Normal Text - Narrative

"Quotations" - Dialogues

"Quotations Italics" - "Thoughts"

Italics - Quotes and messages

(bracket) - (flashback)

Underline Bold - Title

Bold Italics - Announcements

Bold Italics *-* - *actions or dialogues from a media*

Quick AN: Was writing the script for my video but I'm just not feeling it lately so here's Chapter 3. Enjoy!

A.S Chapter 3

Unconscious, Conclusion: Concussion

It had been about an hour since Ben was brought into the Emergency Room. Some random man found him lying in the middle of a field with his stuff on the ground not far from him. Upon examining him, along with the mild red bruise on his head, and doing a CT scan while he was unconscious, the doctors came to the conclusion that he had a concussion. Not severe, of course, but it wasn't nice. Knowing that he'd wake up eventually, they placed him on a hospital bed in a ward.

And boy were they right.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. "Ohhh.." he said, letting out a silent groan.

He was in a hospital bed but he didn't realise this. Well, not yet at least. He shifted his head to his side in order to see his surroundings. Unfortunately for him, his eyes couldn't make any significant details. From his perspective, the world was a blurry mess. He sat up trying to gain the little balance he had. He massaged his own head, trying to relieve the throbbing headache but he quickly pulled his hand away from his head when he accidentally put too much pressure on the bruise on his forehead, crying silently in the process.

A nurse stationed at that ward noticed that Ben had just woken up. She called the doctor to get him to come to the ward and moments later, he did. With his notepad in his hand, the doctor walked towards him with a faint smile. He placed his hand on Ben's shoulders and lightly pushed him back onto the bed.

Ben, of course, still dazed and confused as well as having a throbbing headache and practically no vision, was irritated by this. He didn't even know that man – well, he might know that man. It's just that he can't make out his face very well.

"Wz…hat the h..ell?" he asked, clearly irritated. This startled the doctor. The doctor took a deep breath and told him that he needs to lie down on the bed for a bit.

"Speech problems…" the doctor muttered to himself.

"You had a concussion," The doctor said. "It is caused by a blow to the head that changes the way your brain works." A plain, simple and straightforward statement was what he said but it was effective as Ben froze at those words. "A man brought you in. He said that he found you in the middle of a field, knocked out cold. We did a CT scan and it doesn't seem like you have any serious damage but you did sustain a concussion."

"I was… i- in the middle of a field?" Ben asked.

"Ah, we'd figured you can't recall," he stated. "Now, why don't you tell me the last thing you CAN recall?"

It took Ben a while to recall and piece his memories together. There were parts where he can't recall anything – like blank spots in his memory so responded will all he had.

"I was…" he tried to think but the pain in his head just won't go away. "I was… I was going out- ah…" He recoiled at the sudden headache. "I wazz going out. I went… to a convenience store and bought some shtuff. After that… I went to the park, I think. And afhter that… afhter that… I don't remember…" he trailed off sounding disappointed in himself. "I don't know w-here I am."

The question kind of came out of nowhere but it was a question worth asking. "Ah, sorry for not telling you earlier but you are in a hospital. Sandgem Hospital. Don't worry, though. Your memory will come back over time." After saying that, the doctor immediately asked the nurse if they were able to find any contact information about Ben to which the nurse replied, "No luck. Strange eh?" She sounded as tired as ever.

Ben meanwhile, was left pondering by himself. What exactly had just happened? That was the question he asked himself. He thought so much but even then, nothing recent could be recalled by him.

He was well awake by then and he knows that but somehow his vision was still cloudy. He tried to rub his eyes but the doctor caught his hand in the process.

"Hey, try not to rub your eyes," he said. Without hesitation, Ben said, "I can't shee anything." He started to sweat bullets. He didn't want to go blind. Not when he's that young.

The doctor froze. He turned to his nurse and whispered, "His condition is worse than I thought. Can you try contacting the police?" to the nurse. "What? Why?" the nurse asked the doctor. "Wait- Ah… actually, no. My bad, scratch that."

The nurse then exited the room and the doctor walked to the side of the bed, pulled a chair to sit on and asked Ben, "Can you still see light?" to which Ben replied with a "Y-Yeah…?"

