5. Unexpected trouble
Truth is, I wasn't really alone here, in this beautiful forest. Perhaps too focused on the breathtaking scenery, or maybe just unable to make use of my new enhanced hearing proficiency, I didn't notice the two men who had been hiding in the shadows, behind some bushes a few meters from me. I also remained unaware when one of them shouldered a weapon and aimed it at me.
When I finally understood I wasn't the only living being in the clearing, it was only due to the sharp pain that I suddenly felt on my left hind leg. Turning my head towards the sting, I was taken aback by what I saw. A dart. Someone had shot a dart at me, one with a red tuft at the end. It looked uncomfortably like those tranquilizers they use to make interventions on wild animals in the savannah or in zoos. Turning back and already feeling a bit drowsy, I saw the two men dressed in black come out of hiding and approach me. They had to be confident that whatever they had injected me would be acting quickly enough for me not to pose them any threat. And much to my dismay, they were right. I was already fighting to remain awake, but my eyelids felt like lead, and I had now a hard time just standing up. I could barely bare them my teeth before collapsing heavily on the ground.
"You sure it's safe now?" said a voice.
"Yeah, I used enough narcotics to stun a Pokemon twice its size. Now shut up and help me get it in here. This ranger could be back anytime with his other Pokemon."
Those words, and the feeling of being lifted were the last thing I could make out before finally drifting unconscious.
If one thing comes close to time travel, it really is anesthesia induced sleep. You just fall in a dreamless slumber, and then wake up later, feeling as if no time had even passed. People who have experienced a surgical intervention under general anesthesia do know how it doesn't feel like regular sleep, and the confusion of finding yourself at a different place and a different time than just, seemingly, a moment ago.
It was pretty much the same for me here, only it was coupled with a strong headache, and the thought I should definitely try and stop being knocked out before it becomes too much of a habit. I was still quite numb, and couldn't really move yet, so I just tried to focus on my senses. I was at the back of some kind of truck, in a cage barely large enough for me to stand up. The vehicle was currently on a very rough road, I deduced, because the cage and me included were shaking violently. Having no direct view of the outside, I had absolutely no idea if it was still night time, let alone how much time had passed since my capture.
I was also absolutely dying for water. I didn't know if this was a side effect of whatever they had injected me with, but I would have given anything for some liquid right now. Unfortunately, my kidnappers didn't seem to have thought about that, or more likely just didn't care.
I could actually see them from a tiny opening between the driving compartment and the back of the truck. They were driving the truck in silence and didn't seem to have noticed me waking up. Who were they? And what could explain their interest in me? Maybe they were just poachers? With the little amount of Pokemon game knowledge I could gather from memory, I was quite sure the Eevee line, of which I was now an accidental representative, was quite uncommon. While not extremely rare, you just didn't quite find them everywhere like, say, a Caterpie. Also, I had been told I was shiny, meaning, apparently, I had rare color patterns that made me stand apart from other individuals of my species. Personally, I would have gladly refused the added attention conferred by this genetic variation. But things were as they were, and I guess it made me a particularly interesting target for poachers. They could have spotted me when I was in town with John, coming back from the medical center. Had I been kidnapped for this reason, for the very fact I was a rare individual of an already rare species? This was my best explanation, even though it seemed weird that those two would follow John for hours into this forest to kidnap me. Surely, I wasn't so valuable they would put so much work just to get me? Then again, the kidnapping of pure breed pets from under their owner's nose wasn't unheard of in my world... The only other reason I could think of would be that somehow, they knew of my, well, peculiar situation and origin, and that just gave me a lot of value to them. This seemed unlikely, since I had not told anybody since my arrival here, and I was quite sure nothing from me or my attitude could hint someone the truth. Nevertheless, I could only hope I wasn't wrong on this one. Who knew what they could do to me were they knowing the truth? Either way, I had to get out of their grasps as soon as I could.
Turning back, I inspected my cage more closely. It was well built, with strong pieces of metal I was quite sure I wouldn't be able to break. If I had to guess, it was designed purposely to withstand the force of Pokemon much stronger than me, so no chance of escaping by breaking it. Worse yet, the back of the truck appeared to be locked from the outside, so even if I managed to get out of the cage, I would still be trapped in there.
"Don't even think about it" One of the men, the one who wasn't driving, had turned his head to look at me through the opening. "If you try anything funny, I will personally make sure you regret it"
He then took some sort of a remote and pushed a button. The cage was instantly electrified, and my paws, which were in contact with its base, were painfully shocked. My limbs just locked into place from the shock. I whimpered, surprised by the abruptness and the gratuity of the pain he had just inflicted me.
He smiled cruelly, apparently happy with the effect it had on me.
