Kanto. Lavender Town. Flashback.
MATIAS SILPH

Sirens wail after a mysterious call. Panic ensues after they receive another from a different Safe House. Something is wrong.

Eva’s called to action with a small group of responders. A Gallade carries the med-pack, and they’re TELEPORTED to Lavender Town. The Safe House isn’t far from the Pokecenter they arrive at. She runs on foot towards a burning building, the fire fighters and their water-types have already arrived. The doctor doesn’t pay any mind to the warnings, there’s someone inside. Alive. That much she knows.

“Holy shit,” she coughs out the burn if inhaled smoke. The sheer amount of bodies is astounding. Emerald eyes fall on the telltale “R” printed on black uniforms and her stomach sinks, “Help me out, Blade,” Rocket or not, her duty is to heal. She begins assessing bodies, feeling for pulses. A fire fighter joins her, keeping the flames at bay around them while she searches for any sign of life among the dead - human and pokemon.

[attr="class","matias"]sirens pull him back from the depths, grounds him just enough for him to gasp for air. pain shoots across his body, pulsing from the blade in his side, but it stirs him awake. his hand's still wrapped around the handle, covered in dried blood. peering up, he sees outlines of vehicles approaching.

maybe one of them will notice him behind the burning house. he shifts on the ground to lay on his side, the handle of the blade now pointing upwards.

there, he lays and does nothing but breathe, surviving.

[attr="class","noodles"]Eva Morales

Kanto. Lavender Town. Flashback.
MATIAS SILPH

Blades watches as Eva starts to search for pulses. He doesn’t move although he acknowledges her order with a nod. His method is much more sensitive. Approaches each body systematically, using his innate psychic-typing to search for consciousness. He’s an empath, and pain is a strong feeling. Even those that lie unconscious give some sort of palpable energy.

Nothing. He feels nothing here. Intuition draws him away from the Eva, something tugs at his mind. Pain. Emotional and physical. It grows strong as he moves outside and behind the house. Movement catches his attention. He calls to her.

Eva feels the pressure of Blade on her mind. It draws her hands away from the neck of a lifeless body. She turns but doesn’t see him there. The fire fighter points in the direction the Gallade wandered off in. Eventually she finds him standing over Matias.

“Fuuuuuuuck, alright,” Doctor mode activates as she kneels beside the man. She observes. He’s breathing, that’s good, “Blade, we’re gonna need a stretcher, leave the med-pack and get some back up,” He disappears in a flash of light, leaving Eva alone, “Sir, can you hear me? I’m going to stabilize you and get you ready for transport,” she states while assessing the pulse of his wrist. Thready, at best. He’s lost a lot of blood, “Stay with me, we’re gonna get you out of here,” A gentle touch traces his side and scissors cut away the fabric of his shirt.

[attr="class","matias"]his breaths are shallow and weak but he's breathing. he's drawn towards a presence, a voice, and though they're unfamiliar, he's desperate enough to trust them.

scissors cut away the fabric of his shirt to reveal shades of dark blue tainting the entirety of his midsection. the blade's still lodged deep in his side, though it's the only thing stopping him from simply bleeding out.

he finds the strength to open his mouth but no words leave him. only a voiceless mutter, realizing it's far too late to save the others.

[attr="class","noodles"]Eva Morales

Kanto. Lavender Town. Flashback.
MATIAS SILPH

The shirt is peeled back, mostly to review the complete stab wound, but the welts and bruises that stain his skin are hard to miss. This poor guy obviously got the shit beat out of him. And stabbed. What a fuckin’ night.

“They really gotchya there, huh? Don’t worry, we’re gonna fix you riiiiight up and get you some good drugs so you don’t feel a thing,” she’s talking to herself, but also to Matias. It’s an attempt to keep him grounded, calm, and awake. She rummages through the pack, pulling out several things needed to stabilize the wound – gauze, wrap, tape, etc, “I really hate stab wounds,” she admits, studying the placement of the knife in relation to his anatomy. Possible splenic involvement, maybe liver. Shit. No way she’s pulling that out here, “Shh, shhh don’t try to talk. Just breath,” After a long exhale, she looks at him apologetically (not like he can tell), “I’m really sorry but this is gonna hurt,” Since she can’t pull the knife, she has to stabilize it which meant putting pressure around the wound, “It’s ok to scream, I won’t judge,” half joke, but not really. She begins with gauze, packing the area. Before reaching for the wrap which is a little more involved. She’s as delicate as she can be while manipulating his body, but she still needs to apply enough pressure to keep the knife in place.

