I groaned as I started to come around from being knocked out. With my mind still in a haze I couldn’t quite tell where I was, but I wasn’t given much of a chance to figure it out. Just as I was about to open my eyes my surroundings shifted causing me to hit my head, and knocking me out once again. Much later I thought I could hear voices as I was moved once again, but my mind simply labled it as a dream…

“Hmph. Still sleeping… Why did we go through so much trouble to steal this one…? It’s weak.”

When I finally regained full consciousness my head was killing me. I reached a paw to the back of my head and found I had a large Pidgey egg. I winced in pain as I touched it gingerly.

“Huh. Bout time you wake up… It’s not fair this special treatment you’re getting.” A voice came from somewhere, but as I opened my eyes I could only freeze in fear. I was trapped in a cage, with a simple cushion that I was sitting on and a bowl… of all things… filled with a disgusting looking pokemon food. There was a bottle of water next to the bowl, but the worst of all was a litter box… which I could only assume meant they expected me to use it…

These were my only surroundings save for the bars on the front of my prison. The other three walls were solid but I had room to move. My cell was slightly taller than me so I could stand up straight but not stretch, and the depth of the cell was only large enough for me to sit leaning on the back wall while my feet reached the bars. The width wasn’t much better though it gave me enough room to lay down semi comfortably.

“Wh-who are you…? Where am I…?” I found myself answering shyly, but continued as I started to breathe heavier and panic realizing I was trapped. “Felix… No it can’t… O god I’m trapped!” Just before loosing control and attempting to blast my way out with an aura sphere, my mind settled on what must have happened. “Darkrai… They must have taken me… But what did they do to…” I muttered as I finally lost my composure and started crying.

“Ha! She’s crying! Fat lotta good that’ll do you.” Came the same voice as before from the room outside my cell, apparently there were a good many, pokemon from the smell of it, in the room.

“Shut up! Can’t you let us get some rest for once!” Yet another voice yelled at the first, starting a yelling match that quickly ended in name calling. I just tried to tune it out as I wept quietly to myself, wondering what had become of my loving mate.

“Don’t mind them, their bored out of their minds so they fight constantly. But take it from me this is only the beginning for you.” A third, this time feminine, voice said calmly, though it wasn’t very encouraging, and sounded very cold.

“What do you mean? Where am I and who are you?” I asked sadly, trying to get some kind of answer.

“My name? Huh. The people here call me Glaceon or experiment subject 430. But since you asked, my name is Elloe. Just call me Elli though, it’s easier. As for where you are, you’re in a Darkrai experiment facility, and from what I’ve heard over the years it’s the most secluded and largest of them all... Well save for that island one, but it doesn’t exist any more… And for why you’re here, I have no idea what you did but Darkrai wants you for something and that’s usually not good. So what’s your name new girl?” The voice explained as I calmed down further. By the time Elli had finished I had stopped crying though I couldn’t stop sniffling.

“My name is, Luca… Just how long have you been here Elli?” I managed as I wiped the tears from under my eyes.

“Three years total. Sometimes I just wish they’d kill me already and get it over with…” She replied which practically made my heart stop.

‘Three years…? Felix… wouldn’t leave me like this would he? He has to be trying to find me… Right?’ I thought to myself, giving the room a bit of an awkward silence.

“Ha! I hope they keep you around Elli! I rather enjoy that breeding program!” The first voice yelled again, but was quickly met by Elli.

“I swear if they pair me with you again I will freeze your dick off!!!” She growled, apparently the first speaker had struck a nerve.

“We’ll see if that’s how you feel when you’re in heat!” The first voice laughed again, met only by another growl from Elli.

‘Br-breeding program…? But… if Felix doesn’t… I have to get out of here!’ I thought as the short conversation registered fully, the only thing I had to be thankful for was that my heat had just subsided a few days before.

As my thoughts finished I charged an aura sphere in a panic and threw it at the bars, convinced they would shatter so I could run. But the blue glow simply flashed as it exploded and left the bars unharmed.

“Don’t even try it sweetie. We’ve all tried to blast our way out, nothing works on these bars, not even fire.” The first voice spoke up again when he saw the flash and felt his cage shake slightly.

“What!? Do I have to kick your asses for you to stop making a racket?! Some of us are trying to sleep! Hell new girl, you don’t even know how tiring their “experiments” are, just shut up and enjoy the time you have!” a fourth voice said with a simple agreeing comment from the second voice who had complained earlier. I hated being yelled at so it was pretty sobering. My panic subsided and I simply sank into the back of my cell, hugging my legs as tears started falling from my eyes again.

“You’ll get used to it Luca, don’t worry, the first few days are always the hardest. Luckily for you they wait a while before taking a new addition for study.” Elli offered as a few comforting words, but from how she sounded it was as if she had no hope of rescue.

“Felix will find me before that happens. I know he will…” I said through my embrace with my legs.

“Is that your trainer? Look Luca, face the facts. No matter how dedicated a trainer is he wouldn’t take on the entire Darkrai organization to save a pokemon. He’s probably already moved on.” Elli replied solemnly, and it sounded like she meant every word.

“You’re wrong! He will come for me! You’ll see!” I answered, letting my anger get the better of me, if I could have seen this Glaceon I would have thrown her to the ground for that comment.

“Yeah, whatever Luca. I think you’ll find things are a bit different here. I thought my trainer would come for me too. Then I saw him on the TV one of the lab technicians had on while they were examining me for the umpteenth time. He had gone on to challenge the pokemon league without me, even though I was given to him as his starting pokemon.” Elli once again replied in her unsympathetic tone, and for a split second I found myself doubting Felix…

‘No! He will come! He will save me! Then I can prove them all wrong…’ I thought as I shook the doubt from my mind. At first I thought I had found someone to befriend, but if Elli was only going to talk about how Felix wouldn’t even try to rescue me I wasn’t going to listen… or so I thought…

The lights were out when I first woke up, and I quietly cried myself back to sleep shortly after Elli explained about her trainer. The next day I was awoken rudely as bright light flooded my cell.

