Ch.37

Recuperation

Pokemon is the property of its respective owners

Happy three year anniversary for this story!

af10573: You're correct that Maris is a fighting type and to answer your question that has been bugging you, Maris is a Mienshao; she just doesn't use her whip sleeves in combat as commonly as other Mienshao do. Thanks for your support and I will try my best to keep up the awesomeness!

Orivon Firefist: Gale of Darkness was a very fun game from when I was a wee lad, but I wanted to incorporate Shadow Pokemon into the story just for a brief bit to show what lengths Alice would go to in order to get what she wants. Thanks for your support!

"How's Dmitri doing? Is he okay?" Karen concernedly asked the nurse over the phone as she quickly paced around her living room back and forth like a dog trying to find a spot while one of her hands was resting a top her head as the fingers clenched tightly in anticipation.

"He's…stable; Ariados is using his webbing to fashion a bandage for him and Gengar is…entertaining him to put him at ease until we can begin the next procedure," Cilia informed the former champion causing Karen to narrow her eyes and suck in a deep, ragged breathe before letting it back out slowly before addressing Cilia once more.

"You're talking about whether or not to give him a fake arm?" Karen stated bluntly causing Cilia to dismiss the tone her patient's mother gave her and quickly responded to her without a shift or falter in tone.

"Yes; since you're the legal guardian, I need your permission to proceed," Cilia responded without missing a beat causing Karen to run a hand over her face and pinch the bridge of her nose before staring long and hard at the picture of her family at the Big Stadium and sighing deeply.

"The cost-"

"I don't give a damn about how much it will cost!" Karen scathingly snapped out of frustration before cooling off and apologizing for her outburst which Cilia forgave since being in this profession meant having to deal with angry loved ones of the patient.

"I approve, but I wish to speak to him before you begin," Karen requested in a steady, calm voice causing a slight ruffling to be heard over the other line as Stephanie slithered in and coiled around the couch with as her eyes no longer held the arrogance they once did and were softer now after hearing about Dmitri and his team.

"Hi mom," Dmitri softly greeted the former champion in a tone barely above a whisper and had she not been focused on the phone call, Karen would have likely not heard him and for the first time in a while, Dmitri's voice now lacked the confidence he had gained throughout his journey.

"Hi sweetie; I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing," Karen dotingly replied as she thoroughly wished she could be there with him right now, but all she could do was offer him consolation from afar.

"I'm fine mom, but how are you doing?" Dmitri asked her right back causing Karen to shake her head and let a small smile come to her face; even when he was hurt, he still cared about the well-being of others.

"Just like your father," whispered nostalgically while placing her hand over the speaker before continuing to speak to her son who still had a low tone of voice, but this was to be expected considering what he had been through.

"Dmitri, thank you for your concern, but I'll be fine," Karen assured her son in a not so convincing voice causing Stephanie to raise a brow and cock her head to the side while Karen glowered at her irritably and mouthed "I will be" causing the powerful python to shake her head.

"Mom…"

"I'm not going to lie; I want to go over there and take you home, but I'm afraid we'd have to fight your entire team just to do that," Karen joked causing her son to let out a small laugh which brought a grin to the mother's face, glad he was recovering to an extent, as Dmitri continued on the conversation.

"My friends would fight you tooth and nail if you tried that; Nurse Joy is getting impatient so I guess we have to cut off the call here," Dmitri said causing his once upbeat tone that showed he was recovering to die down causing Karen to put her hand on her hip.

"Alright then, I love you son and I hope you and your friends make a full recovery. Oh, Stephanie says hi by the way."

Meanwhile

Reluctantly, Dmitri disconnected the call and handed the phone back to Nurse Joy who put a consoling hand on his shoulder which caused the battle ace to nod gratefully causing the medical practitioner to grin slightly before moving over to a table with a gigantic case that Meganium and Ampharos brought in after they finished removing Dmitri's arm.

"Dmitri, in this case I have some prostheses that will replace the arm you lost and the next step is just to choose one that strikes your fancy," Cilia informed him causing Dmitri to raise a brow and put his hand on his leg before nodding slowly, unsure of what he was about to see.

Cilia walked over to him and gently placed the case atop the operating table where she flipped it open causing the top half to crash near Dmitri's leg with a hard thud causing him to jolt as he looked inside of the case and thoroughly inspected it while Nurse Joy patiently waited for his decision.

