Eli, in his zorua form, took a battle stance in front of a tree as Alex stood behind him to observe. Eli took a deep breath and opened his maw. A small mass of eerie energy began to form in front of his mouth, but unfortunately for him, he couldn't maintain it very well, and it flew out harmlessly in multiple directions after he had amassed even a small amount. Eli's legs buckled slightly and he started panting tiredly. "Ugh... it's still not working. I couldn't even gather enough energy that time," he said, using his illusion to speak to Alex in a frustrated tone.

Alex brought a finger to his chin, contemplating the issue. 'Hmm, interesting. So before he could gather energy, but couldn't contain it... now he just can't gather energy, period. But what if...' Alex dropped his arm and faced Eli again. "Okay, so then this time, try doing both methods at once."

Eli turned around to give Alex a confused look. "Both at once? How?"

Alex nodded. "Yea, well not at the exact same time. Use your method to start with to gather energy, and then after a second or so, switch to my method to try and contain it... also remember not to lose focus if it ends up working."

Eli gave a slow nod of understanding and faced the tree again. "Okay, I think I see what you're getting at. Lemme try again." Eli closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths. His body tensed up and his eyes shot back open, giving a determined expression, and opened his maw as well. Once again, a dark eerie energy began forming around Eli's mouth, this time in much greater volume. After amassing a large shapeless volume of the energy, Eli let out a grunt and the formless mass began shaping itself into a compact ball. Eli's eyes widened, but he forced himself to press on, not wanting to lose his progress. The ball of energy continued to shrink in size and grow in density. After Eli determined that the attack was ready, he let out a vulpine cry and lunged forward slightly. The ball of energy shot forward at an impressive speed. The attack was slightly off its mark, but Eli still ended up hitting the side of the tree, causing the area where the ball hit to crack in several spots. Eli's eyes lit up. "It worked!"

Alex grinned and gave a small fist pump. "Nice one, dude!"

The zorua turned to face Alex again, giving a satisfied grin of his own. "Thanks for the help, man. I don't think I'd be able to learn Shadow Ball as fast as I did without it."

Alex chuckled. "Not a problem. Now there's still stuff to work on there. The start up time for that move is quite a bit long right now, and you also may wanna work on accuracy a bit. But that stuff will all come with time and experience. This, as is, should be a great first step for you."

Eli nodded. "Time for a break, you think?"

Alex started walking towards a larger tree. "Yea we've been at this for a bit. Time for some rest."

It was very late in the day, signified by the sun starting to set. Alex had been helping Eli learn a new move for a few hours, according to Alex's phone. Eli decided he wanted to learn a move that was not a dark or normal type move in order to have more coverage in his attacks, should the need for it ever arise. Alex had suggested a ghost type move with the logic that it would hit two of Eli's weaknesses more effectively. It had taken them over an hour to find the right way to come up with the right type of energy to use the move, but Eli's determination helped them make great progress in such a short amount of time.

Eli followed Alex, moving slowly due to using a lot of energy training his moves. The two sat under a large shaded tree, and Alex brought out a couple of water bottles for them both. Alex uncapped one of the water bottles and set it on the ground next to the fox pokemon, who then grabbed the top with his mouth and tilted the bottle slightly, letting the water fall into his mouth.

Alex snickered at the sight as he uncapped his own bottle. "You know, you could just turn back into human form while you're drinking."

Eli responded by letting off a flash of pale purple light from his body and the bottle of water that he currently held, and shifting into his human form. He held the water bottle with one hand and used his other to flip off Alex while otherwise being completely expressionless.

Alex guffawed, doubling over in laughter, causing him to spill a third of his own water on the ground. "Aw damn it, now look what you made me do," he griped, still chuckling at their interaction.

Eli smirked. "That was your own damn fault."

Alex tried to respond by shoving Eli, but once again, he had forgotten that Eli's human form was still just an illusion, and his hand simply passed through Eli's body, causing Alex to lose balance and nearly fall over. Eli erupted into laughter and Alex slowly buried his face into his hands, trying futilely to hide his embarrassment. "I can't believe I keep forgetting about that," he mumbled into his palms.

Eli attempted to say something in response, but was unable to focus his illusion enough to say something through his laughter, causing him to stutter incoherently.

Alex lifted his face from his palms and pulled out his phone, not looking at Eli. "Know what, no. I'm ignoring you."

Eli snickered. "Aww, c'mon Alex, don't be that way."

"No. You shush. You're mean," Alex said, trying and failing to keep himself from smiling.

Eli rolled his eyes, still grinning. "Oh I'm mean, huh? Okay, if you say so, bud."

