Chapter 16: Malware Menace
Wednesday, July 30th, 5:07 PM, Blackthorn City Hospital
Ever since she had passed out, Casey had been plagued by a myriad of both dreams and nightmares.
Many involved her dying back in the confrontation with Petrel, many had her bringing him to justice, but the fact remained that said events refused to leave her alone.
She was having one right now actually.
"Haha! I finally caught you! No running away from me this time!" she said to the Petrel in her dreams.
A wicked smile tugged at his lips, "That's what you think, little girl."
Her depiction of Petrel was perhaps a little exaggerated, but it was how her mind worked.
Dream Casey blinked in confusion, and it was in that split second that Dream Petrel had disappeared.
In fact, the whole cave had disappeared. Casey wasn't even standing up like she thought she was.
"Huh?" she thought to herself as blinding light filled her vision.
She instinctively closed her searing eyes until she got adjusted to the brightness. Once she was able to see decently, she analyzed her surroundings. She was in a white room, decked with a multitude of machines that she didn't recognize. With all this information, she realized where she was.
"I'm in a hospital... Guess I passed out then..."
For the next few minutes, she just sat on the hospital bed thinking to herself. How much time had passed? Was everyone else alright? How was she even found? She eventually pushed these questions away, she already had enough of them from the last time she was conscious.
Eventually, the door opened, revealing a nurse; "You're awake. How are you feeling?"
"Umm. Okay, I guess? I am in a hospital bed."
The nurse lightly hit the side of her head with her fist, "Right... silly question. Is there anything that you need? I'm here to answer any questions too."
Seeing the opportunity to gain some information, Casey started her interrogation; "How long have I been here?" Anxious thoughts filled her head as she awaited the answer; "I hope I haven't been in a coma for 2 years and I'm already old like Vincent."
"Let's see..." mused the nurse, placing a finger to her chin, as if she were trying to recall something. "You were picked up on the 28th, and today is the 30th, so two days have passed."
Casey breathed a sigh of relief. That meant she hadn't missed too much time.
"Oh by the way, your mother heard about your injuries and wanted to see you when you woke up. Would you like me to send her in?"
Casey blinked in surprise. Her mom was here? Someone in the group must have told her about what happened. "Yeah, please let her in." Casey replied, happy to see her mother. The nurse nodded and left the room, leaving Casey alone with her muddled thoughts.
A moment later, the nurse returned with a woman behind her. Then, the nurse left, leaving mother and daughter alone.
The woman's name was Stella Williams, and it was difficult to tell how she and her daughter were related. The only real similarity was their height, in which both were a little shorter than the average woman. Past their height, there was quite a bit of disparity in their appearances. Stella had short, black hair, while Casey's was long and dyed bright purple. While Casey practically glowed with enthusiasm, her mother radiated a subtle charm of care and patience.
"Hey mom..." Casey greeted in an uncharacteristically shy manner.
A smile tugged and the corners of Stella's lips that filled Casey's soul with warmth, "Hey Casey, I'm glad you're awake."
Casey looked at her arms and legs, looking for tubes or devices that may have been attached to her during whatever treatment she had. When she saw that there was nothing keeping her in the bed, she asked: "Am I allowed to get up?"
Stella nodded, "The doctor said you're allowed to leave your bed."
Casey tossed the sheets off of her and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Then she jumped the rest of the way off the bed. It was only then that Casey realized how little energy she had left. Her knees instantly buckled and she instantly turned around to catch herself on the bedside. Stella immediately came and propped her up with her arm.
"Thanks mom." Casey said, giving the woman a hug.
"Of course Casey."
The two stayed like that for a moment, happy to be in each other's embrace.
"Is dad going to come?" asked Casey.
"He had work in Alola remember? He's on his way though. In the meantime, the two of you can video chat." Casey's mother pulled out her phone and dialed a number. After ringing a few times, she handed the phone to Casey.
On the screen was the buffering figure of Casey's Father: Nathaniel Williams. A voice came from it: "Hello?"
"Hey dad!"
Even with half a frame per second, Casey could make out a relieved smile emerging from her father's face. "Hey, Thunderclap! You're awake!"
