The same events played out again, and again.

Jared didn't know if it was blood loss, but he swore he heard someone speak.

"Is that a kid?"

A man can be seen bending over to see Jared's face, "Hey there, are you alright?"

Everything was blurry, Jared could hear the words, but in his scrambled state, he couldn't understand what they were referring to. It was like some people were talking in another room, and everything was unrelated to him.

"Whoa, he's stuck pretty well, I can't even turn him over. It looks like those caterpie got him real good.

Touching Jared's face lightly, the bearded man called again, "Hey, can you hear me?"

"Wait, honey, look around his neck, and back. He's bleeding pretty badly."

"I don't think he's doing so good, but at least his eyes are moving. For now, let's have machop pick him up."

Once he was hoisted into the air, Jared coughed up some blood. He was held in a princess carry by what looked like a grey garden gnome come to life. With less than a meter in height, being held this way would have looked comical to Jared if he were in a state to appreciate the humor.

Onto whatever destination they were headed, Jared heard bits and pieces of their conversation as he slipped in and out of consciousness. They seemed to be arguing about something.

The woman complained, "Do you know what you are saying, are we really going to take him 'there'?" We aren't even supposed to know about that facility, do you really think they are just going to let us walk in and out?"

"Yeah, and what do you prefer? Leave a kid to die? Sorry but I don't want that on my conscience. We didn't do anything illegal, we just 'accidentally' went somewhere we shouldn't. "

'What the hell are they talking about,' Jared thought. He was getting sleepier by the second.

When Jared's eyes closed, the man shouted something to keep him awake, but Jared didn't understand why. All he knew was that he was really tired, and this annoying man was trying to ruin his sleep.

He was getting really pale now, and soon the words stopped registering as anything other than gibberish to Jared's ears.

An unknown amount of time passed, and Jared was lifted onto something, as the murmuring words seemed to become legible again.

"I insist we leave now doctor, we were on our way to work, and we can't just hang around here"

"Just call me Rachel, and I'm not a doctor."

Clearing her throat, the older woman gathered more information, "You said you found him in the woods like this? What about his pokemon?"

The couple looked at each other, then the bearded man spoke, "We just found him like this as I said. I'm not sure about his pokemon." He paused gravely, "Maybe... maybe he was robbed? I don't know, but it wasn't by us, and we really need to be getting back."

The old woman didn't agree or disagree, "Either way, I'm afraid I can't let you go. Please wait here for him to arrive."

Jared wondered who 'him' was referring to, as the last bit of his consciousness extinguished.

.

He felt like he was floating on a cloud. For five years, he had slept on an uncomfortable mattress with a hard pillow. Jared relished this feeling, but all good things come to an end. The pain around his back and shoulder was now demanding him to wake up after all.

Before opening his eyes, Jared smelt disinfectant. It smelled like a hospital.

Opening his eyes, Jared saw the white ceiling. It looked like a hospital.

Straining to sit up through the pain, he found the walls were covered with what looked like repeating patterns of a small smiling pink chancie.

Jared had assumed upon waking up, that his execution had failed, and they had sent him to a hospital, but what hospital would be so obsessed with pokemon that they would cover the walls with... this?

He didn't think it was tacky or anything, it actually looked strangely nice.

Just then the haze of waking up began to wear thin.

Grabbing his bandaged shoulder, Jared began to breathe heavily, as if he was having a panic attack, "That's right, I was bound up and attacked by rats."

"Shit shit shit shit, it wasn't a dream. This all happened. "

As his heartbeat increased, a noise coming from the side of his bed seemed to play a tune.

A few moments later, an older woman quickly opened the single large metal door. The old woman smiled reassuringly, as she tried to coax him, "Please lie down."

He did as instructed.

She then looked past him, which caused Jared to turn his head.

As she began checking the monitor next to him, Jared couldn't help but ask, "Where, what, where am I? Where are my clothes?"

