FicWad

Darkness swirled around Mel as she slowly pulled her mind into wakefulness, but her body refused to react and it took her far longer than she liked to pull the world into being. Her first sense to return was scent. The air smelled sterile like the area had been zapped of all molecules, leaving only a blank slate. Sound soon followed as a faint beeping whirled, warbling even in the slight tone. Next was her sight. The blackness seeped away so slowly, that Mel feared she was blinded for a moment.

After a while, a light on her eyelids from the fixtures overhead blared like a painful attack. Mel’s head hurt fiercely, and the brightness surrounding her didn’t help. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and the agony from it made her worry it would beat right out of her.

Muscles screamed mutinously as Mel fought to pull her body into a sitting position. A blanket fell away from her upper half and rested in her lap. She searched herself for a moment to try and pull up her psychic powers, hoping to feel the touch of someone’s mind nearby, but she was punished by a throb in her head and chest so fierce she feared it would knock her back out.

Her eyes still stinging, the woman forced them open and slowly blinked at her surroundings. She sat on a bed with plain sheets and was surrounded by white walls, floor, and ceiling. Hues seemed to have been drained away and left only with the pain-inducing color. An IV bag dripped slowly next to the bed. She could tell it was strapped to its stand, which had also been bolted heavily to the ground.

How strange. She thought hard, but couldn’t find reasoning to prevent movement of an IV like that.

Mel turned her head towards the sound of the beeping monitor and saw a young woman facing away from her. Her long black hair settled on her back in a ponytail, but she was too tall to be anyone Mel knew with hair like that. Certainly not Sashi, though it had taken her a moment to realize this. The old doctor sighed heavily and shook her jumbled head to try to clear her thoughts.

The sound drew the attention of the woman and she turned her head quickly. “Y-you’re awake.” She stuttered, looking terrified, the sheet of paper in her hands falling like a leaf to the ground. The girl didn’t seem to register that she dropped it, for instead of bending down to pick it up, she stepped back a few paces to a solid, pure white door and bolted out of it. Mel heard a lock click behind the girl and knew she wouldn’t be leaving that way any time soon.

Mel closed her eyes once more, hoping to try and pull some memories of why she would be in here. Her head felt foggy though and it took far longer than she cared to think about to finally yank the recollection of the day back.

She’d been at Kabir and Sashi’s house. It had finally been released to her custody, and the group had gone with a man named Hala to view the damage. Instead of a demolished room, she found a box of photos taken by the police. The images swam through her mind once more, as if she were viewing them from right in the room again.

Then she remembered the anger. It was a terrible burning rage that seemed to slowly swallow her as time passed by. She recalled thinking about how she could use the power-increasing emotion to track down the beast who had hurt her family, but also knew it would be foolish to allow that to happen. Yet, somehow, she had found herself more wrapped up in it.

Between the time of her thoughts about it and a flick of movement, as she tried to view the next photo, she was suddenly lost. At first, it seemed helpful as her mind worked on overdrive, connecting the sights from the pictures with the real-world ones as she walked past. Then she realized that she could no longer control her own actions.

It was with great horror that she felt the mind of her Pokemon as they pleaded with her to stop, but their voices were distant and she couldn’t reach them no matter how hard she worked her mind. She could see and hear the other humans as they discussed matters, but they seemed mainly unworried by her actions. Her body was in control, but she wasn’t driving it. Then Mel remembered a scene more terrifying than even the feeling of no longer being able to connect with her Pokémon or guide her actions.

I hurt them! She thought with shock and despair recalling watching as her body sent out a wave of power at Anya and Ori. She searched her mind more heavily, but all her memories were shut off after then. No matter how hard she hunted, she couldn’t see what else had happened. There was merely a great blackness in its place. Were they alright? How did I end up here? Where are my Pokémon?

“The Island Guardian stepped in and was able to defeat you.” A cheerful male voice spoke from beside her.

Mel’s body jerked involuntarily in surprise and her eyes shot open. The caustic lights above reminded her of the pounding of her head, and her chest still squeezed with a burning pressure. Once again, her sensitive pupils weren’t used to how bright the room was and it took her a moment of anxious searching to finally see two blurry forms beside her.

“It’s alright. You aren’t in any danger.” The voice spoke once more.