The doctor continued writing on his notepad on a new page. "Ummm… Okay. We'll try to find and contact your parents or your legal guardians first and then we're going to do some tests to see how bad it actually is. Do you have any numbers that we can call?"

"No- No… I don't… Uhh…" Ben begins to panic once again and to make things worse, his headache is killing him. Out of nowhere, the door opened and came in a woman with a black shirt with a black jacket accompanying it along with jeans. She walked towards the only occupied bed in the ward. Ben slowly turned towards the sound as the sound of her shoe tapping got ever closer.

"Ben, what happened?"

"Ma'am, he's had a concussion. He did not remember anything regarding the incident."

There was a slight pause and an awkward silence. "...He had a concussion…? Now I really want to know what happened to him."

"Ma'am are you his legal guardian?"

"No, but he's in our custody." The woman pulled out a badge showing the doctors that she is from the police.

"Some guy brought him in a few hours ago – he said that he found him in the middle of the park."

"In the middle of the park? What were you doing there?"

"Ma'am, please try not to ask him questions as of now. The poor lad's probably confused."

"Look, he was in the middle of the park. He couldn't have slipped and fallen. Someone or something did this to him."

"I understand your concern but if you don't mind, we're going to do some tests – mostly on his eyes. He did say that his vision is blurry so we're going to check that out." Ben flinched at the word 'tests'. The doctor began to speak but Ben couldn't hear him very well. It was as if he was speaking through a fog. Ben tried to focus on his words but it was just too difficult. All he could make out was that the doctor was saying something about a concussion and tests.

"Test? Oh god, not the needles," Ben thought to himself.

"Right… I'll be waiting outside." The woman walked out of the ward.

The doctor noticed Ben sweating bullets. "Hey, hey, hey." The doctor leaned in and put his hand on Ben's shoulder. "Stay calm, it's going to be alright, okay?"

Ben slowly nodded his head. "We're just going to do some minor tests. I promise you, there will be no needles involved."

Turns out I was not okay– well, not as okay as it was. After numerous tests and multiple rounds of Heal Pulse by a Chansey, the doctor came to a worrying conclusion. The doctor took off his glasses and took a deep breath.

"I have four pieces of news for you. The best news, the good news, the bad news and the worst news. Which news do you want to hear first?"

Ben thought for a second. He had made up his mind but was very hesitant to say it. Before that, he swallowed the lump in his throat.

"The- worst news…" he said, voice trembling as he did. His heart was racing like crazy,

"Right… you wanted to save the best for last. I want you to stay calm but…" he paused for a second, "Your vision won't be the same. I've contacted a specialist over at Sanmaeg region to take a look at the test results. It's… not that pretty. Basically, moderate to severe concussion can lead to pseudomyopia which is nearsightedness, usually temporary but the thing is, well, in this very rare case, there's a high chance that it won't recover on its own fully. Emphasis on fully, but we can't be too certain at this point. Even though it can potentially be fixed, you will have to refer to a neuro-optometrist and it will cost you a fortune. The bad news is that we do not have any neuro-optometrist in all of Sinnoh, not even in the big cities, let alone in Sandgem Town so they are very rare which also means, again, you will have to pay a fortune to get your former vision back."

Ben didn't say anything. Instead, he looked down at his lap with a frown on his face. He sighed as his lips quivered.

Was he devastated? Yes.

Will he be depressed for the next 6 months over it? Unless that's the only news he got – the worst news – then sure, he might because now he's basically legally blind but luckily for him, however, the doctor had good news. Two of them to be exact but that doesn't change the fact that he still blamed himself for his own injuries. Even then, he tried his best to keep his composure.

The doctor continued, "The good news is that your vision will recover… a little bit."

Ben's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked up at the doctor. "What?"

"You can still see," the doctor repeated, "You're just nearsighted. It's not as bad as it could've been."

Ben let out a sigh of relief as he felt the tension in his body dissipate. He was grateful that he could still see since he knew that it could've been much worse.

