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The interloper seemed puzzled, which in turn threw him for a loop. If not the slab, then what? It didn't take long for her to recover however, letting a small laugh escape as she took what was usually mom's seat. The murkiness of the situation only deepened when she said she had not come for it. As she pointed out his most injured leg, his head tilted lightly to the side.
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She's not a doctor, right? Pretty sure she was a gym leader... Even besides that, she wasn't donning the trademark white coat of a doctor either. Blinking as he processed her words, it seemed she had come for information. But just what kind of information? At first it was considered that she might want to entreat Doug about the possession of Frankie.
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But then she was John Sullivan's predecessor. She could find him if she wanted to, surely. When she said he was looking for someone, it dawned upon the boy exactly what she meant. Had he mentioned that out loud? The events leading up to his burial were a blur. Once again the church incident entered his mind.
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''I was looking for a particular god.'' After a moment of silence the beans were spilled. ''Since he showed up at Mauville, I figured he must be cooling his jets around there. I didn't expect to find a pissed off dog with a love for Halloween masks.'' Of course, from what was said at the church he full well knew that Giratina was under her command...
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Or something.
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There was a lot he didn't understand.

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It seemed like as soon as the order went out the door another one came in. Sinistea hoverered by the practical ingredients. In some section of his mind, off to the side, Andy thought it would be neat if the mystery liquid inside the cup would illustrate what was being requested within his interior, kind of like Remi's did.
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''Alright you shellular bastard,'' he said to the omastar, ''you're up.'' Hobbling aside to not be in the way, the ancient pokemon utilized aurora beam to add that chilled flavor to the dish. ''Top work, Antique.'' The omastar wiggled his tentacles gleefully. At least Andy hoped that was glee...

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''I'm sorry Miss Blackadder, but I am afraid it's going to be a rather lengthy process.'' A doctor so elderly his cheeks sagged like the jowls of a bulldog explained outside of room 400, at the end of the hall. ''It took a fair amount of time to even stabilize his condition.'' A clip board was lifted from where it hung in his frail fingers at his side.
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''Bruised ribs, hairline fractures on both the radius and ulna below the elbow, fractures on the tibia and fibula on his left leg, and Arceus help him, his right femur is shattered just above the knee.'' A serious gaze looked from under dropping eyebrows over the top of the clipboard. ''It's going to take a few surgeries to have him back to one hundred percent.''
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The clipboard was lowered.
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''With enough grafting and pins we can piece his right leg back together. After some therapy he may regain the ability to walk fully, but in my opinion, it's unlikely he won't be left with a limp at the least. Without any physical therapy, he may be wheelchair bound. Even if it all goes as well as it can...'' the doctor's chest rose and fell in a silent huff.
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''I'm afraid your son's injuries will catch up with him as he gets on in years. Additional procedures may be required or he could lose mobility after forty.'' Of course all of this was just a preface for the most important thing. ''What insurance do you have him under? Will they be able to support the effort to make him whole again? Not to mention your daughter...''

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The windows of his corner room stood open today, letting all the light from outside within. Like he had spent most of his time here, Andy was in bed. With the back sat up so he could watch the television mounted high in the corner, an old black and white film entertained the boy. A channel that specialized in just this movies had been discovered and well... It was something different.
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A knock on the door coincided with one on the screen, and with a curious blink the boy wondered if he had heard it at all. At first he thought it might be his mother again, but the door opened and an unfamiliar voice called his name as it did. Perhaps it was one of the nurses here to pester him about a jab or the TV being too loud.
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'who is it?'
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'leave it on the doorstep and get the hell outta here.'
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''He- wait.'' His eyes widened slightly at the sight of the woman. Trying to shift his body earned him a wince. It was in no condition for sudden moments, his cast encased leg suspended from a frame attached to the bed. Hissing in pain, his knuckles went white as he clutched at the remote. ''You're that lady from the church, Fairburne.''
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Chu-e Choi 's warning from the tournament echoed in his head.
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'what money?'
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''Look, no one trusted a kid with that slab. I don't have it.'' Realizing what precarious situation he was in, it seemed best to keep the lies to a minimum. ''I don't know what the adults did with that shit, and after what happened to that church I don't wanna know.'' Of course he didn't realize that wasn't the woman's objective...
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But the man known as Ji-Hoon Ki warned him that someone would come looking for him. And what better time than now, when he literally couldn't go anywhere?

