Chapter 2

Give Me Sympathy

Gotta get you outta my system, but I know my heart won't listen.

Lyra sat upright in the PokeCenter bed, staring malevolently at the IV in her left arm. It had been pumping fluids and medicine into her system ever since she'd gotten there and she was thankful for all of the help she was receiving, but she had never ever been a fan of the pointy mechanisms. She had not taken her eyes off of it since Nurse Joy had jabbed it into one of her veins only an hour ago. Silver and Gold had told her not to worry about it and that it would be out once the anti-venom had done its job. Silver had also added that she had a choice between sucking it up or die from complications due to the poison. She'd swallowed her pride and nodded, squinting her eyes incessantly until it was lodged into her skin.

She now looked up at the clock and sighed. She'd only been here for a little over an hour, but she felt like she'd been a prisoner here for days or even weeks. This endless waiting was getting to her. She loved to move and staying in one position for even a small amount of time was proving to be difficult. Lyra then turned her attention to the two boys. Gold was flopped down on a chair near her, flipping through an old magazine while Silver leaned against the window sill and stared outside. At least they're handling the boredom better than I am.

Just when she thought she couldn't wait any longer, Nurse Joy stepped inside the room. Both boys turned their attention to her as she approached Lyra. A chansey waddled behind her holding a silver tray with what looked like a cup of water and a small pill.

"Are you feeling better, Ms. Lyra?" she asked politely.

"Yes, very," she replied honestly. "The only thing that's bothering me is a bit of a headache."

"That's normal," She checked the IV drip and nodded. "It seems like you're almost done with the anti-venom and your vitals look fine. I'll have to keep you overnight though, just in case something happens, ok?"

Lyra did not want to stay any longer than what she already had, but she knew Silver and Gold would force her to stay. She sighed and said, "Yeah, that's fine."

The nurse smiled sweetly. "It's just regulations, dear. In the morning, I'll sign your discharge papers and you'll be free to go."

Gold stood up from his chair and said, "Um, Nurse Joy, are you sure the anti-venom you gave her will clear the poison out?"

She grinned and said, "That anti-venom is specifically designed for Golbat bites. It's what we call monovalent anti-venoms, which means it's targeted to one specific species of Pokémon's venom. Lyra is certainly not the first human to be bitten by a golbat." She motioned for the chansey to come forward. "Although the circumstances in which you received the bite is quite unique on its own…"

Lyra smiled at the chansey as it held its tiny arms out towards her, motioning for her to take the cup and the pill. She looked up at the Nurse in confusion.

"Chansey wants you to take an anti-inflammatory to help with the pain of the bite. It'll help you to rest."

"Oh," she said quietly as she took them. She placed the pill on her tongue and quickly took a drink, swallowing it in one try.

She turned her attention to Gold and Silver and said, "I'm sorry you two, but I'll have to ask you to leave."

"That's fine," Silver replied as he came to stand beside Gold.

"Try and get some sleep. Don't stay up and watch your stupid rom-coms all night." Gold chastised with a grin.

"But that was what I was going to take advantage of!" Lyra pouted.

"I'm not footing the bill," Silver scoffed.

"We'll talk to you in the morning," Gold said.

"Ok, see you," Lyra said with only a hint of sadness. As she watched her friends and Nurse Joy leave, she sighed slowly and reached for the pokeball that held her chikorita. She held it in her hand and said, "I can't believe all of this is happening, Chikorita. First I was travelling around Johto without a care in the world and now I've been bitten by a Team Rocket Executive's golbat!" She turned to look at the corner of the massive bandage that covered her wound. The process of cleaning and sterilizing it was almost as painful as the bite itself. Thankfully, the pain had dulled a bit and she knew she probably wouldn't feel anything once the pain pills kicked in. "But what I don't understand is…why?" The tiny Pokémon shook its head, indicating its confusion as well.

She closed her eyes and laid back on the bed, hugging the covers closer to her. "Oh, Chikorita…I can't wait for this to be over."

xxXXxx

Silver and Gold sat in the waiting room together, not wanting to leave Lyra completely alone yet not wanting to go against what Nurse Joy had said. They knew what Proton had done was completely beyond what any normal Rocket would do and they had a theory as to why.

