The heart monitor beeped slowly… too slowly…

It had been two weeks and Chiro still hadn't gotten any better.

Cilan had joined them and Ash, Iris, and Jinmay had explained everything that had happened so far on their journey.

The long wait was starting to get to them. According to the doctors, Chiro was stable, but they didn't know when, or if, he'd wake up.

Jinmay still hadn't called the monkeys. She was afraid to tell them that she hadn't been able to protect her boyfriend. She was afraid to tell them that Chiro might never wake up.

Meanwhile…

"What do we do, Antauri?" Nova asked. "This new threat is too much for us to handle. Chiro is who-knows-where looking for his birth family and Sprx, Otto, and Gibson have been captured."

Antauri sighed. "We have no choice. We need to send a distress call. Chiro is the only one who can help us now. Until he gets here, we have to try our best to protect Shuggazoom and rescue the others on our own."

Meanwhile…

Jinmay paced back and forth in the Mind Scrambler. She needed a break from sitting by Chiro's side for long hours with nothing to distract her from the fact that her boyfriend might never wake up.

No matter what she did, no matter what she thought about, her mind always turned back to Chiro's still, pale face. If she hadn't known any better, she might've thought he was only sleeping.

The screen in the Mind Scrambler beeped, indicating an incoming message.

"Uh-oh." Jinmay mumbled before answering. "Hello, this is Jinmay. Can I help you?"

"Jinmay, this is Antauri. I need to speak with Chiro." Antauri appeared on screen.

"Um… He's unavailable right now. Can I take a message?" Jinmay asked, trying to keep the panic off her face.

Antauri saw right through it. "Jinmay, where is Chiro?"

"Um… I'll call you back…" Jinmay said and went to hang up.

"Jinmay, no. This is important." Antauri said.

Jinmay bit her lip. "Can't I just take a message? Please?"

"I'll tell you once you explain what's going on with Chiro." Antauri said. "It's very important, understand?"

"Chiro can't help you at the moment." Jinmay said, tugging on her right pigtail nervously.

Nova pushed Antauri to the side. "Why? What happened?"

Jinmay sighed and told them quietly, without looking at them. "We were rescuing Chiro and Ash's mom and Chiro got hit with a laser set on kill. We rushed him to the hospital, but the doctors don't know if he'll ever wake up."

Everyone was silent for a while.

Finally, Antauri spoke. "When did this happen?"

"About two weeks ago. I was afraid to tell you." Jinmay said. "I thought you'd panic."

"I admit that is very bad news, not only because Chiro is hurt, but also because he was our last hope." Antauri said. "We could call in all our allies, but we can't defeat this villain without Chiro. Otto, Sprx, and Gibson have already been captured and…"

The picture fuzzed up and Jinmay could no longer hear Antauri.

"Antauri? Antauri?!" She shouted.

Another picture came into view. The criminal the Monkey Team was facing. He looked like a weird combination of a griffin and a werewolf.

"So, I take it you are the Hyper Force's last hope?" The griffin-werewolf sneered.

"Who are you?" Jinmay asked.

"I'm Grolf, girl, and I'm coming for you. You will not escape and neither will the rest of the Hyper Force, or the rest of the universe!" The griffin-werewolf gave off an evil laugh.

Jinmay gulped. "You'll never defeat the Hyper Force's last hope. I'll stop you."

Grolf laughed evilly again. "Dream on, girlly. I'll defeat you and anyone else who stands in my way."

He disconnected the call.

Jinmay tried to call Antauri again, but the call didn't go through.

"Antauri, Nova, please… Hold him back as long as you can…" She whispered.

"Jinmay?" Jinmay spun around to see Ash behind her. "Who was that?"

"How much did you hear?" She asked the boy.

"Something last hope. I'll stop you. From there on." Ash replied.

Jinmay was silent for a few minutes. Then, she said. "That guy is an enemy of the Hyper Force. The Monkey Team called to get Chiro's help and then that guy hacked the signal. I need to lure him away from here so he doesn't find Chiro. Chiro can't fight him while he's hurt."

Ash nodded. "I understand."

"I'll need to take the Mind Scrambler, but, if I do, how will you get off this planet?" Jinmay wondered.

Ash sighed. "I don't know. We'll have to do something, won't we?"

"If only we could take Chiro to your planet and leave you all there…" Jinmay mumbled.

"That's worth asking the doctors, don't you think?" Ash said.

Jinmay turned to stare at him. "Say what?"

"If you take us back to our planet, not only will we be home, but Chiro will be safe. Two Pidgeys with one stone." Ash explained.

Jinmay hesitated. "I don't know…"

"Jinmay, we have to decide soon. That guy is coming for you and we need to get Chiro to safety before then." Ash said. "If we end up stuck on this planet, that's that, but we need to make a choice soon."

