Sparky's heart was in her throat. The pier falling away from her, the image of an evil Scrafty leering down at her as she landed on something unbelievably solid. It creaked slightly, and the little Emolga stirred.

Pain throbbed through her unresponsive body as a debilitating purple haze ate away at her vision. There was the vague sensation of movement beneath her before the last of her consciousness was lost to darkness…

"There there, Sparky. It's okay…"

Sparky's eyes opened slowly. Suddenly she was back at home, surrounded by the warm embrace of none other than Miss Holly.

"You're such a silly billy," Her lips were smiling, but her eyes weren't. "Don't just rush off on your own like that, okay? I know it's exciting, but we almost lost you out there in the snow…"

"What's… going on?" Sparky mumbled. She must have been dreaming or something. Socks and Higgle were happily playing together with a colouring book on the couch opposite, and there was a huge fire going right next to her and Miss Holly. That was the special fire, Sparky smiled. Miss Holly only got that out when it was really cold outside. She put her paws up to get closer, get a feel of the toasty warmth, but instead a savage cold bit at her.

"Whah?!" She yelped. The warmth of the fire and Miss Holly vanished instantly, replaced by cold darkness. A harsh wind slapped the sleepiness out of her, and suddenly she was back in the world of reality. Wooden walls surrounded her on every side, and there was a big gap in the ceiling while a soft, squishy floor comforted her from underneath. They felt like human clothes, she surmised, running her paws across the gentle cotton. They were brightly coloured and long and noodle shaped, sort of like Socks.

Sparky blinked weary eyes and found the strength to sit up. How long had she been out? Last she knew it was lunchtime, and now it was very much night-time. Her stomach grumbled despondently, a timely reminder.

"What is this place…?" She shivered, carefully peering out of the gap. She must've been in a box of some sort, and wherever she was, there were dozens more of them, illuminated by an approaching beam of light…

"Oh no!" She squeaked, ducking back into the box and under the clothes just in the nick of time.

"A-are you sure you heard somethin'?" A human shivered into his walkie talkie, shining a torch in her direction. Hopefully she was buried deep enough in the clothes so he couldn't see her…

"A squeaky noise?" The voice grunted, and Sparky felt her stomach clench in panic. "…that ain't right. Alright, I'll look around…"

A sharp static noise crackled, and Sparky heard footsteps – rubber soles on metal – slowly plodding toward her.

"Ahh, here's yer problem!" He exclaimed right above her, and her heart lurched. What could she do now? If she moved she'd be seen for sure!

"Time to shut you up for good." The man said, and Sparky could feel the sting of tears threaten as gloved hands reached directly for her.

'No no no…!' She screeched inwardly. She just knew that awful things would happen if this human got a hold of her. But she still couldn't move. What choice did she have? Every human she'd met so far had been horrible, so why wouldn't this one? She scrunched her eyes shut and hoped against hope…

*squeak!*

*creak…*

*tap, tap, tap*

*BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!*

Frowning at the painful noises, Sparky opened her eyes only to find out that the gap in her box had been filled.

"That oughta do it." The human said, tapping the lid of the box with his hand. "Man, you gotta tell off those guys at Castelia Couture, Jeff. Puttin' a crate together ain't hard, ya know? Who knows how much we woulda lost if they scarves blew away…"

There was another burst of crackly static, and the man plunged a hammer into his belt. "Yeah, I found yer squeakin'. The lid on one'a the crates came loose."

She lifted her head out of the weird clothes – scarves? Was that what they were called? – and peered through one of the two little holes in the crate. They were almost the perfect size for her, and she could still feel the sharp winds blowing past, but she could see the human walking away from her, speaking into his walkie talkie.

"Yeah, I know huh? We gotta have words with whoever built them. I tell ya, it's a mir'cle nothin' was lost in there."

The human lowered his walkie talkie and walked off again, disappearing from Sparky's vision. She waited another ten seconds or so to be sure before struggling through the mound of scarves and pushing against the lid of the crate with all her might.

"C'mon, c'monnn…!" She puffed. Exhaustion was nipping at her after just moments however, and she was doing a better job of pushing herself down instead of pushing the lid up, because of the scarves.

"Ugh, it's hopeless…" she gasped, her arms drooping. There were only two little holes giving her oxygen after all, and most of that was wind. She collapsed near one of the them and panted for air. It looked like escaping was going to have to wait until she had a better supply. With nothing but the scarves for comfort, she could her hope fading, like the wisps of a dying candle. Where she was, where she was going, why she was there, what was going to happen to her… there were way too many questions for her poor exhausted brain to answer.

Hours passed. Days passed. Her crate was battered by the elements, bathed in blinding sunlight, even attacked by an errant Wingull at one point. Yet still no one knew of the hungry little Emolga in the box. She was able to confirm that she was on a boat after all, and that she must've been going somewhere very far away, because there wasn't any land for as far as she could see.

Her eyes drooped from fatigue, but sleeping brought worse horrors. Every time she rested her eyes for more than a few seconds, horrific visions would scar her memory, and that fear kept her awake despite it all. Her stomach protested at her angrily, wanting desperately to be filled, but what could a little Emolga do? There was no escape from the crate, and there was no one to call for help because the humans were nasty.

She was left alone with her mind, and even it wasn't the best of companions. Her mind was so hungry that if she stopped focusing for even a second, suddenly these colourful scarves became tasty gummy worms, and the walls of the crate turned into crispy poffin loaf.

"I'm okay… I'm okay…" She shivered despite the scarves. "I-I'll find food soon, I'm sure. I can make it."

Glancing up at the 'sky', she blinked slowly. "Miss Holly, would you be proud of me… then?"

