C.7: Suffering is the key to survival.

A day later...

Water... Everything is blurred. I was submerged in a solution of water and unknown chemicals that can let me breathe inside this capsule.

"So.... You.... Experiment.... Brothers..." The voice of Colress, but who is he talking to. Everything was vague. I can't hear his voice clearly.

"... Traitors."That's Chili for sure. He's that brother who would do anything for power... Stupid Colress... You did this... Now i'm stuck inside a capsule with Liquid Chemicals.

I shifted my gaze to my right side, there, Cress was awake with his eyes wide-opened. Unable to speak, he turned his gaze at me and smiled.

What is he planning...

From my peripheral vision, I saw Chili and Colress left the room, making the room unguarded and vulnerable. I closed my eyes. Knowing that it's hopeless to escape, I am certain i'm gonna face my doom.

As I tried to accept my death, I heard a knocking sound from outside. In front of me, was Cress.

He escaped his pod... Of course... He mastered the art of escaping anything and unlocking even the hardest vaults.

The capsule opened, water started to drain to the floor. I heaved out a sigh of relief before falling on Cress,"Y...you... Saved me."

"Of course I did.. Haha.. You're my only hope of stopping Chili."Cress uttered in a sad tone.

"What do you mean..?"Before I could even finished everything I wanna say, Cress pushed me in an air vent and locked me in."h..hey!"

"You can escape through there without anyone, not even Chili nor Colress noticing."Cress smiled turning around.

"Cress! Don—"I stopped. The door swing open that made me flee backwards. I covered my mouth, listening to everything Colress and Chili would do.

"You escaped... Lucky brat."Colress uttered,"But Cilan's missing..."

"He's no threat to us anymore. Sooner or later he will come back here and see his own brother, Cress in agony."Chili laughed manically...

Those two...

Ash's Point of View

"I dont know if I should be thankful that Cilan handcuffed us or not. We've been like this for a day or two and I can't even eat the food we packed properly!"Iris groans, taking a bite of the last potato chips Cilan made for us a few days ago.

"Cilan left us... He said he'll cook for me... Now I don't know if he's okay..."I cried, desperately and miserably eating the potato chips."We haven't even reached the town yet because we tend to take the wrong way!"

"Once we reached the town, We'll get to remove this handcuffs for Arceus' sake.. Then afterwards we can search for Cilan with no problem at all."Iris says half heartedly.

"Eyy.. Pikachu can't you really remove it with Iron tail..."I pout, gazing at Pikachu who shakes his head while whimpering.

"We need Nurse Joy..."I finally said.

"AAGHHHH!!!!"A scream from nearby was heard. Oh man what was that... It doesn't sound like from this world...

"W...what was that..!"I screeched, pulling my handcuffed hand closer to me.

"Eek! It's coming from over there!"Iris pointed behind the tree. Man... I hope it's not a man-eating wolf or something... Plus I can see the town from here already...

"C...can't we ignore it? Look the town's over there..."I shivered. I cannot escape this if Iris is cuffed with me!!

"Are you serious? It sounds like a cry of a man! Let's check it out!"Iris pulled the handcuffs while I tried stopping her by using my feet, A.K.A Friction.

"I.. I don't want to! Iris!!! Waaaaa!!"I screamed, Unfeazants started to flew out of its trees because of my scream.

"Don't be such a kid!"Iris kept pulling me that made me lose all my strength."Now now we're just gonna check things out."Her smirk is making me shiver more...

"Serenaaaa if you're here you would stop Iris!"I cried.

"Serena eh? Well good thing she ain't here. Hahaha!"Iris smirks pulling me closer... And closer to where that scream was heard.

Iris parted the bush, revealing a familiar style of hair... And color of the hair as well... But the weird cat-like ears was what caught my attention. Its figure was of human but it has cat ears and somewhat like a Purrloin's tail...

"What happened to me!!"He screech, facing me to reveal who he was.

Trip?!

"Trip what on earth happened to you! Did you go on a costume party or something?"Iris started to laugh, pinching and pulling the cat ears Trip has on his head.

"Those aren't costume you arrogant fool. Something awful happened to me."Trip said in a bored yet mourning manner.

"What?! Those aren't costumes?!... How... What happened to you...?!"Iris repeated, but this time she was seriously worried.

"Long story... I'm not in the mood to tell you guys what happened but dear Arceus I look awful!"Trip stood up and stared at us,"Look at me! Whiskers, cat ears, Tail and sharp claws! HOW WILL I EVER TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS AND HOW ON EARTH CAN I JOIN POKEMON BATTLES IN THIS SITUATION?!"Trip groans, stomping his feet as he sent out his Serperior."And the worst case is, HOW ON EARTH CAN I UNDERSTAND WHAT MY POKEMONS ARE SAYING?!"

"And how on earth are we gonna understand your situation if all you're gonna do is complain! You're acting like a little kid!"Iris retaliate, punching Trip later on...

Woah.

"Whatever!...mnggh... All I remember was that I was kidnapped by a masked man and I woke up inside a capsule filled with liquid chemicals... Then I lost my consciousness again... The last thing I know was that I was lying here, helpless!"Trip explained wholeheartedly...

"Masked man..."My eyes widened. The masked men that kidnapped Cilan yesterday! They might do something bad to him!"Cilan's in trouble!"

"Cilan? Oh he got kidnapped? Is that why your hands are cuffed..."Trip pointed with his claws...

"You could say that..."Iris groans,"Do you think you could slash it with your claws?"

"Why would I do that?! Now i'm gonna be of use to you just because I... i'm half pokemon?!"Trip was burning red because of anger and anxiety.

But man... What does he mean about him being a half pokemon?...

"Half pokemon?"I asked without even thinking what his answer could be.

"Y...yeah... I... I am... Half pokemon..."Trip curled his fist into a ball,"N..now I remember... Everything became vivid now...Those kidnappers mixed my DNA with a Purrloin..."

"How could that happen..? That's... That's inhumane."Iris says coherently, facing me then Trip.

"I know. But... I still can take up my human form... But... For some reasons... This... This half purrloin form always takes place in random time of the day... I can't control it..."Trip's voice was shaking. Engulfed with fear and regret... Fear that people might think differently of him, and regret because he will never live a normal life now..."Sigh... Since you guys are the only one I could trust right now... Fine i'll try to cut off that cuff using Fury Cutter... But only this time!"

"Okay! I'm grateful you're gonna separate us!.. Ugh.."Iris smiles... I guess she doesn't really like me around.

"Let's head to the town over there to rest. Trip, do you think you'll be fine?"The cuffs were finally cut off right before I finished my sentence.

"Mmm?"Trip blew his claws and slowly, he turns to his normal self,"Yeah we'll be fine. As long as my purrloin self won't trigger. Serperior return."

"Hmm... Well.. Let's hurry before sundown. We might see those masked man again and kidnap us. And... I'm getting pretty hungry..."I hold my stomach, groaning in sheer hunger.

"Gosh Ash you're such a little kid! You should worry about Trip... Especially Cilan..."And with that... The atmosphere became heavy and full of grief...

*Click!*

"Ehh?!"My eyes widened, Trip was taking pictures of me and Iris. What's with him?!

"You look cute here. I'm keeping this."Trip waves his camera slowly in front of my face.

"Trip! This isn't the time for..."Then he ran away, still waving the camera to annoy me.

"Catch me if you can!"

"Hey!!!"

"What a kid..."