Chapter 3: Respite
Cold.
My hair was draped over my eyes but somehow I could see. Faint-colored outlines of large leaves surrounded me; the picture looked rudimentary, almost like my eyes weren’t actually seeing anything at all, but I could still tell exactly what I was looking at. I tried lifting my arm to brush my hair to the side; no response. Feet? Nothing either. What the hell was happening? Why couldn’t I control my body?
Lonely. Afraid.
Why was I afraid? And why did I feel so small? My head slowly started looking around as if it were frightfully surveying for something. Was I hiding?
My eyes shut, my weird mind-vision’s range suddenly expanding as my brain began to feel wonky. I could see trees, plants, and swaths of grass lining the ground all around me for what looked like hundreds of feet; I was definitely in a forest! I felt my mind focus a bit harder as something weird began to happen; abstract silhouettes of creatures radiating colored auras slowly began to appear one by one in the distance while something on my head began to pulsate. I could feel emotions coming from each of them, their forms becoming more distinct as I became aware of every living thing around me.
A small brownish bird glowing blue in exhaustion perched high up on a branch.
The shape of a cocoon nestled in a bush, beaming yellow with happiness.
Two large spiders scuttling through the bushes, one green with envy as the other happily carried a berry on its back.
A dog scouring nearby, salivating red with hunger, and another, then another, and—
Fear!!
My body began to panic as the figures grew closer as if they knew where I was hiding. My tiny, white arms began rummaging through the leaves while my white-cloaked legs struggled to propel me away from the threat. The frantic thoughts in my mind were garbled and foreign in inflection, but I could still innately understand what they were saying: “Run! Run away! They’re after me!”
I kept running, and running, and running. Ravenous growls grew closer behind me as my tiny body struggled to keep up its pace. Whatever I was, it didn’t feel natural to run like this, but it also felt like it was my only option; but I felt so weak, oh so weak.
I stopped at a large oak tree and hid behind it, panting in exhaustion as tears streamed down my face. I closed my eyes and focused, projecting my thoughts into the air in a desperate call for help. A snarl rang out in front of me; I opened my eyes and was met with five giant Pokémon staring at me insatiably, saliva dripping from their maws as their red eyes pierced my soul. I gasped as I pinned my head against the tree, my psychic vision dissipating while my eyes adjusted to the horrifying sight of each dog licking their lips and inching closer. They were about to pounce on me! My petrified mind sent out a final, anguished plea: “I don’t want to die!!”
A shrill, alien scream escaped my mouth; then there was nothing.
I gasped as I jolted awake and began coughing violently, frantically looking around as I slowly realized that I hadn’t died, and there were no dogs. I was lying in an upright hospital bed inside of a dimly lit room; the glow of the vital signs monitor to my right mixed with a faint amount of sterile white light trickling in from under the door; my clothes had been replaced with a thin, light-green gown that exposed my bare chest to the chilly air; an IV was embedded in my hand along with a few other sticky pads and wires stuck to my arms and chest; was I in some kind of hospital ward? I struggled to inhale as the panic in my mind slowly started to dissipate, a numbing calm replacing the aches in my chest and fire in my lungs.
“Ohhhh my god,” I thought as I caught my breath, the wires lightly tugging at my skin as I curled forward. “It was just a dream?” If that was a dream, why’d it feel so real? It was like I’d been transported into someone, or something’s traumatic memories and forced to experience them through their eyes. I shook my head to clear it; I was okay. I was alive. I was not going to be mauled to death by a pack of— “Wait a minute. Was I the—
Knock knock.
“May I come in?” a feminine voice came from behind the door.
“U-uh, yes!” my voice cracked in response.
The door slowly opened and a young pink-haired lady wearing a nurse’s outfit walked through; she smiled, gave me a gentle wave, and flipped the lights on. A large pink Pokémon wearing a small white hat with a red cross insignia followed close behind. The lady walked over to a chair set beside my bed and sat down, taking a look at the monitor and nodding in what looked like relief.
“How’re you feeling?” she turned toward me and calmly spoke. “I’m so relieved you’re awake!” The Pokémon behind her gleefully chirped in tandem.
“I’m—oof—fine ma’am,” I winced as I tried to move my legs. “Nnh—where am I? What’s going on?” Something had been wrapped tightly around my injured knee, but I couldn’t tell what it was since there was a blanket draped over my legs.
