The stormy rains that had been plaguing them the week prior had finally given way to a crisp sunny sky, and there was not a cloud to be seen. Pidgey and Spearow and a couple of Murkrow frolicked in the air, gliding atop a cool, gentle breeze that filled the spirit, and a field trip of school children were running along the beaches and making their own fun with a pack of fishing Slowpoke that were barely reacting to their prodding. Their supervising teachers and trainers were keeping a careful, constant eye on them, ready to act should they be too rough or Pokémon do anything retaliatory.
It was a beautiful day, truly. A good omen for a funeral.
Catelyn's casket was closed and lain along a beachside dune, soon to be buried in the sand. She had never been the type to go out to the beach, but in her final weeks, she'd requested that should she die, she'd like to be buried along the cove of Route 19, a few miles south of the Fuchsia City border. She wanted to be near the sea, her spirit whisking away with the waves.
With her death having happened two weeks ago, and with her position as a respected researcher of the Safari Zone and the mother of one of the primary gym leaders of the Johto League, this request, which would have normally been hemmed and hawed for months at a time, was expedited quickly. Connections made the difference in all walks of life it seemed. Even post-mortem, it seemed.
Maybe even especially.
Robb was stood next to his father and sister at the side of the casket, taking in the attendees and both thanking and accepting their sympathies, as was expected of the family of the deceased. Though the funeral was a largely private affair, it was also public in a sense. That was the price of being buried on open land. Well-wishers from all the region over were paying their respects, including not only colleagues and friends from her youth, but also those that knew of her and appreciated her work.
The most famous of these people being Professor Samuel Oak of Pallet Town, who'd apparently worked with Catelyn in some of his own research projects. With him were his grandchildren, Daisy and Gary Oak. Daisy was a girl of thirteen, whilst Gary looked to be of an age with Robb.
"Words cannot describe the sadness I felt when I heard of Ms. Stark's passing," Oak said to the family, his wrinkled face frowning, making his laugh lines stand out harshly on his face. "She and I were not as close as we could have been, but we spoke with one another regularly enough on the intricacies of the Pokémon of the Safari Zone quite regularly in the first few years of her employment. I had even offered her a position as one of my assistants, did you know? She rejected me, of course. Her passion and interest lay solely in the Safari Zone. She was an inspiration. The world has lost one of its best today."
Edward shook his hand, his smile at the kind words of the region's premier professor shaky at best; more watery than anything. "I know Cat appreciated every moment she had the chance to speak with you. She used to call me just to rave about how lucky she was to speak with you at the end of almost every conversation she had with you, even when I was busy. She'd never agonized more in her life than when you offered her that job. She probably would have taken it too, if Whitney had been older. But Cat didn't want to move when things were good. Still, your approval meant more than I think you realize."
Oak smiled tightly, his eyes brimming with emotion, before nudging his grandchildren forward. Daisy approached Whitney, offering the gym leader the appropriate platitudes with an unusual amount of grace, while Gary walked in front of Robb, looking as if he didn't know what to say.
"Sorry about your mom," said the boy, holding out his hand. "It sucks."
Robb took the hand with a slight tilt of his head. "Thanks," he said, and strangely, he meant it more than he did with the other platitudes said to him thus far. He'd been hearing so many delicately worded details all the ceremony. The simplicity of Gary Oak's blunt words was a balm, in a way.
"My parents died when I was two, so I don't really know much about what you're feeling…" Gary began, trying to find the right words.
Shaking his head, Robb quickly spoke over his fellow child. "That's okay, you don't need to get into anything. We just met, and mom had been getting sicker and sicker for years. We knew it was gonna happen someday, though we obviously hoped we'd have more time. I don't think I'll be fine for a while longer, but… I think I'll be alright. I'd honestly like to get this over with, you know? When it's over, I can get started on getting better."
"I think I get it," Gary said, mulling over the pink haired boys words. His eyes lit up briefly. "Then let's talk about something else! Are you going on your Journey soon? I'm eight, so I've got two more years."
The subject shift was jarring in a way but appreciated and painfully expected. If there was one thing a child in this world could talk about without reserve, it was their future Journey. "I'm seven, so it'll be three more years for me. I've already got my starter though!... sorta. It's an egg."
"That's still cool!" Gary enthused. "Do you know what it'll hatch into?"
