//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17 
// Story: New Faces, New Friends 
// by ZephyrStrife 
//------------------------------//

	Mick awoke with a start as he sat up in the surprisingly comfortable bed that he was in, looking around he noticed the sleeping forms of Emma and Gwen... It brought a small smile to his mouth as he noticed how they had set aside their own vendettas against each other because he was in danger... or at least something like it. He put a paw to his head as he started to feel a migraine coming on and let out a small groan as he eased himself back onto the bed. 

"Oh... I hate mondays..." He groaned with a weak chuckle as he waited for the migraine to clear. He tilted his head a little as he heard the door open, his blue eyes blinked a few times as he noticed the Gardevoir standing just past the open door.

Richard chuckled a little as he took a few tentative steps into Mick's hospital room. "Wow, I thought Cyndaquil always had their eyes closed, but I think those blue eyes look adorable on you." He holds the bouquet of flowers that he was carrying a bit tighter as his chuckles die down and his smile drops.

Mick gives him a slightly confused look. "What's up Richard?"

The Gardevoir bites his lip before slowly walking over to take a seat next to the little fire mouse. "It's... It's Derek... He... He's having a very rough time at the moment... and that's probably one of the biggest understatements of the day..."

Mick started to sit up again. "What happened?" He prodded with concern. 

"Well... I got cleared to leave the hospital a couple days ago because I only suffered some scratches that I was able to easily recover from... But... The reason why I only had scratches... Was because Derek protected me... If you hadn't found us when you had..." He starts to sniffle before the Cyndaquil nuzzles him reassuringly. "...Thank you..." He says quietly before continuing. "...If you hadn't found us, then Derek would have likely died on the train, with me shortly after..."

"...What's wrong with Derek?" Mick asked as he hugged the petite-framed male. 

Richard takes a small breath as he tries to regain his composure. "He got a very big shard of glass in his arm just below the shoulder... Pokemon heal really fast... but even the Chanseys' who have taken up residence here are unsure whether he can heal from the injury or have to have his arm amputated." 

Mick hugged Richard tighter as he listened to the Gardevoir's story, he winced a little as the psychic pokemon's arm touched a sore spot but it wasn't too bad so he didn't say anything about it. 

"The good news is that the injury was on Derek's left side... so his dominant side isn't in trouble... but still... needing to amputate his arm... it's a big change..." The Gardevoir sighs as he gently picks Mick up off the bed and cradles the Cyndaquil in his arms. "I'm not sure what to do... of course I want him to pull through and keep both of his arms... but... I'm worried about how it would affect him with how this recovery could go either way..."

"Richard..." Mick starts. "... The simple fact that you are concerned about his health over how he looks will be good enough. I may not have known you two for long, but I can already tell that you two have spent enough time together to not let this get in the way of your relationship..."

Richard chuckles a little. "Of course this wouldn't get in the way of our relationship, he raised me from a Ralts near the beginning of his journey... I was the one constant in his life... and he let me choose which evolution path I wanted to take." Mick hugs him again, getting a slightly less-worried smile out of him. "...It's going to take a lot more than this to come between us..." He gingerly puts Mick back on the bed. "Thanks for the talk... It's going to be a couple days before the surgery if his condition doesn't show any signs of improving... so I'll be back often when I'm not with Derek."

Mick nodded. "I'm going to hold you to that..."

Richard lets out a small laugh. "You're a strange little Cyndaquil, so much like a child... but when you talk... it's hard to remember you're a kid..."

Mick shrugged. "I had a great teacher." Richard gives him a warm smile before leaving the room, his smile falls just a little. "... A teacher I hope made it to this world..." He lets out a small sigh as he leans back on the bed and stares at the ceiling until he simply loses consciousness.




Mick awoke a bit later to the sound of a conversation being held nearby.

"... well."

"I know, I know... But I don't think he'd be entirely comfortable with that, he's only thirteen after all."

"...Isn't that still too young in human years though?"

"He's a pokemon now... it's a lot different... you know that..."

"Is it really?"

"...Yes! Yes it is. And you know I'd have to pry you off of him again once he evolves."

Mick had to put a lot of effort into not laughing and letting the two of them continue their conversation while thinking that they weren't being heard. To be honest... he was putting a lot of thought into what they were discussing. He hadn't been raised like normal kids... he had learned the same way his father had... so he had a lot of knowledge that others his age didn't seem to have. His parents talked to him like an adult... all because he was taught to understand... so it was hard growing up since all of his kid friends never seemed to understand what he was talking about.

It's why he had grown so attached to his pokemon team, why he was so much more comfortable around pokemon than he was people. "...Pokemon don't have a reason to leave... and neither of you have to understand what the other is saying for them to know you need a hug... Just treat them with kindness and respect, why couldn't humans learn that much from pokemon?" he thinks with a tinge of sadness as the conversation winds down. A sudden warmth causes him to blink awake and see Emma nuzzling up against him.

"...Hey..." She says quietly once she notices he's awake.

"...Hey..." He replies back just as quietly.

She tenderly licks the top of his head. "Are you feeling okay? You've been out for a few days..."

He nods a little and blushes just a bit. "Yeah, I'm doing better than I was at the train... did everyone make it out okay?"

Emma gives a small smile. "Everyone we rescued... Widget and Gem are down the hall sleeping off their injuries, but aside from that everyone we rescued is going to be okay... more or less..."

He gives another nod before slowly easing himself into a sitting position. "That's good... but it looks like we're going to be staying here for a while then... aren't we?"

