One-Shot. Game verse.
'Nuff said.
Disclaimer: Pokemon is owned by someone who is not me. I doubt the author of the last fic you read owns it either.
RE-UPLOADED DUE TO FAIL SPELLING.
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"They're hurt. Badly." Lyra said, straightening up from her inspection. "The only chance we have of making it there in time is by flying."
That one sentence was enough to make Gold's heart clench in fear. The young trainer felt a shiver go down his spine, and not from the cold of the night.
It had been earlier that day that Gold and the two other Johto Dexholders, Silver and Lyra, had set out, looking for a missing family of three that had been reported just that morning. The task had turned out to be a lot more difficult then expected, taking hours upon hours for them to even stumble upon their first hint, but they had gotten the job done.
As it turns out, the family had been attacked by an enraged Ursaring during a picnic they were having, and all ended up lost in the forest while trying to escape. Bruised, broken, and bleeding, they had all eventually either passed out from exhaustion, or were to weak to move anymore.
By the time the three found them, they were in critical condition.
They needed a hospital. Stat.
"F-flying?" Gold's eyes widened, giving the girl a look of horror.
Lyra nodded slowly, casting a glance down at the unconcious father that was sprawled out by her feet. "The nearest hospital's in Goldenrod, not to far from here. But we can't waste a second. We may have already lost them." Eyes sad, she shifted her gaze to the youngest girl of the family, who couldn't of been more then six.
Gold opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by the sound of rustling bushes. Flipping around, the boy saw his red haired rival, Silver, step out of the foliage, closing his Pokegear as he did so.
"I informed the doctors that we were coming." He said calmly, focusing all his attention on Lyra. "They said that they should be waiting for us as we arrive."
Lyra nodded. "Perfect." With that, she reached into her bag, withdrawing a Pokeball that Gold knew for a fact held her Ho-Oh. Just beside him, Silver did the same, only his star Pokemon was the rainbow bird's counterpart, Lugia.
Not hesitating in the slightest, the girl threw the ball into the air, where it emitted a nearly blinding flash of light. And just like that, Ho-Oh fell to the ground, letting out a beautiful resounding call.
"Gold?" She asked, turning to him.
"Yeah?"
Lyra bent down, wrapping her arms around the father's chest and heaving him onto her shoulder. "You need to send out your Togekiss now. That's part of flying."
Gold bit his lip nervously, mind racing as he fought to find an excuse.
"But my Togekiss can't carry more then one person!" He pointed out, a tone of desperation finding its way into his voice. "The professor said it himself, you were there! Anymore could potentially be dangerous!"
Lyra exchanged a wistful glance with Silver.
"Look, Gold." She sighed as she placed the dad on Ho-Oh's sleek backside. "You weigh about as much as the average seven year old, She can't weigh more then the average six year old," Lyra pointed to the small girl. "I highly doubt that the combined weight of you two will exceed the maximum capacity of your Togekiss. Now PLEASE, we don't have time for this!"
"Could I just ride there on Typhlosion?" Gold practically begged. "It'll only be and extra five minutes!"
"These people don't have five minutes!" Silver snapped. The red haired rival was already prepared to leave, the mother of the family held safely under his left arm. "Gold, I don't know what the hell your problem is, but for the love of Arceus, GET THE HELL OVER IT."
The ten year old flinched. "But-"
"GOLD!" The other two yelled at once.
"Okay!" Trying his best to keep himself from trembling, the boy released the Pokemon from the ball he had clutched between his fingers. Once released, the small white Pokemon let out a happy little noise, her tiny black eyes narrowed with determination, and gleaming with child-like mischievousness.
Slowly, Gold bent down, taking the young female gently under his right arm, careful not to touch the gash in her side.
"Finally..." He heard Silver huff as he took a seat on the Togekiss, who hissed at little at the excess weight.
However, Lyra on the other hand gave him a concerned glance, clearly sensing something was wrong.
"Ready?" She asked him.
Dreading what was to come, Gold nodded stiffly, gripping the edge of his Togekiss' wing as tightly as he could with his one free hand.
"Alright then... Ho-Oh, fly!"
"Lugia, fly!" Silver commanded shortly afterwards.
"Togekiss, please don't kill me..." The raven haired boy muttered, squeezing his eyes shut. Taking that as a "fly!", the small white Pokemon burst out into the open air at an outstanding speed, trying its best to catch up with legendary Pokemon that had taken off just a few moments ago.
He was only a few seconds in and he already felt a lurching sickness in his stomach. It was always the shift of gravity that got the young trainer. The feeling if weightlessness always felt so sickening to Gold. His heart started to pump madly, almost feeling like it was about to burst out of his chest.
