34 Chapter 33

Percy, Jason and Jasper ran through a forest jumping over logs and ducking under branches. The boys breathed in rhythmically as their feet pounded against the forest floor. None of them were very tired even after a good 5 minutes of running. Percy only felt mentally tired from his achievements in the previous battle.

Jasper who was running in front raised a hand and they came to a sliding stop. He lowered himself to the ground and inspected a foot print. "This is most likely Ash's footprint. He seems to be heading in this direction." Jasper stood up and they set off in a slightly different direction.

Jasper was able to find the trail of Ash and they followed it religiously. Soon enough the path that Dan made escaping lined up with where they were going so they knew they were getting close. The sounds of a Pikachu screaming and using moves could be heard. They doubled their pace and soon saw Ash fighting against 7 Spinarack and 2 Ariados.

Ash's Pokémon were extremely tired and could barely get moves off. Pidgeotto had already been knocked out by the giant Ariados and hasn't fully regained its energy. Percy released Crash and Pharaoh and had them both use moves on the Spinarack.

Jason and Jasper did the same and moves flew at Ash's assailants. Instantly 5 Spinarack were knocked out and the rest were dealt with quickly. Ash looked to where he was getting help from to see a furious Jasper. "Look Jasper I can explain-." Ash raised his arms in surrender. A solid punch landed on his cheek causing him so stumble back. "What the fucks your problem man. Do you just want to die for some random people. You'll never make it past 18 at this rate." Jasper shouted.

He ran his hands through his green hair and sat down on a log. "You never would've let me go if I asked to." Ash reasoned. Jasper stood up and grabbed Ash's collar. "Does that mean you can do whatever the fuck you want! Just because nobody approves of your dumb ass need to help everyone doesn't give you the right to leave and kill yourself.

I'm not your fucking baby sitter and I won't let you do shit like this. Even back when we saved those trainers from the Fearow. Percy almost died and all you can do is say that you helped people. What happens when somebody dies because of you. Just think a little bit into the future. Think about your decisions." Jasper released Ash's collar and looked at his surroundings.

He could smell a dead fire and saw some torn up tents around him. Percy and Jason stood awkwardly in a corner. "You almost died?" Jason whispered. "It's no big deal." Percy whispered back. Then they looked around the remains of a camp. After investigating for a moment they saw some unpleasant things.

A few meters away from the camp were 3 dried up husks. They resembled humans who had lost every ounce of blood in their body. Their clothes hung loose on their shriveled bodies. It seemed that the Spinarack had been feasting on the dead bodies for a while now and only empty shells were left. The 4 boys stood around the corpses and fought their gagging. "Oh no." Jason gagged. Percy poked one with his toe and made sure the trainer still wasn't alive. After getting no response he crouched down to remove matching bracelets that they had.

A cute friendship bracelet with the word "Dream" spelled with beads. Percy carefully removed the bracelets off of the shriveled wrists. He handed the bracelets to Ash and looked for the arm that had been blown off. A couple of minutes later Jason had found the arm and removed its bracelet. "Alright let's go. I don't want to leave the group hanging." Jasper said. They left the destroyed camp and headed to the City.

It's been about 20 minutes since they left the group in search for Ash. It would take 30 minutes to go from the forest to the city if they walked and the Prodigies would be arriving in a couple of minutes. If they put on the burners it would be possible to get there first. All of the boys were incredibly fit and all had access to body strengthening techniques.

Percy, Ash and Jasper have aura that they use to make their bodies stronger. Jason has psychic energy and can reinforce his body. "You want to go fast?" Percy asked. "Sure. Last one there sets up our tents. 3, 2, 1 go!" Jasper counted down. All four boys legs exploded and they raced through the forest. They all ran at pretty much the same speed with slight dips with the terrain. Suddenly a single Spinarack dropped from a tree in front of the boys.

What it didn't expect was for them to vault over it without missing a beat. They ran and ran until they could see the city. Once they saw it their pace sped up and they became serious. Percys legs felt like a blur under him and he felt the wind run through his hair. Off to the side the rest of the Prodigies were walking toward the city.

They could make out the speeding figures of their friends. Lined up next to each other the boys pushed their legs to their limits and tried to push ahead of one another. They had the same speed and couldn't push ahead of each other. All of their brains synced up and they knew that the entrance gate to the city was their finish line.

The gate neared and they all put in their last spurt of energy to leap through the gate. Suddenly Ash tripped over his own feet and fell on his face right before the goal. Percy, Jason and Jasper crossed the line at the same time and came skidding to a stop.

They came back to Ash who remained unmoving on the ground and tried picking him up. All of their strength drained out of their legs and they collapsed to the ground next to Ash. While it would take 40 minutes to walk from the destroyed camp to the city it only took them 5 minutes. They ran at about 8 times the walking speed and made it in record time.

A couple of minutes later the other Prodigies arrived at where they lay on the ground. "Where were you Ash? Jasper told me he was going to go look for you." Misty complained. Ash stood up and tried to reason with Misty while blood trickled down his forehead. "I wanted to get Dans teammates back and get his bracelet." "What?! Why didn't you say so before leaving without telling us. For all you know it could've taken weeks." Misty screamed. Ash cowered slightly but pulled out 4 bracelets from his pocket.

Dan immediately rushed over and gently took the bracelets. "So they're gone." He cried. "Are their bodies recoverable?" Ash shook his head slowly and said "The Spinarack have been eating for a while before we got there." Dan understood that Spinarack suck the bodily fluids out of its victims so their bodies probably don't look well. "Thank you so much.

These bracelets mean so much to us. I'll stop bothering you and go see my friends now." His large shoulders shook and tears fell onto the dirt. "Let us take you to the Pokémon Center. I don't want you to be accidentally charged the limb regrow fee. The price is no joke." Aurora comforted the man and walked with his head in her shoulder. After Dan recovered Ash gave him his number.

The group walked to the Pokémon Center where they met Marcus leaning on the wall outside. "Anything new?" Aurora asked him. "Nothing new. I just got the price for the limb regrow." He handed it to Aurora who cringed at seeing the price. "I'll handle it. What room are they in." "301 it's on the third floor. The doctor said no more than 3 people can be in the room at once. Too much stimuli or something." Aurora thanked Marcus and took Percys hand. "Dan follow me and we'll see your friends soon." She said over her shoulder.

She dragged Percy into an elevator where they went to the 3rd floor. They entered the room where the patients were on white beds. The completely white room was decorated with bits and pieces of red. Upon two hospital beds lay a boy and a girl. Both seemed unconscious and unresponsive to the door opening. Dan faltered toward his friends and fell on his knees next to their beds.

He cried into their blankets and shuddered terribly. Suddenly he remembered their missing limbs and checked to see if they had really regrown. The limbs looked brand new if not better. Whatever blemishes or scars that were on it we're no longer there but the limb looked under used. Barely any muscle was on it and it looked to be pale when compared to the rest of the body. However Dan couldn't possibly be happier with it.

Aurora and Percy slowly backed out of the room and ended up in a white hallway. A nurse walked up to them and addressed Aurora. "Head nurse would like to see you." She left without another word. Percy turned to leave the Pokémon Center but his arm was grabbed by Aurora. "Can you come with me to meet the head nurse. She might ask about the treatment of the trainers." She said quietly.

Percy felt conflicting emotions with his aura sense and was pretty sure she was lying. Unfortunately Percy is very prone to being unable to disagree with pretty women. And Aurora was at the top of beauty. "I guess." He shrugged. "The head nurses office is in the same place of every Pokémon Center so I know where it is. Follow me." She walked a little bit slower than usual. It didn't seem like she wanted to go to the head nurses office. Percy started sweating in nervousness and his eyes darted around him.

Soon enough they arrived at an intimidating large white door lined in gold paint. Aurora took a deep breath and pushed open the door. A simple but very large office was seen. A woman with pink hair sat with her legs crossed behind a large desk on an ornate and very expensive looking chair. She was very beautiful and Percy could barely take his eyes off her.

The same face as the signature nurse Joy was seen and Percy couldn't distinguish her from Aurora. Everything except the obvious aging and stress was the same. She radiated confidence and it seemed she had never doubted herself once. Her gaze relayed mild curiosity mixed with a bit of duty.