“You’re at the Floridge Medical Center. I’m Doctor Alice Joy, but you can call me Nurse Joy if that’s easier,” — the pink Pokémon beside her stepped forward and waved one of its tiny stubby arms — “and this is my assistant Chansey. We’ll be taking care of you while your leg heals.”
“H-hi…” I daintily waved back. “So cute…”
“My leg huh,” I eyed where my legs were under the blanket. “No wonder I can’t move…” Whatever had my leg locked in place was probably some kind of brace, meaning I wasn’t doing any walking anytime soon. I chastised myself for being so careless; how was I going to explain this to Mom? Or Harrison? How angry were they gonna be at me?
“May I—uck—ask how long I’ve been out?” I inquired as I swallowed a few coughs fighting their way up my throat. There weren’t any windows in the ward, so for all I knew it could’ve been tomorrow already; the thought of Mom losing her mind all night trying to figure out why her son had disappeared made me shiver. Nurse Joy looked over at a clock situated on the wall above a small counter lined with medical supplies.
“Around three hours,” she replied. “You gave Chansey and I quite a scare when you ran in and fainted!”
“Seee…” the Chansey alongside her squealed with an expression of concern on its face.
I sighed in relief. At least it was still today, as harrowing as it had been.
“Oh—and before you ask since I know you’re probably concerned,” Nurse Joy chimed in before I had a chance to process anything else. “Your Ralts is recovering in the ICU down the hall. Don’t worry, it’ll make a full recovery from its injuries in about a day or two.” She pulled a pen and notepad out from her pocket and began flipping through its pages, stopping and taking a moment to analyze what my eyes could only discern as some sort of medical report. “Now, may I ask what your name is?”
“Uh— it’s Rhys,” I replied, “Rhys Emerson.”
“Spell your first name for me please?”
“R-H-Y-S.”
“What a peculiar spelling,” she replied with intrigue and continued to write. “I’m assuming you have to correct people often?”
“Yeah,” I leaned back onto the bed and sighed. “It’s caused more than a few headaches…”
“I bet,” she smiled, her pen stopping and moving down the paper. “Your birthday?”
“December 4th, 2007.”
“And the name of and relation to your legal guardian or guardians?”
“My mom’s name is Maria, a-and my dad’s name is Harold.”
Nurse Joy put a hand to her chin as if she was thinking, then looked up from the paper at me. “Is your father the Harold Emerson? The scientist from the Castelia Lab?”
“Yes,” I meekly replied, “you’ve heard of him?”
“Hard not to’ve,” she giggled. “When someone’s a world leader in cognitive science and gets plastered all over the weekly news, it’s a little hard to ignore.”
“I’m sorry,” I sighed in embarrassment. I was aware of my Dad’s status as some sort of innovator in studying how exactly individual Pokémon’s brains worked, but my own hobbies as well a bit of secondhand anxiety usually deterred me from reading too much about him in the news. To me, Dad was just the guy who occasionally texted to see how I was doing and maybe came home for the holidays if he wasn’t undertaking another massive scientific endeavor. I never really got to see him much, which bugged me in a way that I couldn’t properly put into words. At least his fame didn’t really bleed into his rural home life; if Mom and I had to field questions from news outlets daily I think we’d both go insane.
“Don’t apologize,” Nurse Joy gave me a look of sympathy and smiled. “It’s not like I get annoyed at seeing someone in the paper often. I’m sure your dad will be happy to know you’re alright.”
“Yeah, I’m suuuure he would,” I rolled my eyes. The guy could barely hold a conversation without impulsively eyeing a graph or sifting through a data table; I doubt he’d find the time to check on me. I sank further into my pillow and tried to relax ever so slightly more. “Don’t think about that right now…”
“Your Ralts’ name?”
I blinked and stopped my head from drifting further onto its side. “Huh?”
“Your Ralts,” Nurse Joy gently looked into my eyes. “Does it have a name?”
“I—uh, n-no,” I stuttered as I tried to process the question. “It’s u-uh… not really mine…” my voice quietly trailed off as I broke eye contact. My chest suddenly started to feel heavy. you should’ve lied. Now it’s awkward.
“Oh,” she replied. “Does it belong to your parents then?”
