FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 3.

About 20000 years in the past.

In a dark, dimly lit white room laid a newly evolved midnight form Lycanroc, trying to sleep as best as he could after his long and grueling day. Battered and bruised, he growled and whimpered in frustration and confusion, as residual pain flowed through his body. He was laying on a very simple large bed with two trays of food, only one of which was half eaten, and a bowl of water next to the bed. Sleep was eluding the creature, as he would momentarily fall asleep, only to wake up suddenly to the nightmares and visions he was having from what'd he went through this last day.

Today should have been a day to celebrate. Today was the day he'd evolved from a Rockruff into his current Midnight Lycanroc form. After only a few years he'd matured and evolved, where typically many Rockruff could go many more before evolving out in the wild. In the care of his “caretakers" he'd grown exponentially with the food and vitamins he was given. He thought for those first few years of his life that he was just in the care of a very good family. He was treated nicely and well for all those days. Until today.

The moment he evolved, he was collared for the first time in his life, the cold metal making a soft beeping noise in the silence of the lab, keeping him further from really falling asleep. The collar translated his words so that the humans could understand him fully for the first time. This had been exciting, but shortly after being fitted with the collar, he was subjected to a rapid series of tests. Running on a treadmill, both on all fours and on his hind legs, which was difficult to learn at first since for his whole life till just that morning he had only been on all fours. He'd been poked and prodded by needles, injecting him with various fluids, serums, and experimental drugs, and blood drawn from his body. Then he'd been thrown to the wolves, nearly literally.

They'd placed and locked him in a large room with another pokémon, a black and white furred dog or wolf like one who instantly attacked him, also wearing its own metal collar.

He had never battled before, he was inexperienced and scared. He tried to ask the other canine to stop, but he only received growls in response as the other wolf would say back to him different things.

“I have to…"

They told me they'd kill my daughter…"

“They told me I had to kill you or they'd kill her! I'm sorry."

He avoided being killed for hours, desperately trying to talk down the other pokémon, but it was to no avail. Perhaps the only reason he had survived as long as he did was because that the other didn't really want to kill him. He saw the other canine covered in scars, bite marks, half an ear torn off. Clearly, he'd been subjected to some kind of radical things, but multiple times the other canine had the Lycanroc pinned and vulnerable, neck exposed, it would've been simple to kill him, but he'd hadn't. He continued to pause, to hesitate in the killing blow. Unknown to the Lycanroc, this was indeed the case, never before had the other pokémon been told to kill, merely to injure to the point that opponent could not fight anymore. There was no greatness in killing.

Anger, annoyance and desperation snapped in him after a number of hours of endless fighting. His eyes glowed, and with previously unknown power, he slammed the ground with his paws. Pillars of rock rose through the tiled floor of the laboratory at his command, and he trapped the other canine in the pillars, surrounding him.

With the other canine trapped, he had slumped back in sudden exhaustion, using his new power on instinct taking its toll on him. A voice echoed through the room at him, a voice he'd never heard before.

“Kill him."

The Lycanroc looked up at the ceiling, panting heavily, his eyes still glowing and he shook his head.

“No. Let me out…"

“Kill him and we will release you."

“No! Let...me...out…" He growled back at the voice, feeling the ground around him shake, the glow of his eyes increasing as he snarled.

“Kill him, Rook, he's filled his purpose."

This time, Rook did recognize the voice, saying his name for the first time that day to him; one of the humans who had cared for him for the last two years. Hearing one of his trusted humans tell him to kill made him pause and reflect on everything he'd gone through today. The ground around him stopped shaking.

“His purpose…? To try and kill me? What do you mean Oscar?"

“He has failed, if you don't want him to suffer through knowing his daughter will be killed, you will end his suffering."

The moment of surprise in hearing the human talk to him was lost when the other canine howled in agony. “No! Please! Don't hurt her! Why would you let me have a child just to take her from me!?"

“To give you the motivation. You needed to go at Rook with the intentions to kill. You've had more than enough opportunities to kill him and failed. Did you think we would not notice?"

The canine howled again in anguish as Rook closed his eyes, feeling rage and anger building inside him. Even with his eyes closed, the glow under his lids shined through it was so bright with his anger.

“Kill him Rook." The first voice spoke again, and Rook snapped his eyes open and howled to the ceiling.

“No! I won't!"

His paws glowed, and suddenly, one of the spires in the room crumbled apart. The thousands of thousands of tiny pieces of rock and shot through the air to his body, covering over his fur. They buried into his flurry fur to the very roots. With energy flowing through him, the rocks clumped together, causing Rook's fur to become tight with it.

Rook turned to the door, lifting up an arm and paw clenched tight in a fist and he punched it as hard as he could. The charged and clumped up fur was as tough as steel, and a significant dent appeared in the metal door. Rook pulled back his fist to strike again, denting the door even further as the voice in the ceiling yelled at him to stop, but he didn't listen.

With four more hard and vicious punches, the door popped open and crashed to the floor in front of him. Rook charged out the door, as sirens started to sound.

Several uniformed security officers in gray shirts and black pants attempted to stop the Lycanroc as he ran through the halls, but their baton sticks bounced off his charged fur harmlessly. Some of them Rook would wave his glowing paw at, and several small pointed spires of rock would pop out from the ground and launch themselves at the officers, making them have to doge out of the way of his path. Rook had no idea where he was going though, and eventually, he turned a corner to see five humans standing in his way in white lab coats, two of which he recognized. This made him stop in his tracks, his hackles raised as he growled at the group.

