Dolly's POV
I blinked blearily. My vision swam with blurry, incomprehensible splotches of moving color. Various sounds met my ears, overwhelmingly loud, yet somehow distant and muffled all the same.
I didn't know where I was, nor how I'd gotten there. Slowly, my senses began to uncloud themselves, and my brain returned to a normal level of processing thought.
"Oooog... My head..." I groaned in pain as I slowly sat up, grimacing with the effort. Squinting, I looked around to see that I was in some sort of city after dark. Rain poured down around the streets, and my head was killing me, and it felt like my insides were on fire.
I placed a hand to my forehead, only to quickly realize it wasn't quite a hand. Alarmed, my eyes widened at the sight of a wet, pink paw. I quickly twisted to get a look at the rest of my body, then into my reflection in a puddle, confirming the rest of my feline visage.
That seemed to be the least of my concern, however, judging by the scrapes and bruises all over my side , plus the sickening amount of blood splattered everywhere. I dropped down onto my rear, using my paws to support myself as I breathed heavily. I looked up into the sky, with bright lights seeming to stream all around in spite of the darkness of night.
It almost felt like I was in another world as the rain poured around me. For all I knew, I was. It seemed like an eternity that I was lost in the stream of liquid sent from the heavens above. I looked down shakily, raising my dirty pink paws, with blood rushing down through them, to the ground, and carried away down-hill by the steaming water. My blissful forever was cut all too short. I had to make a plan. I was battered, bleeding, and injured. I was in the middle of a city at night, pouring rain. Shelter was the top priority.
But, then, my evidently severely damaged hearing faintly picked up on an approaching vehicle. I turned to see a truck approaching on the other side of the road, with a fresh, dripping red splatter on the front. Two men in all black outfits with gloves to match stepped out. I had to really focus to make out what they were saying.
"See? I told ya' we hit something, ya' dolt!" came a young man's voice, appearing to gesture to me. "You're fuckin' lucky, dude; it could've been dead by now with all that time we took!"
"Yeah, shut up," the larger and more gruff-sounding man buffed. "I fucked up, yeah. Let's just go check it out."
I felt a spike of apprehension as the two men rushed over, the younger man looking quite concerned, whilst the older man apathetically stroked his bushy beard.
Looking them over, I almost blanched in realization. A large, purple, dripping "C" logo was emblazoned on their chests and hats. I had to escape. There was no way in hell I could let Team Cobra members get ahold of me. My top priority had been replaced with escape.
Weakly, I tried to scooch away on my back, agonizingly digging my foot-paws against the ground. My feeble attempts at escape apparently didn't make it an issue for the younger man to lean down and grab me. My top priority had been replaced with survival.
I tried to struggle, to fight, and growl in protest. I violently kicked his forearm with all of the strength I could muster; my head seemed to swim as my leg turned to jelly. I dug my claws into him with a ruthless ferocity; my digits ached and screamed with weakness until I could do nothing but released. I didn't surrender myself to my fate, but my body sure did. I went limp, drooping helplessly as the man cradled me in his arms.
"Well, it's still got some life in it, evidently! Thank the lucky stars!"
The older man nodded, clasping his hands together.
"A mew, as well. The boss will be pleased with this."
The young man turned abruptly, stomping his foot. I could only mewl weakly as the movement sent my consciousness spinning.
"Can you forget about the money, for now? We've gotta get it help!" the younger man snapped indignantly.
The older man raised his hands defensively. Or, at least, it seemed he did; it was hard to tell through the rain and my already blurred vision.
"Geez, okay, okay. Chill out. Let's just get it back to your place and see what we can do. 'Kay, kiddo?"
"Yeah, whatever, Jack."
For what seemed like a lifetime, my consciousness wavered and faded. Flashes of street lights. A car's engine droning in and out of focus. I felt a bit of warmth in my mind from the comforting touch that stroked through my fur, but physically I felt all too cold.
