The Encampment, Iron and Desire

…

…

I hate this place.

For months, I, Sable the Weavile, have been trapped in this humid, suffocating forest prison. This stupid monarch, putting me in this forsaken place like he thinks he had the right to do so.

Every day I wake up to the stench of decay and damp earth, still thinking I’m in a nightmare.. The monarchy couldn’t afford a normal prison of any kind, so they are keeping me at what I can only describe as a military encampment. Yes, the stupid military is keeping this place, not anyone who would be more civilized.

My ‘cell’ is a stifling green camo tent. Completely jam-packed with other Pokémon to the point that it’s hard to breathe. The air is thick with the rank smell of sweat and filth, a pungent mix that clings to my fur and stings my eyes. There is no washing, no hygiene, just endless suffering.

We’re given nothing but a thin, scratchy blanket and the unyielding, cold ground to sleep on at night, every rock and root digging into our bodies. I’m used to harsh conditions, but the lack of space and order makes it unbearable. The guards don’t care about us; they don’t even try to maintain order. We’re left to fend for ourselves in our ‘environment’ as they call it.

I have to get out of this place. They have NO RIGHT, to keep me here. There has to be a way out… Perhaps at night? Digging a tunnel? No, that would take too long. The fence? But how would I even get out of the tent without being noticed?

Ugh, it’s useless. I’ve got nothing to work off. Maybe I can’t escape. But, I can’t let him win, not like this.

…

But do I even have a chance?

---

One day, something different happened. It was during the lunch hour. The guards wore specific military caps to show themselves as better than us, alongside them displaying their ‘shiny badges’ on their hats. Received for massacring more of the population of course?

I went up with a tray to stand in a line for food. The entire canteen was in the open air, but the kitchen itself did have its own tent. The atmosphere here was always tense, with a fight between prisoners right around the corner, but there wasn’t one this time strangely. I got to the counter and received my portion. As always, dried fruit compacted as much as possible, giving us just barely enough not to starve us. I did feel like someone had their eyes on me, but I didn’t think about it at the moment.

I sat with the tray at a table, as always alone. Can’t trust anyone in a place like this. I wasn’t that hungry, so I wanted to overlook from here at the outer fence of the prison. It seemed like only two layers of barbed fence were between the encampment area and the outside, but the fence was way too tall for me. I would have to cut it if there was any chance.

Gurdurr approached me without his metal beam, carrying his tray. “Hey, mind if I sit here?” he asked, not waiting for a response as he sat down.

I glared at him. “Go away, none of your business.”

“Relax, I’m not here to cause trouble. Just noticed you’re always by yourself. What’s your deal?”

I sighed, not in the mood for small talk. “Why do you care?”

Gurdurr shrugged. “Curiosity, I guess. You don’t exactly blend in with all those scars. What did you do to end up here?”

“For doing He raised an eyebrow. “Vague. I like it.” He took a bite of his food, watching me closely. enough.”

“ATTENTION ALL PRISONERS!” The director of the prison bellowed as he entered the canteen.

Everyone fell silent and turned to look. He was a Haxorus, known as ‘the General’ due to his high rank in the monarchy’s military.  His military cap was adorned with numerous badges and coloured stripes, barely fitting on his head.

Suddenly, two guards a Scizor and a Drappion dragged a Croagnuk by his arms near the canteen. I remember Croagnuk earlier as I definitely did see him yesterday when taking food from the canteen. Now, his head is completely bled over, he is barely holding on alive. Were they torturing him? Those fucking psychos…

“Now, why you all see this Croagnuk in this state is because he tried to escape. Escaping from my encampment is treated equally as treason, no matter if it’s a soldier or one of you. You all get to witness today what happens to traitors. The penalty is simple, death.”

The atmosphere froze, the air crackling with a palpable fear. Every eye was wide with terror, breaths held as if even exhaling might draw the General’s wrath. The oppressive weight of his presence silenced any thought of opposition. I still like to think sometimes that all of these soldiers would have had much better lives and treated us better if he was not here.

