h wellA/N: DrPhill26: Jeez it's been a while since I've been here.
Wendy: I'll say, there's actually a layer of dust on your writing desk.
DrPhill26: Yeah that as definitely not supposed to happen.
Tyler: This time of year is pretty busy for you though. I remember it was last year too.
DrPhill26: No kidding, and this year was even crazier than last year. And on top of that I'm job hunting too.
Wendy: This time of year? No wonder your writing has been on the back-burner.
DrPhill26: ...and the fact that this isn't the original design for the next chapter I wanted to write but I slammed into a wall and couldn't work it out.
Tyler: Wait, so what's this chapter, fluff?
DrPhill26: No, it's not fluff. I'll just explain it on the bottom notes. These guys have waited way more than long enough for a new chapter from us so let's not waste any more time. I'm back, I'm not dead and enjoy the chapter guys :)
"Okay Mr. Lawson, I have another test for you to take." Tyler rolled his eyes as the doctor in the examination room turned back towards him. The clock above his shoulder said that it was now half past five in the morning, making Tyler shake his head in irritation. Just about five hours ago, Tyler was in Wendy's bedroom, locked in the middle of a particularly naughty game with some of Wendy's more adventurous toys.
But a lot can change in just five hours' time. Pokémon can be stolen, buildings can be destroyed, bodies can be broken. And you and your friends can all be transported to the Hearthome City Medical Center because Solaceon Town's regional facility isn't well-enough equipped to handle the care you and your friends require after all of the above happened to you. But since that wasn't frustrating enough, you can also find out that a former major criminal syndicate has been rebuilt from the ground up and is more of a threat than ever before. You can even find out that this new syndicate has access to Shadow Pokémon, something you thought was not only contained in your home region, but also had all traces of it eliminated from the Earth. And these weren't Shadow Pokémon weren't just any ordinary run of the mill fighters, but Pokémon capable of fighting and defeating three Mega-Evolved Pokémon simultaneously. A lot can change in five hours' time, but for Tyler, about the only thing that had changed was the level of his patience with the young doctor standing across from him.
"I'm telling you doc, I'm fine." Tyler grumbled like a curmudgeon. Tyler knew he was fine; he remembered that night with Yuki after their moped accident that gave him the concussion in the first place. That night after coming too, he felt nauseous, his vision blurred, and he felt like he was seeing stars at times while also finding it difficult to walk unassisted. He didn't feel any of these things tonight. Frankly, this doctor was wasting both his and Tyler's time trying to confirm what Tyler already knew. That he was fine, that he didn't have another concussion, and that the doctor would be better suited spending his time evaluating one of his friends who was in much more dire straits than him.
"Look, I get that you've been telling me that the entire time I've been here, but-"
"Then listen to me." Tyler stared crossly at the doctor, who looked at him wide-eyed. "I am not sick, I don't have a concussion. I. Am. Fine. If you want to help someone, go help my friends Will, Maddie and Jason. They're the ones who need help, not me, because like I've been telling you, I don't have a concussion!"
"Well, that's the thing with concussions sir." The young doctor began to explain. "Concussions sneak up on you. Sometimes you don't know if you've actually had one until much later."
"Oh my God." Tyler let out an exasperated groan as he looked again at the clock. 5:35 AM. To be honest, Tyler wanted to go to bed more than anything else. He was tired, and his fighting with the doctor wasn't going to speed up the process any. Maybe it was better to just submit to the battery of tests that had been going on for what felt like an eternity if it meant the sweet gentle embrace of the pillow would come sooner. "Just get it over with already."
"Okay, we're going to do the King-Devick test one more time."
"Again?!" Tyler half-shouted as he saw the doctor hold up a trio of flashcards in his hand for the second time. "That's the first test we started with, why are we doing it again?!"
"Because we… technically haven't… finished that test?" The doctor's voice trailed off in a question, like he was hoping Tyler would be satisfied with this response.
"Goddammit…" Tyler buried his head in his hands again.
"I'm sorry." The doctor meekly apologized.
"No, don't be, I'm not mad at you." Tyler looked up at the doc, forcing a brief smile. "I'm just... all this shit from tonight is starting to get to me. If anything, I should apologize to you for snapping at you when you're just trying to do your job."
"Oh, well, it's okay." The doctor offered a sympathetic chuckle. "Let's get this over with as you said."
"Right." Tyler agreed as the doctor rolled over a portable tray that he placed the three cards on face down.
"You remember this test, right?" The asked while pulling a stopwatch from his pocket.
"The one where I read the letters and numbers behind the lines?"
"Correct." The doctor explained as he placed the flash cards face down in front of Tyler. "My job once again is to time you, but this time we're comparing it with the eleven-second score you had last time. If you score around the same time, based on the vitals I've taken from you and a few other factors, I would feel comfortable letting you leave our hospital tonight."
"And if not, I get to spend the night here in Hearthome City… I do hope you have better décor than Snowpoint City and its bland white walls." Tyler added with a half-smirk
"I assure you we do, but let's hope we don't need to confirm that tonight… ready?"
"Ready."
"Okay… … Go." As the doctor pushed the stopwatch button, Tyler flipped over the three cards on the table. The object of the task was simple enough, make out the three letters or numbers on the cards behind the numerous lines covering them up. How playing with flashcards could test whether or not Tyler had a concussion didn't matter. What did matter was looking past the squiggly and multi-angled lines and deciphering the code.
"Uh… F-M-9." Tyler said after a moment and the doctor stopped his watch.
"Ten point eight-seven seconds." The doctor smiled and Tyler breathed a sigh of relief. "Congratulations, you passed."
