Chapter 4: Prejudice

Point of View Black

It took a few hours, but I was eventually released from my pokeball. Once I got over the strange sickness from switching worlds, I looked around curiously as I studied this strange area. All of the walls were painted a glossy white that reflected light, along with red painted pokeballs on the walls. There was a bookshelf on the wall, and in the far back right there was a small little shop. The lights were built into the ceiling and illuminated the entire room. Being a dark type, this quickly got on my nerves because it meant there weren't any shadows, in which I normally resided in, for me to hide in. Over exposure to light always made me feel weak and noxious. It as if it was poisoning my body with a foreign substance. I could never fathom how people could stand tanning, and raising their chances of skin cancer.

Alex was standing by a desk filling out some papers. I could only assume it was to get us signed in for the injuries we had. The Absol sat in the corner of the room right next to a bench. He had a very unhappy look on his face. I wouldn't be happy either after taking an ember right in the face from that that close up.

Anyways, long story short, we waited about thirty minutes until they finally called us to go see the doctor. The doctor walked us down a hall, everything looked the same, it was a complete mystery to me on how they navigated through such a dull place. After a while the doctor stopped at a door, and used a set of keys to open up the door. All of us walked into the room. I looked around in confusion as I tried to understand the way the human world worked. The room had a small bed for the pokemon, along with chairs lined up along the wall for people waiting. In another corner was a desk, probably the doctors. Besides those few things, I really understood nothing in this room. It was all technology based, and I was clueless about technology. Humans are such strange creatures.

"Alright, let's get started," our doctor said as she put on a pair of gloves.

The doctor was a female with long golden blonde hair. She had a normal doctor outfit on, which was cliché in my opinion. She was honestly no one special, like all the other humans that overcrowd this world. The only difference between her and the others is that she has a degree in medical stuff, big deal.

The female doctor walked up to me, and without my consent she picked me up, and put me on the bed. I growled at the discomfort of being manhandled. I really did not like humans touching me. I especially hated being picked up, it made me feel smaller... The doctor reached out to see my leg, but before she came close, I snarled at her and showed off my fangs. If I had to make an example out of her, by Mew I would. I wanted Alex to learn fast that I hated being touched.

"Now,Now don't be afraid, little guy," the doctor said as she extended her hand towards me slowly. My reflexes kicked in, and I snapped my teeth towards her. Her hand flinched back right before my teeth drew blood.

"Try that again, I dare you," I growled at her.

Alex then walked up next to the bed, and looked at me with a stern look. "Black, you need to cooperate, or she can't help your leg," Alex tried to reason. Something snapped in me from having humans crowded around me, this was way too far out of my comfort zone.

"First, back off, and second my name is not Black, its Kaz!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I viciously stared down my trainer, as I prepared to show him what these pearly white teeth of mine can do.

Right before I could attack my trainer, I felt something grab my leg. Before I could even react, I felt a strong pressure, followed by a snapping pain. A popping sound echoed through the air, followed by a pained screech exiting my mouth. I looked over at the nurse, who was now releasing her grip off my leg. I could feel a tear forming in my eye from the unexpected pain I didn't see coming, but I fought off the feeling as best as I could. I tried to avoid blinking, since that usually helped to stop tears from forming in my eyes. After a few seconds, I managed to calm myself a little. I looked down at the leg I felt pain in. To my surprise, it was snapped back in place.

After a few seconds the doctor picked me up once again, and set me carefully down on the floor. I would have fought back, but I felt slightly paralyzed from what I just endured. My train of thought was completely gone. I could only remember how horrible that was, along with the horrible noise of my joint popping back in place.

"Are you about to cry?" Flare asked me curiously, "It's fine if you do, I've never had a bone dislocated, but I'd imagine it doesn't feel too good."

It took a second for word's to form, but I eventually snapped out of my dazed state. "As if," I snidely replied back. "Have you ever heard of a wild pokemon crying in front of others?" I asked Flare. The expected answer was no, but the truth was that not all wild pokemon, were these emotionless creatures that some thought us to be.

"I'm about to," Flare joked.

"Har har, dream on," I spat out as I made my way towards the chairs against the wall. I crawled under the chair, and lied down so I could take a power nap.

"I'll see your absol next, sir" the doctor said to Alex.

