Osteogenesis Imperfecta
by Joshua Falken
Thanks to BenRG for beta-read this chapter! :-)
Author's note: Osteogenesis Imperfecta is an Alternate Universe fic, where Ash has the disease of the title. Also, this genetic disorder is real, it really exists. For more info, access http://www.oif.org
Now, the chapter 2! :-)
Chapter 2 - First Aid
Viridian City Central Police Station
Interview Room
June 14, 2063
Misty hugged Togepi, while she waited in the room for the investigator that would take her statement. The door opened and a black-haired woman wearing a black coat entered. Misty did not know her, but there was something so familiar about her...
"Miss Williams, I'm Detective Jennifer Wigand."
Now, Misty understood why the woman was so familiar... the difference that some details can make...
"I believe that we can begin your statement." The detective activated a MP10 recorder. "Could you state your full name and age, please?"
"Misty Elizabeth Williams, 15 years-old."
"And you are...?"
"Leader of Cerulean City Gym."
"How long have you been the Pokémon Journey companion of Trainer Ash Ketchum?"
The orange-haired girl thought a little.
"For at least three years. I've been with him since he destroyed my bicycle."
The detective looked at her, surprised. "Huh?"
"Well, I think that I should explain that," she said in an embarrassed tone. "I was fishing along the banks of the River Pallet, when I pulled Ash and his Pikachu out of the water. They were escaping from Spearows that were attacking them. Because they were closing in, he took my bicycle to escape from them and to take Pikachu to the nearest Pokémon Center..."
"Which Pokémon Center?"
"Right here. The one in Viridian City."
Mentally, the detective noted that she should interview Nurse Joy at the city's Pokémon Centre.
"Right... Continue, please."
"Well, to cut a long story short, Ash's Pikachu destroyed my bicycle when he threw an Thundershock attack to stop the Spearows. I've followed Ash since then, hoping that he will replace my bicycle." She ended, opening the arms.
Jenny Wigand looked carefully at the trainer. Stay close by someone for three years just to ensure that they pay a debt? She didn't buy that story. She thought that there was something more involved. Something of romantic kind...
"What can you tell me about him? How you would describe him?"
That question caught the Trainer by surprise.
"Well... he is the most stubborn, clumsy, awkward, lazy, braggart..." She sighed before continuing. Who was she trying to fool? "He is also courageous, honest, decent, determined, sometimes even heroic. He always gets us in trouble because he can't keep his mouth shut, but he also tries always help people as much as he can. He can be the laziest trainer in the world... but he also loves Pokémon more than any other Trainer I know."
The policewoman didn't interrupt her witness, but she gave a small smile all time that she changed her friend's description. One moment she criticises him, but the next she praises him. It was a sign that Jenny knew very well. She had already suffered of that "disease" herself...
"Did you know if your friend had any enemy?"
Misty shook her head, in a vehement way.
"No. I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt Ash. I mean, Team Rocket pursues him..."
"I'm sorry the Team Rocket?" That trainer was being pursued by the world's largest terrorist organisation?
"By two of their field agents, Jessie and James. They want to steal Ash's Pikachu. As far as we can tell, it is because he is much more powerful than any other."
"I understand." She knew of Jessie and James, they were notorious: the region's most feared thieves of Pokémon. "Continue, please."
"Well, I don't think they would do a thing like... that. I mean, they have that reputation of being bad guys, but they are not the kind of people who would so such a thing!" Misty shook her head.
Jenny didn't agree with that opinion, but didn't comment.
"Please, tell me what happened that day, from the beginning."
The orange-haired girl hugged Togepi tighter and breathed deep.
"Ash, Brock and I were at the Pokémon Center, waiting for the staff to finish rejuvenating his Pokémon. Ash had just finished a battle against a friend of ours, Richie Trenton. You know about that don't you?"
The detective nodded in confirmation. She followed the League's fixtures.
"Then, Brock told Ash to go to the Hotel, to take a bath. He looked really horrible. Ash didn't want to go because he didn't want to leave his Pokémon. I told him that we would stay there until Ash returned. So he left and went to the hotel. After a while, we noticed that he was taking too long. Ash would never do that, not when his Pokémon were still receiving medical care. I went up to the hotel, and I went into the room... and..." Misty seemed to be to the point of cry. "I saw him, in the door of the bathroom... all bloodstained, the bones sticking out of his skin... his arms and legs twisted in that horrible way..." Misty closed her eyes, trying to force the nightmarish image out of her mind. "Then I screamed for help. One of the employees of the hotel heard me and called the ambulance and the Security Police." She concluded.
"Didn't you hear or see some thing suspicious?"
"No..." Then the trainer reconsidered. When she had entered in the room, there was something strange, but she could not put her finger on it...
"Are you aware that Mr. Ketchum suffers from a genetic disease?"
"Yes." For sure, she knew about that... thing.
