Chapter 13
"New Friends Abound"
Back at Steven's end, the phone was ringing as he was calling Drake's cell phone after a minute or two, Drake finally picked up his cell phone.
"Hello? This is Drake, who is this?"
Steven grinned. "Hi, Drake. This is Steven."
"How is everything?" Drake asked. "Oh and how is your little girl?"
"I was just talking to Mark about that...Arinia got kidnapped, shot with tranquilizers that she was allergic to and caught pneumonia..." Steven explained depressed, "At least Mark told the pilot of the helicopter to bring her here to Evergrande..."
"Oh no..." Drake moaned. "The poor thing... Where is she do you know?"
"Mark said the copter was almost here." Steven replied.
"I think I see the helicopter...there's one in the air that's fairly close to the ground..." Drake said.
"You do!" Steven asked.
"Yeah," Drake replied, "It's touching down...nnnnnnnow..."
The helicopter blades began to whir as they came to a stop.
"It's landed!" Drake cried.
The helicopter door opened as Bernard hopped out, then turned around to help Mark with the stretcher.
Drake looked back over and saw them moving a stretcher with a little girl on it, who seemed to be old enough to be Steven's little girl.
Drake ran over. "Hey! Excuse me?"
"Can I help you?" Bernard asked as Mark looked on while watching Arinia.
"I'm Drake," he replied. "From the Elite Four."
"Steven mentioned you when I was talking to him on the phone about ten minutes ago." Mark told him.
"Yeah, that'd be me," Drake said with a nod.
Arinia shifted and started to wake up. "Mark looked at her and said, "Arinia... It's okay... You're safe now..."
Drake walked over to the stretcher. "So you're Arinia..."
Arinia nodded and tried to sit up but then started coughing so hard that she had to lie back down. Bernard took out his bottle of cough syrup so he had it if he needed it.
Drake looked at Arinia and asked, "How are you feeling, little one?"
"Sick and hungry..." She replied weakly.
Drake nodded somberly and then walked with them as they took her to the hospital. As they were passing the training field, the other Elite four members saw him and came over to see what was going on.
"Drake?" Sidney asked, "Who's the girl?"
"Yeah and what's going on?" Phoebe also asked.
"This is Arinia, she was recently kidnapped and drugged by Team Magma and caught pneumonia according to what Steven said after getting the news from Mark." Drake pointed to Mark.
"Arinia?" Glacia cried, "Wow, you've gotten big..."
"Glacia.… It's good to see you again..." Arinia murmured.
Drake pointed towards the door. "Let's go inside." He began walking, with Mark pushing the stretcher.
Arinia moved a bit and her stuffed animals came into view. Arinia hugged them and began to hold her teddy bear and her plush doggie closer.
"Aw..." Sidney replied. "That's cute..."
Just then Steven appeared running as fast as he could to get to his little girl. "Arinia, my baby!"
"HOLY!" Drake cried out, "Where'd HE come from?"
Arinia sat up. "Daddy..."
"Arinia! My baby! How are you sweetie?" Steven came over to his little girl and hugged her.
"I'm just sick and hungry..." Arinia replied.
Steven kissed his daughter on her forehead and tucked her in a little. "My baby... My poor baby..."
"I'm OK, Dad, sort of." Arinia said, not liking being made a fuss of like this.
"We should get her into the hospital." Bernard said sounding like the doctor he was.
"Right, right, yes, of course," Steven said with a nod, forgetting about that.
Sidney reached into his pocket and pulled out an extra poke ball and handed it to Arinia. Arinia looked at it puzzled so Sidney said, "This is for you little one, I hope you like it."
Arinia took the poke ball and opened it and a Poochyena appeared in her lap. The Poochyena saw Arinia and climbed up onto her chest and began licking her face.
Arinia began to laugh. "Thank you, Sidney!"
Sidney smiled, "Glad it helped to make you smile."
Arinia returned the Poochyena to its poke ball and then stuffed the PokéBall under the pillow. Bernard began to wheel her inside the hospital just as Arinia began coughing again.
Steven began to walk down a hallway. "Come down here, I already got you a room."