The last of her strength failed her, and her head fell back, falling victim to the clutches of exhaustion at last.

"Hold still, Sparky!" A soft yet stern voice ordered, and the little Emolga's eyes burst open again. Her vision blurred into place, and once again she found herself back home in Accumula Town. Afternoon sunlight poured in through the windows, and she could see both Socks and Higgle playing outside in the back garden. The tenacious Furret was chasing after Higgle the best she could, just about keeping up with the agile Kadabra. Both of them started taking laps around the big conifer tree, but the sneaky Higgle hatched a plan, teleporting away into the tree's branches. Socks continued to 'chase' him around the tree…

"I'll getcha this time, Higgle!"

"You're not gonna get away!"

"I'm gonna win!"

"Heeeeyyyy…!" She whined, shuffling to a clumsy stop after an age of chasing and finally noticing Higgle among the branches. "No fair, Higgle! I can't do that!"

Sparky found herself chuckling at the pair of them, but a sharp pain in her leg drew her attention away. An angry purple bruise on her ankle had her hopping about in agony despite her best efforts, upsetting Miss Holly's attempts to bandage it up.

"C'mon Sparky…" She sighed, as the little Emolga stumbled about in pain. "The more you jump about, the longer it's gonna take. So calm your beans, okay?"

"B-but it hurts!" Sparky whined, wobbling on one leg the best she could.

"If you don't like the pain, you shouldn't show off so much…" Holly sighed. Her balance getting the better of her, Sparky tumbled on the kitchen countertop and fell down again. Holly's mouth tightened, and Sparky just looked up at her pleadingly.

"I can't help falling over, Miss Holly…" She mumbled. She couldn't even stand still for a few minutes. It was all fine when there were jokes to be made, but Miss Holly didn't find these ones funny, that was for sure.

"Just a wee bit longer…" Holly said. Her delicate finger work carefully tied the tiny band aid around Sparky's injured ankle.

"There!" She pulled the knot tight. "Now come here, you silly thing…"

Miss Holly pulled Sparky to her chest, where she could hear her trainer's heartbeat; a soft, steady thumping. Warm and familiar, it had her relaxed and sleepy in moments.

"That's the fourth time this week you've jumped from the big tree…" Holly muttered softly, squeezing her little Emolga. "If you want Socks and Sir Higglesworth to like you, you've just got to be yourself, got it?"

"But I-" Sparky started.

"Now promise me you'll stop showing off, okay?" Holly lifted Sparky up and looked her in the eye. "No one likes seeing you get hurt like that…"

Sparky stared back at her owner's dark blue eyes, but an odd sight had her distracted. Under the gaps in her sleeves, Sparky could see vivid, red scratch marks along Miss Holly's arms. Suddenly Miss Holly looked a lot more tired, with deep, dark rings under her eyes and a strained, weak smile.

"You've been unhappy for this long, Miss Holly?" Sparky mumbled. Tears bubbled in her eyes. This long ago, and she hadn't noticed? Was she too busy showing off to pay attention?

"Aw, what's wrong, does it still hurt?" Holly hugged her Emolga tighter. "Tell you what. How about I make you all some pokeblocks? Nice wee treat eh? Will that make it all better?"

"…uh huh." Sparky whimpered. She glanced upwards only to notice tears streaming down Holly's cheeks. "Wh-what's wrong?"

"Remember… to always be yourself, Sparky." Holly sniffled, practically crushing Sparky between her arms. "You'll make plenty of pals… if you just let them know the real you…"

Sparky felt the blood drain from her face as a bright purple bruise started tunnelling along Miss Holly's neck, and suddenly the colour washed out of the scene as if it were sucked down a drain, leaving only a putrid greenish grey behind.

The heartbeat was slowing down. Sparky started flailing, thrashing to escape from Holly's iron grip.

"What the hell's going on?!" She cried.

"Bliss is fleeting…" Holly muttered thickly, before her arms lost strength and Sparky was dropped to the floor. She scrambled back to her feet, but it was too late.

She was reliving it all over again.

"No! No no no no!" She panicked. But there was nothing she could do.

Her trainer hung lifeless from the ceiling, suspended by only a rope, and her body rocked gently back and forth with a sickening creak.

"Lady Holly, what have you done?!" Higgle shouted, appearing from nowhere and shaking Holly as a desperate attempt to revive her. The creaking of the rope just got louder with every shake.

"Sparky, how could you let her do this?!" Tears were streaming from Higgle's eyes as he rounded on her. "You could have stopped her! You should have stopped Lady Holly, Sparky! But now it is too late! This is all your fault!"

"No!" Sparky cried, covering her ears with her hands, all the while the creaking of the rope grew louder still. "I-it wasn't me! I didn't do it! I'm sorry!"

Light faded from the scene, and a petrified Sparky found herself lost in darkness. All that remained was the creaking;

'creeeaaaak!'

'craack!'

"Just… one… more!" A voice grunted, and another splintering creak had the crate pried open.

"Noo!" Sparky gasped, bursting from it and running, taking four or five scarves with her. Blinding white light flooded her vision, in every direction, but the tiny Emolga charged on.

"What the?" A voice cried.

"How did that get here?!" Another exclaimed. "Quick, someone get Nurse Joy!"

"It wasn't… me!" Sparky gasped, her limbs feeling weak and heavy in moments. She struggled forward only a few more feet before her body gave up on her once again, and she collapsed into the cold snow.

"What's an Emolga doing here?" Another voice remarked, and a dark-haired human blurred into her vision.

"Miss Holly? Is that you?" Sparky mumbled. Her body was too tired to even move any more. She felt something lifting her up as her vision faded out into nothingness…