Chapter 21: Hope

A/N: Happy New Years yo! First chapter of the year, hope you like the long chapter. Haven't written a chapter this long in a while so it's weird.

Drop them power stones, or give a review. I appreciate it very much.

Legend:

(—): Author/Editor Notes

[—]: Pokémon moves/Items

{—}: Pokédex entries (I don't use this often)

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Apprehending Gray and Ash was easy, Scarlet took their Pokémon and belongings before letting her grunts do the heavy work. They carefully made their way towards their outpost, where the cells were placed.

"Alright, lock them up in a clean cell, they are for leverage. Treat them better than the others." Scarlet ordered, the grunts immediately complied and tossed the two into a cleaner cell.

Some grunts entered the cell and put chains on their ankles and wrists, hindering the two.

"Heh, even though you two are…special, you still are prisoners." The grunts scoffed, slamming the cell close with a loud thud.

Gray stared at the female, gazing into her soul like a demon. She chuckled and went her way, not bothered with Gray's actions as she'd seen much more terrifying stuff than that.

Unlike Gray, Ash on the other hand was not himself. He had slightly changed after his fight at Pewter City. Although it was by a small amount, it still did its part.

His confidence was more fragile than ever, alongside his mental state.

Thinking he was the reason for Gray's imprisonment, Ash asked.

"Why? Why Gray? Why did you save me?" Ash quietly whispered, he clenched his fist in anger.

If only he wasn't caught, maybe Gray wouldn't have been here. It's because of him that Gray was taken too. Dark thoughts violently swam in his mind, thinking of all the bad things that happened because of him.

However, he was pulled out of his depressive episode by Gray.

"I didn't save you, if I had the intention of doing such a thing, I wouldn't have ignored you. Honestly, you are pitiful, being leveraged and doing nothing to escape. You could have at least fought back the grunts to escape, but you didn't. What was in your mind? Do you think heroes would suddenly appear and save you?"

With that statement, Ash went back to his depressive episode. He was so naive and ignorant that he thought Gray was there to save him.

He was so oblivious, that he didn't realize it would be out of character to Gray if he did.

"Just… don't bother me."

-o-

Moments after the grunts detained the two, they came back to Scarlet and reported.

"Miss, they are locked and secured. We will watch them diligently and let them not escape!"

Scarlet, who was carefully inspecting Gray's items, nodded. After a few seconds of silence, she sent them away and sighed.

Having a close battle with Gray, she had wanted to know how he got to train an Elekid that strong. And with the opportunity, she decided to look over his bag.

She had been wondering how and why, and if she was right, she might acquire useful items that'll boost the strength of her team.

Opening the bag of Gray, she was dumbfounded.

'This… Why are his items so… average? Essential trainer kit, Pokédex, traveler's kit, personal belongings… These are useless. Most people who train Pokémon have these items.' Scarlet internally whispered, pondering how weird that is.

Especially since Gray has Elekid, who is exceptionally strong even with his young age and poor experience.

To have such power and strength, special items are needed. However, special items are only one of many ingredients that makes a strong Pokémon, one more is potential.

'Potential is crucial to the Pokémon's growth, however, it is only the path. And to cross the road, a vehicle makes it easy and fast.' And such vehicles are items and other ingredients.

Items can vary, it can be as common as [Leftovers], or unique as [Moon Stone] and other items that can only be found in the wilderness.

They can provide unique effects to the holder. [Leftovers] can restore stamina and raise the Pokémon's recovery speed by how great the quality of it is.

However, there are more that are unique than those. Examples of such things is the [Everstone]. [Everstone] halts the process of evolution, it may sound terrible, however, it is useful if utilized appropriately.

With items like those, it greatly benefits the trainer and Pokémon, which is why Scarlet is perplexed on how Gray is void of such things.

Does that mean he trained them without any outside source of help? If that is the case, Gray is an outstanding trainer. Being able to draw the potential of a Pokémon with only his own hands is impressive.

Only a few trainers can achieve those acts.

Scarlet hypothesized, and she achieved a conclusion that makes her smile.

"A talent like him will be greatly appreciated by the organization. If we can influence and mold him to our means, we could have a weapon… hehe."

Scarlet chuckled. Shortly after thinking, she immediately reported back to the higher-ups, giving an account of Gray…

-o-

[Gray's POV]

Ash Ketchum, a young boy that happened to be sucked in a whirlpool of madness. I feel bad for him… not really, he was like me, being roped into Team Rocket's business.

But, he irritates me. He is so dependent on others, clinging onto others just to rise, while not doing anything.

He could have saved us trouble if he did his job as a trainer properly and fought the grunts. But he didn't. He relied on me to fight all of them, with the addition of Scarlet, with just three Pokémon that can fight.

If only… if only I had them right now…

My thoughts instantly vanish as I hear a whimper.

"H-help me… please… I beg of you. I have been here for weeks, I can't take it anymore, the pain…"

To our right, another cell was placed. Unlike ours, it wasn't clean, rather the opposite. It was unsanitary. Blood splattered onto the ground, the metal bars rusted, and it held a few rotting corpses.

The man was slim and slender, he was malnourished. His skin was pale as snow, his bones also showed, as if fighting and restraining against his skin.

