Cold
Torchic W. Pip
Here, Queer, and Utterly Glorious
In which Archie takes care of Wallace.
This isn't canon to the Facadeverse. I just saw a Tumblr post about the villain taking care of a sick hero (forgot which post sadly).
CW// Sickness, Vomiting, Being Really Cold
Archie would have never expected to find Wallace passed out on Lilycove Beach in the middle of a rainstorm. But here was Wallace, sprawled on the wet sand, paler than his soaking wet cape and beret, shivering and barely conscious.
Had Archie found him before the Weather Trio Crisis, he would have surely used the opportunity to kidnap the Gym Leader and hold him hostage or coerce him into joining Team Aqua. Archie didn’t hate Wallace—after all, he was a fellow lover of the ocean and her people—but he was a Gym Leader. In other words, he stood against Team Aqua’ plans of flooding the world. He was an enemy in those times.
But that was then, and this was now. Archie was trying to atone for his nefarious deeds, and Wallace… Well, Archie wasn’t sure what Wallace’s opinions of him were, though Wallace probably liked Archie more than Maxie.
Archie didn’t pick up Wallace and take him as a prisoner, but he instead bent down next to him and tried to shake him awake.
“Hey, Wallace, you alive?”
Slowly, Wallace opened his eyes. A flash of lightning appeared in the sky, followed close behind by a roar of thunder. Wallace flinched at the sound. Rain continued to pelt the ground relentlessly. It was impossible to even look a few feet in front of oneself.
“What the hell are you doing here, punk?!” Archie yelled.
“Where… Where am I?”
“Yer on the shores of Lilycove City! Watcha doing out here in the rain?”
Wallace sat up. He swayed a little from side to side and tried to make eye contact with Archie.
“Home.. Contest... Storm...”
Wallace keeled over and collapsed on Archie’s arm.
"Sootopolis City. Please.”
Archie scooped up Wallace in his arms.
“There’s no way yer making it to Sootopolis City like this. I’m taking you back to my place for the night. Don’t worry. I’ll call your folks and all that and tell them where you are. I’ll make sure you get better.”
Archie looked up at the rain. There was no sign of it stopping. Archie didn’t mind the rain, but he was concerned about keeping Wallace dry.
“Sorry about this,” Archie sighed.
Wallace seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open. Archie held him tighter and arched his back forward a little more in an attempt to shield Wallace from some of the rain.
“Sharpedo.”
A beam of red energy poured out of the Pokéball on Archie’s belt, and a Sharpedo materialized from it.
“We got a sick sailor on deck. Full speed ahead as gently as we can.”
-
Many of the Team Aqua grunts had moved out of the hideout once the team disbanded. Although a few still stuck around because they had nowhere else to go, many of the dormitories were completely barren.
Archie lay Wallace down on one of the beds in one of the empty dormitories. Wallace was still shivering, and his cheeks were pink from how cold he was. His clothes were soaked from the rain, and that certainly didn’t make things any better. He didn't seem to register the fact that Archie, former leader of Team Aqua, was taking care of him. Perhaps that was for the best.
“Do you have any of your Pokémon with you?” Archie asked quietly.
With shaky hands, Wallace fumbled with a Pokéball and handed it to Archie.
“My Milotic,” Wallace mumbled.
Archie took the Pokéball and tossed it into the air. Out came Wallace’s Milotic. At first, she tensed up and looked around with fear in her eyes, but Archie said, "I'm sorry about this. Your friend isn't feeling well, and I'm trying to help him out. Watch the scamp for me, will ya?” Archie stood up and began walking towards the door. “I need to get him some dry clothes.”
Archie went to his room, where he found some black sweat pants and an old, blue and white striped sweater. They were probably too big for Wallace, but at least they would be warm and comfortable.
On the way back to the dormitory, Archie passed by Shelly.
“I haven’t seen you wear those in years,” she said. “Do you really think they’ll fit you?”
“They’re not for me,” Archie replied. “They’re for a friend.”
“Matt?”
“Nah, Matt’s on vacation in Johto. These are for another friend.” Archie began walking away. “Try to stay out of Room Mudkip. My poor friend’s sicker than a Poochyena.”
Wallace wasn’t on the bed when Archie returned. In fact, he didn’t seem to be anywhere in the dormitory. Milotic was still there.
“Where the hell is Wallace?!” Archie shouted. His voice was harsh, but he was more worried than anything. For all he knew, Wallace could have left the hideout in a delirium and seriously injured himself. That would be really bad.
Milotic jerked her head towards one of the bathrooms. The dormitory had four bathrooms—there were eight beds, so in Team Aqua times, two people shared one bathroom.
