(Ash's POV)
It had been three days. Ever since I shot his leg, he had sent someone to hurt me. I don't blame him. It must have hurt. My mother was sent back into her cell, but Ghetsis promised that he wouldn't hurt her, as long as I played along with his sinister game.
I sat on the bed, waiting for the next person to come in for the day. I saw bruises, proof that it was harsh. I couldn't see how I looked like, but I can tell my lower jaw is swelling. They must have broken something.
For the past three days, I haven't lost hope that someone will help me escape. I hoped it would be Gary. But I know that the chances of him ever coming here-wherever here is- is slim. And besides, the chances of me surviving this… "No." I told myself.
"I am going to make it. For Gary and Mom."
I heard the door screech. He is here. I turned to look at the door to see a tall slender man, wearing the usual Team Plasma uniform, but he also wore a hood. I knew what that was for. They know that if I manage to escape, more than likely I would tell the world. And of course their identity.
"Strip." He ordered. I just sat there, and looked away. He walked over, grabbed my shoulder and threw me to the ground. I whimpered when I landed, it wasn't a very soft landing. I heard a sharp snapping sound. I turned to look at the man to see him holding a black leather whip. I heard him growl, as he then grabbed me by my hair, making me yelp in pain. He pulled me up to stand, and brought my face towards his, to the point when our noses touch.
"I said, strip!" He snapped the whip next to me, making me flinch, as well as yelp. I started to breath fearfully. I was scared, I was going to get beaten badly. Maybe even die, and no one's going to save me this time.
He let me go, and I did what I was told. I took off my shirt. I looked at him, to be sure if he was satisfied. He growled again, "Strip, boy!" Another snap of the whip. I then took my pants off. I then waited. He walked over, grabbed me by the wrist and threw me onto my metal bed. I landed in which only my upper torso was on the bed, leaving my back upright, and accessible. I started to whimper and shake. I felt close to tears.
I heard him take a few steps back, before he drew the whip back. Before I could register any form of thought, I felt the whip cut into my skin. I screamed loudly, feeling the blood run down my back. He reached back again, and let the whip hit me again.
This went on for a while. I stopped counting his strikes after ten. About another six strikes later, I felt little pain. I stopped screaming, for it hurt my throat. The pain only made me jump. My eyes felt heavy. I could feel that my back was soaked in my own blood. Then I felt him reaching for my boxers. I was too weak to fight back, thus he was able to remove them without much effort. He let the boxers pool at my knee caps, do to the fact that I was kneeling. As I heard him walking a few steps away, then reaching back the whip, the door opened again.
"That is enough." I was too weak to turn around, but I knew that it was Ghetsis' voice. I heard footsteps approaching me, pulling my underwear back up. And then walked around the bed to face me. Indeed, it was Ghetsis.
"Do you have a decision yet?" He asked. I was too weak to answer back. I only panted, and whimpered as the wounds on my back started to sting due to the exposure to the dusty air. He brought his cold, wrinkly hand under my chin to make me look up at him. My eyes were half lidded, exhaustion setting into my system. Ghetsis sighed, as he walked around the bed once more, and brought one of my arms around his waist. He helped me up, and walked me out of the cell. I closed my eyes at the bright light, causing my head to ache. I wasn't sure of where he was taking me, but when I heard a door close, I grew nervous.
"W-What… are y-you going to-" He pressed a finger to my lips, "Hush. I am just going to put disinfectant on your back. We can't have you die, now can't we?" He joked, as he layed me down on my stomach on a… a bed? It was comfortable. I tried to open my eyes, but I was too weak to. I heard him shuffle around the room, before I heard a popping sound. I waited a few seconds, before my back arched in pain. He started to rub the liquid all over my back.
"Ack!" I choked. He pressed a hand on my back, to bring me back to a laying position.
"You better stay still. If you move too much, you may cause my fingers to dig into your cuts. And I know that it wouldn't be fun."
When he finished, I heard him walk away, more shuffling, then a shifting on the bed. I groaned, in exhaustion and pain.
"I will let you stay here a few days for your back to heal. I need to know what your decision is. Either I kill her, or you stay here and be my slave."
Well, so much for the kind-hearted guy who helped me avoid death. He sure is stubborn. I groaned once more.
