Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Touch my characters, however, and I will most definitely come after you!
If you happen to read this, please let me know through a review or a private message. It makes me sit down and concentrate on the story!
Thanks to pikachuhunter1 and Foxyjosh for the reviews! I appreaciate the feedback and comments :D
1001 hits! Now, if only more people review... hint hint!
This was probably one of the funnest parts to write for me... I hope you enjoy it as well!
The sound of the steel door opening woke me up. Gosh, I was beginning to hate when that happened. It never brought good news.
Today was no different.
"Get up! Your presence is 'requested' elsewhere." A guy of about my age stood over me, a Taser in his hand as well.
"Goodness... do you people only roll with weapons? Besides, what if I decide not to go?" I yawned and stretched slowly, taking my time while waiting for an answer.
"That is not an option. Follow me." Geez, what's with the bossiness? Amazingly, I stepped out of my cell for the first time since I had been brought here. My paws made no noise on the cold cement floor, and I followed the guy with the Taser. Needless to say, I couldn't resist making faces at his back... hopefully no cameras caught that.
The hallway wound around the side of the cell, leading up some stairs and turning a corner, down another hallway. A door to the right led away from our current position, but it was shut. To the left was a longer hallway, with several doors to the right, each marked with a different code. At the end, there was a door that said "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY". A small keypad with a slot for swiping cards and a screen stood right next to the door. My 'guide' took a card from his pocket and swiped it. The screen flashed red for a few moments, then displayed 'ENTER ACCESS CODE'. After entering an impossibly long code, my guide motioned for me to enter first. The screen turned green and now displayed 'ACCESS GRANTED'. With a slight click, the door slid open.
I stepped into a brightly lit reception room and whistled. The walls were a clean white, while emerald green tiles made a line on the walls. Comfortable couches and chairs were scattered around the room, along with a small fridge and a water fountain. A flat-screen TV in the corner was playing some old black and white movie, while a stack of magazines covered a table near the other side. A small bar occupied another corner, with a couple of cabinets behind it. They were labeled 3, 5, and 6, in different colors.
"I could get used to this place..." I said, sinking into one of the couches and putting my paws up.
"That's too bad, because you're not allowed to be here. Come on, this isn't our stop."
I made no effort to get up, until I saw the Taser in his hands pointed at me. Grumbling, I got up as slowly as I could and followed the guy through another set of doors. I shot the room one last longing glance before entering into an empty, square room.
There were three doors, one in each wall. They were labeled 1, 2, and 3. Muffled sounds came from inside two of the rooms, but I couldn't make out anything from them.
I looked as my guide stepped up to room number 1 and entered yet another code. How can he memorize all those letters and numbers? The door slid open, and we entered a room full of what is best described as something that looked like a children's inflatable obstacle courses, only for real. The kind that have obstacles and tunnels and a big slide at the end, but this room was less about inflatable and more about the real deal. When the doors slid shut, my guide inspected the room, then turned to me.
"Alright. I've been assigned to oversee your training. From now on, you are to do exactly what I tell you to. See this room? This is an agility trial. You must get to the flag on the other side and take it off its stand. You will be timed. There are hidden 'traps' along the way, and if I were you, I'd be on the lookout for them. This is no joke." He grabbed a stick and poked at a space next to him. A barrage of small, BB gun-like pellets bombarded the spot he had poked.
Whoa! I'm supposed to get through this?
"Ready?"
"Wait, this is not a good idea... I'm not sure I can make it..." the ground under my feet started sinking with metallic clicks, then released like a spring, sending me flying through the air, "in one piece!"
"Too late..." he muttered, releasing the lever he had pushed.
No fair! Couldn't I have been a flying Pokemon then?
Something kicked in while I was flying through the air, and I spun to land on all fours, unscathed. "SWEET!" I gasped, straightening up and looking around for the flag.
There it was, sitting on a raised metal platform just a few yards away. There were rock climbing wall-like pegs sticking out of the wall, leading to the platform. Smiling, I started towards the platform. A prickle in the back of my neck made me look up, and I jumped away in time to avoid a giant sledgehammer swinging my way. I guess he really wasn't kidding when he warned me.
I landed closer to the platform, crouching and looking about for more unpleasant surprises. There were a lot of wires and random pieces in the ceiling, but nothing I could make sense out of. Nothing moved on either side of me, and I started to relax for a second.
Big mistake.
When I took driving lessons, the teacher always used to say, "Look to the front, sides, and back. Don't ever let any zone be unknown to you." Guess I should have failed that one...
Something hit me in the lower back, and I started to lose all feeling from that area. I turned around and saw dozens of crossbow-looking contraptions tensing up their lines, with glinting metal darts aimed straight at me. CRAP!
I hit the deck, shutting my eyes and barely avoiding turning into a pincushion. The projectiles zoomed past so close that I could feel them pass, their speed whipping up my hair.
This was going badly for me. The sooner I grabbed that flag, the sooner I could be out of that living deathtrap. Maybe... if I just made an all-out dash for it, no traps could activate fast enough to get me.
With a roar, I got up and ran for the wall as if my life depended on it (which it probably did for all I knew). Something moved out of the corner of my eye, but I kept running and looking at my target. Just a few more steps and I would reach the wall...
One of the floor panels looked strange, and I soon found out why. It was nothing more than a sponge that looked exactly like the rest of the floor. When I stepped on it, it sunk to a pool of some liquid that was kind of... oozy. No pain, no harm, nothing? I smiled smugly and continued running, only to fall flat on my face when my paw slipped.
What was that thing? Soap? Oil?
I shook the thing off, drying my paw with my clothes. Yuck! I hope they wash these from time to time... I set off again, avoiding any floor panels that looked even slightly odd. I reached the wall and looked up to the platform, taking in the pegs that stuck out of the wall.
