"Hey, you! Girl with the bag!" Faba called as he chased Lillie through the halls of the conservation area. "Stop!"
Lillie had with her quite possibly the oddest creature one could see. Its body was a round, boneless shape, with hues of pink, purple, and indigo stacking from bottom to top in vibrant layers. It had thin arms and large blue hands without fingers. This was a "Cosmog," a rare Pokémon unheard of by most.
Like any other creature, Cosmog could be male or female; from what Lillie could see, this one was a female, or it was probably a female. These creatures, according to reports from people who had seen them, had blue circles on their backsides; the female's was smaller than the male's, and it appeared quite small on this one. It had a dark face with blue blushed cheeks, pale yellow eyes, and a pink mouth with a yellow tongue.
The creature's name, Lillie had decided, was Nebby. She called the creature "she" instead of "it" like her mother and most of Aether Corp would, which no one seemed to care about. What they did mind was when Lillie took the creature into her bag and made a break for it.
Lusamine, Lillie's mother, saw Nebby as nothing more than an object to test on. She called it "Subject" and manhandled it recklessly. When distressed, which happened often, Nebby would emit an earsplitting cry. When this happened, Lusamine would hold her by her little arms and slap her repeatedly until the noise stopped.
Lillie snatched this creature in an attempt to protect it from Lusamine, seeing it as an individual and not as a toy like the rest of Aether Corp did.
"After her!" Faba stopped, pointing to her. Tens of Aether Corp employees flooded after the girl in a large posse, their feet thundering on the white iron.
Lillie's legs carried her like wheels on a truck. The sinister logo of Aether Corp flashed all around. The fire exit was in sight, the red sign above it gleaming in her eyes. Nebby tucked her arms close to her body as she leaped out the door, galloping out of the building.
As was required by Aether Corp policy, the Aether Corp employees halted at the exit, as there was no fire. Two of them, however, broke the protocol and continued to chase the girl.
Lillie could see Nebby shrink and quiver in fear, but had no time to console the creature as she sprinted. The Aether Corp employees stopped and seemed to whisper to each other; Lillie took the opportunity to dash uphill.
The Aether Corp employees dived into the bushes, pulling out their rifles and loading the shells as Nebby began to glow. Their helmets hid any emotion as they stared at her sudden transformation.
From the bag came a giant bird, rising on resplendent blue and gold wings as starlight shimmered across its body. "Skoroiiiiiiii!" it shrieked as it ascended.
One of the two Aether Corp employees aimed his rifle at the bird and pulled the trigger three times, but the bullets bounced off as if they were nothing. The other took aim at Lillie and shot.
There was a bang, a quick, hot pain in her neck, and she fell. Lillie was gone, the rain washing away her crimson blood as the moon's light pierced through the dark clouds with a burning scarlet.