The Croagunk fell to his knees, blood dripping from his wounds. “Please! Give me another chance!” he begged, his voice weak and desperate.

He headbutted the Croagunk, sending him sprawling onto his back. In a blind rage, the Haxorus slashed at the Croagunk’s body with his tusks, blood spraying with each strike. He was doing it faster and faster, with less and less resistance coming from the prisoner. Eventually, he stopped, leaving a lifeless body on the ground in its puddle of blood. Damn general, he deserves to burn in hell.

“You and you!” The Haxorus pointed at me and the Gurdurr. “Take him to the infirmary.”

We got up from our seats and started dragging the body from the scene. The infirmary was quite far so it was going to be quite a walk. The blood streamed from the Croagunk’s lifeless body, leaving a red trail that glistened in the dirt under the harsh sunlight. My frustrations grew, How can we be kept like this? Keeping us here using fear and nothing else.

Gurdurr looked at me, “Are you keeping up?”

“Why do you even care?”

“Well, you seemed concerned about what happened with this guy?”

“Wasn’t everyone startled by it?”

We continued to haul the body in silence. Despite both of us dragging it, I was getting tired, I was not used to carrying heavy stuff like this. Gurdurr also seemed worried from the whole ordeal, as if he was trying to be empathetic with me. I can take care of myself, this stupid wretched prison or whatever.

We finally got to the infirmary. It was just like the rest of the stuff here, another tent. We dragged him inside, and I was immediately hit by the overpowering stench of decay and death. The bodies were heaped in the corners, grotesque shapes under stained sheets, the air heavy with the scent of rot. They call it the ‘infirmary’, but realistically whenever someone gets injured, no one gets any treatment of any kind.

This place is just a morgue. No one who is dragged here is ever alive, just another addition to the pile of dead bodies. They are stored on the ground, but at least here they have cloth on the ground, unlike our tent.

“Arceus, how many are there?” Sable asked in disbelief. “I thought only there were like 3 of the prisoners dragged here.”

“It’s not only prisoners,” Gurdurr sighed. “You have not been here for long, but there are also bodies of the general’s ‘traitors’ as he calls them. There have been many guards who seemingly disappeared or ‘committed suicide’ right when they were questioning the general’s authority.”

“This prison is complete hell.”

“Do you really think it’s a prison?”

“I do question that.”

They placed the body in the tent, close to the rest of them.

I reacted with a look of disgust. “This smell is unbearable! No one comes here to pick those bodies up?”

“No, though I would bet that the king would gut the general for doing this.”

We got out of the tent. It took me a few seconds to realize what he said. It infuriated me, “No, he wouldn’t.”

“He is at least better than the general.”

“NO, he isn’t. That piece of garbage should have died years ago! He is the worst. His public image is what hides his true intentions.”

“Why do you think of him so low?”

“…It’s a long story, but partially because of him I got into this mess of a prison.”

“Oh…”

Silence rose between us. We both started walking back towards the canteen.

Gurdurr looked at me, “Maybe you can finally tell me your name? I’m Hank.”

“Fine, I’m Sable.”

“Why do I think I have heard your name before?”

He can’t know what I did. “Uhh, I think it must have been a coincidence.”

“Anyways, maybe I should finally tell you why I have been so interested in you.”

“And that is?”

“Are you planning on getting out of here?”

I froze in place, how did he know? Is he going to tell on the guards?

Hank noticed me worrying, “Don’t worry. I have noticed you overlooking that fence. I have a proposition for you instead.”

“Blackmail me?”

“You really don’t trust anyone here do you?” He muttered under his breath. “No. What about, we escape together?”

“Is that your blackmail? Use me back so you can escape!?”

“Look. It seems like you want to get out of here as badly as I want to. I have an idea of how to get to the fence without being noticed at night, but I have no way of getting through it. I think we can help each other. In hindsight, you have pretty hefty claws that could help. I don’t have any.”