Jinmay nodded. "Let's go ask the doctors if we can move him."

They went into the hospital and asked to talk to the doctor in charge of Chiro, whom they promptly explained the problem to.

"I understand the problem and it is possible for Chiro to be moved, but he'll need to continue on in medical care once you reach the other planet." The doctor told them. "Do they know how to handle coma patients?"

Jinmay glanced at Ash for an answer and the boy said they did.

The doctor agreed to help move the boy to the ship and told them to be careful with him during the journey to the hospital on PokeEarth.

Fortunately, it seemed there was a hospital on PokeEarth that knew how to handle effects from alien technology in addition to normal human illnesses. Even more fortunately, this hospital was hidden underground and not far from Pallet Town.

The doctor phoned them to let them know the kids were coming and arranged a place for them to meet outside of town.

It was a short but silent trip to PokeEarth. Jinmay and Ash refused to say why they'd requested to move Chiro immediately.

Jinmay left as soon as Chiro was seen safely to the new hospital, but not before whispering something in Ash's ear.

Later…

Jinmay was cruising back to Shuggazoom when the Mind Scrambler was intercepted.

Grolf's minions yanked her out of the Mind Scrambler as soon as it was aboard Grolf's ship and dragged her to Grolf's 'throne room'.

"So, the Hyper Force's last hope has been captured. What do you have to say for yourself, girlly?" Grolf laughed.

"Wait, I thought Chiro was our last hope?" Sprx said stupidly. He and the rest of the Monkey Team were chained to a wall across the room.

"SHH!" Gibson hissed.

"Don't tell me to shush, Brain Strain! I'm not saying we weren't counting on Jinmay too, but the kid…"

"And who might you be talking about?" Grolf asked angrily, walking over to them

"No one. It doesn't matter." Nova said, looking at her feet.

Grolf yanked her face up, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "Look at me when you're speaking to me! Now tell me who this Chiro fellow is!"

"It doesn't matter who he is! He's not a threat to you so forget about him!" Nova shouted.

Otto, Sprx, and Gibson looked over at her in confusion, wondering what she meant by that.

Grolf motioned for Jinmay to be chained up next to the monkeys and left the room.

"What were you talking about, Nova? Isn't Chiro coming to get us?" Otto asked.

Jinmay was the one who answered. "Eventually, maybe. Soon, definitely not."

"What do you mean, kid? Why wouldn't the kid come to get us as soon as he could?" Sprx asked.

Antauri put in a question of his own to Jinmay. "You took the Mind Scrambler, did you not?"

"I did." Jinmay answered quietly.

"So Chiro has no way off the planet he's on now when he wakes up, am I correct?" Antauri continued.

"You're correct." Jinmay responded. "But he'll find a way. He always does."

"Wait. You abandoned the kid on some foreign planet in some faraway galaxy?" Sprx said. "When we need his help the most? Are you crazy?! We need him!"

"He wouldn't be able to help us anyways. He's… he's in a coma..." Jinmay trailed off.

"IN A COMA?! WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!" Sprx shouted.

"Shh. That creep might hear." Jinmay said. "There a very slim chance that he'll wake up. A very slim chance. But it's our only hope."

The monkeys looked at the ground.

"I should've been there." Antauri finally said. "I should've been there to protect him."

"There's nothing you could've done. It happened too fast to stop." Jinmay said. "But he's safe for now. That's all that matters. I erased the flight pattern on the Mind Scrambler so that creep wouldn't know where I've been."

Grolf came back, stopping their conversation. "So… Hyper Force… Where should I conquer next?"

"Nowhere." Jinmay answered under her breath.

"What was that you said, girlly?" Grolf hissed.

"I don't think you should conquer any planets. They deserve to be free." Jinmay replied boldly, earning herself a slap across the face.

"How about another planet populated by helpless humans?" Grolf suggested. "I know of another one. They call it PokeEarth."

The color drained from Jinmay's face. She did her best not to show it.

"Will take a couple of hours to get there, but then we start conquering." Grolf turned and grinned at the look on Jinmay's face. "What's wrong, girlly? Got some friends waiting to be conquered?"

"No." Jinmay lied. "Why do you ask?"

"Maybe this Chiro person?" Grolf prodded.

"Leave Chiro out of this!" Jinmay shouted.

Grolf chuckled menacingly. "Looks like I've struck a nerve there, eh, girlly?"

Jinmay growled at him.

Grolf laughed again. "Well, girlly, whatever friends you have on PokeEarth will soon be under my control. You are powerless to stop me, so you might as well give up."

"I'll never give up." Jinmay whispered.

Grolf smirked. "Then I will make you suffer."