"Hey. Wake up, dammit. Don't make me wait all day," a voice echoed dully in Sheek's head. Sleep was still fogging her senses, but she recalled that she had been captured and had sent out that insanely huge electric pulse in an attempt to call for help. She groaned and opened her eyes. When she remembered there was nothing to see, though, she closed them again. Slowly, she sat up, and turned her head in the direction she had heard the speaker. "That's better," the voice said. It was masculine, and young, so Sheek put two and two together. The talker was a male of about twenty to thirty years of age.
"What do you want with me?" Sheek inquired.
"Do you want to play a game, Shinx girl?"
"What?"
"Are you deaf? I thought your ears had an advantage over human ears. I said, would you like to play a game?"
Sheek twitched. What kind of game was the man talking about? She hesitated before answering. "...Yes."
"Very good!" came the reply. "Now, here's how the game works. I ask you a question, and you tell me the answer, and in turn, I get to answer your questions. But there's a catch: if you don't answer my question correctly, you'll get to feel what it's like to have a wooden plank hit the side of your head. So here's the first question: are you ready to play, Shinx girl?"
Sheek's eyes snapped open in horror, though all she could see was black. She was thankful that the plastic wrap-around... whatever it was... hid her expression. Without hesitation, she blurted out, "Y-yes!"
"There, see? It wasn't that hard, was it? And it's already your turn!" Sheek imagined the man sneering at her as he spoke.
"Why am I here?" she started.
"Obviously, because you are a gijinka. It is the job of the Pokemon Bounty Hunters to track wandering gijinkas and capture them. Now, tell me, Shinx girl. We observed you selling a necklace to a girl. I promise you we did not touch your money, but, out of curiosity, was the necklace stolen?" The tone of his voice confirmed it was just simple curiosity, that he was not going to report this information to any police.
"Yes. It's what I do for a living. Why do you kidnap Pokemon gijinkas?" Sheek worded this one carefully, but not too carefully.
"I am afraid my answer is one that you will not comprehend. I am sorry. Shinx girl, will you tell me your name?"
"No." Sheek answered before she could think. Within seconds, her head was knocked sideways by a sharp blow to the left side of her head. "Too bad," the man replied sarcastically. "You just lost your turn, so I get to ask another question. Have you been around any other gijinkas within the last day or two?"
"Your inquiries are getting too personal. I shall refuse to answer any more questions." Another impact of wood meeting flesh. "I see," the man hissed. "Then I shall not bother you anymore." Sheek heard his sharp leather boots smacking against the stone floor and a door slam. She shook her head to get the ringing out of her ears and snickered. I'm more hardheaded than they think, she boasted to herself. Still, a single tear slid down her cheek, and she was unsure if it was from pain, sadness, or anger.
She then laid down and asked to no one in particular,
"Do you want to play a game?"
