Love had never had any place in their marriage. Not that it was ever a big deal. That's just how things worked in an arranged marriage. Ayako had met Yami Masumi during her travels in the Unova region.

Strong, smart, handsome, and extremely well connected... he was the perfect catch. Her father agreed and by the time she was twenty, an agreement had been set and she was walking down the isle thinking it would be the best decision of her life.

She never expected the man she had idolized and lusted after for so long to wind up going mad. It was bad enough he had become obsessed with whatever experiment he was working on, but she never thought he'd be willing to go so far. "Yami please! She's your daughter, don't do this!"

It was early in the morning and the sun had just begun to rise when Ayako awoke to find her husband and daughter missing from their beds. After checking on her son, she rushed downstairs and discovered Yami carrying a duffle bag in one hand with a still sleeping Hikari slouched over his shoulder.

When she questioned him she learned the sickening truth... Yami had reached the next stage of his experimentations and was in need of a human test subject. The fight she had in her wasn't enough and when she heard his rationalization, she nearly puked in pure disgust.

"All the more reason for me to test it out on her. She has my blood running through her veins, the serum only works with certain blood types so she'll be fine." The smug grin on his face was nauseating. How had she ever allowed herself to be fooled? To love such a monster?!

She tried throwing herself between her husband and the front door to prevent them from leaving, but this only served to prove how little the man ever cared for her. With his free hand, he reached forward with lightning speed and grabbed the terrified woman by her neck.

Squeezing until he heard the sound of her choking, he eventually let go only long enough to punch her directly in the nose. Stumbling back in pain, Ayako screamed Yamis name with hatred dripping from each letter.

"Get out of my way Ayako." Without a second thought, Yami walked out of the door and out of her life forever, her precious two year old daughter trapped in his hold.

"Useless! Can't you even complete one simple task?" Three years had passed and Yami was even more insane than before. His experiments weren't yielding the results he desired and because of it, he was no longer taking his daughters physical health into consideration.

"I'm sorry daddy. It's just so hard." The small blue haired little girl looked down with tears of both pain and frustration in her eyes. Though young, the daily routine of eating, sleeping, testing had trained her small mind to a startling point. She knew good and well what would happen if she didn't perform well in her father's eyes; and the consequence of underperforming was something she didn't want to fave again.

"Quit your complaining and try again." Without hesitation, Hikari nodded and jumped back onto the indoor pokemon battlefield. Facing her opponent, a malnourished Luxray, she gulped and braced herself for the oncoming pain.

"Luxray use wild charge!" As long as she could stay standing, it would eventually end.

"Sir, we have to stop the experiment." In all his years as a scientist, Haiku had never seen such disregard for human life. Having only joined the team a few weeks prior, he hadn't built up the same desensitized wall as those around him.

The never-ending screams coming from the six year old girl were nearly more than he could bear. Sure he was part of Team Rocket, but he joined believing he would be able to conduct experiments to further pokemons abilities without the regulations and indecisiveness of local governments.

Haiku never imagined he would wind up assisting his boss in torturing his own child in the name of progress. He had been practically begging for over twenty minutes to turn off the machine that was sending random pokemon attacks at the poor child but Yamis response left his blood running cold.

"You stop when it's successful." There wasn't a hint of emotion in the silver haired man's words making the entire situation more unsettling.

"But... sir if, if we continue on like this she'll die."

"Who cares?! If she can't handle the excitement than she's nothing but a failure. And I couldn't care less about what happens to failures."

Left at a loss for words, professor Haiku was almost thankful when his assistant called him over. Unfortunately, the panic in the young girls voice only served to confirm his worries.

"Professor! I'm getting some abnormal readings over here." Rushing over, Professor Haiku paled upon reading the screens data. The poor child was suffering more than what should have been physically possible.

While her body was convulsing due to the Hugh voltage of electricity around her, the screen was picking up a heart rate of 212 bpm. Her crystal blue eyes and hair began to grow darker until they reached an azure shade and her screams became so loud the glass capsule she was housed in began to crack.

