Special thanks to IceCreamAndPizza for helping me edit this episode!
Episode III:
Rise and Shine
"Hummm... dee dum..." Moxy heard a low, feminine voice sing in the darkness.
A hard surface irritated her spine, but the bold notes of the piano along with the echoed vocals overwhelmed her consciousness to the point where she ignored the pain. Each keypress had long intervals between them, drifting her closer and closer back to sleep.
"Recording for patient 9980. Abrasions to the shoulder and stomach..."
As she was about to drift off, a pair of demonic, purple eyes suddenly materialized from the ink.
"Rigor mortis has settled. Hopefully, I can test her before Tabby catches wind. Commencing operation number one. Now, where did I put that Arcanine extract..."
The tempo of the music increased. The hums continued again until they warped into a demonic choir. Without warning, the eyes charged towards her with hellfire in their wake.
Moxy couldn't move away.
"AHHH!" Moxy found her voice before shooting upright. Her neck made a popping sound.
"Ow…" she whined, coddling her neck. Dazzling, colorful circles smudged her bleary vision. Moxy's trembling hands wandered towards the surface she sat on. It was cold and hard, like steel. She clutched the sides of her shoulders and rubbed them; it was freezing.
The hums stopped. A few seconds later, red and black spots appeared in Moxy's vision, but she couldn't make anything out of it.
"Make a note. Drink more fluids. It seems abstaining from any form of sustenance has caused me to develop mild dementia. I'm hallucinating," a pompous voice chuckled. It had a husky, man-eater sound to it, and Moxy felt like a Ninjask caught in an Ariados web.
"Hello?" she called out to the voice.
Moxy rubbed her eyes and shook her head. She hoped to Arceus she wasn't trapped somewhere. She tried to recall her previous whereabouts, but not being able to see made it hard to think.
"W-wait. You're…" the voice trailed off, and, as if on cue, the circles in her vision began to coalesce into shapes her mind took a second to comprehend: a white-tiled room, bleached curtains on her sides, the chrome operating table she sat on, and a figure wearing red and black. Upon rubbing her eyes once more, she found the figure to be a woman.
The pale lady studied Moxy with sunken, gray eyes, and a pair of red spectacles rested on her long, thin nose. She was dressed in a red-lab coat that looked a little too tight on her thin waist, and her frazzled, white hair was tied into a ponytail. The familiar M was fashioned on the chest pocket of her coat, and Moxy relaxed. She was in a Magma hideout rather than a pokecenter. The woman's black and red high-heels made a clacking sound as she hesitantly walked towards Moxy. The woman placed her cold, bony hand on the four, grotesque scars that marked Moxy's stomach.
It was at this moment that Moxy realized she was wearing nothing but her undergarments.
Moxy pushed the woman's hand away and immediately brought her knees close to her body. She didn't need a mirror to tell she was reddening with embarrassment.
"Where the hell are my clothes?!" Moxy demanded.
"Sorry, dear," the woman apologized quickly, raising her index finger, before retreating around the curtain. The plod of her high heels grew louder as she reappeared with a medical gown in her arms. Moxy reached her arms out to take the gown, and she winced when her bones made a cracking sound. As she threw the clothing on, she realized her wounds didn't hurt one bit.
"Who are you?" Moxy asked, looking up at the woman.
"Your doctor," the lady replied before putting a hand under her thin chin. "I'm perplexed. I swore..." she trailed off again, seemingly lost in her thoughts as she stared at Moxy.
Moxy lowered her eyebrows. She tried a different question."And where exactly am I?"
There was no response. Just more off-putting stares.
"Okay," Moxy huffed. "How about we start by not staring at me?"
"My, aren't we feisty?" the woman narrowed her eyes as she was broken out of her trance once again. "Regardless, I apologize. I don't really know how to put this, but-"
A sweet cry interrupted her mid-sentence as a familiar form appeared behind the startled doctor.
"Sylveon!" Moxy screamed at the sight of her friend. The fur around Sylveon's eyes was wet with tears, and her voice was hoarse as she meowed happily. Sylveon jumped up to Moxy's side and began relentlessly licking her trainer's face.
"Haha, cut it out!" Moxy smiled while shielding her eyes. However, the licks were cut short when the doctor grabbed Sylveon from under her belly and pulled her off Moxy.
