Chapter Text
“HGEUH!!!” A young man jolted awake from his bed, a cold sweat covering his entire body. His breathing was short and rapid, his lungs seemingly unable to take in the proper amount of air needed. He gasped and wheezed for a bit, eventually managing to calm himself down. Running a hand through his black hair, he swept it up into more of a mess of cowlicks than it already was, sweat practically soaking his hand. God… he felt… awful. Like an old sponge that was put into the wringer way too many times.
“Eugh… what the heck was that?” He murmured to himself, placing a hand on his forehead to ease the new, sharp, growing pain that was beginning to set in. He honestly preferred whatever weird dream he was having before to what he was experiencing right now! It was like someone was squeezing his brain like a stress ball or something. Normally, squeezing stress balls was a good thing, it got the tension out! But when the stress ball was your own brain? Yeah, not so much.
After a few minutes the pain finally subsided, leaving the young man with a sense of relief; Or, at least it did until he finally started to get a look at his surroundings. Everything was blurry for lack of a better term. The only things he could confidently discern around him were a bunch of muted whites and grays, both of which just seemed to blend to form some incoherent mess. It was like the entire world around him was out of focus, everything was so fuzzy, smeared, and generally just… soupy? Was that even an adjective? Heck, was that even a word? Vocabulary aside, the young man’s vision situation was beginning to become a more pressing concern by the second.
No matter how many times he rubbed his eyes, his vision never seemed to readjust, it never seemed to focus! He got so desperate that he even started hitting the side of his head with the palm of his hand; Probably not the smartest thing to be doing right now, especially since he most likely had some possible head trauma, but it was worth a shot, right? Well, unfortunately for him, restoring his vision wouldn’t be something so easy to do. It wasn’t like he was some old, worn-down lawn mower that always needed a bit of motivation to start. Try as he might, the human experience was preventing him from regaining one of his core senses.
Unable to see or not, the young man wasn’t going to take any of this lying down! If he couldn’t rely on his sight then he was going to have to rely on the other human senses at his disposal: Smell, Hearing, Touch, and Taste. Although he probably wouldn’t be using that last one. The last thing anyone should do in a situation like this is to be licking and biting everything around you. It would be pretty funny though… to him only of course! It wasn’t like he had an active audience around him right now, Or maybe he did. If that was the case he sure as hell couldn’t see them!
Closing his eyes to better help him focus on what was around him, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, his hands moving along what felt like cold, metal bars that were placed along the bed he was in. The scents of various bleach-based cleaners assaulted his nostrils, causing his nose to scrunch up in retaliation. Besides the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, the only things he was able to hear were the gentle hum of an AC unit accompanied by some low, hushed voices and the opening and closing of various doors.
Was he… was he in some type of Hospital?
“Oh, good, he’s awake!” A woman’s voice rang out from the other end of the room, the creaking of the door followed by the large number of footsteps filled his chest with a sinking, fear-inducing feeling.
Who was this woman? Was she always there in the room with him? Was she expecting him to wake up? Why did she bring so many people with her?
“How are you feeling, Reno? Do you feel better? Or are you still a little light-headed?” The same woman’s voice asked him. From what he could make out she was a big fan of the color white. So much so it looked like that was the primary color for her outfit! If it wasn’t for her dark brown hair she probably would’ve been lost in the mushy soup that was his vision right now. The most defining thing about her was her tone. It was poised, kind, almost motherly even! But the name she called him: Reno. Was that who he was? He’d never heard that name before, but it sounded familiar…
“He still looks pale to me,” A young man’s voice joined the fray this time. He sounded like a confident type of guy. Not so much that he was full of himself but just enough to where he knew who he was and what he deserved. He’d honestly be a little bit intimidating if he didn’t just look like a light blue lollipop with a black stick right now. Was he wearing a suit or something? Kind of formal for whatever was going on now, “He needs more bed rest!”
“Agreed. But at least he looks better than when we first found him on the beach. It’s actually kind of odd seeing him not coated in sand!” An older gentleman laughed, his voice gruff yet smooth at the same time. This guy was more defined than the first two people, with his blurry portrait being nothing more than a giant, flaming, red and orange smudge. Not the most appealing thing to look at, but at least it gave him some definition! Well, whoever he was, he sounded a lot more jovial and jokey than his colleagues. While the other two strangers expressed their concerns for Reno, this old geezer was trying to lighten the mood by cracking some jokes!
But what he said was starting to concern Reno.
“First found him on the beach? What is this guy talking about? Do I know them or something?” Reno thought to himself, the situation getting worse and worse in his opinion.
