Dormant Toxins

Chansey’s Day Care had upscaled greatly in the past decade. Although most remembered it as the Day Care, it was now known to Treasure Town as Chansey’s Hospital, outfitted with Pokémon healers and enough supplies to serve the townsfolk and guild alike. Chansey had decided to keep the Day Care open in a separate part of the building, anyway. The rooms of the hospital were made to be ambient and comfortable to encourage a speedy, natural recovery. When that didn’t work, there were always healers armed with Aromatherapy, Life Dew, or Heal Pulse.

None of these had worked on Lucy so far.

<|>

Both Miles and Arthur huddled around their mother, who was lying in a hospital bed. A Corsola stood on a stool next to them, straining as they tried to use another Life Dew to little effect. Lucy groaned in her bed: she had grown pale due to the effects of her illness.

Miles was silent and clutching his float. Arthur had been crying.

Chansey herself walked into the room.

     “Miles. Arthur. I have some news for you.” A lump rose in Miles’ throat. Arthur gave a sniffle.

     “We have confirmed that your mother will not die right now. However, her… disease is something that we still haven’t figured out. She’s been here before many times, hasn’t she?”

     “Yes,” said Miles shakily.  “It hasn’t been this bad, though.”

     “Hmm. Lucy, how are your symptoms different from previous instances?”

     “I feel… extremely lethargic. My body feels like it wants to give up. Like it’s tired of fighting.”

     Chansey sighed. “We’ve tried all our possible treatments. Healing moves aren’t working,” (the Corsola continued to try their best while listening), “sitrus berries don’t have any visible effects, and neither do lums. We gave her a Blue Gummi as well, but that also did nothing.”

     Lucy spoke up in a hoarse voice. “Chansey, please. We’ve known each other for so long. Tell my sons the truth. They need to know… now that I’m almost at my limit.”

     “Mom… please! What do you mean by that?” Arthur stood up suddenly with fresh tears in his eyes.

     “My son, I’m sorry that I never told you earlier. It’s about… it’s about my sickness.” She put her paw in his.

     Chansey spoke up. “The illness your mother has is Poison type in nature.”

 

Miles stood up suddenly. Anger flooded through him as he turned toward Chansey with a balled up fist. “Poison? A poison type did this?”

     Lucy coughed to get his attention. “On that day… that day when your father and I went out to the crater…”
     Arthur looked puzzled. Miles, on the other hand, turned to his mother in shock.
 
     “That expedition had a Pokémon that we could not handle. It was a Poison type. Your father… he didn’t survive. I was gravely injured. That was when I got this… disease.”

     “The disease seems to remain dormant and gradually become active as time passes on,” Chansey stated. “It seems that, after 13 years, the disease has almost reached lethality. It’s more severe since your species are Fairy types, which suffer more from poison.”

     “So when you came back that day showing signs of poison… that poison also killed Dad?”

Lucy stayed silent, tired after speaking. Her ears drooped upon seeing her son’s anger. Miles clutched his float.

     “Poison killed my parents…”

     “Miles! Mom’s not dead yet! She can…”

Miles let out a wail and pushed past Chansey out the door. Patients and staff watched as the Marill sprinted out into the night screaming. Miles didn’t know where he was running. “I just need to run, I need to get out of here…” He ran past Electivires’. “This is a nightmare that I can’t escape, I need to find a way out of this place…” He ran past Dusclops’. “This isn’t real, this isn’t real, THIS ISN’T REAL!” He ran out of town, down the crossroads.

<|>

He found himself running down to the beach. The stars shone down upon the waves as he tore through the sand. “It’s not FAIR! Why do I have to suffer so much loss!? Why do I have to be a father for a brother who never had one!? I wasn’t cut out for this!” He kicked at the sand, scattering it in the breeze. “I put my heart and soul into my family, I was thrust into this role without an option in the world, and THIS is how the world repays me!? I didn’t deserve this! I was only a kid! A kid! “He glanced down at his float, its symbols dancing in the light of the moon. “ I thought things would get BETTER! I thought problems like the planet’s paralysis were meaningful! But nooo, fate just has to choose the quiet, innocent kids to be the ones orphaned! ARCEUS, WHY!?”

In his anger, Miles charged up a Bubble Beam and shot it at a nearby rock. The rock burst into splintered shards, scattering across the sand as Miles took a second to catch his breath.

 “I’ll find a way… I’m tired of being dealt bad paws… I NEED to find a way, whatever it takes…”

He turned around to see two Pokémon with yellow sashes walking towards him.

<|>

Amelia didn’t know what noise she was hearing. She and Sebastian were down at the beach just to take in the nighttime ambience. She’d always liked the ideas of stars and constellations: the idea that anyone could see stars in the sky, so far away to fly to, but still able to tell their own stories through changing patterns left to the interpretation of one’s mind. The stars could wait, however. Amelia turned to see a raving Marill wearing a weird bracelet yelling about life, family, and Celebi knows what else.

     “Seb, you wanna check out that guy’s deal? He looks like a Doduo with one of its heads cut off.”

     “Mmm. We probably should. He seems to be in distress.”

As they walked up to the Marill, his eyes shone with anger as he saw the Roselia approach.

     “What do you want from me!?”

     “We just wanted to see if you were fine,” Sebastian calmly explained.

Miles’ breathing didn’t slow down. In fact, it started to increase. “I’ve had it with this world taking everything from me! I’m done letting the world do as it pleases! I WON’T LET ANOTHER PERSON BE TAKEN FROM ME!”

Water flooded around Miles’ body as he began to lash out. Before Amelia could tell what was going on, Sebastian was in front of her with a Protect shield up. Miles’ Aqua Jet gonged against the transparent shield, reverberating the sound across the sand.

     “Oi! What do you think, you’re doing, you rat!? You’re batshit crazy if that’s how you greet new folk! Didn’t your parents teach you anything?”

Miles rebounded off of the shield and arced back toward the Roselia.

     “YOU DON’T GET TO SPEAK ABOUT MY PARENTS THAT WAY!”

     “Seb! He’s a Tauros seeing red! We gotta combine Mega Drains!”

     “You sure? He seems like a civilian and untrained!”

     “SEB! We’re being assaulted!”

     “Ugh! Fine, let’s do it!”

Amelia’s flowers and Sebastian’s mouth both glowed with a green energy. Pustules of light erupted from Miles’ body, but his Aqua Jet did not falter from the energy absorption.

     “Wha-”

Sebastian was hit with the full force of the attack, and tumbled over the dunes as Amelia attempted to fire off a Magical Leaf. Miles continued his assault on Sebastian. 

     “Cool off, kid! We know something isn’t right here!”

Miles didn’t listen. The light in his eyes craved only battle, the euphoria of sparring, to rebel against the world. His float’s symbols glowed again under the moonlight as he punched the bug into the ground. He spun his body around before slamming the downed Shelmet with a full force Aqua Tail. 

     “Seb! You’ll pay for that, bubble boy!”

Amelia fired her Magical Leaf, but Miles used the momentum of his spin to deflect the leaves with another Aqua Tail. He fired a Bubble Beam at Amelia, who countered with Magical Leaf again. The two attacks connected, bursting the bubbles completely.

     “Is that all you got? You got a lot of nerve, with your type standing up to mine!”

Miles prepared a combat stance, paws in front. “I won’t lose to another Poison type ever again. I’ll bet my damn life on it! I’ll do it for myself! I’ll do it for my family!”

Amelia saw a glint in his eyes and shuddered. 

The Marill was not simply sparring; he was intending to hurt. 

A mysterious aura flared up inside of Miles, his Huge Power starting to kick in. He ran up as a pink energy glowed in his paws and tail and started punching. His battlecries echoed across the arena as he continued to strike. Amelia dodged the predictable blows, until he suddenly spun again, striking her with a Play Rough in his fist. The Roselia slid back across the sand as Miles continued his charge. “Stay down! I won’t have mercy!”

     “You asked for it!” Amelia channeled her energy into her flowers: they turned purple and grew thorns. She began parrying Miles’ strikes with Poison Jabs of her own, ducking and weaving through the patterns of her opponent. Miles’ stamina started to falter, even with his Water Float. He felt weaker, like his energy was being drained with every blow. Even a desperate slam with his tail was blocked by a double jab. The aura of his Huge Power began to dissipate.

One mistake was all Amelia needed. She feinted to the left, then slammed a right hook into Miles’ stomach as his eyes went wide.

<|>

His body screamed in pain upon being struck by the Poison move as he tumbled back face-first into the sand. Miles looked up and spat out some sand. The Shelmet was still knocked out a bit away from him, but there was no knowing when he would get back up.

He saw the Poison type slowly approaching him.

Fear. Fear overtook Miles. He couldn’t use a move. He couldn’t get out of the way. The poison in his body burned through him as all he could do was stare.

     “Is this what it feels like to die???” He continued to tremble.

He saw a glimpse of his mother. His brother. His father. All melting away in front of him. Drowning in a sea of poison. Screaming.

<|>

Amelia walked closer to the Marill with her poisoned flowers. His bravado was gone, replaced by a whimpering child, clutching his bracelet with tears in his eyes.

     “Are you going to give up now, or what?”

