Firefighters, police officers, nurses, and doctors ran in and out of the hospital urgently, often times bumping into one another. Many times, them running into each other would cause an angry yell or a shove to get either in or out of the building. Several people, some screaming and bleeding, were being wheeled in on stretchers by doctors and police, while other people were running in, stopping at the front desk to seek assistance of some kind from the exhausted looking receptionist.

The lobby was packed with worried faces and injured people. One man was holding his leg, the entire leg of his blue jeans a deep, wet red while he screamed. A woman was holding her baby, bouncing it gently in her arms as she whispered to it. Another group of people all had tattered clothes, their heads in their laps, not moving.

The TV above me was on, talking about the attack in the Nimbasa City subway.

I moved my right shoulder slightly and groaned at the pain. It was in a blue sling, throbbing.

A doctor had seen me immediately after I was brought in by the firefighter. After looking me over, he said that I was very lucky, but he was concerned about my shoulder. After giving me an X-ray, he determined that nothing serious had occurred, but that I should keep the shoulder in a sling for a few weeks until the pain stopped.

I had asked about June, but the doctor treating me didn’t know anything about her. After the agony of getting my arm into the cast, I had left his office and attempted to find her.

The hospital was huge, the white hallways the longest I’d ever seen, an endless number of doors as far as the eye could see. Doctors were rushing through the hallways, studying clipboards.

One looked up at me and stopped, eyeing me through his glasses. “Do you need help?” he asked impatiently.

“Yes,” I nodded quickly. “I need to find June. She’s in this hospital!”

“I don’t know who that is, but you can’t just wander around here,” the doctor said seriously. “We’re in the middle of a huge crisis and we have enough to deal with right now. Wait in the lobby.”

The doctor’s stern face meant nothing to me. I wanted to find June. But I also didn’t want to get in the way of the doctors healing people here, so I allowed the doctor to lead me back to the lobby where I ended up filling all kinds of forms in a small, black chair. A section of the form asked for my emergency contact number. Will they call my mom if I give them that? I wondered. I’ll give them a fake number or something. No need to worry my mom. I’m not in any serious pain, anyway. I can leave right now if I wanted to. I’m only waiting here for June.

The explosion that sent June flying through the air and off onto the tracks of the other platform made me jump as I relived that moment. Even as a memory, I could hear it so vividly. So clearly. June, I thought sadly as my eyes closed. Where are you? You have to be here. They pulled you out of the tracks. You’re alive. You have to be. You have to be somewhere in this hospital, recovering. I can’t. I can’t go through this again. Please, June. Please, be here. Somewhere. My left hand ran through my short hair and down the back of my neck as I sighed loudly, stress, panic and fear causing my body to shake uncontrollably.

*

“Yes, June is here,” the receptionist told me. “Unfortunately, she can’t have visitors at this time. Doctor’s orders.”

I sighed gratefully, smiling with relief. “That’s fine. I’ll wait here for her, then. I don’t care how long it takes. I just needed to know that she’s here.” The receptionist nodded and I walked back to my seat.

It had been four days since I’d arrived at this hospital, and only now had I been able to obtain information that June was indeed here, too. She was alive. I didn’t know how well she was doing, but I didn’t care about that as much as I was with her being here at all, alive.

During my first couple of days at the hospital, I had made it my priority to find out if June was here or not. Whenever I asked about her, I was never given a straight answer, and I continued persisting to know if she was here or not, and if she was, when I could see her.

The receptionists often got annoyed with me, asking me to wait while they find out who June was and if she was even at the hospital, but they never got back to me with any information. In all fairness, they did look rather busy.

Eventually, I decided to take a nearly two hour walk to the Pokemon Center to check on June’s and my Pokemon. For security reasons, Nurse Joy only let me see my Pokemon, although she knew that I had left my Pokemon here with June. I was glad to see that all of my Pokemon were doing just fine, and greeted them all happily with one armed, tight hugs and kisses, tears shedding from my eyes emotionally.

We spent that day together, the seven of us, my Pokemon outside of their Poke Balls, Pidove on my left shoulder, Elgyem floating above my right.

Elgyem kept staring with his wide eyes at Pidove, but Pidove didn’t seem to notice.

