Private/Closed Dexter's Eye

[rawheight]

Null was breathing heavily, his body tense, rooted to the ground as Abyss's gaze fell on him. Just moments ago, the creature had been flying through the air trying to tackle him. He wasn't sure what had made the large canid change his mind at the last second, but he was grateful not to have those long, powerful claws digging into his own flesh. And yet... Null felt the heavy churning of guilt inside him. He knew he deserved it. He looked into those deep red eyes and almost willed the creature to attack again. I've hurt your person, he seemed to say. I trust Pokemon, but how can I trust a human? I don't know how to do this. I'm sorry.

He couldn't have been more relieved when the Absol briefly turned his gaze away, but when he did it was like a spell broke. All of a sudden, Null remembered the crashing and falling of the bridge - the bridge Hanzer had been standing on. "Oh dear Arceus," he breathed, going white as a sheet as his stomach plummeted all the way down to the ground. "No, no, no," the boy spun on his heel in a full sprint, racing down toward the river and trying to understand what he was seeing. The bridge collapsed in pieces, most of them smoking but some still smoldering above the surface of the water. "Hanzer!" He cried out as he ditched his bag and his shoes, slipping and sliding down the bank and into the water, fishing around with his hands. "Hanzer you big oaf, where are you?" his voice trembled as he swam toward the wreckage, trying to find signs of life. Was his friend trapped under the smoldering heap? Or had he been thrown away from the crash and landed in the water? It could kill him. Or had he made it off the platform before it met its end?

Please, O Arceus please. Please save my friend. Please let him be whole.

Null didn't know what he'd do without that stupid, overprotective badger hanging over his shoulder all the time. They'd been through everything together. Hanzer was the only one who really knew him. Hanzer was the only one in the whole world. The boy wiped at his eyes.

Once he was satisfied that the Typhlosion wasn't stuck under any of the wreckage Null moved to the surrounding area, diving down to the riverbed and feeling around for that dense, soft fur he knew too well. He prayed he'd find his friend. He prayed he wouldn't. His side ached with the strain of his breaths, expanding his lungs and stretching the taught skin of the cauterized wound. Null searched and searched and searched, and came up empty. Defeated, he trudged his way back to the bank and picked up his things, sinking down on his knees in the grass and staring blankly down at the ground. Hanzer... what had happened to him?

Gradually the boy became aware of a licking noise and when he finally lifted his gaze, he froze as he saw Abyss still staring at him. He felt like prey in the eyes of this hunter. Then his own eyes went wide as he saw the wound. "Oh damn you, Zilch," he growled as he dug in his bag for the white t-shirt that he had stolen before the jinbei. "Damn it," he cursed himself now for being such a blind fool and not recognizing the gash earlier. The poor Absol had been working the wound, trying to clean it, and he'd been off splashing around in the river like an idiot.

Without a second thought Null had folded the shirt into an acceptable bandage shape and had approached Abyss, kneeling down beside the Disaster Pokemon. He was reaching out to tie the shirt over the wound when he suddenly remembered who he was dealing with and pulled back again. "I-I'm sorry," he said hastily, resting back on his heels, the t-shirt in his hands in his lap. He couldn't help but stare. That massive curved blade that graced the crown of the beast. The obsidian claws that clicked menacingly against the rocks in the dirt. The sheen of his majestic white fur in the moonlight. He was a beautiful Pokemon. Null wasn't sure if it was the loss of his own comfort creature or his desire to appreciate the one before him, but he very muchso just wanted to sink his fingers into that beautiful mane of fur like he'd seen Nyx do herself. "I just want to stop the bleeding," he managed, looking back in those crimson eyes to see if he would be allowed, or if Abyss would finish the job he'd started on the bridge.

---

Hanzer was barely seeing what was in front of him. It was like a grand fog had descended on his brain and he was acting purely on his instincts. His nose was not as keen as that of his canid enemy, but he could have picked Nyx's scent out anywhere. It wasn't only the fact that they had spent several days inside her home; but also the impact she had on his human that kept her smell fresh in his mind. He let his nose lead as he stumbled through the forest, cracking twigs and crunching leaves. That proud Absol would be thoroughly embarrassed by the ruckus he was making.

At one point the Typhlosion's ear flicked forward. Had he heard her voice...? Was she calling for her Pokemon? Had that white fluffball made it across the river...? Then perhaps Null was there too. He lunged forward, crashing through the undergrowth and blundering his way to his selected destination, the flames around his neck flickering weakly.

Hanzer couldn't say how many minutes later, but eventually he got a momentary burst of clarity. What was that...? A very strong whiff of the girl. She had been here just moments before. He slowed his pace and tried to clear his mind, focusing on his nose. He snuffled around and finally came to a large tree. The smell was very strong here. His blunt claws tested the bark. Slowly his snout came forward from around the back of the tree, and - his nose collided with the soft cheek of the girl! Hanzer huffed a big breath through his snout and then began pressing his muzzle against her arm and then her shoulder and then her side, instinctively checking for any wounds or pains. He couldn't explain the relief and joy he was feeling - after all, she wasn't his human. And yet he found, though he would not admit to himself, that he had a soft spot for her. Especially since it seemed that silly prancing Absol wasn't around.

 

[MegaAbsol]

In the darkness of night, Abyss looked down into the dark waters the boy had plunged into; every so often another firework would go off, the burst of light changing the visage of the white creature facing himself to one of the boy lurking beneath the disturbed waters. He had dove in with the same lack of judgment as his human displayed when, against all sense, she tried to protect the boy. And past events had made Abyss no big fan of water. And yet, he know; the boy dove in because he cared about his pokemon - he had known when he treated the baby rock type back in the apartment oh so gently. He had known when he caught him staring appreciatively at his fire type's sleeping form, and at times, if the Absol faked sleep for long enough, said appreciative gaze would turn to him. The trembling fingers, not strong enough to feed or care for himself but strong enough to reverently caress through his chest fur... The boy loved pokemon. Did he love pokemon? Or did he just love his pokemon? But even if Abyss lacked the sentience to notice it and say it in so many words, he saw...


He saw love, and he saw fear, and he saw the unwavering faith that person and pokemon keep alike as partners, and he saw how if one is separated from the other, if one does not resonate with the other, then that is where one dies their first death. He saw how he couldn't figure out this boy, diving again and again in the debris and rubble, hoping beyond hope; he saw a face he had seen before as though it was a new one. No, he'd seen this before; the gaze, as though seeing something was a fresh surprise every time. Unfamiliar, as though somebody was reloading a game screen over and over. Jamais vu.


