It won't have a two slapped onto it, it will have a proper title (that's been changed). Also, by this time Crystal/Pearl can use most moves at will, not just having four at a time, and she is in Unova, and in this she's probably in Pinwheel Forest or something.

     I was tired of running. I couldn't do it anymore. I could barely muster the will to shift to a Pokémon form, much less run. I guess that was solved for me anyway; we were trapped. Charizard couldn't fly, his wings had been cuffed in some way that prevented them from opening to their full extension, and he was being detained further by Team Plasma by their water-types, though he continued to fight how he could. Serperior and Venusuar were surrounded and burned from fire-type Pokémon. Lucario was at my back breathing heavily, both of us in mirrored fighting-stances. He made no other noise, but he was weak like me. Luxray was trapped in the ground her legs down, from some move ground-type Pokémon had done, and there were metal rods placed around her to prevent her from doing much else than roar in protest as sparks and thunder flew from her. Persian was the only one who seemed in any way fit to continue battling, as  he swiftly and agilely kept moving, never stopping for a heartbeat. But, having known him for years, I could see that would end quickly.

     The roars and protests of my Pokémon were barely registering, but I knew they were there. It might have been me trying to put aside the pain that caused me.

     One of Team Plasma's higher-placed members stepped forward. "And you say you care for the very Pokémon who you brought into such danger?" he called, taunting.

     "I don't lie," I said, barely able to get my voice loud. "I'm out here with them, fighting along side them, fighting for them. I don't ask them of anything I wouldn't do myself."

     "You say that?" he scoffed. "Then battle for their freedom from us, as they were doing for you."

     Red light shimmered from their ranks, and many small Pokémon were brought out of their Pokéballs. The thought of battling one, much less all of them, made me want to just give up and fall to the ground. But their freedom...

     "Do you accept?"

     The foe Pokémon were far enough away. I could transform into something, anything, to fight them. I had to.

     "Do I have a choice?" I retorted. Over my shoulder, I turned to Lucario, and said softer, "Go. Help Charizard get out of the metal bindings on his wings, help everyone. I've got this."

     He wanted to argue. He really did. He knew how weak I was, and he wanted to protest, to be loyal. I saw it, clear as day, on his face. But without a word, he nodded, and went toward the other Pokémon of my team. Then I faced the mob of Pokémon, discretely used Aqua Ring with as little water from the surrounding ground as possible, and called out, "I accept."

     The Pokémon rushed toward me, looking like an instant stampede. I changed to a Liepard quick, causing me more pain with everything breaking and reforming at once, but I was ready when the fastest ones were closest to me. I faintly heard gasps before that, but I paid it no more mind as I started the dance of combat. First, I used Flame Wheel, the fire flowed from my mouth and I rolled into the stampede. Some Pokémon tried to get out of the way, but they were so tightly packed. I managed to get through them all, and I turned around. My back was to the Plasma members now.

     I felt relief, and was thankful I used Aqua Ring when I did. It wasn't much help, but I needed it badly.

     Then I decided to use Swords Dance, followed by Earthquake as I dug my claws into the ground. Pokémon stumbled, I heard Luxray yowl in pain, and I felt multiple attacks cut, burn, and otherwise wound me. Then an all-too-familiar idea came to mind. I wasn't thrilled about it, I never was, but I decided Self Destruct would be a good way to end the one-sided battle. I'd like to be cocky and say I was the over-powered side, but it was too obvious who would win. I mustered what energy I could and ran into the Pokémon, feeling more sluggish with every hit I took, and quickly used Dig, then bided my power for Self-Destruct. Some of their Pokémon were psychic-type, I'm sure they could sense me and quite possibly my power. When I resurfaced, though, Pokémon were around me, and I let the power explode.

     I blacked out for a second from the blast, and my whole body was protesting my action. Most of the Pokémon were fainted, but some farther away started to stand, and instantly threw attacks at me. I took them, no attempt to dodge, as I struggled to get my paws below me. I used Heat Wave and Frenzy Plant, very, terribly taxing on my energy as my vision started to lighten and turn to static, and they went down.