There were four artificial arms in total with most of them looking like they were designed with the most cutting edge technology man had at their disposal, yet Dmitri questioned how long the state-of-the-art arms would last against the violent situations he had been through and didn't want to be left with only one arm when he was placed in them in the future. One prosthesis stood out to him as it lacked the advanced technology of the other three and it was archaic in comparison, yet Dmitri reached out and gently grabbed it from the case where he studied it intently.

"This one is a rather interesting case; it's based on the prosthesis that warlords from the days of old would give to their troops in order to put them back onto the battlefield after a short period of therapy. It doesn't have the same advanced tech as the other three, but it makes up for it with its durability, longevity, and easy maintenance," Cilia explained to the young man who looked at the ancient artificial arm in awe like a child observing the starry sky for the first time which made Nurse Joy stifle a laugh as she gently took it from his grasp and set it down on a table near the operating table.

"It's perfect for someone who regularly partakes in rugged physical activities like rock climbing…or pokemon training," Cilia offhandedly stated causing Dmitri's eyes to widen at her statement before staring at her with a curious gaze as she fiddled with the arm Dmitri took interest in.

"How long would therapy take?" Dmitri inquired causing Cilia to finish up whatever she was doing to the arm and set it back down as she pulled up a chair near him and sat up to her full height to maintain a professional, but kind demeanor.

"With this, you should be able to master moving it within 2-3 months," Cilia answered him causing Dmitri to let out an elated smile considering he'd be back on his feet in no time while Nurse Joy let a grin come to her face seeing her patient finally smile for what seemed like an eternity.

"How come-"

"Langston and others like him can see, but they're blind to the world around them; no matter what he says, I consider Karen and Cynthia heroes for taking out Hunter J and Team Galactic which ushered in a state of relative peace in the Sinnoh region. Consider me giving you this special prosthesis as a way of saying thanks to Karen and Cynthia for what they did for us and you for taking out the last remnant of Team Galactic in Eterna when they were trying to make a comeback," Cilia answered him causing Dmitri to stare at her incredulously, not believing what he was hearing, before smiling widely and nodding in thanks as he laid back down and waited for the operation to start.

Meanwhile

After much time had passed, Jet and Maya's pokemon returned to their pokeballs causing silence to fill the room once more as the small family continued holding each other's hands not uttering a single peep before Delia gently pulled her hands back and let them rest on her belly.

"Mother, Father, I know you didn't come here just so our pokemon could reunite with each other; go ahead and tell me what's been eating away at you," Delia bluntly demanded causing Maya to immediately move her chair as close as possible to Delia's bed, obstructing Lopunny from her daughter's view causing Lopunny to indignantly pout, but didn't say anything to make the situation worse and simply moved to the side of Maya with her arms folded.

Jet however rubbed the back of his head before slowly moving his chair closer to Delia's bed, but not so close that it was an invasion of personal space unlike Maya who was leering at her daughter who narrowed her eyes at her in turn causing both Jet and Druddigon to sigh.

"You cut us off from your life, why?" Maya tersely stated causing Delia to shut her eyes tightly and ball her hands into fists before calming down and staring down at her hands with a sour look.

"You know what you did so don't lie to me," Delia growled at her mother causing Maya to howl furiously like a mother Ursaring seeing their child being killed in front of them which in turn caused everyone to tremble in shock at Maya's outburst and Haxorus nearly leaped out his bed when Maya accosted Delia's hospital gown collar and pulled her closer to her while Lopunny sat up from her chair and reached out a paw to her trainer's mother.

When Lopunny put a firm paw on Maya's shoulder to get her to back off, her trainer's mother angrily turned her head and glowered at her with cold, furious red eyes causing Lopunny to stagger back in shock as all the feeling in her body left her and caused her to collapse on the floor. Seeing Lopunny holding herself while trembling in shock while Haxorus got up from his bed to comfort her, Maya turned her attention back to her daughter who had dropped her sour demeanor and was rather terrified at the change of behavior her mother was displaying as she found herself pinned against the bed with her mother raggedly breathing down her neck.

