|
|
Post by NolChannel on Mar 25, 2017 18:33:29 GMT -5
Ah, check-up day. For active battlers and certain occupations, Pokemon were recommended to follow-up with their doctors at least once a month... which, of course, meant that high-ranking battlers and government officers were of the few who religiously played along. And for one of Khail's Pokemon, a simple physician simply wouldn't do.
No, Jolt's condition required a specialist, one well-equipped to deal with Shadow Pokemon. Though this fact mattered little to the fox: whether it was one paper-covered table or another, he still wanted no part of it. And thus, the Jolteon sat on the table, tense and annoyed as he scratched the side of his head with a forepaw.
"C'mon, its just been a couple weeks." This complaint was barely a mutter at this point, as he was already dragged along this far. Quite honestly, he didn't like the overall feel of this place: there were too many shadow auras as he walked in, leaving him feeling on-edge and distracted, his eyes darting to the door every time someone walked by. His reaction earned a sigh from the Absol, shaking her head as she sat near the room's entrance.
"Really, Jolt... I'm getting a shot or two here, too. You don't need to look quite like that..."
"Oh, that's because you can't feel them! All around, they're - gah!" His voice was cut off, as Jolt's trainer, Khail, dropped a towel over his shoulders. "Hey, what gives! I'm-"
"-sparking like an idiot, again." That comment earned a glare from Jolt, but he relented, Khail running his hands down Jolt's sides, through the towel, once more brushing the static out of his fur. "Can I trust that you'll behave once the doctor comes in? I think you terrorized the poor nurse who helped us in here well enough."
"Tch. Fine, so long as it makes it go faster..."
"Oi, vey... Khail, this is what happens when you just drop it on him the last minute."
Right, like that mattered: if he knew beforehand, Jolt would have been impossible to find all day!
|
|
|
|
Post by 0bserver on Mar 27, 2017 16:06:40 GMT -5
Dia's days were rather monotonous, at times.
At night, she was working on her project, drafting possible formulas and cures and appearing in the testing chambers to test them out on her willing volunteers. During the day, she worked in her Shadow Pokemon Rehabilitation Center. Tending to those that stayed here, and those that people brought in. After the incident with the shadow pokemon in the arena, the gardevoir had plenty of visitors.
Most of them were there to abandon their pokemon to her care. The center acted like an orphanage of sorts, taking in shadows that were no longer wanted by their masters. Dia took all of them in with open arms, but not with a gentle heart. There was ... very little left there, where once a kind and compassionate heart was. The crystal embedded in her chest, once red and bright, was rather dim, almost brown in color. She hid it underneath the nursing shirt.
With a slight push, she entered the door, where three people were waiting for her. Well, one human, and two of his pokemon. One of them was a shadow. The Jolteon. He's been here before, to receive a regular checkup on his "shadow" status. Dia also knew the human. His name, at least. Taro Khail. It did not tell her anything. But she was curious if anything was out of norm in today's routine. Perhaps she was hoping he'd abandon his creature, like the rest. The Gardevoir always welcomed new subjects. Looking at the trio, Dia inclined her head.
"Mister Taro. It's been a few weeks. I trust everything is going alright. I see you brought your Shadow for another checkup. There's been so many in the past few weeks." - she sighed, mimicking sadness about another wave of phobia against shadows. Then, she looked down at the Jolteon in front of her. A shadow through and through. And yet, not mentally-impaired and crazy like Blade was. Speaking of the Bisharp, he was there too, staring at the entire procedure through the crack of the door. Dia was aware of him, but she liked ignoring the clingy metal-type, from time to time.
"And how are you doing, Jolteon? I trust you did not cause your master any trouble on your way here~" - the Gardevoir hummed the usual platitudes, taking out a small lens and making the Jolteon look up at her, before checking the bottom of his eyes. Shadows had darkness at the very bottom of it, more so if they were very corrupted. To Dia's surprise, the Jolteon's signs were ... almost normal. Almost. A puzzling thing.
"Hmm..."
|
|
|
|
Post by NolChannel on Mar 27, 2017 18:58:53 GMT -5
Thankfully, the two wouldn't have to endure Jolt's impatience for too much longer. Hearing the door click, the Jolteon perked up, Khail and the Absol turning to face the entrance in turn.
