Chapter Forty-Two:
Rifts and Ruptures

Disclaimer: I do not own the series Pokémon. Like, at all. It and all its respectable characters are © to Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri. However, all writing contents and semi-plots here are © to me; unless it is stated otherwise. All shows/ books/ video games/ songs that are mentioned in this chapter are all © to their respective owners, I do not own them.

Notes: Don't mind me much, I'm just screeching like a damn pterodactyl over in my weird little corner. Because that's how I do.

Current Team: Keno the Swampert, Sela the Mightyena, Ambrose the Kirlia, Faye the Swellow, Nux the Gyarados, Gunner the Aron

Badges Won: Stone Badge, Knuckle Badge, Dynamo Badge

"We had it drilled into us time and time again: 'If someone above you falls, grip tightly to the vertical rope and cradle that person in your arms until help can get to you'. If someone fell down on me, I swear I would have bitten him on the ass and would keep on biting until he got off on his own."
- "The Four Deuces: A Korean War Story" by C.S. Crawford

An earthquake was what woke Shay prematurely from her slumber. She bolted upright, disturbed and frightful at first—her entire shelter rattled and rumbled, shaking loose dust and detritus from the makeshift rafters. Gunner, Ambrose, and Sela—those who could still fit within the confines of her shelter—were up on their paws and shouting above one another.

Shay couldn't make sense of their words and did the only thing she could, instructions that had been drilled into her as child: she scrambled to the ground and hunkered underneath raised paltform for her sleeping bag. Shay kicked out her pack to make more room, and she patted Sela on the side. The Mightyena took one look at her, then began herding Gunner and Ambrose over. The four of them huddled together, Shay wrapping her arms around the other three.

Seconds passed. An eternity passed. Stillness settled all around them. The only thing that didn't come back was the night life chorus once the tremors had subsided.

Shay waited. And she waited. Waited until she was sure that the earthquake had truly passed before loosening her hold. Gunner tiptoed and Ambrose felt his way out after him. Sela pressed her snout atop Shay's shoulder with a whuff.

"I think it's safe."

Shay at last scooted out, allowing Sela to slip out from behind her. Gunner came straight back to Shay, pawing at her legs and she slid down to sit, giving him reassuring rubs and pats along his metallic hide.

"Hey, we're okay. It's okay. It was just an earthquake. It's just the ground shaking, we're all okay. Nobody's hurt."

There came a hesitant knock on the roof of the shelter and Shay looked up. Keno's voice rose in the quiet din.

"Are…are you guys okay in there?"

Shay gave Gunner one last reassuring pat, then stood up. She pushed the door open, hardly phased when she found she was nearly nose-to-nose with Keno. She gently poked the end of his snout and he recoiled.

"It's me," she said softly. Keno couldn't see as well in the dark as her, she had come to find. It wasn't even dawn yet. When she checked her x-transceiver, she stifled the groan that had built up in her throat.

Up before the sun. Sounds about right.

Keno's hulking form lowered, and she tentatively reached out to him, the palm of her hand connecting to his snout. He shuddered under her touch. She diverted her gaze, looking toward where the firepit had once stood, proud and blazing earlier in the night, now nothing more than a faint glow in the pitch black. She felt Sela press against her legs, and she stilled as Shay ran a hand over her head.

"This way," Sela rumbled and began to move. Shay followed after the Mightyena, trusting Sela's eyes more than her own. Once she was sure her eyes had adjusted, she began working to build the fire back up. The darkness leapt away as the tongues of light burst forth, small and delicate at first but as she fed it bits of kindling, it grew with a greedy appetite, snapping and crackling for more.

The glitter of waking eyes surrounding the campsite met her wandering gaze. Nux's head hung even higher than Faye's. Keno settled behind Shay's designated seating, keeping his distance from the fire. Everyone was accounted for. That brought relief to Shay's tumultuous thoughts. She was glad for that. No one was missing or hurt.

"Is everyone okay," Shay asked, her voice an octave higher than she would have liked. Why had it taken her so long to ask? Perhaps it was the haze of sleep sneaking up on her, now that the danger had passed. A murmur from everyone assured her that they were, and another sigh of relief escaped her.

"Everyone hungry?" She was awake, and doubted she'd be able to get back to sleep. Might as well do something useful.

The chill in the air dissipated as Shay kept feeding the fire, stoking it carefully with split wood she had gathered the night before. She built it up just enough to hang her cooking pot for breakfast. The horizon above the mountains began to soften, greying at the edges at first, and the faint haze of early morning mist curled around every surface in the valleys below. Rose-gold bloomed, eventually giving way to creamy yellows and pale oranges and pinks before the hue of pastel blue began creep along the sky. The grey shadows of early dawn were quickly chased away.

