FSE

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Sara used the Pokeball to call me out of the hailstorm, and the angry whirl of ice was replaced by the warm, peaceful garden. I couldn't relax though - I knew Sara was still out in the storm. And John too, but I found I was more concerned about Sara. She had been nice to me, and I didn't want to see her hurt. And...

I realized at some point in the garden that with the Hoppips gone, Kirii going with John, and everything else in my home dead, there was nothing left to stay for. There was no reason not to stay with my new friends. It would keep me close to Kirii, too, and make sure she was okay.

I mulled that over as the leaf shakes stretched into long hours... then the garden dissolved in pink, replaced by the PokeCenter.

Instead of the lobby or the room Sara had slept in, or even the critical care room I had first woken up in, this time I was in the large room with multiple beds. I found myself on one with an unfamiliar human standing beside the bed. My Pokeball was held in her hand - which made me wonder what had happened to Sara. I looked around and found her sitting up on another bed. Small bandaids were covering her arms and legs, and there were long gashes in her clothes through which I could see other bandaids.

The person saw me look at Sara and smiled reassuringly. "Sara's fine. The hail is sharp but doesn't have much mass to it; she just got a lot of shallow papercuts, basically. She'll be more than fine once she gets some rest. I'm the doctor here, so you can trust me. Now, let's look at you..."

The doctor prodded at me, and I winced when she poked the spot ice had slammed into me. Maybe the hail didn't have enough mass for Sara to be hurt by, but it had still hurt when it hit me. The doctor kept prodding... and I was surprised to find myself wince again when she poked a spot on my stem. She made a thoughtful sound and rubbed around that area a little more, gently this time. "Hmm. Looks like there's some new growth there. Maybe all that rain did you some good; it feels like your berry is growing back in. I was going to ask about that, but somebodyskipped out before I could have a word with you." The doctor shot a glance at Sara, who looked chagrined and ducked her head.

"Sorry... you were working on finding the storm source, and the gym was just right next door..."

"Uh-huh." The doctor looked unmoved by the excuse and the apology, and reached under the bed to pull out another bandaid, like the ones covering Sara. "You're a little banged up from the hail, but nothing major; you'll probably be back to normal before Sara is. And I'll get you some ointment to help your berry grow, assuming you don't disappear on me before I can." The doctor glanced back at Sara and spoke slower, emphasizing the words. "That berry is very important to a Cherubi, and yours won't be able to evolve without it. That's where it stores all the nutrients and energy it uses during the process - no berry, no evolving." The doctor made sure to meet Sara's gaze with a stern expression until she nodded her understanding.

The doctor left to go look at John - like Sara he was sitting on a bed and already covered with bandaids, but he brought Kenth out of his Pokeball when the doctor arrived at his bed. The Growlithe looked beat up from both scratches and the tussle with Kirii... but I had a feeling the doctor would have no trouble helping him. I had been much worse off, back when I had first been brought here by...

Sara moved to sit up on the bed beside me. She looked at my leaves curiously, and after a moment I realized she must have been wondering what the berry would look like when it grew back in.

It seemed like almost an eternity ago when it had first been ripped from me. When I had found the Hoppips, and Kirii, and my new home.

My old home?

"Sorry, Cherubi; I didn't know you were still hurt. And... I'm sorry about your home. I know I said I'd take you back and let you go, but... I couldn't just leave you there in that hail. If you want, you can stay in the PokeCenter for a few days, and maybe the storm will clear - John and I are going to find the source, with that Milotic; it sounded like she knows where it's coming from. But... you don't have to come, if you'd rather stay here..."

I turned back and forth, imitating a head shaking 'no'. Opal wasn't there to translate, so I had to hope she would understand. "I want to go with you, if I can. I want to make sure Kirii's okay, and... I'm glad I met you and Opal. I'd like to stay. Even if it means I have to battle sometimes." I grimaced a little at that thought, remembering the power in the gym battle, and that Kirii had displayed. But... maybe while Kirii got tougher, I could too. And even though Kirii seemed okay with John, I wasn't so certain that I trusted him. "And besides... if I go back to the river, who will take care of the plants in the PokeCenter?"

I smiled, hoping Sara might get the silly joke. I wasn't sure if she did, but she seemed to understand I wanted to go with her. She smiled, looking brighter, and picked me up in a gentle hug. I was surprised at the expression, but she put me down almost as quickly, and just beamed down at me.

"That's great!! Opal will be thrilled to hear it - he's already told me a dozen times now that he likes having you around. And I'm going to be glad to have you too; grass-types have always seemed neat to me!" She grinned more, and I could tell her mind was racing, especially when she jerked and held a finger in the air. "Oh! But if you come with me, I'll have to give you a name other than Cherubi! I had an idea for one; I was looking up types of cherries and found a name that just felt like it fit you perfectly... I wrote it down somewhere..." The trainer picked her bag up off the floor and dug through it for what looked like a really small version of the television in the PokeCenter lobby. She frowned and tapped on it a few times, then smiled again and looked back at me. "How does 'Sonata' sound?"

