So, uhh.. hey.. I.. uhm.. i'm genuinely really fucking sorry, to start. My life got super chaotic over time. High school started, I had a ton of work to do, and i've just been focusing on other things. There might be a tonal difference between the first and second parts of this chapter as they were written weeks apart, but I at least got this done. I managed to make this chapter lengthy to compensate, so I hope you enjoy. As usual, thanks to Rektnome, coleman99, redzuana, and santialexchris1809 for favoriting my story! It genuinely means a lot to me. Now i'll stop boring you to death and let you read my damn story!

- CHAPTER BEGIN -

The group gently but hastily placed Kai onto a cot as Art quickly went over to Nurse Clefairy, panicked. I stood there in shock for a while along with my bloodstained paws. They belonged to my friend of four years. Someone who had helped me through so much. I snapped back into focus, though; I was already aware of all of this information. "Use the gauze!" I was told by Art, before being handed a white bandage-like material. I quickly rushed over to Kai's forehead, carefully wrapping the gauze and lifting my friend's head to apply it.

Dennis and Art were talking worriedly beside me while I tried to clean off my paws. It definitely didn't help that they were blood-stained; every time I glanced at them it reminded me of my friend's dilemma. Florence and Nurse Clefairy were working together to try and clean out Kai's wounds. If I listened closely, I could hear his whimpers. I quickly rubbed my paws off on some of the extra gauze, rushing over to help the Lucario and nurse. "If we aren't quick, Kai could have permanent damage!" The Clefairy yelled out with urgency. We were all taking this very seriously, because if we didn't we could end up hurting our friend.

The three of us quickly got to work. It felt like a blur to me. All I really could remember was there was a lot of yelling, mostly from Kai out of pure agony... But by the end of it, it seemed that Kai would be okay. He was covered and bandages and brutally attacked for seemingly no reason, but he would be okay. I sighed with relief, before wiping my paw on my face and realizing that it still had blood on it. I let out a displeased sigh this time, Florence seeming a bit concerned by it before going back to chatting with Nurse Clefairy. From what I could hear, she was telling him a story about another patient. So much for privacy..

I ripped off whatever was left of the gauze after nearly the entire supply had been used on Kai, wiping the blood off of my face and just trying not to worry too much. If he had survived this, then he should be fine after a bit of healing. All he needed to do is recover and everything would be back to normal! Right..

..Right?

- A Few Days Later -

Kai had very luckily healed for the most part by this point. He was okay physically, but mentally.. not so much. He was pretty much spending all of his time in the dorm room, completely shutting out everyone except me. Art and Dennis were really upset by this, Guildmaster Floatzel completely understood and left him alone, Florence was just somewhat confused and conflicted, while Andy got anxious every single second I was with the unstable Kai instead of him. But me? It definitely was weird being pretty much the only person he allowed to talk to him. He was constantly crying. All the time. It was like the incident had completely changed him; he wasn't his sociable and excited self anymore. He was reclusive and constantly depressed. But when the story came out of what had happened earlier that day while the rest of us weren't focused on him, I completely understood why.

Turns out that an old group of 'pals' were just faking; they took him deep into the forest and pretty much beat him up to an excruciating amount, insulted him, stole everything, and left. He told me that he barely knew them, but they kept saying that 'this was what was coming to him' and that he deserved it. And then it somehow managed to get WORSE. All he remembered was one last slam of a punch, before blacking out. When he woke up, he was pretty much destroyed, emotionally and physically, even more so before he had blacked out. It seemed that they got a bunch of extra hits in. Kai crawled his way desperately to the guild before passing out right in front of us. Though chances were they got the wrong guy, it had still shown Kai how cruel the world is. He spoke with a ridiculous amount of pain in his voice. It showed him that no matter how much you try to stay positive and be kind to people, you'll get injured anyways. So why bother?

I would've gotten that upset too if that happened to me. Probably also make me stop trying. But I knew that this wasn't the best for Kai; so I pushed him to keep going. It didn't break through at first, but eventually.. it did. He managed to pull himself up and begin to move on. But it was nowhere near being enough to completely fix what had been done. He wasn't the same person. He never would be, either. All we could do is just be kind to him.

"Otto.. I think i'm ready to talk to the others again." Kai said. There wasn't much enthusiasm in his voice, but it isn't like it was unjustified. He was completely right to feel this way.

