Painted Paradise
Mistrust
In front of him lay an entire camp swarming with workers all wearing the same shirts with a volcano symbol slapped on each one. The building on the right was by far the biggest in the circular base, covering roughly about half of the entire space. Silver quivered as more scents wafted over him than he could count, all mixed from all types. To the left of the base was a smaller but still large building with tight security blocking anyone from entering without a key. The she-Meowth led the way with the houndooms on her tail toward the biggest of the buildings, turning as she got to the human door and leading the way around the entire building. When they rounded the next corner where all was calm and unnoticed, a mound of soil and scarred Earth lay dry and old leaning heavily against the metal and brick that made up the building.
She didn’t hesitate approaching the mound before ducking down and disappearing completely. Silver blinked, utterly confused until the houndoom also approached revealing a hole leading underneath the Building. The houndooms pushed Silver underneath, scraping dusty thirsty Earth over his fur and changing his fur color from cream to a russet brown coloration. The hole was small and cramped, but didn’t last long as the hole immediately shifted to the direction of the sky and broken light jumped in from above. The she-cat skillfully leaped even under the barren of the rocky ground squishing her in, quickly followed by the clumsier houndooms who climbed shakily up the steep incline with their load in their teeth. The hole changed from parched earth to broken bent metal and rough cement scraping against Silver’s fur. The entrance was in a small room starved of clean oxygen with two doors on opposite sides. The hole was obviously meant to be secretive as it was in the far corner and behind a bookcase filled with anything but books. The houndooms scurried grumpily under the small space and seemed relieved to be where they could stretch out if they wanted.
The she-Meowth made an easy leap over a broken window, the houndooms carefully avoiding the shards of pointed glass material. The same workers with the volcano signs passed through the halls like ants busily working to find their duties among the ant hill but in a thicker mass this time. They looked confused and curious as the she-Meowth and the houndooms curved around the annoying mass of feet. To each side of them where small hallways, but there was clearly a highway right in the middle. The first room they saw was a dark sickly purple color, easy to spot. The door was close to the exit door, reading “ghost” on the front. The room was clearly huge as the sickly purple reached far until the end where a hallway drifted darkly down. The next room was even bigger, painted an enthusiastic purple, much like the ghost type color but almost as if the sick purple had been healed and was traveling through the skies in joy. The door was in the direct middle, reading “flying” on the front. To the left of the next small hallway was painted a sickly green, but that one didn’t have a door on it and was tiny. Silver assumed he had just been caught on the wrong side of it and had to go down the hallway. The next room was much smaller than the others, but still bigger than the small percentage of the green room. This one was a brown color, like a load of light orange added to the color of bronze. The door came quickly, reading “Rock” on the front.
This kept on until they got to the biggest unit so far. The color was a sweet orange color with a touch of dark brown to it. The door read “fire” on the front. As soon as one of the workers opened the door, the she-Meowth rushed in followed by the houndooms. The worker that opened growled a “hey!” of surprise, annoyance boiling around him but he didn’t press on hunting them down and getting them out. The inside of the fire room had a fire-proof transparent material on both sides. It was then revealed that much more room was dug under the building, as each went downward for more area to be covered. Inside, behind fire-proof bars scarred from attempts of escape from the prisoners laid several fire type Pokémon. None tried to escape the imprisonment they obviously suffered; instead they sat defeated and hollow against the corners. Most of them where kept together in one giant cage, but most had divided consciously into their own species on either side. Heat wafted off the glass, telling Silver that inside the temperature remained burning hot. Rotting red meat lay in skinny scraps around the floor, along with dung mostly in the corners or thrown out of the cage as far as possible from the Pokémon inside.
Briefly Silver stared horrified, wondering if he were coming in here to join them, then tried to convince himself he was a normal type and probably wouldn’t be thrown in there in such an organized building. Several workers sat glaring at the fire types, probably watching for any sort of attempted escape as well as more sitting like statues over several buttons and technology over the Pokémon in front of them. A man soon came into sight that stood apart from the others. He was wearing a long black and red coat of sorts, with black pants and shoes and long red hair. The she-Meowth quickly perked up and trotted comfortably to the man, the houndooms following obediently.
