Chapter 37: Solemn Aftermath

When Sapphire woke up he found himself in a black and purple room lit by white lights. "God damnit, did I die?!" He struggled to sit up, looking around to try and see where he was. "I swear, if I'm in hell, I'm finding Satan and punching him in the face until he lets me out…"

"Not even you could fist-fight Satan."

Sapphire turned to see Lucario sitting in a chair next to the bed he found himself staring at him tiredly, with relief visible on his face. "You underestimate my power," he smirked in response. "Now, what exactly happened after I blacked out? Did ya win, son?"

"Oh shut up. Yeah, we beat Necrozma but, uh… how do I go about this…" He blinked at his Pokémon, sitting up further and pressing his back against his bed's headboard.

"What?" He lifted his arms above his blanket and reached out, attempting to pet Cobalt's head. "Did someone get hurt?" Cobalt just looked at him sadly and he blinked as he realized he couldn't feel Cobalt's fur. He was pretty sure that the Pokémon was close enough for him to pet… He looked at his arm and blinked when he couldn't find anything at the end of it besides some bandages wrapped around a stump.

"You kind of… overloaded your Z-Power Ring, and when it exploded it severed your hand."

Sapphire didn't say anything, just staring at his stump. He reached out with his other hand and shakily traced his fingers along the bandages. "...Oh." He blinked and winced as he remembered the booming sound of his bracelet shattering as phantom pain lanced through his arm. He shivered and shook his head. "Okay, that's alright. Uh, I'm sure that I'll adjust! It'll be totally fine!" He tried to grin and made to give a thumbs up, only for his stump to do nothing. He hesitated a moment and instead gave a thumbs up with his left hand, while Cobalt just sighed.

"Yeah. You'll be fine." Cobalt tried to smile as his Trainer tried to summon up his usual boisterousness, though it was nowhere close to what he was normally like. Even Sapphire's eyes seemed emptier than usual.

"...So. Where's everyone else? And where are we, anyway?"

"A hospital in the Ultra Megalopolis. Our team is with Willow, and she's in the waiting room right now. Noct's team was sent back to our Earth with Lunala. We've been waiting for you to wake up for a couple of weeks, now."

"I've been out that long?"

"Yeah. Luckily everyone here sees us as heroes, so we didn't need to go on some quests to get the money to stay here while we waited for you to wake." Sapphire smiled slightly before it fell again.

"Right. How long until we can leave?"

"I'll go find a nurse, or doctor, or whatever. Sit tight."

Cobalt exited the room and Sapphire continued to sit there, left to his own devices. He brought his arm back and looked down at the bandages, staring at where his hand should have been. Eventually, Cobalt returned, with a nurse following.

Just like the Ultra Recon Squad, she had the pale milky skin of a human that hadn't felt the sun's rays for a long time. Though, that did bring up the question of how close to humans they really were. Well, he wasn't exactly a biologist, so whatever answers he got he probably wouldn't be able to understand.

"Savior Sapphire, I'm happy to see you awake and well?"

"Not exactly well…" he muttered, his arm twitching. "Savior?"

The nurse winced slightly at the realization that she'd reminded him of what he lost. "That's what the people of the Megalopolis have named you and Savior Willow, as thanks for what you've done."

"Oh."

Cobalt shifted uncomfortably in the background, so the nurse cleared her throat. "Well, other than… what you're missing, you're in perfect health. Pokémon surely are a miracle with their healing abilities, aren't they?"

"Why couldn't they grow my hand back?"

"Er… your Pokémon, Victini was the species? Yes, your Victini Kagutsuchi managed to explain it enough that we could figure it out. Do you understand how cancer works? Cancer is when cells begin dividing uncontrollably, eventually killing a human when tumors form. Victini's cause accelerated healing through the gifting of energy, but attempting to restore limbs is dangerous, as too much energy can begin mutations that have a high likelihood of becoming cancer."

"Kagutsuchi tried to explain it to me on top of Megalo Tower, but didn't exactly know what cancer was to properly explain it."

"Right." He didn't say more, so Cobalt just coughed into his paw.

"In any case, we do have a question for you. You could be discharged now, and return to your world, or remain here for extra treatment."

"What extra treatment?"

