" Hey, Gary, can I ask you a question?"

Gary, who was reading a report from Professor Rowan on his bed, nodded. " Sure. Ask away."

" Is it normal for my arm to be purple?"

Gary shook his head, eyes furrowing. " What typa question is that?"

" Because I think my arm's purple."

Gary immediately froze.

Slowly, very slowly, he looked up from his report. "Ash. What."

Ash, standing there with his usual careless grin, lifted his sleeve to reveal—yep. His arm. His very purple arm.

Gary’s book dropped onto the floor.

"Ash, what the heck?!" Gary practically launched off his bed, grabbing Ash’s wrist. "Why is your arm like this?!"

Ash blinked. "I dunno. That's why I asked."

Gary gawked at him. "You don't know?!"

Ash shrugged. "I woke up, and it was like this."

Gary’s eye twitched. "And you didn't think to tell me sooner?!"

Ash frowned. "I did tell you. Just now."

"Ash." Gary dragged a hand down his face. "How long has it been like this?"

Ash hummed. "Uhh… maybe since yesterday?"

"Yesterday?!" Gary’s soul nearly left his body. "Ashy Boy, do you have any idea how bad this could be?!"

Ash flinched at Gary’s sudden outburst. "O-okay, but like… it doesn’t hurt or anything!"

Gary shot him a look. "Oh, wow! That makes it so much better!"

Ash pouted. "No need to be sarcastic..."

Gary took a deep breath, trying not to lose his mind. "Sit."

Ash blinked. "Huh?"

"Sit down," Gary ordered, shoving Ash toward the bed. "I need to check your arm right now."

Ash plopped onto the bed with a huff. "You're overreacting."

Gary shot him a glare. "Your arm is literally purple, Ash. That is not something to just ignore!"

Ash crossed his arms. "Well, what if it just goes away?"

"Goes away?!" Gary had to physically stop himself from shaking Ash. "That’s not how the human body works!"

Ash huffed again, watching as Gary examined his arm with the intensity of a scientist discovering a new species.

Gary carefully pressed along Ash’s forearm, his face scrunched in concentration. "Does this hurt?"

Ash shook his head.

Gary pressed higher up, closer to the shoulder. "This?"

Another head shake.

Gary narrowed his eyes. "Any tingling? Numbness?"

Ash shrugged. "Kinda feels tingly, I guess?"

Gary's soul left his body again.

"That’s bad, Ash! That means something’s cutting off circulation! Your blood isn’t flowing right—your arm could be losing oxygen!*"

Ash blinked. "Oh. That does sound bad."

Gary deadpanned. "Ya think?!"

Ash smiled sheepishly. "…So, uh. What do we do?"

Gary sighed so hard he nearly collapsed. "First, we need to figure out why your arm is like this. Then, we fix it." He glanced at Ash. "And you’re not leaving until I do."

Ash groaned, flopping back on the bed. "Great."

Gary rolled his eyes, already grabbing his medical kit. "Yeah, well, that’s what you get for waiting an entire day to say something."

Ash grumbled, but let Gary get to work.

Gary’s head snapped up so fast he nearly cricked his neck.

“What?”

Ash, standing awkwardly by the door, lifted his sleeve and extended his arm. “Yeah, see?”

Gary’s eyes widened. Oh, that was not a good color.

“Ash!” He tossed the report aside and lunged off the bed, grabbing Ash’s wrist. His fingers carefully traced over the discolored skin, feeling for swelling or temperature changes. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”

Ash flinched at the sharpness in Gary’s tone. “I—I dunno, I thought it’d go away?”

Gary sighed through his nose, rubbing his temples. “Oh my Arceus, Ash, that’s not how this works.” He refocused on Ash’s arm, pressing gently. “Does this hurt?”

Ash winced. “Kinda?”

Gary frowned. “Can you move your fingers?”

Ash wiggled them stiffly. “Yeah, but it feels… weird.”

Gary sucked in a breath. “Okay, we need to elevate this now. Sit down.”

Ash’s stomach dropped. “Wait, is it that bad?”

Gary looked at him. “Your arm is turning purple, genius.”

Ash paled. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” Gary dragged over a pillow and propped Ash’s arm up. His mind was already running through possibilities—circulation issues? Allergic reaction? Bruising from the shot? No, not likely…

“What were you doing after the shot?” Gary asked, grabbing his med kit.

