Chapter Text
In hindsight, perhaps he could have done things differently. While he preferred not to engage wild Pokemon in their natural habitat, at times it was necessary to battle for his safety and those around him.
Perhaps if he chose to have Cap scare them off earlier, he wouldn’t be in this predicament.
They had docked the Brave Asagi on an island similar to the one Roy lived at mostly to resupply their dwindling stock with whatever they could purchase. Their main priority was food so while Murdock and Orla went to check out the local markets, Friede accompanied the kids in picking berries.
Within the hour, they had quite the haul; a variety of berries with different flavour profiles filled each of the baskets they carried. Friede suggested they head back given that Murdock and Orla had returned to the ship.
The kids easily agreed–though it seemed that Fuecoco wanted to snag one more berry, prompting Roy in following after his partner.
Moments later, the light conversation he shared with Liko grounded to a halt when they heard Roy’s startled yelp. Friede immediately informed her to stay put before rushing off with Cap to see what happened.
Friede knew immediately what they were dealing with before he saw it. Loud buzzing filled the air and as he emerged into the small clearing, his stomach dropped at the sight.
Roy on the ground with Fuecoco in his arms, his basket of berries splayed in front of a few angry Beedril. Friede saw that they were soldier bees; while Beedril lacked a traditional hive, they lived in colonies. These ones likely saw Roy and Fuecoco as threats within their territory. The fact that they haven’t attacked yet was a miracle.
Cap stood tense on his shoulder, mimicking his own state. Friede needed to get those two away before the Beedril ran out of patience. At the very least, their appearance shifted half of the Beedril’s attention, likely seeing Cap as the bigger threat.
“Roy, I need you to very slowly back up. Don’t make any sudden movements. Once you get away, go with Liko back to the ship,” Friede instructed, hoping that the clearly scared boy could do so.
He saw the way Roy swallowed heavily before he carefully got to his knees. The Beedril’s agitation noticeably increased so Friede drew their attention by shuffling away from Roy, as if encircling them. The way his shoes dug into loose dirt and gravel made more noise, effectively signifying him as the larger threat.
Friede’s eyes kept flickering from Roy to the Beedril as he too started taking careful steps back. He didn’t want to resort towards battling them seeing that they were the ones who accidentally stepped into their territory. These Beedril simply wanted to keep their colony safe from intruders, not to mention that they could potentially draw a swarm of angry ones.
After what felt like an eternity, Roy finally shuffled out of view. Friede hoped that he went straight to Liko as instructed so he didn’t have to worry about the kids’ safety.
“Pika,” Cap uttered, his left paw gripping strands of his hair.
“I know,” he murmured in response. Now, they were the ones who stared at the face of danger. Friede needed to continue making distance from them by taking backward steps. At a certain point, the Beedril would deem him no longer a threat and return back to their colony.
All seemed to go well–that was until Friede stumbled back from an exposed root. His instinctive yelp and Cap’s surprised spark from his cheeks immediately spurred the Beedril into action. The professor wasted no time in turning on his heel and ran like Giratina itself chased after him.
“We were having such a nice day!” he hissed in between gasping breaths. Friede had little knowledge of the island’s layout but he knew that at least heading in this general direction would lead him to the docked airship. He hoped that the Beedril stopped chasing him before then cause he didn’t want those nasty stingers anywhere near the blimp.
At the very least, bursting his way through bushes and weaving through trees made it more difficult for the Beedril to keep pace. Cap dug his paws into his jacket, holding on for dear life during his mad dash for safety.
Friede thought he was in the clear. The buzzing wasn’t as loud and he figured for the exertion placed on his lungs, he must have covered quite a considerable distance from the colony. Soldier bees shouldn’t stray very far lest they leave it unprotected. By the time they spotted the Brave Asagi in the distance, they should be safe now.
“Pikapi!” Cap’s alarmed cry gave Friede barely any time to react before white-hot pain erupted from the shoulder he was on. The shock made him stumble, then tripped with the momentum pitching him into a few rolls on the ground. The hit to his shoulder nearly made him black out from sheer agony. Friede thought he heard a scream; it took a few sluggish beats to realize that the sound came from him.
While he remained prone on the ground, Cap had since used Double Team to distract the Beedrill before following it up with Thunderpunch. Friede couldn’t see the ferocity his partner placed into those punches seeing that his vision wavered in time with the throbbing from his shoulder.
Poison, his mind helpfully supplied before it promptly took a dive into the ocean. His senses dulled as if he experienced the world underwater. Friede bit his lip, trying to pull himself to a sitting position. He nearly pitched sideways at the wash of lightheadness and just barely managed to stop himself with his good arm, gasping anyway from pain.