Alex chose not to respond. He unlocked his phone and tapped the twitter app on his home screen. Instantly, his feed started to be flooded by various different news articles and comments about the burning building. Any mirth and amusement that was present on Alex's face vanished in an instant as he started reading through the newsfeed. Much to Alex's surprise and dismay, the incident he caused was not the only one by far. Alex found a couple different stories detailing different incidents and accidents caused by pokemon, both in and out of the country. Not every single story Alex found was a negative one, however. His interest was slightly piqued when he noticed one or two that had to do with the items from the pokemon universe making their way to reality, among other things that were pokemon related. But this hardly brought any ease to Alex's mind, seeing as the majority of people were talking about the dangers of pokemon. Alex bit his lip and tapped on the comments section of some of them.

Eli glanced over to Alex again and his smile faded. He gave a sigh and stared off into the distance. "So what are they saying about us pokemon?" he asked bluntly.

Alex turned to face Eli, slightly startled by the question. "What do you mean? What makes you think I'm reading about pokemon?"

Eli gave a dry chuckle. "You're not the only one who can read people when you feel like it."

Alex pursed his lips and tried to find a way to brush off Eli's question without dismissing it entirely. Given Eli's outburst earlier, Alex thought it best to try and steer the topic away from anything stressful in order to spare his friend of any more grief that he didn't need. Alex decided to bring up the article that he saw concerning the pokemon items. "Well... they think they know roughly how all the items got here."

Eli's eyes widened slightly. "No shit? Do they know what all made it here too?"

Alex scanned through the article in question for a moment and nodded. "For the most part. So... you remember that loud explosion sound that happened after the initial transformation?"

"Roughly. I was kinda dealing with something else, but I know what you're talking about."

Alex nodded and scanned through the article again. "Mhm, well they think that explosion was what brought all the items here in the first place. There were actually multiple all over the world, all of which brought items such as berries, evolution stones, mega stones, gems, basically anything that can realistically be found in nature. It like... planted them all on the ground or in the very earth, but otherwise, the noise of the explosion was just that- a noise. Completely harmless and just served as a way for getting the items here, apparently."

Eli slowly nodded in understanding, eyeing Alex carefully. "...so what are they really saying about us? Please be honest, man. I can take it."

Alex looked down and shifted uncomfortably. His attempt at steering the topic away from the main issue failed spectacularly. Alex let out a defeated sigh and resigned himself to let Eli know the truth. He was obviously not going to let it go until Alex told him. "Well it's uh... it's not great. Most of the comments are... not kind things towards pokemon. Like, at all. It's not all bad though! There are some of them who are questioning what those quote-unquote victims were doing there in the first place. Kinda like how you mentioned. Also a couple of comments I've noticed saying that fire pokemon can't catch things on fire, for some reason-" Eli raised a curious eyebrow as Alex continued, "-but... ugh, but almost all of them are largely getting shouted down by a lot of others."

Eli gave an exhale and shook his head, once again returning his glare out in the distance. "Of course they are. Why does that not surprise me?" he muttered.

Alex gave Eli a look of concern. "You gonna be okay, man?"

Eli closed his eyes and took a breath again, visibly relaxing, then opened his eyes again after a moment, facing Alex with a neutral expression. "I will be. I think."

Alex narrowed his eyes, giving Eli a disbelieving look. "Alright, if you say so... but if you ever-"

Eli held a hand up. "I know, I know, you don't have to say it," Eli droned on. It sounded to Alex like Eli was attempting to be forceful, but Eli's human illusion was letting off a small smile. "I appreciate it, man. It's gonna take a bit, but I really am gonna be fine. Promise."

Alex gave a slight scoff, but smiled back. "Alright, I believe you." Alex went back to scrolling through the comments and articles on twitter, quickly losing his smile as he read some of the hateful things people had to say about pokemon.

"Alex."

Alex looked up to face Eli again. "Yea, man?"

Eli was lounging against the tree trunk, giving Alex a disapproving look. "You shouldn't worry about it too much either. Those news stories are all style and no substance. They're not a big deal."

Alex did a double take out of surprise. "What do you mean 'not a big deal'? Eli, dude, how am I not supposed to worry about stuff like this? This shit has 'pokemon slander' written all over it," he complained, disdain starting to fill his voice.

Eli held up a hand in a placating motion. "Ease up, dude. That's not what I meant."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Okay... then what did you mean?"

Eli made a humming sound as he thought of how best to explain himself. "Well it's just that... even before the incident, I've started trusting the media less and less. Sure, you could get some information out of them, but pretty much all of them out there have started putting their own spin and biases on what's really going on. No one cares about what's true anymore. They just care about what's popular or what's out there first. But the reality is, they just don't matter anymore, especially since any joe schmoe with a phone can capture events and report the news just as accurately, if not more."

