#he be drinking oran berry juice specifically to heal his fucked up insides (not sure if it actually works or not but it helps the pain)

[skytroops]

title;; my last breath word count;; 700+ universe;; thistles & weeds (hanahaki au)

also readable on google doc (with a cover art for the au!!) i hate my gosh dang internet and how i can’t upload pictures ‘n shit!!

The instinctual need to breath woke Skye up from his uncomfortable sleep. He choked for air, feeling something familiar lodged deep in his throat. He turned onto his side, coughing hard and loud in attempts to dislodge it.

Pika was by his side in an instant, her face wrinkled with worry. “Chu chu!” She cried, jumping behind to to start slapping her tail against his back.

Skye was in agony, his lungs screaming for precious oxygen and his throat burned. Pained tears welled up in his eyes as he felt something scrape the inside of his throat as it made it’s way up. After what seemed to be a lifetime, with a particularly hard cough, the prickly head of a thistle flew out of Skye’s mouth, slick with spittle and blood. The breeder gasped, his body racked with pain and relief.

“Pi pikachu?” Pika asked gently, replacing her slapping tail with a rubbing paw. “Chu chu?”

Skye was too shaken up to reply, so he concentrated on getting air to his sore lungs. He could feel them, just beginning to coil themselves around his lungs, their message clear. If he allowed them to keep growing, they will conquer his lungs and kill him. But, not now. He’ll live for another night- hopefully.

Tasting iron in his mouth, the breeder reached for the water bottled filled with oran berry juice that he had placed on his nightstand for just this situation. He had been woken up by those stupid thistles enough times to start preparing for these coughing fits.

Following what was sadly a routine at this point, Pika swiped the prickly plant to deposit it in a waste basket Skye had placed beside his bed. She stared at the basket’s contents, seeing several other thistle heads, most of them wilted and spotted with dried blood. This new one looked vibrant and bigger than all the others. Skye chose to ignore that detail.

He took a swig of his juice, swishing it around inside of his mouth before leaning over the basket to spit it out. He took another swig, swallowing it to let it soothe his torn throat. Pika wiped off a speck of blood from the corner of Skye’s mouth before licking at his wet cheeks. “Chu chu, pi pichu?”

“A-aye,” Skye finally wheezed, putting the bottle back on his nightstand to pet her between the ears. “Ah’m awright.”

Pika’s brows furrowed, her face all too easy for Skye to read. She knew fine well that Skye wasn’t alright. He was dying, all thanks to a disease that made flowers grow inside of him. A disease he contracted by sheer accident when he fell in love with his glorious idiot of a best friend, Ash Ketchum.

His ESP placed herself against his chest, leaning her head against his collarbone. With a heavy heart, Skye knew that she was taking comfort in feeling him breathe. He gritted his teeth, holding back a shudder as a thistle tickled him somewhere deep inside.

“Pikachu. . .pi pika pi.” Pika sadly told him, closing her darkened eyes. “Pi chu, pikachu, chu chu.”

Skye shook his head, getting a mournful whine in return. He couldn’t go through with getting the removal surgery. Sure, it would save his life, but it came at a price that Skye didn’t want to pay.

The disease, named “hanahaki” or the flower vomiting disease, was so deeply rooted in his emotions for Ash, that if they surgically removed the flowers, his love and affections for others would be ripped out along with them. He wouldn’t feel love anymore, not just for Ash, but for his family and Pokémon as well. All the emotions that made his life worth living would be gone.

“A-ah cannae,” Skye croaked, feeling himself beginning to shake under the weight of his decision to wait for the thistles to suffocate him. Pika opened her eyes, looking at him sadly.

“Pika, ah love you so much, bit if ah goat d-dat surgery done-” he bit his lip. “Ah widnae be able tae say dat ‘n mean it anymare. Dey’d jist widnae mean anythin’ tae me. Ah cannae dae dat tae you ‘r anywan else who loves me.”

Pika crawled to press her face into his, tears starting to roll down her chubby cheeks. “Chu chu. . .pi pika. . .”

Skye slowly wrapped an arm around her, returning the tearful nuzzle. He hated seeing Pika cry, and that hurt him even more, knowing that the surgery would probably take that from him too.

“A-ah’m sorry, baby girl. . .”

He’d rather die loving than live unable to.