Donut Hole - Chapter 20
Silhouette
The fire I began is burning me alive But I know better than to leave and let it die
I'm a silhouette asking every now and then "Is it over yet? Will I ever feel again?" I'm a silhouette chasing rainbows on my own But the more I try to move on, the more I feel alone So I watch the summer stars to lead me home - Silhouette, Owl City
[(deep breath) been a while huh :') A ton of stuff has happened in my life that really hindered my writing; being moved to full time, my dad having a stroke (he's recovering with no permanent damage) and my PC breaking. But here's a new chapter!! Where Dawn gets involved, and Barry learns of some very crucial things…] [ao3 link]
Dawn chose to hide away in her home, not wanting to leave Jubilife but unable to stand hearing the curious whispers of the townfolk. She tried to keep herself busy; cleaning her space, organizing her things, checking in on her pokemon…
But nothing could keep her mind away from her friend in the medical wing for long.
She lay in bed, her pokemon lounging around the home, reflecting their trainer’s sullen demeanor.
Her Samurott, Riptide, lay by her side and allowed her to nervously pet and pull on her whiskers.
“I wonder…what they did with his Pokemon.” She wondered aloud.
The woman who helped run the pastures was nice enough, but Dawn doubted she could care for Barry’s team. No, they were most likely with Laventon.
Barry was a good trainer. He treated his pokemon back home with love and care, verging into ‘spoiling’ territory, Dawn might dare say. Honey for his heracross, sugar cubes for his rapidash, mangoes and fruits for his Torterra.
His new team…they were strange. Scruffy, dirty, thin looking. Barry wouldn’t willingly let his team look like that. What had they been subjected to in the wilds of Hisui? With no Galaxy Team, no Laventon to find him on a beach-
Her thoughts drifted to Barry himself.
Scruffy. Dirty. Thin. Deeply upsetting. Like a childhood toy nearly torn to shreds, hanging on by bits of thread and stuffing.
Riptide let out an unhappy chitter, Dawn realizing she had been tugging on her whiskers a bit too hard for her liking. “Sorry.”
Her mind wandered elsewhere. Somewhere less sad. Somewhere angry.
Why hadn’t anyone come to her when Barry arrived? Surely someone had to have made the connection; a strange boy her age with outlandish clothes and a gift for training pokemon?
Why did they let him suffer in the cold and the damp and the dark?
If a single person had told her - not even her, if someone had told anyone in Jubilife - then Barry wouldn’t be in the medical wing. He wouldn’t be so thin and dirty and hurt.
She replayed Adaman’s words in her mind. “Because we weren’t totally sure. And I didn’t want to raise your hopes in case it wasn’t.”
And the worst part is…Adaman was right. If they had come to her with a description of Barry, and it wasn’t Barry? She’d be crushed.
Luckily for her mental state, she didn’t have to think about this for long. There was a knock at the door, followed by Rei’s voice, “Dawn? Are you in there?”
Dawn stood to get the door. She had learned not to let her pokemon answer the door anymore, not since her Kadabra answered the door for her once, and then rumors swirled around town about how she had turned into a Kadabra.
She hoped she didn’t look too disheveled when answering the door. It had been a very long day.
Either it wasn’t too obvious, or Rei decided not to comment on it.
“Uhm, the leaders left not too long ago…” he started to say, rocking back and forth on his heels. “I dunno what they said to Kamado, but it was loud. On both ends. But it seemed to have worked, I don't think the commander plans on practicing his fighting moves tonight…”
“Okay.” Replied Dawn, unable to really muster any excitement in her voice. Sure, it was nice that Kamado wasn't going to start suplexing people, but that certainly wasn't on her mind.
“Well, now that things have calmed down, uh, Miss Pesselle says you can come visit your friend. He's not doing so well right now, but she thinks he'll be alright-”
“REALLY?!” She struggled keeping her voice low. “Why didn't you start with that?! Let's go!”