I paused at the name. Had I heard that name before? It sounded vaguely familiar, like somebody had said that before.. but when? I thought about it but couldn't seem to remember, so instead I sounded the name out to see how I liked it. "Sonata." It was a pretty sounding name. I could see myself answering to it. "I like it!"

Sara smiled more and clapped her hands together. "Great! It's nice to meet you, Sonata."

I felt a little silly being re-introduced to Sara, but I smiled back up at her. "It's nice to mee-"

A loud screech interrupted me. Sara and I both turned to find John had released Kirii from her Pokeball, and the large Pokemon had emerged on a bed that was just a bit too short for her full form.

The Milotic was thrashing as she tried to find her balance, and her situation only grew worse as the doctor rushed to try and hold her still. "Hold still! John, help me hold her down; she needs to stay still or she'll make those cuts worse!"

Sara moved just as John did, the two trainers both helping to try and restrain the angry serpent. Kenth had fallen onto his side on the floor - either pushed there when John got up, or knocked over by Kirii's tail. The three humans seemed barely able to hold the panicked Milotic in place, so I tried to help calm her. "Kirii! It's okay!"

My friend looked back at me and I saw recognition in her eyes. She started to grow still, and it might have been done right there... but I had started a longer phrase, and without thinking I finished it. "They're just trying to help."

The Milotic's eyes flashed with sudden anger, and her tail thrashed again. "I don't need help!"

I flinched, suddenly worried I had made it worse... but I heard Sara's voice yell out over the crashing of Kirii's tail. "Sonata! Leech seed!"

Something came together in my thoughts at the trainer's words. I had a vivid image of spitting something, and it hitting a target, and then... I didn't take the time to figure out what it meant, instead responding to the trainer's direction.

I spat at the thrashing serpent, feeling something fly from my mouth when I did. Something small and black plinked against the Milotic's scales, and at first I thought that was it... but then the seed began to grow.

And grow.

And grow.

Countless tendrils of green ivy spread over the Milotic's scales, covering her from head to tail in the wavy pattern. Leaves sprouted from the vines at random spots, angling towards the lights above us, and...

And... I felt better? The sore spot on my side that had been bugging me since the doctor had poked it suddenly felt fine. So did the spot on my stem.

The whole thing had taken the briefest of leaf shakes. I had never done a 'leech seed' before and I wasn't sure what it was supposed to do, but it seemed to drain Kirii. The Milotic thrashed one more time, then there was a soft rustling sound... and then she grew still. Her breathing slowed, finally growing steady, as if all the energy had been sapped from her.

"You know..." The voice came from the floor, sounding a little strained. "You know, sometimes it takes more strength to accept help. Especially with some of the stuff these doctors will do. Anybody can thrash around and knock other hurt patients over, but a tough Pokemon like me or Cherubi can sit there and let the doctor poke away." The Growlithe slowly got to his feet, favoring his right side, and shot Kirii an unamused look.

The Milotic blushed a little, and her ear fins fell to the floor. There was a weariness in her voice, as if all her energy was gone and all that was left was sorrow. "Sorry. I... didn't know what was happening."

Kenth shook himself, then scratched at his ear. "'Sokay. Just... you're gonna have to get used to accepting help. You're gonna get tougher, but you're not alone anymore. We'll find whoever is behind that hail and make them stop. Together."

The Milotic tilted her head to look towards me. "Yeah. I guess you're right."

Kirii stayed still after that and let the doctor treat her. It took hours, but I stayed with her through it. Sara and John left and came back a few times, and Kenth took a nap on the floor by the door, but the doctor didn't seem to notice. The ivy from the leech seed shriveled up before long, and the doctor just gathered it up and stuffed it in a bin by the door. She spent a lot of time poking and prodding the Milotic, and made her hold something in her mouth for a while, but after that she just slathered some goopy stuff on the gashes. It made Kirii wince each time the doctor added more, so I tried to stay close beside her for comfort.

I didn't say anything, though. I wasn't sure what to say, really.

Before long the doctor finished slathering the goop over all the gashes, and she went to a desk with a screen on it. She was quiet for a time, frowning at the screen, then she startled me and Kirii by suddenly reaching out and slapping the side of the computer. "Come on, you stupid thing, I'm trying to register a brand new Pokemon, not update an existing file..." She kept working for a little longer... then suddenly blushed and glanced back at us. "Oh, now I feel silly - you were somebody else's Pokemon already, weren't you? That's why the computer keeps going to this other file when I put in your ID." She looked back at the screen and pushed some more keys, then smiled. "It looks like your name is... Kirii! That's a pretty name. I'll let your new trainer know, in case you want to keep it. Welcome back to the PokeCenter, Kirii."

