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A blazing fury roared in Kael's chest like fire.
When had he—Kael—ever endured such a thing?
Not as a human.
And certainly not after his rebirth as a Pokémon, where the System gave him a faint sense of superiority over humans and Pokémon alike.
His extraordinary luck only reinforced it helping him skip the weakest stages and steadily rise in power.
That sense of superiority had reached its peak in his previous life, after evolving into Ampharos.
But now thrown down from the clouds to the dirt the fall was too steep, too jarring.
Almost instinctively, Kael lifted both hands, gripping the cold collar at his throat.
Muscles bulged across his arms as he strained to snap it apart.
But no matter how hard he pulled, the silver-white ring remained unshaken.
---
Outside the glass, the fat guard smirked as though watching a clownish show. Arms crossed over his swollen belly, his face oozed mockery.
With a grunt, he dug into his pants pocket. Sweat beaded on his greasy forehead until, at last, he pulled out a white remote-like device.
He pointed it at Kael.
Beep!
A clear chi echoed.
Blue arcs of electricity burst from the collar.
They spread like thorny vines, raking across Kael's body.
"AHHHHHH!"
Agony ripped through him. His muscles convulsed, his mouth opened wide, and green fluid flooded into his lungs as he thrashed.
Sparks crawled across his skin, leaving charred streaks in their wake.
The guard's pudgy finger held the button down, his oily grin stretching wider.
He only released it once Kael's body sagged, eyes rolling back faintly.
Thump. Thump.
Two knuckle-raps on the glass.
"You'll do what I say, when I say it. Got it?"
No answer.
Kael's head hung low in shadow, expression unreadable.
The guard sneered.
He pressed a few buttons the viscous green fluid drained away, glass splitting open with a hiss.
The chamber unsealed, exposing Kael's sli-soaked body to the cold air.
"Move it."
"Don't waste my ti."
With a careless command, the guard tossed the remote in his hand and waddled out.
---
Kael's eyes narrowed, a cold glint flashing in the depths of his pupils.
He longed to smash that pig-headed man into paste with a single punch.
But he didn't.
Not yet.
Yes, he could overwhelm a human body with his Pokémon strength.
But then what?
At barely [Level 5], in a fortress crawling with guards and who-knows-what else, he'd never make it out alive.
He clenched his fists then slowly relaxed them.
His potential in this life was too great. His foundation was golden.
Dying now would be stupidity, not pride.
So he endured.
But ti was long.
And when it ca, he would repay this humiliation.
---
"In you go."
The guard shoved him into a steel-barred cell.
Dim lights stretched the shadows long, the stench of decay clinging to the stagnant air.
Clang!
The gate slamd shut behind him.
Kael sat quietly against the wall, forcing his rage down, thinking through his next steps.
First: find a way to gain experience faster.
Second: map his surroundings.
Third: master this Machop body its limits, its strengths.
And finally: probe the strange Ghost-type energy festering inside him.
"...Wait."
Kael froze, eyes narrowing.
There is another presence.
A faint life signature, so well-hidden that even his sharpened senses had only just noticed it.
From the far corner, a small form shimred into sight.
"...Ralts?"
Kael's eyes locked on the fragile figure.
But this Ralts was in terrible shape. Its green hair had yellowed, sparse, and brittle.
Its crimson eyes were dull, lifeless. Its white, dress-like body was mottled with dark patches, as though diseased.
Worst of all, its twin red head-crests, the very organs that allowed its species to sense emotions, one was missing. Only a single crest pulsed weakly, leaking faint psychic waves.
The Ralts flinched under his gaze. It stumbled back two steps, curling into a ball in the shadows, trembling.
No hostility.
Only fear.
A pitiful fear of the stranger in front of it.
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