Alex's eyes widened at the unexpectedly pragmatic viewpoint coming from his otherwise soft-spoken friend. "I... see what you mean, I guess. I dunno though, it seems like a lot of people are still taking it to heart."

Eli gave a shrug and relaxed against the tree trunk again. "Maybe if you're only looking online, but when was the last time you've seen someone with that kind of passion in person? Outside of a specific planned protest or what have you."

Alex thought for several moments and realized he couldn't find an answer. Maybe those two guys that ambushed Alex and Eli from the other day? But they had always been a problem for the complex. It seemed to Alex like that particular example was just two people looking for an excuse to start a fight. "I... can't really say, actually," he finally responded.

Eli nodded. "Mhm, 's what I'm saying. It just doesn't seem like that whatever finds its way on the news really affects everyday life too much, aside from something really world changing... and, I mean world changing like the initial pokemon incident. Not a couple certain people burning down an otherwise abandoned building." Eli paused and let out a tired exhale. "Yea, I kinda did break down earlier over this exact thing, but I think that was more just the stress of everything finally hitting me. I mean, I'm still worried about how things are gonna be, don't get me wrong, but I just can't see it getting too horribly bad if things stay as they are now."

Alex digested Eli's words, staring at his phone blankly for several seconds, then locked his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. "Maybe you're right..," Alex muttered. 'And actually, on the subject of things not being as bad, I suppose it doesn't really matter too much if I'm wanted, cuz they're never gonna be able to catch me even if I'm spotted. Heh, invisibility OP. And I haven't even learned to teleport yet either. Still, probably want to avoid revealing my identity to anyone, lest my identity gets discovered by someone else and they get put in harm's way...'

"Don't worry about it too much. Hell, I'm the one with the issue here. You don't need to be stewing for my sake," Eli added with a chuckle.

Alex finally cracked a smile. "Yea, I know, but I can't help it. I worry about others a bit too much. Especially my friends." Alex paused and his smile faded again, very quickly. "Lord knows one of em needs every bit of luck he can get right now," he muttered quietly.

Eli shot Alex a concerned look and leaned forward, focusing his attention to his friend. "What's going on with your other friend? It's nothing horrible, is it?"

Alex gave a surprised glance towards Eli. "Okay first of all, how did you even hear that?"

Eli shrugged. "Good human hearing or pokemon ears. Take your pick. Now your friend?"

Alex stared at Eli for a couple of moments before letting out a sigh and staring off in the distance. "...I wasn't the only one to get hit with that regirock explosion. I'm sure you've probably heard by now."

Eli stiffened up slightly and nodded. "I've heard, yea. Was... was he one of the ones who...?"

Alex glanced over to Eli briefly before returning his gaze outward. "Died? No. But it sounds like he may as well have. The doc told me he was broken in every which way except in the ways that would've ended his life. He's... he's in a coma right now. And they're not sure when... o-or even if... he's gonna wake up."

Eli let out a dismayed gasp. "Oh God, Alex I'm so sorry. I didn't realize- w-well hang on a sec, couldn't a pokemon just heal him like they did to you?"

Alex blinked, processing the new idea. Hope began to well up in his chest for his unconscious friend, but just as suddenly as it came, it left, visibly deflating Alex once again as he recalled another detail they shared with him at the hospital. "Even if they could, it wouldn't be that simple. All it really would do is speed up the physical healing process that's already going to happen anyway. But they told me that Nick is in such a deep coma that him being fully healed wouldn't matter at all when it comes to him actually waking up. It's all down to luck at this point," Alex muttered dejectedly.

Eli's face shown with hurt and concern for Alex. "Jesus... I'm so sorry, man. I mean, he really got hurt that bad?"

Alex gave an indifferent shrug and began slumping against the tree. "I mean, I guess so... I only really heard about it from the doc and my other coworker."

"You didn't see him, yourself?"

Alex shook his head stiffly. "I couldn't bring myself to. I was already too emotionally distraught. I'm pretty sure seeing him in the state he was... or still might be in would have absolutely destroyed me."

Eli gave a gentle frown and rested a hand on Alex's shoulder that Alex didn't feel. Alex did, however, feel an unseen force gently brush up against the side of his body. Eli spoke in a gentle voice. "I think you should go see him sometime."

Alex gave a bitter scoff and looked away from Eli. "What would that even accomplish? I can't talk to him and I'd just be further emotionally scarring myself than I am now."

"He'd still know you visited," Eli said simply.

Alex gave Eli a disbelieving look. "Alright, I'll bite, how?"

