As soon as we stepped outside, reluctantly en route to the library, a searing agony tore through my side and I gasped, instinctively clutching my injured gut. It had briefly escaped my attention due to the surge of adrenaline, but now I felt like my side was on fire.
"Sy? Are you okay?" Brio asked, looking back at me with alarm. I cringed, slowly uncovered my injury. The Glaceon's eyes widened and he blew an icy mist over my side. I shuddered at the sudden chill, but gave a nod of thanks as the pain began to recede. "Go to the Pokémon Center, Sy," Brio said seriously.
"What? No!" I whined, my tails thrashing slightly in agitation. There was still the mild burning across my chest, but that wouldn't help my intended argument, and he couldn't easily reach that height to numb it, even if he wanted to.
"Sy, it's not a life-threatening wound, but that's no reason to ignore it," Brio insisted. "You can get it treated better than a partial numbing, and I can take the time to do some research. I can take you there, even." He nudged me firmly with his head, prodding me down one street. I sighed in resignation and let him guide me. I guess he has a point, but I still didn't want to go to a Pokémon hospital. If the library had felt oppressive, how would it feel to have humans everywhere and scrappy Pokémon in various degrees of pain, while nurses poked and prodded to figure out how to make me feel better?
The Pokémon Center itself was a fairly large building with a distinguished red roof and an enormous Pokeball icon at the top. Brio didn't even need to translate the words on the sign, because there was also that red cross symbol that seemed to be associated with medicine and doctors. The doors slid open for us as we approached, and my stomach sank with dread as I found myself inside a wide-open room with numerous humans along the perimeter. Some were reading thin books, others were talking amongst themselves. Very few paid us as much as a glance.
"Okay, I'll be at the library when you're done here," Brio told me. Like I could possibly forget where he'd be. Even if I did somehow forget, it was easy to guess. Brio nudged me again and waved his paw towards one of the Chansey guarding the counter. I sighed, but obediently began walking over to the egg Pokémon, which came forward to meet me. I glanced over my shoulder as I was gently tugged towards one of the side rooms, and saw that Brio had waited a few seconds longer. As I turned the corner into the room, I saw him head out.
The Chansey instructed me to take a seat, and busied herself with a physical examination, which included an uncomfortably thorough session of prodding my stomach and sides, and taking notes on what I could only assume were my reactions. Sure, she was tenderer around the obvious injuries, but that didn't make it any less awkward. I wonder how uncomfortable the male patients get to this sort of thing.
"Dare I wonder what that was for?" I asked, once she concluded that portion. The nurse Pokémon looked up and gave me a heart-warming smile. It'd be more reassuring if she had done that first.
"Sometimes we get Pokémon patients with obvious ailments, like these, but don't realize they also have a concussion or bruised ribs," she explained, inexplicably managing to slip a small rod-like object into my mouth and fitted it under my tongue. I was about to protest, but just as quickly she extracted it, and studied it. "First visit?"
"Huh?"
"Is this your first Pokémon Center visit?" the Chansey clarified, producing a bottle of some sort from hammer space and gently pushing me back so I was laying down. She then hopped up beside me, showing more agility than expected from her body size.
"Um, yeah, I guess," I answered, distracted by the bottle. "And that is...?"
"Prevents infections and speeds up the healing process," the Chansey said absently. Precisely the tone one wants to hear from the nursing staff. "We get wilds coming in here now and then, so this isn't anything new," she said. "Pick a fight with a grass-type?"
"Sure," I answered with a shrug. Really, what else could I say to that without going into unnecessary detail? I've been hurt before, and it healed right up within a couple hours or so. Brio was just worrying, but if doing this would satisfy him, then fine. I made a mental note to insist he got a check-up the next time he got injured.
"Well, it's not that serious," the Chansey said brightly. "A bit of a burn that's seen often in grass-type techniques, especially against water-types. Something like an Energy Ball usually makes that type of damage. Still, better safe than sorry, right?"
"Definitely." Ah, the feeling of hypocrisy is like salt in my mouth. I knew it wasn't serious, and I hadn't wanted to come here to be safe. "Is that it?"
The Chansey inspected the board she had been writing on. Peering over, I saw a small design in the corner that didn't look anything like something pertaining to me. I couldn't get a clear look at it, but the Chansey hastily covered it with a paw, blushing a bit. I have no idea what to make of that reaction.
"Yes, you're uh, free to go. I'd advise resting up for a while," the egg Pokémon answered in a rush of words. "You can stay here for a little longer if you want or need the rest time."
I considered this for a moment, but decided against it. I'd just be sitting here awkwardly while everything else was going on around me. At least outdoors, I could feel the sunshine and walk around at my leisure, even if that walk just meant going back towards the library and finding Brio again.
The Chansey didn't actually wait for my response before ducking out of the room and going about her business. I shrugged and slid off the table and walked after her, taking a moment or two to make sure I was going back the way I came, instead of getting lost inside the halls. How do these Centers manage to even stay in operation, if they don't cost anything and they even take care of wild Pokémon who walk in off the street? Not really something I needed to know, but it had crossed my mind.
