Pokémon: Leah's Journey {Rewrite}

Chapter 11: Blighted Beauty

Leah and her friends walked through Muraille Coast's beachside. Fishermen and swimmers were seen everywhere on this coast. Leah just wanted to get to Cyllage City as soon as possible. The sun's heat was a testament to her heat tolerance. She'd much rather get sunburnt, than feel like she's melting. The only thing that should be melted, in her opinion, is chocolate. It shouldn't be her delicate flesh, but alas, she is soaked in her own sweat and eyeing the water with intent to dive in without much care for her clothes.

A loud, melodic cry snapped her out of her trance. Looks like jumping in the water is out of the question for now. Leah tried to hide her discomfort, but Zayn could see right through her. She did look rather sickly and it's hard to hide that. He put his hand on her shoulder and softly, he spoke, "Are you okay?"

"I will be once we get out of this heat."

Zayn nodded and while he'd rather hold Leah close, he knew that his own body heat might make her feel worse so he simply gave her some space. It didn't stop her from running straight towards the cries. What they found was a rather sorry sight, a Milotic was trapped on the shore in a fishing net, it was covered in scratches and appeared to have been poisoned by a Pokemon. Leah stood there, paralyzed from shock, she felt bad for the trapped water type. Mildred's instincts kicked into overdrive. Zayn immediately went to help her. There wasn't much Leah could even do, this was a situation that Pokemon rangers and Nurse Joys specialize in, she simply opted to sit on a rock and watch Zayn and Mildred work.

Zayn brandished a knife. The sun beat on the metal, making it shine, he then quickly began to cut through the net. It wasn't a pleasant sound, but they all had to tolerate it if they wanted to give that Milotic a chance to survive. Eventually, the bindings loosened, but Milotic made no effort to escape. Mildred had one last Full Restore and while she intended on keeping it for later, Milotic needed it more than later would. She sprayed the afflicted areas, watching them disappear into nothingness. Despite Milotic's newfound vitality, it seemed hesitant to return to the waters, a Pokemon must've injured it. It was probably a territory scuffle between the Milotic and the other aquatic Pokemon. Guessing from the poison, Leah can easily assume it was a Dragalge that attacked.

Normally, Leah and her friends wouldn't get involved in a territory scuffle between wild Pokemon, but Dragalge are vicious Pokemon if you bother them. Leah wondered if Milotic had simply swam in its territory by accident or if there really was a territory scuffle so she did the most impulsive thing she can ever think of: she stripped herself of her clothes, only keeping her small clothes on, and dove into water. It felt refreshing, the cold water was like a balm on her skin. She no longer felt like a burning trash fire which is always a bonus. It didn't take her very long to find the Dragalge and upon seeing it, she immediately regretted going for a swim. It, too, was covered in scratches so it was definitely a territory skirmish and now she had an angry dragon capable of poisoning her on her tail.

Most people with a sense of self-preservation would turn tail and get out of the water, but not Leah. She is not most people. She swam towards the Dragalge, narrowly avoiding its glowing poisonous, purple tail and climbed on its back. The Pokemon grew even more enraged and tried to force her off its back, even attempting to attack her, but it seemed to have realized that if it attacked her, it'll be hurting itself. Leah spoke to it, her tone attempting to be menacing, but didn't exactly get the result she expected, "That's right, you overgrown algae, you are mine."

Leah steered the Dragalge towards the shore, but she met resistance. It was still trying to throw her off and attacking her with poison type attacks so she did the first thing that came to mind: she leapt off its back and kicked it. This Pokemon was faster than she was underwater and she would be soon running out of oxygen. In a moment of desperation, she punched the dragon type. It reared back and roared in response, but Leah was not to be deterred. Both parties kept throwing blow after blow until Leah started to grow weak. Dragalge fled deeper into the waters and Leah swam back to the surface. She took deep gasps of air and coughed out a bit of water. She appeared twice as sickly as earlier, but it wasn't due to the heat this time. It was due to the poison.