"Though it'll take a while – maybe a month or two – but it will recover, just not fully which brings us to the best news; you can continue your life as normal but you will have to use a pair of glasses in order to see properly. We can do an eye exam, and get you your prescription. It's going to take a day or two – maybe a little bit more – if we really speed things up. That's a lot cheaper, easier and faster but you have to cope with the increased burden of taking care of your glasses and being dependent on them. Oh and also, you will change prescriptions frequently as your vision recovers before it stops… recovering. Which also more appointments"

"Won't Chansey be able to fix it?"

The nurse shook her head. "Chansey can't do much for this kind of injury. We've tried it before and it just doesn't work. Glasses are the only way."

"Only to a certain extent. Heal Pulse can only help with your confusion, your sense of balance, your blurry vision – only a little bit –, your bruise and your speech problem – anything that involves thinking, basically," the doctor explained.

"Oh…" Ben said, looking down once again, "I- I think- I hope I'll be fine."

"Oh yeah, you'll continue your life just fine. After the test, we found out that you didn't have any problems in reading and eye tracking – probably because of the Heal Pulse too. I mean, you're speaking fine too so clearly, your symptoms are alleviated a bit."

"…A bit."

"You're better off than before, at least. As I said, you can continue your life normally with the help of spectacles."

"…I see. Thank you."

"No you don't," the doctor smirked and the nurse elbowed him. While it was funny to him, it was pretty messed up.

"Don't worry about it," the nurse said, "You'll be just fine."

Ben remained silent, but he nodded.

"Ben?" The doctor's tone was worried. "Ben, are you okay?"

Ben nodded again and forced a smile. "I'm fine," he said. "I'm fine, just a little bit of a shock. I just… don't know what to say."

"I can imagine."

"What do I do about the glasses now?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about the glasses too much. We'll sort it out for ya." His smile assured Ben that he will be alright.

"But," he held his finger up, "I need you to come back here tomorrow afternoon so we can get you a proper prescription."

Ben nodded.

"Alright." The doctor stood up and extended his hand, shaking Ben's firmly. "You're a lucky man."

He forced a smile. "Thanks."

A walk back to the hotel was eerily quiet as the atmosphere of Sandgem Town died down. Shops were closed and the only light illuminating the town was the street lights. Ben couldn't see jack shit so he had to hold Ryna's hand for guidance and he didn't particularly like it. It was awkward as hell, especially when it was just silence between them but somehow it felt motherly and it made him wonder when was the last time he ever held his mother's hand.

"You're really quiet," Ryna said when they got to the entrance of the Pokémon Centre.

Ben let go of her hand, "Just thinking."

Ryna turned around and faced him, "What are you thinking about?"

Ben stared at her intently, "You."

Ryna had a look of alarm on her face. "Me?" she asked nervously.

Ben stopped staring at her and looked away, "Like, I'm wondering why you're still with me."

Ryna was silent as she stared at him in disbelief, "What are you talking about?"

Ben turned to her, "We've been together for over – how many months now? – and I haven't done anything for you. You've been helping me with everything. I've just been leeching off you this whole time."

Ryna smiled, "No, you're alright. Plus, it's my job to take care of you anyway."

"I'm not wrong." Ben insisted.

The hotel lobby was quiet when they walked in. The man sitting at the front desk looked bored to death and didn't even bother to greet them. He's probably as tired as they are. The hallways, devoid of any living being, gave off an unsettling vibe.

They finally reached their room and Ben was never so relieved to see his bed. The faint chattering from a flat-screen TV and the hum of an old heater has been echoing throughout ever since Ben left the room a couple of hours earlier. To him, however, the faint sound was indistinguishable since his already tired mind paid no attention to it. He was fighting the urge to just collapse on the floor.

The TV was still on, but the volume was significantly lower than before. The only thing that was on was some late-night drama show that he didn't bother to watch. The heater was still going as well, but it felt like it was turned down a notch or two.

He was just right in front of the bed when he collapsed face-first on top of it before rolling on his back to face the ceiling. He reached into his pocket to get all of his stuff out and put it on the bedside table.

"Ugh…" he let all his emotions out.

