Obsidian and Plum: Unlikely Events
Chapter three - Hope

To Paul's surprise, Greninja had not only washed what needed to be washed, but he'd also – single handedly, collected the branches and wood needed for the fire too. Paul quickly discovered that Greninja was quick and agile – even in the storm, like the winds didn't affect him or he had the ability to cut right through the worst of it.

Greninja also showed initiative and intelligence – something that baffled and surprised Paul. The water-dark type had helped him prepare the branches and lay them out to dry, and without him even asking or mentioning anything, Greninja would fetch water, find berries and apples, and attend to Ash – keeping him cool and working in silence most of the time. Paul really started to like Greninja; he was calm, focused, and most likely a powerful pokémon. Paul found himself deep in thought, and certain memories rose to the surface of his mind.

Torterra vs Greninja, now that would be an interesting battle.
I haven't battled since I beat the pyramid king Brandon, who asked me once again. "Why do you walk the pokémon path?"

I was so caught up in the past – Brandon was right about that, and that's why I wouldn't answer his question. I needed time to think, and I realized that in my mission to revenge my brother and prove to him I was better than him, I had forgot why I even became a trainer in the first place.

I'm still wondering… is my inner strength still my 'will', and what is Ash's inner strength?

Pikachu, was still fussing over Ash and being nauseatingly cute, but even Paul couldn't help but be in awe of the rodent's intelligence the longer he was stuck with the rat. The damn thing reminded him of Ash in many ways: it was annoying for one thing, stubborn, and he bet Pikachu was just as energetic as Ash was. Paul knew some pokémon – especially those raised by people, could understand human language, but the level of understanding Pikachu and Greninja had was unbelievable. That was why Paul had somehow found himself, sleepily, playing a dumb game with Pikachu and Greninja.

'I must have lost my god-damn mind, communicating with pokémon by asking yes-no questions – pathetic!'

"Human concept of time – do you know what day of the week it is?" Paul asked, thinking that this question should at least confuse the know-it-all rodent. As Paul expected, Greninja shook his head in the negative, but Pikachu nodded his head eagerly. Paul scoffed disbelievingly.

"Think you're so smart huh? Fine, tell me, is it Monday?" Paul asked, seeing as Pikachu could only answer yes or no. Pikachu shook his head in the negative, confidently.

"Thursday?" Paul asked, but again, Pikachu shook his head in the negative. Paul raised his eyebrows.

"Sunday?" Paul asked, and Pikachu nodded much to Paul's amazement, for it was indeed Sunday.

Paul took a moment to process the fact that he'd been wrong in believing Pikachu wouldn't know the days of the week. Maybe it was simply because Pikachu had been out of its pokéball for so damn long and had experienced the world right alongside Ash, learning more than the average pokémon would have otherwise.

Paul wondered if he dared to ask the next the question that came to his mind, but his curiosity won over. "Does Ash have a girlfriend?"

Both pokémon looked at each other and started laughing.

Paul was taken by surprised at their reaction and he frowned. Greninja was the first to gain his composure and tell Paul no by shaking its head. Pikachu was still rolling on the floor in fits.

"What's so funny?" Asked Paul.

Pikachu starting 'talking' – like Paul could understand a word it was saying, but then, Paul suddenly realised that he hadn't asked a yes or no question for it to confirm or deny. Pikachu continued to laugh, and Paul had to hold back a chuckled when Pikachu pulled a face that indicated Ash was an idiot.

Paul sighed and was suddenly lost in thought again.

'Unless Pikachu is mistaken… why hasn't Ash got a girlfriend? He certainly has the looks, and going by the memories I have of the obsidian-haired trainer, the young man formed friendships easily enough. I certainly aren't gonna ask if he's had any boyfriends. Ash doesn't strike me as the gay type, yet he must have travelled with girls – like Dawn. I remember Dawn, she was always sticking her noes in where it didn't belong, or asking irksome questions.'

Paul's voice: "So how's he doing?"

Dawn's voice: "Wait… If you ask a question, don't you want to hear the answer –– Want me to get him?"

Paul's voice: "Please don't, no need."

