The Path of Destiny

[Scytherwolf]

The Path of Destiny
Chapter 23 - New Troubles Begin

Surprised, Katie walked over to the still form of the unconscious scyther. A quick look determined that the chain around the scyther’s arm had been removed, but the collar and shackle still remained. Her wounds didn’t look any better, and she had new injuries in addition to the old ones. Katie knelt down beside the pokémon.

Justin backed away, his eyes narrowed as he watched the motionless figure at Katie’s feet. This scyther looked smaller than the one he had owned, even if only slightly so. It was also much thinner than he knew healthy scyther were supposed to be. That, combined with its injuries and the fact that it was unconscious did not make it a threat, but Justin didn’t like the thought of getting closer to it regardless. However, he ignored his fear and walked over to stand beside Katie.

Stepping up to the scyther’s side, Justin sneered at it, mumbling under his breath, “Stupid thing…probably didn’t know how to find food for itself…must have been too busy attacking other pokémon and people and getting into fights, by the look of those scars…” He gave the scyther a sharp kick, but the pokémon didn’t stir. He quickly glanced at Katie, but she was looking through her backpack for supplies, too focused on her task to have noticed. Crouching down, Justin peered at the scyther’s wounds closely, calling over to Katie, “Forget it, you’re not a nurse. Quit trying to act like one. None of your supplies are going to help.”

He expected her to yell at him, but to his surprise, she only sighed and stood up. “You’re right,” she agreed. “Maybe I should go find help…and I’m NOT going to leave her here!” she added, giving Justin a glare.

“Why do you care so much?” Justin scoffed, but Katie was already walking away, intent on finding someone to help the wretched pokémon. Realizing that she probably wanted him to wait there, he sat down, watching the scyther. It still wasn’t showing any signs of waking up, and from the looks of it, Justin suspected that it would be unconscious for a while longer. He was about to get up and follow Katie when he noticed something strange. The glint of metal in the dim light reflecting off the scyther’s neck caught his eye, and as he peered closer through the gloom, he realized the pokémon was wearing a battered, heavy iron collar.

Curious, Justin ran his finger over the collar, feeling many shallow scrapes and scratches along its surface…that from the looks of it had to come from something thin and sharp, like a scythe. Moving his hand away, he noticed the shackle and remains of a severed chain around the scyther’s arm. This too was covered in scratch marks, though some looked like the marks of sharp fangs rather than scythes.

He paused to wonder, had this scyther, time and again, slashed and bit frantically at this shackle and collar, out of sheer desperation, in some vain attempt to get them off? And if so, why had it been so desperate? Why did he care…? That was a better question. Standing up on the dusty concrete, he kicked dirt over the scyther, strangely feeling disappointed that it did not move. He realized then that it wasn’t going to move. Not anytime soon. It was out cold, and would be for a while, considering that it hadn’t woken up yet. His least favorite pokémon, which had fueled his hate ever since his trainer license was taken away…was simply lying in front of him.

And it was defenseless.

A slow smile crept across Justin’s face, one that shocked even him. But what did it matter if he took out his anger on this one? Even if it was awake, it would simply shake off any pain he caused it anyway; scyther were fighters. They were violent pokémon who were used to pain. What did it matter?

Narrowing his eyes at the scyther, he walked toward the side of an old building, picking up a large piece of a dusty, broken brick. He hesitated-would Katie know he had hurt the pokémon? Forcing the thought into the back of his mind, he tried to think of his pokémon, the friends he had lost along with his chance of competing in a pokémon league, when all the other trainers his age had gotten to continue their journeys…

A sudden rage took hold of him, and he hurled the brick down at the scyther, feeling strangely disappointed once again when it didn’t react. Annoyed, he picked up another brick and got ready to throw, when he hesitated. The emaciated scyther was starting to stir. As it lifted its head, blinking in confusion, Justin panicked. Backing away, he was painfully aware that he was without protection if it attacked; he had no pokémon and Katie was gone. He didn’t know whether to run, but somehow the thought of running didn’t seem like a good idea. ‘Scyther go after the weak, right?’ he thought to himself frantically. ‘I just can’t appear weak to it…’

While the scyther was trying to stand up, Justin threw the other brick, watching it strike the scyther’s shoulder and knock it down. Staying put, Justin watched, his fear ebbing away, as he realized the pokémon was probably too hurt to attack him anyway.

