Hoh, okay, again, took my misery out on the chapter, dear lord. Well, does it help when I say it'll turn out fine eventually?
Also, I wish all of you a very happy and safe Easter!
Hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Ash isn't the slightest bit surprised about the towel 'attack', much to Agatha's surprise. She's very pleased to see Lance's fatherly side appearing and she's also surprised by the boy's lenience. She didn't think he would allow the man to jump him with that towel at all but it seems like Ash has accepted Lance as not just his family, but also as his caretaker. And wasn't that utterly adorable? The boy's smile at this gentle care rivals the sun, he's actually enjoying it.
"Go on then, get yourself in the shower. I don't want you to get sick," Lance says and playfully drops the towel on the boy's still damp hair.
"Okay!" the teen says and walks towards the stairs.
"Hey, Ash?" Lorelei asks all of a sudden, causing him to turn. "When you come down again, will you tell me how you met those guys?"
The boy's face scrunches up until the woman points towards the window. His mouth forms a little 'o' but he nods enthusiastically.
"Sure! I'll bring down my journey diary too!"
Lorelei is a bit lost on what this diary has to do with her question but she doesn't elaborate on her confusion. Instead, she sits there, looking a bit awkward.
"Don't let your jealousy get in the way of your friendship with him or he's going to call them back inside and you'll have a Suicune following you to the end of the world, realise that," Lance says once Ash's footsteps disappeared in the background, meaning he was definitely out of hearing distance. "He values friendship a lot and these pokémon aren't at all scared of us, they just don't know how to approach us. If they want to come inside, he'll bring them in and hell, you do that at your own house."
"… Heavens above, are you afraid they will be leaving dirty footprints on your floor, Lance?" Agatha asks, flabbergasted for that would truly be the last thing on her mind.
"What? No!" the man scoffs and points at the dragon at his foot, who snarls at the finger. "Look at this little one on the ground, you think this Gible is going to pass up on defending its territory? It won't matter if it's Arceus Itself squeezing into the room, he's going to attack it."
"Then why isn't it attacking us?"
"Because Ash taught it not to."
"Huh," the elderly trainer hummed and smiled. "He's very good with pokémon then, isn't he?"
"I told you he values friendship over anything. Wouldn't you want to be the kid's friend if it means he'll go to the end of the world and back for you? Not that they expect that much from him but it's enough to know that he would do it in a heartbeat, isn't it?"
"I didn't think it would be that deep. He's a very calm kid for his age, I remember him being a lot jumpier and you know, excitable about pretty much everything. From experience, I know pokémon prefer calm and nice people," Lorelei says but Lance shakes his head.
"He's always had this effect on pokémon, it's got nothing to do with that. Let him explain, please, it'll make sense."
"Why the book, then?"
"I don't snoop in his stuff," the man answers stubbornly. "He's asked me not to, said he's only ever has had one diary and that it's still not full, so he's still using it. I respect that and I trust him to come to me whenever something's bothering him."
"Of course you would approach it that way," Lorelei chuckles.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"The way you lay out rules even with something as fickle as emotions. It's so typically you, Lance, it would be funny if only it didn't work out so wonderfully well between Ash and you," she says and she's still amused. "Have you been that way with him all along?"
"Yes? I don't see what's wrong with valuing a bit of honesty and respecting boundaries? And as long as Ash is happy, so am I," Lance says, sounding a bit indignant. "I know you all thought I couldn't manage to raise a child but Ash isn't a baby, he's a nice, independent teenager who has already suffered enough from lies and ignorance so I'm not going to do that to him."
"Don't feel attacked, Lance, we're merely observing," Agatha says, attempting to diffuse the situation. If Ash returns to see his uncle all riled up, he'll know something's happened and clam up, that much she knows. "I'm immensely grateful you managed where both Red and Delia failed."
"It could hardly have gone worse," the man huffs. "That woman didn't even spare him from cuffing him next to everything else and he just thinks it's normal to get hit whenever you don't know something. Go figure that one out…"
She gives him a rueful look, if she had known about this earlier, there was nothing she would have spared to get the boy out of there. She should have known professor Oak wouldn't protect the boy, Ash wasn't wrong, the man absolutely had no idea what love meant. That didn't mean he couldn't feel it but either he somehow ignored it or interpreted it as something entirely different? Agatha knew, she had been treated badly by the man too and all he could say was that she 'demanded him to continue being a trainer and that giving up on that career was nothing but a sign he was a loser'. Yeah, as if betraying her trust, telling her to go to hell with every small question she asked, denying her any information on whatever he was doing, treating her as if she was the Mata Hari of the pokémon league…
Agatha thought it had been her fault at first, still had done so when people came to talk to her about professor Oak before she met with Ash again. Before Lance told her what he thought the man was responsible for. Before there was actual proof the man had participated in the subtle but undeniable abuse the boy was still suffering from. She knew that this book Ash had referred to meant more to him than just a diary. It was his proof, in case his automatic assumptions of them not believing him would come true, after all.
Ooh, if she could ever get her hands on anyone who made the boy feel like he was expendable. That professor Oak had told someone that the teen was a pathological liar wasn't surprising in the way that she expected something like that from him but that he used that term to describe Ash of all people with it? That was stupid, the boy was the worst liar in the world, his heart and face were one, anything that bothered him showed up and he was honest when asked. That much she already knew from what Lance told her and from what she had already heard from Ash himself.
There was a bit of silence and outside the noise coming from upstairs -the teen must have lost his balance at some point- there was only the little dragon at Lance's feet looking terribly grumpy, yowling softly. It didn't seem to upset the man until the pokémon nipped at his ankle.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Gib grrrrrrr!"
"Not again," Lance sighs and keeps his legs out of reach of the Gible. "I don't get you sometimes, Gible, why?"
"Is he being weird again?" a voice comes from upstairs.
The Gible perks up instantly and shuffles towards the stairs. It happily greets the teen, who comes down the stairs and picks the pokémon up without little issue.
"You're a miracle worker, I swear," Lance huffs. "I should ask a specialist what the issue is."
"I think the difference between my kind of behaviour towards him and yours is a bit jarring," Ash answers and puts the Gible next to him. "Plus, I've kind of figured out why he likes my Gible so much."
"Oh?"
"Their skin is like, really thick and my Gible's got Rough Skin so I think that huddling against him is scratching a lot of itches your Gible can't reach."
"… Is it really that simple?"
Ash didn't say anything to answer the question, he just releases his little dragon and the effect is clear. Lance's Gible zooms straight over towards the other and once they meet, they start rubbing their heads together.
"Oh," is all Lance says.
"That's pretty cute," Lorelei comments and smiles at the sight of the two Gible huddling together close to where Ash is sitting. "You're really good with pokémon, Ash, I admire it a lot."
"O-oh, thank you," the teen says and ducks his head bashfully, his cheeks getting a faint red colour. "I've just come to know their habits well and they know I'm not scared of them. Acting defensive towards them is just gonna make things worse, so it's just… I'm at ease with 'em, I guess."
"Even the big ones, hm?"
"Do you… like them?" he asks hesitantly. "Or do you mind?"
"I don't mind at all, in fact, I would do a lot to see one in person," Lorelei says and Agatha knows she means Suicune… but then the tiny Joltik comes crawling out of Ash's pocket. The pokémon he's not even supposed to have. "Can you answer me honestly, Ash?" she then asks.
"Sure, what do you want to know?" the teen asks as he picks the pokémon off his chest and holds onto it as if he knows her question already.
"Is this a wild pokémon?"
"Yes?"
"Is it a legendary pokémon?"
Ash looks at the Joltik for a second before sighing.
"It's not comfortable with showing its true form, I'm sorry, I can't answer that."
Lorelei nods and Agatha is pleased the teen did somehow answer her anyway. No one in this room is dumb enough not to realise that there is but one pokémon in the world who can perfectly pose as another pokémon. A Ditto would always have its own err… 'interesting' expression no matter which pokémon it changed into, anyway.