“He-hey! You’re finally awake! Welcome to your new home Lucario… I’m sure you’ll “love” it here…” The grunt said to me with a laugh. I was still groggy so all I could do to was glare at him, though to be honest I was afraid to do anything more. Luckily, for him, he didn’t intend to take me as a specimen, and moved along to another cage.

I heard an electric charge build up as the he opened the door followed by, “That’s not necessary, I won’t fighahhhh…” from the first voice that spoke to me last night. I heard the door close again and watched as the grunt walked out of the room with a quilava held roughly on his shoulder.

I simply sat there silently for the rest of the day as grunt after grunt came in and took random pokemon from the various cages while bringing the previous pokemon back, though some of them were zapped unconscious and others were only lead out on leashes.

I tried to rest and save my strength, but with the grunts constant activities I was a nervous wreck. The food didn’t help either, I was starving and tasted the food they had given me but it was absolutely repulsive. To make matters worse I had no one to talk to and my shoulder ached, which is when I realized I had a rather pathetic bandage over the wound I had sustained from the scyther. I decided to leave it in place since it was better than nothing.

At one point I heard Elli’s cage open, and found myself fearing the sound of an electric discharge, but the door closed without the sound and I could only assume Elli had been taken willingly to another one of these experiments everyone talked about.

Later that day I heard Elli being returned followed by the lights getting turned out.

“Damn you Frack!” She yelled once the last grunt had left, though I wasn’t sure why, I figured I was about to find out.

“What did I do!? Wait… Don’t tell me! Haha you’re pregnant! Score! Hey, you should be thanking me! They’ll go easy on you now so they can have the pups to study.” Frack answered as he laughed, but I didn’t hear a retort from Elli. In fact I thought I heard a few sniffles from her direction…

Another two day’s pasted like this with me waiting sadly in my cell, though I was getting used to the grunts usual passages and was able to ignore them far better. However my heart was fading. I knew it would take a while for Felix to find me, who knows how far I had been taken before I woke up, but being separated from him and not knowing what to expect was quite literally killing me. I had forced myself to eat the horrid food presented to me and I kept drinking the water as well. I figured if they did try taking me as a specimen I wasn’t going without a fight and I would need my strength.

On that fourth day Elli finally tried talking to me again, though I didn’t know why she was bothering.

“So Luca, getting used to this place…?” She asked and waited for a response that didn’t come, I still wasn’t going to submit to Darkrai no matter what she said.

“Well I guess in one way you are. You haven’t cried like the first night.” She continued uncaringly with no real emotion evident in her voice. If fact it sounded as if she really didn’t care whether I responded or not.

“I’m not as weak as you think!” I replied angrily, though the sad truth was that I now realized how much I previously relied on Felix to be strong for me. I had stopped crying because I knew it would get me nowhere, but this showed me how pathetic I had been acting in the past few months with Felix. I hadn’t battled in a long time, I was always afraid Leo would get hurt even though he was more skilled than I was at his age and Felix had trusted me to battle. Finally was the fact that I had been so clingy when I was with Felix, and the more I thought about it the more I realized I had become soft, and this place was just forcing me to rely on myself once again.

I heard Elli exhale sharply, giving me the impression she was just smirking at me, but I didn’t care, she wasn’t worth the effort.

Things continued like this for the next week as well, but to my surprise I was only observed by the grunts and not taken for examination, which I knew made the other occupants mad at me.

The grunts did however try getting me to speak with them, but I refused and kept my lips sealed.

Through it all Elli remained as uncaring as ever, even though she actually tried to engage me occasionally. Every time I became infuriated with her because it would always be something about how I should just accept that Felix wasn’t coming and cooperate with the grunts so things would be easier on me.

But what scared me the most was how much sense everything she said made... With each passing day my hope for rescue faded slightly and by the end of my second week of captivity I wondered if Felix really was looking for me. Surely I would have heard some kind of taunt or comment from the grunts during their daily rounds, but nothing ever passed my ears.

There was one incident however that caused my heart to leap. Early in the morning during that second week an alarm went off in the building. Of course I jumped to conclusions and thought they had an intruder, remembering how much of a fuss had been raised once we were discovered on the island. Though when the alarm was turned off I sank deeper into despair, and later learned a scientist had simply created a hazardous gas outside of something called a “hood,” and because of that a lab needed evacuated.

Also during that second week I was taken from my cell for the first time. Two grunts stood in front of my cell with those electric wands I had heard used before. My mind raced as I tried to decide what to do if they opened the door, and in a split second I convinced myself not to listen to anything Elli had said. If they opened that door I was going to fight my way out despite what they would do, but sadly I wasn’t given the opportunity.

After a few more tries to get me to speak the grunts gave up and called for some strange machine. Instead of opening the door right there this machine came at the cell with two metal prongs. My heart stopped in fear as it came closer, I couldn’t help but think I had been too much trouble and they were going to kill me, but this passed as I watched the prongs sink into the cage just below the floor I was standing on. To my surprise the entire cell came off of the wall as the machine reversed its direction, and on unsteady feet I was taken from the room while catching a glimpse of the cages on the wall my cell had previously occupied, leaving a large empty space in the grid.

I still remained silent as they took me to be examined or experimented on or what ever they were going to do but I was surprised yet again when my cell was set down on a battle field of all things. Once the grunts and the machine that had brought me here were gone the door to my prison opened to allow me out. But from what I saw I no longer wanted to leave the cell. I was in a battle arena and I could think of only one purpose… to battle. Let alone there was no way for me to escape the arena since it had been completely sealed to prevent such a thing. I saw no reason to cooperate if I had no chance of getting loose, but I wasn’t given a choice…

Soon after the door opened and I didn’t come out something pushed me out of my cell. As I stumbled and regained my footing I turned to fight what had pushed me, but I saw nothing except my cell, with the door closed, sinking into an opening in the floor which was sealed by the top of the cage when it sank low enough.