He was surprised when the bug pokémon sat bolt upright, its head turned toward him and its eyes fixing him with a piercing glare. Its mouth opened and it muttered a few words under its breath; words that Justin couldn’t understand.

“What’s this? A little Master?”

Justin froze as the scyther stood up, swaying slightly, but standing all the same. Backing up against the wall of the building, he reached down for another brick and threw it. After all, the scyther was injured…badly. What could it do to him?

To Justin’s surprise, Thunder calmly stepped aside, dodging the brick and narrowing her eyes. This was just another human trying to cause her pain. She walked closer, her eyes focused on the terrified boy, then leaped straight toward him, scythes raised.

She would show this human a thing or two about pain!

-ooo-

Snowcrystal woke up with an odd feeling. Glancing at her two companions, she could tell they were still asleep. Deciding not to wake them, she turned and headed toward a stream that she had scented through the trees. She had not gone far when she sensed something wasn’t right. Frightened flocks of bird pokémon soared over the trees, calling warnings to others of their kind who were still asleep in their nests.

Snowcrystal padded toward a small hill that overlooked another part of the forest, wondering if something was wrong. Before she got three paces, she was knocked off her feet by a linoone who was racing the other way. Quickly scrambling to her feet again, she called after him, “What’s going on?” However, he was too panicked to answer her.

Before she could try to follow him, several other pokémon darted past her through the trees, all looking wide-eyed and panicked, and all heading in the same direction. Confused, she turned to the hill and quickly climbed it.

What she saw took her breath away.

The forest below was ablaze, but it was no ordinary forest fire. The flames were bluish-white and streaked with black and violet, and the rate they consumed the trees, burning them into nothing but dark ashes, was startling.

In very little time, that inferno would reach them. Still frozen with shock, Snowcrystal concentrated on the distant flames, watching the white blaze rapidly destroying the forest, as weird blue smoke rose high into the air. It was then that she realized…

Blazefang had used Shadowflare again…

Tearing her eyes away from the sight, Snowcrystal bolted back toward the others, startling Spark and Wildflame into wakefulness.

“Hurry! Get up!” she cried, fear filling her voice. “We need to get out of here now!”

Seeing Snowcrystal’s expression, Wildflame stood up quickly, and Spark, still half asleep, just groaned, “I’m still asleep…wake me up later…”

“Spark!” Snowcrystal shouted. “Blazefang used Shadowflare, and the forest is being burned to the ground!”

At that statement, Spark leapt up. “Shadowflare!” he repeated. “Well then…then let’s get out of here before we all burn to our deaths!”

Spark limped off, though he hardly seemed to mind the pain now, and Snowcrystal and Wildflame followed closely. By now the blue smoke was visible above the trees. Wildflame noticed it too, not needing to ask Snowcrystal about Blazefang. Still, she was shocked. Hadn’t she told him during one of their meetings about what Spark had said about the Forbidden Attacks?

As she ran further, Snowcrystal was so focused on getting away from the danger that it took her a moment to realize that they had lost sight of Spark. “Wildflame!” she cried. “Where’s Spark?” Somewhere behind her, a tree toppled over, and Snowcrystal could hear fire crackling over it.

“He’s somewhere up ahead!” The houndoom replied. “Keep going!”

Still worried, Snowcrystal kept running, when she noticed some of the trees around her had started to catch fire as well. Panic overtook her, and for a moment she nearly forgot about Spark. Blue smoke filled a clearing ahead of her, and she held her breath as she raced across it; there was no telling what that smoke would do to her if she breathed it in.