"That's alright," she says with a small smile.
"Thank you."
"Now, what is the book for, my boy?" Agatha pipes up jovially.
"Ah, my diary!" the teen says and perks up as he holds up the notebook. "I keep my most important memories from my journey in it, as well as keepsakes that I would miss badly so this book keeps them safe where they are."
It's clear it's an old book and that there are things stuffed in between the pages, it's bulging out a bit and it seems to have had some water damage along the way.
"Did you register every big pokémon you found, Ash?" Lorelei asks and gets a very dry look in return. "Did I say something wrong?"
"You can call them what they are, don't worry, they're not gonna spawn inside the living room. They know Lance doesn't like that."
The man splutters a bit but it's true, everyone in the room know he doesn't like jump scares or any of the creepier kind of jokes and pranks. But that pokémon would be mindful of it was special and strangely considerate.
"Legendary pokémon, then," she says.
"Yes, I did. That's why I keep it somewhere safe, wouldn't want anyone reading this anyway. Ten-year-old me was a bit mean and with my mom not being very nice about cursing and generally bad behaviour, I did it inside my diary. She couldn't read it anyway, for some reason or another."
"I had to use salad tongs to pick it up too, you know. It stung me," Lance says and Ash chuckles in response.
"I'm sorry, you could have left it behind."
"Nope, not doing that. Everything that was inside your room is here."
"I know, you even got my old Zubat plush," the boy says and smiles warmly at his uncle. "Thanks for that, by the way."
"No problem."
"So, if I'm correct, you have… things inside that book that… have a link to the Legendary pokémon?" Lorelei asks and once the sentence leaves her mouth, Ash opens the book to the first page and offers it for her to see.
She gasps and the radiant feather even takes Agatha's breath away. There was no way this could be fake.
"How the hell did you get to meet a Ho-Oh?"
Lorelei sounds very accusive, like Ash didn't deserve seeing such a pokémon but the elderly woman isn't about to let this blasphemy slide.
"Hell is nothing but a state of mind in the hopeless and desperate. And I see how far your admiration for him goes, cursing him out for being the special person you just complimented him for," Agatha huffs.
"I-it's okay, Agatha it's okay, I get this reaction a lot. Even with the feather, no one either believes me or gets angry that it happened at all," Ash chuckles but anyone could see he's uncomfortable. Pikachu's fur is standing on end now too, it's clear the pokémon's not happy with what's happening. And the two Gible at the end of his feet are keeping a close eye on Lorelei, they look more than ready to jump the woman too, which is rather worrying.
"Are you telling me that Oak thought you were lying even when you presented the feather?" the woman asks, feeling another bout of annoyance returning. "Is he that much of a fool?"
"Morty had about the same response to this, vehemently denied that it was possible and yet…"
The teen sighs ruefully and looks out the window. He does mutter something and Agatha hears enough to know that he's thinking of closing the book and just leaving. However, something comes bouncing down the stairs, onto the couch, jumps on top of Lance's head and then jumps from the confused man's head to Pikachu's head, to then land on the armrest right next to Ash.
"Chirp."
The three adults watch the tiny Bird-type with confused looks, even as it's glaring daggers at Lorelei. The teen's mood lifts the moment he sets eyes on the pokémon, his smile from before is back with full force. Then again, once she's gotten over her initial shock, even she understand why anyone would like it, the pokémon is disgustingly cute with that overly grumpy expression and the fluffy exterior. She doesn't understand why it is so small but then again…Lance and his phobia of having overly big pokémon trudging through his living room might play a part in why these normally large pokémon are suddenly the size of plush toys.
"Is… Is this a Ho-Oh?" Lorelei utters.
"May its response to your vile words be an indication of the reason we have never visited you before, Madam."
The woman is scared silly when a small Lugia is suddenly sitting on the armrest, right next to her. Not to mention that it just talked to her.
"What did you say?"
"If you cannot understand the words spoken directly into your mind, I feel like it is redundant to endeavour another try. A good day to you, Madam."
With one leap, the Lugia crossed the bridge between one armrest to the other, to land straight next to the Ho-Oh. It licks the other pokémon before jumping on Ash's lap, leaving the Bird-type looking even grumpier than before. Pikachu, who was also sitting on Ash's lap, got a lick too. The boy seemed pleased to see them, though it's clear that they are talking to each other. And there is no denying it, Ash's expression steels itself and after a couple of minutes, an impressively annoyed expression appears on his face.
"Jealousy?" he says slowly and Agatha has an inkling he's repeating what Lugia has been saying to him. "Are you, Lorelei?"
"… Maybe a little."
"How can you be jealous of me?" the teen says, with a lot of contempt. He doesn't even react when Lance puts his hand on his shoulder. "How can you sit there and look so serious when you… uncle? Uncle, I don't want to listen to this. I'm sorry, I don't like it, I don't like it, I don't care what it supposed to be like, I don't like it-"
He kept muttering things as he walked up the stairs, clearly upset. While it was rather comical to see the train of pokémon following the boy up the stairs, the reason why he was leaving couldn't get any more serious.
"… I didn't even get the chance to explain…"
"Maybe a later time," Lance says. "I think you should leave him be for now, Lorelei."
"But… But why? Why is it such a sin to like something someone else can do?"
"That's not how he sees it. To be jealous of him means that you want to live the same way, to have the same past as him, the same misfortune, the same pain and nightmares. You see a happy boy but that face is one he keeps especially for his friends. You won't see it that often anymore after this."
"… I didn't mean it like that," she gasps and she's nearly in tears. "Can I apologise to him?"
"As I said, maybe later. The two of you were staying over anyway, right? You can talk to him tomorrow morning. He's up early, you might catch him on his good side."
"Oh…"
"But if I find you upsetting him once more, there's going to be trouble, got it?"
Lorelei nods wordlessly and she spends the rest of the day in quiet contemplation. Agatha knows her better than this, it was stupid of her to openly admit her feelings when she knew they were going to annoy Ash. One of the benefits of her age is being able to sit, listen and assess a situation and she saw the boy's demeanour change the moment the legendary pokémon came into play. And honestly, that Lugia had arrived to tell Lorelei off and oof, it had a way with words. Now that she thinks about it, she would like to talk to it one day, if it has some time to spare.
Today really has been a day full of surprises, Agatha had actually just finished watching the boy's charity stream and she was quite surprised her godson managed to eat fire noodles without shedding a tear. Or at least, not because of the fire noodles, one of his pokémon, a Sceptile, had tried the noodles too and it was the first time she had seen a pure Grass-type spit fire. It was a shame, the teen was having such fun in this video and now he was reduced to an angry mess of a boy. Rightfully so but if only he had been able to stay a bit longer, to hear Lorelei's apology… Tomorrow's another day, though, maybe the two could come to some sort of a consensus about this incident.
Lorelei is extremely nervous and has been feeling so guilty, she's not been able to sleep despite being so, so tired. She wants nothing more than to close her eyes and sleep but her worries are keeping her awake. She hates that she upset a boy who had been ready to explain himself, despite not having gotten any positive response to his story and all she could come up with as a reply was jealousy? Honestly, she had everything she wanted and heck, she had seen one of the pokémon she had longed to see from up close, a dream come true… Only, not exactly, it had verbally roasted her and only now, as she was here, in bed, staring at the ceiling, does she realise how justified the interference actually was. And wasn't it quite amazing a Lugia had come down to help Ash? Not to mention the tiny Ho-Oh, it was clear who he had gotten the rainbow wing from alright.
'I can't do this any longer,' she thinks and throws her blanket off her.
It never occurs to her that it's in the dead of the night, when she knocks on Ash's room, she gets an answer and that's the most important bit. Her heart breaks when she finds him sitting in bed, his nightlight illuminating the tear streaks on his face.