On the right of the group was Oscar and Lilian, the two humans who'd had been taking care of him for the last ten years as a Rockruff. Both of them had been nothing but friendly and loving to him, but now Oscar stared down at him in scorn, and Lilian was looking down at the floor at her feet, avoiding the Lycanroc's gaze. Oscar was a large man with a red beard and mustache, a professional in pokémon sciences, while Lilian was an expert on pokémon breeding and biology. Lilian had flowing, pink dyed hair, wore a pair of round spectacles and was lean and had a classical nerdy girl look about her.

Rook had already known for some time that he was bred to be strong and a prime specimen for Lycanrocs. He'd been bred to be a mix of the midday and midnight form, kept awake from 12am to 12pm to get a mix of both times of day. He'd evolved as planned it seemed, he became mostly midnight form, but rather than having the cotton ball tail of normal midnight form Lycanrocs, he had a medium length tail like those of the midday form that was colored fully white. He had felt proud of being involved in it, being chosen for it. But now…

“Why? Why would you do this?" He growled out, his eyes focused on both Oscar and Lilian.

The large man haruffed, and Lilian shuffled while staring at her he feet still, but neither said anything as instead, the tall man in the middle of the group of five stepped forward.

“Relax Rook." He said, his voice calm and smooth as he held up his hand. The man had a large, bright colored pin on the chest of his lab coat, and his blue hair was slightly pulled back and appeared lotioned up to become a point from an angle, pointed up towards the ceiling. He was wearing square shaped glasses on the bridge of his nose. He was at least a fairly handsome human.

Rook growled as his eyes locked onto the new human. “Wait...Jack...?" It'd been three years since he had last seen his human companion...the last time he had seen him he had suddenly seemed to vanish after the next day...

He didn't look at all like Rook remembered him three years ago. He had apparently dyed his hair to a deep blue and now kept it pulled forward and up like that, and although only 20 years hold himself, the human held the look of a smart and commanding scientist. This image was further inforced by how Jack had somehow grown much taller to nearly six feet in height from the five and a half or so he remembered.

Jack grinned, “I am in charge of this facility, and as the one who provided the means and money used in raising you, I from now on expect you to obey my every word. I am, afterall, your human companion. I'm the reason you were even born."

The Lycanroc lowered his head slightly, pointing his muzzle down at the ground and he growled lowly, “I was born because I was born..."

“You were born to be with me. The breeder puprosefully tried to time your birth with my birthday, trying to cash in on the Corsova's deep pockets. If it wasn't for me or that cash reward, your breeder may never have even tried to bred you. If he had missed the day you would be just another mediocre Lycanroc, or perhaps rather, still a Rockruff! No different from any other right now." Jack said back, a smirk showing on his mouth.

Rook felt his heart break, this....Jack had never talked to him llike that before...He always knew Jack to be very technicial and analytical, but he had wanted to become a trainer right...? What was going on? What happened? He again looked to his caretaker, hurt replacing his angry visage as Oscar continued further, gruffly adding, “Just be a good boy and do what Jack wants. As his companion pokemon, it is your responsibility to do as he wishes..."

Lilian remained silent still, she had briefly looked up to catch Rook's gaze, but quickly averted it again when she saw the hurt in his eyes.

Rook stared at them both for several seconds. Oscar had never sounded so...empty and cold to him before either. Lilian was always a happy person and her smiles warmed his heart after days spent alone on their hone sometimes...why?

Slowly, as he again went over the events of the day in his mind Rook spoke, “So...I've been raised and bred only to become some kind of...experiment?"

“Oh don't misunderstand." Jack said, catching Rook's attention once more as the tall blue haired man spoke again, “You were bred by some of the best breeders in the region, being born on my birthday made you qualified to be my companion pokemon. but it's no longer just that that will make you unique. You've been genetically enhanced beyond just breeding and the Corsova...What you're doing right now is not normal for Lycanrocs."

“What do you mean?" Rook asked.

“You probably are barely aware of it, that's expected." Jack said and he pushed his glasses up his nose a bit, “You have the ability to control earth and rock at a near subconscious level. Your fur right now is as strong as a Steelix's body."

Rook narrowed his eyes, and he pulled up his arm, noticing for himself the first time how his fur had clumped up. It looked near the same along his body, but as he rubbed his other paw along his arm, not a single one of the hairs flowed or felt like the fur it actually was. His paw instead ran along his arm as if it was smooth metal. Rook stared at his arm in awe, “What...what is this?"

“You further probably didn't realize you were summoning rocks where none should be available." Jack lifted his arms, “This entire facility is built with nearly nothing but metal and concrete in every direction for hundreds of yards, yet you pull up rocks and earth from further down in the ground then any rock or ground type known can do."

Jack grinned as he lowered his arms then, “You are the first successful attempt at modifying and enhancing a pokémon's strength far beyond its normal ability. A more powerful pokemon by default than even a champion's..."

Rook grimaced further, “So I'm successful...why am I suddenly being poked and prodded and forced to fight for my life?"

“Well, we have to make sure you're stable, make sure you can learn control of your abilities and how far you can take them."

“So I am an experiment." Rook determined.

Jack smirked, giving a shrug, “If that is what you want to call it? It's just research and making sure things are the way they are meant to be."

Rook snarled, baring his teeth, anger rising up in him once more. His eyes flicked back over to Oscar and Lilian as they glowed and the ground around the group shook.

“For the first ten years of my life...were both...all of you just...lying to me?"

