Don't you love it when you write an entire chapter, realise you hate everything you've written, only to make the difficult decision to scrap the whole thing and then write yourself into a writer's block? There's always something that doesn't work but I think I'm pleased about how this turned out. I hope you are as well, dear readers and I most certainly hope you're all doing well and are safe. Take care everyone xxx
Ash felt loopy and confused. Loopy, because he was tired and weary, for some reasons. Confused, because he didn't understand what was going on around him. Tracey had left quickly after his short crying session, dropping off two pokéballs and the teen couldn't understand why his friend had been crying anyway. Right now, though, he was yawning all through his dinner, the plate of no interest to him at the moment. He couldn't get his head around the fact Tracey had just brought two random pokémon over, Gible and Gliscor weren't the best of friends and while he knew they would behave around him, it meant being near them all the time. And he knew pokémon well enough to know they wanted some privacy as well, even if it meant being on their own for five minutes or so, to have a little breather.
He understood, he was a people person too, but he did like staying in bed for a whole day sometimes too. It just… didn't make any sense that Tracey would've just… Or had professor Oak done a one-eighty all of a sudden and had asked Tracey to go and deliver the pokéballs? Out of fear of getting chewed out by Delia? Ash didn't know what their relationship was, or rather, what remained of it. He knew Lance had made his impression and with how annoyed his mother had seemed throughout his hospital stay, he knew she had made her mark as well. Still, he couldn't imagine his mom going from zero to a hundred just seeing a person and she would know not to be angry at the man for doing something nice, she would realise having the two pokémon would mean the world to him, right? Even knowing the two pokémon weren't socially compatible and only had him in common, he was thrilled to have them.
So surely the professor could've brought them over himself, right? Only… Tracey had looked so surprised and had been looking at Lance like the man had been put there by Arceus Itself, Ash was convinced the teen hadn't known he had returned home at all. So how had professor Oak known when to send Tracey in, if he and Delia weren't on speaking terms? And why had he sent over the pokémon when he had made it perfectly clear that he was against him having any pokémon, having preached that sermon about how he couldn't even care for himself properly yet, so how was he supposed to have the time and energy to care for pokémon? It all made little sense to the boy, who kept frowning as questions get mulling through his head… and at his still untouched plate in front of him.
"You should eat, Ash," Delia said, not even looking up from her own dinner. "You have medicine to take."
"What would happen if I don't eat, though?"
"Your stomach is filled with acids to digest your food. If there's no food to digest, the acids will directly affect the medicine, destroying it before it can release the effect it should have on you."
Ash looked down at his belly, making a face at it.
"Didn't know eating something would be such a horrible thing."
"It's not horrible, Ash," she sighed.
He wasn't too sure about that, being melted by acids wasn't the most ideal way to go. Efficient, yeah, but still…
"Eat, Ash."
The boy pulled another face and took his time moving some of the now luke-warm potatoes around, before deciding to bring the fork to his mouth. But the small piece of potato felt hot and heavy in his mouth and he had troubles swallowing it, unused to having to chew on it. In the hospital and most pokémon centres, they usually served mashed potatoes, not diced like his mom had just made for him and it just felt a bit wrong right now. Nevertheless, he didn't want those poor medicines to just be digested in those acids and persevered for a little while.
"Alright," Delia said, not even making much of a scene by the fact he hadn't finished his meal. "Then it's time for your medicine."
He nodded, but after he had swallowed the innocent-looking liquid, he wasn't sure whether he should have any sympathy for it, because it tasted pretty bad. But his mom wasn't in a mood for jokes at the moment, so he kept his mouth shut about it and allowed her to brood. Maybe her meeting with her therapist hadn't gone too well.
"How are you feeling, sweetie?" she asked, after a good while of looking at the news on TV.
The weather had just come on and seeing it was just a repeat of the weather they had been having this week -Ash knew, he never missed seeing the weather in hospital- she probably felt a bit bored.
"Tired. And a bit confused."
"Oh?"
"Did you talk to professor Oak, mom?"
"I've not spoken to him the past week."
"… Oh…"
"Why?"
"Tracey came by, to cry and then give me to pokéballs. And then left."
"I don't know what that was all about, I didn't tell anyone anything, I mean, dr. Martin sprung the news that he would release you on me as well. If I had known, I wouldn't have planned a session with my therapist today and Red wouldn't have accepted to join that meeting either."
"Lance did okay, though, I mean, you don't need much talent to watch someone who was mostly asleep."
"He did let Tracey in, though."
"Nearly gave him a heart attack, you mean? Tracey doesn't know Lance is my uncle, does he?"
"I'm not sure, but he must have realised he cares a lot about you, or else he's probably deaf or very stupid."
"Mom, you're being mean," Ash sulked. "I dunno what happened, but I'm not happy to hear you being negative about everyone and everything all the time. It's not all that bad, is it?"
"Depends on what you mean."
"Tracey's got nothing to apologise for, he's been one of the best friends I've ever had, while you've never said anything about Gary, even wanting me to be like him, you've told me that much and he's been the biggest jerk to me for the biggest part of my life. But is that fine then, mom? Am I cutting Gary from my life? Am I screaming at him at every chance I see?"
"… What are you trying to say?"
"I've been around people long enough to know no one's a saint, but that no one's a complete devil either. There have been people who nearly made me doubt that opinion, too good people who'd give you the shirt of their back and the worst possible, even attempting to kill children just for their pokémon… but they never actually went and did it. They attempted to do it, threatened to do it, but the situation never occurred. But it's kind of important to know that the people you know, are made up in your head. You make up their character by what you've seen of them, what you've experienced with them. But people constantly change and now you're angry at professor Oak and who knows else for proving you wrong, that they weren't what you thought they were. Sure, they could've done something bad, but you should be angry at that… not at professor Oak himself. Because you can do something real bad without being a bad person. And doing the bad thing doesn't make you a bad person either… but it will in someone's eyes, the person who's been wronged. And that's kind of wrong, I think."