Casey giggled at the nickname while Stella rolled her eyes.
"How are you feeling?" asked the man.
"Not too bad, I was patched up pretty well. Tired as a Komala though, I'm feeling a nap right about now."
A laugh escaped from the speaker, "You sound just you always do, so I guess I shouldn't be too worried."
"I mean, I am in the hospital. But yeah, I'm not exactly in pain."
Stella took this moment to speak up; "Alright, we should probably move onto the main topic of discussion."
The tone of the voice coming from the phone grew serious in an instant. "I haven't forgotten, just making sure she knows I'm not just here to discuss serious matters."
Casey raised an eyebrow in confusion. What were they talking about? Ideas started to form in her head, and none of them were positive; "I'm... I'm not in trouble... Am I?"
Stella gave another one of her soothing smiles. "You're not in trouble Casey, but we do need to discuss the mutual concern your father and I share..."
Casey's eyes widened, now understanding. She should have seen this coming.
A deep breath came from the phone, and Nathaniel released his thoughts. "Honestly Casey, when your mother first told me that you were going out to directly battle Team Rocket with your friends, I was not too concerned. I KNOW how strong you and your Pokemon are. I also know how responsible your friends are."
"I had some innate concern for you. Being your parent, I have that by default. I knew about how famously unimpressive Team Rocket was, though; so combined with your own strength, I figured you would not only keep yourself safe, but also be able to contribute quite a bit. I supported your decision, since it was incredibly brave and selfless."
Casey's cheeks went red with embarrassment and a wide smile slowly inched up her cheeks. But she didn't let the praise get to her head, as she knew it would be short-lived.
"But then, as I kept a close eye on the news, I heard things about how aggressive Team Rocket had gotten. I didn't think too much about it at the time, as I was still confident in your strength. Then those mutant things attacked and caused big damage, which the police have managed to trace back to Team Rocket. I got worried, but I held onto the hope that you would still be safe; you helped defeat one of those things after all."
"Then two days ago... this happened." came the serious voice of her father
Casey stiffened, bracing for what would be said next.
"The thing is... we can't support your decision anymore."
There it was.
Casey looked into her mother's eyes, then to the blurry figure of her father. Her eyes began to well up water; and for a few moments there was silence. The two adults watched and let their daughter absorb the information they had presented. Casey looked down and gripped her knees, unable to meet their gaze.
Eventually, Stella broke the silence, "Now, although we would like you to quit and do something safer with your life, we want to leave the final decision up to you."
Casey looked back up at her parents, her previously teary face now being replaced with shock.
"I don't believe we are at liberty to tell you how to lead your life anymore. You've traveled by yourself since you were ten, and you're sixteen now! We know you're smart enough to make decisions that are the best for you. We just want to make our stance clear and give you the option to opt out."
Silence followed, with the two parents anxiously waiting for their child's response. Casey merely looked down, unable to organize her thoughts. Hearing her parents talk about her so highly was nice, but it also awakened a cabinet of self-grievances that Casey had been storing ever since she went on a Pokemon Journey. Her parents claimed that she had traveled on her own since she was ten, which was true, but it wasn't like it was an easy time. She constantly forgot important Pokemon facts, she needed a Pokemon center every hour of the day, and she couldn't make a meal for herself for the life of her. These problems were mitigated over time through practice and experience, but she still considered herself to be a reckless and impulsive person, it was only now that she considered that part of her to be an issue.
"Before, I say anything about that, you two should know what really happened in that cave." she said. Her mom's eyes went wide, and her dad... well... she couldn't really make out his expression, but both were now listening very carefully. "Jimmy and the others knew how dangerous it would be to go alone, and so they put us in teams of two to explore Ice Path. I was paired with Vincent, so why do you think I was the only one who got hurt?"
It was a rhetorical question, she didn't expect them to know the answer. "I'm not sure. Why were you the only one?" her mother asked with a nervous lilt in her voice.
