The next morning, Gary returned to the crater. He was accompanied by his grandfather and two research associates, Shane and Jean. Since they were not carrying much, they chose to fly up on their pokemon. They landed on a ledge near the site. Shane and Jean returned their Fearows to their pokeballs, since it was much too cold for most bird pokemon at this elevation. Gary, however, kept his Charizard beside him.
"It was just over here," he said, moving along the ledge. He saw only a vast expanse of white - snow had filled up the crater. He nodded to his Charizard. "Torch it."
The Charizard drew in a deep breath before spewing a burst of flames. It instantly melted the snow and vaporized it, filling the air with icy mist. The mist dissipated, and surely enough the crater was there. He crept to the edge carefully.
"See? Just like I said."
Professor Oak looked over the crater slowly.
"Well, it certainly does look like something fell from the sky. Note the way the edges of the crater are molten, like glass."
He looked thoughtful.
"You know, my cousin, Samson Oak, tells me that in the region of Alola there are pokemon called Minior that occasionally fall from the sky and land in the mountains there. Perhaps the thing you saw was one of them."
Gary looked dejected. "You mean a pokemon that's already been discovered? Aw, man."
His grandfather clapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, it's still a great discovery - especially for your first expedition! We never knew if an Alolan Pokemon could be found here. Now we just might."
"Might?" Gary echoed.
"Well, first we have to find the fallen Pokemon to be sure that it is indeed a Minior. Verification is an important part of the scientific process."
Gary sighed. "Well, I guess we better start looking, then. We've only got a whole mountain to cover."

While Professor Oak and the others opted to form large search parties with the other researchers, Gary struck out on his own. He just wanted some time alone to think. He was frustrated that he had seen something incredible, but lost it. And before he could lay claim to any kind of discovery, he had to find it. And of course he had no idea where it would go. He didn't know anything about Alola or its indigenous pokemon yet. IF he had seen a Minior, where was it hiding now?
He trudged through the snow, which was knee-deep. He could have had his Flareon clear a path, but he wanted a challenge. He kept his pokemon in their balls.
Before long, he came to a ridge where there were huge boulders resting against each other. Gary looked at them warily, wondering if any of the boulders were sleeping Geodude. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally wake up an angry horde of hibernating pokemon.
Then he heard a soft cry, sort of a whimper, from a cleft in the boulders.
Was it a hurt pokemon? Gary slogged through the snow as quickly as he could. Maybe it was the thing he had seen in the crater last night! He stopped at the cleft and peered in. It took his eyes a moment to adjust, but then he saw what had made the noise. There was an injured Glaceon lying curled up in the back of the space. It looked at Gary with wide, frightened eyes.
"Oh, it was you," Gary said. He shook his head, knowing he shouldn't be disappointed to help a hurt pokemon. He dug into his item bag and pulled out a Hyper Potion.
"This should help," he said kindly as he applied it to the Glaceon. When the pokemon's condition did not improve, he frowned.
"Strange. You must be really hurt. You'll have to come with me - I know some people who could definitely help you."
Gary gently picked up the Glaceon and carried it back to camp. It did not struggle, only staring at him with those wide, dark eyes.

By the time he made it back to camp, Professor Oak and the researchers with him had returned as well. They had no luck finding any Minior, though they had spotted some rare ice pokemon tracks.
"A Glaceon!" Professor Oak exclaimed when he saw what Gary was carrying.
"Yeah, it's injured, Gramps. It's the weirdest thing - I tried using a Potion on it, but there was no effect."
"Hm...that is strange. Potions should always work on pokemon to some degree. Even expired ones should have some kind of effect."
Well, that's why I brought it here," Gary said. "Maybe it's hurt so bad that Potions can't help it "
Professor Oak grunted in thought. "Bring it to the medical tent. We can let it rehabilitate in there. Jean has had some training in pokemon nursing - we'll see if she can help it recover."

The medical tent was red and white. It was meant to serve both humans and pokemon, as Jean explained when she welcomed Gary and the Professor into the tent.
"You can set your little friend on that examination table - yes, that one - and we can have a look." She pulled on a pair of nitrile gloves, as did the Chansey that was with her.
"Just by looking, it doesn't appear that this pokemon has any external injuries. So there may be internal injuries, like broken bones. I don't have the ability to do x rays up here, but I can palpitate along its body to see if I can feel any fractures."
She started by feeling the Glaceon's head, gently feeling for any lumps or breaks. The Glaceon appeared to be indifferent to her touch, still staring at Gary. Suddenly it turned and bit Jean on the arm.
"Hey!"
Jean jumped back and examined her arm. The Glaceon's bite had broken her skin and drew blood.
"I guess it's a good thing I've had my shots," she grumbled. She looked at the Glaceon in irritation, fear trickling down her spine when she saw it lick her blood from its muzzle.
"That wasn't very nice," Gary scolded the Glaceon. "Jean was just trying to help you."
"Maybe it's been hurt by humans in the past," Professor Oak guessed.
"It didn't mind being carried by Gary," Jean retorted as she held her wound out to be sterilized by the Chansey.
"It was in shock," Gary said defensively. But even as he said the words, he was getting a little creeped out by the Glaceon's unblinking stare that always seemed to be fixed on him.
"We'll let it rest," Jean said crisply. "There's an enclosure over here where you can put it. It's big enough for a Gyarados, so it should be comfortable enough."
Gary cautiously picked up the Glaceon and took it to the enclosure.
"Uh, don't worry," he reassured it. "We'll set you free once you get better. There's some food and water for you, and a nice bed over there. I'll check on you later."