Painted Paradise

Silver woke with a start to fresh light tracing into the room. He had to blink a few times before adjusting to the light, he hadn’t been aware there was a light switch in the room. The shadowed objects he had seen before were revealed to be several boxes, a small mini fridge, several electrical outlets on the walls and a spider web of wires on every corner of the tiny room. Most of the workers had left the room with only one behind and Max, both looking extremely frustrated. “It’ll come to me, I just need to sleep on it,” Max muttered with not the slightest bit of patience to last a whole night in his voice. The man on his other side nodded, “Until then I think we shouldn’t put the newbie in the cage with the others. Nala seems to have a fondness for him too, so it’s not like it’ll hurt.”
Max nodded, not turning his gaze. “He’s as fidgety as the others though, we’ll need to keep him under bay somehow.” The worker beside him looked thoughtful, “There’s no way out of the building unless someone opens the doors. We could just keep him indoors at all times and tell all the workers to be extra careful when exiting.” Max glared at him, “too risky.” The worker looked annoyed at the easy shot down of his idea but didn’t argue.
Max went on, “We could put him on an electrical collar.” They both nodded at the idea, “Do you think the Meowth is really that important?” the worker asked cautiously. “Of course it is!” Max snapped, “I don’t remember things so easily like this, it’s been bugging me all night and now after the battle, I’m sure I’m missing something.” He stopped to ponder for a few moments, then turned with all the authority that a leader should have. “There’s a fence all around the camp, but he can climb it. Put barbs all along the fence and put an electrical collar on him that reaches a few feet before getting to the fence. Make an announcement to the other workers to make sure the Meowth doesn’t get out of camp range at all costs, but tell them to treat it with respect.”
Nala lifted her head drowsily forcing Silver’s attention back to her. He opened his eyes wide; she didn’t have a single scratch anymore! Her wounded shoulder was as good as new, and all the claw marks he had made in his tussle with her had vanished. It was the move Rest she used, Silver realized; she probably wasn’t tired at all anymore while Silver felt on the brink of collapsing. She looked up at her owner and studied his horrified and confused expression, then whipped her head back to Silver. “What happened, what did you do?” She hissed.
“I’m not sure,” he answered truthfully; “I think they’re not going to put me back in that cage though.” He felt excitement and joy brim around him, whatever he had done to impress them had spared him entering the cage again! Guilt also caught him, spotting his emotions like a darkened banana. The other Pokémon would be furious and hurt to see he had weaseled his way out of entering the cage again, but the happiness he got easily clouded that guilt.
His joy was caught short when he noticed Nala’s utterly suspicious glance. Anger filled its place; Nala just wanted him thrown back in the cage again. He felt a spray of mockery and triumph in his stomach, it didn’t matter what Nala wanted anymore, he was free to treat her with as much respect as she deserved. Max had obviously taken a liking to him, and who knows, he might even take her place with the sort of enthusiasm Max was showing him! He imagined curling up next to the fire again instead of struggling to keep warm during the winter, drinking fresh clean milk instead of small puddles of dirty water during summer, and getting strokes and praise from his new owner while Nala watched on.
A few more minutes of questioning and frustration from Max and his worker passed before the worker got to his feet. He walked to the boxes, looking through one before placing it on the ground and searching the next box. “They’re in the complete opposite direction you’re searching Tabby,” Max sighed. Tabby turned his glare to Max and then walked to the boxes on the right, “that would have been helpful before I searched all the boxes on the left,” he muttered dryly. A opened a small rectangular box and pulled out a long strip of black leather, plumped with chains cocooned in the center. A large box with several red and yellow wires where tangled in a knot in the center with a blue sticker in the front, naming the name and address of the company and safety information. Tabby went through a few between ones that would fit a Venusaur to ones that would fit a Pichu.
He finally pulled out one fit for a Meowth, pushing some wires recklessly into the tiny box and shutting it. He turned a few dials marking strength of electric shock and distance and then walked to Silver. He felt the collar hook tightly around his neck and almost fell foreword with the unsteady weight of the box containing the wires in front of him. “Did you set it right?” Max grumbled, coming up to check before Tabby could answer. “Yes of course,” Tabby muttered before turning and exiting the small room.