Ryna pulled a chair from the desk and sat on it. As tired as she was, she paid close attention to what Ben was pulling out. Well, it was basic training to always pay full attention to what a person was holding in front of her. When Ben pulled a Pokeball out of his pocket, she noticed a blue light emanating from it.

"Wait, hang on a minute. The light's blue."

"...What's blue?" Ben took a while to respond to that. He didn't even bother to sit up. Instead, he simply turned his head to Ryna.

"How did you catch a Pokemon already?"

"What?"

"Right, that. I forgot you're not used to Pokeballs."

"I… don't know…?" Ben dragged his hands across his face while taking a deep breath.

"I feel you. Well, the Pokeball's occupied basically."

"What do you mean, 'occupied'? Pleaaaase just go straight to the point. I literally can't be asked to drag this out."

"It means that there's a Pokemon inside of it."

Ben was too tired to think about how he somehow caught a Pokemon. He didn't even remember catching one. It was just a blank in his memories. All he can think of was sleep. He leaned back and put his arm over his eyes.

"Ryna, can you please take care of it for the time being? I just… I can't be bothered to do anything… Maybe I'll see it tomorrow or something." Ben covered his mouth and yawned. "What time is it even?"

Ryna took a quick glance at her watch and said, "34 past one… in the morning,"

"You should," he yawned once more, "probably go back."

"Yeah…"

"Goodnight," When she heard no response, she looked back at him. Yeah, he passed out cold. His feet were still touching the cold marble floor whereas his back was on the bed.

She went back to him and lifted his legs onto the bed so his whole body was laying on top of it before putting the white hotel blanket over him. She turned off the lights and the TV and exited the room before closing the door behind her.

I was jolted awake by the sudden sound of a door being knocked on. After taking my time to collect my own thoughts, I swung my legs to the side of the bed and got up.

Slowly but surely, using the walls as a guide and support, I made my way to the door. Don't get me wrong, I can still see what is in front of me and what it is. It's just that I'm groggy as hell. I opened the door to see a woman with black hair- It was Ryna. It was literally just Ryna.

"Oh… Hey, Ryna."

"Did you just wake up?"

"Yeah…? What's up?"

"Oh, Arceus…" she facepalmed.

However, someone else was with her. Standing beside her was a bipedal dog-like creature about my waist height tall with mainly blue and black fur throughout its body. It had black fur around its eyes like some sort of mask and two black appendages coming from the side of its head.

And I knew for a fact that that was a Riolu but the question is; was it hers?

It looked down to the floor with a frown on its face. Its bright red eyes were barely visible from my perspective until it slowly looked up at me. Our eyes locked until it teared up, took two steps forward and hugged my legs. It then started to call out its name over and over again.

I gulped and tried to keep my composure. I had never seen a Riolu this close before.

I was startled at first, but then I realised that this Riolu must have been really happy to see me but… why is it crying? Is there something about me that scared or concerned it? I bent down and hugged it back, feeling a sense of warmth emanating from its furry body.

"Ryna, ish- Fuck, I can't speak. Is this Riolu yours?"

"How do you already know what's a Riolu?"

"That's not the point here. Is it yours or nah?"

"Well, it is yours."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Riolu is your Pokémon. You caught it, so it's yours."

"No, it's not."

"How do you know?"

"It's just not."

"How do you know it's not?"

"Look, I just woke up and I don't even remember catching it."

"Okay, look. It's in your Pokeball – it's yours – which means it is your responsibility. Why don't we talk about this inside?"

We walked inside and I pulled a chair and sat down at the desk. Riolu was still crying and I was trying my best to console it. "Look, umm… Riolu? I'm sorry if I scared you. I just don't know what's going on. Can you please tell me what's wrong?"

Riolu sniffed and nodded.

I heard static in my brain gradually getting louder. A voice was audible but its words were not. I held my breath for the intimidating sound of static. Slowly, the static faded into faint white noises and then became nothing. The voice became clearer – it was childlike and it felt odd. It's like someone got into the same room as my inner thoughts and began speaking.

"...you. I didn't mean it. I- I'm sorry," it cried out.

"You what?" I asked it.

