#hippocraticshipping

[alpkt00]

EPIC CUSTODY BATTLE OF HISTORY

[atomgecko]

Bunch of sillies from over the past few weeks i dont wanna post separately

[volcalder]

The sterile-white walls of the hospital room offer him little comfort, neither do the nurses who are constantly flittering in and out of it as they anxiously await his inevitable death. There were no overtures left for him now, no standing ovations for his grand schemes, nor a rapturous finale to compel the audience to their knees; just the intermittent orchestra of machines there to remind him that he was still alive.                                       And the one man Ghetsis could never rid himself of.                                       He was the cruelest reminder of all. The long, disorienting days hallmarked by medicine served on silver-trays then become steeped in his intolerable warmth. Some days they sit in an undisturbed silence, as if they were both emissaries of the dead. Ironically, it suited this prison of flesh and white corralling walls. Other days Alder fills the silence with a one-sided dialogue, mindlessly grating against his waning patience with the mundanities of a world he was forbidden to be part of. It’s a salve he comes to resent, pressed into the wounds Ghetsis, himself, had carved open. It isn’t until Alder begins moving the chess pieces that Ghetsis’s hand is forced, the irrepressible urge to conquer him one last time burning away within that bed-ridden man. Just one at a time, once per day, he’s given the chance to re-live even a glimpse of the past; it’s the autonomy he had bitterly longed for most of all. Now, rather than days and nights filled only with the monotony of sickness, the crestfallen man, usurped from his throne, spent hours considering his next move. The carved pieces watch over him, as he plots and then, much to his chagrin, drifts off into a listless sleep. It’s a week in that he confronts Alder, smugly-satisfied with the check-mate he had dealt the retired champion. That week was the only solace Ghetsis had been afforded since he had been incarcerated here and he rewarded Alder with another challenge. His gnarled fingers beckon Alder closer, motioning for him to bring the board with him. “ You understand why you lost.” He says, almost as if he were chiding him. The board is settled upon the fold-out table the nurses had informed him was meant to be for eating, as if anyone could derive any sort of pleasure from the bland meals they served. This was a far better suited purpose. “ Then we play again.” It wasn’t a request, and with a tremble to his fingers Ghetsis began to rearrange the pieces in their rightful places. “ a victory like that... is unacceptable.” And for all his vitriol, the rasp of his voice both familiar and not, it was the first time in a long time that he had deigned to address anyone out loud. 

It was out of no specific obligation that Alder went out of his way to track down the man, nor had anything but his own want pushed him to close the distance.

The man in question was the "enemy of Unova", and even beyond that had been a sort of oppressive shadow looming over Alder's already overburdened shoulders. By no means would anyone expect him, nor anyone else, to want to have anything to do with Ghetsis Harmonia again...

But there was a sort of freedom in choosing for himself.

They met decades ago by pure chance, neither of them had anything to do with it. It just so happened that the second time their lives deeply intertwined was also, dubiously, by chance...

Alder never had a say in it.

He did now.

So going for the first time to that high-security wing of the hospital hadn't been as dreadful for him as it was exciting. In his old age, experiencing something new and different was a rare thing; something he had to seize.

Through the sterile halls, the nurses kept asking Alder if he was certain about what he was doing. And, when that did nothing to deter him, they mentioned everything he might need to know in order to keep the patient in a fine state. It was risky enough allowing any visitors, but the old retired Champion of Unova had a particular way with words that helped open doors before him just like 'that'.

Funny how at one point Ghetsis could've been considered the same.

Before the notion of it had really caught up to him, Alder was there. Standing in front of his old friend, and rival and unfortunate adversary. The withering man wouldn't even look at him, and he didn't respond when the former Champion addressed him.

Typical.

Just like Ghetsis to play petty and stubborn right up to the very end-- what else could he have expected?

There was a flash of frustration that quickly quelled. An old burning flame that'd been reduced to charcoal over the course of his lifetime was still hot at its core, but didn't have the energy to be rekindled. Instead, the man grinned and shook his head in a sort of listless way, eyes never leaving the turned head of a sick man.

"Well, I know you can hear me."

That's what he said to him, and it was only after a bit more puttering around and explaining (as though talking to himself) why he decided to show up here that he finally left the room and Ghetsis in peace.

That's how his visits would go. Again and again. Never being responded to, seemingly never gaining anything from it, but he continued.

If Ghetsis thought he'd been patient over the course of his life, then he'd be loathe to realise just the extent of Alder's patience.

The idea of touching the Chess board in the room came to him in a moment of hope and brilliance one day when he'd been talking to himself in Ghetsis' presence again (updates about the world outside, mostly.) His eye caught it and he stalled, unable to recall exactly how much Ghetsis enjoyed Chess but thinking to himself: he'd be the type to enjoy it.