“Do you think you need more bed rest, or do you think you’re ready to get up? You may have an influx of visitors here soon so we want to plan accordingly!” The woman spoke again, the sound of the clap of her hands causing him to flinch slightly.
“I think I have no idea what’s going on or who you people are,” Reno just blurted outright, ripping the tube that was snaked around his arm and stuck into his hand. Flinching slightly, he felt a warm sensation beginning to form where the tube was.
Blood.
Gritting his teeth, he removed the case from the pillow he was just resting on, wrapping it around his hand to act as a makeshift bandage for the time being. The whole idea of using a makeshift bandage instead of a real bandage in a medical institution was kind of ironic, to say the least. But, it wasn’t like Reno was in the right mind right now anyways. There were too many things going on, and all he wanted to do was to feel safe, and to him, that meant getting the heck out of there and somewhere he could just recompose himself, alone.
The best way to achieve such a thing in his mind, however? Placing his hands on the side rails of his bed so he could make his triumphant escape! Of course, instead of making quite the snazzy getaway he had envisioned in his head, he only ended up struggling to pull himself up and onto the floor. To make matters worse, now that he was moving, he started feeling way worse than he originally anticipated. His entire body felt wobbly like jelly, his limbs feeling like they could snap and break at any moment like uncooked spaghetti. But was this going to stop him? Not at all.
“He-hey! Stop that!” The woman called out to him, a look of shock and worry painting her face as she watched Reno try and stand by himself. Without hesitation she rushed her way over to him, placing her hands on him, gently trying to push him back down. She had to take extra caution to not snap him like a toothpick, as all of that time in bed had left him nothing more than a skinny, almost malnourished, looking version of his former self.
“No you stop that!” Reno retaliated by trying to shoo the woman’s hands away with his own. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop him from finally standing up on his own two feet. The whole sight of this almost would’ve been impressive! If Reno didn’t look so pathetically frail. The poor guy could barely stand on his own two feet, and everyone else in the room could see that.
“I don’t know how to impress onto you people that I have no idea who you are, what’s going on, where I am, or anything else related to my general existence.” Managing to balance himself to a degree, he began making his way toward the door (or at least what he could only assume was the door since his vision was still blurry), traveling and essentially hugging the walls of the room as he did so. As he traveled he accidentally toppled over various items and trinkets, namely flowers and half-deflated balloons reading ‘ Get well soon!’ that was most likely left behind for him to see when he fully recovered.
He hadn’t fully recovered yet but he was sure as hell seeing them now.
“Hah hah! That’s a good one!” The flaming smudge laughed. Judging by the way he spoke, he sounded completely serious about this. It hadn’t fully set in on him that Reno was being 100%, honest to god, no shit serious.
“Alder. I think he means that,” The light blue lollipop spoke up this time, addressing the flaming smudge who was now revealed to be a man named Alder,
“Reno, you need to get back in bed so we can further monitor your situation. You’ve been asleep for a very long time so it’s only natural to be a little discombobulated. I promise that we’ll be able to make you feel better if you just lay back down and let the doctors do what they need to do.”
“Here’s a better idea!” Reno addressed the other young man in the room, his vision finally starting to clear up, giving him a better idea of the situation he was in. Now that everything was more defined, his next plan of action could be made much easier now! Without giving the three people standing in front of him any room to react, he bolted towards the door, knocking over anything and everything in his way throughout his mad dash to freedom.
“Huh. He’s pretty fast all things considered. You gotta give him that, Steven.” Alder nodded his head slightly, clearly very impressed with Reno’s speed despite just waking up from what could be considered to be a minor coma, being dressed in hospital robes, and currently not having any form of footwear due to said hospital robes.
“Wha-?! Now isn’t the time to be impressed! We need to stop him before he hurts himself! Use your Accelgor to catch him!” The lollipop, who was now revealed to be known as Steven, began to panic, throwing his hands onto Alder, scrambling to find his Pokéballs to release the aforementioned Pokémon. If they wanted to catch Reno without any trouble, Accelegor would have to be the best bet. Not only was it fast, but it had the skills and dexterity to accomplish its task without making too much of a mess.
“Accelgor? I didn’t bring him with me! He’s back at the hotel,” Alder tried to grab Stevens's hands, the severity of the situation finally set in, causing him to be infected with the same level of panic as his colleagues,
“I thought we were only supposed to keep one Pokémon on us at all times! Isn’t that the rules of the island? Why we’ve formed Sync Pairs in the first place?”
