February 20th, 2018

Upon sitting down and… putting pen to paper, I am truly at a loss for words, yet I have so much to tell. I simply don't know where to begin, recounting events that… all but destroyed my life. I assure you, I'm not being melodramatic. I'm just truly and utterly… shocked. Shocked that I was apart of this, but moreso… shocked that I let it happen. Shocked that I was so willing. Because I allowed myself to be subjugated to this. ...Even if I may have not had a choice in the matter, even if I didn't have it in me to protest… I still didn't.

...okay, now I think I do know where to begin.

After my fifth birthday, the winter had already set in well enough. It was early this year, even for Snowpoint. Mind you at this time it was only October, and we usually didn't see the first snowfall until the end of the month at the absolute earliest. Part of me believed at the time that… it was meant for me. To endure the longest and harshest winter yet, so that I might come out of it stronger. Perhaps Liam would return next summer and I could… finally take him up on that offer after all. Anything was better than this. We were snowed in on the regular. On the off chance once per week I could make a run to the supermarket, I usually had to dig my way out. That on top of the hike into town… hauling the groceries back in my bag. That alone put me out most days. I never was the most physically equipped, in case it wasn't obvious.

Christmas was approaching.

I still rarely saw Master, even now. He was always down there, doing something. Occasionally we would have visitors over, and he would bring them down, but… I was on my own, for what it's worth. The loneliness was excruciating.

Until one day - I remember the date too, oddly enough - December the fifth. This was the day that… everything changed yet again. Everything turned from… isolation and depression to… this.

Master woke me up that day much to my surprise. Usually he was downstairs well before the sun had risen, which was about when I was up and about, performing the day's usual tasks. He… talked to me, for about a full hour. About all manner of things. About how sorry he was. About how… he wanted to make amends.

And then he asked of me, if I would be willing to do my part. He asked me for help. He told me that he would need me to save our home. Our finances had been slipping for the past year, and his business was struggling. So he needed… other outlets. Even then I still didn't know what he did. I had never questioned how he made his money, because it didn't matter to me. It wasn't my place to ask.

By the end of the day I would know.

He took me downstairs, somewhere I had gone so infrequently. I had never in my life seen the rooms on either side of the hall. He always kept them locked. At the end of that hall was his office. I had seen it before. A room full of electronic equipment. Computers, a few monitors hung up above the door, as well as plenty of other wires and cables that connected to other pieces of machinery. Even now… the best I can come up with was that it was all part of one extremely powerful computer. Master used it to make… media. Pictures and movies to be exact.

The room on the right was where these pictures and these films were shot. This room had many cameras, and a single… large, red velvet-lined bed. Master had made his fortune in pornographic film. His clientele had always been humans. The people he invited over, well it was a bit more involved than I had noticed. Usually the majority of them had arrived before I ever woke up most days. They were large-scale projects, and I was completely unaware - rather, uneducated. I had never known, because I had never asked.

Now, there in that room, Master asked of me, if I would be willing to participate. As he now filmed… Pokemon in the act. He was asking me if I would be willing to use my body for our collective financial gain. I'll admit, the emotion in me at the time was nothing short of complicated. I was humiliated. I was… sad. I was in some ways mortified. I knew what he was asking of me. Maybe not quite so much as I do now in hindsight, but I wasn't that stupid. Yet I nodded without hesitation. I remember the thought crossed my mind at that moment. If I said no, he may have hit me again.

I don't think he would have. He had only done it once, more than two years ago. Yet, our relationship had crumbled so much. There was so little there between us after twenty six months of increasing neglect, I didn't know what to think of him anymore. So I obliged. I gave myself up.

The remainder of that extended… that excruciating winter was a living hell. It was unquestionably the worst time of my life even looking back. I can safely say I had never been lower. I spent every single day in that room, a new male present each time. Hours passed, doing as I was told. My whole life I had lived as a maid. I was known through Snowpoint as such, but I never considered myself someone who truly lived in servitude of another, let alone as a slave. Those five months however, were just that. I never protested, I

...apologies for the smudges. I would get another sheet of paper, but I don't think I can bring myself to write this again. For my own sake I'll… cut to the chase.

April of that year, the snow had begun to finally dwindle. The year had been a record never before seen by Snowpoint. Seventy six feet in total from late September until mid-April of the following year. It was unprecedented, and while a sign of a strong Spring and Summer to come, more importantly it meant respite. For a small city such as Snowpoint… criminal activity is quite unheard of. Though, a large part of that has to do with the law enforcement. That's not to say calls aren't made and… reports aren't processed. Situations absolutely take place, but Snowpoint's police department always drew criticism for its rather lax handling of situations during colder months, often blaming the harsh winter months for increasingly slow response times.

…I didn't find it coincidental that everything came crashing down the same day the first flower bloomed again in our garden.

