The Corps didn't waste time congratulating anyone. The morning after the Growlithe mission, Uriah was ordered to Report to Training Hall C at 0500.
Training Hall C wasn't a hall.It was a bunker.
Thick concrete. Abrasion marks on the walls. Steel partitions bent inward as if something had hit them with intent to kill.Two cadets were already waiting outside, both silent, both pale. Uriah recognized one of them — Caris, the girl whose partner Riolu always shook from nerves.
Lieutenant Mara stepped out of the shadows.
Her voice was flat. "Advanced Containment is not about battling. It's about preventing catastrophe. If any of you are too soft, too slow, or too sentimental, you won't last. Some of you won't last anyway."
She wasn't exaggerating.No one laughed.No one blinked.
She pushed open the steel door. "Get inside."
Stage One — Controlled Hostility Test
The room contained three cages.The cages contained Pokémon.
Not cute ones.Not starter-friendly ones.
A Primeape with wrists wrapped in reinforced shock bands.A Houndoom, ribs visible but eyes alive with malice.And the worst: A Kadabra with psychic inhibitors snugged around its neck so tight they left red bruises.
Mara stood behind a glass shield."Your job is simple. Neutralize threats before they escalate. Fail, and someone dies."
She pressed a button.
The cages opened.
No warning. No countdown.Just cold reality.
Primeape charged first.
Caris panicked and called out, "Ri— Riolu, Quick Attack!"
Her voice cracked. Riolu hesitated.Primeape didn't.
The blow wasn't aimed at Riolu.It went straight for Caris.
Uriah reacted before thinking."Shinx — Spark, full output!"
Shinx lunged, electricity cracking across the room. Primeape staggered sideways, rage redirected.
But Caris was already down — Primeape's fist had clipped her head hard enough to knock her unconscious before the instructors' emergency barrier slammed down.
Mara didn't blink."Drag her out. She failed."
The paramedics hauled the girl away. Everyone knew what that meant: she wasn't returning to advanced training.
Maybe not to the Corps at all.
No one mourned.Not because they were cruel, but because the world had no space for sentimentality.
Stage Two — Fire and Fear Conditioning
The Houndoom advanced, its gait uneven but deliberate. Its breath left visible black fumes. Someone had clearly abused it before the Corps captured it.
Mara's voice cut through the intercom."This Houndoom reacts to fear. Show fear, and it escalates to lethal force."
One of the cadets made the mistake of stepping back.
Houndoom targeted him instantly.
It didn't use Ember.It went for Crunch, the kind that breaks bone.
"Vulpix — Flashfire stance. Burn suppression pattern," Uriah ordered.
This wasn't a normal attack pattern. It was one he'd improvised during silent training hours: Vulpix didn't shoot at the target, but rather burned oxygen in a narrow strip to divert fire-types.
The air shimmered. Houndoom's muzzle jerked aside at the unexpected heat shift.
The cadet it was about to maul managed to roll away, wide-eyed and shaking.
"Lose composure again," Mara said coldly, "and I let it finish the job."
None of them doubted she meant it.The Corps didn't babysit recruits.
Houndoom lunged at Uriah next.He didn't step back.
"Growlithe — intercept."
Growlithe ran stiffly, still healing, but it didn't hesitate. The fire fog around Houndoom collided with Growlithe's flame — weaker, but determined.
The two fire-types clashed, teeth bared, embers scattering across the floor.
Uriah moved like it was war, not practice."Shinx — hit its flank. Disrupt the balance."
Electricity cracked. Houndoom buckled.Umbreon leapt from Mara's side and pinned the beast without mercy.
Stage Two ended.
No one cheered.
Stage Three — Psychic Override Drill
Kadabra was the real danger.Psychic inhibitors kept it from bending their bones or crushing their windpipes, but "inhibited" didn't mean "safe."
Mara turned off the lights.
Total blackout.
"Contain. Do not attack."
The room filled with whispering.Not words — sensations.Fear. Pain. Doubt.Kadabra wasn't using telepathy to talk. It was pushing raw emotion into their minds.
One cadet dropped immediately, trembling violently on the floor.
Another vomited.
Uriah held his breath, grounding himself the way he used to in his past life when panic attacks tore through him — except this time, the fear wasn't his. It was Kadabra's recycled trauma, broadcast into the air like poison.
He released Vulpix.Its tails flared faintly, giving off just enough light to anchor the group.
But Kadabra's shadow slid along the wall behind him.
Uriah snapped:
"Growlithe — Roar. Now."
The intimidation blast hit like a concussive wave. Kadabra's projection faltered. It tried to teleport — couldn't, thanks to the inhibitors — then slumped, eyes twitching.
Mara turned the lights back on.
Three cadets remained standing.
Only three.
"Survivors," Mara said, "follow me."
No sympathy.No acknowledgment.Just another cold instruction in a career built on risk and loss.
Outside the bunker, dawn was finally rising. It felt wrong that the world could look peaceful after what happened inside.
Mara handed each surviving cadet a dossier.
"This is your new classification. Level II Containment Trainees. You'll be deployed on real missions where casualties are expected. Keep your Pokémon alive. Keep yourselves alive. We don't have replacements for you."
She paused in front of Uriah.
Her tone didn't soften, but it shifted — barely.
"You made the right calls. If you keep that clarity under pressure, you'll climb fast."A beat."And people will hate you for it. Be ready."
She walked away.
Uriah stood there, his three Pokémon at his side — injured, exhausted, but loyal.
Shinx pressed against his leg.Vulpix curled its tail around his boot.Growlithe sat down heavily, panting.
None of them were the same as when the day started.
And neither was he.