Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Quenched Torch

Chapter 3: In This Together

"...poisoned..."

"...lost a lot of blood..."

"...trying our best..."

"...he's moving, I think..."

As I drifted in and out of consciousness, I could vaguely hear such discussions from the dark, fuzzy shapes standing over me. I could have sworn I could hear Rye or Team Apex among the voices, though I usually fell unconscious again before I could actually make them out.

When I finally came to, the first thing that I noticed was that my throbbing chest appeared to have been tightly wrapped in gauze. I could still tell that it had been torn into, as was evident by the red staining the gauze, though it didn't feel as bad as it should have been. I mean, I was still alive, so I guess that should have been obvious. Allowing my eyes to adjust, I took a look at my surroundings. I was lying on an uncomfortably lumpy straw bed in a small room with a single window, twilight and the faint sound of talking seeping in. The only Pokémon in the room was Rye, who was sitting next to my little bed seemingly deep in thought.

"Sha?" I cried out weakly. Rye jumped slightly, snapping out of his contemplation. His slight panic was quickly replaced with relief once he noticed where the sound had come from.

"H-hey, Beck. Good to see you're awake..."

With some difficulty, I managed to sit up as Rye sat down next to me.

"You were out for three days, we were starting to get worried. Those bites were pretty deep, Ms. Audino said you're lucky to be alive..."

'Three days? Lucky to be alive? ...what?'

I hadn't even been an Oshawott for an hour up to that point, and I had come that close to dying? Okay, then...

Rye, seemingly noticing my distress at the news, shifted in his seat.

"D-don't worry! What's left should be gone with a few Heal Pulses, some Pechas, and a couple more days of rest, then..."

His enthusiasm wilted like a dying plant, for lack of a better word.

"...th-then we can send you back home..."

As he hung his head, a thought occurred to me. Rye didn't even know I didn't have a home. At least, not that I knew of. On that note, he didn't know of my being human... how would he respond to that? He had been so enthusiastic about me just being able to understand him, so what should I expect? Would he be excited? Upset? Angry? Before I could ponder on this, Rye looked up at me, sadness in his yellow eyes.

"Do you miss your family, Beck? A-are they smart like you?" he questioned.

A moment of silence hung in the air. The Treecko watched me, confused at my reluctance to answer.

"...is your family...?"

"Sh-shaah!" I cried out in frustration, pointing my tiny arms to my head in an 'I don't know' gesture. Thankfully, Rye seemed to understand this, at least.

"...uh, do you remember them?"

'Finally, we're getting somewhere.' I shook my head no as Rye's eyes widened.

"Do you remember... anything?"

Another shake no. Rye seemed to sink back into thought, now silently muttering to himself.

Another moment of silence passed as this continued, only to be interrupted by a large pink Pokémon walking in. The Audino seemed to light up at the sight of me.

"Ah, you're awake!" she exclaimed, approaching me with one of the feelers on her ears in hand. "I apologize for the suddenness of all this. You're in the infirmary of Arcanine's Guild in Impetus Town. Don't worry, it's not too far from Quinite Forest, we should be able to get you home once you're healed."