Tonight is D-day, my great escape from the compound was planned and ready.

For those wondering, the compound was my name for the aptly named 'freedom vile' a small sleepy town in the middle of a wild forest. All of which sounds quite peaceful and the town is if you ignore its main 'attraction'. Which came in the form of a 8-metre high wall that circumnavigated the residential zone, complete with zealot guards who regularly patrolled the perimeter.

As for why I'm here, it's simple really, I was born here or reborn specifically. You see, after I died on Earth I was fortunate enough to be reincarnated into the wonderous world of Pokémon. The only problem was I had been born into a cult, the cult of N to be specific. The aforementioned compound was a settlement in the wilderness of Unova that doubled as a secret Team Plasma base.

Anyway, back to the present today I was finally ready. After countless setbacks and failed plans, I was finally ready to escape my family, the cult and the compound. The price of failure was likely death but it wasn't so bad the first time.

Calming my finally pessimistic thoughts I take a deep breath then slowly a long exhale. I was ready!

Reaching out I grab my backpack from under the bed. Doing a quick check over for what must've been the millionth time: food check, map check, tent check, torch check, knife check. The plan was a go. The only concern was its size as I couldn't get my hands on a hiking-level backpack due to the suspicion that'd cause. With the basic checks done it was time to go.

Slowly and carefully, I begin picking the lock to my room, a skill I had picked up a while back to allow me to get food at night. Still it was lucky that my parents hadn't opted to get an external one. Eventually, as it had many times before, my door slowly swung open. Quietly not making sudden movements, I crept downstairs from my attic room. Once I reached the second floor I crept forward, somehow with more care as noise on this floor carried a greater risk of being heard. As I crossed the floor I gradually reached my goal.

Before I left the house there was one more crucial thing to do. Inside lay the largest complication to my planned escape and the only person I cared for in this life. It was the door to my baby brother's room.

Reaching out with my gloved hand I slowly pried the door open, just enough so that I could squeeze past as the door had a tendency to squeak past a certain point. Inside was dark and almost silent, the only sound being the quiet breaths of my sleeping sibling. He was young, only 18 months old, he had just stopped breastfeeding making now the perfect time to escape. Escape to a better life free from the cult where he could grow freely without suffering the abuse I had.

Even with his age, I could already see the signs of the neglect and abuse to come. I was already the primary caregiver despite both my parents being available with work not taking much time out of their days.

With the end of that thought, I snapped back to reality. Grabbing a sling from the side I took my coat off and began carefully wrapping the sling around my chest tight enough to be secure but loose enough that he'd be comfortable. Then with practised ease, I lifted his sleeping form up out of his cot into my embrace. Once I'd secured him in my sling I donned my coat and picked up my bag ready to truly begin my escape.

With my little brother secure I started to make my way down stairs to the back door which would allow me to leave the house unseen by neighbours. As I left through the back door, carefully closing it behind me, I made my way through to the end of the garden to the fence that surrounded it. Making sure to follow a path that would ensure the automatic outside lights didn't trigger. Once I reached the green wooden panel fence I took my bag off and popped it over with a quiet thud as it hit the grass on the other side.

Now for us to get over.

Reaching out I grabbed the top of the fence, using the leverage I leaned back slightly and placed my feet on the bottom of the fence inching my way up. My muscles strained as the top got closer and closer. The fence groaned from the stress which echoed quietly in the pitch night. After what felt like minutes of struggling, but was in reality seconds, I reached the point where I could pull myself up and over the top. Landing with a soft thud on the other side crouching with my legs and using my hands to support my brother minimising the effect of the fall on him. Still a fall from that height caused enough of an impact that I was left quietly holding my breath silently praying that he was still asleep.

...

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After 30 seconds of crouching still holding my breath the burn in my lungs and legs my concern that he'll wake. So I stand tall, pick up my bag and continue my escape.

Looking up I quickly get my bearings. I'm outside my parents house going north is the quickest way out of the base which would lead to quick freedom. Unfortunately, it is known that a psychic Pokémon of some strength guards that side as it is closest to civilization. The justification for this officially is that it will sense incoming trainers sooner and defend us from their evil; however, personally I believe it is more to monitor and stop people from getting out than anything else.

