Chapter 11 - The Wake-Up Slap
Medical wards were always places that made Charon's fur stand up on all ends, even before he evolved. When he was still a Quilava, he always dismissed it as an uncomfortable place where he would get injected with medicine that would make him feel all funny, but by the time he evolved... Well... The lingering souls of the sick and deceased always itched at him uncomfortably, reaching out to him to be properly guided into the afterlife.
It didn't help that proper medical care during his times were hard to come by — treatments often boiled down to aggressive medicines like opium, pseudoscientific quack treatments like blood letting, or.. well...
Takashi's Lilligant was never able to walk again after what happened to her.
Thankfully, it seemed that this 'children's hospital' was a lot more welcoming than he was used to. The beds weren't made of wood and Starly feathers, the rooms had electric lighting, the tools were clean, and the rooms were a lot more colorful.
A ribbon of green wrapped down the hallway, and from that ribbon, like trees, paintings of young Pokémon sprouted, looking cheerful, friendly. A Leavanny smiling and taking care of a Togepi and a Eevee on one end, with the rest of the wall showing other Pokémon at play. Buneary and Lillipup running in a game of tag, a Pidove near the ceiling in flight looking down among the group… even the old Typhlosion had to admit it looked pleasant.
Completing the mural in the corner of the wall was a small signature. Charon could only make out the first three letters, 'Bur..' before it devolved into meaningless squiggles.
But inviting as the artist tried, the room still felt colder than the Alabaster Icelands during the solstice, because none of the amenities could make up for his grandson nearly reaching his deathbed, in critical condition from toxic poison.
His red eyes entirely focused on his ward's soul which lay dormant in the hospital bed. He would love to be next to him like a watchful guard, but apparently Fire Type Pokémon weren't allowed to be in the same room when they were using an 'oxygen mask'.
He had to restrain himself from walking in there himself, knowing he would most likely distract the healers and nurses keeping him at least stable, but this provided a… necessary opportunity.
His eyes moved to the Ranger who sat next to him, her eyes staring endlessly forward, seemingly motionless, but her soul screamed with a deafening Whirlwind of emotion. Arthur sat next to her, as if to comfort her when her mistake brought this situation into fruition.
Rina had taken Ronin away… somewhere, to help distract the young Pokémon at Charon's suggestion since he looked up to her. Charon counted that as a blessing in this situation, though the side glance the Floatzel sent his way suggested she could already discern his true purpose.
Still, she said nothing, which he appreciated… even if this did make him an 'enemy' later.
With the couch creaking under him, he stood up at his full height and looked down at the Ranger. She didn't even respond, continuing to simply staring forward, even as Arthur shifted to try and meet Charon's gaze.
Only once he spoke, making sure his tone carried as much weight that a ghost could have, that the Ranger flinched out of her fugue state. "What in the name of Sinnoh Almighty were you thinking?"
It wasn't a question, and she knew that when she looked up at Charon with her own gaze. He had to give her credit, Lena didn't look away from his blistering glare, but he didn't give her a chance to speak as he continued. "You let someone in your care get hurt walking into the equivalent of an active war zone, and then you didn't even use all the tools at your disposal to ensure he was kept safe."
She actually looked frustrated at this, her face shifting into a sort-of glare. "It wasn't supposed to be like that. The original point of the Mission was catch and release, standard Ranger protocol —"
"And does 'protocol' have anything to say about when a group of Pokémon are actively targeting the nests of other Pokémon? Killing their young?"
The Ranger flinched at that, and even Arthur, who had looked ready to defend his partner, had his ears fall at Charon's words.
"I know you can fight and organize better, you've fought me and that was still better coordination than what happened. I saw how you looked up at the queen, so why did you not have Arthur, or Rina target her from the start?!"
"The Beedrill would have become more aggressive — wild Pokémon, especially Beedrill, are known to swarm attackers of their hive… it would have put a target on our back even sooner than when you used Flamethrower if we targeted the queen." Arthur countered, managing to find his resolve as the Ranger couldn't respond.
His words nearly caused Charon to explode, the unbridled anger that had been boiling beneath the surface like the apparent explosion that caused the Temple of Sinnoh to explode. He could feel his body heating up as he turned to Arthur now. The Aura Pokémon did not flinch under his gaze, staring back with his own crimson eyes.
"My goal was to protect my ward from Pokémon who saw everyone else as invaders in a place that wasn't even their own, they themselves were already attacking in this situation." Charon growled out, pointing a finger at Arthur. "Most Pokémon that do this act desperate, or are taught and trained. They were not desperate, they were aggressive from the start and this was a coordinated attack."
"And being even more aggressive caused them to target us, which is what led to William getting — being — !" Her voice rose, but it was clearly strangled from emotion, conflicted.
He didn't care.
"Then why did you not call for backup in the first place? I know you can communicate with others with those fancy devices you have now, getting more Rangers to support would have helped in either case. Isn't that part of your beloved 'protocols'?"
She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Charon knew she had no excuse.
Her soul knew she had no excuse.
With a dismissive noise, Charon turned around and started to stomp out of the room, Arthur attempting to interject. "W-Wait, Charon — the doctors —"
"I am going to stand outside my ward's room until he is well."
"People might —"
"I don't care. He's my ward, my grandson, my family. I don't give a Patrat's ass about what anyone else thinks right now."
Briefly Charon turned back around, smothering his burning anger long enough to calm his mind to stare back at Lena and Arthur with a withering glare. "I made a promise to William to protect him in this life and the next. Either help me do that, or stay out of my way." He resumed his march towards the hospital room, leaving the two to stew in silent contemplation.
Charon took a deep breath as to not let his presence overwhelm the others within the building as he walked down the thankfully empty hallway. Despite the burning anger about the situation, he couldn't help but feel the cold chill of worry and anxiety wash over him as he shifted to standing outside the door to William's hospital room, as close to his soul as he could be while he lay unconscious for now.