"There must be something more to this than meets the eye," Gold stated.

"Of course there is," Silver huffed, folding his arms over his chest. "The question is how are we gonna get the answers we need?"

"It's pretty easy to find a Rocket nowadays, the only problem is finding one who was at the Slowpoke Well."

"Or finding Proton himself."

"You aren't seriously thinking of tracking down that lunatic?"

Silver scoffed. "If you want answers, you've gotta go to the source."

"There has to be some other way we can find out what's really going on without letting Team Rocket know…"

"Or Lyra."

Gold blinked in surprise. "You're not going to tell her?"

"Why? Did you see how scared she was when they put that needle in? She probably couldn't handle what we might uncover."

"Lyra is the strongest girl I've ever known. I am more than willing to bet she'd handle it just fine."

"Strength doesn't just apply to physicality, Gold. Have you noticed how she's been acting since that encounter with him? She's been so reserved since we've gotten here. Losing against Proton really hurt her pride. And if she knows we're one some sort of quest to find a hidden meaning behind it, she'll freak out."

"I guess so…" Gold said sadly. "But I still don't think it's right to go behind her back like this."

"It's not going behind her back at all. Tomorrow morning when she wakes up, she'll hopefully be back to her peppy and annoying self. And while she's off continuing her League quest, we'll do a little undercover work."

"Well, where do you suggest we start?" asked Gold as he stood up.

"We're in Azalea, and the Gym Leader Bugsy is an encyclopedia on bug-types. I was thinking that he may know a thing or two about poisonous Pokémon and their effects. I'll get in contact with him."

"Good idea. While you're talking with him, I'll see if I can find other people who've been attacked by golbats. I don't know how easy that will be, but I feel obligated to help, seeing as we weren't able to before." He shot a glance at Silver, who looked at the ground and sighed. "Ok then, have we got a deal?" He stuck out his right arm towards the red haired boy.

"Definitely." He shook Gold's hand tightly and added, "Anything to pound those Rocket freaks into the ground."

xxXXxx

Lyra was dreaming.

She was in the middle of a deep forest in the dark of night, alone. She could only make out blurry shapes in the distance. The air around her was damp and thick, causing a mist to seep along the ground. Her body shivered at the cold. She wanted to figure out exactly where she was and how she could get back to her friends, but the fog wasn't exactly helping her.

Soon though, it started to part in front of her, like a sort of pathway. Seeing no other way of finding out where she was, she followed it as it led her through the forest into a clearing. A short distance away was what seemed to be a tiny house. But how was that possible? No one lived in forests…

She walked towards it and noticed that it wasn't a house but instead a tiny shrine. Her head cocked to the side as she took in the ornate carvings and details on it. What she hadn't expected to notice was a dark form inside of the shrine. She hesitated to touch it, thinking it to be an offering of some sort. But her curiosity got the best of her as she slowly reached inside. Upon touching it, she gasped, feeling a smooth surface. Lyra picked it up gingerly and brought it out to see it in its entirety.

A hat…?

All of a sudden she heard footsteps from behind her. Fearing an attack from a wild Pokémon, she whipped around to see a tall figure all in black staring at her.

Proton?

"I see you've found it," he said, coming out of the shadow of the tree line. "If you look close enough, you'll find things you never knew existed."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Maybe even a power locked away inside you that you never even thought you had." He began walking towards her and she began backing up.

"Stop talking in riddles, Proton! Tell me, why did you attack me?"

"I can't give you all of the answers right now—that'll spoil the fun. You'll just have to wait and see." He smiled wickedly as she saw his golbat glare at her from behind him. She gasped as he extended his arm towards her. The Pokémon cried out as it flew past his shoulder flew towards her.

The last thing she heard was her scream piercing the air.

A/N: So…I've begun to delve into plot! I'm actually gonna try and do some research on poisons and stuff but if it turns out to be a bust, I'll just make it up. Also I've decided to add lyrics from Elise Estrada's 'Poison' as well, because it makes sense. I hope you all are enjoying it and hope to see you in the next chappie!