[center][h3][b][color=ed1c24]Seth Halen[/color][/b][/h3][/center]

	Seth couldn't believe what he was seeing. All of these trainers had stepped out of their doors with the intent to take on the challenge of the trainer's journey, to grow together with a team and push themselves and their partners as far as they could go... and here they all were, leaping at the chance to abandon that entire premise. Powerful, obedient Pokemon guaranteed to crush any opposition- all for the low, low price of betraying partners who put their trust in them. What was a little damnation in exchange for a shortcut to power, after all? 
	Nobody deserved to be treated like this. These Pokemon had thrown in with these trainers, signed a contract with them to train and grow and take on challenges together, and their payment was right here; being shipped off to God knows where because the trainer they chose was lazy and just wanted the easy way out. They were forgetting the journey for the sake of the destination. Was this what Trainers had come to? Decades of being emblazoned as the living symbol of perseverance and fortitude, only to now stand for [i]this[/i]? It made Seth want to puke. 
	"Are you going to take the offer, or just stand there like a buffoon?" came a voice from behind him. 
	Seth turned his head and beheld a boy much younger than he was dressed in a tailored suit. How or why he'd chosen to travel in such clothing was beyond Seth, but everything about him suggested privilege and spoiling; anything he'd ever wanted had been taken care of by a flash of mommy and daddy's credit card, with no effort required on his part. Just the type the Club was looking for.
	"I'm not taking any part in this travesty," Seth replied, "I'll raise my own partners, thanks" and stepped to the side.
	"Your loss then," the spoiled brat said, "I have neither the time nor the patience to actually [i]train[/i] or [i]breed[/i] Pokemon, I'd much rather have a winner handed to me. But suit your objectively inferior self, I suppose. Me, I'm going to trade in this totally worthless Vulpix as soon as I can!"
	Seth turned his back on the boy and marched away from the clamoring crowd. As he got away from the sea of bodies, in the corner of his eyes he noticed a flash of burned orange disappear behind the corner where the Club Grunts had been carrying the boxes of traded in balls. The color reminded him of the Vulpix who'd torched his jacket and had stood up to the Club at the same time he had. But her trainer, after nearly getting himself into a fight, had called her to him and they were leaving, so there was no way. "Must be seeing things..." he said to himself. 
	When a shrill yelp and the sound of men shouting came from around the same corner, however, he began to become concerned. Before he could budge to get a better look, however, another noise drowned out everything else; a large vehicle starting up and driving away. Sure enough, as he looked, a white van with the letters "PC" on the side began to pull toward the main road and away from the Lodge. And nowhere was there any sign of the orange flicker he'd seen. But, surely they wouldn't have...?

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[center][h3][color=00aeef][b]Hestia the Alolan Vulpix[/b][/color][/h3][/center]