Oscar remained neutral, showing no reaction to the question as he stared down at Rook. Lilian, however, looked up and looked like she was about to try and say something, he mouth opening before closing and then she looked down and away once more. Jack just held his smile, with a calculating look in his eyes now. Rook growled at the silence he was given.

“I...I refuse…" He snarled. His paws clenched tightly and began to glow yellow.

“You what?" Oscar growled back now, and Rook barked at the group of humans. Lilian and the other two jumped and stepped back, but Oscar and Jack did not move, even as several spears of rock suddenly burst up through the metal ground and floated around Rook's body, spinning slightly in the air.

“I REFUSE!" The Lycanroc repeated, “I refuse to be used like this! You lied to me! Betrayed my trust! I-"

Suddenly, the collar around Rook's neck made a beep and Rook gasped out, an intense and racking pain shot into his neck, which spread throughout his body rapidly. Rook's body shook and he fell to his knees in pain, as the collar injected something into his blood which made him feel like he was boiling from the inside out. The spires of rock fell to the ground around him, crumbling apart as they hit the metal floor. This was the same pain he had been feeling earlier today...when this all started and they had injected him with so many drugs. It hurt so much!

“Whether you refuse or not means little to me." Jack said in his cold and calculating voice. In his hand he was holding a small remote, having just one of several buttons on it. “You will do exactly what I want. If you refuse, you will experience this same pain over and over, and in greater and longer quantities." Rook snarled as he curled into a ball on the ground before the human, his entire body feeling like fire was coursing through his veins.

“Stop!" Lilian shouted and she ran forward and knelt beside him, putting her hands on the Lycanroc's body. She turned at Jack with a pleading look on her face, “You never told me about this! This isn't right! Oscar!" She shouted when her eyes fixed on the larger man, who merely huffed again, arms held behind himself and he turned his head up, closing his eyes.

Jack put the remote control back into his pocket, “Relax Lilian, I have no intentions of letting Rook die, he is much too valuable to our research into pokémon energy now that we have succeeded quite brilliantly in making him the best he can be."

“But this is...this is torture! This isn't science anymore! We're betraying everything we once thought to be truth!" Lilian shouted, her voice becoming strained as Rook remained shaking violently on the ground next to her. He was barely able to focus on the words being said through his pain.

“This isn't your part of the job anymore Lilian." Oscar growled, “You're much too sensitive. Stay in your lab tending your plants and breeding the other pokemon..."

“Oscar!" She repeated desperately, “How could you do this to him!? We lied to him for years! Why would we be so friendly to him before but treat him like this now!?"

The large man turned away then, and Rook managed to pull his head up and open his eyes as he focused on Oscar's back as the large man started to speak, “Growing attachments to anything is not something we can do in our line of work, Lilian...I've long since learned that pain...and you will now too."

Jack watched this exchange with a bemused expression, before turning with Oscar, the other two scientists rejoining the group as Jack spoke, “Lilian, take Rook back to his room, give him some food and water. The neurotoxin will be in his system for nearly a day, we'll have to continue tests tomorrow. Feel free to not come to the tests anymore Lilian, if you're unable to remove that sentimental feeling, you've done your part and can stay home." And with that, the other humans walked away.

________________

Lilian helped Rook to the room he was currently resting in. The human stayed momentarily, rubbing her hand through the Lycanroc's fur slowly as she watched him shaking a little roughly still as the toxin worked through his body.

“Rook…" The young women said softly to the Lycanroc, who had been unable to speak in response for the last forty minutes, pain just simply felt like it was flowing through his body. Lilian knew what Jack had used, it had to be a mix of Tentacruel and Toxicroak venom. It was extremely potent in paralysing victims, but if they could get away to recover there would be no permanent damage, but feeling it would keep them frozen and in pain for the time being. Even a Rock type can feel the effects, especially when the collar injected it directly into their blood.

“I'm so sorry…" She continued, “I didn't know this is what Jack was planning…"

Rook couldn't respond, shivering in pain and he whimpered as he shook. Every movement of any muscle in his body felt like it was moving liquid magma in his body.

Most of what Lilian said to him he couldn't' make out, but he could at least feel her sadness in the way she ran her hand through his now no longer steel tight fur, bits of dirt and rock remained in the coat of fur.

Lilian left and came back shortly after and placed two plates of pokéchow and a bowl of water next to the bed Rook was resting. He felt her hand against his body once more and she stayed for several minutes before she rose again and left.

After six hours, Rook recovered from most of the toxin enough that he was able to scoop some of the food to his muzzle, and took a few drinks of water, but he otherwise still felt in too much pain to move and he remained resting, his mind trying to also take in everything that had happened today. Anger boiled in the Lycanroc. Anger and resentment and sadness.

_________________

When Rook next woke, it was with an extreme feeling of numbness through his entire body. The pain had mostly faded, leaving his body fatigued and exhausted. As he rose up, hunger gnawed at his stomach and he quickly attacked the remainder of chow in the bowls next to the bed. It was only when he finished it that he noticed the small bundle of cloth sitting near the door of his small little room.

Slowly, Rook managed to slowly rise to all fours and he walked over to the bundle of clothing. It was a white scarf, and with it was a note.

Rook took the note and unfolded it. It was Lilian's handwriting. At first, the sight of her writing sparked rage inside him. He nearly crumbled the paper in his paws before he remembered what he could of Lilian's reactions the day before. Carefully, he smoothed the note back out and read what it said.

