A RACE AGAINST TIME
"George, could you start doing that?" Cyril asked. He grabbed Rachel, and turned her to face him. "Look, Rachel, we will find a way to beat this, even if it takes time. Don't give up! I think that while George works on that receptor, we should go back to Professor Krane and see if he's got any ideas. We'll go right away, in Lawrence's machine if he agrees. After last time, he got John to fix powerful lights to it so he can see where he's going at night. We'll contact him on the way-we can drop the kids there too so they don't notice what's happening too much-and see if he has any suggestions. If anyone will know what to do, it'll be him. We won't take this lying down and we certainly won't let that Lovrina woman win!"
Rachel didn't answer for a moment, but then she gave a decisive nod. "You're right! Let's get ready and go." She walked out of the lab after hanging up her lab coat, and Cyril looked at George.
"Is that her, or is that the aggression of the Shadow process?" he asked.
"I couldn't say." Said George. "It could be both, one enhancing the other, but don't sit wondering if each new reaction is or is not, go out and contact Professor Krane. The quicker you speak to him, the quicker you get to find out if he has any ideas. I'll start working on the receptor straight away. I'll also do some drug toxicity tests to find if there is any drug that affects these cells more severely than Rachel's own cells. I'll also contact Bill, to see if his Cell Separation System could be re-built and used to separate the Pokémon stem cells from Rachel's own." Cyril nodded, and headed out after Rachel.
He found her in the Shamouti Island Gym, watching Lawrence and Julie battling a trainer. Once they had finished, and presented the trainer with his well-earned badge, they came over to enquire what was wrong. Rachel and Cyril took it in turns to explain various parts of the problem to Lawrence, who frowned and said "Let me pick up the kids, they can keep your two entertained and, hopefully, from asking too many awkward questions. Meet me at the machine."
When he arrived, he not only had his children, but the three Ashes came along too. "I found them waiting, George had called them and asked them to come back, luckily they were heading back anyway. We're not anticipating trouble, but just in case, we'll have plenty of back-up."
They all got aboard the machine, and Cyril spent the journey sitting by Rachel, trying to cheer her up, make her laugh, or smile. She just sat looking around, and Cyril didn't know if this was another manifestation of Shadow, or just Rachel getting depressed.
When night fell, Lawrence turned on his powerful lights, enabling then to travel during the night, rather than having to stop and lose who knew how much time till the morning. Cyril, in the meantime, called up Professor Krane, who said he thought he might have a solution, but he needed to talk to somebody to check, and that it was only a slim chance anyway.
"I'll take any chance, no matter how slim." Cyril said.
"Well, I should know in a few hours whether you can try this method or not, I'll call you back the moment I know anything." Krane said. "Once I've made my calls, I'll grab a few hour's sleep, then I can be up bright and early for whatever time you arrive." He said. Cyril nodded, deciding to do the same. He signed off, and curled up in bed with Rachel, holding her to him and murmuring encouraging things to her till he slept.
It was not a restful sleep. Once, a blow to the eye woke him rather painfully. It was Rachel, thrashing out and writhing in her sleep. He carefully moved to the other side of the bed, but twice more he was woken by her thrashing about in a dream, and he was rather glad when the beeping of his PDA forced him out of bed. Sleepily, he answered it.
"Right, I've spoken to Eagun of Agate Village, and he said he'd ask around to see if anyone might have any Time Flutes." Professor Krane told him. "These flutes can instantly summon up Celebi, who will Purify any Pokémon completely in one go. If he can find one, he'll bring it tomorrow. If not, he suggests visiting the Relic Stone anyway. He says he doesn't know if it will help, but it's worth a try. That Stone has some mystical power we still don't totally understand. The legend says that the Stone was given its power by Celebi itself, and if that is true, it may have properties we still don't know about."
"Okay, and thank you!" said Cyril. He signed off.
Deciding it was futile to try and gain any further sleep, he asked Julie who was nearby to keep an eye on Rachel, and went up and offered to take over piloting from Lawrence, who he guessed must be feeling tired. Lawrence gratefully accepted, and handed over control of the machine to Cyril.
Several hours later, as dawn was breaking, they landed at the Orré Pokémon lab, and Cyril woke his children, taking them along with Lawrence's three to Lily, who promised to find them something entertaining to do. Then he went back for Rachel, Julie, Lawrence and the three Ashes, and they went to find Krane.