“No…” I squirmed in my blanket a bit. “I found it alone and hurt in the woods, actually.” The burning in my chest intensified; why’d it hurt so damn much to be honest?
“I see,” she swiftly scribbled down a few words and looked back up at me. “Well you were very brave to go out of your way to help it.” Her expression shifted to one of gentle sorrow as she scooted her chair a bit forward. “If you hadn’t brought it in when you did, I’m not certain it would’ve survived much longer.”
“You said it’d make a full recovery, right?” I sat upward and tightly gripped the side rail of the bed. “Was it really hurt that badly…?” I didn’t have a lot of time to process its injuries too deeply when I was running away from the Poochyena other than it had a lot of cuts and bruises; was it in more peril than I’d realized?
“Chansey and I ran some diagnostics while it was recovering in the healing bay,” she looked back down at her notes and paused for a moment. “It’s… safe to say it was near the edge.”
I leaned back onto the bed in silence. I couldn’t fully fathom the magnitude of what had happened. It all happened so fast; I’d somehow gone from abject failure to… saving a life? My vision zoned in on the smooth blank wall in front of me, my eyes beginning to slowly trace each small divot they found as I took a few shaky breaths.
“I’ll spare you the nasty details, but please don’t worry,” Nurse Joy placed a hand on mine, causing me to jolt. “It’ll be okay. We’ve got the best healing equipment possible here and its vitals have already stabilized.” She gently patted my hand in encouragement but I was already beginning to cry. “What if I hadn’t gotten here in time? It could’ve died! What if I’d never heard it at all? What—“
“Hey…” she consoled me as I wept into my hands. “Do you want to know a bit more about it? I’m sure you’re curious, being the son of a researcher and all.” I heard Chansey waddle over to her side and make small cries of sympathy as it patted the thin mattress.
“S—sniff—s-sure,” I sniveled and wiped my eyes, trying as hard as I could to focus on the fact that the Ralts was still alive and not a mauled corpse on the forest floor.
“Alright,” she looked back down at her notes and began to read: “Your Ralts is around a month old, nine pounds and four ounces, and a hair under one-foot-three. He’s a bit small for his age, presumably from malnourishment, but a few weeks worth of consistent meals should put him back on a healthy track.”
“That’s—hic—good,” I took a tissue from the box that Chansey had brought over from the counter. “I’m really glad it’ll be okay!” My voice grew strained and cracked as another sob escaped my throat. It felt so embarrassing to cry like this in front of a stranger, even if they were a doctor, but the tears wouldn’t stop flowing; I was so relieved.
“I’m sure he’ll want to see you when he wakes up,” Nurse Joy stood up from the chair and walked over to the counter, beginning to rustle through items in a white plastic bin. “I’ve treated a few Ralts over the years and they tend to be very attached to their trainers,” she picked up a clear plastic bag with a phone inside and walked back toward me, “even if yours is wild, I have no doubt it must feel indebted toward you for saving it.”
“Indebted toward me?” That was even more embarrassing! I wasn’t some comic book superhero; I’d nearly gotten both of us killed! I bit my lip and cringed at the thought of being perceived so nobly. If I was a hero, then I was a pretty lousy one.
Nurse Joy set the fogged-up and wet plastic bag down on my lap; inside was my phone, a few drops of water still dotting its screen. I opened the bag, shook it dry, and hoped to Arceus it’d turn on.
“You should call your parents and let them know you’re okay,” she said. “One of them can take you home after I get you a pair of crutches and go over your recovery plan. That sprained knee of yours will take a few weeks to heal, so you’ll have to not put any weight on it for a bit. The splint I’ve placed on it will help reduce the swelling until you’re strong enough to walk without any assistance.”
My phone screen blinked to life and I sighed in relief. At least something of mine wasn’t broken!
“Alright, I will,” I replied, staring nervously at the screen for a moment. How was I going to explain all this to Mom?
“I’ll give you some privacy,” Nurse Joy and Chansey walked over to the door. Chansey walked out first and gave a tiny wave goodbye as the nurse gently pulled it shut. “If you need anything, press the big red button on the remote right there.”
