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Maxie blinked back tears. He hadn't cried before, and now wouldn't be the first time. He had taken a long walk through Mt. Chimney to clear his mind, only to realize he had forgotten to grab his pokeballs. Just then, he was attacked by a Torkoal. The pokemon hit him from behind violently. He fell to the ground, losing his glasses in the process.
Everything was fuzzy from there. His ear was ringing. His vision was blurrier than usual. He couldn't feel the left side of his body. He could barely move his arms, trying desperately to find his glasses, his phone, anything. As he closed his eyes and braced himself for whatever fate had in store for him-
"Sharpedo! Liquidation!"
A booming voice called out from behind him. As he heard the cry of a Torkoal, a pair of strong arms moved to hold him. Archie. How had he found him so deep within this cave? It was the complete opposite to the places he tended to frequent. The sharp red rocks and the lava were thought to keep the ocean maniac away.
"M-MAXIE! Max- Arceus, what the fuck happened to you?!"
The Magma leader opened his mouth, attempting to get out the words of what happened. But a hand touching his hip caused him to cry out in pain. The hand immediately pulled back.
"What did that thing do to you? Here, just let me-"
The pirate carefully picked up his rival, carrying him out of the cave. He rushed to the nearest pokemon center. He wasn't the best in a situation like this, but he figured they would know what to do. He reluctantly handed his scrawny companion off to a nurse and her Chancey. He explained the situation the best he could before bolting to "look for something."
-
Pokemon centers did house some type of care for humans. Sometimes a young bug catcher would need to be treated for a poison sting, or a swimmer cut themselves on a sharp rock and needed to be bandaged up. But this... this was completely out of their knowledge.
As frantically as they tried to feed him Chansey egg, as many burn heals they sprayed on him, he was barely conscious. From what little he could talk, the pain wasn't subsiding. The ringing in his ears was so loud, he didn't hear the other nurse enter the room. There was help on the way, they just needed to keep Maxie conscious long enough to get treatment. He couldn't feel the left side of his body as a nurse desperately tried to help him up.
The last thing he remembered was being put on an uncomfortable stretcher and placed in an ambulance. The lights were a blaring white.
-
Maxie slowly opened his eyes, feeling soft sheets laid idly on top of him. These weren't the covers he usually buried himself under. When he tried to reach over to his nightstand for glasses, he just found air. This wasn't his bedroom.
"Mornin' sleeping beauty."
He turned his head towards the direction of the deep voice. It chuckled. Archie had somehow snuck his way in here.
"Here, you're probably lookin' for these. You don't look right without 'em."
A large, rough hand grabbed his, gently placing his glasses into the palm of his hand. He muttered a thanks before putting them on and observing his surroundings. Plain white walls. A large window to his right overlooking Rustboro. A comically large bed for his size. He was in a hospital. And a ridiculously buff pirate was sitting on the edge of his bed.
He tried to sit up, only to feel the sharpest pain he's ever felt zip through his entire body. He bit his lip, trying not to yell out in pain. Archie jumped up, trying to help in any way he could.
"Hey, it's alright. There should be a button somewhere that'll sit you up without you having to move. The nurse said it was on a remote somewhere-"
The man cut him off, finding the aforementioned remote and using it to move the bed. He was finally sitting upright, and able to make eye contact with the former Aqua leader. He didn't seem too pleased to see him. Especially not after the Kyogre stunt a few months back.
"I'm fine, Archie. Why are you here?"
"I don't know, maybe I was worried about you? You took a Torkoal's flamethrower to the arm you idiot, what were you thinking going there alone?!"
Maxie instinctively looked down to where the pain was coming from. Sure enough, underneath the thin hospital gown he was covered in bandages. He went quiet after that, knowing this was a fight he wouldn't win. So, as per usual, he changed the subject.
"... how did you know I would be in Mt. Chimney? I did not tell anyone."
"I found one o' your nerd books and wanted to return it. Tabitha hadn't seen you all day, and I saw you left your pokemon behind. That just didn't seem like you, so I went t' places you frequent. I just got lucky on my first guess."
Maxie rolled his eyes. He wasn't pleased that Archie could waltz into the Team Magma base whenever he pleased. But then again, he did just save his life. He should be a bit more grateful. But, something still irked him. This wasn't the first time Archie had tried to budge in like this. There had to be some underlying motive. However, it felt nice. Clearly none of his subordinates had showed up. Having someone care enough to wait for him to wake up, personally give him back his glasses.
"I... I do appreciate it, Archie. But, still, why go through all of this effort just to return my glasses? You could've handed them over to the hospital."
Archie sighed, and straightened up the bandana resting on his head. He didn't like to appear weak, but he didn't have much of a choice. He did seem incredibly suspicious as it was. He avoided the red head's eyes as he explained himself. "I know, I was just worried about ya is all. We weren't always at each other's throats. 'N I don't like to see you hurt. Especially after what happened with Kyogre, I just..."
He trailed off, his gaze drifting once again to the ground. Maxie sat quietly, not being able to think of a way to comfort the man in front of him. He remembers all too well what had happened with Kyogre. He remembers that, despite everything, he was scared. Especially for the young girl sent in after the beast. Even though that whole mess was behind them, it still left its mark. It made them both immediately disband their respective teams and move their work into preserving pokemon habitats rather than messing with the natural order.
"Well, what's done is done. There is nothing we can do to change it. And, for what it's worth, I do enjoy your company." Maxie's good arm rose to his glasses, pushing them back into their proper place. Even when he's attempting to be nice, he still has to sound formal when he speaks. He would give more of a visual feedback if he could move half of his body; he opted for as nice of a smile as he could muster. He wasn't one to show emotion.
Archie returned the smile, and turned to face him. He began some small talk about one of the nurse Chanseys having an attitude when he first arrived at the hospital. His formal rival listened to the story, maintaining his smile without much effort. It would be a long while until amends could truly be made, but this was a good start.