Chapter 5 – Dragon
Tears ran down Jasmine's cheek as she opened her eyes, exchanging the horrible dreams of her night for the waking nightmare of her day. Why, she asked herself yet again, even though she knew there was none to answer her plea for salvation; even though she knew so well that there was no answer for her to be had.
The world was cruel, and when it could not find courage to hurt her, it hurt the few things in the world that she cared about. That she dared care about, only because she thought them strong enough to weather any storm the world might throw at them, any misfortune they faced.
Yet again, her foolish assumptions had been wrong. Oh, so horribly, terribly wrong. The world was a cruel and spiteful place, and it had its eyes set on her. No matter what, it would find new ways to hurt her when she had shielded herself from the ways she'd been hurt before.
All I can do to stop it is to simply not be hurt anymore, she told herself. For if there was no way to harm her, what choice would the world have but to stop?
“All I have to do is become as hard as steel.”
Wiping her tears off on her bedsheets, she forced the harms of the world out of her mind and made herself ready to meet the day. Not with a smile – no, not ever. The day did not deserve that. But she had more than enough steel to make up for the lack of shining teeth. The day would not be disappointed, and it would not give her any further grief.
She would never give it the chance to try.
-/-/-/
“Paloo...paa...”
Fluttershy was slowly but surely approaching a state of total panic. The big yellow-black animal wasn't like anything she'd seen before, but that didn't stop her from understanding it; and the pain it was in. The pain, the arduously slow choking and the disease that caused it, the danger of letting it go untreated. This poor creature that she'd just met was going to die, and there was nothing she could do about it.
“Oh goodness, oh goodness, oh no, oh no...”
Restlessly she circled the little chamber that housed her newest patient; one second on quiet wingstrokes, the other on hooves that clattered against the tower's stone floor with every step she took.
“Oh, I don't have my medicines, or my friends to help you, or even a bed for you to rest in, oh, this is not good...”
So distracted was she that she didn't notice she was only making the poor creature dizzy with all her moving around, on top of the pain it was already in. So distressed was she that she didn't spend a single thought about her friends or what had happened to them. So completely enclosed in her own thoughts Fluttershy was, that she didn't notice the strange rumbling noise coming from the center of the chamber, nor the quiet ding that followed when it stopped.
When a pair of doors suddenly slid open and revealed a strange, two-legged creature without the least resemblance to her good friend Harry – who would ever have made that likeness? – Fluttershy kept ranting and circling for a good ten seconds before she realized that she was not alone with her patient anymore.
At which point she naturally squealed in terror and hid herself behind the first sizable object she could find – which of course, seeing as her patient's little chamber was quite a stark and undecorated place, was the patient itself.
-/-/-/
Even before the doors slid open, Jasmine knew something was up. Nobody else had access to the elevator, and she'd certainly have noticed anyone making their way up the stairs. After all, one did not simply walk past a good dozen battle-thirsty trainers without making a great big fuss with an accompanying lightshow that could be spotted from halfway across town, and the lower levels of the Olivine Lighthouse had all been peace and quiet from the minute she walked out of the Gym. It was hardly difficult to keep track of the tallest building in the city, after all.
A few of the sailors residing on the bottom floor had – as usual – given her hearty greetings and cracked a few jokes to try and cheer her up, a plan that was as well-intended as it was doomed to fail. She had responded with apologetic half-smiles and well wishes that were as genuine as they were empty and meaningless. That part of her morning routine done, she swiped her key card and entered the elevator in silence, fully prepared for the next.
That was, the part that involved her staying up at the lighthouse's top all day, and doing nothing but cry inconsolably into Amphy's yellow fur until one of her Gym trainers came along to make sure she at least didn't starve herself to death while mourning her dying friend.
I tried, she pleaded, I tried to be hard enough. But I can't.
And now she would lose the last of what was left of her short, lonely childhood, to some mysterious curse that the pokémon center staff couldn't wrap their heads around. For a curse it was, the same curse that had followed her as a little girl, the same curse that had killed her parents, the same curse that had burned down her old house with what memories she had left of them; that same curse was now killing her oldest friend, slowly and painfully, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Why am I so powerless?