"Maya, we're here to reconcile with Delia, not make the gap bigger," Jet softly, yet firmly reminded his wife which made her glare at Jet with the same stare that she gave Lopunny, but despite being unnerved, scared even, he stood his ground and folded his arms expectantly as he gestured to their daughter who had feebly gripped her mother's wrist and was trying to pry them off, but in her weakened state it amounted to nothing.

Delia, after a moment of whimpering helplessly, suddenly clenched her teeth and tightly gripped her mother's wrists as her eyes became a fiery shade of crimson and with a grunt of effort, forcibly threw her mother's hands off of her collar and wildly slashed at her mom, perceiving her as a threat in her state of feral rage. Maya, however, was able to redirect the attack and pinned Delia's wrist down as her daughter wildly thrashed left and right which in turn caused blood to drip down from her waist and onto the bed below her causing Maya to concernedly glance at her daughter's reopened wounds and awkwardly tried to make her daughter calm down lest she cause more harm to herself.

However, her efforts were in vain as Delia continued to try and break free as Maya was violently pushed aside by Hydreigon who cupped Delia's head with his other two jaws while his eyes became a bright shade of blood red and stared directly into Delia's crimson eyes which caused her flailing to stop, but the scared, animalistic scowl remained on her face. The young dragon tamer tried moving her head to the side, but Hydreigon's strong grip prevented her from doing so and after what seemed a while, Delia's angry glare died down into an annoyed glance as she lay back down onto the bed, but Hydreigon kept his grip on her head. Finally though, Delia's muscles relaxed and put her hands back down onto her belly causing Hydreigon to lightly nip at Delia's neck causing Delia to let out a child-like grin and did the same to the brutal pokemon who yipped softly in response and floated back to his bed, but not before shooting a threatening glance at Maya.

Orderlies suddenly stormed into the room and were surprised to see Maya on the ground cradling her head while her husband helped her to her feet, but when they noticed Delia bleeding from her reopened wounds, they rushed her out of the room while one orderly, a short, elderly man with white hair, remained in the room and impatiently waited for Maya and Jet to get back on their feet.

"I don't know what you two did, but seeing one of our patients with reopened wounds tells me that you guys are trouble," the orderly said warily causing Maya to sigh and approach the orderly with her hands up in a nonthreatening manner causing the orderly to fold his arms and raise a brow, clearly expecting an explanation from her.

"I…I just lost my cool and that's when things got bad; would it be okay if we come back and visit her once she's taken care of again?" Maya requested causing the old man to narrow his eyes, studying both her and Jet intently, before pursing his lips and giving a barely noticeable nod in response.

"Don't cause any more trouble when you do," the orderly firmly ordered the parents causing Jet to sigh and nod while rubbing the back of his head while Maya folded her arms and nodded causing the orderly to grunt and leave the room causing Jet to turn to his wife and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Is everything my fault?" Maya asked aloud which caused Jet to tighten his grip on his wife's shoulder consolingly and offered a shrug in response.

Flashback

Maya kept a strong, iron grip on her young daughter's wrist as she angrily dragged her down the hallway of their home while Delia, a young child at this time, futilely clawed and struggled with all of her might that her body could muster while her partner, a young Axew, was being held back by a Haxorus and a Swampert when her partner attempted to help her. Upon reaching her room, Maya flung open the door and tugged Delia inside where the young girl suddenly went wide-eyed and her thrashing began anew as she fell on the floor and used her feet to push against her mother's leg to break free. Delia surely thought her mother was going to spank her for something, but she didn't know what she did wrong.

"Mommy, please! What did I do to make you angry?!" Delia screamed causing Maya to forcibly open Delia's hands and point to the long, deep cuts on her palm causing the young girl to suddenly go pale for a bit before attempting to break free once more, but her efforts were for naught.

Maya inwardly sighed; Jet wouldn't be back from training for at least another few hours and his knack of calming their little hell raiser down with simple words alone would be much appreciated right now. Calmly, Maya reached down and picked up Delia who kicked her hand out of fear, but Maya shrugged off the blow and sat down on the edge of the bed with Delia sitting on her lap who had stopped struggling, but refused to make eye contact with her.

"Delia, your father and I are worried about you. How did you think we were going to react when we found out that…that you've been cutting yourself? Mommy just wants to know why you've been doing this, that's why she's angry," Maya explained in a nurturing tone she heard Jet use whenever he had to talk to their daughter about something important, yet Delia still refused to make eye contact with her.