Either way their presence makes escape through that route untenable. With that in mind I moved to the east. The east had more flyers than the west but less canines so I was taking the judgement that a canine Pokémon was more likely to track me as I made my escape. Who knew though I could only pray to Arceus and do my best.

Setting a swift pace I moved along the path towards the east side of town, making sure to stay close to the fence making sure that I stayed in the shadows. As I made it further out in the darkness I slowly left the residential area moving across the small berry orchard out towards the border wall. As I make my way guided only by the light of the moon and the border fence that was lit up in the distance.

Once I had crossed the orchard came face to face with the biggest challenge I'd have to overcome to get my freedom. The border wall. Though it was called a wall, border defences are more accurate. A huge wall towered over the landscape dwarfing the trees in the orchard. Beyond the wall lay another smaller fence that was topped with barbed wire and not visible to the residents. The wall had manned watch towers and infrequent patrols happened between the fence and wall.

All of this was extremely daunting or would've been but after years of sneaking out and examining the defences I realised that the guards were lax. The patrols are infrequent and unreliable. These were not professional soldiers but bored security who hadn't had a serious incident in years. There were many gaps in their security and after a while of observation I had found a gap, a gap I would exploit now.

Using the cover of the trees I approach the wall doing my best to be stealthy. Once I reached the bottom of the wall I looked around in the trees. Once I found what I was looking for I walked up to a tree and started climbing again being careful not to jostle or hit my chest on anything. This tree was specifically chosen due to its low branches which allowed me to 'climb' it by stepping up to each branch. In fact this tree was quite an 'ugly' or non-standard tree for an orchard as most others only had branches higher up whereas this one split fairly low.

Eventually I made it suitably high so I moved over closer to the wall. Now was the risky part taking the rope that I had left at the tree from my scouting throw. I hooked it on the top of the wall and began the arduous climb up the side. As I climbed my muscles screamed under the stress with the weight of my pack and brother dragging me back down to the earth. Slowly I pulled one arm over the other then dragged my legs up behind me.

Even through my gloves and trousers I could feel the rope burning me as my hands and legs scraped against it producing the friction needed to stop my descent. Pushing through the pain I made it above the tree canopy leaving me fully exposed to the wind and any watching guards. As I made my ascent I felt my arms and legs start to shake as my muscles screamed at me to stop. Sweat dripped off my brow and ran down my face. My coat was becoming unbearably hot.

When I got to within reaching distance of the top of the wall I heard a groaning sound.

I froze. My blood ran cold suddenly I didn't feel quite as tired.

"Yeah I know buddy I don't wanna be here either but you know how psychics get when they get a 'vision'" he snorted.

"What does that moron expect? He's never got it right before."

The voice moved slowly getting further away. Still frozen on the rope I release a small breath. Forcing myself to calm down.

With the voices having passed I reach up and slowly pull myself onto the wall making sure to quickly look both ways before I climb over onto the walkway. Only to collapse imminently exhausted from my climb.

"Fuck" I hiss in a harsh whisper.

It would seem that psychics have foreseen my escape...

I look down at my feet. Was it really a bust? Did I have to turn back and go to bed?

NO! I'm not giving up now Arceus damn it! They'll have to drag me back by force!

Done feeling sorry for myself I begin pulling the rope up, then attaching it to the other side then when I feel my strength returning I climb up holding the rope and begin my descent. The descent was slow and methodical, despite still being tired, descending was easier as I wasn't fighting with physics. Eventually I reached the ground where despite my exhaustion I pushed on moving to the fence where I had made a slight indentation in the ground and cut parts of the chain link fence, not enough for it to be seen from afar but enough that I could bend the wire.

With the wire bent I slide my backpack under then crawl through to the otherside. Finally free, though not safe, I already felt different . It was strange I was lighter as if a weight had been lifted and yet heavy knowing this was just the start and now I had something to lose.