That thought and ten others like it wandered around her gloomy mind as the elevator started pulling to a stop, but she was broken out of her reverie by a strange, humming sound. It was not Amphy's pained, breathless cries, or any of the familiar sounds bird pokémon normally made when they managed to get themselves trapped in the little chamber that served – had served – as the lighthouse's beacon room. This was the ups and downs of conversation, this was...
The doors slid open, and she immediately surveyed the room for the speaker. Whoever it was, she – it was clearly a woman – didn't seem to have noticed Jasmine's arrival, but kept going on about how bad the situation was and whatnot. Despite this Jasmine couldn't spot her, and she was quite confused by this. Firstly, the nurses from the pokémon center had already visited five times at her behest, and each time solemnly declared there was nothing they could do; the last time, they had quite firmly made it clear to her that they were not going to spend any more time on “prolonging this poor pokémon's suffering”, as they put it.
So for that simple reason, the idea of it being yet another visit of some sort of medical staff seemed rather unlikely. The nature of the rant itself would seem to indicate just that, however, and the second factor she couldn't at all wrap her head around did nothing to help her understand this riddle.
Why in earth's name is the voice coming from above?
Just as she thought this the long rant was cut off by a high-pitched squeal, and there was a sudden ruffle of movement before everything went quiet. Evidently the intruder had noticed her arrival and was trying to hide from her, but unless she magically managed to pass through the walls of the beacon room, whoever it was had little hope of escape. Aside from the elevator behind her there was only the one door leading to the platform outside, and she'd kept it in sight from the second she arrived.
“I know you're there. Stop hiding and come out so I can see you, whoever you are. This level of the lighthouse is off-limits to anyone not authorized by the Olivine City gym leader – and that's me – so you'd do best to leave before I decide you're trespassing and report you to the port authorities.”
Oddly enough, Amphy had remained silent throughout all of this; most times when anyone but Jasmine herself was in the beacon room, the pokémon would keep a watchful eye out for whatever grief they might try to cause them. Not even the pokémon center staff had been spared that treatment – even before this sudden illness, when they'd come around for their regular checkups, Amphy had retained her guarded nature towards strangers, no matter how friendly they appeared to be.
So why isn't she reacting?
Jasmine could tell it wasn't because she was in too much pain or otherwise incapacitated; though it had its back turned to her the yellow pokémon was twitching its ears attentively, clearly aware of what was going on. That ruled out any sort of hypnosis, as well. None of this made any sense, and Jasmine was starting to lose her patience fast.
“I said, come out!”
Much to her surprise, it did. A pair of sky-blue eyes peeked out from just above Amphy's head, and was soon followed by a strange, pale-yellow pokémon that flew over her friend and touched down on the floor just in front of her. Those sky-blue eyes gazed straight into hers, and after a moment they were all she could see.
And then...
“Oh, my. It talks!”
Jasmine could have said the same, were it not for the fact that she was absolutely paralyzed at the moment.
“Goodness, I've never seen anything like you before. That makes two new kinds of critter in a day! Oh my.”
Her peripheral vision slowly started returning, as she felt the pokémon break eye contact. Her relief was decidedly short-lived however, when something started wandering across her head and hair; though it was a quite gentle touch, she would've screamed the windows to pieces if she could. She imagined the hypothetical rapist or molester would be fairly gentle as well, had he a victim so completely incapacitated as she was right now.
Slowly, much too slowly, she clawed her muscles free from the crushing grip freezing them in place, trying not to think about anything except getting out of this creature's grasp. As the paralysis finally let go of her she gulped a frantic breath and stumbled away from her assailant, not caring much for direction until she collided with the soft, warm mass of Amphy's fur and realized she was trapped.
“Oh, I'm sorry, did I scare you? It's all right. I'm not going to hurt you.”
The pokémon's voice was gentle as a morning breeze, and with one exception its face was as mellow as they come. Had it not been for that paralyzing gaze, it couldn't have scared a fly. As it was Jasmine was panting hard, turning her head this way and that; pressed against Amphy's fur and matting it with her sweat, she struggled as hard as she could to get away from those blue orbs that spelled nothing but certain death for her.