Dawn's voice: "Why did you ask about him then?"

Paul's voice: "I-I don't know."

I knew exactly, but I wasn't going to admit that. Instead I spun the truth.

Paul's voice: "I just don't like him. He talks just like my brother – friends, trust. My brother says those things all the time too."

Dawn's voice: "But Paul, Ash isn't Reggie. Ash is Ash and that's that!"

'Obviously! I was very well aware who Ash was. Yes, he was just like Reggie in many ways, but Ash had guts, he never quit, and he made me look forward to what came next – what he would do next. That's why I liked Ash, but I hated him for the same reason's Dawn had said. Ash was Ash!'

'I wanted to know more about him – what he was doing, how he was doing? But, I wouldn't – couldn't admit it. I couldn't stop thinking about him and that's what I didn't like.'

'He surprised me in our battle at Sinnoh league too, and even after I left, I couldn't stop thinking about him. How he'd proved me wrong, how he'd never given up and did what I couldn't.'

'I wanted to do what Reggie couldn't do, and a part of me I wanted to do what Ash could!'

Paul had been asleep – sitting up against the cave wall, close to where Ash was sleeping, but he'd been woken up by the obsidian-haired trainer's mumbling.

Ash was sweating in his sleep and seemed distressed. "Come on –– keep going!" The young man mumbled before screaming out and waking up suddenly. Ash was panting, coughing violently, and gasping desperate breaths where he could.

"Ash?" Paul rushed to his side, trying to hide his own panic as he helped Ash sit up.

"Argh! I have a Psyduck of a headache." Ash mumbled lethargically once his coughing had subsided. He then felt his stomach churn dangerously, and the saliva production in his mouth increased rapidly.

Paul noticed Ash's body language – the swallowing, the worried frown, and the wincing of disgust followed by the sudden pale complexion.

Paul helped Ash as the young man vomited into the container just like before, and when Ash had finally finished retching, Paul made him sip some water before gently laying him back down.

Paul decided that Ash had most likely, just had a nightmare, so he didn't ask any questions, and Ash had fallen instantly back to sleep after his upchuck. Paul sat there, tenderly wiping Ash's sweaty brow and obsidian-black hair from his face with the cold towel. Pikachu had settled back down from his fussing – going back to sleep beside his trainer, and Greninja sat calmly breaking up branches – observing.

Paul knew he shouldn't let his emotions affect his actions, but as he passed the cold towel gently over Ash's brow, he couldn't help that his hands slowed, that his fingers lingered, or that he stared at such clear skin for far too long. Ash was out cold, and here he was taking advantage of that – staring and lingering in secret while Ash slept.

'Pathetic!'

'Even ill he fucks with me. Ash is in a right state and yet it's like I've been hit with attract and can't think straight. The constant battle between doing what I need to do, and doing what I want-'

'My will to stay strong is breaking around him – shattering.'

Paul was the first to wake up the next morning, but to his confusion, there was another pokémon he hadn't seen before that was currently sleeping besides Ash – Pikachu was still there, but he was on the other side of its trainer. The cave was already crowded enough as it was, but he blamed the damn yellow rat.

As Paul got up to start his normal morning routine inside the cave, the strange pokémon woke up. It greeted him as 'Hawlucha' and nodded its head at him. A few yes-no questions later revealed he was a flying-fighting type pokémon, and Paul also noted that it had some sort of pride complex going on; it did wrestling poses and held itself in a way that screamed braggart.

Paul peered through the logs; the wind violent against the trees, the dissonance of rain loud and determined in its uproar, showed no signs of letting up. The sight was discouraging, and it fuelled the worry that was a constant weight over him.

Paul's food wouldn't last past today. Ash only had noodles and chocolate – which was hardly suitable. The small quantity of berries and apples that Greninja had brought back were mostly given to the pokémon, but Paul have saved a couple of the apples.

Checking on Ash – who was still basically comatose and with a fever still, Paul went over everything he knew about the young man's state. Concussion, memory loss, fever, flu, sickness, severe pain from injury, and the fact he wasn't eating nor drinking enough… It was enough to assume that perhaps, Ash wouldn't get better anytime soon without medical help. Pikachu, the damn know-it all-rodent, noticed Paul's thinking face and questioned him.