"I'm sure you can see that our Earth is more advanced than your own. Savior Willow informed us about your own world's prosthetics, and it seems we are also advanced in that regard. Your wound is healed enough for the surgery to begin, but it's a delicate process, and then you would need the training to get used to the prosthetic."

"Training?"

"It is similar to the myoelectric prosthetic limbs your world has. It will be grafted directly into your nervous system, and it will have a sense of touch, but you'll still need to get used to a mechanical hand, and you'll need rehabilitation for the strain that the surgery can cause from grafting the machinery to you. Though it will take a shorter time than the rehabilitation would take on your world, you'll have a hand back."

"That sounds painful and dangerous."

"It doesn't matter. Might as well go through with it."

"Wh- Really?"

"Sure. Tell Willow that she can go back to Earth if she wants to."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," He nodded slowly.

He was just way too tired to act normal.

Willow entered Sapphire's room and saw the boy sitting up in bed, struggling to eat from a plate of food provided to him, only to fail at stabbing a piece of meat with his fork due to holding it in his non-dominant hand. He growled, before slamming the utensil onto the plate and throwing it to the side. Cobalt easily caught it before it could shatter and spill the food everywhere, setting it down on the table.

"You sure you don't want me to feed-"

"No! I can- I can feed myself. I'm just not hungry anymore." Willow glanced at the plate. The food had barely been touched. She didn't comment on it, however, instead knocking lightly on the doorframe.

"Hey."

He looked up. "Oh. Hi."

"So, I brought some of your Pokémon. The doctors said we can't crowd the room, so there are just a few of the smaller ones."

"Thanks." She waited for him to say more, but once he didn't just released his Pokémon. Puffball, Inferno, Hemlock, and Mimic appeared, Puffball and Mimic jumped into his lap, Puffball settling down to be pet and Mimic Transforming into a Furret to become a six-foot pillow to hug the Trainer. Inferno settled onto his head, pecking him lightly, and Hemlock used his vines to adjust his pillow and grab the plate.

"Sapphire, you need to eat."

"I just said I wasn't hungry, I know you all can hear me inside those Pokéballs."

"And we all know that's a lie," Inferno chirped back. "Eat up, flame brain."

Sapphire just rested his head against the headboard and sighed, letting Hemlock feed him. "Fine…"

"Are you alright?" Sapphire shrugged at her question.

"As good as I can be considering... pretty much everything."

"Right… So, what's the entertainment here like?"

"What, haven't watched any television while waiting for my ass to get out of here?"

"I've mostly been training. Haven't had much downtime besides that."

"Well, they've had some pretty crappy dramas playing. Everybody looks the same so I can't tell who's cheating on who. They take the trope of only wearing the same outfit to the next level, though I guess since it's the only way to tell them apart besides hair color I should be happy about that."

"Sounds interesting."

"Yep."

"Well, then… I guess I'll be going, then." Sapphire nodded at her, and Cobalt got up.

"I'll walk you out." They exited the room, and Cobalt sighed. "It's so… disconcerting seeing him like this."

"I'm sure it is. I've never seen him anywhere close to this down."

"We met Spooks after he tricked Sapphire into seeing his dad's grave and he was pretty… not good after that, but this is the longest I've seen him in such a state."

"Yeah. I just hope he can… I don't know." It hurt to see one of her only friends in such a state.

"He'll bounce back. Eventually. He's just still in shock right now, but I think he'll be fine, especially after whatever surgery they're going to do."

"Right. The leader of Team Solar won't give up that easily, right?" They both chuckled at her joke before Cobalt turned to go back to the room, and she continued on her way.

"Hey? Hey? Sapphy? Sapphy?" Sapphire groaned groggily and opened his eyes to see a blurry shape that looked vaguely like Chrysant. "You're awake! Yay!"

"Hey… what's up?" His mind was still slowed down partially from the sedatives that had been used to dull the pain. Unfortunately, he couldn't take them during the operation because the pain was a sign that the prosthetic was bonding to his system and he needed to flex his new hand to see if it was working. If they found out after it was all over that it hadn't bonded correctly, then they would have needed to completely remove it and start again, but thankfully now that it was over he could rest.

"Me and Claws were really worried about you! They said that the proc- proca-"

"Procedure," Claws supplied.

"Yeah, that, would be pretty painful!"

"Yeah, it was, hurt a lot…" He yawned. "Now I'm just really tired."