I carried my cheerfully vibrating Tympole in my arm.

Cottonee floated by my left side, near Pidove, and Drilbur walked on my left side, by my feet.

I could have sworn that the others were purposely staying away from Elgyem by staying on my left, leaving Elgyem by himself on my right, but that thought was ridiculous.

Darumaka was running around me in random, excited circles, making it a little bit difficult to walk. No matter how much I pleaded with him to stop, he kept on running, and, feeling too worn out and upset to get angry and yell, I let him run around as he pleased.

Our day was pleasant enough, but quiet and freezing cold. I didn’t have much to say, and my Pokemon seemed to be feeling a little bit down, too, perhaps picking up on my depressive concerns. My Pokemon didn’t eat much when I tried to feed them, and I hadn’t taken a bite all day myself. Even my cheerful, energetic Darumaka didn’t eat very much. When I finally returned them back to the Pokemon Center, I told them to let June’s Pokemon know that she’d be back for them soon, although, at the time, I had no idea if June was even alive.

The next day, I was in the hospital all day, yelling at the receptionist, a tall man who refused to give me any information on June and who kept saying he was too busy to deal with me. I refused to stop pestering him and he called security, who escorted me out.

I had nothing to consume all day except for water from various water fountains throughout the city and a small bag of candy. I had considered visiting my Pokemon and trying to see if Nurse Joy would let me visit June’s Pokemon, too, but after walking for a few minutes, I began to seriously worry about June. I didn’t know where she was, but if she was in that hospital, I didn’t want to be too far away from her if she got released. I wrestled with the thoughts of being there for my Pokemon, and being around in case I found out more news about June, and I felt that I should spend the day trying to find out what I could about June, even if I had to argue with that receptionist again. I knew that my Pokemon were fine, so now, I had to make sure June was, too.

Despite apologizing and trying to be calm and respectful to him, the receptionist yelled at me and told me to stop bothering him, and after several more minutes of trying to be reasonable, and politely asking to speak to his superiors, he threatened to call security again, so I gave up and sat down in the lobby, my eyes on the television.

The news had stated that the police had determined that the Pokemon in the subway was an Aggron, the final stage of Aron, and was the Aron’s mother. They still didn’t understand what either Pokemon was doing in the subway, but felt that the mother was very angry because she was looking for her child. Even after finding her child, the Aggron had apparently caused more terror, even managing to escape the tunnel and started attacking the city for a few minutes in blind fury.

That was when I saw Ruko on TV as the news showed a clip of Aggron attacking Nimbasa City, using Hyper Beam at the ground as screaming people fled in terror, all while she was holding her crying baby Aron in her arms. Ruko’s sudden appearance amidst the mayhem made me jump to my feet, and I got a little closer to the TV as she sent out a Pokemon I soon learned was a Darmanitan, the evolved form of Darumaka.

Darmanitan used Flare Blitz to knock over Aggron, and then used its pure muscle to wrestle with Aggron, holding her down, and then pummeling her with Hammer Arm.

Aggron was a fighter, refusing to give up, but she was badly weakened, none of her moves hurting Darmanitan much despite the obvious power she had inside of her.

A large dome made of solid, sturdy plastic dropped on top of her from above, and as hard as she struggled to break free, she was trapped, unable to escape, still holding her baby.

Aron continued to cry, clearly frightened and confused by what was going on.

The police had trapped the raging Aggron, and her and her baby were taken away by helicopter, supposedly back to the wild to be released at some mountain.

Later that day, there was talk on the news about the death of the Exeggutor and the other Pokemon on the island not far from Nimbasa. There still was no sign of cause of the incident, but the police were sure that it was no accident. They found that the Exeggutor had been individually wrapped in a strong piece of flexible metal, and that a hole was dug through the middle of the island, down into the sea. The material wrapped around the Exeggutor had been tied together and then taken underwater and held down by the dead carcasses of several Wailord. The Exeggutor couldn’t lift that kind of weight and were weighed to the ground, trapping most of the Pokemon that were between them.

