A/N: Here's another chapter that has nothing to do with the game. That's why it is another one of my favorites. I tried to balance humor and drama. I like the next chapter as well.

Disclaimer: Nintendo owns Pokemon. But I own Dr. Maxwell Night! His character may have been influenced by House, Grey's anatomy and Scrubs. Yeah... I watch a lot of doctor shows.

Chapter 14 Too long a road

The next morning... Brendan woke up to the sound of his phone. He groggily answered it. "Who is this?" And grumpily.

"It's me. So... what happened to you? When I returned you weren't there." Prof. Birch's voice came from the other end.

"Oh, Dad. It's you. Sorry but-"

"You felt the call of the wild... wait.. That didn't sound right... I mean you just had to keep traveling. I understand. But I would... and your mother would like it if you would, you know. Say you were leaving." Birch said.

"Okay, but it was-"

"Ahhhh!!!" An unfamiliar voice yelled on Prof. Birch's side.

Birch yelled, "Don't touch that! I have to go. Some stupid kids wandered in and.... Watch it! Don't swing that arou- ahhhh!!!!" The phone cut off. Brendan wasn't worried though. Things like that happened to his dad all the time. He's learned not to question things...

(I need to go see May anyway. Maybe she's woken up.) Brendan thought. Completely disregarding a needed shower and breakfast, Brendan ran out of the pokemon center. Only to be snatched back by Nurse Me. (How did she-)

"They aren't going to let you in with you smelling like that. And you're gonna get hungry. Hospital food isn't the best. Come back and take care of yourself before checking on May." Me said.

"But-"

"No buts." Nurse Me said firmly.

Over at the hospital... Arcanine woke up too. And was in a depressed mood. He hoped that May getting poisoned was all a nightmare. But the moment he saw his big paws he knew all of that really happened. Arcanine looked at May. She still wasn't awake. "Arrrrr..."

One hour later... Brendan walked in. Arcanine started growling.

(Not this again.) "Can you please let me see May up close?" Brendan asked.

Arcanine shook his head. Brendan took out a pokeball. "I hope you'll listen to reason."

He threw the pokeball down and out came Grovyle. "Arcanine is Growlithe. May is hurt and he wont let me get close. You are a laid back pokemon. See if you can get through to him."

Grovyle nodded and tried to help.

(What's your problem? Did evolving change more than your looks?) Grovyle asked.

(Keep Brendan away. No one goes near May except for the doctors.) Arcanine said.

(Arcanine, you know Brendan doesn't mean any harm.) Grovyle tried to reason with him.

(I know! But I don't care!) Arcanine yelled.

(You're being irrational. Remember, we're friends. All of us.) Grovyle said.

Arcanine sighed and looked down. (I haven't forgotten we are friends. And as my friend, you should know how I feel. May is hurt. And it's my fault. I knew there was danger and...)

(...And?)

"Arrrr..." (Just... Stay away from her!)

Grovyle sighed. Arcanine was too upset to listen to reason. Brendan saw the conversation didn't seem to go anywhere and recalled his pokemon. He would have to do this himself. "Why wont you let me see May? Do you think you're the only one affected by this?"

He received an angry growl as an answer. Arcanine was not going to back down. Brendan stepped forward and Arcanine stood right in front of him. Arcanine was taller than Brendan, so it was intimidating to stand right next to him. And his sharp teeth. But Brendan didn't want to back down either.

"Move out of the way."

Arcanine had it. He gave Brendan many warnings but was ignored. Now Brendan would learn to not provoke him. Arcanine opened his mouth and lunged at him. Brendan held his arms up to protect himself. But Arcanine stopped before biting Brendan's arm. He was an inch away. The freaked out Brendan took the opportunity to back away as Arcanine seemed frozen. Arcanine turned to look at May. She was waking up... Arcanine walked right up to her as she started to open her eyes.

(What is all the noise?... wait... where am I? I can't remember... Hey, who's that pokemon staring at me? And-) "Ow! My neck hurts..."

"May! You're awake!" Brendan was ecstatic.