“Rook, I had this scarf crafted for you for the day that you evolved. I wanted to give it to you in a happier note, but I had no idea what Oscar and Jack truly had in store for you...I expected tests, but never wanted you to have to be placed in such a situation as to fight for your life or kill another pokémon. I swear I will get you out of here Rook...at some point. Don't tell anyone that I gave you this scarf. It's made of Spinarak silk, Mareep wool, and infused with the metal of Skarmory feathers. It's stronger than metal with the quality soft silk."

Rook read over the note once more and he felt a tightness in his chest as he read it. He couldn't believe how much of a one eighty his life had suddenly taken. Going from feeling well cared for and loved in a warm home with Lilian, to being locked in a small white room with nothing but white tiled floors and a rather uncomfy bed. From daily exercise and practice, to trying to stay alive in a fight with a canine he'd never seen before.

Rook looked down at the scarf bundled on the floor and he carefully pulled it up from the floor. It was exceptionally long. Even lifting it as high as he could, it didn't lift off from the ground, remaining in a small bundle on the ground at his feet still.

Rook closed his eyes and he pulled it up over his head, and he began to wrap it slowly around his neck. Rook realized why the scarf was so long now. It was for the thick mane of fur that he now had on the back of his head. He was able to wrap it around his neck three times before he felt comfortable with it, and he let the rest of it fall behind and flow down his back. He felt the end of the scarf flicking at the back of his heels. For a moment, Rook adjusted the scarf slightly until he was further satisfied. At least the scarf muffled the sound of the collar beeping on his neck.

The Lycanroc rolled his shoulders slightly as he stood up on his hind legs, wobbling just a bit as the numbness in his body made him shift his weight too much. Standing up on two legs was still a little awkward for him. Rook returned to his bed and he sat down with a sigh. He closed his eyes and rested, leaning back against the wall that his bed was against.

The note still held in his hands, Rook read it once more before he took the piece of paper and crumpled it. He threw the small paper into his muzzle and then swallowed it. He'd make sure Lilian didn't get in any trouble for helping him.

___________________

Hours later, a scientist opened the door and told Rook to follow him. The Lycanroc followed reluctantly, and was led to a new room where he was locked inside alone.

A few moments after the door was locked behind him, Jack's voice came on through the voice com in the ceiling. “Good evening Rook. Where did you get that scarf?"

“None of your business." Rook snarled, crossing his arms.

“Please Rook, we can all be through this so much better if you just cooperate."

“Still, none of your business." He continued. “Poison me all you want, you won't get any information about it out of me, and you'll just be delaying your little tests."

There was a moment of silence as Rook stood waiting, until the intercom came back to live. “Very well then, we'll play that your way for now, in the meantime…"

Suddenly, a far wall of the room opened up and inside stood a very timid and scared looking midday form Lycanroc. Rook stared at the newcomer in confusion a moment, before instantly his nose picked up the intense smell coming from the other Lycanroc. She was in heat.

Rook felt his body react instinctively to the scent, felt his sheath swell and thicken as he straightened his stance at the same time, standing straight up on his legs suddenly.

“Oh interesting, you can stand straight up instead of needing to stay hunched over…" Jack said over the intercom, “But I'm sure you can guess what we'd like for you to do right now."

Rook snarled, “You can't be serious…" He growled. He pushed back the growing arousal as the scent of the female in the heat filled the air. The Midday Lycanroc, however, seeing Rook and seeing his body, didn't seem as unwilling as he was. Quickly, she was rubbing up on him in seconds, as he growled and tried to ignore her presence.

Rook's eyes glowed as he stared up at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact with the horny female as she rubbed against him, her fur brushing along his body. Being that she was midday and they walked on all fours, her body mostly rubbed right against his waist, the rubbing motion against his sheath and orbs sent sparks through him and the tip of his length peeked from it. He shivered at the sensitive contact to his virgin cock.

He shuffled away from the female, pushing her away at the same time. She whimpered in confusion, but she saw the peeking tip and became further encouraged.

Jack's voice rang in the ceiling again as she tried to lean in and sniff at Rook's sheath and balls, but he shuffled away from her again, growling as Jack spoke. “We are quite serious Rook, we need you to sire pups, you are the perfect specimen, imagine what your children may be able to be?"

“Well you're going to have to wait to find out." Rook growled, “I'm not ready for any children. To be honest, the only female I've ever liked has been Lilian, and she's betrayed me. Knowing this, I don't want to know any other female. Get away!" Rook bared his teeth at the female, barking at her as she continued to try inching towards his groin even as he kept pushing her away. She finally seemed to take the hint and backed off, whimpering again with her ears folded back. She panted heavily, she was so intensely in heat she didn't seem able to speak. Rook didn't know so, but she'd been filled with drugs that increased the feelings for her. Her mind was lost to the need of her heat.

“As much as you may feel that way, we can't have that. We could take specimens from you, but that's been known to never be as effective in breeding pokémon. You've been raised to be a very virile male. You're larger than most other Lycanrocs, any of them and even perspective partners of your egg group would want you as a partner."

“Is that supposed to make me want to have sex right now with a random female you've probably induced heat on?" Rook asked sardonically to the ceiling.

“No, this is." Jack said back and Rook heard the collar under his scarf making another beeping noise, followed the feeling of needle pushing into his neck.

He yipped as the needle injected him, panicking as he expected to feel the pain of the neurotoxin attack him once more, but instead, felt a rush of heat fill his body. Lust filled his mind and a haze covered over his thoughts. Rook gripped his head as he closed his eyes, a glow started to appear in them as he stumbled a few steps. His nose began to sniff at the scent of the fertile female in the air without his say. He felt blood coursing through his body to his groin, his wolfhood filling out in his sheath and starting to slide further from the furry sleeve on its own.

