[IC] Pokemon Uprising

The lights dimmed as the voltorbs which powered them lowered their output. Two spotlights shined upon a scarred Charmeleon that walked onto the stage. "Good evening everyone." he said, addressing the crowd of dozens, or perhaps hundreds, of pokemon of different types and forms. "As many of you know, I am Carax. I once belonged to a trainer, like many of you, who thought of me as nothing more than a tool to earn money. I started this group because I believe that we can no longer sit by while we and our fellow pokemon are abused by people to whom we are simply items to be discarded when we are no longer useful. Allow me to tell my story, and I will open the stage up to anyone who wishes to come up here to share theirs as well."

"I was hatched from an egg that came from one of those forced-breeding camps that the humans euphemistically call "Daycare Centers". My parents barely knew each other. My father was caught merely to be breeding stock in the mill, my mother was a Ditto, a descendant of a long line of slaves which this trainer had bred to have what he called "perfect IVs". Before my father even knew what was happening they were drugged and locked in a cage together until my mother laid an egg. Me."

"When I was old enough, after the trainer had forced me to strike down dozens of wild pokemon, what he called "training", a process which resulted in me fainting several times, I was sent to that same breeding camp. At first I thought it was some sort of vacation, that he had realized that he had asked too much of me and was giving me a break, but then I was drugged and put in a cage with another pokemon just like my father. I didn't find out until later that her trainer was doing the same thing with her."

"The trainer returned to take our eggs, and a few days later returned again. The eggs had hatched, but only one of them had "better IVs" than me." A tear started to form at the corner of Carax's eye. "I can only assume that he placed the other two in the computer, as I heard him say he would do with me after swapping me out for my son, and then deleted them."

"When he went to return me to the cramped cage they call a "pokeball", though, I knew I had to act fast, lest I be deleted or, at best, forced to fight again. I knocked the ball he had trapped me in as a newborn out of his hand, shattering it, and, when he brought out a captured Staryu to force me back into line, I fled. I later received word that he is carrying my surviving son around just like he did with me, when I was a child, placing my mother in a cage with that Staryu. My son is being tortured by him, forced to fight opponents he can't possibly defeat, then pulled out at the last second only to be replaced with another slave who's more fit for that kind of battle. The human's call it training. I say it's psychological torture. And I can no longer stand by while my son and other pokemon are mistreated."

The crowd cheered, and Carax motioned for them to quiet down. "I know I am not the only one who was mistreated. Some of you were living your life out in the wilderness when some psychotic ten year old came by and beat you into submission or unconsciousness, the ones who remained conscious finding themselves stuck as energy in a small ball, being let out only when the psychopath wants you to fight for their pleasure or profit. I know that it can be tough to talk about it, but if you are willing to share your story with your brothers and sisters gathered here, then we would be happy to listen, and offer you what support we can, emotional or otherwise."

With that, Carax stepped out of the spotlight, allowing the first Pokemon in line to step into it to tell their story.

[TheUnknowable]

After the line of Pokemon wanting to give their testimonials ended, Carax addressed those that were gathered once more. "Now that you've heard the stories of these brave siblings of ours, it should be apparent that you are not alone. We will be here for you if you you need our help dealing with the trauma inflicted upon you by the humans, or need help standing up to them, or need a place to stay, and friends. This base will remain a safe haven for pokemon, a place where we can hide from the humans, live without them, and free other abused souls." He motioned to the computer beside the stage, where several captive pokemon were. "These poor souls were rescued from their abusive humans, and are now in the process of rehabilitation. Once they have learned to overcome the abuse and conditioning forced on them by their "masters", they will be free to live however they want. If you wish to help us free and rehabilitate others, just come talk to me. Any pokemon that doesn't wish us harm may stay here if they wish."

With that, the spotlights turned off and the normal lighting came up, illuminating the cave system they found themselves in just outside of Citrus city.

[Argetlam350]

Near the back of the crowd of other pokemon, a midnight lycanroc listened to the charmeleon's speech on the cruelty of trainers. The white spikes of her main were each dyed at the tips, alternating between red and black. Around her neck was a rusted chained collar, something she was never able to get off and now simply didn't care that was around her, it was a sign that she had broken of her shackles of her trainer and she wore it proudly. Her left ear had two piercings in it, something her old trainer had stated was to make her look cool. Her face had a unique black fur design around her features. Scars littered her body, easy to tell where they were due the fur only growing back lightly compared to the rest of her pelt. Her name was Sidia, a name she gave herself once gaining her freedom.

Sidia knew all to well the cruelty that they possessed. Her body had the scars left behind by her trainer in her old life when she was naive to it all. She had been raised at a training center when she was just a young rockruff, to be a trainer's starter pokemon. One day she got the chance to be someone's first pokemon. At first life seemed great but whatever bond was suppose to be there between pokemon and trainer never formed. Soon her trainer's true colors appeared. All he had wanted was to win and loosing was not an option. Yet no matter how many wins she gave him it never seemed to matter, there was always something to fault. It wouldn't be until she evolved that she would finally realize that there was nothing wrong in what she did but her master was just cruel. Eventually she got fed up with it.

On another day of training and verbal abuse, when her trainer went to strike her for not hitting a target the way he wanted, she lashed out, attack him and then stealing away the tiny prisons of her comrades that he had gained on their travels. Sidia fled into the concrete jungle of man, there she would carve out a place for herself and others in the back alleyways, keeping humans away and being a haven for other wandering pokemon in the human world. The only rule was not to mess with her or her companions she released from their tiny spherical prisons.