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The Wormhole closed behind them, the last colourful shades of it disappearing from the evening sky. Garchomp landed softly in front of the Altar of the Sunne and Ash allowed himself to take a deep breath, clutching his shaky hands into fists.
Alola was safe. Necrozma was helped and both Lunala and Solgaleo were okay. Poipole…
Ash turned his head to the side and jumped off Garchomp, onto the ground. Tapu Koko was still hovering nearby, and Its yellows were so bright that he couldn’t look at anything but It.
He blinked, confused, when he didn’t stop and his legs wavered, knees bending in half. He couldn’t—
— Pikapi! —
…
…
— did someone shout? —
…
…
— everything… felt light… —
…
— …when he blinked next, he was on the ground, laying on his back. How did he– why was he on the ground? What happened?
“You were out for, like, a minute,” Sophocles replied – has he asked out loud? Ash tried to say something, but all that left his mouth were groans.
His head hurt. He must’ve hit it when he fell. But he was falling forward and yet now he was on his back, so – has someone moved him? The sky, right above him, was purple and pink, and orange and blue. Kiawe was reaching out to him, and Ash took his hand, trying to stand up. There were dark spots in front of his eyes and he swayed, left to right. Professor Kukui shouted something (he winced at how loud it was) voice laced with concern.
“I’m fine,” he muttered under his breath. “Just felt– slightly weird. I’m fine, though.” He tried to laugh it off, but it seemed weak even to him. Despite those assurances, Kiawe kept supporting his weight (and Ash was secretly grateful). The professor ran up and helped him from the other side.
“What happened there?” Kukui asked, quietly now. “Does anyone need to go to the hospital?”
All of his classmates denied, one way or another. Ash closed his eyes again when a heavy wave of vertigo hit him. His stomach churned; there was a disgusting, half metal-y, half acid-y taste in his mouth. The dark spots from before seemed to double and —
— everything went dark and silent as he leaned forward —
— and the next time he knew what was happening, he was on his knees, throwing whatever remained of his breakfast up. Something wet slid down his cheek – tears? – and there was a soft hand on his back, rubbing it in circles.
“I think Ash may need to go, though,” Lana murmured somewhere on the side. Ash laughed – or at least tried to, but considering he was still heaving over the grass, he just let out a choking sound.
“ Pikapi ,” Pikachu’s exasperated voice reached his ears. His partner nuzzled his side. He was correct; Ash overused Aura, overused his energy, and now he felt the consequences. At least, that’s what he vaguely remembered happening; he knew that they shared something with Necrozma, and what else could it be? Nothing else really matched up. He had to do it, though. Who knew if the energy would be enough without Aura, and that…
Well. Better for Ash to feel bad for a few days than for Alola to get destroyed or the Legendaries to get hurt.
Ash touched his head the moment he felt slightly better, as if it was supposed to help with the pulsing pain, and hissed when a sharper one interrupted, piercing through him. Immediately, he took away his hand.
He blinked, looking at it. Why was it red? And why…?
“Um,” he managed to say, despite the everlasting nausea. “Why do I have two left hands?”
Professor Kukui instantly turned him to face him, a frown on his face. Ash blinked slowly, closing his eyes for probably a second too long.
“Don’t sleep,” if Ash didn’t know any better he’d say that the professor sounded slightly hysterical, “we have to get you to a hospital.”
He hummed instead of replying, but closed his eyes anyway.
“ Ash ,” he pressed.
“Not sleepin’.” He absolutely was about to fall asleep, though. “J’st restin’ my eyes.”
Everyone started talking around him, but Ash didn’t hear a single word anymore. It was all just noise. Only noise, nothing specific. He blinked and without a warning they were in a different place. Before he was able to figure out just where he was, he blinked once more, and then he was laying down on a hospital bed.
Huh. When’d that happen? Did he manage to learn how to use Teleport?
A soft hand was going through his hair, brushing it gently. Pikachu was curled up, snuggling to his chest. They let his partner stay with him? Not many hospitals allowed Pokémon inside. Especially out of their balls.
It was warm, and the blanket he was under comfy, and his partner’s weight and the dimmed room made him sleepy. He vaguely recalled someone telling him not to sleep, though, so he fought the feeling.
“You can sleep now,” a voice, as soft as the hand, said, as if feeling his internal struggle. “You’ll be fine. You need rest, so sleep now. I’ll be here.”
He didn’t need more encouragement, closing his eyes and falling asleep within seconds.