--
Consciousness was proving to be rather fickle and fleeting. Barry felt himself drift in and out, like the waves on a beach. Awake, not awake. Awake, not awake. Drifting at sea, below the waves.
And being awake sucked.
Every part of his body ached. Even parts that he didn't know could ache. He couldn't even scrounge up the willpower to open his eyes. Sounds were muffled, distant, unfamiliar.
So he would just lay there…aching.
It wasn't all bad. He could sense the presence of someone nearby tending to him, and even if it hurt when they had to change bandages, he knew it was probably a good thing. Cups and bowls were gently pressed to his lips, and even though it tasted distinctly medicinal, he really didn’t care.
And sometimes, when the ache and the pain grew too much, he could feel a warm hand slip into his own and squeeze.
It was comforting. He wasn’t alone. Someone was there with him through it all, here to hold his hand when it hurt.
And Barry would try to smile and squeeze back before drifting, drifting, drifting…
He wasn’t sure how long he spent drifting. Hours, maybe. Days, weeks.
Until one day, he finally opened his eyes.
Barry was in a bed he didn't recognize and a room he didn't know. Things were kinda blurry, and fuzzy, and his head hurt, but it was something.
Breaching the surface of the water for the first time in a while, it seemed.
He hesitantly squeezed the hand holding his own and glanced over to his side.
“... Barry?”
Dawn looked tired. He wondered, numbly, if she had left his side at all.
But she was here. Alive and well and not just a terrible gap in his memory. She had the same eyes, the same face, the same tired smile that she'd give him when he'd do something stupid-
“D-Dawnie.” He croaked, dry lips cracking into a beaming smile. “I did something stupid again.”
“That's OK, dummy. We can talk more about that later.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “How are you feeling?”
He groaned, trying to think of an accurate description. “Numb. Aching. Like a piece of gum left to dry on the boardwalk in Sunyshore.”
Dawn giggled, a beautiful sound that he had grown to miss so, so much. Barry couldn't help but weakly chuckle alongside her.
“Pesselle said it's a miracle you're alive. She said you had a foot in the grave, and a shovel in your hands.” She looked at him, tears welling in her eyes. “I-I was…I was so scared…w-wh…what if you didn't wake up?”
She let go of his hand, trying to wipe away the tears as she began to weep.
“Hey, hey-” he sat up slightly, ignoring the aches and pain, “It's alright! I-I’m fine now! I'm not going anywhere.” A serious look crossed his face. “No one's gonna try and stop me.”
“Th-there was drapion venom in your blood. Pesselle said i-it was a miracle you kept your leg.” She continued to whisper. “You won't be able to walk for…I dunno how long.”
“I've been walking on it for a while! It'll be fine!”
“I think that's part of the problem.”
Dawn gestured for him to lay back down, to which Barry ignored. “I couldn't stop and rest, I was on the run! It's crazy, just listen to-”
He paused. A strange look came across his face, and he grabbed Dawn's hands and held them tight. “I need you to tell me something. Something that only you would know.”
“Barry-?”
“Please. Please. Something only you would know. Please.”
Sadness overtook her features, not directed at him, thankfully, but she clearly felt bad for him, and wanted to soothe his worries.
“When you were little, you wanted to have a big birthday party with a big cake. And you invited the entire class. Your dad asked Elite 4 member Lucian, to borrow his Mr Mime for entertainment. And…uhm. When Mr Mime walked out with your birthday cake, you were so scared that you started crying, and you even-”
“NO! DAWN THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT?!”
“What did you mean then??”
“I dunno! Something deeply personal and special to us??”
“Well you didn't specify! What about the time you got your Halloween costume based on heracross and you asked me to hit you with a branch to ‘prove how strong' you were?”
“No, that's not what I meant either! I'm starting to think you're doing this on purpose! Do you need me to fine you?!”
Dawn couldn't help but laugh. When was the last time she had been threatened with fines? She couldn't remember. It felt good, familiar.