After she made it through the clearing, Snowcrystal sprinted frantically in a daze of fear, dodging blazing bushes and trees as she fought madly to escape the oncoming inferno. Wildflame, who had vanished somewhere up ahead moments before, could not be seen.

“Wildflame!” Snowcrystal called out, but she received no answer. Now truly panicked, Snowcrystal darted to avoid a fallen tree, half burnt through by Shadowflare. Running along a new path, she stopped as she realized with horror that she had reached an area blocked off by large boulders. It was a steep climb to the rest of the forest, and though Snowcrystal was used to climbing rocks, these looked far too steep even for her. Turning around, she noticed flames surrounding her on all sides, and some were moving towards her, burning across the dead leaves and branches, getting ever closer.

Having no other option, she leaped at the nearest boulder, feeling her claws slide down it as she fought for a grip. Unable to find one, she slipped and fell to the ground, leaping up again immediately and just barely managing to avoid touching the deadly flames. Scrabbling at the rock’s surface, she managed to find a small niche in the stone and placed her back paw inside it, before leaping up towards the top of the boulder.

Snowcrystal’s claws scraped against the top of the stone as she slowly fought her way up its side, straining her muscles and praying that she wouldn’t fall. Inch by inch, she scrabbled up the rock’s side until she collapsed, exhausted, on the top of its smooth surface. Wearily, she got up, realizing that since the rocks had slowed her down, she would have to move even faster…

But she didn’t get any further. A blazing limb from a nearby tree broke off as the flames burned through it, sending it crashing down against Snowcrystal’s back and head, knocking her out instantly. Luckily, the branch rolled away from the growlithe’s limp body before the flames could touch her.

Coming into wakefulness ever so slowly, Snowcrystal thought she could hear someone shout, but her senses were too dazed to register if she had been imagining it or not. She could feel unconsciousness fighting to overcome her again, and fearfully tried to raise her head. A large, dark shape came into view, and she blacked out again.

-ooo-

Wildflame was shocked to find Snowcrystal unconscious, but she did not hesitate before picking the growlithe up by the scruff and hurrying through the forest in the direction Spark had gone. However, it was clear that going back for Snowcrystal had been a dangerous choice. Fire blazed all around her, and she had to leap over many flaming patches of grass or moss. She could not tell where Spark was, but she hoped that he, being a jolteon and therefore faster than she or Snowcrystal, had managed to outrun the fire already despite being injured.

Wildflame kept her grip on the unconscious Snowcrystal as she raced past the trees, white flame blazing on all sides. She tried to keep her head low, as the strange blue smoke was floating above her, and if it harmed her in any way, she was afraid she would never recover.

Up ahead, the burning remains of a fallen tree blocked the houndoom’s path. Bracing herself for the leap, Wildflame sprang over it, lifting her back paws and tail free of the flames. Landing roughly to the ground, she took off again, feeling hope rise within her as she spotted a clear area up ahead; she could faintly tell it was rocky and the flames had not spread there. She was almost out…

As she neared the edge of the forest, she noticed a large clearing in front of her that was completely ablaze. In a panic, she darted in another direction, and seeing a stream up ahead, leaped into it and ran through the shallow water, avoiding falling branches from burning trees.

She dashed through the water until she came near enough to the place where the forest trees ended. Leaping clear of the stream, she raced onward, when something out of the corner of her eye attracted her attention. A huge tree was toppling down toward her, its trunk blazing with blinding white flames. Trying to give herself an extra burst of speed, Wildflame leaped to the side, hearing the tree smash to the ground behind her, sending a shower of white hot sparks into the air. Some of them singed her fur slightly, but she hardly cared. Now that she was free of most of the trees, she kept running, heading toward the rocks.

When she reached them and moved well away from the burning forest, she knew she was safe, far enough from the flames. Shakily, she set Snowcrystal down before collapsing on the muddy earth. Beside her, Snowcrystal opened her eyes.