"Hm... I take it the scare at The Colosseum gave you a bit of extra activity?" That much made sense, especially if people were dropping off their shadows here. The normal clinics simply didn't have adequate resources to take too many of them in! "But everything should be fine. This is just a check-up we're squeezing in. Abigail just got her shots a few-"
"Right, let's not drag this out even more, Khail." The Jolteon rolled his eyes: as high-functioning as he seemed, the fennec still had a fair bit of snark in his system. At Jolt's rudeness, Abigail gave a sigh, and simply curled up near the corner of the room. She kept one eye open, peered at the door, just keeping sight on that rather scary-looking Bisharp. Why did it always follow Dia around? Something about it just put the cat on edge!
But, thankfully for Jolt, Dia set on about her routine. "No more than usual, I guess?" He focused on the light, pupils narrowing as Dia got a good look into his eyes. By her guidance, Jolt even looked a little upward, letting Dia get a good look at the bottom. She was always very particular about checking them out: as Khail explained it, it was an off-hand way of measuring a shadow's 'corruption' without the use of a blood draw or magnetic device. That alone would be fine, but that 'hmm' that escaped the Gardevoir's throat caught Jolt off guard.
"Hm?"
"Tch, what is it, doc? Its not bloodshot like it was last month, is it?"
|
|
|
|
Post by 0bserver on Mar 28, 2017 16:54:30 GMT -5
Dia investigated the Jolteon for a little bit more, from all the angles.
Corruption was present, yes. But judging from eyes alone, it was on a much lower levels than what it should have been. Was this the result of the shots she was giving him? Or was it something else? The Gardevoir checked the eye bottoms a few more times, on both eyes, to make sure she did not misinterpret the signs. Only the trainer's words snapped her out of this studying stupor, making her pull the light away from the pokemon's eyes.
"On the contrary. Judging from the eyes alone, levels of Shadow contamination are ... very low."
The Gardevoir failed to suppress a bit of excitement in her voice. Excitement. She actually felt excited. That feeling in her chest that thought to be almost forgotten. Dia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if to savor the moment, but immediately reminded herself to not get too excited too soon. For all she knew, this could have been just a coincidence influenced by a myriad of factors. She had to double check, triple-check everything, before making any definite prognoses.
"This is very unusual, I've never seen a shadow exhibit such traits before. In all of my patients, the level of corruption roughly corresponded to the amount of darkness in their eyes. Your Jolteon uses his shadow abilities frequently, so his levels are supposed to be very high. And yet, they aren't."
She shrugged her shoulders, looking at Khail with an odd stare.
"If you would allow me... I'd like to take a few blood samples. To make sure if this is no mere coincidence. If Jolteon's shadow levels indeed dropped... I need to know why."
A cure, perhaps it was. And somewhere deep inside the Gardevoir, the real Dia Sienn was restless. Shards of whom the Gardevoir was trying to save so hard. She gave the Jolteon a brief stare. Her eyes sparking purple, for a very brief moment.
This one... is special.
|
|
|
|
Post by NolChannel on Mar 28, 2017 18:46:06 GMT -5
Well, if there was a way to concern someone in the hospital's office, it was having Dia's level of interest in an anomaly. After checking Jolt's eyes, she seemed quite intent on checking Jolt from every angle, earning a confused look from the fox. Heck, even Abigail turned away from the door and looked at this display, tilting her head as she watched this curious doctor. Huh... is Jolt okay?
Abigail's thought was soon answered, Dia finally bringing up her observation. Just from appearance, the Jolteon seemed to be on the verge of 'pure', his eyes very clear. But the diagnosis earned a chuckle from the fox. "What, you're kidding, right? I scorched a sheet last night from a random spark discharge in my sleep, and even Abigail felt my aura spike then!"
"Well... yes, that did happen..." the Absol didn't seem fond of admitting it, as she was presenting evidence against Jolt's preliminary diagnosis. But there was another feeling in the room, Dia's own eagerness in her discovery. And why shouldn't she? As a doctor and researcher of this condition, she may have finally found a lead!