"I separated myself from him. I got annoyed with his constant nagging and I thought it would be okay to go alone for awhile. One thing led to another and I ended up on a lower section of the cave!" Casey wasn't quite yelling, but her harsh words carried a similar effect. Her parents would recoil at every stressed word. "If we were still together, we could have gotten out of the cave, maybe we could have prevented that man from destroying half of the cave, we might even have been able to catch him! What happened instead? I was stuck down there! I let a bunch of Pokemon die. He left unscathed while I was on the ground bleeding to death!"
With Casey's thoughts out in the open, the air in the room changed completely. Casey always had a good amount of respect for herself, so to see her admonish about herself was a first for her parents, and they were completely unprepared to deal with it. There was only one thing they- or rather, her mother felt she could do.
Stella walked towards her daughter, knelt down, and wrapped her arms around her. Casey was startled for a moment before she returned the gesture as well.
A moment passed before Nathaniel's voice rang out again, "Casey..."
Casey sniffled and turned her attention towards the device, "Yeah?"
Silence followed as the words failed to materialize from the speaker. He desperately wished he could be there to at least physically comfort his sole daughter, but given the circumstances, he could only offer words, of which he had none. Here was a man, who was driven by the immeasurable desire to help Casey, unable to say anything.
Similar feelings were also popping up within Casey's mother, only they were more obvious. Before she had embraced Casey, she searched, searched every corner of her brain for the right words to say in that moment; but there was nothing, no knowledge, no past experiences, that she could rely on to offer even the smallest bit of assistance. She could only weep at her daughter's emotional state and her own failure to console it.
Finally, Casey's Father the words were found the words he wanted to say. "Casey, what you've just told us is quite serious, and I can see how you would be angry with yourself. However, we aren't retracting any of our praises towards you. We meant everything we said, and we still stand by them now. In my experience, it can be easy to forget about the good we've done, and let our undesirable qualities weigh us down. What you're doing right now is reflecting upon your past actions, which is definitely good, it already shows your determination to grow as a person, but you also need to remember the good you've done, so that you never feel worthless from your reflections."
Casey's tear ducts paused for a moment as she stared at the device. She racked her brain for any good deeds she had done over the years. When nothing came, Casey's mother gave a soft chuckle. "Can't think of anything? Let me help out. Ever since you first set off at ten years old, you have not only been capable of shouldering heavy responsibility, you've actively sought it out. Whenever you've come home to take a break, I've always felt like I'm living with an equal rather than someone I need to support. I don't mind supporting you, of course, you are my daughter after all, but you are always so willing to help out in everything that needs to be done around the house, and you ask if there's more you can once you're done! I couldn't be prouder of you. You've become so independent in such a short time."
Casey's emotions had trouble keeping up with the praise she was getting. She didn't get a chance to take it all in as her father spoke next: "There's so much more than that, I'm sure. We haven't gotten to see a lot of what you've done on your Pokemon journey. Lots of opportunities for service exist: offering items, carrying the injured, and just general good deeds. I'm sure your friends will be able to attest to stuff like this."
Before, Casey had trouble remembering anything good she had done that was significant, but now that she thought about it, there were a few instances where she gave a couple of revives and potions to a worn-out trainer. The praise hadn't ceased though, as Stella had one last thing to say; "Also, even though we no longer support it, you have dedicated these last few weeks to fighting off the biggest criminal organization in the region. It might have been reckless, but it was for a noble purpose."
Casey was completely blown away by their words. All she wanted to do was let them know that she was a flawed person, and probably better off not battling Team Rocket; but her parents had refuted her rant with more praise, while acknowledging her flaws, so that she would be able to make the right decision. As much as her parents didn't want her to fight, they wanted her to make that decision while considering all of the good and bad she had done, not in a depressed state.
Casey separated herself from her mother's arms and laid down on her hospital bed. "Can you two leave for a minute? I need some time to think your suggestion over."
Stella gave a soft smile while her father offered some reassuring words: "Of course Casey, I'm sure you'll make the right decision for yourself."
With that, Casey's mother approached the door with the phone in her hand. "Hey... Mom? Dad?"
Stella turned around.
Casey looked at her, misty-eyed, but smiling graciously; "Thanks."
Stella smiled and shut the door behind her.
Outside Blackthorn Hospital
"Psst. Khoury."
