Eternatus: Thank ya. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4

Awakening

When Mew and Mewtwo had said Pikachu was bad off, Gary wasn't sure what he was expecting. Looking at the bloody, beaten, pulp of an electric mouse pokemon, he could safely say this was not it. Even looking at the badly injured mouse caused the trainer's stomach to threaten the return of his most recent meal. Still, Gary knew if he didn't react quickly, Pikachu was going to die. And, if the mouse died, Ash would not be in any kind of state to do anything.

Swallowing the bile in his throat, Gary threw out the other pokeball he kept on his belt. As expected, Blastoise appeared with a quiet entrance belying his size. They had long since trained that nuisance of an entrance roar out of the water type. Why give away the advantage when even the largest could be stealthy?

Gary shook his head and pointed at a spot. It was well enough away from the fire that the pokemon wouldn't risk putting it out, while still being within range of the light. "Blastoise, dig a shallow hole and fill it fresh. Make sure it isn't too deep. Pikachu's already injured as is; don't need to add drowning to his problems as well."

The water starter grunted and walked off to do as commanded. Gently, Gary picked Pikachu up, as he'd seen Ash do so many times after a bad loss, and carefully carried the electric pokemon to the pool of water. When he accidentally shifted the mouse too much and heard a moan, Gary stopped in his tracks, looking down to find Pikachu attempting to stir.

It shocked him to a degree how, even after taking so much abuse, the little mouse was still able to move, still able and willing to put up a fight. All it proved to Gary, however, was what he already knew. Ash's Pikachu was one hell of a beast. At full health, he was faster than most of the Eeveelutions and hit hard enough to make even Blastoise cringe.

Knowing that just made Gary want to see the electric type back to top tier even quicker. He gritted his teeth and slowly approached the small pool Blastoise dug, being careful not to jostle the poor mouse any more than he had to. Kneeling beside the pool, he refrained from setting Pikachu into it right away. He knew the water temperature would set him off, and any kind of attack in this condition could very well kill him.

So he resorted to what he'd seen his Grandfather do for new and shy pokemon at the ranch. He spoke to him.

"Shh, Pikachu, it's alright. I have you." He murmured, generally running a hand over blood-matted fur. Almost immediately, one of the brown tipped ears twitched, a small but unmistakable sign that Pikachu was listening, even if he most likely couldn't understand Gary's words. Knowing he had the injured pokemon's attention, the trainer kept going, slowly reaching into the pool to wet his fingers.

"It's alright, Pikachu, I'm just going to try and help you get cleaned up, so we can get you better. I know you're in a lot of pain, and I know you'll most likely want Ash, but first, let's get you taken care of. Don't want ole spikes for brains worrying about you, now do you?"

Those last few words weren't the right ones to say. Pikachu's cheek sacs began to hum with small sparks. They weren't dangerous at the level the mouse was emitting, but Gary knew better. He'd seen those sparks turn into a Thunderbolt faster than someone could say 'Squirtle'. Acting quickly, the trainer took his wet fingers and began massaging the matted fur under Pikachu's chin. Between loosening the fur and the soft spot there, the number of visible sparks lessened rapidly.

Once the sparks were gone, Gary heaved a sigh of relief. Pikachu might be friends with Ash but, even now, Gary still heard tales about the electric mouse's habit of shocking his owner for fun. How Ash had managed to survive this long, the trainer wasn't too sure. "Okay," He admitted quietly. "That was on me for calling Ash names. Come on, Pikachu, let's get you cleaned up, and then we'll see your trainer." He wet his hand this time, carefully setting it against the mouse's back to let him know the temperature difference before he slowly began lowering him into the water.

If he was careful, the red spots on the electric type's cheeks would warn him long before anything else that Pikachu was going to try and shock him. Thankfully, though, the promise of seeing Ash seemed to have stymied Pikachu's sparky agitation. Eventually, the mouse ended up belly-deep in the water, sitting on his hind feet, while Gary gently ran a wet hand over his fur. As he worked at the spots where dirt and blood had matted the fur, he took careful note of all injuries.

There were claw marks, possibly from something as small as a vulpix or another pikachu, along with burns that littered his head and back. In addition, the fur along his torso looked as if it had somehow melted together. Whatever hit Pikachu had to have been a nasty fire-type attack, or something of that ilk. To have so much power as to be able to do that much damage worried Gary deeply.

