I just want to put a warning up before you guys continue, I went into some cruel details explaining somethings happening in this chapter, so please, Reader discretion is advised.
The massive door leading to the containment area slid open with barely a hiss. James found himself walking down ye another corridor that stretched endlessly before him, dimly lit by overhead fluorescents. The air was heavy with the stench of metal, antiseptic, and something sickly sweet that turned his stomach. A low hum resonated through the walls, accompanied by faint, muffled cries that sounded more like ghosts than anything living. The sound made his skin crawl.
He turned a corner and froze.
Glass cells, stacked in rows that towered to the ceiling, lined the cavernous chamber before him. Each one housed a Pokémon, though none looked like the vibrant, spirited creatures he knew. These were shadows, hollowed-out husks of themselves.
A battered Pikachu sat slumped in one corner of its cell, its ears drooping, eyes dull, and tail dragging across the floor. "Pika…chu," it whimpered softly, barely audible through the thick glass. Across from it, a Machoke leaned against the wall of its enclosure, its muscular arms twitching involuntarily as if reliving phantom shocks. It didn't even glance at James as he passed.
James pressed a hand to the glass of another cell. Inside, a Charmander lay motionless on the ground, its tail flame flickering so faintly it was almost extinguished. The sight tore at him. The Charmander opened its one working eye, a spark of hope igniting briefly, before fading as it closed its eye again. James had stared at the Pokémon for a little while longer, memories of his past life surfacing. Charmander, despite not being his favourite Kanto starter, had always held a special place in his heart, seeing as how it was the first-ever card, he had received when he was still a kid."Ah!" James let out a cry of pain, as information flooded into his brain once more.
Pokémon: Charmander Age: 1 year 4 months Gender: Male Type: Fire Potential: B
Description: Charmander from the time it is born, a flame burns at the tip of its tail. Its life would end if the flame were to go out.
Moves: Scratch, Inferno, Ember, Thunder Punch Ability: BlazeThe information was what he expected but when he turned back to look at the Pokémon something shattered within him.
Its life would end if the flame were to go out…
The Charmander's tail had been snuffed out, only grey smoke gently floated into the air, the roaring flame it had once been now nothing.
He swallowed hard, anger bubbling in his chest. What had they done to these creatures? How could people justify this? How could they participate and look themselves in the mirror at the end of the day?
Hatred had started to bloom in James' chest, Team Rocket they won't get away with this… James thought to himself, silently swearing to himself one day, he would put a stop to this. Come hell or high water, Team Rocket would die.
Shaking away the building emotions he continued on, but before he could continue onward down the hall, another sign caught his attention and his stomach dropped even further, he didn't know how that was possible, but it did. In big bold black letters on the door, it read.
EXPERIMENTATION LABAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
James lifted up his Pokédex, hoping it wouldn't unlock the door, he didn't want to see whatever was inside, but to his rotten luck the doors slid open, and horrors lying behind it made themselves known.The room was massive, standing a top a catwalk overlooking what James could only call a maze of operating tables, containment tanks, and sinister machines whose purposes he could only guess at. The walls were adorned with charts, anatomical diagrams, and detailed notes on Pokémon physiology. Bright overhead lights cast harsh, sterile beams over the horrors below.
A Rapidash lay strapped to a steel table, its magnificent mane of fire dim and sputtering. Tubes were inserted into its body, siphoning its flames into glowing containment tanks. Its head lolled weakly to one side as it rasped, "Ra…pi…dash." The scientists surrounding it jotted notes as if completely indifferent to its pain, one of them casually adjusting the settings on a nearby machine that caused the flames to flare momentarily before dimming even further.
James clenched his fists and looked away, but his gaze was drawn to another table where a Magneton hung suspended in mid-air, held in place by magnetic restraints. A device resembling a drill whirred ominously, probing into one of the Magneton's eyes as sparks flew. "Mag…ton!" it cried, the sound distorted and hollow, as if even its voice was being dismantled.
Another cry alerted him to the far corner of the room, a Ditto flopped helplessly on another table. Its pink body quivered as it shifted forms repeatedly, each transformation more grotesque and incomplete than the last. One moment, it had the mangled shape of an Eevee; the next, it was an Arbok with a misshapen body, culminating in a head lacking the 'cape' around its head. Each shift seemed to drain it further until it collapsed into a motionless puddle.
James in a dazed state walked down the stairs leading to the floor, going surprisingly unnoticed by the scientists and workers, all them being to engrossed in their work. He moved deeper into the chamber, passing a row of containment tanks filled with murky green fluid. Inside, half-formed Pokémon floated limply, their features distorted and unnatural. One tank contained what appeared to be a hybrid of a Growlithe and a Magnemite, its body riddled with wires and metallic implants. Its eyes were open but lifeless, staring at nothing.Another tank held a Butterfree with shattered wings. Its limbs twitched sporadically as if responding to unseen commands, and James realized wires were embedded into its body, forcing its movements like a macabre puppet.
Nearby the strung-up Butterfree, James saw a Flareon in a cage too small for its body. Its fur was singed, patches of raw skin visible beneath the charred remnants of its once-fluffy coat. It growled weakly at the scientists passing by, but its flames had been extinguished, leaving it powerless.He spotted a Jolteon encased in a glass tube, electrodes attached to every part of its body. Each time it moved, even slightly, an electric shock coursed through it, eliciting sharp, pained cries. The scientists around it seemed to take note of every reaction, jotting down observations with detached efficiency.