Bernard nodded and followed him with the stretcher. Steven walked into a room and held the door open for the others.
"Mmm, daddy..." Arinia moaned.
"Whoa," Sidney said, "Big room, man."
Steven chuckled and turned around and ruffled his daughter's hair, "Yeah..."
"I guess you always save the best for your daughter." Drake said, with a smile.
Steven nodded, "She's the best treasure I have..."
Glacia smiled. "Well, we're leaving now, we'll leave you alone." She and the other Elite Four members left the room, leaving Steven, Mark, Arinia and Bernard.
Bernard pulled the covers back on the hospital bed and Steven lifted Arinia and moved her carefully to the hospital bed and covered her up. "There you go, baby..." Steven told her as he tucked her in.
Arinia coughed slightly then smiled. Steven smiled back and hugged Arinia until he heard her stomach growl.
"Hehe...I forgot you said you were hungry out there...I'm gonna call the hospital kitchen. What would you like?" Steven said, amazed he had forgotten.
"What's an option?" Arinia asked her dad tiredly.
"Pasta? Rice? Potatoes? Almost anything starchy," He replied.
"A baked potato with butter sounds good..." Arinia replied tiredly.
Steven picked up the phone behind him, dialed "001." "Hey," Steven said, "Could we get a baked potato with butter sent up to room 437? OK. Yeah. Good. Bye." He hung up.
"Daddy! Thanks..."
"Welcome." Steven replied.
There was a knock at the door. "Let me get that, baby." Steven said as he quickly kissed his little girl on the cheek and went to answer the door.
There was a chef there with a cart with a tray on it. "Is this 437?" He asked.
Steven nodded, "Yes, it is..."
The chef walked into the room and put the tray on Arinia's lap. "There you go!"
Arinia picked up her knife and fork and started to cut some bites from her buttery baked potato. Arinia ate some. "Mmm! This is great!"
"I'm glad. So what do you think of hospital food?" Her dad teased her.
"It's okay, but your cooking's better." Arinia replied between a bite of potato.
Steven laughed. "Thanks, Arinia!"
Arinia smiled just as the poke ball containing the Poochyena Sidney had given her opened and the Poochyena appeared and came over to Arinia and sat down beside her and licked her on her arm.
Mark jumped back. "Woah. I forgot you had that."
"Sidney gave me it..." Arinia replied
"Yeah, I know," Mark said with a nod, "I just forgot about it."
The Poochyena looked on Arinia's tray and saw a stray piece of potato and pawed at it and then ate it.
Arinia laughed. "Aw, that's cute..."
"Do you want to give it a name, sweetie?" Her dad asked.
"Casey." Arinia replied after thinking for a minute.
"Casey...?" Mark said, "Where did that come from?"
"I dunno... It just seemed like a good name." Arinia said shrugging before she went back to eating.
Casey barked once then hopped off the bed to go see Mark.
"Heya cutie..." Mark reached out his hand for Casey to sniff.
Casey sniffed Mark's hand then barked. Casey began to lick his hand.
Mark laughed. "That's cute!"
"Mark? Didn't you have a Mightyena at one point or another?" Arinia asked setting down her fork for a minute.
Mark blinked. "I still do. I forgot about that..." He pointed to the PokéBall at his belt.
"Is that what Casey might turn into eventually?" Arinia asked looking at Casey.
"At one point or another, yeah." Mark replied. "If you train it enough," He continued.
"Casey, here girl!" Arinia called softly.
"Pooch!" Casey ran over to Arinia happily.
Casey felt tired and laid down on Arinia's stomach. Arinia finished eating her potato and laid back, resting her head back into her pillow.
There was a knock at the door. "Let me get that..." Steven said going to open the door. He opened it. "Oh, hi Sidney. Come in!" He stepped to the side to allow Sidney to enter the room and walk up to Arinia and Mark.
Arinia looked up as Sidney came over to her bedside. "Oh, hi Sidney!" Arinia cried when she realized he was there.
"Hey," Sidney replied, "Awww, look at the Poochyena I gave you!" He pointed to it. Arinia looked. Casey was sound asleep on her stomach.
