Chapter 1: Resist

(Thanks everyone for the reviews and favorites so far! I'm glad to see some people still willing to read something I've written despite it being so long since my last completed story. Sadly, this might be the last story I'll ever write... but I hope it'll be the best I've written. The next chapter will be released around January 1st.)

{Rui's Point of View}

There's a strange thing about life... no matter what you do there will always be someone lording over you. Humans ruled by Pokémon, Pokémon ruled by their leaders, leaders ruled by their god. Some say this is the natural order of things, but is it? Personally, I think no. To help this become reality I ended up joining an underground group meant to help humans break free... at least... that's what it was supposed to be. It went well at the start. There were many of us, some hundred or so... but now there's only fifteen of us. How did I even become a part of this group you ask? It's simple. I met a few of the members at work a few years ago. I'm 29 now and the scars have only gotten worse both physically and mentally. I can't feel any positive emotion anymore, my ex won't stop pestering me and our group is failing. I hope things will change but most likely we will all die.

You deserve to know what happened; you see. My brother reached out to me and helped supply me with enough funds to go to college. After graduating, I started working at a company as a simple computer maniac as they called it. I handled databases, data manipulation and other boring tedious tasks... but this kept me under the radar. Three of my coworkers invited me out for drinks and told me their secret once I revealed my hate for my ex. That was how it all started. We began small operations, freeing slaves in the dead of night from corporate executives, stealing classified information and even killing Pokémon with human death tolls in the hundreds. The worse was a Gardevian who reveled in torturing her victims in a basement. She'd hang them by their hands, a hook piercing through both as she'd beat them, burn them anything to them until they'd break mentally. I had to deal with her alone because I was the only one impervious to her attacks, to all her powers... thanks to the blessing Margrev gave me... The look of surprise as I beat her down, strung her up and watched as her victims returned the favor gave me resolve for a time... It made me think of Silvia. It made me want that done to her... but that's more akin to murder than justice. It didn't help when she'd call me or appear at my front door without permission. I can't forgive her for what she did, and her child is not mine. I know I'm not the father, but it becomes tiring to constantly fight over it. The poor kid thinks I am too, all because of her lying bitch mother. I just want her to stop. I want her to go away. I want to live. To live and be free, unchained by the bullshit of the past. Now I have to deal with the emotional baggage of dead comrades along with this shit. I wish I had the power to save everyone, they only wanted to help people. The homeless, the enslaved and the victims. Why does life have to be so disgusting?

"Rui?" A voice snapped me out of my train of thought, "Huh?" I replied before shaking my head, "What is it?". The person speaking is the leader of our group, an imperfect Lopunny hybrid. He started this twenty years ago after his best friend was sold off by slavers. He never found his friend alive, but the bastards were nice enough to send him a picture of his end. After that, he started the group and put a stop to the slavers... or so he had hoped. They only came back, resurfacing every two or so years as more cases of human abuse began to run rampant throughout the city. The imperfection also causes him to grow uneven, itchy patches of fur along random parts of his body. It irritates him greatly, causing rashes year-round even if he shaves it all off.

He scratched his arm, "You looked like you were lost. Care to share your thoughts?"

I sighed, "Sorry Cayden. I was just thinking about the others. I kinda miss when the base was bustling with people instead of eerie silence."

Cayden's phone began to vibrate, "Finally." He looked at his phone intensely as his eyes sifted through a message, "The deal is going through. We've got a job."

I gave him a puzzled look, "A job? We're not supposed to be doing jobs."

Cayden sighed, "I met another hybrid on my business trip last month. He's interested in a little bit of... sabotage. He's willing to send us quite a bit of money if we do some jobs for him."

I thought about it and said, "Cayden, this does not sound like a good idea. He's a hybrid, are you sure you can trust him?"

Cayden asked, "I'm a hybrid, don't you trust me?"

"Not every hybrid is imperfect but still able to be used as a breeder." I shot back.

Cayden snickered, "True. But I trust him. He's a good guy, I can tell. His dad was a dickhead from what I've heard."

I still wasn't convinced, "You're completely sure?"

Cayden nodded, "Completely."

I decided to accept his word, "Alright, then I'll play along. If things get bad or look suspicious, I'm going to call it out."

Cayden agreed, "It's best to have speculators, they can see what the sheep cannot."

I snickered half-heartedly, "Funny. What's the job?"

Cayden handed me his phone, "It's to plant an explosive in one of the city's skyscrapers."

I looked at him in shock, "Are you fucking insane? We can't do that!"

