Chapter 18
The rest of Comet’s plans for the afternoon were quickly derailed upon his arrival at the Vermillion City Pokemon Center.
“Are you Peter Finnigan, the clinician for the Viridian City Clinic?” asked the Nurse Joy as he handed her his Poke Balls to use the healing machine.
Comet threw her a sidelong glance, immediately suspicious. “Why do you ask?”
The Joy fished under the counter and then set a Great Ball in front of him with a note taped to the top. “This came for you this morning. It’s from a Nurse Gale?”
Trying not to scowl, Comet detached the note from the ball and read:
‘This is a delivery for the Viridian City clinician- a new addition for his save-the-world effort. Another euthanasia order, but with your unlimited resources and expertise that the rest of the medical community is so severely lacking, I’m sure you can work a miracle. I think you’ll find this one to be a little bigger and more lively than the other two. Have you ever heard of Poke Ball Syndrome before? If not, you’re in for a treat.
Here’s my number. Give it a call when you come to your senses and want to send him back.’
At the bottom of the note was a number that Comet didn’t read before crumbling the paper into a ball and stuffing it in his pocket. “Any ideas as to what I’m dealing with here?”
“According to the chart,” said Joy, punching at keys on her computer, “It’s a Persian. Male. 89 pounds, 51 inches high.”
“Arceus!” Comet exclaimed, leaning over the counter. “Is that really a Persian or fucking Entei?!”
The Joy took a deep breath. “If I were you, I would give this Gale a call and tell her to forget it. Pokemon with this condition could be very dangerous, and it sounds like she sent it to you as more of a mean joke than anything else. You must have made quite the enemy out of her.”
“Actually, she’s the one who made an enemy out of me,” said Comet, jabbing one finger into the cabinet to emphasize his words. “And I don’t lose easily. That’s why I’ll be taking this Pokemon down to my clinic and fixing this Poke Ball Syndrome or whatever the hell it’s called. Sounds made up anyway.”
Nurse Joy gave him a cool look. “Treating Pokemon isn’t a game you win or lose. And if you knew anything about PBS, you wouldn’t be so cocky. Bad things happen to Pokemon when they aren’t let out of their balls for a long time. They turn feral. Won’t hesitate to attack a human if they feel threatened. Sometimes, if the case is severe enough, the damage to the Pokemon’s psyche can be permanent. You can really hurt yourself trying to touch this Persian.”
Comet stared at the Great Ball thoughtfully, his face a dark cloud reflected in its shining blue surface. It was hard to believe a creature so dangerous could be held by such a little thing.
Then, the ball twitched. Very lightly, but it did twitch.
With a heavy effort to conceal his mounting panic, Comet called to the Joy as he descended the stairs to the clinic’s code door. “Better get a head start then! I’ll be back for my Pokemon in a little while, let them take their time on the healing machine.”
As soon as he punched in the code and went through the door, the Great Ball burst open and Comet scrambled to the other side of the exam table to put distance between himself and the emerging Persian. He was suddenly aware of small claws digging into his shoulders, and he turned to see Bravewhisker peering around the edge of the table.
“What are you doing here?!” Comet hissed.
“Saving your fool behind, probably. What gave you the bright idea to come down here with that thing alone?!”
“Oh yeah, great idea, old man! Bring all the crippled Pokemon down here and then let SuperCat here have a fucking buffet!”
A low growl came from the other side of the table at the sound of Comet’s raised voice. Bravewhisker held one finger to his mouth. “It’s got Poke Ball Syndrome, not rabies,” he said in a whisper. “He’s not going to go out of his way to attack anyone unless he feels threatened. Like he probably does hearing your big mouth.”
Comet swallowed and glanced under the table. The biggest feline paws he’d ever seen in his life padded on the ground, the Persian’s legs deep in a low crouch. “...That’s Entei, you know that, B? How the hell do I treat freakin Entei?!”
“Well,” said Bravewhisker slowly, “Usually Poke Ball Syndrome is something that, if it’s going to heal at all, it does so slowly on its own. The more time Persian spends out of his ball, the better. Although, this does seem to be a more serious case. Luckily for us, the medicine Kestrelsight takes for her anxiety is the same kind commonly used to help treat severe PBS.”
“Oh… so this is really easy, right? It’s just pills, that’s not hard.” Comet reached up to open the medicine cabinet...and the Persian abruptly rose to his full height. His head reached over the exam table. Jerking away in his shock, Comet yanked the cabinet door open and sent a shelf’s worth of pill bottles toppling down on his head. The Persian hissed, backing up into the corner opposite Comet.
Bravewhisker hopped off Comet’s shoulder and started looking through the fallen bottles. “Try to relax, kid. He doesn’t want to hurt you. He’s just been confined for so long that everything seems like a threat.”
Comet swallowed heavily, hoping the motion would drop his heart back down where it belonged. He took the medicine bottle Bravewhisker held up to him and shakily took out two pills. “Maybe if I give him like 12 of these he’ll chill out.”
The Pikachu’s ear twitched. “And probably die of an overdose in the process. Might as well send him back to Gale now if that’s going to be your attitude about it.”