What worried the trainer more at the moment, though, was that Pikachu wouldn't let him near his eyes. Chin, cheeks, ears, even the top of his head was okay, but as soon as Gary's fingers neared dirty scabbed eyes, sparks would appear. After the third time, when the sparks almost struck the water, the trainer decided they were done for the night. When he took them into Azalea Town the next morning, he knew Nurse Joy would be able to fix what he couldn't. Until then, he would make sure to keep the mouse out of any trouble. Hopefully.

In the meantime, he gently pulled the mouse out of the water, making sure not to tug or hold too tight. Then he set the electric type on his lap and reached for the towel Umbreon had brought with his bag. "Thanks, Umbreon." He murmured, scratching the dark type's head. Umbreon purred and walked away to sit with Ash, something Gary was thankful for.

Knowing he still needed to tend to the other trainer, Gary hurried through drying Pikachu's fur, ensuring he didn't miss any heavy clumps of water, to avoid a grumpy mouse. Just because they were strong against water types, didn't mean the electric types liked to be wet themselves. Once that was done, he reached for the bandages and antibacterial cream. He didn't know how long Pikachu had been sitting in that bloody and dirty state and didn't want to risk the mouse getting an infection because of it.

Again, besides his eyes, Pikachu seemed just fine with Gary slathering on medicine and bandages. He'd seen other pokemon do something similar. Even with Blastoise and Umbreon, they would be stubborn and refuse to let him look at a wound until they reached a Pokemon Center and Nurse Joy took them in. But this time...this time Gary had a feeling Pikachu wouldn't get away with a couple of days' rest before going back to battling. Not if he wouldn't even let Gary near enough to just wash the dirt away. When he was done, the trainer sat back on his heels, looking at the poor mouse, who seemed more mummy than pokemon. The trainer shook his head and reached into his bag, from which he pulled out a round, yellow berry that was just a bit smaller than his hand. "Are you hungry, Pikachu?"

The mouse seemed to think about his answer for a moment before slowly nodding. Gary brought the berry closer to Pikachu, somewhat expecting him to jump for it. But, when the pokemon's nose twitched, and he turned in his lap to blindly reach for it, the trainer felt his stomach drop like a stone.

Bringing the sitrus berry within reach of the mouse pokemon, the trainer watched as Pikachu sniffed it curiously, before picking it up and biting into it. The berry would do very little to help with the worst injuries but, seeing Pikachu's tail lift as he gained back a spark of energy was enough to lessen some of the worries in Gary's gut. The electric type wouldn't be falling over dead any time soon, which meant he could now focus on the other subject of his worry.

Gary took a deep breath before looking up at the immoveable shadow of his first pokemon, and one of his closest friends. If Pikachu didn't have his sight, he would panic when not being held. But, if Gary had to hold him, he wouldn't be able to help Ash. Weighing the outcomes, the trainer made a snap decision and gestured to Blastoise to come closer. When the water type did, Gary looked down at Pikachu, still nibbling away at the sitrus berry.

"Pikachu, I need to go take care of Ash, to make sure he's okay. I can't do that with you in my arms, so I'm going to have Blastoise hold you. Is that okay?"

The mouse paused in his nibbling, one ear twitching as he listened to the adolescent. After a moment, he gingerly agreed, nodding his head with a quiet, "Chu."

Gary sighed in relief, carefully lifting Pikachu off his lap, so he could stand before he set the electric type in one of Blastoise's hands. The starter looked almost hesitant before he raised the hand and murmured something to the pikachu, who then moved to sit on top of the brown shell, just behind the water type's head.

With Pikachu out of the way, Gary grabbed his bag and moved to the prone figure lying beside the fire. As he approached, Umbreon looked up, her red eyes flashing in the light of the fire. "Bre, um, eo." The trainer smiled softly, if tiredly, as he knelt beside the dark type.

"Thank you, Umbreon." She purred before stepping out of the way, letting Gary take a look at the other trainer.

Ash's shirt was done for, that was the first thing he noticed. There were holes the size of his hands burnt through the front, some disappearing under the unconscious trainer. Blood and dirt stained what fabric remained. Gary exhaled, glancing over at Umbreon. "Remind me to teach you Psychic sometime. An extra set of hands would be helpful right about now."

