DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon.
A bright light floods my eyes, and after a few seconds of blinking, my vision clears. I take a look at my surroundings, everything white on white, and question why I'm here. Then I hear faint beeps beside me, and I realize, oh, I'm in a hospital.
I don't know why I'm here.
My head hurts, so I touch my hand to the general area, and find not flesh, but fabric bandages.
And I realize, oh, I'm hurt.
I still don't know why I'm here.
I cast a quick glance to my right, and I see another patient beside me, an oxygen mask over their nose and mouth, a machine telling their heartbeat on the other side of the bed.
I catch some familiar tufts of brown hair beneath their heavily bandaged head, and I realize, hey, it's Kotone.
Wait, it's Kotone?
Why is she lying on a hospital bed?
Why is she covered in bandages, blood seeping through some of them?
Why are her right leg and left arm lifted into slings?
Why is her left eye bandaged over?
And why don't I have the energy to sit up and look at her properly?
I don't know why either of us are here.
Or do I? Surreal scenes flash into my mind.
A Thunderbolt cracks through the sky. It misses its target, Kotone's Typhlosion, and hits the land nearby instead, shaking loose the boulders on the slope.
They tumble down the slope, rolling towards not her, but her Typhlosion, at astonishing speeds.
I do I quick analysis, and know the Fire Pokémon won't be able to dodge in time.
I see fear in her eyes. But it's not fear for her life, it's fear for her Pokémon's.
It's then that I know she'll do something rash and thoughtless.
I can only imagine the shock in my own eyes as I watch the petite girl dive at the Fire Pokémon, who is twice her size, pushing it out of the danger zone.
My eyes widen as I attempt to get my legs to move fast enough to push Kotone out of the way, as she did with her Typhlosion, but I know that if even her Pokémon couldn't get to her, there's no way I will either.
I scream at her to get out of the way, but it's too late already. The boulders fall onto her small frame, and because of the noise, I don't hear the sickening crack of breaking bones.
I'm already sprinting to the landslide area, and as soon as I get to the accident site, I try, and fail, to lift a boulder out from the pile. Her Typhlosion is throwing those masses of minerals over his shoulder like they're pebbles, and I bring out my Feraligatr to do the same, while I pick up the smaller rocks.
The area isn't even clear before I scramble to a dark shape that vaguely resembles a human body, gingerly lift it up, ignoring the falling rocks, the pang of pain on my head, the dull thud against my left leg. I feel something wet and sticky on the hand that's cradling her head, and look down. There's something sharp sticking out from her left eye, and there's blood dripping onto my hand.
I yank the foreign object out, ignore the crimson liquid that splashes onto my face, and run full speed to the nearest town. I don't even notice the stares and gasps I get from the townspeople, and I tune out the needles of pain that keep shooting up my left leg. I burst into the Pokémon Center.
Nurse Joy gasps in shock while patients and visitors, Pokémon and human, scream, look away, gasp some more.
"Don't just stand there," I growl, "she's gonna fucking die!"
Nurse Joy stutters a "yes". She and her Chansey get to work right away, preparing a girdle and an oxygen tank, ushering spectators away from the scene, calling for any doctors to come and help, easing the badly injured girl out of my arms. They wheel her away quickly, but not before I catch a glance of the extent of the damage.
Kotone's left arm is twisted completely out of shape, and there's a long scrape stretching from her right shoulder to her elbow. Knee down, her right leg looks crushed, and her left one is covered in scrapes and bruises. Her left eye, the one I pulled the sharp object out of, is gushing blood and completely destroyed. The crimson liquid is already pooling on the white girdle.
A man, probably one of the volunteer doctors, tells me to go get some care from a Chansey, but I can barely hear him due to the roaring turmoil in my mind. It's then that my sense of feel decides to return, and I can no longer withstand the pain in my leg. With a cry, my legs give out and I'm unconscious before I even hit the floor.
Then suddenly, I remember why we're here. I know why Kotone's half dead in the bed beside me, and I know why pain shoots up my left leg as I struggle to sit up.
And I know it's all my fault.
It's all because of my idiocy, sending a Thunderbolt at an already loose, landslide prone, rocky slope.
Or is it Kotone's?
It could also be because of her kindness towards Pokémon. She should've just let her Typhlosion fall victim to the landslide. At least it wouldn't have ended up as hurt as her.
But then again, the rational self of the gentle girl would never even consider thinking about that idea, though I can't say the same for her animalistic side.
But then another thought worms its way into my consciousness.
Kotone's injuries weren't caused by my Thunderbolt, or her kindness to Pokémon. It was caused by her idiocy.
Only an idiot would throw herself at a Pokémon that's twice her size and push it out of harm's way.
I can already see the scene where she wakes up, smiles at me, and says, It isn't your fault, Silver.
Only someone who's high up on the idiocy scale could do that.
And only an idiot can love someone like that.
I guess we're both destined to walk the path of idiocy, then, I think to myself. Kotone and I.
I can already hear her giggly response. Yep!
And since the idea doesn't sound so bad, I decide that my head injury must have screwed something up in my brain, and try to go back to sleep. I can think about it more when the idea begins to feel more insane.
I've always wanted to try writing a story in present tense, and it looks like it's actually working out well. Hmm. Maybe I'll try some more next time.
Enjoy!
