Antoshi fell to a knee, sighing in exhaustion. He took a few deep breaths, trying to still his pounding heart. Both he and Fireball were wholly relieved the nightmare was over. Antoshi groaned as he got back to his feet, only to watch his friend collapse onto his back. He quickly became concerned, trying his best to ignore the pain from his wounds, rushing to his friend's side.
"Fire!" he exclaimed, kneeling beside him. "Are you okay?" Fireball chuckled weakly, opening his eyes to greet his friend. Fire could see how injured Antoshi was as well. His clothes were tattered. Burns, blood and bruises were scattered across his exposed flesh.
"Not really," he replied. "I've never felt this wrecked before."
"Same here," Antoshi quietly agreed, painfully inspecting the various injuries all over Fire's wet, blood-spattered yellow fur, the most severe of which being his arm which was covered in crimson fur. "We need to get you patched up, buddy."
"I don't think I can get up," Fire wearily responded. "I think I'm... just gonna... rest here for a bit, okay?" Antoshi would not allow such a request. He suddenly grit his teeth, slamming his fist in the wet grass.
"No!" he angrily exclaimed, surprising his friend.
"Antoshi..." he uttered in shock, having never seen Antoshi so angry before.
"I won't leave you here! That's not something you would do to me and I'm not going to do the same to you!" Fireball's jaw hung agape for a moment, realizing how intent Antoshi was in helping him. He then gave the boy a smirk and nodded. With the rain falling down all around them, Antoshi was even more eager to get him and his friend to shelter.
"Come on," Antoshi said, putting an arm around Fireball's back and helping his friend sit up. He draped Fire's good arm around the nape of his neck, attempting to hoist the over two hundred pound Pokémon to his feet. When it became apparent he simply did not have enough strength, he instinctively tapped into what was left of his hidden power. The purple aura glowed weakly around his body, giving him enough strength to lift him and his injured friend to their feet.
Slowly but steadily, he began to walk forward, carrying his friend along with him. Fireball was groaning with each step, an indication for him to take his time, especially with his own injuries. He wasn't sure how long his strength would hold out. Fireball looked down at his friend, seeing the look of sheer determination on his face.
"Antoshi," he spoke up, catching the boy's attention. "Thank you, my friend." Antoshi smiled.
"You'd do the same for me," he calmly replied. Fireball shot him a confident grin and nodded.
"No doubt," he agreed. The two of them shared a brief chuckle before continuing on their journey back into the city. Antoshi stopped briefly to bend down a bit, picking up his soaked backpack, keeping it dangling at his side.
The girl with her umbrella knew they were leaving and leapt incredibly high off the tall hill. She landed on the top of a nearby tree with the impact of a feather. She couldn't help but smile at the lengths of which the blond-haired young man would go for his friend. She silently hopped from tree to tree to keep an eye on them until they were out of the woods, opting to stay where she was as she watched them slowly trudge down the city sidewalks. Both friends were determined to get help for each other. The rain began to pour down harder, making it that much more difficult for them, but they refused to be deterred. She smiled again, twirling her umbrella playfully before the duo turned a corner, out of her sight.
The two best friends struggled toward their destination. The seconds felt like minutes, the minutes like hours. Both of them were becoming weaker with each step, wanting nothing more than to be lying safe at home, wishing their battle hadn't happened. Regardless, they needed to push forward. Their faces were full of grit, ignoring their respective pains. The rain was relentless, coming down in sheets all around them, soaking them to the bone.
They panted and groaned. Antoshi shook off the light-headedness and blurriness in his vision which occasionally caused him to stumble in any direction. After the first few times he stumbled, Fire became concerned, glancing down at his friend, watching his eyelids fluttering from exhaustion.
"Antoshi," he said, "please don't push yourself too much. Let's just rest for a minute."
"It--It's okay," he muttered, "I want to keep going." Fireball had worry painted all over his face. He could see Antoshi's aura was barely visible around his body, like a dying candle. He knew nothing good would come of Antoshi draining all of his strength just to help him. But Antoshi was resolute in his effort, not willing to rest, even for a second, keeping his pace steady.