"I don't hate the professor, Ash, I'm unhappy he's… used you like a toy and then went ahead and stood in the way of everything I thought would be best for you. And okay, I might not be the one who's always right or wrong, but I knew that taking Pikachu from you was a bad move, heck, even Lance knew you'd suffer, he's never seen you without him and yet…," she said and sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, Ash. I never thought it would come to this."
"You're disappointed in me too, aren't you?" he asked. "That I got hurt at all?"
"Sweetie, there's no way I would blame you for anything. But you've got no idea how many buckets of tears and sweat I've had to throw out over you doing such… dangerous things, without any regard for your own life and safety, just because you're following something that touched your heartstrings…"
"It's probably hard being my mom, huh?"
"No, it's just hard being a mother at all. You're just a part of it."
"The disappointing part, I'm sure."
"Why would you think so?"
"Because you're not denying it."
Ash watched his mother bring a hand to her face and rub over it in a tired manner. He didn't necessarily like getting his suspicions confirmed, especially not because he usually only noticed the obvious anyway.
"I'm not disappointed in you, Ash." She said, turning to face him with a serious expression on her face. "I'm actually glad that we're able to talk like this, it makes me realise that it's worth the trouble, that you're willing as well so… You're not a disappointment, sweetheart, you're a brave, kind boy and I'm so glad you're my son."
"You are?" Ash asked, genuinely surprised. "Even with all the trouble and the worry?"
"Absolutely. Whatever I would change in my life has nothing to do with you, you're perfect as you are."
"Aww, mom!" he exclaimed, bashfully bringing his hands to cover his face.
"It's taken me too long to understand that it's me who needs to change," she said, putting her hand around his shoulder. "I promise I'll do better, sweetie. Better than before."
To him, that promise didn't mean much because he had realised he hadn't noticed anything of the wrong dr. Knight found so obvious because he didn't know any better. Didn't mean he wasn't curious to see what his mom meant, he kind of enjoyed mimicking dr. Knight and drawing out his mom's true feelings. He'd been around the therapist for long enough to know what reaction jerked a certain action from someone and while he felt a bit bad about manipulating his own mom, Ash justified his action by stating it would make her feel better, knowing she could talk to her son about her worries.
It was all he ever needed, really, for her to be honest to him. He could only hope that, if she was to change, honesty would be included in the package deal. And if her change needed him to suffer through the countless glasses of medicine, so be it… For his father, upon his arrival home, had presented him with his medicine before bedtime, yet made up for the disgusting mess with a nice, warm hug. Just as he was ready for bed though, his mom had come rushing in, claimed she had forgotten his medicine and Ash just took the glass of milky white stuff that looked suspiciously similar to the one he had only recently swallowed, but hey, he trusted his parents. Even if his dad didn't talk much, the teen knew he had his ways of communicating with his mom anyways.
"Heeeeey, are you ready for some exercises!?" Brandon exclaimed, coming into the house with tons of enthusiasm.
"Nhh… Not really, not," Ash answered, not nearly as enthusiastic.
"Hey now, that's not how I recognise you? What's up, little buddy?" the man asked, zooming over and laying a hand on his shoulder. "Bad night?"
"Yeah," the teen said as he nodded. "Dunno why, but I can't remember if I even slept at all."
"What do you remember, then?"
"Having the world's worst dry mouth and a thumping headache."
"Sounds like your room was a bit too hot."
"Nah, Pikachu would never have stayed if that was the case."
"Do you know the temperature your heating system is set on?"
"Zero. I don't have any in my bedroom. Maybe a bit of the heat from the living room came sneaking in, but mom's skimpy on it. She doesn't like being too hot."
"Funny, most ladies I know are the 'I'm always cold' type."
"Most ladies aren't like my mom."
"No, I gathered that much. Anyway, ready?"
"No, he's not!" Delia said, her voice slicing through the air like a clap of thunder, successfully startling the man. "He needs to eat and take his medicine and then he's ready."
"Am I sitting next to the right boy here?" Brandon asked. "Of all the issues you have, eating never appeared on the chart, Ash."
"Thanks," the teen answered and took the tray with the tiniest of muffins on it. "And I'm sorry, mom, I don't know what's going on with me."
"It's alright, sweetie, just know I'll be here to remind you to eat, I won't have you missing a meal while I'm here," she stated, waiting patiently until the boy had eaten the muffin -despite seeing he did have issues finishing even that tiny thing.
Nevertheless, it was enough that he had eaten it so that he could take his medicine and leave for Brandon's training session. The man, however, wasn't happy by this development. Ash had seemed like a kind kid, if not a bit irritated at the time they met, but to see him having issues so soon after coming home was worrying. His worries weren't lessened when the boy proved to have issues with his coordination throughout the exercises, not even managing to get his one foot on a pedal without assistance.
He didn't want to bother Ash with it, it was clear enough he was at a loss on what was causing this, Brandon had been watching him get more and more frustrated with each attempt to do things right and yet something went wrong each time. But by the time their session had ended, more or less a shadow of the lesson the trainer had planned for his most recent patient, he made sure to pull the boy's mother to the side as soon as he had placed the fast asleep child on the sofa.
"I have to tell you that I've very worried over him, Mrs. Ketchum, he wasn't even this listless and disoriented at the time when he started out his lessons with me."
"… Dr Knight will be visiting later today."
"If you take his word more serious than mine, despite my medical background, alright. But I'm warning you, Mrs. Ketchum, your son is growing very ill, very quickly and that's never a good sign."
"I can't do anything else than follow his medication plan. And even if I call dr. Martin, I'll be on hold until he's on his lunch break around noon anyway," Delia hissed, clearly annoyed. "If you think I've not seen how he swayed to get up this morning, you're wrong but I can't just call in for an emergency because a one-legged boy is swaying while walking. Or at least, that's what the nurse on the phone told me, also not taking me very seriously. I was hoping to get dr. Knight's support, so I could at least count on him to give me a direct phone number-"
"It's not dr. Knight or dr. Martin's job to watch your child. And stop making excuses, you could have told me you tried calling a doctor from the start."
