I swum back to consciousness lying on the floor of a tiny cell. After a moment of disorientation, I realized I had seen a room like it before, when I was brought in for a checkup during Josh's admission to the school. It was one of the cages in the school's Pokemon Center. The school's Pokemon nurse had apparently just finished injecting me with some sort of sedative, judging from the label on the syringe she was busy disposing of.

"There you go, Ponyta," she said. "That won't put you to sleep, but it will keep you too weak to move very far. We don't want you escaping again, after all, and we can't keep you in the Master Ball forever."

Master Ball. So that's what the strange ball had been. I didn't know much of Master Balls, but I did know they were incredibly powerful and only a few of them existed. The school probably had only one, reserved for emergency situations where a Pokemon needed to be restrained. It made sense that they couldn't afford to keep it tied up.

The cell-- cage, stall, whatever-- had a window near shoulder height so that its occupant could look out into the main area of the Pokemon Center. The window was covered with steel mesh, but it was still better than lying on the floor not being able to see anything. I slowly rose to my feet with no small bit of effort.

"You really should lie down, Ponyta. I just gave you a full dose of Pyro-Tranq, and when that stuff kicks in, you're really going to feel it."

I ignored her. I would take my chances standing. I refused to lie down any longer, metaphorically or otherwise.

"Suit yourself, then." The nurse slipped the hypodermic back inside her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and exited through the human access hatch, which was crafted to be too small for the large mammalian Pokemon likely to be quartered in the stall. The main door was solid steel and secured by heavy bars. Even without the tranquilizer I'd just been given, I would have had a hard time kicking my way out.

Dammit.

The nurse strode over to the other side of the room, where the administrator of the school was standing. They exchanged a few quiet words. I strained my ears and managed to pick out the conversation.

"He says she attacked him. According to him, she has a history of violence."

"Seems to me something like that should have been brought up at some point. Was this never mentioned before?"

A shrug. "It's not in any of the school's records. It's too late to fix that oversight, anyway. What do we do now?"

The nurse sighed. "Well, first we have to get an impartial translator to ask the Ponyta her side of the story. Assuming there's no justification for the attack, euthanasia is the likely action, according to the applicable laws."

I could tell the director didn't like to hear that. I wasn't too thrilled with it myself, but suddenly I wasn't so worried anymore. If they were going to find someone who could communicate with me, that changed everything. After they heard how Josh had treated me, nothing he said would matter any more.

At that moment, the door to the Pokemon Center opened and a large man wearing a trenchcoat strode in. He had the air of someone who knows what he wants and expects everyone else to jump around helping him get it... quite like Josh, actually. "I was told I might find the administrator of this school here. Have either of you seen him?"

"Ahem," said the administrator. "I'm him. Can I help you with something, Mr...?"

"Kettlebaum," the tall man said, rather brusquely. "My son is a student here at your school. He was just involved in an incident where his Pokemon attacked him."

It was then I realized where I'd seen the tall man before. Josh's father never seemed to stay around the house for very long, and he spent even less time with the Pokemon. He'd also grown a mustache since I had last seen him, but now that he had identified himself, I recognized him immediately.

"Yes, Mr. Kettlebaum. Would you care to sit for a moment, so we can discuss-"

"Where is she?" he growled. He glanced around, saw me, and pointed at my cell. "Is that her? I swear to God-"

"Mr. Kettlebaum. Maybe we should talk somewhere else. Would you like to come to my office?"

Josh's father stared at the administrator for a long moment, then nodded and released the hand that had been tightly gripping the back of a chair. "All right, then."

Wordlessly, the administrator gestured at the door. Mr. Kettlebaum nodded again, tight-lipped, then turned and strode briskly out. The director sighed, shared a long-suffering glance with the nurse, then followed.

I withdrew into my own thoughts. This changed everything. I knew that Josh's father was a very wealthy man and carried a great deal of political and financial clout. Was his influence great enough to convince the administrator and the medical staff to resolve my case quickly? I knew he didn't much care for Pokemon, and he certainly seemed to have no love for me in light of recent events. The combination didn't bode well. My recent optimism had abruptly vanished.

A small, furry Pokemon leaped up onto the sill outside my window. I took a startled step backwards, then paused and took a critical look at the intruder. ((Oh. You again.))

