"A proposition?" you questioned cautiously.

"Yes. I'm offering you your freedom in exchange for you helping me," Ghetsis replied calmly.

Your heart sank at that and you silently cursed yourself for getting your hopes up too quickly. Of course he would make you do something in exchange for something as big as that. But the real question was how badly would this cost you?

"And.... What would you have me do?" you asked hesitantly. Even if it meant freedom you still had your limits.

"Bring me back my son," he said immediately, his tone never changing.

"Your son?" you asked, completely shocked. You had no idea that Ghetsis had children let alone a son.

"Yes, my adopted son. His name is Natural Harmonia Gropius, or otherwise he goes by just N. He ran away about a year ago and I desperately need him back here."

"So you're asking me to strip someone else's freedom in order to gain my own?" you clarified. As much as you desperately wanted out of this place, were you really willing to do exactly what Team Plasma did to you and take away this guy's freedom? You weren't too sure yourself.

"He's not nor never was a prisoner here. In fact, he's more of Team Plasma's symbolic prince. He fully supports Team Plasma's goal of liberating all Pokemon and he actively spoke in favor of it in front of large crowds. But he's still young and became confused on what he believed, so that's why he ran away and I allowed it. But now he's needed back here so that's where you come into play."

"Why are you having me go find him instead of sending one of the members of your organization?"

"You are our best hope to bringing back N more than anyone else. Team Plasma members have a tendency to, ah, stick out in a crowd," he replied. "My son would surely see them before they find him and be able to get away."

"But you really think I'll be able to convince a guy I don't even know to come back with me here?" you asked, that question being the only one that worried you. What happens if you did find him but he refused to go with you? Then what?

"Convince him, trick him, force him, I don't care!" he yelled, obviously getting annoyed by your doubt. "If you ever want to have freedom again you'll make sure he's brought back here."

You quickly swallowed your angry response knowing that it possibly could ruin your only chance at freedom.

"Fine. So let's say you let me leave here in search of your son. What's stopping me from getting as far away from this place as I can?"

"This is," he said as he held up a necklace with a small flower chain. "You will leave this place wearing this and inside it holds a GPS chip that will track your every movement. If you smash it or I see that you haven't been moving for more than twelve hours, I'll send Team Plasma members after you. And trust me, we will find you."

You gulped nervously, knowing the severity of his threat. You couldn't mess this up no matter what. If you did, you'd lose absolutely everything.

"To make matter short, you have 15 days to bring back N. Succeed and you'll get your desired freedom. Fail to do so and you'll spend the rest of your short and useless life here rotting within these walls. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," you replied bitterly. There was no way to back out of this even if you wanted to. But you couldn't shake off the worry that gnawed at you. Your freedom basically relied on pure luck, that's what you would need to be able to find one specific person within the entire Unova region.

"But," you cut in before he could say anything else. "I have one request."

You expected him to become angry by that, but Ghetsis only looked amused now. "A request? And what could you possibly want besides your freedom?"

"I want his Pokemon," you demanded as you pointed to the grunt who led you there. "For an organization that's set on guaranteeing the well-being and liberation of Pokemon, your grunts treat their Pokemon very badly."

"Why you little-" the grunt started.

"Fine," Ghetsis replied, cutting the grunt off. "If you're able to bring my son back to me, you may have his Pokemon. Anything else you desire?"

"No, that's all." The last thing you wanted to do was push your luck with this man. Even though he was the one who stripped you of your freedom in the first place, he was finally giving you a chance to take it back once again. It was your all too literal chance of a lifetime.

"Very well. Make sure you're ready because I'll be having a few members escort you the town where we believe N is currently in. Starting at this moment, you are on a time limit. Don't let your time run out."

If only it was that easy.

******

"I can't wait until I can see you rotting back in that cell," said the grunt you despised most.

"Don't get your hopes up. I'll find N and then I'll never have to see that dumbass look on your face again," you snapped, realizing you no longer had to be afraid of what the grunts would do to you. But instead of showing the anger he almost always possessed, the grunt merely laughed.

"Don't be too sure about that."

Without another word, the grunts got back in their truck and drove away, leaving you all alone inside the woods. All alone. For the first time in ten years, you weren't surrounded by the members of Team Plasma. This was your first small grasp at freedom. One that could disappear just as quickly as it came if you fail.

Reaching into your back pocket, you pulled out the picture that Ghetsis gave you right before your departure. In the picture, it showed a handsome young man with long, green hair and emerald green hair. N.

As much as Ghetsis tried to say otherwise, you knew N had to have run away from that place because he hated it. Even if this was the only picture of him you had, Ghetsis showed you other photos of his son but not in one photo did N smile or even look happy.

But even so, you had no choice but to bring him back. When it came down to it, your happiness meant so much more than a stranger's who was probably just as twisted as the rest of Team Plasma if he was the son of their leader. You had to push your guilty conscience to the side and focus on finding this man.

15 days to find him.

15 days to bring him back.

15 days until freedom.