Before it moved closer to the city center, the clinic had been the idyllic romance movie clinic. Its outside was perfectly kept with a gorgeous assortment of local plants. Adorable little statues surrounded the clinic, featuring healing types along with the original founder’s partner Pokemon. Though much of this charm had been preserved—and a building knocked down for the expansive rehab center out back—it now felt out of place. Large buildings loomed around its patches of green like schoolyard bullies in a taunt.


Though a decent-sized clinic, it owed its reputation to the much more experienced doctors who called it home. In comparison to these veterans, the redhead felt like a clumsy toddler. Really, Aubre was pretty sure someone had bribed the owner to let her work here. It really did not make sense otherwise.


Those who paid attention would notice a Heliolisk at the front desk was practically running his part of the clinic. He’d drag over the necessary paperwork for each patient or direct them to a nearby tablet to enter the data. When numbers or notes were given, he’d scribble them down on a notepad. Shortly after Josh arrived, the electric type frowned perceptively at the trio. These must be the racers Aubs is subbing for. Hope they mentioned what kind of feline it was in here. And, if they had, his partner really was a masochist. Still, he and his Pokemon got the typical spiel. A claw pointed to a nearby bookshelf and a snacking area. And, after the paperwork was complete, a beverage of choice.


As Alastor moved to mark the trio off the list, the door to the back swung open. Behind it, his trainer stood in her white jacket. One scarred hand rested on a crying elderly woman’s elbow. “I promise we will do all we can.” The touch was almost ghostly, the redhead wanting to be comforting but never quite sure where the boundary ended between that and crowding. Aubre tried her best to reassure the older woman, though the look in her eyes was one of somber resignation. “I’ll call you the minute we know more.”


Only after the older woman had made it to her car, did Aubre let herself turn to her next patient. “Josh Devlin? Aslan?” She quietly asked the room. A few eyes lifted to her. Many of them she felt were critical. Wondering why this young man got to go ahead of them. As her eyes locked onto the blonde, her lips perked up slightly. Though she no longer dreamt of the training circuit, she recognized a gym leader when she saw one.


Walking over to him, she offered a scarred hand to shake. “I’m Doctor McKenna. I apologize that the rehab specialist wasn’t in today. But it’s not every day you have a new baby. Or, at least, I hope not. That’d be horrific, wouldn’t it?” Then, her eyes dropped to the patient. For a moment, her heart jumped into her throat. Images of angry fire came to mind as she felt an itching at the core of her back. Breathe. Feel the coat on your hand. It’s nice and stiff, huh? With a shaky nod to the two fire cats, she went to lead them to the backroom.


At the counter, her eyes turned to the lizard with a raised brow. A paper rose to her. ‘He said cat. Nobody said what kind.'


“After you, gentlemen, please.” The short woman held the door open for the trio, careful to keep her feet out of the way. A Skiploom waited on the other side of the door, grinning wide.

The Mauville Gym Leader and his two lions stood up after hearing their names called. While Simba wouldn't need rehab as the saddle-wearing Pyroar was perfectly healthy, he was there as emotional support for Aslan. Perhaps Josh was abusing his VIP status a little bit to cut in front of the line, but it was for a Pokémon that was a war hero. "That's me, Elite Ranger Devlin or Gym Leader Devlin. Just Josh is more than fine, though." He heard the doctor's story and smiled. "Oh, congratulations, whether it be to you or to them! Newborns are so exciting. They grow up so fast!"

Josh's eyes shifted to the happy Skiploom floating on the other side of the large office's door. The grass-type almost looked too happy as the two big cats settled down, Aslan's albino sheen standing out among the duo. "Let's get down to business, then. So I'm sure you've read the charts. Obviously it comes down to how well he does in rehab, but it sounds like his other doctors are confident I'll be able to race him again in three months or so. I've been following the doctors' directions, but during his rehab period, I want to know what I can and can't do to help him. I want to be able to do everything I can to ensure he can get back to the track as safely as possible. He's one of my best Gym Pokémon, after all."

When she heard the celebrity’s treatment was falling onto her—due mostly to scheduling issues and a callout—the redhead had been left with the slot. “Oh! I know who you are.” A pause followed as she realized how threatening that could sound. “Or, well, I know of you." She allowed herself a small smile, her eyes jumping from him to his Pokemon. “My dad’s an Elite Four member.” A job he had kept even after a crippling injury. “What I meant to say—however—is that it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister Devlin.” She took a deep breath. “Josh.”