Everyone in the lobby made some kind of shocked noise as the news reporter informed us of the latest findings, except for me. I held any reactions inside and just glared at the screen as a sickening, nauseous feeling came over my body. It was deliberate, I thought fearfully. Somebody did this to those Pokemon. And not just one person. To handle the weight of several of one of the heaviest Pokemon known to man such as Wailord, this had to be the work of a lot more than just one person.

That same night, when the staff had switched, I asked the new receptionist about June, but she said she had a lot of work to do and would let me know when she found out any information on my friend when she got the chance.

Sighing, I accepted her answer and tried to get as comfortable as I could in the little chair I sat in. I won’t be getting much sleep tonight, I had thought. I was right. I did fall asleep, but I kept waking up every thirty minutes or so with a start. Sometimes, I had dreamed that a train was coming at me as I stood in the dark tunnel, watching helplessly, just screaming. Other times, I was being chased outside by an Aggron. In one dream, June was running away from me in the woods in terror for some reason, and I had waved at her angrily and walked away. The trees suddenly burst into flames, but instead of burning and smoking, they started to melt! The trees and grass melted into each other quickly with a loud moan until they were all gone and all that was left was the green, wet looking ground, the empty, evening sky above.

And today, I had found out from the next staff member who came in and took the place of the last receptionist, that June was in the hospital, but it seemed that she wasn’t doing too well and she couldn’t have visitors.

At least she’s here, I thought happily, a slight smile broadening into a wide one across my face. Just come out of this one alright, June. Screw this traveling around the world crap. Right now, I only care about you getting better.

“Police continue to look into what caused the Aggron attack, but are so far coming up with no leads,” a newswoman spoke from the TV.

I hadn’t paid too much attention to the news today, the volume low and hard to hear as it was, but I turned to it when my ears heard the name “Aggron.”

“Some officials in Nimbasa City are calling it a bad turn of events that don’t seem to have any intentional origins, unlike the scary New Year’s Day find where the island nearby was the death spot for a group of Exeggutor and many other Pokemon. Some officials, however, are finding it too much of a coincidence that the two locations of the incidents are so close to each other.”

A video of a lady with shiny black hair wearing a black suit suddenly showed a smaller video in the upper right hand corner with another woman in it wearing a red sweater and holding a microphone to her face, a young man in a black coat standing next to her, a strong wind forcing both of their eyes closed, ruffling their clothes.

Behind them, the island that had been holding the burning Exeggutor sat silently in the far distance across the sea, several tree trunks visible, a pair of helicopters above it, a few boats surrounding the island.

“We have Samantha on the scene, on the dock in Nimbasa City,” the newscaster in her black suit said. “Samantha, what do you have for us?”

Samantha waited as she squinted through the strong wind with her companion, her tiny screen expanding and taking over the main screen. “Thank you, Carmen. I have Leo here, a resident of Nimbasa City. He was witness to this deadly attack that left very few people alive in the subway. What were your thoughts while this was occurring?”

Leo rubbed his smooth chin with a thoughtful look on his face, his wavy brown hair blowing in the wind. “I heard the explosions from the subway, and I knew something bad was happening, I just didn’t know what. Then, the police and fire guys got here, and just shoved all of us out of the way. Then, that huge Pokemon, the Aggroan, started attacking like a mad beast. I’d never seen anything so powerful in person. I’m just glad it was stopped. Was just really scary.”

“And do you think there’s any connection to what happened on the island, and what happened in the subway?” Samantha asked.

“Well, I don’t know,” Leo said slowly, lowering his hand. “It probably is, though. They were only one day apart. But, you know, things like what happened in the subway happen all the time. Pokemon and human beings, living so close to one another, always triggers situations like this. It’s really what you have to come to expect. That incident on that island over there sounds rather fishy, but this incident in the subway could have just been really bad timing. It’s hard to say right now, you know?”

Samantha nodded. “Not everyone is as open minded and calm as you are right now, sir,” she laughed.

Leo smiled and nodded. “Like I said, you have to come to expect things like this. Powerful Pokemon and powerful humans. Neither are perfect beings. You have to learn to be strong in these days and times.”

Samantha turned to the camera. “We’ll keep you updated as more information presents itself, Carmen. Back to you.” The screen she was in shrunk and then disappeared, Carmen now on screen.

“Thank you, Samantha,” Carmen said firmly. “Checking back in on Castelia City, we have West, live.”