The room fell silent; the soft sounds of my heart rate beeping on a monitor were all I could hear as my finger hovered over my mom’s number. “What am I gonna say? How mad is she gonna be at me?” The time at the top of my screen read 6:52; the Daycare was nearly closed and Mom would probably head home soon after cleaning up. I didn’t have time to conjure up another lie like my stomach screamed at me to.
Deep breath in, deep breath out. Then, I dialed her number.
“Hi honey!” Mom’s voice crackled over my phone’s speaker accompanied by what sounded like a brush scrubbing against something.
“U-uh, hi Mom,” I stuttered. Don’t ruin her day.
“Is something the matter?” I heard her set down what she was holding and speak clearer into the phone, “You sound nervous!”
“N-no I’m okay—well, sorta okay,” I tripped over my tongue as I attempted to quell her worries. “I’m not in danger or anything, or at least not anymore, I just—uh—“ The words fell out of my mouth like bricks. “Why’d I say it like that?!”
“What do you mean ‘not anymore’?” she asked concernedly. “Rhys, are you alright?”
“I’m—urk!” I paused for a moment as my throat tensed, “I’m at the hospital…”
“WHAT?!” Her voice muffled as she covered the mic and shouted something at someone. “Baby are you hurt?!” her voice blared back into my ears. “What happened?!”
“D-don’t worry I’m not hurt!” I consoled her, “I just uh—sprained my knee pretty badly outside…” That’s an injury, idiot.
“Oh thank goodness,” she breathed a sigh of relief. “Your tone made me think something terrible happened! I’m so, so sorry honey. How’d that happen?”
I jumped between several different answers in my head before reminding myself that I couldn’t keep running away from this; a lie had dug this hole, and another might bury me.
“I… I went to go catch a Pokémon in the woods.”
“You did?” Mom replied in shock. “Why didn’t you tell me? I thought you’d apply for a starter, not try and find one in the wild! You know how dangerous catching Pokémon is without one!” I sunk into the bed and cringed. She was right; I knew better, but I had no choice, and it hurt hearing her sound so disappointed in me. Telling her everything else was going to sting worse.
“I know, b-but I didn’t have a choice,” I pleaded for Mom to understand. “I… I told Harrison that I’d already caught one! He’s coming back to town tomorrow and I didn’t know what else to do!”
“Honey…” Mom softly spoke. “Why didn’t you just tell him the truth?”
“I… I don’t know!” I yelled as more snot began to pool in my nostrils. “I just—I just felt like if he knew I wasn’t a trainer yet he’d—think I’m some kind of loser fraud!” Hoarse coughs broke free from my throat as I continued, “It’s been half a YEAR since we graduated and I’ve just been—I’ve just been burying my head in fucking books! He’ll be so disappointed in me!” I choked up and set my phone down on my lap. You know that’s not the real reason.
Sounds of an air conditioner whirring in the background flowed out from the speaker for a few moments. Then, a deep sigh.
“Rhys, you’ve always made things more difficult for yourself,” Mom said as I let out a mess of muted, garbled sobs. “You’ve been that way since the day you were born—I’ve always tried to give you space when you needed it as well as those little nudges of encouragement when I can tell you’re stuck in a rut.”
“But,” she continued. “Although you’ve always been bright in your mind, your heart holds you back.” She paused for another moment while I kept softly crying, then went on. “I remember when you were little and you got strung up by that Caterpie in the schoolyard. You never had any problem around Pokémon until then, but when I took you home, you told me you thought all of the Pokémon in the world hated you.” Her voice broke a bit as she continued, “It took so long to convince you that even a Magikarp wouldn’t hurt you, and this was the same kid who used to recite Pokémon facts and teach them to his classmates like it was second nature. You let your emotions tell you that you can’t do things, but you’ve always been capable. You’ve proven it as a friend and as a son. You don’t need to lie for people to appreciate you as a human being.”
I wiped my eyes clean of tears and picked my phone back up, “I—I dunno what to say Mom… I’m just sorry for being so—so stupid!”
“Rhys, please don’t apologize,” Mom reassured me. “I’ll always love you, even in your stupidest moments.”
I smiled and took a moment to blow my nose onto my now wrinkled blanket. “I love you too Mom,” I softly replied.
“I’ll come over after I finish up at work and see what the doctor says,” I heard her snicker a bit, “Greg seems to think that the tidiness of the storage room is more important than a family emergency.”