"I told Chrysant you would be, but she still wanted to see you."

"It's fine, it's fine… just don't bother the other patients…"

"There's no one else in here, though!"

"Man, you are really out of it."

"Drugs an… and all that." He turned over lazily and his hand flopped off of Claw's head and onto Chrysant's, causing the wolf to giggle… well, as best as a wolf could, anyway. His other hand, the newly grafted on mechanical one, was held down by some straps so he wouldn't accidentally hurt it by rolling around in bed.

Claws padded around the bed and sniffed at it, frowning. It had a metallic scent to it, but it was already starting to smell like Sapphire. Hopefully, his Trainer would get used to the thing as quickly as it was getting used to him.

I'm terms of looks, it didn't seem too special. Bandages were still wrapped around Sapphire's stump, hiding where the metal entered his body, except for a main, bone-like structure similar to the Radius and Ulna bones that jutted out from his flesh. Attached to that was the prosthetic's equivalent to the Carpal bones, and dozens of smaller metal plates formed the palm and main part of the hand, made to be just as flexible as a real hand.

The metallic fingers jutted out, about as thick as the fingers on his actual hand, and they twitched now and then as Sapphire murmured to Chrysant. The entire hand was colored a glossy black, the same as most objects in the Megalopolis. "I'm sure I'll be up in no time… after I finish up here we'll head back home. Bet you can't wait to bask in the sun, right?"

"Yeah, it's way too dark here, and not as warm as Alola! Necrozma is providing more light now but it isn't as good as an actual sun! Clawsy hasn't been able to relax in the sun since we got here!"

"Maybe that's because I don't really spend all my time relaxing in the sun back home anyway."

"No, you spent a lot of your time napping!" !"

Sapphire laughed sleepily, rubbing Claw's head. "Well, you'll get to sleep in the sun all you want back home. Once I'm done training or getting used to this hand thing or whatever… rehabil…tation… Ha… just call me Joker…"

"I think that medicine is making him delusional."

"Yeah, but it's pretty funny!"

"Don't make fun of our Trainer, please."

"Mmpphh…" Sapphire began snoring, and Claws sighed as Chrysant began laughing.

"Come on, let's let him rest."

Sapphire shakily lifted a fork with his prosthetic hand, even the slight weight of just the utensil and the food stuck to the prongs causing a bit of pain from where the metal fused to his flesh and bone. The training was going way too slowly for his taste, he needed to speed it up.

As he got more used to the thing, day by day, he felt himself slowly becoming more determined to master using it until it was natural, out of sheer stubbornness. He wasn't completely returned to his normal personality, but at least his bull-headedness was back.

"Zzt, c'mon, you can do it! Lift that fork!"

Rakai nodded along. "Y-Yeah! C'mon, Sapphire!"

"Sapphire, Sapphire, he's our man! If he can't do it, we'll lend a hand!"

Kagutsuchi looked at Spooks, who had somehow managed to find pom-poms and was waving them around like a cheerleader. "That joke may have been in… poor taste."

"I swear to the Creator, if you start making puns too…" Jaws jabbed a talon at him threateningly, causing Kagutsuchi to just giggle and do a small flip in midair.

Eventually, he lifted it enough to bite down, and the Pokémon around him cheered. He quickly stabbed another piece of food, wincing for a moment as he turned his wrist too fast. Just take your time…

A consequence of living in a world with no sun for several weeks was first, his tanned skin tone had paled slightly, and second, his downer mood didn't seem to get any better. Hopefully, he'd be broken out of his funk once they got home and felt the sun again.

"Oh hey, where's Willow?"

"She's outside training with her Pokémon," Kagutsuchi answered.

"Zzt, guezz she'zz getting ready for the Pokémon League. Oh wait, but there'zz still the Fairy Type Trial and the Grand Trial before we're qualified for the Pokémon League."

Spooks lifted a pom pom to his chin and tapped it as he hummed. "Guess we'll need to hurry up too if we want to be able to qualify for the Pokémon League on time!"

"The Professor said that the building needs to be built before they even decide on a date for the League, right? We probably have a bunch of time. Alola's all about the sun and moon, so I'm willing to bet the Pokémon League'll happen on a solstice."

"Zzt, why did you think so hard about that?" Volt questioned the land shark.

"I dunno. That's just how I do."