“Boss, I need a word with you. I’ve found another Meowth that could make an excellent addition to the normal type compartment,” she chirped joyfully. The man turned his stare down at the she-Meowth, smiling just a tad only scarcely hiding his serious expression. He said nothing to respond, instead leaning down and patting her softly on the head before only just then looking up at the houndoom. He got up and walked to Silver, leaning down and casting his hot breath over his face as he looked at the newcomer. He stepped back and stared fondly at the she-Meowth as he began to walk farther down the aisle. “Nice job, Nala” he praised to the she-Meowth, “it seems healthy and might be useful if we can test how good it will be.” Nala blinked warmly at him and then followed beside his footsteps. The man walked to the end of the room, bending down and gripping a pair of gloves and some other tools. Slipping on the gloves, he moved his hand closer to Silver, giving him a chance to finally defend himself. He immediately opened his jaws and snapped as hard as he could, but instead of meeting flesh and rubber glove in his teeth he felt a foul-tasting plastic mouthpiece shoved between his jaws. The other part of the tool was stretched behind his head to keep the choking mouth piece from being spat out.
While Silver was distracted with the annoying mouth tool, his front paws where gripped together quickly and then tied toot tightly with a piece of elastic rope, followed with his hind paws given the same treatment. The man grunted in satisfaction while Silver snarled under the mouthpiece, followed with the man forcing Silver’s jaw open and peering inside. He turned to the spectators that had come to watch, “these teeth could be valuable weapons. It’s clear this Meowth wasn’t always a stray, the owner at some point must have kept them sharp.” He picked up the bundle of front paws and pressed two fingers professionally over the tips of the first toe so that the claws slid out. “As expected, the claws are just as well kept as the teeth. For whatever reason the owner kept them so sharp is beyond me, but they did a good job. It would have been wasted in the forest.” He did the same procedure checking his hind paws, approving swiftly and then sat up. “The fur seems pretty healthy, but not well in nutrition. Now if we could make this soft house Meowth into a blood-thirsty fighting machine, then it just might be worth something.” He turned sneering angrily at Silver now, “You should thank my Meowth here; if I didn’t have her then I would have thrown a Meowth out in a heartbeat. But she showed me that not all Meowths are worthless.”
Nala looked like she was about to explode with pride, puffing her chest out powerfully like a Lion and slicking her ears back in a battle stance. “What should we do about it then?” one of the workers asked from the sidelines. The gentleness that the man had shown suddenly small away entire as he turned and screamed a retort along the lines of taking Silver to the battle arena. Silver flicked his ears, a battle arena? What did they want from him, what had they expected from him? Worst of all, if he didn’t manage to deliver that then what would be his punishment?
She didn’t hesitate approaching the mound before ducking down and disappearing completely. Silver blinked, utterly confused until the houndoom also approached revealing a hole leading underneath the Building. The houndooms pushed Silver underneath, scraping dusty thirsty Earth over his fur and changing his fur color from cream to a russet brown coloration. The hole was small and cramped, but didn’t last long as the hole immediately shifted to the direction of the sky and broken light jumped in from above. The she-cat skillfully leaped even under the barren of the rocky ground squishing her in, quickly followed by the clumsier houndooms who climbed shakily up the steep incline with their load in their teeth. The hole changed from parched earth to broken bent metal and rough cement scraping against Silver’s fur. The entrance was in a small room starved of clean oxygen with two doors on opposite sides. The hole was obviously meant to be secretive as it was in the far corner and behind a bookcase filled with anything but books. The houndooms scurried grumpily under the small space and seemed relieved to be where they could stretch out if they wanted.
The she-Meowth made an easy leap over a broken window, the houndooms carefully avoiding the shards of pointed glass material. The same workers with the volcano signs passed through the halls like ants busily working to find their duties among the ant hill but in a thicker mass this time. They looked confused and curious as the she-Meowth and the houndooms curved around the annoying mass of feet. To each side of them where small hallways, but there was clearly a highway right in the middle. The first room they saw was a dark sickly purple color, easy to spot. The door was close to the exit door, reading “ghost” on the front. The room was clearly huge as the sickly purple reached far until the end where a hallway drifted darkly down. The next room was even bigger, painted an enthusiastic purple, much like the ghost type color but almost as if the sick purple had been healed and was traveling through the skies in joy. The door was in the direct middle, reading “flying” on the front. To the left of the next small hallway was painted a sickly green, but that one didn’t have a door on it and was tiny. Silver assumed he had just been caught on the wrong side of it and had to go down the hallway. The next room was much smaller than the others, but still bigger than the small percentage of the green room. This one was a brown color, like a load of light orange added to the color of bronze. The door came quickly, reading “Rock” on the front.