The thought of admitting defeat to Gale steeled Comet’s resolve. Clutching the pills tightly in his fist, he began to slowly crawl out from behind the examination table. “Niiiice kitty…”
The growling grew louder as Comet approached. Tail lashing, the Persian stared at Comet with wild red eyes. Whatever the Persian was trying to say, Comet could not understand. It was like he wasn’t even trying to communicate, or didn’t know how, or a little bit of both. Comet turned back to Bravewhisker, who was staring at him with a confused expression. “Uh, kid? What exactly is your plan here?”
In response, Comet tossed the two pills toward the growling feline, letting out a short battle cry along with the motion. The Persian immediately batted them away with one paw, claws out. Comet gulped. They really were long claws. The pills skittered across the tile floor and bounced off of Comet’s sneakers. “Hey, B. That didn’t work.”
The Pikachu sighed and rubbed his eyes. “No kidding. Try hiding the pills in food.”
Pulling an extra hot dog from the cookout from his bag, he pushed the two pills inside and then tossed that at the Persian. The big cat flinched, sniffed the hot dog, and then returned to growling. Comet grimaced. “Don’t tell me I’m gonna have to shove the pills down his throat.”
Bravewhisker thought for a moment, tail twitching. “Maybe if we both left the room. He might not want to eat in front of us if he doesn’t feel safe.”
“Okay. If he tears my legs off when I stand up, you’re on your own.”
Comet and Bravewhisker slowly backed up out the back door of the exam room, leading to the hallway. As the distance between them increased, the Persian began to slowly loosen up his crouched position. “Leave the door partly open so he doesn’t feel trapped,” whispered Bravewhisker.
Fighting the urge to peer in the doorway, Comet clenched his fists. “I don’t hear any eating noises.”
“Patience. We just left,” Bravewhisker hissed.
“I fucking hate patience. I’m taking a peek.”
Back against the door, Comet craned his neck just enough to get his eyes in the doorway. “Oh come on,” Comet whispered aggressively. “He turned completely around. He’s just laying in the corner, facing away from the hot dog. Who turns down a hot dog?!”
“He’s probably too agitated to eat.”
“Well, I’m too agitated to wait,” said Comet, kicking his shoes off. “I’m gonna sneak up behind him while he’s got his face in the corner.”
“Don’t-”
But Comet was already through the door, stepping as lightly as possible on sock-covered feet. The mantra in his head was everything he learned about restraining feline Pokemon while he was being educated to be a clinician. Grab the scruff of their neck tight. Lay them down on their side with their back stretched out. Grab the back foot just behind the paw pad. Pray.
Once Comet was close enough, he leapt. Everything happened in a blink.
Comet snagged the skin on the back of Persian’s neck and gripped it tight. The Persain yowled, thrashing his head back and forth in an effort to bite. It was all Comet could do to keep his grip. Half way to lowering the screeching cat to the ground, Persian’s back legs pushed off the ground, kicked out…
And slashed Comet right down his left forearm.
Blood poured. Swears erupted from Comet’s mouth- he didn’t even know what he was saying, only that he was saying it very loudly. His right hand released Persian to clap desperately over the gushing wound. But he was cut deep, and the blood spread past his fingers and started to pour to the floor.
Lights floated in his vision. Some of which, he was able to hazily recognize, were sparks from Bravewhisker. Most of them were swirling colors as his sight started to go cloudy.
Rest. This is where I take over.
A sort of pressure accompanied the voice in Comet’s head. His mouth opened without his permission, and words came in a strange voice from his mouth. “Inferior creature...you will regret the day you dared draw our blood.”
Comet’s bleeding arm began to rise against his will, as if someone was pulling the strings on a puppet. Comet tried to talk to the invisible force controlling him, but his jaw wouldn’t move.
No need to speak now. We share one body, one mind.
Then, a strange sensation began to flow through Comet. The pressure in his head began to flow through his veins, down his arms, to his palms. Glowing violet energy formed in his hands, swirling like two dark storms. A purple haze crept into the corners of his vision.
What are you doing? thought Comet at the voice in his head.
Protecting us.
A sudden increase of energy in his uninjured arm made Comet jerk. The arm drew back, violet orb whirling, poised to attack.
No!
Comet pulled back as hard as he could against the invisible force moving him. His arm stopped mid-strike, the dark magic in his hands sputtering out into motes that dissolved into the ground. The Persian hissed, curling further back into his corner.
What are you doing?
The purple mist faded slightly from Comet’s vision. His arm was still locked half extended, like he was pulling his arm back through a block of concrete. I won’t let you attack that Pokemon. What are you doing to me?
Don’t be a fool. Look at what it did to us.
Comet’s neck began to move toward his wounded arm. He fought against the force, but the strain on his muscles was too great, and their combined strength tilted his head toward the floor. There was a puddle of blood on the ground now, growing rapidly. He’s scared. He didn’t mean to.
Maybe this will make you understand...
The force started to pull at Comet’s tongue, then. It was stronger now, and he found his body slowly moving against his will again despite his full strength. The pool of blood was getting wider, and a fainting sensation was starting to come over him. As the corners of his vision darkened, the violet mist began to close in- and the alien presence gained more and more control.
Comet raised his injured arm to his mouth, and he slowly ran his tongue across the bloody flesh.
Then there was a jolt of electricity. Every muscle in Comet’s body jerked, and then true darkness took him.
Queeje 
Petition to make all Pikachu live forever? And I love Phoenixfall too, she's such a gentle and wise Gyara momma :)
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