Meanwhile, Jonny and company reached the hospital, only to find the entrance overrun by unfriendly trainers and uninhibited pokemon guarding the place, waiting just for them,

"did you think I forgot about you and team plasma?" One of the trainers said, "you hold a special place in our history, I will use you to prove my omnipotence."

No one approached the guys, instead Zinzolin aimed to take control of them right there. Jonny, Helma, Popito, and Politoed heard him inside their minds, and realized there was nothing they could do to stop him.

"Great suffering awaits you especially, for thinking that you could oppose me," Jonny said, then he slapped Popito on the cheek, producing a perfect slapping sound. Popito returned the vicious slap to Jonny right on his cheekbone, at the same time Helma slapped Politoed on the face face. Then Jonny and Politoed slapped Popito and Helma respectively, and the slapping continued back and forth as the trainers around them mischievously cheered and laughed at them striking each other.

Then, as part of Zinzolin wicked enjoyment, he decided to change things up a bit. He made the guys change partners to slap around, so Popito changed places with Helma and ended up with Politoed, and Jonny ended up with Helma. However, Popito's hand stopped on its way to hit Politoed, right before he contacted with the water pokemon's damp skin, and Politoed hit him right on his cheek, freeing him from the mind control,

"thank you master," Popito cheered, "I would never strike you, and I know that you only hit me to free me from the mind control, right?...Wait!" The politoed kept striking a very much awake Popito rather violently,

"what the hell is wrong with you people? Why are you so stubborn?" Some trainers around them cried,

"guys, I know you are in there," Popito said as Helma and Jonny joined Politoed to gang up on him,

"just remember that you don't want to be doing this," Popito said, as they slapped him around,

"SHUT UP!" The trainers shouted,

"remember that you don't want to be doing what someone like Zinzolin wants you to do." Popito continued trying to convince his friends to stop slapping him around, and he succeeded with Jonny, who was the next one to come back to his senses. He grabbed Helma by the shoulders at the same time she gave him a good smack on the cheek, which made Jonny see nothing but red for a second,

"Helma, I know you don't regret hitting me," Jonny said as soon as he could, "but you don't want to hit me for real dude that was too hard, that's not you." Helma smacked him again, "ah! You are my friend dude stop, you don't want to do this."

Helma's hand touched Jonny's cheek a third time, but instead of feeling pain, this time Jonny felt as Helma gently caressed his skin, at the same time he felt the blood vessels on his cheek pulsate. Jonny looked at Helma's eyes and realized that she was back to her real self,

"I'm sorry Jonny, you are right...your cheeks are very red," Helma said,

"ha, I knew you secretly liked me, I was right, I'm pretty sure Lucia likes me too, plus Bianca sacrificed herself just for me, and now you, it will be hard to choose the winner,"

"are you for real dude? Excuse me for trying to be helpful", Helma said genuinely upset. She swiftly took her hand off of his now completely red face,

"guys, stop being corny please," Popito intervened, "we are still very much in trouble...Politoed, I know you are in there, ah!" He said to politoed, which kept smacking him throughout.

But it was too late. Every nearby trainer and their pokemon had made sure they couldn't run away. All of them under Zinzolin's control except for one pokemon, a skuntank, which Jonny quickly noticed.

"Stunky! I can't believe you are here, you have to leave now!" Jonny shouted. As soon as he saw his former pokemon he deduced it wasn't under Zinzolin's control,

"are you insane? Tell him to help us!" Popito pressed. His cheeks were so distinctively swollen it looked as if he was wearing make up,

"SHUT UP!" All of the trainers cried, "...so you know this pokemon?"

All eyes turned to the dark pokemon with purple fur. They rounded it up, then the group closest to them, which included its own mind-controlled trainer, started viciously kicking skuntank wherever they could strike, its jaw, stomach, legs, and loin, well until skuntank was thrown right in front of Jonny, who quickly knelt down to tend to his former pokemon, heartbroken.

"now watch!" The trainers cried, "you are about to experience my power first hand in a way that will only make you praise me for it, with your last breaths, right until the moment you cease to exist!"

Some of them cracked their knuckles before they all started approaching the group. The guys held each other tightly right next to Jonny and skuntank. Helma closed her eyes as she held onto Jonny and Popito, with her arms reaching as much of their bodies as she could, and waited for them to finally strike.

But they never did. She opened her eyes and saw all of them running away, Zinzolin's influence wasn't palpable anymore. They were scared, wide awake, and yet at the same time just as heedless as they were under Zinzolin's control.

All of the trainers and their pokemon quickly disappeared from the scene, leaving the guys alone and confused with Skuntank laying injured below them. And just when the last of them was gone they discovered the source of their salvation. Purrloin. Myriads of them, could be hundreds, quickly surrounded them just like the trainers moments before, but this time neither Jonny nor Helma were scared. Then lot more dark pokemon appeared, could've been all of the existent species for all they knew, at least of any kind that could walk on land, followed closely by Grimsley, Bianca, and Colress, who rushed over to meet them.