"Pika-piii?" He asked, its head turned to the side. The other two pokémon turned to face Paul with questioning looks as well.

Paul sighed, deciding that it couldn't hurt to explain the problem, even if he did feel ridiculous doing so. "Ash needs medicine and proper medical care, but he can't be moved – especially not in this storm see. We don't have much food left. Ash needs soup or broth which we don't have enough of. The nearest town is probably still in Jhoto – a day's walk away, but traveling there would be far too dangerous right now." Paul explained looking to the cave entrance then over to Ash.

The pokémon quickly started a 'conversation' between themselves while Paul just watched.

It was beginning to sink in that Ash's pokémon were very unique and intelligent. He was glad that he no longer reacted like a gaping fish to their strange behaviour and weird conversations, or the way they banded together to care for their trainer.

The pokémon eventually seemed to come to some conclusion between themselves, now Paul just had to work out what that was.

"Gren, Greninja!" Greninja stated pointing to entrance of the cave.

Paul shook his head. "I don't-"

"Pika-pika pi!" Pikachu tried, waving his little arms around. Paul sighed, not understanding in the slightest, but then Pikachu bounded over to Paul's bag and started rummaging around.

"Hey!" He shouted at the rodent, but Pikachu had already found his journal and a pen before Paul could get to him. "Oh right, and what am I supposed to do? Write him a fucking poem!" He snapped, snatching back his plain black, leather bound journal.

Before Paul could be scolded by Hawlucha and Pikachu however, they heard Ash moan and start to cough violently. He'd probably been woken up by the shouting, and everyone stayed silent as Paul and Pikachu went to his side. Ash's coughing grew worse, and the young man gasped for air when his body allowed – wheezing and choking on his own mucus. It only proved Paul's theory – Ash wasn't getting any better.

"Ash?" Paul asked, inwardly cursing at the evident worry in his voice. He helped Ash to sit up, helping him sip from the water bottle.

Ash, in his weak and drowsy state, leaned against Paul's warm chest. His eyes looked up – brown and glowing with the flickering reflections of the fire, and he gave a weak smile up at Paul. "Hey, still as grumpy as ever." His voice wheezed, hoarse and sore.

Paul couldn't help the small smile of hope that flashed on his face for a second, re-running Ash's words over in his mind… as ever. Did that mean Ash remembered him. "Do you remember?"

Ash barely whispered through his noisy breathing. "Yeah. Mostly."

Paul gave a single chuckle. "Pathetic! Took you long enough."

"I'm-" Ash coughed, clearing his throat before continuing. "I'm totally screwed here Paul. What's you're excuse?"

Paul sighed. "I don't believe in excuses…" He paused before adding. "…but I'll make an exception."

Ash's weak smile was still radiant, like he could hardly believe his ears. When Pikachu moved in their peripheral vision, Ash looked over and noticed Greninja and Hawlucha. "Hey guys, what-" Before he could finish his question, a coughing fit overcame him.

Paul noticed that Ash's cough had become chesty – it crackled with unmoving mucus. He'd have to keep an eye on it; the last thing he wanted was for Ash to choke or something, but then, he didn't know what to do anyway – he wasn't a doctor.

"Rest!" He told Ash. "Greninja and Pikachu have been assisting me in watching over you. Hawlucha… I don't actually know. He was out of his ball when I woke up see." Paul explained.

Ash smiled faintly at his three loyal pokémon and lifted his hand in a feeble wave. Ash knew they would be worried about him.

Pikachu suddenly waved the pen that Paul had failed to retrieve, yelling and bounding closer. "Pika-pi, pikachu, chu pika-pi!"

Paul frowned at the annoying electric type, and scowled as Greninja took Paul's journal from the top of his bag – the audacity! Pikachu continued his ranting, pointing to the journal that Greninja held, and Paul was about to stop this nonsense when Ash gave a weak nod of his head.