"By the way," Sidney said, "Did I tell you she's not fully grown yet? She's still a puppy."
"Wow, I thought she was small, but I had no idea she was still a puppy..." Arinia murmured softly before she started coughing.
Sidney looked at her, concerned for a moment, but she stopped coughing shortly afterward. "Yeah, it'll take a few months. Poochyenas grow fast. Later on, if you train hard, it'll evolve into a Mightyena."
Arinia put her hand to her throat, "Ugh... My throat hurts..."
Bernard tossed her a small pouch. "Here's some cough drops. I got them right from my office, so they're good. I've had 'em for a while, so here you go."
"Thanks Bernard..." Arinia unwrapped one and popped it in her mouth.
Casey smelled something, woke up and yipped. Arinia smiled and reached down a hand to pet it.
Sidney had a backpack on. He took it off and pulled open some Pokémon food, in case Casey was hungry. "So what did you name it?" Sidney asked holding out some poke chow to Casey.
"Casey." Arinia replied.
"Aw... Pretty name." Sidney said with a smile.
"Yeah, I think so too..." Mark replied, smiling. The poke ball containing Mark's Mightyena started to shake as it burst open revealing his Mightyena.
"Woah..." Bernard replied. "Is that a Mightyena?"
"Yeah, this one's mine." Mark said trying to hold it back.
"Eh, don't worry. That Mightyena looks like its been trained well. It won't hurt anyone." Sidney replied.
"Okay." Mark let go of it.
Mark's Mightyena saw Arinia and ran forward, jumped on her bed narrowly missing Casey and started to lick her face.
Arinia laughed. "Now I've got a Mightyena on me!"
Bernard chuckled as well. "What's its name, Mark?"
"Its name is Aquarius." Mark replied.
"Aquar-hey, wait a minute...that sounds like a Team Aqua name. Are you a member of Team Aqua?" Sidney asked.
Mark nodded, "Yeah..."
"That's the good team," Sidney asked, "Wow, that's awesome."
"Our team helped rescue Arinia from Team Magma, but I would have done it anyways since she's my girlfriend." Mark replied.
"Aw... That's so sweet of you..." Sidney replied.
Mark smiled. "Thanks..."
Casey was trying to climb onto Arinia's chest so she could lick Arinia's face too. "Pooch!"
"Ah, crud." Mark took out the PokéBall. "Return, Aquarius!" The red beam shot out and the Mightyena returned into the ball.
"It's a lot easier to breathe without a big Mightyena on top of ya..." Arinia muttered.
"Heh, yeah." Mark replied.
Casey barked and jumped onto Arinia's chest.
"She sure likes you!" Sidney said, with a laugh.
"I guess so..." Arinia said as Casey started to lick her face.
Casey yipped happily. "Pooch!" She continued to lick her face.
Mark laughed, "Aw! That's cute!"
Arinia began to pet Casey's head. She seemed to like it.
"You two will get along just fine." Sidney said with a smile and a slight laugh.
Mark took out a ball and bounced it. Casey barked and ran over to the ball and stared at it. Arinia smiled and laid back some more after pulling one of her blankets closer.
Mark rolled the ball towards the wall. Casey ran after it and brought it back to Mark. "Hey, she's pretty smart!" Mark replied.
"Casey's cute..." Arinia murmured before yawning.
"Heh, yeah she is." Mark replied. He looked at Arinia. It looked like she was falling asleep.
Sidney pulled her blankets up around her some more so she would stay warm, "Sleep well, Arinia, I'll get the others to come see you later..."
Arinia nodded and mumbled something as Sidney left the room, leaving just Mark, Steven, Arinia and the Poochyena, Casey.
Steven lay back in the chair he was sitting in. "Say, Mark, what level does a Poochyena evolve at? I never had one of those."
"Level 18..." Mark replied looking up.
Steven nodded. "Hmm...what level is Casey now, if you can tell?"
"Hmm... I think around level 5, but I'm not sure..." Mark replied.