Archie reached his hand towards the doorknob, but stopped when he realized that it probably wasn’t the best idea to open the door so suddenly given the context. Instead, he pounded his fist on the door.
“Wallace? You in there?”
Wallace opened the door, leaning on it for support. He looked even more miserable, if such a thing was possible, and his breathing was more labored.
“Geez, scamp! Did you lose your lunch or something?!”
“I think I lost more than my—“
Wallace froze and snapped his hand over his mouth. A wave of terror flooded in his eyes before he gagged up a stream of yellowish, foamy vomit onto the floor.
“Shit!”
Archie pushed Wallace back into the bathroom—being careful not to step in the puddle of puke on the floor—until Wallace was kneeling on the floor, leaning over the toilet to vomit. Archie stood over him. His instinctive anger was starting to fade away, and he knelt down to take off Wallace’s hat and pat his back as softly as he could.
“Don’t choke or anything, scamp.”
Wallace gave Archie a weak, shaky thumbs up, too busy shivering and coughing up bile to say much else.
After a concerningly long amount of time, Wallace finally started coughing up nothing. Eventually, he caught his breath and collapsed against Archie. His half conscious gaze turned to the doorway.
“I’m sorry for spilling my guts out on your hideout.”
Well, at least he was speaking in coherent sentences.
Archie looked over at the puddle in the doorway and sighed. “I’ll clean it up. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Listen pal, you’re sick. You didn’t really have much control over where or when you threw up.”
“I’m sorry—“
“WOULD YOU STOP SAYING SORRY?!”
Wallace backed up against the wall and stared at Archie like a terrified child. Poor scamp...
“Ok, ok," Wallace whispered. "I’m sorry.”
Archie shook his head.
“Come on, scamp.”
Archie picked up Wallace and carried him into one of the other bathrooms, placing him against the wall. Wallace hung his head.
"Shampoo and other shower things are in the sink cabinets, if you wanna take a shower. Drink some water before you do, will ya?" Archie stood up. “Milotic? Help the scamp change into these.” Archie tossed the sweater and pants onto the bathroom counter before leaving the dormitory again.
“Shelly?” he called. “Is Bob still around here?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“My friend threw up. Bob never seemed to mind dealing with that stuff. Tell him not to be alarmed by my friend, and tell him that if my friend says sorry even once… ah, never mind.”
-
"Hello, Ms. Papadaki. This is Archie."
There was silence on the other end of the line, then Nicole spoke: "What do you want in exchange for Wallace? I'll pay whatever you want."
Shit. Better not sound like I kidnapped him. "Nothing. I don't want anything. But I have Wallace." So much for not sounding like you kidnapped him. "Not like that. Not for ransom or anything. He's sick. Like, really sick. I found him on the shore and.... well, he was out of it."
"...So that's where he went after the Contest."
"I'm taking care of him at my place, but if you want, I can take him to his house... or the Pokémon Center."
"Yes, the Lilycove Pokémon Center would be good."
"I'll drop him off like a baby."
The way Nicole chuckled indicated to Archie that this conversation wasn't going too bad after all.
-
When Archie returned to the dorm, Wallace was hanging his head over a bucket that Bob had left. A thin string of spit and vomit was dripping from his mouth. At least it wasn’t getting on the floor, and at least he had managed to change into the dry clothes.
The clothes were a bit big for him, but at least he looked a little warmer.
"Open your mouth," Archie coaxed. "Come on, buddy... there you go."
Wallace's glazed eyes stared down at the thermometer as the number went up: 37... 38... 39... 39.6 degrees Celsius.
"Oh no," Archie mumbled, pulling the thermometer out of Wallace's mouth (with very little effort). "That's not good."
Wallace collapsed—not on the bed, but against Archie.
"Milotic—"
"Victoria," Wallace mumbled. "Her name's Victoria."
Archie looked down at Wallace.
"Victoria? That's a pretty name." Archie cleared his throat. "Victoria, we're taking Wallace to the Pokémon Center. I'm not a doctor, and Wallace's sister misses him."
-
Wallace woke up in an unfamiliar bed, wearing unfamiliar clothes, watched by an unfamiliar person.
The person was a Nurse Joy. The clothes looked like a Team Aqua uniform, and the bed seemed to be in... a Pokémon Center dorm.
"What happe—"
"Shh, it's okay, Wallace. You need to rest. You may be doing better, but you still need rest. Would you like to see your sister?"
"I had a dream."
"Oh?"
"I dreamed that a former enemy found me on the brink of death and brought me here."
Nurse Joy smiled.