“Begin the observation! Lucario, you either fight or you die, your choice!” A voice came from everywhere, which I remembered meant it was on a speaker system.

Just as the voice faded, three doors opened up around the arena letting a pokemon loose from each, while in the center a Gengar appeared and stood snickering at me. I guessed it was the one who had pushed me out of my cage. As I looked around I saw my opponents were an Alakazam, the Gengar, a Magnezone, and a Hippowdon. It wasn’t comforting but from the looks on their faces I knew I had no choice in this matter… it was just as the voice had said… I would either fight, or be killed.

I took a fighting stance and closed my eyes, going into wave sight. The four pokemon gathered together in an arc and readied for my attack, but I wasn’t going to make the first move. Instead I charged an aura sphere and a dark pulse, intending to take out the two pokemon types I hated the most, electric and ghost.

Gengar was the first to move and smirked as it disappeared from normal sight and started strolling around to my right. I kept a line of sight on it while never turning my head so it thought it still had the upper hand.

The Magnezone started hovering higher in the air while the Alakazam and Hippowdon just kept an eye on me for the moment.

I saw the Magnezone begin to charge an attack while at the same time I saw Gengar, who had stopped directly behind me, charge an attack of its own. Just as the Magnezone fired its thunder attack I leapt into the air and immediately threw the dark pulse at Gengar as I flipped head over heals. The Ghost simply stood there slack jawed at how precise my aim was and was hit head on with the blast, which I was convinced had knocked it out. As I reached the top of my jump I threw the aura sphere at Magnezone just as it launched a thunder bolt at me. The two attacks collided in mid air with an explosion.

As I landed I wasted no time in continuing to fight, it was all or nothing as far as I was concerned and I was already outnumbered. When I landed on the ground again I felt it start to tremble, which I figured was from the Hippowdon, so I used my extreme speed to vanish and charged another dark pulse as I ran around behind the Alakazam. I reappeared behind the pokemon and was about to fire the pulse when it suddenly spun and gave me a hard punch to the jaw, knocking me to the ground with a pained yelp. I then realized this wasn’t going to be a conventional fight, which I should have guessed from the beginning…

I quickly leapt back up as I felt the ground start to shake again, but I was struck by a lightning bolt as I did so, causing me to cry out from the sharp pain that left me somewhat numb as I hit the ground on my knees. I still knew I didn’t have time to dwell on the pain and I quickly rolled out of the way of a boulder that came flying at me, accompanied by a psywave, and another lighting bolt.

When I dodged those attacks I regained my feet and started running, charging and throwing pulses as fast as I could. I knew I was scoring hits on the Hippowdon with my water pulses but the Magnezone and Alakazam were just batting my attacks out of the air with electricity and psychic energy respectively.

As I kept my opponents busy I failed to notice that the Gengar was still very much awake, and as I ran he reached up out of the ground and grabbed my foot, tripping me and causing me to roll painfully to a stop from the speed I was going at.

I quickly looked up to see another barrage of attacks coming at me, but luckily I had something I learned from Lady I had yet to use. I lowered my head in concentration and just before the attacks collided with me I threw up a green shield, which was quickly shrouded in dust and smoke as the attacks impacted it harmlessly.

I immediately let the shield down and launched myself at the still conscious pokemon, since I found I had succeeded in knocking out the Hippowdon. Just before I reached the Alakazam, who was simply looking at me intently, I charged an aura sphere and threw it at him, giving it a spin as I did so. Just as I expected the Alakazam dodged the attack letting it fly behind him, but due to the spin I had put on it, it curved around and impacted the Magnezone in its back, knocking it out cold as well.

Sadly not everything went as planned for as I reached the Alakazam I intended to sidestep it and rush towards the Gengar next, but as I swerved the Alakazam simply stuck its arm out and clothes lined me.

Once again I found myself in pain on my back, my fur was dirty and I had several scrapes from my falls, let alone a few burns from the electric attacks. As before my opponents weren’t going to give me the chance to recover, and as I lay there on my back, choking trying to ignore the pain in my neck I realized there was a shadow ball coming at me, as well as the Alakazam standing over me with it’s arm pulled back to punch me again.

I rolled out of the way but couldn’t regain my feet quick enough and Alakazam delivered a swift kick to my side since he had missed for the first time with his punch. Thankfully the shadow ball had missed entirely and exploded harmlessly in the dirt, but that didn’t make things any easier. I slid a few feet from the kick to my side and I remained lying there, doubled over in pain while I coughed, trying to force myself to endure it and get up. But before I could move I felt myself being lifted by an unknown force, and I was soon dangling upside down in from of the Alakazam.

“You’re pathetic… Even now you keep trying to think of ways to hit me when you fail to see I have the power of premonition on my side. I know what you’re going to do before you do it. Ha! Like now…!” The Alakazam said mockingly as he held me in a psychic attack, and just before I could release the hidden sphere I had been charging I was quickly accelerated to the roof of the arena and slammed hard against the metal. I gasped and winced at the pain of the impact, but an idea crossed my tormented mind at that moment, but I had to get out of this psychic hold.

Even before I had come up with my idea I found myself being dropped to the ground. As I neared the floor I realized that if I hit at this speed I wouldn’t survive, but I knew I could do nothing, I had no way to slow my decent and I was in a psychic hold in mid air, it was hopeless. The only thing I could think to do was to charge a dark pulse and hope to hit the Alakazam in the face as I passed by to my death…

This turned out to be the right choice however, because to avoid the attack the Alakazam stopped me above his head to throw off my calculations and let the sphere pass harmlessly overtop of him, though as a joke he let go of his hold to drop me the remaining six feet to the ground. Despite the pain of the second impact I found the strength to claw the ground and leap away putting some distance between me and my two opponents.