"What is it Lyra?"
"I'm hungry. I require sustenance."
"You ate the rest of my Water-type starter Pokemon mac n' cheese half an hour ago. Go bother Marina about that bottomless pit of yours."
The group minus Casey were gathered along the benches outside the hospital, taking a break from training. They had arrived in Blackthorn City yesterday so that they could take Casey to the emergency room. Ever since then, they had stayed within the city, exploring, training, but mostly just waiting for any news about Casey. Lyra was undergoing a food craze, with Khoury having to be the one to deal with her. The other three sat on a bench separate from them, trying to look invisible.
Upon hearing Khoury's suggestion, Marina turned towards them, irritated; "Seriously Khoury? You gonna throw me under the bus right now?"
"Say, Marina..." came the cheery voice of Lyra.
Marina stiffened. "Oh goodness- Yes Lyra?"
"Let's examine that endless bag of yours, I'm sure there's something that'll quench my hunger."
"This is for meals only! Actually, I think Vincent still has an unopened bag of Pokemon crackers..."
"MARINA YOU RATTATA!" screamed Vincent. "Why you gotta do me like that?"
"You raided my personal belongings the other day, consider this my response."
"That was justified! Hold on. Hey Jimmy! Once we leave Blackthorn, can we make a pit stop home? I need to burn Marina's Lance merch."
Jimmy chuckled, "Sure dude. I'll get the fire-starting supplies!"
"This is why you're my best friend."
"YOU JERKS! I can disassemble you both in 948 different ways!"
Khoury cringed and shyly stole a look at Jimmy and Vincent, "You two messed up. Now you have a demented Lyra and an enraged Marina on your sorry selves."
Vincent paused his laughter and darted his eyes between his two opponents, realizing how thoroughly outmatched he and Jimmy were.
Lyra, sporting a deceptively cheerful smile, placed a hand on Vincent's shoulder. "Ayo Vincent! About that bag of Pokemon Crackers... you going to eat it?"
Vincent knew that answering her question wouldn't mean anything. "But... they're so crunchy..."
Lyra giggled and held her other hand out expectantly, "Exactly, that's why you'll allow me, your dear friend, to have them instead!"
"Umm." Vincent wasn't sure how to respond.
Jimmy got between them and gave Lyra his cockiest smirk. He held out his hand behind him: "Vincent, cracker me."
"What? No dude, this is my last bag."
"I'll buy you another one. Please, this is the only way this will work."
"Fine." Vincent reluctantly dug into his bag and pulled out his Pokemon cracker bag. Lyra would have mauled him for it if Jimmy didn't hold her back.
With the bag now in his hand, Jimmy opened it and grabbed a cracker shaped like a Hippowdon. He held it in front of Lyra for her to see. "See this?"
Lyra's eyes went wide and a thin droplet of drool escaped her mouth. Jimmy wasn't sure why she was so desperate for crackers, but he didn't judge. "It's a wonderful confection isn't it? The shape is so simple, yet you can tell what it is immediately. Truly, one of mankind's greatest achievements."
"Yes! Now gimme!"
"Hold your Ponyta Stevens, you would just eat it all without savoring it y'see." he exclaimed whilst wagging his finger in a disciplinary manner. "You are unfit to partake of the crunchy delight that is Pokemon Crackers!"
"Oh I'll savor them!" Lyra exclaimed, unable to hold in her hunger-induced rage; "And I'll make sure to crunch them in your face as loudly as possible!"
"Is that so? Then perhaps the opposite angle is the right approach." He flicked the finger with the cracker in it and caught it with his mouth; then he made a gulping sound and looked back at Lyra with an evil grin on his face.
Silence passed over the rest of the group, each of them with their mouth's agape. "Did you... just swallow it whole?" Lyra asked, who was now fidgeting uncontrollably.
"Might have."
Before Lyra could hospitalize Jimmy, a woman appeared from the doorway to the hospital. She stopped and caught her breath before speaking to them: "You all! Do any one of you have the Porygon Transfer Modulation on your Pokedex?"