Shay bundled up under her capelet as she worked the campfire and got breakfast cooked and passed around, adding in pieces of wood when it began dwindle. Keno never left her side, and neither did Sela. The others relaxed and even slipped away from the camp to venture to the creek. It was only after the others were good to go that she encouraged Sela and Keno to do the same.

By the time rose-gold colours had crested the eastern mountain ridges, chasing away the grey shadows of the early dawn, everyone began eating. Shay scarfed down what food she could stomach and got her coffee brewing.

"Hey neighbor!"

Shay looked up to see Tohru, Abby, and Luke making their way to her campsite. She gave the three a wave in return. Abby had a little Volbeat perched on her shoulder, flashing occasionally, and a tiny Glaceon clipping along at her side. Luke's partner was a stout-looking Electrike, who seemed to be in a flash-off with Abby's Volbeat. Tohru's choice of partner was a Corphish that scuttled along the forest floor.

This had slowly become a regular thing over the last few days. At first, it had been Tohru who would stop at her camp in the mornings, with Abby trailing after him. She didn't seem to know what to do with herself without Sabine there. And Luke somehow managed to drift her way too, after the cliff climbing. It was…endearing. Welcome, even.

Abby gave Shay a small, shy smile as she settled down first, helping her Volbeat down into her lap. Luke was quick to take up another seat, looking tired but alert.

"Hey, guys. You eat yet?"

"Nope, and you always make too much, so thanks very much for the meal!"

"Dude! Ask first!" Shay squawked as Tohru ducked from her swipe with a cackle. He managed to grab the ladle and two bowls that Shay had already set out for the others. This, too, had become something of a ritual of its own. Tohru grinned wildly and scooped two heaping servings into both bowls.

He passed on the ladle to the other two and plopped down next to Shay. His Corphish snapped her claws, and Tohru apologized, setting down the bowl.

"There ya go. Eat up."

Luke and Abby began spooning in food into their own bowls. He nudged Shay as he sat down, earning a thin smile from the woman. "Thanks. Your food's a lot more edible than anything I've been making. Dahlia here won't touch it."

"He's terrible," said the Corphish with a decisive nod. "Don't ever let this boy cook for you. You'll end up eating ashes and charcoal instead of something actually edible."

Shay snickered. Tohru paused, spoon halfway to his mouth, forgotten. It clattered back into the bowl and he looked between Shay and his pokémon. "What? What'd she say?"

It hadn't taken the others too long to figure out that Shay could speak to and understand pokémon. The novelty hasn't worn off for them, not in the slightest.

Keno poked her gently in the back and she glanced at him, distracted from the question Tohru posed to her.

"We should probably hurry. The sun's getting higher."

Shay glanced at her x-transceiver and blanched. "Oh, shit. Guys, y'all might wanna scarf that breakfast down, we're gonna be late if we don't skedaddle."

"What'd Dahlia say?!" Tohru repeated, motioning frantically toward his partner pokémon.

"She confirms that your cooking is shit," Shay said bluntly as she scraped a huge bite into her mouth and held the rest of her meal up. Tohru made a noise of mild discontent, but she ignored him. Nux swung his head over her and with two slurps, had sucked in what little remained in her bowl into his mouth. He licked his chops as Shay gathered up the rest of her team's bowls up and tossed them by the door of her shelter—she'd clean them later. Luke and his Elektrike immediately began eating with gusto, as did Abby and her two pokémon.

Shay picked up a bucket filled with dirt and sand to dump over the fire. Keno spat out a few well-aimed globs of water for good measure until every last lick of flame had died down. The rest of her team began to move like clockwork, each already knowing their roles and jobs. Shay made sure everything was in its place and to gather her things needed for the day. Ambrose shadowed her, occasionally lifting things into the air for her to nab.

"Y'all almost done?"

"Me and Dahlia are," Tohru said, gathering the bowls up and setting them aside. The others quickly followed suite, and in short order, they were hiking off to the main gathering area, ready to take on the day.

"Sooo…is no one going to talk about the earthquake from earlier?"

"What earthquake?"

Shay shot Luke and Tohru a withering look. Luke broke first, hiding his smile behind his sap-stained hands. Tohru held on for a few seconds longer before he shook his head and cleared his throat, shoulders shaking with mirth.

"Sorry. Just messing with you. Yeah, I'm pretty sure all of us felt it. Not exactly something you can ignore."

"I mean…you could, if you really tried. Or if you were really, really drunk. Like, supermassive blackout drunk."

"I…wh…why would anyone want to be that?"