“Wildflame…” she whispered quietly, obviously still weak, “you…you saved me…thank you…”

Wildflame smiled at her, and through her fading senses she heard Spark’s relieved shout as the jolteon ran over to them. He had made it out too…

Smiling again at that last thought, Wildflame lay her head down against the muddied ground, grateful to be alive.

-ooo-

A shout caused Redclaw to stir as the world slowly spun into view. The arcanine felt smooth metal beneath his paws and looked around, realizing he was in a large metal cage. He could hear a human a little ways behind him, and a glance to his side told him that if he dared attack, there would be several other humans with tranquilizer guns to stop him. Unsteadily, the dazed arcanine stood up, feeling something brushing against his face. When he reached his forelimb up to rub against the side of his head, he felt metal.

Alarmed, Redclaw gasped…well, tried to. He soon realized that around his head and snout was some sort of steel muzzle, and he could only open his mouth the tiniest bit. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to breathe the amount of fire he would need to cause any damage to the muzzle or the cage, which were probably fireproof in some way anyways. Redclaw sat back, confused. Why was he in a cage and not a poké ball...and how had he fallen unconscious?

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he glanced around at the room and noticed several other pokémon in cages; some unconscious and some awake. A quick look all around told him that Thunder wasn’t among them.

Next to him, a caged girafarig was waking up. The pokémon looked around before turning to Redclaw. “Where are we?” she asked, giving Redclaw a confused look.

“I…I don’t know…” the arcanine stammered, when a voice interrupted him.

“You’re in one of Team Rocket’s training facilities.”

The speaker was an espeon who wore a black collar with a red symbol on the front of it. The espeon had a few dirty bandages wrapped around his shoulders and middle, and Redclaw recognized him. He was the pokémon who had tried to stop him with psychic attacks and fought Thunder.

Before Redclaw could say anything, the espeon continued speaking. “Wondering what Team Rocket is doing so far from Kanto? Well you’d be surprised…we have plenty of other bases elsewhere, and not many people come by this part of the region. This base was built for pokémon training and experimentation, and it’s far from any police and trainers. Anyway, you are all in cages because you’re going to be put through a test that you will get to watch. We only want strong pokémon fighting for us. And no, it’s not optional, so don’t get your hopes up. The test should be in a little while, as soon as my trainers sort out all the pokémon they’ve caught.”

“You…” Redclaw growled, glad that he could still talk in spite of the muzzle. “You’re the one who-”

“Please,” the espeon muttered, rolling his eyes, “call me Solus. I don’t like being referred to as ‘you,’ especially by low-ranking pokémon such as yourself.”

Redclaw momentarily forgot his anger. “Low-ranking?” he repeated, puzzled.

“You haven’t been given the test yet,” Solus replied, “and you’ll have to work your way up to get to my status…you’ll have to prove that you’re loyal.”

The girafarig in the cage beside Redclaw’s suddenly reared up angrily. “Loyal?” she spat. “Give me one good reason why I should be loyal to humans like those! They took me from the pokémon center and away from my home forever! Why should I serve you?”

Solus merely turned, looking uninterested. “That’s what they all say…” he muttered slyly, before turning his attention to a boy wearing the same uniform as the other Team Rocket members, who had just walked into the room. “The new recruit…” Redclaw heard the espeon mutter.

The boy hesitantly picked up a backpack, which Redclaw could see contained more poké balls. “What’s he doing?” Redclaw whispered to the girafarig.

“Bringing in more pokémon for the cages,” the girafarig snorted. “I assume they want us all in this big room at once, for whatever reason.” She glanced around the room and turned to Redclaw. “What’s your name?” she asked.

For a moment, Redclaw considered giving her his real name, the name his parents had given to him in the wild, but he rejected that thought immediately. He wouldn’t be able to bear being called by that name; the memories of what he once had and lost would be far too painful for him. “Redclaw,” he stated at last.

“My name is Ardunia,” the girafarig replied, nodding to Redclaw.