"That's what I've been telling you." Tyler shook his head, though this time with an amused chuckle. "So, I'm good? I can go sleep now."
"Yes. If you'd like I can call a cab and arrange them a ride to-"
"Nah, that's not necessary." Tyler cut the doctor off with a raised palm. "My girlfriend lives near here. We'll just head back together once I find her."
"Ah, well then I bid you adieu." The doctor nodded as he exited the room, allowing Tyler to let out one final sigh of frustration before he too left the room.
After getting quick directions from a passing janitor, Tyler made his way through the hospital and back towards the main lobby. As inviting as the chairs and empty benches were to sleep on, Tyler couldn't stop there. He was headed for a different ward of the hospital compared to where he'd been examined. Following the signs, Tyler found his way to the Trauma Center and pushed open the double doors.
Instantly, it was like Tyler had stepped onto the set of one of the hospital dramas his mother liked to watch back home. A jumbled mess of multiple conversations at once provided the background music to Tyler seeing doctors and nurses in their navy-blue scrubs walking around and conversing a mile a minute. Pokémon like Audino, as well as members of the Chansey and Gardevoir evolutionary lines were also walking through the halls, often in line behind one of the many nurses.
Tyler took a few exploratory steps forward towards a central hub of sorts with even more hospital staff and Pokémon sitting at a number of different computer monitors and was about to ask them a question when he saw something at the edge of his eye that answered his would-be question. As Tyler walked forward, the object of his eye looked up in his direction, doing a double-take before she too stood up and briskly threw her arms around Tyler.
"Thank God you're okay." Wendy lightly sobbed against Tyler's cheek as he returned her rough embrace with a gentle, reassuring one.
"I'm glad you are too." Tyler rubbed Wendy's back soothingly as she muffled another sob into his shoulder.
"I was so worried."
"I'm sorry." Neither Tyler nor Wendy said more, letting their embrace speak for them instead. The soundtrack of the trauma center faded away, letting the two of them only focus on each other and nothing else. Pure, warm, gentle love healed both of their hearts as Tyler and Wendy simply held each other in their arms before finally pulling back to just holding each other's hands.
"Glad to see somebody's upright and walking out of you guys." Tyler turned towards the voice and saw Will's younger brother Alex flashing a brief wave. Though a quick scan of this area told Tyler that he, Wendy and Alex were the only three of their group back here.
"Where's everyone else? Where's Alicia and Rose?" Surely those two would also be back here with Wendy since they were also part of the cavalry who arrived to save them from the wrath of Team Eclipse.
"Alicia is with Maddie," Wendy spoke somberly, softly. "And as for Rose she… she needed to get some air."
"I see." Tyler frowned. While he had expected as much, it still hurt his heart to imagine what those two were going through. Rose of course had to be worried for her fiancée in much the same way Wendy was worried about Tyler. But Will was a walking tank in Tyler's book; if anyone could make a full recovery from what happened tonight, it was him.
Madison on the other hand, Tyler shuddered just thinking about what happened to her. The way her Houndoom had so violently slammed into her chest, and how the two of them both flailed like ragdolls after the impact was disturbing enough. But the fact that the EMTs who responded decided that she needed a Psy-evac or "Psychic Evacuation" was even more concerning for Tyler. The most immediate form of rescue evacuation, a Psychic type Pokémon could be used to teleport an injured patient directly to a hospital's trauma ward. Fortunately, both Will and Jason's injuries didn't warrant such a drastic measure to be taken. But Madison? All Tyler could do was pray that Madison could find the strength to stave off a potentially catastrophic injury.
"T-Tyler!" Tyler turned from Wendy's hug of him and turned to see that not only had Rose returned, but that she apparently needed a hug as well. The two girls sandwiched Tyler between their hugs, bringing a shade of embarrassment to the redhead's cheeks. "Finally, some good news tonight."
"Hi Rose." Tyler now soothingly rubbed Rose's back as their eyes met, allowing Tyler to see a puffy redness surrounding her normally hazel eyes.
"If you're okay, then maybe Will and Jason will be fine too." Rose sniffled out a sob as her eyes began to water up. "God I'm such a mess. But I just can't help but worry after everything I saw at the daycare."
"Rose, they'll be fine." Tyler smiled down at Rose. "One of them is a Ranger, and the other is your future husband. They're two of the toughest guys I know, way stronger than me."
"Yeah, you're right." Rose smiled as she brushed a tear from beneath her glasses before she realized what she'd said and embarrassment dotted her cheeks too. "I - I mean, the part about them being tough, n-not the part where they're stronger than you. You're strong too Tyler, I'm not trying to say you aren't, it's just that-"
"Rose it's fine. Take a deep breath." Wendy now turned her attention to her girlfriend and the Auburn-haired woman composed herself again.
"Sorry... Right, I'm sorry." Rose's expression faltered, a bitter frown weighing down her normally cheery smile. "I just hope they're all okay."
"We all do Rose."
"There you guys are!" Yet another voice turned Tyler's attention towards it and yet another pair of arms squeezed around not just his frame, but Rose and Wendy's as well. Now he was starting to feel squashed; three people hugging you at the same time when you're already sore was not helping Tyler feel any better.
"All of you are not allowed to let anything like this happen ever again. You hear me?" Despite its sternness, the motherly sounding voice cracked briefly with a hiccup-like sob. "Every parent hates to see their babies in the hospital. So, don't you do this again!"
"It's okay Mama Carla. We-"
"Promise me Wendy." Wendy tried to reassure her second mother, but Mrs. Weiland cut her off sternly. "Promise me you won't let yourself get in a position where you can get hurt like this again."
"O-okay, I promise."
"And you Rose. Do you promise as well?"