Eli let go of Alex's shoulder and gazed up wistfully to the sky. "Cuz my uncle was in a coma one time and he remembered what happened too."

Alex's disbelieving gaze turned to one of curiosity. "Your uncle went into a coma once?"

Eli chuckled and leaned back, relaxing against the tree again. "Yea, so this happened when I was like... six. My uncle got into a really bad car accident that knocked him out instantly and left him so bloodied that the doctors gave him a less than ten percent chance to survive."

Alex gasped and covered up his mouth with a hand. "Oh god I'm so sorry."

Eli quickly waved it off. "Nah, he's fine now. Very much alive and kicking. Seriously, if you've met the guy, you'd never know his life was in danger at any point. But back then, he was in real bad shape. And he went into a coma that lasted for over a month. My family visited him one time and just as we were leaving, six year old me decided it was a good idea to get him flowers. So I ran off from my parents, went outside the hospital, and picked some of those tiny flowers and dandelions and went back inside and set them on my uncle's bedside table, telling him I hope he gets better soon." Eli's smile was growing wider and wider as he told Alex his story.

Alex chuckled, not able to keep off a smile of his own. "Heh, alright, that's pretty sweet... but what does that have to do with him knowing you visited?"

"Hey, I'm getting there!" he said with a chuckle before continuing. "Okay so, we were actually there when he woke up. We visited him every week, usually just to check on his condition, and we were in the room when he finally opened his eyes. And, not kidding, one of the first things he did when he did that was he looked to his bedside table, then to me, and asked what happened to the flowers that I got him."

Alex's eyes widened. "Wha... how? How did he know?" he asked, incredulously.

Eli shrugged. "Beats me, but he just did. And it wasn't like the nurses told him or anything. We were there when he woke up, after all. But I remember asking him about it one day, and he said he saw almost everything that went on in that hospital after he was admitted. Kind words, hugs, my flowers, everything."

Alex's expression went somber as he realized what Eli was alluding to before he even said it.

"So I really do think you ought to visit your friend too. It may mean a lot more to him than you realize."

Alex went silent for several moments as he stewed on Eli's words. 'Maybe I should. I am kinda the one who got him into that mess in the first place. I guess the least I could do is go visit him and apologize...' Alex finally let out a depressed sigh and shook his head. "...okay. I have time to visit him tomorrow. I'll go then," he muttered, dejectedly.

Eli took note of how depressed Alex's tone was, pursed his lips, and looked away. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pressure you-"

"No, no, you're right," Alex said with slightly more confidence and volume, "it'd give me some form of closure at the very least. I just..." Alex sighed and shook his head again, "I'm... not gonna enjoy seeing Nick like that."

Eli gave another sensation-less pat on Alex's back and stood up again. "I'll bet you you're gonna feel better after, though. Even if it sucks in the moment."

Alex forced a friendly smile on his face, still having mixed feelings about his upcoming hospital visit. "Yea, maybe. You wanna get back to training now?" he asked, hoping to change the subject to something more lighthearted.

"Eh..." Eli glanced at the sunset, which had the sun almost completely below the horizon. "...Actually, I think we ought to call it a day. It's gonna get pretty dark out soon. How about we just walk around for a bit while there's still some light and we can just talk about pokemon instead of depressing shit?"

Alex chuckled and stood up as well. "Sounds good to me. Only if you mean the games, cards, or anime though."

Eli gave a small grin and nodded as he began walking aimlessly through the woods. "How about all three?"

Alex's smile turned more genuine. "Sounds good to me." Alex's worries were temporarily set at ease as he enjoyed simply walking and chatting with his friend about everyday things.

Alex drove up to the hospital's parking lot the following afternoon and gave a nervous sigh. He was never particularly a fan of hospitals to begin with, but simply knowing that this particularly hospital currently held his friend as he was in critical condition sent a whole array of negative emotions through Alex's body. Alex parked his car and simply sat stationary in the driver's seat for several seconds. He gave a frustrated headbang against the top of the steering wheel. "C'mon, Alex, you can do it. It's for him. Just one visit," he muttered under his breath to himself. He picked himself up and walked out of his car, making his way to the reception area of the hospital with purpose in his step.

Alex glanced around the building as he entered. There surprisingly was no line, and the waiting area was only half full. 'Huh, I guess enough time has passed to where people were able to recover from most of their injuries...' Alex made his way up to the receptionist desk, getting more and more nervous again as he got closer. He stepped up to the counter and saw a woman behind the counter, talking on one of the hospital's phones. She glanced up briefly, taking note of Alex's presence, and quickly finished her call. After hanging up, she sat up taller, giving Alex her full attention. "Can I help you sir?"