"Well, someone brought you here the other day. He didn't say who he was, but he said something about trying to be a better person step by step."
This isn't canon to the Facadeverse. I just saw a Tumblr post about the villain taking care of a sick hero (forgot which post sadly).
CW// Sickness, Vomiting, Being Really Cold
Archie would have never expected to find Wallace passed out on Lilycove Beach in the middle of a rainstorm. But here was Wallace, sprawled on the wet sand, paler than his soaking wet cape and beret, shivering and barely conscious.
Had Archie found him before the Weather Trio Crisis, he would have surely used the opportunity to kidnap the Gym Leader and hold him hostage or coerce him into joining Team Aqua. Archie didn’t hate Wallace—after all, he was a fellow lover of the ocean and her people—but he was a Gym Leader. In other words, he stood against Team Aqua’ plans of flooding the world. He was an enemy in those times.
But that was then, and this was now. Archie was trying to atone for his nefarious deeds, and Wallace… Well, Archie wasn’t sure what Wallace’s opinions of him were, though Wallace probably liked Archie more than Maxie.
Archie didn’t pick up Wallace and take him as a prisoner, but he instead bent down next to him and tried to shake him awake.
“Hey, Wallace, you alive?”
Slowly, Wallace opened his eyes. A flash of lightning appeared in the sky, followed close behind by a roar of thunder. Wallace flinched at the sound. Rain continued to pelt the ground relentlessly. It was impossible to even look a few feet in front of oneself.
“What the hell are you doing here, punk?!” Archie yelled.
“Where… Where am I?”
“Yer on the shores of Lilycove City! Watcha doing out here in the rain?”
Wallace sat up. He swayed a little from side to side and tried to make eye contact with Archie.
“Home.. Contest... Storm...”
Wallace keeled over and collapsed on Archie’s arm.
"Sootopolis City. Please.”
Archie scooped up Wallace in his arms.
“There’s no way yer making it to Sootopolis City like this. I’m taking you back to my place for the night. Don’t worry. I’ll call your folks and all that and tell them where you are. I’ll make sure you get better.”
Archie looked up at the rain. There was no sign of it stopping. Archie didn’t mind the rain, but he was concerned about keeping Wallace dry.
“Sorry about this,” Archie sighed.
Wallace seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open. Archie held him tighter and arched his back forward a little more in an attempt to shield Wallace from some of the rain.
“Sharpedo.”
A beam of red energy poured out of the Pokéball on Archie’s belt, and a Sharpedo materialized from it.
“We got a sick sailor on deck. Full speed ahead as gently as we can.”
-
Many of the Team Aqua grunts had moved out of the hideout once the team disbanded. Although a few still stuck around because they had nowhere else to go, many of the dormitories were completely barren.
Archie lay Wallace down on one of the beds in one of the empty dormitories. Wallace was still shivering, and his cheeks were pink from how cold he was. His clothes were soaked from the rain, and that certainly didn’t make things any better. He didn't seem to register the fact that Archie, former leader of Team Aqua, was taking care of him. Perhaps that was for the best.
“Do you have any of your Pokémon with you?” Archie asked quietly.
With shaky hands, Wallace fumbled with a Pokéball and handed it to Archie.
“My Milotic,” Wallace mumbled.
Archie took the Pokéball and tossed it into the air. Out came Wallace’s Milotic. At first, she tensed up and looked around with fear in her eyes, but Archie said, "I'm sorry about this. Your friend isn't feeling well, and I'm trying to help him out. Watch the scamp for me, will ya?” Archie stood up and began walking towards the door. “I need to get him some dry clothes.”
Archie went to his room, where he found some black sweat pants and an old, blue and white striped sweater. They were probably too big for Wallace, but at least they would be warm and comfortable.
On the way back to the dormitory, Archie passed by Shelly.
“I haven’t seen you wear those in years,” she said. “Do you really think they’ll fit you?”
“They’re not for me,” Archie replied. “They’re for a friend.”
“Matt?”
“Nah, Matt’s on vacation in Johto. These are for another friend.” Archie began walking away. “Try to stay out of Room Mudkip. My poor friend’s sicker than a Poochyena.”
Wallace wasn’t on the bed when Archie returned. In fact, he didn’t seem to be anywhere in the dormitory. Milotic was still there.
“Where the hell is Wallace?!” Archie shouted. His voice was harsh, but he was more worried than anything. For all he knew, Wallace could have left the hideout in a delirium and seriously injured himself. That would be really bad.
Milotic jerked her head towards one of the bathrooms. The dormitory had four bathrooms—there were eight beds, so in Team Aqua times, two people shared one bathroom.
