Before we start, I just need to say this.
Rest in peace, Kirby Morrow. We're all gonna miss you.
Ok. On with the story.
Time slowed down at the sight of a coin being flipped into the air. As gravity took hold of the coin, the flow of time returned to normal. The coin landed in the hand of the young adult, Louis. He repeated the coin-flipping as many thoughts began to play out through his subconscious.
"What the hell was that?" mumbled Louis. "What the hell is with Azul now?!"
The negative thoughts began to cloud Louis' mind.
'How could Azul be so insensitive?!' he thought. 'After all we've been through in the past, why would he-...'
The young adult halted his processes and tried clearing his mind.
'S-...stop. You're not thinking straight, Louis,' he subconsciously said. 'He could've just said it without thinking. ...then again...'
Then, Louis caught a glimpse of Azul appearing from the side. Zack wasn't beside him. It seemed that Azul didn't even notice Louis standing on the sides. Once he got close enough, Louis spoke.
"Hey!" he called.
Azul stopped in place and turned to the young adult, who had a stern expression
"What did you mean that we were holding you back?" he questioned.
Azul just stared at the human, staying silent. He began to walk past Louis again. Frustration overcame Louis and he stepped toward the frog-ninja, grabbing his arm.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" he exclaimed.
On instinct, Azul forced his arm out of Louis' grip.
"Don't. Touch me," he said.
Azul continued walking away from Louis. The young adult gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he spoke. "I didn't realize that spending nearly six years in Kanto would turn you into a selfish, arrogant jerk!"
Those words. They triggered something inside Azul. The Pokémon halted its journey, stared away from the human, before eventually turning to face him.
"What did you just call me?!" he hissed.
"You heard me!" called Louis.
"Shouldn't you go check on Braixen?" Azul remarked with a grin.
Fury, a wildfire now burned in Louis.
"That shuriken was one of my best, I put a little extra power in that one."
That was the spark. It ignited a forest fire from within Louis' heart. Louis bolted at Azul, grabbed him by the shoulders and pinned him to a tree. Azul tried to free himself.
"Nngh, get off me!" he exclaimed.
Louis growled, "Do you even hear yourself?! You sound like you actually wanted to hurt her!"
"Let. Me. Go!" exclaimed Azul.
"No!" yelled Louis. "You listen to me. Years ago, you said to us that you couldn't do things alone and that you were a part of a team! Did you forget that?!"
The area grew quiet, Azul remained silent. Louis scoffed.
"Now I'm beginning to think that you made the whole thing up. You weren't in it for the team at all. ...you were only in it for yourself from the very beginning."
Azul's eyes widened.
"As a matter of fact...did you even consider us friends at all?" questioned Louis, through gritted teeth.
The frog-ninja did not answer. As much as the words hurt, the human spoke the truth.
Louis relinquished his grip. He turned away from Azul and made his way to the Pokémon Centre. However, before he could leave, he left Azul with these words.
"If you were gonna say yes, then forget it," he said. "Because as far as I'm concerned...we're done!"
The young adult continued his journey to the Pokémon Centre, leaving Azul alone and silent. The scathing words dished out from the human struck Azul like a thousand knives.
'Jeez...he's right...' the Pokémon thought.
Louis' pace quickened, as he tried to clear his mind of the previous encounter and focus on getting to the Pokémon Centre and checking on Braixen. Unfortunately, there was still a hint of frustration still pent up inside the individual.
Roy, Taki, Miguel, and Louis' team of Pokémon waited outside the centre. In the distance, Taki caught sight of the approaching young adult.
"Hey, there he is," she said.
As he got closer, the party noticed Louis' face was red hot. Miguel could tell that he was angry.
The father spoke, "Louis, are you-"
"I'm fine," mumbled Louis.
"Son, is everything-"
"I said I'm fine, Dad!"
Taki watched on, in shock. She knew this was Azul's fault. She also knew this wasn't the time to try Louis. Taki signalled for the man to stop and leave the young adult alone for a while.
"Braixen is recovering," she said, attempting to surface Louis' thoughts.
"Which room is she in?" asked Louis.
"She's in Room E-3."
Louis nodded. He turned his head to the musician.
"Hey, Roy," he said.
"Yeah?" replied Roy.
"Can you come with me for a second? And bring your guitar."