Silver caught Nala rolling her eyes at him before walking up to Max and pressing herself against his legs, purring and begging to be stroked. Silver refrained an angry glare, was she really thinking he was going to steal her position in the team just by getting a cool collar? Max followed the gesture with smooth strokes across her head and down her back. “Nala, I have a special mission for you,” he said confidently. She looked up at him, her eyes glittering with an expectation. “I need you to keep good watch on this Meowth, keep him out of trouble,” he finished. The glittering of an upcoming adventure swam out of her eyes, and her expression fell to a frown.
If Max had noticed her sudden change in mood, he hadn’t cared much of it, leaving promptly afterwards with the door open for both of them. Nala just stared after him, shocked; making Silver certain he was about to get a surprise attack from Nala and a hiss or two. Instead she looked genially defeated, letting her tail drag across the cement floor before following out the door, not stopping to check if Silver was following or not. He would have liked to stay in the warm room he had come to be familiar with, but fear of being trapped in the room haunted him and made him turn to follow Nala out the door. They both emerged into the hallway, several workers looking at Nala with confusion with her tail dragging, and then pure hatred at Silver as be followed behind. Nala was clearly famous among the building; either that or none of the workers dare not to coo over the bosses pride and joy.
Nala dragged along, whisking into the normal type room after the door was opened by an unsuspecting worker. Silver hesitated, was she trying to persuade Max to put him back in there, or was she possibly trying to trap him in the cage were Max would never look? He followed anyway; in any case he would want to see what Nala was up too, and knew he could stop her if worst came to worst. She trotted through the observation center, seldom few workers granting them a brief look before returning their focus back to their studies. Nala continued on, keeping quiet for once and walked down the stairs with Silver on her heels. Several eyes burned into him as the cage Pokémon recognized who was visiting.
It nearly made him flinch back, but he continued on. Misha pushed her way to the front of the crowd, glaring hot eyes filled with nothing but overflowing suspicion and anger toward him. “What are you doing?” she snarled with hatred painted over each word, “and what are you doing with her?” Nala took no notice of the words caked with disgust, not daring to look at the cage Pokémon. “I don’t know-“ he began to justify himself, but Kokam cut him off. “What happened, I’ve never seen or heard of a cage Pokémon not put back in the cage promptly after the first test unless they died from the attack. We were all certain it was the second idea.” Silver cringed; did he even care if it really had been the second idea?
Nala looked up, not even a little liveliness in her gaze. “Max apparently likes him better than me now,” he grumbled grimly, “he’s making me his escort.” Silver didn’t expect the rumble of dusty guffaws the cage offered in the slightest. “Look whose princess now?” a Sentric hissed in the back. “I guess she has a new king to wait for now,” mused a Granbull with a smirk impossible to erase any time soon plastered on its face. “Well done kitty cat!” a second Granbull smirked at Silver, Misha and Kokam noticeably giving it despised looks. “You have no idea how long any of us have wanted to see the ole’ princess have her tail droop like the rest of us!”
For the first time, Silver noticed Nala looking particularly weak with embarrassment and sorrow. Misha managed to stop her laughter enough to rasp something to him through small chuckles. “Did you do the task me wanted?” she asked, a smile on her face that had completely disrupted the look of complete anger that was on it only moments ago. Silver froze, the key! He forgot to steal the key to the lock on the normal type Pokémon's cage! “Quiet, the lot of you!” Nala snarled, making Silver slightly grateful he hadn’t been able to answer Misha’s question right away.
She paused for a moment, looking smaller than a little kitten crying for milk would. “Aren’t you mad at him?” she burst out, her tail sticking indignantly in the air, “he got out of the cage the day after he came, and you rats have been stuck in there for years!” she laughed with satisfaction. Silver realized she had come down here to hear the anger that the cage Pokémon would send to Silver, instead receiving praise toward him for a job well done on getting her mad. The smug looks of the cage Pokémon didn’t falter in the slightest, “more than worth it to see you look about ready to cry princess.” One of the few rattata’s spat at her. “Thanks for coming down here so we could see it!” Nala backed away; looking like a train had just hit her. Silver felt his paws almost lead him to Nala and comfort her, to shield her from the accusing eyes of the cage Pokémon. But he couldn’t do that, not when there was a possibility he could be stuck in the cage again sometime later. What would the cage Pokémon do to him then? Instead he forced his sympathetic eyes to remain hard and hostile toward Nala, and then force them away entirely to smile with pride at the cage Pokémon.