Of two things he was certain - Abyss glared as Null approached with little hesitation, almost thoughtlessly - one, that he had conflicting feelings over the boy, as though he couldn't trust his instincts over his judgement. And two, there was nobody here to stop him.
Come on now, isn't this what you wanted? Come on now, what are you waiting for? Smile now, isn't this what you chose? Come on now, can't you take it all? Abyss's shadow flashed again as yet another rocket lit up the sky, illuminating the scene in a cold blue light, shining off of the fresh fear in the boy's eyes. Life is cruel, and life is unfair, and nobody tells you it's going to be this way. Oh, nobody taught you that? Oh, you really didn't know? Win, or die; pick one or the other. Run, or pause, do one or the other and stop whining. And in that moment, Abyss wished, with seething anger in his heart and his fangs, that he could speak - to tell the boy how he could take away exactly as much as he had.


His rage settled as quickly as it had risen, and it was back to the silent standoff between the males that was all too familiar. Abyss would scoff if he could; he knew the boy was trouble, he knew he'd bring a posse of problems. He didn't care for his trainer's madness, but he did care about what he brought to her. He liked him, but he was no good for Nyx. He was running, as though running was the only thing he knew. Running himself ragged, with everything he had, with no end in sight, as though nurturing a flower that couldn't be blossomed... a dream that couldn't be realised... What was it that mattered to him? He ran for his life, for his freedom. And it was none of his business, but he stopped to protect his own hunters, whether it be a girl with an Absol or a child with a Seviper. His own kindness would kill him; looked like fate would beat Abyss to it. His claws were sharp, and ready, but the future might be sharper and crueler still. Pick one or the other...


With a heavy sigh, he approached the boy - ugh, dripping wet; he had trouble keeping himself dry when his fire type companion wasn't around, didn't he - and began lapping quickly, coarsely at his hair and face. The river was clean, but infections could creep up from anywhere, and Abyss began nosing around, huffing at the cloth bandage in his lap and gently breathing on the cauterized area. It would hurt if he were to lick it, since the wound was likely beginning to scab, and the sudden burst of running and swimming the boy had done would have been less than kind to it, but he didn't smell any fresh blood anyway. Abyss could mew, and that was exactly what he did, almost nose to nose with the boy; for the first time in a long time, a vocalization for no particular reason other than to say 'hello, hi, we good, now what'.


-----


Heartbeat racing in the ears, thump thump thump thump. Trying to escape from danger but falling back into its maw. Eyes wide open in the darkness of the forest, Nyx tightened her fingers over her mouth; sinking slowly as though into a trance, listening to the sounds go bump bump bump bump in the night. If this was to be the end then she might as well recap her life, she concluded dramatically. There she was, making halloween pumpkins with Mom; Abyss got his own pumpkin. There they were, keeping the Christmas tree out of Abyss' reach. Her, younger, much younger, learning to ride Ponyta's with her father. The winter they were snowed in and made a fort in the living room, toasting marshmallows over the fireplace. And then... her working in the lab, days blurring into one. Every day, she'd wonder how far she'd get, and now, coming to her senses, here she is. Running was no good, her shadow was as dark as the light was intense. She was terrified, it was lonely; now she knew that running away was an option too; people said there was splendor in the flashlight, and she came chasing that, but her shadow had grown larger and swallowed her. The moment she faced herself brought lowest was the highest she had ever flown, and she was scared; killing her slowly, killing her slowly. Don't let me shine, don't let me down, don't let me fly, don't let me fall. She held in a hiccup, feeling tears well as the footsteps paused beside her. Come on now, isn't this what you wanted? Come on now, what are you waiting for? Smile now, isn't this what you chose? Come on now, can't you take it all?

There, the scrape of deadly claws on the bark of the tree, inches from her neck. Life is cruel, and life is unfair, and nobody tells you it's going to be this way. Oh, nobody taught you that? Oh, you really didn't know? Win, or die; pick one or the other. Run, or pause, do one or the other and stop whining. She heard the slow parting of a maw in a silent snarl, inching closer, and she squeezed her eyes shut, allowing a pair of teardrops to roll down her cheek. There she was, in her studio; getting dragged away with the strength of oceanic waves, her struggle out there in the relentless waves with no floor. That was her, and she was that. They were the one and same and there was no breaking off that part of her. It was her shadow she could not outrun. Every moment became an eternity and—something collided against her cheek, and she gasped, barking out a ‘no!’ as she jumped. Leaves and twigs crunched under her frantic feet as she tried to find purchase on her festive footwear, trying to get away from the strangely textured muzzle that was beginning to press into her. It was spiked, ungroomed, and felt warm and damp; then a huff. She froze, hesitant to allow herself the hope. “Ha- Hanzer?” She ventured, pushing her hair out of her face to see a low rim of blue flames.

 

[rawheight]

Without Hanzer, Null had no light. He had no fire. He had no warmth. There was such beauty in the way Pokemon and humans worked in concert, supporting one another and filling in for each other's weaknesses. And now without his partner the young man felt lost in the grass, relying on the occasional explosion of fireworks overhead to illuminate the brooding beast before him. Red eyes piercing through the darkness. An aura of disappointment and derision radiating off the Disaster Pokemon, fur gleaming in the moonlight. Null had to close his eyes as Abyss's gaze grew hot with anger, sinking his head down with his hands clutching the grass at his fingertips, waiting for the blade of the canid's crown to fall and finish him.

He could hear the beast approach - his own personal reaper - and the young trainer's eyes shut tight with what was to come. I'm sorry, was all he could think to say. Lambo, the little Rhyhorn, and the mysterious invisible Pokemon in his last Pokeball... he had failed them all. Not to mention Hanzer, his partner and best friend.

Null flinched at the first touch from Abyss, expecting pain and warm blood and death and receiving instead the rough ministrations of his enemy's tongue. It broke him. Null's shoulders slumped and then shook gently with silent sobs, his fingers reaching to sink into the Absol's thick fur ruff and his head resting against the powerful creature's neck. He cried for the loss of his Typhlosion. He cried for the mercy and forgiveness of the beast before him who could have ended his life with a single attack. And he cried for the connection he had made with this girl and her mountain Pokemon that made him feel the loss of their company so deeply. For a minute Null could do nothing but cry. Abyss's gentle mew had tugged at his heart, the smallest beginning of communication between them. Something other than his longing stares across an empty room, and the Disaster Pokemon's response of pointed disinterest. Null was grateful in this moment not to be alone.