The sound of a chair being pulled was heard, then she sat close. Her old voice was quite calming, but the content of what she said was not, "A small pharmacy in a larger lab in the middle of Viridian forest. Call me Rachel by the way. Your clothes were bloodied, they'll be washed and returned to you later. Can I know your name? "

Before she could continue, Jared said hopefully, "So this isn't a hospital?" He quickly added, " My name is Jared."

He actually wanted to ask if she was playing a prank on him. Viridian forest, really? If not for his wounds, he would still be doubting his memory of the last day.

Rachel squinted her eyes during the first few words, before easing her expression through the rest of the sentence, "No, it's not, although I have to do a bit of everything around here these days."

She then looked him up and down suspiciously, "You've already been out for two days. I checked your wounds when you arrived, but they weren't that serious. It's curious."

"What is?"

"Well, A normal patient would have fully healed in two days. I've just changed your bandages this morning, so I know for a fact that those puncture holes are barely scabbing. Do you perhaps suffer from some kind of health condition?"

Jared's mind became blank to the crazy question, " I don't know."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Where do your parents live? I can have a call sent out."

"Parents? I don't have those."

Rachel seemed surprised, but she collected herself, "What about a legal guardian?"

"No."

He continued when he thought of something, " I don't have any money either, Which means I can't pay you for my stay here."

Ignoring the last part, she said, "How long have you been on your own?"

"Always."

Rachel was taken aback by the question, "You are bullshitting me kid, did you run away from home or something? Well, whatever, let's put that aside for the moment. As for the payment, don't worry about that for now. Do you remember the people who helped you before you came here?"

"No, I just remember being attacked before I blacked out..."

He had been answering on autopilot, but the words Rachel spoke resonated with him.

No, It triggered something In him.

"She said... they helped... me? Helped..."

Life in prison had hardened him into someone who wouldn't talk about himself easily, and he wouldn't ask questions he doesn't need to know. If an inmate thought you had loose lips, you were an eyesore. Rule number one, don't stand out. Rule number two, don't stand out.

While he was only in a 'real' prison for a year, his four years in juvie prior to it weren't much better, but when being put in such a bizarre situation... Well, for a moment he had almost forgotten how things truly were. Almost.

As if a flip was being switched, Jared seemed to change. A cold indifference seemed to exude from his being.

"You said you were attacked, what attacked you?"

Jared shrugged.

Rachels eyes narrowed, as she tried a different question.

"Can you feel where your Pokemon are?"

Jared shrugged again.

Blinking, Rachel was taken aback, he had seemed so willing to talk until a moment ago.

"Well... you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to, I'm just trying to help you."

Jared had heard those words from lawyers, he's heard those words from police officers, he's heard those words from wardens, from inmates.

It seemed like the whole wide world wanted to help him, how wonderful. But with all that help, just how did he end up with a million volts of electricity coursing through his veins? Until he figures out if answering these questions doesn't dig his own grave, he was going to be cautious.

"Well, young man, at any rate... you must be hungry? Wait here for me, I'll be right back."

As soon as she left the room, Jared immediately got off the bed and tested his body while being careful not to unplug the IV drip from his arm. He needed to know the shape he was in, and... maybe everything was just as the old woman said, but he didn't work in maybes.

The movements caused his shoulder to bleed, so he laid back down on the bed. Feeling resigned, he closed his eyes for a moment. It looks like his health was still a work in progress.

When the old woman walked back into the room with a bowl of food, Jared sat back up and found it contained some kind of soft stew.

When Rachel noticed the bandages growing red, she was not pleased. Clicking her tongue in displeasure, she checked him over again and then shook her head.

Without taking a bite of the soup, Jared just looked at her, as if he were trying to figure out something. Perhaps he wanted to know what her angle truly was.

"What is it?" she probed from back in her chair.

Jared just shook his head and began eating the soup with the metallic spoon.

It tasted sweet, he never quite tasted anything like it. With bits of egg, and greens and browns, it looked familiar, but that's where the similarities stopped. He bit into what looked like a potato, but it tasted more like a tomato. His mask slipped for a second before his expression recovered. This truly was a different world, well, at least the taste doesn't lie.