I stepped outside and moved away from the doors to accommodate a pair of humans going inside before setting off for the library. Every step I took sent a mild throb of discomfort through me, but the pain was receding and I could ignore it.
"Hey Sy!" Aeris' familiar voice squealed out of nowhere, and I immediately sidestepped to my right, the Gligar's tackle missing me by inches. She tumbled across the ground, and then sat up with a giggle. "Nice one!"
"Thank you, I practice," I remarked. Aeris stifled her grin and stood up, not bothering to brush herself off. A quick glance-over revealed she had her usual layer of dust intact, confirming my assumption that she didn't wash before her date. "So what are you doing here now?" I wondered, glancing around quickly for some sign of her mysterious date.
"I was wondering the same thing, but then I remembered that I'm on a date," Aeris answered, with a mischievous glint in her eye. It took me a few seconds to realize what she said, and after it clicked, it was all I could do to keep from shaking with laughter. That was just the sort of thing I needed to lift my mood.
"So where is your date?" I wondered, looking around again.
"What's this about a date?" a male voice wondered from just behind me. I jumped and turned quickly, nearly slapping a passerby with my tails, this accidental incident thankfully going unnoticed. Hovering a foot or two above my head was a white creature with an egg-shaped body and a pair of wings on its back. Small, colored triangles decorated the main body, and it took me a few seconds before I could safely name its species at that of a Togetic. They're notoriously difficult to find in the wild, after all.
Aeris giggled nervously and waved a claw at the hovering fairy. "Nothing, nothing. Um...this is Sy, that friend I told you about!"
The Togetic gave a blank look. "You...didn't-"
"Yes I did!" Aeris insisted loudly, drowning out the Togetic's protests. "Sy, this is Asgard, the guy I told you about."
"You also didn-"
"Why is everyone against me?" the Gligar whined. I rolled my eyes. So she was just trying to look less thoughtless by acting like she had told the other about us, but clearly that hadn't gone as planned. It would have worked better if she had forewarned us she was going to pull the trick.
Asgard sighed and reduced his flying height by half and extended a paw for me to shake. I nodded and accepted the paw. I immediately picked up that both of us were equally awkward about the situation, which made me feel a little better.
"So...how'd you two meet?" I asked, jerking my head towards Aeris. The Gligar smiled and waved.
Asgard shrugged. "It's not much of a story. We just met this morning. Bumped into each other, quite literally. She was carrying that Plate, dunno if you've seen it, and I asked where she got it. So, she told me this admittedly epic story of how she fought off a bunch of Beedrill."
I nodded. So far that sounded like the same thing Aeris had told me this morning. What I wanted to know now was how that meeting had led to Aeris declaring that she had a date, and why she didn't seem to want to share that terminology with him now.
Asgard paused to think. "Oh right, and then I asked her a little about her battle training, and she said she didn't have that much, but could learn if she wanted to." He chuckled slightly. "So I asked her to meet me later for a quick lunch and further discussion." Something seemed to dawn in his eyes, and he glanced at Aeris, "Oh, that's what you meant by 'it's a date'," he mused. Aeris grinned sheepishly.
"So...it's not a date?" I asked, adding a bit of teasing to my tone.
"I guess it technically is, since I asked her out to lunch and talking," Asgard responded with another shrug. "Mind if I ask what you're doing in the city?" His gaze fell upon my injuries. "Getting into fights or something?"
"Not on purpose," I grumbled. "Ran into a hostile situation. Got my tails handed to me."
"I take it you don't really train much?" Asgard wondered. I shook my head and added a shrug as an afterthought. Battling and fighting had never really been a big deal to me. Sure, I could defend myself from more minor adversaries, but I wasn't ever expecting to have to really fight for territory, since I pretty much let anyone stay in the area if they wanted to, and thus far no one ever felt the need to drive me out afterwards. My place wasn't THAT good.
Then again, Huntress had done some good damage to me while I had done next to nil, if even that. And with the Venomoth's threat hanging over my head, I couldn't afford that to happen again. I bit my lower lip, concern starting to creep back into my mind. If Huntress was that strong, and the lives of me and my friends hung on the outcome of another confrontation, then maybe I couldn't ignore the prospect of training. But three days was such a short time limit...I'd have to spend almost every waking moment hard at work, and even then I'd have to find the Servine again just to test my strength...this was all becoming too much...
"Hey, you okay?" Asgard asked, a look of concern crossing his face. I snapped out of my thoughts and nodded hastily, my tails twitching nervously. What could I do from here? I didn't even know for sure what Brio was looking up, and if it turned out to be a dead end, it'd be more wasted time, time I couldn't afford to lose.
"I, uh... have to go back to the library, see what Brio's doing," I told the Gligar.
"Ooh, we'll go with you!" Aeris chirped. Asgard blinked, but didn't protest the arrangement, as Aeris was already gliding ahead. I shrugged helplessly in respond to his puzzled look and went after Aeris. With luck, Brio had already found something and we wouldn't need to spend too long there.