"Trust me. Sometimes, it's kind of worth it being that fucking piss-faced drunk. And also kind of fun, if you squint really hard and twist your head around like a Noctowl's to look at it."

"…are…are you okay? And who in the world hurt you?"

The Marine Corps, Shay wanted to say, but she swallowed down that response and simply shrugged at Luke.

"Don't worry about all that and focus on making your pitch," she simply said, playfully giving him a little push.

Sela whuffed behind Shay, and rolled onto her side. This action pushed Shay up straighter as the Mightyena, effectively fixing her posture. When Shay twisted around to glower at her, Sela simply rolled onto her back to show off her belly.

"Focus on making your pitch," she parroted back to Shay.

"You brat," Shay spat back with a laugh. Sela laughed back, teeth flashing.

"What's she saying?"

Shay glanced at the speaker, surprised to find it had come from Abby. She had a bit of tree sap smudged on her cheek, and her hands were covered in the stuff. She was tucked in tightly on herself, as though afraid to take up too much room. It was rather sad to see her trying to ball herself up as much as possible like that.

"Um…Sela was just telling me to focus on making my pitch. Which…you seem to be struggling with. Do you need any help?"

Abby's face flushed, growing brighter and redder than moments before. She ducked her gaze and looked down at her gunked up fingers. "I…I'm trying my best. It's just…hard. This stuff is so sticky! H-how are you guys not getting all this stuff on you?"

Abby cast a glum look all around, watching as their instructor—Basil and his Deerling partner once more—made rounds with the other students.

"We aren't touching the sap with our hands, for one," Luke stated bluntly with a shrug of his narrow shoulders. Abby groaned, and her Glaceon nosed at her arm, trying to comfort Abby. Shay gave Abby and her tools a double-take before staring at the young woman with laser focus. "Are…Abby, are you keeping that pitch hot, by any chance?"

"Um…yes? I-I thought that's what we were supposed to do."

Shay sighed loudly, catching the attention of a few her peers aside from Tohru and Luke. She ignored them, standing and brushing herself off of stray wood and bark on her. She promptly sat herself beside Abby, and taking note of her set up.

"Oooh, boy. Okay, I see where you went wrong. Here, let's do this instead, if that's okay with you?"

Abby hesitated, glancing at her Volbeat and Glaceon. Shay did the courteous thing and waited on them.

"Why not? Could be interesting," Abby's Volbeat finally relented, while her Glaceon merely bobbed their head. Shay wasn't sure she's ever heard them speak before. Abby turned back to Shay, once more making motions to tuck herself in tighter on herself. Shay frowned, words already pressed to the backs of her teeth, on the tip of her tongue—

—whatever comment she had lined up, it disappeared into the ether, gone and lost for good. The sky above them was suddenly alive with the screams of passing birds and pokémon, all fleeing in one direction. Sela rolled to her paws, growling. The other pokémon grew still and alert, shuffling in place uneasily. Shay's stomach dropped at the sight, and the other three were just as shocked. Abby was asking what was going on, but no one answered her. The rest of the students began to gather, abandoning their work, the rising keen of their voices overlapping one another.

A split second later, the resulting shuddering of the earth and the explosion hit them all.

Everyone cried out at the resulting deafening sound that sent most sprawling and covering their ears, shouting and yelling at one another. Shay threw a hand over Abby's shoulders, bringing her closer to the ground with her. Abby's two pokémon cried out and instinctively, she reached for them too.

Shay thought she heard someone screaming, "What was that?!"

Mount Chimney, set ablaze and angry and spewing out molten rock and ash, offered to them as an answer. The rest of the world around her grew muffled, like she had cotton stuffed in her ears.

Sela was suddenly at her side, jaws wrapped firmly around one of her wrists and trying to yank her away. She released her hold the moment Shay resisted, and instead shouted at her trainer. Shay ignored the medley of slobber on her as she stared at the crest of Mount Chimney, at the spewing molten earth crashing upwards into the sky before splattering out and downwards for its earthbound trajectory.

It's like Mount Kilauea, Shay thought, mesmerized, like she was watching a particularly fascinating science fair experiment going awry. She knew she needed to turn away and flee, but could only stand there, willingly helpless, just so she could stare for a moment longer.

Her time in Hawai'i had been a mixed experience—not nearly as bad North Carolina had been—but one of the few things of beauty Shay could recall were the semi-slumbering volcanoes. She had never wished for them to awaken or erupt—too many native Hawai'ian lives would have been harmed, displaced, ruined—but to see the churning, raw earth boiling like that of water was a humbling experience. It almost made her a believer that the goddess Pele truly was the guiding force behind such frightful displays of power.

And it reminded her of all the petrifying stories her fifth grade teacher told them over the course of their school year about fierce tribal spirit warriors, ghostly apparitions, and other supernatural terrors that stalked the islands.