Nala hardened her glare, turning only barely stop herself from charging out of the room. Instead she walked with speed, her head bowed in shame. “Silver, get over here so I can watch you like Max wanted!” she snarled behind her, almost convincing Silver that as soon as they got out of the room, she would commit all her efforts to killing him right on the spot. He sprinted to her, making sure he didn’t leave any time for Misha to repeat her question about the key. Once out, they both trekked back up the stairs, this time getting the full attention of all the workers.
One tried to bend down and pet her, but she turned and snapped at his fingers in response, only just barely missing her target. After that the rest of the workers kept their distance, but couldn’t stop from watching her leave. Nala stopped cold in the hallway, making moments feel like minutes. Then stuck her tail up in the same way it used to be, and turned to Silver with a smile. “Want to get out of here?” She asked suddenly. Silver felt his earlier doubt and suspicion return, was it a trap?
“Look, you want to get out of here and I hate your guts,” she chirped with as much enthusiasm as a kitten at play. “The faster you get out of here, the faster I’ll get over the fact you exist at all.” Silver ignored the sharp insults, instead looking at the ground and thinking hard. What did he have to loose, and what could Nala do anyway if it was a trap? “Give it your best shot,” he replied confidently at Nala.
She shot him a look of pure hatred before turning around with a devils smirk and walked down the hallway again, but this time the one he used when he first came here. Soon the small closet-like room came into view, marking it the destination when Nala scratched at the door until it opened with a creek. She signaled for Silver to come in, and he did to find her pressing under the bookshelf. He followed carefully, knowing the small space in the hole would mean he couldn’t escape afterwards. The smell of old dirt and dry dust felt soft and cool underpaw, making Silver even more excited to return back to the forest. Loops and turns curved, Nala made no effort to wait for him. Finally Silver popped his head into the sunshine he had missed so much, pulling himself out of the hole and into the open. She tipped her head to a hole in the fence, plenty big for Silver or Nala to crawl under.
“There you are, run as fast as you can and get out of territory,” she hissed with all the hatred she had for him painted on each word. He looked at the hole, joy coursing through his paws, before darting for it. This was it! He was about to get back to Nisa and his kits, to his home and to HIS forest! He came within a nose-dive to the hole when a small click buzzed from the collar. Silver ignored it, blood pounding in his ears as he jumped for the hole. Suddenly pain ripped through Silver, feeling hot but frosty cold at the same time, causing a feel of numbness. The pain gradually grew stronger and more gripping, like a baseball bat hitting him time after time again. He pulled himself through the hole, numbly aware of what color his surroundings were. The heat continued to pour down, making Silver believe his fur was on fire.
He continued to run, trying his utmost best to ignore the pain until it went away. But the pain didn’t thin down in the slightest. The forest, the dew-soaked roots still bathing in the pale light of the morning sun, the bright vibrant shine of the trees and musty sharp scent of bark and soil suddenly became blurred and unforgiving. Turning tail, the pain that went through him became no longer bearable. He ignored the look of shock and annoyance that washed over Nala’s face as he ran under the hole and began trailing in circles, utter panic washing over him. The pain began to die down before disappearing all together. Silver collapsed, panting and wheezing while his paws twitched in pain.
A snarl of anger sounded somewhere behind him. “What’s wrong with you, you’re getting off my territory if I half to drag your body to the edge of it!” She hissed behind him. Silver didn’t have the energy to hiss something back, or even get to his paws. He didn’t have the option; Nala gripped his fur painfully in her jaws and began dragging him to the fence. Silver tried to croak a desperate plea or thrash his paws, but all that came out was a rusty gasp and a small wiggle. The pain jolted back again, making Silver gather the energy back in his limbs. This time Nala had felt it too, letting out a scream of terror before letting him go and stumbling back a few paces.
Silver got to his paws and dragged his exhausted body back to the sand, collapsing again and closing his eyes as he wheezed. “What kind of attack was that?” Nala hissed with her eyes wide. Silver didn’t answer, he was hardly able to. The sun continued to pelt down on him, making him hardly conscious at all. This time Nala spared him a look of guilt and empathy, only to be replaced a split second later. “Stubborn rat,” she hissed at him under her breath with a sigh. A couple more minutes passed before Nala got abruptly to her paws and left under the tunnel without saying anything else.