A Thin Line (by Ash-GreninjaGirl)

Close Calls

There was nothing but light, yet somehow Greninja's world had never felt darker. He could hear voices all around him, yet still, he had never felt more alone. Where was he? Why was he here? Would anyone ever find him? 

Sometimes, if he walked one way, he could sense the voices growing louder. He could never quite make out what they were saying, but with every step, he could feel himself becoming more and more allured towards them. It frightened him, and he always ended up turning away before he could get too close. 

He wanted to go home, but he didn't know where to look. Not only that, but he didn't think the others would be pleased to see him. Hawlucha especially wouldn't be thrilled if he came back. 

Wait, since when do I care about what Hawlucha thinks? Greninja thought to himself, shaking his head. 

There was nothing left for him to do. As much as he wanted to return to his friends again, he couldn't even begin to think of which way to go. The only direction he knew for certain was which way to follow the voices. If that was how it was going to be, then that was what he would do. 

No sooner had the thought left his mind when a new voice suddenly joined the fray. It was a sweet, lilting voice, one he hadn't heard in years, but he recognized it in a heartbeat. 

A voice of someone he had no conscious memories of...

His mother...

"It's okay, Greninja." 

"Mom?" Greninja whispered. "Where are you?" 

He stood up and began to walk towards the voices again. Once again, he could feel the same tug pulling at his chest, drawing him closer and closer. This time, however, there was no accompanying sense of foreboding. He knew he would be safe if he followed those voices. His mother would never dream of abandoning him. 

Goodbye...I guess this is it, Greninja thought as he continued to step closer and closer towards his mother's voice. 

Hawlucha had just entered the hospital to visit Greninja when a chilling cry sounded from the floor above. 

"His heart's stopped! Quick, everyone, go to work!" 

Fear shooting up his spine, the avian raced up the stairs, bypassing several nurses on his way. Sure enough, his worst fears were confirmed when he spotted a team of doctors and nurses rushing in and out of Greninja's room. His heart filling with dread, he approached Greninja's hospital room. Inside, the frog-ninja Pokemon was lying on his bed, a flat line running across the heart monitor. 

No, no...no, no, no! 

Without even stopping to think, Hawlucha rushed over to Greninja's side, ignoring the nurses shouting at him to get out of the room. He knew he would probably face severe consequences later, but he didn't care about that. If the nurses thought he was just going to let Greninja leave without a fight, they had another think coming. 

"Greninja, please don't go!" Hawlucha pleaded. He wrapped one of Greninja's hands in his own, holding it tightly. "Don't! You can't just leave us all like this! Everyone else still needs you...I need you. I don't want to live if you're not going to be here! Just...please...don't go..." 

He lowered his head onto his clenched fists and began to cry. "Please..." 

The voices had reached their loudest point when another, equally familiar voice sounded from behind Greninja. 

"Greninja, please don't go!" 

"Hawlucha?" Greninja whispered, turning around in the direction of his rival's voice. "Is that really you?" 

He didn't know what to think. What could his rival possibly want with him? And why did he sound so upset about the fact that he was leaving? Shouldn't he have been happy to be rid of him? It was all he'd talked about ever since their first meeting, after all. 

"Everyone else still needs you!" 

And there it was. Hawlucha didn't really want him to stay, but he was clever enough to make it seem as though he was being selfless by mentioning the rest of the team. 

"And I need you..." 

Well, that was certainly something new. Greninja wasn't sure whether or not to believe him, however. Hawlucha had spent their entire time as teammates telling him he didn't need him. Why had that suddenly changed now? 

"I know you probably hate me more than anything, but I need you! I don't care if I'm just another page in the book to you. You can't just leave!" 

"I don't want to! But there's nothing I can do!" Greninja protested. "And didn't you always say that you wanted me to leave anyway? Why do you suddenly want me to stay so badly?" 

"I'M NOT LETTING YOU LEAVE ME!" 

"Hawlucha....how did this happen?" Greninja was crying now. "I was at peace just a moment ago, and then you had to go ruin it. Once I figure out how to get out of here, I swear I'm going to kill you!" 

Exhausted, Greninja collapsed onto the ground, gazing around at the light surrounding him. Without even realizing it, he had wandered away from the voices, and now the everywhere around him had gone silent. 

What should I do now? the frog-ninja Pokemon wondered.

"He's stabilized!" 

As soon as those words left the doctor's mouth, a wave of relief washed over Hawlucha. He let go of Greninja's hand and fell against a chair. His eyes felt heavy, though whether that was due to exhaustion or crying he couldn't tell. At any rate, he was in desperate need of a good, long sleep. 

He didn't know if his words had reached Greninja or not, or if his rival would ever decide to return. But he was still here, and Hawlucha was too emotionally worn out to worry much about anything else.