"I can't have you opening those wounds any wider," she stated matter-of-factly. Sylveon whined and flailed her feelers about, but the way she was held kept Sylveon from being able to escape. She was dropped unceremoniously on the gray-tiled floor before barking a protest. But the doctor placed her hands on her hips and said, "Now, now, dear. I told you NO pokemon in the medical ward. That includes pink fuzz balls like yourself."
Sylveon bared her tiny teeth into a growl, but it did nothing to deter the woman, "Hmph. The nerve. I'd kick you out, but..." she looked back at Moxy. "I'm at a loss for words about the condition of your trainer."
"Condition? What happened?" Moxy insisted, tired of the doctor's beating around the bush.
The woman's gray eyes considered Moxy as if she had committed a grave sin. "There is no easy way to say this, but-"
"M-Moxy!?"
Black, droopy hair and elfish features stood behind the doctor's shoulder. It was Aiden. Unlike Sylveon's tearful salutations, he was bewildered. Bewilderment turned into anger as he whirled on the white-haired woman, whose razor-sharp eyebrows were lowered in annoyance about being interrupted yet again.
"You told me she was dead, Chloe!" he yelled, arms raised.
D...dead? Upon hearing him, Moxy recalled the things that happened to her. The tunnel, the Mightyena, the bloody wounds. The deal she struck with that demon. It all made sense now; the... most likely a pokemon, told the truth. She had died. And in return, she was revived. She didn't know how to feel about that. Should she be gratified for a second chance, or horrified that it came with a somewhat terrible price? She would have time to consider all this later. For now, she had a ruse to keep up with.
"What do you mean I was dead?!" Moxy yelled, looking between Chloe and Aiden and doing her best to sound surprised.
"Can. I. Explain?" Chloe demanded, rubbing two fingers along her temple. After a few seconds of silence, she continued.
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted." Chloe glared at Aiden before snatching a clipboard from beside the tray. "It's true. At exactly twelve sixteen in the afternoon, I pronounced the patient deceased."
Moxy looked around for a clock, but there was none in sight. "When was that?"
Chloe looked up from the clipboard and pushed her glasses up. "An hour ago, dear."
A whole hour? She wondered what her body must have gone through when her spirit had left.
"Your heart stopped, and your pulse ran cold," Chloe continued. "Everything happening right now, scientifically, should not be possible."
"Not possible?" Aiden tilted his head. "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake, or-"
"Zip. It."
Aiden was about to retort, but Chloe turned her back towards him and began inspecting the EKG machine beside Moxy. Aiden walked up to Moxy and put a hand on her forearm. He was warm. His soft, green eyes were filled with worry, and they looked to her for reassurance. She nodded and gave him a small smile. She took Aiden and Sylveon for granted way too often, and she couldn't fathom not having them in her life. But guilt ate at her for not telling him the truth about her revival.
"What... happened to the Mightyena?" Moxy asked, and she noticed Aiden turn his gaze away at the mention.
"You don't need to worry about that. What's done is do-"
"He's not dead, is he?" she pressed him, hoping she was wrong.
A genuine smile spread on his face. "No, of course not. His trainer is retraining him. But from what they told me, he woke up feeling guilty."
That made Moxy feel a little better. At least her tormentor hadn't caused that innocent pokemon's life.
Aiden left her side for a moment to grab a black office chair at the end of the room, rolling it to Moxy's side before sitting. Sylveon jumped onto his lap, and she extended her feelers for Moxy to take hold of.
"God, Moxy, I don't even know what to say right now," Aiden started, covering his mouth with his palm. "I was outside with Sylveon here when I heard a scream. I run in here and... you're alive."
Silence filled the air, barring the noise Chloe made from messing with the EKG machine.
"So, what did you guys do when I passed out?" Moxy spoke suddenly to try and break the silence. Aiden shuffled Sylveon and himself better in the chair.
"You passed out and..." He stared blankly at the floor as he explained, "the doctors got you on the gurney before stabilizing you in the emergency room."
Sylveon gave Moxy a small nod. Her brilliant white and blue eyes shed a tear, and Moxy felt a wrenching in her throat.