"I don't have to explain myself to you, you're just a personal trainer, not medically trained-"
"No? You think I'm just some kind of loon who comes in to crack jokes so your son finally has something to smile about? You're very wrong, Mrs. Ketchum, I'm a professional physiotherapist, I went to medical school for five years of basic, medical studies and then I studied for five years more to become the help your son desperately needs. If anything, you owe it to me to answer my questions when I see a patient of mine deteriorating."
"… Then, mister professional, what should I do?"
"Sit with your child and watch him. If anything changes for the worst, call for an ambulance."
"But dr. Martin-"
"Is not trained for this kind of thing!" the man cried out. "He's not a miracle maker, he can't wave a wand to make your son healthy. What you're going to need, are emergency medics, who can stabilise your son's condition until dr. Martin has time to come see him. You can't expect anyone to just drop whatever they're doing just to help your son? You're not alone in the world, these people have other things to do. And yeah, his health his important, but that's what emergency calls are for, woman!"
"Are you just deliberately trying to wake Ash up now?"
"You need to set your priorities straight, lady, you care about all the wrong things here," Brandon said with a huff. "Honestly."
"I don't need to hear that from you."
"I doubt you would even take if from Arceus Itself, but I swear to It that I'll report you with Child Care if he doesn't get the care he needs!"
"Fine, I'll call an ambulance when he needs it," Delia answered, clearly annoyed. "But he's asleep right now."
"That I would have to argue with you to convince you to call an emergency number is the biggest waste I've ever witnessed."
"Yes, yes, I hear you," she said. "But you've got no idea how expensive calling an ambulance is."
"It's a relapse from something they missed, woman! It's not going to cost you a single cent!"
And with that, the man left, grumbling under his breath and while Delia couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, she knew it had everything to do with her lack of whatever she was missing, as a mother. She didn't know better, she had grown up in small town, when you called a doctor, they came, day or night! How was she supposed to know that wasn't the case in Celadon?
Either way, Ash was still peacefully asleep in the couch and unless he suddenly started getting worse, she would call for help. But Delia knew her son had disliked his stay in hospital and sending him back to it willy-nilly, completely bypassing his desires, would do more bad than good. Didn't mean she understood why a professional would suddenly go off at her like that, but alright, she would be watching Ash closely then. If it bothered him, then he could go and complain to the man who told her to do it.
Despite her initial misgivings towards the way the physiotherapist had acted towards her, Delia couldn't help feel like something was about to go very wrong. Ash, however, appeared to be awake and feeling better than before, though, so she doesn't know why she was feeling this way. Had Brandon's speech spurred some kind of… bad omen inside of her? She wasn't sure, but still, the fact that her son still wasn't enjoying any kind of food she presented to him worried her enough to make an appointment with dr. Martin.
"Mom, I don't feel so good," Ash groaned, after a while.
She frowned and looked at the clock. Only an hour until dr. Knight would arrive and heavens, why was it always that her son seemed to be so out of it after taking that medicine? Could this relapse be because of that? Dr. Martin had told her to give him three doses of the stuff, anti-depressants, he had said but honestly, she wasn't seeing much effect of it, other than reducing her son into a shadow of himself. To think they had such a nice conversation the first day home…
"You're all cold, sweetheart," she said, laying a hand on his face. "Do you want me to fetch you a small blanket and settle into the couch for a while?"
"Mm-hm."
She was all bothered as she went upstairs, passing her husband on her way up. The man had looked at her in question, but the matter was hardly discussable while on the stairway, was it? She waved him off, motioning towards the kitchen before continuing her trek to Ash's room, to fetch one of those fleece blankets he had hardly used. Excuses about being warm-blooded and all that… Everything he wasn't right now.
"Here we go, sweetheart," she said, laying the blanket over his shoulder, earning her a grateful, if not a bit tired smile. "Do you want to go to the living room right now, or do you want to stay with us for a bit longer?"
"Dad's going to warm up some soup for me, said it would warm me up."
"That's very considerate of him," Delia answered, smiling at her husband standing not too far from the microwave which was making a gentle rumbling sound. "Tell me if you don't feel any better, okay?"
"'kay," he answered.
Something inside her was telling her that the soup wouldn't help, but she was willing at least try it out. At the very least it seemed to bring some colour back to his face, which was a relief. And Ash didn't seem to have any difficulties eating the soup, not once pulling a face. In fact, he seemed a bit too happy with the steaming hot cup of vegetable stock. Delia felt bad not noticing it sooner… but perhaps he had been hungry for a while now, eating so little these past few days. She knew about some sensory disorders, but then again, her son had never been bothered with that before! How was she to know? He hadn't had any issues in the hospital either, she had seen him eat sandwiches and he had never cared. Only after he had come home, the issue had come to the surface, as strange as it actually was.
"Delia," her husband suddenly spoke up and her attention was instantly drawn to the fact he rarely used her first name like that.
Usually, he used a nickname, or a part of her first name. 'Delia' was reserved for situations that either scared or confused him.
"What's the matter?" she asked, but followed the man's outstretched finger, pointing straight at Ash… who was giving his bowl soup a very empty look.
She kept staring at him and she noticed this subtle twitch in his lips. It wasn't until she noticed that he hadn't blinked in a good while now, that she got worried.
"Sweetheart?" Delia asked, getting up from her chair and getting closer to the otherwise unmoving boy.
Although, as she stood right next to him, she noticed one of his hands seizing as if he was having cramps in it. And Pikachu, whom she hadn't even noticed these past days, was sitting at a good distance, giving the teen a wary look. His beady eyes caught hers and Delia realised that, whatever was happening right now, wasn't new. Pikachu was silent and calm because he had been there to watch Ash at times they thought he was asleep. Maybe that was why he was so tired during the day if he got these strange bouts of listlessness. No matter how many times she called out to him, he gave her no reaction, for quite some time, even. Until she eventually got through to him.
