The shocked stares of the other pedestrians, the pounding of his heart and lungs, the hot tears streaming down his face, his likely ruined jacket—Volkner knew none of these. The only things he noticed were the weak heartbeat and labored breathing from the bundle in his arms. Only one thing brought him back to the outside world.
"Hey, watch where—holy shit! What are you doing?!"
Volkner hurried past the person he'd accidentally shoved. He didn't have time to apologize.
The other person clearly had time for him, though, because Volkner soon found himself being pursued.
"What's going on? Hey! I'M TALKING TO YOU!"
Even when a hand grabbed his shoulder to try and stop him, Volkner shrugged it off and kept running full-tilt. However, he did take notice of a man matching his pace, especially when Sunny shifted restlessly in his arms, whined in realization, and reached his paws weakly toward the man.
Volkner looked up in confusion to get a look at the man sprinting next to him. He only registered a red afro and a shocked face with flashing gray eyes before the man snapped at him.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HIM? WHAT HAPPENED?!"
Volkner glared with rage. "What the hell do you THINK I'm doing?! This Buneary is critically injured! I'm taking him to a Pokémon Center, and you are NOT going to stop me!" he shouted through his exhausted panting.
The redhead shook his head in shock, apparently just now noticing the angry, desperate tears flowing down Volkner's face. His expression changed to a determined scowl as he stubbornly kept up. "Then I'm going with you. I've been taking care of that Buneary for a couple of weeks now, and I want to help!"
Volkner kept the pace, but his jaw dropped. "You, too?!" He looked down at the bundle in his arms, and Sunny gave a small, tearful smile in confirmation. "Well, you can come if you want, but I'm not slowing down for you!"
"You won't have to!"
The two men burst through the doors of the Pokémon Center just two minutes later, their panic and determination spurring them on at an impressive clip. Even Tesla had been hard-pressed to keep up. The trainers in the Center just barely leapt out of their way. The Nurse Joy, who looked like she hadn't slept in two days, looked up from her machine in surprise and confusion. "What can—"
"THIS BUNEARY NEEDS HELP!" they shouted in unison. The nurse jumped, and her eyes bugged out when she saw the sad state of the Pokémon huddled in Volkner's arms. The poison had only worsened on the way over, and Sunny looked more pallid than ever.
She glared furiously at the panting pair, keeping eye contact with them as she commanded the Pokémon by her side. "Chansey, come here. Bring a stretcher." She gingerly took the jacket-clad Buneary from Volkner's arms. "Bring her to the Audino Unit—"
"HE," Volkner and the red-haired man corrected automatically in tandem. They exchanged surprised glances with each other.
Nurse Joy's expression soured further, and she pursed her lips. "Fine. HE. Take HIM to the Audino Unit. HE needs serious aid right now. Bring out the Megas if you have to. For HIM," she sneered, not once looking away from the two young men. The Chansey, though clearly spooked by her animosity, fulfilled the request, carting the Buneary into the back as she requested.
Once that was taken care of, Joy rounded on the pair. "HOW COULD YOU?!" she screamed. "HOW COULD YOU EVER LET A POKÉMON GET INTO THAT CONDITION?! I SHOULD HAVE YOUR LICENSES TAKEN AWAY THIS INSTANT!"
The redhead was holding his hands up defensively and was about to stutter out an apology, but Volkner interrupted. "He's not our Pokémon! I just found him in an alley. He was like that when I got there, and I don't have my bag, so I couldn't heal him. I had no choice," he defended desperately. The redhead nodded in confirmation, and Tesla squeaked in agreement by his feet.
Joy didn't seem all that impressed with the humans' arguments, but her gaze softened and turned weary when the Raichu backed them up. She sighed and held a delicate hand to her forehead.
"...Okay. Alright. I'm sorry, it's just been one thing after another lately," she admitted tiredly. "So...who's the owner...?" she began hesitantly. "Is there...?" she trailed off, unable to find a way to phrase the question.
Volkner and the other man looked at each other in bemusement. "Uh...neither?" Volkner confessed. He chose to leave out that they'd both been taking care of Sunny, sensing she might flip out again if she found out they'd allowed such a young Buneary to continue living alone in an alley. Now that he thought about, that probably hadn't been the best approach to begin with.
Nurse Joy's gaze flicked lazily between the two, but neither seemed to feel comfortable claiming ownership. "Okay. Fine. What are your names, then? I have to type SOMETHING into the system."
"I'm Volkner."
"And I'm Flint."
The nurse's fingers clacked away at the keyboard. "Does the Pokémon have a nickname?"
"Sunny."
"Shiny."
Volkner looked at Flint, perplexed. "'Shiny?' Really?"
Flint pouted and toyed with the hem of his yellow shirt. "I'm not good at nicknames, okay?"