“Oh that asshole,” I sniffed and giggled a bit, “You sure we can’t get Dad to come home and take his brain out or something?”
“That’s a great idea!” she laughed. “Maybe then Dad could publish a study on how fried his brain is and make enough money off it to let me quit!” We both shared laughter for a few more moments and I felt my sorrow slowly begin to subside.
“Alright honey I’ve got to go,” Mom blew a kiss through the phone. “See you in a bit, love you.”
“Love you too.”
Beep!
I loosened my muscles, leaning back onto the bed and letting out a huge yawn. That was a huge weight off my shoulders. For the first time all day, I genuinely felt somewhat at ease. I took advantage of this newfound respite and let myself start to doze; clearing stupid mental hurdles was exhausting! With my eyes closed, I slowed my breathing and let myself sink deeper into the darkness—
—only to be ripped into the light by a familiar sensation.
“Again?” I thought as I clutched my slightly aching head. The emotion wasn’t fear this time; it felt more like a longing for something that couldn’t quite be found, almost like a toddler lost in a grocery aisle trying to find their parents. The feeling lightly poked and prodded at my skull as if it were making sure it was meant for my mind. Then, it gently spread throughout my entire body, the sensation growing more warm and calming as if it were a warm hug. I loosened my mind’s resistance and became fully engrossed in the feeling; it felt so relaxing! But as I lay quietly, I felt a single word creep to the forefront of my thoughts: “Ralts…?”
Another knock on the door. “Rhys? May I come in for a moment?”
“Yeagh…” I said groggily; I was totally stupefied.
I turned my head toward the door as Nurse Joy entered the room. Her expression looked like an odd mix of concern and amazement. My daze suddenly broke as the calming feeling was replaced with a subtle sadness; or… was it loneliness?
“Your Ralts woke up,” she said. “And I think it’s looking for you.”
I anxiously tapped my one free foot as I awaited Nurse Joy’s return from the ICU where she was caring for Ralts. Each passing second felt like another hour as I hoped for another mental sign of its well-being, but nothing came. All I could do was stare up at the blank white ceiling and continue to stew.
“I hope it’s alright,” I wondered. “What if I can’t feel it cause it fainted again? What if it’s not really okay?!” I shook my head to dispel that awful thought, “What are you thinking man?! Nurse Joy said it was gonna be fine!” I tried thinking of happy outcomes for once, like the Ralts reuniting with its family in the woods and happily munching on all the Oran Berries it could dream of.
“Rhys,” I suddenly heard the nurse’s voice enter the room from the hallway. She entered the room and smiled. “Here he is!”
Cradled in her arms was Ralts; a large bandage covered part of its face above the mouth; most of its cuts and bruises had faded, its skin clean of the dirt and mud that once stained it; its thick hair had been neatly combed back into a perfect green bowl that looked like a slightly oversized helmet. I couldn’t see its eyes from under its hair, but I could tell it was looking at me.
Excitement!!
The Ralts smiled and leapt out of Nurse Joy’s arms, startling her and floating toward me before I could even react. It barreled into my chest and nearly speared me with its front horn, emitting a stream of happy cries as it tried hugging me with its tiny arms. I could feel its joy mix with mine as I laughed in relief.
“H-hey lil’ guy!” I exclaimed. “You’re awake!”
Joy! Saved! Its emotions were the purest they’d ever felt and thankfully didn’t make my brain bleed; all of a sudden, I could interpret them with complete clarity like I had just instantly learned a new language, which bewildered me. I blushed as the small white Pokémon continued to shower me in affection, accidentally tearing off the electrode pads from my chest as it nuzzled its face into it.
“Ow! I’m glad to see you too!” I winced, gently picking Ralts up and lifting it in the air. “So you were the one giving me nosebleeds, huh?” Its large red irises peered out from under its hair; they were glistening as if it was about to cry. Its emotions began to shift, each new feeling entering my consciousness one by one: Grateful! Sorry! Remorse!
“Nono, it’s alright!” I nervously tried to reassure it. “Are you worried about me?”
Ralts nodded profusely as a few tears streamed down its face. I couldn’t quite understand how, but it felt like its emotions were starting to pose me a question: Concern. Okay?
