Palmer, the Frontier Brain of the facility known as the Battle Tower, lets out a loud, hearty laugh as the Pokémon Trainer who was courageous enough to challenge him now reigned victorious. Whether he won or lost, the tall, blonde-haired man was always good sport, so he patted the young trainer on his back, handed him the gold print he earned for his effort, and sent him on his way. The other trainers in the tower applauded the young man for his spectacular feat, and he blushed in both embarrassment and satisfaction whilst he existed the facility with his well-deserved prize in hand.

"All right, who's next?" Palmer said as he cracked his knuckles and neck. "A Frontier Brain's work is never done, you know?"

But before whomever was next to do battle with the energetic man could speak up, somebody from outside of the Battle Tower let out an ear-splitting scream. Palmer and the entire audience existed the facility to see what could cause such a horrible sound to be made, and once they got outside, what they saw was like something out of a horror movie. Some trainers shrieked in horror, while others froze in shock. Some trainers covered their mouths with their hands in astonishment, while others were trying to hardest not to shed tears. But Palmer didn't scream, freeze, or cry. Instead, ran up to the bruised, battered, bloodied man on the floor that was Darach, his fellow Frontier Brain, picked him up, and carried him into the Battle Tower. Palmer turned to the crowd of trainers, who couldn't be anymore bewildered at what was going on.

"Don't concern yourselves with this," Palmer said in tone completely different from the jovial, hearty way he was speaking in earlier. "Please, continue enjoying your stay at the Battle Frontier."

The blonde-haired man entered the tower with the disheveled butler in tow, and the trainers, unable to make heads of tails of the situation, did as the Frontier Brain said and scattered about in an instant. The workers inside the Battle Tower didn't move an inch at the sight of the battered man as Palmer brought him in, either. In fact, it's almost as if they've seen all this before…

"Go get Nurse Joy, and fast," Palmer said sternly to one of the workers. "Otherwise, he isn't going to make it."

With a nod, the worker vanished to retrieve the nurse, so she can attend the Darach, whom Palmer set down onto a nearby bench. The Frontier Brain examined his friend, and his emotions finally caught up to him as he began to tear up a little, and fell onto his knees, and held Darach's hand.

"Why did you do it, man?" Palmer asked in a tone that was far more solemn than before. "Why?"

Darach opened his eyes, which were bloodshot and horrifyingly dilated, and turned his head to Palmer.

"P-Palmer…," Darach said in a quiet, quivering voice, as if his life was literally hanging on a thread. "Where is she?"

"Darach?"

"P-Palmer, tell me… Where is she? W-Where… Where did she go?"

"Darach, what are—"

"She's no longer in… in c-control, Palmer…"

"Darach, you… You were in front of the Battle Tower, beaten to a pulp."

"I… I was? She didn't k-kill me? Then that means—"

"Kill you? Darach, what's going on?"

Darach got up from the bench, his arms shaking uncontrollably, but stumbled onto the floor as his leg snapped in two in his attempt to prop himself up. The workers covered their mouths and yelped in horror at the terrible sight, while Palmer did his best to hold back his tears.

"P-Palmer, please…," Darach said as his turned to him once again. "E-Evacuate… Evacuate everybody from the B-Battle Frontier… Every t-trainer, every P-Pokémon. Please…"

"Darach," Palmer said. "What has Caitlin done?"

"No… N-Not her… D-Don't blame her, P-Palmer… For L-Lady Caitlin is…"

"Is what, Darach? Please, tell me!"

Darach fell completely on the floor, and with his final breath, he uttered these last words:

"Lady Caitlin is no more."

And with those chilling words, the stalwart butler, the Castle Valet Darach, closed his eyes for the final time… and died. Palmer and all the workers in the room hung their head in shame, but alas, there was no tie to mourn the butler's death, for a loud shriek could be heard right outside the Battle Tower. The woman who yelled barged into the tower, completely out of breath and trembling in fear. And following suit was the worker Palmer sent out to retrieve the nurse to aid Darach, but it's a bit too late for that now.

"Nurse Joy," Palmer said. "What's the problem?"

"Mr. Palmer, help us!" Nurse Joy said as she grabbed Palmer by the jacket. "The Pokémon Center, all the facilities… they've all been destroyed!"

"There are people and Pokémon trapped under rubble, too!" the worker said. "And… Oh, no. Mr. Darach? Is he—"

"Yes," Palmer said sternly. "Yes, he is."

Nurse Joy and the worker looked at each other, than back at the Frontier Brain.

"Mr. Palmer," Nurse Joy said. "You don't… You don't think Ms. Cait—"

But alas, before the nurse could finish asking her question, all of a sudden… her head exploded! A wash of blood and brains splashed right into the face of Palmer. The workers shrieked out in horror, and some of them even started to vomit. But Palmer, his pupils shrunken, his hands shaking, and a feeling of light-headedness overwhelming him, fell to the floor as he blacked out, for the various tragedies that were befalling all the people he's known for years was proving too much for him.

"Mr. Palmer! Mr. Palmer, please! You have to wake up before— What? No… N-No!"

"Her!? But how!?"

"Get away from her! She's out of control!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! HELP MEEEEE!"