Based on what they could gather, the woman was part of the hospital staff, and that for her to rush out and ask strangers a specific question, there was an urgent situation inside. Khoury raised his hand, "I do ma'am. What's the situation?"
She breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed his arm; "Good! I'll explain when we get there!"
"Hey wai-" and with that, they had disappeared into the hospital.
The remaining group members could only stand there, puzzled.
Inside Blackthorn Hospital
Khoury never liked being pulled.
He preferred to do things at his own slow, analytical pace. He greatly disliked recklessness under all circumstances, and he saw pulling someone as an example of that. Though he dislikes being pulled, he got used to it happening a lot to him, since he's Lyra's best friend; for anyone else, though, he preferred to have their hands away from him.
Naturally, as soon as he was able to mentally catch up with the woman, he ripped his hand away from her and held it close to his chest defensively. "Slow down!" he exclaimed, though, not too loud since they were already inside the hospital. "There's no need to pull! Just... tell me what you need me for."
The woman turns around and rubs the back of her head, "Ah sorry... This is just really important and I want it gone as quickly as possible."
"'It'?"
She facepalmed and gave a nervous laugh, "Oh, I forgot to say didn't I?"
"You did."
"Sorry about that. Basically, a Porygon has infiltrated our hospital and we need a way to get rid of it."
Porygon were a strange breed of Pokemon. Scientists believe that they are the newest species of Pokemon to come into existence, with the first documented sighting taking place after the first computers were invented, though, no one is sure of where they came from. They are unique in that they have the ability to transmit themselves into wires and computers and move freely through cyberspace. Their shape is considered to be very strange, consisting of rigid, geometric parts that connect together to seem Ducklett-like.
"I should've guessed, you wouldn't ask if I had the modulation if you didn't need it for its intended purpose." Khoury said whilst nodding. "However, I'm a little confused as to why you had to ask a stranger for theirs."
A clueless look appeared on her face, giving Khoury all of the evidence he needed to establish the kind of person he was dealing with. "I don't actually know. Dr. Brett only told me to go and find someone with the modulation."
He sighed, "Whatever, just lead the way."
The two continued their trek, which was much more of Khoury's pace than before. However, it was clear that the woman was very eager to get along, judging by her tendency to skip and speed walk, in which she would then have to intentionally go slower to match the boy's speed. The woman led him up one flight of stairs and towards another woman. Unlike the probably volunteering woman, this lady seemed much more formal and competent.
"Ah, you've found someone." She spoke as if she was on the verge of losing her patience, but still trying to remain composed. She excused the other woman and beckoned for Khoury to follow her. "Thanks for your willingness to help. I apologize if she gave you any trouble."
"She was fine." He pulled out his Pokedex. "Before I help out though, may I ask why you need a stranger's modulation? Why doesn't the hospital have something to deal with Porygon?"
"We'll scan your device for viruses before we use it. As for why we don't have methods to remove Porygon... we've never really needed them; our database is heavily protected, and any member of the Porygon line coming near it would experience something akin to walking through a pillar of fire."
Khoury had never walked through a pillar of fire himself, but he could get the picture she was going for. "I see, so this is rather abnormal behavior."
"Yes it is. Personally, I'm not sure what it means, but we'll worry about that later." She stops walking and opens a door to the left of the hall; "Here's the room, come in."
Khoury walks to see an unoccupied hospital room. Inside were two men of radically different shapes, one being tall and thinner than spaghetti, and the other shockingly still counted as a human and not a Snorlax. They both turned around and the skinny man addressed the doctor: "We've managed to lure it to this room so that it doesn't wreck any equipment that's already in use. Did you find a modulation?"
She nodded at them, "Good. And yes, we did." She gestured for Khoury to show his Pokedex to the two men, which he did.
The large man picked it up and attached it to a cord, which itself was connected to one of the machines in the room. Once it was in, he handed it back to Khoury; "Here ya go. I assume you know how to work this thing?"
Khoury took back the device and nodded, "Of course." He shifted his attention to the screen and activated the app, which sent a strong electromagnetic pulse throughout the whole machine. The idea was that Porygon were attracted to electromagnetic energy, so luring them in with it would make them easier to capture.