“You still speak like you just want to use me, how am I even supposed to trust you?”

“Okay, fair. I’m phrasing this incorrectly. I was taking a bit too much of a risk, but I’m getting also increasingly fed up with this place and you seem like the only person who even wants to try thinking of escaping this place.”

“Okay, we can work together. But how are you even going to reach that fence at night?”

“It’s my job. Do you know if you can cut that fence?”

“I would need to get close to it before the escape. I think the general may just straight up kill me if I even try getting close to it.”

“Well then figure that out. I still need to further solidify my plan.”

And so we parted ways for the time being as we got back to the canteen. I still haven’t gotten a chance to eat and I see my food is no longer at the table, typical.

But how the hell do I even get over to that fence? It’s so far away from where any other prisoner walks… Wait, but guards do walk over there. I would need to disguise myself as one. I would have to beat one up. No, what am I thinking?! That’s so stupid. They could easily knock me out even if I tried. There has to be a different way.

…But is there? Maybe a different way of obtaining that cap? Stealing from their clothes? But how would I even get to their tent without being noticed? Well, it’s better than beating someone up.

---

It took me quite a while to even get a shot at the guard tent. It’s been a few days and the Gudurr hasn’t spoken a word to me since we talked. Is it his strategy to be less noticed by guards that we are together now? I don’t know I think I will not focus on it too much for the time being.

Well, this time I can get closer to their tent as I’ve been observing their schedules of going in and out of the tent. They may be keeping us for the majority of the time in our tent, but we do get some free time and that’s when I was observing them. I think I know just enough about them to be able to sneak in.

The free time started as always right after lunch. They don’t let us just walk around anywhere, they have many guards watching us, but it’s not going to be a problem. Interestingly enough, I could see Gurdurr speaking to a different prisoner, with him turning in the opposite direction of other prisoners so they couldn’t be overheard. Are they plotting something? Why does it always seem like I can’t trust Hank? Outside of this place, it may be even harder to deal with him.

I will, think about it later. For the time being, the military cap. There was always one guard standing outside the tent, but in my experience, it was almost always a Feraligatr standing there who never seemed to have gotten enough sleep which resulted in him being very sleepy during his shift. Today, I could also see him standing outside.

I glanced left and right. The coast was clear. I slipped away from the group of prisoners and moved towards the tent. The Feraligatr guard looked half-asleep, barely standing. It was my chance. I tiptoed, making as little noise as possible.

I was almost there when he lifted his head and opened his eyes. I froze, my heart pounding. But he simply closed his eyes and slumped back down. That was too close!

I continued until I finally entered their tent. I silently looked around if I could find anything. I was dumbfounded by how much better conditions they had to live in than us. Normal straw to sleep on, no squeezing of anything. Everything is split into multiple rooms so there is enough space for everyone. It’s infuriating.

I saw a military cap left on one of the straw stacks. I quickly went and grabbed it. Thankfully it seemed to fit my size. It seems to be the hat of that Scizor when I’m looking at the badges on it.

I put it on and I again try to sneak past the Feraligatr. Thankfully it seemed like he was fast asleep.

I got out and headed towards the fence. I could already see one of the guards on the wooden watch towers spot me very quickly. He thankfully turned away when he saw my cap.

I arrived at the fence and I noticed a problem immediately. This a completely open area, it’s going to be way too easy to spot us here escaping.

I looked around in both of the directions of the fence. This is completely open, fuck. They are going to see this way too easily if they patrol at night.

Until I noticed something in the left direction. I quickly went there without sprinting to not bring myself unnecessary attention. Yes, yes! This will do.

It was a little open, but it was behind a large tent of the infirmary. It did create a good blindspot from the watchtowers and so I thought we had to use it for our escape. I wanted to also try using my claws for the fence. I feared that they were not sharp enough, especially as I didn’t use them for quite a while. I tried slashing at the fence, but there was no effect. I tried again, again and again until I did finally manage to cut a part of it. It could work.