The last thing I saw before I shut my eyes was the evil doctor lady helping the absol up to this bed. I could hear the talking, but I mostly blocked it out. I wasn't sure if sleeping was a good idea though, there was no guarantee that I wouldn't have that dream again. The thoughts haunted me for a few minutes, but before I knew it, I was dead asleep. After all that time of losing sleep, it just caught up to me, just like that.

After Arceus knows how long, I eventually woke up. It took a few minutes, but my eyes adjusted to the lighting and I realized I was on a bench outside. I slowly stood up, and stretched out my body, along with a tired yawn. After noticing that I was possibly alone, I jumped off the bench to see if the coast was clear for my escape. A scan of the area showed a big fountain and a couple cobblestone trails along with a lot of random buildings such as a library, the Pokemon center, and what stuck out the most was the first pokemon gym. I then noticed the Santalune city sign. I didn't know how to read, but I mostly recognized it by the way the sign looked. This was my perfect chance to escape. No one I could see was around, and to make things betters, it was almost dusk.

I could feel a sneaky smile forming on my face as I started to walk away from where I was left. "Stupid Alex. The idiot thought I'd stay here on my own, hah!" I excitedly said as I walked away. 'Finally, after putting up with such torment I will be free, I can… go back to living my life in solitude.'

"Hey Black you're awake!" I heard a familiar energetic voice call out from behind. A scowl escaped my mouth as I turned to face the fox like creature.

"Hey, how about you stop calling me that stupid name."

"Oh, sorry Kaz," Flare emphasized my name, which was kind of annoying, but oh well what was I going to do, kill him… Actually that wasn't a bad idea.

"Anyways, how did I get out here?" I asked as I yawned in absolute boredom.

"We saw you were asleep, so Alex carried you outside and set you on the bench. I was told to watch you while he runs to the pokemart to get some things." I scowled in annoyance the instant Flare mentioned him touching me.

"What's wrong with you? Did we do something wrong?" The naïve fennekin asked.

"I just don't like anyone touching me; specifically humans," I answered.

"So, why don't you like humans touching you, it's not like they will hurt you or anything?" Flare asked as he stared at me. The full eye contact the fennekin gave me felt… odd. Maybe one of the things I'm not used to anymore.

"I don't know. I just can't stand it. I'll never forget the time a human tried petting me, that sent chills down my spine," I replied with some truth.

"So what if I touch you?" Flare asked as he extended his paw to touch me.

"I'm going to smack you in the face, that's what I'm going to do," I replied as I smacked his paw away from me. Flare took the hint and backed off from me, with some good training I'm sure I can break this fennekin in, and show him how to act properly.

"So, I got a question? Why did Alex name me, and that Absol after colors. Does he really have that little creativity?" I was kind of kidding, but it was kind of annoying at the same time. I mean, if I went back out into the wild, and said that was my name I'd get my ass kicked. Although being a disliked species would probably make things worse.

"Oh no, his name isn't really Gray, that's just his nickname, his real name is Grayson. Gray is just what we call him for short," Flare answered with a small chuckle at the end.

"Oh, that makes more sense," I said as I realized how simple the answer really was. Before the topic was completely gone, something sparked in my head, "Wait, why does he get a real name, and I get a freaking color!" I shouted out loud. The few people that did walk around all stopped and looked at me.

"I don't know, I never knew Gray before he got his name, he knew Alex before me, and Gray doesn't really talk, and I can't really ask Alex," Flare defended.

I huffed and puffed in annoyance, "Oh, just fuck the logic," I replied back bitterly as I kicked the dirt below my feet. Sadly for me, I kicked the dirt with my injured paw, and a wave of pain shot through my body. I cringed as the pain slowly faded away. I just decided it was best to not throw a tantrum. I wasn't mentally, nor physically fit to do it right now. As I calmed down, I decided to walk back by the bench and lay below it in the shadows. Once I was under the bench, I felt content with this spot. Shadows were a tropical beach for umbreon's. But a tropical beach is hell for an umbreon. I'd die in such a sun exposed hell.

As I tried to go back to napping, thoughts of my dream came back to me. No matter how hard I tried to forget those horrible dreams, I kept remembering that leafeon's face and those terrified eyes of hers. It was all just so demented, and I wanted it to stop.

Flare looked at me with a frown as he noticed me tossing and turning under the bench. "Are you okay? You look more depressed than usual."

