Pokémon: Rough Water (Sequel to Finding Red)

Chapter 20

A/N: This short chapter is written in 3rd person to avoid constantly switching back and forth from the characters' point of view. Hope you'll enjoy reading :)
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Skylar hadn't left her room for three days. She could barely get out of bed and the loss of her appetite continued to remain, but she managed to keep herself well-hydrated to make up for food consumption. A dozen 1L water bottles were placed on her bedside table, half of them already empty.

The mixture of dread and guilt had overwhelmed her entirely. She wasn't in the mood to speak with anyone, or even interact with any of her Pokemon. Lace, who had already forgiven her trainer for storing her in the PC, tried to feed her by offering her favorite cupcakes (courtesy of Red) but wasn't successful. The frustrated Glaceon paced around the room, wondering why Skylar had been staying under the covers for so long. Lace wanted to help her trainer, but didn't know how, mainly because she didn't have an single idea what was wrong with Skylar.

It was time for her to ask help from the outside. The Glaceon headed towards the door, pulling on a string tied to the doorknob, which allowed her to squeeze through a small space and out into the hallway. Red's room was located at the other side of the hallway, and his doorknob didn't have any strings to attached to it. Lace mustered up her strength and knocked on the door repeatedly with her small furry paws, hoping that it would enough to catch Red's attention. Much to the snow fox's relief, Red was already awake. He was surprised to find Lace outside of his room.

"Good morning Lace. Need another cupcake?" Red asked, crouching down to pat the Glaceon's soft head. Behind him, his Pikachu and Poliwrath hopped down from his bed, happy to see their friend again.

"Good morning too. Skylar's not okay. I don't know what to do," Lace worriedly replied. "Hello Pika and Poli. You look well." The Pikachu and Poliwrath nodded in response, both too sleepy to talk yet.

Red frowned. He knew he should have trusted his instincts and checked on her earlier. "Don't worry, I'll go check on her." he said.

The smell of sizzling bacon and fried eggs started to fill the air, a good indicator that Lack-Two was already preparing breakfast. Red and Blue took turns daily in handling the kitchen duties as "payment" for staying, but Lack-Two always handled breakfast duties.

"Breakfast smells good. Lace, Pika, and Poli, go downstairs for breakfast. I'll go check on Skylar first." Red told the three Pokemon.

"Skylar hasn't eaten anything for days. I know you can help her. Thank you Red." Lace said before following Pika and Poli downstairs. The Glaceon trusted him, knowing that he would be able to take care of her trainer.

Indeed, they were right on time for breakfast. Lack-Two had just finished cooking and started to hand out plates containing equal portions of bacon and eggs. He wasn't a gourmet chef or anything close, but his culinary skills were decent enough to provide good quality breakfast meals.

Five Pokemon were patiently organized in a line near the kitchen table: Kabutott and Glisott (both were his Pokemon), followed by Pika, Lace, and Poli. Lack-Two gave them a brief smile and handed each of them a breakfast-filled plate. "Enjoy your meal guys."

Lack-Two glanced toward the living room, where another temporary occupant was currently sleeping on the couch. A stack of papers was scattered all over his sleeping figure. Thank Arceus I didn't have to experience being a gym leader, Lack-Two quietly thought to himself, then proceeded to pour orange juices into small cups for his Pokemon guests.
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Red headed towards Skylar's room, quietly closing the door behind him as he entered. Skylar was still sleeping, fully hidden beneath the covers. He sat down on the side of her bed, unsure of what to do.

If I lift the covers, I might wake her up and disturb her sleep. But if I don't, then I won't be able to check her temperature, Red thought. He decided to lift over her blankets as gently as he could, and only to a minimal amount that exposed her head. He lightly placed a hand on her forehead and pulled back almost immediately. Shit. Skylar's burning up, Red frowned. He went to the bathroom and grabbed a clean face towel, folded it into a small rectangle, then soaked it in ice-cold running water for a few seconds. Afterwards he squeezed the folded towel so that it wouldn't completely drip, but enough to maintain its coldness.

"I'm sorry, Skylar. I really should have checked on you earlier." Red apologized as he returned to her bedside, carefully placing the cold towel on her forehead. "I had planned to talk you the day after you went with Gold, but you didn't leave your room the entire day... The day after that, Gold sent me a message about not dating you anymore, but you weren't ready for a relationship yet and needed space... And then yesterday, we lost all contact with Gold. No one knows what happened to him, so I decided to search all around the region for him. I don't know if he just left or if he was abducted or something worse, but I'm really hoping that he's not in trouble. He's still my bestfriend after all..." he trailed off.

Underneath the covers, Skylar woke up and blinked. She wondered why her forehead suddenly felt cold, so she slowly sat up and discovered two things:

1. Someone had placed a cold towel on her forehead, and it fell off when she sat up.

2. That someone was sitting on the side of her bed right now.

"Hey  Skylar. Glad you're awake. How are you feeling?" Red asked quietly, handing her one of the unempty water bottles. He expected that it was probably the first thing that she would do upon awakening, in order to stay hydrated since Lace did mention that Skylar hadn't eaten for a while. He also noticed that her face looked tired despite just waking up, and that she may probably need more bed rest.

And he was right. Skylar accepted the water bottle without a word, took a long refreshing sip then returned the bottle to him. Afterwards she stared at him for a few moments , contemplating if she was just hallucinating or not. His crimson eyes gazed back at her with worry. Still unsure of the truth, Skylar lay back down in her bed and closed her eyes, not wanting to overthink about the existence of Red being there beside her.

Red placed the half-empty water bottle back on the bedside table, realizing that she had no problem staying hydrated even without consuming food. Assuming that she was either not fully awake yet or felt too sick to speak at all, he didn't question why she hadn't spoken a single thing since she woke up. He was about to put the cold towel back on her forehead when Skylar abruptly grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him closer in her bed. "Skylar...?" A startled Red asked, feeling the blood rush to his face. "What... what are you doing?" He suddenly had this tempting urge to kiss her, but he restrained himself from doing so, reminding him that she still had a fever.

Skylar shifted sideways until she was directly facing Red. She adjusted her blankets, extending them over to Red so that both of their bodies were completely covered now. Her face was just mere inches away from Red's, and while he seemed to be asking her questions, Skylar wasn't listening. She was too distracted by the tranquility of his crimson eyes. "Stay here, okay?" she whispered to him, feeling safe and comfortable within his gaze.

Red didn't anticipate that her voice would actually sound weaker than her current physical state. He didn't know if she was experiencing any pain right now, because if she was, he really couldn't tell. He silently hoped that her temperature would return to normal soon. "I'm not going anywhere, Skylar." he assured her with a smile, putting back the cold towel on her forehead. Red wasn't sure why Skylar wanted him to be in this particular position, but if it made her feel better, then he didn't have a reason to complain.