"A shame you aren't an electric type, uh? I don't really know why my client is so interested in you. You are just a pathetic little dog, and being shiny doesn't really change that, does it?" After a last cruel smirk, he turned his back to me. "Anyway, it should earn us quite the money" he told the driver.
Still a bit stunned by the electric shock I had just received, I inspected the system that was used to electrify the cage. It was pretty simple, just a standard 42V car battery with an infrared receiver for the remote. What got my attention though, was that the electrodes were directly in contact with the side of the cage. If I could just disconnect one of the electrodes from the cage, this would break the circuit and make the whole system useless. And fortunately, one happened to be within reach. I promptly passed one of my front paws between two bars of the cage and caught one of the cables, removing it with a claw. At least they now wouldn't be able to shock me on demand anymore, not without fixing the cage. That didn't quite put me out of danger, but knowing I didn't have to fear any contact with the cage was enough to put me a bit more at ease.
With nothing else to do, I laid down in the cage and hoped I wouldn't have to wait too long before we reached our destination. I would try to escape there, where I figured my chances of success would be higher. I just hoped John and the other had understood what happened to me and would try to come rescue me.
As it appeared, I didn't wait as much as I feared I would. The truck came to a stop after something like 20 minutes at most. While I didn't really know how long I had been sedated, I assumed it couldn't have been for more than a dozen of minutes at most, so we couldn't be very far from the place they had kidnapped me. But much to my dismay, after they exited the truck, they just left me there, as if they had forgotten about me. From the tiny opening and through the windshield, I saw them enter a little wooden house that seemed to be planted in the middle of a dense forest. The kind of building that I supposed was remote enough to be a poacher's base of operations. This didn't really reassure me about the probability I had to be found here.
Now that I had some time alone, what else could I do with this cage system? It took me some time to end up with a half-decent idea, but it was better than nothing. Having access to the battery electrodes meant I could electrify the cage on demand, right? It should actually be pretty easy to short the infrared receiver and render it ineffective, then after that I would just have to plug the electrode I had removed from the cage back in its place, and the whole thing would get electrified again. Only, being still inside, I would get shocked myself. And since it wasn't remote-controlled anymore, it would continue to be electrified until the electrode is removed again. Something you can't really do when being electrocuted and when your limbs just decide to lock up. Meaning, a probable death by electrocution, and possibly a quite unpleasant smell of burnt meat afterwards. No, to operate the system safely, I had to find something to insulate my paws from the base of the cage. Well, lucky me, some old car mats were stacked just beside my cage. Probably from this very truck, if I were to guess, but in any case, those seemed to me they were thick enough to provide me ample electric insulation from the cage. I promptly grabbed them between my two front paws and after a bit of trials and errors, got them past the bars and into the cage, and placed them on its base. Everything was in place now for a little surprise to whoever would try to get me out of this cage.
I finally heard something outside. A car, I was sure, had arrived, and the two poachers had exited the house with something in their hands. Had they finally decided to give me some water and food? I was starving in there! When the back door of the truck in front of me opened, and even though it was my kidnappers, I was thankful to finally see that one had a bowl of water and some food on a plate for me.
"Eat that, dog. Personally, I wouldn't have wasted anything on you, but the client wants you in good shape. Consider yourself lucky."
He placed both the bowl and the plate beside my cage, then began searching for a something in his pocket, surely the key for the cage lock.
But it wasn't him who had my interest. Nor the other poacher, who was idling in the back. I wasn't alone with my two kidnappers here. There was a third person, a middle-aged woman in a white lab coat, behind them. Was she the client, my buyer? She was visibly trying to stay professional, yet definitely looked excited to see me, in a weird way. As if she were a little child receiving a new toy, one she desired for a long time, but had to wait a little more to play with it.
"Are you sure it is the right specimen?"
"Positive, Miss. I don't think there was any other Umbreon in the area anyway. And I know these forests like the back of my hand" the other guy said, seemingly proud of himself.
Without stopping looking at me, who was cowering in the back of the cage, she responded coldly. "You think, or you are sure? Because if he isn't the one I'm searching for, I will come back." The man's face instantly lost any colors, and he was now at least as afraid as I was now. "And trust me, you don't want that" she added, approaching me.
Wait. So, they hadn't captured me because I was a shiny? Shit, that probably meant the alternative reason was probably true! They knew of my origin and had hunted me because of it!
I was interrupted in my thoughts by her stopping in front of my cage, which had been opened now. She reached her hand towards my head, and grabbed me by the scruff of my neck before painfully pulling me closer. I was too shocked and scared to do anything, as she seemed to inspect my head, eyes, and ears, even forcing my jaw open to look at my teeth. This, however, was enough to get me out of my stupor, and I violently removed myself from her grasp and returned as far in the back of the cage as I could. I instinctively let out a low menacing growl, my ears flat behind my skull, and bared my teeth at her, as if I were a threatened and trapped dog. To be fair, my situation wasn't far from that really. She had inspected me as if I were a horse during an auction!