"Grimsley! I thought you were in jail!" Helma exclaimed loudly,

"I was, but they allowed me to leave early for good behavior," Grimsley replied

"really?!"

"yes."

Bianca rolled her eyes, "how can you just lie all the time?" She asked Grimsley, with anger visible in her eyes, "why is it so easy for you?"

"It was just a joke," he said earnestly. All the pretense was lost, Bianca and Grimsley became entrapped in their own unbridled conversation, alienating everyone else around,

"oh, you like jokes, you're always joking around?"

"Not all the time,"

"most of the time though, right? Any situation can be used for comedy, it doesn't matter if a few people get angry or feel betrayed, if I get offended it's just because I don't get it, it's fine if it's in the name of comedy, I get it,"

"perhaps sometimes people need to keep some truths hidden, not in the name of comedy, but because they want to protect someone,"

"screw you! Now you want to protect me?"

"I already did,"

"well thank you, how chivalrous of you," Bianca said, then she turned to the disingenuously uncomfortable crowd, partially breaking the tense atmosphere, with the intention to get back to the dangerous matter at hand, "Zinzolin's mind control doesn't work on dark pokemon, so we should always stay around them," she then said,

"too bad I don't have any of my own," Helma lamented,

"not yet," Grimsley said, "but today is your lucky day." He pulled out a pokeball and called out a pangoro from it, "you may not believe me, but I've been saving him specifically for you ever since you came in to my room to inform me that Zinzolin was creeping on us,"

"what do you mean?"

"I mean he's yours Helma," Grimsley replied.

Helma looked at pangoro while it in turn looked at her stoically,

"I don't deserve it, I don't really know how to train pokemon, I've never had a real pokemon battle, besides he looks really powerful and I don't have any badges,"

"that's not a problem," Grimsley promptly replied. Then he stuck his hand inside his jacket and pulled out several badges from the different gyms in unova, ranging from Striation City to Opelucid city itself, more than two of each. He handed Helma eight different ones, as well as pangoro's pokeball.

"I don't deserve them," Helma quickly rebuffed Grimsley, and sorrowfully returned everything to him,

"why not? Just take them,"

"because I didn't earn them, you have to work really hard to get them and I don't deserve to have them."

Grimsley knelt in front of Helma and put his hands on her shoulders, things got real,

"close your eyes, I mean it do it now." she obeyed him and he continued, "forget that everyone is here, it's just you and me and no one else, forget everything you've seen and everything people have said to you and just think of yourself, of everything you have done to get right where you are now, think of everything that you have given, only you know how hard it has been, nobody else knows just you, now open your eyes and take the badges, which are yours...you know it."

Helma opened her eyes, which were a bit watery, with a frown on her face, she took everything back, and held her new possessions in her hands.

Suddenly a lot of people came out of the hospital, including all of the remnants wearing gray pants and shirts. Everyone was quick to go meet with Grimsley and Bianca, and the guards did not try to stop them in anyway, mostly out of sheer confusion.

"Zinzolin tried to take control of us again, don't know how," Lucia said as she walked over to them, seemingly bored,

"we know," Jonny said, "I bet you are glad I'm okay, aren't you?"

"I guess, I am glad you are all okay," Lucia replied, "what now though?"

"now we have to stop Zinzolin, unfortunately," Grimsley said as he stood up, "or rather, you have to stop him, he's in the ruins,"

"what do you mean we?" Bianca answered, she became wary of Grimsley momentarily,

"this is a crucial moment, Zinzolin will come back here I'm afraid, someone has to stay and distract him while you head to the ruins using the purrloin to move under his radar, and finally put an end to him,"

"I'll stay too," Colress added,

"me too," Popito also added,

"no, you'll go to the ruins with the rest of the remnants," Grimsley rebuffed him,

"okay cool,"

"but you have to go right now, before he notices you are after him,"

"I'm more than happy to go there and stop Zinzolin," Quincey spoke for the released remnants, "and I'm sure all of us wish to do the same, if the guards let us go,"

"you seem to know what you are doing," one of the guards said, "please carry on...do you want all of your casino worker clothes back?"

"hell yes," Jonny added,

"are you ready Bianca?" Grimsley asked her directly,

"of course I am, I need to rescue my friend Cheren," she replied,

"again?"

"Yes."

"What about you Lucia?" Jonny asked,

"I don't have any pokemon so I don't even know what I could do to help,"

"you can have my three houndoom," Grimsley quickly said, "they like you, and I think you can make good use of them and care for them well,"

"okay sweet," Lucia immediately answered, "yeah I'll do it, there's no way I'm letting that bastard take control of my mind again."

One by one the remnants went back into the hospital one last time. They changed back into the clothes that Grimsley first provided for them. Then, after a purrloin climbed on top of each of their heads, they left for battle, free and resolute, ready to put an end to their nightmare…