"Nah, but I've got a few guesses." Robb said, scratching his cheek. "All I know is that it's gonna be a Normal-type. That doesn't matter though. I'll just be happy with whatever it turns out to be, and that's that. It could be a Rattata for all I care."
Gary nodded shortly and decisively. "That's the right way to look at things. Grampa always says that every Pokémon can be strong. All that matters is that their trainer is invested in their growth. I'm actually a little jealous. Er, about the Pokémon thing, not the mom thing. Ooh I just messed that up, didn't I? Uhh… Well. Grampa won't let me have a Pokémon until the day I leave the for my Journey, and the only Pokémon allowed around the house are his Arcanine and Alakazam, but Alakazam ignores me all the time and Arcanine is old and lazy. I wish I could have an egg."
Robb barely withheld a snort and Gary's flub. It seemed that no matter how mature or educated a kid was, they were still kids and probe to having some form of foot-in-mount syndrome. Choosing to step over that landmine, Robb remained on topic. "Does your sister have any Pokémon? Maybe one of them could breed and she could give you one of their eggs? Your Grampa might not be willing to give you a Pokémon, but he probably wouldn't be too mad if your sister did."
"I dunno…" Gary began, arms crossed. He craned his neck up and began eyeing a stray cloud overhead in thought. "I've never really thought about it. She's a contest coordinator and I want to be a battler, but it's not like she's weak or anything... She's got a Happiny, an Eevee, a Clefairy, a Ninetails, a Golduck, and her starter's a Venusaur. Most Chansey and Clefairy aren't the best battlers, and I want a Squirtle, so I don't want a Bulbasaur or a Psyduck. An Eevee would be cool though."
"Maybe when her Eevee evolves you could ask? Is it a male or female? That makes a big difference."
Gary grumbled. "I know the difference! Eevee's a female. She's pretty young though. Daisy's only had her for a few months, and Eevee only hatched about a month before she got her."
"Well there you go!" Robb laughed. "Eevee's are annoying because of how rare they are, and that there are like eight times as many males to females. It's stupidly expensive to get one, and most breeders will only sell the males so that you can't breed any of your own and disturb their market. Whitney was super annoyed when she found that out. But since your sister has a female, she's probably already gonna breed her at some point. It's practically free money on her part. Maybe a good angle to go with is that you'd care for one of Eevee's first pups? You could tell her to treat it like an experiment. You doing really well with her Eevee's offspring could boost her reputation as a good breeder forward and help her figure out some details of the business she might not know about. And if you can phrase it like an experiment, you might even get your grampa on your side."
Gary's eyes were wide and the smile that sprouted on his face on the subject of Pokémon turned megawatt as Robb outlined a plan. "You're really smart, did you know that? Okay! I'll ask her about it when we get back home. We're not leaving for another day, so maybe you could help me figure out the right way to ask after this? Before we leave?"
"Maybe," Robb emphasized, rolling a shoulder. "It'd probably be a good time and I'd like to, but I don't know how free I'll be. We're going over some more stuff about my mom tomorrow."
"I thought a funeral was the last thing that happened when people died?" Gary queried, his brow furrowed with all the confusion of a spoiled youngest child.
Robb shook his head. "It's the start of the tail end of everything, I think. We've still got to read through her will and get some more details on her autopsy."
"What's an autopsy?" Gary asked, blinking a few times.
"It's what happens when a medical professional analyses a body to learn more about how they died." A man said from behind Gary before Robb himself could explain. Not that he particularly wanted to, mind.
Gary whirled around in startled surprise, meeting the eyes of his grandfather. Professor Oak looked a little better than he had been previously, but he still wasn't looking too great. Daisy was standing right behind him with arms crossed, her green eyes boring into Gary with an emotion Robb couldn't place. Annoyance? It was hard to tell. "And as happy as I am to see the pair of you getting along, that is not the sort of thing you should be asking about, Gary. Now say your goodbyes. We're holding up the other well-wishers."
"Yes Grampa," Gary groaned, looking back at Robb. "Hey, if we can't meet up later today or tomorrow, that's fine! If you're ever in Pallet Town though, you should look me up!"
Gary's excitement was infectious, something Robb dearly needed on this dreadful day. Grinning Gary's way, Robb spoke. "I'll definitely make sure to do that. You have a good one dude."