A small box appeared at the upper right hand corner of the screen and a bald man stared out at me, his surroundings displaying a familiar sight. “West, how are things out there at the moment?”

West’s screen stretched out and took over the entire screen as he stared out with glaring black eyes matching his black suit. He cleared his throat. “Carmen, it’s been a couple of weeks, but we can finally say for sure that the city is in a much better place than it had been.” West swung an open palm in front of his face, his eyebrows furrowing momentarily. “The entire city had been evacuated and fumigated, and while many insects are still in the city, including bedbugs, cockroaches, termites, and other pests, it is a lot better here, now, than it had been previously during Castelia’s attack by Burgh and his bugs. The city is completely empty aside from specialists who are working on clearing out the remaining insects. We’re very lucky to have been allowed access to this area.” West looked down at the ground and a look of disgust came over his face as he stomped heavily one good time before straightening his suit, clearing his throat, and looked back up at the camera.

That’s the Gym, I thought to myself, looking at the three story building behind him, the old, white paint chipped and peeling, dirt and filth covering it, tree branches poking out of broken windows, vines from the trees reaching to the ground.

A tiny box appeared on the lower left hand corner of the screen, and Carmen appeared, staring with concern. “And speaking of Burgh, what is his current condition.”

“Burgh has been confirmed to be alive and doing well, currently being held at the Abete Mental Health Facility in Abete City and is under an intense, twenty-four hour observation. Officials are still studying the mystery serum he invented, as well as the monsters that were captured that Burgh created, using it. Scientists are currently said to be baffled by both.”

“I see. Thank you very much for that update, West.”

West’s screen shrunk in size as Carmen’s enlarged, West’s screen disappearing as Carmen’s took over again. She managed a smile and turned to her left as the camera backed up, revealing a man in a brown suit next to her, also smiling. “You know, during times like these, it’s nice to know we have more cheerful things to bring up, right, Adam?”

“That’s right, Carmen, like this new segment we have today showing pictures and videos of how people around the world spent their holiday!” Adam exclaimed joyfully.

I rolled my eyes and tuned them out as I looked down at my sneakers. That guy was right, I told myself. These two incidents could be unrelated. It’s scary thinking that they are related, but, it’s best to accept the truth for what it is and not just try to think positively. It’s best to just be open to how things are and not hide behind wishful thinking. That was my philosophy, at least. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. I’d rather keep my mind open to the worst possible scenario than the more positive one. It’s a lot less painful lying down carefully amongst a pit of jagged rocks than trying to climb out of that pit and slip. I rubbed at my face. It felt a bit itchy and unclean. I guess it’s been a few of days, I considered. I could use a shower. My mouth also tasted like raw garbage from not brushing my teeth in a while. I had other things on my mind and I just didn’t care about the daily mundane routine of cleansing my body. What about my cast? I found myself wondering. I wonder how much more different it will be showering with this thing on. My shoulder isn’t broken or anything, just in a bit of pain. “Ow!” I cried out lightly as I moved my shoulder a little bit. A stupid move. Standing up, I waited for my shoulder to stop aching, but it didn’t, so I walked out of the hospital and took the long walk to the Pokemon Center to clean myself off.

*

The shower was a lot more difficult than I had wished it to be. I had to purchase a plastic cover for the cast, which involved me finding the right sized one. Nurse Joy was very helpful in my search for one, and in the end, I felt that it was something I could get used to in time. Luckily, I wouldn’t have to wear it for much longer.

I still wasn’t allowed to see June’s Pokemon, but after my shower, I had my six with me at the Pokemon Center.

They all were happy to see me, Darumaka jumping repeatedly on the bench, next to me.

Elgyem took his spot hovering above my right shoulder, staring silently at Pidove on my left shoulder.

Pidove was crying out happily, flapping his wings.

Cottonee rested in my lap while I petted his head, Tympole and Drilbur on the floor looking up at me with happy smiles.

“We’ll be on our way soon enough, you guys,” I said to them assuringly. “June still isn’t out of the hospital. I’m gonna see if I can visit her later on tonight to see how she’s doing. Just let her Pokemon know that she’ll be back to them eventually.”