I'm back there now. I have to hide from the Nightmarchers. I can't look at them or they'll take me with them.

It was daytime, the sun clear and bright in the sky above them—and yet Shay felt that bolt of terror finally striking her. Would she hear the war drums and their chanting voices soon, or smell their death-like musk? Would Mount Chimney blow her top soon and darken the sky so that night would fall upon them prematurely to herald their coming? Seconds, minutes, hours later—who could say in that moment?

Basil was herding everyone away. Shay was vaguely aware of that. People were leaving, period. Pokémon, too. Shay turned and stumbled away, nearly careening into the ground when her balance proved unreliable. A second crack of thunder, a secondary explosion that rocked the world—and then silence, except for a damnable, piercing ringing. Was it always this loud? She'd heard the explosive shockwave, the same as everyone else, from Mount Chimney. It hadn't been that bad, had it?

Something yanked on her arm with a savage vengeance, giving her entire body a hard shake for good measure. It shattered her focus from the focus of the distant eruption and Shay found herself on her knees, clutching at her arm, her breaths seizing up in her chest. She stared down, seeing rivulets of red spreading rapidly across her trembling arm, not quite connecting what had just happened. Sela swam in her line of sight, and even that didn't do the trick.

Sela lunged at her again and this time, Shay flinched away, startled. The Mightyena missed—or perhaps her mark had been spot-on? Bright light blinded her briefly, and Keno was suddenly there.

She could see Sela's jaws working, and Keno's as well, but their words were nonexistent. Shay's attention bobbed back and forth, but never completely attentive.

And then Tohru was there, abrupt and startling. She could see his lips moving, but sound was just as nonexistent with him. He turned to—shout? Speak? Whisper?—at Keno and Sela. The world wasn't quite right. It was crooked. Uneven. Spinning.

Why couldn't she hear any of them? Why did her head hurt so much? She reached up, and gingerly patted at and around her ears. When she pulled her fingers away, they came away wet and stained with blood. Something in her chest lurched at the sight, and she wasn't sure if it was her lungs, her heart, or everything all at once.

Tohru reached for her and at first, she fought back, but everything felt so slow, so clumsy, so sluggish. Tohru pulled away, a pokéball in hand and Shay realized what he was doing, what he'd been after in the first place. A split second later, Ambrose's dainty form came spilling out into the world, and he turned his head in Tohru, Keno, and Sela's direction at first. Their lips moved. She heard no words. Could not hear any of their words.

Itch-shiver-scratch went the back of her head before Ambrose's voice whispered across her thoughts.

'You can't hear them, can you?'

I…no. No, I think something's wrong with my ears. My head? I can't…focus. It fucking hurts…!

Like white-hot nails being smashed into her skull. She wanted relief. She wanted a quick solution that would ease her of this sudden agony.

Ambrose didn't reply, not right away.

Keno was gentler in his approach to Shay, his wide and broad hands open and welcoming. She wasn't as hesitant to resist as he embraced her. She could feel the rumble of his voice vibrating against her, but not his actual voice, his words.

'Something's…wrong with your ears,' Ambrose's voice rose in the back of Shay's head. 'Keno's asking you to trust him.'

I do trust him. I think…did my fucking eardrums rupture?

It would explain the pain, the hearing loss beyond the constant harsh ringing in her ears, the blood. Ambrose was silent on that front at first. Then, 'I don't know. I can't…fix what's been broken.'

Doctor, Shay replied. I think I need a doctor.

Keno began coaxing her to move with him and she stumbled at first but managed to catch and straighten herself. Her vision was swimming, shapes and colours dancing in a shimmering trance, like a mirage. Keno was there to catch her, helping keep Shay on her feet, guiding her along. Tohru was there too, not leaving her side.

She, Keno, and Ambrose weren't alone for long, stumbling through the forest. The others in her class came to her aid. She couldn't understand what was said to her and only after a few seconds of hard concentration did she realize it was Tohru standing in front of her, gripping her shoulders hard. Shay shook her head and tried—really tried—to speak. She could feel her mouth moving, the vibrations of her voice thrumming in her throat. Her tongue felt heavy and thick in her mouth, uncoordinated.

Shay could feel Ambrose tickling the back of her head again, and a moment later, his voice scratching the surface of her mind. 'He said that you'll be okay. He's going to help you back to camp.'

My ears…

'Basil will check them,' Ambrose said comfortingly.

The journey back to their gathering site was a blur for Shay. She was vaguely aware that Ambrose and Keno walked behind her and Tohru as the latter remained as her escort. It was harder to focus on things when the pain really began settling in. It seemed to throb in tune with the beat of her heart, her pulse. It lingered and ached, sharp all at once and then dull for much longer. But the ringing? That was a near, maddening constant.

