Pavarotti. The boss sent me to find you. He says, and I quote, 'Tell her I want to see that report on my desk in ten minutes'," he said quickly.
"Thank you Taylor. You can tell the boss that Arnaud made his special, and that is why I'm behind," Rachel replied to the young man.
Taylor saluted again then turned and dashed off. Rachel and I had hardly gone two steps before he was back.
"The boss wants me to escort you, sir… ah ma'am… ah… lieutenant," he said rather shakily.
"All right, Taylor. Start escorting us to the cells," Rachel said.
Before Taylor turned around I caught a glimpse of a red "R" on his shirt. As we began to be "led" by Taylor, I stuck up telepathic conversation with Rachel.
Rachel, what is that "R" on Taylor's shirt for?
'It's the symbol… of Team Rocket,' she replied a little hesitantly.
Team Rocket!!! You work for those thieves!
Rachel winced slightly. 'Please don't attack me for it,' she pleaded, 'I had no choice! I had no where else to go!'
Of course you had a choice!! I'm the one who didn't have a choice!
'You don't have a choice when your seven years old and your entire family is dead!' she yelled back enunciating every word.
My mind writhed. Her whole family dead?
I-I'm sorry Rachel. Please--
'It's okay. You didn't know,' she cut in. We drew to a stop at my cell. Rachel bent down and undid the collar. While Taylor wasn't looking she stroked the top of my head fur and slipped the to-go boxes inside.
'I'll see you later, okay?' she said gently.
I'm not going anywhere I assured her.
To be continued...
A/N: Okay... how did you like it? I'm working on the next chapter as we speak so it should be done soon. Please Reveiw :D
