Phantomness walks into a room. She spots the fireplace. An insane gleam lights in her eyes as she takes years worth of horrible essays and throws them into the raging fire. But that has nothing to do with the fic.
Disclaimer/Notes: See earlier chapters
Pairing: Ash x Lance, het championshipping
Chapter 5
Misty. Clair. Sabrina. Erika. Jasmine. Drake. Lorelei. Karen. Morty. Will. Daisy. Cissy. Rudy. Danny. Pryce.
An exceptionally talented dark trainer only known as ‘Lance’ had attacked all the above trainers during the past year. Misty, Pryce, and Rudy had not survived. The rest had, although their memories regarding encounters with said trainer were fuzzy at best.
Ash was not particularly worried. He was only an intern nurse, after all. Who cared about him?
Bulbasaur was pregnant. She and Squirtle were expecting the babies in a day or two. Catelyn was keeping a careful eye on them.
However… he was worried about his mentor. She hadn’t been sleeping well; he’d seen dark circles underneath her eyes several times this month.
She was currently in surgery again, this time, it was a Blastoise with a cracked shell… even if she managed to rejoin the two halves of the shell at the fissure, and it would still need at least six months to recuperate.
Ash was studiously ignoring the purple-haired trainer who had brought the Blastoise in. It was hard to do though, as he continued to rant and rant…
“What a stupid pokemon! I can’t believe it didn’t defeat that blasted, bloody Nidoking! Stupid Oak!”
Now that caught his attention… he closed his current medical record on a lost Clefairy and walked towards the trainer. “Excuse me?”
“What do you want?” The boy spat.
Ash restrained the urge to say, * I’m the intern nurse, and for your information, if I hadn’t called Catelyn while she was on her break, your Blastoise would be dead by now, and I healed your other pokemon, what did you do to make them need level 6 healing? * Instead, he settled for a hopefully pleasant smile. “You lost a battle to someone named Gary Oak?”
“You know him? He beat you up too?”
Ash twitched. “We used to be friends a long time ago.” There was quite some emphasis on the long part of the sentence.
“Ah… figures. He’s so arrogant! He’s off to Johto to get their badges before the Indigo League.”
Ash knew. Gary had a trainer level of 114… quite a bit higher than his own. However, now his pokedex registered him as an intern nurse and able to carry up to forty-two pokemon at a time by his new status.
He didn’t want to be a breeder any more, now that he had heard the horror stories. Brock didn’t either – he had gone with Camille on a honeymoon cruise that would last six months and wouldn’t be returning for another three.
The thirteen-year old looked up as the specialist came out, looking as if she were about to collapse. Ash hurriedly ran to the refrigerator, grabbed a Stamina+ drink and handed it to her.
Catelyn gave Ash a grateful look as she downed the beverage, instantly feeling her energy levels rise by twenty percent. Recently, more and more trainers had been passing through Cobalt, using it as a shortcut to Fuchsia, and so she had to work longer shifts. Even with Ash’s help, the sheer number of pokemon sometimes overwhelmed her. She downed a second one. Well, seventy percent energy was better than none…
“You’re the Blastoise’s trainer?”
The boy nodded.
“Let me see your pokedex.”
He gave a sullen leer as he took it out, openly ogling the woman. Catelyn resisted the urge to kill him and checked.
“Jamaal. Trainer level 21, and you have Blastoise, Golduck, Cleffa, and Mr. Mime on your team.”
“Yeah, so what?”
“Your Blastoise will need at least six months of rehabilitation. I suggest Celadon Pokemon Center for it, as Olivine is too far away.”
“WHAT?!”
“It can’t battle for at least six months.”
“You… you liar! I can’t wait that long! Indigo championships are in four months!”
Catelyn glared. “You’ve been drawn up on two counts of pokemon abuse already a third and you lose your license. Would you like me to report that third incident?”
A switchblade suddenly gleamed in Jamaal’s hands. “Just you try!”
She deliberately turned her back on him, walking to the main terminal… and Jamaal charged, only to collide with cold steel…
Silver was annoyed. Some annoying human was trying to kill her mistress! She expressed her displeasure with a Steel Wing attack.
Ash stared in awe. “I didn’t know you had pokemon besides the two Blissey here! I mean… wow!”
“I do, I just don’t like to show them off.”
“I see.”
Jamaal writhed in pain, as there was a shallow, but long gash across his chest. Skarmory flew out the casement.
Catelyn sent the report anyways. Jamaal had to serve three months community service for attacking a Nurse Joy.
He brought it upon himself…
Ash was falling asleep that night, when he heard footsteps. The trainer yawned, and went back to sleep.
Ah, Catelyn probably had insomnia again or something… or she was checking on the patients. There was a Sandshrew on life support…
A few minutes later, a muffled thump was heard. That did not sound good! He grabbed his poke belt and sprinted outside.
A blue-haired man was trying to get into the ICU where Blastoise still was, but Catelyn was beating him off with a broom. It might have been funny if the situation weren’t so serious….
Ash screamed as gunshot sounded and Catelyn crumpled to the floor. “NO! Bulbasaur, Solarbeam!”
His anger lashed out…. And he completely forgot that Bulbasaur was pregnant and could not battle in this state.
Bulbasaur was smarter, and used Leech Seed instead, tying him up. By this time, the rest of the pokemon had awakened, and were putting up a deafening racket.
Catelyn’s Skarmory shot in from somewhere else and used Swift, knocking the man out.
With that settled, Ash rushed to her side. “Catelyn, Catelyn, are you all right? I’m so sorry! I should have interfered quicker…”
Slightly glazed eyes met his.
Ash paled. She was in shock! Oh no…. never mind that blood was getting all over his uniform – yes, he slept in it, nurses were often needed at night…
Was she breathing?
A quick check confirmed the fact.
Now was no time for modesty. He sent one of the Blissey off for tweezers and a scalpel. The second Blissey quickly sung Catelyn to sleep.
Here goes… he winced as he carried her to the operating table and pulled on a pair of rubber gloves. He knew he wasn’t qualified for surgery yet, but there was nothing else to do! The Blisseys couldn’t handle it!
He grimly made the first cut… wincing as more blood spurted out of the wound. Maybe he should give her a transfusion later…. But for now, he had to remove the bullet.
He picked up the scalpel.
End Chapter
Completed 4/25/05
Ash: Oh no
Lance: I suppose… this is different…
Phantomness: ^-^