Chapter Eight: Norman’s Gambit

The passage of time had become almost nonexistent to Hope. She had no idea how long she had spent under Polaris’s thumb. The days just seemed to bleed together: the sunrises and the sunsets seemed to be the same thing now. Or not. After all, Hope hadn’t been outside since her return from Silicon Cave. She had no idea if the sun was even around anymore. Wouldn’t put it past the Absolute Zero Syndicate to have created a freaky machine to pluck it out of the sky or something. Just like the machine that they had been using to completely wreck her body for who knows how long.

Polaris had refined, rebuilt, and retested the Homosapien-inator 5000 on Hope way too many times for her to be able to count. Time and time again she had been subjected to the pain and suffering that the machine wrought against her, and yet somehow, she still managed to resist its calls every time. There were times when she just wanted to let the torment end and give into the light, but through sheer stubbornness and perseverance, she bore her way through the pain and made it out on the other side every single time.

She had mentally muscled through the effects of the Homosapien-inator 5000 so many times that the fur around her head had been completely seared off. Where the fur should have been was now a ringlike scar circling her head, filled with a thick layer of partially clotted blood. The sight of all that blood disgusted Hope so much that she was barely able to look into the shiny, reflective surfaces of all the crystal objects in Polaris’s room, which were the closest thing to mirrors within the prison that was the bottom floor of the Absolute Zero Syndicate. Seeing how basically everything in Polaris’s room was made out of crystals, it was almost impossible to avoid her own reflection.

The rest of her body wasn’t in much better condition. Her right leg was still broken, and the lack of treatment had caused it to swell up considerably. It had gotten to the point where she was forced to drag her leg around instead of limping on it. The friction between the floor and her injured leg caused the fur on her leg to be rubbed clean off. Without the fur to protect her, Hope could clearly see the broken blood vessels peeking through her exposed skin, and it made her sick.

Even worse than her physical state, though, were the conditions she was being kept in and the resulting effects they had on her mental state. The room Polaris said that he had “set up for her” turned out to be an abandoned, decrepit storage room all the way at the far end of the hallway. The walls and floor were damp and covered in mold. Puddles of who knows what pooled in the corner. Hope was only given a large, clear plastic lid covering to serve as her “bed”, and the coldness of the floor seeped through the plastic and shot through her body, sending chills throughout the center of her bones. The room didn’t have a light switch (or it did and Polaris was purposefully telling his goons to not turn it on), so at all hours of the day, Hope was completely shrouded in darkness.

The worst part about her conditions, though, was how thin the ceiling was. It seemed as if Polaris had deliberately thinned the ceiling of the room on purpose, as the room was directly below wherever Klaw and Dewey were being kept by Scorch and Riptide. Every day and every night, Hope had to listen to Scorch and Riptide savagely beating their own children- her best friends. Meaty thwacks and echoing popping noises reverberated throughout the room, intermingled with peals of psychopathic laughter from Scorch and Riptide and loud, hiccuping sobs from Klaw and Dewey.

“Papa, Daddy, please stop…”

“I-it hurts… it h-hurts so much…”

“We’re sorry… we’re so, so sorry…”

“W-we w-won’t do s-something l-like that ever a-again…”

“Just stop doing this to us… stop hurting us…”

Sentences like those wafted down from the room above through the ceiling into Hope’s ears. They kept her up into the wee hours of the night and provided constant background noise for whenever she wasn’t being tested on during the day. There were no tall structures (or many structures at all) within the room, so Hope had no way to climb towards the ceiling and reassure Klaw and Dewey that things would get better. All she could do was lay there, her legs awkwardly and painfully splayed out on the plastic lid, and sob profusely at the plight of her friends and her own plight.

At least, that’s what she did at the beginning. She had been crying for so long that her eyes were completely dry now, and no matter how sad she felt, she couldn’t force a single droplet of slightly salty water from them. So now instead of sobbing, she just laid on that stupid lid and swam silently in her infinite pain and sadness.

