Chapter 5

'Should I ask her? It looks like she's the only one that can help me,' I thought desperately.

Nurse Joy must have noticed the pained face I was making as I thought my options over, as she asked, "Are you ok sir?"

'Not exactly,' I thought, but outwardly, I forced a smile. "I'm doing great, Nurse Joy. Thanks for your help!"

"You're very welcome. Have a nice day,"

"Thanks," I said before going up to our room. I knocked twice before Ash opened the door, Pikachu still sitting on his shoulder. "Hi Michael," He said, stepping back so I could walk in.

I could have sworn that Pikachu glared at me for some reason, but I ignored the little mouse and went inside. "Hey, Ash. What's up?"

"Not much, I just unpacked and then just waited for you. What did you need from Nurse Joy?" He asked, oblivious to the tension that had evolved around him.

Pikachu shook his head in disbelief. "Ash, are you really that dense? If he had specifically wanted to speak with Nurse Joy in private, what makes you think he'll tell us now?"

Ash sighed at how much sense that made. "Why didn't I figure that out?" He said silently to himself.

"Because you're a blockhead," Pikachu answered, getting a glare from Ash in response/reply. Pikachu chuckled and walked closer to me. "A nice, fun blockhead, but still a blockhead. Michael, can I speak to you in private?"

I shrugged. "Sure," I followed Pikachu to the room beside us, but the moment I had closed the door I heard a small pinging noise, and a light came out of Pikachu's tail. He looked angrily at me, making me back off. "What's wrong with you!" I asked terrified.

Pikachu slowly walked closer to me. "Do you think I'm stupid? You can understand our language and I can sense a very strong power in you. Something...inhuman... You must be a pokemon!" he hissed.

I widened my eyes, I couldn't have given myself away that easily...or had I? "I'm not!" I shot back, hoping that Ash couldn't hear our argument. Pikachu rushed at me with a massive burst of speed — he was almost just a blur —and hit me in my side with an Iron Tail attack. I winced as pain lanced across my ribs as I was knocked to the ground. Before I knew it, Pikachu stood on top of me, his shining tail against my throat. "Reveal yourself," He said calmly.

I growled at him. "Get off of me or you'll regret it," I warned him, scared because I knew I was bluffing. Pikachu would win in a matter of seconds, one because I couldn't control my attacks and two because I was already injured.

Pikachu laughed the warning off. "C'mon, you didn't even know what a pokecenter or a pokemon was… you don't have a clue about how we live, right? Let me explain something to you. In our world, there are two types of pokemon trainers: Those that treat us like slaves or pets, and those that treat us like friends and equals. You're hiding something that could threaten Ash, and I want to know what it is," He tapped his shining tail on my throat. "Tell me now or you will regret it,"

I sighed deeply, knowing that my secret was about to be exposed. "Sorry but I really prefer not to. I'm injured in my pokemon form. This is the only form I can take without feeling pain,"

Pikachu narrowed his eyes and the pressure on my neck increased. "Show me…or else…" he tapped his tail.

I groaned because I couldn't do a thing besides reveal myself. Pikachu gasped and jumped off me as I covered myself in a bright green shower of light. I gasped and gritted my teeth to make sure I didn't squeal in pain. Changing into a human might have relieved me of the pain from my injuries, but apparently, that didn't mean the wound had healed. In fact, the wound looked even worse than before. A large open gash on my wing spilled blood all over my body, ruining the once-white feathers.

Pikachu was shocked beyond belief, as he had seen many pokemon getting hurt, but never as bad as this. He knew that most pokemon fainted before they could be that badly injured. But whatever had happened to the pokemon in front of him hadn't stopped when he'd fainted or had performed an attack so powerful that he hadn't had time to faint. Who, or what could have done such a thing? Another legendary? Pikachu shivered, thinking back to his previous encounters with legendaries.

First came the entire fiasco with Mew and Mewtwo. Seeing them kill Ash really hit Pikachu hard. Then came Lawrence XVI and the news that Ash was 'The Chosen One'. After that came the incident with the Unown and Entei. Luckily Molly was able to calm Entei down before he was about to give the finishing blow to Ash's Charizard. Then Celebi. What the Masked Marauder had done had nearly killed Ash...again. If it wasn't for Suicune...