"You too!" Gary said, before being ushered away by Professor Oak and Daisy to the back of the procession.
Almost as soon as Gary left, a wobbly man in his eighties approached the Stark family. "Catelyn was a bright soul, one that I was glad to have met, and I am so sorry to see her gone. The worst part of growing older is that you see old friends die more than you make new ones. I used to work at the Fuchsia Funk radio station, did you know? I met her when she came on as a guest speaker when I was a script supervisor-…"
His words continued until they stopped, and then he walked away. More and more people came up, sharing their own stories of Catelyn with the family, be they big or small, before offering their own apologies and sympathies and making their way away. For the next three hours, more and more people kept coming, and at some point, it felt as if they would never stop.
Robb didn't mind this. He didn't mind at all. Each and every person that approached his family in their time of grief felt that they had something of Catelyn worth sharing to them. The amount of people in attendance just proved how good of a woman Catelyn Stark was. Robb was more proud than anything.
Finally, when the last person had left, the time had come. The mortician responsible for the funeral spoke the last rights of Catelyn Stark, and when they passed through her lips, a pair of black veil wearing Machoke lowered the casket into the beach, covering it once it reached the bottom with sand. A Machamp carrying a gravestone placed it against the face of the dune Catelyn had been buried under, backing away so that Robb could read the inscription.
Catelyn Stark
159 AS – 198 AS
Deep in our hearts you will always stay
Loved and remembered everyday
When the funeral service came to an end and the procession fell away, the Stark's returned home in a quiet, somber mood. None of the remaining three were particularly talkative, and it was fortunate that none of them felt anything more need be said to overtake any perceived awkwardness.
That night was one in which nobody seemed able to sleep. Whitney was crying fresh tears, the loss of her mother hitting her like a truck now that she was buried. Edward no longer found any comfort in the overly large bed he once shared with Catelyn, unable to ignore the glaring fact that he never would share that bed with her again.
And Robb? Robb stared at his bedroom ceiling all night, his egg secure at his side. His mind was going into overdrive, unable to settle and unwilling to do so besides. He wanted to be awake. If he slept, he feared he would forget.
In his awakened state, Robb internally disseminated the stories about Catelyn told by the many well-wishers, committing as many of them as he could to memory. Those that were funny. Those that were anger inducing. Even the boring, mundane ones. Without the call of sleep catching his attention, internalizing everything said about his mother was all he could do.
He was fascinated by the woman she was. The mother lovingly raised him in this second life seemed to only slot into some minor portions of the stories told to him that day. He could not blame her for not telling him these stories either. What mother wanted to share their embarrassing past with their child? What kind of parent wanted their children to know about their mistakes, rather than their successes? Her childish tantrums, her failures, her confusions?
Robb felt he'd learned more about Catelyn Stark in the span of six hours than he had in the previous seven years combined, and he never wanted to forget.
She deserved that much. A legacy to remember. And there was no doubt that hers was a legacy worth remembering.
When the morning following the funeral came, the remaining Stark family trudged down the stairs within only a few minutes of one another, all bearing baggy eyes and sour complexions. They worked in quiet tandem to create a large breakfast, consisting of omelets and smoothies and a whole plate of bacon, Catelyn Stark's favorite spread. Done both in celebration of the woman they lost and in expectation for the rest of the day to come. The energy the food provided would be needed with what they were about to face.
Once their food was finished being consumed they all went back upstairs and put on their best clothes. At 9:30, they left the house and walked the scenic route into the downtown of the city, making way towards a crisp four-story brick and mortar building with a sign blaring Seymour and Sons Law Office to the world.
Entering the building, they were settled in by a receptionist and quickly called into a back room not even five minutes after sitting down and were led into a casual conference room bearing two chairs, a coffee table, and a couch. Both of the chairs were occupied, as was one of the seats on the couch and a far corner of the room.
A portly lawyer clad in a business suit was the first thing Robb saw. He had a balding head of salt-and-pepper hair and a walrus-like mustache that covered his lips entirely and was sat on one of the leather chairs with a small manila envelope in hand. He waved the trio in and had them sit on a five-person couch in front of him. By his side in the other chair was a young woman wearing physician's robes, sporting golden-green hair and wide hazel eyes, fiddling with her thumbs nervously. In her lap was a red folder.
