A young Bulbasaur slowly opened his eyes, and saw that he was trapped in a stark black void. How did I get here? He thought he would be terrified or confused, but he felt nothing. Why is it so cold? Ironically, he felt something warm and wet covering the right side of his face. Am I falling? It took him awhile to realize that. He started to wonder how he got there. It doesn't matter. This is what I deserve...The young Bulbasaur closed his eyes again.
"HELP!" A Mudkip frantically screamed, dragging an unconscious and wounded Bulbasaur uphill. There was a gash on the right side of his forehead, and he was covered in dark-green blood. Some of it had gotten all over Mudkip, but he didn't care. Please be okay, please be okay. "D-don't worry," he said to the Bulbasaur, despite him being unconscious. "I'm taking you to my home. My mom is a doctor. She'll help you."
Mudkip headed towards a sandstone hut that was two stories tall, in front of a pond that was as blue as the sky. From inside, a Marshtomp saw her son from the first floor. Without a second thought, she ran outside, leaving the door open.
"Mom!" Mudkip had never been so relieved to see her. How am I supposed to explain myself? "I-I found him like this. He just showed up out of nowhere, and...I had to do something."
"And you did the right said," Marshtomp assured her son. "I need you to get into the house, and get your father. Tell him to get the medical kit. Hurry." Mudkip let go of the Bulbasaur, and ran back inside. Marshtomp went over to him, to check his wound. He's bleeding fast. She lifted the Bulbasaur up on her shoulders, and carried him inside.
When Mudkip entered the house, his father, another Marshtomp, immediately noticed him from the stairs. "D-dad?"
The Marshtomp was shocked seeing his son covered in blood. It's dark-green, so it's not his blood, he thought in relief, before he ran down the stairs. "What the hell happened?"
Mudkip started shaking. There's just so much to explain. "Someone got hurt," he blurted out. "Mom needs you to get the medical kit."
Marshtomp saw his wife from the window, carrying an unconscious Bulbasaur. I guess that's why your mother ran out in such a hurry. "You got it," he said to Mudkip. "Get upstairs, and clean yourself up. We'll take care of the rest."
Mudkip struggled to nod. "Okay." He and his father rushed upstairs. While his father went into him and his mom's bedroom on the right, Mudkip went to the far left into the restroom. He felt so fatigued. His head was spinning. He went over to a wooden tub and looked into the water's reflection. I'm a mess. Mudkip slowly stepped into the tub, and the blood started to cloud up the water. And then tears started to stream down his face.
Meanwhile, downstairs, the other Marshtomp had put the Bulbasaur down in the center of the room. She saw her husband rushing down the stairs. He handed her a thick leather pouch, containing medical supplies. "Thank you," she said to him, before taking a closer look at the Bulbasaur's wound. "I gotta say, that gash is pretty bad." She took out a cloth, a needle, a roll of silk thread, and gauze.
"I'm sure you've seen worse," the other Marshtomp said.
"Yeah. Could you get a bowl and fill it with water?" Her husband nodded. He rushed over to a cabinet, and took out a wooden bowl. He went over to a well in the corner of the room, and scooped out some clean water, then went back over to his wife and placed the bowl next to her. "You might want to step upstairs for this next part." The topic of suturing wounds had always grossed her husband out.
Yeah, the blood I can handle. But needles? The sharp needle his wife was holding made him cringe, even if it wasn't pointed at him. "Well, uh, good luck, honey." Marshtomp chuckled nervously before rushing back upstairs.
She dipped the cloth in the water, and used it to clean the Bulbasaur's wound. She rinsed the bloody cloth in the bowl, before taking the needle and carefully putting the thread through the hole. With fingers like mine, this is to be expected. I guess that's what I get for being a Marshtomp, she jokingly thought to herself. And being as careful as possible, she began suturing the Bulbasaur's wound.
And after a few minutes, Marshtomp was done. She tightly wrapped the gauze around the Bulbasaur's head. Marshtomp took a breath in relief. There were spots and splatters of blood on the floor all the way to the door. "Shit," she muttered to herself. I'll have to worry about that later.