"Ashy? Can you hear me?"
He saw her, that she knew. But he looked so confused about it.
"Sweetheart?"
"M-mom?" he uttered.
"Sweetie, what's the matter?"
"H… Help… me," he whispered and keeled over, at the exact moment his mother had laid her arm around his shoulder, in an attempt to console him.
"Red, help me, please, I can't hold him!" Delia exclaimed, scared to death as her son felt like a deadweight.
She had picked him up plenty of times, recently even, but this… This felt like a sack of potatoes leaning on her chest!
"W-what's happening?" the man asked as he came over, unsure on what to do.
And that's when it happened. Ash's leg had a spasm and hit the chair so hard, it went flying through the kitchen.
"Seizure," Delia suddenly realised. "Oh, Red, lay him on the floor and call an ambulance."
The man actually went to wrap his arms around the child, but she stopped him right in time. Ash's arm shot outwards, straight at where Red's face had been one second ago, cramping up at an odd angle.
"Go," she persisted, seeing her husband was no help here. "Call an ambulance, right now."
He scampered out of the room, all pale and panicky. Red had never been good with wounds and illnesses and seeing his son this way must hurt him so badly… How ironic that Ash's health had deteriorated to this low point, just as his father came back into his life. After so many years of being completely healthy and without issues, it was more than a bit strange Ash got bombarded by issue after issue.
"It's okay, sweetie," she whispered, knowing better than to bring her face down to his level, but unable to leave him on his own, while so vulnerable. "It's going to be okay."
If he heard her, she hoped he was convinced by her words, because she sure wasn't. But she stuck to his side, someone needed to be there when he stopped breathing, or worse. A weird 'snap' sounded out and tears came to her eyes when she suddenly noticed the weird position in his arm had become even stranger.
'He broke it,' she realised. 'Dear God, let it stop. Please, let it stop.'
But it didn't. Not even after the boy was taken away on a stretcher, strapped in and transported via helicopter. Part of her was happy to see her son get taken away in such a bombastic, over the top kind of way. Ash had never been subtle as well, even now… Oh, how blind she had been. How dumb she had been. She had promised him she'd change and yet…
'What a failure…' she thought, as she saw the helicopter disappear behind the house's rooftop. 'I need to do better, I don't even know what I did wrong, which is just as dumb… Wait for me, sweetheart, I'll do better for you, I promise.'
Professor Oak had been startled by a lot of things this week, not just by the helicopter which proved to be the worst scare he had gotten in years. Tracey, for example, had been more like a vault than the helpful assistant he used to be, shunning Gary as if the boy was carrying the black plague and basically not instigating any conversation unless someone asked him a question. And even then, Tracey never elaborated, which was odd as the teen liked talking, especially about pokémon. Not to mention the reaction he had on him, oh…
The boy resembled a scared Meowth more than anything, eyes narrowing and if only Tracey had been able to arch his back and walk off on his tippy toes, the act would be complete! All that while the professor himself didn't have a clue what actually had happened to make his once trustworthy assistant transform into that. What he did know, was that it had everything to do with Delia or someone else in the Ketchum residence. The professor was at a loss when it came to the woman's annoyance with him, he had apologised profusely, changed his ways and had promised to apologise to Ash when he met the teen against and still, she acted cold towards him.
One of the other things that had changed, was the behavior of Ash's pokémon, especially towards Gary in particular. Another thing that mystified the man, however, he knew his grandson had these toxic tendencies and his dislike for some of Ash's habits and characteristics was well-known around this town. And while Ash himself just laughed those poisonous remarks away when faced with them, his pokémon weren't so lenient and it could possibly be the case that Gary had made a casual remark about something the creatures had associated with Ash. Stupid, because the pokémon loved the child with all their hearts, unconditionally, just like their trainer and his grandson was so, so lucky that these creatures had been taught to never attack unless absolutely necessary.
Ash and his dislike for violence were legendary, as well as his luck and his sheer ability to somehow become involved in every damned mess possible. And now, despite all of Gary's jest and remarks, the boy's character had been the only thing standing between Gary and a horrible death and the professor made a mental note to thank the teen next time they would meet.
And then, the last, terrible scare -before that helicopter- the man had gotten was in the form of an official letter from the Pokémon League. If he hadn't noticed that it had been sent from an unusual address, he might have laid it aside, but good that he hadn't… for it was a personal letter from Mr. Goodshow. Granted, it had been typed out by his secretary, but it was still signed by every influential and important figure in the Pokémon League. Mr. Goodshow himself, several gym Leaders he knew were sensitive to the care of trainers, as well as Scott, just to name a few.
Professor Oak had needed a bit of a sit-down after receiving that one, the idea of just leaving everything in Gary's hands and running for the hills popping up in his head. But he knew that, whatever the reason was for this letter, he wasn't the one to blame. He had used Ash for his research without paying him, or even mentioning it in the boy's trainer file. But he had never been in the way of the boy and his pokémon. In fact, he hadn't ever told anyone to take any of Ash's pokémon, he didn't even know how the system to send pokémon from one location to another, without actually touching them, worked! That automatic recall system had been something Gary had researched and developed, having told him that it could be handy to recall sick or aggressive pokémon… But it had been way out of his understanding and he had left his grandson in charge of it.
By doing that, he assumed the teen would grow some sense of responsibility, but as he was holding the letter in his shaking hands, he knew he had to intervene, or this threatening letter would be predicting a horrible reality, where everything he had worked for would be taken from him. All because someone he assumed could be trusted had messed up business they should have never meddled with.
"Gary?" he asked, about an hour after having received the letter and having drunk a strong cup of coffee with a bit of something stronger in it, for the courage.
"Yeah?" the teen answered but didn't look up from where he was typing away at a computer.
"Look at me, please."
"Gramps, I'm finishing this paper-"
"I'll delay the due date. I need to talk to you."
