I hope you guys enjoy this. I know I haven't been able to get a story going lately, and I aim to change that. I'd love it if you guys would review and tell me what you think.
It was early in the afternoon in Snowpoint City. Of course, given that it was the middle of the summer, the sun really didn't set until about 11:30 PM, meaning that observations of the sun's position weren't always reliable in terms of telling what time it was.
Of course, the people of the city also had clocks to go by, and Mrs. Enfield was looking at hers as she did the dishes alongside her husband.
The Enfields were an upper middle class couple who lived in a suburb of Snowpoint City called Starborn Valley. It was really quite a nice place to raise a child, since the school system was considered top notch. The crime rate was also much lower than the average for the Sinnoh region, so the couple certainly wasn't complaining.
The couple didn't have any children, but, little did they know, that was about to change.
Elsewhere, high above Snowpoint City, a Dragonite was flying due south at a very high speed. It had homed in on its target, a fairly large house in suburban Snowpoint City, and was aiming to get there as quickly as possible.
Dragonite was carrying a bundle in his arms, and he was being careful not to drop it. It was extremely precious cargo, after all, and, with what seemed like the whole world at risk, that wasn't a risk he was willing to take.
The bundle was shaking back and forth, making a significant amount of noise. It was all Dragonite could do to avoid dropping it; that was a very difficult task indeed.
Eventually, it was clear that he wouldn't be able to keep this up forever, so he decided to land in a nearby park. Even in late July, it was covered in a thin layer of snow, and deserted. This was good, because Dragonite didn't want to be seen carrying a baby in his arms. A kidnapping might have been suspected.
Dragonite landed next to the baseball field in the park and opened the bundle a little to check on the cargo inside.
The "cargo" was an infant Riolu, shivering and sweating at the same time. He was crying very loudly, almost like a banshee.
"Settle down" Dragonite said. Of course, this wasn't going to work, just saying that. He'd need to get the Riolu to calm down, and that wasn't an easy thing to do.
"I know that you're in a lot of pain right now" said the Dragonite in as soothing a voice as he could muster. "But if you keep flailing around like that, I'm not going to be able to get you to the people who can help you. And we're almost there. Can you do it for me?"
At the sound of the Dragonite's voice, the infant Riolu seemed to calm down slightly. It only lasted for a few seconds, though, and then it started up again. Great sobs wracked the tiny body.
The Dragonite knew of one other way to get someone to calm down. I suppose that that's what it's come to. I wanted him to enjoy the ride, but I suppose that wasn't the primary purpose.
If I can sing him to sleep, he won't have to suffer as much. I'm going to do that.
The Dragonite began singing a lullaby, one that was often sung in the heavenly realm from which the Riolu had come. If this doesn't work, nothing will.
After a couple of minutes of singing, the infant Riolu had finally dozed off. It was still clear to see that there were lines of sweat running down his muzzle, but the reason for that couldn't be addressed here.
Dragonite grabbed the Riolu in his arms and began flying once more. He wasn't able to fly as fast as he had before, because if he jolted the infant too much, the latter might wake up, and that wouldn't be good.
Eventually, he reached the house he was looking for. As Dragonite gently descended, he held out the cradle containing the Riolu before placing it gently on the ground.
The little blue Riolu was wrapped in a red blanket to keep him warm. Even so, he was shivering almost uncontrollably in his sleep.
Inside the house, Mr. Enfield gave a start when he noticed something in his backyard that hadn't been there previously. It was, of course, the cradle.
"Honey? Do you know what that is?"
His wife came running into the dining room, which overlooked the backyard of the Enfield home. She adjusted her glasses and looked outside.
"That's a cradle. What is it doing in our yard?"
"I don't know" Mr. Enfield admitted. "It's just there. We should probably go and see, no?"
Mrs. Enfield nodded, and husband and wife exited the house in order to walk over to the cradle. It was her turn to give a start when she saw what was in it.
There was an infant Riolu, sleeping lightly, wrapped in a silky red blanket.
"Oh, Arceus! What is he doing here?"
"I don't know" replied Mr. Enfield. "We can't just leave him out there. He'll die - it's quite cold here".
His wife walked over to the cradle. "Hey, Cole, I think I see a name there!"
"Where?"
"On the side of the cradle, silly. Does this baby Riolu already have a name?"
"Indeed" Mr. Enfield replied.
On the wooden cradle, the name LUCAS had been printed in all caps. It must have been chiseled into the wood, because it was clear to see that it wasn't just marker or something like that.
Suddenly, Lucas, for that was the Riolu's name, woke up and started screaming once more. It was clear that these screams were those of utmost agony - there was no denying that, or so it seemed.
"Let me hold him" Mrs. Enfield said. "That usually calms babies down".
She bent over to pick up Lucas, and then she realized something alarming.
"Cole!"
"Yeah?" asked Mr. Enfield. "What is it?"
"He's burning up. He must have a fever".
Mr. Enfield's jaw dropped. "Then he shouldn't be outside in this cold weather. In fact, he should be at the hospital!"
Both Cole and Jessica Enfield knew that infants of any species had very little immune system to speak of. When they got sick, they could get really sick. It was important that this little guy get cared for.