"I...I've been doing it to help out a friend," Delia meekly answered her mother causing Maya's eyes to go as wide as saucers upon hearing her daughter's response before furiously narrowing them; what sort of friend would make someone cut themselves?

"Delia, tell me who's been making you do this, now," Maya firmly demanded causing her young daughter to shyly fiddle with her fingers and look off to the side, but jolted when her mother gently shook her causing Delia to sigh and put her hands on her legs.

"Mommy, my friend lost his dad and has been cutting himself too so that's why I did it, to support him. Isn't that what you guys taught me, to help your friends?" Delia stated confusedly causing Maya to want to facepalm, but knowing that wouldn't be the smartest action right now, simply sighed and set Delia down next to her.

"It's that boy, Dmitri, isn't it? Delia, I'm sorry, but from this day forward I forbid you from seeing him until he gets better," Maya stated firmly, but inwardly she was at war with herself over this decision; Delia had never been happier when she was around him, but on the other hand she didn't want her to be inflicting self-harm on herself because of their friendship.

Delia, however, leaped off of the bed and angrily stamped her foot down on the ground repeatedly with a defiant gaze that was set straight on her mother, but Maya simply stared back at her with a curious, calm look that waited for her daughter to get done blowing off some steam.

"No mommy, I will continue being friends with him! He needs someone to support him and abandoning him would go against what you guys taught me!" Delia furiously shouted at the top of her lungs causing Maya to wince and hold her ears in order to stop the ringing in them and when it finally faded away, the mother slowly approached her daughter and knelt down to talk to her.

"Delia, you listen to me. I won't-"

"NO!" Delia yelled defiantly causing her eyes to turn into a bright shade of bloody crimson and with a bestial roar the likes of which caused all the dragons within range of the village to turn their heads in shock, Delia swung at her mother in a fit of blind rage.

Maya, thought taken off guard by the sudden change of behavior, instinctively parried the wild blow with one hand while the other one reached forward and took hold of Delia's wrist like a Feraligatr clamping down on its prey trying to escape. The older woman then tugged Delia's wrist and enveloped her daughter in a warm, tight hug all while Delia continued to snarl and growl angrily, but after much time had passed Delia's eyes returned to their normal hue causing the young girl to rest her head on her mom's shoulder tiredly.

"Mommy, what happened?" Delia asked her mother innocently causing Maya, who was still trying to catch her breathe from the ordeal, to shake her head and rest her chin on top of her daughter's head.

"You…got mad and I calmed you down."

"Haxorus, I assume you and your teammates are helping Delia learn how to hone her powers?" Maya said as a statement rather than a question causing the axe-jaw pokemon to nod slowly while shooting her a suspicious look which the mother interpreted as "I'm watching you, don't hurt my friend again."

Sighing, Maya sat back down on her chair with her head in her palm while Jet grabbed his chair and set it down next to her and held the arm rests while patiently waiting for his daughter to return while Lopunny had opted to sit on the edge of the bed near Haxorus who didn't mind in the slightest.

Later

It was nighttime already and most of the inhabitants of the Pokemon Center were all sound asleep save for a few as Catherine was resting with her hands behind her head while staring up at the ceiling with her eyes narrowed before she turned to Luka who was doing the same thing except her paws were on her belly.

"Hey Luka, could I ask you something?" Catherine whispered softly so as not to awaken her friends causing Luka to turn to her from her bed with one brow raised and gestured with her paw for Catherine to proceed causing the former heiress to sight quietly and fiddle with her hair before continuing.

"Did…did Yoko have any family here in the Sinnoh region? I…I was thinking about visiting them to pay my respects and apologize for what I did after you know…nearly dying during our battle," Catherine inquired causing Luka to look up once again and off to the side while rubbing her chin before gripping the railing of the hospital bed.

"(If I remember correctly, Yoko has some relatives in Veilstone that she would visit every now and then, but Catherine, I strongly suggest you not do this. I have no doubt in my mind that Yoko's family firmly believes that you are responsible for her death and would most likely try to inflict that same kind of punishment onto you,)" Luka advised her girlfriend causing Catherine to narrow her eyes determinedly before shaking her head and leaning closer to Luka from her bed.