Lena didn't register the room getting any colder, despite an enraged Fire Type rightfully leaving.
No, she was lost in recalling the events over and over again, now that she was finally sitting down to take stock of it all; but Charon's words were bouncing in her head like a hyperactive Spoink.
Contrastingly, her mind replayed every single minute at a Shelmet's pace, going over every choice and action of the Mission she had made, every second of every minute of every hour. She knew that Arthur was attempting to get her mind off of it since Charon left, but she couldn't focus on anything except what her mind kept replaying involuntarily for her.
It had started out like a normal capture and release mission, they caught Weedle and Kakuna spread around the forest…
"You let someone in your care get hurt…"
They brought them back to the rendezvous point, and… and…
"You didn't even use all the tools at your disposal to ensure he was kept safe."
It was only when William noticed the abnormal migration patterns and went deeper that… that…
"That you went off the path, Lena Winifred."
The voice spoke with such clarity that Lena couldn't help but be snapped out of her daze by force, looking up to see the last person she wanted to see right now, Chairperson Erma.
Her face was unreadable as she stared at Lena, and despite the Top Ranger not wanting to meet her bosses face right now… she couldn't look away, her own eyes locked as the Chairperson stood like a monolith towering above her while she wasn't even standing at her full height. Next to her stood Gardevoir, whose expression gave nothing away.
"Arthur, please go with Gardevoir." Erma said, her tone as hard as solid steel and left no room for argument. The Lucario, ever loyal, looked tempted for just a moment to protest, but soon stood up and walked next to the Embrace Pokémon, following him out the door.
Chairperson Erma continued to stare before she spoke again, her tone a mix of a couple things, but the heaviest among them all stood above everything: disappointment. "Of all the things that could happen in less than three days, I didn't expect you to make the same mistake that started this in the first place."
Lena couldn't even find the words to respond to Chairperson Erma as she continued. "Not only do you go off the normal section of the forest, which was technically outside the original Mission space, but you also stretched yourself too thin, which let William get injured."
With a deep sigh, Erma shook her head. "And then, he gets in such a state that you call for a medical helicopter evac on the open channel no less. You're lucky that you didn't give his name, but you do know that Volunteer Missions that Trainers take apart in get added to their Trainer Record by the League, correct?"
Only nodding slightly, Lena swallowed as if her throat felt entirely dry, Erma continuing without interruption. "So any curious Trainer, or news reporters, is going to poke into the situation, and inquire about why a child was also airlifted to Castelia Children's Hospital, when he also only had three days of being a Trainer."
Erma's presence took up the entire room as she started to pace back and forth, each impact of her cane against the hard, tiled floor, echoing like a ticking clock. "A catch and release Mission is supposed to be straightforward. Yes, while he is… younger than most, there is a reason that those are the most common type of Missions for volunteer Trainers to be asked to assist with."
"It wasn't — it escalated beyond catch and release." Lena found herself saying without realizing it, Chairperson Erma raising an eyebrow and turned to Lena while most of her body faced away. An awkward silence entered the room until Lena realized she was waiting for her to explain. "T-The Beedrill. They were driving the native Pokémon towards the main path of Pinwheel Forest, and driving people away if they got too close near their… target at the time. That's why Beedrill specifically weren't being found by Trainers or Rangers during the main Mission, they were busy attacking and driving the native colonies out around the forest. "
"Which wasn't happenstance?" Erma asked with a raised eyebrow, her tone giving no indication on how she felt about the claim.
Lena shook her head, taking a deep breath before continuing. "When we arrived, they were attacking a Venipede nest, where they had laid their eggs, and were …" Lena had to take a moment to gather her words, remembering the sight of the Scolipede that William had run over too to help the young Venipede. "...killing members of the nest, and the Queen targeted any that attempted to flee specifically with Pursuit, and could use Aerial Ace."
Lena struggled for a moment, Charon's words still hammering in her skull as she thought through everything again… "That's… they were aggressors from the start. This wasn't just a situation w-where a Pokémon took root or migrated to the wrong place, this… the Queen Beedrill intentionally planned this… war against the Pokémon of the forest, and was seemingly… maybe, planted there…"
Chairperson Erma fell silent, tapping her cane in place for a minute that dragged on and on… even though it was probably only a couple seconds. "...I see. So it went beyond the scope of the original information given…"
The Chairperson was clearly processing this information, her eyes narrowing as a heavy silence followed. After a minute had passed, she posed her next question. "And what did you do first in response when you first saw the situation? "
Lena had to take a second to respond, despite having gone over every action of herself for the last twenty four hours multiple times. "I sent in Arthur as he had Heal Pulse to help the wounded and to evacuate, while… Rina was next to me for help while I captured… the Beedrill." Her voice started to trail off, the weight of her failure resting heavily on her throat as the pieces in her mind were coming together.
Erma didn't care about whatever discomfort she was feeling with her next query. "So, you followed the standard Ranger operating procedure for an aggressive group of Pokémon for 'Catch and Release' Missions still."
Lena didn't respond verbally, and just nodded.
"And what about William and his team?"
"They… attacked, and William caught as many as he could…"
"Did you inform him of the procedures that normally fall outside of what a Trainer would do in this situation? Of what a Ranger does?" Erma's voice felt so pointed that it almost psychically hurt to hear.
"...No."
"So, you essentially threw a new Trainer into the deep end after you initially responded incorrectly to a situation, and then only with the benefit of hindsight understood what the situation was."
Lena felt like multiple rounds of Gravity had been used on her with every word Erma said, only nodding.
Chairperson Erma stayed silent for a moment afterwards, before sighing once again. "You realize that this weakens the case with allowing William to go on a Journey, correct? Both the League and especially the International Police are going to poke whatever hole they want from this."