Don't look her in the eyes don't look her in the eyes don't look her in the eyes don't look her in the eyes don't–
She looked.
-/-/-/
“Misdreavus, return!”
The red light enveloped the swirling darkness that made up the most recent addition to his team, and drew it back into its pokéball. Yet like the other ghost-types he'd seen so far, it seemed to stay in the air for a moment even after it was gone. Sure, it wasn't as creepy as the huge grin left by a recalled Haunter, or the outright frightening afterimage of Morty's huge Gengar; but still he doubted he'd ever get used to seeing those piercing eyes remain in the air long after their owner was gone.
“Damn, kiddo, you've got spunk! Those were some tactics you showed off – man, if I'd had those when I went around the world, I'd be drowning in beauties right now, haha!”
To his credit Roberto, the buff sailor he'd just defeated, was taking his downfall in stride. With the lighthouse being the hotbed for fight-hungry Trainers it was, that was probably not a strange thing in and of itself. Still, after all those run-ins with the ever pesky Team Rocket – not to mention that damn thief Silver who always managed to slip away somehow – it felt rather nice to see someone facing defeat like the adults they were. It was as if being defeated by someone younger made people think they had the right to act like children themselves; if so it was not the first time his age had done him disservices he'd never asked for, and it would surely not be the last either.
Ethan adjusted his black-yellow cap slightly, and reattached Misdreavus' pokéball to his belt. “It is a habit of most sailors – like many trainers who use their pokémon for work – to keep pokémon that are well suited for their preferred environment. In your case, that means strong, bulky pokémon that can handle themselves at sea or on deck. Or in other words, fighting-types and water-types, with a preference for physical attacks. Fighting-types can't do anything against a ghost-type like Misdreavus, and alongside its psychic- and ghost-type moves I've taught mine Thunderbolt.” He gave the man a slightly apologetic smile, and shook his head. “No offense meant – your tactics weren't bad either – but in terms of strategy, I simply outplayed you.”
Roberto scratched his head for a bit with that enormous hand of his, then smiled back. “Looks like I've got a lot to learn yet, huh. Maybe it's time I took another journey – nothing like the sea to harden a man up, and his pokémon with him! What do you think, boy?”
Ethan shrugged back, reflecting for a moment that his own shoulders weren't even half as wide as his opponent's. “Well, I don't know about that – I've never been at sea, myself. To be honest, that's why I'm here in the first place. The gym leader...”
At those words Roberto's face immediately returned to the serious mask it had kept before and during the battle. The huge man nodded, and Ethan trailed off. “The beacon room is right upstairs, and I think I heard the elevator go up a few minutes ago. I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, though – Jasmine hasn't accepted any challengers since that Ampharos fell sick, and I don't see that girl changing her mind.”
Ethan thanked him briefly again, and finally started climbing the last set of stairs. Whatever else could be said about it, this lighthouse was a tall one.
Half a minute later, he finally took the last steps up to reach the top platform, harsh sea winds buffeting him as he came clear of the building's cover. He made his way toward the beacon room's entrance as fast as he could, and the wind draft sucked it shut the second he let it go. Taking a quick survey of the room he could see the sick Ampharos, sure enough, but not really anything else.
“Jasmine? Are you there?”
-/-/-/
Lookawaylookawaylookawaylookawaylooka–
“Jasmine? Are you there?”
Darkness swam in shimmering flocks across her eyes when she finally drew a gulping breath, coughing and drawing another again like someone who'd just breached the surface after almost drowning. Which was just what it felt like, lack of water aside – someone had apparently taken the saying “drown in her eyes” all too literally. She'd been suffocating, and only the timely appearance of someone had saved her from that fate.
“DON'T LOOK INTO ITS EYES!” she screamed with what air her lungs could hold, squeezing her own eyes shut with all of her might and crawling across the floor towards the voice. She had almost lost it, but whoever it belonged to thankfully spoke up again before she could hesitate another second.
