Alex couldn't stop the blood with his hands. It trickled through his blood stained fingers and splashed down onto his trousers, soaking through to his skin. He stopped running for a moment to catch his breath. As quickly as he could, he took off his shirt, fighting the urge to scream as he wriggled his wounded arm through the hole. He wrapped the now red shirt around his arm tightly sending a wave of pain and nausea through him. It passed after a moment or two. His makeshift bandage did a good job of soaking up the blood and applying pressure to the wound but it wouldn't last forever; he needed to get out of the forest.

"Alex, what happened back there?" Lenny asked as they ran.

"I don't know." Alex panted. "Garchomp went completely berserk and wouldn't listen to me at all..." his voice tailed off. What had happened? Why had Garchomp attacked him? He couldn't think about it right now, he could barely focus enough to keep his legs moving. He'd never experienced pain quite like it. Garchomp's claws hadn't just cut him, they'd ripped and torn both skin and muscle, creating a valley in his arm that almost went to the bone. After what felt like a lifetime, they made it back to the Azelf dorm.

"Not far now to the medical room." Lenny said in a positive tone, trying to reassure him that everything would be fine.

"Good, I'm not feeling great." Alex breathed heavily, stopping to try and regain some energy. He hadn't eaten for hours and he was feeling horribly faint and dizzy. He felt his vision going slightly blurry as he attempted to shake off the dizziness. Vaguely, Alex made out several figures running towards him. Great, he thought, this was the perfect condition to be in when his fan club arrived. Slowly, he slipped out of consciousness.

*

Megan was still worried about how Bella would react to her feelings regarding Alex. It was so blatantly obvious that she was not ok with it. It was crystal clear that she was at least interested in Alex. Whether her thoughts were romantic or not, she held that very close to her chest but Bella was no actress. She did not like the idea that Megan liked him.

"Don't worry Megs, you'll get a chance to talk to him at some point." Lucy said. They'd been sitting outside the Azelf dorm on a picnic table doing their homework whilst gossiping about boys for hours. Lucy was confident that one day Alex wouldn't be extremely hyper, running around all the time, with no room for settling down for a two minute conversation.

"I wouldn't bet on it," Bella replied, "You know what he's like." Bella on the other hand was very pessimistic about the whole thing. At least they'd given Bella a chance to speak her true feelings. Megan felt like she'd done the right thing for her friend and now all she needed was to find the right moment.

"I know what he's like. But I know what I like. And I like what I know. See the point I'm making?" Megan grinned. Bella rolled her eyes. Alex would've laughed at that.

"So how're you gonna do it?" Lucy asked.

"I was just gonna sort of ask."

"That's it!" Lucy gasped., horrified by some kind of crime or sin which Megan didn't even know she had committed.

"Yeah, I guess I hadn't thought about it much." Megan admitted. Lucy sighed and shook her head.

"C'mon Megs, if you're gonna do this you've got to do it right." She explained. "Guys don't normally get asked out. It makes them feel less macho inside. So you've got to hit him up with such an amazing, convincing line that he has no choice but to say yes."

"Really?" Megan sighed. "How do I do that?"

"Only you can decide that." Lucy smiled. Throughout this part of the conversation, Bella had remained silent, focusing only on her work and barely even listening to her friends talk. Megan had a really bad feeling that their friendship may end because of Alex. No matter how much she liked a boy, she'd never let them come between her and her friends.

"Oh look, they're back." Bella said, pointing to the bridge where Alex and Lenny were running. Immediately, they knew something was wrong. Alex was not so much running as he was staggering and he was grabbing his arm with some kind of red cloth. They stopped running. Alex looked extremely out of breath. He looked hurt.

"Um, guys, I think we should get Brock." Megan said. Lucy was first to react, jumping up and sprinting back inside. Megan and Bella went for the two boys to find out what was really wrong. As they got nearer it became clear that the red cloth on Alex's arm was not a cloth but his shirt, ripped and bloody. In the back of Megan's mind she realised that his chest was completely exposed. She thought to herself just how good looking Alex was despite his face being pale green and his hair being a complete mess.