This kept on until they got to the biggest unit so far. The color was a sweet orange color with a touch of dark brown to it. The door read “fire” on the front. As soon as one of the workers opened the door, the she-Meowth rushed in followed by the houndooms. The worker that opened growled a “hey!” of surprise, annoyance boiling around him but he didn’t press on hunting them down and getting them out. The inside of the fire room had a fire-proof transparent material on both sides. It was then revealed that much more room was dug under the building, as each went downward for more area to be covered. Inside, behind fire-proof bars scarred from attempts of escape from the prisoners laid several fire type Pokémon. None tried to escape the imprisonment they obviously suffered; instead they sat defeated and hollow against the corners. Most of them where kept together in one giant cage, but most had divided consciously into their own species on either side. Heat wafted off the glass, telling Silver that inside the temperature remained burning hot. Rotting red meat lay in skinny scraps around the floor, along with dung mostly in the corners or thrown out of the cage as far as possible from the Pokémon inside.
Briefly Silver stared horrified, wondering if he were coming in here to join them, then tried to convince himself he was a normal type and probably wouldn’t be thrown in there in such an organized building. Several workers sat glaring at the fire types, probably watching for any sort of attempted escape as well as more sitting like statues over several buttons and technology over the Pokémon in front of them. A man soon came into sight that stood apart from the others. He was wearing a long black and red coat of sorts, with black pants and shoes and long red hair. The she-Meowth quickly perked up and trotted comfortably to the man, the houndooms following obediently.
“Boss, I need a word with you. I’ve found another Meowth that could make an excellent addition to the normal type compartment,” she chirped joyfully. The man turned his stare down at the she-Meowth, smiling just a tad only scarcely hiding his serious expression. He said nothing to respond, instead leaning down and patting her softly on the head before only just then looking up at the houndoom. He got up and walked to Silver, leaning down and casting his hot breath over his face as he looked at the newcomer. He stepped back and stared fondly at the she-Meowth as he began to walk farther down the aisle. “Nice job, Nala” he praised to the she-Meowth, “it seems healthy and might be useful if we can test how good it will be.” Nala blinked warmly at him and then followed beside his footsteps. The man walked to the end of the room, bending down and gripping a pair of gloves and some other tools. Slipping on the gloves, he moved his hand closer to Silver, giving him a chance to finally defend himself. He immediately opened his jaws and snapped as hard as he could, but instead of meeting flesh and rubber glove in his teeth he felt a foul-tasting plastic mouthpiece shoved between his jaws. The other part of the tool was stretched behind his head to keep the choking mouth piece from being spat out.
While Silver was distracted with the annoying mouth tool, his front paws where gripped together quickly and then tied toot tightly with a piece of elastic rope, followed with his hind paws given the same treatment. The man grunted in satisfaction while Silver snarled under the mouthpiece, followed with the man forcing Silver’s jaw open and peering inside. He turned to the spectators that had come to watch, “these teeth could be valuable weapons. It’s clear this Meowth wasn’t always a stray, the owner at some point must have kept them sharp.” He picked up the bundle of front paws and pressed two fingers professionally over the tips of the first toe so that the claws slid out. “As expected, the claws are just as well kept as the teeth. For whatever reason the owner kept them so sharp is beyond me, but they did a good job. It would have been wasted in the forest.” He did the same procedure checking his hind paws, approving swiftly and then sat up. “The fur seems pretty healthy, but not well in nutrition. Now if we could make this soft house Meowth into a blood-thirsty fighting machine, then it just might be worth something.” He turned sneering angrily at Silver now, “You should thank my Meowth here; if I didn’t have her then I would have thrown a Meowth out in a heartbeat. But she showed me that not all Meowths are worthless.”
Nala looked like she was about to explode with pride, puffing her chest out powerfully like a Lion and slicking her ears back in a battle stance. “What should we do about it then?” one of the workers asked from the sidelines. The gentleness that the man had shown suddenly small away entire as he turned and screamed a retort along the lines of taking Silver to the battle arena. Silver flicked his ears, a battle arena? What did they want from him, what had they expected from him? Worst of all, if he didn’t manage to deliver that then what would be his punishment?