“What- oh shit, are you okay? What are you talking about, what's this about not looking–“
She scrambled blindly towards it as fast as she could, clawing her way forward until she found a decidedly human pair of legs and threw her arms around them. Their owner stumbled to the ground, and she clung to her savior like a baby, crying into the soft fabric of a shirt and panting like she'd run a marathon.
“Man...uh...”
It was a boy, she realized. Not much more than that, going by the fact that he was shorter than she was and retained the bright voice of a pre-teen, but a boy nonetheless. Not that it mattered much, but she couldn't help but feel embarrassed. She wasn't really used to that sort of stuff.
“Um...I'm sorry, but if you don't mind me asking...”
Those words, and the sweet voice delivering them, sent winter into Jasmine's spine. In a panic she scrambled to hide behind the boy, shielding herself from the creature's gaze with his body.
“What's wrong with my eyes?”
The boy stirred. “Uh. Well, I'm not sure, really. But she said not to look at them, and you've obviously scared the crap out of her somehow...wait, give me a second.” He shuffled around for a second, and before she could react she felt him putting what she thought was a pair of glasses on her. “Well, they seem to be working. There, it's okay now. You can open your eyes.”
Hesitantly, she complied.
The boy was looking at her through a pair of slightly shaded spectacles, which she assumed were the same as the ones he'd put on her; his red shirt was wet with her tears in places, and his cap was hanging on to his head by a strand of his black hair, almost falling off.
Behind him – Jasmine gasped instinctively, but unlike the other times nothing happened – the strange yellow pokémon was hovering in the air, its wings beating slowly. It had a concerned look on its face, and was looking right into her eyes. Or, it would have, had she not been wearing glasses. “What are these things?” Jasmine whispered, still expecting to be frozen in place any moment.
“They're specially modified Blackglasses. Morty's own make. He gave 'em to me when I mentioned I had trouble training my Misdreavus, with her eyes and all. She's the first ghost-type I've raised, and they take a bit...getting used to. I don't need them for that anymore, but it seems there are other times when you need to be careful what you look at.”
The yellow pokémon fidgeted slightly at these words, and as though that simple expression had cut off a chain somewhere in her brain, realizations started crashing through her head one by one. “Okay. O-okay. First of all. You,” she said with a slightly unsteady finger pointing at the creature, “can talk. Actually talk. I've heard trainers saying certain psychic-types can speak into your mind, but you're talking. That's not possible. Second,” she went on with a look at the boy, “how come you don't seem to be very surprised by all this? Who are you, anyway? How did you get up here? Who,” she added and deftly stole the cap off the boy's head, “ever taught you to wear a cap like that? Geez,” she finished sulkily, planting the cap back on his head with the visor in front where it belonged.
Like many of the young, determined challengers she'd faced, he proved to have a terrible sense of style at the first opportunity he was given. “Hey, stop it!” he cried as she made the necessary adjustments to his headgear, and the moment she let go of it he struggled to put it right back in the wrong direction again. “Keep your grubby girly hands off my cap!” The sound of their little struggle was interrupted by a sound like chiming bells, as the creature let out a small laugh at their antics. The boy huffed, and gently pushed her away before standing up. Just like she'd thought, he wasn't very tall at all.
“I'm Ethan, pokémon trainer from New Bark. Field research assistant to Professor Elm and,” he added with a flourish of his arm to show off the device attached to his wrist, “Pokédex user, courtesy of Professor Oak himself. And you know about this thing called stairs? There's more than just the elevator leading up here, y'now. Anyway, I was going to challenge you to a gym battle, Jasmine, but I heard from – well, a guy – that you're otherwise occupied at the moment. That excuse isn't going to let me through Victory Road, though, so I guess I'll have to help you out with your lighthouse problem.”
He glanced over his shoulder, and gave the creature a measuring look. “Besides, I've seen weirder things than that, and she seems friendly enough. What sort of pokémon are you, anyway?”
The creature touched down on the floor, and gave her a confused look. “Um. What's a pokémon? Oh, and my name is Fluttershy. I mean, if you wanted to know,” she mumbled hesitantly, turning her eyes away and going on in a voice too quiet for anyone to hear as she wandered off aimlessly toward the other end of the room.