Tohru reappeared in front of her, helping lower her down until she was sitting. She only just noticed now that her arm was streaked with red. It took her a minute to realize that she'd been bitten and she was bleeding from a few puncture wounds. It didn't hurt, strangely enough. Ambrose sat down beside her and clutched at her uninjured arm. 'Basil will be here in a moment.'

Shay closed her eyes, her stomach churning from a sudden onset of nausea.

I think I'm gonna be sick, she thought, instinctively reaching out for Ambrose. She felt the comfort of his itch-shiver-scratch in response. She focused on her breathing, trying to make sure she didn't make it worse.

'Basil's here. Open your eyes.'

Despite her desire to protest, Shay did as requested. Basil was kneeling before her, and so was his Deerling. The air around her was softly, slowly being perfumed by a sweet and soothing scent. Shay couldn't pinpoint what it was, but it was vaguely that of flowers.

'Basil is asking if it's all right if he touches you to see if he can find the source of the damage in your ears.'

Shay bobbed her head before his words really sank in. Rough hands handled her gently, turning her head to and fro, tilting it up or down. He checked her arm after. Ambrose remained, hovering at the fringes of her thoughts, acting as her ears for now.

'He can't definitively say if you've ruptured your eardrums, and your arm will need to be fixed up as well. You'll need to see a…physician.'

Human doctor, Shay provided glumly. Is this going to affect my standing in the course? I can't miss out on the rest of it.

Ambrose was quiet for a long moment. Shay tentatively probed back.

…Ambrose?

'Basil would make sure you get caught up when you got back.'

Relief was a trickle rather than a rush. Shay closed her eyes again, and Basil pulled away. His Deerling's sweet scent remained. 'He's calling for a human doctor now.'

Did anyone else get hurt like me?

'…no.'

A familiar broad hand pressed against her backside, nearly covering the entirety of it, gently rubbing up and down. She leaned into Keno's touch and reopened her eyes. Her vision no longer swam in a blending sea of colours and shapes. There was more clarity, sharper contrast. Her nausea was dying down as well.

Everyone else was gathered in the clearing, huddled and talking. She scanned them all, seeing that true to Ambrose's word, no one else seemed to have suffered an injury like Shay had. She noticed quite a few were looking and pointing at her. Tohru returned to Abby and Luke's sides, and she saw the concern so painfully etched on their faces.

She found Basil pacing not far from the largest clustered group of students, talking to something floating in from of him. Dizziness took over her once more and Shay closed her eyes to lessen the last dregs of nausea that threatened to overtaken her.

'Keno's asking if you're all right.'

I think I might puke. Ringing in my ears won't go away. Can't hear anything for shit. Bleeding from my ears. Other than that, sure. I'm doing just peachy. I think I'll go for a little jog with Sela later on.

She could sense Ambrose's amusement as he responded to her.

'At least your sense of humour is intact. That's promising. Must not be in as much pain as you think.'

Shay snorted, lips quirking into a brief smile. A few minutes passed by. Ambrose warned her when Basil returned. She opened her eyes to find him approaching, as reported. Basil hesitated, glancing between Shay and Ambrose beside her. She saw his lips finally moving, but frustratingly, she still couldn't hear him.

'He's asking if I can Teleport you back to Shardust. They're ready for you at the clinic.'

Shay shifted her attention from Basil to Ambrose, lips pursing. Keno's hand at her backside disappeared and he came around into her line of vision. He gave her his endearing and encouraging smile. Shay fumbled for his pokéball and recalled him. She clipped it back into place once he was safely back inside it. Ambrose stood, and gently tugged at her wrist to do the same.

Basil seemed to take her wordlessness as enough of an answer, giving her a nod before turning away. Judging by how everyone suddenly focused on him, she guessed that he was calling for everyone's attention. Shay turned back to Ambrose and reached for his upraised paw.

'You'll be okay.'

I know. I have you guys.

Shay squeezed her eyes shut as Ambrose's psychic energy engulfed them both, burning bright as he teleported them back to Shardust.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Mount Chimney had suffered an effusive eruption. It was considered mild, by volcanic eruption standards. Shay had witnessed at least one or two when she'd been stationed on Hawai'i. That seemed like a lifetime ago, watching the flow of lava lazily spreading downwards, only to sizzle out as their long-reaching tendrils reached the sea.

Her earlier thoughts skittered across her mind and Shay shook her head. There were no Nightmarchers here, and there was certainly no Pele either. Stupid thoughts win stupid prizes, she told herself.