Gary turned to him with a confused look on his face. The man understood his grandson's reaction, he never delayed due dates for papers, because other professors would be complaining, but there was a lot more at stake than just a few complaints this time around.
"What's the matter, gramps? You usually never let me do that."
"Show me the history of your automatic recalling system."
"Wha…? Why would you want to see something like that?"
"Show me, Gary."
"But gramps-"
"Show me!" he all but demanded, raising his voice just enough to intimidate his grandson in obeying him.
He didn't like doing it, but if his suspicions were correct, Gary had crossed a line he should have never even approached. And that was a wrong that needed to be put right, or else it would be their doom. Even if he had shouldered more than a few of Gary's earlier misdeed, the professor wasn't ready to let this chance to finally set this kid right pass up. Some sort of punishment was in order and while he would never put his hands on a child -something he had decided on after Ash had recoiled the moment he had just raised his hand to grab the League book in the bookcase behind the boy, on the shelf just above Ash's head- there were other things that would make Gary see that abusing power was never right.
Not that he wanted to punish his grandson, he was all the family he still had left, after his son and wife had been killed in a tragic accident, while he had been left babysitting little Gary… But alas, the teen had slowly reached out to turn the screen of the computer towards him. Professor Oak had stared at it for a while, slowly understanding just why Delia and Lance were so angry at him. Because Gary had been recalling all of Ash's powerful pokémon at random times, disabling then and thus making it impossible for Ash to ever ask for them. But the dates weren't totally random, his memory might be failing him, but trainer seasons had a very distinct pattern and there were always important tournaments planned around summertime… and that's exactly when Gary had committed his crime.
"Please print it out for me," he said, motioning towards the printer.
The teen did just that and the professor could see he was nervous. It had been a good while ago since the first registration, but looking at the printed out results, it wasn't at all that long since Gary had illegally recalled several of Ash's strongest, or rather, very battle-capable pokémon.
"Gramps?"
"I will talk to you about this later, Gary. For now, you're suspended from your function and I would strongly advise you to remain in the residential parts of this laboratory."
"O-okay. Are… are you angry at me?"
Honestly, he was livid, his grandson had gone ahead and promoted himself to a full-blown professor, just to bother and condition a young and easily impressionable boy into using some bad, if not desperate ways to get the job done. It was nothing short of a miracle Ash had made such a good impression on everyone on and outside the battlefield, with such a major handicap holding him back!
"I don't trust myself near you at the moment, Gary, I might do or say things I regret."
"It's just Ash, though."
"It's not just Ash! This is another child, like you, only he had to grow up without the support of a father figure, just like you had to miss out on a mother figure! But at least you had your sister, who's been nothing but patient with you! the man exploded. "But now, Ash isn't just a child, you've chosen to bother the son of the Kanto Champion! The nephew of the Johto Champion!"
"Why does it matter now, though? I won't do it again, not after he had this accident. I mean, if he'll start travelling again at all, but still, why?"
"It pains me to say it, but Ash only recently acquired someone who genuinely cares about him, Gary. Someone who happens to be an influential person inside the Pokémon League. And let me tell you, Mr. Goodshow himself isn't at all biased by titles, but what you did is inexcusable, Gary. Look what they send me!" he exclaimed, pushing the letter in front of the teen's face.
Barely after a few seconds of reading, the boy became very pale and the professor squinted his eyes at his grandson, whose eyes had flickered towards him for a second, before going back to the letter.
"I… I'm sorry."
"I'm sure you are," the man answered. "But enough is enough. You've screwed me over more than once and I've always let everything slide, but this time, you picked the wrong kind of sucker to play with. This one's got connections all of a sudden and while Ash might object to any kind of punishment resulting from this, it's out of my hands this time. The Pokémon League wants answers and I'm going to give them what they want."
"So… What's going to happen now?"
"As I said, I don't want you coming into the laboratory part of this house any longer. I'm also not sure how long I'm suspending you, but I'll be passing on this information to the official instances. If you want to behave as if you're an official pokémon professor without following the correct studies and putting in the hours of training, you're going to have to face a penatly for acting out of order as if you truly were a professor."
"I understand," the teen said, downcast. "I'll go to my room then."
The professor doubted whether Gary actually understood what he had done wrong. Or what the possible punishment entailed. Depending on how much offence the Pokémon league took to his illegal meddling, there was a chance of actual jail time waiting for his grandson. And a mention of this abuse of power on his newly developed criminal record. The man couldn't help but shake his head, knowing this was going to turn into a mess that would undoubtedly put a shadow over his laboratory and the good work they did here. God, he was so angry at Gary and yet he didn't want the teen to suffer either yet… how could he ever make this up to Ash?
"Oh, hello, Tracey," he sighed as he passed him, knowing the teen would just tense up and squint at him again.
"Is Gary finally in trouble?" the boy asked.
The professor blinked, surprised that Tracey had spoken up at all and was acting somewhat like his normal, curious self again.
"… Yes?" he said eventually. "Is that what was bothering you?"
The teen huffed and whirled around, disappearing deeply within the laboratory. Even though the man could find Tracey with ease, having lived here for such a long time, he left the boy be. There was a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that told him there was no way Tracey could know about Gary's illegal actions, the teen had been nowhere near the core of electronics in this laboratory, he was more a hands-on type of person who loved to work with pokémon themselves. And it was clear Gary knew that what he had done was bad, so he would never have boasted about it, he was a bit dumb sometimes but there was no way he'd ever be as stupid as that. Even so, it would've made no sense for Tracey to be annoyed at him also, the boy would know that, even as a pokémon professor, the man had yet to uncover most secrets hidden inside computers and electronics.
It wasn't until he had been so badly startled by the sound of the descending helicopter that he got the gist of what exactly had been bothering his young assistant. He had run outside, of course, to see what was going on, only to spot a stretcher being lifted into the air… He could see Delia panic from where he was standing and in the past, he would have run towards her, to offer her his support. But that was no longer needed, she had Red back at her side, his arms around her in a comforting hug.
He couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat appear as he watched the helicopter leave in a hurry… because if Delia and Red were accounted for, who had been taken away in that helicopter then? The professor brought a hand to his face, realising that Tracey hadn't had any beef with anyone… he had been faced with Ash himself! For a moment, he felt like running inside and question the teen who had kept this important piece of information to himself… but then again, Tracey didn't owe him any explanation. And he had enough worries of his own anyhow, so he would let the teen brood until he got over whatever was bothering him. He wasn't Tracey's guardian either, so he had no say over the kid anyway.
Didn't mean his heart wasn't racing, though. The mere idea that Ash had been home, but so unwell that he hadn't been able to give a sign of life to the outside world was… bizarre. That his health had become so bad that a helicopter had come by to send him off to Celadon and no ambulance to give first aid or bring him to the smaller hospital in Viridian...
'Things are going wrong very quickly. I need to be careful not to add to any of the misery that's happening,' he thought, even though he knew that Gary's punishment would be severe, judging from the tone of the letter.
He couldn't afford to do anything wrong, he needed to stay in line or else things would get even worse than they already were. With his successor suddenly haven proven to be unworthy in the sense of being able to keep his personal life from his professional business, his future and that of his laboratory were facing uncertain times. And perhaps, if Ash reached out to him, for whatever reason, he could start restoring his bond with the Ketchum people. Because Delia might not realise it, but she was one of his rare friends. Oh, sure, there were plenty who claimed to know him, but actual friends who didn't stay with him because of his popularity? To gain something from it? Those were a rare breed to find and it had hurt to see Delia change into such a mess, just because of how beastly he had acted towards her and the knowledge of how he had been treating her son.
Or rather, how Gary had been treating Ash. But how had he been supposed to know what she had been talking about when he hadn't actually done anything? Now, of course, it all made sense to him, their anger, their sadness, he even understood Lance's frustration and criticism. By God, he was so done protecting Gary, it was more than about time for his grandson to grow up and realise what he had caused. This time without someone shielding him from harm.
Inside the Emergency Room, several nurses were rushing around the now currently still form of the young boy who had admitted into Celadon Central, with a severe case of seizures. One nurse, in particular, was monitoring whether or not the child was regaining consciousness in between the attacks. So far, there no reaction from the boy, who was already cramping up again. They had immobilized the broken arm and had already splint it because it could become a severely complex fracture should it be left untreated.
They had done several blood tests, as well as giving him anti-seizure medication. So far, it seemed to have little effect, but it had only been admitted to the child after they had all agreed that he was stuck in a status epilepticus, which had taken a bit of time. It seemed smarter to wait than to rush into the situation, especially since they didn't know what was actually causing these attacks yet.
Not until the results came in, but along with those results, came a very annoyed emergency paediatrician, one that looked over the general welfare of the little ones here in Celadon Central and tended to work shifts in Intensive Care, as well as dr. Martin, who looked confused but at least wasn't making comments about 'useless parents', for everyone to here.
"Dr. Lotus, I may not know the family too well, but I find it hard to believe that either of the patient's parents have anything to do with the overdose. And if that was the case, it was probably accidental," dr. Martin said.
"Yeah, so? The kid might've taken them himself, who knows."
"I don't think so."
"If you give a kid Bupropion for depression, you can expect him to be, you know, depressed enough to take a couple more," the other man hissed. "It's negligence and my hands are itching to call in the police to research the matter."
"Go ahead, they won't find anything. I'm not even sure whether Ash would have realised what taking an overdose would even cause, he's not interested in it. And I didn't give the Bupropion for depression, he was frustrated and it was meant to calm him down, ease a few his worries."
"Hope it worked, because he's gonna have a few more worries after this one. Had to intubate him, for goodness sake, he's so small, we've had to find another mask, it was too big for his face!"
Dr. Martin understood the other doctor's feelings all too well, it was hard to believe that, after merely three days, this boy would end up in this hospital again, in such a sorry state as well. And dr. Lotus was right, chances of the child having a lasting effect from this were high, but then again, nothing had ever been normal around Ash.
"Anyway… What's he like?" dr. Lotus asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "As a patient, I mean. You mentioned something about frustration, which isn't something I'm looking forward to dealing with."
"You'll be fine, he's a nice enough kid," the other doctor answered. "He's rarely caused problems."
"Are you sure? I swear I've seen a nurse blanch at the mere mention of his name."
"One of the nightshifts, I presume?"
"Yes. Bad sleeper?"
"No, I think he gets friends over at night. Big, mighty pokémon friends. The nursed don't seem to like how cheeky some of them can be. But that's got little to do with Ash himself."
"And little pokémon friends? Or is none of them small enough to fit into the room?"
"He's got a Pikachu as a starter pokémon, he'll be happy to have him near him."
"Good, as soon as parents are in, I'll be asking them to bring the pokémon over."
"That's fine," dr. Martin answered.
He knew there was more he was hiding from dr. Lotus, but he had never seen any of the bizarre phenomena himself. And only dr. Knight knew exactly what the kid could do because he had straight-up asked Ash. As ballsy as it was, the doctor was certain the boy had only answered because he knew the therapist couldn't tell anyone what they had been talking about, possibly realising the man had sworn under secrecy. Or perhaps Ash just trusted dr. Knight that much. Anything was possible, but he wasn't going to cause another doctor to have a biased opinion on him from the get-go. In fact, he was tempted to have a bit of a talk with those nightshift nurses, because reacting that heavily to the name of a patient was far from professional. What if the child had been there to witness it?
"Dr. Lotus? The patient's parents have arrived."
"Ah, just on time," the man said, pushing away from the wall he had been leaning on. "Can I trust you to keep an eye on him?" he added, looking at dr. Martin.
"For now yes, then it is out of my hands. Ash's injuries don't fall under my specialisation or department any longer."
"You don't have me fooled."