"Get out of my way!" Without warning the professor was shoved to the ground by an overly enthusiastic Yami. Wasting no time in pushing the younger professor out of her chair, he sat down and stared at the screen with a wild satisfaction in his eyes. "Yes. YES! It's working!"

Hikari was still screaming but something strange happened. Her voice cracked, the glass shattered, and suddenly... Her screaming was soundless. "Her heartbeat is too rapid and her temperature is skyrocketing. She finished absorbing the serum now let me stop this!"

Unsure if what this could mean, Haiku tried once again to reason with his unreasonable boss. Luckily for both of them, Yami seemed satisfied with the way everything turned out and actually agreed with him for once. "Fine. Have her ready to showcase her new skills by 0900 hours."

"So you're telling me not only did Riki betray me, but Yami has as well?" Intimidating wasn't exactly the right word. No. Terrifying, was a much better word to describe Giovanni Miklov, the leader of Team Rocket.

Haiku knew the situation he found himself in wasn't ideal, but he also knew he didn't have a choice. Yami made it very clear that if the child's performance wasn't flawless, she would be subject to even harsher treatment.

Even though Hikari was Yamis own child, that didn't protect her from his psychotic ways. Haiku was worried for more reasons than one. It all went back to when he worked for Riki Tadashi.

After discovering his hidden... extracurricular activities, Haiku demanded a transfer hoping for a more reasonable boss. Those hopes were dashed when he was put in charge of Yami Masumis experiments.

Not only had he risked his and Hikaris lives by packing their things and running away, he risked himself for breaking the rules. He was witness to forbidden actions carried out by his superiors, yet he never dared report it. Now that he had come clean, Haikus only hope was the unusual mercy Giovanni was known for showing those truly remorseful.

"I need you to clarify exactly what Yami was doing to her and how it ties in with Rikis child trafficking ring." Giovanni realized what he was asking and quickly added, "the condensed version."

"Yami is working on a virus of sorts. It would cause humans to gain the same powers Pokemon yield." There was no holding back now. Riki and Yami would surely be out for blood and if he were dishonest, Giovanni would be as well.

"His plan was to make an army of super soldiers to use in world domination. Riki would provide children as test subjects. Well, the ones he couldn't sell that is." The expressionless face Giovanni wore wasn't reassuring. It was up in the air if he would live or not.

If Giovanni didn't forgive his transgressions then he would die alongside Riki and Yami. If he let him live, but banished him, he might as well be dead. Either way, Hikari would be safe and that was all that mattered.

Just as Haiku resigned himself to a grim fate, Giovanni cleared his throat and gave him an order that filled him with hope. "I understand. Take Hikari back to her mother immediately." Before haiku had a chance to walk off he added, "never keep secrets from me boy. It would serve you well to know under who's command you are. I will deal with both of these problems immediately and I expect strict loyalty from here on out."

"Yes sir!"

XxX

"After that, Professor Haiku took me back home and left me on my doorstep. He gave me a big bag full of money to give to my mother and that was the last I saw of him." The sun had begun to set leaving a crisp chill in the air, reminding the pair that although there was no snow it was very much still winter.

Shinji, having just put the last of the wood on the fire began to wonder where his cousin and the loud girl had gone. Taking a seat next to Hikari, he pulled a blanket out of his travel bag and offered it to her, which she gladly accepted. Once comfortable Shinji continued the conversation. "What happened to your father?"

"After him and Riki got kicked out of team rocket, they teamed up for a while. They formed a new organization called Team Chaos and continued on with child trafficking and human experimentation. As far as I know, they got into a disagreement and split the group in two and went their separate ways."

Hikari didn't see it, but Shinji recoiled in horror. Her father knew Riki? They worked together? Knowing this solidified the fact in his mind. Hikari was in grave danger and needed protection. She was in even more danger than either of them realized before. "So, he's been looking for you the whole time?"