Redclaw was about to reply when he noticed that, one by one, the boy with the backpack was releasing pokémon. The other Rocket members looked unimpressed as one by one the boy released mildly or fairly badly injured pokémon who were then taken to cages, some tranquilized first, others just carried, too weak to fight back.

“Please tell me you caught something worthwhile and didn’t go catching all the badly injured ones,” one of the Rockets, whom Redclaw recognized as Solus’s trainer, said while rolling his eyes at the new recruit.

“I…I didn’t think these were too bad…” the boy stammered. “With a bit of healing they could become strong fighters…” The other trainer didn’t reply, and the boy reached for another poké ball, hoping that this one contained a pokémon that would impress the others; he knew he’d caught some that were fairly strong. Taking a deep breath, he released the pokémon.

The moment he released it, he knew he’d made a bad choice. The pokémon couldn’t stand, and when he released it, it toppled over onto its side, grimacing in pain.

Redclaw, however, just stared. It was Stormblade.

He watched as Solus’s trainer walked over to the boy, looking anything but amused. “What…is this?” he muttered, pointing to Stormblade.

“It’s a scyther…uh, sir…” the boy replied shakily.

“I know it’s a scyther, you idiot!” the older trainer snapped. “Why on earth did you catch it? I specifically told you…get the ones we can battle with! Not the ones that were going to be put to sleep anyway in the next few days!” Reaching for the backpack, he grabbed it from the boy’s hands, glaring at him. “How many other poké balls did you waste?” he growled, throwing the backpack to the ground.

The boy looked frightened. “I…I did what you said,” he whispered sheepishly, “I caught the ones I thought we could use…it may be hurt but it’s still a scyther…once it heals it’ll be a powerful fighter for us.”

“Really?” Solus’s trainer sneered. “And what makes you think we want to waste medical attention on something so weak?”

Beside him, Redclaw could hear Ardunia fidgeting uncomfortably in her cage. He turned to see that the girafarig looked worried as she stared at Stormblade and the other badly injured pokémon. She paced back and forth in the small space, though there was scarcely enough room to turn around. Redclaw felt sorry for her; it must be hard for a girafarig to have to stay in such a small confined area.

“It can be strong!” the new recruit was saying. “Pokémon like scyther are tough…and if this one survived getting these injuries in the first place…it must be strong.”

Solus’s trainer looked down at Stormblade, who lay curled up on the floor. He aimed a kick at the scyther’s back, where it was bandaged, and Stormblade merely growled in response. “It didn’t even try to strike back,” the trainer muttered, shaking his head. “Doesn’t seem strong. However…since you seem so keen on convincing me that this scyther was worth catching, I’ll make a deal with you. We’ll test it. If it survives, we’ll let it recover and you’ll have succeeded in your task. If not, then you’ve failed.” He glanced scornfully at the other pokémon the boy had captured, and they shrank back fearfully in their cages.

“F-failed?” he replied, looking frightened.

The other Rocket member smiled. “Yes, failed. So do you accept the deal or not?”

The boy hesitated for a moment, looked at Stormblade, and nodded.

“Well then…” came the other trainer’s reply, “let’s see if this scyther really is as tough as you claim it is…” He crouched down, fitting a metal collar with a chain around Stormblade’s neck, noticing that the scyther didn’t make any move to stop him. Without showing the slightest sign of wariness, he began dragging Stormblade across one side of the room, where he stopped next to a large flat metal surface, like a large table close to the ground. A small machine rested beside it. Stormblade still hadn’t moved.

“What are they doing?” Ardunia spat, disgusted. Redclaw said nothing and continued to watch.

The new recruit followed slowly, now looking uncertain. “Are…are you sure you should be doing this? I mean, it’s an injured flying type…and even healthy pokémon die sometimes…”

“But it’s tough, right?” Solus’s trainer replied mockingly. “What do you have to worry about?”