"That was three days ago. You were stabilized but in a coma. You lost too much blood, and they were using a machine to keep you alive. One of your arteries was severed, and we couldn't do surgery with the hideouts' limited resources. I... couldn't even take you to a center. That's when I called headquarters to come and get you. They loaded you onto a truck, got you here, and they did the surgery."
Moxy tilted her head. "Where are we?"
"Lilycove headquarters. This was the surprise I was talking about. But I didn't want your first time here to be so..." He looked away as his voice trailed off.
"Aiden..." Moxy started, but he held his hand in front of him.
"I'm fine."
Moxy's eyebrows wrinkled. It was weird to see Aiden, a guy who was as static as a wooden board, suddenly show emotion. The fact that he showed this vulnerable side to her made her happy, but also guilty. She had to die just to get him to open up about himself. Before she had a chance to cheer him up, their moment was cut off by an exaggerated cough.
"Sorry to break up this heartwarming moment, but I need to run some tests. On you." Chloe's gray eyes were trained on her.
"T-tests?" Moxy shuddered.
"She's right," Aiden agreed, plucking Sylveon from his lap and gently placing her back on the floor. "I need to let Tabitha know what's going on,"
He stood up from his seat and began to walk away.
"Wait!" Moxy blurted. He turned his head slightly towards her. "T-thank you. Aiden," she whispered.
"No need to thank me. I'm just glad you're going to be okay. Oh, and Chloe, make sure you run every test you can. I want to make sure nothing else is wrong with her."
"Oh, and Barrett, don't tell me how to do my job. Now be a dear and leave," Chloe deadpanned with a squint before walking behind the curtain.
Moxy raised an eyebrow at Aiden. "Ahhh. After six months, I finally learned your mysterious last name."
"You better keep it a secret, or I might have to kill you," Aiden joked, but after a split second realized what he said. "I... you know I'm just joking, right? I won't actually kill you."
"Um, yeah." Moxy rubbed her arm awkwardly. "That would be bad, considering what just happened to me."
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Well... um... I'm just going to go before I embarrass myself anymore." Aiden said before hurrying out of the room.
Moxy chuckled, he's so clueless sometimes.
A sudden weight shook the table Moxy was laying on when Sylveon jumped beside her trainer again, and Moxy smiled. However, that smile turned into a cringe when she ran her hand through Sylveon's matted fur.
"Crap. I have to wash you." Moxy sniffed her pokemon for good measure. She smelled wet. Sylveon whined and nuzzled her face into Moxy's armpit.
"H-hey, stop that!" Moxy giggled, pushing her out. Sylveon sat on her haunches as Moxy rubbed her chin.
"Thank you, too. For protecting me." Moxy booped her nose against Sylveon's. A wide smile grew on the pokemon's face.
Despite the appearances Moxy kept up, she couldn't be thankful. Rather, she was sorry. She wanted to tell Aiden and Sylveon about the pokemon plaguing her dreams, but after some thought, she knew it was best if she finished this gravedigging business as quietly as possible. If everything the pokemon from her dream said was true, then she would most likely turn back into a corpse if she disobeyed it. Aiden wouldn't be able to help her. Nobody could.
She was cursed.
Chloe had moved Moxy from the operating table to an actual bed. Laying down, she thought she could fall right back to sleep on the soft pillow. However, the good doctor wouldn't allow her. To make matters worse, Sylveon had to wait outside. She wouldn't leave until Chloe threatened to return Sylveon to her pokeball. Moxy found it adorable that Sylveon fawned over her so much.
Unfortunately, Moxy would find no rest for the next few hours. She proceeded through so many tests with Chloe, she stopped keeping track after the eighth one. After they were finished, Chloe stitched up Moxy's wounds before bandaging them. While she was dead, the blood inside her gashes had somehow clotted, stopping the bleeding. At least, that's what Chloe told her. As Moxy rubbed her hands and arms to stave off the cold, a steel door from the other side of the room creaked open. Chloe appeared and walked over to Moxy's side, a solemn look on her face that Moxy had only associated with bad news.
"It seems the cells have repaired themselves." Chloe pushed up her glasses again before jotting something down on her clipboard. "Mysteriously. Despite your... peculiarly healthy state, you are looking much worse for wear. I'm requiring you at least a week of bed rest before I even consider letting you go."
"One week?!" Moxy was incredulous. "But I feel fine! I can prove it! Watch."