Ash sighed in exhaustion, his eyes closing tiredly for a few seconds before he rasped. "Greninja… can you explain please?" Ash weakly placed his fist to his chest; his body still being supported up right by a befuddled Paul.

Greninja approached Ash slowly, and Pikachu moved out of the way. Ash touched one of Greninja's 'hands' and closed his eyes - mirroring Greninja who did the same. There was a slight blue glow over their hands, and after a while, Greninja stood up and retreated to the other side of the cave – leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Paul?" Ash's voice was breathy and weak, and Paul was seriously confused. "Greninja wants you to write – a list… he wants – to go get what… what we need." Ash finished, falling into Paul hold completely, depleted of strength, and coughing once again.

Paul wanted to ask how he'd communicated with Greninja, but now was not the time. He laid Ash back down and told him to rest, staying with him the few minutes it took for Ash to fall back to sleep. Now Paul knew what the pokémon were trying to tell him, it seemed so obvious that he felt like an idiot for not understanding. He checked with Greninja that he was up for that – the storm was brutal outside, but Greninja was certain… and when Paul asked if he was fast, Greninja just nodded.

Paul wrote down a list of Ash's symptoms, their circumstance and what they needed. He didn't want to list too much – Greninja had to carry it back alone in this weather. Medicine and medical supplies were the most important necessity right now, followed by food and water.

Greninja eventually left, the note safely inside an old Ziplock bag Paul once had a sandwich in. Seeing as Ash's rucksack had been emptied of its contents, Greninja had accepted that too so that he could carry the supplies back easily.

With the logs firmly back in place after Greninja's exit, and the fire crackling away, Paul was left to his thoughts while the other two pokémon watched over a sleeping Ash Ketchum.

Paul had been tracking Ash's water intake, and he'd noted that Ash had only drunk one bottle of water in two days; with Ash's vomiting and sweating, that wasn't nearly enough fluids – even if you count the half a bowl of soup. It was worrying.

Greninja had filled the empty water bottles with rain water yesterday, and getting Ash to drink was going to have to be priority. If he was honest, he was also anxious about Ash's need to urinate; the young man couldn't stand, and moving him was going to be difficult, not to mention that Ash was in such a comatose and lethargic state that Paul worried he wouldn't recognise the need to go – or be capable of doing so himself. The fact that Ash hadn't emptied his bladder in nearly twenty-four hours – not since the seizure, was evidence enough of his dehydration.

After some careful thought, Paul came up with one idea he didn't think was too crazy.

"Pikachu!" He called, waking up the small pokémon and hating that he was talking to the damn thing again. "I need to dig a small deep hole in the ground, here." He pointed to a space right next to where Ash was sleeping. "Aggron is too big to come out. Does Ash have any pokémon that can use dig?"

Pikachu thought for a moment, then Paul saw the exact moment the damn thing had a light bulb moment. He watched as Pikachu looked at Ash's pokéballs, found the one he wanted, and then released it.

"Lycanroc!" It stated, before standing alert and confused.

Just like Ash's other pokémon, the damn dog thing had a 'conversation' with Pikachu, ignoring Paul completely. Paul was realising that, with Ash incapacitated, Pikachu seemed to be their leader – sickening!

Paul watched as Lycanroc licked Ash's face gently, and looked at its trainer with ridiculously sad green eyes. More pokémon conversation then passed between Lycanroc, Pikachu and Hawlucha, before Pikachu pointed to the area Paul had previously told Pikachu about.

"A Lycanroc huh? So, you're a ground type?" Paul assumed, but Pikachu and Lycanroc shook their heads. "Well you must have learnt dig attack then." Paul concluded.

Pikachu face palmed. "Pika-pi."

Pikachu's unamused voice and the shaking of its his head – indicating that Paul was an idiot, frustrated him, but before Paul could argue, Lycanroc had simply started digging. It wasn't an attack, and that's when Paul realised… it was simply the Pokémon's instincts to dig. He managed to contain his scowl at being shown up by the bloody rodent, again, and explained what he wanted Lycanroc to do once more.

With help from Pikachu and Lycanroc, Paul was now looking at a small trench in the ground beside Ash's sleeping bag - about fourteen inches deep, nine inches long and not very wide. He was happy with it, but made a mental note not to forget it was there and accidentally stick his foot down the hole. He thanked Lycanroc, who to his relief, agreed to return back to his pokéball.

Pikachu wanted to know what the hole was for, but Paul just said, "You'll see."

By noon, Paul decided to wake Ash and get some fluid into him. He knew that Ash was in a lot of pain and it wasn't easy to witness, but he also admired how well Ash was fighting – not only the illness, but also the agony he was in during the moments he was conscious. Ash was a fighter, if anyone could get through this, it would be him!

However, waking Ash up, sitting him up, and making him drink, was harder than he thought it was going to be. Ash was so comatose and lethargic that Paul feared for Ash's health, but he persisted and remained unusually patiently, slowly encouraging the obsidian-haired trainer to drink; If he went too fast, the water would just dribble out of Ash's mouth.

Paul was determined to get at least three bottles of water into Ash in a sixteen-hour period, then let him sleep a solid eight hours during the night without being disturbed. More water then that would be great but he had to start somewhere. He had planned to make Ash drink about 100ml – approximately one fifth of a bottle, every hour. Paul had even meticulously marked the 500ml bottles into five equal sections.

Paul had decided that he – himself, would have been fine with less water if it came to it. Ash needed to keep hydrated far more then himself, however, Froslass had learnt a new trick and he suspected Pikachu had something to do with that. Froslass would now freeze the rain as it fell and bring back handfuls of ice. The ice was melted in a saucepan, and then used as fresh drinking or cleaning water.

It was nearly four pm, and during a coughing fit, when Ash woke up next. He was still extremely lethargic, but awake enough to speak at least – albeit with extreme difficultly. Ash's voice was barely a whisper, hoarse, weak and broken up with heavy breathing and coughing spasms.

Paul sat Ash up against a smaller log, and was currently taking advantage of his conscious state.

"Do you feel sick?" Paul asked when Ash refused to drink more water.

"No, not right now." He croaked weakly.

"Then you should eat." Paul immediately starting to heat up about one third of the last can of soup that was left.

"Thank-you." Ash breathed.

"For what?" Paul frowned.

"Everything!" Ash answered.

Paul assumed Ash was talking about looking after him and saving his life, but a small part wondered if it was deeper then that.

With the soup heating slowly on the small fire, Paul watched Ash as he struggled to stay conscious – slipping back into his comatose and extremely lethargic state. Paul then also noticed how Ash's hand slipped from his groin area as he dozed off, only to jump back as its owner groaned and winced.

Having made the obvious connection, Paul walked over to Ash and knelt down on the young man's left side, uncovering his legs from the sleeping bag. "Come on, you need to piss!" He bluntly stated.

Paul gently rolled Ash onto his right side, carefully trying not to jar his broken right leg, and slowly shifted his body forward – lining Ash's waist up with the small trench.

Ash whimpered and cried out as his leg was moved – even the slightest movement to his leg obviously caused him such blinding pain. Ash still seemed far too confused, which made everything worse, and when Paul tried to encourage him to remove his manhood from his pants and urinate into the hole, Ash just groaned and winced – his breathing fast and erratic.

The sounds of Ash in agony was painfully hard to listen to, they tugged at Paul's hardened heart and made him feel like he was being cut into pieces, but then Ash started to go limp and unconscious again, and Paul was trying to stay composed and patient.

"Stay with me Ash!" Paul told him, his voice nearly broke and he had to try and swallow the lump in his throat. He patted Ash's shoulder. "Ash!"

Pikachu was hovering, looking lost, and Hawlucha stood there as if ready to protect his trainer. Ash's breathing still hadn't settled, and a nasty coughing fit shock his entire body hard.

Paul knew Ash was in no fit state to help himself, but he was going to try until he noticed the wet patch forming on Ash's boxers. Cursing at himself, he did the only thing that felt right in the circumstances. He quickly put his hand into Ash's boxers and directed the urine-spurting cock into the hole and held it there.