"My Knight, it's good to see you recovered." Solgaleo padded forward and lowered its head. He reached up, his mechanical hand clicking as he pet the metal lion on its forehead.

"Yeah. Up and at 'em."

"So. Are you ready to return home to Earth?"

He nodded at Willow's question. "Yeah. Guess I am." There was an awkward silence for a minute, before Sapphire got onto Solgaleo's back, Willow following. The Ultra Recon Squad was there to send them off, with Zossie waving at them.

"Make sure to come back and visit sometime!"

Dulse calmed her down by placing his hand on her head, before turning towards them. "While she may be excitable, do feel free to return whenever you wish, people of Alola. And we're sorry that helping with our matters caused you to lose—"

"It's fine." Sapphire shook his head and interrupted him, not wanting to get into it. "Don't worry about it."

"Savior Willow, I'm sure you'll take great care of that Poipole."

"Thank you, Soliera. Take care of yourselves, everyone."

"Savior Sapphire, are you sure you would not like a Poipole as well?"

"No, the prosthetic is thanks enough, don't worry." He smiled an empty smile, and Phyco sighed.

"Very well, Savior Sapphire. Take care of yourselves."

"You as well. Come on, Solgaleo. Let's go home." The lion launched into the air, flying higher and higher before glowing with energy as it roared and ripped open a hole in spacetime. Sapphire gripped Solgaleo's mane, his mechanical suit having been repaired and adjusted to fit with his new hand. He could see Necrozma, the Legendary's radiance nowhere near as bright as it had been during their battle as it recovered, but it was still visible in the gloom of the Megalopolis.

Necrozma nodded down at him, but they vanished into the Ultra Wormhole before he could decide if he wanted to nod back. "Even though I've seen this before, Ultra Space is still amazing…" he nodded at Willow's words, looking around as well.

"Yeah. It's… pretty cool."

When the uncomfortable silence fell yet again, he felt Willow shift behind him, her arms around his waist tightening. "You know, if Ultra Space could bring us to other worlds… that'd be some pretty interesting training for the Pokémon League, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Imagine, being the first human on another world. Sapphire Chaser, world trotter!"

A small smile pulled at the edge of his lips. "That does… sound pretty cool."

"How about it? Want to travel together? Didn't you say…" she paused and became silent for a few seconds. "You wanted to have a big dramatic 'asking out scene, right? What's more dramatic than some alien world for a first date?"

His smile grew wider at that. He knew how shy she was when it came to matters like this, so to stray so far from her comfort zone just to make him feel better… He shook his head, slapping himself with his prosthetic. "Alright, no more moping… gotta get back to normal." After he cleared his throat, he turned around and smirked, giving her a thumbs up. His smirk wasn't as stable as his usual ones, but at least it was close. "You've got it, Wils… I'll find some awesome alien world and ask you out just as a volcano erupts! Or maybe when the sun is setting… maybe during—"

"Alright, okay! That's enough!" She blushed and shook her head. "I get it!"

He gave a small chuckle, before turning forward. Yeah, just gotta stay positive. The remainder of the return to Earth was in comfortable silence.

With a burst of energy, Solgaleo exploded into the world, causing Sapphire and Willow to hiss in pain. Ultra Space may have had its own light, but it was calm and soft. On Earth, however, it was bright and glaring due to it being noon. As welcome as the warmth of the sun was, after weeks of dull artificial light while Sapphire gained and trained with a prosthetic, it's shine was not so welcomed.

"I am not quite sure how I feel about the fact that my Chosen doesn't enjoy the sunlight," Solgaleo chuckled.

"Shut it, can't you turn down the brightness a bit?"

"No, I'm not turning down the brightness on the sun."

"Psh."

"Don't you psh at me." They landed on the ground, and Sapphire pulled out Volt.

"Volt, send a message to Lillie that we're back in Alola."

"Zzt, gotcha!" They got off of Solgaleo as Volt did so, and Sapphire closed his eyes as he spread his arms and felt the sunlight.

"I'm going to go change out of this outfit," Willow spoke while indicating the mechanical suits they were wearing for safety in Ultra Space.

"Got it, I'll change after you." He looked towards Volt as he flew forward and showed him Lillie's response. "Keep an eye out for Lillie, apparently she'll be here soon." Willow walked off, going behind some pillars and emerging a minute later in her normal trainer clothes. He did the same but instead grabbed his ride clothes from his bag. Slipping out of the mechanical suit and stuffing it into his backpack.