(Brendan's here? What? And this pokemon.... he... the Soothe Bell! He's-) "Growlithe?" Arcanine nodded and licked her face. "Growlithe. You evolved." (That's right. I didn't even think of him being able to evolve. What was his evolution again...? ...Arcanine! He evolved into Arcanine.) "You're Arcanine now."

She reached her hand out to pet her friend. But it took some effort. Her hand was shaking a little, but she managed to put her hand on Arcanine's head.

(Is that a mane? I thought he was a dog pokemon. Not a lion.) May thought.

Seeing that Arcanine had calmed down, Brendan approached. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

(Oh yeah... Brendan's here.) "Honestly, I feel like I was run over by a bus." (Everything is starting to hurt.... why am I in this pain?) "Wait a second..." She finally noticed that she was in a hospital. (A hospital?) "...Was I run over by a bus?"

"You don't remember? What's the last thing you can remember?" Brendan asked her.

May slipped her hand off of Arcanine, she ran out of energy and couldn't pet him anymore. She tried to remember. "I... left Lavaridge to-" (That's right. I probably shouldn't mention my encounter with Team Aqua. He'll be offended that I didn't call for his help. I'll leave out the part where I returned the meteorite.) "...go to Fiery Path. I found a Fire Stone and started training my pokemon. Then we started heading back towards Petalburg. We went to Verdanturf and were going to go through the tunnel to Rustboro. And... that's all. I have no idea what happened after that."

Growlithe evolved, she was in some kind of accident, Brendan was here... there was a lot she missed. For all she knew, she went on a date with Brendan and she hurt herself from fainting from all the bliss.

(Yeah... I wish.) "....How long was I out?" May asked.

"Since yesterday."

"Brendan... what happened to me? Do you know?"

"They say you were poisoned." Brendan answered.

(Poisoned... that must be why I feel so weak.) She lifted her arm and watched how it shook, and tried to concentrate on stopping it.

(I couldn't be weak. How was I going to challenge my dad if I couldn't even keep my hand still?)

Brendan gently took her hand and patted it in comfort. "You don't have to worry. The doctor said you'll make a full recovery. Just relax."

If May currently didn't feel all that pain and weakness, she would have been embarrassed by Brendan holding her hand. But she just didn't have it in her. Which was good... in a way. Brendan glanced over at Arcanine. Arcanine didn't have a problem with him being near May now.

"Okay... but can you tell me how I got here?" May asked. Brendan started telling her about Arcanine bringing her and how he got the news.

Meanwhile... Doctor Night was doing his slightly boring job. He went in Mr. Jone's room. "Oh would you look at that. You're still in a coma. You know, I would appreciate it if you woke up."

The patient stayed still.

"I know you can hear me. Come on. I'm tired of hearing your family moan and cry over the fact that you're in a coma. I told them there was a chance you'd wake up in a few weeks to a few months. Now that it's been 3 weeks, they're freaking out. And yes, this could be permanent. But that doesn't mean I have to deal with them all the time. I'm a doctor, not a psychiatrist. So... yeah... I'd be nice if you could take them off my hands." Dr. Night said.

He would have continued, but he was almost fired the last time he was caught, "tormenting", as they called it, the coma patients. Best to shut his mouth now before someone walked-

"Dr. Night, stop messing with the coma patients and go to room 329. May has woken up." A nurse said.

"Thank you. I'll be right there." Dr. Night said. He watched her leave and turned to Mr. Jones. "See? SHE woke up."

He walked out the room and started going to May's room. All while wondering if dealing with six coma patients was slowly driving him crazy.

He walked into May's room and saw a few nurses checking on her. "Hello Miss Sapphire."

"My mom's here?" May looked around the room.

"No. You're just a little out of it since you just woke up." Dr. Night explained.

(Ohhh...) May thought.

"Anyway, I am Dr. Maxwell Night. Now, do you remember what happened to you?"

"Not the accident."

"Well I'll explain what I know. You see... a Zubat bit your neck and injected you with a lot of venom. But your Arcanine carried you here to Rustboro hospital. The antidote was given to you in time, so you'll be fine. But you need a lot of rest. Your body needs time to get your strength back. I recommend you stay here for at least a week."

(A week!?) "For that long?" May asked.

"Actually, two weeks is better. Then you can go home and get lots of rest. You wouldn't want to strain yourself." Dr. Night said.