On the couch sat Kaiser, clad in the same suit that he wore to yesterday's funeral. Robb suspected that was the only formalwear the warden owned. He looked anxious. Not as anxious as the soul in the corner of the room though. Blissey.
It was the first time Robb had seen Blissey since his mother's death. After crying on his shoulder for a full hour, she was seemingly unable to be in the house at all, haunted by being the one to find her trainer dead when she should have simply been asleep, and ran away to parts unknown. Edward had set up a search party for her after Whitney had arrived in Fuchsia four days after Catelyn's death, rightly thinking the healing 'mon needed her space, as he did from her, and it was soon determined that Blissey was camping out at the Fuchsia City hospital. The human hospital.
The staff hadn't been able to deter her from assisting them in their care of humans. Blissey bluntly refused to do anything but be of assistance to them, a boulder against a storm that would not budge in her goal. Her zeal for the healing of humans was clearly grief-driven, an atonement for her failure in saving Catelyn, to the point that she seemed unwilling to even care for herself. This was made obvious by her sunken cheeks, sallow fur, and bleary eyes.
Robb broke away from his father and sister to approach and hug her, happy to see her at least safe, if not sound. Blissey spared him a quick look, one of her stubby arms snaking over his back in a brief side hug of acknowledgement, before gently pushing him away, ushering him back to his family. As Robb returned to them, so too did Blissey return her attention to the medical practitioner in the room.
"I'm sure you've heard it all by now, but I am sorry for your loss," said the lawyer after the family sat down. "From what little I knew of her, Ms. Stark was a fine woman."
"Thank you for your condolences," the family said almost robotically, the habit from yesterday still ingrained.
The lawyer rummaged through his jacket pocket and pulled out an old-school recorder, placing it on the coffee table between everyone. Its light turned red, signifying a recording had begun. "For the sake of this meeting, I will be recording everything stated. My name is Bartholomew Seymour, Senior Partner of Seymour and Sons. I have been designated as the reader of the will of one Catelyn Stark. Please, tell me your names and your relationship to the deceased."
"Edward," said Edward in a very formal tone of voice, scratchy though it was. "No surname. Long-term boyfriend of Catelyn and father of her children."
"Whitney Stark, eldest child and only daughter of Catelyn Stark." Whitney said.
Robb instinctively copied her form of address. "Robert Stark, youngest child and only son of Catelyn Stark."
"Kaiser," said the warden gruffly. "No surname. Former employer of Catelyn Stark and friend of the family."
"Very good!" Bartholomew said, fiddling with his envelope. "All four of the persons mentioned in her will are accounted for for the purpose of this hearing. Though there is a fifth that is not involved, Mrs. Talia Torque, she is acting in the position of Catelyn Stark's primary physician and the witness to both the drafting and the reading of this document. With that said, I will now read the last will and testament of Catelyn Stark."
He pulled a singular document free from the casing and a one of his eyebrows raised inquisitively. "Hoh, don't see that every day. Most documents of this nature are quite long and winded. This will be a quick one, then. Right. Let's begin."
Clearing his throat, he started reading aloud. "I, Catelyn Stark, a legal adult with an address at 1178 Seventh Street 499062 located in Fuchsia City, Kanto, being of competent and sound mind, do declare this to be my last will and testament and do herby revoke any all wills and codicils heretofore made jointly or severally by me. I further declare that this Last Will & Testament reflects my personal wishes without any undue influence whatsoever.
"To my family. And yes Kaiser, I am counting you as family. Know that I am sorry that I cannot be there for you. I write this final testament with heavy heart, burdened both by the quickening of my demise, and the parting of my oldest friends. Four days before producing this I released my dear Kangaskhan back into the wild. With her unwillingness to listen to me in any fashion, and knowing her species as I did, I recognised that my time was short and that it was time to update my will for the last time.
"First, to my dearest Edward. I am sorry that our time together was cut short, but I wish you to know that every moment I spent with you, be they good or bad, was a moment I cherished. You were the man of my dreams, and at no time did I ever feel any regret in the life and family we built together. I leave to you my half share of our house at 1178 Seventh Street 499062 located in Fuchsia City, Kanto, to be used in whatever way you deem necessary. We built this house together, my love, and I want you to use it as you see fit with my blessing. Give it to our children, sell it to another young family, raze it to the ground, it matters not. The choice is yours. Know that if you find yourself falling for another woman, I too bless any union you might seek, and will be happy to see our home continue through any new family you form.