"Darling, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it like that, please let me explain," she all but begged, even going to sit next to the bed on her knees.
It's just Ash now, there is no one but his snoozing Pikachu to defend him and he looks so vulnerable. It only occurs to her now that he's sitting there, without his prosthesis and she bites the inside of her cheek as she realises the extent of what she had said. To be jealous of him meant that too…
"I know," he hiccups. "But I just… I don't get it sometimes, why can't no one just go 'Oh, it's fine' and leave it be. I didn't choose this, I don't have anything to do with anything, it just happens. I don't have control over anything, these pokémon come and go and I don't want to have control over them, I don't want to be their weakness but I am. The responsibility, Lorelei, you can have it, bloody hell, you can have it!"
"Ssshhh," she hushes as she stands to give him a well-deserved hug. "Sometimes, things show themselves when there's no room for them and I should never have those feelings I had earlier. I didn't realise, all I saw was a happy boy with some very rare pokémon. I didn't get it that it was a traumatized child being protected and loved by those same pokémon."
"I don't think I can't do this any longer, I can't talk to anyone without sharing my entire history, I don't want this," Ash sobs and she holds him close.
"It's because we were interested and I took it too far. Trust me, anyone out of Lance's group of friends won't bother asking. You will never be asked this question by a stranger unless you start the introduction to it by yourself. But that will always be your option to take and you don't have to take it. No one is entitled to ask any information about you, be it your health or your past."
The teen is calming down a little, so she holds him a bit tighter. It's clear he doesn't want to be mad at her and she's relieved by that. But a part of her is still very annoyed at herself and the fact that no one warned that this boy was a grenade full of emotions. 'Not that deep' her ass. One well-aimed poke at him was enough to release a torrent of feelings and hell, she had not been prepared.
'Shame on me,' she thought and feels bitter that she had needed to experience this before figuring out that this had been harmful. Lance wasn't shielding this kid for no reason, clearly.
"Are you okay now, buddy?"
"Mm," he hums.
"Is there any way I can make it up to you, buddy?" she asks because she feels like he's still a kid and kids don't have any needs for an apology. You need to show them you really care so that's exactly what Lorelei wants.
To her surprise, he looks up at her with those big, sad eyes of his and smiles.
"Not much but it would mean the world to me if you wouldn't change the way you look at me or the pokémon. They're defensive, I can't help it," the boy sighs.
"… What do you mean?"
"Ho-Oh was really rude and Lugia…"
"Wait, it just chirped, didn't it?"
"… It called you a bitch, though."
'Right,' she thought and swallowed hard.
It wasn't going to be easy to just… the pokémon and their responses were easily forgotten, they didn't care much about her and honestly, the feeling was mutual. Besides, they were wild, no one -but Ash, apparently- had a say over them. But this child had shown such a sensitive side of himself, for good reason too! How was she supposed to look at him the same way ever again?
"I will try my best, Ash but I can't promise that I won't be watching out what I'll say to you. Trust me when I say it never even occurred to me that you would feel bad, it's been quite a while ago since I've had this kind of conversation with someone so much younger than me, I can't say if it's me being senseless or you being sensitive. But I suppose you can live with me being a little less bratty, hm?"
"Bratty?" Ash repeats sadly. "I don't think that's the right word for not understanding what you're saying. Even if you were just thinking that attracting these pokémon was something to be jealous about, you've heard Lance, haven't you? And his reaction is the best one I've had, the entire hospital was in a state of hysteria every time one showed up. It's really nothing as fancy or glamorous and the only reason why I don't mind it, it because I love them so much that I don't care what other people think."
"Then why did you care if I was jealous?"
"Because you couldn't look beyond my ability. Nothing's ever that easy, you don't get to take something good without getting the bad as a bonus."
"…"
"Plus, you straight out admitted it and hinted that you thought I wasn't good enough to have that ability. That hurts, Lorelei, it really does."
"I'm sorry, Ash, for not understanding. There are some things I'm no good at so it's indeed just pure ignorance," she sighs. "I'll do better by you, I promise, please don't try to avoid me in the future, I need to learn. This isn't a mistake I should be allowed to make twice and I want your help with it. At least I can trust you to tell me straight away."
"You like that?" the teen asks and he gives her such a confused look that it makes her hug him once more.
"I do. Honesty should be valued more."
Ash falls silent at that and she doesn't mind. He's given her something to think about too so once she's sure he's calmed down, she'll go back to bed and sleep. Or mull over what's happened but in all honesty, she feels at peace, now that's she's spoken to the boy about it. It takes her a moment to realise that the teen has fallen asleep in her arms and Lorelei can't stop herself from tearing up. It doesn't hinder her as she gentle eases Ash back in bed and tucks him in. She has a lot of regrets, especially when she stubs her toe on the edge of the door, she had dimmed the light, after all.
"You know, when I told you that you could catch him early in the morning, I didn't mean that you should sneak into his room at fuck o'clock at night, Lorelei," Lance's drowsy voice suddenly says and she drops to the floor with a shriek. "Or that you ought to do it in you negligé…"
"You nearly gave me a heart attack," she utters as she gathers herself. "Dammit, Lance, what if I woke him up again?"
"He'll go back to sleep, don't worry about it. Get your ass back to your room, we'll talk in the morning."
"Ash didn't even look at what I was wearing."
"Of course not. Now get."
She fumbles to get up, even with the small light Lance has on. Her room is right next to Lance's and gosh, now that the man is out there, Lorelei sees that his room is right next to Ash. And these walls are so thin, he must have heard everything she said. Well, whatever, at least he'll know she's serious about this. And with that in mind, she goes back to bed and figures -or rather, hopes- that tomorrow will be a bit more normal.
Riley arrives back at Mahogany and sighs when he spots the house. He's tired and a bit weary. His project has turned out to be quite the pain in the ass and he's going to admit that the pokémon involved didn't make the situation any easier. Dear lord, he needs to remember to give Lucario a treat, his dear partner saved him from getting bitten multiple times and it's nothing short of a miracle that professor Elm had even agreed with his plan, in the first place.
He fumbles to get his key, he knows better than to ring the doorbell at this time a day, Lance doesn't get any cheerier if woken up by anything, hence why Riley even bothers to use it. He's got his hands full with the package he's brought along with him so it's not easy and he's pretty sure that anyone awake in the house will have heard him. To his surprise, there doesn't seem to be anyone around yet but as he puts the package on the living room table, he hears a soft voice.
"Okay, this one can go in the ugly row, for sure," Ash's voice says and despite not knowing what the boy is doing, Riley's already amused.
When he goes inside the kitchen, he sees that his young student is sorting out cereal. It looks all pink and a bit too cute to be meant for boys but he's not going to be telling anyone what to pick out to eat. Though it looks like the teen isn't eating it.
"You're very bored, aren't you?"
"Oh, hey, Riley!" Ash says, smiling widely at him.
"Are you actually sorting your cereal by ugliness?"
"They're not exactly as cute as they're shown on the box so yeah."
The man chuckles, he's not going to bother telling the kid that it's really silly because the cereal is kind of ugly.
"Look, kiddo," he says as he sits down. "Have you actually eaten something? I know you need to take meds, so it's kind of important that you have a decent breakfast."
Ash stares at his piles of neatly stacked cereal and Riley has to give it to him, it looks pretty impressive, the piles are at least the height of a mug and those tiny pieces of cereal didn't look easy to stack.
"… I'll get the milk," the boy answers as he gets off his chair.
"You were planning on eating something, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, just got distracted."
"Did something happen while I was away?" Riley asks and frowns because he's never heard the kid be so dismissive before.
"No, it's fine. Lorelei and Agatha are here too, just so you know."
"… That's fine, they know who I am. And they can handle themselves fine, it's you I'm concerned about. Please, kiddo, talk to me."
"It's nothing, I just didn't sleep well, Riley," Ash sighs. "There was just a bit of a situation yesterday but it's fixed."