Snapping himself back into reality Pikachu shook his head to get those thoughts out of his head and took a closer look at me. He didn't seem to recognize me at all and I started to wonder if I was a legendary myself.

I sighed when I saw Pikachu looking at me, dumbfounded, wondering what I was. "Ok, now, if you don't mind, I really would prefer to go back into human form," I said while wincing. I had tried to stop the bleeding with my claw but I couldn't even reach my wing as my movements only caused another flare of pain to shoot through it. Pikachu slowly nodded and I grunted. 'I have an explanation for this,' I thought while being covered in a bright green shower again, changing back into my human body. I sighed in relief when the pain stopped. 'Thank god, I don't know how much longer I could have lasted,' I thought, slightly desperate to heal, as it was really necessary.

"What the heck happened to you?" Pikachu asked, totally shocked as to how I received these injuries. "They didn't really seem like they came from a pokemon, and what kind of pokemon are you anyway?"

"It didn't come from a pokemon," I said as I stood up, stretching my body to get used to it. "I'm a Latios, a shiny one. I'm from a place where humans live without pokemon. I didn't know what I was or if there were others like me. That was until Latias found me. She had searched for me after I had gone berserk in my house and I had fired a Luster Purge. When she found me after a couple of days, she explained everything to me. It was quite a shock to me when I heard. After that, she asked me to come with her. I refused, saying I wanted to ask my family first. She complied and said that she would come back the day after. After I talked to my family we had agreed that I would leave, so I went to the place where I would meet up with Latias," My shoulders sagged and my expression darkened. "She never showed up. I was so depressed that I had forgotten to turn invisible. In short, some people filmed me and sent it to the media. The president then sent the military after me. My injured wing was the result of a missile hitting it,"

Pikachu's jaw dropped even more. "Dang, you've been through a lot,"' He said. "Hey, sorry I wasn't very nice, but after all the stuff I've been through with Ash, you can never be too careful,"

"It's okay, Pikachu. I understand. I was just wondering, how did you manage to get control over your powers? I can't do anything except disguise myself as a human and turn invisible,"

The yellow mouse shrugged. "It comes naturally. But I guess battling other pokemon has made me stronger and Ash did a very good job in training me,"

"Another question, what does everyone mean with battling and training and stuff?" I asked curiously. Pikachu smiled and started to explain what a trainer was and how battles worked. He also told me about the gym leaders and the pokemon leagues. It all seemed very fun for me, at least until Pikachu explained that the winner was declared when all pokemon on one of the sides were deemed unable to battle, meaning they had fainted.

"I never going to fight a pokemon battle!" I said immediately, not wanting to get hurt just for the fun of others.

Pikachu smirked, knowing that the Latios hadn't actually battled yet. "You just don't know how it works...and feels yet. You would be a great battler. You're a legendary, a shiny one. legendaries already have massive powers but shinies always have more power than the normal ones. Of course, normal pokemon can win if your trainer uses a good strategy,"

"I'm not battling," I said, more because I disliked injuring someone else instead of being scared I would be hurt. "We better go back to Ash, he might be worried,"

Pikachu nodded. "Ok, but you better go to Nurse Joy with that wing. That looked like a very bad and painful wound, it's the best it's healed as soon as possible,"

"You think I can trust her?" I wondered.

Pikachu nodded again. "I'm sure of it. I don't know how you are going to explain the 'I'm a Latios' bit, but I know for sure she'll help you, and if you wish, she'll keep it a secret,"

"Ok, thanks," I said as I opened the door. I saw that Misty and Brock had already arrived but noticed Brock's ear was an angry red from the pulling Misty had given it. "Hello,"

They turned their head to see me. "Hey Michael," Misty said flashing a grin at me.

"Hi Michael," Brock said, but he gave a double-take when he saw who I'd been talking to. However, after giving it some thought, he realized he'd missed an obvious fact. He facepalmed. "I forgot you can talk to pokemon. You had a chat with Pikachu?"

"Yep, but I have to ask Nurse Joy something, I'll be back soon," I commented as I started to walk out. But Ash stopped me. "You just went to chat with her. What's up with you and Nurse Joy?"

