Chapter Four – First Impressions
Hailey was the first to enter the Contest Hall, which was exactly how she remembered it; the main foyer was incredibly spacious with a large front desk with four ladies behind it at the far end of the hall. There were various portraits of winning Pokémon Coordinators with the Pokémon they used for their contests lined all along the magenta walls, each in a grand golden frame and above a gold name plate with the names of the Coordinators and their Pokémon engraved on them. The floor underneath was lighter pink in hue, but was so shiny one could see their own reflection on it. There were many other Pokémon Coordinators and Pokémon of many varieties all around the Contest Hall, but only one of them caught Hailey's eye; she was at the front desk with a Delcatty, with sillky bronze hair tied in a high ponytail, dressed in a long tight-fitting emerald green neck dress with matching high heeled sandals and shawl around her neck, which almost touched the floor. The Delcatty sat next to his master patiently. The Coodinator was speaking with one of the ladies at the front desk.
"And you're now registered for the Contest, Ms Cross. Thank you for your patience."
"Adelina?" Hailey asked suddenly. Adelina turned around and faced Hailey; Adelina had bright turquoise eyes with a ruby red eye shadow, a hair clip on her fringe with a cute little pink heart on the end, large gold loop earrings, a pearl bracelet on both wrists and identical red heart tattoos on either arm. She smiled.
"I should have known you'd be here," Adelina remarked nicely. As soon as she spoke up, Alexa and Keenan became sceptical of this stranger; something about her gave them reason not to trust her. "Are you surprised to see me?"
"Well, yeah, I mean, how long has it been?!" Hailey exclaimed happily.
"I think six years," Adelina replied casually. "I know why you're here, and I look forward to competing against you, like...old times."
"It'll be fun!" Hailey agreed. Adelina soon noticed Hailey's company.
"Oh? I didn't realise you were hosting a field trip," she teased.
"Oh, they're my family," Hailey explained. "You know my lot, of course, but these are my two older brothers, Harvey and Hayden."
"It's nice to finally meet the Adelina Hailey spoke so highly of," Harvey greeted.
"Pleased to meet you," Hayden said politely.
"Charmed," Adelina replied.
"And here's Lily, Hayden's wife," Hailey added.
"Hello," Lily said kindly. "Your Delcatty looks very healthy."
"Why, thank you! Huey deserves nothing less than the best of care; he's such a sweetheart!"
"Reow," the flattered Huey lowered his head and blushed as he smiled. Adelina noticed that Keenan and Alexa were the only ones not smiling.
"What's the matter with you kids? Rough morning?" she teased.
"Uh, it's nothing, really!" Keenan said suddenly. "I-I'm Keenan."
"Pleased to meet you, Keenan." Adelina looked towards Alexa. "What's the matter with you, sweetheart?"
"That's my business, thank you very much," Alexa said bluntly.
"Of course. What's your name, darling?" The more Adelina tried to be sweet with her, the more Alexa felt like cringing. Alexa had little reason to trust her, but, at the same time, she didn't want anyone to notice how suspicious she was.
"Alexa."
"Alexa...that's a very pretty name; rolls off of the tongue quite beautifully, I find," Adelina complimented. "It's very nice to meet you, Alexa."
"And, finally, there's Harvey's son, Troy," Hailey concluded.
"Hi," Troy said simply.
"Nice to meet you. Of course, I remember Colin, the twins and little Peggy. My, haven't you grown, sweetheart!" Peggy only looked up at Adelina quizzically. Hailey laughed.
"I don't think she remembers you, Adelina."
"She was only two at the time, so that's understandable. So, Hailey, looking forward to the Contest?"
"Like I look forward to every other Contest headed my way," Hailey smiled.
"That's good to hear. Sorry I can't hang around for long, but I must be on my way; I have several appointments over the next few days leading up to the Contest, and I must attend each one if I want my Pokémon and I to look our best for the big day. You understand, don't you, Hailey?"