So he moved in, took a look at the pieces he only half-recognised the patterns for, and started the game off correctly by moving one pawn forward.

"Pawn to, eh... D4."

He wasn't so sure about it, he was just guessing whether it would pay off or not, but he took a step forward and that was the only way to progress in anything.

In life and chess.

He left soon after, said his goodbyes as if Ghetsis were a person and not a spectre, and left the man to his devices.

It was a bittersweet thing when he returned to the hospital the next day and saw that a piece on the black side of the board had been moved since their last meeting-- bittersweet because it renewed Alder's vigour in this uncertain thing he was doing, but he couldn't share the success with anyone. No one knew where he would go at random points in the week...

No one except... well, Ghetsis.

He crossed the room to get a look at the board and, hardly thinking it over because he didn't expect to win anyway, he moved a knight and announced as such. The merry lilt in his voice was unmistakable; enough to make Ghetsis seethe internally, no doubt.

Alder might've been losing the Chess game, but he was victorious in his own way.

Knowing just how petty the man was, though, he made no comment otherwise. Instead, he regaled Ghetsis about a fire that took out an old farm.

Only seven visits later-- each visit being one move-- had Alder faced defeat. His king in check, Ghetsis finally turning his gaze toward him for the first time in years and with it a smirk that was just as long in the making... so why was Alder returning that self-satisfied grin with one of his own and a glint in his eye?

When he is beckoned, he comes. Brings with him the Chess board to Ghetsis' bedside and places it down for the severe man to point out whatever mistake he never even knew he was making. It's a bit hard to focus when his waning interest in Chess is far outshone by the rasp of his old companion's voice. The same voice he'd condemned deeply, the voice that told lie after lie.

But it was still so human.

Perhaps it was being treated human that allowed Ghetsis to speak again.

Now, many would just as easily say that he didn't deserve such grace, but Alder found he couldn't care about those old grudges. Not when the person before him was less than a threat, not even when Ghetsis seized the small notion of control he was afforded to boost his ego over the only other person who would witness it.

"Alright, I see how that happened." Said quietly, cheekily, like when they were young but with an unmistakable timbre from decades of using those vocal chords. He used slightly-more-dexterous hands to help replace the pieces as they once were (not the biggest challenge as hardly any of the pieces had been moved) and when he inevitably placed a rook on the wrong side of the king Ghetsis took over to right it.

"It's the white pieces that go first, isn't that right?" He tried to muffle his boundless enthusiasm by turning to the game, sitting on the very edge of Ghetsis' bed with the board between them. He turned it so that the white end of the board was on Ghetsis' side this time, giving him a wink.

"I might not know Chess, but I know strategy. It's your turn to go first, Ghetsis."

It didn't matter who went first, though: he'd already won.

[ghetsislover]

Drew my two OTPs over those ship dynamics

(Og under cut)

[chekensheppppp]

I saw this shirt while doomscrolling months ago. Earlier this day, I remembered it and went to doodle this cursed little thing on ms paint while working on print jobs at my part time lmaooooooooo.

i don't have anything to say for myself other than I should reaaaalllllyyyy not get bored HAHAHAHA. Serious art soon I prommy.

[diabotsis]

They'd been caught red-handed poking their noses in business that wasn't theirs, and it was of course because Alder had gotten himself in over his head.

To start a case they only needed one count of illegal activity, and it wasn't as if the court would be any faster getting through due process if they were suddenly presented with heaps of information. So, before entering the Executive's office, they'd agreed to swipe only what they could get their hands on out in the open.

The oaf had other plans. He wasn't satisfied with the "incriminating evidence" that'd been sprawled out over the man's desk, (correctly) realising that none of it was incriminating at all. He switched the plan on the fly, something that caused a great bit of Ghetsis' temper to flare up and for his eye to start twitching in the most irritating way, but in order to not kick up a fuss he figured they should follow through. Alder was going to bust-open the lock box beneath the desk whether Ghetsis was there or not, and the elder of the two young men figured that if Alder was going to die then he should be there to laugh at him for it.

... Not really. Alder was useful to him and he thought highly enough of his own ability to weasel out of things that staying by the other man's side didn't pose as much of a liability, but Ghetsis had certainly been thinking those unsavoury things.

Destroying the lock wasn't that terrible a chore. They'd be pursued after, the moment someone noticed the melted-through box and stolen documents inside, but at least they could sneak out the way they came to put some distance between them and this place before then.