"Yeah..." She sighs. "On the plus side, we're in one of the border towns to Canida, so the weather isn't as cold as it was near Kinholdur... still really cold, but not quite as frigid." She explained with a half-hearted shrug. "...I think I'd still rather have a temperate place to live like Violet City though..."

He nods with a small chuckle. "Yeah... Me too... but living in Kinholdur wasn't so bad... as long as you were underground." He looks over to one of the nearby chairs that has a curled up Ekans in it. "She's okay too? I would've thought that you two would have been in pretty bad shape."

Emma pets him idly. "It's more because she and I are both used to the more extreme conditions of battle that we're able to recover so quickly. I still prefer warmer places... but Gwen and I are able to get back up after big hits because of how we were raised. You're still sorta new to being a pokemon, so you don't have quite as much tolerance to adverse conditions yet." Mick lets out a sigh as she licks his head again. "Besides... You're still cute, I don't need you becoming the super-cool Typhlosion of the family yet." She chuckled, causing him to chuckle a little as well.

"...I heard you and Emma talking earlier..." He says quietly as his laughs die down, causing her to stiffen and tense a bit.

"...How much did you hear...?"

"Enough to get an idea of what you meant..." Mick replied as he nuzzled under Emma's chin. "...Maybe not now... but... maybe in the future we can give it a try."

She tries to stifle a laugh. "...Has anyone ever told you how you act so much more like an adult than the kid you are?"

"Absolutely!" He replies with a grin. "And I love surprising people." The statement manages to get them to devolve the conversation into a laughing fit as some of the stress from the near-death accident finally starts to fade.




Richard leans forward to nuzzle his lover. "Derek... are you sure you want to go through with this? There's a chance that your arm would heal..."

The Machoke nods. "The doctors are already talking about a risk of infection, as much as I would like to keep both of my arms... this is the best option to go with. I can deal with only being able to use one arm Richard, I'll be fine." He reaches his right hand up to cradle the Gardevoir's cheek in his good hand. "I only have to change up my fighting style a little that way anyway." Derek explained with a small smile.

Richard wiped away the small tears that were building up in his eyes before leaning down to hug the Machoke. "Alright... I trust you... just... Just be okay... alright?" He whispered.

"I will be, We're surrounded with professionals and we even have several chansey tending the pokemon..."

The Gardevoir quickly nodded before sitting back up in his seat, waiting for the nurse to return and escort his lover to the operating room.




Mick let out a gasp of awe as he looked out the window of the hospital. "Woah... This place is almost as big as Kinholdur..."

Gwen smiled as she slid up next to him. "We are a bit closer to a warmer climate, so more buildings could be built to help accommodate a wider variety of people than just the diamond dogs." She explained as she used the tip of her tail to point towards a large cat-bird creature. "That's a griffon, They tend to prefer large, open areas to fly in... so it's difficult to build an underground city to keep them happy like it is for the Diamond Dogs."

Mick nodded, eagerly pointing out a few other species that seemed to be in the town for trade or some other tourism reason. He quickly learned that his team members had been quite active with their study while he was unconscious... It seemed that a world summit was being held in Equestria and Arceus wouldn't be in his temple if they happened to arrive on that date, which got him planning around to try and get the best time frame to speak with the god pokemon. "Hey Gwen... I... I want to have a few minutes to think about something on my own... can you bring Emma in with you after about... oh... ten minutes?" He asks as he looks over to the violet snake pokemon. She gives a quick nod and makes her way out of the room to leave him in silence with his thoughts.

Thoughts that began to drift to how he felt about Emma and Gwen... His concern for his family... With the excitement of simply being able to visit and speak with the god of all pokemon... he hadn't really given any thought to what he was going to ask. When it came down to it... What was he actually going to ask? Would he ask if his whole family had made the journey? where they were? if they could be brought to him? ...Wouldn't that be a tad selfish though? What if they were doing important things and his request tore them away from vital actions?

Each question only caused him to get a cold pit in his stomach that expanded with each question. Why was he making this journey in the first place?

"...for the same reason that hikers climb mountains..." Chimed a quiet voice in his mind, causing him to jump and look around before noticing the Gardevoir standing just past the door. "...you're making this journey simply because you can, just like other trainers began their journeys... The wanderlust of a young trainer is what causes the greatest events to happen, whether for good or ill..." He gracefully crosses the room in a few strides and sets up a chair next to the Cyndaquil. "Don't give up on your journey just because you don't know why you're journeying... It doesn't matter why you're wandering as long as you enjoy travelling. It's why Derek and I have been together for so long... Even after all of his pokemon were given to friends or family that they bonded with, I stuck with him because I knew that as long as we were together neither of us would ever have a bad day." His eyes begin to water a little as his smile wavers. "...Don't ever give up that desire to seek adventure... because you may just enjoy the journey so much more than the destination..."

It was something... not quite new... but not quite familiar either. He could tell that his... friend? Yeah, that was definitely the word... Since his friend needed an outlet, and the little Cyndaquil was a great listener it was the perfect opportunity. "Richard... How did you meet Derek?"

Richard smiled a bit stronger as he looked out the window. "It was quite a few years ago... I was a Ralts in the rescue home owned by a club owner by the name of Jessica... Derek occasionally worked as a bouncer for her when travelling brought him to her part of Hoenn... She was a big activist on pokemon rights and fought tooth and nail to make as much progress with getting the government... and especially the Rangers... that pokemon were just as able to make their own choices as humans..." He started, going into a long explanation about more of the trials and tribulations of living in a world outside of Jhoto, without even thinking about it the two began to hug and for once... It was simply a hug between friends as they swapped stories back and forth once more while they waited for the day to draw to a close.