Chapter Text
The double doors of the Pokemon Center burst open and a boy stumbled down, landing a few more steps before crashing into the floor. With him he brought the chill of the midnight air. The Chansey on the midnight shift took one look at the bleeding boy, barely conscious, before letting out a distressed cry and running to go wake up Nurse Joy.
She burst into the room to see the sleeping woman. It took a few tries to actually wake her up, but once she saw the Pokemon’s worried face and urgent tone of voice, she knew something was wrong and sprung out of bed. “What is it? An injured Pokemon? Did that Raichu in critical condition wake up?”
A shake of the head before the Chansey was running back into the hallway, beckoning Nurse Joy to follow. As she ran, her mind raced with the hundreds of possibilities that could warrant waking her up at, looking at her watch, almost one in the morning.
She didn’t have long to wonder before she saw it. From the doors, there was a trail of blood on the floor, and following it with her eyes, it led her to a boy on the floor, fighting to stay awake. Holding a Pikachu, who was unconscious and looked to be catatonic. Open sores on its body and blood matting the once shiny and bright yellow fur.
The boy himself looked to be in a worse state. Blood oozing from what looked to be a nasty head injury and an arm mauled to the point she could see the off-white of bone. He had a black eye that was squeezed shut against the blood pouring over it. What looked to be once tan skin had taken an unhealthy shade of pale green. His clothes were tattered to the point beyond saving. He had only one shoe, and he was shivering.
He brought his eyes up to her with some effort when he heard a loud gasp and croaked out a weak and desperate “…help! Pikachu…”
With that, Nurse Joy sprung into action. Calling Chansey, she didn’t have to tell her what to do. She grabbed the Pikachu and hurried to take it into treatment. Meanwhile, Nurse Joy handled the boy. She gently pushed his hair back from his face to get a better look at his head injury. While still bleeding, it looked as if it was starting to scab over and the blood flow lessened. It had to have been a while ago, telling from how his hair had already started to dry and crust over with the blood.
She moved to look at his arm, trying very carefully not to disturb it. He looked like he’d lost a lot of blood from that particular wound. Three huge gashes and torn skin around it. It looked to be from a Pokemon’s claws or talons. A flying type? The bone was even more visible now that she looked closely. The other arm was in a similar state, though not as bad. What had happened?
She quickly got up and gathered some first aid to treat the boy right there on the floor. She didn’t have any stretchers for humans and she didn’t trust herself to be able to lift him without making his state worse. So she kneeled by him and got to work. Most urgently was his left arm. First, she needed to stop the bleeding. She worked furiously. Once she did so, she had to disinfect. At this, the boy seemed to wake him from his half-asleep stupor and winced. After a quick but sincere apology, she did her best to bandage it.
Then came his head. That was significantly easier, and before she knew it, the worst of his injuries had been patched up. She moved to drag him onto some of the couches, at least she could do that for him while she went in to go treat the Pikachu. Thinking, she quickly checked his belt. He had one other Pokemon with him, a Staravia. When she went to release this one, it looked tired, but not in the state the boy and his Pikachu had been.
There was blood on its talons.
At the sight of its trainer, it panicked. “Please, Staravia, calm down! Your trainer is okay, for now. I need you to calm down so I can treat you and get this sorted out. Please work with me!”
At her words, it stilled. It was tense and looked over at its trainer, concerned but compliant. She took the Pokemon to one of the treatment rooms, did some basic checkups, determined it okay, and moved onto the Pikachu.
Chansey had patched up its wounds and got it stable. Nurse Joy went in and made sure it was alright, treating the Pikachu in some of the ways the Pokemon could not.
When everything was okay, her thoughts returned to the boy and she hurried out to him. She sat down next to him and gently tried to wake him. She had to make sure he was alright and thinking properly.
He blearily looked up at her and once she confirmed he was conscious, she asked “What is your name?”
“…Ash.”
“Okay, Ash, listen to me. You arrived, covered in blood and wounds, and holding an injured Pikachu. We have gotten it stable. Your Staravia is also alright.”
At his wary nod, she continued.
“What happened? How did you and your Pokemon get injured? Were you attacked?”
It took a couple seconds for her question to register, but when it did, his eyes widened, ever so slightly. It took a second for him to answer, before he said “…I ran into some wild Drapion. I-I ran out of Repel, and we’d just battled, so we were too tired to defend ourselves, and…”
She narrowed her eyes. There was a lack of confidence in his tone and he was avoiding her gaze. And there were no wild Drapion nearby. “Where did you get the wound on your arm? That looks like a bird’s talons, and there was blood on your Staravia’s.”