Roy carried the guitar under his right arm and stepped into the Pokémon Centre alongside Louis. They travelled through multiple corridors, dodging the nurses and healing Pokémon along the way, before ending up in front of room E-3.
The young adult slid the door open. The room was brighter than either anticipated. Inside was Braixen resting on a bed, with bandages on her head, arms and legs.
"She looks...bad," Roy blurted as Louis motioned for the pair to take a seat.
It pained Louis to see his Pokémon in the current state she was in. Braixen rolled to her side, and groaned. Carefully, Louis moved his hand closer to the fire-fox, and shook her gently.
"Hey...Braixen," he whispered. "Wake up. It's me."
A single eyelid flicked open, and Braixen's gaze met the young adult.
"...hey, Louis," she said.
She rolled onto her back once more, wincing in pain. Braixen immediately noticed Roy sitting on the opposite side of the hospital bed.
"What's Roy doing here?" said Braixen.
"I asked him to come with me in here," replied Louis.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, worryingly.
Braixen groaned in pain before answering, "I'm not a hundred percent, that's for sure."
As she was speaking, Braixen caught a glimpse of Louis' facial features, the most obvious detail being the frown displayed on his face.
"What about you?" she inquired. "Are you ok?"
Louis hadn't realised that his face didn't hide how he felt. There was no point in lying at this rate.
He carefully thought about his answer. As much as he wanted to get the argument with Azul off of his chest, he knew that it was not the time to do so.
"I've been better," he answered. "But we're here for you now."
Suddenly, there was a knock on the hospital door. It slid open to reveal Nurse Joy, carrying some utensils and bandages.
The always recognisable nurse with pink hair, tied in rings at the back, while also wearing a pink dress and a white nurse's apron, moved closer to the injured Pokémon. She bought with her an air of calm.
"Excuse me," she said. "I'm here to change Braixen's bandages."
"Uh...ok," Louis responded.
Both Louis and Roy watched as Nurse Joy unwrapped the bandages currently around Braixen's body. Braixen groaned again, offering her injured arm to the nurse. Nurse Joy took hold of the fresh bandages and added a liquid substance onto it. Louis assumed that it was either a healing ointment, or a disinfectant, but he wasn't sure.
A soft tune began emanating from Roy and his guitar, as he absentmindedly fingerpicked the strings while watching.
"Oh...sorry," he said, realizing the interruption.
Louis glanced at Roy.
"No...it's ok," he replied. "Keep going."
The musician replayed the tune. Louis recognised it as Oracion. The tunes journeyed throughout the Pokémon Centre and into the ears of all the Pokémon occupying the building, including Braixen.
The fire-fox closed her eyes as Roy continued playing. The imaginary weight of emotional pain and shame began to dissipate as the music was envisioned as a surge of water washing away the weighted feelings. By the time Roy finished the song, Braixen could be seen smiling as Nurse Joy finished applying the fresh bandages.
Nurse Joy thanked the group for their patience and exited the room. Then, Louis turned to Braixen.
"How do you feel now?" he asked.
"Still in a bit of pain, but I'm better," answered Braixen.
The young adult nodded. Then, he got up out of the chair and walked to the door.
"Where are you going?" asked Roy.
"I'm getting the others," answered Louis. "Is that alright, Braixen?"
She nodded, and Louis opened the room door and stepped through the portal. After a short time of walking, Louis peeked his head outside the entrance to the Pokémon Centre and looked to his team of Pokémon.
"Hey, guys?" he called. "Can you come with me for a minute?"
Team Venus followed their leader and friend to Braixen's room. After they had entered the room, and once they had gotten their worries out of the way, the Pokémon began complimenting Braixen on her previous battle and skills demonstrated by the fire-fox.
As they continued their conversation with the wounded friend, Lucario could sense something amiss in the room. He slowly turned his head, trying to work out the source of the unbalanced aura. It was coming from Louis. It was then that the aura Pokémon noticed the frown on the young adult's face.
"What's the matter, Louis?" he asked.
"It's...it's nothing," answered Louis.
Lucario folded his arms.
"Louis, it's not 'nothing'. I can sense it. What's going on?"
The young adult's passing thoughts had one constant thing present. One that was hard to get rid of. The more Louis thought about it, his frustrations grew.
"Well?" Lucario prodded.
Soon, the frustrations built up from within was too much to handle and he could not hold it in anymore.