"But I didn't-"
"Promise me Rose."
"I was with you at your ranch."
"Promise. Me. Rosetta Neoma." Rose flinched slightly at her future mother-in-law's intensity.
"Okay, okay. I promise too."
"If I make a promise, will you all let go of me?" Tyler croaked out as the pressure surrounding his entire body became suffocating. Each of the three women took a step back and apologized as Tyler crouched over and caught his breath.
"So, what's going on? Get me up to speed, where's my baby William?" Carla asked the group.
"He's been sedated." Alex answered his mother. "Doctor came by about half an hour ago and told us Will and Jason are both gonna be okay. They're chalked full of painkillers right now but they can come home tomorrow, or later today I guess."
"Oh thank you Arceus." Mrs. Weiland breathed out a sigh of relief for her eldest son. "And miss Madison?"
"We haven't heard much about her condition except that she's in the ICU, and her Houndoom is in a DAISEE Chamber."
"Oh, so Riptide isn't the only one in a DAISEE Chamber then." Mrs. Weiland's expression soured.
"You've talked with daddy? How are he and mom doing? And Keanu too? And the Wooper family, are they hurt?" Wendy rapidly fired off her questions one after the other. She probably would have asked more questions if Mama Carla hadn't grabbed both of her hands and looked at her in the reassuring way that only a mother could.
"They're fine honey. They're all fine. Like I said, Riptide is in a DAISEE Chamber, but you more than anyone know how tough that Feraligatr is."
"I know… I just… We're in Hearthome City and they're still in Solaceon Town and I want to be with them. But I can't leave you guys or I'd worry even more."
"I promise you sweetie, when we get everything figured out here, I'll take you to Solaceon Town so you can be with them, okay?"
"Okay."
"Good." Mrs. Weiland kissed her adoptive daughter's cheek.
"Um… can I ask a question?" Tyler sheepishly raised his hand.
"Of course Deerling, what's your question?" Mrs. Weiland turned her attention to him.
"What's a Day-see chamber?"
"Oh, I imagine you don't have many of those in the Orre region." Mrs. Weiland was briefly taken aback, but collected herself just as quickly. "It's an acronym that stands for Direct Aura Intervention and Supplemental Energy Enhancement Chamber."
"That's a mouthful."
"That's why we call them DAISEE Chambers." A brief smile curled Mrs. Weiland's lips. "The name comes from the idea that you put a Pokémon in these accelerated recovery chambers and they'll be fresh as a daisy again in no time. Even if they've suffered major damage both internally and externally, a full recovery is just a couple nights away."
"Uh-huh…" Tyler still wasn't connecting all the dots in his head.
"If you're really curious Tyler, I can tell you about them some other night. I'm sure you're much too tired for a lecture on how they work."
"Yeah, I feel like I'm about to drop any moment now." Tyler yawned and the entire group joined in with him. "I'm gonna sit down now."
"Oh, let me move my coat quick." Alex picked up his jacket and put it back on his shoulders, giving Tyler space to sit next to him and he did. Wendy sat on the other side of Tyler while Mrs. Weiland and Rose sat across from them on a bench opposite Tyler's.
"Man, what a night..." Tyler said to no one in particular, running his hands through his hair.
"No kidding." Alex sighed as well. "I thought it would be an easy night just helping Will get prepped for the tournament tomorrow. Then all this happens."
"Oh shit, the tournament!" Tyler let out an audible gasp. In the midst of all the chaos from what was now yesterday bleeding into today, the simple fact that it was now Thursday morning meant something new entirely. The draw for the second weekend of the Hearthome Tag Battle Tournament was today. That also meant that the first matches of the second weekend were tomorrow already. "I completely forgot about that!"
"That's completely understandable given everything that happened to you lot tonight."
"I uh... I don't think Maddie and I will be able to compete this weekend." Wendy's voice faltered, looking at her feet.
"I don't think so either honey. I'm sorry." Mama Carla offered her sympathies. At the same time, it made Tyler think about his tournament partner and his well-being. He may have just boasted about his toughness to Rose in an effort to cheer her up, but one of Type: Shadow's blasts went off with Jason close by. It wouldn't surprise him if the two of them got hurt by that blast. Maybe not to the degree of Madison, but now he couldn't help but wonder if he and his partner could possibly compete this weekend.
"But let's not focus on something we don't have control over right now." The motherly voice of Mrs. Weiland continued. "You kids have been through one hell of a night. But, you all still have each other and your Pokémon. And you've got overprotective mothers like me to watch after you too." Mama Carla added with a bit of whimsy that earned a brief chuckle from everyone, except the woman sitting next to her.
"Will…" Rose slouched over with a sigh, only to be wrapped up in another motherly hug by Mrs. Weiland.
"Rosetta Deerling he'll be fine. The two of us know more than anyone just how tough he is. I'm sure that if he gets some sleep and a plate of Chicken and Waffles in him, he'll be A-O-K."
"I know. But this is the second time something like this has happened to him."
"Second time?" Tyler's eyes snapped in an instant to Rose and Mrs. Weiland.
"When we teleported in, and I saw all that damage to the daycare and the barn and all those battle-craters? And then when I saw Will lying on the ground next to Nyxx I… It was just like what happened in Johto." Rose continued as Mrs. Weiland shushed her future daughter-in-law.
"Now now Rose, you and I both know that what happened in Johto was not your fault. None of it was your fault. Just like none of this is your fault tonight too."
"But if I hadn't heard that Teddiursa crying, he wouldn't have gotten hurt that night."
"Honey…" Mrs. Weiland pulled Rose into her bosom, letting her sob softly against her chest.