"I-I know—"
"Do you?"
When Lena didn't respond, Erma just stared what felt like a hole through her, burning deep into the core of her being. After a second of eternity had passed, the Chairperson turned around and started for the door, the sound of her cane touching the tiles ringing in her ear before she paused right before the automatic door opened. "I know these past couple days have been different, Lena. And one's self is their worst critic… you especially, so I won't say anything else on the matter for now."
Turning back just enough to meet Lena's eyes, Chairperson Erma had that monolithic appearance once again as she spoke. "So, what are you going to do about this, Lena Winifred? What are you going to do about this to make this right?"
Silence followed as Lena couldn't find an answer, but Chairperson Erma didn't wait, walking out of the room and into the hall to leave the Top Ranger to ruminate on her thoughts.
Chairperson Erma took a deep breath as she exited the family waiting room where her Ranger sat. Despite her position, she never enjoyed giving such a talk to her Rangers. But, the circumstances willed, and this qualified for such an occasion.
She had read the hastily made after action report by Ranger Miguel when she requested it, and although the main details had been missing about the conflict, the results were not.
Over fifty Weedle total from all Trainers, forty-seven Kakuna from all Trainers, those seven of which were set to evolve soon, and over thirty Beedrill found in the aftermath of the Venipede nest.
Missions didn't even go beyond ten for the fully evolved Pokémon in most cases.
In any other circumstance, Erma would have called this a success, and used this as ammunition about the critical nature of Rangers to Pokémon Leagues in every Regions, and especially to rub it in the face of the International Police. Even more so with how the Unovan League was failing to do any of the necessary integration work for proper introduction of new species of Pokémon into the region. A 'hate to say I told you so' moment, if she ever had one.
However, everything surrounding it soured what should have been a victory.
Lena technically didn't break protocol by bringing a 'Trainer' off route, especially since she was now a Top Ranger and had the technical authority to bring a Trainer along on a Mission. It was when you throw in the fact that the Trainer was the focus of two other organizations, and got critically injured by the queen Beedrill who clearly was a Trainer's Pokémon originally that everything fell apart.
The tactics that the other Breedrill used and with her using Pursuit on the fleeing Venipede, as well as the fact that it had used Aerial Ace… had that information been known ahead of time she would have called in Kellyn and Solana.
'Perhaps I'll have to bring one of them out of their current assignments, if only to train Lena. An incident like this tends to be fractal...' Erma mused.
'And maybe someone that understands what she went through wouldn't be bad either...'
Regardless, everyone did all they could in hindsight, missing what should have been vital information obtained before the Mission.
Chairperson Erma had already narrowed down a mental list of possible sources for where such a TM could have been purchased, but it didn't help that it's a widely available TM across Regions, but that would still need to be investigated later…
The only issue is that the League would need to be involved as this had turned into something beyond just an aftereffect of the Unova Diversity Act. The thought was enough to bring a grimace on her face.
And then… the curveball of the night, Arthur's hesitant reveal to Gardevoir that William knew that Lady Virizion's domain had once been Pinwheel Forest.
Although the excuse that Charon had met the Legendary Pokémon previously and simply passed that information is plausible, and most likely true to a sense, the way Arthur described William's reaction solidified it in her mind.
"He didn't know that information wasn't already commonly known, and if he knew, he clearly wouldn't have said anything."
A mistake on William's part, for sure, but that's a matter for another time. A matter still, but not now… best not to jump to conclusions.
The Cherubi on top of this all was him getting poisoned, an Antidote failing to treat it even after he ate Pecha Berries, and how he fell critically unconscious on the helicopter ride over to the hospital.
Nothing else about the successes of the Mission mattered at that point, Erma most likely would have had a conversation with Lena even if it didn't end in the mess it did now.
As she continued her walk down the hall, she noted how Charon stood tall next to the door by William's room, no doubt intimidating at least some of the doctors and nurses that walked by. Erma found the sight somewhat calming and couldn't help but smile.
It always warmed her heart to see a Pokémon so dedicated to protecting their Trainer, or charge.
It wasn't even four-o-clock in the morning yet, and it was no surprise that Lena had looked terrible, on top of stressed, and exhausted. Yet, Charon seemed content to stay away until his ward awakened, despite some scuffs from the battle at the Venipede nesting grounds hours before.
At the noise of Erma's cane, the ghost seemed to perk up just slightly, glancing at Erma's direction and seeming to relax for a moment as she walked down the hall and stopped next to the Ghost Flame Pokémon. "No news yet?"
Charon took a deep breath before shaking. "...Phlo. Shion." (...He is asleep, but the poison worked… too fast on his body, so they needed to give more antitoxin than normal.)
Erma nodded with a hum and sighed heavily. "Poison is a nasty thing. I've seen more than enough Rangers get afflicted with all types of poison from all kinds of Pokémon." She started, taking a deep breath thinking back for a moment. "Roserade, what a sickeningly sweet trap… Tentacruel is a common one we have to deal with in Kanto."
Charon looked at her, wincing before responding. "Typh… Phl-Sion…Phlolo…" (In Hisui… Paras and Croagunk poison were the most common. I think I disliked Paras more for how aggressive they are… even with knowing about their nature, they caught so many by surprise…)
Erma hummed in sympathy, but frowned at the mention of the Mushroom Pokemon. "Yes, Paras can be… tricky. Took the Ranger Union ages to figure out how to handle them, and then Parasect…" She muttered for a moment, before she shook her head. Best not to get into the discussion of the 'Parasect Defense' for now. "Well, that's not why I brought poison up in the first place. I want to ask you how many Pokémon… or people, the Ranger Union has lost to poison."
Charon froze at the question, narrowing his eyes for a moment before he answered, though with more hesitation than she expected. "...Typhlo, son?" (Over a hundred? Or… have you lost count?)
