Ash held his iron bar tighter. "If I just woke up here and Team Rocket offered me a place with them, I'd tell them to fuck off. They'd have to put a chain around my neck to get me to stay and not run off. I get that some people won't do that. But when it comes down to some 'oh no my poor circumstances' story against someone trying to hurt or take my friends? I'm not buying it."

He broke another cage, thinking carefully. It was strange for him to look so serious. He lowered his voice, so only Anthy would hear him. "...I was raised in the fucking gutter back home, Anthy. My Dad found me all alone on the streets when he was a homeless teenager. We've done shitty things to get by because it was that or starve. I get doing bad shit. But this?" He gestured to the cages. To the Pokemon. To where Danny could have ended up.

"You gotta give me one Hell of a good reason to do this, and 'I woke up here and they gave me a contract' doesn't cut it for me."