Author's Note: Man, I made a lot of changes to this chapter, even to the title. More than seven hundred more words. It's startling how much this chapter needed corrections. I also hope that the rest aren't as long or I might take a little to get everything ready again. Anyway, here's the second chapter. -EeveeInHeat

Silver

- Chapter 2: Escapees -

Silver opened his eyes, only to shut them tight again. A bright, white light was shining down from above him. Had he died? No, he could still feel soreness in his unused muscles. Wait, unused? he thought. Then the memory of the net came back to him.

He opened his eyes again, once again starting to panic. The light stung his eyes again, but Silver ignored the pain. He looked around him as his vision came into focus. He was in a black cage on a table. All along three of the walls, ran a counter of the same height. Vials, syringes, tubes, and notes covered it all the way around. On the other side of the simple four wall room, was a door, a small glass square at the top. Besides his cage and the items on the counter, everything was white. The counters, the walls, the floor, and the ceiling were all a plain, dull white.

The light didn't seem bright at all now and Silver deemed his first reaction to having his eyes closed for so long. How long had he been here? How did he get here? What was going to happen to him? Silver heard his stomach growl. Well one answer was that he had been here too long.

It wasn't long before he heard a click behind him. He turned and saw the door was starting to open. A human walked in and shut the door behind it. It was looking a pad in its hands. The human was wearing an all-white coat, a color Silver was starting to dislike. The human was muttering to itself, but it was too low for Silver to distinguish what it said.

Finally, the human looked up at Silver. It walked up to Silver's cage and produced a small silver object out of the coat. It unlocked the cage and swung the door open. Silver immediately tried to slip out, but the human was ready and Silver was soon locked in a vice grip by one of the human's arms. Silver knew the grip was too strong and he let himself go limp. He would have tried to bite the human, but nothing was in range of his teeth besides cloth. The human muttered again, but all Silver could understand was 'me'.

The human picked up a syringe and held it over Silver. Realizing that he was the target, Silver started to squirm again to get away from the needle. However, the grip continued and the needle was soon against his skin. Silver felt a painful prick against his side as it pierced the skin. Soon, the syringe turned red as something filled it. Silver then realized that it was his own blood.

Once the syringe was full, the human slid it inside of the coat and carried Silver back to the cage. Silver growled as the human locked the cage back up, but the growl was weak sounding. His throat was cracking, both to unused and no water. The human simply ignored him. The human walked out, leaving Silver alone once again.

Silver curled up on the cold metal floor of his cage and tried to think. He would need to get out, but the human probably wasn't going to just let him out. Silver started to go through several possibilities of escape, but all of them ended at the door. Not only would he have to open the door, he would have to found his way from there.

Eventually, only Silver's thoughts of food and water got attention. His stomach rumbled as it cried out for substance, but there was nothing inside the cage to eat. His throat wasn't getting any better, either.

Silver looked up hopefully as the door clicked open again. A human, probably the same one with all the muttering, came in with two, black saucers in his hands. As he put the two on the counter while he fished for the metal item again, Silver saw that one contained water, while the other had some weird brown stuff in it. The human pulled out the object and opened the door again. Silver didn't try to escape, since there was no way out with the door closed. The human watched him closely as it put the saucers down in front of him. It then shut the cage door and walked out, once again shutting the room door.

Once the human was gone, Silver approached the saucers. Since he didn't know what the brown stuff was, he decided to drink first. The water was horrible with the same aftertaste the netting had, but he was still grateful for anything that quenched his thirst. He stopped halfway, unsure how long it would have to last.

His thirst mostly quenched, he turned to the only saucer. Inside were what appeared to be small, brown, Rattata droppings. Silver cautiously sniffed it, but couldn't smell any flavor to it. Since the other one had been water, he assumed it was food, probably human made. Silver was indecisive until his stomach growled once more. Silver squeezed his eyes shut as he put one of them in his mouth. Unlike the water, it didn't seem to have any taste, like eating solid air. When his stomach growled again, Silver ate faster. Soon, his stomach stopped, satisfied for the moment. Sighing, Silver left the half-finished saucers and curled up again.