Cayden raised a hand, "Look, I know you're concern but the building only uses Psi-Sight for their surveillance."

I looked at the details, "So you'll be relying on me to get the Alakazams unconscious. Cayden, this looks sketchy and honestly... dude... we'll be terrorists if we do this. We're supposed to give hope and save people, not spread terror."

Cayden looked down gloomily, "The CEO of this company funded the special taskforce responsible for half of the deaths we've faced. I know it's wrong, but... I can't sleep at night knowing I allowed this chance at justice to slip through the cracks."

I looked around the nearly empty room and thought about some of the deceased members, "Damn it... Okay. I'll go through with it."

Cayden smiled at me, "Never had a doubt. We'll get the package in a few weeks. I'll be planning until then."

I gave him his phone back, "Alright, I'm a head home. Message me if you need me."

I quickly left the hideout, wanting to be away from this crazy ass idea as soon as possible. Going home is the best part of the day... but I wish I could feel happy. I wish I could enjoy it. Instead, I feel nothing. My arm, marked by Fey Fire, being a perpetual reminder of why. I wear an arm sleeve to cover it, Pokémon tend to ask fucked up things like where's my owner. Some can even go as far as to say how big is the harem. Bunch of pricks. Thankfully I don't have to retort or acknowledge them. I just continue my day and work. As I prepared my bath, I stuck my arm in and thought about escaping. About being free. About my life before all this happened. The faint distant memories of happiness stolen. I sacrificed this feeling for my freedom... but am I free? I used to wonder that but in the end I am. The Fey Fire burned along my skin in the water, warming it up for me. One of the best parts about this fire, is the utility it gives. Pokémon cannot grab my arm without the burns affecting them. The look of shock burns into my mind, thinking how I should feel joy... but I feel nothing. I sunk into the warm water, thinking about how wrong my life went. I just wanted to have family with a woman, a human woman. Someone like me... and yet I was plucked like a Cheri Berry and tossed to the Gardevians for the good of all but me. Why did I have to suffer for their happiness when they'll just have to pay their cost later? They're not free, it's just not their turn... Now look at me... look at what I'm becoming. A terrorist... a god damn terrorist. How many will die from the bomb? Will we die? So many things wrong with all of this... but if he's right I have to go with it. The friends we lost deserve justice... don't they...? Or do we deserve to suffer because God, their god, hates us? Growing up that is one of the things we were taught. 'Humans were created to suffer at the hands of their masters.' What kind of sick Tauros Shit is that? I looked at my previously worn clothes seeing my knife sticking out of the pocket of my jeans. I bought that knife with the intent to one day use it to kill Silvia... at least... I wanted to initially. I realized years ago killing her won't give me back my emotions. I'll still be miserable for the rest of my life. The kid she has doesn't deserve to be motherless either... Even if I hate the bastard child, I still don't want her to suffer unnecessarily. She could still turn out better than her mom.

I heard my phone ring and reached from the bath to answer it, "Hello?"

I heard Silvia's voice, "Hi."

"What do you want?"

"It's going to be her birthday in a few weeks... she wanted to see you."

"Take her to see her real dad. Stop bothering me."

"She's your child. Why can't you accept that?"

"I'll never believe that. You are nothing but... know what, I'm not going to bother with this. Goodbye."

"Wait, please-"

I turned my phone off and tossed it back to my clothes. I relaxed in the water irritated by the intrusive call. Sometimes I wish I could just drown in this warm feeling. Just... sink to the bottom watching the surface drift away while this warm soft embrace cradled me deeper into its depths. To be snuffed out forever in a real loving embrace. Love... did I ever really feel that? For a moment I thought of Aura and felt more anger than emptiness. She was my friend. I didn't have feelings for her, or so I thought. Now I don't really know. If I'm honest, she might have been the mate I needed to accept and be happy... It sucks that there are no redos in life. You can only take each dice roll with a straight face and keep calm. It really is true what they say, privilege is blind to those that have it. I was privileged enough to believe my life would be perfect. That I deserved a human mate and to continue my family's bloodline... instead I'm here. I bet the others thought I deserved what happened to me. That I was a monster for being so uncaring about their lives... but wanted what was best for my own. I won't apologize for that selfishness. We all need to be selfish or else we'd all just die for each other and that'd help no one in the long run... I think...? Listen to me rambling in a warm bath like a philosopher. I'm nothing more than a empty hateful human wretch... just like they say... but unlike the others, I'll get the last laugh on someone.