The sole bright spot in Hope’s life right now was that, three times a day, Norman would come visit her to deliver food and water. It wasn’t good food and water in the slightest-  the water was tepid and heavily metallic tasting, while the food was just some strange meat-like substance, some wilted vegetables, and some disgusting-smelling “sauce” mixed together to form a sloppy gruel that strongly resembled poop in both smell and texture. But Norman’s presence was soothing to Hope. Now that she was being kept separate from Klaw and Dewey, Norman was the only pokemon in this prison of a mansion to still treat her with kindness and respect.

Whenever he came to drop off Hope’s sustenance, he would lean down onto the dirty floor and gently wrap his arms around Hope in a loving embrace. “It’s okay… it’s okay…” he would murmur as Hope would bury her head into his short yet downy fur.

When Norman first showed up to give Hope her meal, back when she still had some spunk remaining in her, she had demanded with vigor to know why he wouldn’t help her escape. “You’re on my side, aren’t you?” she had asked with tears filling her eyes.

Norman’s expression had hardened as he turned his attention to a spot of dirt on the floor that looked strikingly similar to a mango. There was a mixed range of emotions in his eyes; there was some sadness, but there was also a bit of anger. “I wish I could, young Hope” he had murmured softly. “But my family depends on me to bring in money. My parents are very elderly and sick, and they dearly need the support from this job.” As Noman spoke, though, a conflicted shadow loomed over his face, as if he was trying to convince himself that what he was doing truly was the right thing to do. “If I go against Polaris, then I will most certainly be killed, and then my parents won’t have enough money to continue their medical treatments…” he continued, his voice strained.

At first, Hope had been angry at Norman’s reluctance to help her. He disliked the AZS as much as she did, after all! But as the passage of time became more and more indistinguishable to her, she became more understanding. Norman was his own pokemon, with his own personal needs and desires. Why would he want to devote his time to helping out a useless child like her?

Now, as she lay uncomfortably on the plastic lid and stared at the blank walls, Hope came to the conclusion that the situation she was currently in was inescapable. Almost everybody within the AZS was completely on Polaris’s side, and the few who were sympathetic to her were either getting tortured themselves or would be risking the safety of their family if they dared to help her. It was futile to resist any longer, Hope had decided. The next time that Polaris used the Homosapien-inator 5000 on her would be the last time that he would need to use it on her. She was finally going to give into the light and become Polaris’s pawn.

Sure, whatever Polaris might do to other pokemon using her body could be disastrous. But it was a much better alternative to continuing to live in endless pain.

Creeeaaaak …

Out of the corner of her eye, Hope could faintly see the shoddy, half-broken door struggling to be forced open. “Right on time” she whispered to herself dryly.

The door finally gave into the resistance pushing against it, and it swung open with a loud THUD!

Standing on the other side of the door were three pokemon. They were all older than Hope, but they weren’t quite adults just yet. The first was a quadrupedal, bluish-green dinosaur-like pokemon with darker green patches all over its body. On its back was a large pink flower bud that closely resembled a tulip. Three large, somewhat jagged leaves kept the bud rooted in place. Around its neck was a large necklace made of dark purple gems that dragged on the floor a bit, and across its short, pudgy snout was a thin scar.

The second pokemon was a bipedal, dark blue pokemon that resembled a cross between a dragon and a shark. The majority of its underside, extending from its lower jaw to its abdomen, was a bright red. The rest was a pale baby blue. It had four fins on its arms, back, and tail respectively, and two appendages resembling jet engines extended from the sides of its head. It wore a dark purple choker and had a thick scar across its stomach.

The third and final pokemon was an orange and black bird pokemon. Its black beak was thin and sharp, and its belly was a pale gray. It had long black tail feathers with two white V-shaped markings on them, and the underside of its wings were a bright yellow. It wore a bright yellow bandana on its head, and part of its left wing had been torn off.

All three pokemon stared at Hope with expressions of an indeterminable emotion.

Hope found the strength to right herself up and look at the three pokemon. “Hello Belladonna. Hello Atlas. Hello Phoenix.” she slurred slightly.

Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix were junior members of the Absolute Zero Syndicate. According to Norman, they were the organization’s most recent recruits, having joined the organization just a month before Hope had arrived in this world. They had been put in charge of escorting Hope to and from Polaris’s room, as well as helping him operate the Homosapien-inator 5000.

“This will provide vital first-hand experience for what you will do as you rise the ranks of this glorious syndicate.” Polaris had explained.

The trio was an… interesting group. When Hope had first met them, they had seemed like every other member of the AZS.  The first time they had escorted Hope to Polaris’s room, they spent the entire walk there whispering in hushed but excited voices about getting to see the “great Polaris” in person for the first time ever. Upon hearing that they not only would get a front-row seat to the testing of Polaris’s newest invention but would have a hand on carrying out said testing, their eyes had widened and became starry. They had ogled the machine with wonder and awe, looking at every button as if it was some kind of precious jewel. Just making eye contact with Polaris would cause this trio to start stuttering.

But the moment Atlas first pressed the white button and the Homosapien-inator 5000 began to do its job on Hope, something changed. When Hope came to after resisting the light and her eyes trailed over to the new recruits, she was stunned to see that the expressions on their faces were now expressions of horror. Their feet were planted rigidly to the floor, and it appeared that their breaths had gotten caught inside of their lungs. As Hope absentmindedly raised her good front paw to her head and wiped the mixture of fresh blood and clotted scar tissue away from her forehead, Belladonna let out an audible gasp of horror. This caused Polaris to send an icy glare in Belladonna’s direction, after which she changed her expression to a wide but uneasy smile.

Since then, the trio of new recruits had become much more uneasy around both Polaris and Hope. Now, instead of whispering about how cool Polaris was and how much of a dream come true it was to work with him, they whispered about how they weren’t expecting the methods he used to be so cruel.

“All of the recruitment posters said that Polaris’s interrogation methods were some of the least violent out of all the crime syndicates on the continent.” Phoenix had whispered, his tail feathers fluffed out in discomfort.

“It was foolish of us to believe that.” Atlas responded, grinding his arm fins together as he spoke. “Come on now, this is supposed to be the strongest crime syndicate in the world! They definitely didn’t get that reputation by talking with their prisoners over sitrus tea and lum cookies.”

For a moment, Hope thought that maybe someone would finally be willing to be in her corner again. But then Belladonna spoke.

“Maybe… this eevee here is just a… special case.” she murmured softly, the leaves on her back drooping slightly. “Since she was once a human, Polaris just treats her harshly to unlock her potential. I’m sure he doesn’t do that to all of the actual pokemon.”

Atlas and Phoenix looked at Belladonna, their eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Come on, guys! We’ve spent our entire lives preparing to join this syndicate. Backing out after watching just one torture session would make us seem like wimps. Don’t you think we should stick it out a bit longer?” Belladonna continued.

After a few tense seconds of silence, Atlas and Phoenix finally relaxed. “Guess you’re right, Bella…” Phoenix muttered.

“We’ve only been here a few weeks. Let’s wait and see how bad it gets.” Atlas said quietly.

And just like that, all of Hope’s raised expectations were instantly dashed. She had been foolish to even get her hopes up in the first place. They’ve probably been entrenched in Polaris’s propaganda even before coming to the syndicate , she thought to herself. It won’t take a single random pokemon being tortured to snap them out of it.

From then on, Hope had become completely indifferent to Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix. It didn’t matter how sometimes, after a torture session had been finished, that she would catch a glimpse of one, two, or sometimes all three members of the trio shedding light tears. It didn’t matter how, sometimes, on the walks to and from Polaris’s room, Belladonna would extend a vine outward from her back and stroke it gently along Hope’s fur in a gesture of comfort, or that Phoenix would always walk a little closer to Hope so that his naturally increased body heat would keep her warmer, or that Atlas would sometimes make weird faces that Hope thinks are supposed to make her laugh. They would always fall back into what they felt was more comfortable in the end, which was to keep following the propaganda that had been drilled into their heads.

Today, however, she was actually excited to see them. This time, they would be leading her to her freedom.

Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix seemed a bit shocked to see Hope greeting them so readily. Belladonna smiled uneasily. “Hello to you as well, Hope.” she responded. “You seem… brighter than usual today.”

Hope tried her hardest to stand up, but the extreme swelling in her leg caused it to buckle and her to crash back down. “Yes, I am brighter than usual. It’s nice of you to notice. This is the last day I am going to have to deal with this, after all.”

Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix looked at each other nervously. They then started whispering amongst each other in hushed yet agitated voices. Hope could hear the words “okay”, “deal”, and “regret” in there, but couldn’t make out anything else.

After what felt like an eternity, the trio turned back and stepped forward towards Hope, with Belladonna gently extending a vine from the side of her body and using it to help Hope get to her feet. “…Let’s go, then.” she said.

And with that, the trio and Hope were on their way to Polaris’s room for the final time.

When they made it to Polaris’s room, Hope wrestled herself free from Belladonna’s vines and limped towards the Homosapien-inator 5000, holding her head as high as she possibly could.

“My my my, Hope. You certainly look chipper today.” Polaris remarked from atop his crystal throne. Hope nodded happily in response.

Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix walked over to the other side of the machine, each of them trembling a little with every step they took.

Hope sat on the cold floor and straightened herself out as much as possible. Using one of her vines, Belladonna lowered the Homosapien-inator 5000’s claw attachment onto Hope’s head. Then, Atlas pressed the white button.

The throbbing pain instantly returned, but Hope didn’t care anymore. As she closed her eyes, she smiled softly and let the light draw closer and closer.  Finally, this would all be over.

At least, that’s what she thought, until suddenly a voice rang in her head.

“Hope! You must not give up like this! Stay strong! ”

Hope was immediately taken out of her bliss. That voice definitely wasn’t hers. It was more adult-like, and sounded calm and motherly. She was sure it didn’t belong to anyone she knew, but at the same time it felt… so familiar .

Then, another voice rang in her head.

“Yeah, come on, kid. We chose you for a reason. You aren’t supposed to go down so quickly.”

Okay, now that voice was most certainly not Hope’s. That was a male voice. She might have assumed that she was hallucinating Klaw’s voice due to the similar tinges of confidence in both of the voices, but this voice was an adult voice. Yet again, it was a voice that was unfamiliar yet faintly recognizable to Hope.

And what was that the voice was saying about having chosen her? That definitely made it seem like it belonged to someone she was familiar with. But she couldn’t for the life of her place where the voice came from.

Suddenly, a tsunami of determination surged through Hope. Whoever these mysterious pokemon were, they had her back. They were rooting for her not to fail. So with all her might, she pushed back against the light.

Soon, she had broken through the pain, and she was back in Polaris’s room, with the boss looking down at her with a neutral expression. “I thought these modifications would be the ones.” he murmured. “Ah, no problem. We will get there eventually. Now go along now. Back to your room.”

Polaris tried to keep his voice cheery, but a layer of fury was bubbling potently beneath the surface of his words.

“I’m sure it will work out next time, Sir Polaris!” Belladonna interjected, wrapping one of her vines around Hope’s good front leg. “We’ll be on our way now!”

Polaris’s expression softened slightly. “I guess you are right, Belladonna.” he crooned. “You, Atlas, and Phoenix have been doing phenomenal work helping me test out this machine. This will prove to be quite useful for your future at the syndicate.”

The expressions on the trio’s face could only be described as true neutral.