"Of course! I'll see you at the Contest, Adelina!"
"Goodbye." Adelina walked out of the Contest Hall with Huey following closely.
"What a nice lady," Lily commented.
"Yeah, she's a good sport," Hailey smiled as she, Lily and Peggy walked over to the front desk. Alexa sighed.
"Are you all right, sweetie?" Hayden asked.
"It's nothing," Alexa replied. Lukie walked away from Troy, approached one of the portraits and stared at it. "It's just...there's something about that woman...something that doesn't agree with me." Keenan nodded in agreement. Hayden raised an eyebrow.
"I fail to see what would've caused that feeling," he said. "I wouldn't worry about it in any case; we still have the rest of the day to look forward to, after all," he smiled.
"Right." Alexa suddenly noticed Lukie looking up at a portrait and laughed. "Troy?" Troy looked over at his Watchog; the portrait he was staring at depicted a rather handsome middle-aged man with a dazzlingly beautiful Ninetales. Troy chuckled as he approached Lukie.
"Come on, buddy, let's get going."
"Man, Lukie likes the look of that Ninetales, huh?" Daphne smirked.
"Hm." Daniel seemed indifferent towards everything going on around him; in fact, he almost seemed bored. Hailey, Lily and Peggy returned as Troy came back with Lukie.
"Okay, I've been registered for the Contest. How about a visit to the Nimbasa Fairground?"
"Sounds interesting," Harvey smiled. "Though I think most of us are too old for the fair now?"
"Does it really matter?" Hailey asked playfully. "What do you kids think?"
"Sounds good to me," Keenan smiled. Peggy smiled and nodded. Troy shrugged.
"It'll be good for a laugh," he replied.
"I'm in!" Daphne exclaimed.
"It's worth a try, I guess," Alexa said plainly.
"All right then," Daniel sighed; he seemed to be the only one who didn't care for the prospect.
"We won't be there for long, Daniel; just for about an hour, it'll be lunchtime in that time," Hailey explained.
"Fair enough," Daniel replied. As the family exited the Contest Hall, only Keenan, Alexa, Halo and Iara remained. Keenan and Alexa faced one another.
"What do you think of Adelina?" he asked.
"Honestly? I think she's harbouring a grudge against Aunt Hailey," Alexa replied.
"Same here," Keenan agreed. Hayden briefly returned to the Contest Hall and approached Keenan and Alexa.
"What's keeping you two?" he laughed. "Come on, let's get going."
"Okay, Dad," Keenan smiled as he and Alexa followed Hayden out of the Contest Hall, Halo and Iara in tow.
The fairground was bustling with all sorts of attractions and many visitors having so much fun. All kinds of people were at the fairground; couples in love, groups of friends and families, some were even accompanied by all sorts of Pokémon. The city's well-known Ferris Wheel was in operation near the outskirts of the fairground, and seemed to be as popular as ever, contrary to the Indoors Roller Coaster, which, according to Colin and Troy, was the former Nimbasa City Gym, and was rather unpopular. There were many stalls scattered across the fairground; some were refreshment stands, others were hosting all sorts of games one would expect to see in a fairground, such as Hoop Toss and a shooting gallery. There was also a friendly looking man selling helium balloons shaped like all sorts of different Pokémon, including Chatot, Togepi and Oshawott. Peggy ended up in possession of a balloon in the shape of a Skitty. Everyone in the family played at least one game and managed to win a prize of some kind, all of which ended up in the only rucksack between them; Alexa's. Alexa didn't mind, except it became heavier as more prizes were won and more souvenirs were purchased and stored. Eventually, Hayden volunteered to take Alexa's rucksack and hold onto it himself, much to Alexa's relief and gratitude.
Eventually, the family managed to acquire a bench and gathered around it, pondering about what to do next.
"We still have about twenty minutes left, so...any ideas?" Hailey asked.