It wasn't long before the human once again came back. This time, he seemed angry, as he was almost muttering loud enough for Silver to hear. He pushed the door back, not really watching to see if it closed. However, Silver was, and he realized that this could be his chance when the door didn't fully close.

The human came up and opened the door to the cage. Silver tensed to jump, but the human reached in quickly and grabbed him ruffled by his collar. Knowing he would only get hurt struggling in this position, Silver once again went limp, involuntarily whimpering as his hair pulled against his skin.

The human carried him to the long counter and it picked up a syringe from the counter. The human filled it with some strange liquid out of a tube and poised the syringe over him, the sharp needle catching the dim lighting. Silver knew he definitely didn't want that strange liquid in him. Silver started to wildly struggle as the syringe hovered above him. The human lost his grip, though still being able to hold on to some of Silver's fur. He cried out slightly as some of his collar fur was pulled out of his skin. Silver fell to the floor in a heap.

Silver looked up, slightly dazed from the fall to see the human suddenly puncture itself with the syringe by accident. Time seemed to stop as the human paused, the needle puncturing its skin while his mouth opened in a pained expression. Suddenly, the human passed out and fell to the floor, luckily missing Silver by a little.

Silver approached the door and saw it was indeed still open a crack. He pulled the door inward using his snout, making just enough of a gap for him. He looked out and saw a completely white hallway. Seeing no one around, Silver snuck out. He glanced around for a second, before he felt almost drawn to the right. Seeing both ways being equal, Silver decided to follow what he thought was his instinct to the right.

He stopped dead in his tracks as another lab coat came around the corner. It seemed to not notice Silver as it passed right by him. Suddenly, a Houndour came from the other end of the hallway. It passed right in front of the human, but the human paid it no mind. Silver realized that Pokemon must have walked free here. All he needed to do now was act normal and maybe no one would notice!

Silver continued down the hall, the strange feeling still guiding him. He tried to act as natural as he could, as though he belonged here. He wished he had a bag or something. Most of the Pokemon he saw were carrying something to and fro. He barely held back from flinching whenever a Pokemon or human got close to him. That would definitely raise some suspicion.

Silver had gone down about three hallways, when he saw an open door. Silver had passed several doors has he had walked, but they had all been closed. Against his better judgment, the feeling was telling him to go in. Also, he was slightly curious to see why they had captured him. He checked around and saw no one around, so he stuck his head in the room. There were no humans or free Pokemon walking around inside, so he slipped in. The room was mostly like the one Silver had been in, but there were three cages on the counter in the middle. He headed for them, not wanting another Pokemon to stay captured if he could help it.

Silver jumped up on the counter to see that each of the cages held a Pokemon inside. The cage on the left held the dark green and pale pelt of a Cyndaquil. The Cyndaquil was curled up in a corner, sleeping. The cage in the middle held the white form of a Ralts. It was sitting, staring right at Silver as though it had been expecting him. A black band covered the whole length of its arm. The cage on the right held the orange form of a Trapinch. The Trapinch was sitting in a corner, jumping as Silver suddenly jumped up.

"Shh, shh, be quiet, guys," Silver warned. The Trapinch paused, while the Ralts simply nodded in agreement.

The Cyndaquil suddenly stretched and looked up. It had obviously heard what Silver had said, for it sat near the door of its cage, not saying a word. It stared at Silver, waiting for the reason of why he wanted them quiet.

"Okay guys, I trying to get away. I noticed your door was open, so I came in. I was captured but I got out of my room, somehow. I came in to get you guys out, also," Silver quickly explained. He paused for a moment before added, "It would also help if one of you knew a way out of this . . . place."

The Trapinch looked annoyed, while the Cyndaquil simply shook his head. However, the Ralts nodded before it suddenly stuck the arm with the black band on it through the bars of the cage. "Here," he whispered, "Bite this band off of me. The others couldn't reach"

Silver gave him a confused look, but leaned down and carefully tried bite the band off. It took a second before Silver was able to slide one of his teeth underneath the material. The material easily snapped and fell off as soon as Silver got one tooth under it, showing how weak it had actually been. The Ralts pulled its arm back in. It stretched its arm for a second before it waved its hand at its cage door. Silver was surprised when the door opened in response.