"Second, to Whitney, my dearest daughter. My firstborn. When I first held you, I had never been more captivated before in my life. I was never the type of girl that had much interest in being a mother growing up. I used to find the girls I hung out with silly for wanting kids when there were so many more things they could focus their attention on. But the moment you were born, I understood. You have given me so much happiness, so much joy, that no words seem the appropriate descriptor. The pride I felt when you set off to be a trainer, only to become a gym leader later on, is something I will never be able to not feel. You are everything a mother could have wanted in a child. I leave half of my total portfolio investments made in my name to you, to be used in whatever way you deem necessary.
"Third, to Robert, my only son. My little miracle. I have never told you this, but after your sister was born, I was told quite bluntly by my doctor that I would never have any more children. I wanted more, but was happy with what I had. And then you came to be. You are such a gifted boy, smart and strong and mature, you cannot know how much you remind me of your grandfather and namesake. I know that if you chose to enter a proper school, you'd be the talk of the town, my fellow parents jealous of the wake you would leave with your every move. I know things are difficult, and I know your life is not going to be easy from hereon in, but I trust in your strength, and believe that you will not only become better for my loss but thrive without me holding you back from your dreams. I leave the remaining half of my total portfolio investments made in my name to you, to be used in whatever way you deem necessary upon your tenth birthday.
"Finally, to Kaiser. My best friend. You were the older brother I never had. You taught me so much, not only in our work, but also in life. For every lesson you have shared with me, so too have I tried to share them with my own children. For all the favors you did for me, I tried me hardest to pay them back, and yet it never seemed enough. You portray yourself to trainers and researchers approaching the Safari Zone as gruff and cold, almost cruel, but over the years I have learned the truth, a truth that you appear incapable of believing. You are a kind man, Kaiser. A kind man that has had his trust broken. I implore you to find it in your heart to trust in people again. I know that I will no longer be there to remind you to do so, but a part of me will. I leave to you my Persian, to act as your companion and assist you in your duties. I tried to give him to Whitney after I released Kangaskhan, thinking he should be with a stable, familiar presence before I passed, but after he nearly clawed her eye out and she returned ownership of him back to me, I realized that that is not what he needs. Persian needs somebody that will snark with him, somebody that he can look at and not remember the dreaded diaper days, and somebody that will give him room to roam and space to simply exist. I hope that person will be you.
"As I write this, a weight feels as if it is being lifted off of my shoulders. There is something about death that is both terrifying and grace-giving at the same time. That the end to my pain is to come. I have been a burden on you all in recent times. Do not argue that. My sickness has made things difficult for you all in some way, and with my passing, I have one request of each of you. Live. Live and be free. Do not let anything hold you back from your goals and aspirations further. Edward, become the leader you always wanted to be when you hadn't needed to worry about me. Whitney, become the best gym leader you can. Robbie, make some friends and don't hold yourself back for anybody's sake. Kaiser, allow yourself to take a break and enjoy the world from the perspective of a tourist, not a gatekeeper.
"In witness of Talia Torque and Bartholomew Seymour, I hereby subscribe the name Catelyn Stark to this Last Will & Testament."
Bartholomew returned the will to the envelope and allowed his guests a moment to take in everything they just heard. Whitney was showing the most emotion of the group, raw tears streaming down her cheeks with abandon. Edward and Kaiser were both misty eyed, choked up and struggling to find their footing. Robb took in Catelyn's final words as they were with a dry throat, though appeared no worse for it. In comparison to the others in this room, he felt almost ashamed at his lack of emotion.
"We will of course go through the process of allocating all bequeathed funds, properties, and Pokémon over the remainder of this week." Bartholomew stated, reaching down towards the coffee table. In that same motion he turned his recording device off and stuffed it in his jacket pocket once again. "However, as requested by Edward, the autopsy information will also be presented in this meeting. Would you like to break? Or shall we get right into it?"
"Better to rip the bandage off than to go slow about it," Edward said with a grimace. "We'll hear the news now."
Their lawyer offered a short nod. "Very good. In that case, as I am not privileged to hear about this, I will excuse myself. Should you have any need of me further, to go over details of the will or explain how the process will work, please ask Sierra, our receptionist, to grab hold of me. With that, I bid you all goodbye, and would once more wish you the best in this trying time."
