Steven readjusted the blanket covering Saki as he grabbed the rag on her forehead, dunking it into the bowl full of ice water on the night stand. Wiping her face with the wet cloth, it seemed that her fever was almost gone; placing the cool rag on her forehead he walked over to Zoroark and repeated the same thing.

The door opened as he glanced over to see Archie enter the room, "how are they doing?" He asked Steven, as he took a deep breath.

"Both of their fevers have gone down, but neither of them have woken up...I'm really starting to get worried." Steven told Archie as he looked down at the light tiled ground.

"I'm sorry I wasn't much help, but one strike from that Pokemon really packs a punch." Archie apologized as he walked over to Zoroark. "Maxie sure was a fool to think he could control such power, just goes to show how much of a madman he really is."

"Speaking of Maxie, what happened after we left?" Steven asked.

Archie slowly paced the room, "once I finally came to I saw you had taken those two away from the base, Matt and Shelly were able to apprehend most of Team Magma along with Maxie, but we unfortunately don't know where the rest of them are."

"So they're still out there... do you think they're going to try and act without Maxie?"

He nodded his head. "There's no doubt about that, Shelly says they also got away with the red orb."

"Red orb?"

"It's an artifact that was held at the top of Mt. Pyre. Both the blue orb and red orb have the power to awaken Groudon and Kyogre, we're trying to get Maxie and his admin to tell us the locations for their other secret hideouts but they're not saying anything."

Steven pulled out the red ribbon that had fallen off of Zoroark as he clenched it in his fist. "Alright, but the minute they speak let me know." Steven requested.

"I will, for now just worry about them waking up soon. If I were you I'd be worried that neither of them have woken up within a week." Archie pointed out the sad fact. Steven felt his heart drop, with each passing day he felt more and more depressed. "Now don't be so hard on yourself, I'll let you know when Maxie cracks."

With that Archie left the room as the rest of Saki's now fully healed Pokemon entered the room. All of them looked over at Saki and Zoroark as their faces were full of concern and worry. "They'll be fine," Steven said to them as he placed the ribbon next to Zoroark.

Walking over to Saki he looked at both Marshtomp and Altaria, both looked full of guilt. "Al..."

"Marsh, marsh"

Steven knew why they looked so guilty, placing a hand on both of them they looked up at him. "Don't worry she still needs to rest, without you two she wouldn't have been able to save Zoroark." He tried to cheer them up as it didn't seem to work.

"Mmmggnnnn" Steven heard Saki mumble as he watched her slowly starting to open.

The warmth of a large thick blanket covering most of my body felt so comforting to me as I could feel a cold rag on my head. I tried to sit up as I winced in pain. I could feel a bandage like material was wrapped around most of my body as I saw them on my arms.

"Saki!" Steven called out my name as I could feel his arms wrap around me, pulling me up as I sat in the bed. The large white room was filled with shelves containing different rocks, and a few glass cases.

The wet rag fell into my lap as I looked to see my Pokemon gather around me, except one. "Where's Zoroark!?" I panicked as I saw her laying in a pull out out bed, she too was wrapped in bandages with a rag on her forehead. "Is she ok?" I asked Steven as I wanted to cry.

"She's fine, the wounds on Zoroark's body is almost healed and her fever went down this morning along with yours." Steven explained as I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness,"

"...Saki"

"Yes Steven?" He sounded very upset, pulling me towards him Steven hugged me tightly as I hugged him back. "I'm sorry I worried you." I apologized as I felt him starting to shake.

Kissing my forehead he looked into my eyes as I could see that they were full of sadness, "I was so worried that I was going to lose you." I felt bad that I made him worry so much, but I was so concerned about Zoroark.

"You're not going to lose me," I told him as he kissed me. Pulling away the pink tint covered his face as I smiled at him, "wait, where are we?"

"We're in my home." He told me as I carefully sat at the edge of the large bed. "Saki, what are you?" He asked me, could feel Roserade, Ninetails, and Kirlia help me walk over to Zoroark as I sat on her bed.

"How long has she been out?" I asked Steven as he sat next to me.

"You've both been unconscious for a week."

It didn't surprise me, after everything that happened we definitely need our rest. "I see, but why are we in your home? And what exactly happened? I mean why was Archie with you when you found us?"

"Archie hated that Maxie was able to beat him twice, he wanted to get revenge on him and said he would help me save you. He had sent a spy in to work under Maxie that gave us the location of Team Magma's hideout which was pretty close to Mossdeep City." Steven explained as I nodded my head.

I grabbed the red ribbon that had fallen off of Zoroark as I gently wrapped around her forearm in the large bow that she had when she was still her little Zorua self. "So you finally evolved?" I asked her, but she didn't respond.

Sleeping peacefully, she looked better now and I was finally reunited with my best friend. "I'm surprised Zoroark had that much power, she seems to be more powerful than Altaria." Steven said to me.

"The collar..."

"Collar?"

"Team Magma had placed a collar around Zoroarks neck that caused her to become completely obedient to them, but it malfunctioned and it ended up causing her to fight back against the pain it caused her." I tearfully said as the tears started to drip from my face. "I-I couldn't h-he-help her! If I just-"

"Saki," Steven put a hand on my shoulder. "These people are use to doing that, but the important thing is Zoroark is ok, you two are together again."

Looking at Marshtomp and Altaria they looked very upset, and I knew why. "Please come here you two," I said to them as they slowly walked over to me. I pulled them both into a hug, "you two did a wonderful job, I know it wasn't easy but you save her." I told them as I wiped away my tears.

"Saki, look!" I looked over at Zoroark as her eyes were slowly starting to open.

"Zoroark!" I said to her as she looked over at me before looking away. "Hey what's wrong?" I asked her as she remained silent, but looked sad. "You couldn't control yourself, please don't be so hard on yourself." I begged her.

"Maybe it's because even though she was under control, she still had to watch herself harm those around her especially you." Steven stated. "She feels guilty that you ended up getting hurt."

"Zoroark, please don't feel bad. You're my best friend, I would get hurt over and over again just to protect you. Best friends protect each other," I told her as I smiled.

She looked up at me, "S...Sa...Saki...fr-iend" my eyes opened in shock as she spoke to me smiling.

"Best friends."