"It doesn't seem fixed to me, Ash."
The teen stares at him for a bit and the man holds up his hands in surrender. There's a very dark edge in those young eyes and he realises that, whatever happened yesterday, is just fixed for the other person involved in it. But Ash is clearly still affected by it and it stings because Riley has done the utmost to keep this boy happy and look what happened while he was away.
"I'll drop it, I promise. Why don't you finish your breakfast? I'll go and unpack the gift I've got for you."
Ash just nods, there's no 'thanks' or the usual curiosity shown and it hurts so much to see him like this. Still, Riley hopes that his hard work will eventually pay off and gosh, what if the boy gets mad? Things like these are often frowned upon but it seemed like a good idea at the time… He bites his lip and he gets the heavy bit of machinery out of the box and by the time he's ready, Lance is there right next to him, giving him the strangest of looks.
"What's that?" he asks, strangely decent about it.
"A gift for Ash. I err… thought it would lift his mood to the point where he might get the Aura burst every kid should experience but I don't think that's going be enough to do the job now."
"Depends on what it is."
"I would rather wait to explain when he's here, it's a bit much."
"Go ahead, I'm ready," Ash says, apparently having just finished up in the kitchen, he's steadily approaching them… and he's actually limping.
"Bad day?" Lance asks.
"Mm."
"Err… Right… so this is a pokémon transporter. You can link it to a videophone or one you can carry but you're going to have to read the manual for it, I'm not on top on how to do that," Riley chuckles but no one's finding his lack of technological knowledge funny, judging from the lack of response. So he quickly gathers himself. "It'll basically allow you to call any pokémon you want towards you, you won't need to contact anyone."
"… Professor Oak's laboratory isn't that advanced."
"That's because your pokémon are no longer staying with professor Oak. They're with professor Elm and his laboratory has some cutting edge technology, it's very impressive."
"Why?" Ash asks, not at all blindsided by his opinion. Typical.
"There have been behavioural issues with your pokémon, Ash and I felt like, if you did something that upset the professor, he could take serious measures towards them. Professor Elm, on the other hand, gets along with your pokémon famously and once they were relocated, none of them tried to bite me."
"… Ah."
Again, no curiosity, just bland acceptance.
"So basically, you somehow managed to not just relocate his pokémon but you've also signed us up for a distance system to switch in pokémon? In a week?" Lance asks. "Who did you get on the phone to get that done so quickly?"
"There's been a bit of a kerfuffle at professor Oak's laboratory, they're switching out assistants and partners. Not the healthiest of places, I'm afraid so when I spoke to the league, they were quite happy to get things over and done with."
"Suspicious," is all the man says as he walks off, straight into the kitchen.
Ash is eyeing the machine and now Riley is very nervous.
"Is it far?"
"Come again?"
"Professor Elm's laboratory? Is it far from here?"
"Not really, there's public transportation, takes about half an hour or so. Why?"
"I would like to visit it sometime."
"Why not go today? You look like you could use a bit of fresh air," Riley offers, though he's more inclined to have the kid smothered with pokémon to at least draw a bit of a smile out of him. It's such a sad sight and he needs to change it or he's going to freak out.
"… 'kay."
"Come on, get ready, I'll take you. I'll go tell Lance our plans in the meantime."
"Alright."
Again, no enthusiasm whatsoever and Riley's already praying the kid will at least cheer up a little while they're underway because he's not looking forward to sitting next to a brick wall without any emotions. He's lucky, though, Ash is taking plenty of time upstairs so he still catches both Lance and his two guests in the kitchen a bit later.
"Okay, is anyone going to tell me what happened yesterday or am I going to have to pull it out of someone forcibly?" he says and he knows the effect he's got on them because they know he can back up his threat with ease.
"Take a seat," Lance says. "This might take a while."
His eyelid twitches in annoyance.
"No, I'm not going to sit down, I'm going to visit the New Bark Laboratory with Ash but I need to know what's happened because I want to talk to Ash about it. This needs an ending because someone clearly didn't bother to check whether he was fine afterwards."
"I apologised profusely, though. Why won't this end?" Lorelei sighs and tiredly rubs her forehead.
"What did you do?"
Riley isn't pleased when she repeats the same words she told Ash. How could she have said such a thing to a boy who only means to do well? How dare she take the right to explain himself from him? He was ready to tell her something he's not even told him, for goodness' sake and she just turned her back on him and prioritised her own needs above his instead of letting him explain. And now she was expecting him to just let her spend more time explaining herself when Ash already and clearly understood, judging from how he was acting?
"I'll be back later. We'll talk this over once I've gotten Ash's side of this story."
"He's going to tell you the same thing all over, though," she says. "If my apology means so little, I'll do something else, it doesn't matter what it takes, I'll do it. I am very sorry."
Riley doesn't want to hear this any longer, it's clear that there's some kind of misunderstanding and he doubts that Ash will be truly honest to someone who just brushed him off as if he wasn't important. There must be something else, he's pretty sure the boy would never be so upset by anyone second-guessing him, not after what he's already gone through. So he steels himself, walks out of the kitchen and re-joins the boy who's dutifully waiting for him. The way Ash stands there, looking so sullenly with his Pikachu in that jacket, strapped to his shoulder… Myeah, the kid really doesn't have much to be happy about, does he? Getting that Aura burst will be a very difficult job and Riley would very much appreciate it if Lance would keep his friends at bay next time. The pokémon league might not mind pokémon but Ash's passion for any pokémon goes way beyond what they can handle and in no way is the kid responsible for their feeble opinions or responses to the power they assume to be unreachable. Granted, Ash's ability is uncanny and it makes him a dangerous boy but Riley already knows that no one else in this world would handle this ability with as much grace and kindness as this young boy who just can't get a break in life.
He sits next to the silent boy, he's given up his usual spot at the window just so Ash can sit there… even though the boy isn't looking outside. His thousand-yard stare is focussed on the back of the seat in front of him and Riley doesn't know what he can do to get his young student out of his funk.
"Have you already made some progress on what you want to do with the ability of your two hands, Ash?" he asks, knowing they are not at risk of being heard, it's just the two of them in this wagon -he loves travelling by train and Ash didn't seem to be bothered by his choice of transport.
"Kind of," the boy answer and he looks down at his hands. "The left side is the one my pokémon like, it would be to care and you know, give some kind of comfort."
"Okay, I like the idea of that. There's a lot we could do with that, such as shields, healing, powering up… Yeah, I like it a lot, there's plenty of opportunities there."
"And the right… the other pokémon like. It would be to… destroy. Defend."
That was a lot darker than he would have expected from the boy but then again, the world must appear very black and white to someone like Ash so it's fitting in a way.
"There's an awful lot of things we can do with that too, I mean, blowing stuff up is always kind of fun," he says, trying to get some levity in it. "Can I just ask where this sentiment is coming from?"
"I've too often wanted to help with something that was just a little bit over what I can do. Wasn't fast enough, wasn't strong enough. I want that fixed. I want to be enough this time. That's what this ability is for, isn't it? To make me a better version of myself?"
Riley tries very hard not to laugh and it's got nothing to do with the boy's innocent take on it, he likes it a lot, it's just that fact that so, so many people have never had the idea to better themselves, who just thought that this ability was something they could take advantage off. Not everyone was so pure in intentions, after all and it's so much easier to do bad things. Some people just want to see the world burn, with or without ability.
"You keep reminding me of all the reasons why I like you, Ash," he says instead and gets a small smile in return. "Do you have the right kind of drive behind that kind of aggressive behaviour, though?"
"… I know I'll feel bad if I destroy something that I didn't mean to but accidents happen. And if anyone makes me so angry, I'm not gonna be responsible for it."
"That's right, I admire you for understanding that. Accidents do happen… so… Will you tell me why you got upset yesterday?"
