Pansage slashed Herdier. It stumbled backward.

"Keep up the pressure, vine whip!" Pansage lashed out with vines, hitting Herdier in the face. The Herdier collapsed. Lenora sent out an Audino.

"Take down!" She ordered. Audino charged at Pansage.

"Vine whip! Knock it over!" Pansage attacked Audino's legs with vines. They had hardly any effect.

Audino smashed into Pansage, hurling it into the air. Pansage landed hard, getting knocked out. I sent out Pidove.

"Steel wing, quick!" Pidove circled Audino and flew straight at it.

"Thunderbolt." Audino's hands crackled. A streak of electricity shot out, hitting Pidove. Pidove was immediately knocked out. I sent out Munna. "Take down!"

"Hypnosis!" Audino charged straight into the hypnosis waves. It fell asleep and hit the ground. "Psybeam!" Munna fired psybeam after psybeam at Audino.

"Wake up!" Lenora shouted. Audino stirred but didn't recover. It took about five hits to knock it out. Lenora sent out her Watchog.

"Hyper fang!" Watchog rushed at Munna.

"Hypnosis!" Watchog maneuvered around the wave, sinking its fangs into Munna. Munna was knocked out by one hit. I sent out Tepig. Tepig puffed some smoke from its nose.

"Knock it out, now!" Lenora demanded. Watchog's fangs started glowing again. It started running at Tepig.

"Keep it back, ember!" Tepig fired embers, slowing Watchog's charge. "Tackle!" Tepig charged.

"Slam!" Watchog met Tepigs charge, knocking it off course. Tepig spun in the air, landing on its side. "Again!"

"Ember!" Tepig fired more embers at Watchog; they seemed to have more effect, pushing it back.

The door swung open.

"What are you doing?" Kenya shouted. I turned around. She was standing in the doorway, out of breath. Lenora's husband followed behind her, silent.

"Kenya?" Bianca seemed confused.

"Hyper fang!" Lenora yelled.

"Flaming tackle!" Tepig shot embers, lighting itself on fire, and charged at Watchog. Tepig picked up speed, colliding with Watchog.

Watchog flew through the air, landing behind Lenora. It didn't get back up. Lenora silently returned Watchog. Kenya walked over to me.

"What's going on?" I kept my eyes on Lenora. She covered her face with her hands.

"I-I think I won." I returned Tepig and started walking across the battlefield. "Lenora. Give it to me." I stopped in front of Lenora and held out my hand. Bianca walked over to Kenya and started talking with her. Lenora held up a poke ball.

"That thing is dangerous." I took the poke ball. "You've seen what it's capable of!" I turned away from her, staring at the poke ball.

"Andrew." Kenya crossed the battlefield, meeting me halfway. "Is that Druddigon?" I nodded.

I handed her the poke ball. "W-why would you do that?" She lowered her head. "Why would you do that?" I looked past her at Bianca. She nodded.

"Let out Druddigon."

"What?"

"Don't you dare!" Lenora pushed past me. Bianca and Lenora's father ran over. "Kenya, listen. That thing is violent. It can't be tamed." She grabbed Kenya's shoulders and shook her. "It's a waste of time, can't you understand?"

"Pokemon aren't stupid!" I yelled it as loud as I could. Lenora went silent. She looked over at me; her eyes were slits. "That Druddigon. It's just confused."

"What do you know?" Lenora started for me.

"Kenya, let it out!" Lenora spun on her heels. Kenya threw Druddigon's poke ball. It soared over the arena, opening and releasing Druddigon by the entrance. It looked over at us.

"Hawes!" Lenora yelled. "Use Vanilluxe!" Her husband took out a Pokeball. Druddigon turned to him.

"Wait!" Bianca stood in front of Hawes. He hesitated. Druddigon looked at Kenya. It grunted and started walking towards her. Kenya tensed up.

"Kenya," Lenora warned. "Back up." I wanted to say something; my voice caught in my throat.

Could we have been wrong about Druddigon? Kenya started walking towards Druddigon.

"Kenya!"

"Lenora, wait." Hawes put a hand on Lenora's shoulder. "Watch." Tears filled Kenya's eyes as she met Druddigon in the middle of the battlefield. Druddigon lowered its head.

"Druddigon. It's been so long." Kenya smiled. Druddigon grunted. "Mom isn't here right now," Druddigon grunted again. "I don't know if you understand, but she died."

Druddigon sat down, pushing its head against Kenya. She hesitated, trembling. "She's not coming back," she whimpered, hugging Druddigon. Her whimper slowly turned into a whine. Soon she was full-on crying. I smiled at Bianca. She wiped her eyes and smiled back. Then I heard his voice.

You think I don't know that?

His voice echoed in my head. I glanced between Bianca, Lenora, and Hawes to see if they heard it as well. They didn't seem to be responding.

