Reincarnated in a Pokémon world

24. Coward Knight

☆Zangoose's POV

When I was young, I lived with my family in a small forest. Although our life was simple, it's fulfilling. Mom and Dad would hunt and teach us survival skills. My little brother would whine whenever he's tired from hunting. Those were the days I felt happiest.

But everything had come to an end when a group of human stormed in the forest and started catching Pokémons forcefully. They killed anyone who tried to resist and wreak havoc wherever they went. Mom and Dad died protecting me and my little brother but regretfully, that's all for naught. We weren't able to escape. My little brother was injured and no way I would abandon him to run for myself.

Both of us were stuffed inside a cage along with others as they carried us all to an underground place somewhere. But some couldn't make it and died due to untreated injuries. "We can't waste our medicine on those things." They said so.

And my little brother was among those who couldn't make it.

The death of my parents was so painful but I still kept holding on because my little brother needed me. But in the end, there's nothing I could do. I was so powerless I couldn't even protect my little brother. The pain was unbearable. Losing him was the last straw. From then onwards, I don't know how I kept on living, just barely breathing.

They gave me to someone who looked like a merchant. He wanted to sell me but unfortunately, no one would be interested in a broken doll. I knew how his customers saw me. A useless Pokémon. I was still alive but there's not even a flicker of light appeared in my eyes. But I couldn't care less about these humans. Losing my family was too much for me to handle.

Then one day, the merchant gift me to someone. That was the start of my hellish days. My new owner looked like a gentleman. "Another human." I thought. But I couldn't be more wrong when mistaking that thing was a human. It's a demon crawling his way up from the depths of hell. And how ironic it was when that man was the one woke me up from torpor! In the worst way possible!

The moment I regained my senses, the first thing I felt was a searing pain ran straight through my brain. I'd never imagined such kind of agony existed. There's no denying that this memory won't easily fade away, even so, one specific scene will forever be burnt in the back of my mind. To this day, after years have passed it's still fresh like new like it's just yesterday.

I opened my eyes and in front was him. He greeted me with an angelic smile, welcomed me with a cheerful voice while his hands didn't once stop torturing, filling me with dread in the depths of my soul. My body couldn't stop trembling from such a malicious gaze. I finally understood what truly evil was like.

From that day onwards, every second felt like hell. Being tortured day and night, time and time again. But fortunately, the devil didn't really have much interest in me. His taste was those beautiful and cute Pokémons, mostly Fairy-type ones anyway.

I was living on the edge, always in fear of accidentally doing something that made him eradicate me on the spot as I was watching others being tortured and killed brutally one by one. And every time they died, the new ones came and replaced them. It became a vicious circle and eventually, I lost count of how many had died.

I know I shouldn't feel lucky but thanks to them had attracted his attention, I was only tortured and still alive in the corner of the room to this day. As I became the only old toy he kept, the devil carved the fear deep in my bones and my courage was slowly abraded to nothing. Tried to run away or resist was useless, it only hastened your death. How many ones had attempted to do so and no one was among those would make it out alive.