"I feel like seeing how boring the Indoors Roller Coaster is; I mean, it was pretty interesting when it was a Gym, but I wonder what it's like now," Troy mused.
"Bah; I don't see why Elesa couldn't have just remodelled the entire building," Colin grumbled. "Rather than commissioning me to build her an entirely new Gym from scratch. What was so wrong with the first Gym I built for her?! ...then again, what was right with the first Gym I built for her?" Hailey laughed.
"I agree; I know Pokémon Gyms all have their own themes, but roller coasters..? How is that a theme?" Daniel criticised. "Alexa, tell me, in your opinion, whose Gym – out of all the ones you've faced – had the most ridiculous gimmick to it?" Alexa folded her arms and looked up at a random cloud in thought; it'd been quite a long time since her last official Gym challenge, and remembering every Gym she visited was relatively tough. She remembered the challenges themselves easily, but not necessarily the Gyms and their gimmicks.
"I guess it's between Sabrina's warp panels and Juan's ice floors," she finally replied.
"Why's that, Lexa?"
"With Sabrina...it took me quite a while to reach her, mostly because all of the warp panels looked exactly the same, as did the many rooms in the entire gym, save for Sabrina's," Alexa explained. "I wasted so much confetti in that place..."
"Confetti?" Daphne asked.
"Yeah, I wanted to make sure I knew which warp panels I used before," Alexa sighed.
"And what was wrong with Juan's Gym?" Harvey asked.
"Ice floors in a Water type Gym? Need I say any more than that?" Alexa complained. "I know ice is frozen water, but, come on; was it necessary?"
"What did you do about it?" Daniel asked.
"Nothing, I had Phoenix carry me over to Juan," Alexa replied. "I can't ice skate for the life of me, Daniel, I was not prepared to go through all of that after Pryce's Gym and the Ice Path."
"Fair point," Daniel shrugged.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I can use a drink," Colin sighed.
"No arguments here," Hayden laughed.
"Let's go, sweetie pie," Hailey said to Peggy.
"Okay!" Peggy jumped down from the bench, but, in doing so, she lost her grip on her balloon and it flew away, up into the sky. "Oh!"
"Halo, can you-"
"Chiku!" Halo zoomed towards the novelty balloon and caught it easily. He was about to fly back down with it when he suddenly saw something running towards the forest outside of the city; he'd only seen it once, but he definitely recognised it. It was...
"Oi, Halo!" Alexa called playfully. Halo looked down at Alexa, who was waving at him. "I know it's a nice view from up there, but come back down here!"
"Ch-chochi," Halo flew slowly back down towards the fairground and returned the balloon to Peggy.
"Thank you," Peggy said politely. Halo smiled at the happy little girl, but couldn't help be concerned about what he saw.
"Halo, what's the matter with you? You look like you've seen a ghost," Alexa said with concern. Halo smiled at Alexa.
"Chochiku!" he exclaimed reassuringly. Troy and Lukie left the group for the Indoors Roller Coaster as the rest of the family left to find drinks. Behind Alexa's back, Halo looked towards the general direction of the forest. Halo then whispered something in Lukie's ear.
After twenty minutes, the family finally left the fairground. Hayden still wore Alexa's rucksack on his back, which appeared to be more bulky than it was before, presumably because of more prizes and souvenirs. Peggy kept a firm grip on her balloon to prevent it slipping from her grasp again.
"Well, that roller coaster was as boring as I heard it was," Troy commented. "It was more like an indoor train track."
"What do you think will become of that old Gym, Colin?" Harvey asked. Colin gave a heavy sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"Who knows? If it's not attracting enough people as a roller coaster, it'll probably be torn down to make room for something more popular," he said, almost regretfully.
"It was a stupid idea to try and keep the old building up and running in the first place," Daniel said. "It was designed as a Pokémon Gym, what use is it if the Gym Leader's decided to abandon it?"
"I think 'moved on' is a better term for it," Lily said kindly. "Although I do believe it should have been remodelled instead of abandoned."