But an effusive eruption shouldn't have been able to create the damage that had been done to her ears. The shockwave hadn't been that powerful, and yet…

Ambrose gripped her wrist, mindful of his claws as he squeezed.

'The nurse is calling for you.'

The clinic in Shardust, while small, had a dutiful staff on hand. Two Chansey and one Audino were the pokémon on staff, evening out to the three registered nurses. Two doctors made up the rest of the work force in the clinic. Two other people were in the clinic besides Shay.

She looked up to see one of the nurses standing at an open door that led into the back rooms of the clinic. Shay could see the woman's lips moving. Just as it had been back in the forest, there was no sound in here, nothing except for the painful ringing. Shay's jaw was clenched so tightly, she worried she'd end up with a stress headache or worse.

Shay stood and Ambrose did as well. The nurse perked up, her mouth once more moving. Shay internally groaned. She motioned to her ears and shook her head at the nurse, hoping that her pantomiming would get the message across. The nurse, thankfully, seemed to understand and made a small 'O' shape with her mouth and motioned for her Shay to follow her.

Instinct had her reach out for Ambrose and he squeezed her hand once they connected.

'I can't say for certain, but maybe the damage isn't not permanent.'

Fuck, I hope not. I like my music and movies.

Shay kept checking to ensure Ambrose didn't trip over a corner or run into the doorjamb, trying to be as mindful about his lack of eyesight as the nurse was about her lack of hearing. The nurse waved her into an empty room and followed in after her. She motioned to the exam table. Shay helped Ambrose sit in the side chair before hopping up onto the table. One of the Chansey came into the room after the nurse.

It was curious. Shay had never really stopped to think what Chansey could look like if she really thought about it back home. Pink, cute, and rather fluffy—but just like with Sweet Pea or any other Chansey Shay's met, there was more definition to this world and its inhabitants.

Chansey here had a small button noses, whiskers, and short muzzles that was endearing in appearance—and just as ambiguous as to what kind of animal they could be similar to. An ermine with a stout, plump body, perhaps? Their fur was tinged in pinks and creams, the fur along their head draping in hair-like extensions that eventually blended into a collar of bright fur along their necks. Along the front of their bellies, not unlike a marsupial, they had a pouch and there was an egg nestled neatly in it. Their paws were surprising dexterous and they all appeared to have thumbs, which gave them an advantage with writing and handling medical tools.

'The nurse's name is Marigold. And the Chansey is Lily,' Ambrose said.

Shay replied with a quiet thanks to Ambrose and then she waved to the two. She motioned to her ears and, hoping she could trust herself to modulate her volume and she said, "Mount Chimney did this when it went off. I can't hear anything, except for a very loud ringing noise. Do you have paper and pen?"

Lily was already on it. She hurried out the room and was back just as quickly, offering Shay a clipboard, a pen, and a few sheets of blank paper. Shay pulled out her trainer ID for the nurse and handed it over, then began to scribble on the page: her age and birth date, height and weight, any other pains or maladies she was experiencing, and other medical information. They asked about her arm, and she hesitated on that matter. She knew what would happen to any animal that bit a human. She had no idea what would happen if it was a pokémon instead. So she lied, writing down that she wasn't sure how she arm was hurt.

Lily showed Shay every instrument that would be used and Shay would nod her consent before it was handed off to Nurse Marigold. The woman donned latex gloves and was gentle in her examination. She did the usual triage motions of checking Shay's temperature and heart rate and blood pressure, before moving on to examine her throat and eyes and her lungs and heart, and lastly, her arm and ears.

Nurse Marigold frowned as she pulled from Shay's ears and said something to Lily. Halfway through, the nurse then began directing her words toward Ambrose.

'She says they'll need to clean your ears before they can assess the damage in them. There's a fair amount of blood that's obscuring what's going on,' he finally provided to her. He then paused before continuing. 'Or at least, that's what they say. I can't corroborate, but I don't see nothing wrong.'

Shay sighed, a mixture of humour and annoyance at his glib reply flashing inside her. She nodded to the Chansey and nurse.

"Okay."

Encouraged by her consent, they set to work. Fifteen minutes of turning her head this way and that, soaking cotton balls and gauze to clean up the area around her neck and ears and the sticky dried gunk in her hair before turning to the inside of her ears themselves. They were sensitive—more so than usual and she tried to not flinch as they worked. Her arm was last to be cleaned up.

The nurse stepped away for a moment, throwing the last of the cotton balls soaked in saline and her blood into the trash. Removing her gloves, and replacing them with a new pair, Nurse Marigold picked up another instrument and motioned for Shay to turn her head. She did so, and the other woman peered into the device, a light shining from within. She moved around the table to peer into Shay's other ear, then pulled the device out and stepped back.