Like I mentioned before, I had an idea but I’d be lucky if it worked. Gengar and Alakazam were about a quarter of the arena width apart which meant I could attack the Gengar without interference from Alakazam save for some kind of psychic attack. I wasn’t about to give up and about the only way I could think to trick the Alakazam was to get him so focused on me that he wouldn’t notice Gengar firing an attack in his direction. I knew this would be difficult and in my current state I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take. My body was aching and I was breathing heavily, but the outcome if I lost wasn’t appealing.

I swallowed hard one last time before collecting myself and seeing what I could make happen. I realized that if Alakazam had “premonitions” about where I would be he would have to move before I got there to hit me when I did, which gave me a slight advantage since I could then react to that movement. Since I had already used extreme speed a lot during this match I could feel its effects, if I used it much more I wouldn’t be able to move. So instead I started off with the first attack Felix had taught me.

As I moved with my vapor trail, letting my arms trail behind me I smirked at the Gengar and started darting from place to place around it. Only enraged by my smile Gengar started becoming reckless as it fired attack after attack, then started putting more power into the attacks as he became more frustrated.

Finally after about the tenth attack Alakazam was chuckling at Gengar’s attempts to hit me, and I choose that moment to test my theory. As Gengar charged a particularly large shadow ball I stopped just behind him and ran my paw through his immaterial shoulder. Gengar immediately roared as he “felt” this and spun, firing his attack at “me.”

Of course I had already moved on and Gengar’s attack was hurled at the Alakazam, who in his laughter failed to realize what I had done. He had however been keeping track of me with his “premonitions” and spoke mockingly at Gengar after the attack had been fired, realizing just a split second before impact what was really going on. The attack collided sending smoke and dust all around Alakazam, and I took the chance to charge two dark pulses while Gengar watched to see if his teammate was still standing.

Before the smoke had a chance to clear I launched one pulse into Gengar’s back and the second where Alakazam had been standing. Finally I started throwing pulses furiously into the smoke once I was sure Gengar was out cold. After the eighth dark pulse I stopped, panting heavily with my paw still raised at the cloud of dust that was my target. I wasn’t sure if I could actually throw another pulse, but even if I had wanted to I wouldn’t get the chance.

“That all you’ve got…?” I heard a deep voice whisper cruelly in my ear. I knew exactly who it was, and somehow I knew how he had gotten behind me… Teleport… As a reflex my anger flared and I spun quickly to backhand the Alakazam with my wrist spike. Sadly it was pointless as I found myself frozen halfway through my attack. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the angry look Alakazam was giving me.

“I must admit, you’re better than I thought. You actually hit me with an attack… You’ll pay for that!” Alakazam spoke as he held me fast with another psychic attack, but as he finished he threw me from his proximity. I landed on my side as he started walking slowly towards me, talking as he went, and I managed to regain my feet just before he started an onslaught of attacks.

“That was a nice move, fortunately for you that Gengar is a retard!” He began, widening his eyes as he finished, and sending a psychic wave at me. Immediately after that my head felt like it was going to explode! I cried out as I shut my eyes tight and brought my paws to my head, but I managed to stay standing.

“You thought you could win!? You’re SCUM just like all the others! You don’t stand a chance!!” He continued, taking purposeful steps towards me while continuing to send those psychic waves at me with each finished sentence. As the second one hit me I fell to the ground, clutching my head but managing to restrain my cries to whimpers through my clenched teeth.

“Face the facts your trainer isn’t coming! Why would he try and save a worthless bitch like you!!?” He said as he sent out another wave at me just before he took one final step to stand over me. This time I couldn’t help myself, it seemed as he got closer the pain from each blast only increased from the debilitating pain that started all of this. When he reached me I was curled into the fetal position holding my head as I screamed in agony, the tears running freely down my face.

“P-Please… St-stop…” I managed when the pain started to fade slightly, but something else quickly replaced it. He smirked as he reached down and grabbed the scruff of my neck roughly, hoisting me up to his level. Thanks to some instinct I wish I could rid myself of I simply fell limp in his grip, my limbs were useless, and I now knew it was pointless.

“Ah, but I can’t stop. If I stop before you’re dead I get put through one of these strength tests, and if it was this hard on you imagine what they would send against me…” He replied in his same cruel voice, subtly mocking me about how weak I was. When I didn’t response he laughed then focused his hateful eyes on me before he started sending a constant flow of his psychic energy at me.

I winced and whined as I felt the sharp pain start rising again. Though his attacks had ceased for a while now, my splitting headache remained, and only intensified now that his attacks resumed. My reaction only served to spur Alakazam on, and I could actually feel him tighten his focus. This time I couldn’t stop myself from crying out and I screamed as the pain became skull splitting once again.

I weakly tried to wrap my paws around Alakazam’s arm to free myself but I didn’t have the strength, the pain was to debilitating and it was only getting worse. He kept glaring at me as I cried but as he did my tears suddenly felt different, though I had little time to think about it.

I didn’t even know how he could stand my cries, he was absolutely heartless, my shrieks were hurting even my ears with how shrill they were.

“That’s enough we need that one alive. Put her back in her cage you’ve done well.” I heard faintly, as the pain in my head stopped intensifying but remained even though Alakazam had stopped. I don’t even know what happened after that voice stopped speaking. I fell entirely limp as I passed out from the pain in my skull, wondering if my head would ever stop throbbing…


“Ack… my head…” I said as I sat up in a pokemon center bed.

