Chapter 9

	Misty's head hurt, her legs felt like mush, and her arms were so sore she could 
barely move. She ached as though her body had been hurled through a legendary bird’s 
whirlwind attack. 
	Misty was curled up into a shivering ball on a back-breakingly hard stone 
flooring. Ever so slowly she inched her body onto her elbows and then onto her trembling 
knees. She cautiously blinked open her eyes. The surroundings which enfolded her were 
anything but pleasant. 
	The first thing she noticed was the huge door in front of her. The door was black. 
Only a palm-sized bared window allowed limited amounts of light to seep into the room.
	*Where am I? What happened?* 
	Her mind raced. She instinctively threw her hands behind her body in effort to 
search her backpack for a Pokeball. 
	*Oh no!* Misty's heartbeat began to quicken. *My backpack is GONE! *
	She shuffled forward and started feeling around the damp ground -- desperately 
searching for the familiar texture of her backpack.
	*It’s not here! Oh no! Oh no!!! Where are my Pokemon?!*
	She buried her face in her hands as though trying in vain to keep her thoughts 
from scattering. *There was that old man. . . Tracey . . . then that horrible beast! That 
huge beast attacked Staryu. . . then It knocked me out. It was the same beastly creature 
that nabbed Brock. And that means . . .*
	 Misty leapt to her feet and dashed towards the big iron door. *That means I am 
the newest addition to the list of missing trainers! *
	She examined her body. She was fairly banged up; small cuts and scrapes were all 
over her skin. However, someone had securely bandaged a wound on her upper left thigh 
. . . a wound she did not even remember getting.
	Misty grabbed firm hold of the door handle and tried to yank it open. The door 
did not budge. “C’mon! Open you stupid door!”
	"It's no use, I've already tried it."
	Misty froze . . .  a familiar voice arose from one of the shadow infested corners of 
the room.
	She spun around.
	The young mans voice continued: "The door is locked solid. I should know, I've 
been trying to escape for . . . days now. . .?"
	Misty stepped closer to the speaking shadow.
	 *It can't be. . . *
	The young mans unruly mane of brown spikes immediately caught her eye.
	"Gary Oak?" Misty leaned down until their faces were centimeters apart.
	Gary smiled bitterly. "Yup, it's me. I see they got you too, Misty Waterflower. 
You've been knocked cold for hours now."
	Misty shook her head in disbelief. "What’s gong on?"
	Gary shrugged. "It’s awful, Misty. . ." his forlorn expression suddenly shifted to 
slight pride."But they didn't get my Pokemon."
	Misty hunkered down next to Gary, eager to have him explain to her everything 
that he could about their situation. As she sat her eyes washed over Gary . . . he was in 
horrible condition.
	Gary Oak had dried blood completely incasing his left ear. His lower lip was 
swollen, and he had what appeared to be bright red rope burns encircling the flesh of his 
throat. Worst still, his blue pants were torn ragged from the right shin and down. This 
revealed a massive area of mangled flesh in his ankle. Gary's ankle was definitely broken, 
and the injury had obviously not been treated by any sort of doctor.
	"Oh my. . . Gary, your leg . . .?" Misty tenderly touched his shoulder.
	He winced slightly as he protectively moved his ankle closer to his body. "It-It's 
not as bad as it looks," his tone was drenched in misery.
	"How did that happen?"
	"The beast . . . when I was running from it. . . I had to run, Misty," he looked up at 
her with his sincere sapphire eyes. "I had to make sure my Pokemon were safe."
	"They are safe," Misty assured him.
	Gary looked at her, his hopes rising. 
	"Yes. Ash, Brock and I found them on Pallet road a few days ago. A Pidgey 
dropped them right at Ash’s feet. They are all with your grandfather."
	"Thank goodness for that Pidgey," Gary leaned his head back against the wall and 
exhaled with relief. “When that beast was chasing me I threw my Pokeballs onto Pallet 
Road. I thought they would be safe, that that THING wouldn’t pursue them. I was wrong. 
It snagged me in Its jaws and went after my helpless Pokeballs. It was just about to get 
them when this Pidgey flew over and picked them up. The Pidgey hurled this Gust attack 
at the beast. The Gust didn’t so much as damage It, but it did succeed in startling the 
beast for just a second. . . and during that short second that Pidgey took off like a rocket 
with my Pokeballs. . .flew completely outta sight!”
	“I can’t believe your Pokemons luck. Or how brave that Pidgey was. I wonder if 
It belongs to someone . . .?”
	“I dunno. But, that Pidgey had witnessed the whole attack. I didn’t actually expect 
It to help me. But thankfully It did.”
	"All your Pokemon are very upset, Gary. They are worried sick about you."
	Gary's young face fell. "I don't mean to scare them . . . they battled the beast with 
all the strength they had. But even my Blastoise was no match. It knocked Blastoise out 
cold with one strike. I owed it to them all to get to Pallet safely." Gary looked as though 
the world had just exploded and it was his fault. “Misty, they don’t have Ash do they?” 
Gary’s genuine worry was evident.
	“No. Not as far as I know anyway,” Misty shut her eyes. “Oh, I hope to god he 
stays safe.”