My Pokemon all nodded eagerly, except for Elgyem, who never took his eyes off of Pidove.

“Elgyem?” I said, turning to him.

Elgyem’s eyes flashed a brighter shade of red than normal.

“Pidoooove!” Pidove suddenly cawed out.

“Pidove?” I turned to him.

Pidove dropped to the bench, shaking his head in pain.

“Pidove, what happened?” I gasped, picking him up in my hand.

Darumaka immediately yelled out and pointed towards me.

I squinted at him, and then looked to my right as Elgyem’s eyes returned to their duller shade of red. “Elgyem! What are you doing?” I demanded angrily.

“El…” He looked at me innocently, and then looked away.

“Elgyem, what is your problem? Did you just attack my Pidove?”

“Elgyem.” Elgyem floated away from me and sat on the bench, his back to me, his head down.

“Pidove,” Pidove said weakly.

“Pidove!” I turned to him and rocked him slowly in my arm. “Are you okay?”

Pidove shook his head and turned to Elgyem angrily. “Pidove! Pidove!” He flew from my hands and started flapping his wings at Elgyem angrily.

Elgyem turned around in surprise, staring up at Pidove.

Darumaka was bouncing on the seat, pointing at Elgyem, shouting out angrily, and then repeatedly leaped from the bench, to the floor, to the bench, to the floor, to the bench, to the floor.

“Will everyone stop, please?” I begged desperately.

Pidove continued flapping at Elgyem, who turned his eyes to me, and then looked back to Pidove.

Elgyem raised his hands and pointed them up at Pidove, and the dots on them blinked repeatedly.

Pidove flew down to the bench and glared at Elgyem. “Pidove!” Pidove shook his head angrily, seeming to be unwilling to work with Elgyem.

Elgyem lowered his hands and stared sadly at the bench he sat on.

“Pidove!” He took a threatening step at Elgyem.

Elgyem looked at Pidove and floated about an inch in the air, backing up a few feet from Pidove.

“Pidove!” I narrowed my eyebrows as I spoke strongly.

Pidove turned to me, a blank expression on his face, and he turned his head sideways. “Piii?” He straightened his head and then flew to the floor, pecking at something on the ground.

“Pidove?” I said, confused.

Pidove sat on the floor and closed his eyes peacefully.

“Let me guess,” I sighed. “He’s completely forgotten what’s going on, again.”

Darumaka snickered, one hand covering his mouth as he pointed at Pidove.

*

“I’ll find out for you right now,” a young man behind the front desk said with a smile as he stood up and disappeared behind a door in the back.

I smiled and leaned against the desk, staring at the floor.

After having spent a longer than intended amount of time with my Pokemon, which, for all the trouble it was, was worth it to see them again, I had walked back to the hospital.

The new receptionist was kind and offered to find out what he could about June for me.

I hope I’ll finally be able to see her, I thought impatiently. It’s been far too long to have not heard anything from her. I wonder if she’ll be able to travel with me. I wonder if she’ll be in a cast or a wheelchair or something.

Someone walked into the hospital and I looked up. It was a girl wearing a pair of white boots, white jeans, and a white winter coat with a white, furry hood on her head. She was sniffling, her head down, covering her face in her hands, and she sat in the lobby, quietly sobbing.

Poor girl, I thought to myself. I wonder what happened.

The girl wiped at her eyes and looked up at the ceiling, tears twinkling in her eyes.

I gasped and stared into those gorgeous, perfect eyes, and I immediately felt my body began to tremble nervously.

The girl’s eyes lowered and met mine, looking down to the floor at first, but then they looked back up to me and she gasped. Frantically, she wiped at her eyes and squinted them at me, making her look rather cute. They widened in surprise and a smile that was meant to save the planet forced its way onto her face. She pulled off her hood, letting her shiny, black hair fall upon the most angelic face in the world, a black bow sitting on the right side of her head. She stood up and rushed over to me. “I know your name!” she cried out happily.

“Ella!” I said in shock.

“That’s my name! I need yours!” Ella laughed and reached out to me, resting her hand on my left shoulder.

I nervously laughed with her.

“That’s just a joke. But seriously, I met you in Nuvema Town! Darn it, why can’t I remember your name?” She looked upset at not knowing my name, her eyes red and puffy from her crying. Her gaze lowered to my sling. “And what happened to your arm?”

“I’m Gary,” I said with a smile.

“Gary! That’s it! Gary!” She took me by surprise as she wrapped her arms around my waist in a hug.

I hugged her back with my left arm, stunned by this moment. She smelled like some kind of delectable fruit, and the inside of my mouth actually started salivating. I swallowed quickly. “Ella, what you doing here?”

Ella released me and brushed away her hair, looking up at me caringly. “I came here to get a Badge from Elesa. I have four right now, and was trying to get my fifth, but Elesa won’t battle me. It was New Year’s Eve, so I decided to stay for the fireworks at least before leaving. And then…” Ella lowered her beautiful eyes and sniffled again.

“Ella?” I wanted to wrap my arms around her and hold her for the rest of my life, but I somehow held back the urge.

“I broke up with my boyfriend,” Ella whimpered and covered her face, bursting into tears.

“You did?” I gasped happily, and a smile uncontrollably made its way onto my face. Ella looked up at me and I forced the smile away, hoping she didn’t see it.

She stared at me for a moment and then nodded. “The night before New Year’s Day, at eleven-fifty. I called my girlfriend. She was telling me that he was cheating on me, and had some pictures to prove it. I called him, accusing him of it, and he admitted to it, and I lost it on him!” Ella stepped forward, crying even louder, and my arms shook.

I felt like I was supposed to be holding her right now, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I didn’t want to freak her out by touching her while she was so emotionally distraught. It seemed wrong.

“So, I stayed until the next day,” Ella continued, her voice shaking with emotion. “I called him up again, just to yell at him, and scream, and make him feel how hurt I was. He begged for me back, apologizing and all that crap, but I refused! Hell, no! Piece of junk boyfriend to actually cheat on me!”

“Yeah! That ass!” The words burst from my throat, and Ella looked at me in surprise, her mouth open just slightly as I gazed back at her, my eyes wide in shock. “I’m sorry.”

She smiled and nodded. “No! He is an ass! I don’t even know why I was calling him. I guess, I kind of missed him in a stupid way. I didn’t want him anymore, but I wanted him to feel my pain, and I wanted to know that he felt my pain. I wanted him to hear me out and then, I don’t know, maybe kill himself on the phone or something. I just hated him! How could he do this to me?”

“Screw him!” I said, glaring down at Ella’s face that was strengthening and showing signs of happiness.

“You bet!” Ella smiled. “I finally came to my senses the last time I called him and cursed him out before hanging up. I just stopped calling him.”

“Good. Don’t give him the satisfaction of having you calling him. He just wants you to do that so he feels like he still has power over you.”

“You are so right!” Ella’s eyes squinted with delight at me.

I smiled back.

“So, I was on my way to Driftveil City when that weird attack in the subway occurred a few days ago. Have you heard about it? It was an Aggron that blew up a part of the subway?”

“Yes, I know of it,” I nodded firmly.

“And something about a group of Exeggutor on an island close to here being burned alive! This is so sad. I can’t believe it. They’re even saying it all may have been intentional since both events happened so close to each other! Like, someone set it all up!”

“It’s really scary,” I admitted. “I’m hoping it’s just something else. Someone on the news was saying that maybe it was just bad timing. Wrong people and Pokemon in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“That’s a lot of wishful thinking,” Ella said uncertainly.

She was absolutely right, and I knew it.

“So, the Driftveil Drawbridge is closed for the time being while they try to sort all of this out,” Ella told me. “That’s why I’m stuck here. Actually…” Ella looked around and her eyes widened in surprise. “Oh. Wow!”

“What’s wrong?” I asked her.

Ella turned back to me and laughed adorably. “I had no idea I had stumbled into hospital! I have no purpose here at all. I was crying so hard, I think I thought I’d found a store where I could purchase some chocolate to ease my emotional pain. But, here I am, in a hospital, where people are going through real problems! Ha ha! Are you stuck in Nimbasa because of the drawbridge, too? And, hey, didn’t you have your girlfriend with you?”

“Um, she isn’t my girlfriend, but-”

“Excuse me, Gary?” a voice called from behind me.

Ella and I turned to see the receptionist walking back to his chair.