Logically, Friede was in desperate need for an antidote before the poison spread further. Realistically, he very well lacked the ability to move at the moment, leaving him vulnerable while Cap fended off the Beedrill. Seeing the yellow blob darting from one black-and-white smudge to the next, at least it looked like Cap had the advantage for the time being. If only his Charizard was here too to really one up those buzzing-roaring Bug-types.
Huh. Roaring? Muddled as he was, he knew that Beedrill didn’t make that kind of noise. Not to mention they lacked the vocal chords to shout words that suspiciously sounded like–
“Friede! Are you–oh Arceus…”
A large white and brown blob entered his line of vision by crouching down in front of him, one of its appendages a heavy weight on his good shoulder. It took several sluggish beats for Friede to realize that the blob was in fact a very familiar person.
“Murdock,” he said weakly, trying to pull some semblance of a smile. He ended up grimacing instead. “The kids they–”
“They went straight back to the airship and told us what happened.” Friede struggled to make sense of the words but he caught enough to be assured that Liko and Roy were safe. He sagged against Murdock as relief sapped away the tension in his frame, though his bad shoulder remained on fire.
“Hey, hey Friede come on man stay with–”
The sound of a roar followed by a brush of heat as orange painted the sky.
“Mollie over here–”
A pink blob joined the white and brown blob whose name had disappeared in the fog that crept in. Friede knew their names but…
“We need to get him back to–”
His vision began to tunnel, hearing fading in an out. A shiver suddenly wracked through his frame, making him instinctively huddle into his jacket–only to jostle his bad shoulder and cause a flare up of pain. More words he couldn’t understand in its entirety, though they were strangely comforting. Probably a response to the strangled noise he distantly recalled making.
Friede swore one of the voices pleaded for him to stay awake. Try as he might, he must have gone out anyway. His next moment of vague clarity had him lying down on something soft. Barely a twitch before he shuddered from the ice in his veins, though certain points of his body had fire licking it instead.
“Friede? Hey, try and stay awake.”
Orla, his brain supplied after it lagged for a moment. Friede pried his heavy eyelids open, blinking hard until his vision cleared up somewhat. They flickered to Orla, who flashed a small smile at him.
Before Friede entertained the idea of closing his eyes again, a different voice piped up somewhere from his left. “Ask him questions. Keep him awake while I get this prepared.”
“Friede, can you tell me where we are?”
A frown tugged at his lips. What kind of question was that? Obviously, they were in…
His eyes sluggishly went from one random corner to the next, taking in everything within his line of sight. Friede knew this room in account of visiting it fairly often.
“Infirmary,” came his answer at last. Why was he here again?
“Can you tell me the names of everyone on board?” Orla asked.
Friede shivered once again as the ice slowly made its way through his nervous system. Orla asked Mollie something, and then she briefly disappeared from his view while he sorted through his foggy brain for the seemingly irrelevant information.
“Me, you. Orla. Mm… Mollie,” he began. “Mm… Murdock. Lud… Ludlooow…” His words trailed off into shuddering breath of relief from whatever heavenly cool thing that settled on his forehead, immediately losing what it was he listed. Friede could fall back asleep right there and then but a hand lightly tapped his cheek. He made a grumpy sound.
“Sorry but just stay awake a little while longer. Mollie’s got something to help you.”
When he opened his eyes, Orla’s visage was replaced by Mollie’s cool frown. Friede didn’t like seeing that cause it usually meant he did something that had her worrying for his wellbeing (again).
“This is going to sting but bear with me. It’ll make you feel better.”
That sounded weird. How could pain equate in feeling better? Still, if it could ease the fire in his shoulder, he’d go along with it. Orla gently eased him onto his side with the good shoulder before he felt icy pain erupting from whatever spray Mollie used made contact. The sting didn’t last for long, and he eventually found relief once the burning sensation started to fade.
“Mm… better.”
“That’s good to know,” Orla replied, carefully easing him back before adjusting the cool cloth on his forehead.
While his thoughts waxed and waned, Orla and Mollie were having some kind of conversation that his staticky brain couldn’t keep up. He heard snippets of antidotes and fevers but other than that, he struggled enough as it was to stay awake.
“Wanna sleep…” he whined eventually, pausing the noises above him.
“Alright, get some sleep. I’ll wake you up in a bit,” the voice that sounded like Mollie said. He couldn’t really tell cause it sounded soft and assuring, something that she only usually reserved for him when they were alone but obviously that wasn’t the case since Orla was here and–
The gentle touch on his forehead added enough pressure to still his thoughts.
“Sleep Friede, we’ve got you.”
As if magic words were spoken, he went slack, at last succumbing to call of sleep.