The woman turned her eyes towards the source, the one closest to her and finally made out more of the people. The first was a slim man, about her age with unnaturally black hair and beard for his stage of life, carefully groomed and slicked back. His lips held a smile and his eyes danced with a mischievous light. The second was the young girl from earlier. She did not seem the slightest bit pleased to be sitting in the chair nearby. Her fingers wrung at her shirt anxiously and she nearly jumped at every movement Mel made. Two Pokemon, an Alakazam and Meditie stood at the foot of her bed, and they both had taken a defensive posture, as if ready to attack at any hint of resistance from bed ridden woman.

“It’s good of you to join us.” The man commented happily, seeming unconcerned by his companions’ worries.

Mel couldn’t stop herself from wincing in pain at the sound of his voice. The room had been so quiet, but for the noise of the beeping monitor, that when he spoke, it sounded as if he were shouting into her ears.

This he did notice and his next words were spoken softly. “I am Doctor Nikol and this is my pupil Catalina. She goes by Cat for short. She is still in training so I must ask you if it is alright for her to stay and assist in your care?”

Mel eyed the girl with concern, thinking she didn’t look like she had any desire at all to stay in this room, but she nodded her head anyway, realizing she had left the Doctor’s question unanswered.

“Lovely. Thank you.” He said joyfully, then continued. “It is just past supper time on the same day you arrived. You’re in Melemele General Hospital and you’ll be happy to know that the companions you came in with are all here as well. None of them have been too seriously injured. As for your Pokèmon, they are under the care of Nurse Joy at the nearby Pokèmon Center.”

Mel sighed in relief at having her unspoken, burning questions answered so efficiently.

Doctor Nikol turned to his student. “See? I told you she’s not scary at all.” Cat didn’t seem so certain as she still looked ready to spring to her feet. The Pokèmon must have been silently commanded to stand down, as they both had relaxed their bodies.

He laughed at the young woman a bit then turned back to Mel, “Cat here was absolutely convinced that you were a bad person, but I did try to tell her otherwise. No patient can rest easily when those meant to be caring for them are so jumpy. You are quite popular in the medical world and amongst the Psychic community, though you must be aware of that. I knew from your past that you wouldn’t cause us any trouble when you woke up.” Though the friendly man’s voice was still light in caution of her headache, he spoke swiftly, as if he didn’t know which information to get out, and wanted to do it all at once.

“Unfortunately, due to your recent actions,” Doctor Nikol dropped his smile as he continued, while his face held a look of sympathy. “You will have to remain under careful observation, though I can’t imagine that will be for too long. My shift started just recently, so you won’t have to worry about a new Doctor caring for you tonight at least. Cat and I are the only healthcare professionals that will be allowed in your room. Though you may have Kahuna Hala step in later tonight to speak to you once he knows you’re awake. Rest assured, you are not in any trouble. We just need to take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of Alola and its inhabitants. Anyway, you must be starving! Would you like to request a meal?”

Mel shook her head and croaked. “I can’t be trusted.”

“Ah! So you can speak! Marvelous! Cat, be sure you take good notes here.”

The girl scrambled to her feet and pulled a book and pen from her bag by the door.

“I could have killed someone,” Mel stated more forcefully, her eyes tracking the movements of Cat as she returned to her seat, flipped the book open and began furiously scribbling.

“You didn’t though, so that’s got to be worth something.”

“You don’t understand. I had absolutely no control over my actions. I couldn’t stop myself no matter how hard I tried. There must be something wrong with me. An illness I picked up traveling here. Or maybe it was the vision I had last night. Or, I must have hit my head at some point and -“

“Slow down.” Doctor Nikol soothed, nodding his head and looking thoughtful, but he didn’t tell her what it was about. “You certainly seem to have found your voice.” He turned to Cat once more. “Be sure to mark that down now. Time from waking to full lucidity is very important in this field. I think it would be prudent for you to know that you’ve been treated for poison.” He faced Mel again.

“Poison? That’s of no importance. I’ve attacked other living beings. I made a vow to never do anything of the sort.”

“Which would make your behavior today all the more concerning.”

“Yes.” Mel relented, relieved that the man finally seemed to be understanding the severity of the situation. Thus far, he had been way too unconcerned with her actions, and behaved with an infuriating calmness. I should be locked up. I should never be allowed to see another person again. She thought with distress in her mind.

“Such thinking will do you no good.” He chided carefully, interrupting and reading her thoughts. Mel was shocked that she hadn’t felt his mind probing her’s, but her head was hurting so badly she assumed that must have been the cause. “As you’ve stated, and I’ve viewed through your previous actions, it goes completely against your deepest morals and beliefs to have ever attacked someone or to even allow yourself into a psychically fueled rage. You’ve come upon sights far worse than the one you saw when viewing Professor Ashoka’s crime scene photos, so your behavior was disconcertingly abnormal.”