As he put on the clothes, he made to remove his Z-Power Ring to make it easier to slip into his shirt. He stopped halfway, shaking his head. He still wasn't quite used to the ring not being on his wrist, even with him only having had it for a short time. Right now the shards of the crystals and bracelet were stored in his bag, and he wasn't sure what to do with them. Besides the stamps on his passport, the Z-Crystals were proof of how far he'd gotten in his journey, and he wasn't sure if the Pokémon League would accept registration from someone without all the Trial's Z-Crystals.

After putting on the outfit he looked at his clicking prosthetic. He'd need some gloves to go with his usual outfit, though that could be uncomfortable in Alola's hot climate… Either way, he wanted something to cover up his hands. He heard the flapping of wings and walked back out into the open to see Lillie on Lunala's back as the bat swooped down.

"Sapphire, Willow, Nebby!" Lillie tried to get off Lunala's back, only to realize she was slightly too high up to safely fall, and Lunala smiled as they let Lillie down gently. The blond quickly ran forward and hugged them both, before turning to hug Solgaleo. "I'm glad you're all okay. I know that you sent Nebbles back to tell us all what happened, but you were still gone for a while…"

"Well, you know. I wasn't sure how well you were handling losing your…"

A small grin spread across Sapphire's face at her words."Well… I'd say I handled it pretty well."

Lillie looked confused, before realizing what she had said. "Wait, no, I didn't mean- I wasn't trying to make a hand pun!"

"Lillie, it's fine." Sapphire shook his head and chuckled. "So, what's been going on around here?"

"Nebbles has been recovering at Aether Paradise… Mother set all of the imprisoned Pokémon she had free, and a lot of employees have quit, though the ones that had joined to help Pokémon have stayed."

"That's great! Guess Lusamine's trying to redeem herself, huh?"

"I would feel better with her in jail after what she made us go through," Willow sighed. "Though, I suppose trying to fix her mistakes is enough for now. Are there even any laws to arrest someone for almost erasing the light of the world?"

"Anyway, I guess Solgaleo should head back to Aether Paradise with you. I mean, Even if we're their Chosen whatevers, Solgaleo and Lunala were originally your Pokémon, right?"

"Oh, that's true… I was going to say that Nebbles should travel with you when you came back because I thought you would want to keep them close by…"

Sapphire shrugged, "Well, you've known them for longer than us, you know. They're your friends, and basically your Partners, like Cobalt and Cream are for me and Willow. It's completely up to you. And Solgaleo and Lunala, of course."

"I'm alright with whatever it is that Lillie chooses."

"I agree with the bright idiot."

"Come now, Lunala, must we always fight?" Solgaleo grinned at the bat, who just huffed with amusement at the lion.

"Well then…" Lillie closed her eyes and thought for a minute silently. "I guess… I'd like some time with Solgaleo and Lunala, but then they should travel with you. I want to eventually be able to stand on my own as a Trainer, and I can't do that with them by my side. I need Pokémon that I can help along their journey as they help me along mine, just like you all do."

"That's a great attitude to have! If you need any training along the way make sure to call us up!" Sapphire patted her on the shoulder, before turning to Willow. "What about you? After I send back most of my Pokémon to the Ranch, I'm going to see if Kahuna Hala can do anything about my Z-Power Ring, then go take the Fairy-Type and Dragon-Type Trials."

"I'll do something similar, but I'll be taking the Dragon-Type Trial right away. Oh, actually… whatever happened to Noct?"

"After he got his Pokémon back, he said he was going to wander around the islands to see if he could get an easy job that involved fighting strong Trainers."

"Of course he would," Sapphire groaned. "Well, I just hope he doesn't try joining another evil team or whatever. Oh well, alright, Solgaleo, Lunala, have fun with Lillie! I'll probably be in Hau'oli Village for the rest of the day if you need me, Solgaleo." He activated his Ride Pager to call a Charizard, all while Lillie got onto Lunala's back.

"Good luck on your journeys!" Lillie waved at them, before Lunala took off, Solgaleo following. They waved back before Sapphire's Ride Pokémon arrived. He climbed onto the Charizard's back, gripping the handles of the saddle as he prepared to fly away.