And then, after that minute, he was done. Pulling back from Abyss to sit on his heels Null wiped his eyes on the damp shoulder of his jinbei, taking in a deep breath an letting it out heavily. He had plenty more tears to cry. His whole life weighed on him like a giant loss. But now was not the time. He would stuff those feelings back down until he had the breathing room to explore them again. For now, they needed to find Nyx. "Sorry," he mumbled to the Absol, wiping the last of his tears away with the heel of his hand and then taking the makeshift bandage and tying it around Abyss's wounded shoulder. "Thanks for not killing me," he added as he looked into the bold canid's blood-red eyes. Then, shaky for a moment with exhaustion, Null pulled his knee to his chest, bracing his hand against it as he pushed himself to his feet. "Let's go find Nyx," he said, his mouth set in a grim line. He was holding onto the faintest hope that Hanzer was there somewhere, that somehow he had made it out of the river and was in the forest along the opposite side of the bank. But he didn't let himself hope too much.

---

Hanzer's lips curled into a snarl and his ears flattened back against his skull at Nyx's loud cry of alarm, but his displeased expression quickly faded as he saw how frightened she had been of him. His ears remained low, dark circles under his eyes from his exhaustion, his dense fur ruffled and damp and covered in dead leaves and twigs from stumbling through the forest as he watched the recognition dawn on her features. The large Typhlosion didn't have much heat left but he stepped closer to share it with her, nuzzling her cheek one more time before looking around for his human. He knew Null would be here. The stupid boy would have followed the girl, after all. Hanzer glanced over Nyx's shoulder, and then behind him, and then he tried to ignore the sudden cold feeling in his chest as he frantically sniffed the air for the scent of his trainer. Nothing. The Typhlosion gave a low whine of concern.

However, there was no time to keep looking. There was the crack of a twig nearby and Hanzer's head snapped toward it, ears straight on end as he grabbed Nyx's arms to keep her close. Regardless of where his own human was, the Eruption Pokemon knew Null would expect him to watch over the girl. And then Hanzer caught a whiff of just who it was approaching, a low growl growing in his throat.

"I figured you wouldn't get very far," Zilch stepped out of the shadows, smirking faintly at the sight of the bedraggled girl and Pokemon. "Stupid Null, I told him he couldn't win. This is what he gets for involving civilians," she looked Nyx over with an unimpressed frown. She had no idea the young woman before her was the mastermind behind the very Eye she sought. Regardless, Nyx would make fantastic bait for her prodigal brother. "And poor Hanzer, taking a bath in the river," Zilch gave a demeaning pout, tossing one of her Pokeballs up and down in her hand. The Typhlosion's glowing red eyes watched it warily. He had dispatched the female Seviper earlier - it would be a long time before she was able to fight again. But there was still his old nemesis, the one-eyed male. Hanzer was in no condition to battle him now. The fire-type growled in warning, but Zilch just laughed.

"Can it, fuzzball. You and I both know you're just bluffing," Zilch released the Seviper, who slid gleefully around the soaked Pokemon and the young woman to cut off their retreat from the back. "Looks like you'll both be coming back to Rocket HQ with me so we can figure out what to do with you. But first," Hanzer was growling again, the Seviper beginning to approach from behind, looking like it was trying to force him away from Nyx. "I'm going to need to you scream, so my brother knows exactly where we are," Zilch said darkly, her eyes on Nyx. The Seviper struck just as she released her starter Pokemon, a venomous Ivysaur. Hanzer caught the snake by the maw but he was pushed off his feet by the momentum of the attack, landing heavily on the ground away from Nyx with the Seviper coiling its long body around him to begin squeezing the air from the Typhlosion's lungs. He caught sight of vines the Ivysaur had shot out in Nyx's direction and let loose a weak stream of fire, burning them to a crisp. But it was the last of the flame within him. Fighting all the way, his large claws digging into the Seviper's skin, Hanzer felt his vision begin to darken around the edges and his strength fade away, watching helplessly as the vines shot out at Nyx one more time.

 

[MegaAbsol]

Abyss... could not cry. Past his physical limitations, it had never struck the canid to break; to lower his defenses and to partake in an event as seemingly meaningless as crying. Nor did he understand what led to it. He was curious, of course, of the water that would drip down Nyx's face at times, which welled in him such an overwhelming sadness that he too wished he could release water from his eyes, down to his cheeks... but he could not. He had tried to understand, as always, but for some, grief was masked as anger, and so, Abyss could not cry. The death of Nyx's parent had led him to quite a slump, and for many a day he lay alongside Nyx in the cold winter days, cuddling under a blanket, facing the hearth that sheltered only embers; a far, frigid cry from the days when the house was alight with laughter and light, warmth and happiness. They mourned, of course, and Nyx often cried, only for Abyss to lick them away comfortingly, as his own heart ached with the feeling of longing. There was a feeling of something missing, as though somebody had cut away a limb. There was a void, not unlike hunger, but one that no amount of food could fill, if he even felt like eating. A sense of being hunted by a silent, invisible creature that would remind you at every step, every turn that something was missing; irrevocably, irreparably, irreversibly missing. Abyss could snarl, could snap, could whine or lie in silent contempt and grief... but he could not cry.

And despite all this, he understood exactly what led Null to sink into his chest and cry, chest heaving and eyes streaming in the familiar motions of pent-up sadness and loss, of feeling lost and confused and helpless and hurt and alone. Sorrow alone had a way of grasping one's throat to suffocate every inch of life, of breath out of them. He knew; the house grey and still, as though people were far too afraid to move or make a sound indicating life. A house as cold and cruel as the mountains he came from; life was equally unforgiving, it took as freely as it did back in the sheer cliffs of Mt. Silver. He tired of it, and was glad the first time Nyx wiped her eyes and offered Abyss a walk out in the fields; but for the moment, he understood, intrinsically he understood, and he stood still to let the man grieve.

And despite himself, with a heavy sigh, he let his shoulders loosen and gently, but fully, rest his chin on Null's head. He felt the boy's fluffy hair rustle under his breath, although it was now damp and cold, and wrinkling his nose in disgust, he began grooming. With short, methodical strokes of his bristle-like tongue, he began quickly drying the boy's hair. Was he doing a good job of it? -well, no - Null's hair was standing in comical spikes, matching a haphazard little Zigzagoon, but he was grooming. More fool he, for softening at the sight of some tears, Abyss mused, pausing to pass his tongue over his teeth, before resuming his lapping. And all too soon, the boy pulled away, letting out a shuddering sigh of what he could only assume was the rest of his pent-up stress. And from there resumed the rehearsed song and dance, Abyss coolly watched with his usual look of contempt as Null wiped away his tears, put on a bandage he had managed to cobble together, and get to his feet. More fool he, for trusting a child just because he bit off more than he could chew, Abyss grumbled, but as he followed the boy into the forest, he couldn't withhold a low purr deep within his chest.