Jessica went over to the phone in order to call the Riolu specialist at the nearest children's hospital. It wasn't very far away, thankfully, so they could drive straight there; an ambulance would not be required.
Lucas was still crying, and he would end up crying pretty much the whole way to the hospital.
Both of the Enfields were worried about Lucas, but Cole found himself wondering why he was worried at all.
I mean, it's not as though I'm his father. I just found him in my backyard not ten minutes ago, he thought to himself as he sat in the passenger seat of the car. So why do I care so much?
But then he reminded himself that all of them were descended from Arceus, meaning that, in a way, they were all family. All of them had a common obligation to take care of one another, because that was what the basic laws of morality demanded. You didn't just leave a sick infant Riolu out to freeze to death.
Finally, they arrived at the doctor's office, which was fortunately not very crowded. The attendant who came up to the Enfields told them that, even if it had been crowded, Lucas would have been given priority due to his extremely young age. Any fever in someone that young was a cause for concern.
Several tests were done on Lucas, but Cole and Jessica were told that they didn't need to watch them happening. They both went into the room anyway, and they saw the Riolu wince as needles were placed in his fur in order to draw out blood and spinal fluid.
Finally, a doctor came up to the couple and told them the following.
"Lucas has a fever of unknown origin, but it could be something very serious. For that reason, he'll have to stay for a couple days so that we can rule out anything that could be life-threatening".
Both Jessica and Cole nodded, and they noted the doctor's concern. It was one thing when both of the parents were worried, but when a doctor was worried, you knew that things were scary.
"I'll set him up in a room, and you can come in a few minutes. Because he's so little, it's recommended that one of you stays with him. Who will it be?"
The Enfields looked at each other, unsure of who it should be. Then, the doctor said, "The person who does not stay will be able to visit him".
"I'll do it" said Jessica. "I'll stay. I'm ready to treat him the way a mother would".
The doctor smiled. "I can tell. We'll start hooking him up to the equipment now, and we'll tell you when the room is ready".
When the doctor said the words about hooking him up to the equipment, that was more than a little unnerving for Cole. He didn't associate hospitals with good memories, but then again, few people do. He was very anxious about what was going to happen, especially with him not there.
After a few minutes, a doctor came out and said, "The room is ready. He's in there".
Both adoptive parents walked into the hospital room that had been set up for Lucas the Riolu, and Jessica gasped.
The infant Riolu was resting in a small, metal hospital crib. His fur was starting to bleach slightly, and that scared both parents.
"Why is his fur getting light?" asked Jessica.
The doctor removed his spectacles, wiping them on his shirt. "We don't know that for sure" he replied, shrugging. "It's not clear, but it might just be because of the illness. I don't think it's anything in particular to worry about".
Well, that's a relief.
Several stickers were attached to Lucas's chest, and those were attached to wires that ran up to what looked like a computer screen, which was recording his heart rate. In addition, there was an IV line in his left arm.
"Why does he have an IV in?" asked Cole. "I'll admit that I'm not too familiar with medical stuff".
"It's for antibiotics" said the doctor. "We don't know yet if it's something deadly, but we have to treat it like it is, because if you don't, and it is deadly…".
"Yeah, he could die" said Cole.
The doctor nodded. "But that's not going to happen. We're going to take really good care of him. We take these things very seriously".
Both of them nodded.
The next few days weren't fun.
Lucas remained ill and in pain. Even though he was being given pain medication, he still screamed at night, making Jessica worry that other patients on the same floor might end up waking up. Fortunately, to the best of her knowledge, that didn't happen, but that didn't stop her from feeling guilty.
I can't make him feel better. If I'm supposed to be his mother, I'm not doing a very good job at it!
The doctors continued pumping him full of antibiotics in order to try and kill the infection that was causing him the pain. There were no obvious signs of improvement, though.
On the third night, the second day after Lucas had been admitted to the hospital, one of the nurses was taking Lucas's temperature for the millionth time when she smiled.
"Good news!" she exclaimed.
Jessica turned towards the nurse. "What is it?"
"His fever is starting to break. He's not necessarily out of the woods yet, but if it's gone by morning he can leave".
He's going to get better, thought Jessica. Even though she'd only known this infant Riolu for a few days, she found herself tremendously relieved.
That night, Jessica had a dream.
In the dream, she was standing in front of Arceus in the Hall of Origin, and he was looking very pleased with her.
"Thank you for taking him in" said the deity. "That was very great of you to do so. I know that it may not have been the greatest pleasure, but…".
"I can't leave a baby Riolu out there in the snow!" exclaimed Jessica. "That's just wrong! It wasn't a hard decision".
"Well, I commend you for it anyway. Now, Lucas...he's going to be fine. He just caught a little bug as he was traveling down from the heavenly realm. It's usually not that serious, but he was very little, so that's why it was a cause for concern.
"However, there is one thing I want to tell you about".
"What is that?" Jessica asked the deity. She was quite nervous.
Arceus showed her what appeared to be a TV screen of sorts, which showed Lucas in the hospital crib. Except for one small factor.
Lucas had white fur.