Bartholomew stood, his chair groaning as his weight shifted away, and waddled out of the room. All attention fell on the remaining woman in the room.
"H-hello," she nervously began, shuffling at the attention being directed her way. Pausing, she took a deep breath, and continued speaking with greater calm. "As Mr. Seymour said before, my name is Dr. Talia Torque. I have been Ms. Stark's primary physician for the past three years, and was requested to refer the autopsy information to you on her behalf. Before I begin, is there anybody in the room that feels they do not need to hear this?"
"Me," Kaiser said. Standing up, he turned to face the family. "Cat being gone is bad enough. I don't need to know the details. I'll head back to the Safari Zone and collect the rest of her things together."
"We'll bring Persian by later today," Edward weakly offered.
"Yeah..." Kaiser said, letting loose a watery sigh. "Yeah. Go ahead and do that."
As Kaiser left the room, all attention was centered once more on Dr. Torque. She steeled herself and then opened her red folder. "I would like to emphasize that I am only her primary physician. I am not a member of the staff that specialized in the treatment of her disease, nor was I a part of the autopsy team. Is that understood? Very well then. According to the autopsy, Catelyn Stark suffered from multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that begins in the blood's plasma cells, a type of white blood cell made in the bone marrow."
"I know that one!" Whitney said, face red. "One of my friend's dad had it! And I know it's curable!"
"It is curable when found early on," the doctor allowed. "But the treatments must be settled within the first stage, else it could heavily damage the host beyond even what the disease can do."
"What kind of treatment does that?" Robb asked, baffled.
"That kind that involves using Poison Sting." Dr. Torque stated. "In this disease, tumors will grow along the bone marrow and the body will focus its energies in fighting against the tumors, thus sapping away at the strength of the host. Normally, in the treatment process of most diseases, we would have a Pokémon that knows the move Heal Pulse, such as your mother's Blissey, cleanse the infected area and renew the appropriate cells to do their work. When it comes to cancers however, the problem is that the part of the body maligned with the disease will keep producing tumors that will kill off their host, even after being targeted by moves like Heal Pulse. Cancers cannot be healed. They must be killed."
"Poison Sting, when used in conjunction with therapeutic acupuncture, is considered the most effective way to treat the disease at the root of its inception we have today," she continued. "The process involves spearing consentrated quils of the attack directly through tumors and tumor-bearing growths in the body, killing them. Then after enough time had passed for surgeons to ensure no more tumors would for, a Pokémon capable of using Heal Pulse would finalize the treatment. This procedure would occur multiple times over the course of three months on average, but when performed patients were free from their cancer at an average rate of roughly 90%."
"So why couldn't you do that?" Edward asked. He was frowning in obviously building anger. "Cat told me what happened with all of her treatments. She never mentioned anything about Poison Sting."
Dr. Torque turned a few pages in her folder, reading it through. Finding what she needed, she sighed. "That's because she never underwent the Poison Sting treatment. It was determined by the hospital staff that she was host to a cancer three years ago. I took over as her physician after that diagnosis. The hospital more than likely had me take over for her due to the change in her medical screening. I specialize in assisting patients with long-term disabilities. In that role, with regards to Ms. Stark, though I administered pain relieving medication to her and developed a physical therapy routine and schedule for her, I was not involved with her cancer research or treatment."
"That said, the reason the Poison Sting treatment was not used was because when it was determined that Ms. Stark was a cancer carrier, it was also determined that she was in the third stage of the disease. By that stage, there were so many tumors in her body that using the Poison Sting treatment was more likely to just kill her outright than act as a treatment. Unfortunately, the disease was too far gone. According to the autopsy report, it was likely that she first became infected even before being pregnant with her son Robert. On average, there is a five-year relative survival rate of this disease from stage one to stage three. That she survived for a long as she did is astounding in its own way."
Whitney dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. "Then why didn't anybody tell me? I would have spent more time at home if I knew."
"As would I," Edward rumbled, his hand rubbing at his forehead. "We never even knew the name of what she had at the end of it all! All we knew was that it was a cancer of some type. How can you have all of this information and yet we knew so little?!"