"Sort of." When he shot her a confused look, Hikari sighed and explained more. "My mom used the money to relocate. We were originally from the Zeleno island region. She moved us to Twinleaf because she had a friend there from her childhood travels."

Pausing for a moment to think of what to say next, Shinji noted the pained look on Hikaris face and wondered what had happened to her. "It wasn't until I turned fourteen that I really started having a problem."

"What happened when you were fourteen?" A bitter laugh followed by a thourugh explanation left him even more curious.

"I won my third grand festival. The youngest triple title in history. I got pretty famous and I guess with fame you lose your anonymity. He showed up at one of my contests back in Alola, I forfeited and got out of there as fast as I could."

The anger on her face melted away to reveal what looked like regret as she continued. "I went back home and since it happened to be Christmas time, I wound up not even caring that I had just walked out in the middle of my journey."

"What happened after that?"

"After that...?" A glassy look overtook her eyes as her body felt the flames of a phantom fire licking up her arms. Hearing the various screams and feeling a sudden chill on the soles of her feet created a single tear that rolled down Hikaris cheek.

Shinji was beginning to panic but Hikari just shook her head, wiped her face, and finished talking like nothing happened. "After that, my mom and brother died. I took what money I had and ran away. I wound up in Veilstone."

Shinji wasn't stupid. He knew she wasn't telling him something important. But he put it aside for the time being because he was very curious. "Why Veilstone?"

He didn't miss the blush Hikari tried to hide and felt himself smirking. Why was she embarrassed? If she moved there to be closer to him then it just proved he wasn't insane for being so attracted to her. "I think it's because, it reminds me of you. I feel safe there."

His playful thoughts ceased immediately and was replaced with his usual seriousness. "Do you feel safe with me right now?"

Looking deep into her dark blue eyes, Shinji felt his body shifting and scooting closer to her. Without realizing it, Hikari began to do the same until their faces were inches from each other.

She felt his arm move around her back. The warmth of his hand sitting lazily on her hip sent shivers up her spine and she knew there was only one answer to his question."Yeah. I do."

Those three words send Shinji into an emotional frenzy. She didn't return his feelings, at least not yet. But she felt like she could let her guard down around him and that was enough. If she needed him to be her protector than he would play the part. "Stay with me Hikari. Let me keep you safe for the rest of your journey."

She wouldn't lie to herself. Shinji asking her to travel with him made her feel special. Important. Like she mattered to someone. But Shinji didn't understand the severity of her past.

Filled with emotional and physical baggage, Hikari couldn't put him through that. She tried to find a good excuse to turn him down, but he cut her off before she had the chance.

"But what about your journey? And Shuu, and Haruka? And..."

"Tell your loud friend to come with us. We're all going to the same gyms, it won't bother my plans at all." The look on his face let her know he wasn't taking no for an answer.

"What about Shuu? Will he be ok with this?" In a last ditch attempt she tried once more to decline. But she knew the moment the words left her mouth it was pointless even trying.

Shinji actually laughed at her question. But a flash of worry in her eyes let him know she was genuinely concerned about something. Leaning forward, he rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. "I'm sure he'll be fine with it."

A foreign sense of security flooded her body at his simple action and Hikari found herself longing for more of, whatever it was Shinji was giving her. "Ok I'll stay with you Shinji."

XxX

Hey monsters.

So...

I know I promised contest in this chapter and didn't deliver BUT...

It would have been WAY too long of a chapter. So next one is contest, one more of traveling then they'll meet the first gym leader!

So far I've got elektross, Ampharos, and Luxray as my idea for the gym Pokemon. Im thinking one more surprise one. I'm also gonna change up some secondary typing and make Luxray a regional variant.

Should he be...

Electric - fairy

Electric - ground

Electric - psychic

Lmk! Next chapter will hopefully be up by Friday. I'm taking a break from social media so I have more writing time now lol.

Anyway until next time monsters!