Ash's face lit up with happiness when he saw us and he ran up to us and hugged us. I couldn't keep myself from flinching away from him, or trying to, since he already had his arms around me. I could hear him babbling away at me, but I wasn't listening, I needed to get away. I couldn't breathe and he wasn't letting go and he was so strong why was he so strong- Sis took control, doing her best to push down the rising panic, then we weren't there anymore, and we were a few meters to the left, behind Blaine, trying and failing to get my lungs back under control. Sis passed me the new inhaler the doctor had given me for situations such as this one, because apparently the old one wouldn't have been up to the task of keeping me from dying if I had an attack now.

"Azula!" / "'Zula!" / "Is she okay?!" / "What's wrong with her?"

"Keep back kids. Girl, how's your sister?"

"Ra-Ralts." Beloved Tiny Big Sis.

"Alright. Give her space, she just needs some air."

Fucking Inaridamned stupid fucking issues popping up at the worst of fucking times, fucking up things and ruining our fun. Sounds started filtering through the sound of rushing blood in my ears, at first distorted but slowly correcting themselves to normal. The darkness that had been creeping at the edges of my vision receded until I was just laying on the floor, staring at the inn's porch ceiling. Fucking hell. We were definitely going Jirachi hunting so we could Wish away our wounds. Hopefully it wouldn't hate us as much as Suicune had.

I sat up, and found the children all staring at me like they were afraid we would die any second now. Blaine only looked a little concerned but he was already a little used to the occasional fit of breathing difficulties, though admittedly not one as bad as this one. Ugh. Ash made to come up to us again, but this time we all knew what he intended, and we were not willing let him within two meters of us. So we looked at him, all of us. We didn't say anything, didn't growl, or make a noise. We didn't need to. We simply took an interest, aggressively. Few people could have withstood having the attentions of a Gengar in such a situation, much less two and three other eldritch abominations.

He froze where he stood, and Gary looked pretty pale himself, likely remembering the last time we'd stared him down. Brock looked wary, and Misty was downright scared. Could she sense our ghosts?

"Don't… do that again."

"W-What the fuck 'Zula?! What happened to you?" Gary had overcome his really quite reasonable fear when he heard my new voice. Fucking sigh. It was easier to be a bitch to him when he was being a brat instead of, you know, loving family. "Your voice! What- and your throat!"

"We had an… accident, and we got sick." We took a deep breath. "Our lungs don't work that well anymore."

"You have to go home, talk with gramps." Another flinch, which didn't go unnoticed. "Talk with your moms! They'll be so worried. I know competing in the Conference is important for you, but please, it's not that important."

Ouch. Way to shoot armor piercing responses at issues we already felt like utter cunts about. At least we had already done that, and in fact our current state had come about during our time with our family, so we didn't feel too bad. Still, not often that we got opportunities this good to stroke our egos. We breathed in deeply, trying to get as much oxygen as we could into our bloodstream.

"We've been staying at home for a few months now, nephew. We just… like visiting Blaine while we get… better. We're forbidden from… training unsupervised until the… pneumonia gets better." We saw both Ash and Gary's face twist in concern and confusion at our admission.

Wait for it...

"But if you've been at home for that long, it means you won't have enough time to complete your badges and register for the Conference!" Ash seemed heartbroken that we wouldn't participate. It was very difficult to keep a grin off our faces. "I… as long as you're okay, Azula, that's what matters, right?"

"Pika!" Aw, how sweet, kind of. Sure, he'd called us scary monsters, but at least the Vader syndrome seemed to be fully in effect, and he considered us to be on his side.

"There's always next year 'Zula, and that way you'll be better prepared."

"What are you two dorks talking… about?" It was surprisingly hard to not wheeze and cough every time we talked. We should check back with the doctor, it was getting worse.

"Uh, the Conference? You won't be able to participate without getting all your badges, and there's probably not enough time now." Now we let our grin show. Deep breaths.

"Please, we completed our badges and registered for the Conference months ago. It was super easy too. Old man... Blaine here was by far the hardest of them all. Your friends... should know all about it, really. Leader... Harrison, Leader Waterflower, I... hope your pokemon have fully recovered."

We saw the moment Brock made the connection of exactly who we were. We could feel the instant conflict in him over the utter bitch that was Pokemon Trainer Red and the girl Ash apparently gushed about and that Gary had described. Misty didn't catch on until Brock broke the stunned silence, speaking in a slightly chilly tone.

"Trainer Red. Yes, Onix is well. Congratulations on qualifying for the Conference. I was rather impressed despite myself. You broke all sorts of records for a starting trainer. Seventh to register, and fastest ever first time participant. I'm sorry to hear about your health problems."

"Wait, you're Trainer Red?!" Now Misty made the connection, and she was a tad incensed. "You're the reason my sisters are so scared of battling! You hurt our Seel really badly!"

"Yes. Unfortunate, but ultimately... a risk you accept... when you fight. Ours is a blood... sport, and we all accept the risks... we expose ourselves to... when we venture out to fight. What happened to your pokemon... really was unfortunate, but accidents happen, and it was hardly... that serious. We were there, we remember. I've had worse, I have… the scars."

"She's right." Brock's voice was quiet. "I've seen the video. The Elite Four have done much worse. It's rare, and rarer still on the lower tiers of battling, but it still happens, and there are few rules against it."

"Bah. Stop scaring the kids, brats. They have potential, but it won't go anywhere if they're too scared fight." We did feel a little bad about the feelings of inadequacy coursing through Ash and Gary though. "Now, Little Red here tells me you're here to challenge for my badge. You have two options: Fight one of my standard Gym teams, I'll give you my badge if you win, or fight one of my Champions with your whole team and impress me. If you manage the latter, I'll give you a badge when you lose. They haven't had a chance to exercise properly since those two fought them."

"Bullshit! 'Zula would never accept a badge if she lost!"

"That's right, she didn't lose. I faced her as an equal, and she won."

"What?"

They were serious about their aspirations, they knew what that meant, but they also had problems wrapping their head around the fact that someone they knew was nearing Champion levels. It was one thing to be good enough for the Conference, and another one entirely to be good enough to be Champion. The gap was significant, and we were younger than them.

"I'll fight your Champions!" Ah, trusty, reliable Ash. He wanted to be the very best, like no one ever was. Unfortunately for him, that was our role. "Pikachu and I will win too!"

"Well, damn. Now I can't back down. I'll fight your Champions too, old man."

"Hahahaha. That's what I wanted to hear, kids. You'll go far." He turned to us, and spoke. "You well enough to go into the arena and play emergency rescue?"

We snorted. Yeah. Like we were missing out on this.

"Of course."