The sound of a door opening drew James' attention to a smaller chamber at the back of the room. He crept closer, peering through a narrow window. Inside, a group of scientists stood around a large machine, its central chamber glowing ominously. A terrified Espeon was dragged into the room, its claws scraping against the floor as it cried out, "Esp! Espeon!"
"Damned thing! Stop your useless crying! Nobody will come and we learned last time we experimented on a Psychic Pokémon to have these with us," a woman stated, a wicked gleam in her eyes as she held up a pendant attached to a necklace around her neck.
"Thanks to Lady Ariana's Drapion imbuing its dark-type energy into these crystals, we're immune to your pleas! Lady Ariana is truly a genius!" she was cackling as she finished, signalling to her fellow scientists to continue with the experiment.
Ignoring its protests, strapping it to a gurney and rolling it toward the machine. One of them flipped a switch, and the Espeon screamed as arcs of energy coursed through its body, its cries fading into silence as the machine began to hum.
James turned away, saying a silent prayer for the Espeon. That done he continued through the lab with cautious steps, each one feeling heavier than the last as he absorbed the horrors around him. Every whimper and cry from the Pokémon stabbed into his chest like a dagger. The facility wasn't just a prison; it was a crucible of suffering, forging pain from the lives of these creatures.
As he passed the containment tanks, his vision blurred—not from tears, but from something strange. A dull hum echoed in his ears, growing louder with every step. Then came the voice, clear and fragile, as if made of glass that might shatter at any moment.
"Please… help me."
James stumbled, nearly falling to his knees. He clutched his head, unsure if it was a trick or his own guilt playing games.
"Please… I can't take it anymore…"
The voice was unmistakably feminine, tinged with a sorrow so profound it took James' breath away. It wasn't coming from his ears but his mind. He turned sharply, scanning the rows of tanks and cells.
That's when he saw her.
The Gardevoir was strapped upright to a metal wall, her arms held out by heavy restraints. Her head lolled forward, her once-pristine white and green form marred by burns and bruises. The glow of her psychic energy was a faint flicker, like a candle on the verge of being snuffed out.
James locked eyes with her, and the connection snapped into place, like a puzzle piece sliding into a forgotten groove in his mind.
"You… can hear me," the Gardevoir said, her mental voice trembling with disbelief.
James' throat tightened. He wanted to say something, anything, but no words came.
"They… broke me," she continued, her tone so raw with emotion that it felt like a physical blow. "They broke all of us. Again, and again. I begged them to stop, but they only laughed. They said we were tools… just tools."
James clutched at his chest, the weight of her despair settling like an anchor in his soul. Images began flashing in his mind, unbidden and invasive. They weren't his memories; they were hers.He saw her being strapped down as needles pierced her delicate skin, her screams muffled by a cruel device clamped over her mouth. He felt her agony as machines tore into her psyche, draining her of her power. He saw the scientists mock her, calling her weak, pathetic, useless. And through it all, she endured, for the sake of the others.
"They make me watch," Gardevoir said, her voice cracking. "They make me feel what they feel. Every shock, every scream, every moment of pain. It's like I'm dying a thousand times every day."
James stumbled again, his legs threatening to give out. He gripped a nearby table for support, his mind reeling."I tried to fight," she continued. "I tried to protect them. But they punished me for it. They hurt me so much I couldn't even cry anymore. Now… I just wait. Wait for it to end."
"Stop…" James whispered aloud, shaking his head. "Please, stop."But she couldn't stop. The floodgates had opened, and her anguish poured into him like a torrent.
"You're different," she said, her voice trembling with the faintest spark of hope. "You're not one of them. Please… help us. Help me."
James closed his eyes tightly, trying to block her out. His rational mind screamed at him to run, to escape this nightmare and leave it behind. These weren't his problems. He wasn't a hero. He didn't owe them anything.But his heart… his heart burned with fury and compassion.
"If you free me, I can guide you," Gardevoir pleaded. "I can show you how to free the others. We can stop them together. Please… don't leave us here. Not like this."
Her voice broke, and James felt the raw edge of desperation in her tone. She was terrified he would abandon her, just like everyone else had.
He took a shaky breath, the war within him threatening to tear him apart. "Why me?" he whispered, his voice cracking. "Why do I have to do this?"
The answer came not as words but as a feeling—a gentle, fragile tendril of hope reaching out to him.
James clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. Every part of his mind screamed to turn away, to run, but his heart ached too much to ignore.
"I'll help you," he whispered finally, the words barely audible.
The relief that flooded through the mental link was so overwhelming that James nearly fell to his knees.
"Thank you," Gardevoir said, her voice shaking with gratitude. "The console… at the far end of the chamber. It controls the restraints. Release us, and we'll do the rest."
James glanced toward the console she had mentioned, his heart pounding. He could see the warning labels plastered across it, the blinking red lights indicating the risk.
"What happens if I do this?" he asked, his voice trembling.
"Chaos," Gardevoir admitted, her voice soft. "We'll be free… but we've suffered too much. Many of us won't think clearly. They'll lash out at anything and everything. But it's the only way."
James nodded, his jaw tightening. He didn't like the idea of unleashing a storm of angry, broken Pokémon, but he couldn't leave them here. Not after what he'd seen. Not after what he'd felt.
As he approached the console, Gardevoir spoke one last time."Thank you," she said. "Even if I don't make it out… thank you for giving us a chance."
James placed his hand on the console and took a deep breath. "You'll make it out," he said firmly, more to himself than her. "We all will."
And with that, he pressed the release button.