Moxy raised her arm to the air and instantly regretted it. Pain shot through her shoulder, and a whimper escaped her lips.
"One. Week." an unamused Chloe tapped the side of her pen against her clipboard with each word.
"You just want to keep me in here like some lab Rattata," Moxy grumbled.
"At least I feed them," she quipped, eyeing the plastic cup of jello cradled in Moxy's palms before striding out the glass door of the medical ward.
"Can I at least get some television or something?!" she called out. Unfortunately, her words fell on deaf ears, and Moxy slumped in her bed.
She focused her eyes on the bright, white light above her. Her mind went as blank as the white walls in the medical bay. A whole week of laying in bed? Surely there must be something she could entertain herself with. She was literally in the headquarters of Team Magma. Her body was just itching to explore. Moxy picked at the bandage on her shoulder, and her eyes wandered towards a metal trash can at the other end of the room.
With a sly grin, she quickly scarfed down the rest of her jello. She crushed the plastic in between her fist, aimed at the can, and with an upward swing, she tossed the cup towards the can. It sailed through the air in an arc, and then...
The cup bounced off the wall and fell into the trash can.
"Score! The crowd goes wild!" Moxy cheered.
...and that was that. She checked the time again. Barely a minute had passed.
"Ugh..." Her enthusiasm faded. "Screw this."
In a sluggish movement, she dragged her legs off the side of the bed. She pulled off the pad that connected her wrist to an EKG machine, and the machine flatlined. She slid off slowly, for the aching in her body couldn't get her out any faster. When her feet touched the floor, she yelped as her legs turned into a stack of bricks, and she clutched the side of her bed. With a heavy sigh, she looked around for something she could hoist herself around with. An IV pole with wheels stood opposite her bed. Moxy shimmied around the bed, and when she reached the foot of it, she wrapped her fingers around the pole. With a deep breath, she took a step forward.
Mission accomplished, she thought when she was able to keep herself standing. Her legs trembled.
She looked to her left. There was a steel desk at the end of the room, and above it, a dark window pane. Moxy walked towards the pane, and she could see her reflection through the glass. Shriveled hair and hollow cheeks stared back at her. She looked like she hadn't eaten for months. Unable to look at her complexion any further, she retracted her gaze.
"Psst!" a high-pitched sound startled Moxy. Fearing it was Chloe, her heart swelled in her chest.
Instead, a girl a little taller than Moxy peeked at her with blood-red eyes from around a curtain. Her Magma hoodie was donned, but she could see the bangs of her medium, black hair tucked inside. Her hood had black spikes, which meant she was a grunt. Moxy could see one of the girl's tiny canines peeking through her wide, barbaric smirk, and it only made Moxy more anxious.
"H-Hi?" Moxy tilted her head. The mysterious girl came out of her hiding spot and walked slowly up to Moxy. One of Moxy's hands automatically found its way onto her chest. This girl was probably here to gloat or make fun of her while the doctor was out. However, before the girl could say a word, the door to the ward opened, and a familiar voice startled them both.
"Don't bother my patient!" Chloe's heels clacked behind the mysterious girl. Her grin quickly turned fearful.
"Aw, c'mon doc! I just wanted to say hi..." The girl complained as Chloe pulled her towards the exit. Moxy tried to follow them, but she cursed herself when her body cramped up. Less than a minute later, Chloe walked up to Moxy. Her hands were on her waist, and Moxy had a feeling the doctor wasn't too happy.
"Back in bed. Now," she ordered. With a tight grip on her arm, Chloe led Moxy back to her pillowy prison. "It's like I'm running some kind of children's hospital here."
"Who was that?" Moxy asked.
"Her? Probably one of the new recruits. You understand how they can be, all curious and the like. A bit like you," she said the last part with a sigh. When they reached the bed, Moxy crawled back in it and Chloe promptly connected the EKG machine back to Moxy.
"She had two of those black horns on her hood, right? Aiden told me there are only grunts here. No initiates. A-Am I going to be promoted?" Moxy wondered. She held her breath, hope rising within her.
"That isn't up to me, dear. Tabby handles all of that racket."
Right. Tabitha, the mysterious person people kept bringing up as if Moxy knew who he was. "You mean Tabitha? Who's that?"
"Tabby? He's the summo praefecti," Chloe said, the last part coming out with an accent.