“What...What have you done to me?" He panted out in confusion, trying to wrestle with the sudden, intense need coursing through him.

“Just a little something engineered from the pheromones of Salazzle." Jack spoke, a hint of amusement in his voice, “Did you know, Salazzle is the only pokémon in which the only sex that evolves are female? The females give off a rather intense pheromone that can entrance any male to do their bidding, even the most reluctant of males. This is a very simple form of it, one that simply demands of you to have sex."

“No...stop poisoning me." Rook panted out as he tried to resist the sensation coursing through him, but his own body was betraying him, and he could feel his mind slipping into whatever trance this pheromone induced.

“Everytime you disobey us, you leave us with no choice. Most contingencies for our tests have been taken into consideration. We will have ways of making you do what we need Rook. Don't forget that."

Rook struggled for seconds against the effectiveness of the drug, feeling his body disobeying his commands as he soon felt his cock throbbing in desire, leaking pre. He gasped as he felt a tongue lick at the tip of his virgin member, and opened his eyes to see the female Lycanroc staring up at him, licking at his nine inch cock, the first time he'd ever gotten to seen it since evolving. He could feel his knot swelling in his sheath. The sight flared the lust further in response, feeling his mind slipping into it.

In a last, desperate attempt, Rook lashed out at the female, but his body disobeyed him and he ended up falling over on top of her. He felt his hips thrusting erracticaly against her warm body as she wiggled under him. She began trying to align herself under him, and he felt his body twisting to meet her efforts, felt his cock flesh rub against the warmth of feminine lips.

“No...stop…" he growled out, but as he pulled his hips back and reached down to hold his own length and aim it, his consciousness blacked out, becoming lost to the haze in his mind as instinct and the drug completely took over...

________________

Rook snapped awake in a rush, the last thing he remembered being about to start having sex and fighting back against the lust in his body, but he was suddenly back in the small, enclosed room he'd woken in earlier that day, laying on the bed and without memory of the past several hours or even having fallen asleep.

Confusion filled him, and in a moment of needing clarity, he lifted a hind leg and sniffed at himself. He smelled the scent of sex, messy, musky and rushed. Clearly, the pheromones had taken over after all, and from the smell he hadn't just taken the female once, but many more times after that.

He growled heavily and lowered his leg as he returned to laying how he had been, closing his eyes and then giving a loud whimper. Not only was his life turned upside down, but he'd just had one of life's few great moments robbed from him. He'd lost his virginity and wouldn't even be able to remember what it was like, or having even wanting it, lost to some nameless, similarly drugged up Lycanroc…

________________

Over the next ten years, Rook spent days on end being poked and prodded and experimented on. Every so often, he'd be locked in a room with a female in heat, and each time, he refused to willingly take them, letting them inject him with the pheromone and blacking out. It came to the point where he basically even needed the drug to get aroused when in the presence of a female in heat. It was either that his body became dependent on the pheromone, or he subconsciously trained himself to not react to the scent of a female in heat due to his anger at being forced to mate. There had been one day that Jack bothered to ask him why he always refused.

“Why do you not wish to experience it? Why continuously subject yourself to the drug and not enjoy the pleasure yourself?" He asked this while a female Houndoom was rubbing against him, trying to get any spark of interest to show in the Lycanroc.

Rook, at the time ten years old and eight years into the experiences of the laboratory, was slightly larger than what he had been back then that first time with the female midday Lycanroc. He was more muscled from experimental serums and the exercises he was forced to do. His fur was rugged, he'd taken to rubbing himself in dirt after each time the scientists attempted to give him a bath by summoning a slap of earth and then rolling in it, his own way of saying “Fuck you" to them without cause enough to get in actual trouble, but it was for another reason as well. His fur was always filled with bits of rock and dirt now, which he'd long since learned how to consciously use to charge different areas of his fur into that steel strengthened form. He needed the dirt and rocks in his fur to be able to do this, so bathing washed out the rocks. Water types were still a huge weakness to Rook, besides the type difference, getting hit with a water attack would wash out the dirt even if his fur was charged up, and without that his fur could not maintain its steel like defense.

The scarf he had been given had mostly survived all the trails. Despite being fire proof and very damage resistant, it now had several holes and had been torn twice. Rook had taken the smaller torn off bits and wrapped them around his wrists, using his fur and his ability to keep them secure there. Jack, surprisingly, seeing that the scarf was being damaged and having grown used to seeing Rook with it, actually offered to reinforce what remained of the scarf with an experimental element he wanted to test.

Of course, Rook knew at the time he wouldn't have had a choice, and he didn't want to experience any pain from the neurotoxin, so he allowed Jack to add his element to the scarf and wrappings. Since then, no matter how intense or how much the cloth was crushed, or pulled or attempted to be torn, it just simply wouldn't. Out of anything, Rook guessed it was his one gift he would receive from Jack for the cooperation he'd given so far.

However, as to the question Jack had asked him, he calmly answered, eyes closed and arms folded as he ignored the female rubbing up against him, not even a single spark of arousal in him, “If you must force me to mate, then you can continue to use your drug. I refuse to remember my first time as something I don't want or desire…"

Jack's voice hummed back at him, “Hmm, fair enough then." Before Rook would feel the needle stick into his neck, followed by minutes of fighting the drug before it would eventually overwhelm him, every time losing consciousness to wake up hours later in his room, smelling of sex and musk. Rook was never told if the females even gave birth to his children, nor did he really care. If he never met them, he'd never feel the attachment to them, as far as he was concerned.