"Good luck with the rest of your Trials, Sapph."

Sapphire paused, before smiling at her. "Yeah. Good luck with the Dragon Trial, Wils! Now, Charizard, let's get going to Hau'oli Village!" The Fire-Type roared, before soaring off into the sky. Willow watched him go, thinking. There was still a hint of that emptiness he had felt during their time in the alternate Earth… but while his cheer was largely faked, she could tell some of it was real. Hopefully, the next time she saw him, he'd be feeling better.

For now, she needed to complete the Dragon Trial.

Sapphire entered the small village that the Kahuna lived in, stretching slightly. He had flown back and landed by the ranch, letting his Pokémon out to relax in the familiar setting, before making his way towards Hala's house after he had changed back into his normal clothes.

He walked towards the Kahuna's house, while absentmindedly grabbing Cobalt's Pokéball and tossing him out. Cobalt landed next to him, catching the ball and tossing it back to him. "So, we're seeing what the Kahuna can do about the shards of your bracelet?"

"Yeah. I mean, he's the one that refined it from the stone we got from Tapu Koko. He can probably do something with the shards." He knocked on the front door to the man's house and was greeted by the large man.

"Oh, why hello there, Sapphire! What brings you to my abode on this fine day? Oh, I see your Partner has evolved into a fine Lucario!"

"Yep. He's gotten pretty strong throughout our journey."

"Hell yeah I have!" Hala laughed at Cobalt's words, while Sapphire smiled slightly.

"Anyway, I came because I wanted to know if you could fix Z-Power Rings."

"Hm? Did you damage yours?" Sapphire pulled off his backpack and opened up the compartment he'd used to store the crystals and pieces of the ring. Hala's eyes widened and he rubbed at his chin. "Well now, I've never seen a Z-Power Ring so broken up! What exactly happened to it?"

"Well, I was kind of battling a powerful Legendary that was trying to kill me and Willow so I had to use multiple Z-Moves at once. It overloaded and shattered."

"Hm, that would do it. Well, I can indeed refine Z-Power Rings, but with only this much remaining…" The man rubbed his chin and thought as he stared at the pieces. "I'll see what I can do. Come back at sunset, and hopefully, I'll have something fixed up for you!"

"Thanks, Kahuna Hala. Come on, Cobalt. Let's go get some stuff in Hau'oli City for the team."

"Gotcha." They wandered out of the house and began walking towards the city, feeling the sun on them. "So, what're we getting in the city?"

"Just some regular things. A collar that can hold Claws' Everstone, something that can hold your Mega Stone, and some basic other stuff. I also need to get another Luxury Ball for you, and I might get paint, too, and paint Kagutsuchi's ball to make it cool looking. They are a Legendary, after all."

"Sounds cool. You should paint my ball too."

Sapphire shot him a deadpan look. "You get a Luxury Ball, silence yourself." They eventually reached the city, and Sapphire pulled out some money, handing it to Cobalt. "Here, head to the Pokémon Center and buy a Luxury Ball."

"Can I buy some candy too?"

"Uh, duh. Who doesn't want candy?"

"Sweet."

"Nice pun."

"That was not intentional." Sapphire just chuckled at Cobalt's grumbling, before the Lucario wandered off and he made his way towards a clothing store. Since clothing stores had stuff for both humans and accessories Pokémon, he could get both new gloves for himself and Cobalt and Claws' items.

Finding and entering the store, he looked around for the Pokémon section and walked into it, searching through the articles of clothing. He found several collars for dog and cat-shaped Pokémon and looked through them. He needed one that could fit around Claws' neck, as well as one with an opening to fit the Everstone in. Well, even if it didn't, he could buy one and sew a slot for one in.

He eventually found one that looked like it would fit Claws' neck and examined it. With the bright red, with black and gold flames decorating it, it matched Claws' coloration he'd gained from the Dark Ball. He grabbed it and began looking around for something that could work with Cobalt until an employee walked over. "Is there anything that you need assistance with?"

He hastily hid his mechanical hand in his pocket, while holding out the collar with the other. He wasn't sure why, he just wasn't comfortable with anyone acknowledging it probably. "Yeah, I was just getting a collar for my Torracat and something to hold my Lucario's Mega Stone."

