Colress shifted uncomfortably in the hard plastic chair beside the hospital bed, his eyes flicking from the steady rhythm of the heart monitor to the heavily bandaged figure lying on the bed. Mrs. Harmonia sat beside him, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. She hadn't left Ghetsis' side since they brought him in. Colress wished he could disappear. She had spent a good amount of time crying while Colress sat stiffly beside her, unsure of how to respond.
He glanced again at Ghetsis, whose face was a mess of bandages and tubes. The doctors had been clear - the damage was catastrophic. The Shadow Ball had struck directly, shattering the eye socket and spreading its ghost energy like a poison through his body. The monitor beeped a little faster. Colress leaned forward, watching Ghetsis' left eyelid twitch, a flicker of movement. Mrs. Harmonia straightened, her eyes wide and hopeful.
"Ghetsis?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
Ghetsis' left eye opened slowly, blinking against the harsh light. Colress watched his pupil contract, trying to focus, confusion and pain etched into the lines of his face. His lips moved, but no sound came out at first. Then, a rasp, barely audible.
"What happened?"
"You had a bad accident," Mrs. Harmonia said, her eyes watery. "You've been through surgery. The doctors… they did everything they could to save your sight."
Colress felt a strange tension knotting in his chest. He wasn't sure if it was pity, discomfort or something else entirely. Ghetsis' left eye turned to him, narrowing. Colress felt that familiar chill down his spine. A predator's stare, even now.
"My eye?" Ghetsis croaked, a sharp edge to his weak voice.
"We were in Dragonspiral Tower, do you remember? There was a Golurk. You got hit by a Shadow Ball. You were in surgery for nearly eight hours. They... they couldn't save it."
Ghetsis blinked, his left eye unfocused, as if the words didn't quite make sense to him. "Eight… hours?"
"Yes," Colress said, his voice coming out more robotic than he intended. "You were unconscious for almost a full day. They had to stabilize you. The ghost energy was spreading, corrupting the tissue."
Ghetsis' breathing quickened, his chest rising and falling in uneven gasps. Colress could see his frustration in the twitch of his brow.
"My arm… my face…" His words slurred, Colress could tell he was struggling to control the muscles.
Ghetsis' mother spoke softly. "The attack caused extensive nerve damage, Ghetsis. The right side of your face and arm… they're partially paralyzed. The doctors have done what they can, but it might be… permanent."
Colress watched as Ghetsis' expression twisted, not in pain, but in something colder, harder. Anger. Not the kind that flares up and burns out, but the kind that festers. His left eye narrowed further, his lips drawing back slightly.
"So, I'm blind in one eye?" The words were low, almost a growl.
Mrs. Harmonia nodded, a tear slipping down her cheek. "Yes, I'm afraid so. The damage was too extensive. But you're alive, Ghetsis. You're lucky to be alive."
"Lucky?" Ghetsis' voice was a hiss now, his face twisting into something ugly, even with half of it frozen. "You call this lucky?"
Colress had never seen Ghetsis so vulnerable. It was unsettling. Ghetsis had the air of a cornered Pokémon, not giving up, but becoming more dangerous than ever before.
'Is that the key to unlocking the true power in Pokémon? Being pushed into a life-or-death situation? Could that emotion be simulated?' Colress couldn't help himself, the scientific theories rattled through his brain.
Ghetsis turned his head slightly, a muscle in his neck twitching as he tried to move his paralyzed side. He let out a low, strangled noise, a mix of frustration and defiance. "I'm not done…" he muttered, his voice strained but fierce. "Not yet."
Colress nodded slowly, recognizing the fire in his remaining eye that refused to be extinguished. "No, you're not." he agreed, his tone light but sincere.
Mrs. Harmonia let out a small sob and squeezed Ghetsis' hand.
Ghetsis didn't look at her. He kept his gaze fixed on Colress, his left eye burning with something between fury and calculation. Colress wondered what he was thinking, what he was planning. He had the feeling that whatever it was, it wouldn't be good for anyone who stood in his way.
Colress sat motionless on a plush armchair, his gaze flicking between the crackling fireplace and the jittering shadows it cast across the sitting room. He had never known a house like this before, with its old-world architecture and gaudy furnishings. The Harmonia mansion was a world away from the minimalist functionality of his own home.
Ghetsis was still in the hospital and Colress had attempted to make his escape back to the familiarity of Blueberry Academy, but Mrs. Harmonia had insisted that he stay the night. She sat across from him on a chaise lounge, sipping a tall cocktail with shaking hands. Despite her obvious distress, she smiled when she caught his eye.
"I know it must be strange being here like this. You've been through quite a lot today. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need." she said softly.
"Thank you, Mrs. Harmonia." Colress wasn't sure how much being in an unfamiliar house with people he didn't know was helping, but as she took another shaky sip, the thought occurred to him that maybe she was the one that wanted company.
"Oh, call me Evelyn, please." she chuckled. "The doctors told me that the potion you applied may have saved him from permanent facial scarring. You're a resourceful young man, Colress. I can see why Ghetsis admires you."
Colress looked down at his hands, unaccustomed to such praise. "I did what I could."
He didn't know what else to say. He had never been good at small talk, especially not with someone like Evelyn, whose warmth seemed to fill the room like the glow from the fireplace.
Evelyn set her drink aside and leaned forward slightly, an impish smile turning up her lips. "Would you like to hear a story? When Ghetsis was a little boy, he was very much like you. So serious, always thinking, always planning. He rarely allowed himself to be a child. I wonder if that's why he's taken a liking to you."
Colress blinked in surprise. He had never thought of Ghetsis as a child. It was hard to imagine him any other way than the callous person he was now. He found himself smiling back at her, intrigued. "What was he like?"
