"Ash, are you sure it's a good idea to just leave Articuno here alone?" Cassie asked.
"I don't have many other options. If Team Rocket follows us, only Vileplume is in any condition to fight." Ash said.
While Pikachu had recovered, he was still weak from the fights and wasn't doing much besides resting on Ash's shoulder.
"I don't want to leave you unprotected, and I can't risk going out unprotected either." Ash said. "And we still don't know where Megan ended up, much less where we are."
"Okay, let's just try and be quick." Cassie said.
After a bit of walking, they could see a small town in the distance.
"Hopefully they have a Pokemon Center." Ash said, rushing to the town.
"Hello, and welcome to the Pokemon Center, how may I help you today?" The Nurse Joy asked.
"Heavily. Injured. Up the hill. No supplies. Bleeding. Really big." Ash said, gasping for air.
"Okay, hold on just a moment." Nurse Joy said, pressing a few buttons. Suddenly two Chansey and another Nurse Joy rushed out, bringing a cart of supplies.
"Lead the way." The second Nurse Joy said.
Back at the cave Articuno is resting in.
"Oh my, when you said big, I didn't imagine this." The Nurse Joy said. "What happened?"
"We were attacked by Team Rocket, and she got hurt, can you help?" Ash asked.
"Yes, I'm glad we brought the extra supplies." The Nurse Joy said. "Here, put these on."
"Wait what?" Ash asked.
"I need a second set of hands for this, we need to act quickly." Nurse Joy said.
"Okay." Ash said, putting on the gloves and shirt.
A while later, back at the Pokemon Center
"And you're sure it's okay to leave Articuno there?" Ash asked.
"We don't have the room for an Articuno, and even if we did, we've done all we can." The Nurse Joy said. "The knife has been removed, we cleaned the wound, and bandaged her up."
"And my Pokémon?" Ash asked.
"Thankfully they weren't that heavily injured, just exhausted. They'll all make a full recovery." The Nurse Joy said.
It was late at night as Ash quietly made his way out of the Pokemon Center, everyone was sleeping, his Pokemon were finishing recovering, but there was still no sign of Megan.
"Seel?" Seel said flopping out.
"Hey there, what are you doing up, you should be sleeping." Ash said, kneeling down and petting Seel.
"Seel?" Seel asked confused.
"Yeah, I know I should be too, I'm just worried." Ash admitted. "You wanna go on a walk with me?"
"Seel! Seel!" Seel said, clapping his fins together.
"Okay, come on." Ash said.
Ash led Seel back up the hill and through the woods, a path he had become quite familiar with today out of necessity. Eventually reaching a cave that was beginning to freeze over.
"Hey Articuno." Ash said approaching cautiously.
Articuno turned her head, staring Ash directly in the eyes.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing, and to thank you for getting us all to safety." Ash said, going through his bag. "I got some things in town today, I wasn't sure what you'd like, but I figured this might be good." Ash said, opening a can of Pokémon food.
Articuno didn't try anything as Ash set the van down by her, before backing away.
"I know you're injured, but my friend Megan, you rescued her, but I'm not sure where you took her, maybe when you're feeling better we can go get her." Ash said, watching Articuno eat.
As Articuno finished eating, the ice in the cave grew even more.
"I guess you were just hungry." Ash said.
Ash's thoughts were stopped as he heard large engines nearby. Looking outside the cave he saw Team Rocket's robot flying in the air past them.
"Cuu." Articuno chirped.
"It's not safe for you here." Ash said. "And I can't properly care for you. You need to escape, I'll try and buy you some time."
"Cuu?" Articuno said in confusion.
"If only Seel could learn this right now, then we could get their attention." Ash said pulling out one of his remaining Training Machines. "It contains Ice Beam, like the one you use."
Articuno plucked the disc out of Ash's hand, holding it high in the air.
"Hey give that back!" Ash exclaimed, before watching Articuno place it on Seel's horn. "What in the?"
Articuno shot an ice beam directly at the disc, causing it to shatter, releasing a strange energy that surrounded Seel.
"Seel? Are you feeling okay?" Ash asked.
"Seel?" Seel said confused before releasing an Ice Beam out the front of the cave.
"Cool." Ash said in amazement. "Okay, give us five minutes and then run for it."
Ash and Seel ran out of the cave, looking for the giant robot.
"There it is! Seel use Ice Beam!"
Seel shot the attack straight up, while it missed the robot, it did get its attention.
"We've got this, I hope." Ash said, as the robot landed nearby.
"Don't you ever learn?" The woman said.
"School never was my strong suit." Ash countered.
"You escape, only to interfere every time. No matter, you can only run for so long." The woman said.
"And you're out a sword, so you'll have to fight fair." Ash said angrily.
"It was a worthy sacrifice, I couldn't let that failure Revan reveal anything to you." The woman said. "And I have plenty of ways to silence you, for good. Gengar come out of the shadows!"
The shadows surrounding them suddenly began to move to a central location, pulling them all in and up to form a Gengar that stood taller than Ash.
"Not good." Ash gulped. "Seel use Ice Beam!"
"Gengar use Night Shade."
A burst of shadowy force blasted through Seel's attack, hitting both him and Ash.
"Seel use another Ice Beam!"
"Gengar use Night Shade."
Once again the shadowy force pushed through Seel's attack, causing Ash to fall to his knees.
"Gengar use Hypnosis.
Gengar's eyes began to swirl as Ash fell to the ground, and soon sleep taking him over.
Ash's team and their moves
Pikachu: Thunderbolt - Quick Attack - Mimic - Thunder
Vileplume: Petal Dance - Solar Beam - Toxic - Acid
Jigglypuff: Sing - Pound - Disable - Body Slam
Rapidash: Ember - Stomp - Agility - Fire Spin
Dratini: Wrap - Leer - Dragon Rage - Hyper Beam
Seel: Headbutt - Ice Beam