"Alex!" Bella cried as they reached him but it was too late to talk. Alex had fallen to the ground, groaning, no longer conscious.

"Lenny what happened?" Megan asked as she turned Alex over so that lay on his back and could breathe properly.

"We were out and then we caught and then we fought and then he got hurt." Lenny panted. He too was completely out of breath. Just how far had they gone into the forest?

"Brock's on his way." Bella informed him, trying to sound positive but it wasn't working. She was worried. So was Megan. Judging from the shirt that had been hastily wrapped around his arm, he'd lost a lot of blood and he may not have much time left to seal the wound. They couldn't wait for Brock.

"Bella, help me take him to medical." She said firmly, trying not to show her worry. Bella nodded and together they hauled him off the ground, each taking one of his arms around their shoulders as well as grabbing his side to steady him. Megan felt her stomach getting the Butterfrees as she placed her hand on Alex's exposed skin.

"Urgh..." Alex moaned as Megan moved his wounded arm round her shoulder. Even through the soaked and stained shirt, blood trickled onto Megan. The girl within her screamed at her now ruined shirt but she didn't really care about it. What she cared about was the unconscious wounded boy that needed medical attention as soon as possible.

*

When Alex awoke, he was surrounded by worried faces. There was Lenny, the trio of girls, Brock and Nurse Joy.

"Alex!" Lenny breathed a sigh of relief. "How're you feeling?"

"Been better." he mumbled quietly. He couldn't really remember how he had gotten to where he was; in the medical room, laying in a hospital bed with a cast on his arm. Alex wondered how long he'd been out for. "But I guess it's only my left arm, that's not my Pokéball throwing arm."

"Pokéball throwing?" Nurse Joy laughed. "You're not going to be doing any battling for some time."

"What?!" He cried out, bolting upright, horror stricken.

"Calm down Murphy." Brock said. "Nurse Joy isn't just beautiful, she's an expert and she says it could be dangerous for you to battle until you're fully healed. You'll risk aggravating the injury."

"Great." Alex groaned. "How long is it gonna be?"

"We'll take off your cast and check how you're doing in four weeks." Joy explained. It looked as though she hadn't even heard Brock's compliments. With the two adults finished in lecturing Alex, Brock pulled Nurse Joy away for a much more private talk.

"Well this is just great." Alex sighed as he slumped back down onto the bed. He definitely wasn't going at least four weeks without battling.

"Don't worry about it." Megan said. "You'll be up on your feet in no time."

"Oh yeah, I'm not gonna take their advice." Alex nodded. "I've got things I need to work on." Specifically Garchomp, he thought to himself. Losing control of his own Pokémon had been frustrating but actually being attacked by it was too much. Alex didn't know if he could ever risk using Garchomp again. He may need to release it.

"Alex, what did they literally just say?" Bella sighed.

"Bella, you know who I am. I do my own thing, not what other people tell me to do."

"Alright fine then. But if you hurt yourself even more then don't blame it on anyone else."

"Knock it off guys." Lenny said. "Any ideas yet as to why Garchomp attacked you?"

"I... I don't know Lenny." Alex admitted.

"A Garchomp attacked you?" Megan gasped.

"Not just any old Garchomp." Alex said. "The Garchomp I captured when we went out to catch some new Pokémon."

"Your own Pokémon attacked you?" Bella asked. Alex thought he could sense a hint of a smirk on her face. She never had any trouble controlling her Pokémon. For once, she had something over Alex.

"Yes, my own Pokémon attacked me ok?" He said, raising his voice slightly. "I don't know why but it happened so we don't need to keep going on about it, ok?" His friends looked shocked at his sudden outburst. He hadn't meant to shout but he just hadn't been able to control his emotions properly. He was extremely shaken up from this whole thing. It had left him hurt and for probably the first time in his life, scared. "Sorry." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes.