Chapter 12: Aftermath
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I jerked awake, covered in cold sweat. I swiveled my head, seeing only white. White? White! Had I been captured by Reliance again‽ As the world came into focus, my fears dissipated. It wasn't white, it was more of a cream. We were back in a hospital room.
Someone had wrapped me in blankets and put me in an armchair next to a narrow hospital bed. Hilton was sitting up in it, watching me with tired eyes. The tattered and bloodied t-shirt and dress pants had been replaced with a clean hospital gown.
'How long have I been asleep?' I asked sheepishly, breaking off into a yawn,
Hilton shrugged, looking up to the clock on the opposite wall. "Just an hour longer than I was. It's 2pm now," he said with a small smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.
'2 pm?' I repeated. 'As in 2 in the afternoon? How long were we out? How did we get here?' I asked.
Hilton shrugged again. "I don't remember. The nurses have all been too busy taking my blood to answer my questions. Last thing I remember was the desert," he said.
The desert? Oh, right! Memories from the end of last night came rushing back, overwhelming me. I sunk back into my chair, trying to organize it all.
'What happened to…?' I broached, but Hilton turned away to hide his face.
"I don't know," he whispered, voice shaking. I frowned, steepleing my fingers. So much of it didn't make sense.
'Does Drifloon remember anything?' I asked, having a spark of inspiration.
"I don't know," Hilton said quietly, sinking back into the large, fluffy pillow that was propping his upright. He leaned back, closing his eyes.
I looked around the room and spotted his backpack by the foot of my armchair. How did that get there? I hadn't seen that thing in an eternity. Drifloon's poké ball was probably in there.
I thought about jumping out of my warm nest to question drifloon, but then I remember she never said anything anyways. Smacking my head, I gave a hearty sigh. There were too many unsolved riddles. Who were those other people that night in the conference room? Who was the true head of Reliance? Was it all made up of admins and scientists from previous teams? What were their plans for Dialga? How did Cyan fit into all of this? How did Claire fit into all of this? What could cause her to join up with them‽ How could she betray us like that‽ Where did Palmer vanish to? What happened after I passed out? Why didn't Claire and Cyan drag us to their base? Did they just leave us lying out in the desert? That Colress guy made it pretty clear he wanted us for tests. The more I thought about it, the more the events just didn't add up.
Wait a second…Claire didn't even seemed phased by my evolution or even Hilton's mutations for that matter. True, Cyan could have told her, but… What even happened again? I ran the series of events through my mind, and then it hit me!
I started to laugh. If I didn't do that, I would've broke down and cried. Hilton opened one eye curiously, looking at me.
'It wasn't real,' I whispered, and he opened both eyes, turning to me in confusion.
"What?"
'Right before Claire came out, what was happening?' I asked, hoping to lead him to the same conclusion I arrived at.
Hilton's face crinkled in thought. "Umm, Cyan left with that other guy to go find people or something, which left that purple-haired Palmer guy with us."
I nodded excitedly, 'And then?'
"Thennn he went to get Loonloon, and I stabbed him in the leg. C-Cla-" he tried to get her name out, but couldn't. He sniffled, trying to hold himself together. "She came out and—"
I broke him off. 'Nooo, before that. Right after you stabbed him. He was reaching for his poké balls and I tried to use Confusion on him, but something weird happened.'
"What are you saying?" Hilton asked, twisting the cotton sheets in his sweaty hands.
'Do you remember last night at the contest when Lunette—I mean that one shiny kirlia came out. Do you remember what the announcer said?' I asked.
Hilton closed his eyes in concentration, combing through his memories. I didn't blame him. It seemed like years ago now. He opened his eyes, frowning, and shook his head.
'Kirlia are known for their illusions, and I still don't have control over my powers, so it's possible that—'
"None of that was real," Hilton whispered.
I nodded. 'Yeah, I'm sorry about that,' I said, unable to meet his eyes. My guilt however, was overpowered by the relief of finding out none of it was real.
"None of that was real," Hilton repeated, staring blankly into space. I nodded, grinning. Claire wasn't part of Reliance. The reality finally hit home for Hilton. His nose started to crinkle, and his eyes started to glisten. Oh, no. Quickly, he threw the bed sheet over himself, curling up in a ball with his back towards me.