“…T-thank you, Sir Polaris.” Belladonna stammered out. And just like that, she, along with her friends and Hope, left the room.

~~~~~~~

Later that night, Hope lay on her plastic lid and listened to the sickening sounds of Klaw and Dewey being tortured by their fathers again. For the first time in a long time, an emotion other than sadness and hopelessness surged through her while listening to the cries of her friends. She had to get out of here somehow- not only to save her friends, but also to help out whoever had helped her get her courage back. She truly did owe them.

But how was she going to do that?

Just as she pondered that, the door upstairs creaked faintly, and the horrible noises stopped.

Hope scrambled to her feet (ignoring how much her leg hurt in the process) and tilted her head upwards so that she could better hear what was going on. She couldn’t quite make out what exactly was going on, but she could definitely hear whispering. After a while, loud footsteps sounded as multiple pokemon exited the room.

It seemed as if whoever came into the room had asked Scorch and Riptide to come along with them for something. What that something was, Hope was unsure of. But with them out of the room, this was a perfect opportunity for her to go rescue Klaw and Dewey!

Hope jumped up and dragged her broken leg across the floor in an attempt to reach the door. But before she could attempt to open it, it swung open on its own.

“Norman!” Hope exclaimed, flattening her body to the ground upon seeing the humanoid pokemon’s stern eyes. “I’m so sorry! I wasn’t intending on going anywhere. I-”

Norman didn’t say a single word. He just extended his right arm forward. A pink aura began to emanate from his palm, and a calming sensation consumed Hope.

“Norman…?” Hope asked, her voice trembling. “What are you doing?” Suddenly, a feeling of pure rejuvenation began to surge through Hope.

“What’s…” Hope was cut off by a clicking sensation in her broken leg. She lifted it up to her face to see that it was now good as new. It was no longer swollen and broken, and the fur on it had regrown, though it was now snow white instead of light brown. Stunned, Hope gingerly lifted her paw to her head and pressed it against where her ring-shaped scar should have been. She removed her paw from her head. No dried blood came with it.

“Norman…?” Hope asked

“I have never been more thankful that my mother forced me to learn Heal Pulse when I was a child.” Norman sighed. Then he smiled softly and looked down at Hope. “Let’s go now, Hope. I believe we have some friends to rescue.”

A wide smile took over Hope’s face, and without even thinking she jumped up and knocked Norman over.  “Thank you, thank you, thank you…” she kept repeating.

Norman grunted before pushing Hope off of him gently and standing back up. “I truly don’t deserve those thanks. I should have done this much sooner, and I was a coward to not act faster. All that matters now is saving young masters Klaw and Dewey and getting all three of you out of here.”

Hope tried to say something, but was completely unable to. She had completely given up on Norman before this moment, after all. She simply just nodded and stepped out of the room, her tail held high in excitement. Norman dusted off his fur and followed her shortly after.

“Remember, Hope. You must be as quiet as possible right now. We don’t want to alert anyone to our presence.” Norman said calmly as they tiptoed up the stairs and winded softly through the corridors.

Hope tried her best to keep in line with Norman’s advice, but she was so excited about finally getting to see her friends again and just having a shot at freedom that she unintentionally stomped around a bit climbing up the stairs, earning a harsh glare of disapproval from Norman in the process. Thankfully, they were able to make it to Scorch and Riptide’s room without anyone noticing them.

When they finally reached the room, which was on the far right side of the top floor, they gently pushed the door back and peeked around the corner. The room was filled with a vast number of machines, many of them having blades of some kind attached to them. There were also a few weights and a few targets strewn about the room. A large pull-out sofa was situated in the upper left corner of the room, and two very familiar shapes were laying on top of it.

“Klaw! Dewey!” Hope called out in worry, bounding over to the sofa. Norman followed closely behind.

At the sound of Hope’s voice, Klaw and Dewey gingerly lifted their heads up. Their faces were littered with poorly-healed scars that came in all shapes and sizes. Some of them were as small as pebbles, while others were as big as unripe oran berries. From what she could see in the dim light, caused by a half-working lamp nearby, the scars were also located across their entire bodies, staining them like sick-looking marker stains.

The sight was almost enough to make Hope vomit up whatever little she had eaten that day.