The Marill wailed.

     “Don’t let her kill me! Don’t let her!”

     “Not like this… I can’t die like this!”

     He tried to back up, to no avail.
 
     “MOM! DAD!”

     “ARTHUR! WHERE ARE YOU, ARTHUR! RUN! RUN!”

     “LIVE! PLEASE, LIVE!”

     He shut his eyes, drowning in tears. His tail curled around himself.
 
     “I DON’T WANT TO DIE! I DON’T WANNA DIE!!!”

     “DON’T LET HER, DAD! DON’T LET HER!”

     “I DON’T WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS!”

     He began to punch the ground. His sobs grew louder.
 
     “I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE MY BROTHER!”

     “ARTHUR NEEDS ME! HE NEEDS ME!”

     “PLEASE! PLEAAASEEE!!!”

     His paws started to draw blood.

Amelia stopped and looked down with horror. The Marill’s sobs echoed across the beach. She found it hard to believe that the crazy, raring mouse she was fighting a few minutes ago had turned into a lost, confused child. One Poison Jab was all it took to unleash the fear inside him.

     “I’m sorry.” Amelia raised a red flower and sprayed a blueish powder.

     “Please…” The concerned Roselia was the last thing Miles saw before he went under. Her eyes were unreadable. Was it contempt or pity?

<|>

Two Azumarill and an Azurill walked up to the peak of a small mountain. The family had gotten up early in order to see the sunrise.

The father walked up front with a float on his arm and a bag at his side. The mother followed behind, holding the Azurill in her arms.

They found a nice clearing at the top, and sat down in order to enjoy the view they had worked for.

     “Look at that, dear. I told you that this view was gorgeous.”

     “Oh, it’s wonderful, Lucas. I’d forgotten how beautiful the dawn can be.”

The Azurill was sleeping in his mother’s arms. As the sun’s rays washed over him, he stirred and awoke.

     “Mama? Papa?”

     “Hey, the kid’s awake.” The father beamed at his first son. “You wanna see the sun come out to play? The world’s a huge, huge playground that the two of you can play in!”

     “Sun?” The Azurill looked out at the view. Streaks of orange and gold flowed out through the inky blue sky, as the trees below shone a bright emerald. In the distance, the sea glistened like diamonds, almost as if the stars themselves had descended to earth.

 The young Azurill hopped to the ground and sat transfixed at the sunrise. His parents put an arm around each other and smiled.

     “The kid’s going to do great things someday,” the father remarked.

     “Whatever he does, I hope he’ll find his place in this wide, open world,” the mother replied.

For now, their world was just the three of them and the sunrise.

<|>

Arthur awoke the next morning worried. He had decided to stay at Chansey’s hospital, especially considering that all of his family were now there for one reason or another. Yesterday had been such a blur: they had gone to town, right? And then they went home… and found Mom dying on the floor.

Mom. From what Arthur was told yesterday, she was dying. She’d be gone soon. A tear dropped from his eye, dried from all the crying he did yesterday.

     “I’m going to miss you, Mom. I wish I got to spend more time with you.”

He’d remembered most of his happy days when he was younger. His mom taught him most things he needed to know about the world, having been an explorer herself. The little things started to come back to him: playing in the river alongside Miles while she watched. How he would help her plant flowers in the garden and water them himself. Helping both his mom and brother in the kitchen over a pot of stew.

And then there was Miles. He just ran out of the door. Came back an hour later, dragged in by that Roselia & Shelmet he saw earlier. All three in bruises, with Miles showing signs of being poisoned.

     “This isn’t like Miles… what are we going to do now?”

<|>

A door swung open as Miles opened his eyes in the early morning sunlight. He felt groggy. Arthur’s presence made him sit up suddenly.

     “Arthur! I… what happened to me last night… oh…”

He looked down and saw bandages on his paws.

Arthur ran up to his older brother and gave him a hug.

     “Miles… you don’t have to act so rash… I’m going to miss Mom too… I need you to be there for her.”

Miles looked at his brother. An overwhelming urge to protect that face, to protect the smiles that his family once had rose up in him. He wanted to lash out again. But he couldn’t. It was for his brother.

     “I’m so sorry for running out and assaulting two random guild members. I just… I wanted to protect who I love.”

He looked out of the window at the sea. A flock of Wingull lazily glided over the water. A Lapras over the horizon. Remoraid jumping out of the water. It calmed him to see Water types so free to live their lives. To see what could’ve been.

     “Arthur. I want to promise you something.”

     “What is it?”

     “I will find a way to save our mother in time. No matter what it takes.”

The two looked at each other and shook paws solemnly.

     “You’ve grown so much, my brother.”