"I'll come with you to Agate, it will add to my studies to see the effects of a Time Flute, if they have one." Krane said, grabbing up a box of scientific instruments and his trusty research notes. He accompanied them back to the machine and they proceeded to Agate. Professor Krane spoke to Rachel during the journey, trying to ascertain how far the Shadow Process had gone. He said that the fact that she could still speak, albeit with difficulty, suggested that she was at about the stage he'd first seen her at during her first visit. However, he too expressed concern at how quickly the process could accelerate. "I'm just glad you made best speed to get here." He said.
Agate wasn't so far from the Pokémon lab by air, and soon they were landing in front of the bridge to Agate Village. They made their way to Eagun's house, to find him waiting outside.
"I'm afraid that I couldn't find anyone who possessed a Time Flute. It appears that they all got used last time around." He looked sorrowfully at Rachel. "I'm sorry to see what has happened to you. I suggest we go to visit the Relic Stone. There may be something the Stone can do for you." Eagun turned, and led the way to the Relic Stone. The man guarding the entrance moved aside respectfully to let them pass, wishing Rachel the best of luck.
As they approached the Stone, it did seem to give off a brief green glow, but there was no doubt that the Stone had some strange power. Everyone there could feel it. Eagun led Rachel over to it, and took her hands, placing them on the Stone's rough curving sides. "Think how much you want to be normal again. Think of Celebi healing you, think of the Shadow inside you being driven out. Imagine a clear green sparkling energy filling you and expelling the darkness within. Ask Celebi for help, Rachel!" he said.
Pulling back, he said "Beluah found some ancient text suggesting that people around and standing in certain points could help with the Stone's powers. Here." He said, taking the two Ashes, and taking them to where the path started. "You stand at North, the woman in front, facing the Stone, the man behind, with his hands on her shoulders." Puzzled, the two Ashes complied. "You two, go to the South position and do the same." he said to Lawrence and Julie. They did so, as Beluh came down with a young girl about the same age as young Ash.
"Young master Ash, could you stand at West with Rithian here?" he asked. He did, going a bit red as the girl Rithian smiled shyly at him.
"Beluh and I will take the East position." He said. He did so, and slowly began chanting in a language nobody present understood.
Rachel, in the meantime, was fighting the purple haze at the periphery of her vision. Trying to think of words, to think of what Eagun had advised was like trying to wade through treacle-very slow stuff. Summoning all her will, she imagined as Eagun had told her, a green light flooding through her, the shadow inside her being washed out, feeling normal again. She looked up to the top of the cave above the relic stone. Slowly, her lips spelt out words as her mind and heart spoke them as well.
"Celebi…help me…please….Celebi…"
Those watching could not say where it started, or where it came from, but there was suddenly something very fast and green spiralling swiftly around Rachel, leaving a glittering green trail behind it. It paused a foot or so above and away from Rachel's head, which was turning to look at the little green and white creature with great black-rimmed eyes and antennae that hung there. It paused, then pointed one little arm above Rachel's head, and a shining blaze of green light glowed around the Celebi, and shot out and coalesced into a spiky ball of energy over Rachel's head. Droplets and sparks of green energy fell onto Rachel like a strange rain, and where it struck, she changed.
Where it fell on skin, her skin lightened and returned to normal. As it fell upon her, she started to look around, smiling and laughing, losing the lack of expression that had recently come over her face. Her eyes lit up and she raised her arms and spun in the light, which continued to rain upon her. The last remaining lilac bits on Rachel seemed to briefly darken, and then seemed to leap off her skin into the air, where like some strange gas, it dispersed. The green light seemed to be eliminating it and cleansing the air around Rachel. A minute after it had started, the light winked out, and only then did everyone notice that Celebi too was no longer present.
Cyril, who had been standing back, rushed forwards to embrace Rachel. She embraced him back.
"Is that it? Is the nightmare over now?" she asked.
"Yes, Rachel, it is. The Shadow is gone from you." He assured her.
"Drat! Celebi didn't stay around long enough to be studied!" Krane said. Eagun smiled.
"It seems that Pokémon still have some secrets to be hidden from us. It came because your friend was in desperate need. It helped her. That is the important thing."
"That's true, but I still wish it had stayed around longer." Krane said. Eagun turned to the assembled group.
"I take it you will be wanting to pick up your children and go home. Would you like something to drink before you go? Beluh and I have not entertained a lot of guests for too long. Would you honour us by staying for a cup of tea?"
"Rachel looked at Cyril and nodded, as Lawrence noticed and said, "Yes, why not? After all there's no rush at the moment. We have all the time in the world."