"Thank you, Miss Williams. You are free to go."
Misty was about to get up when her cellular phone and Detective Jenny's rung simultaneously. Both received the same news. Misty smiled properly for the first time since Jenny entered the room. She then ran out carrying Togepi.
Detective Jennifer Wigand asked the classic question in those cases: "Can he make a statement?"
Edward Jenner Building
June 14, 2063
Somebody observed Ash's hospital room, from the building on the other side of the street. The observer was in the total darkness, using a telescope designed for espionage work and equipped with a Low-Light Level ('Starlite') image enhancer.
The person in that apartment bit their lips with rage, noticing the movement in the Pokémon trainer's room. The venom in the voice was stronger than the one of an Arbok.
"Mr. Ketchum, it will be better for everyone if you just don't wake up!"
The observer began to assemble something that he or she had brought in a suitcase.
Viridian Forest
June 14, 2063
While Misty ran from the police station to the Hospital as fast as she could, a balloon flew over Viridian Forest. Riding in that balloon was a blue-haired young man and a red-haired young woman, and a Meowth. The three sat quietly, watching the news...
"... There still are no clues regarding who could be responsible for the brutal attack against Trainer Ash Ketchum." The reporter declared from in front of the hospital where Ash was hospitalised. "According to the doctors, the trainer's condition remains serious, not only due to the injuries he received during the assault, but also due to a rare genetic disorder from which the young trainer is suffering." At that point, the three occupants of the balloon changed glances. "Ash Ketchum's chances of recovering in time to face Lance Silver, the leader of the Elite Four, is extremely low. If he won that battle, he would go on to face Amanda Blackstone, the current League Supreme Champion, in the Finals..."
At that point, Jessie Gibson turned off the TV set and looked at James Morgan, and she saw that he was concerned.
"Come on, James! Don't tell me that you are worried about what happens to that twerp!"
"Of course not! I only wanted to know who would do a thing like that, that's all."
"Why?" Meowth asked.
"Curiosity," James lied, shrugging in an easy-going way. He would never admit that he was concerned about Ash. They were enemies, all right, but James was human. With that there came a part of him that was repelled at such a brutal attack. But he would never admit that.
Neither would Jessie.
After all, they had a fearsome reputation to uphold. In spite of the fact that they once saved Ash's life...
Sanders Island, Orange Archipelago
January 27, 2062
Jessie and James were ready to go crazy. Where were the twerps? They had been seeking them for two days in this blasted forest!
Then, at that very moment, they saw Pikachu appear from behind a tree. Then he surprised them by making a gesture.
"Jessie," James said in a surprised tone, "he seems to want us to follow him!"
"Good," Meowth said. "We will follow him, alright... to capture him!" The cat-like Pokémon jumped at the electric Pokémon. He ended up with his face in the dirt thanks to a timely use of an Agility defence by his prey. Pikachu called them again.
Jessie and James looked at each other in confusion. What did that electric mouse want with them?
They ran after Pikachu, they didn't have choice after all, until they arrived at the entrance of a cave. There they saw Pikachu's Trainer, Ash, covered with Golbat bites and with two visible compound fractures to his arms. One of his legs was stuck out sideways at a right angle. They stared at the vision in horror and amazement, unable to figure out what they should do next.
"Pi-pi-ka-chu-pi-ka-pi-ka!" Pikachu squeaked in an angry tone
"Meowth, what did he say?"
"He is asking us to help Ash."
The trio of thieves stared in amazement. Pikachu was asking them for help?! They looked at each other and then looked at the wounded and unconscious trainer.
"Listen here, your walking battery, we are Pokémon thieves and not nurses!" Jessie screamed. She couldn't understand why she felt the need to explain this.
"Jessie, he's almost dead..." The blue-haired young man spoke, in a low tone, after examining Ash.
Like it or not they couldn't live with his death on their conscience...
"Okay!" Jessie said, throwing up her hands in disbelief and resignation. "What we can do?"
After working to stop the bleeding and immobilising Ash's limbs, they took him in their balloon to Cobalton City, Sanders Island's largest city. After they left Ash in the hospital, they notified the local Security Police (disguised, of course) who were searching for the missing trainer.
Why did they help Ash, when that was the perfect chance to steal Pikachu?
The answer to that question... neither of them knew...
Viridian Forest
June 14, 2063
James broke the silence. "Why we don't go to the city?"
"Why?"
"Hey, we can always steal some Pokémon from the Global League trainers." James suggested with a nervous shrug.
"I don't know." Meowth commented. "Da Boss don't like Field Teams to do jobs during da Global Games..."
"That is true," Jessie commented. "Although why he should care I couldn't tell you."
"Well," James suggested, "at least we'll have the chance to see the League finals this year! That has got to be better than wandering around the forest doing nothing!"
That argument worked.
To be continued - Chapter 3 coming soon!
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