"Squirtle!"
The light blue turtle exhaled its name with pep and smiled as it saw its friend and trainer looking back at him just as happily. They would be giving each other a big hug if it weren't for them being separated by many miles; but at least the video phone in the Feron Grove Hospital was some consolation for contact.
"Hey buddy…" Ash said tiredly to his Pokémon, Tracey standing by his side. "I'm so glad you're feeling better."
"It wasn't anything too bad," the nurse on the other end of the phone said. "The shock he received was minor. I wish I could say the same for Azumarill."
"How bad is the cut, nurse?" Tracey asked glumly, gripping the desk the monitor was on tightly.
The nurse gestured to the rows of gurneys in the room, focusing on the one Tracey's aquatic rabbit lay on; its eyes were closed and Tracey could see a doctor checking on the creature. "It's a good thing you and your friends wrapped something around that wound, otherwise it would have bled out. Azumarill's getting stitches and should make a full recovery, but it won't be able to move around as well for a couple of weeks."
The two boys turned away from the video feed to see Brock pacing back and forth in the lobby, talking on his cell phone.
"Yes, I know, Mom," they heard him say. "Look, look, look, everything's in good hands. We're all fine…"
Turning back, Tracey inquired, "That's a relief, but what about Marshtomp and Starmie?"
The nurse chuckled and pointed to Marshtomp, who was sitting on one of the gurneys next to Starmie. The froglike Pokémon let out a croak of affirmation and hopped a couple of times, showing that it was alright, then turned back to Starmie, whose purple arms were drooping and its face heavily bandaged.
"Marshtomp fared the best out of the group," the nurse reported. "It was just a little shaken up by that monster grabbing its throat, but that's all." The nurse sighed and continued. "But Starmie is unfortunately in some trouble. When that scorpion monster shattered Starmie's gem, she exposed its inner organs. Normally, a Starmie can regenerate its gem within ten minutes, but some of the gem's shards got stuck in its insides and made some lacerations that caused internal bleeding. We're doing our best to work on Starmie, but it'll take time."
Ash sighed in disbelief and put his hand over his face. "Misty…" he uttered.
"I know, Ash," Tracey said. "But she'll be strong for Starmie, and we will, too. Thank you so much, nurse."
"Yes," Brock cut in, still facing away from the monitor and talking to his mother in Pewter City. "Yes, we know they're going to get who did this! Mom... Mom, we'll be just fine. I have to go check on Marshtomp. I'll call you later. I love you." He hung up the phone and wiped his brow. "Sorry guys, but you know how moms are. No matter how many times you say you're okay, or that five superheroes with giant robot dinosaurs will make sure you're safe, they still worry."
Ash and Tracey laughed just a little bit. "Yeah, we get it," Ash said. "But hey, your Marshtomp's doing okay."
"Awesome!" Brock responded, putting his fist up in brief triumph and straightening his clothes a bit. "I'll take it from here. Hey, Nurse Joy, how…"
Before he could complete his sentence, the tallest of the three boys took one look at the video monitor and nearly screamed. One of the cute and dutiful nurses of the Joy family that usually ran the Pokémon Centers wasn't there; instead, there was a man with short blond hair and blue scrubs in front of him.
"Hey, you're not Nurse Joy!" Brock exhaled in disbelief.
The man on the other side of the video feed laughed and said, "I get that a lot here. I'm Jay, the main nurse at this center. But I am in the Joy family and there is one working here. In fact, I'm her husband!"
Brock stared in disbelief as his two friends started to laugh.
"Well…isn't that lovely?" Brock asked.
While Brock's family was extremely concerned for his and his friends' wellbeing on such a chaotic island, things were a bit calmer at the Feran household when Lia arrived.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Mrs. Feran pressed, pushing her thing glasses to her eyes and looking at her daughter's bruised arm. She had just gotten home from her office for lunch when the fighting had broken out. "You didn't call me."
Lia gently pulled her arm away from her mother's grip and said, "It was chaotic, and my friends needed help getting their Pokémon out of harm's way. I'm just glad the Power Rangers got there to help us when they did."
Mrs. Feran nodded and hugged Lia. "Me too. I don't know where this city would be without them." She let go and said, "Why don't you go upstairs and say hi to your brother, let him know you're okay? I'll call your father at the library and let him know we're all safe."
"Sure thing, Mom," Lia said, hitching up her backpack and going up the carpeted stairway to the second floor. She turned the corridor and peeked into Hayashi's room. He was hunched over his desk, his nose buried in a book.
"Still hard at work, huh?" Lia quipped.
Hayashi quickly turned around and pushed some of his bangs to the side. "Oh, Lia! You're safe!" he said.
Lia shrugged and said, "Aren't I always? You seem to never let these weird things bother you, though."
Hayashi nodded and chuckled. "Hey, as long as those monsters are out of our hair at the end of the day, no worries on my end. Are the others alright? The doctor on the TV said the Power Rangers got some Pokémon to the hospital."
Lia shook her head, trying to not let on about her own anxiety concerning their newest threat. "Not exactly," she began. "They'll all be okay, but it's pretty rough, especially on Misty. I'm taking her to the Kau Cove Pokémon Center tomorrow."
"She'll be fine," Hayashi assured. "It could be worse."
Lia nodded and said, "Yeah. I'm gonna crash right now, so…"
"Yeah," Hayashi replied. "Take it easy, sis."
As Lia left his doorway, the older Feran sibling turned back to his book, a piece of paper, crumpled and tanned with age sitting atop the pages. The parchment showed a rendering of a beachhead and the depths of the sea and an image of a circle with a central three-toed footprint in the water.
"You have much to do before you find him, Green Ranger," a voice rang out in Hayashi's head.
The young man narrowed his eyes and whispered, "Mind your own business, Goldar. I have my own ways of carrying out my empress' wishes."
"And you will certainly fail! You're giving those weaklings too much time to recuperate!" the warrior spoke.
"It's all a part of the game," Hayashi quietly said. "I'll pick them apart one by one and then crush what's left with the…"
"You're not strong enough to control the Dragonzord!" Goldar taunted.
"Want to bet?" the possessed human whispered.
"Indeed," Rita's demon asserted. "Meet me at Kau Cove tomorrow morning. We shall see if you truly have what it takes!"