Percy stood next to Aurora in front of the desk and his eyes darted around nervously. "Youngest daughter of the heir. You may raise your head." The woman spoke. Her voice covered the whole room. Auroras previously lowered head raised. She refused to make eye contact with the woman. "I heard that the youngest daughter was spineless but I didn't know it was this bad. Can't make eye contact with me, a Joy from a lower branch." The woman sneered. Percys face became pinched but he remained silent.

To him family matters were not his business unless specifically asked to interfere. Aurora shuddered at the insult but also remained silent. "The workmanship on those patients were shoddy and when I learned that you were the one to treat them, I was disappointed to say the least. The amputation looked like it was cut by an axe." Percy had no words. "What was the problem that you had to resort to amputation for." The woman said.

Aurora took a deep breath and said, "Her leg was completely taken over by the poison. It must've been poisoned for at least half a hour." Her voice shook as she spoke. "Your Chansey must not be strong enough to get rid of the poison. But explain to me why the amputation cut was so poor." Percy stared straightforward. Aurora glanced at Percy. "I forgot my amputation tools. So Percy cut her leg off with his axe." Percys heart skipped when he heard the woman audibly gasp.

She gasped at both Aurora forgetting her tools and Percy cutting her leg off. "You forgot your tools and this BOY amputated your patient. Is there anything else." "I'm sorry Aunt Gin, it won't happen again but please don't tell my mom." Percy did not know how Aurora recognized this nurse Joy as Gin but he couldn't distinguish any of them. "Your mother has asked me to get an update on your progress and you know that I can't go against the Clan Heads order.

I have to talk to you in private now if you don't mind 'Percy' leaving" For some reason Aunt Gin said Percys name with extra hatred. But Percy nodded respectfully and turned to quickly leave the extremely tense room. Aurora grabbed Percys arm. The action did not go unseen by Gin however. "Can he stay?" Aurora tentatively asked. "Should I tell your mother that you aren't even listening to orders. She doesn't need people who don't listen." Percy looked back at Aurora for her decision. Aurora slightly pushed Percy towards the door and turned to Gin.

Percy happily sped walked out of the room. He stopped outside the door and breathed heavily. "Who knew that Joys can be so intense." He whispered to himself. Percy leaned against a wall and wiped the sweat from his brow.

Meanwhile inside the head nurses office Aurora stood in front of her Aunt Gin. "Clan Head asked me to ask you how your relationship is with the Arcanine Clan boy. But I suppose you have a crush on 'Percy'." Aunt Gin hissed.

Aurora completely ignored the comment and answered with a straight face. "Kai is very difficult to talk to. If I do even one thing wrong he'll ignore me for the rest of the day. But I'm sure he has his own problems so I don't blame him. The Jenny Clan is doing no better if not worse in making connections. It seems they haven't forced it onto Zoe nearly as hard as you have. I guess that's because they already have big connections with the Arcanine Clan." Aurora paused.

"I don't have a crush on him. It's just he was with me when I was treating those trainers so I thought to bring him." She glanced away from Gins judging eyes and shuffled her feet. "Riiiiight." Gin said. She rolled her eyes and stood up. "Whatever, I'll tell your mother what I think. She told me to remind you about marrying the Arcanine child. It's important. And I'll take off the limb regrow fee. I did it personally since my Blissey was the only one capable of it.

And if you can, put in a good word for me, I'm trying to get transferred to a bigger city." She paused and looked at the teen in front of her. "You may leave." Gin waved her hand dismissively and picked up a paper and started reading it. Aurora bowed politely and turned to leave. "I wouldn't let your mother dictate your life." Aunt Gin advised. Aurora turned back to see Gins face buried in the paper as if she hadn't said a word.

Aurora left the room to where Percy was waiting. 'I'm sorry child. If I don't act like that to you, I'll be ostracized by the main branch. And I can't do that.' Aunt Gin thought to herself. Of course she wasn't as heartless and rude as she was to Aurora. The political structure of the Joy clan is very complicated. To even start explaining is something that would take a large amount of time. Aurora greeted Percy with a solemn smile and they walked to the exit of the Pokémon Center.

AN: I don't plan on making this a harem.