“Yes!” I shouted, moving closer to him.

His eyes widened in surprise at my shout. “June will be out momentarily.”

“What?!” I gasped in shock, gaping at him.

“Her doctor asked that she not check out so soon, but she is technically alright, and is refusing to stay,” the receptionist told me. “We can’t force her to stay, so she’s getting dressed and should be out in a moment.”

“Wh-wh-wh-? Thank you! Yes!” I turned to Ella.

She stared at me in confusion, a slight smile on her face. “What happened? Was she sick?”

“No! During that subway attack, we got injured, and she’s been recovering for a while.”

“Oh, no! Is that why you’re in this thing? You never answered why you had this on!”

“I’m sorry. I must have forgotten. Long story short, we were pretty close to the attack and both of us got injured. June got it the worst, clearly.”

“Do you know if she broke anything?” Ella asked.

“I have no idea. This will be the first time I’ll be seeing her in nearly a week.”

“Goodness! I hope she’s fine.”

“She must be if she’s ready to leave,” I smiled.

Ella smiled back and nodded.

A door next to us opened.

Ella and I turned sharply, moving out of the way.

A wooden cane was the first thing that appeared out of the doorway. A leg bandaged in white gauze appeared right behind it, a thick, black medical boot over the gauze, both ending right above the knee where the black jeans leg was rolled up to. A second leg appeared in a black boot that was noticeably smaller than the other boot, and not as dark. A purple shirt on underneath a matching purple winter coat, June hobbled through the doorway, a cane in her left hand, the top of her head wrapped in bandages, a red baseball cap on her head, the bill facing forward.

Ella and I gasped as we stared at June.

June’s eyes widened and she let out a cry, her lips quivering. “Gary?”

“June!” I breathed out, my heart rocking my body recklessly.

“Gary!” June’s eyes filled with tears.

“June!” I walked over to her and stopped short.

“Gary, your arm!” She looked deeply into my eyes. Her face looked scratched up and bruised in some areas, but she was still just as beautiful as she had ever been in her entire life.

“Just my shoulder,” I said. “It’ll be fine in a matter of days. Don’t worry about that.”

“That’s great!” June laughed lightly. “I’ll be like this for a few weeks or so. Maybe less. They said I landed right on my knee at some point and then my head and arm slammed into the tracks after that explosion. It all only came back to me about an hour ago, really.”

“I’d hug you if I could, June,” I told her.

June’s eyes widened. “I would too, Gary. That would be really nice, wouldn’t it?”

I nodded, completely unashamed.

“And you two say you aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend,” Ella said slyly with a sneaky smile. “Who are you fooling?”

“E-E-Ella!” June screeched loudly, staring at her in shock, seeing her for the first time.

“June!” Ella ran over to her and wrapped her arms around herself. “I guess you can consider this the hug I’d give to you if I could right now!”

“Aww! Muah!” June blew a kiss to Ella.

“Muah!” Ella blew a kiss back.

“My Ella! What are you doing here?” June gushed.

Ella laughed. “Well, I won’t bore you with the details, but I was telling Gary that me and my boyfriend split, and I was really depressed and accidentally wandered into this hospital.”

“You broke up?”

Ella nodded, sadness coming over her face.

“So, you’re single right now?”

I squinted at June. Duh! Idiot.

“Sadly, when two people split up, it’s defined as them being single in most cases,” Ella said with a sigh, looking up, trying to smile.

June smiled as she shot me a long look.

What? I wondered, looking at her, raising an eyebrow.

June turned back to Ella, her smile vanishing. “I’m so sorry to hear that, hon.”

“It’s alright,” Ella smiled stronger. “Talking to Gary made me feel a lot better, and I don’t even care about him anymore! He’s so in the past.”

June turned to me again and a sinister smile crossed her face before she turned to Ella lovingly. “Wonderful! So, why are you in Nimbasa?”

“Well, originally I was trying to battle Elesa, the Gym Leader here, but she refused to battle me.”

“Why is that?” I piped up.

“Oh, well, that’s just it,” Ella said thoughtfully. “I have no clue why. She opened the door, dressed in a beautiful, sexy blue dress, and then yelled at me to leave, saying she isn’t going to battle, and then said something about being old, and then slammed the door! I kept on knocking, but she didn’t answer again.”