I quickly went back to the guards’ tent to leave the military cap. Thankfully, everything went swimmingly with going in and out in less than a minute leaving the guard cap in its place. The Feraligatr still was as sleepy as he was.

I was still concerned about one thing. How do the guards patrol at night even? But I figured this wasn’t for me to think about.

I returned to the prisoners’ group, trying to blend in I spotted Hank talking to a Cacturne, his body covered in scars. As I approached, Hank glanced up and beckoned me over.

“Perfect timing. Did you scout out the fence?” he asked quietly.

I shot him with a glare.“You are asking me this, in front of him!?”

Hank motioned me to lower my voice. “It’s okay. This is Axel. He’s going to help us. So, can we get through the fence?”

I sighed, still skeptical. “Yeah, but we have to get behind the infirmary.”

Hank cursed under his breath. “That’s going to be tricky.”

Cacturn interjected, “I can get us there. If you Hank get us out of that stupid tent.”

“I can, it’s already prepared,” Hank said with a sure tone. “Sable, Axel knows the guard shifts and paths. So that’s why I brought him along.”

I rolled my eyes. “Bringing more into this, Hank?”

Hank scratched his head. “Well, without Axel who spent a lot of time meeting with guards, even at night. We would never even get close to the fence at night. We do need his help.”  

I turned towards Axel, “Why do you even want to get out of here if you have such good relations with guards?”

“I have my own disputes to settle outside of here. Besides, this place is growing old on me I need to get out finally. A life sentence here will not help with that.”

Even more to deal with. I hope they won’t overwhelm me. “Fine. What’s the plan then?”

“We go tonight,” Axel said firmly. “Any later and we risk being discovered. Stay alert, no sleeping. I will come for the both of you.”

We parted ways after that, each of us mentally preparing for the escape. The hours dragged on, each second feeling like an eternity.

---

The night fell, and we all tried to fit on the hard ground of our tent. There were no guards inside the tent, but they lingered just outside of the entrance, their shadows flickering against the tent walls. I stayed alert, waiting for what felt like hours. Just as I was about to give up, I felt a touch on my shoulder.

I opened my eyes to see Hank, signaling me to follow. My heart pounded as I slowly got up, carefully navigating through the maze of sleeping prisoners.

We reached the section of the tent where the tarp was loose. Hank lifted it, and I slipped outside to find Axel already waiting. The three of us communicated in tense, silent gestures, our eyes wide with both fear and determination. The bright moonlight bathed everything in an eerie glow, casting long shadows and heightening our senses.

Axel scouted the area, his eyes scanning for any sign of movement. We could see some light coming from flashlights around the camp, but nothing seemed close to us yet.

We silently followed Axel, moving as shadows in the night. The camp was ominously quiet, with only the distant beams of flashlights slicing through the darkness. My heart hammered in my chest as we followed Axel, moving like ghosts. The guards’ predictable patrol patterns were our lifeline, and we exploited every second of their routine.

Crouching low, we darted from one shadow to the next, pausing behind tents and crates to avoid the sweeping beams of flashlights. Each time a guard turned in our direction, my breath caught in my throat. We froze, melting into the darkness until he moved on. The tension was palpable, and every rustle of leaves underfoot sounded like an alarm bell.

Finally, we reached the shadowy cover of the infirmary tent. We huddled together, our breaths shallow and rapid. The wait felt unbearable, each second stretching into eternity as we ensured no one was around. When it seemed safe, we slipped behind the tent and reached the outer fence.

When we got there, I realized it was now my part. Axel’s eyes met mine, a silent exchange of encouragement and urgency. I approached the first fence, my paws trembling. With my right claw, I began sawing through the metal. Every scrape felt deafening in the still night, but it didn’t create much noise. Slowly, painstakingly, I sawed through each part, my nerves reaching their peak.