The sound of muffled sobs echoed around the small hospital, and I groaned. Why was he upset now? Wasn't it a good thing?
'Hilton…?' I broached. I couldn't help him unless he talked to me.
The green-haired boy turned over to face me, wrapped in the blankets like a cocoon so only his head was exposed. His face was red, and snot was running down, soaking into the hospital's sheets.
'Isn't that a good thing?' I asked tentatively, afraid I was going to set him off again.
Hilton swallowed, clearing his throat before answering me. "Did you see the way she looked at me?" he whispered. "What she said—" but his voice started to waver so badly he couldn't continue.
'Hilton, it wasn't real,' I said gently. 'Claire isn't like that.'
He sniffled again. He thought about my words for a moment, and then started to nod. A small smile broke out amidst the tears, and I almost fell over in relief. "Yeah," he said, voice still uneven from crying, "Claire loves me. She's the prettiest and strongest trainer in the world. She could beat Reliance by herself," he said, still wrapped up in his blanket.
I frowned at that, scanning him critically. 'Hilton, she isn't really like that either. That first Claire who kissed you, that was just part of the illusion,' I said quietly.
His smile fell, and he stared at me in confusion. "W-well then, who am I in love with?" he asked, voice barely audible.
I shrugged. 'Another illusion I guess…'
Hilton went silent, following the folds of the bed sheet with his watering eyes. The moments of silence lapsed into minutes.
Afternoon light filtered through the window behind me, filling the room with natural freshness and negating the need for artificial light. I was stuck in one of the two arm chairs in the room, both nestled in the recess of the window. The walls were painted beige that matched the spotless title floor. Sheer curtains hung from the window, shifting faintly from the AC.
The room smelled pleasant, and there was a muted TV playing on the opposite wall from Hilton's bed. A blonde teen with green streaks was reporting on the events of last night. He had a mole on the side of his chin. The screen flashed to low-quality footage of a building on fire, then to another aerial view of the city just as the power went out. Wait a minute…if the TV was playing that meant the power was back, right? But didn't Elesa say something about the hospitals having backup generators? But if we were using backup generators, would they waste energy on TVs?
I twisted in the chair, trying to see out the window, but the sill was too high. Frowning, I decided I'd finally have to move. With a deep breath, I reached for the armrest, but overshot it grossly. I scowled at my new, longer arms. Trying again, I managed to wrap my stubby fingers around the coarse fabric, and pull myself onto my knees. My knees shook under the weight of my body. Why had my head gotten bigger, but my legs gotten smaller? That didn't even make sense!
With a frustrated groan, I heaved again, dragging myself to my feet. For a glorious moment I stood at my new height, a full foot taller than before, but then my legs began to quake, knocking together painfully. I fell back into by nest of blankets; the back of my head fizzed at the soft impact.
I reached backwards, exploring the old injury. It was still there and had apparently sized up to keep in scale with my larger head, but the edges of the cracks didn't seem as harsh. Almost like they'd started healing over. Had I been healed in my sleep? I examined the rest of my body. It was still foreign to me, but there weren't any scratches or injuries from last night.
I sighed, leaning back to study the ceiling. Did other pokémon have this much trouble adjusting when they evolved? Was it just kirlia? I didn't know who to ask…My thoughts flashed briefly to Lunette, and my face flushed hot. Yeah, right. Like I'd ever see her again.
Groaning, I pulled myself up again. I didn't release my grip from the armrest, but instead used it to help support my weight as I took several wobbly, tentative steps towards the back of the chair. My skit—for lack of a better word—waved in the air, brushing against my legs and making me jump. My heart pounded and I grabbed the armrest to keep from falling a second time. This was going to take a while to get used to. With difficulty, I made my way to the back of the chair, and pulled myself first on top of the arm rest, then on top of the chair itself. Thankfully the back of the chair was pushed right up against the windowsill and was level with it.
With a relieved sigh, I sat down, watching the city below.
Power was back on for everyone, judging by the electronic billboards advertising various cosmetics and electronics. Down on the street I could see the signs of last night's battle, proving to me it wasn't just a bad dream. Construction workers and volunteers scrambled around the street below, trying to keep the path to the hospital clear as they started repairing Castelia's broken infrastructure.