Ash scratched his head. “Uh… I think I fell on it? And then Pikachu tackled me? Oh! And I arm-wrestled Brock.”

Gary froze.

“…You arm-wrestled Brock?”

Ash blinked. “Yeah?”

Gary let out a long, pained sigh. “Ash. Buddy. Pal. You’re not supposed to do that right after a vaccine.”

Ash frowned. “Wait, really?”

“YES, REALLY!” Gary groaned. “You probably caused internal bruising, or you aggravated the injection site, or—” He paused, inspecting the area closer. “…Or you messed up your blood flow. Great.”

Ash gulped. “Sooo… what do we do?”

Gary exhaled sharply. “We ice it, we elevate it, and we hope it’s just bruising.” He glanced at Ash’s face and sighed again. “…And we definitely keep you from doing dumb stuff for at least a day.”

Ash huffed. “I’m not dumb.”

Gary shot him a look.

Ash averted his gaze. “…Fine, maybe a little dumb.”

Gary shook his head, pressing an ice pack gently against Ash’s arm. “Next time, just tell me when something’s wrong, okay?”

Ash hesitated. Then, with a small, sheepish grin, he muttered, “No promises.”

Gary snapped his head up from the report, eyes narrowing. “What do you mean your arm is—” His words died in his throat the second he saw Ash’s arm.

It was purple.

Not just a little bruised. Not a small discoloration. The whole limb looked like someone had grabbed a can of purple paint and dumped it on his skin.

Gary shot to his feet, tossing the report aside. “Ash!”

Ash blinked, his expression… strangely blank. “Yeah?”

“What happened?!”

Ash tilted his head. “Uh… I dunno?”

Gary grabbed Ash’s wrist—except the moment he touched it, he realized Ash wasn’t reacting at all.

His stomach dropped.

“…Ash,” Gary said carefully, trying to keep his voice calm, “can you feel that?”

Ash blinked again. “Feel what?”

Gary gritted his teeth. Okay. Okay, don’t freak out. Don’t freak him out. This was bad, but he already had an idea of what was going on.

“Ash,” he said, “can you move your arm?”

Ash furrowed his brows, focusing really hard—but his arm didn’t even twitch.

“…Nope.”

Gary exhaled sharply, pressing his fingers to his temple. “Okay. Alright. I need you to sit down.”

Ash obeyed, plopping onto Gary’s bed. “Is it bad?”

Gary crouched in front of him, carefully examining the arm. He pressed along Ash’s shoulder, down his bicep, checking for any breaks or swelling. He didn’t feel any fractures—just that awful coldness that made him want to panic.

It was a circulation issue. The blood wasn’t flowing right.

Gary inhaled deeply. “Okay, listen, Ashy Boy.”

Ash gave him a small, nervous glance. “Yeah?”

Gary placed his hands firmly on Ash’s shoulders, locking eyes with him. “You’re not gonna need a prosthetic.”

Ash’s breath hitched.

Gary’s gaze hardened. “I mean it. Don’t even think about it, got it?”

Ash bit his lip. “…But—”

“No ‘but’s,” Gary said firmly. “It’s not that bad. I promise.”

Ash hesitated, looking down at his arm. “It… It looks pretty bad…”

Gary exhaled slowly. “Yeah, it looks bad. But you know me, Ash. I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this.”

Ash clenched his fingers into the fabric of his pants. “Then… w-what is it?”

Gary softened a bit, tapping Ash’s hand. “It’s just oxygen, buddy.”

Ash blinked. “…Oxygen?”

Gary nodded. “Yeah. Your blood isn’t flowing right. That’s why your arm’s purple and numb. But I can fix it.”

Ash stared at him. “…Really?”

Gary smirked, squeezing his shoulder. “Really.”

Ash hesitated. “But, uh… how do you fix it?”

Gary’s smirk faltered. “…Well.”

Ash squinted at him. “Well?”

Gary scratched his cheek. “I kinda need to reset your shoulder…”

Ash blinked. Then blinked again.

“…W-wait.” His eyes widened. “You mean, like—like pop it back?”

Gary winced. “Yeah.”