He waited for a few silent seconds, anxiously waiting for any subtle changes on his screen. Eventually a number popped up on it, accompanied by some small text that read: inches away from device. "It's nearby!" exclaimed Khoury, attracting the attention of the other occupants.
"Great, increase the signal when it gets closer. It's probably only intrigued at this point, so you'll need to increase the temptation as it succumbs to it." the large man advised.
"Yeah, I know." Khoury responded dismissively, which made the man raise an eyebrow. Khoury had done this before, he didn't need to be treated like a Psyduck.
The next few minutes consisted of Khoury watching the number and increasing the frequency the closer it got to zero. The number itself never decreased at a desirably constant rate. Based on the changing values, it could be assumed that the Porygon got occasionally skeptical of the temptation, and took a few pauses to assess if the desire was truly going to be beneficial to it. With a bit of patience, the trespasser was finally within the Pokedex.
Khoury immediately hit the 'Capture' button and removed the cord that was connecting the two pieces of technology. A smirk materialized onto his face as he held the Pokedex aloft for all to observe; "I've caught your Porygon."
The three adults gave Khoury their full attention. "Thanks for your help. You've saved us from a potentially catastrophic data breach." the skinny man praised.
"It's no big deal to me. It would have been insensitive to refuse to help a hospital when I easily could."
"I suppose so..." the doctor said. "Would you like payment of some kind? You didn't ask for any earlier but I'm sure we could negotiate something."
Khoury glanced down at his Pokedex before giving his answer, "If it's alright with you, I'd just like to take the Porygon with me."
The woman nodded, "I believe that should be fine, just remember to take it to a Pokemon Center, its behavior was rather abnormal after all."
Khoury nodded, "Right, I'll remember." He glanced at the doorway in anticipation; "May I be excused?"
"Yes you may. I'll show you out."
The two people exited the room so that the two men could start cleaning up after the Porygon. They walked through the hospital back to the front doors, where the rest of the group was waiting. Once Khoury had reached his destination, the doctor took her leave.
He could see that the group had ended their break and were back to training. Lyra and Vincent were with their Cubone and Quagsire respectively, trying to teach the Lonely Pokemon a new move. Jimmy and Marina were working on moves their Plusle an Minun could use as a team.
Lyra was unsurprisingly the first to notice his appearance and raced towards him. Cubone, not liking his training being interrupted, slammed his bone down angrily. "There you are Khoury! What'd that lady need you for?" she asked with her mouth full of Pokemon crackers.
Khoury chuckled at his childhood friend and held up his Pokedex; "They just needed a Porygon removed from their database, nothing special."
Lyra's eyes lit up excitably as she tried to respond, but some crumbs got caught in her throat so all that came out was choking gibberish, making Khoury laugh even harder. After sorting herself out and swallowing the rest of her snack that she probably stole from Jimmy and Vincent, Lyra proceeded with her response: "Ooh, you have a Porygon now? Neato!"
"Yeah, I always wanted to catch one. They're an interesting species." Khoury elaborated. "We can discuss this later though. Right now, I need to take it to the Pokemon Center."
Lyra looked behind and clocked the location of the nearest center, "Alright let's head over there then!" She returned a seething Cubone to his Pokeball and turned to the rest of the group, who were observing them with mild curiosity; "We're going over to the Pokemon Center. We'll be back in a bit!"
The remaining three either waved or bid their farewells, and with that, the two were off.
Wednesday, July 30th, 6:24 PM, Blackthorn City Pokemon Center
The two reached their destination and went inside. Khoury released the Porygon from his Pokedex and quickly caught it with a pokeball. After a confirmed catch, he handed it over to the nurse on duty and let her take him to the back room. Then, Lyra and Khoury sat down at a nearby table to wait.
"What kind of strategies are you planning on using for your gym battle?" Khoury asked. Blackthorn City was the destination of Lyra's next gym, so she had been training for it specifically. She wasn't going to challenge it until Casey had awoken though.
