Whitney waved at Grene as the martial artist neared, "hey,"

"Hey." Grene sat next to her, her response followed by silence.

The two of them sat there, unable to start conversation without mentioning the elephant in the room. It was the reason why they avoided each other for so long, why they decided to do their own thing for the past two days.

But eventually, one of them had to break the ice and they needed to move forward.

Grene thought that it was her job to do just that.

"Virah is going to be fine," the martial artist said, officially breaking the ice under their feet and now, they've plunged straight into the freezing depths of Virah's hospitalization.

"I know that." Whitney replied softly, she curled her hands into fists, "but that doesn't mean we should just let Team Rocket get away with this,"

"I know." Grene replied, she only partially sympathized with Whitney's sudden declaration- Virah was wronged after all, - while at the same time, she honestly didn't know why Whitney even said it out loud.

But she supposed that it was better than Whitney being silent about it and going out on her own to fight the criminal organization. That sort of outcome could have possibly led to her death or worse.

Grene turned to the skies in silent resolution, "we'll fight those guys together,"

"Yes!" Whitney swore, she pumped her fist, "I'll make sure to give them payback for what they did to Virah,"

"Mhmm." Grene hummed, at times like these, she would usually wait for Virah to calm the pinkette down but since she was unavailable, the martial artist decided to do it instead,"but I think we need to become strong first,"

"Uh? Yeah?" Whitney said in a "duh" tone, "that's just obvious! Getting stronger is what most main characters do after they get beaten so that's what we'll do too!"

Grene couldn't hold back her sigh, "that's not what I mean," she replied, "well... it is but this isn't a cartoon," she looked around in clear discomfort, "Whitney, training takes a long time, and we're going to have to work until we collapse if we want to make the most of it."

"... I know that," Whitney replied after a pregnant pause, "and besides, how hard can it be?"

Grene turned to her.

"It's exhausting." The martial artist replied dryly.

"I knowwwww- but- it's not that hard is it? I've exercised before and honestly it didn't seem like that big of a deal," Whitney argued.

Grene hummed, "how about this then," she started, "we both go back home, change, meet up at the park, and then we'll do some light exercise as a start?" The martial artist suggested, "how does that sound?"

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"Not too bad," Whitney replied while nodding.

Grene stood up, "good," she smiled, "we'll meet up at the national park an hour from now, does that sound good?"

Whitney nodded, her face energetic, "okay!"

Grene smiled, "great, uh, see you then?"

Whitney replied with a nod and the two of them parted ways to meet up at the park an hour later, with both of them now wearing their respective clothing for exercising; Whitney had sweatpants and a cotton shirt while Grene had a tank top and a pair of shorts.

After a small bit of talking, the two of them started exercising properly and from there, Grene was able to tell that Whitney wasn't as physically capable as the pinkette liked to believe.

By the first hour, she had collapsed on a bench, breathing ragged and completely exhausted.

"Are you okay?" Grene sat next to the pinkette who replied with a shaky smile, "Whitney?"

"I-I'm fine, just- I think I need to do this more often," she said.

"... That is what I'm trying to make you do," Grene replied, she hummed, "how about this, we both exercise together everyday until Virah wakes up, after that we help with her rehabilitation."

"What was that last part?" Whitney asked.

"Hm? Her physical therapy," Grene explained, "she was weak and malnourished when I saw her yesterday so I think she'll need to do that sort of thing before she gets discharged."

"She won't be able to walk?" Whitney sounded heartbroken.

"Nothing like that," Grene replied, knowing full well that if it did somehow come to that, then Virah's Aura would be more than enough to heal her body back to full health, "she just needs to get used to moving again once she recovers,"

"Why would she even need to do that?" Whitney's tone shifted from dawning horror to resigned curiosity.

"Muscle atrophy," Grene answered, "I don't know what happened to her but it looked like her body went through several weeks of being hospitalized instead of a few days with how lanky she's become."

"Uhuh..." Whitney got up, "well, whatever," she faced Grene, "come on, we need to go, I want to be able to keep up with Virah when she starts recovering!"

Grene scratched the sides of her cheeks, Virah would be the one keeping up with them when that time comes but hey, if that gets Whitney going, then why not keep up the illusion until their friend wakes up?

The two of them continued exercising and it continued in the following days, with Grene and Whitney meeting up to either start sparring with each other through Pokemon battles or exercising. Occasionally, they also visited their bedridden friend.

And it was during one of these occasions where they finally saw Virah awake.

As always, they entered her hospital room expecting to see her still comatose but today, she was sitting upright while reading a book about Pokemon moves and the theory behind them.

Grene thought that she needed to rest but if that is how Virah wanted to pass her time then she couldn't really stop her, the martial artist knew that if there was something out there that would stop Virah from working, it would only be Ho oh himself.

They entered calmly, and Whitney greeted Virah with a wave, "so you're... awake now,"

Virah turned to them before looking down, "... yeah," she responded glumly, "I am."

The three of them sat there awkwardly and unsure of what to say, to Grene, she was never really a conversationalist while Whitney, even though she's extroverted, wasn't sure what to say after so long.

Virah meanwhile was just tired.

Regardless, the poison specialist broke the silence, "thanks."

"For what?" Grene asked.

"Nothing. I guess." With a soft thud, Virah closed the book and faced them, "I... wasn't really expecting visitors," she explained, "and I... like it when you do,"

The poison specialist sounded like she was swallowing something bitter as she finished her sentence. Still, she continued being vulnerable and she, for once, showed a willingness to appreciate her friends.

"Really, thank you," she bowed.

A whine broke the ensuing silence and all three girls turned to Whitney, the pinkette was covering her mouth with both her hands while her guilt stricken eyes started to water, before Grene could realize what she was going to do, she rushed forward-

But was thankfully stopped by the martial artist in time, "hey- wait! She's still sick!"

"Waaaaaa- I thought you were going to die!" Whitney whined with tears streaming down her face, "w-when I saw you awake I was so happy-" her words were cut off by a hiccup, "b-but then I called the nurse and- and I came back to you back to being asleep and I thought you died for good-"

"I'm fine, though," Virah replied while looking down at herself, "I don't think my life was under threat to begin with."

Whitney continued whining as Grene held her back, stopping her from crushing the already malnourished Virah, who now had a small smile on her face as she saw the scene unfold.

In the end, they had to get escorted out of the patient's room because of how disruptive they were and Grene thought that was for the best.

"Hey," she called out to the nurse when she saw Whitney's sullen look. Grene wanted to give the pinkette a peace of mind so when the nurse turned back to them, she asked a simple but admittedly vital question, "is Virah going to be okay?"

"She should be," the nurse replied, she smiled, catching on, "the two of you don't have to worry, your friend is going to get out of this hospital just in time to start her journey,"

Whitney sighed in relief, "that's... good," she said shakily, the pinkette perked up, "I'm glad."

The smile that the pinkette wore as she said that made Grene certain that Virah's current state would now start to put less pressure on Whitney, which is an overall good thing.