I can't feel my legs.
It takes a second for that to settle in. At first something just feels off, like my body isn't lining up with itself, and then I notice my feet dragging behind me, heels scraping across the floor every time they pull me forward. They're dragging me, one on each side, arms hooked under mine, keeping me upright just enough to move while I do nothing to help.
"Keep moving."
"I am. He's dead weight."
They jerk me forward again. I try to step and get nothing. My legs don't respond at all. That's a problem, because if I can't move, I'm not getting out of here.
The building is chaos. People are shouting, running, something is breaking deeper inside. Someone yells that the outer wall is gone, that they're inside, and the panic shifts with it. I lift my head as people rush past us, but one person isn't running. He's moving toward it, walking straight into whatever just broke in.
Something about him feels familiar, but it doesn't click until something drops in front of him hard enough to crack the ground on impact. Jagged lines split through the concrete, spreading outward.
Dragonite.
That's when it hits.
Lance.
Champion. Blackthorn.
That's my way out.
If I stay with these two, I won't make it out. I don't think past that. I look down, both of them still holding me, too tight to pull free, but the one on my right is close enough.
That's enough.
I twist and bite down as hard as I can. He screams and jerks back, and the other still has me for half a second before I drop my weight hard and rip free. I hit the ground and everything changes.
I try to run. My legs give out instantly. I pitch forward and catch myself on my hands before I slam into the floor, pain shooting up my arms as I shove myself forward anyway. Hands down. Push. Drag. Catch. It isn't running, but it's forward, and that's all that matters.
"Grab him!"
Gunfire comes immediately behind me. Not one shot. Several. They don't stop.
"Dragonite, use Rock Tomb behind him. Stack it tight."
Dragonite's tail slams into the ground between me and the shooters. The floor bursts apart, chunks of concrete ripping free and crashing together into a jagged wall that seals off the line of fire.
Shots slam into it.
They keep firing.
"Dragonite, use Extreme Speed. Hit the shooters behind him. Don't let them keep pressure."
Dragonite vanishes and reappears in the middle of them. The first impact throws one off his feet. The second follows instantly, driving another into the ground before he can fire again.
Behind them, more Rocket members move in, Poké Balls snapping open.
"They're sending them out!"
"Kingdra, use Hydro Pump down that corridor. Keep them back. If they spread out, use Muddy Water."
Kingdra releases a heavy surge of water that tears through the group head on, smashing into them before they can form up. They stagger, some dropping outright, others forced backward into each other.
"Charizard, use Flame Charge and sweep across them. Keep them off him."
Charizard dives low, flames igniting along its body as it cuts across the corridor, forcing the remaining Rocket members to break away from the center.
The pressure behind me collapses just enough.
I keep moving.
No pause. No hesitation.
I reach him...
and my body finally gives out.
My arms buckle first, then everything else follows. I hit the ground hard in front of him, hands barely catching anything before I collapse fully.
For a second, I can't move at all.
I try to push up... nothing happens.
"Can you walk?"
I shake my head, breathing rough. "No... I can't."
He crouches immediately and pulls me up, steady and controlled.
"What's your name?"
"Mason," I say. "Mason Thorne."
He pauses just slightly.
"Thorne... from Blackthorn."
I nod.
"We've been looking for you."
"They're taking kids," I say. "Back room. Chained. Experiments."
He nods once. "Show me."
"Left. Back corridor."
He turns and moves forward, straight into the direction the fighting is coming from.
Now everything ahead of us is the problem.
The deeper we go, the tighter it gets. Rocket members are trying to hold ground in front of us, pushing against other trainers already fighting them.
"Hold that line!"
"Don't let them through!"
A Dragonair lashes forward ahead of us, its body snapping tight as it coils around a Rocket Pokémon and slams it into the wall. A woman steps forward beside it.
"Lance."
He glances once. "Kaede."
She looks at me. "That him?"
"Mason Thorne."
She nods.
"Dragonair, use Wrap on the right side. Hold them there."
Dragonair loops again, tightening around another target and locking it down as we pass.
Two Rocket members step directly into our path.
"Dragonite, use Dragon Tail. Clear them out."
Dragonite pivots and swings, its tail connecting solidly and launching both of them backward out of the corridor.
"Kingdra, use Dragon Pulse. Keep them from getting back up."
A focused blast follows immediately, striking before they can recover.
We don't stop.
The holding room is right there. The door is bent inward. Kaede reaches it first and steps inside.
We follow.
The smell hits immediately.
Not just dust. Not just concrete. Something thick and metallic, something that turns my stomach before I can even process what I'm seeing.
The room is dim, lights flickering. The floor is broken where the ceiling came down, and it didn't miss everyone.
Some of the kids are still chained where they were.
Not all of them are moving.
A slab of concrete has crushed part of the room flat. A chain disappears into the debris, attached to someone who isn't moving at all. Another is slumped against the wall, blood smeared across the concrete where they must have tried to crawl.
Too much of it.
Too still.
I stop for a second.
Not all of them made it.
Kaede doesn't slow. "We take the ones still breathing."
Her voice is steady, but tighter now.
"Dragonair, use Wrap to hold the chains steady."
Dragonair moves carefully through the room, looping around restraints without shifting debris.
"Dragonite, break them. One at a time."
Dragonite steps in, controlled now. Each strike snaps a chain clean without shifting anything unstable. The kids that can move collapse forward as soon as they're free.
"They can't walk," I say.
"Then we carry them," Kaede answers.
She doesn't look at the ones that didn't make it.
Because she can't.
Because there's no time.
I grab the nearest kid. "Stay with us."
They nod weakly. Blood streaks their sleeve, but they're alive.
Behind us, the noise rises again.
"They're regrouping!"
"Charizard, use Air Slash at the doorway. Keep them from pushing in."
Charizard beats its wings, sending a cutting burst of air through the entrance and forcing Rocket members backward.
"Kingdra, use Hydro Pump right behind that. Keep them off balance."
Water crashes through immediately after, knocking them further back.
"Move," Lance says.
We head out, slower now, but together.
"Dragonite, use Extreme Speed. Clear the path ahead."
Dragonite blurs forward, striking anything in front of us before it can fully react.
"Kingdra, keep pressure on the corridor ahead. Don't let them set up."
Water surges again, forcing the next line back.
"Charizard, use Air Slash along the left side. Keep the flank open."
A sharp burst cuts across the corridor, stopping anyone trying to circle around. Kaede moves with the group, Dragonair snapping out to restrain anything that gets too close.
Step by step, we push forward until the air shifts. More open. More noise.
"Over here!"
"Bring them through!"
We break into the outer corridor. International Police are already there, holding the line. They turn as we come through.
"Survivors!"
"Get them out!"
People rush in immediately, pulling kids away, checking them, getting them clear. Hands grab at shoulders, voices overlap, orders are shouted and followed without hesitation.
For the first time since this started, no one is chasing us. No one is shooting.
Lance lowers me carefully to the ground. My body barely responds as I try to hold myself up. Kaede steps back a pace, her Dragonair uncoiling beside her as the pressure around us finally breaks.
The fighting is still going on deeper inside, distant now... contained.
I draw in a breath that feels heavier than it should.
I made it.
"I'm alive..."
The words barely leave my mouth before everything fades, and the world goes dark once again.