Ash sighs loudly and turns towards the window this time around, leaning his head on his hand. Riley doesn't like this reaction so he puts a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Hey now, it's fine. Even if it's something stupid or something personal, you know you can trust me, right?"
"Mm."
"So please, let me understand. I'm scary enough to Lorelei to make her understand too, if it's something that you know she'll do again."
"It's fine."
It's really not and Riley isn't blind to the spike of annoyance that appears whenever he refers to the issue that happened yesterday. It's scary at the same time, to see this kid changed as quickly as that.
"I won't talk about it again, then," he says, still not feeling like being silent.
"Thanks," is all the teen says.
The man attempts to keep the conversation going by offering some more feedback on his Aura but then some people enter the same wagon and he's lost on what to say to the kid. He spends the next few minutes in quiet contemplation and he promises himself that it'll all be okay as long as he doesn't bother Ash with that incident any longer. Riley's lost on what's happened to the boy to suddenly bring out such raw anger, he's pretty sure Ash is hiding an awful lot of other emotions from him and he wonders whether it's healthy for the kid to keep so much inside. God, what if Ash is hiding a bunch of anger? Is that why he's chosen that kind of asset for his right hand?
'Right, well, I figure that avoiding making him get angry is going to be my next plan of action,' he thinks. 'Making him happy is something for later.'
"Oh wow," the teen says, as soon as they step out of the train.
Not without hurdles, it seems that Ash is indeed having a bad day. He's limping very badly and Riley's fighting the urge to pick the kid up and carry him all the way to the professor laboratory. The only thing that's stopping him from doing so is the experience he's got in picking people and pokémon up and it always ends up with him getting back issues so no, he'll leave the kid be. He's already glad the teen's not looking so sad and angry any longer.
"It's a nice station, isn't it?"
"Hm? Oh yeah sure," Ash answers but it's kind of clear his mind is somewhere else. "Gosh, it's been so long ago since I came here."
"You came all the way to New Bark town?"
"Yeah, it's where I got to know Larvitar. I wonder if it's around here somewhere too… Oh, but I never thought I could smell the sea from here, it must be something seasonal, it was spring when I came here."
"Sounds nice," the man says, figuring he shouldn't disturb the boy's trip down memory lane.
Ash's limping is very worrying, it's the first time he's seen it get so bad and a quick message to Lance told him the man's rarely seen the boy limp at all, safe for the first few weeks of him getting used to the prosthesis. Then again, Ash is still pretty new to this so there's always a possibility he's actually having a really bad day. Then again, with how he's still affected by what Lorelei said to him yesterday, Riley doesn't think he's had a good night's rest either and he remembers having heard somewhere that sleeping is half the effect of what some medicine have on people. So if the boy didn't sleep well, there's a chance his meds are only working on half their capacity either. He might be wrong but whatever is going on, is very visible and with how sensitive the kid's pokémon are, he's not going to come along to great them.
Ash might become even more upset if one of his moody pokémon bites someone he likes, or at least, Riley assumes the teen likes him. He did smile at him this morning, ready to do his best… until someone had put their foot in the issue he didn't properly get over with. He's not proud of it, to be honest, he guesses that he was just a bit too giddy about his surprise that did end up falling flat and it's bad that he, an Aura Guardian, didn't notice the discomfort of another Aura user. Even if he could barely feel Ash's aura, he could feel something and that should have been enough. Because he couldn't feel anything before so that was a change he failed to take notice of.
'I can't let my guard down,' he thinks. 'I need to do better, this might not have been a lethal mistake but it is a mistake nonetheless.'
"Riley? You good there?"
The man blinks and sees the teen watch him rather carefully. The boy still isn't the epitome of happiness but at least he doesn't look so upset any longer and it spurs him to smile.
"Perfect. I like this area too. In a way, it's a lot like Pallet Town but at least I'm not being looked at like I'm an alien here."
"You too then, huh?"
"… I thought they did it because I was a stranger. And well, they will have heard about what was happening at professor Oak's laboratory, they must've assumed who I was or something."
"Oh, they will have assumed something alright," Ash scoffs and he sounds so bitter. "Part of it must be because you're a stranger but I don't know anyone except my mother who has ever been accepted in their little group."
Riley suddenly feels like he doesn't mind being looked at strangely if it means they won't lump him with the rest of those bloody miscreants. He's never met the kid's mother but he's heard enough to know she's a right piece of work. He's not going to deem himself perfect either but he's never going to hurt Ash knowingly.
"I trust the opinion of the expert on the matter," he chuckles, not willing to spend much time mulling over some incorrigible idiots. "Now, are you pleased to have your pokémon so close to you? You can easily reach them by taking this train to New Bark and professor Elm told me he will never mind a trainer coming by to visit his pokémon. So whenever you're home alone, you can just pop on the train and come here. Lance won't mind."
"It's handy, yeah, I am happy, it's just… there has been so much change, I almost don't recognise myself."
"Oh?"
"I've changed a lot and I'm not sure if I like it. I mean, no one can tell me I don't think any longer and call me unfeeling because I feel too much but that too is different. And suddenly, a lot more people who liked me plenty before no longer do so."
"I do."
"Yeah but…"
"Could be puberty, you know?"
"… Really?"
"Beastly things happen, you ought to ask Lance about it," Riley grins.
"Not that again, I've had enough about that from mom. I've yet to slam a door, though."
"Ah, so you feel like you shut that door softly when you left the room at the time you flung that cabinet at me?"
"I was upset."
"Well yes, you're just proving my point."
"So growing abilities out of the blue is just normal pubescent behaviour according to you?"
"Don't kid yourself, just because you never used them doesn't mean you never had them. Also, don't judge yourself so low, having an ability isn't everything either. I can show you ten absolute knobheads with the most wonderful skills and none of them actually use it and they're highly likely going to replace the top ten worst people you've ever met."
"They have some competition to go against. The least one being the Safari zone park guard pulling a gun at me."
"… Where?"
"Fuchsia."
"Wha… In Kanto?"
"Yep."
The man sighs and shakes his head in disbelief.
"Is he still there?"
"Dunno, never went back there to check."
"Understandable. Well, yeah, they're among that sort of people," Riley sighs, not knowing quite how to feel about the way Ash could just recall assholes from the top of his head as quickly as that. "Best leave them well enough alone but I hope you realise you're a different kind of person."
"I hope so, yeah, I mean, I try to be nice enough but it doesn't work out so well sometimes."
"More than often, I feel like you're not to blame."
"Thanks for understanding, Riley. And thank you for the pokémon too, I might not love professor Elm as much as I once liked professor Oak but I might grow to enjoy his company a bit more if I see he's at least being fair towards my pokémon. Though, do you really think professor Oak might've done something to them?"
"Not really but I wasn't taking my chances. Besides, this action was never meant to undermine him, if he sees it that way then it's a sign he's not busy with your best interest, that much is certain. I just wanted you to be happy and I know that it would be evil to keep you from your pokémon. And there's just no way you could travel across the border all by yourself so I feel like moving them closer to you would give you back some of the independence you lost when you got moved to another region. I know it's not as close as it used to be but it's a start, isn't it?"
"It is, yeah," Ash says and he smiles warmly at the man -an amazing difference from the start of their journey towards this laboratory. "As long as professor Elm doesn't mind, I feel like it won't be too hard to get used to this."
"Oh, he's absolutely wonderful with your pokémon, he's gotten all the info he needs from professor Oak and he's put this kid called Tracey on their personal care and they seemed very happy to me. So I think, if you're alright with it, it's all going to work out wonderfully for both you and your pokémon."
"… Tracey?"
"Yeah, he's new but he seemed like a good kid," Riley says but frowns when Ash doesn't seem comforted by his opinion. "Do you know him?"
"He's here? In Johto?"
"Yes?"