Not daring to opening his eyes, the boy stuggled to adjust his position to a more comfortable one, but to no avail. Feeling the unconcious girl begin to slip out of his grasp, he squeezed her tighter, eyes flying open as he did so.
The world was a blur around him. The colours of trees melting in with the dark blue of the night sky, with the occasional grey splatter of clouds mixed in with the mess.
Gold's breath quickened.
"It's okay... He whispered to himself. "You're not above tree level... You're not above tree level..."
Contrary to his words, boy's mind started to race with panic. How high was he? He couldn't tell. Would it be high enough to kill him? Was his hand slipping? His eyes widened, and he once again applied more pressure to his grasp, practically crushing the soft feathers of the white Pokemon. Togekiss let out a growl of pain.
It had been a long time since the boy had last flown, as he had always thrown out some little white lies for why he couldn't, but he never remembered it being this bad! Every second was a fight not to look down. He didn't NEED to look down. He could feel the distance between him and the ground, he could feel the wind smashing against his face, threatening to push him off at any moment, and worst of all, he could feel the nerve-splitting pain of when he finally hit the cold hard earth beneath.
Gold was TERRIFIED.
"I-I c-c-can't..." He whispered, voice cracking slightly, "I-I c-can't..."
"You can't what?" Lyra voice rang out from beside him, sounding confused as well as curious. "Gold, is something wrong?"
Pale faced, the boy turned to her. He wasn't aware she was flying so close to him. It had been his assumption that she had been flying away from him, where Silver problably was. A concern look flashed through the girl's eyes. And at that very moment, Gold made the biggest mistake he could.
He looked down.
Gold snapped.
Letting out a strangled cry of raw terror, Gold shoved his face into the downy feathers of his Togekiss' back. His heart thundered painfully in his chest. The girl he clutched onto so tightly felt like she was made of lead, dragging him closer and closer to his doom...
"Gold?! Gold?!" Lyra called out to him through the blast of the gales. "Gold!"
The boy barely heard her, his breaths hitched in his chest as warm tears streamed down his cheeks. Every part of him felt numb. His mind was blank with pure horror.
"I-I-I... A-a..." Was all he could choke out. Sweat gathered heavily at his forehead, his face now a terrible chalk-white.
"Silver! Something's wrong!" He heard Lyra call out.
Silver, quite a distance away, yelled something back in response, sounding annoyed.
"I don't know! He's hyperventilating!" She responded, panic evendent in her voice.
Suddenly, the girl was beside him again, her tone dead serious. "Gold. It's okay. We're almost there. Just hold on tight and don't let go of the girl, okay?"
"I-I-I... I-I-I c-cant b-br-breath!" He shuddered, another set of tears falling down.
"Just stay calm. Take it easy. It's not long now." Her voice was calm soothing, but it did nothing in his panic state. He couldn't see, he couldn't breath, and he just wanted it all to end. His head thundered in rhythm with his hard, loud, quick and painful.
Finally, he felt Togekiss shift her weight, aiming in a slightly titled downwards direction. Through the tiny cracks between his eyelids, Gold could see the hospital, large and white, fill his vision, welcoming.
'Just hold on...' He thought to himself. 'It's almost over.'
The figures of doctors appeared, each of their arms raised, waving them down. They were calling something, but through the awful pounding in his ears, their words were inaudible.
And at long last, his torture came to an end. The moment Togekiss' tiny feet hit the concret, a doctor was by his side, hastily grabbing the child out of his arm and running into the building.
Gold stumbled off the tiny white Pokemon, only to have his legs give way under him moments after, causing him to fall painfully to the ground. Black spots played at the edge of his vision. His breathing was still rapid, heart on over-drive.
"Gold?" Through his blurred vision, the boy saw Lyra approach him, expression unreadable. "What's going on? Are you okay?"
Gold opened his mouth to answer, but was unable to form words. Before he could make even the slightest motion, a shocking wave of dizziness washed over him, knocking him into a silent sea of darkness.
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Gold awoke to a terrible taste in his mouth, his soft golden eyes cracking open ever so slightly.
The room around his was unfamiliar, nothing but white. White walls, white ceiling, white floors, and the only decorations being the occasional potted plant, each sitting on a white table, which of course, grew white flowers.
The boy shifted a bit, feeling oddly stiff and sluggish. His head pounded, causing him to groan.
"Gold?" A soft voice rang out from beside him. "Are you awake?"
Gold jumped a bit. Feeling to weak to sit up, he turned his head in the direction of the voice.
Lyra sat in a chair directly beside him, a small book resting in her lap. Her brown eyes shined with worry as she gazed down upon him, one of her fingers playing nervously with a loose strand of hair.