Steven grinned. "I'll help Arinia train Casey if she wants to when she's better. Hey, it's the least I can do."
"I think she'll like that..." Mark replied.
"Well, in thirteen levels, Casey evolves." Steven said.
"Pooch..." Casey whined not wanting to evolve.
"It sounds like Casey doesn't want to evolve..." Mark replied.
Casey whined again and nodded and then jumped up on Arinia's bed and snuggled down beside her as if to say, "I won't be able to do this if I evolve."
"Actually, if Casey evolves, she'd be too big to do that," Mark said, "Yeah, she doesn't want to evolve. Hey, Casey, listen to me. You don't have to."
Casey looked happy, "POOCH!"
Steven covered his ears. "Jeez, I'm surprised that didn't wake up Arinia!"
Arinia shifted and wrapped her arm around Casey but didn't wake up.
"Awwww, that's cute..." Mark said.
Just then the door opened and Glacia entered.
Steven looked up. "Hi, Glacia. Arinia's sleeping."
"I see." Glacia held up a small package that contained a gift from her that was for Arinia.
Mark took the package. "What is it?"
"It's a Milotic doll and there's a poke ball there that contains a baby Spheal." Glacia replied.
Mark grinned. He placed the package next to Casey. "Don't touch it, OK? It's for Arinia." Casey nodded.
Casey looked at Arinia and then licked her cheek.
Arinia quivered. "Hmm?"
Casey yipped as if to say, "How was the sleep?" She licked Arinia's cheek again.
Arinia smiled and gathered up Casey in her arms and hugged her. Arinia noticed the package. "Hey, what the...?
"You have a visitor baby." Her dad informed her.
Arinia looked up. "Hi, Glacia!"
"Hey sweetie, I brought you something." Glacia told her.
Arinia put down Casey for a moment and picked up the package. She opened it. Inside was the Milotic doll and the Pokéball.
"Cute! Another doll, and a poke ball?" Arinia cried.
"Yep," Mark said, "Open the Pokéball."
Arinia did so and a Spheal appeared in her lap.
The Spheal bounced up and down in her lap. "Spheal! Spheal!"
Casey pounced at it in a playful fashion that seemed to say, "Let's play!"
Spheal bounced on to Casey's back. "Spheal!"
Arinia laughed, "Aw... That's so cute!"
Arinia looked up at Glacia, Mark and Steven. "If you've got anything else to give me, now's your chance!"
"I don't think there's anything else at the moment, baby." Steven replied. "Drake and Phoebe might have something for you, but I don't know."
Arinia nodded. "OK, thanks."
Just then the door opened and Drake, Sidney, and Phoebe entered. Shortly after them, Arinia's mother, Rosella, entered.
"Woah," Mark said, commenting on the bunch of people who just entered. "We've got a party going on now!"
Arinia laughed and Casey bounced on top of the Spheal to get to Arinia, "POOCH!"
"Who gave you the Spheal?" Sidney asked.
"Glacia." Arinia replied with a grin.
"Should have known..." He replied.
Casey jumped up and licked her on the nose before landing on the Spheal.
Drake smiled. "Aw..."
Drake stepped forward and handed her a Pokéball. "Another Pokémon for ya, open it up."
Arinia took it and opened it and a Bagon appeared in her lap. "Cute!" Arinia cried hugging it.
Drake handed her another ball. "This is another Pokémon, courtesy of Phoebe." She waved from the back of the group.
Arinia opened it and a Duskull appeared floating near her, "Duskull!"
Arinia simply stared at it. "Oooh..."
"Something wrong, baby?" Steven asked getting up.
"No..." Arinia said, "I just think that's cool..."
"That it floats instead of walking?" Phoebe asked her easing up closer to the bed so Arinia could see her better.
"Yeah..." Arinia replied.
Casey pounced at Arinia, "POOCH!"
Arinia hugged Casey and the Spheal. "Hey!"
Mark grinned. "What are you gonna name the Bagon, Spheal and the Duskull?"
"Kiara for the Spheal, Diana for the Bagon, and Amber for the Duskull." Arinia replied.
