Dani sprinted down the path that led to the Pokémon center. She had been running for quite a while now, and was exhausted, yet she didn't slow down for anything.
Shortly after Hydra had fallen unconscious, she had been airlifted to the very Pokémon center that the distraught trainer was heading towards.
"Hydra!" she shouted as she burst through the doors.
Nurse joy looked up to see the distraught girl standing there. "Are you that Hydreigon's trainer?" she said.
"Yes! Where is she?" Dani blurted out.
At that, Nurse Joy pulled her aside. Dani's heart sunk.
"I'm afraid her chances of recovery are extremely slim," Nurse Joy said, looking down. "all we can do for her would be to end her suffering," she said sadly.
"No!" Dani snapped. "I need to see her!"
"Very well," Nurse Joy said as she bowed her head, leading the young trainer into another room. There, Hydra lay on a bed, covered in blood-soaked bandages, looking utterly miserable. The Hydreigon let out a pained screech, thrashing weakly.
Dani stood there in shock for a moment upon seeing her Pokémon horrifically injured and writhing in agony. Then, she rushed over to the poor creature, gently touching the top of her main head.
"Shhh…it's ok girl…" Dani said softly. "I'm gonna take care of you…" she shot Nurse Joy a filthy look. "Even if they won't."
"We can't treat injuries that severe, unfortunately. Most Pokémon centers are equipped for injuries sustained in battle, not anything like this!" Nurse Joy sounded frustrated and upset; there was no doubt that she hated not being able to help.
"What about Shadow's End?" Dani said through the tears that began to form in her eyes.
"I'll call for a transport," Nurse Joy said solemnly. As she walked back down the hallway, Hydra let out another pained cry.
Dani held Hydra's main head in a gentle embrace. She knew the poor dragon must be in unimaginable pain due to her horrific wounds. Looking over Hydra's mutilated body, Dani shook her head in dismay. All three wings on her right side had been violently torn off, leaving a gaping, gory wound. Which, despite being bandaged, was still bleeding badly. Hydra's entire right side was covered in cuts and scrapes, and her rightmost head was gone.
Even if she somehow survived, Hydra would never fully recover.
The Pokémon center at Shadow's End could, at the very least, get her pain under control. After all, they had the equipment and expertise necessary to handle cases of extreme trauma such as this.
Hydra wasn't the only Pokémon that had been injured in the series of explosions that had torn through the rocky hillsides. After she had been flown to the Pokémon Center, Ash and company were helping to find and rescue injured Pokémon. Though they were successful in helping many of the injured Pokémon they found, not all were so lucky. An entire Durant colony had been nearly wiped out by the blast, with the few badly injured survivors not expected to pull through.
"Hey guys, I think we should go back for Bonnie's sake," Clemont spoke up. His poor little sister was clinging to him, tears were in her eyes.
Bonnie shook her head, shedding a few tears. "It's not just all the hurt Pokémon, though that does make me sad…" she trailed off.
"What is it, Bonnie?" Clemont said, concern apparent in his voice.
Bonnie sniffled a bit. "Is that nice Hydreigon gonna be ok? She was hurt really bad…"
"I…I don't know, Bonnie," Clemont said sadly.
"Well, come on, why don't we find out?" Ash suggested.
Iris dejectedly followed the others as they headed toward town. Ash didn't fail to notice her unusually melancholy demeanor. "Hey, Iris?" he asked.
Iris let out a sigh. "That poor Hydreigon," she said as her eyes watered.
"Hey, Hydra's really strong. I'm sure she's gonna pull through, I know she can," Ash said, smiling. Iris couldn't help but smile in return at the boy's optimism.
Hydra let out a screeching cry as she was wheeled down a dull, sterile, grey hallway and into a room. Here she was, in yet another Pokémon center.
"Easy there, Mistress will have something to ease the pain soon," a Mismagius spoke.
Hydra let out an exhausted whimper. For her, it couldn't be soon enough. The pain was unbearable.
"There she is," the Mismagius spoke.
"Little pinch," a raspy sounding female voice spoke. Before Hydra could even register what was being said to her, she felt the searing sting of a needle being poked into her tail. She let out something between a growl and a yelp. However, immediately after the sting, a warm, fuzzy sensation came from the site of the needle poke, and quickly spread to her whole body. The excruciating pain was quickly fading to a dull ache.
Looking visibly relieved, Hydra turned her main head a bit and saw an older, gray-haired nurse standing over her.
"Let's get these dirty bandages changed," the gray-haired woman said. She and Mismagius began carefully removing Hydra's blood-soaked bandages.
"Well, Mismagius," the woman said. "Do you think this one has a chance?"
Mismagius looked at her trainer with an uncertain expression. Sighing, the woman got up and made an announcement on the PA:
"Snow and Doctor, report to the ICU."
Moments later, an Absol and a Mr. Mime entered the room. Immediately, the Absol shuddered.
"What is it, Snow?" Mismagius said, looking concerned.
"Do whatever you can to save that Hydreigon," Snow pleaded to them.
"Oh, dear…" the Mr. Mime, said, tutting a bit.
"Oh no," Snow said, turning towards the doorway. She could sense a potential disaster in the making, and more trouble was about to befall them.
"Security to the front entrance," a dull, deadpan voice came over the PA. Moments later, some crashing was heard, followed by doors slamming, and footsteps quickly approaching.
"No running! This is an intensive care unit!" the grey-haired woman said, sounding irritated with the young woman who was now standing in the doorway.
Hydra weakly lifted her main head, and her eyes widened in surprise. She let out a soft growl, the kind that meant she was happy.
"Hydra…" Dani walked over to her and dropped to her knees. "You're irreplaceable," she whispered, gently cradling the dragon's remaining head/hand.
Silently, the Mr. Mime began working on repairing the many gashes in the Hydreigon's flesh.
"Do you think she'll pull through?" Mismagius asked.
"She hasn't gone into shock yet, at least." Doctor responded.
At that moment, Hydra lifted her main head a bit and let out a series of muffled growls and snarls that roughly translated to "Wait a minute, you're the fucking doctor?!"
Doctor did an exaggerated facepalm and leaned in a cartoonish manner against her bed, giving her the most unamused look imaginable.
Hydra snorted and chuckled at that.
"Yes, he's a clown. Literally. Ha ha, funny," the grey-haired woman said in a sarcastic tone.
"What a killjoy," Dani muttered. She hadn't failed to notice the nurse's nametag, which indeed read "Nurse Killjoy". Turning her gaze back to Hydra, she couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Whatever drugs they had given her had made her pain all but nonexistent.
"You can get through this," Dani whispered. "It's gonna be alright…I won't leave you I promise…"