Finally, the first part was done. I removed the piece and handed it to Hank, who carefully placed it aside. I slipped through the opening and faced the second fence. This one was made of a much stronger metal, and a wave of despair washed over me as my claws struggled against it. The pain was immediate, sharp, and unrelenting, but I pushed through it. Hank noticed my struggle and gestured for me to take a break, but I couldn’t stop now. We were so close!

Minutes stretched into what felt like hours, and I had only made it halfway through the second fence. My claws ached, the pain becoming almost unbearable, but I couldn’t give up. The moonlight seemed so bright, that I was sure we’d be spotted any second. Panic gripped me as well as my group, but I forced myself to keep sawing, sawing, and sawing.

At last, the final piece of metal gave way, and the fence fell aside. My paws were bleeding all over, but I ignored the pain. We quickly slipped through the opening, hearts racing.

We started running, the taste of freedom felt reinvigorating. We were finally outside. We saw a sign blurring past us reading “K.A.P.O.W. camp correctional facility”.

Very correctional isn’t it? More like a death camp inside.

We dashed into the forest, branches and underbrush slowing us down. Despite this, we kept moving, the camp receding behind us. No alarms, no shouts. We were in luck.

I lagged behind, the adrenaline fading. Hank and Axel slowed, waiting for me. Finally, we stopped, catching our breaths. For the first time in ages, a sense of hope flickered within me.

“We, we got out!” Hank shouted in excitement. “Finally, that nightmare is over.”

“Yes!” Axel exclaimed. ”Finally, I can—”

Suddenly, three metal claws pierced through Axel’s body, spilling blood everywhere. The metallic scent filled the air as his eyes widened in shock. He tried taking a breath, moving in any way, but his body quickly gave in. He fell unconscious, his body hitting the ground with a dull thud. The Pokémon behind him, was me.

“Axel, Axel!” Hank clenched his fists, boiling with rage. “Why would you do that?! What has he done to deserve this?!”

I wiped the blood off my claws using the claws. I started laughing uncontrollably, the sound echoing through the trees. “HAHAHAHA! Oh, how naive of you. You really thought that I was just going to let you go after doing what you did? Getting rid of you was always the plan, but with him, you were the one who signed his death sentence by bringing him with us!”

“You are a fucking psycho.”

“Such disrespect. I knew you had to die right from the start. Do you even know why I got here exactly for? It was not just about the king. It’s about dismantling the entire monarchy. That wretched family can’t lead a strong government, one where Pokémon can thrive in our country. Their reign has been nothing but a shackle on our potential.”

Hank’s eyes widened with a mix of horror and realization. “You… you’re talking about treason.”

“No, Hank. I’m talking about revolution,” I said coldly. “I was going to bring the light to the Pokémon, to show them the correct path, away from the nobles! Bring the times were anyone could see themselves as useful to the nation! But I was stopped by him, the king. He must die because of this. And you, Hank, will never truly understand the objective of the correct cause. So, you must die.”

“You will regret this.”

We started fighting. He desperately blocked my relentless claw attacks by blocking with his arms. He punched me back towards a tree and tried running away.

He failed to realise that I was faster. I quickly caught up and slashed his leg. He quickly fell, his scream piercing the quiet forest. He grabbed a nearby branch to try to block my slashes as I attacked him. His face showed more and more desperation and fear, which I savoured.

Finally, the branch broke, and I pierced my claws through his chest. He stopped resisting, his body going limp.

“I’m sorry.” I pulled my claws out of his chest, “This had to be done for the greater good of the Pokémon.”

I walked away, leaving Hank bleeding heavily. Whether he survived, I doubt. The most important thing was that I was now free. The first part of my revenge on the king was completed.

The king eventually found out what had happened. The news spread quickly across the country, and the general was dismissed for his deeds. However, the public was outraged upon learning of the crimes committed in the encampment. Now, I am known as a ‘convict on the run’.

The Pokémon of this country have been blinded for too long. It’s time to enlighten them, to show what we can really achieve together. We need to establish our glory in the world and become the world’s hegemons. This great beginning will start with the creation of the Pokémon Collective under banner of the National Worker’s Party.