"Second time?" Tyler finally voiced his burning question after letting the moment last a bit. "What do you mean second time?"
*sniffle* "A few years ago Tyler, Will and I got attacked by an enraged Ursaring in Johto." Rose sat up from Mrs. Weiland's hug and pulled the collar of her vest and shirt down on her right side.
"Holy shit!" Tyler gasped as he saw two scarred slash-marks on Rose's collarbone with a third but more faded mark above them. He thought he'd seen all of Rose's alabaster glory the night of their spore-fueled foursome when she presented herself on the bed to him. But somehow, he'd missed this now obvious mark on her chest. As much as he wanted to know how, he was infinitely more curious now as to what had happened to give Rose that blemish to her otherwise flawless figure.
"Will's is even worse than this one though you can't see it too well anymore." Rose's voice saddened. "You know that mural tattoo he has on his back? That's where it is. All five claws, all five of them scarred deeper than any of mine from shoulder to hip."
"Oh my God…" This time Tyler was stunned breathless. He'd seen the mural before, again the morning after their foursome when he was making breakfast. He figured that if you wanted to hide a scar that massive, it'd take a mural the size of Will's to cover it up. Maybe that was why Will grew his hair out long too now that Tyler thought about it, another attempt at hiding the scar from sight. But if both Rose and Will had scars from this incident, now he needed to know what the hell had happened in Johto that gave them these markings.
"Can… May I ask what happened?" Tyler bravely asked the question to Rose.
"Like I said, we got attacked by an enraged Ursaring in a cave in Johto." A brief tremble of fear shook Rose's body. "I'd never seen a Pokémon like that Ursaring before. It was just so… wrathful, so furiously angry before. I honestly thought that day that Will and I might die because of the mistake I made."
"Stop it Rosetta." Mrs. Weiland turned a stern gaze back to the sulking woman next to her. "You and I both know that if you hadn't tried to help that Teddiursa, William most definitely would have. I knew even before he was old enough to talk that he would grow up to be a protector, a guardian. When you heard that Teddiursa cry for help, I guarantee the same thought went through his head that went through yours. And frankly, if it didn't, I don't think Will and you would still be a couple, let alone engaged."
"I know…"
"Then stop beating yourself up Deerling." Mrs. Weiland kissed Rose's cheek.
"Could it have been a…" Tyler quietly pondered with a hand on his chin. "No, that's not – well then again I said the same thing this morning and look what happened."
"You say something Tyler?" Wendy asked as Tyler looked at her.
"You don't think… Do you think it's possible that this Ursaring was a Shadow Pokémon?" The room froze at Tyler's question and Tyler couldn't blame them, he was just as shocked the words came from his mouth as well. Five years ago, Snag-master Michael had captured the last Shadow Pokémon on the Cipher codex of Shadow Pokémon in their organization, a Dragonite. After that, he personally saw to the destruction of all tech related to Shadow Pokémon that was at each of Cipher's and Snagem's former bases of operation. The only exceptions being his and Wes' snag machines. He'd thought the world would be able to move on from Shadow Pokémon, never needing to fear their presence anymore after this. But after what he saw tonight… he couldn't be sure of anything anymore.
"I… I dunno." Wendy now pondered in thought herself. "That blue guy, Aster was it? The way he was talking about it made it seem like their only target was the Sinnoh Region."
"But what's to say that they didn't test their Shadow Pokémon work in another region before coming to Sinnoh?"
"But then why would they leave that first region and come to Sinnoh and risk getting their work discovered?" Wendy countered Tyler's question with one of her own.
"That's a good point… I hate to ask Rose, but could you tell me fully what happened that day with the Ursaring?" Tyler turned back towards the sniveling woman. "The way you're describing it with how unnaturally angry it was, there's a chance that it could have been one. Frankly the only way tonight could get any worse is if these Eclipse bastards are spreading Shadow Pokémon across more than just the Sinnoh region.
"No, I don't mind." Rose wiped her teary eyes with the back of her hand. "But you'll need to tell me what characterizes a Shadow Pokémon as well."
"Right, you weren't there with us after all… Well, in summary, there are three things that can identify a Shadow Pokémon." Tyler held up three fingers, starting with his index finger. "First, Shadow Pokémon are known for their uncharacteristic aggression, oftentimes to the point where they attack anyone and anything around them, even their handlers."
"That sounds like the Ursaring alright." Rose nodded.
"Second is the Shadow Aura. Essentially a cloud of purple energy that surrounds a Shadow Pokémon's body."
"I… don't recall seeing anything like that on the Ursaring." Rose shook her head.
"That's fine, I'd actually be surprised if you did see it since you need a strong connection to Aura to see it."
"Like Pulse. He was able to see this aura for us. That's how we learned they were Shadow Pokémon that we were fighting." Wendy added onto Tyler's statement before he continued.
"The third thing again is harder to notice, but the attacks they use are essentially darker versions of other moves they may normally. Think of like… let's say a Slash attack, but coated in a black or purple energy."
"You mean like Night Slash? Or Shadow Claw?" Tyler blinked in a stunned stupor before letting out a curse.
"Okay kind of like that but not quite – Anyway why don't you tell your story and I'll try to figure out if this Ursaring was a Shadow Pokémon or not."
"Okay…" Rose sighed into her hands, composing herself for what Tyler could already tell was not a happy story for her to remember.
"It was maybe a month after Will's 22nd birthday, so about two and a half years ago. Mama Carla had been invited to participate in a research summit at Blackthorn City along with Professor Elm and a few other world leaders in evolutionary research."
"You're a researcher?" Tyler asked Mrs. Weiland. "Like on par with the regional professors?"