     I faced the gathered Plasma members and as I shifted back to human and fell down, now leaning on my knee. I lifted my head to them, shot them a victorious smile, and said, "What was that about me not caring for my friends?" Then I let my head sag, it was too heavy to support anymore, my ears straining to hear of anyone was planning on approaching me.

     That was when I registered that there was no noise aside from them talking, and I looked for my Pokémon. A fading mist of green surrounded where they were before, and they were all slumped over or on the ground, asleep, slowly being moved by bigger Pokémon that weren't in the battle. "Charizard!" I called, forcing myself up with a grunt. "Lucario! Lux—!" But when I tried to run, my legs wouldn't work, and I fell back down, almost slamming my face into the ground. "Persian...? No!" My voice got weaker and weaker with every word spoken.

      Footsteps alerted me to the approach of one of the Plasma higher-ups, and he walked in front of me as I tried to look up at his face. "I beat you," I got out. "Now let them go..."

"They are just going to be looked at, basic medical attention and all. They had quite a battle, we won't let them come to harm from what's happened, but we could still use them, and we still have to release them. You, however..."

"What about me?" I asked sourly.

"If you surrender yourself, they won't need to go through any of that. If you truly cared about them as friends, and not as tools, you would do it."

"If I truly cared, I would continue fighting even if it meant my own death, not just surrender like a coward," I spat. I started to push myself up, and used Heal Bell in the process, clearing the status effect from my party. I was still sluggish, but Aqua Ring activated again, and I suddenly shifted to Purrloin, my claws sheathed in Shadow Claw by the time I launched myself at the Plasma member. He simply redirected my lunge with an easy shove, and I landed on my side. A growl rumbled in my throat and my tail swished in anger, before it started glowing white and I threw myself into a make-shift role to hit the Plasma member with Iron Tail. He simply stepped back and I missed, ending with me effectively slamming my back to the ground, dazed. I couldn't get back up.

     "Done yet?" he asked, bored.

     I wanted to snap that, no, I wasn't finished, but the reality was that I couldn't do anything more. "Yes," I growled, letting my muscles go limp. "I surrender. Let them go."

     The look on his face was triumphant... but it was also troubled. Is it because he won? I thought, as I forced myself to shift back with a grunt of pain. But also because I'm putting my Pokémon before myself? I didn't know. All I wanted was my Pokémon free. I slowly shifted back to human, and I had the satisfaction of seeing the discomfort on his face at the sound of my body breaking and reconstructing itself. "I surrender," I repeated.

The Team Plasma member beckoned for some of the grunts over. I didn't struggle when I felt them get a hold of my arms and haul me to my feet, though I heard Lucario call out some unpleasant words to them, not that they understood. "I'll be fine, Lucario," I called, voice cracking slightly. "Just help everyone, alright?"

"Crystal," he said, voice threatening despite him being weak.

"Don't argue. Please. Just get to a Pokémon Center and heal, okay?" He didn't answer. "I'll see you soon. I promise," I added in slightly mangled Pokémon.

     "You're going to help us free Pokémon," the higher-up said to me in a lower tone. I made a hissing-growl sound, which wasn't wholly human but not necessarily impossible. The man's eyes widened, and he backed off. That was when I noticed my eyesight was different. I didn't know what it was, until I felt it shift back to human, full saturation coming back to the world from a dulled color scheme. I had had Purrloin eyes.

"Move it," one grunt said. They nudged me, though not cruelly. Maybe I could be considered a Pokémon? That sparked an unpleasant thought. What if they try to separate, liberate, my Ditto side from my human side? And now it was starting to become a bigger part of me than I would have ever liked...

They led me over to a marked van, they were so proud to present themselves, and opened the door for me. Five other Plasma members, all female I noticed curiously, followed. A sixth closed the door, and it sounded like it was locked from the quiet click that came from it. These women started making small talk, and even allowed me to enter the conversations. One asked about my ability, and all I said was that I gained it through artificial means, and I didn't know if it was genetic. A few wrinkled their noses in disgust, and I couldn't blame them in all honesty.

"Where are we headed?" I asked, when the conversation had a pause.