"It's nothing. I just have things on my mind, that's all." I said, trying my best to throw him off the topic. I really did not trust anyone with this stuff, and I never planned on it either. "And what the hell do you mean, 'More than usual'? Are you calling me depressed?" I asked.

"Well, you kind of give off a negative vibe at times. It kind of conflicts with my positive personality, but hey opposites attract so that doesn't mean we can't still get along," Flare said. "But seriously, what is on your mind," the fennekin pried again.

"None of your business, now let it go," I said in a stern voice that was almost loud enough to be yelling. I just wanted to get my point across to him that I didn't want to share my feelings with him, nor did I seek to be friends with him.

"Well, you just seem a bit stressed, and you never know, I could know a bit about what's bothering you." That is when I snapped. I couldn't take this nosey fox anymore. Just what the hell could he know about me?

"Do you not get that I dislike you? I have no desire to be buddies with you, so where do you get off thinking you have the right to talk like you know the first thing about me?" I snarled in an aggressive tone. Upon my venomous words leaving my mouth, Flare's casual smile instantly formed into a frown and his ears fell low.

He broke eye contact with me. "S-Sorry," Flare mumbled as he turned around, and walked away from me. I watched as Flare walked out of my eye sight before I did anything.

"Shit," I muttered to myself for being a complete douche to someone who was trying to be nice. I hated the idea, but I knew I was going to have to apologize for that. I'm just not the type to ever apologize to anyone. For a matter of fact, I just realized that I haven't even attempted to be friends, let alone be nice to anyone for the longest time. Relations with others were just something I gave up on, it always ended as a bitter memory.

After a few minutes of me thinking of what I did, I saw Alex walk out of the pokemart. Alex walked up to me, and looked down at me with a friendly smile "Hey Black, How did you sleep buddy?" Alex asked with a friendly tone that was surprisingly comforting.

"Surprisingly, I slept well for once," I replied back to my trainer, I don't know why I even bothered responding since he couldn't understand me at all. But I think he got the point.

"Okay buddy, what do you say we go to our hotel for the night, and rest up for the gym battle tomorrow?"

A frown formed on my face upon hearing those words "We just met, and we haven't even trained, and you are going to have me do a gym battle already!" I was pretty pissed about his stupid logic, we haven't even trained, and on top of that, I didn't want to dislocate my leg again. or worse, lose a leg.

"We'll do fine, after what I saw earlier, I got the idea that you can take care of yourself," Alex stated.

"True," I responded back to my trainer, surprisingly, he was good at reading my emotions.

Alex gave me a small little wave gesture to follow him, and I complied like a good little pokemon. After a small little walk, we reached the hotel we were staying in. It was actually a pretty comfy looking place. Not as nice as some of the houses these humans live in, but still it wasn't bad. There was a two person sized bed, a TV, a torn up couch, a balcony outside, and pictures of stuff I really didn't understand on the wall. Grayson was lying on the couch, and Flare was at the edge of the bed, and Alex just sat at the other side of the couch from Gray, leaving me with the floor.

Seeing the fennekin again reminded me of how I acted towards him a little earlier today. I knew what had to be done, but it was going to be apologizing that would be hard. I walked towards the fennekin who rested on the bed as I took in a deep breath.

"Hey Flare can we talk… in private?"

Flare looked up in surprise that I even bothered talking to him anymore. "What do you want?" He asked in a timid voice.

I just gestured for him to follow me out onto the balcony outside, which was conveniently open. He followed me cautiously as we made our way out. We both sat on the balcony, which was pretty big for a small town hotel. We had a good view of the whole town, and I could see Luminose tower off in the far distance. The sun was just setting which made the sky a fiery orange color. I guess I got the scenery right for my apology.

"Flare, I wanted to apologize for being a total ass earlier today when I snapped on you. That came out very wrong, and I didn't mean to be so hostile towards you when you have only been a nice person to me." Flare's eyes grew large as his mouth cracked open. Flare was obviously surprised. I myself was surprised; I never-ever apologize to anyone.

"I think I'll accept it," Flare replied back "I guess I should be sorry also though."

"For what?" I said as my brow rose up in confusion.

"You know, for getting in your business,"

I was shocked too now. I was the one apologizing, and he just apologized to me. "It's fine. I just need you to understand that I need my space. A lot has happened to me in the past few years, and I'm not ready to talk about it." I had a tone of melancholy in my voice, and many different emotions no one would understand.