“This case was very close to my heart though.”

“Yet you’ve worked instances involving loved ones before.”

Mel stared at him in shock at the depth of his knowledge of her. She was quite put off by it. Those events were never publicized, I ensured that.

“Oh, stop your fretting. As I’ve already stated, you’re very popular in our area of expertise. Granted, I did have to do quite a lot of digging while you were sleeping to learn more than what the media has recorded. Rest assured though, I will never tell anyone unless you inform me to do otherwise.”

He’s gone through my mind. A flake of worry and distrust began in Mel until she thought. I have seen this tactic used in similar interrogations before though.

“We see eye to eye then. Splendid. Now back to our topic. Why did you suddenly fly into a rage like that?”

“As I’ve said, I allowed myself to be swallowed by anger. I lost control of my actions and -“

He stopped her by clicking his tongue. “But why did you lose control?”

Mel observed a press on her mind. She couldn’t tell if it only just started or not, but she definitely noticed something now. She felt herself growing annoyed at him, her emotions heightened in her vulnerable state. She’d also never experienced a time when she couldn’t use her powers, so her fear was enhanced tenfold as well at the disturbing weakness. “I don’t know.” She muttered with more anger than she meant.

He clearly had no issues reading into her struggles as he continued. “No? Then are you some kind of monster who’s been hiding your true self all this time? Do you plan on doing this again? Are you going to try and hurt more people?”

Fury welled in Mel’s chest at the thought of even attempting to recreate those events. She recognized the presence in her head as him now. It was the doctor. This man had seemed so kind before, but his happy demeanor had dropped and his face was now an unreadable mask, even to her, his voice stooping low. What are you doing? She asked in her mind, but said out loud “Of course not -“

“Are you certain? You don’t feel like attacking me, maybe?” The man egged her on with a voice suddenly filled with malice. His mind pressed harder, causing the pressure to build until Mel thought her head would explode.

“No! I couldn’t do that.” Then she nearly begged, “Please, stop.”

“Answer the question. Why did you allow yourself to have rage fuel your powers?” Lights were flashing behind her eyes now as the pain built. Her heart raced so badly, that the monitor in the room suddenly exploded into a blaring alarm. Mel vaguely recognized a movement from Cat, who’d been silent this whole time. The girl had jumped to her feet and rushed towards the machine, but she didn’t say a word.

“I don’t know.” Mel moaned, bending over her legs. She couldn’t decide if the agony in her head or chest was worse, but she knew this man could tell. He was purposely causing her this terrible feeling. Still, he continued to press, forcing her into deeper pains and fear.

“Come on Melanie, you must know.” He responded loudly, his voice grumbling deeply. He rose to his feet until he towered over Mel.

“Please,” She tried saying once more, but it came out as only a faint whisper. Mel slammed her eyes shut, trying to block him out, but he clung tightly to all corners of her consciousness. She poured herself as a whole in and felt her own mind swirl until it created a tight ball in the center, withdrawing until she felt his presence was no longer inside the mass. She formed it into a wall and then with what little strength she could muster, she pushed the entity in her mind away, forcing it out.