[attr="class","matias"]he barely registers her words, almost inaudible against the numbness. he threatens to fade again but this time it's the sudden pressure that saves him. pain surges and he's unable to muffle the scream that leaks through, muffled only by his lack of strength.

but the pain grounds him.

surprisingly, a soft chuckle escapes him, but it's quickly replaced by immediate concern. his head tilts back, eyes darting towards downed bodies on the ground.

"my pokemon," he whispers.

[attr="class","noodles"]Eva Morales

Kanto. Lavender Town. Flashback.
MATIAS SILPH

He screams, it breaks her heart. It always does. She’s not surprised by the laugh, she’s heard it before as she finishes the bandage. She follows his gaze towards fallen bodies. She moves towards his head so he can see her offering a gentle smile, “Don’t worry, I’ll get them,” it’s a promise she intends to keep, but his life came first.

Where the hell is that stretcher? She is getting irritated now as she glances around. This is how mistakes are made and patients suffer. She’s reluctant to give drugs now since his breathing is so shallow. Instead, she opts for comfort. The jacket slips off her shoulders and gently places it beneath his head after folding it into a pillow. Sometimes it is the little things that make the biggest difference. Her fingers gently glide down his arm to his wrist to reassess his pulse while they wait.

[attr="class","matias"]comfort is taken, appreciated, as his head settles against the softness of her jacket. he exhales a shallow breath and does his best to stay in the moment, to not be tugged away into the darkness again.

against her advice, he continues to speak, voice soft and almost drowned out by everything else.

"other safehouses have been compromised."

[attr="class","noodles"]Eva Morales

Kanto. Lavender Town. Flashback.
MATIAS SILPH

“Compromised?” she repeats, thinking back at the wave of emergency calls. Is that what has happened? There’s a shiver that runs down her spine. She hopes it’s not true. All those lives. She’s in for a busy night if that’s the case, “We’ll take care of it,” she speaks softly, unsure if that’s the truth.

“Eva!” a voice calls out as Blade appears through the smoke with two men and a stretcher, “Looks like your ride’s here,” she smiles down at him, “They’ll take you to the hospital, get you patched up,” she leaves him with her jacket, relays the pertinent medical information to the team, and moves on to assess his pokemon. There’s nothing more she can do for him now.

[attr="class","matias"]"wait."

weakly, his hand reaches into his pocket and scoops out a few compressed pokeballs. they fall to the ground, rolling in loose mud for moments as he tries to pick them up. but he can't even find the strength to do that.

he's lifted onto the stretcher, then taken away to a hospital in lavender. it won't be hours until he comes to consciousness again.

this time, he finds himself in a nondescript room. he sees unfamiliar equipment by his side, lifts an arm to see a needle in it, and lowers it all the same, indifferent. there, in the solitude of a small hospital room in lavender, he's forced to remember.

"fuck."

[attr="class","noodles"]Eva Morales

Kanto. Lavender Town. Flashback.
MATIAS SILPH

He was right, they were compromised. It’s a busy night with emergency after emergency. It doesn’t seem to end. She hasn’t slept, barely ate. Eva ends the shift with more souls to haunt her dreams. She can’t save them all, but she did save some, and she has a promise to keep. It isn’t every day she makes her own deliveries, but she made an exception for him. Don’t know why, she just did.

Eva thought it would be easy to find a victim with a stab wound but considering the number of attacks last night it was rather difficult. Eventually she found him. MATIAS SILPH. He’s alive, that’s one less soul on her conscious.

Her knuckles gently tap against the room’s doorframe, “May I come in?” she asks with a weary smile.

[attr="class","matias"]fuck.

fuck.

the television screen flickers with reports, videos, images of various incidents that transpired over the night. he recognizes all of them: league safehouses spread across the region in an attempt to fend off rocket, to take the fight to them.

they were making progress.

not anymore.

anger runs through him, seething, but he turns the television off. he had seen enough to know what must be done.

eventually, a knock sounds from the door. he turns, sees a figure he doesn't recognize, but he remembers her voice. how could he ever forget?

"eva?"

[attr="class","noodles"]Eva Morales

Kanto. Lavender Town. Flashback.
MATIAS SILPH

Her head tilts curiously when he says her name. She didn’t think he’d caught it. Guess he was more lucent than she gave him credit for, “Yeah,” she nods, entering the room only a few steps before she pauses, a hand dipping into the pocket of her white coat to gently graze over the pokeballs. Small talk first, “How are you feeling?” It’s a loaded question. He’ll likely lie, say he’s doing fine. She would. But it's polite. Her gaze involuntarily drifts to his side where she knows the wound from the knife is.