---

The advent of warm fur and a friendly - albeit annoyed - face was more than welcome to Nyx, who almost collapsed on the forest floor in a heap of tears. Her wound up body, tensed as a string stretched too taut, began loosening as her fear washed away. She had been wary of the Typhlosion all these days, but there were few she would have liked to meet better than him right now, and she swallowed hard, blinking away tears as Hanzer leaned into her, cuddling her and seemingly nosing her over her body. "Hehe, stop, that tickles," She whispered gladly as the Eruption pokemon did a quick cursory check for injuries, chancing a hand across his muzzle to give him a quick pet. Her hand was met with an incredibly gaunt skull, and her brows furrowed in concern, as she tried to tilt the pokemon's head slightly better towards her, fear waning as she recognized how tired the pokemon was. He had certainly begun to look better in the few days that they got to rest in her house, but they were back in the chase for whatever they were doing. That girl... she was not from the police. And yet she seemed to have been chasing him down, far more maliciously than she could have imagined a child of her stature to have done so. Who was she? She quashed those concerns quickly, still struggling to get a good look at Hanzer's face in the dim light, hands practically itching as one who had been away from tending to pokemon as a Pokemon Scientist for far too long. Really, what even was the point of being labelled a Pokemon Scientist if she couldn't even lay a hand on the newly hatch-

Her thought process was interrupted just as swiftly as Hanzer's attention peaked; a sound of a crackle. A twig, broken cleanly, and very close. And under the moonlight - that girl again. What malice personified would look like, if Darkrai himself took on a human shape to haunt her with those glowing Halloween eyes. There were moments of wonder that made you feel like a child again, and then there was the opposite; moments of dread so potent and sheer that you physically feel the danger press down deeper into your grave. Nyx felt the slow suffocation of fear as the girl approached, and now that she was so close, she could get a better look at her. The girl was... surprisingly young, couldn't have been older than 13 or 14, a small, thin child just barely into her teens. And yet she was tall, able to look Nyx in the eye, with contempt and malevolence. Why was she alone in the woods? Who was she? What did she want? Hanzer's growl answered more questions than she would like answered - she was here to hunt him, or both of them, down.

Her words glazed over Nyx as though they were barely speaking the same language. 'Null, involve civilians, Hanzer, just bluffing...' She knew them by first name? The names of the ones so cautious that they wouldn't share them any sooner than being right at death's door? Who was she? Before she knew it, things were moving fast again; a Seviper slithered from its pokeball, disappearing into the ink of the night, but she could hear its scales rustle behind her, as it circled them, hemming them into a tighter circle... "Looks like you'll both be coming back to Rocket HQ with me so we can figure out what to do with you." Nyx's eyes rose to meet the girl's in silent confusion, mind running a mile a minute but taking too long to process what she just heard. Rocket HQ...? "But first," Nyx was awake, her senses alight, thoughts discarded as instinct took over. She was in danger.

"I'm going to need to you scream, so my brother knows exactly where we are,"

Null's sister worked for Team Rocket and she was here to hunt him down.

The forest exploded in a burst of movement, the Poison Fang pokemon leapt at Hanzer, effortlessly coiling around the weakened pokemon. An Ivysaur, freed from its pokeball, failed its first pass at Nyx, giving her just enough time to make up her mind. There was no time to run, nowhere to run. But Hanzer... she whirled, fury rising within her to protect the pokemon that- wasn't hers. He wasn't hers. He isn't Abyss. But did that matter? He showed her comfort when she needed it and he warmed her and protected her and came looking for her when she was lost and alone. She was sure Abyss wasn't far behind and that he'd find her soon and they'd be okay but for now all she could care about was to make the Seviper "Let go of him!"

She whirled, pulling the pin from her hair and letting the loosened bun flow freely as with a sudden lunge, she jumped at the snake, stabbing down hard with the ornament clutched around her fist. In the darkness where she couldn't tell apart her hand from the consequences of her actions, there was none to judge her other than the dimly glowing red eyes of Hanzer, and the sharper, piercing eyes of the dark-haired girl. Whether her pin made contact with scale and flesh or not, she'd never know; vines gripped her tightly, yanking back her neck and arms. She could feel them bite sharply into wherever it had a hold on her, and the crushing grind loosened just enough to let her take a breath and scream... but she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to let any air out of her lungs. Wasn't this retribution? She smiled through the tears beading at her eyelashes; it was like every pain in the last six months had personified to inflict itself physically on her. Every night she spent breathlessly locked away in her room, every day she worked mindlessly at her lab. It had been months since she'd been able to breathe... her eyes rolled to rest on Hanzer; the poor fire type was watching back banefully, and Nyx could only mouth a 'sorry'. Would this turn out better for them? Would Hanzer and Null meet again? Surely his sister would never... her coherent thoughts were fading as the vines tightened again punishingly, eliciting a choked gasp from Nyx. Her hands struggled to reach her neck and loosen the cord around her neck, but it was a failing fight, and all that escaped her was a husky whisper, "Abyss..."

 

[rawheight]

Null had not experienced such care and compassion in a very long time. If even the cool-tempered, stone-hearted Absol could find his 'humanity' (for lack of a better word), in such a time as this, then perhaps the young man would have to rethink his experience in Nyx's apartment. He had been certain she was only helping because she wanted - no - needed something from him. But perhaps it was still possible for creatures to simply desire to show kindness to each other, despite the darkness that raged all around them. Regardless, the trainer took great comfort in the Disaster Pokémon's soothing tongue, his heart steeling with courage once again. They would have to find a new route across the river - the bridge was gone and the next one not for another half-mile.

* * *

Hanzer could do nothing but watch as the night closed in around him. As the Seviper's coils tightened with every breath from his lungs, the corners of the Typhlosion's vision darkened and then he began to see as if through a tunnel. His long claws still dug into the scaly, serpentine skin, even yet desperate not to stop fighting, but he was spent. There was no last evolutionary line he could ascend to this time in order to draw out new power. He was finished.

The brooding badger was on the verge of unconsciousness when he suddenly saw Nyx move in a wild act of bravery. His lips twitched in a snarl and he fought against the darkness as he saw her draw near with her makeshift weapon drawn, his claws sinking into the snake's skin to keep his attention and hold him still. The bold little creature's attack hit home, striking the fanged Pokémon not critically, but with a deep wound to its side. Immediately the male Seviper hissed its pain and loosed its coils, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from the crushed lungs of the Typhlosion. Hanzer was stunned, stars erupting in his vision as his heart began to race, practically choking on air as his body tried to feed all of its oxygen-deprived systems all at once.