Mark nodded. "Nice names," he replied, "Casey, Kiara, Diana and Amber..."
"Yup!" Arinia said trying to hug several of her new pokemon at the same time except the Duskull since it was vapor-like.
Kiara spat a fine mist at the ceiling. "Spheal!"
"What's that?" Arinia asked.
Spheal bounced up and down. "It looked like a early form of Water Gun..." Glacia replied.
"Cool!" Arinia cried. She looked down onto her various pokemon laying on her lap. A warm smile came to her face.
"Pooch!" Casey sat up and licked Arinia's face.
Arinia laughed and rubbed Casey behind the ears, "You're cute..."
Sidney smiled. "I had a feeling you'd say that."
Casey barked and licked Arinia on the face and snuggled up against her before closing its eyes to try to get some puppy sleep.
Everyone who was present in the room made an "Aww..." sound at that.
"Mom? Is that you toward the back?" Arinia craned her neck to see if her mom was standing behind the Elite. She thought she had seen her mother, Rosella, but she wasn't completely sure.
She came to the front. "Yes, it's me, dear," she said with a warm smile.
"Mommy..." Arinia reached one of her hands out to her mom hoping that she'd come closer to hug her since she hadn't seen her in awhile.
Rosella hugged Arinia suddenly, being careful not to crush Casey.
"I missed you mom..." Arinia hugged her mom back hoping that she would stay near her. Arinia coughed again a little harder than she had earlier, but nonetheless made her put a hand to her throat since it hurt.
"Are you OK?" Rosella said, concerned.
"Arinia has pneumonia..." Mark replied looking at Arinia's mother's eyes. "Team Magma induced it through what they did to her..."
Rosella's embrace suddenly loosened in anger. "W-what?"
Arinia looked like she was going to cry, she didn't want to relive the details of what had happened recently.
Rosella looked her daughter in the eyes. "It'll be OK...don't worry..."
"The tranquilizers they gave her caused her to catch her pneumonia. If they had given her one more of them, there's a very good chance she could've died from an allergic reaction." Bernard told Arinia's mother quietly so Arinia couldn't hear.
Rosella's jaw dropped upon hearing the news. She said back, just as quietly, "You mean my baby could have been killed?"
Bernard nodded, "Yes, I'm afraid so... She was lucky that the other Team Aqua members managed to get her away from them before they could."
Rosella looked at Arinia and then back at Bernard, not saying a word.
Arinia laid her head back into her pillow suddenly thinking that Casey might have the right idea in getting some sleep. Arinia yawned and pulled the teddy bear and the plush doggie Mark had given her into her arms as she laid back down. Arinia knew that it was about dinnertime, but she was starting to get really tired.
Rosella let go and stepped back, allowing Arinia to rest.
"Mommy..." Arinia yawned after she had mouthed her mom's name and then yawned several time thereafter that as well before looking back at her mom.
"Yes, Arinia?" Rosella answered.
Arinia smiled at her mom and tried to answer but ended up yawning instead. It seemed that Arinia was way too tired to even talk much less stay awake.
"Just sleep, honey," Rosella said, "It's good for you!"
Arinia yawned and nodded and closed her eyes to do as her mom instructed, and within several minutes was sound asleep with Casey snuggled up against her and her other pokemon scattered around the corners of her bed while Arinia slept.
Sidney motioned to Rosella and everyone else in the room. "Let's go so she can sleep soundly..."
"I'd like to keep an eye on her though..." Mark said glancing back at Arinia. "Besides, Bernard and I would be breaking orders from our boss to not keep an eye on her..."
Bernard nodded. "Yeah, you guys can go if you want, but we have to stay. Archie's orders." Everyone else nodded as they left the room, leaving just Arinia, her Pokémon, Bernard and Mark.
"Arinia looks so cute curled up on her bed with all these pokemon clustered around her." Bernard commented to Mark after taking in the sight.
Mark smirked. "Hey, yeah, you're not kidding...that's adorable..."
Mark and Bernard continued to watch Arinia, hoping that nothing would happen while she slept, but only time would tell for sure as the future now looked rocky and extremely uncertain due to past events.