Nurse Marigold spoke to Lily, who now bore a clipboard in her paws, dexterous paw scribbling on the page with a pen. Shay could see both of their lips moving, but couldn't track what was being said, not by lip-reading. She had deeper appreciation for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in that moment.

What are they saying? Shay asked, reaching back for Ambrose's humming conscious. Itch-shiver-scratch, and he was back with her.

'I'm…not sure. I can't…make sense of it.'

I can parse through medical jargon pretty decently, Shay offered.

'They're saying your eardrums are perforated.'

It's a kind of tear on the membrane that separates the outer and middle ear. It's what soundwaves bounce onto before it's processed and transferred to the inner ear. A volcano can absolutely rupture eardrums, but…it'd have to be a much larger eruption. Shay frowned. It didn't make sense. The rest of her peers hadn't suffered any injuries. So why had she?

'…how big an eruption would do that?'

The…end-of-the-world kind. I remember reading about…Krakatoa. That eruption caused people's eardrums to rupture almost forty miles away from ground zero. It's the kind of sound that you can hear on the other side of the world, even. But Mount Chimney isn't anywhere near that kind of destructive level. From what she's learned about the volcano in passing, Mount Chimney was awake but not entirely active. Not until today, that was and even then, it wasn't a life-ending event. Not unlike Mount Kilauea, the flow would cool down long before it reached any populated areas.

'How do you know all this?'

Because we'd be dead if it was. The pyroclastic flow would have cooked us within seconds of being hit. There was hardly anything like that earlier. And this isn't my first rodeo living in close proximity of a volcano. But…why am I the only one who's ears are…

The door to the clinic opened and admitted a woman donning a white lab coat into the room. The rest of her ensemble was relaxed; a pair of dark slacks and a pale yellow button-up shirt. She looked rather young, until Shay noticed the streaks of grey in her otherwise pristine mocha-coloured hair. Both Nurse Marigold and Lily turned to greet the newcomer. The woman smiled and nodded to the two, before turning her attentions to Shay. She began to glove up and listened, nodding attentively to all the information being relayed to her, and pulled the same monitoring device the nurse had used to inspect Shay's ears.

Shay allowed her to do so. She could feel the vibrations of the woman's voice, but still couldn't hear anything that was said. The woman pulled away and motioned for a piece of paper and pen. She quickly scribbled on it, then held it up for Shay to read:

My name is Doctor Monroe. I'm sorry about your hearing. There are perforations in both eardrums, which is the cause of your hearing loss and pain. How did this happen?

She offered the clipboard back and Shay took it. She set to work, and once she was finished, handed it back to Doctor Monroe. Nurse Marigold seemed to excuse herself and stepped out of the room. Lily, however, remained beside Doctor Monroe.

The doctor scanned over Shay's response, and her lips pulled downwards into a frown. She scrawled down a response, and Shay took it.

Mount Chimney did this to you? That can't be right. Are you sure you weren't attacked by a wild pokémon?

The response incensed her, at first. Shay bit her lip to refrain from spitting out an answer. That, and Ambrose's itch-shiver-scratch went down the back of her skull.

Shay tempered herself and managed to write down a clear response. Doctor Monroe nodded sympathetically to her. She set down the clipboard and said something to Lily. Ambrose perked in his seat, and at the same time, he did it against Shay's mind. Shay glanced at him, curious.

What? What is it?

A smiled pulled at his cervine face. 'Ah. That's right. I forgot about that.'

What?!

Doctor Monroe motioned to Lily to come forward and was already putting her response on page.

'What do Chansey and Blissey do for their fellow pokémon?'

They…heal. But what does that—oh. OH.

Shay blinked in surprise, turning her attention to Lily. The Chansey motioned for Shay to turn her head and lean forward. Doctor Monroe held up the clipboard for Shay to read what she had written on the page.

Lily can take care of you from here.

The woman took a step back, allowing for Lily to step forward.

Oh. That's right. Chansey can heal pokémon, but…I didn't think they could heal…people. They weren't around when I went in for my other injuries before.

'You know so much about this place, and yet, you have quite a lot to learn. Quite humbling, isn't it?' He canted his head to the side.

Don't sound so gleeful about it, dude. It's a little ghoulish.

He chuckled, and she shot him a withering look. Lily reached up with her paws and gently placed them over her ears. At first, it felt as though nothing was happening. And then, the ringing began to lessen. The tension in her jaw lessened after almost two hours of leaving it clenched, and relief washed over her as it ebbed. The pain that followed shortly after went along with the ringing noise.

