“Mmrgh…” Larry tossed in his sleep until his mind finally came back to lucidity. He rubbed at his head as he rose from his sleep, “Ugh, feel like I just got sucker punched in the back of the head…”

  ‘Oh,’ Memories resurfaced, and he finally remembered what had transpired before he woke up. The Skarmory, which had harassed them during their flight back to the Pokecenter, and his fall, and the memory of Skarmory's panicked face as he fell towards it. His view flew upwards, and he was back inside the pristine alpine landscape of his Pokeball, ‘Figures…’

  Getting to his feet, Larry pushed at the confines of his Pokeball to reveal the interior of the Pokecenter he remembered, “Phew, I guess they still managed to make it here.”

  Looking around the room outside the Pokeball, Larry sees a Nurse and a Chansey, they seem to be inspecting a Pokemon on the table in front of them. ‘Wait, is that Natu?’

  ‘It is!’ Between the hurried running of the Nurse and her Caretaker Pokemon, Larry could see Natu sitting on the examination table in front of them and staring back at them with that same iconic stare it has given everyone else up until now. The Nurse pulled open its wings, dug between its feathers, and inspected its clawed feet to determine the Pokemon’s health, and the Little Bird Pokemon simply let it all happen.

  She patted Natu on the head, “Well, aren’t you just one of the most pleasant patients I’ve ever had the pleasure to take care of? No whining, no pecking, and certainly no scratching!” The Flying-Type stared straight into her eyes, and the Nurse quickly averted her eyes with a whisper, “You could stop with that stare, though…”

  Its head suddenly whipped over to him, boring a hole through his Pokeball, and Nurse Joy jumped in surprise, “Woah! Alright, weird. You know what? You’re as healthy as can be. Let's just get you back to your trainer.” She recalled the Pokemon in the camouflaged Pokeball Valerie had caught it in and approached Larry's location and picked his ball up with Natu onto a tray before walking the corridors of the center.

  …

  The measured and calm professionalism of the Pokecenter's hospital corridors was still calming to Larry, it spoke of a certain air of skill and gave him the impression that the staff here would get him back into top shape no matter the circumstances. That quiet was shattered when the door to Drew’s familiar hospital room was opened, though.

  “YOU DID WHAT?!” Both Michelle and Drew cried out as the nurse entered.

  “I…Uh,” Valerie looked far smaller in front of her at her mother, all the luster of her last encounter with her entirely forgotten in the face of a maternal figure's wrath, “...We fought a gang of Magmar…”

  “And?!” She lorded over the teenager.

  “I…kinda got hurt…” Valerie answered meekly as she put a defensive hand on her hurt shoulder, shrinking even deeper into her seat.

  “I cannot believe you…” The woman's fingers were practically ripping apart the armrest of her hospital chair as she pushed herself and began to pace around the room, massaging the bridge of her nose like her hand was trying to grab into her head and pull out her brain to caress it directly at the insanity of the statement.

  “Calm down, Michelle.” Drew spoke from his hospital bed, “You’re looking crazy…”

  The nurse entered the scene with a conflicted expression, clearly less than happy to cut into familial drama, “Miss Riston, here are your Pokemon. They are fully healed and healthy. Luckily, your Larvitar's injuries weren’t as severe as I thought.”

  “Thank you,” Valerie's tone switched as she addressed the Nurse, going back to the same cheerful tone in an instant, “How is Larvitar doing?”

  “When I was giving him his Check-Up, he was still asleep, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he is already awake.” She set down the two Pokeballs on a desk next to Valerie and bowed out as quickly as she could, “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

  Once the door to the hospital room closes, Valerie continues to explain the timeline of events that had happened at Mt. Silver. Both Michelle had already been briefed by the rangers on the results of the investigation and had been told about their daughter's injuries while she was being treated at a real hospital.

  Drew whistled when Valerie's recounting ended, “Whew, sounds like you’ve had quite the adventure there, huh?”

  Michelle shot him a withering glare in response, before turning back to Valerie with a huff.

  Still massaging her temples, her mother continues her tirade, “I still can’t believe it. Why would you just jump on a flight straight to the MOST DANGEROUS place in the entire region and then go around skulking around inside it?!”

  “The rangers had it under control…” She defended weakly as she grabbed her Pokeballs.

  “You mean the same rangers who allowed you to fight in that stupid fight with the Magmar?”She questioned as she circled the room, “The very same ones who let you run into a damn Sandstorm?”

  Valerie only nodded back with her hands holding her Pokeballs close.

  “Is this also the same ranger who then managed to almost drop you and your Pokemon during a flight?!” Michelle pressed, to which Valerie simply nodded again.

  “...We did get Larvitars mom back here though…” Valerie defended.

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  “So what?!” Her mother practically screamed back at her, “You almost died! Multiple times!”

  “That’s just how a trainer's life goes, Michelle,” Drew interjected, receiving another poisonous stare from Michelle in return.

  “Haaa…” Michelle released a sigh, before muttering under her breath as she supported herself on her chair, “You stupid trainers and your damn recklessness.”

  She composed herself once again before sitting down in her seat again, “Then, at least tell me who this moron is who couldn’t keep a single teenager safe. Is it that Nick guy who briefed us?”

  “No, it was Maxine…” Valerie corrected.

  “Maxine,” Michelle repeated, looking to Drew for guidance.

  “She’s my coworker. Valerie worked with her during the recent ‘Bring-Your-Kid-To-Work’ Day.” Drew explained, “Maxie’s one of the best around here, you don’t get assigned to work near Mt. Silver without having the skill to back it up.”