Joy looked up with a bored expression that clearly showed that she hadn't had enough coffee to deal with this. "...Okay then, we're just gonna go with 'Sunshine.'" She rolled her eyes and started typing again. "What a name...a male, pink, shiny rabbit, too...you know, I bet if it were possible for a Pokémon to be gay, that one would be." Flint snorted softly at this, and Volkner facepalmed. Tesla gave a mischievous, squeaky giggle, and Volkner once again felt as if she knew something he didn't.
"I'll go check on your little friend and let you know about his condition, okay? This could take a little while." Volkner and Flint nodded at the weary nurse and then stood uncomfortably at the front desk for a moment after she walked away.
Flint shuffled his feet. "So...wanna sit down?" he offered with an awkward grin.
Volkner shrugged. "Sure. Not like there's much else to do."
They flumped down on a red, cushioned bench against a wall and sighed simultaneously, smiling tiredly but politely at each other to mask their worry. Tesla tugged on Volkner's pant leg and squeaked.
"What's that?" She squeaked again. "Yeah, of course. Hey—Flint, right?" The other man nodded. "She's gonna pick up some water from the vending machine down the hall. You want some?"
Flint's eyebrows rose, and he turned to the Raichu. "You can do that?" She squeaked and nodded. "You're really smart. None of my Pokémon can figure those things out, that's for sure," he complimented with a smile, leaning down to scratch under her chin.
She cocked her head curiously at Flint, and then she lifted her tail to scratch at his head lightly. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. Volkner laughed.
"Huh. Tesla already likes you. She normally takes a while to warm up to strangers, so that's a good sign," Volkner said, a little surprised. "My Pokémon's approval means a lot to me."
Flint chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Flattery will get you everywhere," he joked. "I'm really glad to hear that—Tesla, right?" She squeaked in confirmation and nodded before wandering off in search of water.
"So...you've been taking care of Sunny...err, Sunshine...as well, then?" Volkner questioned.
Flint nodded. "Every morning before class for the past two weeks or so, I've been stopping by to feed him berries and clean him off. He gets pretty grimy if I don't."
Volkner's eyes widened. "You clean him? How? I offered to give him a bath once, and he flipped out and ran off."
"You offered him a bath, specifically?" Volkner nodded. Flint clicked his tongue. "That's why, then. Bunearys don't bathe in water; it messes up their fur and can get them sick. They bathe by grooming themselves just like cat Pokémon do," he explained. "Their mothers usually take care of it until they're grown enough to learn to do it themselves, so I clean him with a handkerchief. Speaking of which..."
Volkner watched with interest as Flint pulled a white cloth—a clean one, thankfully—from his pocket and handed it to him. "You were crying a fair amount back there," he said sympathetically. "You seem pretty attached to that little guy."
"Thanks," Volkner said, smiling in gratitude as he wiped the last remains of tears from his cheeks and returned the handkerchief. "So that's why he ran away...god, I should have guessed that. How'd you know?"
Flint pocketed the handkerchief. "I grew up with my grandfather, and he ran a whole ranch of Buneary and Lopunny," he explained. "I know pretty much all there is to know about them."
Volkner's eyebrows rose. "That's really cool! So I bet you know about Buneary's gender difference, then? People say there isn't one, but..."
"...It's all in the eyebrows," Flint agreed with a nod. "It really surprises me that no one notices, even the nurses," he muttered, crossing his arms. "It's scary how little people care about Pokémon in general. Even that Joy's Chansey was scared of her."
Volkner nodded emphatically. "Yeah! I still can't believe someone would abandon a Pokémon like that, especially a newborn like that Buneary. He's even shiny! People are usually all over shinies. What's the deal?"
Flint shook his head. "It's gotta be the ear. That's the only explanation."
Volkner's eyes widened. "The ear?"
"Surely you've noticed...the left one? It's..."
"Yeah, I know," Volkner responded. "But I thought it was from an injury, like from a fight. He would have been abandoned by then."
"Nope," Flint said sadly, shaking his head again. "A clean cut like that is almost always from a birth defect. He was probably born and immediately left behind because of it."
Volkner's face fell, and he felt rage bubble inside of him again. "Born...and abandoned immediately. I just..." he clenched his fists. "I just don't get people sometimes." A hand gently reached over to cover one of his, and he looked up to see Flint giving him an empathetic smile.
"Hey, I know, but humans aren't all bad. There are plenty of good trainers out there who'd do anything for their Pokémon! I once met a ten-year-old kid who leaped of a cliff to save his Pikachu," he said, feeling encouraged when Volkner smiled at that. "And I know a couple of people who'd go out of their way to feed a homeless Buneary and teach it how to defend itself," he hinted. "By the way, judging from this," Flint speculated, smirking and ruffling Volkner's spiky blond hair, "and the fact that you have a Raichu, I'm willing to bet you were the one who showed Sunshine how to use Thunder Punch. Am I right?"