Of course, I do.

They stayed together, crying, for a few minutes. Finally, Kenya returned Druddigon. She sat down on the battlefield. Hawes embraced Lenora.

"It's alright, Lenora." I looked over at her, letting out a breath. Bianca meandered over to me, repeatedly pausing and glancing at Kenya.

"What do we do now?" I shrugged. My mind was distracted by Druddigon's voice. "I'm glad I wasn't needed after all. I was really worried for a minute there." I remembered something similar happening with Tepig back in Striaton. Could I have heard things on two separate occasions?

"Andrew," Lenora pulled away from Hawes and approached me. "Just…Just take it." She handed me a badge. I considered denying her but didn't have the gall. Lenora walked over to Kenya, leaning down beside her. The two of them started talking. Hawes wiped his eyes.

"What a morning, wouldn't you say?" The ground rumbled, dust falling from the ceiling. "What was that?" The ground rumbled again. Kenya got up.

"The museum!" Lenora ran for the entrance. A person wearing a black outfit appeared in the doorway. They threw a poke ball, releasing a Bouffalant.

"Don't move!" He yelled. The Bouffalant stomped its foot threateningly.

"Who are you?" Lenora stepped in front of Kenya.

"I'm representing Neo Team Plasma." The man bowed dramatically. He spoke slowly, emphasizing every word. "I've been told to retrieve a certain artifact from this vile museum. But apparently, it isn't here. Chances are you know where it is." Bianca and I shared a glance.

"What are you after?"

"Information about a book." He started walking towards Lenora. Smoke started rolling through the entrance. "Written by the late Concordia."

"Concordia?" Hawes covered his mouth. The man looked over at him.

"I see you're familiar with the name."

"He doesn't know anything!" Lenora hissed. The smoke spread across the ground, reaching the man and passing him.

"But you do?" The man stopped in front of Lenora. She nodded. "With the recent passing of Anthea. Concordia's tome is our last chance of reaching him." No one said anything. The man frowned. "Take me to it." Lenora patted Kenya on the shoulder.

"Wait!" Hawes shouted. He sent out Vanilluxe. "Ice Beam!" Vanilluxe fired a laser at the Bouffalant. The Bouffalant shrugged the laser off and charged at us.

"What are you doing?" Lenora raised her hands. "Stop!" Vanilluxe evaded Bouffalant's attacks, firing more ice beams at it. Tepig was my only pokemon that wasn't knocked out, but it was close enough to be useless in battle.

"Lenora!" Kenya yelled. The Neo plasma man was grabbing at Lenora. They were shouting at each other.

"Where is it?" He tried to restrain Lenora; she shoved him to the ground. He coughed, inhaling smoke.

"Vanilluxe, sheer cold!" Vanilluxe froze the Bouffalant solid. The man started backing away. Lenora and Kenya approached him. The three of us hurried over.

"You were so talkative before." Lenora grabbed him by his shirt. "What happened?" The man shuddered, trying to pull away.

"Lenora, we have to get upstairs!" Hawes insisted. Bianca hurried over to the door.

"I can't see anything; it's so smoky!" She backed away, coughing.

"Cover your mouth!" I yelled. Lenora hoisted the man up.

"You better return that Bouffalant." The man hesitantly obliged. We headed upstairs, the smoke getting thicker. When we made it to the museum, the smoke was dense and black. I could see glimpses of fire. The plasma guy laughed and immediately started violently coughing.

"Get back downstairs!" Hawes ordered. I pushed Bianca back into the stairway, pulling Kenya after us. Lenora and Hawes weren't far behind. Hawes shut the door and leaned against it.

"What about Vanilluxe?" Kenya asked.

"Do it!" Hawes yelled. The building rumbled. The shaking lasted for a few seconds before stopping abruptly. Hawes struggled to open the door. Lenora helped him force it open. The smoke slowly cleared out as we left the stairway. The floor was soft; the air was cold. Blinding sunlight filled the area. There was ice everywhere; the ceiling was gone.

"What did you do?" The plasma man looked around. Vanilluxe was floating a few feet in the air. I dug my foot into the snowy floor.

Vanilluxe floated down to Hawes. He whispered something before returning it. Neither Lenora nor Hawes said anything else.

They led us through the maze of collapsed walls and ice, finding the entrance. There was a layer of snow surrounding the perimeter of the museum. A small crowd of people were gathered outside.

Lenora pushed the plasma man to the ground. I sat down, taking a long breath. Lenora was talking to the crowd, Hawes spoke to Bianca and me. I didn't hear what either of them were saying.

Kenya looked over at me; she looked past me at the remains of the museum. She smiled at me. I forced a small smile.

My smile faded when I noticed a blue head in the crowd.

Cheren.