Shay groaned softly, leaning further into Lily's paws. Her eyes slid closed as soft warmth spread from the outside of her ears to the inside. It was such a soothing balm.

"That's it. There we go, almost done! Can you hear me, dear?" Lily asked, her voice soft yet muffled.

"Yes, I can hear you." Shay answered softly, before her eyes flew open. Her own voice was louder and she winced. Shay cleared her throat, she tried again. "H-Hey. I can hear again!"

Lily's muzzle pulled into a smile. "Wonderful! I'm happy to hear that! Oh, I didn't mean it like that!"

She tittered and pulled her paws away to cover her mouth. Shay grinned back and gingerly touched her ears. She rubbed the shell of one and could hear the sound of skin rubbing against skin. Lily began working on her arm next, to which Shay was grateful for. She'd been dreading the idea of getting more stitches poked into her again.

"This is…amazing."

"There are limits with receiving healing from a pokémon," said Doctor Monroe. Her voice was low and husky. Shay looked to her. She was more entranced that she could hear again, and it took her a few moments to process the doctor's words. "Recent injuries, like your ruptured eardrums for example, can be mended but only to the extent that it was previously before damage. If you sustained any prior damage before this injury…well, then it won't repair that."

"I was…a little hard of hearing, before this. I-I worked along a flightline for about four years, and all those aircraft engines did a number on my ears."

"Ah, well, that can't be repaired, I'm afraid. And being healed by a pokémon for more serious or major wounds is still beyond their capabilities, I'm afraid. And if you had waited before coming in, this could have led to a rather serious infection, so good on you."

"So, they can't heal anything from, like…being stabbed or sliced open?"

Doctor Monroe's brows rose up and she tilted her head. "Something like that. Or being seriously injured by wild pokémon. These days, it's rather uncommon for them to be so brazen, we've been living alongside pokémon for so long—but it does happen."

"So, we're not at the 'major surgeries performed by Chansey or any other pokémon' stage. Got it."

She nodded, dipping her hands into her coat pockets, a satisfied smile on her face. "We wouldn't be where we are today without pokémon, though. They've really helped in the progression of various fields of study, and the medical field is no exception."

The doctor pulled a hand from her pocket and held it out to Shay with a warm smile. "I'm glad we could help you out today, Miss Kenway. Lily here will see you out, and you can check out up at the front desk."

With that, she bid Shay and Ambrose goodbye, then stepped out of the room. Lily watched her go before turning back to Shay.

"If you'll follow me, please. Our lovely receptionist will be able to finish things with you!"

"Thank you, Lily," Shay said as she slid off the table. Ambrose did the same, joining her.

Lily took pause, tilting her head as Shay. "You…understand me?"

"Yes. I can." Lily perked at her answer, another smile crossing her muzzle.

"Oh! Well, that explains it!"

"Explains…what, exactly?" Shay's brows beetled together, and Ambrose frowned. She didn't feel his familiar presence and that worried her.

"Oh? You mean…you don't know? Oh, I'm so sorry, of course. What I mean to say is, the few humans who can communicate with pokémon—speaking and understanding them, that is—are a bit more sensitive to certain frequencies. That must be why your ears sustained those injuries when Mount Chimney erupted. It wasn't strong enough to hurt anyone else, I'm guessing?"

"Well, yes…the shockwave wasn't even that bad. It's relatively low on the eruption scale, I know it is. I've seen volcanoes blow their top before, and it wasn't all that explosive. The sound was loud, but not "heard around the world" kind of bad."

"You have? And you've never experienced this type of injury before?" Lily fussed with her paws, concern painted on her face.

'You might not want to say anything else,' Ambrose warned. Shay realized this at the same time.

"Y-You know what, I think I need to get going. I'm really sorry to keep you like this. I've got to get back to…to my training. Front desk is to the left down the hall, right? Thanks Lily!"

Shay grabbed Ambrose's hand and made a beeline for the clinic's small lobby. She elbowed the door open, letting Ambrose out first before following behind him. He paused by the front desk and leaned on it as Shay finished up with the receptionist.

A few minutes later and she was back outside in the sweltering heat.

"That was too close."

"You think? You might want to tweak your story a bit for things like this."

"Yeah, yeah…I kind of figured. Ugh. I'm dreading running into someone who's actually from Kanto and worse, Cerulean City. I will have nothing to back me up if I do."

Ambrose hummed back, quiet on the matter. He gently tugged on Shay's wrist and clasped her hand with his. "We should get back. You've already missed half of the day's events."

Shay sighed and nodded, shooting a parting glance to the clinic, her free hand rising to touch her ear. She shook her head and dropped her hand. Another day. She'd handle this issue on another day, when she had the time, energy, and the privacy to puzzle it out.