"One of our labs," one of them answered. "You're wondering what will happen to you, aren't you?" She wasn't completely without sympathy, so I studied her features — brown hair, blue eyes, pale skin, maybe in her twenties — to make sure I would remember her. "We don't know. We'll probably never see you. Most likely you'll have very little human contact other than from Sebastian, the one who spoke to you, and the scientists."

I sighed. "Well, thanks for the heads up, anyway. What's your name? You already know mine."

The woman shrugged. "Catherine."

     The vehicle started to shake, and I tried to grab the walls. "What the —?!"

     "It's just the Pokémon," Catherine said. "They're flying us the rest of the way. It's —"

     "Hey! Catherine, you can't just tell her!" one of the more experienced Plasma women hissed.

     "She'll see anyway," Catherine retorted casually, almost bored. "No one decided to even cuff or tie her up, much less blindfold her." Returning her attention to me, she continued, "We're headed for an island. Makes it harder to get away, huh?" She laughed. "Oh, I know you want to get back to your Pokémon. Who wouldn't? They seemed extremely loyal in that fight, and cared for you a lot. But understand we want what's best for them — they are sentient, and legendaries are all so much more knowledgeable and wise than humans. They can't be subject to us."

     "Mine never were subject to me," I said defensively. "My Charizard didn't even listen to me at first — now he's family. Not all trainers are evil to their Pokémon."

"I know," Catherine agreed quietly. "But not all trainers are honorable and good to their companions. I heard once about a Charmander who was left, told to stay, by his trainer, stayed in the rain almost to the point of death, because it trusted the trainer.

"I heard about that when I was little," I said. "Maybe that was why Charizard was my choice. But I made a promise to never use my Pokémon, but befriend them."

"Seems like you made good on your promise," Catherine said.

"Yeah. I guess so."

The vehicle finally landed, and I heard the calls of multiple Braviary and people outside. "We're here," Catherine announced. The back door was unlocked and opened, a group of about seven men and women in some kind of armor waiting. I saw nothing to restrain me, and that made me more nervous and suspicious than if there had been.

"Good-bye, I suppose," I murmured to Catherine. "Thanks for the conversation." She didn't look at me.

"You." One of the men pointed at me. "Come out of there. Nice and slow."

I did as I was told, and they ordered me to the center of them as they led me toward a building. It looked small for a lab, and was simple enough, with it's slightly faded exterior of a metal green roof and tan siding. A few of them entered first, and then I was ordered to follow before the rest brought up the rear.

     The interior was a mess. Wiring and machinery, almost like it was taken apart, was along the walls and covered tables that seemed to once be for computers. Boxes with a layer of dust on them were labeled by year, some kind of experiment progress. The latest date had been at least half a decade ago.

     This room was in an L shape, though it was almost rectangular, a little space of technology giving the room the smallest indication of an L. There  were some cracks in the paint and the walls themelves. I didn't get a great look at the technology, just the walls and the boxes, as over by the boxes was a metal door with many locking mechanisms, including a retinal and fingerprint scanner, that one of my escorts was busy with. When the door was finally opened, it slid into the wall revealing an elevator. It looked like it could hold maybe four or five people, it might have held all eight of us if they decided that was going to be a good idea. With hand signals, two took up positions by the elevator door and one by the lab entrance. The other four and I got into the elevator, me in the center, as they typed in a number code quickly, obviously muscle memory for them by now, and we started our decent.

     And I finally understood what I had gotten myself into, but I refused to let and regret manifest in my mind.

✎ ❦ ➳ ❦ ✎ April 16, 2017
Well! This was fun. I had an idea for the first part of this, the conversation between Sebastian and Crystal about the losing and then freeing of her Pokémon. This is about 2,500 words, and I'm excited for when I start this project. I don't know what chapter number this will be, nor how I'm going to incorporate Team Plasma (either make Crystal not the player/Black and make her a different entity while Pokémon Black/White was going on) or if I can come up with a good way, as I haven't exactly played Black in a long time (and I have a problem with completing games, because I'll be sad I can never experience the story again because I don't start new games ever). So yeah.
    I hope you enjoyed! The beginning is rough I'm sorry >.< And they are setting up shop at the P2 Lab, and the elevator doesn't exist so that's a thing.