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Nearly two weeks had come and gone since being buried in the Mauville hills. The days that had passed since then had been a blur of hurt and darkness. Procedure after procedure, if he wasn't being cut on, he was recovering from being cut on. Throughout most of this time, only his mother was allowed visitation.
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Mostly unconscious, he had missed his fourteenth birthday. Handily, Celia Auclair had put a calendar on the wall of his hospital room, presumably because she got tired of him asking what day it was when he was awake. Finally however, his leg was whole enough that no more surgeries were required. A drip of pain killers in his IV kept things bearable.
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And the best part, he could receive visitors. Although the room wasn't made up for it. He kept his corner room shrouded in darkness, with the long slatted blinds closed. Despite being white, like nearly everything else within, they did a fine job of blocking out the sun. The plastic must have been thick. Instead only a flatscreen television on a high stand in the corner cast light across the boy.
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His railed bed controlled so he could sit in the upright position, Andy was clad in only a hospital gown, which would have been rather revealing could he actually move. The braces attached to the bed reached up and over to elevate his injured right leg with cords, clad in a cast that ran up to his thigh. Though the gown and the sheets on the bed laid across him to keep things modest.
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Matching his leg, another thick cast encased his left arm up his his elbow, and his other leg up to his knee. The swelling on his head had long since gone down, leaving him with only a black eye as a memento. Various other bruises and band-aids decorated the rest of whatever exposed flesh there was. His hair was in absolute disarray, but keeping up appearances was the least of his concerns here.
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His right arm, his only good limb save for the bandages around his hand, held the clicker for the television. The channels flipped by, reflected in his glassy brown eyes. He was looking for the show that everyone watched when they needed to feel better: 'Let's Make a Deal.' Perhaps it was the drugs, or perhaps it was just part of the recovery, but he was having trouble focusing...
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Had he passed it already?

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''Anything worth a shit is going to be a pain in the ass,'' he said in response to the other boy's first gripe, sounding decidedly responsible. ''If all the hard shit was easy, everyone would be doing it. Don't put yourself at this much risk and then half-step.'' In the back of his mind he wondered if this is what his dad would sound like if he had stuck around.
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''Ah, looks like that's you.'' Before any more commitment could be encouraged, an announcement was made for the younger trainer. Hideo seemed eager to collect his pokemon and head on to the next battle. Where was that gusto when it came to staying missing once he went missing? ''Good luck on your future matches.'' Thanks was offered for his lending an ear.
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''Anytime. Someone has got to encourage you to be something other than a goodie two-shoes like Doug.'' Was he a bad influence though? Probably... When Hideo offered his tray for Andy's refuse, he started stacking his on there. The banette hopped back, looking sullen at the boy's departure. No more petting. ''Just remember to try and plot out and think shit through as much as possible.''

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So she didn't know what happened. What if collecting them all caused the world to end? The nihilist in him would have actually found it amusing to be part of that. But he liked living enough to be adverse to a mystery death. If death came he wanted it to be quick. Old age looked terrifying, as did disease, or something else that was slow.
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Like falling into the bottom of some cave and starving to death.
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Turning his thoughts way from the morbid, the baltoy seemed pretty friendly. Different pokemon had varying preferences when it came to interaction with humans and other pokemon. Part of him was pleasantly surprised it didn't recoil away or zap him with some attack. As Ruby spoke again, the Galarian looked up, ceasing his prodding.
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''What? You can't be serio-'' And then she tossed the pokeball right into his face. Losing his balance to fall onto his butt, the baltoy hopped back before bouncing in place, apparently amused by the interaction. The pokeball spun slowly on the ground nearby. ''Damn it! Why does no one in this region just hand shit to people!?''