"You flatter me Tyler." Mrs. Weiland coyly hid a laugh behind her hand. "I'm not quite to the level of the Samuel Oaks of the world, but I do conduct some research when I'm not chasing after cleaning up after Alex and Will and their messy rooms."
"Mom…" Alex blushed ashamed of his mother's teasing him.
"Anyway," Rose continued her story, grabbing the group's attention again. "The summit's organizers offered to fly her and her family out for the summit so why not turn it into a family vacation? Professor Carla Weiland, Papa Tom, plus Will and I all went together as Alex was in Saffron City in Kanto at the time?"
"Yup, was trying to train up my Pokémon for the fight vs Sabrina. Took forever to get my badge from her."
"Right, so the four of us flew out to the expo and we had a pretty good time all things considered. Blackthorn is a very rustic city, full of culture and historic atmosphere. Anyway, the summit has concluded and we're supposed to fly back to Sinnoh the next day when Will tells me he wants to go hike up to Dark Cave." Rose turns briefly to Wendy with an amused smirk on her face. "You know how Will gets whenever ruins or caves are involved."
"Of course." Wendy rolls her eyes with an amused giggle of her own. "Even as a kid, he would always pester me about wanting to go to the Solaceon Ruins." Rose smiled as she continued.
"So, we go up the mountains and it's really gorgeous up there overlooking Blackthorn City and you can see for miles all around. We're having a great time together and then we eventually find the cave and go inside. Again, it was really fun until we ran out of repels and the Zubats wouldn't stop leaving us alone. It was when we were making our way back to the cave's entrance to escape the Zubat horde when I hear the sound of something crying deeper inside."
"The Teddiursa." Tyler clarified and Rose nodded.
"We didn't know it was a Teddiursa at first. All we knew was that it sounded scared and that it needed help. So we turn back around and start chasing the sound of its crying. As you can imagine with all the branching paths in a cave, it took a while to try and find it but eventually we do. But here's the interesting part. Even though we'd ran out of repels, all the Zubats that had been harassing us were nowhere in the center of the cave. It was just the little Teddiursa all by itself."
"That's… odd."
"That's what Will said but I was so fixated on the Teddiursa that I just instinctively rushed ahead of him and tried to help the little guy. I mean, if you see an injured Pokémon, isn't your first instinct to go and help it get better?"
"Of course." Tyler agreed and so did everyone else.
"So, I run up to the little guy and he's curled up in a ball and balling his eyes out as I kneel next to him. I try to reach out and help him but he sees me and runs away from me, or rather tries to before he trips and falls down again. That's when I notice that the back of his head is bloodied. I grab a handkerchief and a potion and run up to him again, trying to plead with him that I want to help, but he just keeps shaking and shaking like a leaf. I finally just sprayed the potion towards him and he started shaking a little less as the medicine kicked in And I sprayed him some more and the shaking got even less and eventually he stopped and looked at me. He then turned towards me and ran into my arms and I scooped him up in a hug, telling him it was all okay now."
"Will comes up behind us at this point and asks how he's doing, and I tell him he's fine he's just hurt a bit and needs some help. So, Will takes the Teddiursa from me and I spray my handkerchief and rub the back of his head with it. That's when I see that he's got a notch missing from his left ear, like just a piece of it is missing and there's a lot of dried blood matted to the fur by his ear so that must have been where he got hurt."
"Poor thing." Wendy coos sympathetically.
"Well, Will and I help clean him up a little bit and he's doing better, but we want to bring him to the Pokémon Center in case. So we tell him that and he starts crying again and we try to reassure him and tell him 'It's gonna be okay.' But he keeps on crying. Finally, we just decide to go and both turn around to see this hulking Ursaring towering over the both of us. Like, it was like twice the size of Will, that's how big it was."
"Wow that's huge." Tyler voiced his thoughts again. "So, was this mama Ursaring?"
"Well that's what we thought and we tried to explain to the Ursaring what we were doing. We showed it that we'd helped her Teddy as best we could but we wanted to take him somewhere to get more help. But big mama didn't listen and her eyes glazed over with this dark rage…" Rose stopped her story as her body began to tremble again and another river of tears formed in her waterlogged eyes. "Will he… he pushed me out of the way and that's when… that's when…"
"That's when he got his scar?" Tyler finished Rose's sentence for her as she began to cry.
"I just – it all happened so fast but I can still see it like it was in slow-motion… His jacket was shredded… there was so much blood I-… And when he wasn't moving I thought he'd…"
"It's okay sweetie, take your time." Mama Carla went back to mother-mode and held Rose against her in the gentlest, most protective and nurturing embrace she could, which in turn gave Tyler some time to process his thoughts.
As much as he didn't want to think it, so far Rose's story was adding up. This Ursaring they encountered definitely checked the box for hyper-aggression, especially if it attacked the two people who rescued her cub for her. Of course, if it was a Shadow Ursaring, would it even be able to recognize its cub in the first place since Shadow Pokémon's hearts are forcibly closed off? But then again, this wasn't enough to say with certainty that it was a Shadow Ursaring that had attacked them. Tyler needed more information to make that determination, he needed Rose to continue her story.
"I froze up, but Ajani didn't. He burst out of his ball on his own and that brought me back. We tried to fight off the Ursaring with everything we had but… It was like our attacks were just bouncing off of it."
"That's not encouraging to hear." Tyler mused aloud.
"Meanwhile all of the Ursaring's attacks were really strong. I mean, Ajani was and still is one of my strongest Pokémon. But even he was getting beaten up and tossed aside like a discarded chew toy.
"Did you recognize any of the Ursaring's attacks?"