  “Then how the hell can she just let some poor teenage girl go through all that?!” Michelle questioned, “It just doesn’t make sense to me!”

  A silence descended on the room.

  “I’ll be having a word with her later if she’s still around…” Michelle seethed.

  Valerie kept a close eye on her lap, where her Pokeballs were, and Drew didn’t know enough about what had transpired in Mt. Silver to respond.

  From inside his Pokeball, Larry’s old human self really felt himself agree with Michelle. It felt like his trainer was simply thrown to the wolves by going into Mt. Silver as their first experience. Yet at the same time, he understood the rangers' perspective, a legendary Pokemon had just fled the mountain, and the Alpha of the mountain's condition was unknown. The ranger had no idea what had happened on the mountain, and the only two witnesses were a teenage girl and an unconscious ranger who was gravely injured.

  They were tapping around in the dark in the hopes of finding out anything about the situation by taking a little girl with them. Only once they were inside the caves did they realize that most of their suspicions were correct. Suddenly, a realization dawned on Larry, ‘Wait, didn’t she get her Pokemon trainer license the day she caught me, during all those interviews she talked about?’

  The situation seemed far too convenient. ‘There are trainer schools, did Valerie ever go to any of those? She said she didn’t want to be a trainer until just the last week or so, so probably not. Then how did she get her trainer license?’

  Had the government used Valerie and him? ‘Clueless rangers who didn’t want to run into a dangerous mountain on a death mission would love to have a guide with them…’

  The implications weren’t very good, to say the least.

  “A-Anyway,” Drew broke the silence, “we should be happy Val got back in one piece.”

  “Yes, we should,” Michelle quickly adjusted with a nod, and stood up, hugging Valerie close to herself, “I am so, so, SO glad you’re alright, Valerie.”

  Valeire, who had let her arms hang, quickly reciprocated the hug, awkwardly patting her mom on the back, “Uh…Me too, Michelle… Thank you.”

  “Don’t leave me out!” Drew protested from his hospital bed, “Give your dad some love, too!”

  Giggling, Valerie stood up and hugged her dad on his hospital bed, “Of course. I love you too, Dad!”

  “Oof, thanks, Val.” Drew groaned, still slightly sore, “By the way, someone called me about you while you were gone.”

  “Oh really? You didn’t tell me about this,” Michelle replied in Valerie's stead, “Who was it?”

  “It was a researcher. You might want to give him a call back for me, Valerie.” He handed her a piece of paper with a phone number on it.

  “I will, thanks.” She replied with a smile.

  “So, what's the plan now?” Michelle quickly pivoted, “Is everything cleared up with the rangers, and can I finally leave and bring Valerie back to Viridian? I still have to get everything set up back home for her. Gustav is probably worried sick right about now.”

  Valerie composed herself, “I think so, they told me my part of the work is done.”

  “What is going to happen with the Tyranitar?” Drew questioned Valerie, “They can’t be making us take care of it, can they?”

  She shook her head, “No, the plan is for her to recuperate in the Center before being released back into the wild.” She turned back down to her Pokeballs with a somber expression, “Though the ranger told me that her injuries are pretty bad, so she might be forced to live on a conservation or ranch of some sort for the rest of her life.”

  ‘What?! Why haven’t I heard any of this?!’ Larry was appalled at the news. All kinds of reasoning ran through his mind, and the outside conversation was completely forgotten. Before long, Valerie had already left the hospital room again and was on her way back to her room when Larry pushed against his Pokeball. It snapped open with a satisfying CLACK! Releasing him onto the hospital floor.

  “Oh, Larvitar.” Valerie looked at her Pokemon with surprise, “You were awake?”

  “What’s this about my mom?!” He cried while holding onto her pant leg, “She isn’t alright?!”

  “I think I know what you’re saying, Larvitar.” His trainer nodded solemnly with a conflicted expression, “But I can’t tell you much more about what is going to happen with your mom. I simply overheard the nurses and rangers talking about your mom while sitting in the waiting room.”

  Larry wanted to protest more, but he knew he was arguing with a teenager who had about as much knowledge about the situation as he did, ‘Damn it! All that work and mom won’t even be fully healed?!’ He felt his emotions surging upwards again, but before any outburst, Valerie kneeled and hugged him close, just like in Mt. Silver when he found his mother.

  “It’ll be alright, Larvitar.” She assured him while tightening her hug, “She’s going to live, remember that. We saved her.”

  He wasn’t convinced, “I-I should’ve done be-”

  “No!” Valerie shook him in her grasp, “I know what you’re trying to say! You did everything you could!”

  She released her grip on him and petted his head, which Larry happily allowed her to do, “You should be able to meet her once she’s awake. If I can’t fully convince you, how about you go and talk to her once she wakes up?”

  Apprehension rose in Larry at the thought, ‘I left her to die…How can I even properly face her?’ He wanted to finally reunite with his mother, but he just didn’t feel ready.

  “I’ll be with you, Larvitar. Didn’t you want to introduce me to her?” Valerie bargained, eliciting a nod of agreement from Larry, “If she wakes up while we’re still here, let’s go see her, ok?”

  He still wasn’t sure, but nodded regardless. Larry didn’t want to stay stuck in the past like in his old life, he had to move on, even if it hurt.

  “Then that’s decided!” She stood up after giving him a final pat on the head, “Now let’s call that researcher back and then go ahead and get some sleep. I already feel dead on my feet.”