Crossing Field

Alola to Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Alya's Pov

***

It took a long time for Blue to completely stitch Alain up and wrap his torso in bandages. During that time, I talked things over with Plumeria...well I wouldn't have if Blue didn't kick me out of the room for being so impatient.

There were no hard feelings between the two of us. I explained the situation to her, and her pokemon had no permanent damage. In return, she did ask a favor of me. One that I was going to do even without her asking me.

The reason I was in Alola wasn't to take down Team Skull. I knew that now more than ever. I was here to travel to Ultra Space and help save a life. I sent Plumeria to the Altar of the Sun to inform Gladion and the rest of my friends that I would be there as soon as I knew if Alain was going to be okay.

My journey here still wasn't over, even though I wanted to settle down more than anything.

Alain was still passed out when Blue exited the room. His face looked tired, and his shoulders sagged.

"What happened? I want to know everything." Sighing, I agreed to tell him. He just saved Alain's life, and I would forever be indebted to him.

"The headaches and voice in my head was caused by Tapu Fini. It kept warning me to leave Team Skull alone and instead to go to Ultra Space to save Guzma. I didn't listen, because the whole thing just sounded made up. But when I got here to Shady House and found that he really wasn't here, I knew that I had messed up pretty bad. But Fini wasn't going to let me get away with listening to their warnings. It took over my body during the battle with Plumeria. It was making me torture her Pokémon. I would never do that. I had to watch as it used my body. And then her Pokémon wasn't enough. Tapu Fini somehow used Mega Evolution to evolve Absol. He was going to cut Plumeria down until Alain came and saved her," I explained.

Tears were forming in my eyes again after saying out loud the horrible things I had done. Now that Blue had the whole story, he stepped forward and engulfed me in a hug.

"I'll go tell the others," he said softly, which took me off guard. This is Blue we're talking about.

"Sorry to have drug you guys into this."

"Save the apologies for later," he told me, pulling out of the hug and stepping around me towards the entrance of the Shady House. "Besides, you still have work to do."

"Thanks, Blue." He pushed the door open, and I thought that was the end of our conversation. Until he stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Oh! Before I leave I should tell you that he'll wake up soon. And go easy on the poor boy. As they say: Absence makes the heart grow fonder." With that, he left with a wink and his signature smirk.

A large blush spread across my face at his suggestion, but the door slammed shut before I could retaliate to his remark. Letting out a sigh, I crept quietly back into the room where Alain was still passed out. On the other side of the room, Charizard was curled up on the second bed. He barely fit, and I found it quite funny. But I left him be, seeing as he was trying to look out for his trainer. I should let out Absol and explain to him how none of this was his fault. I'm sure he wouldn't come out even if I called him right now. I felt extremely bad for him.

Letting out my millionth sigh, I pulled off my bag and set it on the floor, followed by my belt that held all my pokeballs. Now that things were calmed down, I realized once again that I was dripping wet. My cloak was covered in Alain's blood and also wet. I didn't have any more dry clothes on me. Not only that, but Alain's clothes were wet too and his blue undershirt was shredded.

"We really are a mess, aren't we?" I asked out loud, talking to myself 'cause I knew Alain wasn't going to respond, and I'm pretty sure Charizard wasn't going to start speaking anytime soon. Biting my lip, I come up with a solution to dry our clothes. Closing and locking the door, I begin to strip my clothes and drape them over various objects in the room. Leaving my bra and underwear on. I approached Alain's bedside and carefully peeled off his gloves and scarf that remained on him. 

My face felt like it was on fire as I reached down and began to slide his pants off of him. 'Please don't wake up. Please don't wake up,' I kept chanting in my head. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack when he shifted in his sleep. Gulping, I tugged his pants and boots off and scurried to the other side of the room. Looking over my shoulder, I was relieved to see that still had yet to wake.

Lying out his pants to dry, I set on a mission to rummage through the large dresser that was pressed up against the wall, separating the two beds. Now that my clothes were off, I was cold. Going through the large wardrobe, I only came upon Team Skull apparel. Refusing to put the black clothes on, I kept going, reaching the bottom drawer. There lied multiple neatly folded sheets.

Pulling a few out, I draped one over Alain's body. Only after admiring his impeccable physique and the large bandage across his wound, though. Then, I wrapped one around my body and took a seat in the chair that was pulled beside the bed that Blue was using earlier. After that...it was just silent...well except for the steady breathing of Alain.

When I admired him for the second before putting the sheet over him, I caught sight of something rather interesting. Just to confirm what I saw, I pulled the sheet down just a tad to get another glimpse at the necklace that adorned his neck. One that I haven't seen before. My fingers gingerly reached out and ran over the cool Key Stone. A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips. He had sure been busy if he's already found another Key Stone.

My fingers moved from his necklace up to his face. I brushed his wet bangs away and stared in awe at how calm and peaceful he looked. With just one touch, I recalled every memory of the two of us.  I had always admired this boy, but I never knew how much he would actually mean to me. He's changed me, I knew that. I'm taking risks I would have never imagined. I guess you could say I didn't believe in relationships all that much.

All I cared about was my job as Champion and traveling the world. I didn't have time to settle down, nor did I want to. My pokemon were the only things that mattered to me. Even with Steven...he was never really in the big picture. Then Alain came along and taught me what it meant to actually rely on someone other than your pokemon. He was more than just my traveling partner.

"I lacked your strength," I whispered. "You've got my back, and know I've got yours. I have you to thank for lighting up the darkness that I fell into. Now that you're here, I'll be able to continue on." I was so fixated on my thoughts, and staring at his sleeping face that I was startled when his hand reached up and grabbed mine.

"I'll give you everything I have," he spoke out hoarsely. His eyes remained closed, but my heart swelled with the fact that he was awake and speaking. He gave a light squeeze to my hand, most likely to weak to manage much more. After a few seconds, his eyes finally did slide open. Bright blue iris' met my crimson ones. "I promise that I'll be who you choose."

Blue was right. Absence does make the heart grow fonder, and quite frankly, I don't think my heart could take much more. But I did know that his promise would last for all our days.