"Where... Where am I?" He asked slowly, voice sounding oddly muffled.
"The hospital." Lyra answered. Seeing his confused expression, she went on. "You passed out from lack of oxygen right after landing, remember?"
Gold furled his brows. "Lack of...?" He suddenly became aware of a small, clear machine that was wrapped around his mouth, a tube running from it and up into a bigger machine.
"That's an air mask." Lyra told him simply. "Helps you breath properly."
That explained the bad taste.
Suddenly, a thought hit Gold, causing his heart to race.
"The family!" He exclaimed, shooting up into a sitting position.
As he did so, the room spun around him. The boy stumbled awkwardly, raising a hand to his forehead. "Ugh..."
"Settle down..." The girl soothed, placing an arm on his should and forcing him back down. "They're here too. They're all alive."
"But..." Gold swallowed, his throat burning. "...Are they going to be okay?"
Lyra paused for a moment, before shaking her head sadly. "We can't tell yet. It'll be a close call if they pull through. We can only wait for now."
Gold closed his eyes, resting his head against his pillow.
"But Gold..." Her voice caught his attention again. "What happened back there?"
The boy froze. "Uh..."
"I mean, you were pale and shaking, stuttering like crazy, you couldn't breath properly, it was terrifying!" Lyra went on, clearly getting agitated. "I didn't know what was happening, I didn't know what to do! There was nothing I COULD do! You seemed fine before, but as soon as you were in the air you-"
"Lyra?" He interrupted her quietly.
"Yeah?"
"...I'm sorry."
"...You're sorry? For what?!" The girl looked utterly lost. "Gold, you didn't DO anything!"
"I hesitated..." He muttered. "I wasted precious time to get into the air, time the family simply didn't have to spare. And now the could all die because of that." He sighed. "All because of one STUPID REASON."
"Gold, whatever your reason is, I highly doubt it was stupid!" Lyra scoffed, giving the younger trainer a look. "You passed out!"
"Trust me, it's stupid."
"Gold, you looked like you were DYING."
"But I wasn't!"
"But you could have been!"
"But I WASN'T!"
"Look, their was clearly some very serious reason for what happened there, and no matter what you say, it won't be your-"
"I'M AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!" Gold finally shouted.
Lyra's eyes widened in shock. The boy felt his face grow warm as her stare remained on him, looking utterly taken back.
"You're... Afraid of heights?"
Embarrassed, he nodded slowly.
A moment of silence met his gesture, before Lyra let out a little giggle, which soon developed into a full blown laugh. Red faced, Gold attempted to pull the sheet of his hospital bed over his head, but it caught halfway over the cord of his air mask.
"Stupid, isn't it?" He whispered, fighting back tears. Gold wasn't one to cry often, he was far from sensitive, but at that very moment, stuck in a stupid hospital with a thing stuck to his face, having his best and only friend laughing at him for finally coming clean with his fear, it hurt.
"STUPID?!" Lyra exclaimed. "Gold, that's AMAZING!"
"Huh?" He looked up at her, not understanding.
"Did you not stop to consider that you went through with it at all? That even though you knew you would get scared, you did so just for the sake of others? Gold, that's incredible! If I was in your shoes, I problably wouldn't have been able to do it!"
Gold was silent, looking over her expression.
"Are... Are you serious?"
"Of course!" She assured him with a smile. "It's not about what you're afraid of, it's how you handle it that counts."
"That's... Cheesy..." The boy remarked, but Lyra could see him brightening.
"Everyone is afraid of something! I'm afraid of something, the professor's afraid of something, heck, I'm sure even Silver has a fear his hiding from us!"
"Silver?" Gold snorted. "No way."
"Yes way!" Lyra smirked. "Everyone has a fear, and everyone will have to face that fear at some point. And that's what you did today." She lowered her voice. "You gave them a chance, Gold. And that's what matters in the long shot."
"...Thanks Lyra." He smiled.
"No problem what so ever!"
"..." Gold looked at her, narrowing his eyes. "Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"...What ARE you afraid of?"
"..."
"..."
"...Yeah, there's no way I'm telling you that."
~Fin~
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The ending was more cheesy then it was in my head...
Oh well.
Now, you might inquire, "Galefire, why the name of everything purple did you write this?"
Well...
1) I wanted to write a serious one-shot.
2) I was bored. :p
3) I wanted to esablish a kind if brotherly/sisterly relationship between Gold and Lyra, even though in my headcanon they're not related.
4) I wanted to show the psychological side of fears.
5) BECAUSE WRITING IS FUN.
6) Stop asking questions. ._.
Also, am I the only one who thinks air-masks taste disgusting?
~*Galefire*~