It was strange having my skull plate extend down the sides of my head now. I shuddered at their resemblance to what the humans called "pigtails". It wasn't even bone at that point, they were made of cartilage like the segments of my skirt. Even though they lacked rigidity, they still made an irritating green frame around my vision. I did my best to ignore it with limited success.
Bird pokémon soared through the clear skies, ferrying supplies and helping to clear debris. I wondered where Lawrence had gone in all the madness. Surely he hadn't been recaptured; he was too strong for that. But then again…how had he been captured in the first place? I made a mental note to ask him the next time I saw him in a good mood.
The door clicked open behind me, interrupting my thoughts. I twisted around to see a doctor poking her head in, observing the lump in the bed called Hilton. Hilton twisted around to look at the woman. Seeing that he was awake, she smiled and entered, white coat fluttering behind her.
"How do you feel?" she asked, pulling up a stool.
"Mmm," Hilton said, still despondent from the events of last night.
"On a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst, give me a number," she prompted, smiling. Her dark skin was warm, and her black hair was put into tiny braids that met in a ponytail at the nape of her neck.
"Seven," Hilton croaked, and the doctor straightened at this.
"Why? What hurts?" she asked, rising out of her stool.
"My heart," Hilton groaned, turning again so his face was buried in the pillow. I wondered if he'd suffocate like that.
"Figuratively or literally?" she asked, still ready for action. Hilton just moaned. I sighed, clearly not much was going to get done today.
'Figuratively,' I said to her, opening telepathy. She jumped, looking around with eyes wide. I gave her a little wave, and upon spotting me she smiled.
The doctor put a hand over her heart, still breathing heavily. "Oh, you scared me. Don't do that again," she said, still smiling.
'He's having girl trouble,' I explained and the doctor mouthed a little "oh".
Hilton mumbled something, but the pillow in front of his mouth just made it sound like gibberish.
"Can you turn around?" she asked, seating herself on the rolling stool again. "It's hard to hear you through that pillow," she joked.
Hilton rolled over to face her, back towards me. "What happened to us?" he moaned, the doctor sighed.
"I was hoping you could tell me that. A couple of trainers found you boys lying in the desert last night injured, so they rushed you here. We sent your kirlia and drifloon off to the Pokémon Center for healing and treated you here. A gentlemen brought them back from the Pokémon Center along with your backpack and clothes. He said his name was Mr. Harrison. He also said not to worry about the suit?" she said it as a question, raising an eyebrow. Hilton breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now, I was hoping you could fill in the gaps for me. What happened to you? When we ran our test we found traces of toxicroak venom in your blood. Were you cut by one several weeks ago?" she asked.
Hilton pulled himself up into a sitting position again, finally relinquishing his blanket cocoon. He sniffled, wiping his eyes. "No, it was last night. Saturn's stabbed me in the leg," he said.
The doctor furrowed her brow. "You did have a gash in your leg that we took care of for you, but there's no way it came from a toxicroak. You'd be in much worse shape if it was," she said.
"It was! He used Poison Jab on my leg!" Hilton insisted.
"That's impossible. Toxicroak venom is fatal to humans if not treated within thirty minutes. Unless…" she whispered. The doctor pushed her rolling stool to the door, opening it, and leaned down the hallway. She called to a nurse, asking him to bring her the results of some blood tests. Rolling back inside the room, she faced Hilton. "Can you tell me anything about what Reliance did to you? Anything you remember would be helpful," she said,
Hilton scrunched his eyes closed, thinking back to last week. "Right after I was captured they put me in a room with other people, but a little later they put me in my own room. They gave me lots of shots then they took me to this lab. They gave me this stuff that made me go all numb and gave me even more shots. Oh, and then they did something with electricity? I don't really know. I kinda passed out then. I woke up when Cenric and the others were escaping, and I was like this," he said.
"You said it only took a few days? And you haven't felt nauseous, feverish, any flu-like symptoms?" she asked, leaning forward.
Hilton shook his head. "I mean, I've been kinda sore from travelling. Oh! And I did fall down that cliff and hit my head! But the doctors in Veilstone said that healed up already…" Hilton said, thoughtfully.
"Amazing. Just amazing," the doctor whispered.
Hilton frowned in confusion, cocking his head. "What is?" he asked.