The boy falls silent again but despite the limp, he's picked up his pace, much to the man's surprise. He's just following the boy around at this rate and it becomes clear that Ash has visited this place before, he goes straight towards the laboratory. Riley, on the other hand, had plenty of issues finding it, the building is at a far end corner of the small town, he had gone straight for the trees somehow and had gotten lost in it. Not that he minded, per se but he could have done without the delay. Maybe, if he hadn't gotten lost at all, he would've made it back to Lance's house to avoid whatever had happened there while he was away.
"It's so peaceful…" Ash suddenly says as he stops right before he gets to the laboratory's entrance.
Riley easily agreed with that, the sound of the sea was the only white noise in the background, with the occasional cry of a Wingull disrupting the peace. It did all feel very 'holiday resort' to him, though and he knew he would quickly get bored here.
"I never really stood still to notice all of this," the teen sighs. "Gosh, I hope that, now that I do, it makes a bit of a difference."
"Difference where?"
"My next journey. I would hate it to be such a mess like all the other ones I've been through. It was fun, don't get me wrong but looking back on it…"
"Consider it well-earned experience and go from there. As long as you remember to be yourself, I think it will be fine."
"Really?"
"Absolutely, I have complete faith in you, Ash. No matter what anyone says, you're not dumb at all, you shouldn't bring yourself down either."
The boy just hummed in response and limped towards the entrance. Only to stop and lean on the doorframe for a while. Riley shot over towards him, had he just seen the teen sway to the side a little? Ash jolted when his hands grabbed him by the shoulders, in an attempt to steady him, as if he had forgotten he was there.
"Sorry," he says with a small smile. "Felt a bit dizzy."
"That's alright. Are you feeling okay now?"
"Yeah, I'm good."
Riley didn't believe him but nodded nonetheless. He hadn't missed the small but prominent light on the teen's wrist either, he knew exactly what it means and that this bracelet hadn't been there when he had left the teen. Maybe it was better to have a good chat with Lance when they got back. But in the meantime, he would keep a very close eye on this kid. The man admits he's never been around anyone like Ash but his attachment to the kid goes beyond feelings. Had to be, how else was it possible that his Aura is warning him about something yet to come? So when the teen knocks on the door and is let into the laboratory by an amicable professor Elm, Riley follows him like a shadow.
Ash feels very woozy as he's following professor Elm to where his pokémon are. He's not sure what's going on and he knows he's worried his uncle and Riley by moping around so much this morning but something's different. He can't put his finger on it and he's not sure whether his teacher got the gist of it when the man suddenly started saying it was puberty. Were seizures a sign of that too? Ash didn't think so and that's why he's so worried.
There's this niggling feeling somewhere in his head, something he can't recall but it's been a pain in the ass ever since he passed out and woke up with this bracelet on his arm. Ever since he's had the feeling like he's forgotten something and it seems like people are growing upset more easily too. Is he being rude without knowing? He would have to ask dr. Knight, maybe he knows something… but he doubts it.
Most of all, he's disappointed in himself for not being able to give Riley a cheerful response to his 'surprise'. Judging from his uncle reaction, the teen figures that the man did something that's not at all easy and yet, he still did it. Ash wants to be thankful so badly but to hear that not just his pokémon but also Tracey has moved to Johto…? That's very strange and it makes him worried for professor Oak's wellbeing. The laboratory and everything it stands for is his life work and yeah, he may be a willfully ignorant man, Ash doesn't want him to lose everything he's worked so hard for.
"I'm very pleased that you've arrived so early to greet your pokémon, Ash," the professor says and by doing so, snaps the boy from his thoughts. "It shows you have an excellent bond with your pokémon and that you are concerned about their wellbeing."
"Of course, I am. Although I'm worried about professor Oak giving up the right to house them as quickly as this, is he alright?"
"… You're worried?" the man asks. "Still?"
"Just because he screamed at me, doesn't mean he's suddenly become a demon to me. There would be an awful lot of demons in this world if I did that with everyone who's already screamed at me."
The man glances at Riley, who's behind him and sighs.
"It was believed that the safety of your pokémon was debatable under his care, hence why this speedy transfer was made."
"… Who believed that? The pokémon league or professor Oak himself?" Ash asks, though he can already tell what's going on from the face professor Elm makes at that question. "Has anyone offered the professor some kind of help? Instead of fleeing a ship that's not really sinking?"
"I will send someone over. I'm sorry, Ash, I thought it was a sensible thing to do, I thought it would help you."
"It will, I'm not very mobile."
The professor looks like he's about to say something but Ash doesn't want to hear it. He knows of the relationship between professor Elm and professor Oak, it must have been a tense conversation to have such a large group of pokémon suddenly withdrawn because of such a reason… The teen wants to apologise for causing this but in hindsight, he has nothing to do with it, he never asked anyone to move his pokémon closer to him. But he's glad it happened, though.
"Can I go see them now?"
"Oh, right, yes, right this way."
The layout of the building is straight forward enough and it doesn't take long before Ash actually bumps into Tracey. His footing isn't all that steady to start with so he's the one to fall after the impact.
"Oh, no! I'm so sorry, Ash!" Tracey says but just as the boy is going to wave him off, say that it's not a big deal, the wooziness changes into something far worse and he's unable to speak for now. "…Ash?"
The teen stares at something way beyond the teen, it's the same blue light as last time and it makes him gasp. His sight goes black shortly after that and the last thing he hears is a warbled version of what he assumes is his name. He's startled to suddenly find his senses returning to him shortly after but he feels wickedly wrong, his legs are on fire, there's a deep, stinging pain in his right foot and his throat is as dry as sand. Ash attempt to talk but all that comes out is a pitiful whine.
"It's okay, don't move just yet, Ash."
'The professor?' he thinks, deeply confused about why this man's voice sounds so high.
When he opens his eyes, he sees one dark brown shoe and a knee. The knee's coloured a nice, crisp white and Ash frowns because he doesn't remember that professor Oak ever wore loafers or white pants. But wait, no, he's not in Kanto, is he? He's in… Johto, that's right, he's in professor Elm's laboratory. But why is he on the ground? And who else is there? He can hear talking but… wait, huh?
"Why am I on the ceiling?" he asks as he gives the white tiles above him a confused look. Since when was he laying on his back? "Why are you on the ceiling too anyway?" he adds and recoils when the person next to him suddenly isn't professor Oak or professor Elm. "… Who are you? You're not professor Elm?"
"I'm a medic."
"Oh no, not another hospital," he groans.
"You're not in a hospital, Ash," the medics says calmly. "How are you feeling?"
"Thirsty," he answers truthfully. "Can I have a glass of water?"
"Later, it's not safe for you to drink yet. Are you in any pain?"
"My foot's kind of hurting."
"Which side?"
"I only have one foot, sir, it's the right one."
The medic moved all of a sudden and Ash knows exactly when the man finds his foot.
"Ouch! Oh, that hurts!"
"I'm afraid you've broken it."
"What!? NO!" he exclaims and straightens, giving the man an accusing look. "No," he repeats when he sees that his foot is at a really awkward bend. "Oh, hell, no," he adds to that when he sees there's a hole in the wall. A foot-shaped hole. "Oh no, I made a hole in the wall! Professor Elm, I'm so sorry."
"It can be fixed, Ash, don't worry about it, it's nothing major," the professor answers but the boy's upset.
"It's a whole dent…" he utters, sounding absolutely defeated. "Oh no…"
"I was so scared," someone suddenly says as their arms wrap around him. "Are you okay, Ash?"
"Riley? Riley, what are you doing here?"
"You don't remember? We came to visit your pokémon, professor Elm was just talking to professor Oak for a bit. You fainted while we were going towards the pokémon field."
The teen frowns, he kind of remembers having taken the train to this laboratory and meeting the professor… But he doesn't recall that the man had actually gone and went to talk to professor Oak straight away.
"I remember that I ran into Tracey… Where's-?" he says but stops talking when he spots the tearful teen in the corner. "Tracey, I'm so sorry!"