"Because we were directed by Ms. Stark not to inform her close family in any capacity." Dr. Torque said. "Ms. Stark knew the likelihood of her demise, and did not want you two to focus on the end of her life when you both had lives of your own to live. As a patient of the hospital, her directive when it came to her care and treatment, and even lack thereof, was considered patient-doctor confidentiality. If we were to tell any of you the details of her disease, we would be liable for a lawsuit."
"Now," Dr. Torque continued, brushing past the strained looks shared between Edward and Whitney. "The autopsy report did find something unusual. Though the reason she was so weak was due to her multiple myeloma, it was not the cause of her death. There is no kind way to put this. Catelyn Stark was poisoned to death."
"WHAT?!" Edward roared, shooting up out of his seat. Dr. Torque cringed at his outburst and huddled into her chair. Blissey rushed over from her corner in a surprising feat of speed and shoved Edward back into the couch, holding him down.
"Bliss," she said, her tone dark. Robb had no clue what he exact words were, but he doubted they were anything complimentary. He wasn't much in the mood to ponder on her meanings though. He was trying to wrap his head around the bomb that Dr. Torque had just dropped on their family.
With Blissey holding him back, the physician spoke again, though she was obviously shaken. "Th-there were indicators tha-at poison had entered her system in the report. The poison worked far q-quicker than should have been possible since her body was fighting against the cancer, and it was able to quickly reach her internal organs. Degrading them to the point th-that they stopped working entirely. I doubt anybody would have noticed without the report."
"Who poisoned her?!" Edward raged in his seat, still held down by Blissey. "Who killed my girl!"
"W-well…" Dr. Torque started, flipping through the folder again, her confidence returning a little with proof that Edward wasn't going to move against her. "It says here that the symptoms began four weeks before the death occurred. I know she hadn't left her home at all in that time, so… I've no clue. Did anything change with her behavior during that time at all?"
It was like a flashbang went off. Robb felt his breath leave his lungs and understanding bloomed in his belly. "The egg," he whispered in horror. "She was always holding her egg."
"An egg?" Dr. Torque asked, her lips pursing. "If the egg bore a Poison-type Pokémon, then that is likely the case. Poison-type Pokémon eggs secrete out a microscopic amount of their unique blend of poison at all times. That lets their parent or caretaker grow gradually accustomed to their typing more easily by developing antibodies. It's a mechanism of survival. When humans handle eggs like that, more often than not nothing will happen to them. A common cold could come from it at worst. But with Ms. Stark's condition and frailty… Yes, that makes sense. Where is this egg? I'd like to see it to verify my theory."
"It's back at the house," Whitney replied hoarsely. She dug through her purse and withdrew her phone, opened it, went through her pictures, and settled on one showing the egg. "Is this good enough?"
Dr. Torque took the phone from her to examine at the screen, nodding sharply after finding what she needed. "That is the egg of a female Nidoran. I recognize the pattern. One of our Poison Sting Pokémon used for that acupuncture treatment I mentioned before is a Nidorina. If the only alteration in Ms. Stark's behavior was that she was holding her egg with regularity, then I must conclude this egg to be the final cause of death."
Blissey paused at Dr. Torque's words, before releasing Edward, who had gone unusually quiet after Dr. Torque's pronouncement. Jumping away from the group, she rushed out of the room with rage in her face. Whitney stared after her blankly before suddenly coming to a conclusion.
A horrible conclusion.
Eyes wide and breath stolen, she dug through her purse again and withdrew a pokeball. Releasing it in the room, her Clefable took form.
"Emergency!" Whitney barked, just before Clefable could dance with her release, as was her wont. Jerking into a salute, Clefable awaited her trainer's orders. "Teleport me to the house! Right now! Blissey is gonna smash mom's egg!"
"Fable!" the Pokémon gasped in shock, before quickly doing as told. Whitney and Clefable disappeared in a flash of psychic light, leaving Robb stunned.
"Oh dear," Dr. Torque grimaced, shifting to face Robb. "That Blissey evolved from your mother's death, didn't she?"
Robb nodded slowly. "She did, yeah."