Rook had tried to escape twice throughout the ten years he spent in the labs. Once shortly after his “indoctrination" into his new life, he broke free from the doctors during a test and began rushing through the halls of the lab. He'd been there long enough to have a general idea of the layout of the lab that he reached the entrance and the elevator that would take him out, when the collar activated and poisoned him. He was later told by a very amused Jack, as he lay shaking and in pain from the toxin, that the collar would activate on its own if he left the vicinity of the lab.

The second attempt was digging a tunnel in his room in the dead of night. After further mastering his ability over rock and earth in the myriad of tests and forced fights he would be pitted against other pokémon in; of which were no longer fights to the death, something Rook believed Jack started knowing Rook would never try to kill another pokémon in the name of a test.

Rook used his ability to quickly move the earth and rocks out of the way through a tunnel. He believed he may have actually tasted freedom, but apparently, Jack had taken this into consideration with the collar as well. When Rook passed over a certain threshold in his tunnel, the collar injected him with its venom. Rook ended up falling in pain in the tunnel, over the line of the collar's allowed limits. It continued to give him regular doses of the venom through the night until it ran out. He tried to continue crawling to freedom at that point, but he was barely able to use his power in his weakened state, so much of the venom had been pumped into him that it was the most pain he had ever felt. A team of security officers pursued him down his tunnel, and poisoned as he was, Rook was unable to fight them off as he was dragged back to the lab.

That attempt was five years ago. Rook stopped trying after that, resigned himself to his life of tests and being used for experimentation. They tested his resistant to pressure, damage, and his own power in multiple different tests in which he usually would outright break whatever machine they had him on. No pokémon they pitted him against stood a chance after he mastered his abilities, summoning spires of rock to either surround an enemy, or to overwhelm and bury them. He'd also learned that his ability to charge his fur with the bits of rock could be used for offense as well as defense. A simple punch with his fur strengthened could do more damage than a Hitmonchan's best punch. The more angry or emotional Rook was, the stronger his abilities appeared to become, something Jack once noted to him could be measured by how fiercely his eyes glowed.

It was just after one such experiment in which he broke a reinforced pressure gauge that the scientists had gotten to test his strength that Rook finally got his freedom.

Rook was sitting quietly in his room, laying on his bed on a blanket that he had been given for his eventually cooperation in the tests. He had taken to meditating as best as he could, self teaching himself to remain as calm as possible. He was just starting to reach that deep trance of harmony when alarms snapped him out of it. His ears perked at the noise, and soon after, he felt the ground shake under him.

Rook stood up and tilted his head, he heard several footsteps rushing past him. Curious, he waited, trying listen. He heard a voice screaming over the intercoms through the facility, but he couldn't hear it over the alarms and through his door.

Suddenly, the knob started making its several clicking noises as it was unlocked. Rook stepped back as it turned inward, and his eyes widened at who entered.

“Lilian?" He asked. He hadn't seen her for over ten years, not since the day he had first been brought to this new life. She looked so different. She'd grown quite a bit since then it seemed. She became more slimming, while her nerd look was still slightly there, she seemed to have changed from using glasses to getting surgery or contacts, as she no longer had them, but her pink hair told him enough that it had to be her.

“Yes Rook." She panted softly, apparently having been running very quickly. The human women leaned down slightly to suddenly hug her arms around the midnight form Lycanroc. Rook paused in surprise.

“Why...are you here?" He asked softly, not returning the hug but remaining frozen. The human pulled back slowly and she rapidly spoke, her hands coming up to his neck and digging under his scarf quickly to the metal collar underneath. .

“I'm breaking you out...remember? I had promised that…"

Rook stared up at her as he felt her hands pressing at the collar at the back of his neck, and heard a click as it suddenly loosened its grip around his body. He had honestly completely forgotten about Lilian's promise to him ages ago. In surprise, Rook whispered, “You...stole the key?" Rook knew that Jack had the only key to the collar.

Lilian stared at him, throwing the collar to the ground where it clattered, “Yes, and then helped some...freedom fighters...get into the lab."

“Is that what the alarms are for?" Rook questioned further.

Lilian took hold of one of the Lycanroc's paws. “Rook there's no time please!" She tried to tug him through the open door, but Rook pulled back, ears pinning back as he did. For a moment, the human and pokémon stared at each other.

“Why…? Why did you and Oscar…" He started, unable to finish the question as he whimpered, his ears still pinned back.

“Rook…" The young women whispered, her voice barely audible over the siren's and voice shouting over the intercom, which Rook could now make out was shouting out to stop the boy with the sandy blonde hair.

“I never wanted this for you...I've never known what kind of stuff goes on down here, it wasn't part of my purpose, I kept being told...Knowing it then made me want to take you from here as soon as possible. But Jack always kept this key on his person, even in his sleep. You were...are the most important asset he has. Without you he won't be able to continue any of his perverse experiments for a long time."

“What about you?"

Lilian smiled, “I'll be leaving the Onyx Isles...once they see that I freed you in the security tapes...I won't be safe, but I need to get you out of here. Please Rook, come with me."

Rook looked at the human's hand as she offered it to him, doubt still lingered in his mind, but memories of his younger days pulled at his heart. Lilian had always been kind to him, and although she had vanished the day after he entered the labs, she had finally returned to do what she had promised she'd do in that note.

He reached out and put his paw in her hand, and she gripped it tightly and smiled as he pulled him with her out of the room and led him through the hallways of the lab.

