“Wah!” Larry awoke from his peaceful slumber, jolting awake quite violently. His eyes shot open instantly, “Argh! Bright!” And they’re closed shut almost immediately after, as a bright light in the sky practically burned his eyes out.

  He had attempted sitting up, but dull aches in his arm and torso had made that plan moot almost as quickly as he had tried sitting up. Larry rubbed at his eye with his one good arm and slowly attempted to open it, but the place he was now in was so extremely bright that it felt like he was fighting a losing battle.

  It became clear soon enough though that he wasn’t in that white expanse anymore.

  With his sight impaired, Larry's other senses heightened and he realized that for the first time in what felt like a long time, whatever he was lying down on was soft. It wasn’t just soft, it was plush if anything, he ran his healthy arm along the thing and felt it deform under his touch. ‘Holy crap…Where am I?’ His curiosity now positively piqued, Larry tuned into his other senses as well.

  The place smelled clinical, there was the smell of antiseptics and disinfectant in the air and Larry even smelt a hint of something floral in the back, though he couldn’t be sure if it was intentional. Larry was now absolutely sure he wasn’t in the caves anymore, the caves had a distinct moist and musty earthen smell to them which would bleed into the smell here.

  Again, he tried to crack one eye open, “Gah!” and regretted it almost immediately as the blinding light in the sky burned his sight again. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in his head,

  ‘Wait, that isn’t a light in the sky, that's a goddamn ceiling lamp!’ He’d been inside of a cave for so damn long it had taken him some time to get reacquainted with the wonders of human civilization.

  Larry didn’t have a long time to contemplate his dilemma though, as he finally came upon another sense, hearing. First, the incessant ticking of a clock could be heard, but soon more noises came to him. In the distance, two sets of feet thumped against carpeted floors and a slightly squeaky rolling of wheels reverberated through the walls. Another connection came to mind, there were ceiling lights so he was probably in a room! ‘Civilization!’

  Click! The sound of a door opening came not soon after and Larry felt his heart run a mile a minute as something rolled something into the room. Whatever it was, he couldn’t move and couldn’t see, he was at its mercy. So he did his best impression of sleep and went limp.

  “Oh, you’re awake!” A female voice spoke out loud like a lovely bell, and immediately sniffed him out as she opened the door. A chirp of surprise came from just next to her, “We’ll have to get you checked over now that you’re up. Can you start with the checks while I get some tools, Chansey?”

  After another chirp of agreement, Larry's mind came to an utter standstill, ‘Wha… She just talked, that was goddamn English! What the hell?! And Chansey? Does that mean…’ Once again, Larry slowly cracked his eyes open, this time his eyes finally managed to acclimate to the brightness.

  A Chansey softly stepped closer to him and chirped out a simple, “How you doin’?” with a slightly rural dialect in her speech as the literal, honest-to-god Nurse Joy fished some metal tools from the cart behind her.

  Larry didn’t know what to do. Should he talk? He was at a Pokemon Center, if so, it would be logical to get healed here. Still, he didn’t know if he could trust these people. How did he even get here to begin with?

  His thoughts ran in a circle and Chanseys patience ran out before he answered. “Can’t be doin’ too badly if you’re up an’ awake, cant’chya?” She drawled out, as she patted him on his head, “Critters like you are built of tougher stuff, right?”

  Her accent was a perfect fit for her motherly caretaker role and Larry was so amazed he finally found his voice, “I-I guess so…”

  With the practiced ease of an experienced doctor, Chansey used her stubby little arms far more dexterously than he’d even been able to use his own. The Pokemon manhandled Larry like a doll, checking him all over and turning him every which way. She inspected the sides of his body for any injuries.

  ‘So…I’m at a Pokemon Center…What the hell happened to get me here?’ Larry held his tongue as Chansey looked him over, he had other reservations. From what he’d remembered he had been digging deep in Mt. Silver, trying to escape the fight between his mother and that damned Moltres.

  Yet, somehow the fight's destruction still hit him and he was pulled into some kind of fissure underground which filled up with a torrent of water, the water then took him along until he passed out and basically drowned.

  Then he woke up again in a complete space of white where he couldn’t move and couldn’t leave, and now he was inexplicably in a Pokemon Center and was getting treatment by a Nurse Joy?

  What about the fight? What about his mom?

  Suddenly, his heart sank, ‘Wait, if I’m here in some town getting healed, then what was the outcome of the fight?’

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  In the back of his mind, Larry could already guess what had happened, he had known what would happen when they’d made the choice. It just hadn’t completely registered in his mind then, and now he felt himself start to panic.

  His breaths became labored and he felt himself fall even though he was lying still in a bed, Chansey and the Nurse spiraled away from him even though they were standing just next to his bed.

  Choking up, Larry felt tears start to bead up in his eyes, ‘She- She died…right?’

  Before he could begin to delude himself in his panic attack, a pair of small dainty arms pulled him closer to the edge of the bed and hugged him tightly.

  “It’s alright, darlin’. Just breathe. Just breathe.” Chansey consoled Larry with a professional confidence which made him stop and actually consider her instructions.