"None."
Charon couldn't help but stare in pure shock as Erma took a step forward and looked off to the side. "Times have changed since Hisui, old ghost. Times have certainly changed… but with changing times, comes advancements."
She started to pace gently back and forth, mentally chuckling to herself as she understood why Lamont had wanted to start a school specifically now, feeling like an instructor to a young student, despite Charon being only a couple decades older at most.
But, she made sure her face looked unmoving so as to not distract from the point she was making. "As head of the Ranger Union, I've made sure that every Region we are stationed in has ample access to antitoxins, medical supplies…"
Taking a breath, Erma started to walk back and forth in front of Charon. "Despite my… misgivings about the internet, it's the very foundation of which the Operators that Rangers depend on in the modern age, and they can communicate critical needs across Regions in seconds." Memories started to fly back to Erma, a melancholy smile finding itself on her face. "And before then, well, I made sure that if my own partner and I needed too, we would be able to get the supplies as needed to any of my Rangers, as well as those they protect… those were sleepless days and nights…"
As to not lose herself in memories of bygone days, Erma continued. "Regardless, William will get the care he needs, and I've even called in an… associate of mine, Dr. Eirin is her name, for this case to handle this."
Chuckling slightly, she remembered how annoyed Eirin was at the sudden call due to time zone differences, but she immediately went straight to work with Erma's requests without a moment of hesitation. "She's already reviewing William's file, and as she's an… independent party, no League or Interpol eyes are on this… yet."
Charon let out a noise, grunting slightly and glaring in the direction of the family room with a rolling rumble in his throat. "Typhlosion-Phsion-Loooshion." (At least there's one person in the Ranger Union who can choose to do the right thing. Instead of following some backwards 'procedure' trying to maintain a fake level of 'control'.)
'Ah, how best to play this… it is understandable he is angry, but I can't have him being antagonistic and possibly cause a divide that'll let the International Police have more sway… let's see what I can do.' Erma hummed for a moment, tapping her cane on the floor for a moment. "Charon, back in Hisui, an attack like this would not end unless the aggressive party… is entirely eliminated, yes?"
Charon turned back to her, the hallway getting a tad warmer as he stared at her, their eyes meeting in a contest. The Alpha Typhlosion, to Erma's credit, didn't back down and just nodded. "I see, and most Pokémon moves and attacks were brutal. Focused on domination of a single target before moving onto the next… is that how the Beedrill were acting as well?"
"...Phlo. Llosion, TyphPhlosion." (No. What is your point, my ward, my grandson, almost died from them. If it were my choice, I would have used more flames then I did.)
"My point is that they were coordinated. Spread out. Organized by focusing on weak points or groups… which is sadly why William was targeted most likely." Erma stated, her eyes narrowing at Charon. "Top Ranger Lena, yes, while she made a mistake on processing the situation, fell back on her training, those procedures… still a mistake, but the same one you made."
Charon looked to be hit by a Fake Out, but Erma continued. "You just admitted you would have used more flames. However, trained Pokémon… or at least, Wild Pokémon who got diction from say… a queen Beedrill, would know not to go all in against a Fire Type that has over a century of experience. So they go for smaller targets… or try to split groups apart to pick off, or send in sacrifices meant to wear down a target, burn them out…"
Silence overtook the hallway as Charon clearly thought on her words, replaying the events of that night… but Erma decided to strike while the iron glowed.
"Soldier, who won the war with Zdarova and Galar?"
Charon's fur instinctually stood on end in response, and the room rapidly started rising in temperature, only for the heat to sputter out like a dying campfire.
Erma took the silence as the answer she was expecting. "I see. You probably know better than I do about how your adversaries fought in particular battles, but their strategy of Gorilla Tactics and "fighting dirty" became standardized going forward."
"...Typ-Phlos-Sion? Phlsion?" (...And you suggest I do the same? Target indiscriminately?)
"I am not saying to perform acts that compromise promises, or morals you make with your ward. You need to re-learn the battlefield— did you even use any moves or techniques that focus on a wider area that won't impact those next to you? Heat Wave? Eruption?"
"...Plosion…. Lolo-Typhlosion. Lo-Phlo…" (...No, I don't… those moves weren't in Hisui. Never learned them…)
"Then you will need to expand your toolkit first and foremost. These are the words of someone who's had to adapt the Ranger Union to the modern age, despite difficulties… because one mistake, no matter how much of a permanent impact it seems to have made, you carry with you forever. It means you need to adapt, or you will get passed up by Pokémon who haven't needed too, like tonight."
Charon's gaze didn't move an inch as Erma stared back for a good minute, before he finally let out a snort and seemed to sink, conceding just barely.
Erma considered a win, but she pressed a bit more. "I know not what either you or William will face… and I have not known him as long as you, but do you see him as a Trainer who throws himself into danger headfirst? Even at his own peril?"
Charon looked up at this again, but Erma held a hand out to stop him. "I am not criticizing him for it. I am simply stating that if you are to be a responsible guide and his Pokémon, as much as he is your ward and your Trainer, you need to be equally responsible as well in your half of the equation."
Erma tapped her cane, punctuating her words. "War has changed, soldier. Adapt to the times. When lives are on the line, a dirty win is still a win, and a clean loss is still a loss. And unlike last time, do you not have someone worth fighting for?"
As silence seemed to mute all other sounds as she finished, Erma tapped her cane twice on the ground, and her partner Gardevoir suddenly appeared next to her. Erma took his arm gently before turning back to Charon, her eyes a mix of calm sympathy and cold, calculating sternness.
"...Oh, and one last thing before I forget. Lena might have joined this whole mission by happenstance, but your continued cooperation is not an accident, for I would have assigned her to this mission otherwise. You two have a lot more in common than you think you do. Perhaps time to get to know each other better would serve you both well."
