A freak accident.

That's what every channel on every television in the Indigo Plateau Hospital kept repeating over and over again.

"Please turn it off, Brock. I can't take hearing that over and over again," Delia Ketchum said softly as she buried her head in her hands.

And as Brock, Misty, and Delia sat in the emergency room, one thought kept running through their minds:

This wasn't supposed to happen.

---

"Hey, Sam, wake up."

Professor Oak was jarred awake by a nudge to his ribs. "Huh? Whazzat?"

"The lecture's over. Want to go get some lunch before the afternoon sessions?" Professor Elm asked as he stood up.

Professor Oak shook his head to clear the cobwebs in it. Normally the topic of the evolution of Eevee would've been quite fascinating, but the lecturer had been so dry and monotonous that he had nodded off in the middle of the speaker's presentation. He quickly scanned the program and none of the afternoon's speakers sounded much better. He really didn't even want to be at this conference, but Professor Ivy had been in charge of coordinating speakers this year and had roped him into doing a presentation on his latest research on herd dominance in Tauros. Since he wasn't scheduled to speak until tomorrow morning, Professor Oak decided to skip the rest of the day's presentations and head back to his hotel room to watch the Indigo League championship match, which was where he really wanted to be. As he followed his young colleague out the door of the lecture hall, they noticed several people clustered around a television set.

"Oh my God…"

"I can't believe it…"

"How horrible…"

"What's going on?" Professor Oak asked as he approached the anxious group.

"Didn't you hear? There was an accident at the Indigo League championship," a stunned-looking woman informed him.

"They said one of the trainers was killed along with their Pokémon," another woman said with a trembling voice. "And the other one was critically injured."

"Hey, Sam," one of his colleagues from Saffron City addressed him. "I think they said one of the trainers was from your neck of the woods. Ketchikan, Catchit…"

"Ketch…Do you mean Ash Ketchum?" Professor Oak gasped as a thrill of horror shot through him.

"Yeah, that's it. Ketchum."

Oh my God, no!

Professor Oak turned and ran out the lecture hall and across the street to his hotel. And there it was on the television set in the hotel lobby:

"Repeating our top story this afternoon, two competitors were getting ready to begin their fifth-round battle at the Indigo League championship when a wall collapsed atop them. One trainer was killed, the other seriously injured. We'll have more on this story tonight at six. I'm Leslie Birch."

Dashing up the stairs two at a time to his room, Professor Oak threw open the door and headed straight for the telephone. With trembling hands, he dialed Delia's number.

Ring…ring…ring…

"Dammit! How stupid can you be, Sam?" he cursed as the answering machine picked up. "She would be at the hospital!" He quickly dialed the number of his own residence.

Please pick up, Tracey, he silently pleaded as the phone rang. Finally, a familiar voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Tracey?"

"Professor? Oh, thank God. I've been trying to call you all morning, but they said that you were at the conference," his relieved young assistant replied.

"Never mind that," he snapped. "What happened?"

"It was awful, Professor," Tracey said as his voice started to shake. "Brock, Misty, and Mrs. Ketchum were there. So was Gary."

Professor Oak's heart sank. Oh no, it's true. Ash is…

"That poor girl from Fuchsia City didn't have a chance. They said she and her Sandshrew were killed instantly."

"Girl? Fuchsia…? Tracey, are you telling me that Ash isn't dead?"

"No, Professor," Tracey hastily reassured him. "Ash isn't dead."

A relieved Professor Oak sank down on the bed as the trembling in his hands started to subside. "Thank God."

"But he's in really bad shape. Brock called a few minutes ago. They said he's still in surgery. He's got a lot of broken bones and internal injuries. They're still not sure he's going to make it," Tracey said as he choked back tears.

Oh, Ash. Oh, Delia.

"Delia…Mrs. Ketchum, how is she? Where is she? What hospital are they at?" Professor Oak asked rapidly as jumped up and began throwing his clothes into his suitcase.

"They're at the Indigo Plateau Hospital."

"Tell her that I'm catching the first flight home," he said as he flung his papers atop his clothes.

"But what about the conference…?"

"To hell with the conference!" Professor Oak barked as he grabbed his toothbrush out of the bathroom. "Just tell Delia that I'll be there as soon as I can."

---

"How long do you think Ash'll be in there, Brock?" Misty asked as she cuddled the worried Pikachu that was sitting in her lap.

"I don't know, Misty. It depends upon how badly he's hurt," Brock replied as he took a sip of his cola. "Probably a while."

The two teens turned at the sound of someone clearing their throat and saw an anxious-looking Gary standing in the doorway of the waiting room.

"Hey," he said quietly. "Any word on Ash?"

Misty shook her head and continued petting Pikachu.

At the sound of Gary's voice, Delia looked up and managed a tiny smile in his direction. "Hello, Gary. Are you all right? What did the doctor say?"

Gary looked down at his bandaged left hand. "A few stitches, no big deal."

Delia motioned for him to come over to her. When he did so, she reached up and took his uninjured hand in hers.

"Gary, I want to thank you for everything you did. If you hadn't been standing there and helped get Ash out of the rubble as fast as you did…"

Gary shrugged his shoulders. "He would've done the same thing for me, Mrs. Ketchum."

Their conversation was abruptly ended when a gray-haired man in surgical scrubs came into the room and approached Delia.

"Mrs. Ketchum? I'm Doctor Claiborne. I just came from your son's surgery, and I'd like to talk to you about it."

"Is my son all right?" a trembling Delia asked as she continued to clutch Gary's hand.

"Is Ash okay?" Misty and Brock asked in unison.

"Are you Ash's brothers and sister?" Dr. Claiborne asked the three teenagers.

"No, we're Ash's friends," Brock corrected him.

"Well, I'd like to speak to Ash's mother first, if I may," the doctor said as he indicated for Delia to follow him.

"Doctor, you can tell me and Ash's friends everything. They're just as worried about him as I am."

Conceding defeat, the doctor pushed aside the stack of magazines on the nearby table and sat down.

"Mrs. Ketchum, your son has been through a lot. At first we weren't certain that he would even survive the surgery, but Ash is definitely a fighter."

"Yep, that's our Ash," Brock said with a small grin.

"But he is still in critical condition. He has numerous injuries, including a concussion, several broken ribs, and a broken arm. He was lucky that none of those ribs managed to puncture a lung. We were fortunate enough to be able to stop the internal bleeding quickly."

"Can we see him?" Misty asked anxiously.

"He's still in recovery. He's unconscious and may be that way for quite a while. The next twenty-four hours are critical. I'll let you know as soon as you can see him."

"Thank you, Doctor Claiborne," Delia said as she wiped away a tear from her eye.

"Why don't you all get some rest, and I'll send someone out to let you know when Ash is out of recovery," the doctor said with a kind smile. "I'm going to go back now and check on him."

As soon as the doctor left, Delia leaned over and hugged Misty. "He's all right, thank God. He's alive."

Brock and Gary watched as tears started running down the faces of the two women.

"You okay, Gary?" Brock asked in a voice that was choked with emotion.

"Yeah," Gary said hastily as he turned away from the group. "Just got something in my eye, that's all."

But it was too late. Brock had already noticed the tear.