“Here. Take one of these you should feel better in a few hours. Just try to relax, you took quite a blow to the head in that fight.” Felix replied with a smile, offering me a small pill and a glass of water. I unconsciously took what he offered, but I dropped the glass as I came to fully realize where I was.

“Felix! You saved me I knew you wouldn’t leave me!” I said as I leapt at him happily, but something was wrong. He turned to me and spread his arms to embrace me but I flew right through him as my surroundings darkened.

“F-Felix…? W-where…?” I continued but was met only with Alakazam’s cruel voice once again.

“I told you he’s not coming… You might as well face up to it and fight for us…” His voice said, causing my body lock up in fear.


Just then I gasped as I sat up and started breathing heavily. My eyes were wide open and I found I was in my cage once again.

“You’re awake. From how you looked when they brought you back I thought you were dead.” I heard Elli say, but had to grab my head again as I became aware of the pain that still remained.

“I think I know what they put you through. Who did you have to fight?” Elli continued after she only got a pained groan in response to her first comment.

“Nnnnngg. My head… I’m sorry Elli I can’t talk now…” I replied as I curled up on the pad I had and fell back to sleep to hopefully get rid of this pain, though as I lay there my thoughts drifted back to Felix. ‘Where is he…? It’s been two weeks and I haven’t heard anything. Couldn’t he have used wave sight to find me…? But every time I try looking for him I can’t focus my sight. Maybe… maybe he really isn’t looking for me…’ were my final thoughts as I drifted back to sleep.

I groaned once again as I awoke and shielded my eyes from the bright lights of the room. I still had a dull buzz in my head, but luckily the major pain of yesterday had passed in my sleep. As I regained full consciousness I took a look at my arms and legs. It hurt just to move with how sore I was, and I felt nasty. My fur, which I took so much pride in was laced with dirt and had electric burns in places. I had bruises all over my back, with several scrapes accompanying them, none of which had been treated while I was sleeping.

Finally as I blinked a few times I noticed something had matted the fur near the corners of my eyes. I rubbed the area with my paw and observed the dried crust. It was blood… I thought back to what I had endured and realized this must have been what I felt near the end. His attacks actually had me crying blood…

Thinking this was the one thing I could clean off of myself I picked up the water bottle they left for me and washed my face as best I could. Once that was done I noticed that Elli hadn’t tried to talk to me again, and now that I wasn’t feeling quite so horrid I really wanted someone to talk to, both about what they had put me through… and about Felix since my thoughts from last night still haunted me.

“Elli…? Are you there?” I asked, but got no response. Since I couldn’t see her cell I figured she was either being examined or was sleeping. So I just went back to thinking to myself as I rubbed my aching muscles for some relief. As I did this I closed my eyes to relax, but my actions also brought me the happy memory of the massages Felix regularly gave me when I was tense. As I rubbed my arms and neck I found myself thinking of what else Felix would sometimes do during those massages… But before I could even dwell on the thought I heard the doors to the room swing open, snapping me out of my little heaven.

It was Elli being brought back. I caught a glimpse of her as they led her back in and saw she was a very good looking Glaceon, except for the seemingly permanent depressed look she wore.

“Feeling any better today…?” She asked me rather carelessly once the grunts had left.

“I am now. My headache’s almost gone.” I replied almost casually, which even I found disturbing. How could I be speaking like that in a place like this?

“Good. I was actually a bit worried about you. And from what you said about a headache I’m guessing that Alakazam got to you.” She said, sounding a little more interested in conversing with me.

“Yeah… He was the only one I couldn’t beat. Not that it was a fair fight… He kept lording his psychic abilities over me… and I made the mistake of actually hitting him which only pissed him off…” I answered a little more sadly now.

“Wow Luca! What were the other three they sent against you!?” She asked me enthusiastically for the first time since I had met her.

“A Magnezone, a Hippowdon, and a Gengar.” I replied, still sounding sad because just thinking about that battle reminded me that Felix hadn’t found me to prevent it.

“I owe you an apology Luca… When you first came here I thought your trainer pampered you. I thought you were weak, but if you beat those three and actually landed a hit on that Alakazam you’re stronger than most everyone here... And much stronger than me.” Elli said remorsefully, sounding like she really meant what she said. But I didn’t know how to respond. Her words gave me some encouragement since she had finally admitted Felix wasn’t a bad trainer.

“Elli…? Would you mind talking to me for a while longer…?” I asked hesitantly after a long pause. I knew she normally never had anything encouraging to say, but I was tired of being alone.

“Sure. As long as it isn’t about your trainer… you always get mad at me for what I say.” She replied, and I could hear her shifting in her cell to listen to me, but even her first comment made me a bit angry.

“I promise I’ll try to stay calm…” I replied meekly. “Elli? How close were you to your trainer?” I continued, trying to get something more cheerful from her for once.

“Would you two shut up!? We don’t want to listen to this girl crap!” Frack yelled from his cell, but I had become accustomed to it and yelled back.

“Leave us alone!” Elli and I yelled in unison, it was at least one thing we had in common… we hated Frack, though Elli had more of a reason to… After all she was three weeks pregnant with the bastard’s pups.

“Well Luca… I was very close to my trainer, he always let me stay out with him, and I would have protected him with my life. But when Darkrai ambushed us and a few other trainers he didn’t even lift a finger… he was so afraid for his own life that he let them have me. And I can’t tell you how many of the others here had the same thing happen to them so I’m convinced there isn’t a trainer out there that would risk his life for his pokemon…” Elli answered solemnly.

“How long was it until you gave up hoping he would save you…?” I asked, again reluctantly.

“Three weeks… That’s when I saw him on the lab TV and I knew he wasn’t even trying… But I must admit, I lost most of my hope before that since I had watched him surrender me.” She replied sadly, it seemed like I had reminded her of something sad, and it made me wonder if she still had the faintest sliver of hope that she would still be rescued.

