Pokemon - Evil Reborn

Chapter 10 - Goldenrod Run

“Can you move?” Darragh asked.

“Not really... But, Grovyle...” I gestured with my head.

Darragh's Lucario knelt down and held his hand over Grovyle's chest. His expression wasn't very encouraging. “He looks terrible... Did Tobi get him?”

“Yes...” I groaned. “I have to get him back inside his PokeBall...”

“No... No, we can't do that. It'd put too much strain on him. We'll have to carry him to the Pokemon Centre.”

“Toby!” A voice called. Nelly was running along the path, Lydia by her side.

“Girls, perfect timing.” Darragh straightened up as they arrived. “You need to help Toby walk. Aura and I will carry Grovyle.”

“Oh, God...” Lydia examined my Pokemon. “It was him, wasn't it?”

“Yeah... Dammit...” I tried to stand on my own.

“Hold on, don't push yourself.” Nelly supported my arm and gently helped me to my feet. Darragh held Grovyle under his arms, whilst Aura supported his lower body. My Pokemon gasped and moaned as he was lifted, clearly in great pain. “...Come on.” Nelly encouraged, draping my arm over her shoulder. We took a few steps forward, but my leg was in agony.

“Gah...”

“I'll help too.” Lydia lifted my other arm over her shoulder.

I looked at them both and dropped my head in shame. I couldn't even argue over the pain, and they helped me slowly make my way back towards Fuchsia City's main hub.

Later, I was sat beside Grovyle's bed in the Pokemon Centre. He was lying flat out under white covers, and was hooked up to several machines. Oxygen was being fed to him by a mask on his face, and needless to say, his wounds wouldn't heal the usual way. Darragh, Nelly and Lydia were looking in from the outside through a glass window, though they couldn't hear anything I was saying.

“Grovyle... It's all my fault...” I sighed, leaning forward in the chair, putting pressure on my muscle to ease it back to normal. “If I was a better person, you never would've been put in danger...”

He was completely silent, apart from the slightly amplified steady breathing via the mask. For a long time, I had seen Grovyle as the coolest Pokemon out there, so strong, quick and fearless... And now, because of me, he was lying there, helpless. “You're one of the toughest Pokemon I know...” I told him. “If I lose you now... I... I couldn't forgive myself...”

His condition was not yet stable, and Nurse Joy had told me that the earliest he could possibly be let out would be in at least two weeks. “Before I met all of my friends... Even before Nelly... It was just you, Bonnie and I... You've been with me for so long now, that, I never ever thought I'd see you like this... Maybe it's my fault because I didn't talk to you sooner about evolving... If I had convinced you to evolve, then maybe... Maybe you wouldn't be here now...”