"W-Why… pain…" I couldn't make a complete sentence. But I guess Ghetsis understood it, "Maybe you shouldn't have shot my leg. You are lucky you didn't break my leg. Otherwise the punishment would have been way worse." I heard a snap, and I flinched.
"No… please… no m-more…" I don't want any more pain.
"Yes, sir?"
"I need his mother here. Now."
"Yes, sir!" Why does he need my mother here? Not a minute later, they arrived, "Here she is, sir."
"Let her go, let her see her son." I heard footsteps run towards me, and then a hand running through my tangled hair, "My baby… my poor baby." My mother sobbed, placing a kiss on my cheek, which was facing up at her. I tried to open my eyes, this time, finding the strength to. I saw her blurry image, but I saw that her face was covered in her tears.
"M-Mom…"
"Yes, dear?" She said, as she sobbed.
"I… I… tired…" Then I let sleep take me away.
In the Bunker:
"How can we be out of food?" Exclaimed one of the bunker's residents. There was an uproar. Someone or something at all the food that they had stored.
"It must have been the Taki family, you know that they can't keep their chubby hands off food." Some people exclaimed their agreement. While others argued against them. Gary, who still sat by the door, could hear the commotion. He tried to do everything he could to stop the noise, it was giving him a headache. Right now, his two index fingers are plugged in his ears. Unfortunately, the noise still came through, muffled. He groaned, he wanted to yell out 'Shut the hell up!', but he knew that it would only heighten the situation more so.
"If only Ash was here. He could stop the fighting." He told himself, as he closed his eyes. He jumped when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He looked over to find his grandfather standing there. Gary sighed, "Jeez, Gramps don't scare me like that…"
"You were scared?"
"Well-I… you see… I mean, no!" He stuttered, Professor Oak chuckled. He was glad that he had a glimpse of his grandson's former self resurface.
"Sorry about that, Gary. Anyway, we have a problem going on. No food, no water. A group of us have to search the city for more food and water."
"Well?" Gary asked. Professor Oak looked at him, confused, "Well, what?"
"Who is going?"
"Just the adults. The children must stay here."
"What? No! Like you said, we won't stand a chance out there! Especially you-no offense, Gramps but you won't be able to keep up. They will take you away, just like they did to Ash. Or… Or worse."
"Then what do you think? What other choice do we have?"
"Let me go with you then." Professor Oak shook his head, "No, Gary. I cannot and will not risk your life for the well being of us."
"Ash would have done the same for us." Gary said. Professor Oak sighed again, "Gary, stop dwelling on the past. Ash wouldn't want you to be taken away either. Regardless if you would be taken to where he is being held. We need you here. So that if… none of us make it back here, someone can take care of the children."
All of a sudden, one of Gary's pokeballs bursted open. Umbreon appeared in front of its trainer, "Umb um breon!" It barked, as its rings around its ears, shoulders, hips and tail glowed. Gary nodded his head in understanding, "Umbreon thinks that you and I should stick together. The bigger our numbers the better chance we have of getting back."
Professor Oak sighed in defeat, "Alright. But you must stay with me. We are still unsure of what to expect outside this door." He said as he pointed a finger at the metal door, which kept them away from the outside world. Gary patted the pokemon on the head, silently thanked it, and then called it back into its assigned ball. He clicked it onto his belt, next to his other pokeballs. He currently held his Blastoise, Umbreon, Dodrio, and his Electivire. He knew that he would need their help when they gather supplies outside.
Professor Oak, along with Gary walked to the crowed of people, "Can I have everyone's attention?" Professor Oak called. The arguing immediately stopped. They all turned to look at the old professor.
"We need only a few adults to group together and come with my grandson and I to get more supplies."
"But what about the kids?"
"Don't worry. The original plan was that Gary was to stay here and watch the children. But he made a point that only a few of us should go, and leave some adults here armed with pokemon to protect the bunker and the children."
"Ok, with what pokemon?" Another person asked. Professor Oak searched through his lab coat pocket and grabbed three pokeballs. He threw them in the air, releasing Dragonite, Pidgeot, and Rotom. Gary, who haven't seen the electric-ghost type before, stared in awe, "Whoa, what is that?"