____________________

Lilian took Rook even deeper into the facility, which at first confused him before they arrived at an underground lake. There were a few large boats here, one of which already had a sandy blonde human boy and an Abra waiting on it. The human was shouting something as he and Lilian boarded, but Rook couldn't hear what he was saying over the alarms as he seemed to be talking to the Abra.

Lilian released Rook's paw as she rushed to the cabin of the boat. She produced another key from her pockets and quickly pushed it in and started it.

As the engine roared to life, the sandy blonde boy seemed to notice their presence.

“Lilian!" The boy shouted louder, “We can't leave yet! Riley's still in there!"

“There's no time, if we stay here any longer they'll find us!" She shouted back.

The boy turned his head to the Abra once more, and as Lilian continued to ready the boat to leave and she began to reverse it along the dock, the boy turned and jumped over the railing back onto the concrete dock.

“Tod!" Lilian shouted, as the Abra teleported from the boat railing onto the boy's shoulders as well.

Tod rushed away from the boat shouting, “I can't just leave him in there trying to fend them all off alone!"

“Come back!" Lilian shouted, but it was in vain as Tod ran back up the stairs into the hallways for the lab once more.

Lilian cursed but she didn't wait any longer, “Stupid boys, they can take care of themselves then…" She continued to pull the boat in reverse, and once she was clear of the dock she turned the boat around while pushing a small button on the side of the dashboard. Rook watched as on the far wall of the cave, it slowly split open and revealed the open ocean beyond. Lilian pulled the boat into full blast and Rook had to hold onto the railing as they shot out along the waters.

_______________

About thirty minutes later, Lilian anchored the boat close to a beach shore of an island with the island housing the lab just visible on the horizon. Rook had a paw on a tree and was staring out over the sea at it, while next to him stood Lilian.

“This will be your home Rook…" Lilian said. “There's other pokémon here...you can start a new life…"

“What if I'd rather come with you?" Rook said as he turned towards her.

“They're going to come after me...you'd be in danger and you may get captured again. You're better off here, where you can at least stay free. As long as you're quiet, they should never be able to find you here." Lilian smiled, she turned back towards the dense forest that covered the island. “The trees here scramble scans, you should be safe here to just...live free."

Rook shook his head, “What if I want to protect you?"

Lilian shook her head in return, “No...Rook...if I'm found and I'm captured, I will never tell them where you are, but I could never forgive myself knowing you were back in that place. You're free now, the best thing you can do for me is to stay that way."

Rook stared at her quietly for several moments, before he nodded. “Okay Lilian...where will you go though?"

“I'm going to stay with a friend in the Kento region for awhile...then hop between different places to stay on the move. If they come after me I'll make sure it's at least difficult for them to do so."

Lilian began to walk steadily away from Rook then, “Please Rook...just stay happy here...live in peace…"

The Lycanroc remained silent, as one of the few humans who had raised him from birth stepped through the shallow waters of the beach, and then hopped up into the boat. The engine started and she heaved the anchor up out of the water. The boat began to move away from the island, as Rook watched from the treeline silently.

In his chest, the Lycanroc's heart ached. He knew this was probably for the best, but knowing that Lilian would probably be hunted down for the rest of her life by Jack left a sour feeling in him.

Lilian turned slightly to look back over her shoulder at him, and she waved softly a moment. Rook watched until he couldn't see the boat anymore on the edge of the water horizon, before he turned around and began to follow a path into the forest.

__________________

Another few years later, Rook was indeed living rather peacefully. The worries of the world were not known to him on his little island. The resident pokémon had helped him settle in, after a few displays of his power. He became the unofficial leader of the island. Pokémon from nearby islands began to often come to him to settle a dispute between each other. He took to mostly being awake at night and sleeping at day.

It was just as he was going to bed one night in his den at the top of a hill overlooking the rest of the island, that there was a loud explosion that reverberated through the air, followed by shockwaves that shook the island and caused waves to crash through the edges of the forest, flooding the ground.

Rook rushed from his den, and from the entrance to his cave, he saw smoke in the distance. On the far island, the island on which the lab Rook had escaped from ten years ago, a thick pillar of black smoke was rising up into the air. Some kind of large explosion had just occurred there. As Rook watched, another explosion triggered, but this time, it became a large, white bubble that began to slowly expand. It produced a bright light that after the bubble enclosed the entire island, Rook had to shield his eyes. He was unable to see it as it happened, but the bright bubble of light continued to expand, until it swallowed him up along with the other five islands of the Onyx Isles.

Several seconds later, the light faded, and as Rook blinked and cleared his blurred vision from the blinding light, he jumped in surprise. The islands had been rearranged! Where once miles of ocean separated the Onyx Isles, now maybe only a mile or so did! The city of the main island on which the lab was on was in clear site, though suddenly was no longer smoking.

Beyond this as well, the islands were now placed next to a much larger landmass to the east. Along the coast of this land mass, Rook could see buildings that looked rather rustic. What was this place?

Rook wasn't able to go to sleep, besides his wonder of the new situation, it wasn't long until he received a visiting flying type who informed him further about what appeared to have happened. Somehow, their islands had been teleported to some kind of new world. The humans in the city had all transformed into different pokémon, as well as a tribe of human's on one of the neighboring islands.

Rook received further reports from more flying types that several other flying type pokémon were trying to come closer to the islands, he couldn't' hear it directly from water types, but he was told several water types were also attempting to swim closer to the islands. The main land was trying to reach out to them, but the pokémon of the islands were attacking them in their confusion and panic.