Brock widened his eyes and started crying like a little child as his mind made all the wrong connections. "Noooo! Nurse Joy isn't available anymore," He sobbed.

We all sweatdropped and sighed. ''Is he always like that?'' I asked Ash, who was sighing.

With a small chuckle, he nodded. "Yeah, for some reason he always goes crazy when he sees a beautiful girl,"

I frowned. "I wonder why," I said while looking at Brock in confusion. Pikachu and Misty looked at each other with big eyes. "Oh no, we just got another Ash!" Misty said sarcastically.

"How old are you, Michael?" Pikachu asked me thoughtfully.

"I'm fifteen, why?" I asked, confused.

Misty frowned. "Shouldn't you know about love at that age? At least you know something about it, right?" Misty asked.

I shook my head. "Nope, love doesn't tell me a thing," I saw Pikachu look at me strangely and I sighed. "I'm a Latios, what do you think? That I'd reveal myself by going out? I had a very secluded life, the only few friends I had were only out of necessity. I didn't want to be an outcast because they're the ones the bullies always pick out,"

Pikachu nodded. "That explains a lot," he muttered to himself.

"Well I'm going, see ya," I said as I walked out of the room, leaving Pikachu, Ash, Misty, and a still-crying Brock behind. I found Nurse Joy working behind her desk. "Nurse Joy, I need some help," I said, still pondering about how to explain this.

She immediately stood up and walked to me. "How can I help you?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Can I trust you with something big?"

She smiled. "Of course you can,"

'Ok, how to handle this? I just can't say I'm a Latios. But I need to be healed!' Eventually, however, I managed to come up with a plan. "Nurse Joy, do you know the special abilities of a Latios?"

She smiled. "Of course I do. They can turn invisible, fly faster than the speed of sound, project their memories, and make human disguises,"

I sighed in relief when she said that last part, although that thing about projecting memories was something I didn't know about. "Ok, don't be scared then, what you're about to hear is me,"

"What are you talking about?" she asked me slightly confused.

"I am a Latios," I spoke to her telepathically, making her widen her eyes. I could instantly see a change in the way she looked at me. She probably thought I was lying but still… no ordinary human can speak in telepathy. "Yes, I'm doing this. I need help. I was attacked and my wing is injured badly. I was wondering if you could help me," I quickly explained to her.

She looked at me. "Are you the Latios from the emergency broadcast sent from the region where people live without pokemon?"

My jaw dropped in shock. "WHAT!" I yelled in her mind, probably giving her a headache from the intensity of my telepathy.

She clutched her head. "There was an emergency broadcast where a shiny Latios was shot out of the air. It's the most discussed topic here!" she said as she slowly recovered from her splitting headache.

"So everyone knows?" I groaned. 'Talk about bad news,' I thought in despair.

She nodded. "That's right. You have to be careful, there are a lot of trainers that want to capture you," She stopped warning me and went into her nursery character. "I can help you. You just have to trust me and reveal yourself,"

I shook my head. "I'm not revealing myself here. At least not now, I don't want anyone else to know I assume this form, understood?" I stated firmly. I couldn't imagine what a trainer would do to me. I didn't understand what being a legendary meant (Pikachu hadn't explained that) but I did know that a legendary was something extremely rare and powerful. I shivered slightly but Nurse Joy didn't notice.

She nodded. "Alright, but why not do it now? It's already late in the evening and I doubt that anyone come to visit at this time," I looked at the pokemon center's main hall and saw it was completely empty. I sighed deeply and nodded. "Ok…" I said, not sure if I made the right choice or not.

"Ok, follow me please," Nurse Joy said as she walked to one of the emergency rooms. I nodded and followed her. Once there Nurse Joy closed it, giving me enough room to turn into a Latios without anyone else seeing me. She motioned to the bed. "Could you change into your Latios form, please? I need to check the wound,"

I laid myself on the bed and braced myself for the pain I would feel. A bright shower of green light surrounded me and when it dimmed down my true form was revealed. But I let out a squeal of pain and I winced. The pain that I had in my wing was beyond imaginable.