"Um… well, there was this one time the Ursaring raised both its arms over its head and slammed them into Ajani's back." Rose pantomimed the action for Tyler's benefit. "I thought it was Hammer Arm, but my memory starts getting a bit fuzzy at this point, I don't know for sure."
"Shadow Breaker!" Tyler's memory recalled the Shadow Darmanitan's signature attack from tonight, seeing it lunge for its foes with glowing purple forearms.
"Can you remember anything else?"
"Honestly no," Rose laments as she shakes her head. "It's mostly bits and pieces from that point on. I remember Ajani trying to get back up but failing. I remember being backed against the wall with Teddy, and that's when I got this." Rose again revealed the scar across her collarbone. "And I remember as I was fading away, I saw a flash of white light and heard two things. The sound of Will's voice, and the roar of a Tyranitar."
"Will told me after the fact," Mrs. Weiland continued on Rose's behalf as Tyler turned his attention to her. "He came too just in time to see the Ursaring attack Rose. Before she'd even hit the ground, Will had Odin's ball in his hand and released all of his inhibitors."
"Inhibitors?"
"Do you remember that Odin was originally my husband's Pokémon, not William's?" Tyler nodded a response. "Then what you might not know is that due to my husband's position as the Commander of the Sinnoh Rangers, all of his Pokémon are technically registered as lethal weapons."
"Seriously?" Everyone nodded at Tyler's question. "Wow. Is that common in other regions too? Because none of the Pokémon registered with the P.C.P.D. are considered lethal weapons, not even my dad's."
"Well, no offense Tyler, but the Orre region from what I hear is kind of a lawless region compared to Sinnoh and Kanto and the like."
"Yeah well you're not the first person to say that." Tyler rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "I've lost count of the times dad said the same thing."
"Right, well if a trainer like Will is going to be running around with a Pokémon like Odin for example, the Sinnohan government mandates that there be limiters engaged on Odin's Poké ball to suppress his powers unless a dire circumstance presents itself."
"Like being almost killed by an Ursaring." Tyler nodded this time with understanding, though his brow furrowed as another memory from the early morning played in his head.
"That's why the eggheads put these limiters on Zero-Three's ball as a backup inhibitor to the mask."
"Does that mean he wasn't even at full power when he battled everyone?" Tyler kept his thought to himself, not wanting to interrupt Mrs. Weiland's story.
"Yes, that would be one of the acceptable circumstances for removing the inhibitors."
"Okay, then what happened after Will removed Odin's limiters?"
"Do you have a Pokédex Tyler?" Mrs. Weiland deflected his immediate question. "If you do, look up what it says about Tyranitars." So Tyler did, grabbing his P*DA out of his pocket and pulling up an article about the Armor Pokémon.
"Let's see… extremely strong, can't be harmed by any sort of attack, if it goes on a rampage it can knock down mount-…" Tyler dropped his P*DA in shock. "No… no way."
"I'm afraid so." Mrs. Weiland sighed. "Fueled by his new trainer's rage, Odin leveled half the mountain range in his battle with the Ursaing and killed the Pokémon."
"Wuh – wow… But how did you two escape then if Odin leveled a mountain in his battle?"
"Kacela rescued us." Rose tagged back in. "She scooped me, Will and Teddy up on her back and sprinted to the hospital in Blackthorn City. It wasn't until about a month later before we were able to go home again."
"God damn…" Tyler felt exhausted just listening to Rose's harrowing tale. "No wonder you're so uncomfortable right now. I'm sorry all this happened to you two."
"It's okay." Rose smiled at Tyler. "I'm grateful for your concern, but that's in the past. Will made it back from that, he'll definitely make it back from this."
"So, Tyler." Wendy shifted gears back to the earlier conversation. "What do you think? Was that Ursaing a Shadow Pokémon? Now that I've heard it again and seen what actual Shadow Pokémon are capable of, it seems like it to me."
"That's true…" Tyler frustratedly shook his head. Rose's story about this Ursaring attack seemed really close to checking all three boxes. It was clearly hyper-aggressive, and the way Rose was describing its attacks seemed to fit with what he knew about Shadow Pokémon. He knew that Shadow Pokémon's attacks dealt more damage to non-Shadow Pokémon like Ajani, so there was a chance that could be why it was taking so much damage in its battle. Plus, that Hammer Arm-esque move Rose described could very easily have been similar to Darmanitan's Shadow Breaker.
"But…" Tyler still couldn't be sure. Obviously, the biggest questioning factor was the presence of the Shadow Aura. Rose certainly couldn't see it, neither could Will, and none of their Pokémon as far as he knew had connections to Aura. Then again, the Shadow Aura is naturally difficult to detect, making this a more moot point. Something Tyler could question however was where was the Ursaring's handler? All Shadow Pokémon had handlers on their missions barking them orders. Rose didn't mention another person being there besides herself and Will. But again, that wasn't a definitive reason to say no. When Cipher used XD-001 to steal the SS Libra, they conducted that mission with radio transmitters to give the Shadow Lugia its orders. Maybe they used radio waves to control the Ursaring from the distance?
"I just don't know." Tyler relented. "It does sound like it could have been a Shadow Pokémon that attacked you guys. But, there are too many things I don't know that make it difficult to say."
"You've said this was a problem in Orre before, but someone had previously put a stop to this?" Mrs. Weiland asked him and Tyler nodded. "Who was it, perhaps we can ask them for more information?"
"Then you'll need to give Professor Krane a call. He and Michael's father before he passed were the two men responsible for creating the Purification Chambers."
"Um… pardon the interruption." A voice grabbed the group's attention and they collectively turned towards a young nurse with a familiar, albeit very tired face standing behind her.
"ALICIA!" Everyone gasped in unison.