"Typh-lolosionlo." (If you think she's like me, then your eyes will need to be checked fae.)
Erma chuckled a little then nodded all sage-like as a pink glow of a teleport slowly creeped up from under her, starting at her legs.
"Goodbye Charon, I hope we can see each other under better circumstances."
And after a wave from her partner, they vanished in an instant, leaving Charon alone in an empty hallway… left to his own thoughts until his ward awoke.
Dr. Yagokoro needed another cup of tea, or two, just to begin to understand the discrepancies on this child's file.
With a sigh, her eyes resumed at the top of the page, reviewing everything she had just read to ensure she was not missing anything, even as part of her grumbled at her day suddenly being prolonged.
It had been a pretty typical day at her lab and clinic so far. Two patients had seen her in the morning for simple checkups, lunch had no one calling for her in the middle of it which was a rarity nowadays, and the rest of the day ticked on slowly, with no surprise walk-ins, it provided her more than enough time to work on her personal experiments.
She had resumed grinding down a Doom Seed she had grown into a powder to brew into a cup of tea for Reisen. Her previous experiments on grafting Fighting-type energy into her had failed to achieve this "Mega Evolution" she had heard about, but had induced a significant increase in size and behavioral changes. She hoped this Doom Seed would both sate her increased appetite and maybe reduce some of the aggressive tendencies.
And then, like she was being mocked, her phone rang. Not her office phone, her personal phone, the sudden ringtone completely throwing her off her focus, and instinctively annoying her before she recognized the ringtone.
Few people knew her phone number, fewer had personal ringtones assigned to them to know what they were calling for. And a quick glance at the caller ID displayed on what some youths would call an 'ancient' flip-phone, told her that her old friend and business associate Erma had called her.
Her own personal annoyance at being interrupted was cast aside — Erma did pay generously to have her on retainer for situations exactly like this.
Although she might have to start billing her more. Erma's Gardevoir was quite bothersome — she swore he always made his teleports as disorienting as possible just because he liked watching her feel sick afterwards, the naughty Psychic he was.
"Pix-ie!"
Blinking for a moment to get rid of the words imprinted on her eyes, she turned and saw her companion Yomi place a tray on the counter, four cups of gently steaming tea sitting inside. Even with a mask on, the nutty aroma of the pot of kukicha helped ease some of the stress of the night away.
"Ah, thank you, my companion." She said to the Clefable, smiling through her mask as she turned back to the file once more… if there were four cups in the tray, she should expect…
Without turning around, Dr. Yagokoro sighed and leaned back into her chair. "If you wanted to speak to me, I'd appreciate it if you knocked. Patient confidentiality and all."
The sound of a cane tapping along the floor, along with a chuckle filled the nearly empty lunch room as Erma walked up to the open chair next to the doctor. "And since when did you ever concern yourself with such matters, Eirin? Last I heard you were experimenting with some pill to induce nightmares."
"It's the Butterfree Dream Pill, and it cures nightmares, not causes them."
"Right, tell that to poor Goro, yes?"
Gardevoir gently pulled out a chair for Erma, smiling before he took a cup of tea with Clefable and sat on the other side of the table, the two Pokémon gossiping as they usually did. Erma took a sip from her own cup of tea, humming at the blend. Dr. Yagokoro slid her mask off mentally, slowly letting the stress of the night wash away ….
"So, my friend, what do you see?" Erma asked suddenly, switching to their shared native tongue and dialect. Dr. Yagokoro felt all that stress nearly come back on, but her face took a more focused look as she glanced around at the few people who were also eating either on the other side of the room, or a couple tables behind them.
Dr. Yagokoro sighed, and took a big sip of tea before she set it down, her mind already working through everything.
"The patient, William… " She paused, her usual script of including the entire name being tripped up as she realized there was none listed, but it was only for a moment as she continued smoothly on. "...had a severe reaction to Beedrill toxins that by all accounts, should have been cured by the Pecha Berry we found in his system. However, this wasn't an allergic reaction, as he never entered anaphylactic shock, thank Ho-oh."
Erma hummed, her eyes narrowing as she took another sip of her tea, prompting Dr. Yagokoro to continue. "The toxins found in his body were discovered to be less than 5 milliliters, and this is just from a passing strike of Twineedle. However, further tests confirm that the type of toxin was potent, more in line with a trained Beedrill's ability to manipulate Poison Type Energy, but nothing that would be considered 'abnormal'." Memories of previous encounters with Beedrill poison entered Dr. Yagokoro's memory for a moment, as she narrowed her eyes.
"The medically accepted amount of even a trained Beedrill's toxin that is able to be absorbed by the body with only mild sickness is more than a couple thousands times what his body took. Trainers that specialize in Poison Types have even volunteered for studies to find the upper limit of the human body, reaching almost quadruple that. Such a small amount should not have done such damage to his body." Dr. Yagokoro stated, Erma was silent as she processed the information with a pressed look on her face.
"It did however, so how did his body react to the toxins?"
Taking another deep breath, lest she go into a rant, she continued. "The toxin spread throughout the body at a rapid rate, almost as if it was tissue paper. It put up no defense that could be expected of a healthy child and we were required almost quadruple the amount of antitoxin that a normal case of Beedrill poison would have required just to stop the spread, and had to then handle the side effects akin to his body fighting back on the antitoxin… but only part of it, leading to needing to administer medicine to counteract any possible overdose symptoms. We attempted to use Life Dew on him due to the effect the toxins started to have on the healthy tissue on his shoulder and arm which… had no effect, but the cocktail of multiple drugs at that point was finally assisting in flushing his system. We still took steps slower than normal, due to his lack of a reaction to the Antidote Ranger Lena attempted to apply just in case, as well as the fact that Life Dew did nothing. To be safe, we applied the medicines one at a time, to monitor his vitals with every additional dose. He is stable… if on enough medicine to make even Whitney's Miltank faint."