He tensed, eyes widening. “That was- I- my— We got surrounded by the Drapion and so the only option was for Staravia to try and fly us out of there. She was still weak, and tired, and couldn’t carry me, and she almost dropped me. That’s where she grabbed me.”
Nurse Joy could tell that he was not telling the whole truth.
“…Ash, is there someone after you? You can tell me! I’m here to help!”
He pulled back, shocked. “No-no— no, no, its nothing like that! Not at all! Couldn’t be further!”
He was lying, she knew. But for now, it was more important that he get rest and recovery. She would keep him safe. They could deal with it later. So she nodded, seemingly accepting his answer, and he slumped back, relieved that she’d bought his tale. She tried, very hard, to conceal her worry at that, and instead supported him as he tried to walk.
“I don’t have money right now for a room, but I could just sleep in the lobby? Or I could pay you back? I’m so sorry!”
She was shocked. “No, of course, you can stay here free of charge!”
First, though, he needed to eat. He looked like he was going to keel over, and with all the blood he’d lost, he probably would. And it was safer than just going straight to sleep. So she brought him to one of the tables and set about making a fast soup.
When she came back out, a Pokemon Ranger got up from the table across from Ash, bid her goodnight, and headed back to his room. She tried not to question it much, not when she had a million other worries in her head. The boy looked even more wary, now, but he perked up at the food.
He managed to eat most of it, which was a good sign, and then he drooped back into the seat and she knew he needed to rest. She walked him to one of the empty rooms and set him up there. At her request, Chansey brought him some of Nurse Joy’s extra clothes. “Now, get to sleep!”
She left to go check on the Pokemon. Might as well, now that she was already up. And she doubted she could really get to sleep, after that.
After a couple minutes, she went to go check up on Ash again. Just to be sure if he was alright, if he needed anything. She knocked, and when there was no answer, she creaked the door open. He was already asleep on the bed. She breathed a sigh of relief, and went to go to her own bed.
-.-.-.-.-
Ash felt like collapsing. He felt like he was going to keel over, or he was going to drop Pikachu, or fall and not be able to get up. His arm was searing with white-hot pain and his head hurt with every haggard and desperate step he took, but he had to keep running. Had to get away. Had to get help.
Pikachu was in a bad state. He wasn’t waking up and he didn’t respond to anything. He was covered in blood (not that Ash was faring any better, but he ignored that for now). It felt so much like that first time he’d rushed Pikachu to the Pokemon Center years ago, after facing that flock of Spearow. Taking Misty’s bike, running, ignoring the pain in every single limb, how he felt much like now, too tired to keep running. But he had to. He had to then, and he had to, now, even more.
He was so glad he’d been here before, and he knew where the Pokemon Center was. It was too dark outside to read the street signs. He had no idea what time it was. He’d been awake for so long, running for so long. It’d still been light outside when he’d crashed down onto the ground.
Hunter J! Just like it’d happened, before, he fell out of her ship, again. Thank Arceus, Pikachu wasn’t stone anymore. He’d managed to escape and sneak into the hull and de-stonify him before he’d jumped out. And he’d been falling, clinging onto Pikachu, thinking he was going to die, because apparently Arceus had given up on him, because he felt like this time his death would be final.
But then he remembered he’d had Staravia, how could he forget? And he fumbled for the ball, releasing his bird, and before he could say anything (he couldn’t have, even if he’d tried. The wind stole his breath away, falling too fast.), the bird had seen his predicament and thought fast. But he’d been falling so fast. And just coming to a stop, the bird’s talons gripping into his upper arms, his momentum had almost made her let go. So she’d dug in harder, much harder, trying not to let herself be dragged down too. And he’d tried to hold in that cry of pain, but he couldn’t.
He tried to focus on the present, navigating to the Pokemon Center, but a new sort of fear added to his feelings about Hunter J. There’d always been that anger, but fear was new. She’d targeted him. She’d come for him. She’d tracked him down, vindictive, ready to kill him, it seemed, for all the times he’d foiled her. What he’d been surprised to hear, however, was that she did not plan to kill him. Sure, she wanted to, but she wouldn’t, because he was more valuable alive. She'd been rather interested, when he’d used his aura to track down and save Riolu. Aura adepts weren’t very common, it seemed. Rare. Rare enough to fetch a price.
He shuddered. But, now he saw the lights of the Pokemon center, and he hurried, stumbling more with each step, black clouding his vision and closing in. Just a little longer, and he’d be safe. His Pokemon would be okay. He cursed his blood loss. Why couldn’t he just stay awake?