“I see…” I said remorsefully.

“What about you Luca? Did this Felix actually try to save you?” Elli continued, not wanting to stop talking just yet, though she also found herself oddly curious as to why I seemed so dedicated to defending Felix.

“Yes. A scyther had it’s blades to my neck and he kept offering himself instead of me… As you can see they didn’t take the offer.” I replied sadly but proudly, thinking I might be able to convince her once and for all that Felix was a good trainer and did love me.

“Hmm… At least he tried, but I still doubt him. What makes you so sure he’s still looking for you?” Elli asked curiously, though once again I couldn’t get past her seemingly unconvinced voice.

“He took on a Charizard and an Abomasnow to try and save me, he even killed the Abomasnow, something I’ve never seen him do. All that and… well the fact that he’s, more than my trainer…” I replied as I blushed lightly, knowing I had to tell her about my relationship now, but not wanting the others to overhear. So I leaned over and put my head as close to her cage as possible, and continued in a whisper. “He’s my mate.”

“I see…” Was her response, though her voice still seemed to suggest that she thought very little of what I had just admitted to her.

“You don’t sound convinced.” I said sadly as I waited for her to continue though she never did.

“I’m not but I don’t want to upset you.” Elli replied, which sparked the burning question in me. ‘How can she not be convinced? Why can’t she see that he loves me, and what is she thinking that I don’t know?’ I quickly thought, and hesitated with my next question.

“Would you mind telling me…? I want to know why you don’t think he would come for me.” I managed as I fiddled with my paws, hoping I had made the right decision in continuing.

“If you’d really like to know… Luca, why do you think he loves you?” She began, seeming like she had a specific agenda to figure out why I was so dedicated.

“He’s told me so! He’s never done anything to hurt me and he… he gave me a son…” I replied sadly but confidently, unsure of where she was going with this.

“So he’s “helped” you with your heat then?” She asked in the same tone as before.

“Yes… but I asked him to the first time, and he promised to be my mate…” I replied sincerely and shyly as well, this still wasn’t something I was used to admitting.

“Luca… I’m sorry but it sounds like he’s using you… What male do you know that would refuse a female’s offer?”

“I… Felix would…” I once again replied sadly, I was still being ignorant and refused to accept that Felix would do such a thing, but damned if Elli didn’t make some sense, especially with what I had observed from the other male pokemon since my capture.

“So you mean to tell me you are the only one that’s ever been with him? He’s refused every other female?”

“Well… not exactly… but since he made that promise to me I… I think so.” I replied shakily. I knew he had “helped” Lady before but… he had never told me of anyone else and never gave me a reason to doubt him. But did that mean he just played me…?

“And what happened to her? He hasn’t touched her since he went with you right? What happens when another girl offers herself to him? Luca, it’s not your fault he’s just a male. It can’t be…” She said trying to convince me once and for all that Felix didn’t actually love me.

“No! Stop…! I’m sorry Elli, I know I promised I would try to stay calm but Felix would never do that to me! He would never abandon me for someone else!” I interrupted as tears started rolling down my face. I just couldn’t bear to listen to any more of her accusations.

“Alright then. Just remember what I’ve said before. You’re better off just accepting things as they are…” She replied sadly, for once she thought she had gotten through to me to make my life “easier” from her point of view. I didn’t even respond to her last words, I had already curled up into a ball and started crying, trying to keep the noise down so no one else would say anything to me.

‘F-Felix… You wouldn’t leave me… You wouldn’t forget about me… Would you…? Elli’s right… you never did anything with Lady quite the same after you agreed to be with me… What if I am replaceable to you… What if I’m just a sex toy… No! You never used me like that… You never even let me return the favor for you until just this last time… Oh Felix… Where are you?’ I muttered inaudibly to myself as I curled into a tighter ball and wept, eventually crying myself to sleep while continuing to wonder what Felix was doing and if he was truly still trying to find me…

For the next two weeks I didn’t speak to Elli. I was taken from my cage three more times for examination, though never for another battle. They would always knock me out or try to “persuade” me into showing my abilities, but I managed to only show them what a normal Lucario could do. I noticed after the first time that I had a small prick on my arm, and thought they had taken a blood sample like Joy had done before.

Even though I wasn’t conscious during those first two times they took me I woke up feeling violated, though from how my body felt I didn’t think they actually did anything in that respect to me.

The third time I was taken from my cage was so they could try and figure out if I really could speak to them. Instead of zapping me with those weird rods they sprayed the same gas from before into my face, it knocked me out once again as if it were a cloud of sleep powder, which for all I knew it could have been.

When I woke up they had me strapped to a bed with two round stickers stuck to my temples. I struggled at first but finding myself completely restrained I realized it was no use so I relaxed and remained silent, figuring they wouldn’t actually hurt me since they might loose their test subject if they did.

“Is it true that you can talk to humans?” A scientist asked as he looked me over and noted that I had stopped struggling. I simply looked at him and refused to answer, I wasn’t glaring yet, but my gaze was an untrusting one at best.

“I don’t want to hurt you Lucario but the boss wants results. Please just talk to me so this will be over. Just one small conversation should be enough.” He pleaded, sounding in earnest like he didn’t want to hurt me, but I still refused to cooperate, and after a sigh he picked up a syringe filled with a clear liquid and said, “I’m sorry then…” before brushing the fur on my upper arm out of the way and sticking the needle quickly and painfully into my arm. I winced as he did so, though I didn’t struggle, thinking it would only hurt more if I did.

After injecting the liquid into me he withdrew the needle and stopped the light bleeding, meanwhile I started to feel the liquid’s effects. I didn’t know what was happening but everything seemed to slow down and get slightly blurry. I felt tired and like I was being forced to relax, but I couldn’t fall asleep, and my eyes remained half lidded as I started to look around, attempting to focus once again on the scientist.