"Somebody call the Elite Four! The Champion! SOMEBODY! HELP UUUUUUUUSSSSSS!"

The Frontier Brain heard these cries and more, but couldn't do a thing about it, as he couldn't move from shock. That is, until a couple of familiar faces appeared before him and called out to him:

"Do you see him? Come on, she's coming this way!"

"Don't freaking rush me, okay!? I'm trying the best I can to— Wait… There! He's over there!"

"Oh, thank goodness! Palmer, come on!"

"Palmer, you moron! Wake the heck up! And for Pete's sake, wipe your face!"

Palmer heard the cries of these two people and opened his eyes, and got up from the floor of the Battle Tower – what was left of the Battle Tower, to be exact. The Frontier Brain looked around, and saw that the Battle Tower – the glorious facility that he was once the head of – has been reduced to a smoldering pile of rubble. Palmer covered his mouth, but took his hand away from it instantly, seeing that he still had Nurse Joy's blood and grey matter still all over his face. Palmer looked up at the two people who woke him up: it was two of his fellow Frontier Brains. One was a short, pale-faced boy dressed in formal wear, donning a rather sharp-looking haircut and a really ugly pair of sneakers, and hanging off his left hip was a pack full of odd, teal-colored handheld mechanisms. The other one was a tall, tan-skinned woman was long, flowing black hair that looked like vines, and the top of her head was adorned with strange sphere-like adornments. She wore a tight blue pants, and bright yellow shirt and matching high-heels, as if she was preparing to hit the club or something like that. But by the looks of what's going on in the Battle Frontier, the club and any other trip of leisure will have to wait.

"Thorton?" Palmer asked. "D-Dahlia?"

"Well, at least he remembers our names," Thorton said as he rolled his eyes.

"You've no idea how glad we are to see you… alive, at least," Dahlia said, looking Palmer up and down, realizing how disheveled he's become. "We thought we lost you, too."

"Lost me?" Palmer asked again. "What do you mean?"

"Palmer, are you freaking serious!?" Thorton yelled. "Look around you, man! The Battle Tower's gone!"

"It's Caitlin," Dahlia said. "She's completely lost it, and—Oh, my God… Is that… Is that Darach?"

The woman pointed to the corpse of the butler. Palmer nodded yes to her question. Dahlia gave Thorton a hug, who looked at the corpse and shook his head in shame.

"She thrashed the Battle Factory, too," Thorton said.

"Same with… Same with the Battle Arcade. It's nothing but a pile of rubble now. Rubble and… b-body parts." Dahlia said in a broken up voice.

"What about Argenta?" Palmer asked.

"Argenta took one look at her and… she had a heart attack. She's… She's gone, too." Dahlia said.

Palmer closed his eyes and punched the ground in anger. Thorton got up from the floor and took one of the mechanisms out of the pack hanging from his left hip.

"I'm phoning the league," Thorton said as he began to dial a number. Palmer also got up from the floor, swatted the machine out of Thorton's hands, and crushed it to pieces with his foot.

"We can't get them involved." Palmer said sternly.

"What other choice do we have!?" Thorton yelled. "Pokémon Battles are one thing, but that? What the heck do you suggest we do about that!?"

Thorton pointed up to the now thundercloud-covered sky. Palmer looked up and saw that sight that was to behold: It was Caitlin floating in the sky, completely covered in blood, here hair a log flowing, gangly mess, her clothes torn and bloodied, her small, emotionless expression replaced with a wide, manic grin. And lastly were her eyes, which were no longer two large pools of green… but two absolutely terrifyingly huge pools of complete blood red. And under her were trainers and Pokémon of all shapes and sizes, dead, limp, and undeserving of the fate they had to meet.

"Now I understand what he was talking about," Palmer said to himself.

"Well, don't just freaking stand there!" Thorton yelled once again. "Go ahead, tell me what we should do about that!"

"We have to stop it," Palmer said as he turned to Thorton. "We've got to kill it."

"But do you really believe we can kill that thing?" Thorton asked. "Look at what it's done to the place, and that was just by itself with probably only a fraction of its power!"

"We have to try, Thorton," Palmer said. "Otherwise, once it's done with this place, it'll go after the rest of the Sinnoh region, and then every other region in the world…"

"'It'? 'That?' 'Thing?'" Dahlia interjected. "I know this is serious, but… Really? So all of a sudden she isn't a human now?"

Palmer looked up at Caitlin again, fully realizing what she's become, then turned back to Dahlia.

"Darach said it to me himself before he died: 'Lady Caitlin is no more,'" Palmer said. "And in her place is something… something else. It's sure as heck isn't a human, and it's obviously not a Pokémon… It's… It's a…"

"A monster."

Palmer and Dahlia looked at their fellow Frontier Brain, who had a look of pure seriousness son his face.

"You heard me: She's a monster. No human would do something like this, do… do that to a person they care about," Thorton said as he pointed at Darach's lifeless body. "Heck, not even some of the most destructive, most terrifying Pokémon are this heartless. She's… She's a monster."

Palmer didn't want to believe it, but nonetheless nodded in agreement with Thorton's harsh words.

"…Yes, you're right," Palmer said in a quivering tone. "Now, she's just a monster. Nothing more, nothing less, than a cold, heartless… monster."