Louis snapped, "I had an argument with Azul, ok?!"
The room went silent.
Louis noticed the concern on his friend's faces, and again he realized where he was. He needed to get outside, he needed to breathe. Needed to think.
"I'm gonna take a quick walk, back soon."
Lucario snapped out of his frozen stupor and followed Louis.
"Hey, wait up!" he called.
Louis exited the building and walked past his remaining family and friends. Lucario appeared alongside them.
"Where's he going?" asked Cinderace.
"I don't know," answered Lucario. "But I'm gonna find out."
Lucario made haste again and followed Louis' path as his footsteps quickened.
"Oh, Louis..." sighed Miguel, sadly.
The young adult ignored everything around him as the anger built up with each step he took. He had to deal with this in private.
"Hey! Hold on a second!" Lucario called.
"Not now, Lucario," replied Louis.
As Lucario followed, he saw Louis going through the bushes of the forest filled with shadows caused by the leaves and branches of the trees. The aura Pokémon sensed that Louis' tension was at an all-time high and he needed to get to him.
Still, Louis continued, deeper into the darkened wood. He felt a paw grip onto his shoulder. Louis stopped and turned to see Lucario.
Louis sighed, "What?"
"Louis. ...where are you going?" questioned Lucario.
"Does it really matter to you?"
"Yes, it matters!"
Before he could continue, Lucario saw a break in the trees and saw the sea from ahead. He immediately realised that Louis was on his way to a cliffside.
"Did you just need to clear your mind?" inquired Lucario.
"No," answered Louis. "I need to get rid of something."
Lucario immediately sighed.
"Louis, I'm beginning to think that you're overreacting about Az-"
"NO I'M NOT!" Louis exploded.
Lucario was taken aback by his trainer's outburst.
"You really wanna know what happened?! Fine!"
Louis angrily detailed the things that Azul had said to Louis after the battle royale, including their previous argument. Now, Lucario finally understood the amount of frustration and anger displayed from his friend.
A blast of cold air met them. Tiny, salt-swept flowers swayed in the wind at their feet.
"If you want to tell the others about this, go right ahead," said Louis. "Me? I'm dealing with this. Right. Now!"
Louis stomped past the bushes.
"Louis-!" called Lucario, but to no answer.
The aura Pokémon watched on, concerned about the young adult. However, he could sense that Louis needed to be left alone for a while. He sighed and made his way back to the Pokémon Centre. As he pushed past one, final bush, a brush of cool air flowed through Louis' hair. The grass grew smaller and smaller as he got closer to the cliffside.
'He never cared about us,' thought Louis.
The sounds of the ocean waves crashing on the rocks below rang out.
'Azul only went to Kanto to get away from us all.'
Leaves scraped across the ground as the wind carried them in the draught.
'You should've never picked him years ago!'
'That pendant means nothing anymore!'
There it was. The conclusion.
He gripped the pendant furiously, and lifted it from his neck and over his head. The chain around the pendant rattled at the sudden movement.
A cloud passed in front of the sun, hiding the warm heat from the island.
Louis swung his arm backward, ready to throw the item away. However, unbeknownst to the young adult, the pendant gripped in his fist...began to glow.
Louis prepared to throw the pendant away.
Suddenly, before he could make his move, a voice from behind him yelled;
"STOP!"
He froze.
This wasn't a recent voice.
Not one from the academy, nor the many years before his return.
This was a voice he never thought he'd ever hear again.
"Don't throw that away," the voice echoed.
The young adult slowly twisted his body the opposite direction of the cliff. Behind him...was an apparition of someone who he had not seen in a long time. Someone...he spent the last few moments of her life with.
"V-...Ve-..." he stammered. "...Venusaur?"
D-...did...did he just say Venusaur? No way!
Well...I...I don't know what to say about this. It's incredible. Hopefully, this'll get Louis out of his current turmoil.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Is there something you enjoyed? Can you guess what happens next? Or...what do you hope to see in future chapters? If so, go ahead and leave a review explaining any of these reasons. (Please don't leave hurtful reviews)
If you have just begun reading this story and like what you've read so far, feel free to follow/favourite this story so you will be notified when a new chapter is released. Heck, you're welcome to share this story with your friends.
Thanks again. See you next time
R.I.P Kirby Morrow