His body was also deformed, as if he maintained his position for weeks without moving.

I was surprised that the trainer held on for so long. It must be agonizing to be around fowl and decaying bodies. Having no source of consumption will also provide extreme agony along the list of things.

And judging on how the other prisoners look, most of them were kept here for a long time. Their bodies were similar or worse than his.

"How can I help? Tell me, I am in the same situation as you, just much… nicer."

His eyes widened, the small hope it carried soon replaced with despair. He helplessly laughed, his face holding a psychotic look. His body contorted in weird and almost robotic ways. His bones snapped with every notion of his body. The man finally snapped.

I noticed Ash glancing at the man, his eyes stuck to him like a glue.

After a few seconds, his body was mangled as blood spurted out in every direction. His laugh was mixed with agony, however his expression betrayed his physical and mental state. Even with his body breaking by seconds, he is in euphoria.

I don't know what Team Rocket did, but it broke the man to this extent.

I glanced at Ash, who was seemingly looking at the man. His eyes frantically moved. I sense fear, anxiety, and wariness from him.

"Don't look at him, he's already gone. Living in such an environment for weeks will degrade any human. If you hold that fear, you'll be next." I warned him, and by the look of his body language, he slightly took note of what I said.

He averted his eyes and looked away.

I sigh, it is going to be a slow and painful wait. I can already tell.

-o-

Several days have passed, and it was quiet, yet eerie. The two didn't produce any sound, but other inmates did. Team Rocket randomly tortured trainers, excluding them.

The screams of agony and desperation echoed nonstop, torturing the remaining trainers' mental state, including Ash.

Ash was damaged enough that he couldn't sleep, if he did, it was a restless one.

Gray however, was tough as iron. He didn't let the tortures influence him. His eyes stayed sharp and alert, watching the patterns of the guards, counting and timing their breaks, hoping to find a flaw in their formation.

In his mind, he knew it was a tight and secure system, but there is not a perfect concept in life. Only amazing ones. With that, he studied them and steeled his mind, keeping note of everything he saw.

One thing he found was the time difference of the guards shifts. There are five hours of the day, which the first guard watches over, and then a two minute gap between the switch of the first group to the second.

After that, the second group patrols for another five and switches with the third group, which takes about five minutes.

When the third group guards them, for most of the day, leaving at exactly 10 hours. When they leave, there's a period of time where no guard is available, however, that's only in their area.

The other area had more guards, which is hard to avoid. And considering he is locked and restrained, it would be difficult to escape.

Even with a great plan, how would he escape? There is no available materials to break the cell bars, or dig anything up. The bars are too durable for normal humans to break. The ground is too hard for it to be dug up, any efforts of doing so would trade sore and broken hands.

However, he noticed something peculiar earlier. When he was observing random grunts, two made their way to a cell which held people, or rather corpses.

They weren't corpses before, in fact, when Gray and Ash got here, they were still alive.

Those guards had a key and opened the cell and entered it, cleaning it clear of corpses. That's when he realized he could use that to his advantage.

He could probably pretend, and surprise the guards and get out. However, it wasn't as easy as it sounded. The guards could quickly alert the situation if he isn't fast enough, or overpower him if he doesn't do it quickly. Gray needed a distraction.

Even with that, he is still missing information to actually escape smoothly. He doesn't know where they keep the Pokémon, where Scarlet is located, and where the best route to getting there is.

Gray sighed, knowing it would take a lot of time of observing to know. He cleared his mind of distractions and went back to his zone.

-o-

[Gray's POV]

Every minute, every hour, I have been observing. Yet, I have found nothing that'll be useful. Yes, I have memorized the time gap between switches of the guards, and yes, I have a solid plan. However, all of those are meaningless unless they can be utilized. But that's the thing, it cannot, at least as of right now.

I don't have the materials and essentials to escape this cell, and before I could do that, those are useless. Sure I can use the gaps between the switches, however what am I going to do with them?

If I want to escape, I would need a miracle to appear. There's 0% of myself escaping without exterior help. I am limited and restricted inside the cell.

This situation is different from most times, I attracted Team Rocket multiple times in the past, and none of our encounters has been this dangerous and hopeless.

And I know why that is the case. They are too weak. Spearow, Magikarp, and the others… they are too useless as of the moment.

Now I realize that I was careless, I spent too much time on Elekid, because he had the most potential of them, but neglected the Pokémon that are essential.

I have thought they were like my other Pokémon, who grew without trying, who were exceptional even in tough times. But it's different now.

I have started a new journey, I need to get back into schedule or else. However, that would need to be put aside. I need to get out of here first.

And there are two things I am clinging to and hopeful for.

If Ash's friends aren't with him, they are outside and getting help. It's the only plausible outcome with him here without their company.

If they were dead, Ash would have been unresponsive. He is a child and the loss of friends would damage him severely.

But that's not all. An organization as big as Team Rocket, they would attract attention and adversaries, and with enemies comes spies.

Sure it's unlikely, but that's what hope is right?

That's where my hope comes from. The outside, and the inside.

It is only a matter of time and opportunity. I only need to wait for the moment…

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The End of Chapter 21: Hope

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