He crashed through the doors of the Center, not even looking at the front desk. He crumpled to the floor and held Pikachu even tighter. He felt like….now he could fall asleep…no, no! Not yet! Not until he was safe!
But he couldn’t get up, couldn’t find the strength, so just laid there, waiting for Nurse Joy. A Chansey came over, he thinks. He couldn’t remember much. It all blurred together in the form of soft touches, stinging disinfectant, and tight bandaging. When he really came to, he was sitting up on a couch, supported by Nurse Joy. His wounds were bandaged and he felt considerably better. Pikachu wasn’t there! And, he could feel his belt was one Pokeball lighter. Where were they—?!
“….okay, Ash, listen to me. You arrived, covered in blood and wounds, and holding an injured Pikachu. We have gotten it stable. Your Staravia is also alright.”
He relaxed. They were safe! They hadn’t been stolen, or kidnapped. They were okay. And being healed. He’d succeeded. When she asked what happened, how he’d gotten like this, his guard immediately went up. Even though it was Nurse Joy, she could not be trusted with the information. Not when she would get the police involved, worry about him, and…he didn’t know why he didn’t want that? Maybe because he was the one in danger, now, and he could handle it himself? He never was good at accepting help. And it just felt…wrong, to tell her. He didn’t want the story to get out. Somehow, Hunter J would be alerted to where he was.
But she was still staring at him, so he had to come up with a lie real quick. He wracked his brain.
“…I ran into some wild Drapion. I-I ran out of Repel, and we’d just battled, so we were too tired to defend ourselves, and…”
It wasn’t a complete lie. He was attacked by a Drapion, but it was only one. And he never carried around Repel, but it was the first thing he thought of. He’d have to go with it. He could tell she didn’t believe it. Damn! Why couldn’t he lie better?
When she asked about his wound, somehow the lie continued out of his mouth. He thanked Arceus that it wasn’t too unbelievable.
But, when she assumed. When she saw through it, and asked if someone was after him, he blanched. Oh no. That was exactly it, and he was speechless for a moment, floundering. He denied it, but he knew he couldn’t have been more unconvincing if he’d told her Swinub could fly.
When she brought him to a table and wanted to make him food, he was too weak to protest properly. He wanted to be alone, and go to sleep, and cry, or better yet, be with his friends, Dawn and Brock, laughing at some different Pokemon Center. He wished this had never happened.
He was just starting to let his guard down when he saw a young man, a Pokemon Ranger, come up to him. He was walking out, probably woken up by the commotion, and Ash noticed the second he zeroed in on Ash. He recognized him. How could he not? They’d only seen each other two weeks ago when he’d saved the Riolu from Hunter J.
Kellyn’s brows furrowed in concern while his eyes widened in surprise when he saw Ash. In his sorry state, Ash didn’t blame the man. He probably looked pretty pitiful.
“Ash! Is that you? Are you okay? What happened to you? Where are your friends?”
Oh man, Ash really did not feel like lying to this man. He was so tired, and acting took so much energy, especially when he was this harrowed, and, he hated the word, traumatized. He couldn’t put on a convincing smile, not when his head and eye were still throbbing, when he still had dried blood crusted over his face, flaking off but still there. Not when he could barely even lift his left arm through the pain and his right was bound so tightly he could feel the circulation cut off. He couldn’t, not now.
So, he looked off to the side and didn’t say anything, not at first. Kellyn slid into the seat next to him and he could feel the concern radiating off of him. “Ash, please, look at me! I need to know what happened, if you’re okay!”
Welp, might as well stick with the Drapion lie. Hopefully, since he’d already had a little practice earlier with Nurse Joy, he could pull it off smoothly.
At the way the man narrowed his eyes, Ash was pretty sure that was not what happened. He cocked an eyebrow. “Hmm, I didn’t know there were any Drapion herds around the city. Do you think you could tell me where? If they attacked you, they must be dangerous, and it’s my job to deal with dangerous stuff.” He said, with a gleam in his eyes, distrust evident in his facial features.
Ash took a deep breath. “Can we talk about this in the morning, please?”
Kellyn’s look softened. He looked so worried, but he relented. “Okay, Ash, I’ll let you get the rest you so clearly need, but I’m holding you to that. You’re not okay. I need to know what happened, if you need help. You can trust me. You know me.”
When Ash avoided eye contact, he sighed, and stood up, and walked away. Nurse Joy brought him soup, and though it was slow, him not feeling hungry, too anxious and tired, trying not to fall asleep in the food, and barely being able to lift his arms, he finished most of it. And then Nurse Joy brought him clothes, and everything blended together again, and before he knew it, he was collapsing down on his mattress face first and asleep the second his head hit the pillow.