“I’m gonna be just fine,” I pulled it into a hug and patted it on the back, a little weirded out by how easily I understood its feelings. “I’m just glad you’re alive!” Ralts shivered a little as it quietly sobbed into my shoulder. I looked over at Nurse Joy standing quietly with a hand over her mouth; it looked like she was gonna start crying too! I felt a tinge of embarrassment, “Is everyone gonna start crying cause of me?!”
“Anyway,” — Nurse Joy sniffed, regaining her composure — “when he woke up, he immediately started looking around as if he was searching for someone. He was so weak when we treated him… seeing him already have enough energy to greet you like this is remarkable!” She wiped her eyes a bit as Chansey scurried into the room behind her carrying a tray full of pill bottles, nearly tripping over the sill as it entered.
I looked back at Ralts’ head still buried in my shoulder; its crying had subsided as its arms draped around to my back, calm steady breaths blowing heat against my skin. I rubbed its back a little more as it began to find peace, the swirling emotions it shared with my mind finally softening, then fading away. I oddly felt like a father holding their newborn child; Ralts was barely bigger than my head and as light as a Pidgey! “It’s so adorable,” I timidly thought, “and it’s so attached to me too!” I bet if Nurse Joy tried to take it away, it’d never let go!
“I’ve got some pain medication for the two of you,” Nurse Joy took a pair of bottles from the tray and set them on the stand next to the bed. “The red bottle’s for your Ralts and the orange one is for you, Rhys. The branding is different on each bottle so you don’t mix them up. You don’t want to have a bad knee ache and end up puking out your lunch because you took the wrong pills.”
“Understood,” I nodded as I gently removed Ralts from my shoulder and set it on my lap. It zipped to my side and sat down between my right torso and arm, leaning its head on me and softly yawning. “Wait…” my thoughts began to race as I realized the nature of the nurse’s statement.“Why does she keep saying that it’s mine—“
“Excuse me,” I inquired shyly. “But it really seems like you think I’ll be taking Ralts home with me.”
“Implying you don’t want to?” she responded. “You two already seem to care about each other a lot.”
“I-I do care about it, yes,” I replied. “But I’m not even a registered trainer! I don’t… I just don’t feel very confident that I’d be able to take care of it!” I looked down at Ralts who’d already dozed off. I couldn’t imagine releasing the little guy back into the wild; it was just so small! Nurse Joy said it was only around a month old, so I knew it wasn’t very strong, especially with how little resistance it put up against those Poochyena; But something inside me just didn’t feel ready. I cursed my emotions for making it so hard to just accept the responsibility; after all, being a Trainer was the one thing I wanted more than anything! All I had to do was say yes. Why couldn’t this decision be easier?
“Rhys, I’m going to be very honest with you,” Nurse Joy sat down next to me and put her hands on her lap. “This Ralts was starving to death. From what I know about this island, the woods around here aren’t very kind to Pokémon that can’t enforce themselves or be stealthy enough to forage efficiently.” She gently lifted Ralts’ bangs and settled her hand on its forehead, “I’m unsure how he survived for long out there, Ralts this young usually don’t wander alone. Judging by how battered he was, I’m willing to bet he’s spent most of his life being hunted down.”
“Being hunted your entire life…” I looked at the sleeping Ralts nestled beside me; it seemed so at peace.
“Now I can’t convince you to take it in,” Nurse Joy continued. “And I know that in order to legally have custody of a Pokémon as a minor, you have to be a registered Trainer. But judging by the fact that he actively looked for you first after waking up gives me the feeling that you’re the only thing he has, even if you’ve only just met. I truly think you should give it a home.”
I felt so, so guilty. I’d rescued this Ralts from death and the first thing I thought to do was run away again? I stared blankly at the floor as a searing inferno of regret blazed beneath the surface of my chest. There was no way I could take care of it, but I had to. I wanted to. I needed to.
Nurse Joy patted me on the shoulder and got up from her seat, gesturing for the Chansey standing politely by the counter to join her as she walked toward the hallway.
“I can request to have a Pokémon shelter representative come pick it up tomorrow if you’d like,” she said. “Just let me know before your guardian takes you home, okay? Now get some more rest. I can tell you both need it.” She put her hand on the door handle and slowly began to creak the door closed.
“Wait!” A pained shout escaped my burdened throat.
“Yes, Rhys?”
“I’ll… I’ll take care of him!”