"Let's not worry about neglectful Gym Leaders, eh? How about leaving this city and finding somewhere peaceful for lunch?" Hailey proposed. Halo suddenly panicked; he'd kept a close eye on the forest from the air to check if what he saw earlier had returned, and it hadn't.
"Chochiku!" Halo flew up into the air, but his cry caught everyone's attention.
"Halo, what's the matter?" Alexa asked.
"Cho-chochi-chiku, cho-chi-chiku!" Halo exclaimed.
"We don't have time to go to Lostlorn Forest, Halo," Alexa replied, holding Halo's Poké Ball in her hand. "Return." The single beam of red light shot out from the centre of the Poké Ball and directly at Halo, but the Togetic avoided the beam.
"Chochiku!"
"Halo, return!" Alexa called as another red beam was released at Halo, but, once again, the beam was avoided.
"I don't think he should have had some of your drink, chick," Harvey laughed.
"Halo, what's the matter with you?" Alexa asked. Halo flew down towards her and began pulling her arm.
"Cho-chi-chiku, chochiku chiku!" Halo cried before flying back into the sky again.
"Why is he so desperate to take you to Lostlorn Forest?" Daphne asked.
"I don't know," Alexa replied. "But it's not like him to be so panicky."
"Chochiku!" Halo began to fly away by himself, much to Alexa's shock. To Troy's confusion, Lukie ran off after Halo.
"Halo!"
"Lukie?!"
"What's wrong with those two?" Daniel sighed.
"Go get 'em, guys," Harvey smiled. Troy and Alexa looked towards their fathers in confusion.
"We'll meet you in Join Avenue, don't worry about us," Hayden added.
"Thanks, Dad," Alexa and Troy said in unison. They ran off in pursuit of their Pokémon as the rest of the family headed towards Join Avenue.
"Chochi-chi-chiku chochiku!" Halo panicked as he flew hastily to and from Lostlorn Forest. Alexa sighed. She constantly tried and tried to return Halo to his Poké Ball, but he kept avoiding each beam.
"This is going to take forever." Alexa ran off in hopes of being able to finally return Halo to his Poké Ball.
"Wait a sec! You don't know how to get through Lostlorn Forest!" Troy cried. Alexa looked back at Troy as she ran.
"Don't worry, I won't need to know how!" Troy suddenly noticed someone running straight towards Alexa, but he was looking down at the Watchog at his feet.
"LOOK OUT!" Troy cried loudly. In a panic, Lukie ran away from the small bridge, causing the person he was leading to trip over him. Alexa looked forward in confusion, but.
BANG!
"CHOCHI!" Halo had just witnessed a collision between Alexa and another boy, their foreheads hitting one another. As the boy had tripped over Lukie, he fell on top of Alexa, who hit the back of her head as she hit the ground beneath her, rendering her unconscious. The boy lifted himself up from Alexa and rubbed his head. A Buizel ran towards the commotion and, as soon as he noticed Alexa, his heart skipped a beat, but not in a good way.
"Ow... S-sorry about that," Keith apologised. "I was chasing this..." Keith's eyes widened in horror as he saw the face of the girl he crashed into. Irate, Troy ran over to Keith. "...A-Alexa..?!"
"You!" Troy quickly grabbed Keith by his uniform jacket and pulled him away from Alexa. Halo and Lukie nudged Alexa's unconscious body constantly in hopes of waking her up. "What the hell, dude, watch where you're going!"
"I-I'm sorry, I tripped over that Watchog!" Keith cried defensively.
"That's MY Watchog you're talking about, pal!" Troy shouted. "I don't know who you think you are, but you have a funny way of making first impressions!"
"Chochiku!" Halo cried with relief as he heard Alexa groaning quietly as she began to stir. Troy quickly turned his attention towards Alexa as Lukie helped her to sit up.
"Alexa! Are you all right?! How many fingers do you see?!" Troy asked as he held up three fingers with his right hand. Alexa stared at Troy's hand vacantly for a couple of seconds.
