XII

Switcheroo

Shiri's fever worsened while Ashton was out, and when he and Simon returned to the room, they discovered Shiri was in a deep, fitful sleep. The covers of the bed were twisted around her body, as if she had tossed and turned much in the last hour. She laid on her side with her arms wrapped tightly around her chest.

Simon knelt down beside the bed, putting a hand to her forehead. Her skin felt like the pads of Houndoom's paws. "This is more than just a bit under the weather," he said to Ashton over his shoulder. He looked at the bottle of cold medicine beside her, almost half of it already taken. Strange, as her breathing didn't sound labored. He gently rolled Shiri onto her back and put an ear to her chest.

"Should I give you two some privacy?" Ashton remarked, but he moved closer and perched at the end of the bed.

"Her lungs sound clear," Simon said. He looked to Ashton. "How long has she been sick?"

Ashton shrugged. "She was fine last night. I didn't see her today until I picked her up from the Poké Mart. She looked pretty rough by then." He gazed at Shiri, concern gathering in his eyes. "Think she needs a doctor?"

Simon sighed. "She might. This doesn't seem like a normal cold."

A clammy hand grasped onto Simon's. He started and looked down at her. Shiri's eyes were open, and they were trained on him. They were bleary, but she smiled. "Simon," she said, her voice just a whisper, "nice dream."

Simon's heart raced as he gave her hand a light squeeze. "I'm not a dream, love." He placed her hand at her side. "Now do get back to sleep."

Her eyes fluttered closed again. She mumbled something which Simon heard as, "I saw your battle."

"Which battle?" Simon asked, but Shiri was asleep again before his question left his lips. "Odd thing for her to say."

Ashton pointed to her cellphone on the nightstand. "Maybe she was watching some videos from back in the day," he suggested. "They're still easy to find online."

Simon cringed at the thought of Shiri searching up old footage of his gym challenges. "I certainly hope not."

Ashton raised an eyebrow. "Why's that? I've seen a few videos myself. You weren't bad, all things considered."

Simon ignored this chatter. "I have to get back to the gym," he said, getting to his feet. He deftly crossed the room to the door. He opened it, but paused, then turned back to Ashton. "I'll come back when I'm finished there."

Ashton chuckled. "Ain't you sweet. See you soon, then."

Once he was several blocks away from the hotel, Simon paused and, reaching into his pocket, pulled out the cherish ball. He wondered how soon Ashton would notice the switch.

Simon hated being underhanded, absolutely despised himself for taking advantage of Ashton's distraction which was due to his friend's condition. But Ashton's stubbornness left him no choice. Boltund was with Ashton now; Simon would turn in Persian to the boss. He made this pitstop on his way back to Erika's gym, and as a result he was late to the next batch of battles and could not find a seat in the bleachers.

Shiri drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the afternoon and evening. She dreamt, but they were vague dreams which she had trouble understanding. The clearest dream was oddly realistic. She had been in the crowd of a pokémon gym battle. She didn't recognize the gym, but it was full of plants like a great indoor garden. Simon was battling. She watched with astonishment as he and his pokémon, a mighty corviknight, battled and overcame their opponent, a beautiful, blooming vileplume.

As her odd sickness progressed through the day, her dreams became muddled and confused. She saw pokémon. Some were memories—magmar, raichu. Others were pokémon she hadn't seen—persian, boltund, tangela, lickitung, larvitar, nidorina. So many came through the murkiness of her mind. They were all surrounded by a horrible black aura, except for one. It was a large beast, its fur a bright yellow, but she could not make out any of its finer features. Her fevered mind could not hope to identify it.

The black aura frightened Shiri, and she tried to awaken from her dreams. A few times she managed to crawl through to consciousness, but her body felt so heavy and exhausted that it was all she could do to stay awake a few seconds before falling into the darkness again. She cried out, but she had no idea if she was making any sound. She saw nothing in her brief waking moments.

Meanwhile, Ashton was observing Shiri throughout this. After Simon had left, Shiri had awoken again for a few seconds, nearly screaming. Ashton had rushed to her side, grasping onto her shoulders to calm her. She was drenched in sweat, her skin on fire. She weakly pushed at Ashton's chest, then went limp against him, asleep again.

Ashton didn't dare to leave her after that. Occasionally Shiri cried out in her sleep, twisted and turned in the bed. Ashton had attempted to wake her a few times, but she could not be roused. His concern grew through the hours, and he took to texting Simon about Shiri's condition. Simon's responses were seldom and brief, and this frustrated Ashton further.

But finally, just as Ashton was considering calling paramedics, Shiri's fever broke. Her eyes fluttered open, and for the first time that day, they looked focused and alert. She sat up on her own, and Ashton helped her drink some water.

"Hey, Shir," he said quietly, holding on to her as gently as he could, anticipating her to falling back into her fever any second, "you okay? Do you remember anything?"

Rubbing at her temple with one hand, Shiri glanced around the room. "Are we in Celadon City?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "Do you remember coming here?"

"A bit," she said. She was silent for a moment, then suddenly hugged Ashton fiercely. The suddenness surprised him, but he did not hesitate to embrace her back. She was shaking.

"What is it, girl?" Ashton asked, trying to keep his usual light tone. "You're acting like you saw a ghost or something."

She stammered some words before taking a deep breath and trying again. "I had nightmares."

"Hot damn, I bet you did," Ashton responded. "Your brain was getting a good frying all day." Finally she pulled away, rubbing at her eyes. She gazed up into Ashton's face, trying to smile but finding it difficult. Ashton decided to try to lift her spirits another way. "I don't know if you remember, but Simon stopped by."

Her eyes widened. "I don't remember," she said. "But I did dream about him."

"Oh?" Ashton asked, giving her his usual smirk now. "Anything steamy?"

Shiri gave him a light, playful shove. "Nothing like that," she said, and her smile was more genuine now. "Is he still in Celadon?"

"Oh yeah," Ashton said. "He said he'd be dropping by. Should be soon, I think."

"Good," she said, sounding relieved. "I have something I need to talk to him about." Ashton cocked his head to the side, wondering what she meant, but before he could ask, she started to pull herself out of bed.

He reached out and held onto her as she wobbled on her unsteady legs. "Hey, no rush, girl," he said. "Stay in bed."

"I feel disgusting," Shiri said, steadying herself now. "I need a shower."

"I don't know about that," Ashton said. "I don't need you slipping in there."

Shiri seemed to reconsider this herself. "A bath, then. I can't slip if I'm already laying down."

"Well, you shout if you need anything, you got that?"

"You know I will," she answered and carefully made her way into the bathroom. Ashton busied himself by smoothing out the bedding and laying back on the bed himself. He brought his messenger bag up beside him and pulled out his laptop. His eye fell on the two poké balls in his bag: Patches' ball and Persian's.

As long as Ashton has Persian, Simon would come back. He was sure of that.

But the night wore on, and Simon never showed. Shiri finished her bath and laid down in her fresh pajamas. She had sent Simon a text message just before her bath, but he never responded. She tried to call him, but it went straight to voicemail.

Finally, Ashton got to his feet. "I'm gonna grab us some grub," he said to Shiri.

"Oh, thank you!" Shiri said. "I'm totally starved."

Ashton grabbed his bag and made his way out of the hotel. Once outside, he pulled out the cherish ball and released the creature within.

He wanted to scream when a boltund appeared before him and gazed up at him with curious eyes.