"Oh, we carry stuff exclusively for holding onto a Pokémon's items." The man smiled and grabbed another collar that looked identical to the one he held, except it had a slot for an Everstone. "Here, I'll lead you to where we have armbands that can hold items." Down another aisle were several colorful armbands, armored so that they wouldn't break in the middle of a battle, like the collars.

He found one that looked like it would match Cobalt, a simple metal band with blue and black stripes with small spikes on it. "This is an armband that can hold Mega Stones, for humanoid Pokémon. What do you think?"

"Yeah, this is great, thanks." The employee smiled and walked away, while he walked towards a shelf that had gloves on it, picking up a pair of plain black leather gloves. He slipped them on to see if they were comfortable, before nodding and bringing his items to the registers.

After paying and grabbing the bag they were put in, he walked out of the store while clenching his hands. It was kind of weird wearing gloves when it wasn't winter… granted, he knew people could wear gloves for fashion, but he only ever wore them when it got cold out. Either way, he adjusted his new gloves and walked towards the Pokémon Center to meet with Cobalt.

Upon meeting back up with him, Cobalt tossed him the Luxury Ball while grabbing the bag to look into it. "So, what'd you get me?"

"The one with the spikes. What kind of candy did you get?" Cobalt handed him a half-eaten chocolate bar, causing him to roll his eyes before he began chewing on the rest. "I don't think chocolate is healthy for dogs to eat."

Cobalt scoffed as he slipped the armband onto his right arm, before placing the Mega Stone within the slot. "Call me a dog again, and I'll kill you."

"I'd like to see you try." He tapped Cobalt with the ball, sucking him inside before it pinged. He tossed him back out, walking back towards the ranch with a wave of his arm. "Come on, let's give Claws his collar." Cobalt smiled and watched him go. Yeah, he'd be just fine. "Hey, are you coming, or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

Whew, been having some internet troubles the past few days. Would have gotten this out sooner, but oh well.

Now, I did look some stuff up, and there have been some experiments to give prosthetics a sense of touch. But, since the Ultra Megalopolis seems to be much more scientifically advanced than our Earth, or the Pokémon Earth, I can assume that they are also incredibly advanced when it comes to prosthetics as well. At the same time, I didn't want Sapphire's lost hand to just be a simple shock thing at the end of the last chapter that he immediately got back easily, so I tried to make it seem like he was working through his troubles, training with it and depressed, yet at the same time, I didn't want to just make it a whole chapter of troubles.

So, I kind of jumped between scenes, making sure that it was shown that a lot of time was passing while keeping things brief. Of course, that won't be the end of things, this'll certainly affect how Sapphire battles in the future, now that he's gotten actual consequences besides losing a battle thanks to his recklessness.

On another note, I've gotten a couple of PMs with teams they want for the league, so I'm certainly happy about that! By the way, I was going to thank the people who sent me Trainers and teams for the league in the chapters that they battle in, but since some people don't want to be acknowledged, just let me know and I won't name you if you're embarrassed, I've certainly been embarrassed before when a character I've recommended shows up and I was thanked for the idea haha. Though, I've never been one to enjoy being named and taking the spotlight.

Next chapter we should be getting back to Omakes since the drama in the story is leveling out. I've gotten a couple of good ideas too after thinking about how Ultra Space allows for… well, readers of BBOH know how much I love multiverse theory. Welp, if you'd like, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. Slots are still open to Trainers, and teams, too!

Sapphire:

-Lucario, Cobalt

-Torracat, Claws

-Midday_Lycanroc, Chrysant

-Vikavolt, Storm

-Gengar, Spooks

-Noivern, Blast

-Talonflame, Inferno

-Seadra, Wave

-Rotom, Volt

-Eevee, Puffball

-Rapidash, Spirit

-Ivysaur, Hemlock

-Chinchou, Lumina

-Ditto, Mimic

-Bastiodon, Aegis

-Metang, IQ

-Kirlia, Rakai

-Gabite, Jaws

-Victini, Kagutsuchi

-Houndoom, Cinder

Willow:

-Meowstic, Cream

-Decidueye, Orion

-Slowking, Emperor

-Alolan_Muk, Abaddon

-Murkrow, Karasu

-Leafeon, Vigne

-Midnight_Lycanroc, Midnight

-Kirlia, Amour

-Marshadow, Erebus

-Poipole