She just shook her head. "All these Reliance experiments...It's incredibly advanced gene manipulation….It's thirty, forty years ahead of what mainstream science or medicine is capable of.," she murmured. "We've had to call in specialists from all over the world to even understand what we're dealing with. Surgeons, geneticists, cardiologist, hematologist, dermatologist…hell, maybe even a herpetologist…" she mumbled on.
Oh, wow. That was heartening. I slumped back against the window. She made it sound like we were going to be here for a long time.
"There have been cases where fraternal twins will reject organ transplants," she continued, "But you…They've managed to inject you with the DNA of an entirely different species without the use of immunosuppressant drugs, and your body hasn't torn itself apart" she said, rubbing her forehead.
"I thought this was my body rejecting it," said Hilton, pointing to the discolored skin on his arm.
She sighed, "We just don't have the resources right now with the battle from last night to run more detailed scans yet. And your blood work is still in the lab. I would guess your body initially rejected the DNA, causing all the side effects you see, but it seems to have stabilized for now. Of course, we'll be keeping you under constant observation," she said.
"So, I'm okay?" Hilton said hopefully.
"Well, the skin and teeth discoloration so far seem mostly superficial along with that keratin growth that looks like scales, but we're still calling in a dermatologist and maybe even a dentist. We'll have to call an ophthalmologist to get a better idea about your eyes, the left one specifically," she said. "I have something to show you. I'll be right back," she said, leaving the room.
The doctor returned with a manila folder in hand. She set it on the desk and took out several glossy black sheets of paper. She returned to her stool, handing the x-rays to Hilton.
"We had to run some tests while you were unconscious to make sure there wasn't anything life threatening," she explained. "Internal hemorrhage, brain damage—"
Hilton looked up at that, eyes going wide.
"No brain damage," she said quickly, trying to calm him down. "You'll notice," she said, reaching across him to point at the x-rays. "There's some fusion of your third and fourth ribs, and a little on the fifth, which explains why your back is a little twisted and hunched over. We see something similar in your left elbow and knee. I assume you've noticed a more limited range of motion?" she asked.
"Yeah," Hilton sighed. "I kinda walk with a bit of a limp too."
The doctor nodded understandingly. "We've also noticed some abnormalities in your blood, but like I said, we're still waiting for more detailed lab results. I'm afraid you're going to have to stay here for a while until we can understand exactly what Reliance did to your body," she said.
Hilton scowled, pursing his lips. "I escaped from the lab with a lot of other people with mutations. If I'm not in danger, can't you let me go and run tests on them?"
She smiled, taking the x-rays back. "I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. We need to keep you under observation in case anything changes, and hopefully in time we might be able to reverse it," she said, getting up for the last time. Placing the scans back into the folder, she walked towards the door, pausing with her hand on the knob. "Nurses should be coming in and out of here. If you feel anything change, please let them know immediately."
As she turned the knob, it opened in on her from the outside, and a familiar face poked in. The poor doctor jumped again, resting a hand over her racing heart.
"Maylene!" Hilton cried, a wide grin returning to his face. The small gym leader apologized for scaring the doctor, and stepped into our hospital room after letting the doctor exit. She limped past Hilton's bed and collapsed in the empty armchair besides me, propping her foot up. White gauze encircled the extremity, but Maylene paid it no mind.
She glanced backwards to look out the window, but her magenta eyes landed on me instead.
"No, way! Is that you, Noël?" she asked, leaning forward in her chair. I grinning in embarrassment, giving her a little wave. "So I guess you guys got to see some of the action last night too, and it looks like you both made it out okay," she said, leaning back and crossing her arms with a smile. Her frame, although slender, was taught with ribbons of muscle. I shuddered. She was someone dangerous to underestimate.
Hilton nodded, "What about you? What was the League doing last night?" he asked.
She laughed, running her calloused hands through her clean hair. She must've showered recently. "Well, after you found me at the contest hall, I called some of my trainers. The contest starts and they're on their way to check it out when I get a call. They tell me there's fighting in the streets, and Reliance is in the sewer, so I try and get in contact with as many League members as I can, and then we go. I think most people were fighting, but they left some to guard the Pokémon Center and hospital, and Skyla and some of the others ended up helping to fly people to hospitals, and stuff," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you to begin with. I guess I just figured Hilton was a little crazy off pain meds," she exclaimed with an embarrassed grimace.