Jasmine and Ethan shared a level look through their spectacles, before returning their eyes to the strange creature that called itself Fluttershy. “So tell me, Ethan, what does that beloved machine of yours say about our, friend here?” She tried to keep her voice low, but whispering would just have been rude.
“Not much. The database doesn't have anything, so I had to use my own data. I don't really do that too much, so I'm not all too experienced with the functions...” He shook his head and raised his arm, sliding the device on his wrist open and giving it a look. “I mean, I guess I could capture her and get more accurate readings that way, but...” He raised his eyes again, and adjusted his glasses a bit. “Man, it's one thing if I run into something in the wild, or if I get jumped by someone, but this? Talking with her, like this? It'd be like...capturing you, or something.”
He sighed and shook his head, lowering the device again and sliding it shut. After a moment, he looked back at Jasmine. “What happened to you, anyway? What did she do? You were scared shitless, back there.”
Jasmine shivered as the memories started to come back, but she pushed them away. “I-I don't know. She...looked at me. And I couldn't move. I couldn't see, feel, hear anything. I couldn't even breathe, I was completely paralyzed. I would've suffocated if you hadn't come around.” She wanted to close her eyes again, but she kept them open – if she didn't keep herself distracted, the memories would start rushing in again. So she fixated Ethan with a steely look, and just about managed not to cry out in fear when the creature peered out from behind him.
“Um. Jasmine? I'm, um, sorry. I didn't mean to.” Hesitation was clear in both her voice and expression, and was starting to understand what Ethan had meant about capturing her. If she could disregard the fact that she'd almost been killed by this thing only minutes ago, it was as human as can be, aside from its appearance.
Ethan had opened up the pokédex once more, and was quite obviously trying to get what data he could out of the readings. He kept his eyes on the device and its little screen even as he spoke. “Nobody was hurt, Fluttershy. It's fine. That brings us another question, though. What did you mean to do? I suppose you must've flown up here, but where did you come from? There are no records of your species in the pokédex, and this model contains data templates for every known kind of pokémon from the Johto and Kanto regions – and I've got a feeling that I could call up my colleagues in the northern and southern regions without getting anything on you there either.”
Fluttershy shook her head, and once again let herself fall down to the floor. “Oh, I didn't fly up here. I'm really not that good at flying, even though I'm a pegasus. I, um, sort of...fell.”
-/-/-/
It was a rather relaxing thing to sit down and talk for a while, Fluttershy thought; especially when this morning had been so hectic thus far. She hadn't thought all about it before, but talking it through like this really made her realize how intense things had been. She wasn't used to this, not like Rainbow or Twilight was. “Oh, I do hope they're all okay,” she murmured, sending a look toward the door she'd entered through.
It was a bit difficult to deal with. Part of her just wanted to stay here and nurse this – pokémon? – back to health, but before that she knew she had to find her friends and make sure they were alright. Rainbow Dash would never have had problems with conflicting loyalties like this, but Fluttershy was quite literally out of her element in this case.
“Ehum. And then I appeared out there on the balcony and fell to the floor, and when I heard Amphy's cries from in here I just had to go and see what I could do to help her. I can't stand to see poor critters in pain like that. I just can't.”
The two humans – as Jasmine and Ethan called themselves – nodded as she finished up her story, and Ethan stretched out with a yawn as he rose from the floor. They were a bit like tiny minotaurs, these humans – Ethan looked a bit like Iron Will's younger and better-dressed cousin. She chuckled at the comparison, but then realized Jasmine had remained sitting and was giving her a questioning look. “Hold on. How did you know Amphy's name? I never told you about that. Can you read minds or something?”
Jasmine's face went from pondering to suspicious, and Fluttershy shook her head vigorously. “Oh, no. I don't have any magic like that. Amphy told me.”
The human girl's eyebrows climbed skyward at this statement. “She told you? You can understand other pokémon as well?
Fluttershy felt a bit confused by this – she still didn't know what this pokémon thing they kept talking about was – but nodded nonetheless. “Well, I don't know what a pokémon is, but I can talk with just about any critter there is. I can't imagine how hard it would be to take care of all my animal friends if I couldn't speak to them and understand what say to me. I'm not sure if my house could survive that.”