“Stormblade!” Redclaw cried out, though the sound was muffled by the muzzle. “Get up and move!” At the moment, the Rocket’s back was to Stormblade, but to Redclaw’s dismay, the scyther didn’t even look up. Redclaw lowered his head. Stormblade was too weak…

As some of the other Rocket grunts walked over to Stormblade, one of them asked, “Isn’t this a waste of time? We have work to do…it won’t survive…”

“Jeremy here says it will!” Solus’s trainer replied, and the boy who’d brought in Stormblade merely glanced at the floor.

“What’s…what’s happening?” Redclaw asked Ardunia, watching as the humans, with the aid of some of their pokémon, moved Stormblade onto the slab of metal. They attached part of his chain to one of the many rings on the wall near the machine, but in a way that shortened the amount of chain from Stormblade’s collar to the ring, making it impossible for the scyther to sit or lie down. When Stormblade tried to raise his scythe at one of the Rockets, a blow to the head from a Team Rocket aggron stunned him.

Redclaw watched as shackles were attached to Stormblade’s arms and legs and then chained to certain parts of the metal table, immobilizing him. The arcanine glanced worriedly at Ardunia, who pawed angrily at the floor of her cage, scraping her hooves sharply across the metal.

Stormblade could feel burning pain shooting up his injured leg, and he tried to lift it, even if only a little bit, knowing that even putting his weight on it a little had caused him excruciating pain before. Even though he tried, there wasn’t much he could do, and he could tell that he was being purposely forced to stand that way.

As one of the Rocket members moved toward the small machine, Solus, who was sitting near Redclaw’s cage, began a whispered conversation with a Rocket golduck. Meanwhile, the human near the machine smiled and stepped back. And at the same moment, Stormblade started screaming.

Redclaw stepped back, his eyes wide, as Stormblade began to struggle and thrash as tremendous volts of electricity began surging through his body from the machine. Every caged pokémon was staring in horror at the struggling pokémon, fearing they might be the next.

“So far, so good, eh?” Solus’s trainer smirked with a glance at Jeremy, the new recruit. “Too bad it’s only just starting…”

As he spoke, the electricity flowing through Stormblade’s body seemed to intensify, and he thrashed harder, trying desperately to reach the shackles or collar with his blades, teeth, anything! Stormblade no longer seemed aware of anything around him. All he could think of and feel was this horrible agony that he could do nothing to stop.

“It’s still alive!” Jeremy shouted. “You can stop now. It’s proven that it’s strong…”

“We’re still just beginning,” Solus’s trainer replied smoothly, not giving the boy a glance.

Stormblade’s struggles were growing more desperate. The scyther's wings were flared out, and he was straining against the collar and shackles in some frantic attempt to break free. He pushed back with his legs against the metal table, so hard that blood began seeping from the bandages around his injured leg. However, Stormblade didn’t even seem to notice. He pulled madly at the chains, unable to do anything else but stand and endure the torture.

Jeremy could not understand the scyther’s words as it cried out, but he was sure it was probably begging them to stop…to end it. Shakily, he turned toward the others. “It’s lasted long enough…” he began.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Solus’s trainer sneered back at him.

Stormblade’s shouts intensified, and he continued to thrash madly, unable to bear the agony any longer.

“Please just stop!” Jeremy shouted desperately.

This time, Jeremy got no reply, and the Rockets merely watched the scyther calmly. Redclaw watched in horror as Stormblade’s struggles grew weaker and his screams stopped. The scyther could do nothing but feebly pull against the chains now.

Then suddenly, it all stopped. Stormblade’s collar chain was carefully detached from the wall and he collapsed, jerking and trembling as sparks flew across the table and his body. Smoke rose from the collar and shackles; the heated metal had burned into his neck and limbs.

Redclaw glanced at Ardunia, who seemed as if she'd been holding her breath the whole time. "He's alive..." the girafarig whispered slowly.

By Redclaw’s cage, Solus nudged the Rockets' golduck. "Pay up," he said with a smirk, and the golduck grudgingly placed a few pokéblocks in front of the espeon.

