Ash settled in bed that night feeling as if something was going to happen.

He was woken a few hours later by a shout. "Ash! Look out!"

Ash's eyes snapped open and he rolled out of bed just as a knife hit dead center where he had just been.

All the boys in the bunker heard the shout and jumped out of bed, fearing the worst.

A boy in Team Rocket attire, who, without the attire, was known in the camp as Jerry, towered over Ash, struggling to pull his knife out of the wooden bunk bed.

The knife popped out and Jerry turned to strike again.

Ash leapt up and ran for the door, but didn't get that far because the knife struck him in the leg, causing him to fall.

The other boys called out their pokemon to fight Jerry as Ash tried to get away.

"Where do you I think you're going?" Jerry hissed.

"Zippo! Use Flamethrower!" Ritchie shouted.

Jerry spun around just to get hit head-on with Flamethrower. "Why you little…"

Ash crawled behind a bunk bed while the enemy was distracted. He noticed an alarm lever not too far from him and snuck towards it.

As he reached for the lever, the knife flew into his arm.

"Found you." Jerry snickered. "No escaping now."

"Leave him alone, you monster!" A boy named Henry shouted.

"Pikachu! Help!" Ash screamed to his still-sleeping pokemon.

Ritchie saw the alarm near Ash and realized what his friend had been attempting to do.

"Zippo! Pull that alarm!" He yelled.

"Alarm?" Jerry realized too late what was going on and the alarm blasted through all corners of the underground camp.

"Pika?" Ash's Pikachu opened his eyes sleepily, wondering what all of the racket was about, and then gasped when he saw his trainer was wounded. "Pikapi!"

Ash was starting to get dizzy from blood loss. Jerry saw his chance and thrust the knife into Ash's chest.

The adults burst into the room at that moment, just as all the boys gasped in horror.

Jerry smirked. "Do whatever you want with me now. I've completed my mission."

Michael shoved Jerry out of the way and knelt over his son. Pulling out the blood-covered knife, he placed his hands over the chest wound and started using aura healing on the boy.

Drayden grabbed Jerry and started pulling him out of the room.

"You can't save him!" Jerry shouted. "It's too late! Don't even bother trying!"

Michael ignored him, focusing instead on healing the quickly fading Ash.

Time passed slowly as the boys and remaining gym leaders waited for the result with bated breath.

Finally, Michael pulled away. "He'll live, but he's fallen into a coma I can't seem to get him out of."

Those who were holding their breath let it out.

"The poor boy." Lenora whispered. "He didn't do anything to deserve this." She turned to one of the boys. "We don't want to move him right now. Get Iris. She usually sleeps in the clinic. Hurry! And someone turn off that alarm!"

The boy scurried out of the bunker and raced towards the clinic.

He screeched to a halt outside the door and pounded on it as hard as he could.

Iris opened it almost immediately. "I heard the alarm. Who's hurt?"

"Ash." The boy answered.

Iris struggled to keep her posture at the news. "What are his injuries? I need to know which supplies to bring."

"Mostly flesh wounds. One of the adults said he'd fallen into a coma." The boy answered.

Iris grabbed some bandages and antiseptic creams and certain herbs and followed the boy back to the bunker. Everyone was still gathered around Ash, who was breathing lightly and still bleeding. Michael had only had enough energy to heal his chest wound, not his arm and leg.

Iris knelt by her friend and started working on bandaging the injuries. "Who did this?"

"Jerry was the inside source. He must've been told by Team Rocket to do this." Lenora said. "The question is: why?"

"They're doing it because Ash is my son and I left their ranks." Michael growled. "They're cruel, doing this to an innocent boy."

Iris finished bandaging Ash's arm and leg. "These are some bad wounds. It's best we don't move him much right now, but he'll be more comfortable in a bed."

Elesa and Lenora carefully worked to move Ash into a bed. Iris pulled the covers over him.

"There. He should be comfortable now." Iris said. "Let's just hope he wakes up soon. If something happens, he won't be able to protect himself if he's asleep." She felt his forehead. "No fever so far. I'll check on him every day to see how he's doing." She looked around at the boys who slept in the bunker. Her eyes fell on Ritchie. "Ritchie, you're in charge of taking care of him when I'm not. You need to protect him."

Ritchie nodded. "I won't leave his side any more than I have to."

Iris nodded back. "Good. Everyone go back to sleep. I'm sure nothing else will happen tonight."