Archie reached his hand towards the doorknob, but stopped when he realized that it probably wasn’t the best idea to open the door so suddenly given the context. Instead, he pounded his fist on the door.
“Wallace? You in there?”
Wallace opened the door, leaning on it for support. He looked even more miserable, if such a thing was possible, and his breathing was more labored.
“Geez, scamp! Did you lose your lunch or something?!”
“I think I lost more than my—“
Wallace froze and snapped his hand over his mouth. A wave of terror flooded in his eyes before he gagged up a stream of yellowish, foamy vomit onto the floor.
“Shit!”
Archie pushed Wallace back into the bathroom—being careful not to step in the puddle of puke on the floor—until Wallace was kneeling on the floor, leaning over the toilet to vomit. Archie stood over him. His instinctive anger was starting to fade away, and he knelt down to take off Wallace’s hat and pat his back as softly as he could.
“Don’t choke or anything, scamp.”
Wallace gave Archie a weak, shaky thumbs up, too busy shivering and coughing up bile to say much else.
After a concerningly long amount of time, Wallace finally started coughing up nothing. Eventually, he caught his breath and collapsed against Archie. His half conscious gaze turned to the doorway.
“I’m sorry for spilling my guts out on your hideout.”
Well, at least he was speaking in coherent sentences.
Archie looked over at the puddle in the doorway and sighed. “I’ll clean it up. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Listen pal, you’re sick. You didn’t really have much control over where or when you threw up.”
“I’m sorry—“
“WOULD YOU STOP SAYING SORRY?!”
Wallace backed up against the wall and stared at Archie like a terrified child. Poor scamp...
“Ok, ok," Wallace whispered. "I’m sorry.”
Archie shook his head.
“Come on, scamp.”
Archie picked up Wallace and carried him into one of the other bathrooms, placing him against the wall. Wallace hung his head.
"Shampoo and other shower things are in the sink cabinets, if you wanna take a shower. Drink some water before you do, will ya?" Archie stood up. “Milotic? Help the scamp change into these.” Archie tossed the sweater and pants onto the bathroom counter before leaving the dormitory again.
“Shelly?” he called. “Is Bob still around here?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“My friend threw up. Bob never seemed to mind dealing with that stuff. Tell him not to be alarmed by my friend, and tell him that if my friend says sorry even once… ah, never mind.”
-
"Hello, Ms. Papadaki. This is Archie."
There was silence on the other end of the line, then Nicole spoke: "What do you want in exchange for Wallace? I'll pay whatever you want."
Shit. Better not sound like I kidnapped him. "Nothing. I don't want anything. But I have Wallace." So much for not sounding like you kidnapped him. "Not like that. Not for ransom or anything. He's sick. Like, really sick. I found him on the shore and.... well, he was out of it."
"...So that's where he went after the Contest."
"I'm taking care of him at my place, but if you want, I can take him to his house... or the Pokémon Center."
"Yes, the Lilycove Pokémon Center would be good."
"I'll drop him off like a baby."
The way Nicole chuckled indicated to Archie that this conversation wasn't going too bad after all.
-
When Archie returned to the dorm, Wallace was hanging his head over a bucket that Bob had left. A thin string of spit and vomit was dripping from his mouth. At least it wasn’t getting on the floor, and at least he had managed to change into the dry clothes.
The clothes were a bit big for him, but at least he looked a little warmer.
"Open your mouth," Archie coaxed. "Come on, buddy... there you go."
Wallace's glazed eyes stared down at the thermometer as the number went up: 37... 38... 39... 39.6 degrees Celsius.
"Oh no," Archie mumbled, pulling the thermometer out of Wallace's mouth (with very little effort). "That's not good."
Wallace collapsed—not on the bed, but against Archie.
"Milotic—"
"Victoria," Wallace mumbled. "Her name's Victoria."
Archie looked down at Wallace.
"Victoria? That's a pretty name." Archie cleared his throat. "Victoria, we're taking Wallace to the Pokémon Center. I'm not a doctor, and Wallace's sister misses him."
-
Wallace woke up in an unfamiliar bed, wearing unfamiliar clothes, watched by an unfamiliar person.
The person was a Nurse Joy. The clothes looked like a Team Aqua uniform, and the bed seemed to be in... a Pokémon Center dorm.
"What happe—"
"Shh, it's okay, Wallace. You need to rest. You may be doing better, but you still need rest. Would you like to see your sister?"
"I had a dream."
"Oh?"
"I dreamed that a former enemy found me on the brink of death and brought me here."
Nurse Joy smiled.
"Well, someone brought you here the other day. He didn't say who he was, but he said something about trying to be a better person step by step."
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