I stared sullenly at the rain. I had been released for my daily training and now I sat panting beneath a willow with Ripple, Rogue, and Amber, watching the misty droplets patter on the bare dirt. I shivered. It was Circe’s turn to train with the great grimer of a trainer.

We were just outside a town called Cherrygrove and though we were tired and desperately in need of rest, Dario refused to take us to a Pokecentre. All I could do was endure his harsh treatment until a chance presented itself to me.

I hadn’t forgotten about Kathy, oh no, she was always near the top of my thoughts and all I could think of was returning to her. Where was she? How was she? Had she forgotten about me? I shook my head. No, she couldn’t, could she?

It was useless to go around in circles as my thoughts often did.

My ears twitched as I heard Dario’s heavy footsteps returning to camp and the taptaptap of Snap’s as he danced to Dario’s tune. I couldn’t hear Circe’s.

"He’s carrying her," said Ripple softly as she saw my disturbed expression.

"Who’s ready to eat." Dario said dropping Circe next to me. It wasn’t a question so there was no need for any of us to answer. He brought each of us a bowl of "food". It had the look and texture of peanut butter but the distinct taste of over cooked vegetables and rotting flesh. I ate it, but only because I know I wouldn’t get any thing else. I noticed Snap had not been given, once again, the same food as us, but instead was sharing a steak with Dario.

I decided not to think about Snap, but instead my mind wondered back to Kathy and the food she fed us. Hot dogs, Chocolate, Hamburgers… I forced my self to think of other things.

I licked the last of my food up a lay down again. Circe snuggled up next to me, she was shaking.

"Did he hurt you?" I asked.

"A little. I want to go back to Kathy." Her voice cracked.

"I’m working on it, I promise." She nodded, closed her eyes, and went to sleep. Dario swore as he stoked the dying fire and lazed backwards. He saw me glaring at him and he grinned maliciously.

"Hey mutt, you better show your worth tomorrow, one of the bosses well trained dogs is coming to see what kind of Pokemon you are. And if you try any funny business to make me look bad, Snap here will make you sorry, and Eevee to. Remember, what you do affects that rat too."

Dario sneered and laughed, chucking a stone into the dying embers and listening to it hiss as a leaf gave under the weight of the water and tipped its small cup into the flames.

I lowered my head to my paws, my teeth clenched. It was all I could do without engulfing him in a tower of flames.

"Calm yourself, young one," Rogue warned, seeing the dangerous light in my eye. "You’ll get your chance." His gaze strayed to the exhausted Amber, the scars of the training sessions crisis crossing her dull, dusty fur. "We both will."

Rogue uttered a low, mournful howl that trailed off into the dying light.

"Get up!" Dario yelled and kicked me in the ribs. It was morning. "Today is the day you lot of over feed under worked flea bags earns your keep. In a short while one of my boss’ assistance will be here to test your worth. If you do well, I will move up a rank and you will be rewarded. If you do poorly, well let’s say you don’t want to know what will happen." At this he flicked his whip dangerously. "If I see even the slightest hint of disrespect towards me your punishment will me swift and agonizing. Am I understood?"

We didn’t have time to answer, because at that moment a girl stepped into the clearing. She was tall and thin with raven hair and eyes like the sky.

"Are you ready?" her tone was very business like. "How many to test?"

"5. I’m ready." Dario responded, "Who do you want first?" The raven haired girl scanned them with her sky blue eyes.

"The fox." She said shortly.

Dario nodded and cracked his whip. Amber didn’t do anything. She yawned and rolled onto her back, dusting herself in the small hole she had dug. Dario ground his teeth and cracked the whip again. Amber eyed him warily and shrugged. She pulled herself onto her feet. As she passes me I hissed to here, "What are you doing? We’ll get in trouble."

"You’ll see," she murmured with a sly grin. She sat beside Dario’s shoe looking bored. A quick glance at the girl showed she reflected the same expression. Dario cracked the whip and Amber lay back down instead of standing on her back legs. I moaned to myself. She was going to get the worst beating!

"You worthless piece of %&^&!" Dario screamed at her, lashing her with the whip. She said nothing, making not a sound as he rained down on her. When he was done he ordered her to bring back a Pidgey. Amber stared at him blankly, then lifted her one hind leg and……

"Uggg!" Dario shouted in disgust. The girl giggled madly and marked a clipboard. Dario hitched Amber behind the ear and lifted into the air. Amber yipped in surprise and bit down on his thumb. Dario yowled and Snap leapt for Amber. Ripple stopped him in one cold glance, freezing him in place with her Psychic powers.

‘Now is your chance!’ a voice in my head screamed. With out thinking I charged. I leapt and caught Dario in the chest with all fours. I made a lunge for his throat, but her raised his arm and my teeth sank into that instead. I shook my head violently to the tune of Dario’s screams of surprise and pain. I didn’t hear him and I didn’t see him. My ears were filled with that voice and my eyes with visions of Kathy.

I was so blinded by my rage I didn’t even see Snap. The whole of the group was so surprised by my attack that Ripple had lost her psychic hold on the water turtle. The Icy jet his me full in the side. Instinctively I leapt away. I one smooth, lightning like move I spun around and released my best fire attack. Snaps blast of water turned to blistering steam that enclosed Dario, who by pure luck happened to be in the middle.

Unfortunately the steam also obscured my view of Snap. It was a tragic mistake. The next blast of water hit me square in face, Hard. The force of the water threw me back into a tree trunk. I slide to the ground with a dull thud. My head was spinning, and vision blurred. Snap was charging me with his head bent low.

"You miserable Pokemon!" Snap hissed, as I slammed into a tree. I rolled onto my feet and lunged at him again. "You pathetic shadow of a Houndour!"

"What of you, a slave to a foolish human that has no love for you. You are only a tool at his command!"
"Shutup! SHUTUP!" He shrieked with rage, blasting a freezing torrent of water. It extinguished the ball of flame I had been conjuring and gushed down my throat into my fire gland. I howled with agony, my fire suffocated inside of me burning me!

Snap bared down on me seizing my weakness. His sharp jaws snapped down on my jugular and I scratched helplessly at his shell as my oxygen was cut off.

"No!" A tiny ball of fluff rocketed into the Wartortle’s shell, a crack jagging up its center. Now it was his turn to die.

"Enough!" The voice cut through everything smoke and steam, freezing us all. "I have seen enough! All of these Pokemon are repossessed and are the property of Giovanni!"

"What?!" Dario cried as he stumbled, bruised and bleeding, from the steam.

"You heard me." The raven haired girl said, "I’ve seen quiet plainly that you can not control your pokemon. Because of this I’m taking them to someone who can use them properly and to there full potential." If the raven-haired girl and Dario argued the point any further we didn’t hear because we were recalled to our pokeballs.

The sun was setting when I was once again free of my ball. Off to my right Rogue and Amber were curled up together. Amber was sleeping under a heavy blanket of bandages from to bite of Dario’s whip. Rogue on the other hand was unhurt and wide-awake. He gave me an approving nod before laying his head down next to Amber’s and closing his eyes. The raven-haired touched me and I jumped, out of instanced I guess.

"It’s ok, I’m not going to hurt you." She cooed softly. In a few minutes she had me cleaned and bandaged. Her touch was gentle as were her eyes, but she was not Kathy.