"I have psychic powers, but the band prevented me earlier," Ralts explained when it saw Silver's confused look. It waved its hand at the other cages and they opened also. The Cyndaquil and Trapinch stepped out and jumped down with Silver to the floor. Ralts floated down to the floor from the counter. Silver wasn't as awestruck as he possibly could be, since he had had an Espeon as a mother. Still, the fact that the small Pokemon could use the same powers as his mother was startling.

"So, you said you know of a way out," Silver whispered to the Ralts.

The Ralts once again nodded. "I'll continue to show you the way," he said, motioning for Silver to go.

Silver was confused at his statement. "Continue?" he asked. "I just freed you."

The Ralts smiled a little. "That feeling you had was me leading you. You didn't think it was dumb luck that the human stabbed himself and you came here, did you?" it teased.

Silver decided not to answer and followed the feeling that was now leading him into the hallway. "Follow me, I guess. You have to stay close and walk as though you're allowed out. Otherwise, we'll raise suspicion," Silver whispered. The others nodded and crept to the door with him.

Silver saw no one outside, so he slipped out and walked down the hallway, following the feeling. He waved his tail for the others to follow. He hoped a large group wouldn't arouse suspicion, but it was too late to think of that. He noticed less humans and Pokemon traveled these hallways, anyway.

Finally, they turned around a corner and saw the hallway end with a door. It seemed like all of the others, but Silver knew it was the exit by the way the feeling was leading him straight there. He started down the hallway, glad no one was around. However, part of the way down on the left was a partially open door. He knew if the room held humans or free Pokemon, their cover would be blown, but now that he was sure other captured Pokemon were here, he couldn't just pass it up. He slowed as he reached it.

"What are you doing?" the Trapinch spoke. It was the first time it had said something and Silver jumped at the unexpected noise.

"There may be other Pokemon in here," Silver explained.

Cyndaquil shook its head. Trapinch spoke again, "We can't go in every room we come by or we'll be caught. We need to go, now."

Silver glared at the Trapinch and Cyndaquil, "If I hadn't gone into your room, you guys would still be caught. Besides, it's just this one room because the door is already open. I don't want to leave any Pokemon I might have been able to save."

The Cyndaquil lowered its head in shame, while Trapinch gave Silver a mutinous look. Guys, stop your arguing. There is only one Pokemon in there, and I don't think it is a bad Pokemon. Silver jumped at the sudden voice in his head. He saw the Cyndaquil and Trapinch also jump. It's me, the Ralts. I usually speak telepathically, but the band prevented me earlier, as I said.

Silver relaxed. "So, you're sure only one Pokemon is in there?" he asked. With a nod from the Ralts, Silver pushed the door enough to enter and slipped in.

The room surprised Silver greatly. Inside, there was no furniture, except one small counter with a few items and a chair pulled up to it. Silver noticed immediately something even more surprising. The walls were a dark gray. The floor was too, except a few whitish spots scattered here and there, as though something had been spilt and never cleaned up. What surprised Silver the most, though, was the Pokemon curled up on the floor.

Silver took a second to study the Pokemon. It seemed to have a brown coat with a tail, but there were whitish spots covering it, with a few red marks near the base of the tail and on its back. The tail covered its head, but Silver couldn't see the tail too clearly. The Pokemon had a chain leading from its neck to a plate on the wall. Silver was horrified that they would chain a Pokemon up like this. He was now slightly glad he had been in a cage instead.

The others came in behind in. The ears of the Pokemon perked out of its tail at the sound of them entering. Its ears seemed to be brown, but both had red spots near the edges. Its head swiveled slightly to see who it was. Its tail still covered it, but Silver could just barely see two eyes through the fur.