I didn't really blame her for not believing us. The idea was, and still was just so ludicrous. Reliance was hidden under Castelia all this time? Ridiculous.
Hilton just waved her off. "It's over now anyways," he said with a shrug.
'What did you end up doing?' I asked, eyeing the large Band-Aids that spotted her exposed arms and neck.
"Well, they sent me to guard one of the Pokémon Centers," she explained with a slight frown, but it quickly broke into a triumphant smile, "But a couple of Reliance grunts tried to make a run on it, so my pokémon and I had to fight them off," she said proudly. "What about you guys?"
I nodded towards Hilton, letting him tell the story. He explained how we had stumbled upon their base initially, and she gasped. Hilton continued his story, glossing over how we might've accidentally caused the mess by alerting them in the first place. "We saw Latios once, I think. Has he been around?" he asked.
Maylene cocked her head, staring at the ceiling in thought. "I think I saw him fly by once after the sun had set, but I haven't seen him since then either," she said. "I'll tell the League to keep an eye out."
"That would be great," Hilton said, and proceeded with the story. He talked about the first toxicroak, how we struggled to the Pokémon Center, and how we learned about Elesa's disappearance. Maylene added grimly that Elesa still hadn't been found. Once Hilton started detailing the series of events that transpired in the tower, Maylene stopped him.
"Wait wait wait. Hilton, it sounds like you guys stumbled in on an admin meeting," Maylene said slowly.
Hilton shrugged. "That's what it sounded like, I guess."
"This is huge," she whispered, eyes wide. Snapping her head up, she stared at Hilton. "Can you remember any names? Faces? Any physical descriptions?" she asked.
Hilton sighed, staring at the ceiling as he tried to think. "That Cyan woman was there," he said.
Her jaw went slack. "You fought the leader of Reliance?"
Hilton and I frowned.
'I don't think so? I mean, she was someone important, but the other admins were kinda pushing her around,' I supplied. 'She didn't act like she was in charge?'
Hilton nodded in agreement. "She was going to take us to a base in Lostlorn—"
"Lostlorn? You mean Lostlorn Forest? Reliance has a base there‽" Maylene asked, rising out of her chair. Hilton and I nodded in unison.
With shaking fingers, she dialed up a contact on her cross-transceiver. It rang once, then someone picked up.
"Hello?" came a voice, distorted and mechanical from interference from the hospital machinery. It was audio-only.
"Cynthia!" Maylene cried in relief, "I'm so glad I got through! Listen, Reliance has a base hidden in Lostlorn Forest," she said all in one breath.
The other end was silence for a moment before Cynthia finally spoke again. "Are you sure? We can't afford to waste trainers on false leads," she warned.
Maylene looked over her shoulder at Hilton, doubt in her eyes.
"It's true!" Hilton insisted, "Why else would they've found us in the desert near there?" he asked.
Maylene turned back to her cross-transceiver. "I'm sure," she said firmly.
"I'll send a team right away. Don't let this information get out. We can't give them time to escape again," Cynthia said.
"Understood. Also, do you remember that green-haired boy with the mutations who was with me when we talked back in Veilstone?" Maylene asked, glancing over at Hilton.
"Vaguely," was Cynthia's reply.
"I'm in the hospital on Mode Street, and I think you should come hear what he has to say. I'm not even sure if I can say it over our cross-transceivers," Maylene whispered.
"I'll be over there as soon as I can," she said, hanging up with a beep.
Maylene sighed, flopping back into the chair with a weak smile. "It's been a long day," she said, resting her head against the back of the chair.
Even if I had only been awake for less than an hour, I couldn't help agreeing with her, and I had a sick feeling it was just going to get longer.
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A/N: The entire pokémon franchise seems to have some confusion on the difference between poison and venom. Despite Toxicroak's pokédex entries insisting it's poisonous, it's actually venomous instead. Seviper too, but it seems they corrected it in more recent generations. Anyways, chill chapter, but I think our duo has earned it at this point, right? Where's Lawrence though?
Fun Fact: The real reason Dialga came to the human world was to find the answer to one very important question: are we human or are we dancer?