Erma hummed… her face gave away nothing to onlookers, but Yagokoro knew it was grave with the information given. Stopping at a specific page, she pointed where his blood labs had been documented. "Aside from that, I did review the blood labs as well, the antitoxin from both the Antidote and the higher medical variation we gave him was found to be surrounding the Beedrill venom, as intended, but the nearby blood cells were not producing the expected protein reaction. As a result, his body seemed to be producing more white blood cells that counter-reacted to what should have been an protein cellular deconstruction of the venom and the general medicines included to promote homeostasis to stabilize him were completely unreactive to any aspect of his white or red blood cells."
Erma took a sip of her tea, humming as she looked to process the statement, before she glanced at Gardevoir. "You got that, yes?"
Gardevoir nodded with a pleasant smile, Erma smiling back. "Good, it'll give Professor Hastings something new to translate for me later."
Yagokoro sighed for a moment before shaking her head and glancing at Yomi, who only giggled at the plight of her partner. "It seems I am alone…. Erma." She shifted back to her native tongue, snapping Erma instantly back as the Chairperson of the Ranger Union, already having in mind what was needed.
"Eirin, this was just from less than a drop of poison. And even then, quick thinking and actions only do so much. There needs to be a permanent… solution, or plan."
"May I make a treatment plan for him? I… feel like I am technically the best suited to… look into this matter." Yagokoro asked, her tone a bit… sly.
Erma's eyes glinted in a mixture of amusement. "Oh? The Mad Doctor of Johto, The Brain of the Moon, sees another experiment? I suppose you did say the Chansey's Oath was more of a suggestion…"
Dr. Yagokoro rolled her eyes. "Like you wouldn't have called me if you were really concerned about the outcome I would produce, Miss Queen Bitch of Almia."
The two just looked at each other and shared a laugh. For as much as Erma got on her nerves, they were good friends in the end.
Erma's face shifted back to a serious expression as she closed her eyes, something that Yagokoro picked up on, knowing that her friend was heavily considering the next plan of action with all the information presented to her. "What are you planning to do? I agree with you entirely, however, just know that this may come up later if the League or the International Police try to request information… the League will back down from patient confidentiality, but the less concerning info to the International Police, the better."
After what felt like a minute of organizing and adjusting her mental plan with that information, Eirin spoke. "I want to do a genetic analysis to fully understand what happened to his body, and develop a dedicated future treatment or prevention plan." Her expression grew grave glancing over at some of the other papers in the pile. "All of this is all from less than a drop of poison you'd need a microscope to see… he's been lucky. What happens if he has an allergic reaction to a different medicine? His body isn't reacting to a lot of our methods as expected, something inherently different is about him that goes beyond just…"
As Eirin trailed off, Erma looked to be almost chewing on her words, but nodded in agreement. "I agree completely, this is beyond just a one off abnormality. I don't want his future care to happen blind, or with a random doctor on his journey, who knows who they'll report to."
Doctor Yagokoro's own frown formed, before she tilted her head in a considering manner. From what she could gather from even just a preliminary exam, there was indeed something interesting with his Aura…
"...May I use whatever I find or discover for my own personal experiments? Separate from anything related to William, of course."
Erma didn't so much as flinch from the expected request from her. "You have my approval for whatever you need, friend. Just do it privately is all I ask." Erma stated, drinking the rest of her tea before standing up. "I hate to leave so suddenly, however I must be going for now, I have a long night ahead of me back in Almia, as well as prior obligations. Please call me once the patient is cleared to leave."
With that, Erma made a glance at Gardevoir who sighed, but said a goodbye to Yomi, who bowed politely as well. Erma's arm was taken by him, but before they could use Teleport, Yagokoro held a hand up to stop them.
"Before you go, friend… do you know where this child is from? I could get some baseline samples from the area to try and help identify this…" She asked, grabbing a quick pen to jot down a location, but paused when she saw Erma frown, sighing and shaking her head.
"I'm afraid not, but if you know of another method to do so, go ahead. I am intrigued myself."
And with that, Erma and Gardevoir vanished in a brief flash… Yagokoro sighed at the sight of her old friend vanishing, before pausing as she realized that Erma had left the two containers of tea on the table for her to clean up.
"...I hate Psychic Types....."
The minutes dragged on and on, which then turned into hours as Charon's focus split between holding Ronin, and maintaining his insight on William's soul. Rina had brought Ronin back after he had fallen asleep from just the sheer exhaustion, but the slight glare in her eyes at Charon did indicate she would have her own words with him later about what he said to the Ranger.
Despite that, neither of them said anything at the moment so as to not wake the young Water Type. Time ticked on, and on, and on… William's body lay quietly on the hospital bed in the room… until like a Wailord had been finally lifted from his entire being he woke up.
…Mostly, at least.
Charon still had to wait until the nurses removed the oxygen mask… but even after that, they insisted that they waited until he's 'more stable'. Claiming that they were unsure of what his exact reaction would be when he fully regained consciousness.
Well, they didn't have a link to his soul, and could tell his thoughts on everything… despite how 'muffled' they were.
Charon didn't like that sensation at all, his eyes flicking through the doors and looking at his ward's soul… still empty and almost devoid of the natural life essence, but now with a disgusting ichor surrounding it, leftover from the toxins that had invaded his body. It was slowly shrinking, but a mix of whatever medicine they pushed into him in an attempt to stem the poison from spreading muffled everything else about him…
At least they didn't use enough Pep-Up Plant to kill an Alpha Snorlax.
The healers must have thought that they made their point, as they seemed content to leave Charon standing outside and walking away, most likely to speak to the Ranger. Charon let out a dismissive noise before he waited another moment for them to turn the corner before he opened the door to William's room; he wasn't going to let anyone else see his ward.
