After several hours of walking, both Alex and Brook needed to sit and rest.
"So tell me: out of any pokemon, what made you ask for ralts instead of some other really cool and strong pre-evolution, like a dratini or an abra?"
Alex was genuinely confused about this. He would do ANYTHING to get his hands on an eevee, or maybe a larvitar.
Brook frowned. "It's not always about the power or strength of a pokémon, you know," she responded as they both sat under a tree and leaned on a log by the river that they'd been following for the last hour and a half. "It's usually better to form bonds and friendships with them, Alex. It's far more effective than pure brute strength, even in a battle. Isn't that right, Ava?" She added, giving the kirlia's head a quick scratch
"Kirl!" Ava closed her eyes and leaned into Brook's hand.
"Right," Alex scoffed, "because that book you've been reading outweighs my experience."
"It does if the author has more experience."
"Whatever, Brook."
Alex stood up and crouched to inspect the log and frowned. "Does this smell funny to you?"
Brook leaned closer and took a minute to take in the scent. "I guess it does smell a bit off."
They walked a little closer to the water and leaned against a larger rock, and sat in silence.
"I have a bit of food, but not much," Brook said after a while.
Alex pulled out a bag of crushed almonds, a sandwich, and three oranges. "Yeah, I didn't exactly come prepared either."
Another long, painful silence.
Brook cleared her throat. "So... what pokémon do you have? You've gotta have some cool ones after a three year head start."
"Oh, right!" Alex fumbled with the multicolored spheres on his belt. "I usually only let them out one at a time. They can get a bit... aggravated when they're near each other." Brook nodded.
With a flash, where there previously had been empty space stood one of the best looking lucarios she'd ever seen. It looked like any others, but it's fur was so sleak and glossy that you'd swear it was wet. This lucario clearly took a lot of pride in it's appearance.
"You like what you see?" Alex teased.
"Alex! I'm not that kind of girl!" Brook protested, blushing madly as she turned her head. "We'll see how you like it when my Ava evolves." She gave the kirlia a quick scratch on the head
Alex chuckled, and Brook swore she heard a snort from his pokémon. Now Ava was blushing as well.
"This is... Carl," Alex told her with a sigh, starting to get up. Carl extended his hand to Brook, who took it.
Brook's eyes widened at the touch. Even the fur on hands was incredibly soft. "So, um, why Carl?" She asked, partly to change the subject, and partially out of genuine curiosity.
Alex shrugged. "Because that's the name he wanted," he explained, "I was listing names for about a half hour and that's what we landed on."
As they started back onto the trail to Cerulean city, Brook felt a tug on her shirt.
"Kirlia, lee kirl kirlia!"
As she took the little kirlia's hand, she felt a wave of sadness, fear, and anger wash over her, as if the world had abandoned her. Everything bad that had happened in her life was taking control of her emotions, telling her life was an endless loop of struggle and suffering of which she could never escape. She felt that nothing mattered anymore. her greatest hopes and dreams were suddenly extinguished.
Brook nearly tripped over herself in shock. She stopped and stared at Ava, and Ava stared right back.
"Do you two need some alone time, or can we get moving?"
"Uh, yeah... we should... we should go." Brook rose from her kneeling position and tried to let go of Ava's hand. Ava, however, refused to comply
Alex raised an eyebrow. " What's that about?"
Brook paused. "I just... I think that we
"Uh, right."
"No, that's not—!"
Alex threw his hands in the air. "Don't worry about it, I won't judge!"
A strong sense of urgency washed over her.as she was, Brook decided to follow it. "We should probably walk a bit faster if we want to find a decent spot to camp before nightfall." That was believable, right? It had to at least be more believable than claiming that her psychic ballerina pokémon was invading her mind.
Alex looked up and saw that she was right; the sun was just beginning to set. "I think when I last came here I set up shop in small clearing where the river turns. I think that it may be the smartest—" his voice was drowned by another sense of urgency rippling through her body.
Brook was anxious and confused as ever now. speeding up to the point of a slow jog.
"What, is this a race now or something? Brook, slow—"
Brook gasped at the gruesome sight on the left of the trail. A boy lay on the ground, head resting on a stump in a small pool of blood.
"So the good news is your friend will be fine." the nurse informed Alex and Brook. "He's lucky you two came along when you did. Any more blood loss and he would have ended up with a nasty coma, at best."
"Oh, thank mew!" Brook breathed. A quick look at Alex told her he felt the same way. "When will he be able to leave?"
"That would be the bad news. Normally, I Would have to keep him for forty-eight hours," she continued, "but in his case his body has been physically exerted to a level of which I've never seen. He probably would have died of dehydration before he bled out if you hadn't found him. And thanks to your lovely lucario and his heal pulse, the worst he'll need is a few stitches."
Nurse Joy, as her nametag read, then informed them that she would recommend a minimum of four days before the boy would leave in order to ensure he got the nutrients he needed.
"Nurse Joy, it's really not up to us. We're just the ones that found him," Alex stated. "You should ask him yourself."
"Yes, but I think I already know the answer to that." She slowly descended herself onto an oddly shaped yet comfortable looking chair across from the corner couch of Alex and Brook. "I had to sedate him. As soon as he woke up, he started panicking about how he was in a 'hospital'. I've seem a few people that were fairly terrified of needles and such, but he seemed to fear the concept itself. Anyway, it's only used as a hospital unless absolutely necessary, so don't make this a regular thing. I treat pokémon here, but I'm required to have basic medical training seeing as this is the only center for several miles."
"Got it."
"Thank you. You can leave, or if you'd prefer you can stay the night here," The nurse offered.
Brook stood up. "We'll take the room, thank you." She went to retrieve their room key from behind her desk. "Here you are, enjoy!" She said with a friendly smile.
Brook hadn't even realized how sore her feet were until she slipped her shoes off. She wasn't used to traveling through the night. Thank god for Carl's amazing display of simultaneously carrying the boy and using his heal pulse.
Why would he run to the point of blacking out? Unless he wasn't running. Was he running? He might not have been running. Maybe he was climbing. But why would he be climbing? He couldn't have been climbing. He was probably running.
Not wanting to think about these things any longer, she stretched her overworked muscles and lay flat on the bed, falling asleep instantly.
Yeah, I know I rushed it. Later I'll probably rewrite it but I just really wanna get to the actual story XD
PLEASE leave HONEST CRITICISM Of what you think of this as my first fanfiction. Honestly I know I'm awful at this, but I need you guys to help me figure out what aspects I need to improve. Thank you so much!