A/N: Written as a Trick or Treat 2017 exchange gift for DoreyG.

Caterina still remembered the fire swirling around its muzzle. The wild houndoom had glared at her, fierce and proud, before it jumping into the bushes to relish its victory. Houndoom had been particularly strong in the battle against her tauros, and she hadn't expected to come out the winner. But she hadn't expected the result.

Her tauros lay on the grass, thoroughly defeated and panting for breath. The houndoom had been agile and far too fire happy. Normally, Caterina would be right there giving it potions or care to heal up its bruises. But the sheer shock and pain stabbing her entire arm had rendered her completely immobilized. Tauros had looked at her—scared and then concerned when it saw the quivers around her mouth and lines around her eyes.

Putting her tauros away had been difficult. Grabbing the pokeball had required effort, bending her arm and all. She had bit her lip to keep herself from moaning at the pain while it was raw and fresh, but she had managed to make it out of the forest to the nearest Pokemon Center, determined to get to Nurse Joy's aid no matter what.

But Caterina hadn't found an answer.

"Isn't there anything you can do about it?" Caterina begged. She had heard Nurse Joy, but she didn't believe it. "I was just battling with my tauros and the houndoom's flamethrower was tossed me… I think it was on accident… I…" Her palms gripped the medical table so tightly her knuckles went white, blood drained from them.

Nurse Joy glanced over her clipboard. She sighed, tired, resigned to a well-formulated speech. "I'm afraid not."

Caterina's hopes were dashed. Eyes darting around the room, she tried to find any thread of hope she could latch onto in those few moments. "But you're Nurse Joy! There's nothing about pokemon you don't know."

"I know, but… this isn't a wound that can be reversed." Nurse Joy's expression darkened and her tone dropped, low. "Once you're burned, you're cursed until you die."

Taking heart from such a doomsday confession from a medical professional she trusted was, in no possible way, comforting or hopeful. Caterina had wanted to believe things would get better. Things would get better. Things never stayed the same. She had learned that fifteen years ago when she had been a fresh-faced trainer on the road to capturing all the badges she could. These days, in her line of work, business was business and no business stayed the same. But ever since the burn a week ago nothing had changed or lessened the infuriating pain.

At first, she had tried everything she could think of. Nurse Joy had given her pain meds and she had swallowed those down like inhaling air. The pain had subsided, but the pricklings of it had returned mere hours later, and gritting her teeth was all she could do to feel sane.

Her eyes watered, her skin felt raw and moist. She cradled her arm against her side and kept bandages or sleeves off of it whenever it was possible—they only made it worse. For the few days she had honored Nurse Joy's request to keep a bandage on so it wouldn't get infected. But after waking up one night and feeling the unbearable pain shooting up her arm, she had given in and taken off the bandages to get air on her skin sometimes. It slightly worked despite Nurse Joy's warnings not to overdue it. Weirdly, though, the scar slowly began to dissolve and repair; the black and blue mark turning back to tan skin. The crisped, frayed edges resembled a normal forearm, and Caterina saw the two freckles that she had on her arm since birth return just as they had been previously.

The burn was healing itself in a shapely matter, and the scar was becoming a white line. The pain was excruciating. So painful it sparked like electricity when it started to flare up with the tiniest movement that aggravated it.

For the rest of her life she would be subjected to this.

This was all because a wild houndoom had jumped out at her in woods on a chance encounter. It had been an unusual attack misfire. The day she was walking to the next city to deliver files to an affiliate company, no less. This was her treatment for doing the job she loved.

Now, the skin was reddened. She scrubbed at the burn spot with a cloth full of ointment. The bottle said "relief or you get your money back" and she beginning to think she would dig up the receipt and walk to the store. The pain throbbed under her skin. Everything from her nerves to her bones felt the brunt of the pain, throbbing, angry.

Of course it was toning a bit over time. But she would have to endure this, no matter how small, forever…

Caterina winced. She hadn't been able to go into work the last few days, and her boss had understood the situation after seeing the wound for himself. Working on documents and interviewing people and even holding a glass of water just wasn't the same. It wasn't the same when you couldn't compose a genuine smile. Her work was sociable and face-to-face. She talked to people daily, and she gave presentations. Letting this go on for too long would destroy not only her but the career she had worked on after retiring from the trainer's traveling and capturing life.

She sighed. Caterina flopped sideways and shoved her face in her mareep's soft wool. Mareep stirred a bit, both by the unexpected movement and the television droning in the background, sleeping peacefully. At some someone was sleeping peacefully around her. Mareep hadn't left her side when he knew she needed something to cuddle up to. One thing was certain, her mareep was a worrywart, but she appreciated the sentiment. She needed it, now.

Having hope for tomorrow was the only thing she could do. For the past week, she had been lying around, moping. She hated being that kind of person. Being downcast was nothing like her, but she couldn't even lift her arm some days without wanting to scream in frustration. She had dunked it in water to have the cold water lap over it, poured the ointment all over it in desperation, taken a few too many pain pills that she was already regretting…

Caterina pushed her hair behind her ear, fingers still sticky from the ointment. She was too tired to move, and she was comfortable like this next to her loyal pokemon. She could sleep like this. It wasn't perfect, but she saw a little improvement in the burn's healing process, so she would just have to believe that one day she could bear the houndoom's cursed burn and feel like herself again.