"Alright then. Let's go." I gripped onto his paw, slowly opening the door. "Who do you wanna talk to first?" I asked. Would it be Art? Dennis? Guildmaster Floatzel? By some miracle Andy or Florence? He quickly shut me up, though, with something I completely wasn't expecting.

"..My mom, Otto. I want to talk to my mom." That caught me off guard. He had barely mentioned his parents, other than a few times where he got into a lot of trouble and they had to pull him out of it in his youth. I understood, though; if I had parents here i'd likely have went to them for guidance also.

"Do you know where they are then, Kai?" I said, asking yet another question. Surely he did if they were his parents. Were they far away? Nearer? I was hoping they wouldn't be far, but it became more and more clear once I realized that he had somewhat rarely visited them, and he was gone for days at a time. It was sure to be a long trip.

"We'd have to a take a trip down the river on one of the rafts down there. It would be a long trip, but.. I really need her at the moment. If I can just see her.. everything will be better. It has to be.. she always helps me when times gets tough." Were the trips that Kai took to his parents when he was really stressed out? They always seemed to be right after some huge missions or large arguments between us. I assumed that was it, but was I really going to go out of my way to ask him about it? No, that's insensitive!

"Would I be able to bring any of the.. others with me?" I knew the answer was most likely no, but I had to try. Though Kai was troubled, it didn't give me the right to neglect any of them.

"..Just… just two of them. You know the rafts are small." I smiled widely as I thanked him. Now the big question was: who would I even take? Guildmaster Floatzel could provide some strong emotional support. He has experience, right? But Art's just as good, if not better than that! Dennis could give some huge hugs, but he'd probably take up two spots rather than one.. and what about Andy and Florence? Both of them, especially Andy, needed me still, even if not as much as Kai did. Was I going to place more priority on comforting Kai, or my other friends? Or BOTH? I sighed deeply as I walked off to make my decision and Kai entered his dorm once again to allow me to decide. It was a dilemma; there were many combinations, but who could say which one was the best option? I returned to my lab, just pacing around worriedly before Guildmaster Floatzel opened the door himself.

"..Hey, Otto. How did talking to Kai go?" He asked, seeming worried about the Raichu. "He's.. good. He wants to go visit his mom, and he says two of you and me can go along with him on one of the river rafts. I'm just having trouble deciding.." I was starting to get stressed out. Decisions like these were hard for me to make.

"Ah. That's quite the dilemma." He said in response. "Perhaps we could all discuss together?" The Floatzel suggested. I saw the logic behind that suggestion; if we all worked together to try and work this out, it would likely quickly become easier. We all knew what we could offer and what we would bring to the table in this situation. But that's where the big problem comes in. The more people that are involved, the more of a role their personal bias can play into it. Will they just pick their closer friends, instead of considering everything? Perhaps I was overthinking this, but I couldn't mess this up. If I did, Kai could possibly be messed up for life!

"..No, it's fine, Guildmaster Floatzel. It's better if I try and make this decision myself. I think our conversation would just devolve into arguing. Thanks for offering, though." He nodded, seeming disappointed yet understanding my intentions. He left and shut the door behind him as I thought some more. Who would be best, who would be best? Maybe I'd just decide at random on how popped in my head first! An impulsive decision might lead to the best outcome, since it's what my brain comes to think of first..right? I quickly threw that away, though. It could completely go wrong.

Then the shadow's words came right back at me. I had a limited time frame to help Andy. He needed me. Maybe this raft trip would help him learn more about how to be brave and to help others! I couldn't just leave him here for much longer or he'd be another failure! Like.. like me.. I couldn't let that happen. Definitely not. I could take Andy with me and one of the others.. probably Art.. he seems like the best emotional support. Guildmaster Floatzel, though he would like to come along, of course, probably has other things to attend to anyways. It would be unfair to ask him to come along. Besides, the Dewott likely knew Kai far better than Floatzel did.

I had finally decided it in my mind. Prioritize helping Andy and take along Art to help with handling Kai's emotional issues. Leave Dennis, Guildmaster Floatzel, and Florence here to focus on later. It was the perfect plan; I could support my friends who needed it most. If I could've pat myself on the back, I would've right then and there. I exited the room and prepared to tell Kai about my decision. I walked down the hall and knocked on the Raichu's door.