Lyra perked up, "Oh yeah! Let's see... based on our research, the gym leader's name is Katherine and she uses Electric-type Pokemon. I think I remember hearing that there aren't any Pokemon that'll trigger my phobia, so I don't need any extra exposure therapy. I'll be using Cubone and Blitzle as my primary Pokemon since they're immune to Electric moves entirely. I'll also use Bayleef if I need to since it resists them."
Khoury nodded in approval, "Smart, and if Blitzle is hit by one, she'll get a speed boost. Also you'll be fine regarding your Megalophobia, the worst thing you'll have to deal with is only 5 feet tall, but if you're cool with Marina's Feraligatr then it'll be a cakewalk."
Lyra breathed a sigh of relief, "Good, I wasn't sure about my memory there for a second."
Khoury nodded, "I saw you were trying to teach Cubone a new move. Mind filling me in?"
"Vincent and I were trying to teach him Stomping Tantrum. I know he already has Bonemerang for a Ground-type move, but I feel that he needs something with some more power behind it" Lyra elaborated.
"Ah, I see."
An uncomfortable silence passed over the two as they ran out of conversation topics. Then, Lyra spoke up in a somber tone: "I hope Casey will wake up soon."
Khoury cringed at her statement, she had repeated the same sentence at least a dozen times today, but the thought of their injured friend still stung Khoury at each reminder. "She'll be fine, she's probably the toughest person in our group, and miraculously more stubborn than you."
Lyra playfully slugged him in the arm and laughed a little, "Yeah... I guess I'm still anxious about what exactly happened to her. We've been in the dark this whole time and she's the only who can fill us in."
"Yeah that's definitely nerve-wracking..." Khoury agreed, not sure on how he should offer reassurance.
"Excuse me?" a voice came from behind them.
The teens turned around to see the nurse with Porygon's Pokeball in her hands. She flashed a comforting smile as she presented the object to its owner; "Your Porygon is all healed up! I would recommend some rest for it though, it did sustain some serious injuries."
Khoury winced at the information, but took the ball and nodded, "Thank you, I'll be sure to let it rest up."
The nurse smiled again and left to return to her duties. Right as Khoury and Lyra were about to leave, they both received a notification from their Pokedexes: it was Jimmy. "Casey's awake! Come as soon as you can!"
Just then, another notification: "I'm back people! Get ready Team Rocket, you just messed with the wrong Williams! Be prepared to face the wrath of my Electric-type Pokemon!... and my other non-Electric-types!" Take a guess who that was.
The two friends looked at each other with excitement and relief written all over them and rushed out the door faster than a Ninjask.
Wednesday, July 30th, 6:49 PM, Blackthorn City Hospital
"Casey! You're okay!"
"You had us worried sick!"
"You want some Pokemon crackers?"
Upon entering the room, the three eldest members of the room began barraging their youngest companion with worried cries and tight hugs. Fortunately for Casey, she had the energy to absorb all of the incoming affection.
"Yeah I'm awake! It'll take more than a some bleeding to take ME down!" she replied with fierce vigor.
"Glad to hear it-" started Jimmy.
"Also Vincent, yes! Gimme 'em crackers!"
"Now hold on... I was just saying that to sound nice..."
"Too bad! You already offered!" Casey said as she swiftly jumped off her hospital bed, snatched the bag of crunchy delight, and sat back down. She popped the bag open and began munching down, spraying crumbs all over the hospital bed.
Vincent reluctantly stole a look at Jimmy, who shook his head disapprovingly in response. "That was all you this time, I'm not buying you another one."
"Hey! Where's Lyra and Khoury?" Casey asked with her mouth full.
"Oh yeah, there was this situation earlier in the hospital, and now Khoury has a Porygon to look after. He and Lyra went to the Pokemon Center to get it rested up."
"Ooh, a Porygon? I'll have to ask Khoury is I can see it sometime; I always found them to be pretty cool!"
At that point Lyra and Khoury entered the room. Upon seeing Casey, both of their faces lit up.
"Casey!" they both exclaimed simultaneously.
"Hey you two!" Casey called back whilst jumping out of her bed again. She ran up and gave Lyra a tight hug, which was swiftly returned. After an eternity (in Khoury's opinion, at least), Casey let go of Lyra and offered her other visitor a fist bump.