Zilch was furious. Her Ivysaur reacted immediately, snatching Nyx away and holding her immobilized over the ground, binding her arms to her sides to keep her from trying such a trick a second time. The Team Rocket prodigy stalked over to where her Seviper lay entangled with her brother's starter, her eyes smoldering in the dark with burning fire. "Fine," Zilch hissed as she grabbed hold of the pin in her Pokémon's side, glowering at Nyx, her newfound enemy. "Don't scream. But recognize that there are consequences for disobeying me," the young girl hissed through clenched teeth, not taking her eyes off the captured scientist as she drove the pin down into Hanzer's chest.

* * *

There was a roar from the other side of the river, an undeniable sound that shook Null to his core even as it shook a flock of Hoothoot from the trees. "Hanzer," the word left his lips like a prayer, his shoulders slumped as he looked out at the opposite bank of the river and the immense open space between he and his friend. His friend in danger. His friend in pain. "We have to get to the other side," he said desperately with a look down at Abyss. "If Hanzer is there, he will have searched for Nyx. And if he is hurt, then... Zilch must have found him," Null said miserably, a feeling in his stomach like he might vomit. There was too much to process. He'd thought Hanzer might have died in the river. But there was no mistaking the voice of his friend, even in so much pain. Hanzer was alive! But... perhaps not for long.

The young trainer looked down at the miniaturized Pokeballs on his belt. Of course, neither Lambo nor the Rhyhorn would be of any help in this moment. But the last Pokeball... the unwanted gift from his father. Null closed his eyes and swallowed, his throat suddenly dry as he took the orb and expanded it in his hands. "Scaller," he breathed the Pokémon's name. He had never asked it for anything. Because of the intense trauma inflicted upon him by his father's tormenting, dream-eating Gengars, Null had never been able to bring himself to form a bond with the ghost-type. He had never fully trusted it, despite the fact that it had never given him reason not to. "I really need your help. I'm sorry... but please, would you take us across the river?"

The Pokeball opened and, for a moment, it seemed as if nothing had happened. And then, hovering above them both appeared the wicked, disembodied smile of a Haunter. Broad, mocking, followed closely by the slanted, vicious eyes. There was silence for a moment as the young man stared up at the ghost, and the Pokemon stared right back. And then the Haunter dove right through him, stealing Null's breath away and leaving him cold. "Scaller," he managed weakly with a hand clutching his chest, but even as he fell backward the shadowy creature caught him under the arms and lifted him into the air. A fuzzy red outline appeared around Abyss before he, too, was rendered weightless and hovered over the ground.
"Haunter haunter," the creature said in its gravelly tone, which Null could only imagine translated to 'hold on tight', before they were whisked away over the surface of the river.

To the young trainer, the Haunter was unreadable. He did not understand ghost types at all. They were not like other Pokemon that he could serve with physical things. They did not need to eat or drink, did not receive wounds that needed to be patched with medicine and bandages. They did not need groomed and, as far as he could tell, didn't care for cuddling. It was as if they existed on a different plane altogether. He could not give a guess as to why the Pokemon he struggled to connect with so terribly was helping him in this moment. But he was grateful.

"There!" Null pointed quickly as he caught the briefest glimpse of Nyx and Zilch through a gap in the treetops. The Haunter dove down, drawing Abyss along with it, gaining speed until it neared the forest floor and then pulling up suddenly, slowing their descent and dropping them down in between the two girls. And just like that, the Haunter vanished once more.

The scene was overwhelming. Hanzer unconscious and bleeding, surrounded by his one-eyed nemesis. Zilch standing proud, a smirk on her features as if she had just revealed her winning hand. And Nyx... Nyx caught up in the tangling vines of his sister's venomous Ivysaur. His breath caught in his throat as he saw her, his chest aching. How had he let it come to this...? How had he allowed her to become so entwined with him that she was stuck here in his sister's clutches?

"Let her go, Zilch," he finally looked back at his sister, his shoulders slumped in utter defeat. "Let her go, and I'll come back home."

"Oh, on the contrary... she has a powerful Pokemon and seems to have proved quiet useful so far," the young girl was rummaging in her bag for something, finally pulling out a gas mask and donning it. "I'm bringing you all home with me." Her eyes burned a vibrant orange, a vicious smile darker than any Haunter's creasing her features as Null suddenly became aware of the glittering dust that was falling around them.

"No... Zilch no!" Null cried as he turned on his heel to the Ivysaur who was releasing a strong Sleep Powder. The young trainer sprinted toward the beast, but it was too late. He could feel his limbs growing heavy with every step. His eyelids drooped on their own accord. He hit the Ivysaur with a loud smack, but the sturdy beast barely even moved. "Sauuuuuur," it elicited indifferently, closing its eyes and shaking itself as another cloud of Sleep Powder descended around them.

"I'm sorry," Null said as he pushed against the Pokemon weakly, pointlessly, and he realized he was crying again. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said as his limbs went numb and his mind succumbed to the darkness, sinking down onto the forest floor in a heap. Defeated. After evading capture and living free for so long, he was finally going back. He'd been caught. Team Rocket would rip the Eye out of his head, strip him of his Pokemon, and toss him aside with the trash. All was lost. "I'm so sorry," he breathed one last time before he was fast asleep.

* * *

Null awoke in an all-encompassing blackness. He picked himself up off the ground and brushed the twigs and leaves from his clothes before looking up again. In the distance, there was a warm light. "Hanzer?" He took several steps forward and the light grew brighter. Encouraged, Null continued forward and picked up the pace when the light revealed itself to indeed be the rim of a Typhlosion's mane. "Hanzer!" the boy cried in relief, watching the familiar ears prick up and the broad head turn to him. But then as the creature emerged fully from the darkness Null saw the deep gashes across his chest and the wound from the pin that together soaked his chest in blood. The look of familiarity and recognition that had registered for a moment in the Typhlosion's eyes soon turned dull, lifeless. The beast turned away and began to walk off.

"Hanzer! Hanzer, wait! Let me help you. Come back, please!" Null was running after his Pokemon now, but no matter how fast he ran, the Volcano Pokemon never grew any closer. In fact, he seemed to be receding into the distance. When the young trainer looked down, he could see his friend's bloody footprints on the ground. When he looked up again, the Typhlosion was gone.

"HANZER!"

* * *

Null rocketed awake, finding himself handcuffed to a chair in a bare metal room, staring deep into the blood-red eyes of a grinning Gengar. He was straining against his bindings, the veins and muscles in his neck standing out against his skin, a cold sweat covering him.