"The sumo what now?"
"Hmph. I take it Aiden hasn't taught you basic Arcanese."
Moxy recalled the language. Despite learning about it from one of her history classes, it was familiar to that language Janice spoke in when they battled last.
"Summo praefecti is broken for Top Officer," Chloe continued. "I'm sure Aiden told you to call us Admins. So, you would prefer to say Chief Admin."
"Us? You're an Admin?" Moxy's voice turned high-pitched. She turned stiff, and a feeling of self-awareness began to eat at her. Her gaze wandered away from Chloe's eyes to her own two feet sticking out from under the sheets.
"I don't go flaunting it around as I'm sure you know others would," Chloe dismissed. "I'm simply here as an impromptu pokemon professor and doctor. And normally, I'd have one of the auxiliaris- em, grunts, tend to your injuries. However, your situation is not normal."
The doctor continued to stare at her for a few seconds. She seemed suspicious, but Moxy couldn't tell what she was thinking behind those gray eyes.
"You're hiding something," Chloe finally spoke up.
Moxy's heart rate spiked, but she kept a straight face. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"The results don't lie. And neither do heart monitors," Chloe said before gesturing to the EKG machine connected to Moxy. The BPM number was around one hundred and twelve, and Moxy silently cursed herself. Chloe took a seat next to her and crossed her legs. "I just don't understand how a dead person suddenly comes back to life. It defies all laws of human physics. But... well..."
"W-well?"
"I've heard of something similar happening with a group called the Hex Maniacs in Kalos. Granted, they stayed dead for barely a minute. You... aren't one of them, right?"
"What? No, I've never been to Kalos in my life. That group sounds like a bunch of weirdos," Moxy answered in disbelief.
"Hmph." Chloe wasn't convinced. "In any case, if this is something we, as Team Magma, can use, then you must share it. Tell me."
But Moxy stayed silent, and her gaze wandered down towards the doctor's lapels. She didn't know if the demon was listening to her right now. If she revealed anything, they might be the last words she ever uttered.
Chloe pursed her red lips while tapping her pen against her clipboard. "I have to report all this to Tabitha. Including your silence."
"You can't do that!" Moxy blurted. "Whatever happened to doctor-patient confidentiality!?"
"I have responsibilities as an Admin."
"Please, Chloe. I would owe you. Anything! Just say my heartbeat was faint, and you thought I was dead."
"That isn't such a good-"
"You can test me!" Moxy's mouth moved in rapid-fire succession. "As many as you want. You told me you were just here as an impromptu pokemon professor. You seem like more than that. You're a scientist."
"We've only just met. You know squat."
"I heard you talking while I was laying on the table. You hoped Tabitha wouldn't know about you testing me," Moxy revealed. Chloe was mildly surprised, but she didn't follow it up with a single word.
"I'll be your test dummy," Moxy continued. "Take as much blood as you want. Have me drink whatever chemicals you can think of. Anything, you know, a-as long as it doesn't kill me. All I'm asking for is that you don't tell anyone."
Moxy drew a sharp breath when she finished. The tapping of the pen grew louder within the silence, along with Moxy's growing anxiousness. What awaited her? Termination? Something worse? Moxy gazed at the doctor, wondering if Chloe could see her desperation. Chloe's eyes were squinted, and those small pupils seemed to pierce through Moxy as if they were running a scan on her. Some seconds later, she stood from her chair.
"Fine."
Moxy raised an eyebrow. "Fine?"
"I won't say a word. But you do, in fact, owe me. If I want a favor, you will do it. No questions asked. Or I'll let Tabitha know how eager you were to bribe me, too."
"Yes. Yes!" Moxy perked up loudly. Aware of her volume, she whispered. "Just let me know."
"Oh, I intend to." Chloe looked down at her clipboard before walking away.
Moxy regretted the deal she made with Chloe as soon as she left, but at least, it was one less problem she had to worry about. Now, she had to find something to occupy herself with for the next seven days. She sighed before sinking deep into her fluffy pillow. At least it was better than the crap she was sleeping on back in Rustboro. Her eyes turned heavy upon staring at the blank, white walls, and before she knew it, she fell asleep.
AN: I appreciate everyone who stuck around for this episode to finally release. The next few chapters should all be released promptly as soon as I finish editing each one.