The talk of children made her laugh. “Oh, it’s his. That’s why he isn’t here today.” Aubre and her husband may not be on the best terms currently, but she still admired the composure he’d shown during the labor process. The man was her rock in a storm. It was unfortunate she now doubted his shadow offered a safe place to moor. “And, you’re right. I feel like my daughter was born yesterday, and we’re already exploring preschools.” A terrifying prospect, in truth. Michaela’s personality could be best described as a glacial cactus. Aubre quickly learned that gifted vocabulary came with barbs—albeit never directed at her.


Just try not to look at the manes too much, Aubre. You can barely tell they’re fire types, otherwise. As the felines sat down, Aubre gestured the older lion towards a lift at the center of the room. The height would allow her to get a better view of him. “I did. Ad-libbing is not really something I’m—it’s not—I’m better off prepared.” The rest of the young man’s words were met with a small nod. “I see.” An unusually short reply from the rambly doctor.


The woman then turned to the lion. The talk of what the young man wanted to do seemed almost selfish, gym leader or not. What was all this I stuff? “Is that something you wish to do, Aslan? Knowing the risks of racing again?” her finger tapped the switch for the table, lifting it until it was roughly hip level. After a brief cursory inspection, she moved to the lion’s back leg. “May I?” She made a lifting gesture. “I just want to see how everything’s healing.”


With a quiet noise, the Skiploom bobbled its way into the room. Little legs propelled her over to Simba and his trainer. After a bit of maneuvering, she managed to land on a nearby spinny stool. "That’s Maggie. She’s a fan. I can barely keep her off the circuit stream.”

As if on cue, the grass-type bounced on the remote, turning on a live stream of a gym battle.

What a small world it was; the doctor that was seeing Aslan was also a family member of one of Hoenn's Elite Four! "Wow, that's an amazing coincidence! I'll be challenging them in the near future. Which one, if you don't mind saying?" Josh asked Aubre. It seemed at the very least she was enthusiatic about it.

Aslan, nodding, slowly walked onto the lift as instructed. His walk was a bit choppy, but he could still move. "My goal with his first month of rehab is to see that he can run again. To be able to hunt and battle for himself again." Aslan purred in agreement, nodding at the female's question. He missed the wind in his face from letting his powerful leg muscles carry him at high speeds. He was sick and tired of not being able to walk on his own for weeks on end.

He, like Simba and Josh, just wanted to go fast.

Another purr of approval was the signal that Aubre had approval to examine the shiny Pyroar's two left legs, particularly the rear left one, where most of the damage from the Meteor Beam was. She would find the healing was progressing very nicely; most of what was left was edge tissue filling in. That would take the most time, but it seemed the Pyroar's body was accepting of the two surgeries as a whole.

Josh smiled as the Skiploom operated the remote, Josh distracted by the televised Gym match, as well. "Oh, I remember this! This is a rerun of one of my matches, isn't it?"

"Oh, Elite Four of Galar, not Hoenn," Josh sighed. "Becoming Elite Four in any region is quite the accomplishment!" Right, the rest of the world was still adjusting to Hoenn being out of its death bubble, even though Meteno was two months ago. Where had the time gone?

Overly large Pokémon didn't surprise Josh anymore, not with the Distortions popping up everywhere in Hoenn. "Wonder if these Distortions are showing up worldwide, and not just in Hoenn? I've found all kinds of enormous Pokémon in them. A Distortion formed over my Gym once, and I had to fight off a Luxray and a Pyroar that were almost one and a half stories tall. Riding them would be, to say the least, uncomfortable." Even if one could comfortably get on, it would almost necessitate riding sidesaddle. And with a ten foot tall cat whose back flexed like mad, good luck holding on.

Josh could tell Aubre saw her position as more than a job; she seemed to genuinely care about every patient. She wasn't stern with Aslan, but she was firm. Aslan twitched a little at the first application of pressure, but calmed down afterward. "I think it would be best to have him try to stretch a bit more," Josh suggested, Aslan nodding in approval. "Then if he's up to it, we can try the flotation tank."

Josh remembered the match that was being reran on television. It was his race with mint frost , where he rode his Dragonair. They were putting on real speed; it was speed Aubre may not have been aware Pokémon could get to. "Yep, my most popular challenge option at my Gym is a Pokémon race. When my Gym first opened, that got booked out to about two months real quick. Now, my queue is around two weeks."