Inside, William wore a child's hospital gown, adorn head to toe with a variety of Pokémon all wearing medical attire, or holding bandages or blankets with thermometers in their mouths. A wire plugged into his wrist… an 'Eye-Vee Drip' if he heard them correctly describe what they did to him from the door, and a sort of clip-on device on his left pointer finger that attached to a regularly beeping monitor, showing his ward's heartbeat… and a number listed as 'temp' with a 'C' under it that kept bouncing between 39 and 40…
His left shoulder had a tight wrapping around gauze directly on his wound. His skin around the infection area still looked purple, ugly, an unpleasant reminder of what transpired… but compared to what state he was in hours before… the old Typhlosion had to say, the fae was right about advancements in the modern age…
"The… power of s-sciii…ence.. f-fuhuck." William groaned out in response to Charon's passing thought as he barely propped himself up on the bed, a pillow at his back as his eyes blinked sluggish, his voice dry and a tad slow. His voice enough to cause Ronin to blink awake in Charon's arms… turning to his Trainer with a relieved expression on his face.
"Easy, kid… don't push yourself… " Charon gently murmured as he sat down next to the bench by the bed, it creaked slightly as he sat down on it still…
William only grunted, breathing slow and heavy as a half-grimace formed on his face as Charon could see him flex his right hand repeatedly, as if testing his muscles and motor skills. His ward swallowed, and took a deep breath before he turned to Ronin and a lopsided, unfocused smile formed. "Roooonin… who's theee behst… Watuuer Thyph… Typh… in the woooorld…"
The Oshawott blushed, but actually turned away, seeming to slump over in defeat. "I couldn't protect you enough though… you still got hurt and—"
"ShshhhHsh… you'r shooo break… so bre… brave… egh…" A full-grimace formed now as he struggled to find the right word. Charon light touched their connection once again… William's being still… clouded by the medicine flowing through his physical body… scattered, yet sluggish dragging themselves forward. Charon winced as he felt a phantom echo of what his ward physically felt… it felt somewhat disconcerting having his ward be this out of it.
"Yoou wur shooo braave. Shoo… fasht… and… shlicey." William finally said before taking a breath that descended into what seemed like a giggling fit. "Oooh goddd. I'm on shoooo maany drugs."
He slowly started to look around the room, Charon feeling a vague nudge to help him find something… though the concept only vaguely sent over to him.
After a moment, Charon managed to finally discern it, reaching next to William's bed where a clipboard hung from the wall that seemed almost an inch thick with papers with a pen on top of it. Charon pulled it closer to look at it himself for a moment, before frowning a the complicated names and percentages; William started to make 'grabby hands' at him for it which prompted him to carefully place it in his lap as to not drop it on the floor and alert anyone else he was in here.
"You shouldn't use your left arm, kid… " Charon started, but William ignored him, and he knew he ignored him because of the mental eye-roll he got through their link he could practically feel… Charon snorted despite the situation.
Even when drugged up, his ward had enough mental energy to give the elderly sass.
William's lips moved as he read his medical chart, a hum leaving him as Charon watched him… it was clear his body and mind were still completely exhausted even with him attempting to push himself. "Understand any of it…?"
"What the hellll ish… 'Remeyo Extract'...?"
"A medical term you shouldn't be trying to pronounce right now…" Charon replied, but William did not respond as he stared intently at a pie chart… most likely showing the total percentages of medicine they gave him. Sighing slightly, Charon gently squeezed through the link… feeling William's state and noting how he was trying to force himself to stay awake… try, being the key word.
'Sinnoh above kid… you're more stubborn than Kamado… and he was deposed for it.' Charon thought with a slight sigh… but he knew that William was tapering off… the medicine's effects were still weighing him down more… and more… as if slowly floating off a cliff on the wings of a Flying Type.
He was okay though, recovering, alive. 'And being alive is what matters… nothing else does. Not that Ranger, not Team Plasma, not any person in a fancy suit, nothing else matters right now…'
…Despite that… there was the constant nagging at his senses. Of souls around this place… something that William must have noticed with how Charon's felt through their connection as he turned to Charon with probably the most pitiful nagging expression he's ever seen.
"Charrrn… yoouh… yooou have yoourr joob…"
With a snort, Charon shook his head. "My duty is keeping an eye on you, my ward… others can wait."
William's face shifted to an almost pouting expression… "Chhhaarrreen… pleeeaaase… I knnhow… it… b-bhothers youh…"
Charon knew that this was William's way of trying to comfort him… to let him distract himself and assist some souls lingering about the place while he was here… and he was going to sleep soon, if their link was anything to go by…
…Sinnoh, he had such a sap for a ward.
'I'd rather have a sap with a bleeding heart than anyone else, however.'
Taking a breath, he stood up from the bench, William was going to drift off either way, best not to let him be more distracted. "Fine, you win… but I'll still be nearby, so don't get any ideas. Or even try thinking about them. You still need to recover."
Turning to the side, Charon looked at Ronin who was watching their Trainer for a moment before turning to face the Typhlosion as he stood up. "I'm going to do what Wiliam says and do 'my job'... yours is now to make sure no one else bothers him when he falls asleep, and keep him company…" Glancing at William who had managed to find a pen… he had flipped the clipboard over and was trying to write… something on the hard back of the clipboard, to minimal effect.
'Didn't even wait for me to leave the room, I swear kid…'
Letting out an exasperated breath, albeit, with a hint of a smile; Charon turned back to Ronin who nodded seriously. "I'll… keep him safe… he'll be okay, I won't… let him be alone."