Mudkip left the washroom, feeling very fatigued. This morning was just too much. I just need...some sleep. He slowly walked towards him room, and then he saw his parents carrying the unconscious Bulbasaur upstairs. "Where are you taking him?"
"To our room," his mother said.
Mudkip tried to remind himself that he needed rest, but he couldn't help it. I need to be sure that this Bulbasaur is okay. "He can rest in my room." It seems like the right thing to do.
"Are you sure," his father asked. His son nodded. "Okay then." Marshtomp looked over to his wife, and she nodded too. He nodded back, before they carried the Bulbasaur into Mudkip's room. They gently laid him down on their son's bed by the window, to rest.
Mudkip followed his parents into the room. "I, uh, t-think someone needs to be here when he wakes up. I'll keep an eye on him, if that's okay." I hope I don't come off as creepy when he does wake up.
"Sure," his mother said. "Just let us know when he does." Marshtomp looked over at her husband. "I gotta get this blood off of me. Could you clean the floors downstairs? It looks like a warzone down there." Her husband nodded, and the two Marshtomp left the room.
Mudkip had kept an eye on the Bulbasaur for a little while. He counted the minutes, but it felt like an eternity. And then the Bulbasaur's eyes slowly opened. "Mom, dad," Mudkip shouted. "He's waking up!" His father quickly bolted into the room. Where's mom? Wait, the Bulbasaur. Should I greet him? Mudkip reluctantly took a few steps closer to the Bulbasaur.
When Bulbasaur opened his eyes, everything was a blur. He felt so lightheaded, he couldn't tell if he was conscious or not. He thought he saw three figures to his left. Who are they? The Bulbasaur's vision cleared up, and he saw a Mudkip and a Marshtomp. "Where am I," he asked, weakly.
"Oh." Mudkip glanced back over at his parents. "This is my home. You're, uh, you're safe here."
"Safe?" Bulbasaur was confused. "What do you mean?"
"Uh…" What do I say? Mudkip blankly stared at the window, trying to come up with the words. "You were hurt pretty badly. I had to do something." He started choking up. "Er…" Say something.
Mudkip's mother stepped into the room with a cup of water. "Here, drink this." She brought the cup up to the Bulbasaur's mouth. Then he suddenly snatched the cup out of her hand, and chugged all the water down. "You must be pretty thirsty."
Bulbasaur never realized how dry his throat was. He looked into the empty cup. He handed the cup back over the Marshtomp. "Could you get me so more?"
"Sure," Marshtomp said. "Try not to chug it all down next time."
"I'll try." What the hell is going on? Bulbasaur could feel his head spinning.
The other Marshtomp stood beside his son. "I gotta be honest, that was a hell of a scare back there." Marshtomp put his hand on the Mudkip's back.
"What happened," Bulbasaur asked. The Mudkip looked away from them, flustered.
"Well, my son found you outside bleeding pretty badly, and my wife patched you up. I'm just happy that you're okay. If Mudkip here never found you in time, you could have...y'know, never mind. Maybe it's not a good time to think about those kinds of…"
"Died," Bulbasaur heard himself say.
"...things."
The other Marshtomp came back into the room with the refilled cup, and passed it over to Bulbasaur. He made sure to take smaller sips. I could of died. Bulbasaur didn't know what to make of it. He started thinking about the void he fell through. No. I don't know what I saw, and I don't want to think about it.
Mudkip wished he could stop staring at the wall. I gotta say something. The Bulbasaur needs to know. He shut his eyes, and pretended that another person was speaking. "Uh, I wanted to say something, if that's okay?" I'm not sure how, though.
His mother nodded. "What do you need to say."
The Bulbasaur looked at him, and it made Mudkip feel a little distressed. "Uh...the Bulbasaur came up to me." Mudkip quickly looked away from him.
Bulbasaur shook his head. "What are you talking about?"
"You don't remember?" Mudkip squeezed his eyes shut. "One second thought, I need to stop talking."
"Okay?" Bulbasaur looked into the cup again. He tried to remember his apparent first meeting with the Mudkip, but he couldn't. In fact, there was nothing. "If it makes you feel any better, I can't remember anything." Who am I? Bulbasaur felt his entire body trembling, and he dropped the cup on the flood. Water spilled everywhere.