… Probably not. He had to deal with the kid's physiotherapist too, who had left a scorching review on the lack of empathy coming from the boy's mother, as well as dr. Knight and he still was Ms. Eleanor's go-to contact for news about the prosthetic limb.
"Keep me updated. I have the potential to make the boy happy with the news about his prosthesis."
"Alright. See you around then," dr. Lotus said and left.
Only to get faced with two tragic looking people who clearly had no idea what had gone wrong. Mrs. Ketchum did have major complaints about the Bupropion, having brought the box with her, though and knew absolutely sure that this medicine was the reason for these seizures her son was suffering off. Dr. Lotus had to give it to her, she knew what she was talking about and felt like dr. Martin hadn't been lying when he said he didn't think these parents had done this intentionally. When he pointed out that double the dose of the medicine had been taken out of the box, Mrs. Ketchum defended Ash instantly, saying he could never have reached that cabinet on his own and that she had made sure there was always someone around, whether it was her, her husband or Lance.
"Who was in charge of giving him his medicine, then?"
That's when they found out what the issue had been because at the same time Mrs. Ketchum had said she was in charge of that task, her husband had also pointed at himself. It was clear that neither adult had any idea the one had passed by the other, in fact, the woman was very vocal about it, swearing at the man that she had clearly mentioned him to mind his own medicine, which was in a special, lockable cabinet upstairs, where Ash absolutely couldn't get to. The medicine the man took daily could severely poison the much smaller and sensitive boy and Mrs. Ketchum didn't want him anywhere near that stuff. And while Mr. Ketchum needed some time to understand that giving someone too much of medicine would have such serious side-effects, he looked incredibly guilty when finally realising what he had done.
"The two of you are in luck," the man said, straightening. "He assured me you were good people, which is why I haven't sent the police at you."
And while Mrs. Ketchum looked like she had just been told to drink a glass of vinegar in one go, with Mr. Ketchum was giving him a thousand-yard stare, dr. Lotus continued.
"The automatic response to this kind of negligence is usually to summon Child Care and that could have easily resulted in some form of punishment. So I want you to know that I expect a whole lot of change from the two of you, or else there will be trouble."
"Sir, I promised my boy change and by god, I will change!" Mrs. Ketchum answered passionately. "The conversation I had with him the evening of the first day, before those double doses of Bupropion, it was the best one we had in ages, we talked! He made me smile, made me think, it was enlightening, it made me realise he's… not just a boy. I've been so stupid, doctor, and I promise I will change. I owe it to Ash."
"And you?" the doctor asked, turning to Mr. Ketchum, who looked very caught at that moment.
"I… I don't know what w… went wrong," the man uttered, glancing nervously at his wife. "I do my best every day and if that… is good enough I… I don't know."
"Red, you need to listen to me. You don't need to obey me, but when I tell you something as important as to keep your hands of someone's medicine, doing the opposite is not an option," Mrs. Ketchum sighed, already in tears. "We could've killed Ash yesterday and we would be none the wiser! We need to do better, Red, we're not going to keep getting away with this! Giving our son eighteen doses of the medicine instead of nine isn't anything to be proud of! We could've been murderers! And God knows how Ash is going to wake up, you don't breathe during seizures and it's bad when you stop breathing!"
"Quite," dr. Lotus answered.
"Oh!" the woman suddenly exclaimed, ducking down the table in a rush, coming back up with… a murderous looking Pikachu who had its ears flat on its head. "I don't know if it's okay this time around, but I couldn't leave him, I couldn't bear the idea Ash would have to go without him, they missed each other so bad and Pikachu was there, with Ash, the whole time and I… I would appreciate it if you could… let him stay with Ash? I promise he won't be any trouble, put him anywhere near my son and he'll stay put."
"Of course, he is more than welcome to stay," the doctor said, reaching out his hand to gently pat the pokémon on the head.
The creature didn't react, its broody expression not losing the slightest of its burning intensity. It didn't surprise the man, to hear the poor pokémon had been sitting next to his trainer during these seizures, the expression it wore perfectly conveyed the feelings the Pikachu had for the situation. No wonder, dr. Lotus had seen Ash's medical record. Not even the smallest of colds was registered, this kid had been perfectly healthy up until reaching fourteen, landing in this hospital with a severed leg and traumatic injuries, to his legs, stomach and face, as well as severe head injuries, only to come back with status epilepticus. This poor creature was suddenly seeing the worst of the worst happening to its trainer, so of course it would be as depressed and frustrated to see someone shift from very healthy into someone who couldn't move through a room on his own.
"Thank you, doctor, I… I hope Ash will be fine enough to have some comfort from his best friend, I mean, they're amazing together. Ash is special, even more so when it comes to pokémon, they love him and he loves them back unconditionally. Even wild pokémon, he doesn't care how big or how many teeth it's got, he'll hug it no matter what. But when he and Pikachu come together it's just that little more… It makes me realise my little boy is actually a good trainer."
"I hope so too, Mrs. Ketchum and I believe I've already gotten some feedback on how special he is with pokémon."
"Ah… Will it be allowed to open a window this time?"
"… Why wouldn't it be?"
"Last time, pokémon went from the garden, to perch straight onto the window sill. I'm afraid they would squeeze through the smallest of gaps, just to get to him," the woman answered.
"Do you think a mesh frame will help?"
"Once, perhaps, but the little ones had sharp nails and they learn fast. He does get a lot of attention from Pidgey, but Ash said that they're highly likely chicks from the Pidgeot he released. Professor Oak's coral is open, you see and Pidgeot often comes round, for an update and euhm… I think those Pidgey are just keeping an eye on Ash."
"Right."