Volkner laughed and lightened up a little. "That obvious, huh? Well, I bet I know who taught him Fire Punch, then."
Flint smirked. "Yeah? What gave it away?"
"Oh, I dunno...maybe this thing," Volkner teased, combing a hand through Flint's hair and ruffling it in retaliation. Flint couldn't help but laugh in return.
From the other side of the Center, Tesla peeked around the corner of the hallway. She hadn't actually gone to get water; she just thought she'd sensed something about the mood between the two. Now that she could see the happy, affectionate pair from around the corner, she giggled and smiled. Her instincts were always right.
"Am I interrupting something?"
Volkner and Flint were startled from their antics by Nurse Joy's tired, impatient voice. She was tapping her foot and staring blankly at the two.
Volkner drew back his hand and smiled sheepishly. "Ah...no! We were just...uh..." Flint shifted uncomfortably as well.
Nurse Joy put her hands on her hips, clearly unimpressed but not wanting to push the issue. "Aside from that left ear, he's going to be just fine. He was incredibly lucky; one gash was very close to the jugular vein, but—"
Flint's eyes flicked over to Volkner, who was tensing up at the graphic descriptions and looked a little sick. He cut in hastily. "Ah, great! Good. So he'll be okay, right?"
Joy crossed her arms in annoyance at the interruption but answered nonetheless. "Yes. You may also see him now if you wish." Flint brightened at this.
"Awesome. Let's go, Volk," he encouraged, putting an arm around Volkner to guide the still-queasy man in following Nurse Joy. Volkner smiled gratefully at the action. Nurse Joy just rolled her eyes again.
Sunshine's eyes brightened as both of his caretakers speed-walked impatiently into the ward. He hopped up in bed and immediately flinched at the action, though he still smiled. He wore one bandage on his left arm and another at the base of his right ear. Flint and Volkner rushed to his side and started fretting immediately.
"Be careful!"
"Sit down!"
"Don't hurt yourself again, Sunshine...oh, is it okay if we call you that? ...Good."
Soon enough, the Buneary was sitting down again, and Volkner and Flint were holding one paw each in their hands. Sunshine softly thumped his furry foot on the bed contently at the attention.
Volkner turned to Nurse Joy's aid, a glowing Mega Audino. Her Healer ability and Heal Pulse had no doubt come in handy. "Thanks, Audino. We really appreciate the help."
"Yeah," Flint agreed. "I'm not sure what would have happened without you."
The Mega Audino gave a gentle smile and beckoned the pair forward. Volkner looked over at Flint, who was just as perplexed, but they each extended a hand toward the Pokémon. She extended the lower parts of her ears to rest slightly in their palms. Her body then glowed, and she turned to them and then started letting out a humming sound.
Volkner smiled. "That's nice of you to say, Audino. We appreciate it."
Flint shot him a skeptical look. "You can understand her?"
"Of course," Volkner said matter-of-factly. "She says we're kind people and she's glad we found Sunshine, and we're going to..." The Audino twittered in a laughing, sing-song voice at the end. Volkner's face flamed.
Flint's mouth quirked in a grin. "What? What was the last part?"
Volkner withdrew his hand and hid his face. "Nothing. Nope. Didn't catch that part."
"Aww, come on! You have to tell me now!"
"No way! It was nothing!"
While they bickered, an orange blur raced into the room. Tesla dashed past the two men and leaped onto the bed, squeaking with concern at Sunshine. The Buneary quickly reassured her.
Wanting to distance himself from the embarrassing conversation, Volkner addressed his Raichu. "Tesla, where have you been? And where's the water?"
She turned around and stuck out her tongue.
"...Ah. Right. I guess I DIDN'T give you any money to pay for it. Whoops." She tilted her head and squeaked again. Volkner frowned. "Yeah, you're right. I'm not sure what I'll do about that."
"What's wrong?" Flint asked.
"The reason I didn't have any potions today was because I forgot my bag at my last class," Volkner explained. "It also happened to have my keys in it, so I'm locked out of my apartment until tomorrow."
Flint hummed. "Well, if you need to, you can crash at my place...I mean, if you're comfortable with that. I live pretty close to campus," he offered.
"Huh," Volkner breathed. "That's actually really nice of you. I know I don't know you that well, but...well, what do you guys think?" Volkner asked, turning to Tesla and Sunshine. Both Pokémon nodded their approval with wide grins. He smiled back. "If they trust you, then I trust you. Pokémon have great instincts." Tesla giggled a little too hard at that, and he gave her a confused look. "I swear, Tesla, I will never fully understand you."
As the two humans and Pokémon left the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy, who'd purposely stayed silent, turned to her Mega Audino. "You told them, didn't you?" she deadpanned. The Pokémon hid a giggle behind a paw and nodded way too proudly. Joy sighed. "Anyone who says Fairy-types are pure and innocent doesn't know shit."