I awoke to a ruckus coming from the foyer, and hurried to find Master being held against the hardwood by two officers, putting him in handcuffs even as I stood there in utter shock. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, but I can't say a tinge of relief didn't well up inside of me at that moment in time. As they led him away, however, one of the officers called out to me. "Missus Nanani" they said, which still rings in my head as a most highly inappropriate prefix at the time, but regardless. They asked me in a manner gentler than I had heard in what felt like ages. At the time I was… well, I was expecting, to put it briefly. So, with their help I returned to the station. I met with many humans that day. Lawful and good people, who were… awash with courtesy and kindness to me. Something I couldn't believe, nor could I have hoped to expect.

A call had been put out by a few residents after I hadn't been heard from for a few weeks. Those weren't the only calls, however, as it turned out Master had… quite the criminal record built up over the last couple of years. Ever since he had returned from his trip. Talks of extortion, bribery, fraud, smuggling illegal substances, the sheer notion of running a pornographic studio in his home raised several concerns as well, though I believe those were dismissed. And then abuse… after I recounted the events of that winter… many accounts of abuse, harassment and other such charges were brought before him. I couldn't believe it. My utter disbelief lasted for days, during which time I was treated… like a person. Not like a Pokemon. The same way I had always been treated by the people of Snowpoint. I suppose it was just the nature of who I was that warmed everyone up to me so considerably, but that didn't soften the blow.

I was given rights to the property and the house. I was given monetary legal compensation. I was given proper citizenship. All over the span of the next few months. As for the last egg I… well I hadn't kept the others, and I was in no condition to raise a pup on my own during this time, so I gave it away to one of my neighbors who had provided a testimonial on my behalf, and she accepted with honor. Every moment henceforth was so hard, yet so rewarding. A perfect mix of tragedy and retribution.

Until Master paid off his bail.

The moment I realized he had lied about our financial struggles. No, he wished to spend the last few months of his freedom outside of a cell. And… he was placed with me. Under total supervision and house arrest until that court date was set. I must admit I… initially feared for my life. How could I not? I couldn't imagine the anger he must have felt at the time towards me. I had testified against him - righteously so - and sealed his fate as a result. They expected twenty five years minimum, which would put him away for more than the remainder of my life. And to think he would try and end it all now with his rage and fury? Even now I don't think I was unreasonable for assuming such a thing.

But he never did. He never lashed out. He never… talked to me. I would bring him meals, as he never felt the need to leave his bedroom. And he never said a word for the entirety of those many months, well past my sixth birthday.

And as I said before, Liam never did return. Not that summer, anyway. But neither did the loneliness. Not this time. I made friends. So many friends. One of my closest was Kathy, a single mother who lived close to downtown. Every week or so I would visit her before heading off to the groceries. I would entertain her two children with a story every now and then, we would swap recipes, and occasionally catch a movie together. And then there was Ed - Edward - everyone called him Ed. He was an older man who would often play his guitar over by the recreational center for extra change. He was rather good, and I gave him a few tips every now and then. But in time he would ask for me. He wanted me to tell him about the latest book I'd read, or show him my latest outfit I'd sewn up. He had lost his wife to illness years ago and… he said.

...Talking with me reminded him of her. It made him feel whole again. And so I obliged as often as I could until winter set in again. That was… the last year he would play the guitar. He had become too old, and his hands could no longer strum the instrument. But I still paid him a few visits on occasion.

I loved those people. So dearly. It was always such a casual thing before… everything had happened. I had been someone living on the outskirts who would occasionally venture into town. But by now I was a part of the community. And, I was happy. So happy.

That's not to say things weren't hard still. Master received his court date and… I was asked by the same officer that had rescued me that day many months before to attend. And I missed it. Not because I had meant to. But because I had forgotten. And it wasn't the first time. I had been… sporadic in my ability to recall specific events ever since Master had been released on bail. With increasing frequency and sometimes… at much greater lengths. It wasn't always short term. There were nights where I couldn't even remember my Master's name, even as I laid awake trying to jog my memory for hours, frustrated with my own inability to think of it. No, this was the moment that saw me diagnosed. Psychogenic amnesia, as I was told. The longest lasting effect of what my doctor agreed was a traumatic experience. At the time, hearing such a thing was so foreign to me. That I could ever have been through something traumatic. It was such an alien prospect.

I had been sheltered for so long. How could I… have gone through trauma?

Excuse me as I take another non-sequitur here. I reread everything I've written today and… I rambled far longer than I intended, but I also put things out of order, it seems. I do apologize. Even in my attempt for absolute clarity it seems I couldn't put all the pieces together properly. I hope this wasn't confusing… I'll continue again tomorrow-

...No, maybe Thursday would be a bit better. I need to clear my head before I continue. I promise, from here on out, I'll have many more positive things to say. To conclude this entry as nicely as possible, he was given forty years of prison time, far and above the expected minimum, found guilty of most of the charges brought against him. This was in October of 2012. And I never thought I'd see him again. I had no reason to think so.

And from that moment on, I was Nanani, the little Glaceon lady who lived on the hill at the edge of Snowpoint. For the time being, anyway.