I had woken, woozy but still unhurt. The time spent here had fine-tuned my antennae enough to sense through the small gaps of this 'cage', but the lack of moving objects here was unnerving, and the absence of sound even more so. Where was the constant thrum of nature, of all living things forming one big harmonious cacophony? It was times like this that I wish I still had use of my eyes.
Something was approaching the cage. It was small, and… floating? It wasn't like any bird or bug I've met before. There were no flapping wings, but only the slightest disturbances of the air alerting me to its presence. And its scent… it smelled like… no.
Nonononono.
"Get away from me!" The purple Pokemon had been peering through the bars of the cage for help, but it suddenly released its hold on them as soon as it saw me. It backed away as I approached, trying to squeeze itself into the furthest corner.
"Stay back!" I ignored the wails of terror as I positioned myself on top of the cage, lifting it up by a handle and carrying it back towards the lab. However, I had to admit that I was curious about this Pokemon's reaction to me, and what this Pokemon even was. If it could still talk at the end of today, maybe I would converse with it.
Where… where did it go? It went above me, but the solid surface of this cage blocked all other inputs. I was lifted into the air, and judging from the constant swinging of the ground as it rounded corner after corner, I was being brought somewhere. The narrow spaces eventually opened up into a large area, one filled with so many things that the information my antennae was receiving was literally overwhelming.
I managed to set the cage on the floor mere seconds before he strode into the room, buttoning up his lab coat over a black shirt.
"I'll handle the Sliggoo now. You can leave."
I watched as a lanky creature sent that Pokemon away with a wave of its limb, pointing at the neat hole from which I had been brought through. Was it on my side, ridding the vile presence from the room? There was an aura about it that I couldn't make out, something that was triggering an innate instinct to flee.
The creature's limbs bent, and a rounded shape lowered itself into 'view', with two indents on the top half that I presumed were eyes. It also had a mouth that was stretched unnaturally wide, almost resembling a crescent moon. It certainly didn't look friendly.
"Stream live in five seconds…"
Professor Socotra sighed, standing and studying his reflection in the black computer monitor. He had certainly seen better days, with the intricate wrinkles snaking across his face, and the crater-shaped pockets peppering his face from one too many pimples popped as a teen. But the recent additions were eye bags, a side effect of spending sleepless months online, sifting through the abundance of new material. They were now so dark that makeup couldn't mask them.
But it was all going to be worth it, one day.
His fingers twitched as they were poised above the keyboard. What was today's stream's number?
Stream #705, part 1
"Stream live. Recording started." The mechanical voice instantly put a smile on his face, one that he had practised extensively over his streams to perfect. Eyes, once dim with exhaustion, now sparkled bright with newfound determination.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Pokephenomemon! There's information hot off the presses, and I'm here to put it to the test! Today, the Pokemon we'll be looking at today is Sliggoo! Let's see if the only thing that they got right was the fact that it's Goomy's evolution!"
Pulling on a black mask and a pair of elbow-length gloves, he lifted the cage up onto the metal table, in full view of the camera.
I heard the creak as the top of the cage was lifted open. Appendages wrapped themselves firmly around my body, keeping their hold no matter how much I wriggled or sprayed mucus.
"And here it is! Ain't she a beaut?" He thrust the Sliggoo in front of the camera, watching it try to reach its feelers out to touch the device. Pulling it back before it could do so, the static smile on his face widened as he watched the expression of panic grow on the Pokemon's face with every jerky movement of his.
"And it looks like we're starting this stream on a high note!" He cackled maniacally, holding the Pokémon closer to his body.
I shuddered as one of those five extensions on his hand dragged itself down my side. But something had changed… the clamping pressure around my body had relaxed, and I could feel something solid beneath my foot for me to rest on.
" 'Caustic' slime, huh? What about slime that can't even dissolve thin rubber gloves! Entry de-bunked!"
"Of course, here at Pokephenomenon, we don't just make blind assumptions like those Pokedex holders…"
I could sense waves of hostility radiating from the creature as it growled in its deep voice. I knew I had to jump off, to run from whatever bad intentions were coming my way. However, my instincts seemed to feel otherwise. Did I feel… safe? In this creature's clutches?
"… we actually run experiments to prove claims! In here you go, Sliggoo—for now."
Placing the Pokemon into a glass tank, the doctor stepped closer to the camera, giving a clear view of the substance that he was rubbing between his fingers.
"This mucus is what we'll be looking at today. There's a reason why those brainless dolts claim it can 'dissolve anything'. Let's find out how much of that statement is wrong."
The storeroom was where I went during his streams. Built into a random wall, the company of dusty buckets, brooms and mops that filled the room were all I had to pass the time. That, and my Pokeball. It rested on top of two folded blankets, located inside what used to be a closet. The object always had a strange sort of appeal, probably due to the fact that I had never seen another one in this facility.
Until recently. Fragments of red and white in the warehouse. Still lustrous in the dim light, unlike the dry paint flaking from my own ball.
I had left it untouched since I was released, but now I held the sphere in my claws. With a click, it opened to reveal… nothing. A metallic inner coating was all there was. The place of my existence.
A ding rang out from outside the storeroom, echoing through the corridors.
The stream had ended.