Deep within the kitchen of the Brave Asagi, Murdock toiled away with a pot of porridge simmering on the stove. In the time it took for the porridge to be ready, he wiped down every inch of counter space in the kitchen, cleaned and dried every piece of utensil he used. It was a way to release the restless energy within after such a stressful day.
He recalled flipping through his recipe book to decide their dinner after his shopping trip with Orla when the kids stampeded up the ship, making enough noise that he dashed out to see what the commotion was about.
Upon hearing that Friede sent them off to the ship while he fended off a swarm of Beedrill sent shivers down his spine. Murdock had little doubt of Friede’s battling prowess but Roy shared with the rest of the crew that instead of battling, Friede tried to defuse the situation without it.
Liko and Roy didn’t know of his fate, only that they were instructed to go back to the ship as quickly as possible. Unbeknownst to them, Murdock exchanged tense glances with Orla and Mollie. They knew of Friede’s tendency to avoid battles with the local wild Pokemon if he could, citing that they were usually the one at fault for intruding on their territory. While ordinarily he came out of it unscathed, Murdock had the sinking feeling that it might not be the case this time.
The crew quickly went into action then. Orla stayed on the ship with the kids while he and Mollie took to the skies on Charizard, who flew faster than the pair was accustomed too. No complaints were uttered for they too understood the Fire-type’s worry of his Trainer’s wellbeing. Eventually, it was the sound of buzzing and electricity that led Charizard to where Friede and Cap were.
On their descent, Murdock’s veins turned to ice once he spotted Friede’s still, prone form on the ground while Cap furiously punched Beedrill left and right. He barely waited for Charizard to properly touch down before he dashed to Friede’s side whilst shouting his name.
As he fell to his knees next to Friede, the chill seeped in further when he saw the puncture mark on his jacket. He knew almost instantly that he got poisoned, and that the time it took for them to get him back to the ship had been one of the most stressful times he experienced in recent memory.
Orla swapped places with him once he got Friede into the infirmary as the kids were getting a little scared and he had more experience handling it (from all the times he babysat Dot for his sister years back). Murdock kept them occupied by having them help in preparing some hot chocolate for everyone to drink, seeing that it was the crew’s go-to beverage during tough times.
That had been hours ago. Orla came in to inform them of Friede’s condition, assuring Liko and Roy that he’d pull through. Murdock didn’t miss the heavy worry in her eyes so he offered her a mug before preparing lunch for everyone.
Murdock opted to bring Mollie her lunch, partially as an excuse to check up on Friede himself. Once he received permission to enter the infirmary, he handed Mollie her sandwich before taking a good look at his friend.
Simply put, Friede looked absolutely wrecked. His pale complexion highlighted the reddened tint to his cheeks that spoke of a fever. Even seemingly in deep slumber, he looked far from peaceful with the furrowed brows and pursed lips. Mollie might have administered an antidote to cure the poison but what was already in his system needed time to flush out. Murdock could tell that they were in for a rough few days until the fever broke.
Mollie suggested for him to make easy to eat meals given that Friede likely couldn’t stomach solid foods for the time being. Thus Murdock made porridge that he now ladled into a bowl alongside a mug of Friede’s favorite blend of tea, hoping that would encourage a bit of appetite.
Murdock placed it all on a tray before carrying it to the infirmary. As he gave a heads up to Mollie prior to his arrival, she left the door slightly ajar so he simply pushed it open with an elbow.
Friede appeared to still be asleep with Mollie sitting by his bedside, likely changing the damp cloth on his forehead periodically all this while.
“I made porridge and that tea he likes,” Murdock informed once Mollie looked up at him.
“Good. While I want him to get more rest, it’s important that he gets something in his stomach for the pain meds I want to give him.” Her words were cool but Murdock easily heard the undercurrent of worry within them.
As Murdock placed the tray down on a nearby desk, Mollie gently nudged Friede into waking up. He eventually did so, rather grumpily judging from his low groan and the way he weakly tried to swat at Millie’s prodding hand.
“I know you want to sleep more but Murdock brought some food,” she spoke, though Murdock wondered just how much actually trickled into Friede’s obviously dazed state once he actually opened his eyes. He didn’t like how unfocused and bleary he looked.
Murdock switched places with Mollie in easing Friede into a sitting position (after she placed an extra pillow for him to lay back against), his worry deepening from how limp yet uncoordinated he was. Friede looked like he wanted to sit up under his own power but any slight movements made him flinch. His injured shoulder must be bothering him so Murdock tried to be as gentle as possible with his actions.
“Mmmurdock?” Friede slurred, turning his head sluggishly. Murdock leaned into his line of sight with a small, comforting smile.
“It’s me. I brought you some porridge and your favorite tea. You think you can have some so Mollie can give you some meds to help with the pain?”