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The dim light provided by the various pokemon, one wielding an actual flashlight, had the Galarian squinting with his usable eye. The light hurt. The voice of the man standing over him sounded familiar. The silhouette looked familiar too. Was it kyle lopez? It was odd that he knew the Champion from going ice skating with him once...
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Or perhaps fitting as Andy found him very cold. Maybe he was all business while on a mission, which made sense for a man of his station. Either way, after confirming the boy wasn't dead he turned to deal with the voices in the distance. Apparently getting down here hadn't been an easy task. Just how far below the ground were they?
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One of the gardevoirs let him know that Hideo Kino was going for assistance up on the surface, betraying that that particular pokemon was his. A small wave of relief washed over the Blackadder boy. So they had gotten out as well? The sound of rubble in the distance interrupts this brief sense of calm. The last thing he wants to hear is more rocks falling.
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Alas, it's just Team Three freeing Xander Belmont from his own stone tomb. Tucked within the flickering shadows, the arrival of several figures is largely missed by the boy. There's too much going on, and he's feeling groggy as it is. Another gardevoir hovers over him, and Andy sarcastically wonders if he's about to be inducted into some cult.
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Recognized were the voices of Ruby Walker and Eris Halla, who was encouraging them all to leave, which sounded like a fantastic plan to him. Beckoning her own gardevoir, a rain begins to patter on all those present. At first Andy is slightly annoyed. The last thing he wanted after all this was to get rained on. The soothing effects of the z-move however quickly ease such discomforts.
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For those present who were injured recently, they would find themselves restored. However, the length of time and severity of the injures faced by Andy Blackadder meant that a little more than magic was required to mend him. Eva Morales would find MATIAS SILPH nearly as good as new after all the healing power being poured into him.
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Andy felt all the pain from his wounds fade even if the wounds themselves did not. His breaths still came hard, just with no pain associated. Another familiar voice came out of the gloom. @bugcatherdoug chided him for getting injured again, but then apologized. Andy didn't really understand why.
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''I jumped into a hole, Doug.'' The voice was raspy and pitiful. No one had brought any water? Was drinking z-move rain healthy? ''It's not your fault.'' No one could be blamed for this but himself, as much as he wanted to say it was Frankie's fault or the megalopolans, or even the League. None the less, the elder boy intended to make things up with an immediate evacuation.
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With an far-reaching z-move of their own, the orbeetle Garo used his far reaching sense to pick out all the members of the collective rescue teams, and even Kaida Adachi from where she hauled Allison Hawthorne and take them all to the Mauville Hospital. Who knew how Celia Auclair would react to seeing her son in such a state. None the less, anywhere was better than spending one more second in that cave.
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Looking up from his kitchen work, a glance was shot back over his shoulder to Hideo Kino 's zarude. He was going to have to ask the other boy how he had tamed one of those infernal monkeys. The tea cup floating by his head made a cooing noise to remind him of his task. Head swiveling back around, his eyes narrowed in a momentary glare.
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''Slave driver.'' The sinistea stuck out his mystery ghost liquid tongue at his trainer. Meanwhile Antique tugged at the leg of his slacks. ''What?'' Dressed just as dapper as the rest of the crew where his casts allowed, his suspenders were joined by the straps of an apron, as he sat the food items on the plate.
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While not a world class chef, there were other things he could do. Having dined in so many upscale eateries, Andy knew what made a dish look good. Heavens knew he had complained about enough that didn't (even if they did). Placement and presentation was a big deal to the right customer, and even anyone else wasn't going to complain about a dish that radiated lavishness.

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''It's Edmund Andrew Blackadder VII!'' The rotomdex corrected. Andy didn't look any more pleased with it, casting a couple of visual daggers at as it hovered about. ''Thank you handy helper man,'' faux gratitude was provided. Before he could direct some ire at Ruby, a dark-haired stranger came over to comment about their exploits.
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Explicitly.
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''Not a fucking word,'' he answered with a smirk, feeling his mood lighten a bit. A moment was taken to enjoy some his chocolate ice cream as Cardamom pointed out that it was their given name, and not to shorten it. Calling a fellow kid something like 'mom' would have been a little strange. ''What is that, Unovan? Kalosian? You don't sound Kalosian.''
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Of course since Ruby had invited the fellow youth, they were curious as to how both he and Hideo knew the Saint of Slateport. Andy recalled his first meeting technically was after getting a package from Galar. He hadn't thought anything else of it until the hospital when he had had time to think. Before the Type:Null incident, there was only the desire to get the show on the road.
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He never made the connection.
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''We met outside a post office. We traded some pokemon there, since I didn't have a lot of use for an unown.'' It had been a good trade. ''Hey! An incredulous look that was entirely useless on Hideo diverted Andy's train of thought away from Mt. Chimney and to the events in the Mauville woods. ''That weirdo dog shit never touched me. It was the cave in that nearly done me in.'' He wouldn't have it said that the Type:Null had trounced him.

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''I'm pretty sure Rocket could give a fuck less about a license for anything.'' A member of the Elite Four was as much of a stickler for the rules as he expected. Perhaps she meant it more for himself, but then she clearly had never bore witness to Andy's very puny throwing arm. He wasn't any good at football either. There was only dancing.
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And cussing.
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''Give them to you,'' came the answer as if it had always been obvious. ''I can't use shit like this.'' The bolas were proffered to the woman. ''If I planned to keep them I wouldn't have even mentioned them in the first place.'' As much as he liked a souvenir, one that left such a poor taste in his mouth was rather unwelcome.
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''Is there any other shit you want to know?'' Turning momentarily, the banette's mouth was zipped back shut. ''Or was that all?'' It hadn't occurred to him just how much he disliked interacting with League rank and file unless it was John Sullivan. Was an Elite Four rank and file? Either way, this hadn't been what he would have called a five star 'customer' experience.

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