“Well, I suppose you were right about this one…” Solus’s trainer admitted. “We’ll treat its injuries, though if it doesn’t show improvement within a few weeks, we’ll have to dispose of it.” He turned toward Stormblade, who was still lying against the slab of metal and trembling uncontrollably, his breathing coming in ragged gasps every few seconds. The trainer picked up Stormblade’s poké ball and returned him before striding out of the room. “Get the rest of them in cages,” he called over his shoulder, motioning to the backpack containing the rest of the poké balls.

As he left, Solus turned toward Redclaw with a smirk. “It’ll be your turn soon…” the espeon said with a grin.

-ooo-

Stormblade woke up slowly, vaguely aware that he must have passed out some time after being returned to his poké ball. He was still shaking uncontrollably, and he could feel the pain in his leg getting worse as he woke up more fully. His hazy vision cleared enough for him to realize that he was in some sort of small cell, next to many others. He was lying on an old blanket, but there was no food or water. In the cells next to him, he could hear a few pokémon crying out or whimpering. What was this place…?

Feeling worried, but too weak to stand up, he lifted his head, listening to the cries of the other pokémon. He could see some of them wearing dirty bandages, and he assumed this was where injured pokémon were healed. However, Stormblade knew that if this place were a pokémon center, it would be closed down immediately; these pokemon were all obviously still in pain, and none of them had received anything close to adequate care. They had probably only had their wounds bandaged and been given medicine to fight infection, and then were just placed in the cells.

Laying his head back down, Stormblade tried to appreciate the thin blanket the humans had given him to lay on. It didn’t offer much warmth or comfort, but it was better than the cold concrete ground of his small cell. He was actually surprised they had given him a blanket; none of the other pokémon had one, and he wondered which human had given it to him. He wished whoever it was had given him some food or water too. Apart from a single rawst berry to help heal his wounds from Thunder’s trainer’s Arcanine, he hadn’t eaten since he and Spark had passed through the forest alone. That had been before meeting Snowcrystal. Scyther were tough predators that could last a while without eating when they needed to, but it had been too long, and his hunger was rapidly weakening him.

He wasn’t quite sure how long he would be allowed to stay in the cell, but in the back of his mind, he feared that the humans would grow tired of waiting for him to heal, and they would find a way to get rid of him.

-ooo-

Rosie knew that she couldn’t rest long. Painfully, she staggered upright on three legs, holding her broken foreleg above the ground. Limping forward, she decided to try and make it as far away from the poachers as she could, ignoring the pain in her leg…or trying to.

A few times, Rosie collapsed when the pain was too much. Every time however, she would get up again and keep going. Her fear of what the poachers would do if they caught her motivated her to carry on. She knew they probably wouldn’t even be looking for her anymore, but all the same, she had to keep going…

To get away as fast as she could…

-ooo-

Back at the ruined pokémon center, a police officer was talking to Officer Jenny, while standing beside a small, sandy-haired boy, who kept looking worriedly at Jenny.

“He says his meowth had a tracking collar,” the other officer explained. He turned to the boy before asking, “Was your meowth injured when you brought it to the pokémon center?”

Looking surprised, the boy shook his head. “No,” he replied, “I just wanted the nurses to check on him…I thought he might be getting sick…they said they had a lot of other injured pokémon to take care of but they said they would check on him…”

Listening, Jenny waited until he was done speaking before replying, “If the meowth was taken in just to be checked on, it must have been in its poké ball for most of the time. I think there’s a very likely chance it was stolen. Where those people took it, no one can be sure, but the areas beyond this city are mostly wilderness. It’s very likely that they could have set up some sort of base there. Stonedust is one of the most isolated cities in this region, and most trainers don’t venture north of here. Vast wastelands, dangerous ice mountains and many other harsh territories that have never been fully explored...it’s no wonder.”

Ignoring the boy’s horrified look, she continued, “But if they’ve only barely captured all the pokémon, I’m sure we can use the meowth’s collar to find their location, before they realize it’s a tracking collar…and that’s how we’ll find out where they’re hiding.”

To be continued…