The world slowly came back into focus. My body ached from nose to tail tip. Careful in moving my tender neck I looked around. To my right were Amber and Circe. We were all tied to trees with less then a meter of heavy chain. Amber seemed strangely at home, but Circe was crying and shaking.

Looking to my left I saw the Arcanine, Espeon, Wartortle from the attack. In a rush of adrenaline I jumped to my feet.

"Lay down pup. We aren’t going to hurt you." The arcanine said a deep soothing voice.

"He’s telling the truth Cerberus." Amber said from behind me, "Hello Rogue."

"We had our hopes that you wouldn’t make it back here, Amber." The arcanine answered.

"Amber?" I asked, glancing nervously from her to the arcanine. The great wolf looked at me kindly.

"Attend to your friend, she is in desperate need of comfort. Ripple see if you can find some wild game suitable for them to eat, but also bring some berries for the child."

The espeon nodded and moved gracefully behind her and, after some rummaging, she tossed me a hunk of Rattata flesh.

"I’m sorry, " she murmured apologetically. "Dario hasn’t fed us for a time, and he hasn’t let us forage, he says we don’t deserve it. I don’t have any berries at the moment for your Eevee friend, unless she’d like to gnaw on some old Pidgey birds." Ripple hissed venomously in the opposite direction. I followed her gaze to see the boy lazing beneath a tree.

"Don’t you hiss at me, Cat, or you won’t be hunting anytime soon!" He laughed with a malicious grin at her and Ripple slunk to the ground in remorse.

I felt a growl rise in my throat.

"Hush!" Rogue said, "you’ll get us all in to trouble."

"Aww, and wouldn’t that be terrible, the lot of you mongrels getting what you deserve." The wartortle said from the ground near Dario. Rogue snorted.

"What with him?" I asked.

"That’s Snap." Amber said, "He was Dario’s first pokemon, and is undyingly loyal to him." She paused, then added as an after thought, "He never gets the same treatment as the rest of us."

"Well," Dario said from under the tree, "Now that you are all awake, it’s time to begin today’s training. Who wants to go first." He stood and walked over to them. "How about my old friend Amber." He roughly grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and unlocked her chain collar. He turned sharply on his heels and headed into the woods with Amber in one hand, a whip in the other, and Snap following at his heels.

I lunged, snarling like a beast after him but the chain gave out and I was yanked back with a harsh yelp. Not giving up I tugged viciously at its end, anything to get at his throat.

"Back, mongrel, you’ll get your turn soon!" Dario snickered and with a snap of his whip, the end bit into my haunch, leaving it path, a long thin cut up my back.

Howling in pain, I dance backwards and slumping to the ground to lick my wound and with a fearful sob, Amber and her trainer disappeared into the trees.

"Wha-a-at will they do to her," Circe cried quietly. She huddled behind me, and snuggled into my fur. She trembled softly, trying to hide how scared she was. I too was scared but if she saw me scared, she would know we were in troubled.

"Shh," Ripple cooed, stepping behind me scooping Circe up. "I’ll take care of her," she reassured in a motherly way. I nodded reluctantly.

Rogue came and lay down next to me. For the first time I got a sense of how mush bigger he truly was then me. Being a full-grown male Arcanine, he stood a full 3 ½ meters taller then myself. His fur was orange and pitch respectively. But his most striking feature were his eyes; they were a warm red-brown, the same color my mum’s had been.

Ripple on the other hand was just over half my size. Her body was covered in light lavender fur, but it shone in all shades of pink, blue, or purple in different angles of light. Her eyes were deep purple, and the jewel that donned her forehead was crimson. She held a very motherly look as she comforted Circe.

They both looked like they would be marvelous pokemon if their trainer had not been Dario. His neglect was obvious, burs stuck in their fur, matted with dirt and they were well under nourished. Rogue despite his size compared to my own, seemed shrunken and weary while Ripple’s eyes were foggy and here ears were shredded near the end. I mournfully thought how this would soon be my fate too.

"Why am I here?" I said softly, looking up at the great Arcanine.