Charon's smile turned a bit warmer, nodding at the Water Type before he started to wander off… best to leave before a nurse let him 'officially' in as well… They tend to give smaller Pokémon passes to see their Trainers anyways…
As Ronin watched Charon saunter out of the room, he took a deep breath while turning to his Trainer, hooked up to wires and monitors very clearly out of it…
Even with medicine pumped into him, it was clear that William's 'overplanner' habit as Charon described it was bleeding through, with how he stared at the back of the clipboard with a funny expression. Ronin barely was able to get a glance at where he was sitting, but it looked more like scribbles that only vaguely looked like letters.
Ronin had seen what worry could do to a human, the Professor worrying about the green hat lady behind closed doors was proof enough. As gently as he could, he walked across the bed to where William laid, and gently started to pull the clipboard away.
William resisted, but only just for a second before he nodded just a tad too much, his head almost seeming to bounce on the uptick. "You'right… shond't… useh… hospit… too expesnsihsve… " William paused, blinking as he made a hissing noise and looked a tad nervous… "FHuuck… I houp… hope… Leenah has insurrence…"
The Water Type wasn't sure what 'insurrence' was, but he pulled the clipboard away now that William looked to be distracted by whatever mental tangent he was on now, but shifted slightly and started to look around… "Roonin… bachpack… need… to whrite… w-write… down… ideeeeasss… "
"William… you can write after you heal…" Ronin tried to say firmly, but gently as best he could for his age, remembering Charon's previous comments about how a Trainer should take the advice of their Pokémon…
…Granted, Ronin realized that was with the condition that the Trainer was healthy and mentally sound, which William, on lots and lots of medicine and recovering from being poisoned, was not.
"Buuut ideaaaaasssszzz…" His speech slurred, whining like a child as he saw what he was looking for and reached for his backpack, sitting on the chair to his right. Ronin panicked as he saw William grab it and drag it off the chair to bring it to him, but suddenly started to shift forward due to the center of gravity shifting near the edge of the bed, and how his left arm wasn't holding it with enough force.
Ronin rushed forward and grabbed the edge of William's hospital gown and pulled back, William seeming to regain his balance with the extra pull and heaved the bag onto his lap while letting out a tired breath. The heart rate monitor started to beep a bit faster, spiking like Ronin's own anxiety at nearly seeing his Trainer fall off the bed.
"Fhhhuck, are melt m-myy muscells…?" William visibly paused, his eyes narrowing as he stared at nothing. Ronin could see what little mental ability Wiliam had left was going into parsing what he said…
Whatever he had concluded, he didn't say as he shifted the bag again before he placed a finger on either side of the open hole where the two zippers didn't fully connect at the top, and pulled it apart. Ronin couldn't help but sigh as he thought back to the battle in the forest…
He was glad that Rina helped him focus on Aqua Jet first, but he couldn't help but grimace at how… he couldn't do much during the battle.
Even with William's idea of using the Nest Ball to hold the Beedrill back or temporarily subdue them, followed by soaking them with a Water Gun aimed at the wings to give them trouble flying, he could only wait for someone like Charon, or Arthur to step in to finish the job…
He's only had one real battle as well… what William was saying about mistakes started to bounce in his head… he was relying too much on William's direct commands, or planning beforehand. Ideas like using Tail Whip without notifying the opponent… weakening them slowly… those worked, but in the moment, when chaos erupted and he had to figure out how to disorient the enemy to keep his Trainer safe?
He needed to react better, find better ways to weaken them… without William planning beforehand.
He may have not said it, but William most likely felt the same way…
He had too, right? After he couldn't even step in to protect his Trainer… he was supposed to embody what a 'Ronin' was, and he couldn't even protect the one human who reached out to him instead of others…
He'll need to remember to ask William if he can do more battles… if not for experience for both of them, than for Ronin to prove himself.
With a tight resolve filling his chest, he turned back to William who looked frozen, blinking at the inside of his backpack.
Two yellow, heavy-lidded eyes were poking out, blinking back at him.
"Hhhrmmm." William… 'said', to Ronin however, it felt more like a verbalization of what his disoriented mind was processing. Nevertheless, he blinked once again as a Venipede crawled out of the bag slowly, saying nothing as it gently crawled onto his chest and practically pressed him further into the bed, seeming to… vibrate, even purr against him.
Ronin felt panic rise through him while William blinked back once again, but his eyes were getting even lower… the exhaustion and weight of all the medicine finally weighing on him.
Two yellow, heavy-lidded eyes blinked back at him while its body purred against him.
"W-Who are you…?! W-What are you doing in my Trainer's bag…?!" Ronin hissed at the poisonous intruder, who was ignoring him at the moment, entirely staring at William. Glancing at William as he blinked slowly again, Ronin could tell he was noticeably getting more and more tired…
For a moment, William's face looked to consider this Bug-Poison Type that had somehow snuck its way into his bag, laid there silently until he opened it up fully. Ronin could see the Klink struggling to turn inside his head, pondering how he should react.
And he just hummed again at the sight, his eyes fluttering as exhaustion seemed to finally start weighing him down…
"Are hallucinanantions a sssidde… effect offffh… Remieeyeyo Exxtract?? Cuuz… thatz a Venerpeede...." He said sleepily, pushing the bag aside and pulled the cover on the bed up close to his chest, bringing the Venipede closer to the upper part of his chest as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he focused on the Venipede vibrating gently on his chest…
"Comfery bugg...."
William passed out not even a minute later, all while Ronin quietly hissed and tried to get the bug to move without waking his now sleeping Trainer.
Beta Editors/Readers:
David "TheBlizWiz" R
Garmfild
Post Release Edit:
Pimu_Satis - Special thanks for spotting the misspelling of Solana. Fixed across all sites. Thank you again!
Author's Notes: I apologize again for the week delay, but this chapter and the next really needed the extra cooking time, and TheBlizWiz and I are much happier with how it turned out now then before, and C12 is looking much much better as well for next week, just hope it was worth the wait for everyone.
Thank you again for all the support, it really does mean a lot to the both of us!
