Dedicated to lazuriteoftheskies for being adorable and all that other stuff! :3  

LOOK AT THIS COVER LIKE WHAT I LOVE IT

4: Medicine and the choosing

> > Rowan

The slight click of the door resonated through the lab, quickly being picked up by my practiced ears. Immediately I froze from my work, inspecting some odd stones hailing from the Kalos region that somehow could further a pokemon's evolution, to see who had entered. Sophia froze beneath my peripheral vision, my briefcase nestled under her arm.

Immediately I felt my blood run cold as my face reverted into a scowl. "Sophia, what are you doing?"

A small squeak escaped her lips as she looked down at the white tiled floor, ashamed. "I was getting your briefcase?" Her answer contorted into a question as she looked up with a hopeful look, most likely hoping to escape a scolding or a punishment. That, however, was not something that I could ever let happen.

"Didn't I tell you to put my case under my desk after we returned?!" I thundered. "There are important things in there, ones that cannot be replaced!" More important than your life, I thought bitterly.

"It-it's okay! Nathan and Lucas were watching it," she stuttered, her eyes becoming glassy with unshed tears. She gripped it tighter, as if to reassure herself.

"That doesn't matter! Someone could have tampered with my stuff before they noticed. Bring it here now," my voice echoed through the room, the lab having become even quieter than before her arrival.

She padded over hesitantly, each foot carefully placed, before holding out the briefcase in the flats of her hands. The twine was gone, and immediately setting off alarms off in my head. I snatched it from her, flicking open the top just as I let it fall to the metallic table surface.

All my papers lay in disarray, my writing utensils in no more of a mess than they usually were. However, the case was devoid of three small capsules that previously had laid in a small case, which was now shattered into pieces. I stood there, my hands supporting my weight as my legs threatened to buckle beneath me. The room seemed to fade away; the only thing left being a small circle of vision displaying the case.

"Professor? Professor?" Sophia's muffled voice cried out as panic became evident in her voice. Her unshed tears escaped in her confusion of what to do, several landing on my callused hand.

"Professor? Are you alright?" A familiar voice asked me, a pair of hands supporting me to a chair. Having shifted positions, I could now only see the tiled floor. My head twisted around frantically, desperately trying to get my savior into my limited line of vision. Despite the voice being familiar, I couldn't recall whom it belonged to; that terrified me, because I knew many people.

"Who is this?" My voice came out like a terrified child's; a voice I hadn't heard myself make for a while.

"It's Nathan," the voice reassured. "Lucas is here too. Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not! Did you see anyone near my briefcase before you found it?" MY hands found the armrests, and clutched them tightly in worry.

"No..." he trailed off. "The thing is, we may have been bringing it to you when the twine broke, and all the stuff fell out. We were attacked, so we borrowed two of them. We may have forgotten to put all three back in the case when Sophia took it..."

"No! Bring me my medicine Alan!" Steps neared me, one of the scientists pressing a small rounded cylinder into my palm. I twisted the safety cap off quickly, popping two pills into my mouth to swallow. My leg bounced around uneasily, impatient for the drugs to come into affect. When they began to, I could feel my heart begin to return to its usual pace and my eyesight return.

As I came to, I could see Sophia still standing beside me, wiping the tears from her eyes on her sleeve. Nathan stepped up to me, having been standing in a hushed conversation with Lucas, and produced two capsules.

"Two?" My eyebrow raised, anger still radiating off of me. "Where is the last one?"

"We forgot it at the lake," Lucas said sharply, his own silent rage apparent in his voice.

"I'll go get it!" Alan's voice called, his figure already halfway out the door. With the click of the door, I released the two creatures to examine immediately.

Chimchar and Piplup appeared warily, their usual demeanor gone. Upon their eyes landing on Nathan and Lucas, Chimchar bounded over to cling Nathan's leg while Piplup only stared at Lucas. Picking up the small blue bird, I gazed into its eyes. He then wriggled out, sliding beneath the table to hide.

"Chimchar, come," I called, and it bounded right back, tugging Nathan's pant leg to get him to follow. I didn't have to look closely to see what had happened. 

"We're really sorry! We didn't mean to, and I know they don't belong to us!" Nathan apologized profusely, while Lucas only averted his eyes from the two pokemon. Sophia had disappeared, most likely to the bathroom.

"Nathan, Lucas, sit down." I tugged two rolling chairs over, and they sat down uneasily. "You two... have been chosen."

---

Slightly shorter than usual at about 900 words, but I wanted to update as it's been maybe 20 days since the last update. Sorry, I've been busy! 

So the Pokemon Watties has opened up early this year, and I might enter Eighteen. However, I'm not sure if it will meet the rules, or if I'll be finished by the deadline, so who knows?

2/1/16 unedited