"They deserve to know why Yoko's supposed killer is still alive and kicking," Catherine retorted resolutely causing Luka to grit her teeth tightly and shake her head profusely before closing her eyes and composedly staring at her girlfriend.

"(I agree that they do, but I doubt that they'd actually sit down and have a talk with the girl they think killed one of their relatives,)" Luka pressed causing Catherine to growl lowly and defiantly shake her head at Luka's advice, intent on setting things straight, and jolted when Luka was now sitting on her chest with her paws on her shoulders and their faces so close that they're noses were touching.

"(Catherine you naive, dumb fool…but you're my naive, dumb fool. If you want to risk getting torn limb from limb, we can visit Veilstone after we get better,)" Luka reluctantly conceded causing Catherine to let out a quiet squeal of joy and hug Luka who rolled her eyes at this, but let a small grin come to her face as she earnestly returned Catherine's hug and rested her head on Catherine's shoulder.

"Luka, are you-"

"(No, I'm already comfortable,)" Luka tersely interrupted her as the aura pokemon closed her eyes and let sleep overcome her while Catherine smiled warmly and rubbed the back of Luka's head before yawning and closing her eyes as well.

The next day

Dmitri's eye groggily fluttered open as he scanned the room and found that he was back in the same room as Maris, Sparkplug, and Kiera who were yawning and stretching their limbs while he thought back to the surgery from last night. All he remembered was lying down, Nurse Joy putting a mask over his face, and following some simple instructions from her before everything went black, but shook away this train of thought as he looked upon his new "arm" with great interest.

The prosthetic, though bulky and colored an ominous grayish-black, didn't bother Dmitri was he rather liked it, but when he tried to lift it with his left arm it took a herculean effort on his part to pick it up and place it on his leg causing him to pant tiredly.

"This is going to take some getting used to," Dmitri mused aloud as a sudden knocking at the door caused everyone to turn their heads and seeing as how they were all silent, the person on the other side of the door took that as a cue to enter and Dmitri grinned when he saw it was Nurse Joy who nodded at him with a smile.

"Dmitri, I'm well aware that you intend to resume your journey once you get out of here despite not being used to your new arm which is why I'm assigning you one of our aids who will provide therapy for you throughout your journey," Cilia explained to him causing Dmitri to nod in understanding, liking how he would still be able to go on his journey without having to take time off to recover, as Cilia motioned for someone outside of the door to come in causing Dmitri and his team to cock their heads to the side curiously, wanting to see who this being would be.

At first, Dmitri and his team could only see a single red paw with sharp, pointy claws grip the edge of the doorway, but when it came within full view, Dmitri could see it was a bipedal ferret of sorts with a stout build, a white, furry body, and a red lightning bolt marking on its chest. In addition, another red marking ran down its right eye and zig-zagged towards its ear leaving it sort mismatched in color coordination, but Dmitri didn't mind. He took note that the aid had a shy look on its face as one arm was awkwardly rubbing the other one as the ferret would steal a quick glance at Dmitri or his other teammates before quickly looking away causing Cilia to kneel down and put a hand on the pokemon's shoulder.

"Dmitri, this is Zangoose; she's a rookie like you, but trust me when I say that she's more than ready to accompany you," Cilia explained with a tint of pride in her tone causing Dmitri to nod, trusting Nurse Joy's decision, while Maris scanned her new teammate up and down meticulously causing Zangoose to nervously rub her arm again.

"(Please tell her to stop,)" Zangoose requested timidly causing Dmitri to look over at Maris with a blank gaze causing Maris to put her paws up indignantly like she was being accused of stealing the last cookie before giving out a huff and laying back down on the bed with her arms folded.

"How much longer do we have to stay in here Nurse Joy?" Dmitri questioned the revered medical professional causing Cilia to sigh and put her hands on her hips.

"A few more days and you should be okay to go back on the road; just don't punch any walls to get yourself back in here okay?" Cilia playfully teased her patient causing Dmitri to chuckle and nod slowly as Cilia left the room to tend to the other patients and when Nurse Joy left, Zangoose jumped onto Dmitri's bed and sat down on his leg while extending her paw to Dmitri.

"(Um…let's start with the basics okay? Just try to clench and unclench your hand for now.)"