	“Me too,” Gary agreed quietly. “But there’s no doubt that he’s in danger right 
now, wherever he is.”
	Misty was so confused. "Gary," she started, "do you know why we're here?"
	"Yes," He stated bluntly. "We are here because we are great Pokemon trainers . . . 
we are here to train Pokemon."
	"What?" Misty was totally bewildered.
	Gary’s eyes searched hers seriously. “I’m not sure WHO is behind all of these 
kidnappings, but he or she is determined to screen all of our abilities to the maximum. I 
think someone is looking for a particular kind of Pokemon Master. But I can’t figure out 
why.”
	“What has happened to you since you arrived here? And have you seen anyone 
else? Any of the other missing trainers?” Misty’s tone bordered on demand. 
	Gary’s expression knotted in discomfort as he sat upward to face her again. “I 
have not seen any trainers, no. I was unconscious when I arrived here. I scarcely recall 
being in some kind of a doctor’s office . . . but I’ve mostly just been alone in this cell. ”
	“Then why do you think they have brought us here to train Pokemon? And what 
do you mean by ‘mostly’? Who have you seen?”
	Gary sighed. “I have been visited every day by men disguised in dark shrouds. 
Each day they order me to come with them and train Pokemon. They tell me if I refuse 
they will beat me, or not feed me . . . or something. And each day I refuse. I don’t think 
they are going to give up on me anytime soon. But I’m not ready to give in either. They 
can’t force me to do anything because they don’t have my Pokemon to hold as leverage 
for my obedience. They can only continue to beat on me. When they dumped you in here 
just hours ago they said they would force you to train by threatening your Pokemon.”
	“No,” Misty shrieked. “What will I do? I can’t possibly let them black mail me 
like this. I won’t stand for it!” She quickly put her feet beneath her, preparing to shoot 
upward. 
	*Thank goodness I left Togepi with Professor Oak!*
	Gary reached out and grabbed solid hold of her trembling shoulders. His grip was 
so strong she was forced back down onto her rear.
	Misty opened her mouth to protest but - to her surprise - Gary’s tongue was 
sharper and quicker than her own.
	“No, Misty,” he stated bluntly. “You WILL stand for it.”
	“How can you say that?” she yelled, more perplexed than angry.
	Gary breathed deeply, straining to maintain a calm expression. “If you do not 
comply they WILL kill your Pokemon. Are you willing to watch your Pokemon die, 
Misty? These people . . . they are ruthless. And they seem to be working with that awful 
THING -- that beast. Let’s say you refuse and they DO kill your Pokemon, then they will 
torture you, Misty.”
	“I can deal with torture,” she breathed meekly. “But you are right, Gary, I can’t 
deal with my Pokemon dying.”
	Gary’s lips parted weakly as though he wanted to speak. But he settled instead for 
a definitive nod. His was breathing was coarse and beads of sweat trickled down his 
forehead. 
	Misty didn’t try to mask the concern in her face.
	“Gary, you need a doctor right away.”
	He eyed her dully. “I know.”
	“How do these people expect you to train for them in this condition?”
	“They promised me I could have medical attention if I complied. So far they have 
only treated my life threatening injures though.”
	“That is sick! Why would anyone be so-” 
	Suddenly the huge iron door slammed open.
	Misty sensed Gary’s body tense.
	On the opposite side of the door were four tall men . . . identical to the ones who 
had abducted her: all of their identities were hidden by black shrouds.
	The tallest of these appalling men stepped forward threateningly. He held out his 
hand; in it was something VERY familiar to Misty. . .
	“Politoed!” Misty gasped, instantly recognizing her Pokeball. “Give me back my 
Politoed! Please, don’t hurt him!”
	The tall man sneered through his shroud. “Misty Waterflower: my name is 
Derrick,” Misty tried to peer through his shroud to see his face, but all she could make 
out was blackness. “Now listen very carefully to what I have to say. Your Politoed will 
be treated humanely - as will the rest of your Pokemon - that is IF you come with me. 
There is a little meeting The Seer would like ALL our new trainers to attend. Now you 
can be a good girl and come with us calmly, or you can be a bad girl and watch your 
Politoed suffer.”
	Misty felt a lump of panic building in her throat. She looked helplessly to Gary 
who met her with a reassuring gaze.
	“Okay,” she agreed quietly. “I’ll come with you, just, please let my Pokemon go.”
	“That a girl,” Derrick stepped forward and roughly wrenched Misty to her feet.
	She winced against his jarring grip.
	Gary’s head snapped upward, his crystal eyes raging. “Take it easy. She agreed to 
go with you, dammit. Don’t hurt her.”
	In unison the four men snickered banefully.
	Misty did not struggle as Derrick slipped ropes around her wrists and her throat. 
He tightened the ropes unnecessarily and yanked her towards the doorway as though she 
were a savage Grandbull. 
	Misty gagged and nearly collapsed to the floor. Her face burned with anger, but 
she contained it for Politoed’s sake.
	Gary began shouting at Derrick again to take it easy on her.
	Derrick ignored him. He handed the end of Misty’s rope leash to one of his 
companions, and then stalked towards Gary.
	“I have news for you, young Oak,” the disdain in Derrick’s voice was chilling. 
“Your attendance is not optional.”