That night, Rook was walking around the island trying to patrol it for safety, when he came across a Lucario of such appearance he'd never seen before, though he knew what it was right away. He'd heard rumours and reports that on the main land of the world far from the Onyx islands, Arceus himself had descended and opened a gate to a new world to let pokémon escape to it. He was not sure why it happened, but he knew that just recently the gate had closed, leaving only a few million pokémon left in the world.

He had heard that to usher those through the portal and help them, Arceus had bestowed great power to several different pokémon, one of them being a Lucario. These had been termed “The Mega" and no, here was Mega Lucario on his island. After this mysterious explosion, Rook was curious, and so he had attempted to gently wake the Mega.

A small incident that resulted in a bit of a tussle happened, but in the end, it seemed that the Mega Lucario was just too exhausted, and Rook had to carry the Mega, who told him his name was Ruli, and the Abra that was with him, back to his den.

As soon as they reached Rook's den, the Lucario passed back out to sleep and Rook stayed awake again to watch over them. He'd gone a full day without sleep, but he still didn't feel like he even needed to sleep. He'd actually found out while living on the island that while he could sleep and enjoy it, he didn't need it to actually function. Probably yet another undiscovered thing engineered by the scientists into him up until this point.

Rook stared for hours at the sleeping Abra that had came with Ruli onto his islands, and eventually, he spoke. “I know you're awake, there's no way you wouldn't have from that fall from that tree."

For several seconds, the Abra remained motionless and breathing slowly, as if asleep, before his voice echoed in Rook's mind, “Perceptive...why let me pretend for so long?"

“Figured you speak up eventually but you don't seem to have any intention to. What's your name?"

“Enzlo…" The Abra answered, “You were that Lycanroc Lilian had that day…"

Rook froze up, “Excuse me…?"

“Do you remember? That Abra and the boy on the boat who had jumped off the boat? I'm that Abra."

“What? Really? Why haven't you evolved or anything? It's been ten years."

“I spent those ten years mostly in hiding, much like Lilian." Enzlo said slowly, That day…"

Suddenly, images and emotions flashed through Rook's mind. In only seconds, Rook understood everything. Why he was born, why he was experimented on. It was all build up towards Jack's true goal. Rook was just the first step in harnessing the greater power inside pokémon. Rook was the first successful experiment in getting a pokémon to tap into its own inner power. Jack's ultimate goal was to find a way to harness the power and extract it. They were using data from Rook to find out how to bring out that energy and how to pull it out.

Enzlo and the boy Tod, had found out about this horrible purpose and made it their goal to stop Jack, along with another boy by the name Riley. They failed. They had stolen the research and freed Rook with Lilian's help, but the research however, had already been sent off to other labs, even destroying what was at the lab didn't stop Jack from continuing and perfecting it. Even worse, both Riley and Tod…

“I'm sorry…" Rook said softly, looking down between his legs.

“Not your fault to feel sorry for." The Abra said, and he continued to explain with words instead. “Jack continued his research, and with the energy he took from pokémon, he started to creating grand new technology that launched it several hundreds of years into the future. Of course, this made many people question how his company was suddenly making such things possible. Jack managed to keep the secret hidden for many years, until about a month ago when it came to light by an investigator...that's when Arceus came forth. His anger was palpable, he opened the gate and hundreds of millions of pokémon, including myself, passed through the gate."

Rook nodded as he listened, “And now I'm in that world too?"

“That's right. But not directly in the correct time. It's been 20000 years since the events of the gate."

Rook stammered, his muzzle falling open, “2-20000 years?"

“Whatever Jack's done to transport the islands to this world, it wasn't perfect, and they've emerged many years into the future for both your world and this one. Mankind where you come from has become much much more advanced, but pokémon have become extinct. The energy taken from them is starting to run out, and so the humans devised a machine to transport themselves into this world and try to break the barrier that Arceus lifted between the two worlds. This Lucario with me is one of them, who came to this world and lost his body and his memories, his spirit inhabited the body of a Riolu, and he instead decided to defend this world instead of try to take it over. Arceus foresaw this, and he had Mega Alakazam guide him to the gem."

Rook listened to this but he could only continue to stammer as he couldn't believe it. “So many years...how...how are you still alive yourself?!"

“When I passed through the gate, Mega Alakazam sensed...something about me and he froze me in time. I didn't wake up until about a week ago…"

“So...what are you and Ruli trying to do?" Rook asked while tilting his head.

“Trying to find out what exactly Jack is up to, and put a stop to it. I dont think it's coincidence now that the Onyx Isles vanished shortly after the gate closed. Obviously Jack followed some kind of trail and followed through space and time to this world, he took the nearby islands with him."

Rook grimaced and he looked down at the ground quietly before he looked up and nodded, “Allow me to help you. I have plenty of things to repay Jack for."

“I'm sure you do, your memories are scattered far and wide. I can tell you don't want to remember a lot of what went on in there."

Rook nodded as he looked back down to the floor of the cave as Enzlo continued, “I will actually be going back to sleep for now, Rook, please watch over us. When Ruli and I both wake up we will make plans."

Rook remained silent, but after a few minutes he felt acutely alone, that projected presence of the Abra leaving his mind. Heavy thoughts hung on Rook's mind as he recalled the memories of the facility he'd long since buried. In the peaceful life he'd managed to create on the island, becoming a trusted figure by the other pokémon on the island, he'd managed to nearly forget about his past life, only remembering something once only every few days after a few years.

After all this time, he would be willingly trying to return to that place, but this time as a free pokémon, and this time to stop the man who had took nearly half of his life...