Ethan was fiddling with his machine again. It gave off a few beeps, and he sighed and shook his head. “A pokémon is, well, basically any lifeform we know of that isn't human. What about your eyes, though? You don't seem terribly surprised about being able to petrify someone just by looking at them. You've done this before, I take it?”
Fluttershy shook her head again. “Oh, no. I can't petrify anypony. I'm not a cockatrice. I mean, I have, um, 'the stare', I guess, but it doesn't turn other ponies to stone. Oh, or did you mean that as a metaphor? I'm not very good with those, I'm sorry. But in that case, maybe yes? Oh, um, but I usually have to concentrate really hard, and, um, be a bit angry, for it to work, so I don't really...” She trailed off, unsure what to do with the rant she'd just started.
Ethan's device made a drawn-out beep, and the boy sighed. “That settles it. She's a dragon-type. Flying-type as well, if the wings are any clue.”
Fluttershy squeaked. Old memories came rushing up one by one, old memories she did not want to remember. “D-d-d-dragon? Where?” She flung her eyes about this way and that, trying to spot the emerging terror before it could sneak up on her, but she couldn't spot anything.
“You, Fluttershy,” Ethan said, pointing a stubby claw at her. “All instances of research done on Dragon-types show evidence of two extraordinary abilities, seemingly completely unrelated to all their other powers. The Dragon's Tongue, which allows them to understand and communicate with other species of pokémon, as well as humans. In a somewhat limited fashion, of course, since they don't have much of a language of their own, but the Blackthorn City files are pretty clear on this.”
Ethan raised another claw. “Second, the Dragon's Eye. Depending on the difference in power between any pokémon or human, and a dragon-type, making eye contact can cause a number of symptoms. This is the reason the Dragon Shrine Elders regulate the distribution of dragon-types so strictly, and ensuring that only low-level dragons are allowed outside the control of certified Dragon Masters. Depending on the individual dragon, the symptoms can be different, but fear and petrification are among the more common ones. Powerful trainers and high-level pokémon are less afflicted by this, but the stronger the dragon, the harder it gets to resist. I've even heard that some people who face Lance, the Champion, end up paralyzed when he brings out his Dragonite just by looking at it. What that indicates about your level, being able to stare a gym leader halfway to death... Well, never mind. My point is, Fluttershy, as a dragon-type you must handle your power responsibly.”
Fluttershy mouthed words, but couldn't speak. Her memories were shuffling like five decks of cards, and she couldn't make sense of any of them – much less understand what the human had just told her. Everything she had ever known seemed to be careening down a slippery slope of lies, and nothing made any sense to her mind.
I'm...a dragon?
-/-/-/
Jasmine eyed Fluttershy as she yet again wandered off to the side of the room, mumbling to herself. That was a revelation none of them had expected, to be sure. She definitely didn't look anything like a dragon-type, from what she knew of them.
What was more impressive, however, was the little display Ethan had put on. Though Amphy had returned to the top of her mind now that the immediate crisis seemed to be over, she managed to suppress the urge to throw everything aside for the sake of her friend. There were things she just had to know about this boy.
“Well, you've certainly done your work, 'field research assistant'. I didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable, even on obscure things like this. I'm impressed. Well done, Ethan.”
The boy blushed slightly, waving the pokédex about. “It's thanks to this thing, really. While she was telling her story I looked up various incidents similar to what you described, and aside from freak incidents with Arboks they all pointed towards dragon-types being involved, and from there on I just kept going. The thing is, the pokédex gives me access to every published research document in the known world, along with just about every piece of League data there is. I can look up trainer behavior statistics, migration patterns, evolution mechanics, anything I want. If the human race has made a paper on it, I can find it in here. There are records of every gym battle you've done. I know people tell me I'm a good trainer regardless, but I would never have gotten half as good as I am without this thing.”