We spent a while out there on the balcony. He tried to keep a conversation that I found kind of awkward, but I figured I would humor him. As time went on, the moon started to ascend. Our hotel was angled so we could see the sun set on the left and becoming easier to see in the sky.

I could feel the moon's lunar rays shining down upon me, filling me with energy. With this feeling of rejuvenation, the six rings on my body began to glow blue with their mysterious power. My leg no longer hurt, even remotely at this point. I felt like a new being now, especially since I haven't been able to see the real moon in a few days. The moon always put me in a good mood. It filled my body with power that let me feel strong enough to take on a tauros, an onix, hell maybe even Arceus… ok maybe not that last one, but I felt strong none the less.

Flare was just staring at my glowing rings with his jaw slightly opened. It was kind of awkward, but then again umbreon's are rare, so it is something not a lot of pokemon see, especially umbreon's with blue rings.

After about ten minutes of sitting outside, it started to get cold, so I decided to head back in along with Flare. Gray was still lying on the couch, but he was now hogging the whole thing to himself. Alex had left, probably to get us all food for tonight, so he could be gone for a bit. I then began to ponder on tomorrow's gym battle. Will we win, will I get injured, and who will we be facing were all question's that ran through my mind.

"So, you think we will do good tomorrow?" I asked Flare out of curiosity. To be honest, I was nervous about tomorrow. I have only heard of these gym battles, not once have I seen or been in one.

"I would expect us to have one heck of a battle tomorrow," Flare responded.

"Should I know anything about these gym battles?"

"Well simple really, we just fight a couple pokemon one at a time, all one on one battles. We just have to win against… two I think," Flare said with an unsure answer.

"But there are three of us, wouldn't that make things unbalanced for the gym leader?" I questioned.

"You know I'm not sure, we may only be able to use two of us tomorrow," Flare spoke back.

"Well, if that's the case, then your absol friend can go for me. I'd rather see this gym battle thing before I go risking my life," I said, volunteering the anti-social absol in my place.

"Typical umbreon," a voice muttered from behind me. My head turned back to the only other living organism in the room, and just as I anticipated, it was the absol who had made the comment.

"Oh, hello to you too," I spat back out towards him with sarcasm. I didn't really appreciate the comment, especially when I haven't done anything wrong yet... at least not to him. It didn't help that neither of us had spoken one word to each other ever since I 'joined' this team

"Why don't you just shut up, umbreon" the absol retorted back, his words sounded especially hostile specifically when he said umbreon…

"That almost sounded… racist," I said as I realized what type of pokemon this absol was. I have experienced a lot of discrimination in my life, and I knew how to tell when someone disliked my species.

"Glad you're taking the hint," the absol growled back.

A sigh escaped my mouth, it was sad to think I couldn't escape the racism within this world "Listen, I couldn't care less if you despise my kind, I've seen every type of racist asshole, you're just another pokemon with a horrible personality problem," I spoke back.

"My personality may not be perfect, but at least my kind has a set of morals," the absol venomously spoke back.

"Why don't you come say that to my face," I barked back.

Gray rolled his eyes as he lazily rolled off the couch, and walked over towards me sluggishly, I could see the hatred in his eyes for me separating him from his couch. Gray came in really close to my face, and I could see the hatred within his eyes. The death stare made the room fall silent, for what felt like forever. I stared back at him with my evil glare as well.

"I don't like umbreon's. So why don't you just fuck off before I make you." He said in a very spiteful tone.

"I don't even think you just realized what you just told me to do, but I'm just going to pretend you didn't say that." Yes, I choose to be a smart ass towards him, because that really tends to piss off pokemon a lot. Plus, if you think of what he said, it's truly disgusting… It took a few seconds for what I said to actually sink into the absol's head.

"Is there even a half decent reason to why you hate my kind, or are you like everyone else, and you're just scared of my kind?" I was always curious to know if there was a story behind someone's hatred towards my kind, yet at this point I was just used to some people automatically hating me for no specific reason.

Gray's eyes narrowed as he glared at me, "Your kind has always plagued this world, your kind always causes trouble, and anywhere your kind goes calamity will follow. Your kind is always hiding in the shadows waiting to destroy somebodies life. Never before, have I ever met an umbreon who wasn't a selfish monster who only thought of himself. There is a reason other eevee evolutions dread evolving into what you are, and people prefer you worthless creatures dead."