“Wha… What did you do to me…?” I asked weakly even though every fiber of my clouded mind was trying to stop my mouth.

“Remarkable! You really can talk to humans! How do you explain this? You must know how this works!” He replied, ignoring my question in his excitement.

“I-I don’t know exactly why… It’s a part of… my wave guiding abilities…” I continued as my body just hung limp while I spoke involuntarily.

“Amazing. So it’s only your species that can do this? How?”

“Only… some of us can… It’s a special trait… And you wouldn’t understand how…” I answered once again, though my unconscious mind had said something I actually wanted to say.

“I’ll be the judge of that. Just tell us.” He continued quickly, letting a small amount of annoyance show.

“It’s because of… Felix… It’s the same reason… my species evolves…” I replied, though as I spoke something came to my realization. ‘Felix… It’s because of him that they’re doing this to me… And he hasn’t come… Wh-what if he never comes… they’ll keep doing this to me… Elli was right… It’s not my fault…… It’s his…’ I thought as I looked around. As I did so I realized that my vision had blurred more, though not because of the drug. My eyes had started to water, I was crying…

I could feel my mind racing and thinking, trying to convince myself that Felix would never let this happen, yet I was still here, and whether it was the drug or my mind finally admitting it I didn’t know, but I could only blame Felix for what was happening… He wasn’t there, and for all I knew he wasn’t looking for me, let alone it was because of him that I was being tortured and put through these horrid “experiments” and examinations.

In my rush of thought I failed to realize that the scientists had forgotten about me, and just as I started to cry they turned and sprayed more of that gas in my face, knocking me out and ending their examination.


Little did I know, but I had given them everything they wanted. From my last comment they figured out that it was the bond between a trainer and their pokemon that strengthened my abilities, though that only led them to try finding a way around it, but it also led them to more questions. What would happen if that bond were to weaken…? Would the abilities fade?


As I slept I relived Leo’s first gym battle, but now it was painful for me in another respect. With my recent realization I saw now that Felix had entirely brushed me aside. Despite my pleas for him to reconsider he still let Leo fight. The only consolation I had was that when Leo got hurt I willfully stood up to Felix for the first time, and left him standing at the gym while I helped Leo. Before then I thought I over reacted but now I was sure I had done the right thing.

I woke up the next day and kept to myself as I had during the past two weeks. They left me alone again that day, but I barely noticed. I was too wrapped up in my thoughts, doubting myself and trying not to think badly of Felix though nothing made sense to me any more. It had been a month now and I still had nothing. Elli wouldn’t talk to me because I had gotten upset with her and told her off, but I didn’t want her help anyway, it would only be something bad about Felix and I still loved him. I was sure I did…

Another three weeks passed and I was still left alone except for the food and water they gave me. I didn’t know why they were leaving me alone, but I didn’t care.

For some reason I found myself keeping tabs on Elli, though nothing unusual ever happened to her that I knew of. I knew she was pregnant and that she had been like that for at least a week when I was brought here. One day while I was lost in thought I heard them bring Elli back, but instead of seeing a glimpse of her walk into the cage I saw a grunt put something inside. I didn’t get a good look but for some reason I was scared.

“Elli…? Are you alright…?” I asked sadly, again once we were alone.

“Y-you’re talking to me…” Elli tried to reply without emotion, but I could hear the pain in her voice, and a need to talk to someone as well.

“Yes… How are you? Are your pups alright?” I asked caringly though my voice had a distinct timid tone from my prolonged stay at the facility. From how long she had been pregnant I took a guess that she had given birth, which would explain her pained voice and the grunt carrying her back.

“I don’t know. They took them from me before I could even get a glimpse. Then they cleaned me up and tossed me back here…” She replied, once again trying not to sound as though she cared.

“I’m sorry. I know that must be hard. I don’t know what I would do if they did that to me…” I said after a long pause to let what she said sink into my head.

“Why does it hurt…? I knew this would happen and I never wanted them in the first place but…” She said hastily letting some of her emotion show, but she trailed off at the end.

“They were your kids, even if they were forced on you. It’s alright Elli I understand…” I said but it only depressed me more, yet another torturous experience of this place.

“Thank you Luca… I-I’m sorry I don’t have anything nice to say about Felix. I’m sure he means a lot to you…” She said, sounding as though she had at least settled down from my words, but I only whimpered sadly and quietly as she finished.

“What’s wrong? Are you giving up on him now…?” She continued after my response, but I really didn’t know how to reply.

“I don’t know what to think anymore… He hasn’t come, he’s essentially the reason I’m being put through all these… tests. Maybe you’re right, maybe he has abandoned me. I couldn’t help but think about what you said. I thought he always took care of me but what if I really was just a toy to him…?” I replied as I leaned against the wall that I shared with Elli’s cage and hugged my legs once again.

“Luca… I don’t want to start this again, but if you want me to continue… I will.” She answered with an oddly caring voice.

“Please do… I don’t know what to think. I just want to know what you think even if I see it differently…” I said as my eyes began to water again.

“Alright… Like I said, you can’t blame yourself. You dedicated yourself entirely to him, he said he’d protect you but how many times did he put you in harms way for himself?” She asked sincerely but caringly as well. It was very odd I didn’t think she would actually try to make me feel better, but she really was trying to help me get over this ever present pain in my heart.

“Well… He let me battle. He never forced me to that I can remember… I mean, I protected him when someone attacked us but isn’t that what a… mate, should do?” I replied sadly, still trying to think of Felix in a good light even though I just wasn’t sure of him any longer.

“I see your point, but… Oh! This may sound strange, but did he propose to you?” She continued, trying to pick her words and ending up thinking of the perfect thing to ask me from her perspective.