The Pokemon suddenly shot up and ran into the corner closest to it and farthest to them. Silver heard it start to whimper as it cowered in the corner. What had they done to scare this Pokemon so much? From how it was now, Silver could see the tip of the tail. It was a lighter brown than the fur covering the rest of it. Also, he saw the Pokemon had a mane of the same color. The realization hit him: this was an Eevee!

Silver motioned the others back and started to approach the Eevee slowly. Silver heard the Trapinch mutter something under its breathe, but Silver ignored the grouchy Pokemon. He didn't want to frighten the Eevee too much with a bunch of strange Pokemon approaching it.

But his approach seemed to fail, as the Eevee pushed itself farther into the corner and started to sob. "W-why can't you P-Pokemon leave m-me alone already?" the Eevee begged quietly.

Silver stopped. This situation was ripping at his heart. How could these people hurt a poor Eevee? The other Pokemon, though he didn't know how long the others had been there, didn't seem to be hurt at all from what Silver could tell. "Wait, shh, be quiet. I'm not here to hurt you," Silver tried to soothe.

The Eevee seemed to try and squeeze into the corner even more at the sound of his voice. "Yeah, right. Don't try to trick me. I know what you guys want," it hissed with such venom that Silver took a step back. "Oh, oh, don't try to play dumb. I know what you're here for," it continued. It hissed at Silver, though he could tell it was still on the verge of tears.

"I don't know what you're talking about, honestly. Look, I'm trying to escape and would like to know if you wanted to also," Silver tried to explain.

The Eevee looked at him and a flicker of hope entered its brown eyes, but only a flicker. "I already told you not to try to trick me," it said, trying to keep its bravado going, but Silver knew a little more and it would break out crying.

"Fine, don't escape with us, but at least let us free you," Silver said. The chain seemed to be very strong by the large width of them. Hey Ralts, are you listening to me?

Yeah. Call me PJ. Silver heard him say into his mind.

Okay, can you break these chains? I asked.

One second, Silver heard. A purple glow surrounded the chain about a foot from the Eevee's neck. The Eevee cowered from the section of chain. Silver heard she had broken into soft sobs again. The chain lifted a little, but nothing else. It dropped back to the floor. It is pretty reinforced steel. Mind attacks are near useless. Even at my high level of psychic power, I am unable to break it, PJ explained.

Silver thought for a second. He could hear Trapinch tapping one of his feet impatiently. Finally, an idea came to mind. "Hey, Cyndaquil, come here," he whispered. The Cyndaquil approached him, but didn't say anything. "Can you heat a section of the chain to a high temperature?" Silver asked.

The Cyndaquil nodded and shot flames at the chain where Ralts had lifted it. It warmed and started to glow orange. The Eevee cowered even more from the flame near it, but the chain wouldn't stretch any more, even if Eevee wasn't in the corner. Soon, the Cyndaquil stopped. The chain was left a bright orange from the intense heating.

Okay, PJ- Silver started to think to him, but PJ had already caught on. Once again, the chain was surrounded by a purple glow and it soon snapped. The chains rattled on the floor and Silver panicked at the thought of someone else hearing them.

Don't worry; no one else is near enough to hear, PJ thought to him.

Silver looked at the Eevee once again. It was still cowering in the corner. This time, he approached it completely and leaned down next to it. The Eevee tensed, ducking its head away from him. "Come on, we're friends. You don't even need to stay with us for long. At the end of this hall is an exit to the outside. Please come, at least to there. You'll be free again, I promise," Silver whispered.

The Eevee relaxed slowly and got up. It still shot suspicious glances at them, though. Silver inwardly sighed with relief that he had been able to convince it to come. He went to the door and glanced at PJ. The coast is clear, he heard.

Silver went into the hallway and headed for the exit. They got there quickly, though he noticed the Eevee lagged behind some. PJ waved his hand at the door and it opened quickly. Another human was outside, this one wearing black. It swiftly turned around when the door opened and noticed the Pokemon. The guard started to reach toward it belt, but suddenly passed out.

Let's go, before they find the guard, Silver heard in his head. The door closed behind them as they ran toward a large mass of trees nearby, Silver still being guided by the feeling.