"Okay! I guess we found them." The stunned nurse let out an embarrassed laugh as Alicia quietly walked forward and sat down next to Mrs. Weiland. "She doesn't talk very much."
"We've all been through a lot tonight." The mother replied. "My name is Carla Weiland. My son William was one of the three admitted tonight from Solaceon Town."
"Ah so you're William's mother. Then I suppose I'll start with him." The nurse cleared her throat as she pulled up a chart. "I've got good news for you."
"Oh thank you Arceus."
"Both your son and the Ranger in the room with him are going to be fine. We're recommending they stay the weekend before they're able to go home, mostly for observational purposes and general well-being."
"Oh by all means, keep them there as long as they need." Mrs. Weiland insisted. "I don't want my babies spending less time than they need to here."
"What about Madison though?" Wendy asked and Tyler saw Alicia curl up into a ball at her question. "Madison Bourdon?"
"She'll need to be here longer than the weekend I'm afraid." The nurse's smile faded as she searched through the chart for information. "Um… yeah it's not good at all. I expect her to make a full recovery, but it's going to be a long road to that recovery for her I'm afraid."
"How bad is it?"
"Unfortunately, she's broken her right wrist, separated her shoulder, cracked two ribs and bruised her lung, and that's all that we can see from the x-rays."
"Oh my God." Wendy gasped as Alicia shrunk deeper into her ball.
"Plus there's a strong chance of a concussion both for her and her Houndoom, but we need to run further tests and, well right now we've just gotten her stable enough to get some rest. It's a real shame we don't' have DAISEE chambers that humans can use when you see accidents like this."
"Maddie…" Alicia finally spoke but nothing more than a soft whisper.
"Okay well unless you've got more questions, I really need to get back to my rounds so, I'll be leaving." The nurse briefly turned to Alicia one last time. "Now that you've found your family, you'll be okay right? We'll look after your big sister."
"She's not my sister." Alicia grumbled.
"Cousin?" The nurse tried again but got no answer. "Okay… I'll just be going now. You all try to have a good rest of your day." With a hurried pace, the nurse left with her heels clicking on the tile in an embarrassed fashion.
"Okay," Mrs. Weiland clapped her hands together and stood up. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sick of this hospital. Who wants to go home and sleep?"
"I want to stay with Madison." Alicia yawned in spite of her sour tone.
"I know you do Deerling, but Madison needs to get some rest and I think we all need some as well." Alicia looked away from Mrs. Weiland but she continued with her mother-mode. "Sweetie I know how you feel, but Madison would want you to get some rest too." Still no response. "We can come back and try to visit again later, but after you've gotten some sleep, okay?"
"Okay…" Alicia uncurled from her ball and stood up, as did the rest of the group.
"So, how far from here is your apartment Wendy?" Tyler asked his girlfriend.
"Oh nonsense, there's beds aplenty at our place." Mrs. Weiland insisted.
"Yeah, and besides, I want to go see how my parents are doing." Wendy added on.
"Okay, so then how are we all getting back to Solaceon Town?"
"Another easy question to answer. Come on out Pendragon." Mrs. Weiland raised a ball and out burst a familiar looking green and white humanoid Pokémon. He stood from his knightly pose and looked up at Mrs. Weiland expectantly.
"I know you're tired Pendragon dear, but all of us would like to return to our ranch."
"Gallade." The Pokémon nodded again and held his hands outward, Mrs. Weiland grabbing one and Wendy grabbing the other.
"Everyone grab hands."
"Wait what?" Tyler looked around confused as everyone but him started forming a ring. "He's gonna be able to teleport us all at once?"
"You doubt my ability?" Pendragon's voice played in Tyler's head as the Gallade looked at him.
"Just grab our hands Tyler." Wendy forcibly grabbed Tyler's hand and Alex grabbed his other.
"Well no, I don't doubt his ability, I mean I saw him do it earlier when it was just-"
*FLASH*
"-me and Yuki earlier, but that was the two of us. There's-"
"We have arrived."
"…Huh?" It took a while for Tyler to register the fact that he and everyone he was just sitting in the hospital with were in fact no longer in the hospital. It took him even longer to realize that he was standing in front of the steps leading up to the Weiland family ranch that he'd visited a few days earlier. The sun was starting to creep up over the roof of the house with lances of orange and red light stabbing into the lingering blackness of night.
"Do you doubt my ability now?" Pendragon's asked again.
"Uh… no. No, I do not."
"Right, then it's off to bed for all of you." Mrs. Weiland said as she began to shoo everyone towards the front door. "Pick a room on the second floor, we have too many to count. Go on, get, go to bed!"
"But it's past my bedtime. In fact, it's time to wake up." Alex grinned coyly.
"Alex, I will deal with your sass later. Wendy my dear, we can go check on your parents if you'd like." Wendy stepped forward, but turned back towards Tyler with an apologetic look on her face.
"Go." Tyler shook his head at her. "You don't need to worry about me. The doctors gave me a clean bill of health."
"Okay." Though before she left Tyler, Wendy leaned forward and gave Tyler a simple but loving kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too." The two smiled at each other wistfully before another flash of green light blinded Tyler as Wendy, Mrs. Weiland and Pendragon had disappeared from before him.
With the motherly words of Mrs. Weiland basically ordering him to get sleep, Tyler stepped into the house to do exactly that. The clock on the wall as he climbed the stairs said it was 6:35am. An hour ago, he was wishing for the sweet embrace of the pillow, and now was finally going to be able to grant that wish for himself. He walked down the hallway a short way, picking the third door on the left and hoping it as a bedroom. Though at this point, he wasn't against sleeping in the bathtub with a balled-up towel as a pillow if he picked wrong.
