Trevor awoke to find himself sprawled over a pearly white mattress and wrapped in a pile of clean blue sheets. He was in a rectangular box-shaped room which he did not recognize, its pale, white walls illuminated by dull beams of sunlight that managed to seep through the curtained windows. Upon whiffing the still air, Trevor's nose scrunched up to the smell of bitter herbs.
He felt a dull pain around his neck as he attempted to haul himself upright, and upon reaching to touch it, felt the familiar texture of soft, tightly wrapped bandages. Turning his entire body, he realized that he was surrounded by rows of metal beds lined against the walls. They all shared the same design, except some were noticeably bigger or tinier than others. Trevor himself was right across from a bed that was about three-times larger than his, with identical blue sheets that covered nothing. Upon a quick scan of the area, Trevor found that he was the only body present.
Trevor allowed himself to fall back onto his mattress as he tried his best to recall the events which took place during the exam. It didn't take long for everything to come flooding back: the two strange Pokémon that suddenly began attacking Aiden, how he could only watch helplessly as she tried fending them off, the Drowsee's bloodshot, furious eyes...
He only broke out of his memory-filled stupor upon hearing the creak of a nearby door. Trevor quickly struggled to sit up, his heartrate increasing at a rapid pace.
"Stop right there. Don't push yourself."
An Audino with bright pink fur and wearing a white nurse's cap quickly rushed to Trevor's side, gently pushing him back downwards with a stern look. In her right palm sat a plump, yellow berry she promptly shoved into Trevor's arms.
"Eat. This Sitrus Berry will help with the healing process. I just need you to lie still for about a day as your neck recovers. The wounds aren't serious, and we've patched it up as much as we could, but it's still vital that you take time to rest. I mean, you definitely deserve it with everything that happened yesterday."
As the Audino turned to leave, Trevor couldn't resist calling her back, his mind abuzz with an abundance of questions which continued to gnaw at his mind. "What happened yesterday? Do you know who attacked us? Where's Aiden, why isn't she here? Is she okay? Oh no, is she-"
"Slow down, please!" she groaned, exhaustively covering his mouth with her palm. "Your teammate is fine, she's just in another wing which specializes in poisoned Pokémon. After the poison's fully removed and you both get fair amount of rest, the two of you can back to recklessly taking on those dungeons as a proper team."
Trevor heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you. By the way, who were those Pokémon that attacked us? I think Aiden knew them; she said something about them being 'rookie crushers.' Are they famous? What happened to them?"
The Audino heaved a deep sigh. "Yeesh, you're relentless. That team who attacked you call themselves the Bush Burners. They were infamous for intimidating, beating up and even crippling new explorers they deemed "unqualified" before disappearing for a few years. You don't have to worry about them; the local sheriff and his fellow officers found all three members unconscious, in addition to you and your buddy. They're all being treated right now at a prison hospital."
She sat on a bed adjacent to Trevor, now staring at the ceiling with wistful eyes. "I knew the Drowsee, you know. Before he formed the Bush Burners and became his leader. His name's Grudd."
The Audino crossed her arms and gave another plaintive sigh, as if saying the name alone was enough to cause a flood of memories to come crashing back. "He was previously a test supervisor like that Espurr who monitored you. And before that, he was a member of a well-respected rescue team from before explorers became a thing. He used to be nice, if you can believe it. He was real passionate about his work, and super charming to boot. He wound up here a fair bunch of times, and never failed to brighten the mood with every visit. I just can't imagine what could possibly have driven him to do such terrible things...he had such a promising future ahead of him."
Trevor recalled the speech Grudd had given upon cornering him, how every word spoken was tinged with emotion, how his voice trembled slightly. He remembered how enraged the Drowsee became upon missing his throw. "This is what teams have devolved into?"
Trevor continued to consider Grudd silently for a while before being struck by a sudden flash of realization. "Excuse me...um..."
"It's Holly," the Audino stated, "But you can just call me 'Nurse.' It's less uncomfortable that way."
"Alright. Excuse me, Nurse, but earlier you said that we could go back to taking dungeons as a 'proper team.' Does that mean..."