"Rotom. I met it when I went to Unova. It was following Ash and his friends at the time, and then it suddenly had an interest in me. So I caught it, and did some research on it. It is on the mischievous end though." The professor gave a lopsided smile. He then walked to his pokemon and said, "We need you to stay here and protect them okay?" The pokemon roared in understanding. Gary then walked forward, "So we need at least half of the adults with us. Anyone willing to volunteer?"
Four of the ten adults volunteered. Gary looked at his grandfather for suggestions, "Is four enough?"
"Well, since you and I are going as well, it should be enough."
(Gary's POV)
A few minutes later, we left the bunker silently, and into the world. I looked in astonishment. Buildings were still on fire, some buildings falling apart. I realized at this rate, the Unovans will destroy all of Kanto. Grandad started motioning his hand, no soldiers… yet. We walked farther into town, and then we stopped. Grandad looked at us, "Okay, I need two to come with me, the other two go with Gary." We instantly split up, and we started searching the city.
My team and I started down an alley way, and heard rustling.
"What was that?"
"Not sure, but stay alert and quiet." I ordered, as I walked toward the sound, which was towards a dumpster that was turned over. I heard a whimper next. Whatever it was, it was alive. I grabbed a pokeball from my belt, ready to battle.
"Someone… please help…" A person? I looked underneath the dumpster to find a little girl, around eight years old. Her face covered in tears. She had black hair and brown eyes, she reminded me alot of Ash. I turned to my two volunteers, "I need your help, there is a little girl under here." I said, as I then grabbed the edge towards the ground, and started to pull up. My team then ran over and helped me. We eventually got the dumpster off of her, and she crawled out. When I saw her crawl out, we dropped the dumpster, and it landed with a heavy clang. I cringed, it was loud. Hopefully, no enemies heard that.
Unfortunately, my luck wasn't on my side today. I heard a meow. I looked over in the way we came to find a purple cat-like pokemon.
"Liepard, attack!" It then hunched its back and leaped at us. The little girl, who was the closest one to the entrance was going to be attacked first. I tried to reach over to grab her, but Liepard got there first. It sunk its teeth into the girl's neck, cutting off all air and blood flow. And she was dead, hanging limp in the cat's jaw. It then dropped the girl, and charged at us. I turned around, "Run!"
We sprinted down the alley way, which brought us into another main street. We ran into the first building we saw, and closed the door. We then started placing large objects in front of the door, keeping it in place. I started to hear scratching. It must be the Liepard, scratching at the glass door. I turned to my team once more, "Go and look for food. Only take what you can carry!" I ordered. My two volunteers searched the upper floors- this is only a three story building- while I rummaged through the first floor. Behind the counter, within the cupboards I found what Ash would call "snacking foods", crackers, chips, and small bite-sized cookies. There also is a fabric bag. I pulled it out to find it full of water bottles. I smiled in victory. I brought the food into the bag as well, and took it along as I searched the rest of the floor.
I noticed that the scratching stopped. I called out Umbreon, "Go look through the window, check if you see a Liepard out there." It nodded in understanding, and then trotted over to the window. It yelped, then shook its head 'no'. I sighed in relief, "Thanks Umbreon. Hey, do you think you can carry this?" I showed it the bag, it nodded, and took it into its mouth. I then got an idea, if we want to carry more food, maybe our pokemon can help out!
I took the rest of my pokeballs from my belt, and threw them into the air, "Come on out, I need your help." And out came Dodrio, Electivire, and my starter Blastoise. They all roared, ready for their commands.
"Follow me, I need your help to get food back to the bunker." And so they did. About a half an hour later, we managed to get all of the food into a few bags. Including the food that was found upstairs. Electivire and Blastoise carried four, Dodrio carried three and Umbreon was still carrying the one from earlier. While the rest of us carried two. I let Blastoise use hydro canon to blast the stuff away from the door, which ended up blasting the door off its hinges as well. We ran out, to find Grandad with his Charizard. They carried bags of food as well.
Charizard was Grandad's starter pokemon, back when he was a trainer himself. I remember battling it once, surprising to say, I lost even by using Blastoise. That shows that Ash has been right, strength comes from the heart, not by advantages.
We ran back to the bunker, thankfully without being caught. When we reached the bunker, knocked on the door with a secret code we told them to pay attention for, the door opened, revealing Charles and we went in.
Mission 'Food Recovery' was a success, and everyone was happy that they could have supper for one more night.