Alex swallowed nervously as he realized his words were dying in his throat. He mumbled incoherently for a brief moment before he took a breath, composing himself, and forced out his words. "I'm... I'm uh, here to visit. A-a friend, I mean. Nicholas Caldwell."

The receptionist gave a patient smile and began typing something into her computer. "Can I have your name, sir?"

Alex gave a stiff nod. "Nick- errah, I mean, Alex. Um, Alexander Lawrence. Alex is what I go by though." Recognizing that he was fumbling his words a lot, Alex closed his eyes and took a calming breath. 'Ugh, I'm having to calm myself a lot lately... this is stupid. I really shouldn't be this worked up going to a freaking hospital. It's not even for me. Get a grip, Alex. Cripes...' Alex opened his eyes again to the receptionist giving him a questioning look. Alex chose the exact right words for his situation. "...what?"

The receptionist didn't miss a beat. "I said do you need any help finding his room, sir," she repeated patiently.

Alex sighed and pinched his forehead, already growing exhausted. "Yes, please... I'm sorry, I just... really don't like hospitals."

"Oh, you're fine. I don't think most people do. I'll have someone come to the front and escort you momentarily, okay?"

Alex gave another stiff nod, still holding onto his head. "Okay, thank you," he muttered tiredly, trying to manage a respectful tone. Alex turned to sit in the waiting area, but before he could take two steps, another voice caught his attention.

"Actually, I can help with that."

Alex turned to face the owner of the familiar sounding voice and saw a male nurse Alex recognized. "Hey, you're..."

The nurse nodded and gave a friendly smile. "Gene Braxton. And you're Alex, right?"

Alex nodded and gave a small smile. "Mhm, I came to visit my friend Nick."

"Yes, sir. Follow me and I can lead you to him." The nurse turned towards a hallway leading further into the hospital, and Alex, after taking a quick nervous breath, followed closely behind.

After walking side by side for a long enough time that they were out of earshot of the lobby, the nurse turned his head to face Alex as they continued walking down the hallway. "How's the chest? Not bothering you too much, I hope?"

Alex gave a rapid and sharp inhale. 'Damn, I nearly forgot about that. Of course he'd think I'm still injured. I wonder if I should... nah, on second thought, might just wanna avoid saying that. It may end up with waaay too many follow up questions that I really don't wanna bother with right now.' Alex glanced down at his chest as if he was inspecting himself and gave a small sigh. "It doesn't bother me as much as it did a couple days ago. I took some pain medication just before coming here, but... it still gets kinda annoying from time to time."

The nurse nodded. "Not unusual for that to be the case. Just make sure you're taking it as easy as possible. You didn't drive yourself here, did you?"

Alex gave the nurse a questioning look. "Well no," he lied, thinking he would be asked the fewest number of questions this way, "I had my roommate drop me off. Would it have been a bad thing if I did, though?"

The nurse glanced at Alex's expression. Alex thought he saw a small smirk on the nurse's face, but if he did, it vanished as soon as it appeared. "Not particularly," the nurse responded, "but you'll usually want to avoid using heavy machinery in the first week or so of recovery. Mostly because anything that causes sudden or strenuous movements can slow your recovery. But if you're worried about it stunting your recovery permanently, it's very unlikely to happen."

Alex nodded. "Fair enough," he responded simply.

Alex and the nurse finally reached a room with a shut door. The nurse gave a knock and opened the door. "We're here."

Alex felt a wave of fear coarse through his body. He finally reached his friend's room, but still felt woefully unprepared to see the state his friend was in. Alex pursed his lips. "Um... do you think I could be alone with him for a bit?" he asked in a noticeably weaker tone.

The nurse nodded. "Of course. Just hit the 'call nurse' button if you need anything." After giving Alex his farewell, he turned and continued down the hallway, leaving Alex to his own devices.

Alex steeled his nerves as best as he could. He slowly and meticulously stepped inside Nick's room, closing the door behind him. He turned to look at his friend and his blood froze at the sight of the state he was in. The very graphic description Preston had given Alex about Nick's state a few days ago turned out to be a very accurate description. Nick had a couple different casts and slings supporting various parts of his body as his bones healed, as well as several large swollen bumps and black and blue splotched bruises coating multiple areas of his body. And to complete the terrifying picture, Nick was also hooked up to a ventilator to help him breathe, and he was showing no outward signs of life. His body was completely still and his eyes firmly shut. The only thing breaking the tense silence as Alex stood in front of his friend, horrified at the sight, was the excruciatingly slow rhythmic beeping from a machine that stood right next to Nick's bed.