"Dario, may he be torn apart by the legendary dogs, is a thief. He battles and then steals Pokemon. Any of worth he turns over to his master. He is apart of a select human organization, Team Rocket. If they had any honor, even wouldn’t allow him to treat us so poorly. But alas, they do not know of us. Dario keeps us choice Pokemon for himself while Gio-Vannie is ignorant. Dario hides us away when he must report. I was but a Growlithe when he stole me from my dear trainer, almost three years ago. I accepted my fate but I served him with no less vehemence. He one day forced me to evolve. Under the care of my original trainer, I would love to have evolved, but under this monster, I knew I would be nothing more then a tool. I grew to hate Snap and after a time, he stole Ripple. Now he has you and it is a more then likely chance that he will keep your Eevee friend. You, I’m not so sure."

"My Mum said there is no such thing as fate." I said standing up defiantly, "Destiny is determined by the choices we make, and I’m not going to let Dario keep me from Kathy! I’m getting out of here, and I’m taking all of you with me!"

"That is a high aspiration." Ripple cooed, "How do you plan to do it?"

"I don’t know yet." I replied sitting back down. We sat in silence for more then an hour. Ripple watched over the now sleeping Circe, Rogue took to making a pile of soft leaves, and I started to think of an escape plan.

Our activities were interrupted by Dario’s return. He was caring a limp Amber in one hand and a red stained whip in the other. Snap waited for him were they had exited the woods. Dario walked about half way across the clearing then dropped Amber with a dull thud. He moved to where Circe and I were. In the back ground Rogue gently picked up Amber, set her on the pile of leaves, and began to clean her fur of blood and dirt.

"Now who’s next? The cry baby or the mongrel?" I sat back and watched him with a menacing glare, Circe buried herself in Ripples stomach fur, trying to seem as insignificant as possible.

"No takers? Fine we’ll take both of yeas," Dario scorned. "Watch the mutt, Snap, while I get his chain."

Snap nodded and watched me carefully, for any sign of rebellion as he unclipped my lead. Even as I tensed my haunches to pounce, a torrent of icy water washed over me. I howled as it seemed to burn my skin. I whimpered lying on the ground.

"Stubborn, aren’t ya mutt. Learn, you can’t beat me so join me. Snap gets special treatment cos he listens and he obeys. You challenge me and you’ll regret it."

Dario’s ugly twisted face loomed in front of my watery eyes and viciously kicked my ribs. I moaned again and got to my feet, lingering to see if Amber would be OK.

"Go on," Rogue coaxed. "Don’t keep him waiting. Amber is stronger then all of us and she has survived worse."

Dario took us far from the clearing and to the edge of another that was filled with Stantler.

"Now," Dario began, "I am a real fan of venison. Your training today is to get it for me. Succeed and be fed; fail and suffer the consequences; run away, PUP, and you fox friend will meet a most untimely and painfully end."

I gulped hard and looked at the Stantler. The largest thing I had ever hunted was a Furret and it had gotten away from me.

"As for you," Dario said turning to Circe producing a large sack from his pack, "I want you to fill this bag with berries. The same I told him also applies to you. Snap go with her, but don’t help her. I will take care of the mongrel my self."

I knew I had no choice so I checked to make sure I was up wind then crouched down in, hidden behind some tall grass. My eyes roamed over the herd finally falling on a young fawn not too far away. It was frolicking across the grass towards me. I readied my self.

Flattening my body against the trees, I followed the young doe’s movements by sound and smell. Her cloven hooves pressed into the grass with barely a whisper and her warm musty scent grew stronger. I risked a glimpse of my prey and she was just beyond the boundaries of the forest.

I slipped through the trees carefully keeping an eye on her and making sure I made no noise. Though Stantler didn’t have the greatest hearing but I couldn’t risk it. Amber had been revenged and couldn’t be able to defend herself. Even Rogue couldn’t stand against Dario if he was in his Pokeball, and poor Circe!

I breathed softly. The pray had just come into range, but I would bide my time for the most opportune moment. The doe moved ever closer, I remained motionless. Now she was in position, I prepared to strike.

To my miss fortune the wind suddenly shifted. The doe froze in her tracks, head up, eyes and ears alert. I could wait no more. I lunged, and caught the fawn by haunch with my teeth. She screamed, and began to run in panic. It was her fatal mistake. She tripped over my legs and fell. I didn’t miss a beat. I released her haunch and latched onto her throat.

In time she stopped moving. I released her and looked around. Dario was coming from were I had left him. On the opposite end of the clearing stood the mother Stantler. I felt a sudden stab of guilt. This was my first kill, and I swore it would be my last.