I can do this, I've practiced rock climbing before...
I grabbed the first peg, and tugged on it. It felt solid enough, so I grabbed a second one and placed my feet over two more. I reached up and grabbed one above my head, a strangely shaped red rock.
It's all about where you place your feet, was what the guy at the gym told me. If you rely too much on your hands, you'll end up doing pull-ups.
I quickly found my climbing rhythm, paw over paw, moving up the wall. I was almost there when a slight noise made me look up. The pegs near the ceiling were shaking and dislodging themselves, and those below them were starting to do so as well. I swallowed hard and forced myself to speed up, slipping a couple of times because of carelessness.
I finally reached the metal platform, pulling myself on to it just as the pegs I had been holding on to loosened up. I sighed, and picked the flag up. A loud buzzer went off, like the ones in basketball games. My trainer ran up to the platform, with no traps going off. Shouldn't he have to suffer like I did? Oh well, at least it's over. I turned and plucked the dart off my back, examining it. It was small, and not sharp enough to penetrate too deeply, but it was probably drugged or something. I offered it to my handler with a crooked grin, elated to be through with the challenge.
"You completed the challenge in thirteen minutes and forty-seven seconds, " he told me, taking the dart. "Not the best time, but at least you survived. We're done here for the day." He typed something into an electronic device that looked like a small, red laptop, then entered the code to open the door. He peeked outside, then motioned for me to exit. The center room was deserted, but there was a strange scent in the air. I sniffed and tried to pinpoint it, but it was something I'd never encountered before.
"What's that smell?" I asked, knowing that I probably wouldn't get an answer but curiosity getting the best of me.
"What's what smell?" My new 'handler' stared at me with an odd look on his face. Was that... alarm?
"Err... never mind," I muttered, ignoring the scent as we entered the waiting room. "I'm parched, I'll be right back." Without waiting for an answer, I trotted up to the drinking fountain and quenched my thirst, the icy cold water refreshing my mouth.
The little droplets that didn't go into my mouth formed a small pool of water, and I saw my reflection on it. Two strange eyes stared back up at me, surrounded by orange and cream colored fur.
I was reminded that I was no longer like the rest of the world. What could I do? Where would I go? Most importantly, how could I get out of this place?
I poked at the pool, watching as the small ripples caused by my finger distorted my face even more. First chance I got, I'd get out of this prison. Then... who knew what came after that.
I turned back to see my handler pouring a bag of dry pellets onto a doggy dish. "Oh no, I am sooo not eating that!" I crossed my arms in defiance, staring him straight in the eye. "And you might as well get rid of that doggy dish, 'cause that's not for me, either!"
He glared at me, then got back to his task. He left the dish out, turning to an unlabeled cabinet behind the bar and posting up a paper with a big, red '7' on it. He moved a few things in the cabinet, and then turned to me.
"You better eat that, that's your lunch. There won't be any more food for a while. You have an appointment as soon as we're done here."
"Uhh, I don't think so! I'm not a dog, even if you treat me like one. I'm just like anyone else! Would you eat this?" I pushed the dish away, and walked over to the small fridge. I found some cold cuts and a piece of cheesecake, and claimed them as my own. Before he could do anything but watch, I had wolfed down the results of my raid, licking cheesecake off my hands and sitting down comfortably.
"Now, for a little nap..." I said, as I started dozing off. I'd never been one to nap much, but lately, it was just beyond me. I yawned and tucked my hand under my head, curling up on my side. My tail resting over my feet, my fur acting as a warm, fuzzy blanket to keep my body temperature constant, the only thing that was missing now was soothing music. That, though, I didn't need to fall asleep.
Ray looked at the girl in the couch, thinking hard about what he had seen. This was no dumb animal, this was a living, breathing, thinking person. He would have to be careful about his actions. He couldn't afford to mess up.
And yet, she was being treated like an animal. She was caged, and had been given a number to take the place of her name. Come to think of it, he didn't know anything about her other than her number, Seven, and that the professor had taken a liking to her.
He sighed, momentarily overwhelmed. Why had he not thought more about the too-good-to-be-true offer he had been made? Now he was tangled up in all of this, and if the company went down, so would he.
Her furry form rose and fell steadily with each breath she took. She had a peaceful smile on her face, one that softened her rough features. Her tail twitched occasionally, but she gave no sign of waking up. There were no wounds from her bout with the trial room, other than the spot where the metal dart had released its anesthetic solution into her back.
She had an interesting style, probably greatly enhanced by instincts and her Pokemon's natural agility. And that incident back in the central room? Could she have smelled the others? Maybe they should get going, before something undesirable happened.
He went out to the central room, and listened as hard as he could to try to judge how much time they had left. One of the other rooms was completely silent, which worried him. He ran back to the waiting room, taking a last look before shaking the morph awake.
"Come on, we have to go. You can sleep all you want back in your room." He ignored her snort at that last statement, and led her back to the cell. She walked behind him slowly, yawning and sighing. Perhaps they could move the appointment to her cell?
His radio clipped onto his belt, he took it and switched to a different frequency, waiting for another person to finish speaking before he did. "Doctor Val? I'm taking Seven back now, she has completed her trial but is too exhausted to make it to the examination room. Maybe you'd like to see her in her room?" He crossed his fingers, knowing that Seven was the doctor's current 'pet'.
A few seconds of tense static went by before a short answer, "Fine. Have her ready."
A/N: Due to the amount of work that I am having to tackle at the time, I won't be able to update for a while. However, I would still appreciate comments and maybe even ideas. I'm stuck right in front of a concrete wall. I knew I shouldn't have started writing the story on two different sources...