I don't own Pokemon.
This chapter is dedicated to my dog, Lulu, who will always be an angel.
Chapter 4: Discovery!
A couple of days had passed and the gang had found themselves in Azalea Town for Ash's next gym badge.
They had arrived at the Pokemon Center when they noticed that their raven-haired friend was moving a bit slower than normal and ended up falling onto his bed once they arrived to their room.
The squinty-eyed man and the redhead just thought that he was just super tired from the long walk, not knowing what was truly happening to him.
"Are you heading to bed or coming with us to get some food?" asked Brock.
"I think that I'm just going to head to bed. I just feel like sleeping." replied Ash, lifting his body up from the bed to sit on it.
"Ok. Let us know if you want us to bring any food back." said Brock, hurrying Misty out before she had a chance to say anything.
The raven-haired boy sighed before pushing his weakened body off the bed to head into the bathroom to get cleaned up before getting in bed and burying himself in the covers to stay warm.
(With Brock And Misty)
They had just gotten food and sat down to eat in silence before Misty spoke up.
"Brock, I am a bit worried about Ash. He seriously hasn't eaten anything in a week and a half and for him not to be eating is a big problem." said Misty, concerned for her friend.
"I am too, Misty. We should check on him before we head to bed to make sure that he's not sick." said Brock, trying to think that maybe their friend is coming down with something.
They finished their food in silence before heading back to the room and checked on Ash to find that he didn't have a fever or felt warm at all.
They looked at each other before heading to bed and thinking that something is still wrong with their friend.
(In The Morning)
Brock and Misty were starting to get up from their beds when they noticed that their friend hadn't gotten up yet, which is unusual for him.
The squinty-eyed man shook the boy gently to wake him up and the boy slowly came out of his slumber.
He slowly got up from his bed and tried to get up, but his body was too weak to hold him up and he fell to the ground with a thud.
The two turned around and worked on helping their friend up, but noticed that his arms were thinner than normal as well as how light he was.
They looked at each other before they made sure that he was ok, but he was still having issues with standing by himself.
"Ash, we're going to take you to a hospital. You're so weak that you can barely stand." said Brock, looking at his friend.
"I'll be fine. I prom-" said Ash as he started to protest, but was stricken by the intense pain of a hunger pang.
"That's it. We're going now." said Misty, getting hers and Ash's stuff together.
Before the raven-haired boy could protest, the pain increased and he let out a small yelp from the pain.
They hurried with finishing up in the room before they ran to the hospital with their friend on Brock's back.
(At The Hospital)
They ran into the emergency room and told the nurse that their friend was super weak and very light compared to normal as well as in pain.
The nurse called for a gurney and one came out in a few minutes before they gently placed their weakened friend on it.
They watched in silence as the nurse rushed their raven-haired friend back to be worked on by a doctor.
They sat in the waiting room for a couple of hours before a doctor came out and sat next to them.
"You're Ash's friends, correct?" asked the doctor, looking over at them.
"That's correct. What's wrong with him?" asked Brock, looking at the doctor.
"Well, we've found something very troubling. It seems that he has lost somewhere between 15 and 20 pounds and his ribcage is start to show more. What has been going on with him?" asked the doctor, looking puzzled as he thought about the symptoms.
Brock and Misty looked at each other as they told him about everything from their friend not eating as well as training more with his pokemon to how tired he is now.
"Just as I thought. Do you by chance have anything that pertains to weight loss?" asked the doctor, starting to narrow down what Ash has.
"I have a few cooking books that talk about the best weight loss programs as well as a book that I've been starting to read about different diseases that could affect both Pokemon and humans." replied Brock, wondering what the doctor was thinking about.
"It's never easy to say this, but your friend Ash has a condition called anorexia, which is an emotional disorder characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat. Was there any cause for him to lose weight?" asked the doctor, causing them to gasp at the diagnosis before they looked at each other.
"It was from me constantly complaining about him always being hungry. I didn't know that something like that could cause something like this to happen." said Misty, admitting that she was in the wrong.
"I understand. I am going to do my best to make sure that Ash is as close as he can be for being back to normal before you see him." said the doctor, nodding before getting up to finish with getting their friend back to normal.
The squinty-eyed man watched as the doctor left before looking over at the redhead and noticing that she was crying as she knew that she was the cause of everything.
He worked on calming her down and reassuring her that not even himself knew that a few words could cause someone to be hurt so badly that they inflict pain upon themselves.
Hope you enjoyed Chapter 4! I'm sorry about not getting this finished on Thanksgiving as I said that I would, but I got super busy after I posted Chapter 3 as we were heading to my parents' house for the holiday. Then, I was taking care of my boyfriend as he had a bad stomach virus for a few days before I ended up having to put one of my parents' dogs down this past week as she was in so much pain, which is why the chapter is dedicated to her. I'm hoping that I can have everything ready to finish it up on Christmas. See ya later!
AshKetchumForever-Action first-Think later