ON THE FLYING MACHINE

Lawrence had decided, in the absence of any other course of action available that night, to try and start re-purifying Lu. He had taken Lu down to his living quarters, and found some scents left over from five years ago. He began rubbing Lu with them. Female Ash came down to give the message that Julie had been sighted over the sea, heading for the Orange Isands, standing back and muttering something about "stinky stuff" before making herself scarce.

Half an hour later, Lawrence had to admit defeat. He didn't know why, but Lu was not reacting to the scent massages. Whether it was something about Lu being a Lugia, the fact that Rachel interfered with his processing, or this new technique, he couldn't say. He decided to go and call Eagun on his radio to see if he had any ideas.

Eagun didn't know either, but suggested that Lawrence call someone who might, who's name was Professor Krane. He gave Lawrence the Professor's PDA number and, wishing Lawrence all the best, signed off. Lawrence sighed, got out his PDA, and called this Professor Krane.

He was lucky: Professor Krane was a very busy man, but Lawrence had caught him during a lull. He explained his problem, and Krane told him that he had found out that Cipher were trying to make Shadow Pokémon that were unpurifiable. They had already made the attempt with a mysterious Pokémon that they had referred to as "XD001". Not everything had gone to plan at first, and they had abducted Krane himself in an attempt to force him to help iron out the problem. Krane had refused point-blank to help and had soon after been rescued. He didn't know if they had succeeded in tweaking their XD001, but he felt he had to tell Lawrence as it was possible that this process had been used on Lu. However, Krane was convinced that if a Pokémon had a heart, it must be able to be opened. He told Lawrence about his special "purify chambers" and said Lawrence could drop by any time to see if that would help. Lawrence thanked him, and signed off.

Sighing, he added a trip to the Orré Pokémon Lab to the list of things to do. He hoped Krane was right, and that they could Purify Lu, because Lawrence could not bear to think that Lu might live the rest of his life in the half-Shadow existence he was living now.

He had one more call to make. Julie had been seen heading for the Orange Islands, and it was a safe bet that Shamouti would be the most likely place she was headed. He phoned George, and brought him up to speed with what had been happening and what he'd found out. He explained about Julie, explained that her colours may have changed, and asked him to keep a look out for her. Then he rang off.

Going back into the living quarters, he made up an extra guest bed for Lu, and two more for the Ashes and their son, and one for Cyril. He then settled the three children and Lu, and once they had dozed off, he went back to his own bed, which felt very large and cold and empty without Julie in it. For a long while he lay there thinking of the things they had to do and the problems they were likely to encounter. After what seemed a long time, his body and brain finally succumbed to sleep.