The lights of the room swayed and darkened. She felt her body slump but could do nothing to stop herself from slipping away as she blacked out.

~~~

Mel woke without nearly as much difficulty this time. Her body still ached, but the pain in her head and chest had eased to just dull throbs. The worst feeling was now her broken left arm. She moved her head around and looked towards the chairs and sighed with relief to see neither the doctor nor his pupil were in them. The feeling was short-lived though when a noise came from the opposite corner.

The man who’d attacked her had snapped a book closed and placed it on the floor. His eyes were rimmed red with a lack of sleep and he yawned and stretched nonchalantly when their gazes met. A new chair had been placed in the bare room and the man rose stiffly to his feet from it and strode towards Mel’s bed.

“It’s a couple of hours past midnight, so it’s only been a short time.” He commented, checking the watch on his wrist. “I’ve let Cat go home. She was understandably scared from today’s events.”

Mel squinted her eyes distrustfully at him as she sat up, her body tensing instinctively. He wasn’t smiling now, but his face had returned with the kindness she’d seen before. This must be another trap to get me to lower my guard. She mentally prepared herself, but knew if he came at her again, she would be helpless to defend against it once more.

The bearded man sighed heavily. “I do apologize for that. I had to know that whatever caused you to go into that rage wasn’t going to make you do it again.”

“Did I?” Mel questioned, suddenly worried about her own reaction to his verbal and psychic prodding.

“No. You passed my test,” He tried to joke lightly, taking a seat once more at her side. “I had to be certain though.” He peered into her eyes now, looking as though he were trying to plead with her. “Some of this I haven’t discussed with Cat. She’s young still, and frightens easily. Please, don’t tell her what I’m about to inform you on.”

Mel was struggling to trust him now, but she let him continue without any resistance. Though she wasn’t healed, her strength had returned some and she could tell he was no longer trying to probe her mind. As well, he appeared almost deflated now, the eager happiness he’d shown when they first met just a distant memory.

He folded his hands together and sat forward in his chair, over his knees. “You’re not from here, so I don’t think you’ve been able to feel it. Besides the crazy weather and deaths we’ve experienced, there’s been a change in this region’s wildlife. The Pokémon don’t know what it is, but there’s an evil around and it’s been growing stronger these last few weeks. Even normal folk have begun noticing it. Though, I suspect this has been going on for at least two years now.”

“Deaths? I haven’t heard about any of those.”

“There’s been quite a lot. People and Pokémon that didn't get in much trouble and were healthy, passing away under mysterious illnesses. Or unexplained disasters that take many lives. There was a cargo ship that went down around this time last year. A sudden storm -“

“Off the coast of Kaneko,” Mel finished with him.

“You know about that one?” He looked genuinely surprised.

“I had a family member lost in it. Kai Māhoe. He was the husband to -“

“Anya. Yes. I remember him and his wife. How did you know the Doctor? Was it through Kai?”

Mel shook her head. “No. Anya is Sashi’s sister.”

“The missing Professor? How peculiar. Everything is so connected. Either way, something is coming. I can feel it. My Pokémon speak of it. My Xatu foresaw a disaster, but it couldn’t pull up any more than just that. Speaking of, I took the liberty of gathering your Pokémon from the Center. I hope that’s alright.”

“Yes, of course, it is. Thank you.” Mel reached out and took the bag in the man’s hand and eagerly liberated the balls. She touched each one and felt the minds of her Pokémon from within, happy to be near their warmth once more. She wanted to let them out, to see them, but she hesitated.

“Don’t worry,” Doctor Nikol soothed, watching her actions closely. “I’ve already taken you off watch. I see no reason to be concerned about you going on another rampage or any of your Pokèmon for that matter. You’re also free to leave, should you want, but I’d suggest staying at least until tomorrow afternoon to allow yourself time to recover.”

She released only the Girafarig, who called out happily to see Mel back to her old self and settled down next to the bed, bringing its long neck close to get some pats on the head and rubbing affectionately against her hand. The simple gesture of returning her Pokemon had eased Mel’s mind. If this man truly intended to harm me, he would not have placed my Pokemon back in my care. She responded to his words after a short pause. “If you think it would be best. I did want to ask about the poison you found.”

The man raised an interested eyebrow. “I would like to know more about it as well, and had been hoping you could have shared some insight.”

Mel shook her head, remaining silent.

He cursed under his breath, looking frustrated then he scooted down on his seat, leaning back to get more comfortable. “I don’t know much myself, but I do have some theories. I think it may be connected to the beast that's been hiding in Alola. I compared the toxins from it to other Pokémon, but I couldn’t find any similarities. I think it’s either an incredibly rare Pokèmon from a far-off region or an undiscovered species. None of your injuries contained any of it, so it wasn’t injected, but it also wasn’t inhaled. There was no sign of it having been ingested and no dermis contact either. That means the delivery method is one we haven’t seen before. I’ve had your blood tested several times and can confirm that it is clearing up, so at least there’s good news, the mixture of medicines we used is working. I’d suggest having your blood tested for a few weeks, even after it’s gone, to ensure it doesn’t return.”

Mel absentmindedly rubbed the head of her Pokemon, nodding along with his findings. “Sashi had a similar issue with being poisoned when she first arrived on the Islands.”

“Yes, Ori, who was the one who gave me information to help with today’s work actually, told me about that. There’s another thing I’ve been mulling over in my head though, especially since our last meeting.” Doctor Nikol said, holding up a hand to stop Mel from saying anything else. “I think the poison played a part in your actions today.”