“You can carry more than one Pokémon at once! They didn’t say we were restricted to just one…!” Steven gripped both sides of his hair in a mixture of panic and frustration. Why did Alder have to be so aloof?! Even if he technically wasn’t the Unova Champion anymore, he still held that title in the past and experienced all of the responsibilities that came with it; Plus, if you had more than one Pokémon, why wouldn’t you carry all of them on you?! Not wanting to waste more time, Steven began cycling through the Pokémon he had on him: Cradily, Skarmory, Claydol, Aggron, Excadrill, and Metagross. All powerful Pokémon for sure, but none that would be fast or graceful enough to catch an on-the-run hospital patient with quick feet. Well, Skarmory and Excadrill would be able to, but he feared they may be too brutal of Pokémon to use, and said brutality may scar Reno emotionally and mentally; and that’s the last thing anyone needed right now.
“Diantha! Can any of your Pokémon catch Reno?”
“Yes! I have just the one!” The older woman nodded, this last member of this merry trio finally having her name revealed (although it wasn’t like it mattered since Reno wasn’t there to hear that name in the first place). Reaching into her bag she pulled out a red and white ball, an aura of soaring determination radiating from the very core of the object itself.
“Hawlucha! We need your aid! Help us catch our friend!”
Produced from a flash of blue energy from the thrown ball was a short, stout, but still mighty, looking Pokémon. Covered in colorful plumage that gave it an appearance akin to a wrestler, the avian-like creature let out a shrill battle cry, striking a pose to the people around her before identifying her chosen target. Of course, it wasn’t exactly super hard to figure out who she was supposed to catch. It wasn’t like there were any other people desperate to escape their hospital beds.
Letting out one more shrill, albeit confident, battle cry, Hawlucha leaped gracefully into action, parkouring off of whatever furniture, desks, and walls she was able to, catching up to Reno with incredible speed, the gap between them being closed almost instantaneously, her claw just mere inches away from grabbing ahold of Reno’s robe and putting an end to his little escape plan. The only thing that was preventing her from ending this faster than everyone would’ve liked was the fact Reno was wobbling from side to side unpredictably; Something that was completely unintentional.
Having already taken notice of the winged monster chasing after him, Reno’s heart began to beat faster, and more and more sweat began to pour off of him. There was no longer panic and confusion in his brain right now. Now it was just primordial fear. What the heck was this thing chasing him?! Was it going to eat him?! Disembowel him?! Pick him apart piece by piece?! So wrapped up in the possibility of becoming some monster's dinner, his gaze (or whatever was working from it) deviated from the path ahead of him, focused entirely on his pursuer. He made desperate attempts to try and evade the grapples thrown his way, his (metaphorically) tangled feet providing quite the evasive boost!
Unfortunately for Reno, his brilliant escape plan came to a crashing halt once he ran face-first into something… squishy? Bouncing back from the impact and landing butt-first on the floor, he looked up to see what he had run into, and his face contorted into a more fearful expression than it was before.
Now there was a second monster standing before him, one arguably more horrific and nightmarish than the one that was just chasing him! With its pink ovoid-shaped body and stubby limbs, the monster looked down at him, its tiny eyes showing an expression of confusion and worry, causing it to reach down to the pouch on the center of its belly, pulling out the egg-like object stored within and trying to hand it to Reno.
Before he could even react to the second creature before him, the one that was just pursuing him finally caught up to him, leaping up into the air and releasing a triumphant shout, as if proud she had finally caught up with her intended target. Leaping majestically upwards into the air, Hawlucha promptly readied itself for her descent, arms spread wide and chest stuck out proudly, crashing into Reno soon after in a powerful, flying press. The sheer force of this attack knocked all the wind out of him, creating the perfect opening for his capture.
Wanting to seize the opportunity, Hawlucha continued to pin him to the ground, being able to keep him there despite the evident size difference between the two of them. Thankfully Reno wasn’t putting up much of a fight, as he was still trying to suck in all the air that had been forced out of him. His gasps and wheezes were… concerning, to say the least, but, hey, he was caught, right? Diantha had only instructed the Pokémon to catch Reno, she never specified how much bodily harm she wanted to inflict on him!
“Buh…! Guh…! Guh… get off…!” Reno gasped with whatever breath he could muster up, pathetically waving one of his arms like some type of limp noodle, desperately trying to knock Hawlucha off of him so he could continue running. But it was to no avail. His spirit, and pride, (along with maybe a few bones) had been broken. Finally giving up the fight and relinquishing his fate to these strangers and their monsters, Reno succumbed to his exhaustion. His vision began to fade and his head began to swim, his entire world just fading to black before he knew it. The last things he could make out were the same three people he had just fled from calling his name.