“Elesa did that?” June asked in disbelief.

“Strange, huh?” Ella crossed her arms.

“Very,” June nodded, and she turned to me.

“And with that strange subway attack, the Driftveil Drawbridge is closed until further notice, so, I’m kind of stuck here.” Ella’s eyes were glued to June’s.

My eyes on Ella, I thought about what she had told us about Elesa. She turned to me and I quickly looked away and stared at June.

June snickered at me and then turned to Ella. “Well, Ella,” June said with a mischievous look on her face. “I say we all stick together for a while and work on getting that Badge from Elesa!”

My eyes popped in my skull.

“You mean, you, me, and Gary? Traveling together?” Ella whispered, an excited look on her face.

June nodded quickly, turning to me and giving me the quickest wink I’d ever seen in my life.

Something about that wink made me not trust her. I had a feeling that June was up to something. “Um…”

“Deal!” Ella shrieked happily.

“Excuse me,” the receptionist whispered loudly. “I’ll need to ask you three to either be quiet or step outside.”

“Oh, sorry!” Ella giggled. “Come on, you two!” Ella walked ahead of us.

June turned to me and winked again, following Ella.

“June, what do you think you’re doing?” I whispered angrily.

June ignored me and walked out of the hospital as Ella held open the door.

Ella smiled and waved for me to follow.

I had no choice at that moment, and I walked towards her and out the door. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Now, like I was saying, Hell yeah! I mean, if Gary’s okay with it!” Ella fluttered her eyes at me.

My eyes widened in shock and my heart fluttered like mad inside of my body as confusion caused my mind to panic. This isn’t real, I thought to myself. This is a joke. What do I do in this kind of a situation? I’ve never been in this kind of a predicament! Why me? I just want to train Pokemon! Why is this girl looking at me like this? ME?? I swallowed hard before managing to force my lips apart. “Why not?”

“Ha! You had me nervous there for a moment!” Ella laughed. “I mean, if you don’t want me to travel with you, you can tell me. I’m a big girl. I can take no for an answer.” Ella pouted and crossed her arms, turning her back to me.

Travel with me? I thought. It’s June and me! Not just me! Why is she acting like this? It’s so… adorable! How is she even more attractive to me now? What’s going on? “Um, no! It’s fine! Honest!”

“No, I can travel? Or, no, you don’t want me to? Hmph!” Ella shifted her shoulders.

If she doesn’t cut this cute act out, I’m going to propose to her, I thought, a nearly uncontrollable urge to just reach out and hold onto her making my body twitch as I struggled not to do it. I inhaled deeply. “Ella, I’d sincerely be happy to have you join June and I on our journey if you’d like to.”

Ella flipped her hair to the side and turned her head to me, smiling. “Really?”

Kiss her, kiss her, kiss her, a voice said in my head. Do it, man. DO IT!

I nodded. “Really,” I said shakily.

“Then you’ve got yourself a new traveling partner, Gary,” Ella smiled, turning around completely to face me.

“Yyyyyes!!” June cheered happily. “Welcome, Ella!”

“Thanks, June!” Ella smiled at June, but quickly turned back to me. I may be completely crazy, but it almost looked like Ella’s eyes slowly, seductively, blinked at me.

“Well, three’s a crowd! I’ll see you two another time! Bye!” Ella’s last words she said to me and June before leaving us in Nuvema Town with Trixa the first time we all had met, rang through my head. “Three’s a crowd!”

Me.

June.

Ella.

That’s three people, I thought.

“Three’s a crowd! I’ll see you two another time! Bye!”

As June and Ella, two extraordinarily attractive girls, chatted excitedly with each other in front of the hospital.

As my mind dwelled on the two attacks that occurred both inside and just outside of Nimbasa City.

As I thought about my upcoming Gym battle.

I did the only thing I could possibly do at the time.

Looking up into the sky, the light pollution blocking out the stars, I inhaled deeply and held my breath for a while.

My breath came out in a mixed sigh filled with confusion.

Worry.

Fear.

Sadness.

And least of all.

Somewhere in the convoluted mix of various other emotions.

Happiness.