"Well," responding to Dia, Khail gave a shrug, "There are cases of acclimation, where a Shadow becomes more used to their level of corruption. Granted, that usually doesn't change their physical appearance-"
"Um, hello?" Jolt interrupted. "You can quit talking like I'm not in the room. Like I said last time, I don't remember what it feels like to not be a shadow. I've always felt like this."
"Jolt, quiet." He stepped up, before Dia got his stare, looking firmly into his eyes: "And quit trying to weasel out of it. Not knowing what's going on is a reason to get your blood drawn, not try and squirm out of it."
"Hmph. Khail-" Whoa there. He blinked, and looked over at Dia as she gave him a rather intent look, that forward stare. Her eyes were intent, locked on him, the Jolteon feeling a slight sense of fear and awkwardness in his core. "... Holy shit, fine. Get your blood sample... just back up, please."
"Er..." Abigail spoke up, again. "Yeah, Jolt's not good with people in his face like that. You, um, might get bit."
|
|
|
|
Post by 0bserver on Mar 31, 2017 15:42:40 GMT -5
"I get bitten all the time."
Dia both looked and sounded satisfied when the startled Jolteon submitted to her test. He looked kind of cute when frightened. Then again, most things were. She reached out for an instrument to take a blood sample from the shadow pokemon - a stinger with a needle and a jar embedded into it. Before the Jolteon could even manage to become frightened from the prospect of being injected like that, the needle already pierced his skin at the side of its leg, the mechanism starting to draw blood into the jar. Dia took ... plenty. Perhaps two or three times as much, before pulling out.
"There. Was not that scary now was it? Good boy." - she said, her hand glowing green as she made the small red dot where the needle entered, close as quickly as it appeared. Dia then turned to Khail and inclined her head in appreciation.
"Thank you. This is very important for our research. We've been trying to find a way to reduce the effects of shadow transformation on pokemon for a very long time now. If it happens in some species naturally - we need to know why."
With that, the Gardevoir placed the jar in a machine at the table, sealing it inside and pressing a few buttons. The machine whirred, and started to work with the contents of the jar, in order to identify the pokemon's levels of corruption. While it did, Dia gave some attention to the nervous Jolteon on the table. Preparing a few more needles with the average shots that the pokemon received.
"You said you don't remember how to not be a shadow anymore. How does it affect your demeanor, exactly?" - she inquired, as she prepared the creature to receive yet another injection. While the Jolteon was here, she'd squeeze out every last bit of information out of him.
|
|
|
|
Post by NolChannel on Apr 2, 2017 12:36:52 GMT -5
"Oh... that so?"
Dia didn't need to sound so nonchalant about it! Still, the tense part of the situation seemed to have past: as Dia moved to grab the needle, the Jolteon sighed and stretched himself out on the table, resting on all fours as the Doctor did what she needed to. There was nothing but a slight grit of Jolt's teeth, as that first needle pressed in to draw his blood. Khail raised his brow: it was definitely more than a sample, though not enough to draw concern from the trainer.
Though, Jolt merely rolled his eyes at the 'good boy' compliment. "Yeah, yeah, good boy. I hope you got everything you needed." His voice was flat, even as that healing aura was pressed over his leg. Throughout the process, his 'aura' seemed rather stable.
"Hm... well, I hope you find some sort of answer." Khail didn't share Dia's enthusiasm, as the sound of the centrifuge filled the room. He wasn't a medical expert, but he guessed it had more to do with Jolt's mental state than anything else in particular. Jolt could act absolutely savage if he needed to: perhaps he simply had more practice controlling the form? Maybe more infected shadows were simply more stable, mentally?
That was a scary thought.
But, as it stood, it was back to the normal inconveniences of going to the 'vet'. Jolt hadn't moved from his spot, as Dia approached with the standard needles - both vitamin shots and the standard medical array, similar to what Abigail had been given an hour ago. As the question hit his ears, he gave a sigh. "What do you mean, how does it affect my demeanor?" He glanced over his shoulder. "Its not like I don't remember some things before Cipher. When I evolved, where I grew up, being caught... but, really? I'm Jolt."