"Welcome home, son." From behind the Gengar a man pushed himself off the wall, melding out of the darkness. Alabastor seemed rather average at first, perhaps slightly on the short side and a little stocky. His features were not unkind, perhaps even attractive, save for the eerie, luminescent orange eyes Zilch had inherited. Null, however, shared the stark white hair that had nothing to do with his age.

"Where is Hanzer?" Null glared at his father, his voice dry and cracking from disuse.

A slow, vile grin emerged on the man's features. "Had a nice dream, did you...? I thought you might enjoy one of our 'training sessions', since you've been gone for so long," he said, resting a hand on the spiky back of his Gengar.

"WHERE IS HE?!" Null roared, the cuffs cutting into his wrists as he strained against them, trying to gain control.

"Ah," Alabastor's smile faded and he looked down his nose at his son. "Disappointing... still so emotional," he said with a frown. "Your Pokemon and your friends' have all been re-allocated into Rocket Stock. They have been caged and are in the Kennel, waiting for reassignment. But... only your Typhlosion, of course. Those useless other two Pokemon you had went straight to the trash," he said with a disappointed look at his son, as if he had learned nothing. "Now..." the light came back into Alabastor's eyes as he moved toward his son, resting his hands on the arms of the chair and leaning in close. "Let me tell you what we're going to do about that Eye..."

* * *

In a separate interrogation room, far down the long hallway of many such rooms in the basement of Team Rocket Headquarters, Zilch waited next to her mother, Belladonna, for Nyx to wake up. It was from his mother that Null inherited his lean height. She was tall and terrifyingly beautiful with long, graceful limbs and straight, flowing black hair. Her icy blue eyes held none of the warmth that had somehow managed to find its way into her son's. What a disappointment he had become. And who was this little tramp he'd dragged down into his muck and mire...? Not everyone could tame and befriend such a beast as an Absol. She must be strong. Perhaps she could be useful.

"Come now, child," Belladonna leaned forward, slapping Nyx's cheek to wake up. "We don't have all century. Tell me what you're doing with my son. Your Absol activated the Eye. Tell me what you know."

 

[MegaAbsol]

Stand tall, don't look down. Falling asleep had never seemed easier. An eerie calm had settled over Nyx as she watched the scene unfold with a growing detachment. She had never realised... how cold it got outside... She glanced at Hanzer, her hairpin embedded deep in his chest, the sharp cry for him that was bubbling at her lips, withering before it could bloom. A veil of solemnity had descended upon the girl and her world. You will fall, you will fall. A world swept and spun 'round. They were small, small in the face of the one whose whims they had to bend to, alone and afraid. The wind tore at her face as though it was made of knives, eyes creaked open just long enough to spy a familiar flash of white.

It's a lonely, lonely world. Perhaps it is so just for right now. Abyss' eyes glowed in the moonlight as they darted this way and that, burning coals alert and ready. Moving slowly through the air, reaching out for her, reaching out to hold her. Keep on blinking at the moon, he wanted out to cry out. He wanted to scream, to howl at the skies. Know that I'll be there for you soon.

It's a lonely, lonely world. But it's only right now. Hold on, the end is near. Though the cords were binding her neck, what was that she felt cutting into her heart? Don't you understand, my dear? Nyx whimpered, eyes shut tight, tears escaping through her clenched lids, though she felt none of them trickle down her cheek. "No!" She heard a familiar voice cry out, and she softly inhaled through gritted teeth. "Zilch, no,"

"I'm sorry,"

"I'm so sorry...."

Don't you understand, my dear? Hold on, the end is near.

-x-

There is nothing left to hide when you're helpless, waiting. The echoes of a song, long gone, hung heavy in the air. Scythes striking through the air, splayed wide to be five times as dangerous, cutting through vines with fury afresh. I've been moving slowly, reaching out for you to hold me... hold me... It was the first thing he could remember. It was the only thing he could remember. Heavy pants through the forest, inhaling more of the spororific powder with each breath. Bristles ran up and down his body, enraged and alive. Through the flames, you're by my side. Her body lay limply on the forest floor as he glared across at the Ivysaur, so close, so close. Stare, in the darkness. Are you scared? Are you free? Teeth ripped through the night, tear into him, sinking into flesh and bone, rock him to sleep... Abyss slump onto the ground, struggling to hold on to consciousness as his final baleful gaze swept over... Are you scared? Over the untouched body of the Ivysaur, just as Null reached out to stop it. He struggled with the last of his waking thoughts, to reach Nyx's unresponsive body, and with a final sigh, gave up and collapsed, resting against her prone form. We'll go down together...

We'll go down together.

-x-

This light... was unfamiliar. And despite living with a naturally white pokemon and constantly finding his long, pointy fur strands all over the house, Nyx never quite got the habit of seeing something so starkly different to her gloomy surroundings. Sometimes she didn't see; she would trip over his ebony black claws, or reach over half-asleep only to promptly shove her hand into her Absol's face. But light, bright light filtering down... oh, that she hadn't seen for years.

Another thing she hadn't seen for years would have been the stunning silence and solitude surrounding her. She reached to rub her rapidly cooling arms, but... she wasn't really there, was she? There was no body to touch. Nothing to see, not that she could turn to see. Is she dreaming? Or is this death? Was that the reaper that had come for her?

For it was indeed a shining black scythe that appeared into her view, padding closer slowly, noiselessly. An Absol. Her Absol. A relieved breathe, a lilting smile. He wasn't really there either, was he? ...Was he? Where was he? What happened to him? How long has he been gone? The unmoving face of the Absol gave her no solace, and no answers. The face, still, serene, as though carved out of jade, but familiar. Unmistakeable. This was him, no? Was this not? Would he not come to her? Would he not stay with her? "Abyss, no," She couldn't understand, she couldn't read him. She couldn't see him. His eyes... mere white slits embedded in his face, unblinking, but always watching. Life and death, luck and misfortune. Watching, and judging. And just like that, the form turned and walked away.

"Abyss... Abyss no, stay, please," The voice shook, as though she was crying, but where could tears come from? Did it matter whether he was really there or not? She wanted him to stay. She needed him to stay. "Abyss, please, come back," A break in the voice, a crack, a falter. He never turned, he never looked back. Just like that... he left. "Abyss, please, I'm sorry, please," The desperation rose as the volume dimmed, her voice dying out as the cold crept in. The light was gone now. Was there air? Would she drown? Was she alone? Was he alone too? Perhaps... he was the one who had always been alone. And this little bottle of grief was hers to carry forever. "Abyss..." A whisper, hanging heavy in the silence. There is nothing left to hide, when you're helpless, running. Through the cold, you're by my side. We'll go down together...

-x-

Nyx snapped awake, disoriented and lost. Blinking in confusion, she sniffed, feeling a single tear roll down her cheek. Where was she? Was she crying? Who... She looked up at the towering figure in front of her; a lean woman, stunningly beautiful and one who carried herself with strength and assurance. But beyond them... eyes, eyes as cold and cruel as winter's bite. She came round to herself and sat up straighter, but a painful jolt in her shoulder made her stop. Freezing in place, she let the pain ground her as her training kicked in. Every scientist involved in highly sensitive projects were taught what to do in unusual or violent events like kidnappings or break-ins. Check body first. Arms, legs, eyes, mouth. All accounted for, but restricted movement in arms and legs. She was bound, or restrained anyhow. Her throat stung, but she could breathe, and there was no gag in her mouth. Take stock of the room. Her eyes returned to the woman's face; dark hair, thin, sculpted face, and... blue- blue eyes. Get a hold of yourself, leader, she scolded herself inwardly, blinking just a little too long and breathing in to regulate her respiratory cycle. Blue eyes. No matches with any of her projects' opposers. A third party. Who was she? Her eyes drifted to the girl standing beside the woman. Ah, her. Zilch, yes? Young girl, black hair - straight, genetic - not very tall, equally lean, unflinching in the scene of a restrained hostage. Trained. Familiar.

Null's sister. Nyx let out an especially heavy exhale, as though she just accepted a gift she didn't really want. Then this must be... Null's relative in some way? Mother? Quite the family business. Truth be told, Nyx had heard none of what Belladonna had said, having fully come to her senses in the awkward silence that followed her question and Nyx's lack of an answer. But that wasn't her priority now; her eyes continued to rove the room. Empty, small, single entrance, hence only contention of escape. Body, unhurt. Belongings... hands were empty, and she couldn't quite remember the last thing she was holding. Companion unhurt? She turned to either side to check on... Where was Abyss? Her first real chill set in, shaking her briefly, and she struggled to maintain her composure. Calm down, companions are often separated from the subject of interrogation. He must be fine. Priority, escape. Her gaze darted back to the first point of contention in this endeavour; the frigid woman before her. But what would she say? How was she supposed to say anything at all when she barely understood the situation? By chasing down what she thought to be a petty thief, she had stepped into a mire far deeper than she realised, seemingly right into the clutches of Team Rocket, apparently the corporation that stole the Eye. And she didn't know what they wanted from her, but she didn't quite think they were any friends of hers... or Null's for that matter.

Null... was he taken as well? What would they do to him? Would he welcomed back with a hero's greeting? He had been running... He had been trying to escape them. Would they be cruel? Would they be harsh? Would they lock him away and pry answers from him? How much did he know of her? How much... did she know of him? What did they want with the two of them? Null... was this his plan all along? Or was the sincerity she heard in his voice true? Perhaps she had been gullible, or perhaps his repertoire of skill was deception, which would make sense given his affiliation with Team Rocket. Had he been by her side? Or had she been played all along? What was she to do now? Was there any hope of rescue? Would somebody come get her? Or was she to go down with the ship?

Nyx paused, swallowed hard, looked up to meet the woman's eyes and spoke. "Where am I? My... my Absol..." She flinched, noting how her voice quivered, losing strength halfway through the sentence. She cleared her throat, trying again. She didn't know anything, and if it was to be her end, then so be it. But she would trust those who were with her to the end. Null begging for Zilch to stop, Abyss crossing fire and frost alike for her, the little Flaaffy offering all he had, desperate for help... This was a chance, and it would be the best bet she ever lost. Stand tall, don't look down. "My Absol, where is he?" We are small, we will fall. It's a lonely world, but it's only right now, so I'll be there real soon. Hold on, the end is near.

We'll go down together.

 

[rawheight]

"You were always a disappointing son."

Alabastor's voice was dry, unamused, as he looked down at his offspring. The father's hands were gripping the arms of the chair Null was tied to as he leaned in, the youth's arms bound in handcuffs behind the piece of furniture, his feet tied to each forward leg of the chair. "You cried the first time your teachers made you subject your Pokemon to the Rocket way of training." Alabastor's glowing orange eyes were narrowed as he looked down his nose at his son. "You failed your courses on interrogation, torture, kidnapping and coercion. Your mother and I sacrificed so much to give you the absolute best education Team Rocket could offer. We begged and pleaded and bribed to give you just one more chance at success. Our first-born son." Alabastor's voice was a hiss, his upper lip raised in a snarl. "What could we do? Our bosses were beginning to realize we had created a failure. Our very own seed, a pure-bred child of Team Rocket, was weaker than the volunteer grunts we were pulling off the streets," the man grabbed Null's face, fingers sinking in against his son's gaunt cheeks, a light of fury in Alabastor's haunting eyes. And the young trainer glared right back at him. "And so, as a last-ditch effort to prove that our child could be useful to Team Rocket, we gave you over to the scientists as an experiment, never believing you would prove so... useful." Alabastor's eyes focused in on the silent machine in Null's skull. "A near-perfect fit." The man was so close that Null could feel his hot breath washing over him and registered the microscopic changes in his father's facial features that warned of the outburst coming.

"And for WHAT?!" Alabastor roared, ripping his hand away from Null's face and slapping him hard across the cheek. "For you to run away like a coward? When you had finally achieved success?" The man was breathing heavily, standing with his feet shoulder-width apart, his hands at his sides curled into fists.

Six months ago, Null would have been terrified by this outburst from his typically reserved father. But now...? Now he had a taste of freedom. He had experienced life outside of Team Rocket's rigid cruelty and knew just how sweet it was beyond these walls. Sure, he had no home, no source of income, and no certainty of a meal from one day to the next, but he was also not being subjected to horrible training techniques, or forced to watch Pokémon suffer. "'Coward'?" Null glared at his father. He wasn't a child anymore, not an adolescent. In his time away, he had grown up and taken on his own identity. "You are the coward. Give me my Pokémon, and face me like a man," he challenged, his face still red and smarting from where his father's hand had struck.

A dark, cruel, sinister look erupted on Alabastor's features, but it dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. His father was not the kind of person to lose control. He retained all of his anger, let it fester and turn foul, and then operated out of the shadows. Alabastor took a step forward again, taking his son's chin in his hand and resting his thumb just under the Eye. "That girl Zilch brought in with you..." Null stiffened at the mention of Nyx, and a slow smile spread across Alabastor's features. Jackpot. "Did you know that it was she who helped create this machine inside your head? The cause of your suffering? The loss of your eye?" The man tapped on the machine, causing the boy to try and flinch away from his touch.