Holly let out a subtle smile; it was the first time Trevor had seen her do so. "Yep. Given that you and your friend were able to take out that infamous band of crooks, and that you were halfway through with the test already, the Explorer Administration officially announced that Team Spirit deserves to become a proper team. It's even in today's papers."
She quickly turned and exited the building, only to return shortly with a stack of papers in her hand. Sure enough, under the headline, "INFAMOUS BUSH-BURNERS APPREHENDED UPON REAPPEARING AFTER THREE YEARS," as well as a series of interviews from both Apollo and Oro, Trevor managed to find a quote from an Explorer Association official which stated, "Given that Team Spirit has shown exceptional competence in preventing these elusive criminals from escaping justice yet again, we council members have made the unanimous decision to have to grant them the status of an official explorer team despite not having formally completed the exam. The Explorer Administration looks forward to seeing what Team Spirit will be able to accomplish in the future."
Trevor dropped the article to the floor after reading, staring at the ceiling in a state of relieved disbelief. Holly gave an understanding grin.
"For the second time, eat up. I've got to check up on your friend, so I have to go now," Holly remarked after watching Trevor for a few minutes. "Just take it easy, don't exert your body too much. You'll need to recover quickly so that you can throw yourselves into danger once again. Just be careful. Another visit here and I'll have to give you a proper scolding!" With that, Holly gave a slight wave before exiting the infirmary, leaving Trevor alone once again.
-
For the next hour, Trevor followed Holly's instructions by laying on his bed and occasionally biting off pieces of the hard-shelled Sitrus Berry with strained grunts. The reward for his efforts were great; the berry was somehow doubly as flavorful as the well-rounded Oran Berry with a taste that sent fireworks flying into Trevor's head. The wild flavor rejuvenated Trevor, causing him to sink back into his blankets in a state of sheer bliss before he suddenly caught the sound of loud shouting from outside his room.
Trevor immediately began to tense up, his mind beginning to race furiously. "Could Grudd have escaped? He's come to finish me off!" He desperately looked around for Aiden's satchel, yet it was nowhere to be found. Trevor braced for impact as the shouting from outside grew louder with each passing second. As the loudness reached its peak, however, he became able to hear pieces of the outside commotion.
"I'm serious, you can't go in there!" Trevor recognized Holly's voice. "Your teammate is trying to rest in there and I will not allow him to be disturbed!"
"Can it, nurse! I have to go in there, I have to see if he's okay!" Trevor instantly recognized the other voice's energetic and assertive tone.
"You're not even supposed to be here, you're supposed to be recovering in the poison wing! Get back in there before I call the police!"
"Outta my way!"
And with that order, the metallic door of the hospital room violently slammed open, releasing a billowing tower of light into the air. Amidst the beam of sunlight stood Aiden, limping and disheveled. Her breathing was harsh and shaky as she clutched at the gauze wrapped around the untidy fur covering her chest and torso. Her ears were completely limp, lifelessly dangling behind her drooping head. Her normally bright, yellow eyes were now dulled and lined with massive shadows from underneath. She almost looked unrecognizable, and he felt his heart being dragged down in seeing what Aiden had gone through as a result of his inability to help.
Despite her weak state, she immediately launched herself towards Trevor on sight and nearly tackled him from his bed with a constricting hug. Tears flowed from her eyes as Trevor wore a confused expression.
"I'M SORRYYYY! YOU GOT DRAGGED INTO THIS MESS BECAUSE OF MEEE! ALL BECAUSE I'M SO SELFIIIIISH!" Aiden's hug slowly began to tighten, and Trevor felt as if his bones were about to snap from the pressure.
"Get away from him!" a furious-looking Holly demanded as she forcefully pried Aiden away. "Can't you see he needs time to recuperate?! Unbelievable. In all my years, I've never met anyone so willing to barge into a hospital room like an absolute maniac."
Trevor stared at Aiden, puffy eyed with tears flowing down her tired-looking face. She gave a weak cough and a sniffle as she stared guiltily towards the floor.
