Chapter One – Champion

How did I get here? It seemed like just yesterday I was in my early teens, battling trainers for the thrill of it, meeting new people and growing up. Stopping Team Rocket and becoming Champion of the Johto region had just been part of the fun. Yet it made the adventure even more fun for me, and I never regretted a minute of it. In fact, it opened so many doors for me to meet even more people and become stronger. So, I had to ask again, how did I get here?

It was one in the afternoon on a quiet Monday; the grandfather clock down the hall chimed once, and then the house became silent once more. Hibiki had to be downstairs doing something—what, I had no idea. But there was no noise, nothing to break the silence that clouded our house. Normally I would have been up and about by now, but I would probably not get out of the house today. Or maybe tomorrow.

I had to admit, I was slightly embarrassed to still be living with a roommate at the age of twenty-four. It wasn't my age that embarrassed me, but the fact that poor Hibiki had to cater to my every need bothered me. He had never signed up for this sort of babysitting, and I was ashamed of myself for putting this on him. But whenever I told him that I could move back in with my mother—she would be happy to take care of me—he wouldn't hear of it. If he thought he was helping, he thought wrong. I only felt worse putting him through this.

Nevertheless, I couldn't just up and leave him here by himself. Not only could he not afford rent for our house by himself (as Champion of Johto, I made plenty of money and tried to take most of the rent; once again, he wouldn't hear of it), but I knew a part of him wanted to stay with me. If I left, it would break his heart. Seeing him in that pain… I couldn't do that to him. It was a lose-lose situation for me. There was no middle ground for the two of us.

Then, the silence shattered: the door-bell rang. I could hear voices almost immediately following the ringing. Hibiki's deep voice was alternating with an immature male voice. The voices echoed up the stairs, and despite Hibiki's attempt to be as quiet as possible, I could tell that he was getting annoyed with whoever was at the door; his voice continued to rise dangerously until, once again, silence fell.

My door opened, and Hibiki entered my room carefully, cautiously, not wanting to disturb my "slumber". But I looked at him with opened eyes, and he sighed. He closed the door behind him and sat down at the foot of my bed, just watching me for a moment. I couldn't help but wondering if the boy at the door was still waiting there.

"I didn't realize you were awake. Why didn't you call for me? I would have brought you up something to eat, Kotone." He didn't look annoyed with me, but I could tell that the boy had worn down his temper. Hibiki was just concerned, and he always got all hot and bothered when I didn't eat. But I just wasn't hungry. And I hadn't been for forty-six hours.

"I'm fine," I replied, and Hibiki's eyebrows furrowed.

"You are not fine, Kotone. You need to eat something. When was the last time you ate, anyway?" His fists were clenched, but he looked genuinely concerned. Well, I might not have had an appetite, but I supposed I should eat. I didn't want to worry Hibiki anymore than I had to, after all. "That's it! I'm going to go get you something right now!"

He stood, determined. "Wait!" I called before he got too far. He froze, his hand on the doorknob to my bedroom, and turned back to face me. I was lying flat on my back beneath the covers of my bed, my head supported by two pillows. I snaked my hands up to pull them out of the covers and reached one out to Hibiki.

"Who was at the door?"

"Oh!" He frowned, glancing down at the floor as if he could see straight through it. "Well, you know, it's not really that big a deal. It was just some stupid teenager." I narrowed my eyes, but quickly regretted doing so; I wanted to sleep some more. "Oh, fine. It was just some kid who wanted to challenge you, is all. I told him I would come check with you, but you're clearly not up to it today. You haven't eaten anything in days, and you look worse than usual." He jumped, rubbing the back of his head. "That's not to say that you look bad. You just… usually you're so pretty, and today you're just… Ack! Well, I don't mean that you're not pretty today, but you—"

"Go tell him that I accept his challenge."

This shut Hibiki up. He looked at me as if I had just grown five heads, clear shock written all over his face. "Wha—Kotone, are you crazy? I think you definitely need something to eat. And all this sleeping can't be good for you, either. I know! We can go visit Silver today, what do you think? Oh, no, maybe not. Perhaps he wouldn't mind coming over here, instead. Hmm, I don't know. I'm not sure if Silver will have to—"

I moved my hand to Hibiki's wrist, tugging on it gently to help me sit up. My lungs immediately felt stressed, and Hibiki cried out, putting his free hand behind my back. "Arceus, are you nuts, Kotone? What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to battle him."

"Like hell you are! You can barely get out of bed, never mind going outside and putting your whole soul on the line just for some stupid battle! You would never be able to win, anyway, not like this. You're too weak to battle right now. Can't you just tell him no? I'm sure he wouldn't mind coming back later…"

"No." I forced myself to stand, holding onto Hibiki's shoulders for support. The worst part of my condition was the dependence piece. I could barely do anything without someone's help. I had been so used to being on my own and taking care of myself that it was hard to come back to this. After leaving on my journey at such a young age, I learned all about the joys of independence. And, honestly, I preferred it. As much as I loved my friends, I loved being by myself, with just my Pokémon to keep me company.

Either way, I couldn't change anything now. I was stuck. I always had been one of the lucky ones. Out of the thousands of people who trained Pokémon, I was the one who became Champion. Out of all the people chasing after the Legendary Pokémon, I was the Chosen One. Out of the hundred-thousand people who could have gotten this disease, I was one of the few in my age range to get it. I was always on the short end of the statistics.

"I have to fight him. It's my duty as Champion to accept any challenge. Just because I am sick does not give me an excuse to forgo my responsibilities. I won't give up my title that easily. It would be dishonorable."