"Look, stop moving 'em..!" she complained. Troy shook his head as he quickly took her left arm and placed it around his shoulders.
"Okay, that warrants you a hospital visit," Troy sighed as he lifted his nauseous cousin off of the floor. "Come on."
"L-let me help, I-"
"No! You've done enough already, mate!" Troy scolded as he gave Keith an intimidating glare. "Besides, you might drop her," he added sarcastically as he began to carefully escort Alexa to the hospital. Keith watched helplessly as Halo and Lukie followed Troy. He eventually sighed and ran back the way he came, Reese following closely. Troy lifted his left arm and struggled to make a call with his solid black and ruby red Xtransceiver.
About half way down Join Avenue, Harvey's Xtransceiver began to ring with a gentle xylophone melody.
"Huh?" Harvey lifted his silver and gold Xtransceiver and looked at the on-screen message. "Troy's calling?"
"He knows where we are; must be urgent," Hayden said worriedly. Harvey pressed the green accept button, and, soon enough, Troy appeared on the screen.
"Dad, it's Alexa!" he said quickly.
"What happened, son?" Harvey asked.
"Some lunatic crashed into her; I think she hit her head, she failed the fingers test!" Troy replied.
"What?! Is she all right?!" Hayden asked with concern. Daniel seemed to be the only one not overly worried about the sudden revelation.
"She's barely conscious as it is, I'm taking her to the hospital as we speak!" Troy explained.
"Troy, is it serious?" Harvey questioned.
"I dunno; she doesn't have a bleeding head injury, but it might still be concussion. Look, can one of you meet us at the hospital?" Troy asked. Harvey and Hayden looked at one another and nodded.
"Hayden and I will meet you there," Harvey replied. "Try not to panic, buddy."
"I'm not; I'm angry at that stupid idiot who crashed into her!" Troy yelled angrily.
"If Alexa has a head injury, is shouting the best idea?" Daniel asked.
"Daniel, this isn't the time for your stupid logic!" Troy shouted.
"Calm down; Hayden and I will meet you at the hospital, don't worry about it. You just focus on getting Alexa seen to," Harvey said calmly.
"Okay, we'll meet you guys there! See ya!" Troy ended the communication with his father. Harvey lowered his arm.
"Will she be okay?" Peggy asked sadly.
"I hope so," Keenan said quietly.
"Hayden? Should we go to the hospital with you?" Lily asked.
"From what Troy said, it doesn't sound too serious, so I don't think ALL of us should be there for a minor injury," Hayden replied. "If it's more serious than Troy thinks, though, I'll let you know, Lily."
"Thanks. Please make sure she's all right..."
"You know I will, sweetheart," Hayden nodded.
"Hayden, I'll take Alexa's bag if you want," Colin offered. "No point in taking it to the hospital."
"Right," Hayden slipped Alexa's bag off of his shoulder and gave it to Colin. "Thanks, Colin."
"Don't mention it."
"Where should we meet you both?" Hailey asked.
"We'll talk about that when we know what's going on with Alexa," Harvey answered. "Why don't you head to Castelia Café and get some lunch?"
"Be careful, guys," Hailey said with concern. Harvey and Hayden nodded at their sister before running back towards Nimbasa City. Laddy held on for dear life.
"Come on, kids, let's go," Colin said nicely as he led everyone out of Join Avenue.
The hospital was unusually quiet; there were mostly walking wounded being seen to around the entire building. The walls of the hospital were a tasteful pale blue with white floors, and the chairs in the waiting area were all navy blue and were comfortable to sit on. Hayden and Harvey avoided the reception area on purpose, mostly because Troy didn't seem to be in the waiting area. They actually came across him in a corridor near resus, with Halo and Lukie. On closer inspection, Troy seemed to be talking with a highly infuriated Ryder, and Troy was in possession of a pink belt with four different coloured Poké Balls attached to it. Hayden and Harvey approached Troy and the Pokémon.