“W-what’s that?” I answered, because in earnest I never heard of something like that.

“I guess not. It’s a human thing. My trainer told me about it once. When a male likes a female he will get her a ring and propose to her. It’s their way of saying they want to be mate’s for life. If he didn’t then that’s just one more thing… Did he ever let you make new friends other than those that were around him?” She explained, and asked me another question, though I was still thinking about her explanation. Felix had never once told me about human rituals… Did that mean he really didn’t take our relationship seriously?

“Well, no. But I never really wanted to. I’m sure if I…” I found myself answering, though I trailed off in thought again. Felix was always possessive of me, defending me entirely. Even with that one Lucario I met Felix seemed jealous and eager to leave the city quickly to get me away from him.

“See… He’s possessive, he’s afraid you’ll leave him if you find you like someone else.” She said, but I had to interrupt, I was getting desperate to find something Felix had done right for me.

“But he took care of me… It’s not like he forced me to have sex with him. The first time he even looked at me in that respect was when I had my first heat! Before that he raised me from a child… If he was such a bad person why would my father have left me with him?” I pleaded, finding the best questions I could ask to save what I thought of my beloved mate.

“I don’t know why your dad left you with him, but he seems nice enough on the outside. But from what you tell me of his personal actions I don’t see how you can hold him in such high regard. You said he never let you touch him most of the time. Maybe he just liked giving it and touching you. Maybe that was enough for him, but wouldn’t a real mate let you do something in return now and then? He probably didn’t want to feel guilty about you repaying him. From his view he would think he was indebted to you.” She replied calmly, but upon hearing her rationalize it so easily I couldn’t help myself anymore and broke down.

“W-What have I been doing then…? I love him… Why would he do this…? How could he leave me here like that and still face our son…? He was so nice, he told me he loved me! He… He… Wait… Elli, what if he… he saved my life at the cost of his own…?” I managed through my sobs, remembering the one thing that might be my redemption, and completely discount everything Elli had put in my mind.

“He did? But how is he still alive then?” She replied in a stunned voice, though it also sounded like she had her doubts.

“Another Darkrai Lucario attacked us at one point. I later learned that he had fired a focus blast at me and my friend, Lady. While I lay there unconscious Felix jumped in front of the blast and save me and Lady.” I explained through my waning sniffles, hoping she wouldn’t be able to debunk my claim.
“Oh… Wow, I don’t really know, but why were you unconscious?” She replied, causing my heart to leap when she couldn’t think of anything at first, but I was worried about what she would say if I continued.

“I had been fighting the Lucario while Felix and the others protected my son. I saw that Lady needed help and broke from my fight to save her. When I had my guard down the Lucario hit me with an aura sphere that knocked me out.” I explained as I calmed down a little more.

“And what happened after the incident? Obviously you all are still here.” She asked in the same voice as before which once again scared me.

“Well… While I was still unconscious the Lucario I had fought turned on his trainer and took Felix to a pokemon center for us, saving his life. After Felix was healed we continued on with that Lucario tagging along.” I explained reluctantly, somehow knowing I had just given her the angle she wanted.

“I see… So Felix brought that Lucario along despite the fact that he tried to kill you. Did Felix even sincerely try to thank you for saving Lady? Or was it just a quick hug and “thanks”?”

“I-It was like any other time… He thanked me sincerely, but he was little more clingy after that, as if he thought he wasn’t going to see me again… But what else could he have done? H-he was there for me the entire time; he comforted me and promised me he wouldn’t let anything happen to me or Leo…” I replied as my tears started to return, I had nothing left to argue with. Even the one act of selflessness I had remaining of Felix seemed to be melting away. He had brought Kail with us in spite of the fact that he tried to kill us, and what had he done to thank me? If he really was such a caring person wouldn’t he have done something more than a simple thanks?

“You still love him don’t you? Despite all I’ve said about him you can’t shake the feeling that he might have loved you back. It’s alright Luca, it’s hard, believe me. Those first three weeks I was beside myself. I knew my trainer had given up on me but I didn’t want to believe it… and it crushed me when I saw him on that TV. I won’t force you to accept it, but thank you for talking to me and I hope you feel better.” Elli continued with the kindest voice I had heard yet, but all I could manage was a soft “Mhm.” in response as I sat there with my mind racing once again. After another hour of crying quietly to myself I could barely stay awake any longer so I lay down and fell asleep…

After that night I felt empty. Nothing mattered to me any more though I still wasn’t going to cooperate with Darkrai. The one thing I did still know for sure was that they were an evil organization and if I could escape I would. I tried once but was quickly knocked out and returned to my cage with the bruises and scrapes from the battle I had lost in my escape attempt. Elli still tried to convince me to just make it easier on myself and cooperate but I explained that I would never do that.

I was beginning to loose track of time before that night with Elli but I stopped trying all together after that. At least now I had someone to talk with. Elli continued to talk to me and tried to help me to get over Felix. One last thing that convinced me Elli was right was that I lost the ability to communicate with humans, which admittedly had the bonus of the scientists becoming less interested in me. Now they only took some blood samples and an occasional X-ray to see if they could still figure out what had given me the ability in the first place.

The one thing I couldn’t ignore about my old life was Leo. I couldn’t blame him for anything, he was my son and it wasn’t his fault what Felix had done to me. To that extent Elli agreed and supported my feelings.

After another month I came to terms with what Elli had said to me and gave up entirely on Felix. I had so many reasons to hate him that I had never known, but it all made sense now, and all I could hope for was that I could manage to escape and start over, without Felix, but I still felt empty as if I had no real purpose to be fighting. I knew I had Leo and if I ever got out of here I would take care of him but somehow that just couldn’t close the hole I felt inside me. It was the most depressing feeling I’d ever had, nothing seemed to matter anymore and the worst part was that I had all the time in the world to think about it in my cell…