Slowly, the periods of consciousness became more infrequent, and my unconsciousness lasted longer, and longer, and longer, until I was left with nothing but the empty abyss of my perception. In fact, to call it an abyss would be inaccurate; that implies space. There was no space. Only time. My mind processed information on overdrive. It existed only to think, only to problem-solve. And that it did. It was nothing I could make sense of, though. It was too abstract; pure logic, no interpretation. In the moment, though, I understood. Never would I have before, or have I since, but it all made sense at the time.
My simple, unipurpose, almost torturously monotonous existence was shattered by the loud complexities of reality. Light invaded my eyes, sounds into my ears, smells into my nose, and pain in all of those and everything else. I let out a scratchy yowl and thrashed about wildly, trying to placate the musician of agony strumming away at every fiber of my being, but to little avail. I was hurting, and I was hot. Oh, so hot. I was barely even able to recognize the sound of a door opening and some sort of command being ushered.
A wave of cool relief washed over my burning body. Pulse after pulse, each burst of forceful, almost violent comfort washed my pain and discomfort away like the rain had my blood the last time I remembered having anything remotely considered to be true consciousness. If I had been sitting up and all, I may have slumped down, but with my weakened state I'd only been managing to flail around uselessly. With a relieved sigh, I used all of my strength I could muster to roll my head onto its back and get a better look at my surroundings.
I was in some sort of small bedroom - large compared to me - tucked into a bed with a thin white sheet placed over me. A glance at the light streaming in from the window told me it had at least been a while since I'd been awake. At the end of the bed, a gardevoir stood stiff with a steely glare, with the man from before next to them. I cringed away from the intimidating gardevoir as best as I could, which was not very impressive considering my weakened state. The movement, however subtle, was noticed by the gardevoir. I almost flinched as they suddenly saluted me.
"At ease, citizen! You are in good hands, here!" he stated confidently, posture never wavering and red eyes staring intently.
Baffled, I only croaked out a confused grunt in response, completely and utterly baffled. While we were in our mini staring contest, the human man walked over to me with a smile. I cringed at his touch as he patted my head carefully.
"You gave us a scare, there, little cat!" he laughed. "Lucky for all of us, I got you home quick, and Soldier, here, took good care of you!"
The gardevoir, who I then presumed to be the aforementioned Soldier, struck another salute.
"It's an honor to serve you, ma'am!"
"U-Uh... Thank... You...?" I croaked out meagerly. Soldier puffed out his chest pridefully. I was unsure if the man could understand my words, on account of my transformation, but the meaning at least seemed to be communicated.
"The name's Colby! Guess you'll be staying with me until you're all healed up!" The man said.
I eyed him wearily. Being a Team Cobra member, I really didn't feel like I could trust him. Then again, I supposed I didn't have much of a choice; I could barely move my head, let alone run. I needed energy desperately. I supposed it wouldn't hurt to ask.
"Food..."
Eyes widening, Soldier shot up straight once more, startling me. I winced in pain as I cringed inside.
The gardevoir turned to his apparent trainer, locking eyes. Considering how Colby nodded a second later, I assumed they were communicating telepathically.
"Right! I suppose we oughta!" He turned back to me and waved. "I'll get to cooking! Should have something good in thirty-ish minutes." With that, he rushed out of the room. To my concern, he seemed to trip on the way out, shouting numerous obscenities on his way down.
With a determined expression, Soldier shot out his hand to catch his trainer in his mental grip. Colby was reoriented mid tumble to land on his feet. The man stumbled down a few more steps, but caught himself on the railing.
I blinked, confused, but shrugged it off soon after. I wasn't in immediate danger any longer, so I could afford to relax. Physically, at least. I kept my mind sharp and began to plan. It was a little difficult with Soldier standing guard at my bedside, but I could ignore his presence for the time being.