"Troy! Is everyone all right?" Harvey asked.
"Alexa's gone for a scan," Troy explained. "She'll be sent to a recovery room once she's out."
"I take it the scan's why you have Alexa's Poké Balls?" Hayden assumed.
"I think so," Troy guessed. "I was just about to tell Ryder about the guy who knocked Alexa down, in case he knows who it was."
"Let's hear it, champ," Harvey nodded.
"Well, he looked slightly younger than me, maybe by about one or two years, he was wearing some kind of weird uniform and had reddish brown hair," Troy explained.
"Uniform...reddish brown hair...was it spiky?" Ryder asked reluctantly.
"Mate, his hair could make a Starmie look depressing by comparison!" Troy replied. "Why?" Ryder growled as he tightened his grip on both of his arms.
"Because if that's who I think it is, it's Keith," Ryder answered snidely.
"Keith?!" Hayden cried in horror. "But how?! I thought Alexa never said anything to him!"
"If that's the case, I'd wager it was a coincidence," Ryder grumbled. "And that uniform, Troy, is his Pokémon Ranger uniform. Alexa's is similar." Troy slapped his palm on his forehead.
"D'uh! Why didn't I notice that?!"
"Doesn't matter." Ryder turned his nasty glare towards Halo. "Why didn't you just tell her about Keith then and there?!"
"Ch-chochiku, chiku chiku!" Halo shivered.
"I guess that's a good point. But, still, you didn't need to make them meet up!" Ryder growled.
"Chochiku...!" Halo said tearfully.
"Give him a break, he thought he was doing the right thing," Troy said kindly, taking the sobbing Togetic into his arms. Ryder sighed as his ears dropped.
"Sorry, Halo," Ryder apologised. "It's just...I can't forgive him. Not yet anyway." Halo sniffled.
"Ch-chochi..."
A doctor in pale blue scrubs approached Troy. He looked quite respectable; his hair was short and black and wore some rather bland glasses over his green eyes.
"Troy?" Troy looked towards the doctor.
"Is she all right?" Troy asked worriedly. The doctor noticed the two adults.
"And these are..?"
"My Dad and Uncle," Troy replied, indicating Harvey and Hayden respectively.
"I see. My name's Aaron White, the doctor in charge of Alexa's care," Aaron said politely.
"Please; tell me what's going on with my daughter," Hayden said anxiously.
"Well, we've had the results of the scan. There's no major cranial damage, but she does indeed have concussion, as indicated by the initial nausea and dizziness she was presented with when she arrived in the ED," Aaron explained. "We'll be keeping an eye on her for the next hour and we'll discharge her if her condition doesn't deteriorate in the meantime, but I highly recommend that Alexa refrains from strenuous physical activity for a few days and to return for a check-up at the end of the week."
"But will she be all right?" Ryder asked.
"Presuming she doesn't hit her head again and has plenty of rest, then, yes, I'm confident she'll recover completely," Aaron smiled, pushing his glasses further up his nose.
"Thanks, we appreciate it. Can we see her?" Harvey asked.
"I'll check with the consultant; I'm not entirely sure if she's in the recovery room as of yet. I'll come and find you once she's ready," Aaron said kindly as he walked back down the corridor. Ryder sighed and leaned against the wall behind him.
"Concussion...I thought as much. I wouldn't be surprised if Spikeball's forehead knocked her out instead of the ground," Troy said rudely as Keith came round the corner.
"Hayden?" All eyes were on Keith as he approached Hayden. Ryder immediately stepped in between Keith and Hayden and glared angrily at Keith.
"What are YOU doing here?" Ryder asked nastily. "Come to finish her off?" he asked sarcastically.
"Ryder? I-I'm sorry, it was an accident!" Keith said nervously.
"What are you doing here in Unova?" Hayden asked; he was both curious and rather irritated at Keith's presence.
