Chapter 3: Slave

Being inside the ball was strange. He was only semi-conscious. He felt like he was floating, gradually spinning, in such a thin air that it gave no resistance. His pain was there, but it was like a side note, almost not mattering. He knew that he was in critical condition, but it somehow didn't matter.

In what seemed like minutes, he was released again, onto a soft, cold surface. The pain had returned in full. Instantly, he struggled, fought anything and everything around him. He slashed deep gashes into the surface he was laying on, and soft stuff flew out in chunks. Then he heard the word.

"Stop!"

He stopped. His one arm was over his head, his other deeply imbedded into the soft surface. He was very uncomfortable. And he was paralyzed.

"Relax, and let yourself be treated."

There the voice was again. And, like the first time, he obeyed. His mind fought the impulses, but didn't even slow them down. He had to obey. He literally had no choice. It was infuriating.

A woman came over and started shooting his wounds with a spray bottle. It hurt worse than the initial injury. He tried to fight, but again found that he couldn't. After a few minutes, he stopped trying and just accepted his predicament. He transferred all his effort to figuring out what was going on. The voice was familiar. Oh yes, his first human. The one who had ordered the sandslash to… a strange, burning feeling came over him. Anger. He hated that voice. And its owner. There it was again. The human was speaking. He couldn't understand the words; the language was foreign to him. He lay there, just listening to the emotions behind the words.

"Aren't you done yet?!?" the voice complained.

"Almost. Be patient. By the way, where did you find this charmander? They're very rare." The second voice came from the woman holding the pain bottle.

"I was traveling through the woods between Cerulean and Celadon." The voice replied.

"Really? That's a little unconventional. The detour through Saffron is actually faster, because of the roads."

"Yeah, well, I was too much in a hurry to plan like that. And I got a charmander, so it worked out for the best. You're still working? I thought you said you were almost done!"

"Almost there… done!" the woman replied.

The charmander felt the sprays stop. He reached for his wound; he had no orders against that. His chest felt like it was never in pain. Suddenly, he felt himself being drug into his ball. He had no ability to struggle anymore. Somehow, it wasn't even a possibility.

Back into the nothingness, and back out in what seemed like a second. Suddenly, he was looking at a plant with a yellow bulb on top. A Bellsprout.

"Ember!" the familiar human called.

Against his own will, he opened up his mouth and launched a blast of flame at the creature. It was charred and collapsed.

A woman yelled something and the creature started to struggle to straighten itself.

"Scratch!" the male human called out, and charmander obeyed. His claws cut right through the stalk, leaving a yellow bulb hanging by a thread. He walked forward to eat his prey, but was suddenly sucked back into his ball. Why? He had almost killed it, why was he not allowed to use its energy?

A few moments later, he appeared again. In front of him was a large, red flower with a blue thing under it. A vileplume. He looked around, seeing that he was basically in the same place, but that the human opponent was different. Suddenly, the human opponent, a woman, called something to her pokemon. Spores launched from it into the air, coming for him. He leapt around, dodging some of the spores, and burning others. A few hit him, fixing themselves across his body.

"Ember!" his human called, calmly.

His body tried to obey, but for a moment he couldn't move! Suddenly, the creature started to glow. The charmander took this as a bad sign, and ran to hide. He leapt at the closest hiding place, just as a beam of rainbow energy shot at him. He had hidden behind the opposing trainer. The woman was launched high into the air before hitting the wall behind her with a resounding crash.

The charmander's owner and the vileplume hesitated. But the charmander didn't. He leapt at the creature, slashing and burning it, his body sometimes resisting because of the spores over it, but working well enough. A few minutes later, the creature was almost unrecognizable and struggling weakly. Suddenly, the charmander started to glow.

He glowed with a bright, white light, and could feel himself getting larger, his irises contracting, a point coming out his head. No! Not now, not like this! He wanted to become a charmeleon, but didn't want to give the human the satisfaction of a stronger slave. He fought the change, but realized that it was not under his control. Somehow he knew it was his master's decision. He felt his skin darken and his claws whiten and extend, then the light faded away.

He was a charmeleon. His emotions changed, grew more rebelliousness. The anger he had felt at his owner molded into a burning hatred. He could also feel his strength increase. That is, he could literally feel his control over himself enhance. Not enough to break the human's power, but he somehow knew that if he continued to grow stronger, eventually he might gain control of himself again. Hope returned.

Then his master walked over to the injured woman, and picked up a small, metal badge. Suddenly, the charmeleon could literally feel the chains of bondage strengthen. This might be a long fight.

A/N: A new challenge every week! This week's challenge: Will the charmander every break free of his owner's control? If so, how, and in what chapter, four or five? I love reviews.