"How are you doing Casey?" Khoury asked upon receiving the gesture.
Casey thought for a moment, "Mostly fine. My mom visited me before you all did and we had a chat. That was nice. How have you guys been without your constant ray of energy?"
Khoury took a quick glance at Lyra before answering Casey; "As far as being without you goes, we were all worried. Though, our time wasn't lacking in any energy. That's for sure."
Lyra grinned and nodded her head, "I had to up my game to make sure they would be prepared for your return."
Casey smiled a Lyra, "Thank you my excitement-providing companion. No worries! Your burden will be shared with me once more!" The two girls started laughing, which eventually spread around to the rest of the group.
"So Casey." said Jimmy, pulling the purple-haired girl's attention towards him. "Do you need to stay at the hospital? Or can you leave?"
"I'm supposed to stay the night here; I'll be discharged in the morning, though."
"Ah, good thing you don't need to stay a few more days or something. I'm sure that wouldn't be fun."
Casey took a moment to imagine how living in a hospital room would be. After a few seconds, she shivered and gave her response: "I'm already jumpy after not using any energy for two days straight, I'm not going to suffer through that awake."
Lyra perked up, "Oh! Does that mean I can have my gym battle tomorrow?"
Casey's eyes widened with excitement, "A gym battle? Now we're talking! No way I'm missing that!"
"With all that extra practice you've been getting done, I'd say you're plenty prepared Lyra." Jimmy said.
Casey raised an eyebrow at him jokingly, "You saying it's a GOOD thing that I was in a coma?"
Before Jimmy could refute her claim, Vincent jumped into the conversation: "That's EXACTLY what he's saying Casey."
Jimmy gave Vincent a look that screamed 'just stop' louder than the actual phrase could while the rest of the group laughed. With their friend officially awake, the group dynamic had gone back to normal. As the sun set, the group bid goodbye to Casey so that she could rest. The girl was excited to be reunited with them the following day, though, her parents' proposal still lingered in the back of her mind.
Wednesday, July 30th, 11:34 PM, Blackthorn City Hospital
A man sat in an office filled with monitors. As a night guard, he was tasked with watching all corners of the hospital for suspicious activity. He was quite happy with his job, since he actually got to exercise some authority with it. Sometimes, important things happened in the hospital at night. It was certainly more involved than working the same job at that one pizza place.
Tonight would be a night where he would actually get to do what he was paid to do, but not in the way that he would expect.
A vibrating alarm went off, immediately turning the guard's attention away from the monitors and towards the noise. The hospital server had been breached, just like it had earlier that day. He leapt off his seat and immediately ran to fetch the maintenance crew. The firewalls had been damaged from the last breach, meaning this intruder had to go through significantly less pain to get in.
He arrived at the room where the two maintenance workers were sleeping. He swiftly woke them up and alerted them of the situation. Immediately, the two set to work on locating the trespasser.
A few minutes later, one of them relayed some puzzling news, "Nothing's in the network."
The guard gave them a surprised look, "What?"
"I'm not seeing anything. It could have left."
The other worker continued, "If that's true, then that's worse than having to deal with it ourselves."
"How so?" the guard asked.
"No Porygon would enter and exit so quickly on their own accord. That means this one belongs to somebody, and they ordered it to go in and probably steal some information."
The guard was now understanding the urgency of the situation, "What kind of information would they steal?"
"Records of patients, information on the staff, and the machines that we use."
"I see... do you think the Porygon attack earlier today was also planned?"
"That's very likely, yes. The culprit probably wanted to send in Porygon to kamikaze itself and weaken the firewalls so that they could send in another intruder to steal the information. With that in mind, I believe said intruder was one of Porygon's evolved forms: Porygon2, or Porygon-Z."
The guard nodded, "Regardless of that, this situation could be very bad for us. We need to alert the police about this breach and investigate."
Both workers nodded. One of them took a look at the device he was using to scan the server, "I agree. In the meantime, let's just hope that our culprit was just a desperate scoundrel finding information on a relative or something, since given the circumstances, that's the best case scenario."
Happy Mother's Day!
Next Chapter: Sync Paralysis