Josh simply nodded as he listened to Aubre's story. It was quite the success story; many regions' Elite Four had won World Championships before. Some even had appearing in a World Championships as a requirement to be in their ranks. When the topic shifted to Hoenn's calamities and the Distortions, Josh did his best to crack a smile. "They're a handful to train, but they're so rewarding to bond with. I, for one, love how much easier it is to find larger-than-life Pokémon. I have a Jolteon that's big enough to carry me." It had to be absurd to think about for those not familiar with the distortions.

Josh chuckled at the last thing Aubre wanting to do with a cat was mount one. "Heh, I don't blame you. Even with a saddle designed for them, their backs still flex a lot. If you can get used to it, though, there's truly nothing like a feline Pokémon for a mount. They're so fast and they can turn quickly, too. Aslan was one of my favorite racing Pokémon for that reason." The lion let out a loud purr when the pain began to spike. They were making slow progress, it seemed. Again, Josh was grateful that Aslan had survived the encounter with Deoxys.

It seemed Aubre expressed some interest in racing, after all! Josh's smile grew. "It's got benefits beyond that, too. It tests the bond between you and your Pokémon beyond what a battle does. Rather than the passive role of a coach, you have to truly ride as one to beat me in a race." Even with Josh holding back as he did during such challenges, he was still a fierce competitor to those not practiced. "It also gets you as a trainer more physically involved." When the redhead mentioned Maggie being used at the Gym, Josh chuckled again. "I don't think you'll be able to use her in the challenge, though, even as a Jumpluff."

As big as Aslan and Simba were, the two were not Alphas. Josh had seen what one of their kind looked like when a Distortion formed over his Gym, causing a number of Trainers and regular spectators there to get hurt. While he liked some of the larger-than-life Pokémon, a Pyroar that big would have to be ridden sidesaddle. And riding a feline sidesaddle was just asking for trouble. He vividly remembered the red-eyed lion, nearly ten feet tall, bounding around the Racing Grounds and wreaking havoc. He had to have his Gym closed for quite a while after that just to get the place in working condition again. He let out a chuckle at Aubre's remark. "Fair."

His smile grew, truly relaxing for the first time all visit as Aslan's treatment continued. "That's also fair. Two Pokémon of the same species can have very different personalities, and the ones that buck trends can be the most fun to raise. The last time I was traveling abroad, I caught the most hardheaded Lapras you can imagine. The number of times he flung me into the water... I lost count." For every stereotypically gentle Pokémon that had aggressive specimens, there was also a gentle Pokémon of a species that was incredibly aggressive. Alphamax, his Garchomp, came to mind. While a Garchomp's takeoff was one of the roughest of any dragon Pokémon, having to run at incredible speeds to get enough lift underneath his wing-fins, he made it as comfortable as possible for a rider. "I'm not saying it's easy, either!"

A spectator! That was even better - more revenue for the Gym! "Of course you would be welcome to watch! All of my Gym battles are open to the public for viewing. If you want a season pass, I could even get you a good deal on one." Ever the opportunist to make a quick buck, the young man was. Even so, he was honest and open about it, unlike the less reputable folk within Rocket.

When offered the piece of jerky, Aslan gave it a sniff. Letting out a purr of nervousness, the Pyroar tilted his head toward Josh. "I think you should at least try," the racer nodded. "It'll help you recover faster. You want to get back on the track faster, don't you?" Another purr of indecision, this one a little louder and one Aubre may have been able to feel. Though his body was weak, his lungs were still powerful. With a less than confident nod, he agreed. "He's willing to try," Josh relayed his interpretation of the fire-type's communication. "But I'm keeping his Poké Ball ready in case it's too much for him."

Again, fair, Josh thought, simply nodding this time. He didn't want to sound like a broken record in front of the medical professional. "Those are the Pokémon that get remembered best. As much as stereotypes exist for a reason, it's a constant reminder that Pokémon, just like us, have their own personalities. You can't be the best trainer you can be without understanding that." That was especially difficult for Gym Leaders, who had a tendency to have very large retinues of Pokémon at their fingertips. The Mauville Leader was no exception. "O-of course!" Josh stammered. "We, of course, offer tickets for single events, as well."

With that, the warm water started. Aslan loosed a loud purr that Aubre may have been able to feel the vibration of. As the water raised to the lion's hips, the purr became quieter, though it never fully went away. Josh could tell it was unpleasant for the Pyroar, even as the warm water started to become hot thanks to the red mane's latent heat.

To his surprise, it made things much easier for him to walk. It was still not easy, but it was easier. Though Josh could not see it, Simba was smiling from within his Poké Ball. "You're doing great, Aslan! When we're done, don't try to shake your fur dry." With how dense the feline's fur was, drying him off might take that entire stack...