"I-I was on a mission!" Keith explained. "I-I swear, I had no idea Alexa was even here!" Keith found himself feeling even more nervous around Hayden than ever before, perhaps even intimidated. "I-I need to see her; I need to know if she's all right."
"What was this mission of yours, picking flowers in Lostlorn Forest?" Ryder asked rudely. Keith looked towards Ryder sadly.
"Ryder, why are you being so mean to me?" he asked.
"Don't play dumb," Ryder snarled. "Or are you suffering from concussion as well?" he asked nastily, putting emphasis on concussion. Keith recoiled in shock.
"What..?"
"Regardless, my loyalty is with Alex, and Alex alone!" Ryder declared. "As, uh...as far as my Trainer goes, anyway. But, um, I don't mean to say I'm disloyal to Keenan or-"
"You're loyal to Alexa, yet you have no objections with taking instructions from other humans she trusts," Hayden stated. "If Alexa trusts them, you have reason to trust them yourself." Ryder looked up at Hayden.
"Yeah, exactly!" he smiled. "Thanks, Hayden!" Ryder turned his attention towards Keith, putting on a more serious expression. "But, right now, I can't trust you right now, even if Alexa can." Keith lowered his head; he seemed to be greatly disappointed, but, at the same time, he couldn't blame Ryder for taking Alexa's side. Even so, Keith felt more guilty than ever before.
"...I...I see..." To Hayden's confusion, Keith began to walk away from the group. However, he stopped after a few paces and looked back at Hayden, dread written all over his face. "I-I take it you don't want me to see Alexa again, huh?" he asked pessimistically. Ryder looked up at Hayden, as if he was expecting Hayden to forbid Keith to contact his daughter ever again.
"Not while she's recovering from the concussion you gave her, at least," Hayden began, much to Ryder's horror; if he were in Hayden's position, his reply would have been a very strict 'no'. "But, ultimately, I can't tell my daughter who she can and can't see; it's not for me to decide, and she knows that." Hayden sighed. "Let me talk to her once she's feeling better; I'll try to convince her to hear her out once our holiday is over. I can't promise anything, though, but I do think the two of you need to sort yourselves out, one way or another; it can't go on like this."
Keith looked away from Hayden and took his leave without saying another word. Ryder appeared torn; he was furious over what he'd done to Alexa, but, at the same time, he couldn't help but feel some pity towards him. After all, Keith was his friend; as Alexa's Pokémon, he was furious with Keith, but, as Keith's friend... Ryder choked back some tears; the confusion that spawned from his conflicting emotions distressed him.
"Troy!" Aaron called. Everyone watched as Aaron happily returned to the group. "Alexa's been moved to the recovery room and she's asking to see you."
"Does she know we're here, Doc?" Harvey asked.
"I would imagine so, but, then again, I didn't say anything to her and she hasn't asked," Aaron replied. "Follow me, I'll take you to her." Aaron led Troy, Harvey, Hayden and the Pokémon down the corridor.
Keith exited the hospital and leaned against the nearby wall, contemplating everything he was told in the hospital and his 'encounter' with Alexa. He didn't feel nauseous or dizzy, but he felt horrid over the fact that he did bump into Alexa and literally landed her in hospital because of it. He touched his cheek, where he felt the angry and spiteful punch from the girl he loved little over a month ago just outside her home in Johto. Reese kept a worried eye on Keith as he thought about the possibilities of where his currently rocky relationship with Alexa was headed...and wondered if it could even be saved right now. He eventually sighed and slowly walked towards Join Avenue, Reese following closely.
The recovery room Alexa was in was rather quaint. The walls were pale blue, like the rest of the hospital, with the same flooring as the reception area of the hospital, but the bed looked much more comfortable than the standard hospital beds; Alexa was lying on a memory foam mattress with her head on a matching memory foam pillow. There was a vase of fake flowers on the windowsill nearby and the blue translucent curtains were open. Halo was nestled in Alexa's arms, Ryder stood next to her left shoulder, Hayden and Harvey were on her right hand side while Troy and Lukie were on her left, next to Ryder.