Evelyn laughed softly. "Oh, he had such fire in him, even back then. Always asking questions, starting arguments... But he also had a tender side. He would bring me flowers from the garden. Nobody else, just me." Her blue eyes sparkled as she spoke of him, her love for him was so palpable that Colress felt a stab of envy.
Colress listened with rapt attention as she told tales of his childhood antics. Even the bad things, fights and an unfortunate incident with a very expensive vase, she told with an expression of adoration. He couldn't imagine his own parents speaking about him like that. They valued him for his intellect, for his achievements, for what he could become. Their respect was conditional, based on performance and success.
As Evelyn recounted her efforts to keep Ghetsis in school despite his terrible grades and bad behaviour, Colress wondered what it must feel like to be loved unconditionally. Ghetsis might not have noticed it, might even have taken it for granted, but Colress could see that she would love Ghetsis no matter what he did, no matter how far he strayed. It was a love that didn't hinge on behaviour or merit, but simply was.
Suddenly, the door swung open with a loud creak, shattering the delicate peace in the room. A tall man with greying hair and a sharp, angular face stepped inside. The smell of tobacco and liquor followed him like a specter. His eyes were blood red. As Colress suspected, Ghetsis had inherited his eyes from Harold Harmonia Gropius.
"Harold, I didn't expect you back so soon," Evelyn gave him a fawning smile.
Harold's gaze flicked to Evelyn, then to Colress, and back again. His expression twisted into a sneer. It was the same sneer Ghetsis wore, they had the same mouth. "Who's this?" he asked, his voice slurred but still carrying an edge of authority. "You got yourself a toyboy?"
Colress' eyebrow twitched in irritation. His posture straightened combatively, but he held his tongue.
Evelyn's smile fell, but her voice remained calm. "This is Colress, Harold. He's a friend of Ghetsis'. He was with him when... Ghetsis had a bad accident."
"Accident?" Harold scoffed, his lips curling with contempt. "What kind of accident? What has the freak done now?"
Colress flinched at his harsh words. Perhaps Ghetsis wasn't as lucky as Colress had been thinking just a few minutes ago.
"Ghetsis was hurt, Harold," Evelyn said softly. "He's in hospital still. He was hit by a Shadow Ball. He's lost his sight in one eye, as well as some paralysis in his right side."
Harold's eyes narrowed, his nostrils flaring as he took a step closer. "Lost his sight?" he repeated, his tone mocking. "That's what happens when you're a freak without a human heart. You get what you deserve."
Colress felt a surge of anger rise in his chest, surprising even himself. "He saved someone's life," he blurted out before he could stop himself. "There were three men-"
"Silence," Harold barked, his eyes flashing dangerously as he turned to Colress. The cold chill that he sometimes felt in Ghetsis' presence was like a constant hailstorm around his father. Colress shrank back into his chair. "Not another word out of you. I will not be talked back to by a self-righteous child. You think you're special? You're just another one of Ghetsis' little experiments. Just like those poor creatures he used to catch." He leaned closer, baring his yellow teeth in a cruel smile. "You know what he did to them, don't you, boy? Tore them apart, one by one. And who knows… maybe you'll be next."
Colress felt the blood drain from his face. His mouth snapped shut, the anger in his chest instantly replaced by a cold, creeping fear.
Evelyn put a gentle hand on Harold's arm, pivoting herself between Harold and Colress. "Harold, that's enough," she said quietly but firmly. "Colress is our guest. Leave him alone."
Harold brushed off her touch but backed away, nonetheless. "Tch. I'll be in my study. Don't waste any more of my money on the brat's medical bills. If he's stupid enough to get himself maimed, let him deal with it."
Evelyn nodded, her voice barely above a whisper. "Of course, Harold. I'll… see to it."
Harold cast one last disdainful look at Colress before turning on his heel and storming out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him. The sound echoed through the room, and for a moment, everything was still.
Colress felt his heart pounding in his chest, his breath uneven. He turned to look at Evelyn, expecting to see her crumble under the weight of Harold's cruelty. But instead, she sat back down and took a slow sip of her cocktail, her eyes closed and her expression neutral.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," she spoke softly.
"Did Ghetsis really kill Pokémon?" replied Colress, unable to shake the icy feeling of his own blood in his veins.
Evelyn smiled sadly. "Kids do stupid things, Colress. You've been such a good friend to Ghetsis, looking out for him like that. I'm glad he has someone like you in his life. Please don't hold it against him. He's a good person."
Colress had a suspicion that there was only one good person living in this house and it wasn't Ghetsis. Evelyn chuckled lightly at Colress' doubtful expression.
"There's good in everyone, Colress... Even Harold."
"I can see why Ghetsis doesn't speak of him too highly." Colress grimaced.
"I know Harold can be... a lot," Evelyn nodded sagely. "He's a complicated man. He's had a difficult life. Sometimes I think that if I wasn't here to keep the peace, he and Ghetsis would end up killing each other. But there is good in him too, deep down."
Colress frowned. Her ability to love the unlovable was a stronger power than he would ever be able to unlock in a Pokémon.
"Anyway, you look exhausted. It's been a long day. Why don't you get some sleep?" Evelyn stood up and held out her hand to him. He tentatively took it and rose to his feet.
"Thank you for letting me stay, Mrs. Har- Evelyn." Colress bowed his head politely.
"Colress, you're family now." She put her hands on his shoulders. "You are always welcome here."
Before Colress could stop her, she pulled him into a tight hug. Her warmth wrapped around him like a blanket, somehow melting his troubles and creating new ones simultaneously. His arms hung awkwardly at his sides - he wasn't sure where to put them.
Colress felt his throat tighten. He had never been held like this, welcomed like this. He glanced away, feeling an uncomfortable heat behind his eyes, and quickly blinked it away. "Thank you."