5Chapter 3: Aftershock Aftermath
Misty looked around the tree cautiously. 'Project AIF1' was gone. She sighed in relief and came back into the now scorched clearing.
"Toge."
Misty looked down at her Pokémon. It had been searching through Misty's backpack, but unfortunately it didn't see anything that had a resemblance to a phone. Misty sighed again, and pulled Ash's backpack off his back. She dug through it, looking for the Poké Gear Ash'd found on the road a few weeks ago. She pulled it out, switched it on to Phone, glanced briefly at the saved list of numbers, registered with annoyance that Ash had neglected to save the Johto emergency number, and tapped it in herself.
"Ambulance please..."
"Will he be OKay?" Misty asked in a higher voice than usual. She'd dropped Pikachu off at the Pokémon Center and managed to convince the Nurse Joy there that no, she wasn't its trainer, no, its real trainer hadn't let it get into that condition, she'd been just as shocked as he was, and no, she didn't steal it after a few minutes of explaining, so she'd left it in the ER and taken a taxi to the human hospital. She was now at Ash's bedside - she'd found Brock but ignored him as soon as both boys were in safely.
The nurse raised an eyebrow. "Yes, as soon as he's had the treatment. You his girlfriend?"
"No way! Just a really close friend." Misty denied, blushing.
"OKay, OKay. What the heck happened to him?"
That was the question Misty had been dreading. She took a deep breath and said, "Knocked out by some crazy genetically enhanced Machamp."
"Yeah, sure." Fortunately for Misty, all the nurse remembered was 'knocked out by Machamp'. "He just needs a bit of a rest and maybe some painkillers. Don't try to wake him up, just let him be for now. What happened to your other friend over there?" the nurse asked, gesturing over at Brock.
"Got in the way of a shattered Light Screen and a super powerful Thunder Bolt." Misty answered, wincing.
"Thunder Bolt burns and Light Screen fragment cuts.. He'll be out a bit longer than - oh yes, I never got their details. Fill these out for me, will ya hon?" She handed Misty a few forms and left the room.
Misty glanced at the forms. *I'll do Ash's first..* She found a pen and scrawled in, Ash Ketchum. Home address, Pallet Town, Kanto. Occupation, Pokémon trainer. Sex, male, age, eleven... She stopped when she got down to the health section. *I'll try his Poké Dex.* Ash's neatly folded clothes along with his backpack and Poké Dex were on top of a chair. The redhead picked up the Poké Dex and opened it.
"Password please."
"Whooops..." The password was actually her own name, as Ash had always liked her from the time she pulled him out of the river. *There goes that idea .*
Misty sighed. The only option left was to phone Ash's mother, convieniently saved on Ash's Poké Gear, unlike the Johto emergency number.
"Ring-ling-ling, ring-ling-ling, phone call, phone call! Ring-ling-ling, ring-ling-ling-"
"Hello, this is the Ketchum residence..."
"Um, hi Mrs. Ketchum."
"Oh, hello Misty! Just call me Delia. Where's Ash?"
A groan came over the line. "That's the problem."
"What? What happened to my little boy?"
"Um.. There was... an accident."
A few minutes later, Delia Ketchum was almost hanging up the phone in disbelief. "So you're saying that there was some Team Rocket android thing that sent out a Machamp, which punched Ash, thus knocking him out?"
Misty smiled painfully, grateful the Poké Gear had no camera. "Yeah."
"And you need his health details, right?"
"Yes. Even though he's only out cold..." Misty muttered. Fortunately, Delia didn't hear her.
"OKay, just a moment..." Delia set the phone down on the table and went to find the forms.
"Please hurry..." Misty whispered, taking the Poké Gear away from her mouth.