"I- I hurt you…"

I was confused. What was it talking about? I didn't understand a single thing it said. Not without the NECESSARY context.

"Riolu, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

Riolu sniffed and looked up at me with its big, red eyes. It shook its head before burying its face in my chest again. I hugged Riolu and rocked it back and forth, trying to soothe it. I didn't know what else to do.

"Just tell me the story right from the beginning." I whispered to Ryna, "Hey, would you mind giving us both some time?" She shrugged and walked out of the room.

Riolu began to 'speak' as soon as we were alone.

"Seriously?"

Riolu slowly nodded but remained silent.

"Do- Do you forgive me?"

"I don't know," I said in a flat-toned voice. I got up and put the chair back under the table and left the hotel room.

"Wait-! Please, don't go-! Please!"

I didn't listen and continued walking. The door slammed shut behind me. I didn't know what to think or feel. My head was a mess.

Fucking little shit. What was it thinking? Everything was fine. IT WAS FINE. Not anymore, now is it?

I was walking aimlessly around the city, trying to clear my head. I can see better during the day, anyway. That was one thing I found out.

I didn't know what to do next. Nothing made sense to me but the next thing I know, I ended up at the park, sitting on a bench and staring at the ground. I took a very deep breath and let all my frustration out from that single exhale.

Should I forgive it? My eyesight is permanently damaged because of it but it apologised. It didn't mean to. I probably shouldn't hold grudges against it because of that but… My eyes. I liked my eyes. I liked seeing things properly. That's probably weird to say but it's true. But then, is it even worth it?

After fighting for both sides in the dilemma, I sighed and stood up, dusting myself off. I decided to go back home and talk to Riolu again. I felt awful leaving it like that. I needed to get some answers and a proper closure...

When I arrived at my hotel room, after squinting my eyes hard to find the correct room number, I realised that I forgot to bring the hotel key with me on my way out so I rang the doorbell twice. It didn't take long for someone to answer the door. It was Ryna.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm- I'm fine… I just need to clear my mind for a bit."

"Hey, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here. Just… don't hurt yourself, please…"

"Thanks."

Ryna went back to the desk, presumably to do her work but most importantly, I saw Riolu curled up, sleeping on the floor beside the bed. I had to look twice for it. It was just a blue blob on the floor to me.

I walked over to it being careful not to disturb Ryna and gently shook its shoulder. "Riolu, wake up. We need to talk." Riolu slowly opened its eyes and looked up at me.

It yawned and stretched its arms before getting up. The poor thing was shaking. I hesitantly said to it, "I... just wanted to say... I'm sorry... too..." It stayed silent.

"Do you forgive me? Are we good now?" I asked. Riolu nodded before tearing up again, leapt towards me, and hugged me.

"I'm sorry!" it cried out still.

Damn, now I really feel bad for insulting the little lad mentally now. I hugged back and we just stayed like that for a while before we both let go. I didn't even realise that Ryna was watching us. She was just… there, spectating us, sitting legs crossed.

"That's nice." She continued doing her work immediately after that.

The loose end was finally tied together and we lived happily ever after. Nothing could ever go wrong. That is until I looked at the numberless wall clock. It was 12:31.

Wait-

OH SHIT, MY APPOINTMENT!

AN: New PR! 4k words in this chapter. I believe this was a banger of a chapter. We making it out the hood with this one.

As always, if you like the fic, make sure to LEAVE A LIKE, SUBSCRIBE and hit that bell so you don't miss a thing.

Hold on, wrong script.

Ah well, you know what to do.

Anyway, thank you for reading and see you in the next chapter.

Also, the fic is going to have a little bit of 'rebranding' once the new a new arc/section starts.

Reviews from the last chapter:

Guest 1 - "Should've whooped its ass. Sure, he's a teenager, likely with no combat training or experience, but those are minor and relatively insignificant details."

He has no combat experience and he's fighting a literal fighting type…

Guest 2 - "Or"

Yea

Frankieu - "nice chapter thx for writing it

well if the mc want a break i could trow him a bone

nice going with the pokemon on halping the mc"

Well, it TRIED to help.