She seemed satisfied by what she had seen, and locked the cage door again. But her cold, calculative gaze, never left me, until the first man gathered enough courage to interrupt her.
"Miss, do you want to discuss payment inside? We don't want you to catch a cold out there."
She barely nodded an acknowledgement to them, and reached for something in her pocket. It was a Pokeball. As she pushed a button, a Pokemon materialized just in front of me outside the truck. It was a mean looking purple and yellow panther-like Pokemon. A Liepard, I thought. The animal didn't really have the spark of intelligence I had noticed in my teammates' eyes. Or rather, it was very faint, very far. Without even looking at her Pokemon, the woman ordered it to guard me, then walked back towards the house with the two poachers, leaving the back door of the truck open.
"Uh, hello?" I said to the Liepard, who just continued looking at me with a blank stare. I was hoping it could give me at least some information on the woman, who I assumed was its master, but it was as though it wasn't even hearing me. "Do you hear me?". No answer. Deciding I wouldn't get any, I chose to give in to my hunger and focus on the meal I had finally been given. After drinking the entirety of the bowl of water, I switched to the plate of food. As expected, it could hardly be called food, and was more reminding of a stew made of dirt with rare pieces of meat floating inside. But I was so hungry at this point that I just ate it in one go and would have taken more had I the possibility. The Liepard just continued to stand here, unphased. I was beginning to wonder if it was brainwashed or something.
Whether it was or not, I still couldn't get out of the cage. And I doubted the payment would take too long. Soon, the woman would walk out of the house, put the cage – and myself included – in her car, and depart for who knew where. I couldn't afford that – if she took me, John would never find me again. The perspective of being her captive wasn't very pleasing either. From what little I had seen of her, she didn't strike me as the caring master. Quite the opposite in fact. The state of this poor Liepard in front of me seemed to corroborate that, too. And even more worrying was the idea she somehow knew of my otherworldly origin. She didn't seem to have an interest in me for my species or shiny condition alone. And the only other thing that stood out about me, I was sure, was that I came from another world. For me, it only meant one thing: I had to try to escape her by any means necessary. If the fact she wore a lab coat wasn't misleading and she was really a scientist, she could not possibly be in legality. If that were the case, there is no way she would have given the job of capturing me – no, kidnapping me – to two poachers whose activity surely wasn't even remotely legal. I really didn't fancy being the subject of shady experimentations. Yet right now, I could very well see this little otherworldly trip of mine take an end under her scalpel during a vivisection.
I would only have one tentative to escape: when they would transfer my cage to the woman's vehicle. I needed to somehow have them open the lock of my cage. Fortunately, they had left the plate and bowl inside, and I doubted they would leave them there, so they would have to open the cage door. After that, I could only hope my little plan would work. It was a bold strategy, but I had to take some risks.
As if on cue, the front door of the house opened again, and the woman, along with just one of the two men, walked towards the truck. The poacher approached, ready to carry me into the other vehicle. I chose to stay at the far end of the cage, so that the plate he had left inside was in plain view. It also had the benefit of using my body to obstruct the view to the battery, so that he couldn't see I had tampered the electric system.
"We forgot to remove the plate and the bowl, Miss. Should we … ?"
"Yes, but don't let him escape"
As he got in front of me, the man showed me the remote of the cage electric system. "If you move, even by an inch, you know what's going to happen." He still had his cruel smile. I think he took pleasure in brutalizing Pokemon. I did my best to look as scared and inoffensive as possible. I was turning my back on him. Seemingly satisfied by my reaction, he grabbed a key and unlocked the cage door with it.
Everything happened quickly. Turning my head to look at him, I checked that he had one of his hands on the cage. I promptly put the battery electrode back in contact with the metal, and the cage was instantly electrified again. The poacher seemed stunned, immobilized without even a cry by the sudden electrocution. Only his eyes, wide open, were giving away his surprise. And because of the current in his body, he couldn't remove his hand. I let the electrode for a few seconds, until I was sure he was incapacitated. The woman, and her Liepard, were still completely oblivious to what was going on.
I had only one shot at this now. I removed the electrode, and the man just collapsed in front of the cage. Not wasting any seconds, I jumped outside, in front of a shocked woman. Even her Pokemon had a hint of surprise in its otherwise blank eyes. Profiting from their indecisiveness, I rushed towards the Liepard and, using what I had just learned, I tackled it. He didn't even try to dodge and was sent to the ground. Turning, I focused my attention to its master. She was about to release another Pokemon.