Whatever was left of Alex's resolve broke instantly. He choked up and took a few more stiff steps over to his friend's bed. "Oh God, Nick..." Alex stood by his friend's bed, hovering over his unconscious body. He wanted to collapse onto his friend and give him a tight hug. He desperately wanted to. But he held himself back. Nick was far too broken and fragile to even be touched in that moment. "What... what did they do to you, man...?" he whined out, voice breaking as he spoke. Alex forced himself to take a seat in the chair next to his bed before he collapsed on the ground in grief. The warmth of the chair brought little comfort to him, and tears began to fall from Alex's eyes. He forced himself to look away from his friend in an effort to stop himself from completely losing it. Alex took an incredibly shaky breath and began talking aloud.

"I am... God, it feels like 'sorry' isn't nearly enough for this. I should've been able to save you, and yet you're here right now. I'm, ugh," Alex let out a bitter chuckle before continuing in a quiet tone so only someone from Nick's distance would be able to hear him, "I'm supposed to be one of the most powerful pokemon in existence, capable of learning every damn move there is. And I can't heal anyone, I can't block for anyone, I can't even fucking teleport, and probably the dumbest fucking one of them all, I can't transform. Heh, imagine that. A mew, unable to use the move transform. Possibly the number one thing they're fucking known for." Alex clenched both of his fists and lightly pounded on the sides of his chair while screwing up his facial expression, letting more grief and anger show.

"The one time I was able to help someone, I had to get an entire group involved. Otherwise, I probably would've failed spectacularly... and I still kinda did. Somehow, my rescue went so south that we ended up burning down a fucking building. Must've killed half a dozen people- I mean granted, they were people that were purposely hurting pokemon, but does that really make it better...?" Alex trailed off weakly. Alex shook his head and stared down at his clenched fists. "I must be one of the worst legendary pokemon out there if I can't even protect one person without something going wrong. I... I'm sorry. I know it's probably not nearly enough, but I am. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, God damn it, I'm so fucking sorry, Nick," Alex wept helplessly as more and more tears fell from his eyes, obscuring his vision, "you don't deserve this, fuck, you don't deserve this. I feel like I put you in harm's way simply by telling you who I am! Why did I do that?! We could've avoided that entire building if I just kept it to myself, and you wouldn't have to know, and you wouldn't have to be a fucking target for knowing me cuz I'm Mew- fuck fuck fuck, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm..."

Alex leaned his face into an empty spot in Nick's bed and cried silently, whispering apologies for what seemed to Alex like half an hour. After Alex began to calm down enough, he lifted his head from the tear stained bed and gazed upon his broken friend, cringing and nearly bursting into tears again at the sight, but he forced himself to hold his composure. "I'm..," he muttered in a low choked up voice, "I'm gonna l-learn a healing move... a-and I'm gonna help you get better. I-I don't think I can wake you up, but healing your injuries is the least I could do. I promise I'm gon-na try and make things right," he forced out through very erratic breathing and sobbing, "I-I don't know how I'm gonna f-find a cover story, but I'll figure it- it out. I promise..."

Alex sat by Nick's side for another several minutes, staying completely silent and trying to calm himself down. He occasionally took small glances at Nick's broken body, but he found it difficult to maintain his composure every time he did. The guilt and despair kept chewing away at Alex's psyche. Eventually, Alex settled on gently resting a hand on Nick's arm, making sure to be as careful as possible, attempting to avoid as much of the bruising as he could. Nick, despite seeming to be lifeless, still felt comfortingly warm to the touch. Alex closed his eyes and took a few calming breaths, finally starting to regain his composure. After calming himself to the point to where he was no longer crying, Alex opened his eyes again and simply sat next to Nick for a few moments longer.

Eventually, Alex pulled back his hand and stood up from the chair. "I'm... ugh, I'm really sorry I have to leave you like this, man. But I- I need to go. I am gonna make an effort to visit you more. Kinda have to if I wanna keep my promise, but..," Alex trailed off as he looked upon his friend, still showing no signs of life, "I'll be honest, I don't know how much I can take, seeing you like... this... especially knowing it's my fault. Does that make me a bad person...?" Alex shook his head and turned towards the door, making his way towards it. "For whatever it's worth, man, you're a great friend, and maybe a better person. I just... I wish I could've been a better friend to you, myself. One you actually deserve," Alex muttered, reaching for the door. "I'll... see ya next time, Nick. Please wake up soon." Alex opened the door, exited the room, closed the door again behind him, and leaned against the door, giving out a shaky sigh to release some of the tension in his body.

"Heading out?"

Alex looked to his left after hearing a voice call out for him. Nurse Braxton was walking up to him. Alex gave an amused scoff. "What, are you stalking me? Don't you have other patients to bug?" he asked in a scratchy voice, trying to sound as upbeat as possible.