((Me again,)) agreed the Eevee. He sat on the ledge and tucked his tail along his legs. ((You don't look very good.))

((I don't feel very good. Aren't you supposed to be with your trainer?))

He shrugged. ((He lets me wander around the school a lot. I was actually looking for you. This is the last place in the school I would have thought to look, but luckily I was passing by and decided to stick my head in.))

I didn't say anything, although inwardly I was touched that this Eevee should have bothered to find me and talk to me.

((Anyway, I wanted to see if you were doing any better after what happened at recess... but I guess you're... not.)) The last words came hesitantly, tinged with embarrassment at stating the blatantly obvious. ((Why are you in here? Did you get hurt?))

((No. They think I attacked my trainer. Which I actually did, but I was sort of defending myself.))

((Oh.)) He took in this information. ((But you're going to tell them what happened, right? So everything will be straightened out?))

I gazed at the door that Mr. Kettlebaum and the administrator had departed through. Until a few minutes ago, I would have agreed with the Eevee. Now... ((I have to say I'm not so sure about that.))

His face fell. ((That's terrible. So they might punish you without even giving you a fair hearing?))

I nodded. ((Pokemon don't have as much power as we should in today's world.))

((Can't you just break out?))

I regarded him incredulously. ((Break out? Have you seen that door?))

He shook his head. ((No, no. Not the door. The steel mesh over the window. Ponyta are good jumpers. You could break the mesh with your hooves and then jump out.))

((That won't work. They gave me a sedative so I wouldn't try to break out anyway.))

The Eevee looked me over. ((You don't look very sedated to me.))

Was I? I took a few experimental steps. I felt as strong and as sure as ever. No, the sedative didn't seem to be having any effect after all. I thought back to the tranquilizer the nurse had used. Pyro-Tranq. Formulated specially for Fire Pokemon. Could it be I wasn't enough of a Fire Pokemon for the substance to take effect?

There was only one thing left to try. The nurse had walked into one of the back rooms. I sighed. ((Okay. Maybe you'd better get out of the way.))

The Eevee skittered down off the window and ran to one side. I reared up and lashed out with my front hooves. The hard substance sliced through the thin steel like a hot wire through butter. My path to freedom lay open. With a single mighty leap, I cleared the windowsill and bounded out into the infirmary.

I turned to the Eevee. ((Thank you so much.))

((You're welcome. I suppose you have to go now.))

((That would be the sensible thing to do, yes.)) I didn't know exactly where I would go, but I supposed tiny details like that could be put on hold for the time being.

((Will we see each other again?))

((I hope so. Just promise me one thing?))

((What's that?))

((Don't evolve into a Flareon. Fire Pokemon are horrible. Nobody should want to be one.))

He frowned at me. ((Well... Okay, I guess, if you say so. Thanks for the tip.))

I nodded. ((Goodbye.)) Then I turned and ran toward the front of the Pokemon Center, not waiting to hear any more.

Leaving the Center posed a problem. The door was rather inconvenient for those individuals without opposable thumbs, and the "doggie door" that had been installed for small Pokemon would have accomodated my head and neck... maybe. There was, however, a large glass window in the waiting room that opened onto one of the school's main hallways.

Well, I sighed, it looks like someone's going to have some massive repair bills in just a few seconds.

I closed my eyes as I leapt through and managed to avoid any serious injury, although a few bits of flying glass nicked me on the shoulders and neck. The crash was deafening, but the clatter of my hooves as I galloped down the hall would have destroyed any pretensions of stealth anyway.

The front doors were just ahead. Again, their operation made them difficult to use for someone with hooves, but the proximity of a nearby window made it possible for me to repeat my earlier performance. The destruction almost made me wince, but I couldn't truly be bothered. I didn't ever intend to return to this place.

Then I was outside in the moonlit darkness and streaking across the field toward the woods, which had seemed ominous before but now appeared welcoming. The few people who had started chasing me were left hopelessly behind as I got up to a full gallop. Not even the Master Ball could have stopped me then, propelled by human arms as it was.

I plunged into the dark tangle of trees, losing my pursuers, losing the hatred of Josh and the others, losing myself. I ran for a long time.