A short time later, Antoshi gasped when he saw a Pokémon Center just a few more paces away. Fireball's head was hung down, his eyes closed from exhaustion. He needed to be dragged along by Antoshi, which only made the boy's endeavor tougher. He grunted loudly with each subsequent step, straining with effort as he fought off his own exhaustion, forcing his eyelids to stay open and his legs to keep going long enough for him to reach the automatic doors of the Pokémon Center.
People taking shelter from the rain in the center gasped when they saw the two stumble inside, visibly beaten, bloodied and weary. Nurse Joy looked up from her computer with an expression of pure shock, immediately getting up and rushing over to the duo.
"Please," Antoshi weakly spoke up as Nurse Joy approached, "help my friend. He's really hurt."
"Chansey!" Nurse Joy called out, alerting her Chansey. The pink Pokémon quickly sped off to wheel in a stretcher without another word. Nurse Joy incredulously inspected Fireball's wounds, having not seen such a badly beaten Pokémon in a long time. There was much muttering between the others in the dwelling area, shocked to see such vicious battle scars on a Pokémon, as well as on the boy.
"What could have done this?" Joy asked with concern.
"A bad fight," Antoshi replied, looking into Joy's eyes with sincerity. She nodded, deciding not to probe any further. Getting Fireball medical attention was more important. Chansey quickly came back, wheeling the stretcher beside Fireball. Antoshi and Joy both helped Fireball onto it where he soon collapsed from fatigue.
"We'll take good care of him," Joy said, motioning for Chansey to wheel him off to their emergency room.
"Wait, please," Antoshi pleaded, trying to follow his friend only to have Nurse Joy stop him. "Please just let me go with him. I want to be there for him."
"You're badly beaten up, too," Joy replied as she restrained the boy. "You need to get to the hospital yourself," she firmly added.
"I just want to be there!" Antoshi exclaimed, tears filling his eyes. "I want to--" he stopped suddenly, when everything he'd endured finally took its toll on him. He'd completely run out of energy. His body shut down, blacking out and collapsing into Joy's arms, letting his backpack fall to the ground. She fell to her knees, cradling the boy as she glanced to one of the spectators in the dwelling area.
"Quick!" she exclaimed. "Use the desk phone to call and ambulance!"
"Right," the young man nervously replied, rushing over to the phone as Joy glanced down at the tattered boy laying unconscious in her arms.
The next time Antoshi opened his eyes, he was met with a bright light.
"Oh, not again," he groggily muttered. He slowly sat up in bed, suddenly wincing and holding his side painfully with a bandage-wrapped arm. He couldn't freely move his other arm, finding it in a sling and also wrapped in bandages. He was familiar with the bland, white walls surrounding him. He quickly realized he was in the hospital — again.
He sighed heavily, taking a casual look around, spotting his dirtied backpack placed on a nearby chair. His heart sank when he realized he was not in the company of his best friend. He swallowed nervously, recalling the image of Fireball being carted away on a stretcher. He had no idea how severe Fireball's injuries were, immediately starting to worry about the outcome of his friend's treatment in the Pokémon Center. In a panic, he looked around, finding a red 'call' button by his bed, which he eagerly pressed. Not long after, the door quietly swung open, revealing the image of a nurse.
"Oh, my!" she said with surprise as she saw the boy sitting up. "I wasn't sure you'd wake up so soon. Your injuries were quite severe." He swallowed nervously again, afraid to ask about his friend after the nurse's remark. Just then, she looked over and motioned for someone to come over.
"You have a guest," she said with a cheerful smile. "He's been quite anxious to see you." Antoshi's spirits lifted when he heard the thudding footsteps approaching before seeing the bandage-ridden face of his best friend peer around the corner.
"Fire!" he exclaimed with joy. Fireball grinned from cheek to cheek, excitedly dashing into the room to his friend's bedside. The nurse chuckled softly and closed the door to give them some privacy.
"Wow," Fire remarked, looking over the multitude of bandages on his friend. "You look more wrecked than I do."
"Really?" he asked in disbelief. "You look like a mummy as it is," he added, looking over Fireball's bandage-wrapped chest and arm.