"Umbre." The dark type perked up, her tail waving with excitement at the prospect of learning a new move. Gary simply shook his head as he reached into a pants pocket for his knife.

Ash's shirt was so far gone that a simple slice left the tattered fabric falling to the wayside. Gary squinted, unable to tell what was blood and what was firelight. "Umbreon, Flash." He called out, the command shortly followed by a bright flash that illuminated the clearing. The additional light gave him a better look at the damage, and he didn't like what he saw.

Grabbing an old rag from his bag, Gary got to his feet. Walking back to the pool Blastoise dug, he wet the rag before wringing it out several times and returning to Ash's side. From what he could tell, the other trainer was covered in scrapes, scratches, and bruises all over. As Gary wiped away the grime, he discovered one spot that caught his attention. It was as covered in dirt and blood as the rest of Ash but, underneath, was a single scar that ran from the middle of the boy's chest to just above his right hip.

The skin was puckered bright pink as if it was freshly healed. It didn't take much for the Oak boy to guess this was why the Legendaries brought Ash to him. That scar was the—No! Don't think about it, he admonished himself quietly. If there was one thing he didn't want to consider for the remainder of his life, it was that.

Gary took a deep breath and pushed on, cleaning off the rest of the grime to reveal the full extent of the wounds crisscrossing Ash's chest. There weren't many, but a couple had reopened, beginning to bleed now that the scabs were loosened, Gary set the rag down and moved to prop Ash's unconscious form up so he could take a look at his back. He worked swiftly, relieved to find it no more torn up than his front had been.

Once he was done, he spread more antibacterial cream across the wounds that had begun bleeding. Finally, he used nearly an entire roll of bandages, wrapping it around Ash's chest to ensure the damage was covered. Gary tried to reach into his bag, wanting a shirt for the unconscious boy but found he'd accidentally kicked the bag away while he was working.

He was tired, mentally and physically. He was worried about whether his friend would make it through the night, and now he was getting frustrated. How was he going to do what the Legendaries had asked? Especially if he couldn't even grab a damn shirt out of his bag? He couldn't let his friend down after everything he'd been through.

Thankfully, though, he didn't have to. Umbreon, seeing his problem, stopped using Flash. As the camp fell back into darkness, she jumped into the bag and pulled out a neatly folded, red and black shirt. Gary sighed, his shoulders sagging in relief as the dark type approached him, and took the shirt from her. "Thank you, again, Umbreon."

"Umbre." The Eeveelution purred, stretching as she yawned.

"I know." The trainer murmured. "We're almost done. Then we can all take a nice, long nap." With that, he shook the shirt out and began working to put it on the unconscious boy. Once he was done, he carefully lowered Ash back to the ground, pulling another shirt out. In no way whatsoever had he planned for having another person join him. He only had enough supplies and equipment for one person, which meant he had to improvise.

Rolling the second shirt into a makeshift pillow, he lifted Ash's head just enough to slide it under before settling him back. It was a tad bit chilly, but the trees blocked any winds harder than a zephyr, and the fire kept the cold at bay well enough for them to pass the night through.

Finally, Gary stood up, looking around the campsite to ensure there was nothing he was missing. He'd just about taken care of Ash, doing the best he could with no medicinal knowledge, save the basics. Pikachu had been taken care of as well, the mouse dozing against one of the cannons in Blastoise's shell.

"Are you okay looking after Pikachu, Blastoise?" The trainer asked his starter quietly. He knew the water type was more used to battling than being gentle.

Blastoise nodded, slowly settling down to sleep, being careful not to knock the dozing electric type off his shoulder. "Blas, toi, Blast."

With his starter's confirmation, Gary took one last look at Umbreon sitting beside the fire, one eye never leaving his unconscious friend as he entered his tent. Grabbing his bedroll, he walked over to the opposite side of the fire to lay down. It wasn't right for him to take the bedroll, but he wasn't strong enough to move Ash by himself. He'd usually get Blastoise to help, but that could result in a Thunderbolt striking the campsite—not something Gary wanted to experience at the moment.

At last, as he lay down for the night, one final thought crossed his mind. What have I gotten myself into?