His voice seemed almost resolute. "Whatever I was like before, I'm Jolt. Being a Shadow doesn't make me anyone or anything else." Each word was said with focus, and conviction: if Dia paid attention, she'd even see him grit his teeth, almost on edge. "And I won't be anyone else."
"... Jolt..." The Absol blinked, looking over this display.
Khail sighed. "I can't help you on this, unfortunately. I only met him after the fact."
|
|
|
|
Post by 0bserver on Apr 7, 2017 21:02:32 GMT -5
Being a shadow does not make me anyone or anything else.
Dia repeated the Jolteon's words inside of her head and sighed. If only it was so easy. Perhaps this one was lucky, as his affliction did not tamper much with his thinking patterns or his demeanor. Sadly, it was not that way for everyone. Without hesitating much, the gardevoir pricked the pokemon's skin again with another needle, injecting vitamins and vaccines into his bloodstream to make sure he was healthy and well.
"That is why I am so interested in this sample. Shadows can do terrible things to a mind. They can make you lose your memories and destroy your very identity.
With that ominous warning, Dia looked over her shoulder, at the door, seeing the eye of the Bisharp that was fixated on her, unblinking, never looking away for a second. A small smile appeared on her face, as she pulled the needle out and healed the small prick that it left, immediately.
"The one hiding behind the door used to be different. Dutiful, diligent, and patient. But now it takes a lot of my psychic power just to keep him from going insane." - the Gardevoir said wistfully as she picked up the Jolteon, and brought it down to the floor from the medical bunk. Her words were spoken with no particular listener in mind. Maybe they were addressed to herself. Or maybe for the Bisharp, as his figure vanished behind the door, and it closed with a small clack. Dia turned to the young man again.
"I have a favor to ask of you. And of Jolteon, of course. I've been trying to develop a cure of some kind to help Shadows through their condition. Progress is slim, if any. I am not going to ask you to volunteer for any tests. Instead, I wish to see Jolteon in this room more often. I want to conduct a quantitative study, see how his corruption changes overtime, and if there is anything that could be affecting it."
|
|
|
|
Post by NolChannel on Apr 8, 2017 22:17:49 GMT -5
If anything, Jolt could feel the sense of regret and disdain coming from the 'emotion' Pokemon. He gritted his teeth, that last needle entering his skin, forcing himself to look away from the doctor. In a way, the Jolteon was lying to himself - and he knew he was lying to himself - but he didn't care.
And Dia's comments about shadow energy destroying the mind, definitely weren't helpful. He shared no more words, just giving a glare from the corner of his eye. Fix it? No. Adapt. Live with it. You're still you
Jolt's introspective rant was cut off, though, as the Gardevoir brought up the Bisharp. He blinked, and looked over, but the steel type was already gone, Abigail blinking as the door shut a few feet away. Honestly, the feline was relieved, as he wasn't doing the best to help the mood of the room!
"... Insane, huh..." Alright, that brought him a bit down to earth. He sighed, as he was limply picked up by the Gardevoir, eagerly jumping down to the floor the moment he was given the chance. The Absol gave him a smile in turn: "W-well the shots weren't bad, right! I met it didn't even hurt with her heal pulse!"
"Yeah, whatever." He wasn't in the mood, not anymore... though he tilted his head as Dia went to address Khail. She wanted to have him come back? Oh great, was this something that he wasn't going to have a say in again?
Khail, however, seemed a bit more neutral than the rest. Honestly, he wasn't as emotionally involved in this as either Jolt or Dia: one who fully accepted who he was, and the other who thought it was a blight that needed cured. The latter, though, at least had some merit: "Jolt will be here for his monthly shots and general visits. In the meantime, I will set you up as a recipient for his day-to-day scanning results... you should see it in your email starting tomorrow."
It was as much a compromise as he was willing to give, not an inch of negotiation in the officer's voice. "You should also know that he'll refuse any additional treatment. He's on a 'take as he needs' pill to work against the worst of the headaches, but doesn't want to get hooked on anything else."
"... And I don't even like that much. But the Tylenol just stopped working." He sighed, though that was the only real evidence that it ever got worse for the fennec.
"Is there anything else, doc? And while we at it, Abigail is fine as well?"
|
|