  “I- Sniff… I-I-” Larry fought to get the words out, but Chansey spoke over him.

  “Bless your heart, I’ve got no clue what you’re cryin’ ‘bout, but everything will be alright.” She squeezed him just a little tighter and Larry pulled himself close to her. Larry kept himself glued to Chansey for another few minutes as he breathed heavily and fought to get himself to calm down, ‘This…It’s alright…alright…I’ve got to keep going…’

  Releasing, Larry muttered a quiet “Thank you…” at the Pokemon's caring nature.

  Chansey released him and Larry finally managed to get his tears under control, his mind was still a whirlwind of emotions, but his thoughts stopped when Chansey pulled the massive egg out of her pouch and offered it to him.

  “Here, this’ll make ya’ right as rain, darlin’. Take a bite.”

  Larry wiped at his eyes as he took the egg into his arms, he started at it dubiously. The situation had dumbfounded him so much, it grounded him and managed to get him to calm down. Slightly perplexed by the sudden shift in the scene, but he felt he could trust the Pokemon enough, so he took a bite...

  And for the first time in his life, he found food other than rocks he could get along with.

  …

  Nurse Joy sat behind Chansey on a simple stool, smiling at the scene with a wry smile, “Finally calmed down?”

  Larry nodded meekly, he wasn’t one for strong emotions, and the fact that he had cried in front of strangers made him blush in embarrassment. “That’s good,” Joy nodded confidently as she raised herself from her chair, “Now, we would like to get you fixed up. What are we working with Chansey?”

  Chansey pointed at a clipboard she had pulled from the cart and Joy nodded at her diagnosis with understanding, “I see. This shouldn’t take too long then, we’ll get you back to your trainer in no time!”

  ‘Hm?’ Larry thought he had misheard for a second there and quirked his head to the side confusedly before turning to Chansey, “Did she just say ‘my trainer’?”

  "...Uh, well, yes? You were brought in here by a little gal who looked like a right mess. 'Parently somethin' went down, and you and her daddy were hurt right bad, so she was mighty concerned...Ain’t that the case?"

  The nurse seemed to take notice of the atmosphere and met Larry and Chanseys eyes with a slight bit of concern, “Uh, let's get you treated for now!”

  His brain halted, Larry stared off into the distance, a blank expression on his face, ‘I…I got caught…’

  …

  “I got caught…” Larry said weakly as a few healing sprays were sprayed on his body by Nurse Joy. His skin tingled and itched irritably and he wanted nothing more than to scratch the spot but knew to keep his hands away from it. Luckily for Larry, his mind was elsewhere, he knew it was a thing that could happen to him, Larry had even thought before about the concept and how it would affect him, but now that it was actually happening he didn’t know what to do.

  ‘So…Now what?’ Larry thought to himself, ‘Do I just go along with this? What choice do I have anyway?’

  His mind went to all the wrong places, ‘Mom is dead too…’

  Chansey saw Larry's mood change and seemed to have an idea why he was acting the way he was. She reached out and patted him on the head affectionately as Nurse Joy applied a healing ointment on his arm, “Darlin’ believe me, trainers ain’t all they’re made out to be.”

  “Can I leave?” Larry met her eyes longingly, thousands of ways of escape ran through his mind.

  Chansey kept up the smile, “Ya’ trainer will need to release ya’. You oughta talk it out with her, she was a lovely little gal!”

  Larry nodded weakly, “I’ll try…”

  Nurse Joy kept up a cheerful atmosphere, “Alright, we’re done with the preparations.” She turned and picked a Pokeball off of the cart, “We’ll just need to get you into your ball to get you healed.”

  “No!” Larry blurted out in a panic as he jumped back in fear, before wincing in pain at the sudden movement, “Argh! I don’t wanna go back in there!”

  Nurse Joy looked conflicted at Larry's immediate refusal, seemingly understanding what he’d said through the language barrier, “Don’t worry too much, Pokeballs are very comfortable!” Before Larry had any time to retaliate, a red beam hit him and the world went black once again.

  …

  Once his sight returned, he was once again floating in that big white nothingness. He wanted to panic but knew that it wouldn’t do him any good.

  ‘These guys are kind of deluded, don’t Pokemon have any rights?!’ The Nurse Joy's dismissive attitude rubbed him the wrong way. ‘Guess I’ll need to talk with that trainer who caught me.’

  Larry already feared for the worst, but he had managed to thrive in what he knew were the depths of one of the most dangerous mountains in the region.

  A warmth washed over him and Larry felt the parts of his body that were hurt tingle again, once acclimated it felt like a nice and encompassing warmth over his body. His panicked mind calmed down and Larry grounded himself mentally.

  ‘I’m not about to throw in the towel just like that, I didn’t make my way down Mt. Silver for nothing, it was all to see the world. To finally do something with my life I missed in my first shot at life. Mom didn’t sacrifice herself for nothing!’

  Drowsiness crept up on him as his eyes slowly fluttered closed, the last thing on his mind was who this little girl would be that had caught him.