Had Friede been in a better state of mind, Murdock imagined he’d complain about being talked to like the chef was soothing one of the kids. He learnt for as long as they knew one another that his captain freely gave care in his own ways but struggled to accept them in turn.
Feeling poorly as he was, the only response Friede made was a low whining sound. Murdock hated forcing people into doing things they clearly didn’t want but in this case, it was a necessary evil.
“You don’t have to finish it. Just as much as you’re able to, okay?"
As Murdock continued his efforts in persuading Friede to eat, Mollie gravitated back to her desk as she believed he was better suited for the task. His eyes briefly darted to see her checking bottles for the medication she wanted to give Friede.
Murdock didn’t want to toy with Friede’s emotions but desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Please, can you eat a little? Liko and Roy were worried for you earlier. The sooner you get better, the sooner you can assure them right?"
Friede’s expression pinched, not of aggravation but one of thought (as much as he was capable of given his fevered state). Murdock waited with bated breath until at last, the other groaned, eyes sliding shut.
"Only a little. Don’t wanna puke,” he murmured.
“Just a little.” Pleased to finally have some cooperation, Murdock made the executive decision to spoon feed the porridge since he didnt think Friede had the strength to feed himself without spilling. He received a bit of grumbling but he supposed even Friede knew better than to put up his tough guy act, not when his recovery hinged on getting nourishment and rest.
Murdock wasn’t awkward at all with the process of bringing spoonfuls of porridge to Friede’s slightly parted lips. He had plenty of experience doing similarly to his sister back when they were kids and then eventually Dot (up until she started being more introverted) whenever they got sick.
Friede dutifully swallowed each spoonful until the bowl was halfway finished. He kept his lips shut at the next one, slightly shaking his head. Murdock simply placed the bowl aside and swapped it for the mug of now warm tea.
“Here, this shouldn’t scald your tongue now.” Murdock supported the mug from the bottom as Friede held it with both hands, aiding him in taking sips so he didn’t strain his injured shoulder too much.
“Here, take these,” Mollie spoke, breaking through the blanket of silence that fell over the trio since the beginning of Friede’s meal. “This should help with the pain.”
Murdock held the mug while Mollie placed the pills onto Friede’s open palm. His grimace spoke volumes of his thoughts on the meds but tea helped wash it down. Friede managed to drain the entire mug before slumping back against the pillow.
“Good job Friede. I knew you could do it.” Murdock didn’t bother hiding the quiet cheer in his voice, once again similar to how he encouraged the kids.
Friede had a bit more awareness (until the meds kicked in) post meal so he couldn’t get away without hearing a light complaint of, “You don’t have to say it like that.
Murdock simply responded by flashing him a light smile that showed teeth. "I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Before Friede could make any more complaints, Mollie swooped in to do some minor check ups while she had him up and relatively lucid.
“Tell me the names of everyone on board,” Mollie asked while she checked on his bandaged wound.
“Huh? Don’t know why you’re asking but there’s me, you, Murdock, Orla…”
Murdock sat quietly to the side throughout the check-up where she proceeded to do a whole round of 20 questions until Friede could no longer stay up. He took that as his cue to help him lay back down on the bed, pulling the blanket up till it covered half his body.
Friede sighed appreciatively once Murdock placed a newly rewetted cloth on his forehead. Hopefully this fever will break soon as only then could Murdock fully relax.
“Feels good?”
“Mmm yeah… thanks Murdock."
Friede soon fell back into slumber, much deeper and more peaceful than before. Murdock picked up the tray with the intention of bringing it back to the kitchen, planning on storing away the rest of the porridge so he can reheat it later.
Before he left the infirmary, he turned to Mollie. "You think he’ll pull through?”
“Seeing that he could still complain? I don’t doubt it,” she replied with a hint of a smile on her face. “Friede’s strong. We just need to keep an eye out on him until that fever breaks. After that, it’s a matter of giving his shoulder time to recover and building up his strength again.”
“That’s good to know,” Murdock responded, putting most of his worries to rest. “Let me know when he wakes up later. I’ll bring in another bowl for him to eat then. Don’t forget to eat meals too Mollie.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t. There’s not enough room on the bed to share.”
Hearing her make light jokes assured him that she too wouldn’t let this weigh her down. Sometimes Mollie became quieter and a lot more serious when it involved one of them landing into the infirmary (Friede more than anyone else on the ship) so Murdock had one less person to worry about now.
“Good. I’ll bring you your dinner later too. Remember not to overwork yourself, alright Mollie?”
“Likewise to you. Don’t want this guy to needlessly worry."
With that, Murdock left the infirmary and headed back to the kitchen with light steps and a lighter heart.