Nurse Joy gasped and she looked very worriedly at my wing. "That doesn't look good Latios, if I don't heal it, it would mean the end for your wing. If it gets any worse you might be unable to fly,"

"Call me Michael," I muttered in telepathy. "Can you fix it?" I asked, hoping at least a nurse could heal me. Being a flying or levitating pokemon would mean I wouldn't be able to fly anymore since I wouldn't have any balance.

"Yes I can, but you'll need a lot of time recovering from that," She said, still worried about me. "It's actually best if I fix this now,"

Meanwhile, in the secret garden of Altomare… (3rd person P.O.V.)

A small creaking sound filled the silent garden as a sad-looking pokemon swayed silently on a swing. She looked up at the sky and sighed deeply. 'Please be ok Michael,' She thought, tears in her eyes. They had seen what happened to me when the emergency broadcast was aired. Bianca had rushed into the garden, yelling for both her and her brother to come inside immediately. First, they had thought they had done something wrong until both eon dragons saw a green Latios flying. Latias had squealed out loud when she saw me getting hit by the missile and when Michael fell, unconscious, into the water. The military had searched the ocean but hadn't found my body. To Latias' biggest dismay, they had declared I was dead and that everything was safe again.

Latios hadn't said anything since watching the broadcast. Latias had assumed that he blamed himself for what had happened to Michael, but she didn't really give her brother any attention. She was sobbing, hoping that Michael was miraculously still alive. Latios had noticed his sister swinging, hunched over with eyes filled with sadness. He knew she always did that when she was depressed. If she was just a little down, she just ate some ice cream and it was all over. But he knew that wouldn't work this time so he slowly approached her. "Hey sis," He said softly.

"Brother," She said, not looking up to see him.

"Look, I know you don't think it's my fault but it is. If I hadn't forced you inside the secret garden you would have gone to him and it would have been all alright,"

She slowly shook her head. "You're wrong, Latios. It's not your fault, it's mine. If I hadn't meddled in his life, he wouldn't have tried to follow me and he would still be alive,"

Latios sighed deeply and flew closer to her, embracing her in a hug. "You want to know whose fault it is? Those crazy military guys! Michael didn't do anything wrong, yet and they just attacked him for absolutely no reason!"

Latias lifted her head to look into her brother's eyes. She smiled softly and nuzzled him. "Thank you brother," She said as she gently laid her head on his neck.

Latios sighed while looking compassionately at her. He just hated to see the usual happy and way too overactive dragon so sad. He slowly started to pat her neck and smiled weakly. 'Anything for you, sis,' Latios thought. "Hey, you know what? The Tour de Altomare is in a couple of days, you think that'll cheer you up a bit?"

Her whole expression changed immediately when she heard that they would be watching the Tour de Altomare. It was one of the most exciting things that happened in Altomare. She nodded happily at her brother. "Yeah, but still…" She looked up at the darkening sky. 'Michael…' she thought sadly.

Meanwhile, back in the pokemon center… (Michael P.O.V)

"Michael…"

I gasped and looked around frantically at hearing Latias' voice. "Latias?" I asked, hoping she was near me somewhere. 'Maybe a prank of hers,' I thought. 'Or just imaginary…'

"What's wrong Latios?" Nurse Joy asked seeing me looking in bewilderment.

"The name is Michael, remember? I just thought that a Latias said my name," I replied.

She smiled. "Is this Latias your mate?"

I was confused again. "What's a mate?"

"Uhm…I don't think it's up to me to explain that," Nurse Joy said with a small blush. "Alright, let's start. I'll clean the wound first and then do everything I can to fix it, ok?"

"What about my friends? I can't just disappear like this,"

"Don't worry, I'll tell them that you had to go see someone in Altomare and that you'll be returning soon,"

"Ok, so what now?" I asked her.

She smiled as she took a mask. She slowly put it over my pointed nose and my mouth. "Just relax, I want you to count to zero, starting from ten,"

I nodded and started counting. "ten…nine…" I felt myself getting extremely tired and the pain was going away, so I kept counting. "Eight…" My eyelids dropped in pure tiredness and my mind went black "Se…"

Hello, ColsonOtis here!

I finally got this chapter re-written, sorry it took so long but I've been sort of busy.

Please feel free to leave a review on the chapter and tell me what you think of my re-writing!

If you want to view the original 6 chapters of this book, the story is on my profile page under my favorite stories.

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