The prisoner groaned, wincing slightly as the doctor leaning over him plucked another small clump of sharp needles from his side. After each tug the doctor would wait for the prisoner's breathing to return to normal before trying again. Each pull of these long wooden shafts yanked at his skin and sent shudders through his already cracked ribs. The four legged black banded lizard whined at each pained sound coming from on the bed. The patient wasn't even allowed to move his arm down to comfort the creature. Any movement of his left arm was excruciatingly painful, the bone fragments in his upper arm sliding as the muscles twitched. The fractured and shattered bones felt fine in contrast to the huge prickles the doctor was slowly working from his flesh. Each spine was as long as his finger, and usually came in groups of eight or nine clumped in one spot. About a third of each sharp needle was buried in him, making the process of extracting long, slow and painful.
The doctor stepped away, sitting down at his desk beside the small table and looking the man over once more. They had agreed that the spines on the arm and back should be removed first, the long strip of eighty or so spikes extending from the prisoners chest would wait a moment. Agreed likely wasn't the best term for it though. The man could hardly breathe for the pain when he was brought in. With his patient finally a little calmer while they rested, the doctor inquired as to how he was beaten so badly. "I was just minding my own business with Bruce here." The man swung his legs over the side of the examination table, patting the sandile's head with his foot gently. "These three guys came over and asked if I was in a gang." He scoffed, the man had heard of prison gangs in other countries, the Battle Barracks had to be worse. "I told them no, and that I wasn't looking to be" The gang leader hadn't been happy, almost attempting to stare him into submission looking back on it. "The guy said I had to be in a gang, or I'd be my own gang" The doctor nodded, that was usually how it went.
When the prisoner refused their demand to join a gang again, the leader snatched him from where he stood and threw him at a nearby wall. "As soon as I hit the brick, he was there. Hand around my throat he lifted me off the ground. Why are there never guards around?" The gang leader then began brutally beating at the new prisoner's chest. He couldn't yell for a guard, he could hardly breathe with the hand around his neck. After the man had had enough of him, the prisoner was dropped to the floor and spat on. "'You join a gang, or you learn to like that. We don't want you now' At least I think that's what he said" the prisoner shook his head, weakly laying back down on the examination table at the doctor's nod. "So yea, I got beaten up, and then they left" his good arm shrugged, his head turning to look at the man now examining the protruding spines.
The doctor sighed and wriggled a spike before asking where they had come from. You don't just grow painful spikes on the walk to get your ribs looked at. The patient laughed shortly, stopping as the pain kicked him sharply. After breathing through the pain a moment he responded. "You really have to know everything don't you?" his head slumped back against the pathetic excuse for a pillow. "After he dropped me, the guy turned away and shouted something about Cacturne and attacking the Sandile" Bruce's head perked up at the word, knowing it to mean him. "I think he said something about 'light practice'" the doctor nodded, it was common practice for the prisoners to have their pokemon beat on new ones to get some exercise. The patient chuckled again, evidently not having learned his lesson last time. "Well I wouldn't stand for it. That's cruelty. I couldn't let them hurt Bruce, he's so young" the little lizard was evidently attempting to find some manner up onto the bed. "I mean, it's only been four days, but I've grown attached to the little guy."
The doctor's next question had the patient baffled for a moment, could he describe the cacturne? "It's a Cacturne, it looks like every other Cact-ow!" Scowling, the doctor plucked a spike completely from him. Just answer the question. "Fine, fine. It was taller than me. I'd say about six foot." his face became quite drawn as he recounted. "Have you ever seen a mummy without those wraps?" the doctor nodded quietly, checking the placement of each spine. "That tough leathery looking skin that feels like sandpaper but not? Imagine that wrapped around trunks of trees stacked like a person" The struggling 'dile was finally able, through use of a step and a chair, to place itself alongside the patient. "But the skin was this strange shade of green, kind of like a cactus I suppose, with these big hard studs all over it. I bet there are a whole slew of bikers who wish they had those." The man laying on the table became fixated on one spot above him. "and it's eyes. They were like dolls eyes, cold and lifeless, unmoving but seeing everything around them." He snapped back to reality, shaking the image from his mind for the moment at least. "Well I grabbed it and pulled it away from Bruce here. There weren't any of these spines on it though." As soon as he had turned it, the nightmarish thing had slammed its fist into his chest. Of course the prisoner punched back, grabbing the thing and hurtling it as hard as he could away. As it struck the brick wall, these needle-spine things burst from it's skin. They were still attached to the creature, but now if he touched it they would stick into him. "It lunged at me, I lifted my arm to protect my face and it's log-like arm simply swung down on it. I tried to get Bruce, which I now know was a bad idea." The Cacturne's large foot slammed square into his back, throwing the prisoner to his hands and knees. "Then it kicked me, full swing and everything. Felt like a train slamming into my chest and launching me up." he gestured to the row of spines across his chest. "Needless to say, it figured I was beat. So they left."
Fishing a snack from his pocket, the patient quietly handed it to the small reptilian beside him. "Not the nicest time to say this" the doctor began. "But you probably should join a gang." the prisoner laying before him looked over, confused. "There are a lot of fighters in the barracks. If you're on your own, you become a very easy target." He examined an image on his phone for a minute, looking from the screen to the patients chest. "If you at least have someone on your side, you won't be alone if a group decides to jump you." The patient's hand scratched the head of the Sandile beside him, responding that he won't be alone anyway. "A pokemon is all well and good. But if there are five or six gang members and their pokemon?" The doctor nodded to himself as he reached over and slowly pulled a spike from the patient's chest. "I can understand your reluctance, but it is definitely safer." It took the doctor a further hour of slowly plucking the prickles from his patient's chest before he began wrapping a cast around the man's chest and arm. "I think that's it Mr. Vite. Please take my advice."