Ash immediately jerked away. “NOPE. Nope nope nope nope!”

Gary sighed, grabbing his wrist gently to keep him from bolting. “Ashy…”

Ash whined, shoulders tensing. “No! No way! That’s gonna hurt!”

Gary squeezed his hand reassuringly. “I know, buddy. But if we don’t do it, you will need surgery.”

Ash froze.

Gary gave him a pointed look. “You really wanna go under the knife instead of just getting this over with now?”

Ash swallowed hard. “…N-no…”

“Then trust me.”

Ash let out a pathetic whimper.

Gary sighed, moving beside him. “Look. You can hug my arm if you want.”

Ash’s head snapped up. “Wait, really?”

Gary rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but only for this, okay?”

Ash hesitated for exactly two seconds before grabbing onto Gary’s arm, clutching it like a lifeline.

Gary shook his head fondly. “Alright, on three.”

Ash squeezed his eyes shut.

“One…”

Gary placed his hands on Ash’s shoulder.

“Two…”

Ash tensed up completely.

“—Three!”

POP!

Ash yelled, his grip on Gary tightening painfully—but then… a moment later…

“…Oh.”

Gary smirked. “Better?”

Ash blinked rapidly, flexing his fingers. His arm felt warm again. His nerves tingled, but it was there.

“…Oh!”

Gary chuckled, ruffling Ash’s hair. “Told ya.”

Ash huffed, pouting. “I still hated that.”

Gary rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. You’re welcome.”

Gary’s head snapped up from his report.

“...What.”

Ash, standing in the doorway, fidgeted nervously. His left arm—his entire left arm—was an ugly shade of deep purple, stretching from his shoulder down to his fingertips. It just hung there, motionless, like it wasn’t even his.

Gary stared. His brain stalled. Then rebooted violently.

“Ash—WHAT THE-?!” He launched off his bed, the report forgotten. “You’re just now telling me this?!”

Ash flinched. “I—I didn’t wanna bother you!”

Gary gawked at him. “Didn’t wanna bother me?! Ash, your arm looks like it belongs to a corpse!”

Ash squeaked.

Gary grabbed his wrist to inspect it—only for Ash to wince and jerk away.

Gary froze.

“…You can’t feel that, can you.”

Ash swallowed. “...No.”

Gary’s stomach dropped.

“How long has it been like this?”

Ash avoided eye contact. “...A few hours.”

Gary’s eye twitched.

“Ash Ketchum, I swear on Arceus himself—” He dragged Ash forward, forcing him to sit on the bed. “—do not move.”

Ash obeyed—mostly because he had to. His arm just sat in his lap, limp and completely unresponsive.

Gary immediately started checking circulation—pressing, poking, pinching. No real reaction.

Ash watched with a small, worried frown. “...Is it bad?”

Gary inhaled. Then exhaled. Deeply.

“It’s not great, Ash.”

Ash swallowed. “...Will I… have to…” He trailed off, unable to finish.

Gary didn’t need him to.

He knew why Ash hadn’t come sooner. The fear in his eyes said it all.

Gary’s face softened.

“Hey,” he said firmly. “Listen to me. Your arm isn’t dead, okay? You’re not losing it.”

Ash blinked. “I—what?”

Gary squeezed his good shoulder. “It’s just oxygen deprivation. The blood flow got seriously cut off, but I can fix it. No amputations. No prosthetics. You’re keeping your arm.”

Ash’s expression crumbled. He let out a shaky breath, eyes wet. “...You swear?”

Gary met his gaze. “I swear.”

Ash sniffled.

“...Okay.”

Gary nodded. “Good. Now, this is gonna hurt, but I need to get your blood moving again.”

Ash immediately stiffened. “H-hang on—”

“Nope, no hanging on.” Gary took his wrist, careful but firm. “This is happening.”

Ash whined. “But—”

Gary shot him a look.

Ash shut up.

Gary sighed. “Alright, buddy, you can grab my arm if you need to.”

Ash hesitated. Then, with his good hand, he latched onto Gary’s sleeve.

Gary rolled his eyes but didn’t shake him off.

“Okay, Ashy Boy. Deep breaths.”

Ash barely managed a nod before Gary pressed into his arm, working to force blood back through his veins.

Ash’s yelp echoed through the room.