-The Next Day-

I went into work like usual, heading into my office to work on several scripts. The databases need scripts to transfer and translate the data along with their data quality rules into a new site. My roommate for the office is unfortunately a Gardevian. Someone I believe was sent by Margrev or her daughter to spy on me. Initially she had no idea who I was until one day she noticed the marks on my arm when I needed to scratch it. After that day, she began treating me differently. Intentionally stepping on my toes but since she in a Pokémon and I'm nameless, they won't reprimand her. She's too valuable they say. She does nothing but sit on her fat Gardevian ass all day while texting on her phone. Stupid bitch.

"Hey Rui."

"What?"

"What was your old mate like?"

"This is not the time to ask."

"Was she dominant? She must have been to own you."

"Owning people is something only weak people do. It means you are so pitiful you need to torment someone less privileged into submission to feel good about your life."

"Big words coming from a bitch."

"I'll have more along with my fist in your throat if you don't stop."

"Hm... I could get you fired for threatening me." I flinched, "But I won't."

"Alright."

"...Do you know one way we lovingly show our dominance to the other?"

"..."

"We come up behind them." She whispered as I felt arms wrapped around me. I froze feeling fear run through my spine. "We wrap our arms around them and whisper in their ear 'I love you.' but then gently licking their ear." I felt her warm breath on my ear. I could feel her tongue from just my imagination remembering the first time Silvia did that to me. It was too much and without warning she and I ended up in a heavy scuffle. By the end of it, I had her pinned to the wall with my knife at her throat. She didn't look concerned as she whispered, "I like my lovers to make a little noise." I pressed the blade against her neck harder, "What the fuck is wrong with you?" She simply smiled, "There's many things wrong with me. I'm a Gardevian remember? I can see why Silvia liked you." I was taken aback, "W-What?" She whispered, "You have too much kindness. I can see it in your eyes. I can feel it in your hands. Even now, you could have killed me, and I wouldn't blame you. I tormented you, I tried to psychologically damage you. I'm not a good person." I looked at my reflection in the dagger seeing myself as one of them before pulling away as quickly as I could. I put the dagger away, angrily thinking about how similar I really could be to them now. Maybe their treatment imprinted something onto me subconsciously. Her next words broke me out of my thoughts, "Don't worry. I'm not here because of them. Aura asked me to watch over you. I just didn't know her... friend was nameless and to who he was freed from. It's quite interesting really." I asked, "We've been working together all this time, but you've never mentioned this until now. Why?" She thought about it to herself before smiling, "I just didn't feel like you deserved to know quite yet. On the other hand, it could also be a hidden kindness considering Aura will be coming to town soon. She's been wanting to see you."

I thought to myself for a moment, wondering why now? She wouldn't get paid enough for a gig around here and there's nothing of interest here... apart from me I presume. She straightened herself out and asked, "You'll keep all of this hush hush if I will, right?" I nodded, "Good. Let's get back to work then. I think we've had enough excitement for one day."

We quickly went back to work, ignoring each other for the rest of the day. After work I got a text from Silvia saying sorry. I didn't reply but I thought about it. It's not every day she apologizes. I just went back home after doing some grocery shopping. While dinner cooked, I stared out the window wondering what I should do. With Aura coming, she'll probably cause me some problems... apart from the work hazard. I also felt another chill remembering what my office roommate said about her kind's dominance embrace. I felt so disgusting afterwards, just laying on the floor staring at the ceiling out of breath. My heavy breathing as my mind fully realizes and accepts what had happened to me. She hugged me from behind, whispered she loved me and before I knew it raped me. Thinking of all this made me feel lightheaded and the room started spinning. I staggered to the bathroom just barely making it to puke. I panted heavily after I finished, staring at the porcelain base before tearing up and crying. I punched my toilet out of frustration, out of anger as I sobbed. My life, my chance at love and even my chance at happiness all stolen from me without it being my own fault. The only thing left is my life and even that isn't much. After I finished crying, I started a bath and warmed it up with my thoughts of freedom, escape... chance at happiness... all these things I desperately wanted... but will never receive. As I once again laid in the warm loving embrace, I thought about the job I'll have to help on soon... but instead I didn't feel regret. If I could feel something positive... I think it'd be eagerness. Maybe deep down... I want to kill some Pokémon.

(Jesus Christ. It's been a long time since I've written something anything like this. Even though it is short, that last paragraph made me feel something. Pity? Anger? Depressed? I wonder how you guys will feel. Please Favorite, Follow and Review to support the story!)