"Then your sister is probably right," the physician sighed. "Blissey are loyal beyond all measure, loving their partners to degrees that are both inspiring and horribly worrisome. One of the reasons the Chansey line was primarily placed in the care of the Joy clan was due to the destructive nature of that love. A Blissey that evolved from the grief of their loved one would tear the world asunder to get revenge on whoever or whatever killed their partner. Even if that was an innocent egg doing as it was intended to do. You probably haven't learned about this in your studies yet, but that nature was specifically manipulated by a crime syndicate many decades ago to be a weapon against the governments of Indigo. Blissey are hardy Pokémon, not the strongest of battlers but able to take hits and heal damage like none other. They acted as the shield of this syndicate against Indigo, and it was only thanks to the combined efforts of Kanto and Johto that they were stopped."
"Woah," Robb sounded, both impressed and appalled. "How come my history books never mentioned anything about this stuff? I haven't even heard about that syndicate, nevermind the Blissey part."
"The role of Blissey in that altercation was scrapped from history because it was decided that it was too dangerous for knowledge about their nature to be widespread, and that was further proof why the Joy clan were freely given control over most of the Chansey. That syndicate was similarly scrapped from history, though the reason was much more dire. Its name, its goal, its leader, all of it was erased. They didn't deserve the recognition, though the Pokémon League's checks and balances will never forget or allow what they did to ever happen again."
"But why?"
"Because they took advantage of the coordination of Kanto and Johto and sewed discord. Indigo brought their armies into one location for a joint final assault against their enemy, and though that syndicate was their original target was destroyed as a result of this team-up, they still had the last laugh. They tricked Kanto into believing Johto had killed their general in a sneak attack that they themselves commenced, and what was meant to be a moment of regional unity turned into a massacre that catapulted us into the Kanto-Johto war."
Robb took in that information with wide eyes and incredulity making up his being. War was something Robb was both familiar with and not. In his first life his father had been a Vietnam veteran, and he remember and purposefully forgot many of the grim stories the man spoke about when drunk. And in this second life, he too knew that war wasn't a foreign concept, though it was far rarer.
He vaguely knew that a war happened in Kanto at some point in the recent past, Gym Leader Lieutenant Surge of Vermillion City always spoke about it during his filmed interviews, even if he never offered details on his involvement, and Robb further knew that that was the conflict that brought about the death of his grandfather and namesake. In truth, Robb had thought the war to be an overblown skirmish of sorts, thinking that the Pokémon world had learned its lesson after the Great War that occurred nearly two hundred years ago and broken the regions in twain, the cataclysmic conflict so damaging that the entire geography of the world upended itself and was wholly responsible for the existence of the Lost Regions that had Wattson's Raichu and Whitney's Lickilicky stir up such a tizzy years ago.
Even the calendar era changed! From RF, or Regions Formation, to AS.
After Sundering.
To know that one private, individual group, stricken from history though they were, was the cause of the most recent war was… Robb didn't have the right words.
He looked to his father, hoping the man to offer reason to his trouble mind. What he saw instead was a hunched over broken man painfully fisting his white hair with enough force for the red of his blood to bleed through, mumbling three simple words over and over to himself.
"I killed her." Were the words he was saying. Robb quickly ignored the thought of war from decades and centuries ago to focus on the immediate issue that was his father's mentality.
Edward beat him to it. Standing up forcefully, accidentally pushing Robb down onto the floor in the process, Edward spared his son one quick, agonized glance before leaving the room. Dr. Torque rushed over to his side and looked him over for any bruising, but Robb didn't have it in him to participate in her standardized medical questionare. His mother was dead. His father had left him. His sister had an emergency to take care of. Robb was left only with a stranger in his space.
For the first time in this life, he felt alone.
This came out way faster than I ever expected it to! I don't know if it says something about me in particular, but I appear to have an easier time writing the sad stuff than I thought. This is troubling information.
Anywho. This chapter was a bit of a doozy. We had the funeral, the will reading, the autopsy report and some of my own personal AU lore. I know it was pretty minimal with the Pokémon side of things, but that's coming up. This was a primarily character development focused chapter. While all chapters have that goal in mind, there are some instances in which even in a Pokémon fic, Pokémon have to be put to the wayside primarily.
For those of you that understand law and medicine, please be gentle with how you eviscerate me. I did what I could with the help of Dr. Google. Furthermore, considering the nature of this world, I am making up treatments. Rather than radiation or chemotherapy, they use Poison-type moves to treat invasive diseases. I think it's a fun way to both balance and limit certain institutions here!
Next chapter will hopefully be a little more upbeat, and following that we should get back into the good times that Pokémon brings.
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