"You can't help it."
Well, this is a mess, the teen decides and it's not until professor Elm drives him to the University hospital of Johto that he finally realises the severity of what had happened. He's gotten another seizure and it was a really bad one this time around. He belatedly finds he's been drooling over the place and he feels a bit embarrassed that he didn't notice it sooner. The left side of his face still feels kind of funny, though so maybe he could be excused? Ash isn't sure and he's not at all pleased to hear he's going to have to walk with crutches all over again… and that he's going home with a cast on his right foot without having seen his pokémon.
His uncle looks ready to kill, perhaps that was why professor Elm left so soon. Ash's eternally grateful for the ride back and he thanks the man profusely, apologising for the massive inconvenience… but honestly, he's never felt better ever since he's had that conversation with Lorelei. It's a relief that the professor doesn't blame him for anything and tells him to give him a call next time he wants to visit and that he'll send an assistant to accompany him, just in case. Ash swallows hard, he's very aware of the fact that the hospital he's just left has made contact with dr. Lotus and dr. Martin. The fact he gets the notification that Brandon's lessons won't go through makes him feel like he's not going to make it in time for him to go to Kalos this year either.
"Are you feeling alright?" Lance says and goes to sit right next to him, after putting a tray of snack on the table.
"Yeah, I'm fine now. I'm sorry to have worried you."
"It's not your fault, kiddo," the man says and slings his arm over the boy's shoulders, creating a kind of contact Ash can certainly learn to appreciate. "We're going to Celadon Central tomorrow, to check what's going on. So try and keep calm and most of all, tell me when you're feeling off."
"I didn't know what was going on either, I was feeling off like, the whole of yesterday and before that."
"Yes, that too. Lorelei's in a full rut now too and it's her own damn fault so don't carry that weight on your shoulder, Ash, it's no use, she needs to deal with that herself."
"… I honestly thought I was just feeling so badly affected by her words because she kind of looks like my mom," he admits with a sigh, feeling kind of stupid now. But how was he supposed to know?
"… She kind of does, doesn't she?" Lance asks. "Well, do you want me to tell her that? Because I assure you, she's usually never that blunt or mean. I don't know what came over her but here we are."
"Oh, yeah, that's fine. I don't think she'll be happy to see me again so soon anyway, I don't mind."
"I'm not inviting anyone here until you're fine again."
"… Could take some time, actually."
"I'm not taking my chances," the man answers stubbornly. "I need you to be okay, Ash, or as okay as you can get."
"Even with the seizures?"
"Kiddo, the reason why professor Elm is so pale is because the medics busted into his house, nearly giving him a heart attack. Remember that you're wearing a bracelet that's constantly checking up on you. You'll be fine but it would be best to find the reason why you're suddenly getting these seizures. Preventing problems is better than fixing them, right?"
"Yeah," Ash grins and melts into the hug. "Thank you, uncle."
"For taking care of you or…?"
"Everything. I'm so grateful I have someone I can count on but like, in a serious way. Maybe someday I can repay the favour."
"Oh but you've given me some excellent advice already, I can finally groom Salamence without risking any of my limbs and he enjoys it now too. It's everything I could have ever asked for and more because if anything, Dragon-types are vain as heck so when they see Salamence getting groomed, they'll want to get groomed too. I was busy giving one of my Dragonite a bath when the doorbell rang and you came home but I can honestly say that this was the first time she's ever let me lay hands on her."
"Sounds cosy."
"it actually was, she loved it. It's amazing," Lance chuckles. "So, by default, so are you."
"Amazing as screwing some absolutely normal situations up, you mean? Now I can't even go to a laboratory without demolishing the place and myself."
"Don't think about it that way, no matter how worrying it is to have seizures, it was good to have one with people around to help you and who know how to help you. Honestly, you seem to think that a professor or an assistant have never seen a seizure before. Pokémon can get them too and you bet that a dent in a wall is the least of their worries."
"They do?" Ash asks and looks at Pikachu, who's curled up against his thigh. "Jeesh, yeah, I suppose that makes sense… but I still feel bad, like, how do you explain a foot-shaped hole anyway?"
"Was it really foot shaped?" the man chuckles. "Well, the professor can be honest about it, you're one of his trainers now so it's not hard to explain why you were there. Besides, he will have the footage of his security camera as proof."
"Oh…"
"Please stop worrying about the professor's laboratory, Ash. Of all the things you can feel empathy for, a wall seems a bit weird to me."
"Okay," Ash says, sounding neutral enough but on the inside, he's bothered about pretty much everything, from the conversation with Lorelei, to the thing with Riley's gift and then finally to the accident with professor Elm and his bloody broken foot. "Do you think it will heal in time?" he asks.
"You heal pretty fast, I would say so yeah."
"Oh."
Lance leaves him be after that but the teen isn't sure if he wants to be alone at all right now. His uncle can be quite sure he won't be moving anywhere, though and maybe he is still a bit miffed at him because he did only mean well by introducing him to Lorelei, who is a dear friend of his? Ash isn't sure about much any longer and figures he could spend the time he's unwillingly gotten by breaking his foot by sending a well-meant message to Lorelei… who's number has sort of magically appeared in his phone's contact list.
"I worry about you, friend."
Ash blinks and looks to the side, blinking once more when he sees Mewtwo very much invading his personal space. Its face is right in front of his and there is a huge frown on it.
"I'm sorry," is all he can think of.
"Why? You know why it happens, you know it is out of your control, why would you apologise?"
"Do I?"
"… Has Necrozma left such a mark on you? Are you in need of healing again?"
"Who's Necrozma?"
Mewtwo carefully searched his face before it answers.
"Do you remember the black creature? That came out of the blue portal?"
"Oh, the light!" Ash exclaims. "Is that its name, then? Lance didn't tell me."
"Yes, Necrozma just wanted to check up on you, just like any of us but… I feel like its power has hurt you. It is a very strong pokémon, with forces that rival Arceus'."
"… Really?"
"Yes. It must have attempted to converse with you but it is very powerful, I barely manage to do it myself," the pokémon says and sighs. "There is little I can do for your foot but there is… Ah, I will have to take you along, friend, if you wish to be healed."
Does he really want to make a fool out of everyone in that hospital again? This bracelet did register these seizures and the doctors will be left scratching their heads if he somehow miraculously heals-
"I will not claim that we can heal that. If it comes from your brain itself, perhaps but if it comes from your psyche, deeper into your abilities themselves, you will still have them. I feel, with them having gotten triggered after an emotionally tolling situation, it will be the case that only the human doctors will be able to help."
"Then, why take me at all?"
"I am unsure. The very least that can be done is to teach you how to withstand Necrozma and the pressure its powers bring along."
"… Alright, take me then."
There is a team of doctors waiting for them in Celadon Central, listening intently to his story while other medics were performing tests on his nephew. Lance is still all kinds of confused, Ash has been tired ever since he found him slumped against the couch yesterday and it's not normal, he knows that. He tells these doctors that he's already checked all the boxes of medicine, the boy has been taking them dutifully and on time, there was no possibility of an overdose this time around.
"If I may be so bold to interrupt you, sir, could I possibly ask when you felt a change in the child's behaviour? If you have at all?" a serious-looking doctor asked, she had been introduced to him as Professor Deare.
"… It was after his first seizure at home," he admits and bites his lip. "He was stuck with a pokémon inside his room."
"What kind of pokémon?" dr. Lotus asks.
"… A… kind of Ultra Beast called Necrozma."
The doctors turned to each other as if they were all wondering what the hell an Ultra Beast was and none of them got any happier when Lance explained what it was and the link it had to Ash.
"Perhaps it was best if I spoke to the boy about it," the professor says. "If that is okay for you?"
"Yes," dr. Martin answers. "I will go check if there are any results in already."
