Lapis woke up in a dark room, hearing a soft beep in the air. He blinked twice before he felt around, finding a soft ear. He couldn't move before the ear twitched out of his grip and Minun appeared in his view. He focused his vision on it before he managed to move his hand to pet it. It purred before someone joined them. They didn't say anything as Lapis kept his focus on his partner. The person then left before Sage joined him.
"Hey." Lapis blinked before Sage continued. "Take your time. We had to carry you back here." Lapis showed confusion. He went to speak before Sage stopped him. "You went into shock. Take your time to get back up. The medics are still figuring things out. I'll be right back." Lapis was glad Minun was still there because he felt lonely when the Base Leader left. The electric type noted his petting stilled before nuzzling his face, regaining his attention.
The problem was he knew what happened. Now that he knew where he was, everything was clear. His family had a history of strokes, so it explained perfectly why he was so sluggish through the sewers. His body was fighting a practical war. But he allowed the medics to do their thing before Sage came back.
"How're you feeling?" Lapis stayed quiet as he petted Minun, who was keeping him calm. He glanced at the Base Leader as he sat down. He smiled before continuing. "I guess I should've asked about Medical Problems before we moved forward." Lapis merely gave a look to show his disapproval. "Hey, that's not fair. Normally, you would go through the school. We had to go a different way." Lapis finally spoke.
"You could've asked me before the medics figured it out. I wasn't near death." Sage gave a face as he turned his focus back onto Minun.
"That's not fair." Lapis hummed before Sage sighed. "Still. I should've taken the time to figure you out so that you were safe." He then paused. "Real quick, you know about it?" Laptops glanced at him.
"Runs in the family. I've taken care of my mother because of it." He then giggled as Minun got up and licked his cheek. "I'll be ok, Minun." Sage smiled as Minun purred before laying back down. The base leader then spoke.
"So... Here's what's going to happen. The medics are going to double check you and then you'll be discharged. We're then going to get back to Ringtown. Got it?" Lapis nodded as Sage stood up. "Right. I'll see you in a bit."
~
Lapis walked out slowly as Minun jumped in front. Sage smiled as they went over.
"All set?" Lapis gulped.
"For... the most part. They kept trying to insist I use a monitor. But the monitors never worked on my family and they wouldn't tell anything until minutes into an episode." Minun jumped up on his shoulder. "If it gets too bad, I might have to look into a service pokemon. It's the only way I'll be able to accurately predict them. But we'll see." Sage hummed as he drifted into thought.
"We'll figure that out later. Come on. I just learned that the boulders from earlier blocked off a lot of the tunnel. Aria started clearing them, but she's been having Styler difficulties lately." He hummed. "We're going to go relieve her before pushing our way through to Ringtown. Got it?" Lapis nodded before following him.
~
While Sage needed to find some help from the pokemon, Lapis merely pulled out a large hammer and crushed them. He pushed ahead quickly until Minun got in front and blocked a wave of flames with its electricity. Lapis shielded his face before the flames faded and he saw his attacker.
"Who..." The female grinned as she lifted her bow up.
"Lookie here! I got the Physical Ranger! Let the games begin!" Lapis went to question it before Minun's lightning clashed with more flames. Sage's voice raced through the air before the clash broke and he got in front. The female made a face. "Drat!" Minun quickly blocked the flames again as Sage gulped.
"All good?"
Lapis nodded before Star's voice followed from somewhere. The flames blocked their vision, but a scream followed before they faded. The girl was now shaking as a toy sat on the other side of the clearing, her pokemon eyeing it carefully. Sage let out a chuckle before Lapis gave a look. He then called out.
"Star, stop spooking people. It's not funny." Her voice responded from somewhere.
"When you can defeat this one, we'll talk. But until then... BOO!" The girl screeched as something from the toy suddenly slammed the pokemon into the nearby wall. The girl chose to run instead of dealing with it. "Nicely done, Mim Mim! Come on back!" The toy vanished before she called out again. "Now hurry up! We have people over here who need to get to the city!" Sage grumbled something under his breath before they charged forward.
~
They met the Battle Ranger on the other side as she smiled.
"Welcome back!" She then turned to the small crowd. "Tunnel's back up!" They cheered before she pulled them to the side to let everyone through. "Nicely done." Sage sighed.
"You took our fight."
"You guys were taking forever in there. I thought I was gonna have to break my way through. Then Mim Mim realized that they could get through and get to the fight." Sage sighed again.
"You scared the living life out of her." Star shrugged before she scanned Lapis, who was focused on Minun.
"Are you ok?" Sage glanced at him as Minun got on top of his head, messing with his hair. Sage then turned to her.
"He had a medical emergency while we were working in the city. Give him a bit of time." She nodded before glancing at him as he tried to get Minun to leave his hair alone, getting little success.
~
Cedar hummed as he and Star listened to what Sage was saying. Lapis had gone to bed early, feeling lightheaded from the day before. Cedar hummed again.
"A Service Pokemon is a lot better in this instance." He then paused. "If his mother also has this condition, then it's surprising that she's made it this far with only Lapis to help her." He paused. "Finding a Service Pokemon now would be better than later." Star raised an eyebrow before he added onto his words. "He's already had one. What's the possibility that the next one won't kill him? It's better to have it in safe hands than in no one's." Sage nodded.
"Right. Then we best get going. We'll let him rest for today so that he's at full strength tomorrow."