Leah stumbled to her feet and made her way towards Milotic. She placed her hand on its head. She smiled weakly, "You can return to the waters now, I dealt with the Dragalge."

Mrs. Cuddletails and Skalli let out a whine when they saw their trainer tumble down, she was only using Omen to keep herself somewhat upwards. Milotic leapt into the water. Zayn grabbed a tail fin from the sands. It must've fallen off when it got trapped in the net. Mrs. Cuddletails ran up to Zayn and Mildred, barking and whining as loudly as she could. She nipped at Zayn's clothes, trying to drag him towards her trainer. His eyes widened when he saw the state his girlfriend was in, "Oh no, Leah!"

Zayn ran to her side, picking her up and holding her bridal style. Sensing the urgency of the situation, Mildred didn't waste time to grab an antidote from her bag and sprayed it on Leah. One thing to note is that the antidote Mildred used is more effective on Pokemon than on humans so Leah is going to need medical attention no matter what. At least the antidote will alleviate the poison a bit to allow them to get to the Pokemon Center in Cyllage City which was the closest town at the moment. Leah was burning up and was going in and out of consciousness. Zayn was worried and incredibly scared.

When Mildred and Zayn finally got to Cyllage City, Leah had been sleeping, but the antidote was losing its effects so instead of taking in the sights like they normally do, they beelined straight for the Pokemon Center, hoping that Nurse Joy would be able to help their friend. It was Mildred that ran inside, "NURSE JOY!" There was urgency in the girl's voice.

Nurse Joy immediately sprung up to action when she saw Leah. She immediately got to work. Trying to quell away the poison was a challenge, but it was part of the job. Zayn went out of the Pokemon center to buy Leah some new clothes since the ones she had were covered in sand. He returned to the Pokemon Center with an orange sun dress with a white flowery pattern. Nurse Joy had finally finished treating the poison, but Leah still needed rest. Zayn just hoped that they weren't too late to get her treatment.

Zayn stayed by her bedside nearly day in and day out to be there when she woke up. He, Mrs. Cuddletails and Skalli couldn't be persuaded to leave the room while Omen and Primadonna preferred to keep guard at the door. Mildred had to take care of Actias Luna because the Vivillon couldn't stay in Leah's room when her trainer appeared to be dying. Zayn spoke softly, his voice broke as he spoke, "What you did was the dumbest and most reckless shit you've ever done. I would've loved to have joined in and be a power couple."

Leah groaned, a soft little noise, "You were busy helping Milotic, and as fun as it would've been to have you back me up, I don't think it would be smart for the both of us to be poisoned." She let out a hoarse laugh, "I knew the risks and went in anyway to allow Milotic to return home."

Zayn hugged her, "You had me really scared, Leah." he shook his head, "No scratch that you had your Pokemon and I really scared for you."

At his words, Mrs. Cuddletails and Skalli pawed at her. Leah giggled softly, "I missed you too, girls."

Both canines had their tails wagging wildly as Leah gave the both of them enough pets and scritches to last them a lifetime. Mildred walked in allowing Leah's other three Pokemon to come in. She was suddenly crowded by five very relieved Pokemon and two just as relieved humans. Nurse Joy walked in, "Thank Arceus you're alright." Her tone changed from relieved to stern, "Now can you tell how you managed to get poisoned like that."

"I fist fought a Dragalge."

"I need to take a few examinations, but I'll be discharging you with strict orders to not fist fight anymore Poison Type Pokemon, as satisfying as it may be."

Mildred's eyes widened, "Excuse me, YOU WHAT?"

Lady Lemeow nearly jumped out of Mildred's arms from the sheer sound of her yelling. The napping Skitty hissed at Mildred, not exactly appreciating the rude awakening. Leah laughed, "You heard me, Millie."

Mildred brought her hand to her face and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Why am I not surprised?"

Leah laughed before Nurse Joy ushered everyone out of the room to do her final examinations.