For a moment, the medical room walls melted away. They were back home, camping, just teasing each other after a long day of training.
“Do you remember the time you poured yourself a glass of vinegar at a buffet because you thought it was soda, and you nearly barfed-”
“You are! You are doing this on purpose!!” Barry shouted back. “Two can play that game, missy! Don't think I've forgotten about the time our class started singing happy birthday and you were so surprised you started crying!”
“Hey!” She squealed in fake offense. “I did not!”
“Did too!”
“OK, OK, let's stop with the yelling.” Dawn said, pressing him back against the pillows of his bed. “Not sure we want Pesselle to come yell at us-”
“No no, wait, wait, hold on-” a frightened, almost desperate tone crept into his voice. “I know it's you. There's no way. I can trust you.”
“Of course you can trust me?”
“This place is crawling with Team Galactic!” He hissed, “Absolutely swarming! They tried to stop me from finding you, I think they're the reason you're here! They kidnapped you!”
Dawn opened her mouth, but no words came out. She just let Barry continue.
“I haven't seen Cyrus yet, but I've seen Mars and new commanders and Galactic Generals, and they're hellbent on capturing me! This is a universe where Cyrus won, don't you see? There's no civilization, people and pokemon don't trust each other-!” A moment of panic overtook his features, and he frantically looked around. “My pokemon, where are my-”
Dawn grabbed his shoulders. “Barry. Barry.”
“Huh? What, what?”
She took a deep breath. “That's…not right. That's not what's going on.”
Barry also took a breath. “OK. I'm listening. Tell me what's going on, I'll believe you.”
Dawn hesitated. “It's a bit crazy…”
“The last few months have been nothing but crazy for me. Whatever you say, I promise.”
“I think…we're in the past.”
He gave her an incredulous look. “...when I said I'd believe you-”
“Barry!”
“It's just a little hard to believe!”
“Oh, but your theory of being kidnapped by an alternate dimension Cyrus is more plausible?”
Barry tried to think of a retort, but couldn't. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Touche. What's your evidence?”
“Do you remember the history class we took about the late edo period?”
“Yeah, I failed that one.”
Dawn reached into her bag currently on the floor and pulled out a pokeball. “See how it looks rough? These are carved by hand, using apricorns. Surely you remember the pokeball lesson.”
That clicked in his mind. Before the modern manufacturing of Pokeballs was established, people would carve out their own using apricorns. Some could even make special ones with unique traits, but the skill and craft was a dying art.
“I thought…I thought they were poorly made…” he said slowly, softly. Barry shook his head, “That doesn't entirely prove it. If this was a world where Cyrus won, obviously Silph Co wouldn't exist.”
Dawn then gestured to the room around them, which Barry finally began taking note of.
There were no medical devices, not really. Mostly beds, blankets, pillows, panels to give some semblance of privacy, and a sleeping croagunk in the corner.
It did look a little old fashioned, like visiting the Old Chateau, or the homes in Celestic town. The way the wood was carved, the way the paint looked…
“Look at the clothes they gave me!” She continued, taking off a red scarf to show him. “Not fake fabric at all, this is real!”
All of the little inconsistencies, all of the assumptions based on a worst-case scenario. The pain he went through. The pain he caused. It was all starting to climb up his throat.
“Dawn. I don't feel so good.”
“What? Why? Should I go get the doctor? Her name is Pesselle, she's really nice-”
He grabbed her arm as she stood to leave. “I think…I did a lot more stupid stuff than I realized…”
Dawn had an inkling that his time in Hisui was less than pleasant. But the sheepish anxiety in his voice worried her.
“What…did you do?”
The door behind them creaked open. Dawn turned, relieved to see Pesselle carrying fresh bandages. “Ah, good! The two of you are awake. The captain wanted to see him.”
The relief quickly faded when Pesselle stepped to the side and Captain Cyllene entered the room.
And Barry started to scream.
