In Darkness There is Light
Wake Up Call
As daylight streams through the bedroom window, Olivia wakes. She can hear shouting outside and as she slips into her robe, walking towards the door followed closely by Fang and Farley. The three-legged Mightyena immediately bristles, his lips pulling back in a vicious snarl as he catches the scent of blood. As Olivia opens the door, she screams, her stepfather standing there with a mutilated Chansey. A sadistic smirk plays over his lips as he reaches a bloody hand forward and grips Olivia by her hair, ignoring the girl’s howls of protest and pain as he drags her through the lobby of the Pokémon center. Olivia feels sick as she sees the body of Nurse Joy, raped, broken and bleeding to death in a heap on the floor. As Olivia closes her eyes, a feeling of falling makes her cry out, but nothing can stop her body spiraling through the void.
Olivia bolts upright in bed, shrieking loudly. She hears the sound of footsteps outside her room and as she sits in her bed, trying to catch her breath, the door opens and Nurse Joy walks in.
“Are you alright, dear? I heard you screaming from my room and thought something might be wrong. Was it a nightmare?” The red headed nurse asks, sitting down on the edge of Olivia’s bed and rubbing her shoulders. Olivia nods, feeling slightly nauseous from the horrific images in her dream.
“I saw my stepfather standing outside my door holding the body of a Chansey. He grabbed me and dragged me through the lobby by my hair, and I saw…” Olivia pauses as she looks into Nurse Joy’s eyes, a feeling of dread overwhelming her as she hugs the older woman tightly, afraid to let go. Nurse Joy allows her to hold on, rubbing her back and whispering softly to her, almost feeling like Olivia is her daughter.
“It’s alright honey. I’m here, and nothing’s going to hurt you. There’s nothing to be scared of anymore.” Nurse Joy whispers, unsure of how she knows this, but sure that she’ll protect this girl with her life if need be. Olivia continues holding onto the woman, feeling as though she finally has one person in the world that cares about her. Fang and Farley both walk into the room, having run to the door when Nurse Joy came in. The Mightyena whimpers softly from the foot of the bed before jumping up and curling protectively around his trainer, while Farley sits on the floor and murrs affectionately.
Nurse Joy sighs and tucks Olivia back into bed, the young girl seeming more and more like a daughter than an employee. As she turns off the light and goes to leave, Olivia whispers a thank you and falls asleep. Nurse Joy turns and heads back to her room, greeted by a red Absol. As Nurse Joy gives the Pokémon a gentle rub on the head, the Absol gives a playful cry of its name.
“Stormcry, I don’t have time to play, I need to get some sleep.” Nurse Joy comments, not prepared for her shiny Pokémon’s playful pounce. She falls over, grunting softly as the Absol licks her face. Nurse Joy pushes the Absol away and climbs into bed, tired and annoyed at the recovering Pokémon’s antics. She had found this Absol badly injured in the mountains. What trainers usually don’t understand is that while in the Human areas, shiny Pokémon are a rare collectible being, in Pokémon areas, different coloring is considered to be a weakness, and shiny Pokémon are often attacked and killed before they ever reach their first year mark. Stormcry had been found starved and near death by the Pokémon Center, so Nurse Joy had taken him in, nursed him back to health, and kept him as her companion. But since the Pokémon breeding season, she’s been getting more and more annoyed at the Absol’s attempts to play. More than once the Pokémon had woken her from a sound sleep with a loud yowling cry, which was how she realized Olivia was having a nightmare.
Stormcry yowls softly, and then climbs onto the bed next to Nurse Joy and falls asleep, his reddish skin and fur fluffed up in annoyance at the human’s scolding. The two return to their sleeping, waiting for morning to come.