Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Touch my characters, however, and I will mostly definitely come after you.
Pika: She is a hybrid, but she retains her human traits. She walks on two feet, and has clawed fingers, which I think would really make pinching oneself extremely painful. Otherwise, you're right, she wouldn't pinch herself. :D I guess she's not fully Arcanine, you could still mistake her for a human if you saw her in the dark and maybe shut your left eye, and then your right eye ;) Human posture, human speech... some Arcanine traits, as you will see later on. Definitely outcast, in more ways than one. Hope all that makes sense...
Now, for our story of suffering and misery!
I sat down and thought about what the woman had said. Arcanine, a fire Pokemon. If I was part-fire Pokemon, shouldn't I have some special fire abilities or something? I clapped my hands and willed fire to appear, but nothing came out. Embarrassed, I turned to see the camera was on. Oh boy...
So. A fire Pokemon but no fire? How lame could I get?
I moped around for a while, wallowing in a self-pity fest. Then my thoughts turned to my home and my family, and I was filled with even more sadness. What were they doing right now? Had they found my car and thought me dead? How long had it been now, four days? More? I had no idea how long I had been out for when I got captured... Could be a whole week for all I knew.
A thought formed in my mind. I had to get out of here, but how? Looking at the four imposing walls, I made up my mind and threw myself against the one across from the door. Hopefully, I wasn't too high up.
Oompf! My shoulder met cold, hard cement and I rubbed it, glaring at the wall. My claws fared no better, and I stopped soon afterwards. I looked longingly at the small hole in the corner, then snapped myself out of that proposition. There was no way I would force myself down the crap channel. It was too small for anything. Besides, I'd die of bad air or worse. Who knew what lay in wait there, after years of rotting and decomposition?
I sat down, defeated for the moment, and amused myself by experimenting with my tail. I managed to get small, simple, jerky movements out of it, but nothing more. When I got bored of it, I started inspecting my hospital-like gown. It wasn't in good condition. My tail had ripped out of it in the back, and it was a little tight for me. At least it covered me, right?
"Hey! You! Yes, whoever is looking at the camera. Couldn't I at least have some decent clothes?!" I waved my hands and pointed at my clothes until I lost interest.
They probably couldn't care less about things like these...
The door hatch opened and, as usual, a plate was pushed in. I rushed to it, eagerly. I hadn't eaten for a while. Make that I hadn't eaten since... before... that.
My ears drooped when I found bread, cheese, and another unappetizing banana. What had happened to the hunk of meat and the mashed potatoes? I took the same approach as before, attacking the banana and then ridding myself of the flavor with the other things. No funky aftertaste this time? I shrugged and dug into the bread, noticing that everything tasted more now. Even stale bread.
I guess it comes with the job...
I fell to napping after eating. One moment I was perfectly awake, and next thing I knew, I was nodding off. Might as well get comfortable... Lying down on my bed, arms under my head, I finally closed my eyes and drifted off into sleep.
What I didn't notice was a small, faint voice fighting against the distance and the elements, reaching into my cell.
-Hello?-
"You've been given another chance, but this will be your last. Disappoint us and you'll be dismissed from the project."
A semi-circle of six people faced a single, lone person standing in the middle of a conference room. His white coat was covered with pink stains, and a ring of trash decorated his shoulders. His shoulders drooped a little, expecting the worst.
"You have been assigned to R-7. You will oversee training and track progress, and be ready for an assessment at the end of the week. That is all, you may go now." His head jerked up when he heard his new assignment, and he opened his mouth to protest, but then thought better of it. The board had turned its attention to a different matter, leaving the guy to the security guards that were to escort him to his new post.