Or so Ghetsis truly thought. Behind the frosted glass window to the office came movement, and with Alder still crouched alongside his Larvesta behind the desk, only Ghetsis had time to brace himself for what was bound to come.

Bursting into the room, totally oblivious to the fact two 20-odds were rummaging through his things, came a Rocket member in a dark suit. He froze the moment he saw Ghetsis, and that was when Ghetsis moved.

His hands came straight up in surrender.

"Before you say anything: I have connections... and money. Which is that you want?" He tilted his head and gave a winning half-smile.

The offer was a weak one and everyone in the room knew it, but the confusion that followed costed that Rocket gangster a few precious seconds. While he reached for his belt where his Pokemon was set, Alder popped up from behind the desk holding his Larvesta by the body. He was looking away, Ghetsis followed his lead, both bracing themselves for the following blinding light the bug-type would emit.

The Rocket wasn't so lucky, sufficiently stunned by the mini-sun he'd just been exposed to... but he was sure making a lot of noise; that was the duo's sign to run. Ghetsis was out the door first, shoving the Rocket out of his way with enough force to send him to the floor. Alder came rushing out afterwards, still clutching the mini space-heater that was his Larvesta protectively in his arms.

They stopped in the hallway, Ghetsis' arm extended to keep Alder from rushing past him into where the halls intersected with each other. He listened for any approaching footsteps-- of which there was a good number-- and for where they were coming. The fire-headed one finally got the idea that having his partner Pokémon out would only be a danger to them both and pressed one of the buttons on his chain of Pokéballs to recall his little friend. In that same moment, Ghetsis made up his mind about where they'd go. With one careful look beyond a corner, just to find the halls momentarily empty, he began to walk fast back the way they'd come.

There was an entrance through one of the closed-off faculty rooms that they could escape through without being seen if they were smart about their next moves. A hushed "slow down" from Ghetsis sniped at Alder whenever he'd move a little too fast or his sandals would start snapping against the floor, and whenever Rockets began speaking or rushing around inside the building they pulled off to the side to listen. Typically pushed-up together against some decorative plants, or just out of sight behind a hallway cabinet.

Eventually, and it was truly a miracle, they made it back to that faculty room. They should've been home free, none of the Rocket goons had been anywhere near it when they drew close.

"What's this, here? Couple of kids playing hooky?"

The moment they pushed inside and locked the door behind them a voice came from out of the shadows, and a figure with it. Ghetsis couldn't keep himself from the irritated curse he growled, and if words could kill the man would've slumped over in an instant.

Before he could say anything else, Alder pushed right past him. With a purpose, no less. Perhaps taking the following position back in the office had ruffled his feathers the wrong way-- or maybe the fool was too selfless for his own good.

"We're gonna get out of here now, and if I were you I'd think twice about trying to stop us." To sell the threat, he hovered his hand over the chain of Pokéballs at his hip.

He's met with a scoffing laugh, Rocket gangster clearly confident in himself.

"You're not doing none of that, boy. We both know it. Give me those papers you took and maybe we'll talk out a little deal." The man rubs at his chin with a decorated hand, considering both the men before him before finally settling his scrutiny on Ghetsis. He loomed just behind Alder.

The gangster's brow furrowed and his grin widened, hand at his jaw coming to a point specifically calling him out.

"Whichever one of you gives me those papers first can leave. No strings attached. Sounds good, right, so work with me."

Ghetsis wasn't fond of his attitude, never mind the wild assumption that he would sell someone out so quickly.

He pulled the papers right out of Alder's hand, earning a suspicious look from him while Ghetsis just rolled his eyes as if to say 'go with it'.

Those papers were folded up neatly as Ghetsis rounded his companion, approaching the Rocket brimming with tension. He came right in close to his personal space, which the gangster must've found funny up until Ghetsis was staring down at him and holding those papers in his hand.

"I echo the sentiment of my friend. We're leaving. With these." "Ghetsis-!"

The gangster shoved Ghetsis with one arm, grabbing for those papers at the same time. Alder from behind jumped into the action, prying the papers from Ghetsis' faltering right hand. Before he could do anything else, Ghetsis pulled out to the side and brought his fist down into the back of the gangster's head, hissing through his teeth as he did so.

That one hit was enough to send their man to a knee, reeling, and Ghetsis found himself disappointed. A short-lived thing before the both of them in tandem rushed for the door at the end of the room, breaking out into the morning air to hear shouting and Pokémon's cries from the other side of the building. They were gonna be cornered, and soon-- but Alder had a plan.

[ursamajorgamma]

5/10 Maid Day!! I made Alder and Ghetsis into cute maids based on their aces! I love them 🥹

[summerdreamss]

Champions and villain bosses!