The nurse gave a weary smile in return. "Well... short answer, yes. Very much so."

Alex got the nurse's hidden meaning instantly. He was busy. Too much so, in fact. His amused expression faded and was replaced by guilt. "I'm so sorry, that was in bad taste."

The nurse gave a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing I can't handle. You think you can walk with me to the front? I wanted to ask you something."

Alex tried to stifle a groan, and was mostly successful, but it still ended up coming out as a slightly exasperated exhale. 'Great, more follow up questions... fuck me, I just wanna be out of this place already. I've had enough stress in the last hour to last me a full year.' Alex glanced over to the nurse and tried to maintain a tone as polite as possible. "Of course. What about?" he asked as the two began making their way towards the entrance.

The nurse seemed to catch Alex's trace levels of exasperation and let out a small chuckle. "Nothing like what you're thinking of, I assure you. You're a fan of pokemon, correct?"

Alex raised an eyebrow, not expecting the question while also relieved this didn't have anything to do with him or Nick. "Um, yea. I've uh, I've been a fan for... basically all my life since just before grade school. Why? What's up?"

Alex noticed a shift in the nurse's demeanor as he thought about his next question. Almost as if he was uncomfortable and uncertain with the topic he wanted to talk about. "Do you... do you happen to know about the pokemon named Ow-duno?"

Alex did a double take. 'Did he just ask about a pokemon by name?' Alex gave the nurse a confused expression as he digested the question. "You mean Audino? Um, well yes, it's a normal type that can double as a nurse, but... I thought you didn't know much about pokemon? I mean, excuse my rudeness, but after we spoke that one time about... that incident, that was the impression I got."

The nurse seemed to be more uncomfortable after Alex gave his explanation. "Well yes, you're correct, I wasn't much for pokemon, myself, but I uh... recently became acquainted with that one. I wanted to know where the best place I can find information on its moves and abilities was."

Alex's curiosity was growing stronger as to what prompted the nurse to even bring up this topic in the first place until it clicked in his head. He took a closer look at the nurse's uncomfortable posture and gave a slow nod of understanding. "Ooohhh, I think I gotcha. Okay, so yea, personally I think the best website for general knowledge on a given pokemon's species would be Bulbapedia. Like wikipedia, except for pokemon. There, it'll give you the breakdown on the pokemon's lore, special abilities, and moves. There's gonna be some information there that's way too game-specific, but that should be a very good starting point."

The nurse gave a small smile, realizing that Alex caught on to what he was saying, but then frowned again when 'bulbapedia' was mentioned. "Okay but... what if, say for example, you can't find a specific move there? Because for some reason it's missing from the page entirely."

Alex was confused all over again and it reflected in his expression. 'Wait, he's already been to Bulbapedia? That... should've given him all the answers he needed. Well most, at least. Is it possible that he learned a move that according to the games was impossible for him to know...?' Alex put on a thoughtful expression. "Hmm, that's odd... describe the move to me? Maybe I can pinpoint it."

The nurse nodded and looked around, as if to see if there was anyone around listening in on their conversation. "It uh... what happens is someone summons this glowing energy, and you drop it onto someone in order to heal them a bit. Sort of like water drops. And it can also heal the person using the move," he explained in a quiet tone so only Alex can hear.

Alex paid the nurse's apparent need to be discreet no mind, and instead began to think. 'Okay, small problem. That move doesn't sound familiar. He did mention it's a healing move, so there are only so many to choose from. Water... well the only water move I know that's a healing move is Aqua Ring, but with the way he's describing it, I don't think that's it. Heals the user and a target...? I don't think there are any in the game that can- oh wait!' Alex made a small gasp, prompting the nurse to look up at him.

"What? Do you know it?"

Alex pursed his lips and slowly nodded his head. "Okay, I think I've got it. So... bear with me a moment here, cuz this isn't gonna be something you're expecting, but... I don't actually know what the move is called-"

The nurse gave a disappointed exhale before Alex could finish. "Alright, well... thanks for trying-"

"No no, hang on a sec," Alex said hurriedly, "I mean- ugh... I'm not the best at explaining things. So, that move is actually one I've seen before. But I don't know what it's called because they never gave a name for it. Like- okay, so pokemon gets new games every so often, and with it, new pokemon and new moves. In fact, they were actually going to release a new pair of games this November. And with it, new pokemon and new moves, just like I mentioned. Thing is, when the transformation happened, the universe apparently decided for whatever reason to transform some people into some of those very pokemon. So... logically speaking, if some people transformed into some of the new pokemon, they can learn some of the new moves too."