I reviewed the facts. I was in an unfamiliar body in an unfamiliar home in an unfamiliar city. Team Cobra had a presence, though; that was at least familiar. From what I gathered from what little of the conversation I remembered before passing out, I seemed to be a mew. A little fluffier and taller than an average member of the species, but anyone's guess if that meant I was faster or stronger at all. I'd likely have a high price on my head on account of my rarity, so I had to be extra careful. I woke up seemingly after being hit by a car, and I knew I was a human before that, so I was perhaps in someone else's body. Though I didn't know the hypothetical previous mew to inhabit this vessel, I paused for a second to mourn for their potential passing.
Soldier appeared to notice my sudden sullen expression.
"Fear not, citizen!" he declared. "You'll be back in fit and fighting shape in no time! That's a promise!" He held his hands over his heart with a confident grin. Even though he misunderstood the root of my blues, his attempts to comfort were nonetheless appreciated.
"...Thank you, Soldier," I forced out as best as I could. I shakily raised my paw to strike a half-hearted salute. He seemed to beam in response.
"It is an honor, citizen!"
Roughly an hour later, I found myself sitting at the table with Soldier, Colby, and one other pokémon: a rattata. I later learned her name to be Killer. She stayed mostly silent, though, seemingly intimidated by my presence. Every time I looked at her she either gulped or bowed her head.
We were all served from a tray of frozen and reheated Salisbury steaks. Truly the height of delicacy. None of the other three seemed to mind the cheap meal, scarfing it down as if it were the best thing they'd ever eaten.
I had enough strength to sit up and feed myself by that point, though that didn't stop Colby from trying to feed my himself. Luckily, getting the hint across only took a couple swats at his hand, and one harsh glare which I unfortunately would imagine came off more cute than intimidating.
"All right, all right." He raised his hands defensively with a smile. He walked over to a wall by the back door, opening a hidden panel and removing several black articles of clothing from within it the secret cabinet. He began to slip on a forearm-length glove. "Well, for me it's about time I get back to the crew and report." Upon getting his glove on, he reached over for one pokéball sitting on his desk, holding it out and pointing it toward the rattata. "Killer, return!"
With a chipper smile, as the red beam hit her, Killer turned to wave toward Soldier politely. "See ya' later...!" After her farewell, she surrendered herself to the ball's request, allowing her body to be dematerialized into the awaiting capsule.
The gardevoir bowed politely in response.
"Best of luck on duty, soldier!"
"And, before I go..." Colby finished pulling his bandanna up over his face, then turned to acknowledge us. "Soldier, you're in charge of keeping Mew safe until further notice. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Soldier responded, standing straight with a salute.
Chuckling, Colby saluted in return.
"All right. Take it easy, you two." With that, he left the house, leaving Soldier and I alone.
I stared at the door blankly, before turning my gaze to Soldier.
"So, uh, Soldier..."
"Yes, my liege!" He stood at attention, eying me with an unfathomable amount of respect somehow plainly visible in his eyes.
"Colby's part of Team Cobra, right?" I asked tentatively, nervously twiddling my digits together.
"Yes, my liege!" Soldier responded.
"Why is he leaving you here? No offense to the rattata, but she looks kind of weak."
"Anonymity, ma'am!" Soldier stated. He stared straight ahead and began to recite something as if he were reading a book right in front of him. "Well-trained pokémon are easy to recognize. Uncommon species? Even moreso! Having most lower-ranked team members use the same collection of weak and common pokémon while on duty makes it more difficult to recognize the trainer's identity if you know them personally! Opponents are instead defeated through numbers as opposed to powerful pokémon."
"I suppose that makes sense." I paused for a moment, before realizing that I'd not yet introduced myself. "My name's Dolly, by the way."
"Honored to acquaint to you, my liege!" Soldier saluted, as was quickly shown to be routine. "Most call me Soldier! You may!"
I giggled lightly, placing a paw over my muzzle.
"Roger that."