Dent had rushed through the forest, with Nova barely conscious in his arms. Simisage was running by his side.
"Great job using Seed Bomb to take out that Weavile," said Dent to his Pokémon partner.
But before Simisage could attempt to thank his master for the compliment, Nova had started to cough up blood.
"Nova's dying!" panicked Dent. "I have to get her to safety! I'll take her back to headquarters, and treat her!"
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That night at Plasma HQ, Dent was kneeling beside Nova's bed in the infirmary. Nova was unconscious from blood loss, her heart was beating at an unstably fast rate. She was hooked up on a breathing machine, and was attached to several IV lines to re-stabilize her blood amount.
"Nova, please don't die on me," pleaded Dent, "The last thing that I want to happen is losing you."
"Is she alright, Cilan?" asked Corn as he entered the room.
"She's lost an unhealthy amount of blood, and she's struggling to breathe," responded Dent. "I can only hope that she makes it."
"In that case, I shall leave you alone to treat her," said Corn.
After Corn left, Dent returned to Nova's bedside. Tears were starting to form in his eyes as he looked at her. She was badly bruised, her chest brutally scarred, and her suit was drenched in her own blood.
"D-Dent," Nova managed to say, "Is... is that you?"
"Nova, you're alive!" said Dent, still red-eyed.
"Am I... going to die?" coughed Nova, "My body... it hurts everywhere."
"No, I won't let that happen," cried Dent, "I'll take care of you, and you'll be healthy again!"
Nova tried to say something, but she had slowly started to close her eyes. Her breathing had grown quiet, and her hands had to fallen limp.
"Nova?" exclaimed Dent, starting to cry, "Nova, no! You can't leave me!"
Dent then started to sob, and leaned his head gently on her chest. Tears were seeping from his eyes uncontrollably as he clutched the bedsheets. But, a gentle hand had been placed on his. He lifted his head to see that Nova was still living. Her heartbeat was starting to normalize along with her blood rate.
"Dent, why are you crying?" whispered Nova, "I'm alright."
"I thought I was going to lose you for good!" choked Dent, still crying.
"If you hadn't saved me, you probably would have," said Nova. "But still, we need to find a way to stop that war."
"I know," agreed Dent, "But in the condition you're in, we can't do anything. We have no choice but to wait until you're back to nearly full health."
"But, Dent!" cried Nova, "We can't just wait! If we wait, the war will probably get worse; it could even have all of Unova involved!"
"But we still don't have a plan!" said Dent. "If you were to fight like this, you'd get killed for sure, and I'd never forgive myself for letting that happen!"
Nova figured that she could never convince Dent to let her fight while still badly injured. Knowing that Dent cared a lot about her, Nova just decided to lay low for a little bit until her wounds healed.
"Fine," sighed Nova, "Have it your way. But we still need to think of a plan and fast!"
"I know," said Dent, "but even if we do think of something, we'll have to wait until your wounds have healed."
"Alright," agreed Nova, "I promise that I'll take it easy for now."
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Meanwhile on the battlefield, the war had come to a temporary pause until morning. Resting tents for both Plasma and Galactic were set up on opposite boundaries. While most of their grunts were resting up, Cyrus and Ghetsis were wide awake, only thinking of battle strategies.
"Cyrus will never make it out of this war alive," thought Ghetsis. "I will make sure that he never interferes with Team Plasma again, and then, I can end this damned war my way!"
Ghetsis then held up one of his Pokéballs, smiling diabolically as he thought of a way to win.
"If I can manage to sneak an attack on Cyrus tomorrow morning, then he'll never come between my plans ever!" cackled Ghetsis. "Never again will that fool see the light of day!"
"I must make sure that Ghetsis falls in battle!" thought Cyrus.
Cyrus then remembered one of his own Pokémon was perfect for Ghetsis' downfall. As he held its Pokéball in his hands, he smiled menacingly at the idea.
"When he lets his guard down for even a second, that's when I'll strike at him!" plotted Cyrus. "I'll make sure he never interferes with Team Galactic again!"
Outside of one of the Plasma tents, Ghetsis' son, N, was sitting on the ground with his Purrloin sleeping on his lap. During that whole day, he had not seen the Shadow Triad on the battlefield, and was greatly concerned. As he gently stroked his Purrloin's soft back, he was deeply lost in his thoughts.
"I just hope that they're alright," thought N. "If this war isn't stopped soon, it could end horribly."
Although there wasn't much he could do about it, N hated the feud that kept Team Plasma and Team Galactic separated. He could only hope that someone would end it for good.
"Maybe the reason that the boys weren't here is because they want nothing to do with the feud anymore," thought N. "I'd bet they're trying to think of a plan right now!"
However, N had also wondered about Cilan. Recently, N had seen him around with a girl from Team Galactic. He had noticed how friendly Cilan has been acting toward her, despite her being on the opposing side.
"Who was that girl?" wondered N. "She and Cilan seemed to like each other a lot. Maybe they'll be the ones to put a stop to this war once and for all."
As N returned to his resting tent with Purrloin, he was worried that Cilan would be too late to stop Ghetsis and Cyrus.
"Cilan, please don't fail me," thought N, with great worry.