The nurse's expression became more and more thoughtful as Alex explained himself. "So you're saying the move I'm talking about..."

Alex nodded and finished the nurse's thought. "I'm ninety nine percent certain the move you're describing is one of those new moves and that's why you can't find information on it. It simply hasn't been released yet."

The nurse stared at Alex for a moment, then began chuckling. "Wow, just wow. Listening to your explanation is just reminding me of how insane this whole thing is all over again."

Alex chuckled with the nurse. "Preaching to the choir. I really don't get why this happened, let alone with a very specific set of rules, while literally everything else about it was random as fuck. Kinda makes you wanna just throw up your hands and say 'fuck it, I give. This is my life now.'"

"Heh, eloquently put, but accurate... hey, hold on, you said it was a new move, right? Well where did you see it before now?"

Alex shrugged. "Saw one of those new pokemon using it. They were using it to heal a hurt pokemon." Alex had to stifle a smile since there was no part of his statement that was even a lie. But he still made it sound as if he wasn't involved in the incident at all.

The nurse made an 'ah' face and carried on walking down the hallway with Alex.

A sudden thought occurred to Alex. "Hey now that I think about it, it's pretty convenient that you turned into an Audino of all things-"

"Not me," the nurse interrupted without a beat, giving Alex a knowing smile, "someone else I happen to know."

Alex gave an amused exhale. "Of course," he continued, playing along, "but anyway, pretty convenient that you know an Audino. They're pretty prominent healer pokemon. Maybe you can convince them to visit and help out? Say with that new move of theirs?"

The nurse pursed his lips and shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Even if I think they'd be accepted, something like that hasn't been medically approved or studied, and they probably won't even start trials for it for a long time."

"Ah, yea, that's right..," Alex gave an understanding nod. "I suppose it would be really iffy to use something that's brand new to the world, even if we know it to be harmless for all intents and purposes. I guess the risk of malpractice would be a touch too high."

The nurse nodded and started looking around again. "Also..," he leaned in closer to Alex and spoke in a tone only he could reasonably hear, "this is just between you and me, but if all other healing moves are like the ones the Audino knows, it wouldn't work anyway. For some reason, every time they tried to heal a friend or family member of mine, it didn't work at all. It only worked on other pokemon."

Alex did a double take and gave the nurse a perplexed look. "Wait- they don't work on people?" he asked in a shocked tone.

The nurse nodded. "You didn't hear it from me, though!"

Suddenly a voice sounded on the hospital intercom. Alex couldn't make out what was being said, but the nurse gave a tired exhale and started towards the other direction. "I'm afraid that's my cue to leave. Patient to attend to. You have a nice rest of your day, okay? And remember, take it easy."

Alex gave a stiff nod, still digesting what the nurse had told him, and idly made his way out of the hospital and to his car. 'Well... shit. That's news to me. I mean, maybe it's just something weird with that one move? I... really don't see how, though. I don't think there's any special mechanic that excludes healing moves from targeting other pokemon. Maybe healing moves really don't affect humans. Fuck me, and I promised Nick I'd heal his injuries.' Alex gave a frustrated grunt. He reached his car, entered the driver's seat, and slammed the door behind him in a fit of irritation. 'I mean, I guess I can still visit him more, just like I promised, but damn I feel like I'm breaking one of them already, even if it's nothing I can help. What kind of BS is that anyway? Since when has people being immune to pokemon healing been a th-'

"OH SHIT!" Alex's eyes went wide as he finally realized what that really meant for him. "Oohh no. Oh fuck, I told Eli and Isaac I got healed by a pokemon." Alex sat in the driver's seat gawking at his massive blunder. He had told his friends on no uncertain terms that he was healed by a pokemon. And if the idea of people being immune to pokemon healing was true and they ended up finding out about it, they were absolutely going to have questions for Alex. Alex slunk back into his driver's seat and realized there was no escaping his costly mistake. People being immune to healing was eventually going to become common knowledge. And after Eli and Isaac find it out, it's not going to be hard to put two and two together. No matter how Alex pieced it together, he realized it was hopeless.

His friends were going to inevitably discover his identity as a pokemon.

((What's this? An update that's actually... ON TIME? What blasphemy is this!

In all seriousness, this was a much better month for me. I feel like I'm really starting to get comfortable with my schedule. Fingers crossed it stays that way. As always, all comments and constructive criticism are always appreciated. I think y'all know the drill by now, haha.

Also we hit 10k views this past month! Thank all of you so much! It really does make me happy there are lots of people out there who enjoy reading my craft. Hopefully I can also serve as an inspiration to any aspiring writers to be as well! That'd absolutely make my day.))