Roark's POV 🪨

"A girl's gotta have privacy when staying over a guy's house for the night." I answered.

"That's valid and true...Your parents must've raised you well, for you to show respect to a girl like me." Y/n says as she smiled.

"I don't see why not. Otherwise, what kind of parent wouldn't teach their own child some manners and respecting one another?" I replied as I smiled back.

Then I left and closed the door behind me before returning to the room I was sleeping in.

Y/n's POV 🍒

By the time daylight broke, I woke up and yawned a little before getting myself ready to leave and battle the grass type gym leader, whose name is Gardenia, thanks to Roark for telling me hers and the other 6 gym leader's names.

But, I still couldn't get my mind off of how odd Roark was acting, during the night.

He seemed really bothered by something, even though I managed to cheer him up a little.

Thinking about that, I decided I was gonna stick around in his house a little bit longer, by having some breakfast with him instead of leaving and getting myself something to eat.

Looking over at my pokémon team, and the ones in the box, I smiled in adore, seeing that they're still asleep.

Deciding in not wanting to bother or wake them up, I putted the pokéballs away and back in my bag, before leaving the room to see if Roark's awake yet.

Glancing over at myself in the mirror, after stepping in the room, I noticed that I was still wearing his jacket.

I felt hesitant in taking it off, not only because of how much I enjoyed the scent, but the fact I felt less shy and more confident instead.

The emotions I've never had, were also included to this.

In short terms, the jacket made me feel like Roark's still nearby and with me, while cheering me on.

Tearing my gaze away from the mirror, I noticed Roark was awake, only he looked really out of it.

He was only sitting at the side of the bed, just staring at the wall and not blinking much, as my concern towards him started to grow more.

"Whatever got him up during the night, it must've worn him out..." I thought to myself.

Everything in the room was eerily silent.

It slightly made me feel uncomfortable and intimidated by this, just like the time when I first stepped into Professor Rowan's research lab.

At least until I found out that Rowan's actually nice. He just looks scary and someone you don't want to mess around with.

"Roark? Is everything okay?" I asked, wanting to break the silence and know what's wrong or bothering him.

Silence.

For a moment, I thought he wasn't going to talk and respond to me at all, until I saw him nod his head a little.

Walking over, I sat down next to him before noticing his face and ears were really pale, than what his skin color normally looks like.

That was the moment I instantly became worried.

Including the fact Roark's pokémon was going ballistic in their pokéballs, obviously trying to tell or warn me about something.

"Roark...What's going on? You're not talking to me, your face and ears are pale, and you're still staring at the wall." I say, the tone in my voice sounding a little bit stern.

Without any warning, Roark started coughing hard until blood came out.

Seeing that, I immediately got him off the bed and dragged him out of the room.

"No, Y/n! I'm fine! I'M FINE!" He started saying quickly.

"Oh, now, he suddenly wants to talk..." I thought, being sarcastic.

Grabbing a book from the shelf, I smacked him upside the head with it, easily knocking him out, before I continued on with what I was doing.

Pulling out my phone, I contacted the hospital and explained everything about Roark's current medical situation, before telling them that we'll be at the Poké Center for the time being, until they show up.

Then we hung up, as I resumed what I was doing.

Seeing that I was getting nowhere with dragging him, despite how heavy he felt, I randomly grabbed his pokéballs from the room and had his small pokémon come out.

"Hi! Could you help me get Roark to the Poké Center?" I asked, before getting an instant response from them, immediately willing to help me out.

Quickly going downstairs for a moment, I opened the front door and hurried back upstairs, as me and his pokémon worked together to get Roark out of the house.

When we got him out, I closed the door behind us and continued on our way to the Poké Center.

If Nurse Joy can help heal our pokémon back to full health, then I'm sure she can help give medical care to humans, even if it's for a short amount of time, until the medics show up to take him to the hospital.

By the time we made it and entered into the building, that's when my anxiety had lost it, since I had been trying to keep calm on the outside and on the inside until now.

"Someone, please help Roark! His face is really pale and he recently started coughing up blood earlier this morning!" I managed to say, as I panted a little, while his pokémon stood next to me.

Without hesitation, Nurse Joy and a few of the receptionists immediately came over and took Roark into a medical room, as me and his pokémon hurried after them.

After a while, it wasn't long before the medics showed up and had taken him away to the hospital.

Thanking and returning Roark's pokémon to their pokéballs, I tagged along with him, just to be sure that he'll be okay.

When we arrived, I sat outside the emergency room and waited, as the doctors were doing medical treatment to him.

Looking at Roark's pokémon, I could easily tell that they're worried about him.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll get him better..." I said, in attempt to reassure and cheer them up.

"If anything bad happens to him, I'll take you in and fill in as the rock type gym leader for him...I promise."

Judging by their reaction, I could tell they agreed and are currently hoping that he'll be okay and better too.