"Well if I'm a mummy, then you're a mummy's mummy," Fire joked, sharing a brief laugh with Antoshi. The mood turned quiet afterward, both of them remembering why they were so battered in the first place.
"How bad was it?" Antoshi asked, drawing a curious glance from his friend. "Your injuries, I mean."
"Oh," Fire replied with a nod. "They mentioned something about me having broken ribs, stitched-up arm, lots of fluids lost. That sort of thing." Antoshi felt badly about his friend being so injured, feeling as though it were his fault. He idly scratched a itch on his chest through his hospital gown, only to realize his ribs were also taped up with bandages. "Looks like you, too," Fire added, hearing the scritch of bandages on his chest.
"Yeah," Antoshi muttered, staring blankly as he couldn't believe the extent of their injuries.
Fireball noticed a look of sadness on his friend's face. He realized everything he'd endured was finally bearing down on him. The revelation of his powers, the grueling fight, the injuries and of course, Latoshi himself. Neither of them were ready to accept such a monstrous individual as a family member, unable to understand how and if he could be related to Antoshi in the first place. Even still, the pieces did seem to fit.
Latoshi was right about one thing, however. Antoshi hadn't truly been in a fight before. For such an intense battle to be his first scared Antoshi. He knew Latoshi wouldn't quit — he would show himself again someday. What scared him more than that was the fact that he had no idea when that day would come, forced to live in a constant state of fear.
Fireball knew Antoshi's life would likely never be the same again, and that Antoshi knew it too. He felt badly, trying to break the awkward silence between them.
"Well," he spoke up, grabbing the boy's attention. "they said I was out for a whole day."
"A day?" Antoshi asked, amused by the thought. "I always knew you were a heavy sleeper." Fireball looked away and chuckled at the statement, leaving the boy confused. "What's so funny?"
"I might have been out for a day," he replied, "but you were out for two days."
"Two?!" Antoshi blurted out in disbelief, becoming even more shocked when he flashed back to his last trip to the hospital, where he also slept for two days. "Again?!" he added. Fireball laughed heartily.
"Compared to you, I'm a light sleeper!" he exclaimed, continuing to laugh. Antoshi grinned, chuckling softly which quickly turned into joyous laughter, soaking up the good spirits of his friend. Despite what they'd been through, both of them were relieved to be done with their ordeal for the moment. They finally had a chance to get some rest and still had each other.
Outside, however, a pair of eyes gazed at Antoshi through his window from the rooftop of an adjacent building. An unblinking gaze, one that found Antoshi quite the interesting spirit, eager to know more about him. The mysterious young woman brushed a few strands of her long, brown hair from her face, smiling sweetly as she could sense the joy in their hearts as they shared a laugh together. The evening sun shone its last light on the hospital, putting a soft glow on the boy's face. She chuckled softly, turning back to the stairwell. She gave the boy and his Typhlosion one more glance before calmly descending back down the way she came.
Not far from the hospital, there was no laughter or joy, only anguish and vengeance. Under the cover of trees, Latoshi growled softly as he unwrapped the blood caked gauze from his arm before wrapping it again in clean gauze recently stolen from a nearby pharmacy. The residual pain from their fight still lingered, though he was unwilling to take any medicine for it. He realized his wounds, though severe, were healing quite rapidly.
'With your spiritual energy,' the voice spoke, 'your injuries will continue to heal faster than normal humans.'
"Good," he replied, getting to his feet. He sneered, with bandages strewn across his face. "The sooner I can plan a rematch with Antoshi, the better." He narrowed his eyes, barely able to make out the soft glow of purple energy flickering like a small candle within Antoshi's body.
"I'm not good at sensing your energy right now, Antoshi," he muttered to himself, "but I promise, our paths will cross again. When they do, I'll show you some real brotherly love."
'And then, the world will be ours,' the voice eagerly chimed in. Latoshi laughed amusedly, a laugh that quickly turned into crazed cackling, frightening nearby birds out of their perches as his unrelenting, twisted laughter echoed throughout the evening air.
The End
(Author Note: Because people were getting confused the last time, "The End" does not denote the end of this series, just this particular story. If you enjoyed this story please be assured that there is more of the Antoshi series yet to come, and please rate/review. Thanks for reading!)