"How are you feeling, honey?" Hayden asked. Alexa slowly raised a hand to her forehead.
"Like I've been spinning for about five hours," she said groggily. "What...what happened..? My head's pounding..."
"You've had a knock on the head," Troy explained. "Two, I think, seeing as you hit the ground."
"Two..?"
"The first was literally a head-on collision," Troy elaborated. "And who should bump into you but your stupid supposed sweetheart, Keith." Alexa's eyes widened.
"Keith..?!"
"He was here on a mission, apparently," Hayden continued. "We don't know what the mission was, though; we didn't ask."
"W-where is he now...?"
"We don't know; he left before the doctor came to get us," Hayden answered. He noticed the growing frown on Alexa's face, which screamed 'guilt'. "Look, you don't have to worry about finding him right now. Give yourself a chance to recover first, maybe hear him out once you're back in Almia. You two need to sort things out between you, but, right now, you need to stay clear of him. At least while you're recovering, princess; I don't like the idea of him trying to talk to you while you're recovering from a concussion and causing another heated argument."
"...okay," Alexa agreed. "Dad...?"
"Hm? What is it, sweet pea?"
"I..." Alexa sighed. "I-I just... How did things get so bad between us..?" she asked sadly. Hayden moved closer to her and gave her a gentle cuddle; feeling her father's embrace was only just enough to keep her from succumbing to her sorrow.
Keith arrived at the marvel that was Join Avenue. The sight of so many happy shoppers and clerks lifted his spirits a little, but still felt guilt-ridden over what had happened to Alexa. He sighed and walked down the retail tunnel. Reese followed closely, keeping his eye on Keith until...
"Hey. Hey, buddy!"
"Huh?" Keith looked towards an intriguing little shop with a cheerful man behind the counter.
"Yeah, you with the awesome hairdo! What's eatin' you, pal?" the clerk asked curiously.
"With all due respect, that's my business," Keith said cautiously.
"Just sayin' you look like some beautiful girl gave you the cold shoulder," the clerk said casually.
"W-well, not really, I haven't seen her since I bumped into her," Keith replied truthfully.
"Whatever the problem is, you look like you need some good luck in your day!" the clerk smiled.
"So, what, you're going to try and sell me some bogus lucky charms that don't work?" Keith asked rudely.
"Nah; that's further down the avenue," the clerk sniggered. "But, seriously, this is a Raffle Shop!"
"Raffle?"
"Yeah; you know how a raffle works, right? You draw a ticket and you win whatever matches the number on the ticket," the clerk explained.
"I know how a raffle works," Keith sighed. "What's the catch?"
"None; it's all completely legit," the clerk replied. "So, you interested?"
"How much?"
"Whuh? Dude, this Raffle Shop is part of Join Avenue, but, oddly enough, it doesn't charge for draws. All the more reason to try, eh? You've nothing to lose." Keith sighed.
"Fine, I'll try."
"Take a ticket from the box here and see what Lady Luck has blessed you with," the clerk smiled as he pointed to a box of small folded up squares of paper.
Keith looked very sceptical of the whole thing, but, regardless, he quickly took one of the pieces without so much as looking or even digging his hand deep into the box. The clerk gently took the little ticket and looked at the big black number printed on the paper as he unfolded it.
"173," the clerk read quietly. "That sounds familiar...hang on, I think it's down here somewhere," he said as he knelt down. Keith sighed and waited somewhat patiently for what he suspected was a stupidly rubbish prize that wouldn't be worthy of being a cereal box prize. "Ah, here it is!" The clerk he stood up with a glass case containing a yellow and black egg sitting on a red cushion; on the glass was a ticket with the number '173' taped to it. "Your prize, dude, is this Pokémon egg!" Keith and Reese faced the happy clerk in horror.
"What!?"
To be continued...