Kai opened it to see me. "You made your decision yet?" He asked rather quickly, seeming curious. "I sure have, Kai. Andy and Art can come with us." He seemed to think about it for a moment, before nodding in agreement. "I'll go ahead and let them know." I spoke out, before heading to the cafeteria where everyone was likely waiting rather anxiously. I assumed Guildmaster Floatzel will have told them the news. I walked down the hall once again to meet up with my friends, pushing open the cafeteria doors and waving to them. They all waved back.

"Alright then, I think me and Kai have come to an agreement. Art, Andy, you can come with us." I looked at their faces to see their reactions. Everyone who would have to stay behind seemed rather disappointed but understanding. Art seemed happy, if not a little stressed about the situation like I would expect. It was taking a toll on everyone. He seemed very glad to be helping his friend out, though. Andy on the other hand, seemed incredibly relieved. I knew he had been struggling with his emotions on his own without my presence around him like before the incident. I knew he was becoming even more dependent on me, and I would have to make sure he didn't grow TOO dependent. It wasn't a problem at the present moment, but what if he needs me for absolutely everything? There's no way he could be the hero he's meant to be!

The two got up, waving goodbye to the rest of the group. There was no time to waste; Kai needed his parent's support badly, and we weren't just going to stand here and make him wait. The three of us approached the room with our usual supplies with us. "I think we're all ready." I said, watching as Kai collected his own items. Though he still seemed down on the dumps, there was definitely a glimmer of hope somewhere in those eyes. He was feeling a little bit better, someway, somehow. You could just tell. I stayed close to Kai as we exited the guild building and headed to the dock with the rafts.

I quickly noticed the looks of pity being shot our way, almost all specifically at Kai. Everyone felt bad for him; he'd become the jolliest and happiest 'mon around town to practically a complete loner. Unless you were crazy, misunderstood, or just didn't care, you felt a certain way about the situation, and it was almost always bad. It seemed like he didn't really want their pity, though. It was rather stange seeing him trying to ignore the looks, but it was clear that it was getting to him a bit. He was aware of it and he didn't like it.

Andy remained close to me as he seemed far less tense than he had the past few days. Now that he was near me, he definitely would feel safer than he did without me. Art placed his paw on Kai's back, patting it. "Everything will be alright, pal. We're all here to support you through this journey." The Raichu smiled a bit, and the rest of us couldn't help but smile even wider than we already were. It was like his happiness was contagious. The docks were close in sight, only a short distance away. Kai would get the extra support he needed to get his life back on track, and maybe even become close to what he was before. That was a big maybe though, and I'd rather not get my hopes up high. You'd often be disappointed if you did something like that.

We stepped onto the dock as the Wartortle who ran it waved to us. "Well, what bring you here today?" He said. His name is Wally from what is heard. He was an avoid lover of the sea, which made sense considering what Pokémon he was. "I'll be seeing my mom, like usual when I come here." Kai said, his voice sounding rather quiet. The Wartortle nodded, pointing to a raft on our left. "That's yours! This one is on the house. I heard what happened Kai, and.. I hope you'll feel better soon." He nodded, sitting down on the raft and motioning for the rest of us to follow. We of course did, with Wally handing us a pair of oars. "Don't worry about losing them, you'll only have to pay a small fine. Besides, you have two Water types with you. Theu can just swim you to safety if need be." Andy seemed to relax an immense amount when he heard this, while Kai didn't seem to react much. We all expressed our gratitude, before beginning to push the raft down the stream.

The stress of the shadow's words never left me. Everything it had said cut me deep and made me question everything about what I'd been doing here. Clearly I was doing something right by bringing Andy along, though. I'd figure it out most likely when I laid to rest later, though.

My glance turned to Kai's face, which looked far less injured and happier than it had been just a few short days ago. He'd come such a long way in such a short time; it reminded me of myself four years ago.. but a lot of things did. I rowed the boat along with Art, pushing us further down the flowing body of water surrounding us. Though the future seemed rather uncertain, it was clear we would all face it together, no matter how difficult it would be. We were always there for eachother, since we all had met. And I was certain for a very long time that would never change. Right?

..Right?

- CHAPTER END -

Man, this chapter actually isn't that far from the length of the last one! I'm really glad that my writing length has went from 1k-1.5k to 2k-3k! I'm definitely improving. Once again i'd like to apologize for the wait, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I worked my ass off on finishing it!