	Hestia wiped some sweat off her brow as she stood in the black expanse inside of her Pokeball. Shaping the inside was hard work, even if it was mostly a mental exercise. The space she had to work with wasn't much- it was, after all, only a basic Pokeball, and she didn't have much experience with it. But she had been able to fashion a few things; a chair to sit in, a small bed for when she was tired, and she'd just finished putting up a small speaker with a volume knob so she could listen to the outside when she wanted. 
	There was of course, also the door behind her. But the last time she'd used it she'd been treated to the back of her Master's hand. Just thinking about it made her cheek sting. It had been the first time he'd ever physically struck her. The act would have appalled her, had she not grown accustomed to such an attitude from him. By all rights she should have walked away, and she'd considered it... but she'd been raised with the idea that if she joined a Trainer, it was her duty to stand by them and do as they said, regardless of anything. Loyalty above all else. So, in spite of the insults, the condescension, and the outright mistreatment, Hestia had done everything in her power to tough it out and remain steadfast in her commitment. It was the right thing to do, or so she had told herself.
	"Well," she said as she stepped toward the knob on the speaker, "Let's see if it works!"
	With a turn of her wrist, the speaker came to life! She couldn't make out much from it at first, but as she listened some things became clear. There were voices, many of them; Master Kevin must be in a crowd of some sort. Almost all of them were excited, was it a concert? Couldn't be, there wasn't any music. Furthermore, a small handful of voices sounded agitated, even angry! Then, slicing through the haze and clear as crystal, was Kevin's voice.
	"Are you going to take the offer, or just stand there like a buffoon?"
	Offer? Was he at a mall, then? But what need had he for special offers, with his money? Another voice came through, this one clearly displeased.
	"I'm not taking any part in this travesty. I'll raise my own partners, thanks."
	A travesty? And something about raising partners? Where WERE they? 
	"Your loss then," the spoiled brat said, "I have neither the time nor the patience to actually [i]train[/i] or [i]breed[/i] Pokemon, I'd much rather have a winner handed to me" came Kevin again. It fitted him, to be sure. But what was this about having a 'winner' given to him?
	Her master's next words answered her question... and drove a knife into her heart. "But suit your objectively inferior self, I suppose. Me, I'm going to trade in this totally worthless Vulpix as soon as I can!"
	"He's... going to trade me in?" she spoke aloud, fear and uncertainty infecting her voice.
	“And will someone show control over their Pokemon? I think someone should trade her in if they don’t have any control over her," A third voice came in clearer than usual, this one a completely unknown female who seemed to be projecting her speech to be heard by many people at once, "I guarantee you that our Pokemon are friendlier and obedient. They are the cream of the crop!”
	Hestia swallowed as bolts of dread pierced her. Somebody was offering to trade Pokemon in for stronger ones? And Master Kevin was considering accepting it??? No, from the sounds of it, he had more than considered it! She didn't know what to do. His displeasure with her had always been evident, but surely she hadn't done THAT poorly! She'd been trying to change, to be better for him... had it not been enough? 
	She had to know for sure. Steeling her nerves as best she could, she turned and marched to the Exit Door she'd made for her ball. She stopped for a moment, her hand gripping the doorknob. He wouldn't be happy if she used this again. But if she didn't act now, she might be traded in before she could. It was now, or not at all. So, with a deep breath, she tightened her grip, opened the door, closed her eyes, and stepped through it.
	
	Outside, Kevin had been idly tossing Hestia's Pokeball up and down in his palm as he waited in the middle of the pack for his turn. All of a sudden, the ball flew open as it landed in his hand again, jumping out and falling to the ground as a white light flew out and reformed into the shape of his Vulpix. She looked up at him, hoping to see something like sadness of sympathy; she found only fury. 
	"Master Kevin, I-"
	"Hestia, what are you doing?! I ordered you to NEVER leave your ball without my say again!" he bellowed before she could finish.
	"I know, and I'm terribly sorry Master, but I-"
	"SHUT UP! Get back in your ball, NOW!" he yelled, pointing at the ball as it lay on the ground in front of him. 
	"But Master, I have to know! Are you really going to give me away? Trade me in? Abandon me?!"
	His answer came faster than she would have believed.
	"[i][b]YES![/b][/i] You are absolutely useless in every sense of the word, you can't even obey a [i]simple order[/i], and now you're making me look like a fool in front of everyone here! Now, if you're done asking idiotic questions, [i]get back in your ball so I can trade you in for something that's worth my time and be done with it!!![/i]"
	Hestia was stunned into silence by his words. Did he truly hate her so much? And... was it truly her duty to bear such treatment in the name of loyalty? 
	"Very well," she finally said in a meek tone as she began to walk toward her ball, "I suppose this is goodbye then."
	As she started to bend down to press the button and re-enter it, another sound rang out. It was difficult to hear over the din in the middle of the crowd, but her fox-like sense picked it up. And, to her, it was absolutely unmistakable; the yelp of another Vulpix under duress. The noise stirred something in her. She didn't know what it was or what to call it, but it rose up in her and demanded that she not go quietly into this dark night.
	And Hestia listened to it.
	When she reached down to the ball, she didn't simply go back inside. She grabbed it in her hand and brought it to her face. To Kevin and the others watching, it looked like she was examining it for scratches or dents. But when she opened her mouth and placed the ball between her teeth, they started to understand that not all was right. By the time they realized, however, it was too late; Hestia looked up at Kevin, a sharp and almost feral look in her eyes, and with the ball in her jaws she snarled at him. A second later she was shrinking, her clothes melting away to become a white fur coat as her mouth elongated and her limbs shortened. She fell forward onto her hands as her transformation into her non-human form completed, and before Kevin or anyone could properly react she was sprinting away between and around the legs of the crowd, her ball still clutched in her mouth! 
	She knew not where she was, nor where she could go. But she did know that she could not, would not suffer such slings from a trainer. And so she ran into the city, ran as fast as she could away from the Lodge, away from those traders, and away from Kevin!