"You're lying," Null growled. It was impossible! What were the chances? Impossible!! He had met Nyx in that dark alleyway over the potential of some stolen pastries. How could it be that she had a hand in creating the machine that burned inside his skull every time it was activated? The technology that Team Rocket desired to use to capture the strongest Pokémon in the world? It made no sense.

Alabastor smiled at the boy's discomfort. "Oh, but it's the truth. Much of the software is hers. How fortunate that you led her right to us, seeing as she has installed some... troubling locks on the code. Locks we must pick before our updated version will be ready to send into orbit."

Null simply stared at his father in confusion and disbelief. He didn't want to think about the way he had caught Nyx several times staring deeply, not at him, but at the Eye. A hunger in her own orbs. A loss. A desire. No. How could it be? Had she cared for his wound in her tiny, cramped apartment only to make sure that the Eye survived...? Had she, for a moment, considered trying to pry it from his skull? Thank Arceus Hanzer had been there. And yet... was it just the hopeless, devastated part of him? Could he really believe she only saw him as just the vessel for her project? He needed her to be more. They had been through too much together. He needed her to be his friend.

"Orbit?" Null managed, his mind buzzing with so many questions, so many fears. Where were they keeping Nyx...? Was she alright? He knew... certainly if they needed information from her, they would be interrogating her. It made his heart sink in his chest.

"Exactly." Alabastor's smile turned into a Cheshire grin. "We don't need this anymore," he said, tapping on the Eye again with his knuckle. "We've recreated the machine, scaled it up. A full-blown Dexter's Satellite. It will be able to see any Pokémon in the world from the vantage of space, locate creatures long hidden from our view and give us coordinates so we can track them down. Soon, we will have every single powerful Pokémon on the planet."

* * *

Hanzer felt absolutely awful. His body was sluggish to respond, and even when he managed to crack his eyes open the room he was in was too dimly lit to see much beyond the low flame of his mane. And then a sickeningly familiar smell hit his nostrils and the Eruption Pokémon tried to sit up straight only to smash his head against the top of his cage, sinking back down in a pained heap. He knew all too well where he was. What Team Rocket referred to as the 'Kennel'. A massive warehouse-type room with stacks upon stacks upon stacks of cages, all just slightly too small for the Pokémon they held. Pokémon who had yet to be processed or, Pokémon who were refusing Team Rocket's 'reeducation' programs. And then, against one wall, a massive pile of Pokeballs, easily ten feet tall. All the rejects. The Pokémon not worth putting time and effort into.

Hanzer recalled being separated from his trainer and swimming for his life out of the river. He recalled locating that insufferable girl and then running into Zilch... the other insufferable girl. He recalled being attacked by the female Seviper, and the hair pin being driven into his chest. His claws brushed over the location of the wound and he found that it had been bandaged. That meant Team Rocket had plans for him. But he would never let them get that far. Hanzer heated the cage bars with his flame and reached out to pull them apart and was met with a stiff jolt of electricity that knocked him back onto the floor pan, dazed. Electrified...? What was he supposed to do now...?

In the quiet, there was the noise of several Pokeballs cascading down the mountain of rejects. Hanzer was looking down at his singed paws, his mind churning as he tried to take stock of his situation and what could be done, when there was a sudden familiar bleating sound from the ground six feet below his cage. Carefully, without touching any of the bars, Hanzer peered out and down, looking from Lambo to the massive pile of rejected Pokeballs and then back again. Had the derpy creature escaped on its own...? But how?

There was no time to consider further as the Flaaffy reached out to grab onto the bars of the cage beneath Hanzer's. The fire-type tried to snarl a warning at the stupid creature, but it was too late. Lambo's tongue shot out of the side of its mouth as the electricity jumped the gap between its fins and the bars and started sparking through the sheep's wool. The bolts were shockingly bright and carried with them a large crackle and the expression on Lambo's features soon changed from surprise to... warm delight. Eyes closed pleasurably and a dumb smile on its features, as if it was submerged it a warm bath.

Hanzer groaned and buried his face in his paws. Why did he have to deal with these simpletons...? He gave a few quiet but direct snaps at the Flaaffy to recapture its attention once it had shorted out the cage below, and Lambo managed to climb up the lower cage to Hanzer's where the process started all over again. The tungsten bars had too high of a melting point for him to destroy all on its own, but once Lambo had removed the electrical charge the Typhlosion was able to heat the bars until glowing and, bracing himself, bend them enough to squeeze out, falling gracelessly to the floor in a heap with the Flaaffy as he forced his wide hips through.

With a small huff of flame, Hanzer got to his feet and brushed himself off, unceremoniously dragging Lambo to its feet as well. He paused for a moment to look around at all the silent, broken faces that stared back at him from their cages. All of the Pokemon desperate to return to their masters... desperate to escape. Seeing something like this would have gutted his human. Null... the Typhlosion felt homesick at the thought of his trainer, who he hadn't seen since the bridge went down. He started off toward the exit, but Lambo gave a sharp bleat and held tight to his tail spikes.

Snarling in anger, Hanzer whipped around but the Wool Pokémon had already grabbed his paw in both of its fins and was pulling him deeper into the Kennel. The Flaaffy could sense it... a familiar spark of electricity jumping through the neural network of a particular canid. One he had once traded a pastry with.

* * *

Belladonna stood straight with satisfaction as she watched Nyx begin to stir from her slumber, though her expression swiftly changed to a sneer as the girl tried to put on a brave face. Heroics... how awfully trite. "Your Absol has become Team Rocket property, we thank you for your donation," the woman said with a smug smile. "Now, dear girl," Belladonna pulled a chair in front of Nyx and sat down, leaning back and crossing her legs. "We here at Team Rocket have become quite... familiar with your work on Dexter's Eye. Yes, yes... we know all about it," she assured the girl with another smirk. Zilch stood to the side and behind her mother, observing everything. Soaking it up. Learning.

"Unfortunately while trying to adapt the code we have run into a small... hiccup," her piercing blue eyes narrowed disapprovingly with the word. "You were awfully guarded with your technology, weren't you...? A little... paranoid?" Belladonna suggested with a raised eyebrow, and then she leaned in, her voice dropping to a dangerous octave. "We need your passcodes, little girl," her long, manicured fingernails found their way underneath Nyx's chin so they were looking eye-to-eye. "And this is me asking nicely... let us in."