Peacekeepers

Chapter Ten - Loss

During his Pokémon journey and first world tour, fifteen year old Steven stepped off the boat that had brought him back home to Hoenn. After spending a few months in Johto where he caught his newest partner, Skarmory, he was happy to see the familiar city of Slateport again.

Stepping off the boat beside him was his good friend and traveling companion Brawly, who stretched his arms dramatically and gave Steven a brotherly thump on the shoulder. "Hey, come on, you promised me a spar after breakfast!" His sky blue eyes gleamed with mischief and his long, spiky blue hair stuck out in more directions than Steven's.

Steven sighed in slight annoyance; sometimes his friend's energy was a bit too much to deal with in the mornings. "I said sometime after breakfast. Arguably, that could be any time before lunch."

Brawly made a face in response but relented with a grumble. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. What's on the agenda then?"

"Well I thought-" Steven's reply was cut short when his Pokétch prototype started beeping at him with the pager function. Since the device was still in the early stages of development, the screen merely blinked the name of the person paging him, which was reading"Dad" in big, bold letters.

Steven's heart sank in response. There were very few reasons why his father would be paging him. One of which was never good.

"What is it?" Brawly asked carefully.

"I need to call home." After running to the Pokémon Center and using the phone to talk to his father, Steven's worst fears were realized. He bolted for the exit, not bothering to hang up the phone, Brawly at his heels.

Since they were in Slateport, it would only take him a couple hours to fly back home to Rustboro on his new Skarmory. Releasing the bird Pokémon from his Pokéball, he hopped on and took only a second to glance back at his friend.

"Go!" Brawly waved at him urgently. The young martial artist didn't own a flying type yet, so he couldn't follow. "I'll catch up the long way."

Steven nodded gravely and urged Skarmory to take off. It wasn't their first flight together but they were still getting used to each other, and Steven had collected a fair share of cuts from the metal bird's sharp blades whenever he made any careless movements.

By the time he reached Rustboro and the mansion his parents owned, Steven couldn't decide if he was simply sick with worry or if he was sick of flying. Either way, his stomach was a mess and he barely managed to praise his tired Pokémon for his hard work before recalling him. "Thanks Skar, you did great."

Rushing up the stairs and through the front door, Steven was greeted by the family butler with a grim expression. "Thank heavens you've returned in time Master Steven. I'm afraid things have taken a turn for the worst."

Somehow, Steven managed to keep his emotions intact as looked around the foyer. "Where is she?"

"In the study, where she collapsed. The doctors say she shouldn't be moved."

Steven nodded and headed for the study with stiff but deliberate steps. He paused at the door and took a deep breath to steady himself, then walked in, regarding the scene in front of him with a creeping dread.

A small group of doctors and nurses hovered around the room while his father stood, motionless and clearly distraught beside a couch.

On the couch lay his mother, the person to whom all the activity seemed to be focused. Her long, dark blue hair was pooled around her head on a pillow and her equally blue eyes were foggy with delirium.