Klaw and Dewey tried to say something, but the simple act of opening their mouths just a little bit caused them to recoil in severe pain. Thankfully, Norman was there. He held out both of his arms this time so that he could use his Heal Pulse on both brothers at the same time, and though it took a bit of straining to deal with the severity of the wounds, eventually Klaw and Dewey were as good as new.

“HOPE!”, the two brothers yelled, jumping off of the sofa and tackling Hope in joy.

“Boys!” Norman scolded quietly. “I get that you’re excited, but please don’t yell. We don’t want to let your fathers know that you’ve been healed.”

“Sorry,” both brothers mumbled in unison. Then they both turned back towards Hope, their bodies trembling in excitement. “I c-can’t b-believe that you a-actually c-came to s-save us!” Dewey exclaimed, his voice more hushed this time.

Hope’s face fell. “I… was only able to do so because of Norman.” she admitted. “Polaris really banged me up, both physically and mentally. I had almost given up hope, if I’m being honest. But then Norman healed me, and I…” Tears began to stream down Hope’s face.

Klaw and Dewey brushed their tails across Hope’s face comfortingly, not saying anything else. Then they turned back to Norman. “Thank you so much, Norman.” Klaw and Dewey whispered in unison.

Norman smiled softly and was about to say something, but was cut off by small footsteps pattering towards them.

Hope whirled around to see three faces that had become all too familiar to her: Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix. They each had a medium-sized knapsack slung over their backs.

Hope immediately fluffed out her tail and flattened her body to the ground, preparing for an attack, with Klaw and Dewey copying her out of instinct. Norman, however, simply nodded softly.

“Did you prepare the rations exactly how I asked you to?” he asked.

“Y-yes, Sir Norman.” Belladonna responded. “Ten oran berries, five elixirs, and 1000 Poke each, right?”

Norman nodded curtly in response, causing all three junior recruits to sigh with relief simultaneously.

Hope was stunned. She relaxed herself and asked “Are you three…?”

Norman chuckled. “Yes, they’ve been helping me with this plan for a couple of weeks now.”

Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix stepped forward and placed a knapsack in front of Hope, Klaw, and Dewey respectively. As she placed down her knapsack, Belladonna began to speak. “Listen, we really regret helping Polaris out with your torture.” she spoke quietly and rapidly. “We really regret joining the syndicate in general. If we knew what exactly they did to pokemon like you, we never would have joined. I know you’ll probably never be able to forgive us, but-”

Belladonna was cut off by Hope taking the pack and slinging it over her back. “It’s okay. I understand.” she said with a genuine smile on her face. I guess they are different from the other members after all , she thought to herself.

Belladonna’s eyes widened, and she nodded rapidly. Then, she and her friends turned around and disappeared into the darkness of the empty halls.

Norman turned towards Hope, Klaw and Dewey and motioned to the halls himself. Klaw and Dewey slung their own packs over their backs, and the group began to make their way down to the entrance.

When they finally reached the magnificent front doors, Hope was surprised to find that nobody was guarding them. “I had Atlas and Phoenix distract the guards.” Norman explained before pressing a white button and letting the doors open.

Klaw and Dewey looked up at Norman with wide eyes. “I’m really going to miss you, Norman.” Klaw murmured, with Dewey nodding beside him in agreement.

Norman’s eyes began to water. “I am truly going to miss you both as well.” he murmured while wiping his eyes. “But at the same time, I am so happy that you two are finally going to be able to achieve your dreams. I just know that the three of you are going to make a great rescue team, and I wish you nothing but the best of luck on your jour-”

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING, NORMAN?!”

Hope, Klaw and Dewey whirled around to see Scorch and Riptide charging down the hall, their eyes wide with fury. Hope could just barely make out Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix being dragged behind them and cowering in fear.

Without even a second thought, Norman stretched out his right hand. Sparks of bright light emanated from it, striking Scorch and Riptide straight in the eyes and causing them to stop in their tracks and grab their heads, yelling out in pain.

“Run! Now!” Norman called out, turning back to face Hope, Klaw, and Dewey.

“But-” Hope tried to say, not wanting anything bad to happen to Norman or the new recruits, but she was cut off.

“Just run! ” Norman yelled.

Hope swallowed and nodded quickly before turning around and dashing out of the doors, Klaw and Dewey following closely behind her.

As she ran, she looked up at the full moon shining in the sky above her and felt the breeze going through her fur, and she smiled. She didn’t even think to look back. She was finally free.