(Two... two weeks?! I want to battle Dad! I can't wait that long! All that training... was it for nothing!?) "I see... but isn't there a way for me to leave the hospital sooner?"

Dr. Night shook his head. "No. You can't even sit up. It's too early to be thinking of leaving this hospital. The road to recovery is a long one. You must be patient. Oh right, can you tell me your home number? I'd like to contact your parents. I'm sure they'd want to know about this."

" ...Um... I just moved over here to Hoenn. I haven't memorized my new home number." (Hope he bought that lie. There's no way I'd let Mom and Dad find out. At least not before challenging Dad. He probably would refuse to battle me for months.) May thought.

"How unfortunate. Well I suppose there is nothing to worry about. You don't have to worry about paying. Trainers automatically get free health insurance." (Which is probably why just about everyone tries to be a trainer. The cheapskates....) "Let us know if there is any way to contact them." Dr. Night and the nurses left to go see other patients.

May took the opportunity to talk to Brendan. But she was wiped out from all that talking. That poison really did a number on her. And probably the extra dose of pain killers the kind nurses gave her. "Brendan...."

Brendan went to her side. "Yeah? Do you need something?"

"...Please don't...tell anyone."

"Don't tell anyone you're hurt and in the hospital? I don't know..."

"I... have.... reasons...." (So very tired...) May thought while trying to fight sleep.

Arcanine looked from Brendan to May. Brendan was really debating this. What was the reason May wanted to keep this quiet? Was it wise? She needed her parents to help bring her home to rest eventually. (It's hard to say no to her. This is the only thing she's asked of me anyway.) "Alright. I wont say a word to anyone."

"Thank-" She fell asleep mid-sentence. Brendan sighed and hoped he was doing the right thing. Arcanine walked over and laid his head on her bed again. It was interesting how she could be in such a deep sleep after only a short time. But it was nice knowing she wasn't experiencing bad dreams in this slumber.

The next day, May was feeling better... and worse. It was about lunchtime and she had sent Brendan to retrieve her egg. Er... the pokemon egg. In the meantime she released Miltank, Spoink and Trapinch. They went from staring at Arcanine in confusion to being worried that she was hurt every few minutes.

But that wasn't what was troubling her. May was in deep thought. (My own life... I know it seems like I'm doing good. But I have to beat Dad. I have to. I have four badges. I waited patiently. And went through so much. And when I can finally challenge him, I get bit by a Zubat! And I don't even remember it! Of all the-)

A memory of what happened flashed in her head. Something about some nerd. May reached a shaky hand over to her bag on the table and looked through it. She saw some black glasses. (Black glasses... where did I get them? Wait... that nerd was looking for some glasses. These weren't it and he left.) May thought.

Great. Now all she had to do was remember where she was when she met the nerd. Then remember when she came in contact with a Zubat. While she thought about that, Arcanine had finally convinced Miltank, Trapinch and Spoink that it really was him. It was hard, but he pulled it off.

Brendan walked in with the egg and handed it to May. "There you go. And Nurse Me says she hopes you feel better."

May slowly sat up, losing half her energy while doing so, and held the egg close. Brendan then put the harness on the table.

"Hey, what happened to the harness?" May asked.

"It was ripped, so Nurse Me sewed it back together." Brendan answered.

A nurse walked in with a cup of water and some pills. "Hello May. Good to see you're doing better. Here, take these."

Miltank held her hooves out to offer to take the egg. May gave it to her and took the pills from the nurse.

"I have to take pills now?"

"Your pain isn't as bad as before, correct?"

May nodded still wondering why the sudden change.

"Now just about the only pain is in your neck. So you don't need a strong painkiller anymore."

The wheels started turning in May's head. "So... if I wanted, I could probably just have something over-the-counter?"

"Well, I suppose so. But it might not be as effective for your neck. Are you saying you're uncomfortable with these particular pills?" The nurse asked.

"No. I was just curious." May took the pills and the nurse walked away wondering if she should be worried about May's question.

"What was that about?" Brendan asked May.

"Oh nothing. Say, can you hand me my notebook?"