Those words echoed in my ears for a few seconds until it caused something in my brain to snap. Feeling no control over my body, I sprinted towards the racist creature, and tackled right into him. The absol and I both tousled to the ground, luckily with me on top. I stood up on top of the absol and raised my paw. It slashed across his face, and left a minor gash. Before my claws could draw any more blood, Flare slammed his whole body into me, and knocked me off the absol. I fell to the ground along with Flare, who was now using everything he could to pin me down.

Without any warning Gray knocked Flare off me, the fennekin's head smacked into the wall with a loud 'thud' that echoed through the room. Gray then slammed his left paw down onto my torso, and held me down to the ground. I squirmed around in every direction, but the absol easily overpowered me, there wasn't a chance of me escaping his grasp. Then the absol raised up his paw, and I could see his razor sharp claws. Gray readjusted the paw he was holding me down with, and then he pierced my upper torso with one of his claws. I gritted my teeth tightly as I tried to fight off the pain. As I thought things couldn't get worse, Gray then dragged his claw downward, and as he dragged it down, he swerved it to the left, and right. As he cut through my pelt, I felt a sharp burning sensation from the damage he was causing. I shouted from the immense amount of pain. The absol didn't stop until he almost reached my gut. My whole torso burned from the cut I just received. I looked down to see that the end result was a snake shaped cut that went from my upper torso, and stopped right before my stomach.

Gray got off of me as I groaned in pain, he then made his way back towards the couch as if he did nothing wrong. "If you attack me again it will be your face, and eyes I cut next time. Do you understand? You will also understand that you are a lesser than all other pokemon. Your life is worth nothing." His words were venomous and full of hatred, but it was not the first time I have been talked to this way. I have been persecuted many times for being an umbreon. I didn't get to choose who I am, and just because a few umbreon's where corrupt to the heart, doesn't mean all of us were. I was a good pokemon for the most part, or I at least I like to pretend I'm a good pokemon on the inside.

I held my torso in an attempt to stop the bleeding. The wounds were deep, but wouldn't be lethal if I got help soon. It hurt to move anything that required the muscles in my torso area, so I wasn't able to get up on my own. Flare finally was able to get back up, and come to my assistance. He looked very worried. The truth was that there was nothing he could do, but watch me squirm in pain. Gray just went back to his couch and attempted to go back to sleep. I'm sure me moaning in pain was like a lullaby to his ears.

A few minutes after Gray assaulted me, Alex came back into the room with bags. The instant he noticed the scene, he dropped his bags, and ran over to me to check my wounds. I have seen him worried a lot, but this time he was really worried.

"Black! what happened?!" Alex yelled as he began to pick me up. Alex cradled me on my back so my wound wouldn't get any worse than it was. In an attempt to tell Alex, I looked at Gray, but before Alex took the hint he dashed out the door with me in his arms.

Alex ran down the stairs of the hotel as quickly as he could, leaving Flare, and Gray in the room. Alex was completely oblivious to had just happened, and there would be no way for me to ever tell him the truth of what happened. Gray would pretty much just get to walk free, and act as if he did the right thing.

Alex eventually made it out of the hotel, and ran across the street towards the pokemon center. Everything moved fast as Alex ran down the street with me in his arms. Each step Alex took sent a wave of pain through my body. After a long run, Alex made it to the pokecenter. Alex didn't bother setting me down, he just used his foot to knock the door open. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Alex, with me bleeding all over him. A doctor didn't waste any time and grabbed a mobile bed that was handy, and pushed it up next to Alex, and I.

"Put him down on the bed," the doctor requested. Alex gave a quick nod and put me down on the bed. I groaned in pain as the bed dashed through the pokecenter. One of the other doctors ran alongside the cart I was on. He then stuck up his hand, and revealed a needle. I tried to flinch away from the needle, but he injected into my neck before I could even process what was going on. Panic ran through my head, was I being put to sleep, permanently? I mean it's what doctors do to the pokemon that people don't want to pay to keep alive and healthy. A numb sleepiness overtook my body. I tried to fight off this feeling, but it only intensified with each second that went by.

My eyes closed, as I pondered if I would ever wake up again.

End of Chapter

Thanks to genericgamer207 for putting in a lot of time on editing this chapter.