"WE'VE FOUND HER!"
Lawrence sat in his machine, waiting and watching for any sign of Rachel. He wondered exactly what they would find if and when they came upon Rachel, and worried about finding a way to reverse it. He recalled that Female Ash's son had been the subject of a similar experiment five years previously, and they'd had to use cologne on him. However, he had not changed colour, and that suggested that the process used on Rachel differed from that which had been used on Baby Ash. Also, if Lu's example was anything to go by, cologne wouldn't work on her either.
At that moment, he heard an excited mental cry from Lu: We've found her!" He also sent Lawrence a mental image of Rachel, lying on her side by a rock, lilac-hued, wearing some sort of white coat and apparently out cold. He heard Lu call the others, and then Lu said Female Ash has got here, I'll come back and guide you to where Rachel is.
A few minutes later, Lawrence saw Lu, and followed him, to where everyone else was grouped around Rachel. Cyril had her head and shoulders in his lap, and was trying to slowly trickle water from the cap of a little bottle he had into her mouth. Lawrence went down in the lift, stopping off in the living quarters to grab an umbrella and a blanket. And went over as Cyril found Rachel's hand under one wing and checked her pulse.
"It's regular, but a little fast." He told them, as Lawrence draped the blanket over her and opened the umbrella to give her some shade.
Cyril put his hand to Rachel's forehead.
"I think she has a fever, but it could be the desert heat." He said. "I'd like to get her into the machine?" He looked at Lawrence who said "That's fine by me. I'm a bit bigger than you are, so I think I'll find it a bit easier to carry her, what with her wings and tail and all."
I'm ten foot long from nose to tail, and my wings could support hers. Lu said. Put her on my back, and I'll walk back to the machine with her.
Everyone saw the wisdom of this, and Lawrence, Cyril and Female Ash helped lift Rachel onto Lu's back, settling her carefully between Lu's back plates. Lu spread his wings as they lowered Rachel's wings onto them, and Baby Ash stood at Lu's tail end, supporting Rachel's legs and tail with his hands. Lu walked, a bit slower than usual, towards the machine, while Lawrence kept pace, keeping her shaded with the umbrella.
Once they had gone up in the lift, Lawrence and Cyril transferred Rachel into a bed. Cyril stayed by Rachel's side to look after her, while Lawrence went back into the control tower to set course for Shamouti Island. He hoped Rachel's condition would improve on the way to the island. With luck, they could pick up Julie, and then make their way back to the Orré Pokémon Lab, to see if Professor Krane could offer them any help in deShadowing Julie, Lu, and Rachel.
Lawrence wondered what they could do if Rachel's condition showed no improvement, or, worse, began to deteriorate. There was no precedent for this, so Lawrence had to accept that anything could happen.
Similarly, he had no idea how Julie's human half might react to the process.