It was easy to tell she was trying to change the topic, but Brendan handed it to her anyway. Arcanine, Spoink, Miltank and Trapinch walked closer to see what she was doing. May flipped through the book and found what she was looking for.

(Aha. It seems like she did write pokedex data for Arcanine.) "I'll read this out loud for you guys to hear."

"May, if you happen to make Growlithe evolve, then here's the info on Arcanine."

Arcanine the Legendary pokemon

(Legendary? I've heard of a lot of legendary pokemon. And not once did I hear Arcanine was one.) May thought but kept reading.

HT 6'3" / 342 lbs.

Arcanine is known for its high speed. It is said to be capable of running over 6,200 miles in a single day and night. The fire that blazes wildly within this pokemon's body is its source of power. This fleet-footed pokemon is a pokemon that is described in Chinese legends.

(Oh, a Chinese legend.) She thought.

It is said to race at an unbelievable speed. A pokemon that has been long admired for its beauty. It runs agilely as if on wings.

(This is good to know.) After reading the info on Arcanine, May started to think about his change. He was stronger and faster than before. But how did he evolve? (It had to be the Fire Stone. But when was it used? Did I do it to him to make him stronger for my battle with Dad? I hope I didn't. That's a little selfish.) May thought.

"May, you've been quiet for a while. Is something bothering you?" Brendan asked.

"I just wish I could remember what happened to me." Her melancholy tone of voice depressed everyone. Arcanine, Miltank and even Spoink's ears drooped. Trapinch just looked sad.

Brendan watched the scene and was surprised how all of her pokemon seemed to share her emotions. He briefly wondered if he was a little sad, if Grovyle would be sad too. (Time to change the subject.) "May, that Spoink and Trapinch. Are they new on your team?" He asked.

"Yes, I felt it was time to catch some new pokemon." And, the fact that those two got on May's bad side. Resulting in capture.

The rest of the day was pretty plain. As usual, Brendan left at night, May recalled Trapinch, Miltank and Spoink and then fell asleep that night.

Late at night... Arcanine sensed her need of help. He got up and could tell she was having another nightmare. Trying to not alert anyone else in the hospital, he nudged her with a paw. But she didn't wake up. He tried again harder, and May still was stuck in her nightmare. Arcanine didn't want to hurt her more than she was, so he could only do one other thing.

"Arrrrrr!"

May shot up awake, then fell back down from moving too fast. "Ow..."

She looked at Arcanine. Once again, he had woken her up from a nightmare. "Thank you. Again." (He's always been there for me. And I appreciate it, but I hate feeling weak.) May thought.

Arcanine licked her face and laid back down. May wiped her face. "I could have sworn I asked you to warn me before you did that."

Arcanine's only reply was a lazy "I don't care" yawn. Still feeling sleepy, and knowing she couldn't get out of bed to take a shower as usual, May just went back to sleep.

The next day was the same. Brendan came over and brought some food for her pokemon, which May wished he gave her something. The hospital food was horrible. They talked a little and the nurses changed the bandage on her neck. The day seemed to go on forever for her. She couldn't stop thinking of how she wanted to challenge her dad. It was driving her crazy.

After Brendan left for the night... May put on the harness to keep the egg warm. And then grabbed the notebook. Arcanine could tell she was feeling better. But she was still weak. He watched how she wrote in the notebook. She tore out a page while feeling sad. Arcanine really wished he knew how to read. May reached over to the table and grabbed her bag. She put her pokeballs back in and her other things.

(Pokedex, Pokenav, Trainer ID, Pokeballs, am I missing anything?) May thought.

"Ar?"

"We're getting out of here tomorrow, Arcanine. The road to recovery is too long a wait." Arcanine shook his head. This was insane. She wasn't up to leaving yet.

Preview: She must have gone crazy. Leaving the hospital at this time is too soon. Arcanine tries to stop May. Does he succeed? Next time... Chapter 15 Break out

A/N: Isn't it funny how I mess with May? She gets enough badges to fight her dad and I make her poisoned. Am I cruel to do that? Maybe. But it's entertaining.

Fun facts

May now has pokemon from three generations.

Arcanine and Lapras. First generation

Miltank. Second generation

Spoink and Trapinch. Third generation