Absolute Void Chapter 4

Once we reached Rustboro, Ori dropped us off at the Pokécenter and headed off to the Pokémart. The nurse at the center looked remarkably like the one in Fallarbor, almost like a clone, the similarities were so uncanny. The way she talked, her smell, her look, all was nearly identical to the Fallarbor nurse. True to the mold, she too was knowledgeable on how to care for injured Pokémon and inherently kind. Barlos seemed like he had been paralyzed from the moment Ori dropped us off. Whenever Nurse Joy walked by, he seemed to be standing taller and straighter. I laughed to myself and decided to take a quick nap.

When I awoke, Ori was talking to a T.V. screen, and the T.V. was talking back to her. After a moment of listening in on her conversation, I recognized the owner of the voice.

"Did you run into any… trouble… on your way to Rustboro?" She asked, a slightly accusing tone in her voice. "Eh… Nope. Just a rather unusual Bagon and Noels perky attitude to deal with." Perky? Humph. "Then might you be able to explain why the police contacted me, saying that you, yes Ori, YOU, had assaulted a young man and took his money?" She sure doesn't miss a trick, that one. Of course, telling someone your name and then assaulting them is a rather broken plan.

I left them to themselves and showed myself around the hospital. After wandering down a few corridors and a set of stairs, I came upon a Ralts looking out the window on the second floor in a room at the end of the corridor. Her horns were a prominent feature on her head, like a large hat on a small child. I walked up to her, waiting for her to notice me. After about 15 seconds, I spoke up, "Hey." I said in a flat tone.

She seemed rather shocked and gave an audible, "Eep!" and an exaggerated jump. "O-oh… Um… Hello…" She seemed a bit on the shy side, even for a Ralts.

"So, might I ask what you were looking at? You seemed like you were really into it, whatever it was." I was making small talk, hoping she would start talking a bit, since she seemed shy.

"I-I-I was w-w-watching the human children play outside…" She was stuttering pretty badly, which clued me in that she might be afraid of me.

"Mind telling why you're so jumpy?" I sat down and stretched, preparing for a long-winded response.

"I-I… I-it's just that… Er… I-I can't feel your presence… Um… Are you a demon?" I fell sideways.

"HAAAAAAAHAAAHAHAHAHAH! Oh geez, you look so serious!" I was really finding it difficult to get the words out without chuckling, "I'm no more of a demon than a Houndoom is the grim reaper. As for you not being able to feel my presence, I don't have an answer for that one. Maybe I don't have a sooouuul~!" I laughed at my own joke. She didn't seem quite as amused. "Noel! Where'd you run off to?" I heard Ori shout, just around the corner. "I guess we'll talk some other time. See ya." I told the Ralts as I headed towards the hallway and Ori. "My name is Guinevere. If we meet again, you can just call me Gwen." She said, not a tremor in her voice. I smiled at her, which didn't look all that good, seeing as Absol weren't meant to smile a big smile. Maybe a grin, but a smile just looks goofy. She laughed and waved me off as I walked out of her room.

"There you are, you big fur ball. We need to train for the gym match tomorrow." Ori looked around me and asked, "Where'd Barlos get off to?" I had assumed that Ori had put him in his Pokéball before I had woken up. If that's not where he was, then I could only imagine he was following the nurse around. "Follow me; I think I know where he's at, or rather, whom he is with." I said to Ori, even though I might as well have been talking to a rock.

Ori followed me, probably because she caught the gist of what I had said to her, even if it didn't sound like anything to her. After a few laps around the hospitals halls, I caught a whiff of Barlos. After we caught up with him, we spotted him hiding behind a potted plant watching the nurse speak with a trainer.

"Aw, ain't dat cute." I said in a cooing tone.

"Barlos, let's get going, we have to train for tomorrow's match." Ori said, rather impatiently.

"Farewell, kind beauty… I hope we may meet again soon." Barlos sighed as he turned away from Nurse Joy.

"Barlos, she's a human. You into humaphilia or something?" I joked.

"One does not have to feel physically attracted to something to appreciate its beauty, monochrome." Barlos bitterly replied. Ew.

Ori led us to the courtyard behind the hospital designated for battles. "Alright guys, now we wait." She sat down on a bench that overlooked the battle field. After about twenty minutes, a trainer walked by Ori. He glanced at Ori and asked, "You waiting for someone?" Ori said simply, "No. But I would like a quick battle with you." Ori stood up and reached for Barlos's ball. "Sure, but let me go get my Pokémon, she should be okay to battle now." He said. "You don't have a Pokemon on you?" Ori said in a monotone. "I do, but I want my team completely together before we take part in any battles." He said as he turned away towards the hospital. "Don't keep me waiting long." Ori sat back down on the bench, bored. "I wish you could talk, I'm sure you have plenty of interesting things to say." Ori said to me.

I decided to take another nap, I didn't have much else to do at the time. After all, he couldn't keeps us waiting all that long, could he?

-(Note)-

I've noticed that some people aren't aware of the review button. For the sake of knowledge, I'd like to point out the review button, just below this text at the bottom of the scroll bar. (I'm not sure for you mobile users.)

ANYWAYS, I hope you continue to read on. This chapter was a bit rushed, and I decided to re-read it to find any errors in it. Before anyone asks, yes, I'm also reading over the other chapters, which I'm sure are filled with inconsistencies. I'm doing my best to fix them, but it is rather difficult to find all of them without some help *cough*. I'm also looking for a Beta Reader for some of my stories. So if you are a beta, and have read this story, if you are interested in helping a poor guy out, please PM me.

/end rant

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