Ash continued coughing his lungs up, and Paul assumed it was the hard coughing that had forced his stretched bladder to give way under the stress. Despite his embarrassment, he was somewhat relieved that Ash's bladder continued to void even after the coughing had settled to random coughs.

Ash was only slightly aware of his situation; he first felt immense relief as the pain in his bladder eased away, but then he remembered the cave. Mortification and panic flooded him at the belief that he must have been pissing himself. He didn't have the energy to fight, and once he'd started going, he just couldn't stop.

Paul noticed Ash's panic. "Relax! You can't help it! You have to keep drinking so you're going to have to piss eventually." Paul assured him in his own caring way. "Just make sure you finish going!"

Ash's mortification hit new heights when he realised that Paul was holding his cock, but the lethargic feeling was overwhelming. He forgot why he was mortified, and he found himself drifting in and out of awareness. The energy that he had used fighting the pain and healing, had drained him. Everything was a jumble of fragments and feelings. He felt his body shift and move, the pain soared, and then he could feel warmth that he turned into and clutched desperately.

Paul's emotions were in chaos. He had rolled Ash back onto the sleeping bag, but the obsidian-haired trainer had grabbed onto him and rested his head onto Paul's lap.

'Ash is nearly hugging me and I have a piss covered hand from handling his cock! What a fucking shit situation… but… Oh Arceus! I was just touching Ash's cock… Fuck! I shouldn't have done that."

Paul knew he'd had no choice really, he'd only been trying to help, but now he couldn't forget the feel of it in his hand – the velvet smooth skin and the weight of the generous sized organ. He'd never touched another cock before, and it was-

Paul gulped and tried to think of something else. Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on the sounds of the storm outside, but his mind kept going back to the feeling of Ash's dick in his hand.

He breathed, noticing that Ash was asleep again, and gently laid the young man's head down onto the pillow. Now that Ash's head was no longer in his lap, he observed the man before him and realised he would have to remove Ash's pants.

As Paul slipped the wet underwear down Ash's legs, and carefully over his broken calf, he felt his sexual attraction hardening traitorously. 'Fuck! I need to get a grip on myself before I get too fucking hard. I'm already fucking frustrated and pent up as it is.'

"Pika-pi?"Pikachu asked in concern.

Hawlucha and Pikachu had been extremely concerned during the whole ordeal, but he was thankful that they'd stayed out of his way. Paul had been too concerned at the task in hand, and on his own dilemma, that he'd forgot they'd been watching. Paul was however, secretly thankful to Pikachu for distracting him right then.

"Ash will be fine!" Paul assured them as he worked on cleaning Ash up, but honestly, he didn't know that. He just hoped that Ash would be.

The soup was soon ready, and as much as Paul wanted to let Ash sleep, he also wanted him to eat. "I'm sorry, but you need to wake up." He coaxed, sitting the obsidian-haired trainer up against the small log. "Ash! Stay with me a little longer."

Paul eventually managed to get Ash to eat a small amount of tomato soup, and had essentially forced him to sip more water before allowing the young man to sleep.

Paul then sat watching Hawlucha. The strange Pokémon sat by the cave entrance and looked out through the gaps like he was waiting for something or someone. Pikachu was checking the wet towel on Ash's head, and keeping a dedicated watch on his trainer. Paul leaned against the cave wall not far from Ash's side. He felt bad for Ash's situation, and a part of himself didn't want to complain, but the truth was… he was losing his patience.

The storm wasn't showing any sign of improvement, he had no idea if Greninja would be successful or if he would be able to return to them, and Ash's wasn't getting any better. On top of that, he hadn't eaten anything but an apple and one of Ash's chocolate bars, he'd only drunk a little water, and he was bored. The lack of exercise was driving him crazy as he was used to long walks, running or working out. He was sexually pent up as well, and being stuck caring for Ash was not making it any easier. He wanted a god damn smoke, but only had three left so he would wait until later at least. For now, all he could do was help Pikachu keep Ash's temperature down, hope that Ash didn't get worse, hope the storm passed in time, and hope that Greninja got back soon.

There was a lot riding on hope.