In fact, all the doctors left. All except for dr. Lotus, who was still looking at Lance and the man has an inkling why.
"I am in no way responsible for the pokémon he attracts, you know that as well as I do. And I did go to help him as soon as I could."
"Dr. Knight reports back to me and there has been no word of an Ultra Beast appearing anywhere or the boy being stuck with one in his room."
"That's because it only happened a couple of days ago. Ash hasn't seen his therapist since," Lance answers as he shrugs. "I know better now, if I notice he's in such a funk, I will call dr. Knight instantly."
"Why?"
"… Because I feel like the seizures are triggered by certain feelings."
The doctor nodded and shortly after, guided the man towards one of the waiting areas, promising to come get him when the test results came in. Lance had known this would happen so he came prepared and as such, pulled the book he had brought along and prepared for a long afternoon in this waiting room.
Ash, on the other hand, is left feeling a bit scared and out of his comfort zone. The scans they did were okay enough but the visual and knowledge tests the medics did always left him feeling like he was dumb for not knowing what to say or answer. There was a certain pressure to perform well and he didn't know how to handle that. He usually acted like the best because he would always felt like he was the worst so for people to suddenly expect great things from him wasn't good for his little imposter act. So when a stern but kind doctor appeared in front of him, Ash pulled himself together and hid all his insecurities away from her.
"Good afternoon," she says. "It's good to meet you, Ash, I've been involved in your case since the start so I'm glad to see you."
"… Hello, yes, I euhm… Thanks?"
Oh, what a great start, this was sure to impress her.
"I'm professor Deare, I'm specialized in cerebral afflictions," the professor continues, not at all bothered by his previous, bumbling response.
"Like seizures?"
"Indeed so. Can you tell me a bit more about them?"
Ash doesn't know what he's supposed to tell her so instead he tells her about the things he -and Mewtwo, by the way- feels are involved in it. He also mentions Necrozma but not by name because he knows they will be talking to his uncle and ever since he's found out that professor Brunet's number is blocked in parental control settings, the teen feels like Lance wouldn't appreciate him knowing about the creature anyway. He also attempts to describe what he's feeling just before, including the fact he doesn't remember certain events that happened right before it.
The professor seems interested enough but a loud beep from her pager calls her out of the room. Ash is guided back to Lance by another medic and he snuggles into the man's embrace. He's still uncomfortable, mostly because he's had a couple of large pokémon looming over him, including Necrozma, who all told him that there was nothing they could do for him, as it was too deep inside his head and that meddling with it would cause serious changes and discomfort. As if he's not uncomfortable already but yeah, Ash believes them. They're a bit older them him anyway -only by a few millennia or so- so he's not going to doubt them.
However, it doesn't take long before they're called back into an office and professor Deare is there again, as well as dr. Martin. They both look very serious and there is a file on their desk with a small pile of papers on top of it. Ash gets a very bad feeling and he knows that he's going to get bad news by the look in dr. Martin's eyes. He remembers the day he saw the man for the first time like it happened yesterday and oh, so much has happened between that time and now. He wonders if things could've been different, if it hadn't all been better if he just… didn't wake up that time.
"I have some news for the both of you," professor Deare says calmly but Ash notices how she's mainly looking at Lance as she continues saying something about the results of the scan and how surprising it was to find that there might have been an issue they might have missed all along. "The reason why we feel that this was something that you were already dealing with earlier is that your first seizure happened here, after a serious altercation between you and your mother."
Yeah, Ash remembers that too. However, he also remembers having seen that same, blue, flickering light. Had that been Necrozma at the time too or was it just a hallucination? Lance had said that professor Elm had been startled by the medics bursting into his laboratory but what if it had been the pokémon who had startled the professor first? But surely Riley would have said something about it and Tracey would have too… or did they think he was going to freak out if they said anything about it? Had Lance told them about Necrozma?
"I remember that," Lance says dryly. "It was the day where I decided to take care of him."
"I couldn't help but notice that the both of you referred to the idea of emotional influence on the seizures too, hence why the tests were so focussed on triggering a particular response."
"Did you get it?" Ash asks, a bit confused because, unless they were looking for annoyance, they sure would've seen it during those tests.
"We did. Our tests were focussing on the performance of a distinct area of your brain, namely the three structures where emotion responses develop."
Ash forgets the words she saying the moment they leave her mouth, they're just not registering them. He understands what she's trying to say, in fact, he's inclined to believe she's subtly trying to tell him he's overreacting. But no, it's his brain overreacting and now the teen is lost on what to do. Worse, even the professor is lost on the subject.
"There is little we can do to fix this, the scans show that there is a clear dysfunction between the amygdala and the response of the insula, leaving the periaqueductal gray inactive. I have never seen an affliction like this nor should a simple visual test have triggered such a severe response from you. Could I ask, have you ever had an unpleasant or foul odour or sensation before a seizure?"
"No, not that I can remember, no," he answers, feeling a little overwhelmed by the fact she just told him they can't do anything about it. "I've always seen a blue light every single time, though. I thought it was linked to a pokémon but I'm not sure since I saw the light last time and no one else reacted to it."
"Hallucinations can appear before a seizure, yes, it's a possibility. How much time is there between the light and your seizure?"
"Not much, I think I pass out like, two seconds after it."
"Oh," is all she says and Ash feels like he's just disappointed her. He admits that it could have been handy, if he saw that blue light five minutes before getting a seizure, he could get himself to safety. What would he do when he out in the water, hm? He'd drown straight away.
Who was he kidding, though, there was no way he would willingly go into water with his prosthesis. Swimming was on the dead last spot on his priority list, he had tried it before, due to dr. Lotus' concerns about him needing to learn how to swim and yeah, he had managed. But unless it was absolutely positively necessary, Ash wouldn't touch the water with even one toe.
"Are these seizures dangerous, professor?" Lance asks. "Is he at any kind of risk if he has them in a controlled environment?"
"A seizure is always a risk, sir. The least being the fact that his surroundings could become a major hazard to him, not to mention that he could fall somewhere and hurt himself even greater."
"So travelling is out of the question?"
Ash's dreading the answer to this question already and the way the lady smiles so wryly isn't giving him much hope.
"Not necessarily. There is something I could prescribe… but I need the both of you to understand that this is strictly experimental and could be dangerous."
"… Oh?" the man says.
"Worst case scenario is that they could end up giving your nephew a completely different identity. The least being some minor character changes because well, this kind of medicinal drugs does have a direct influence on the part of emotions are formed. That's why I said it was strictly experimental. I will prescribe it for one week and if there are only minor side effects, I would like you to come back and then we will try some other, psychological tests to ensure what effects these drugs have. Does that sound okay?"
"Does it mean that these seizures will be under control?"
"No, not exactly. But the feelings which cause the seizures will."
"Well, it's a start, isn't it?" Lance says and rakes a hand through Ash's hair, a well-welcome motion that eases his growing worry a bit. "Do I need to be mindful of anything? Can I take him outside for some shopping or is it best that he keeps inside?"
"You're free to act as normally as possible, sir, that way, you would spot any side-effects straight away. If possible, try and keep track of them at all times. You too, Ash, if you feel any different than before, write it down somewhere. The more we know, the better we can adapt it to your needs."
"We came straight back to you in case there are one or more bad side effects?"
"Yes, absolutely. Though they should show within that week, if not the first few days. I will be here for the rest of the Winter and Spring so if needed, you can always call on me."
That was it, then. Ash feels like he's gotten another forever-thing to add to his list of misfortunes and this time, it seems like a big thing. He hopes for all hopes that these drugs will work, though he's already changed so much that he's hesitant to contact anyone who might still remember the old him. Another downside of this new medicine is that he needs to drop all but one of the medicines he's been taking and he knows that one of those he needs to drop is his main painkiller. That's not going to be fun at all and if he's going to be feeling stuff caused by that medicine…? Yeah, not fun at all.
End of chapter seventeen