It was quickly decided that they wouldn't open any windows near the child as long as he wasn't conscious, because yes, small pokémon had started congregating in the garden again. Dr. Lotus was amazed, that the talk of a 'special' kid was real this time. He got to hear it all the time, that a kid was special and then they're be stuck with a child screaming obscenities they had learned from the times their parents were fighting at everyone and anything that wasn't doing what they wanted. This was a nice change but their newest patient wasn't out of the woods yet. While the child had gained one broody Pikachu sitting eerily still on one of the cabinets, he hadn't been able to enjoy the company of his little friend. His condition had not improved and as such, he was moved into the department where dr. Lotus took full responsibility for him, in Intensive Care.
But he wasn't in charge of the night shift, he was one of the doctors in charge during the day and as such, left at around eight in the evening, leaving Ash in the capable hands of the I.C. nurses. There were plenty running around all the rooms, to monitor all the patients and see to their needs. With Ash, they made sure all the intubation tubes were still in place, not ripped or damaged from the most recent seizure and continued administering anti-seizure medication, to try and keep the seizures at bay. They also made sure he was moved occasionally, from one side to the other and then on his back, so he wouldn't get cramps and prevent the possibility of bedsores. Despite their professional attitude, none of those nurses were blind, so when lights in different rooms started to flicker on and off, there was a moment of panic. But as quickly as it came on, it ended, leaving the nurses to wonder whether they had just experienced a mass hallucination altogether.
One nurse in particular got a big spook when a chair inside the room had started moving on its own. The nurse had been so scared her eyes hadn't been able to move away from the erratically moving chair, or she would have spotted that the movements corresponded with how erratic the boy in the bed was wriggling around. That soon stopped as well and the poor woman let out a breath of relief before scampering off into a different room. There were other incidents around the rooms, with shadows playing in ways that weren't natural, one nurse had to take a seat after discovering his own shadow was going against the light, appearing in front of him, where the light was shining, instead of at the back of him, where it should be.
And then, at three in the morning, a nurse suddenly noticed things started to float upwards. She had just been watching stuff gently rise up in the air, unable to say or do anything else but watch this strange phenomenon take place.
"You guys… What's going on in this place?" she eventually asked, not looking away from where a series of cups were floating.
"Is that real?"
"I'm not doing anything," she answered. "Look," the nurse added, waving her hand underneath the cups. "No strings or anything."
"… This shift is shaping up to be something else, I tell you that," the other nurse sighed, rubbing his forehead, before turning to look into one of the room.
His eyes widened considerably when he suddenly saw something move inside one of the rooms.
"Oh nononono!" he cried in cresendo, rushing into the room. "Someone, help!"
Several nurses ran inside the room, but all of them came to a sudden halt when they saw the floating boy hover above the bed.
"Don't stare! Come help me, this isn't good for him."
They had nodded, gently pulling the suspended child back into the bed, but it hadn't been easy as there was some force working against them. And just when they got him in position again, another seizure messed up their work, causing a couple of nurses to go and stand in the background. One of them got a nice view of the large shadow in the back of the room, right behind the folded up screen. The young man couldn't do much but stare at the shadow which seemed oddly alive. It seemed to breathe and a small, red glow showed it had eyes and it was horrible to watch.
"Jonah? What's the matter?" his colleague next to him asked.
"Do you see that too?" he asked, pointing at the screen… but nothing was there.
"There are some strange things happening tonight."
"Can you guys stop making up stuff!?" the one nurse who was fiddling with an intubation tube snapped. "This kid's fighting for his life, against that bloody medicine, his only salvation being time itself for this shitty medicine to get out of his system and you're going on and on about shadows and shit going on?! It's real early on the morning, it's fucking dark all the time, get used to it!"
However, as those words filled the silence in the room, it suddenly started getting even darker. The lights were still on, but it wasn't spreading. The darkness enveloped the area like a heavy fog and it worried the nurses, who were all trying to see what was causing this.
"… Okay, so maybe you're not making stuff up, but still…" the nurse uttered.
"I can't see a hand in front of my own face," another one whispered. "What is going on here?"
A sudden snapping noise shut them all up… but then the light returned into the room. A lot more than they honestly would have suspected, with it only being about three in the morning. But then again, the clock in the hallway showed that it was six in the morning, about half an hour until their shift ended. And the boy that had been twitching earlier on, was laying peaceful and still in the bed. Nothing was floating any longer, there was no shadow play, nothing. Though all of the nurses jumped when the early arriving doctors started pouring into the unit.
"And, how was he?" dr. Lotus asked, looking around at the seven I.C. nurses. "… Wait, why are all of you in here? Why are all of you looking at me like that anyway?"
"I… I…" the nurse answered, still with his hands on one of the ends of the intubation tube. "I-it was three o'clock just now, wasn't it? Guys?"
The doctor gave all of them a strange look when most of them nodded, while still looking massively confused.
"Perhaps it's about time you all headed back home and relaxed a bit."
"I swear, doctor, things got really weird, there were shadows and-!"
"Things started floating and Jonah saw this thing in the back-"
"All of you, calm down. I'm sorry I didn't mention this earlier, but I was told this boy has some friends who like to visit him through the night. Those shadows you've seen were probably just those pokémon dr. Martin mentioned."
The nurse let go of the tube but jumped when he saw the broody Pikachu suddenly wasn't the only pokémon on the nightstand.
"S-sir…" the young man uttered, pointing at the Dialga toy that had suddenly appeared there.
"Yes?" the doctor asked, as he turned to look at the toy. "What of it?"
"I-I said time was the only thing that could help this boy a-and… and then this appears."
"So?"
"You know who that is, right? That's Dialga, the ruler of time and space!"
"It's a toy depiction of Dialga, yes."
"Sir!" the nurse squeaked.
"Please lower your voice, nurse. I understand if the boy's condition has asked a lot of attention from you, but it's best for all of you to go home now."
As the man ushered the nurses out of the unit, he couldn't help but feel there were some things dr. Martin hadn't told him about this child. Because a toy or not, it was very coincidental the nurses hadn't noticed it before this supposed time-travel and that it was indeed a toy of said pokémon. Perhaps it was best if he were to ask the man who these 'big friends' that came to visit Ash were.
End of chapter six