The room was dim as Tyler opened the door, with only a slim amount of light filtering in from a window in the back-left section of the room where Tyler saw a bedpost. He'd found a bedroom, he could sleep! Tyler could already see himself pretending to be a Metapod and wrapping himself up in all the blankets he could, not getting out of his cocoon until well later in the afternoon. His shirt came off and dropped to the floor beside the bed as Tyler approached it. He loudly yawned his desires of sleep as he reached out to the edge of the bed and sat on its edge.
"NINE!"
"What the?!" Tyler jumped up from the bed.
"NINETALES!" He turned back towards it in time to see an Ember shooting towards his face from under a swirling mess of blankets.
"Oh shit!" Tyler dropped to the ground, defensively clasping his hands to his face and hoping he wasn't burnt by the phantom flame.
"Huh, hey whoa Amma calm down!" Another voice spoke as Tyler rolled around on the floor.
"What the fuck?!" Tyler yelled into his hands.
"Nine-Ninetales NINE!"
"Hey – OW! Be careful with your paw Amma!" The other voice complained, sounding slightly pained.
"Ninetales Nine Tail Tales!"
"How should I know what happened. You stabbing me with your paw woke me up."
"Am I okay?" Tyler asked himself, rubbing his hands over his face and hair. Nothing felt like it was on fire or had burnt. So, he'd managed to dodge a bullet, or fireball if he wanted to get technical.
"Who's there?" The second voice asked the room.
"Uh… Tyler?"
"Tyler?" There was an audible click and a light next to the bed set turned on, filling the room with light and letting Tyler see that he wasn't alone in the room. A person's hand was reaching out to a nearby nightstand and picked up a pair of glasses, putting them on his face. He brushed some errant strands of smoky hair from his face as he sat up shirtless in the bed, blinking a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light. Sitting next to him was a Ninetales, a well-groomed one at that, yet also one that felt somehow vaguely familiar.
"Eric?
"Yo." Eric offered a weak wave to Tyler while his Ninetales looked at one of her tales and blew air on it.
"What are you doing here?"
"Sleeping, you?"
"That was the plan, but then I got a fireball shot at my face."
"Ninetales…" The Pokémon huffed a defiant growl at Tyler.
"It was an accident Amma."
"I'm sorry." Tyler apologized as he and Eric tried to console the prideful Fire type.
"Nine-tales Tales."
"It was dark in here. He probably didn't see the second bed." Tyler looked around the room and sure enough, there was a second bed on the other side of the room, tucked into a darker corner with its own lamp and nightstand.
"Yeah, I'm sorry I woke you two up." Tyler apologized again.
"What time is it anyway?" Eric yawned and so did Tyler as the former tried to grab his phone.
"Like half-past six."
"Damn, it's only been a couple hours then…" Eric yawned a second time though Tyler did not join him.
"Since you went to bed?" Eric nodded, though visibly shivered and threw the most of the blankets back over him.
"Yeah. We had a rough night too." At this time, Eric's Ninetales tried burrowing under Eric's blankets, making Tyler a little curious if there was a particular reason why she would be burrowing under blankets when Eric himself was half-naked. "I fell in a river."
"You fell in a river?" Eric sneezed after Tyler's question, which was when the Ninetales poked her head out from under his blankets. Eric softly rubbed the Pokémon's forehead with care.
"Yeah, that's why Amma's here trying to keep me warm. Fire types are so good at keeping you warm at night."
"I can imagine it'd be better than an Ice type." Tyler sighed nostalgically to his night with Yuki in the snowy cave. "So how on Earth did you manage to fall in a river. Last time I saw you, you were flying after Will's dad on your Salamence."
"I can tell you if you want, but are you sure you don't want to sleep first? I know you've had just as rough a night as me if not worse."
"Well since your Ninetales nearly burnt my eyebrows off a moment ago, my heart needs to settle down a bit before I can go to sleep." Tyler cast a disapproving look at the Ninetales, only for her to appear to stick her tongue out at him in a surprisingly human-like response.
"Fair enough." Eric sighed as he sat up a bit more on the bed, letting his Ninetales rest in his lap. "Alright, here's what happened to me…"
A/N: Righto, that's 49 in the books. So, the question still remains. Where have I been these last 3 months since I updated? The short story is that my life has been falling apart a bit lately. I'm doing fine, don't worry about lil' ol' me, I'm perfectly fine and healthy and all that... well actually I do need to see the chiropractor but I digress. What I am doing is weathering a rather tumultuous storm of change in my life. Like I said up above, I'm searching for a new job since upper management has got me bent over and tied to the table over the last couple months and I'm done putting up with their nonsense. There's been a ton of change in my family life too pertaining to their respective jobs as well, plus of course, the natural tumult that the holiday season goes with it. Plus with the new Pokemon games that just dropped I (once again) have to comb these games tooth and nail to find other elements to add to Evolution. I'll try to get some more time into working on my writing as it's one of the few things keeping me somewhat sane right now, but if the gap between this chapter and the last one was any indication, don't hold your breath too long in anticipation. Either way I probably won't be seeing you guys again till the new year, so Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year etc. etc. and I'll see you all again next time :)
Crap! I just realized I didn't explain what I was referring to when I said this chapter wasn't what was supposed to be next. Well, basically I just swapped the order of this chapter and the one that would have preceeded it. So this was originally chapte 50, and next chapter that will be 50 was actually 49. I just had a real hard time with the pacing of 49 and wanted to put something out since it'd been so long so I just skipped and went to this one. So yeah, that's what I meant when I said that. Now you all can go have a wonderful rest of your year and all that jazz. :)