Hibiki's eyes widened, and I knew this fight was won. I had gotten my way.

And so I had. He helped me down the stairs and outside to see my challenger, a teenage boy who looked more annoyed than anything else. Though as soon as he saw me, his face dropped, and he only appeared dumbstruck. I did that to people. When people looked at me, I was sure that they expected to see someone stronger. But when I walked out the door, all they could do was stare. I didn't mind. It was probably a big shock to see me when they expected someone better.

"This is the Champion? Are you sure I came to the right place, dude?" The kid pulled himself back together and was staring at Hibiki, who tensed beside me. I held up a hand to stop him from doing anything stupid, though, in all honesty, I knew Hibiki couldn't hurt a fly. That was not to say that he wasn't a good trainer—he did participate in battles on occasion, but if he had the option, he would prefer just hanging out with his Pokémon instead of battling them. Well… now, anyway. He had sort of lost his spirit for battling.

"I apologize for my appearance," I said, and the boy looked back at me. "I haven't had anything to eat in a few days because I have been bedridden. I've attempted to fix myself a little bit whenever I woke, but… well, this was the best I could do. Please do not judge my strength based on what you see before you. I promise that this will be a challenging battle for you. Hibiki will be watching the match and calling the winner. It will be a six versus six battle, no switching allowed."

The boy smirked. "All right, great!" He pulled out a Poké Ball, looking determined. "Well, powerful Champion Kotone, I'm Asa! And you should prepare to lose!"

I smiled, picking out a Poké Ball from the bag that Hibiki had so kindly brought for me. I always wished that I could just let my Pokémon wander around the house freely, but it was too tiny for them. Things often got broken when they were in the house, so I had to keep them in their Balls. I knew they didn't mind; they understood why they couldn't come out in the house. Still, it had to be relaxing for them to come out now.

"Go, Meganium!" I noted to myself not to strain myself too much. I was already tired as it was, and Hibiki was right; I hadn't had anything to eat in a while. I definitely needed some nourishment.

Asa looked particularly smug since he had chosen a fire-type to send out first. I knew his Arcanine would never stand a chance against my Meganium, anyway. This boy was in over his head, skill-wise and attitude-wise. Until he realized that he needed to put more than just strength into his battles, he would never be able to win them.

I hoped he would realize this quickly. My Meganium was far too strong for his poor Arcanine—I would have to get some Super Potions for Asa later, though I hoped he carried some of his own, anyway. Asa, however, didn't look bothered as he recalled his Pokémon to its Poké Ball. He sent out a second one without another thought.

"Ah, so, are you a fire-type trainer, then?" I asked Asa. The look in the Rapidash's eyes matched that of its trainer. They both looked incredibly determined and haughty; I couldn't help but wonder if I had ever looked like that. Ah, but I had known the Champion quite well, so I felt no need to be so smug. I knew Wataru's strength when I entered that battle. I only wanted to prove myself to Wataru and make him proud.

"I'm not telling! I wouldn't want to give you the upper-hand once I defeat this Meganium. This is supposed to be a fair battle!"

I smiled. So, he was indeed a fire-type trainer. "Well, yes, I agree, it is supposed to be a fair battle. And it will be. But telling me your type-specialty won't necessarily give me an upper-hand. So long as you have trained your Pokémon well and treated them nicely, it doesn't matter what type you send out. Yes, the type advantage helps, but my Meganium just defeated your Arcanine, didn't it? It's all about the trust, not just brute strength."

Asa didn't look very happy with my advice. He attacked with that brute force, and I shook my head, disappointed. He could never win this battle.

A wave of heat rushed through my head, and I looked at the Rapidash. It was busy waiting for a command from Asa—nothing had happened. I put a hand to my forehead, quickly pulling it away from the burning. A fever. Well, I would just have to finish this faster. Asa wasn't listening to any of my advice, anyway. What more could he take from a drawn-out battle?

"Kotone!"

Hibiki's voice startled me. I hadn't even noticed that I had fallen to my knees. My chest felt heavy, making it harder to breathe, and my eyelids were ready to close. Maybe if we could just put this battle on hold just so Hibiki could go inside and get me some water and snacks. Once I put something into my body, I was sure I would feel better.

I just couldn't catch my stupid breath!

"Hey, Asa, stop for a minute." Heh, Hibiki sounded pissed.

Asa sounded even more pissed than Hibiki. "What? No, we're in the middle of a battle! If she stops now, she forfeits, and I win! Come on, Rapidash, attack that Meganium! It's not paying attention anymore! Get it while it has its guard down!"

That kid still has a lot to learn, I thought.

And I closed my eyes, succumbing to the darkness of unconsciousness.

Author's Note: Just a quick warning—this fanfiction does contain some sensitive themes. But I promise, it is all in good taste. I strive to make everything as realistic as possible while keeping everything appropriate and serious. Also, I explore some interesting topics in this—topics that show up every day, but no one really ever thinks about. We'll get to more of that later.

For the record, what Kotone has is an actual disease. I doubt it will ever be mentioned as to what it is in this fanfiction, for various reasons, but it is a real disease. I had to do some very careful and specific research for this; I did not make up these symptoms. I will not say anymore on the matter, just because I don't want to give anything away.

And, also, I promise that this won't just be an angsty, depressing fanfiction. You'll experience some happy moments, sad moments, angry moments. Like I said, this will be as realistic as possible. I believe many of you will enjoy it. :)

Oh, and I promise there will be some Silver in the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, alas.