"Oh no, you won't" I said to her, mostly for myself. As I ran towards the woman, I saw mixed expression on her face – mostly, fear and anger. She did not have the time to bring out another of her Pokemon as I collided with her, and she fell back violently. The shock had been even stronger than the first one with the Liepard. Thankfully, she could not activate the other Pokeball she had in hand soon enough. In her fall, it had rolled a few meters away from her. I recovered our impact faster than her, and not wanting to see how much time it would take for her to get back up, I began to run inside the forest.
My plan had worked! It had actually worked! It felt good to finally get something done by myself. Since I had arrived here, I had constantly been under the protection of others, in the hospital or with John and his team. But now, I had fended off for myself! I did not want to push my luck though, so I continued running. into the forest, roughly in direction I felt was the one the truck had taken when transporting me. If John, who had by now surely understood something had happened to me, was tracking the poachers, we would cross path, right?
It seemed, though, that I was running out of luck. I heard a roar far behind me. The Liepard was already tailing me! I had been pretty dumb to think that just a tackle would be enough to give me a sufficient head start on her Pokemon. I increased my pace, and tried to lose him by not running in a straight line, but rather in curbs, sometimes even crossing back my own tracks. I knew that this kind of technique was used by prey animals against wolves or hunting dogs. I hoped it could work for me too.
And, to my relief, it did. Well, sort of. Judging by what I could hear, The Liepard was not gaining on me anymore. The issue was, I was not expanding the distance between us either. I was a lot faster now compared to my second day here, when I had been chased by Houndooms. I had gained confidence using this body, and avoiding the trees and stumps at full speed was much easier. But still. I doubted I could keep this going for too long: I was beginning to tire from the effort. The Leopard Pokemon behind me, being bigger, had more stamina than me, even if this meant it was also having a harder time dodging everything in its way.
Soon, I would have to stop and face it in a battle. And I would not get the effect of surprise this time. I doubted I could really stand up to such a Pokemon, but I was decided to at least do my best to resist. To try not to be the easy, defenseless prey I had been until now. I chose the most open area I could find around. There, if I were to fight the Liepard, I would at least be able to use my only move, which could have proven to be harder in the denser parts of the forest.
I didn't have to wait too long for the Liepard to appear in front of me. Stopping a few meters away, it seemed to understand that I was determined to battle and we both readied ourselves. How would I manage to tackle it this time? I needed to, somehow, get past his guard and collide it while avoiding any move from it.
I was cut short in my thoughts when, suddenly, it leaped towards and swiped heavily with his front paws in the direction of my head. Taken by surprise, I had only the time to try jumping aside to avoid its blow. I barely managed to get my head out of the trajectory of its claws but still took the hit on my left shoulder. I immediately retreated with a few step backs. Thankfully, the Liepard did not seem to want to continue attacking me straight away. His claws had drawn blood on me, and I could feel my fur dampening with it. My shoulder was now painful, but I forced myself to ignore it for now. I couldn't just abandon after just one hit.
The feline jumped back again in my direction. This time, I was prepared. In this split second, I ran towards the position I assumed it would land. The Liepard collided with my body, and because it was in the middle of an attack, it couldn't really position itself to minimize the effect of my tackle. With a pained cry, it fell to the ground while I once again took a few steps back.
Much to my dismay, however, the Liepard almost immediately got back to its feet. It looked positively pissed now, and his eyes were radiating anger against me. I was a bit taken aback, because until now, the Pokemon had remained pretty much emotionless. Oh god. This wouldn't end well…
Without any warning, the Liepard opened its maw, and I was nearly blinded by very bright, star like, flying objects. In fact, those were flying towards me. Was that the move Swift? Shit. I tried to get out of the way, but they corrected their trajectory to intercept me. How did that work, anyway? How could the stars be homing on me? That was unfair! As I was still promising myself to try to learn more about that subject, I was stopped by the impact of the ethereal projectiles on me. It hurt. A lot. But it was weird too, because it didn't do any visible injury on me. It was as if the projectiles had been absorbed by my body. It felt like each one had drained me of some of my energy, and I was left with a quickly fading will to fight back and a growing tiredness. I wouldn't be able to keep standing for long now. It wouldn't have taken the Liepard more than just two hits to defeat me.
My foe didn't let me any time to try to get my bearings back. In a second, it was on me again, hitting me with another vicious swipe of its claws. I hadn't even begun to dodge. It connected at the same spot of its first use of Night Slash. I couldn't repress a pained cry, a miserable whimper. My foreleg was now completely unusable, and I couldn't even put it on the ground without a sharp pain. I collapsed, too tired and injured to do anything else.
Some notes from the author:
That was chapter 5. This is once again uploaded with some delay. I have had more work lately, and writing the 7th chapter took me more time. Now that it is finished, I am able to post this one. I'm not super happy with how this one turned out. I need to get better at narrating action scenes.