"Nurse, can you please leave us alone for a brief moment?" he asked politely.
"What?! Absolutely not! You need to be resting, and she," Holly emphasized, pointing towards Aiden, "still needs more treatment for her poison affliction! Leaving you two alone would be completely irresponsible- "
"Please,"Aiden pleaded, "It won't be for too long. I just want to talk with Trevor about some stuff. I'll go back to my bed afterwards with no complaints."
Holly scowled at the two for a few seconds before releasing an indignant scoff and storming towards the exit, grumbling, "I'll give you five minutes and that's it. After that, you two are going straight to your beds and are going to stay there until further notice, understand?!" The pair nodded in unison before Holly exited the building, shutting the door behind her.
Aiden immediately began speaking upon her departure, only pausing to let out an occasional harsh cough. "Sorry if I surprised you, I just had to make sure that you were okay. I don't think I would ever be able to forgive myself if you weren't." Her eyes became glossy once again. "It's my fault that you got hurt. I was so focused on becoming an official explorer so much, I nearly killed you by dragging you into this explorer business even when you outright said you had no experience! What was I thinking?!"
Aiden sat down and leaned against the giant bed stationed on Trevor's left side, both feet planted on the floor and hands huddled around her knees. "My folks back at home were all right. Everyone who's rejected me were all right. I can't be in a team; I never listen to anyone but myself cause I'm so selfish. I...should've known that this was a bad idea from the start, trying to make an explorer team. I mean, what good is an explorer that isn't able to protect their teammates when they're in trouble? What good is any team with teammates who're forced to stay?"
As Aiden buried her head in her arms, Trevor silently strained to grab the article he had discarded earlier and handed it to her. As she read through the article, Trevor saw her eyes brighten subtly before she tossed the paper away dismissively. "So what?"
"We did this together, didn't we? We weren't even an official team, yet we managed to help take down this notorious group. We helped to make the world a little brighter."
"So what if we did? It doesn't change the fact that I was inconsiderate and selfish."
The gears in Trevor's head worked furiously to find the right words. "Hey, I'm not exactly blameless here either. I threw myself into danger just to compensate for how useless I am. You've done so much for me, yet I can't seem to do anything to repay you. That's been the story of my entire life. I've always been leeching on others." Trevor gave a brief pause, his voice beginning to tremble. "Being in your team has been the first time where I've felt truly...accepted, you know?I just wanted to prove that I could do something, that I could make something of myself. I guess I was also selfish in that respect: I stayed silent and recklessly threw my own life away, made you worry tirelessly, just for the chance to piggyback on your dream."
Trevor stared upwards to collect himself before facing an attentive Aiden with a determined countenance. "I'm tired of holding others back with how useless I am. I'll do what I could never do as a human in striving to grow stronger. I'll make myself into a teammate that you can be proud of, one who'll be competent enough to not get in anyone's way. Please, Aiden. Being a member of Team Spirit will make me better for sure. Please. I...just want to belong. Don't give up on your dream because of me!"
As Trevor finished, Holly promptly burst into the room and called out towards the pair. "Time's up, you two! Aiden needs to return to her bed right away and you!" she said sharply while pointing directly at Trevor, "For the last time, you need to lay back down and get some rest. Now come on, let's get going."
Despite her weak state, Aiden managed to stand and give Trevor one final, tender hug before allowing Holly to accompany her outside. As she was being escorted towards the exit, exhaustively leaning on Holly's shoulder, Aiden let out a wide, toothy grin as she somehow found the energy to proclaim, "Treph! Give me the word, and I'll help you train to become the best explorer anyone's ever seen! And I'll strive to become the most supportive teammate you can ever have!"
And with those final words, Trevor now found himself alone in the hospital room once again. The pale light which cracked through the windows darkened into a mellow orange which filled him with an alluring warmth; his thoughts began to give way to an overwhelming desire for sleep. As he sunk back into his mattress, fully spent both physically and mentally, he allowed himself to drift off, smiling as he dreamt of the adventures to come.
END OF CHAPTER 1