The doctor pushed a few more buttons on the screen before she stood up and walked back to the bed. She looked over the Milotic one more time, then nodded. "I'm going to leave these uncovered for tonight so I can keep checking up on them - we'll probably have to add more ointment as your scales dry out - but I think we'll be good to cover them in the morning. And it looks like you'll be here a few days anyways while you get better - that hail's even worse than the rain, and we'll have to dig out some winter gear from storage before we can go anywhere."

She looked at me, then towards the sleeping Growlithe by the door. "I have to go check up on Sara and John, so I'll leave you here for a bit, okay? If Kirii needs anything, just have sleepyhead over there come get me."

I nodded back at the doctor and she left, stepping carefully over Kenth to keep from waking him.

There was silence for a time... then Kirii finally spoke. "Cherubi... I'm sorry."

I nodded at her. I wasn't sure I could tell her I forgave her yet - the sight of the ivy crumbling around her scales reminded me of all the other plants that had died from the endless rain, and it was still too fresh in my mind - and I certainly couldn't tell her it was okay. But...

"I understand." I frowned when I said it, feeling my leaves droop a little.

"You do?" Kirii tilted her head a little, looking surprised.

"I... yes. It's not... you were trying to help. You couldn't stop the hail any other way, and you were sure everything was going to die. And like you said... this way the Hoppips could get out, and the Feebas. So... I understand."

"But?" She looked at me again, sensing what I was holding back.

I looked away from her. I couldn't look at her and say it, not without breaking up. I stared aimlessly at the blank wall of the PokeCenter, seeing only the berries we had planted together, the shrubs we had tended, the trees we had nurtured. All dead now. "But... I wish it hadn't been you."

Kirii went quiet again, and silence stretched out again. Finally she spoke again. "I'm going to go with the Growlithe's trainer. Try and stop the hail, and then try and get stronger with him. Are... will you be coming too?"

I nodded. "Sara - she's the trainer who found me, when I was starving. She's the Umbreon's trainer. I... she seems like a good friend. I want to go with her. Especially if it means staying with you, too."

I saw the Milotic smile and nod a little. "She will be. I was a little harsh earlier... gosh, you have no idea how much better it feels now, to have finally stopped calling down all that rain and just be able to relax. It was so tiring... so stressful." She sighed, then continued. "She's a very good trainer. She wouldn't have an Umbreon otherwise. She'll be a great friend; you're lucky to have a trainer like that."

I smiled. "I had a feeling. She's nice, and Opal seems happy. She gave me a name; Sonata."

"Sonata... it's pretty. It fits you."

We grew quiet again, and I thought some more, before something occurred to me. "Kirii..."

"Yes?"

"The doctor... she said you had a trainer before. Is that how you got your name?"

The Milotic's voice was cooler when she answered. "No. Yes. It's complicated... his mother gave me my name. She gave me to her son, as a present when he earned his fourth gym badge. I liked the name. She was a nice person."

I grew quiet, already having a sinking feeling at what Kirii wasn't saying.

The Milotic was quiet for a time too... then spoke softly again. "He didn't want a 'weak fish' to slow him down. Kept saying I couldn't even take care of myself, much less him or any of the other Pokemon on his team, and needed too much help to be able to do anything, useful or not. He released me in one of the lakes here and... that was the last I ever saw of him. It... usually doesn't get to me, but... it still hurts sometimes, even though I know he was a horrible person."

I looked up at the Milotic at that, a little confused. "If... if he was so mean to you, then... why are you going with John? What if he's just like the other trainer?"

Kirii looked away before answering. "If he is, then he is. I'm older now; it won't hurt as much if he's a jerk. I can always go back to the lake if he doesn't appreciate me, and I'll be even stronger with what I learn in the meantime." She sighed and shook her head. "Or maybe I'm just more upset about it than I realize, and want to prove to him that I am strong enough." She shook her head again and looked down at me with a forced smile. "The Feebas will be safe even without me; there's a Primarina there that takes care of that lake. He'll take good care of them, too."

I nodded again, letting Kirii get away with the obvious change of subject. I didn't want to pry any further if she was uncomfortable, or bring up any more bad memories. Instead, I shifted closer, moving so I was resting against the Milotic's side. She curled her tail around in a small coil, being careful not to disturb any of the ointment covering the gashes.

"For what it's worth, Kirii... the gym leader? The one Opal said was a strong trainer?"

Kirii's ear fins twitched a little as she made herself comfortable on the short bed. "Hm?"

"He said that the Pokemon causing all the rain - that it must have been a very strong one, to do that." I grew quiet after that, just resting next to Kirii and trying to help her stay comfortable.

Her breathing grew slower as she started to drift off... but I was sure that she whispered a soft 'Thank you, Sonata' before she passed into sleep.