Chapter 527: Nothing Major
By the time Arthur opened his eyes again in the hospital bed, three days had passed.
The moment he woke up, he nearly thought he had been mummified by the Cofagrigus. He was wrapped in layer upon layer of bandages, practically a human dumpling. Movement below the neck was difficult, which meant he woke up without making much noise. None of the young nurses in the room noticed him; they were too busy chatting.
Fortunately, they were speaking a dialect of the Kubfu language, and Arthur could understand every word.
"Is it time to change his dressing?"
"Should be. This patient is terrifying. During the surgery, Dr. Astakura said he'd never seen anyone so reckless in his life. Anyone else would have fainted from the pain long ago, but apparently, this guy fought a high-intensity battle for over an hour with these injuries and didn't even make a sound until he was brought here!"
"Tell me about it. If I hadn't cut open the blood-caked clothes myself, I wouldn't have believed he was injured that badly!"
"But did you notice? His muscles are so hot!"
"Eww~ What are you looking at?"
"Tch, don't tell me you didn't look?"
"I was looking at his face!"
"Pfft! Like you're any better!"
It wasn't until one of the nurses pulled back the curtain to change his IV bag and accidentally made eye contact with Arthur that she blushed furiously. "Ah, haha, you're awake! Hehe... Quick, tell Dr. Astakura the patient in this bed is awake!!"
After the flustered nurses finished their tasks and hurried out without daring to look back, Specter finally floated out from the shadow under the bed, grinning mischievously at Arthur. Hehehe.
He had been there the whole time and knew the moment his master woke up, but he just hadn't shown himself. As a Shadow Dancer who had lived in Arthur's shadow for years, Specter was an expert voyeur. It was a pity Arthur was wrapped up so tight, or he would have slapped him.
Giving Specter a look that said Watch yourself, young ghost, Arthur asked the important question. "Where are we?"
"Gengar, gen!" — Don't worry, Master. We're still in the central hospital of the Batta Alliance. Nothing major has happened recently!
Skarner had driven Arthur back to the Batta Alliance and rushed him to the emergency room, nearly giving himself a heart attack. Holy crap, I thought you were joking when you said you could still be saved, but you were telling the truth?! You were chatting and laughing with Groudon while needing emergency resuscitation? Do you have a death wish?!
After that, Arthur had spent three days drifting in and out of consciousness under anesthesia.
However, Arthur was skeptical about Specter's claim that "nothing major" had happened. Specter's definition of "major" sometimes didn't align with mainstream values. Like when he first brought Specter back, Arthur had asked if the Stitched Shadow Army had done anything significant in the past two hundred years. Specter had said "nothing major," and Arthur had almost believed him, nearly registering him for entry. Luckily, he had double-checked with Mismagius at the last minute. And then he had gone straight to Mt. Moon to trade with Suicune...
You were on the wanted lists of over seventy countries, and you call that "nothing major"?! If Arthur had believed him back then, he probably would have been invited for "tea" by a special government department the day after returning to the Kubfu Alliance, with no telling when he'd get out.
Fortunately, it wasn't long before the news of his awakening spread. The doctor confirmed he was fine, and soon, acquaintances came to visit.
To Arthur's surprise, the first visitor wasn't Skarner, Amani, or even Dr. Zeratano. It was Forrest.
"What are you doing in Batta?" Arthur asked.
Forrest gave a wry smile. "I've been here for two days."
Then he teased, "You really are something, kid. Wherever you go, big news follows. You're not even in the Kubfu Alliance, but legends about you are everywhere. You're more popular than the League Cup that's already started."
Arthur remembered then. "Oh, the League Cup has started..."
He felt a twinge of regret. He had thought he might make it back in time. After the playoffs and before the League Cup singles tournament, there was a qualifying tournament for the third and fourth seeds of the Champions Cup. Starlight and Frost, as the number one seed, and the Blaze Team, as the number two seed, were already confirmed participants. The remaining two spots were up for grabs among all teams that had made the playoffs in the last two years.
Before leaving, Arthur had optimistically thought that the duration of the qualifying tournament would be enough time for him to handle things in the Ashen Desert, and he had promised the club he would return for the League Cup singles. Who knew he had a "Detective Conan" constitution, triggering outrageous events wherever he went! Now the League Cup had started, and he was still lying in a hospital bed in the Batta Alliance, with no return date in sight...
Seeing his regretful expression, Forrest was both amused and exasperated. "Alright, stop humble-bragging. The fame you've gained this time is way bigger than a League Cup champion! And thanks to you, the League Cup probably won't even be able to finish this year! Not just in the Kubfu Alliance, but all over the world, competitive events before the Champions Cup have been canceled."
Arthur was confused. "What do you mean, thanks to me?"
Forrest laughed. "Don't you know? The news that you stopped 'certain interested parties' from assassinating the current Groudon has spread all over the world! Now everyone knows the current Groudon is dying, and the Ashen Desert is full of Seeds it left behind. Right now, every organization and individual with ambition is rushing here. A lot of famous trainers have arrived! With the contestants all running off to the desert, the competitions naturally can't continue."
Arthur was stunned. He turned and glared silently at Specter.
This is what you call "nothing major"?! I can't believe I trusted you!
Specter turned his head away, humming a tune and pretending to look out the window. Through their telepathic link, he said: The weather is really nice today~
CRACK-BOOM!
The next moment, a bolt of lightning flashed under the dark clouds outside the window. A storm was imminent...
Arthur: Can you at least put some effort into your lies?
Specter: Hehe~
As Forrest explained, Arthur gradually realized that in the three days he had been unconscious, something huge had indeed happened!
The Kubfu Alliance, upon receiving the news, had no intention of covering for Sinnoh. They immediately used international media to expose Sinnoh's plan and condemned it heavily. Sinnoh, of course, skillfully denied everything and distanced themselves.
But in the process, the news of Groudon's impending death and the Seeds in the desert had inevitably come to light!
And so, the Ashen Desert had now become a chaotic carnival of monsters and demons!
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