The mention of her gym leader duties reminded her of the boy's earlier words, and she shook her head. “I'm sorry, Ethan. I know you want to challenge me, but with Amphy like this... I can't bring myself to battle. I can't focus. I keep thinking about her all the time no matter where I am, and how she's...”
She clenched her eyes shut before the tears could start flowing again, and hid her head in her hands. Much to her surprise, two thin arms wrapped themselves around her, and a small hand ran through her hair soothingly. “Don't worry. That's why I came here, Jasmine. I know what to do.”
Jasmine gaped and stumbled backwards for a bit, looking into Ethan's eyes. He'd taken his glasses off, and had a confident, reassuring look on his face. Her first thought was that he'd be in danger if Fluttershy came back, but she quickly shoved that aside. “Wha- there's a cure!? Where? How? The pokémon center doctors couldn't do anything! What are you–“
Ethan interrupted her, placing a finger against her lips, before gesturing toward his device. “Every single research document published by mankind, remember? When I first heard of your problem, I started looking up on rare diseases among pokémon, electric-types specifically. I quickly discovered a series of documents written by one Tua Huo, a pharmacist based in Cianwood. They detail various treatments he's done for different pokémon, as well as the properties of a certain medicine he calls the Secret Potion. I looked up some other files mentioning that name, and there are reports of the Secret Potion curing just about anything. It's very strong, and can only be used on high-level pokémon, from what I can tell – the cases where it's been prescribed to humans or unevolved pokémon invariably end in their deaths – but Ampharos is a fully evolved pokémon, and Amphy is a fairly strong one from what I can tell. Anyway, I can go to Cianwood and get that medicine for you. I can challenge Chuck while I'm there, too, so don't worry about me wasting the journey.”
Jasmine was speechless. Time and time again she'd been told this was a hopeless case, that her only friend was only waiting to die and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Day after day that thought had entrenched itself in her mind, spiraling her deeper and deeper into her despair. And now...
Hope.
“I'm... I'm...” She couldn't get the words out, and struggled to keep her tears back. She shook herself, and grabbed Ethan by the shoulders. “Thank you, Ethan. I didn't... I thought it was over. I...” The wetness on her cheeks drew her attention, and she brushed the tears away with her hands, sniveling. “Please. Go to Cianwood for me. I... I'll wait here with Amphy. I have to... take care of her.” Her cheeks were matted with tears and red in embarrassment, but she looked Ethan in the eyes. He smiled back, nodding, and she couldn't help but laugh a bit. She couldn't believe any of this. This was a miracle, through and through, and this little boy was its messenger. It was impossible, and she laughed because of it. Impossible or not, she would have her friend back. She had won.
“Um. Ethan? Can I, um, come with you?”
Hearing Fluttershy, the boy struggled to get his glasses back on before turning around to meet her eyes. Jasmine wiped her cheeks and righted her own back in place, but she really wasn't thinking much at the moment.
“I know I can't do anything for poor Amphy on my own, but if you're traveling off to find a medicine for her, I just have to come with you. I must! I, um, if that's okay with you, I mean. Oh, but I'd really, really like to help. Oh, and maybe that machine of yours could help me find my friends? I'd really, really like to go with you.”
Ethan smiled, nodding. “Of course you can come, Fluttershy. If nothing else, I'm very interested in you as well, both as a trainer and as a researcher. Besides, I figure it's better if you don't stay with the girl you, well, you know. I'd be happy to have you with me, Fluttershy.”
Jasmine heard, but didn't really listen. She walked over to the now sleeping Amphy, and started gently stroking her neck. “Did you hear, Amphy? They're going to get medicine for you. It's going to be alright. Everything is going to be fine again, Amphy.”
The snoozing pokémon shifted slightly at her touch, but Jasmine's familiar scent calmed her again. The gentle motions of her breathing, shallow as it was, soothed the turmoil in Jasmine's heart like nothing else. She sat down beside her oldest friend, and gave a look to the boy she thought maybe was her newest. She blushed a bit, but smiled nonetheless. Even if he was just a boy, he was still pretty cute. Besides, she wasn't that much older than him.
Everything is going to be fine.
“Paloo,” Amphy murmured in her sleep, and Jasmine could only agree.