Ash reappeared just outside his house, surrounded by Espeon, Alakazam and Meganium. Mellanie was just off to the side. Before any of them could move however, Ash threw out both his arms.

"Something is wrong." He said.

"What?" Mellanie asked.

"I'm not sure." Ash said. "I'm still tired."

"And there were Psychic Pokémon attempting to block us for a long time around the forest." Espeon said. "We've lost some of our connection to the island."

Ash stepped forwards, reaching the front of his house. He pushed the door open before slipping through in a fluid movement. Mellanie watched him go, pulling two Pokéballs off of her belt.

"We need to move." Espeon said suddenly. "Mellanie, come."

Espeon bounded forwards, heading around the side of the house, Alakazam, Meganium and Mellanie in hot pursuit. As they reached the back lawn, they skidded to a stop. The usually perfectly kept grass was ruined. Scorch marks surrounded it, the remnants of powerful attacks. Part of the house had collapsed around the back. On the lawn, surrounded by Pokémon sat Harrison. He was clearly trying to bandage part of his torso, but was struggling. His hands were slick with blood and he seemed slightly dazed.

"What happened?" Mellanie said, her voice containing a hint of awe.

A Pokémon heard her and turned, stomping up towards them. As Charizard approached Mellanie felt the temperature start to rise, despite being outside. She sneaked a glance at Charizard's flame and whitened slightly. The flame was larger than she had ever seen during training. It was almost as large as it had been in the Clash of Legends five years previously when Charizard had gone head to head with a legendary Pokémon and flattened it. Charizard reached the little group and stood, towering over them, anger pouring off the Pokémon. Before he could say anything however, Ash clambered out of the rubble of what had once been the rear half of his house.

"Charizard." Ash said emotionlessly, before he saw Harrison on the lawn. He strode towards his tutee and gestured for Meganium to join them. Meganium wrapped vines around Harrison, pouring energy into him whilst Ash sent out his aura, closing wounds and healing him. After a long minute Ash released Harrison and stepped away.

"Thank you." Harrison whispered, looking down at his body. "I… Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Ash said. "What happened here?"

Harrison's eyes went wide. "Ash… I'm sorry. It was a surprise. We never saw them coming."

"Harrison." Ash said, his voice calm and full of authority. "I'm not going to get angry, but I do need to know. What happened?"

"It was an attack." Harrison said. "The first we knew of it was when we heard a loud explosion from the house. We were out training but came back. But we were too late."

"Too late for what?" Mellanie asked as she joined them. "Who was hurt?"

"Hurt? Nobody I think." Harrison said, slowly levering himself to his feet with a hand on Meganium for support. "But…"

"They weren't here for the house." Ash said. "I'm not missing her because I'm exhausted."

Harrison looked at Ash for a long moment before shaking his head. "No. Ash I'm so sorry."

"What is going on?" Mellanie asked, looking around. "And where is Delia?"

"She took her." Ash said, his voice dangerously calm. "Whilst we were gone. Harrison, who led the attack?"

"Who?" The trainer looked confused. "It was just Pokémon."

"No." Ash said quietly. "It wasn't. No Pokémon can reach this island without being invited."

"Then how did they get here?" Harrison asked.

"Sonia." Mellanie said quietly. "Gliscor said that she was the reason that wild Pokémon were turning. She has given them a reason to turn against Ash. She must have brought them here."

"But why would Sonia take Delia?" Harrison asked confused. "She was one of us."

"No." Ash said. "She wasn't. Sonia played us. Played all of us."

"I still don't get it." Harrison said.

"You don't understand." Ash said, his voice cracking. "Sonia has read me perfectly. She knows that whilst not much will stop me, there is one person in the whole world who is both close enough to me to stop me attacking her, but still weak enough to make taking her easy. Mum is my greatest weakness."

"So she took her." Mellanie said.

Ash turned and walked away, his fists clenched. Mellanie took a step to follow, but something stopped her. She looked down to see a vine from Meganium across her body. She looked questioningly at the Pokémon but Meganium shook her head.

"Wh…" Mellanie started, but didn't get any further. An echoing, animal roar erupted across the island, born of rage and hurt. Mellanie looked around for the source and saw Ash. The Pokémon Master, the greatest trainer in living memory, the man she looked at like he was her father. He was on his knees, tears running down his cheeks as he howled his fury into the sky.

"Where are we going Togekiss?" Dawn asked as they hurried along.

"Toge." The Pokémon replied and gestured ahead with a wing. The three humans hurried along the road up the hill, some five minutes away from the laboratory. As they reached the top and looked down Misty gasped. She couldn't help herself. There was a trench some sixty-five metres long, started at the top of the hill and running down the side, carrying on into the field. At the end of it, in a heap was Dragonite. Around him were Solrock, Lunatone and Porygon2. Gary burst into a run, heading for the group of Pokémon.

"Gary!" Misty shouted as she chased after him. Dawn stood on the top of the hill looking down as Togekiss settled next to her. She instinctively knew that this was not something that she wanted to get heavily involved in.

Gary came to a stop next to Dragonite, falling to his knees. The Pokémon was clearly badly injured, but was wrapped around something, clutching it close to his body.

"Is that…" Gary murmured.

In response Dragonite let out a mournful sound and uncurled slightly. Clutched inside the protection of the Pokémon was a figure, in a torn white coat. Gary gasped as he reached in and pulled out his grandfather. Oak was unconscious and clearly battered but had somehow managed to avoid the worst of the damage from the attack.

Gary moved his grandfather away from where Dragonite had come to a stop and reached down to check the pulse. His gasp of relief was palpable when he found a strong one.

"Gary?"

Misty's voice was uncertain, all of her authority from earlier gone.

"He's alive." Gary said, scarcely able to believe it himself. "He survived."

Misty smiled, the relief evident on her face. "Is he alright?"

"Probably not." Gary admitted. "But…"

There was a spluttering cough from the elderly researcher, drawing both of their attention. As Oak's eyes slowly fluttered open, Dragonite let out another mournful moan. The Pokémon reached a claw out and rested it on the arm of his trainer.

"What…" Oak said weakly as he tried to sit up.

"Don't move." Gary said, pushing his grandfather back down. "What do you remember?"

"I…" Oak said, then took a deep breath, before breaking down into a loud series of coughs. When he tried again his voice was stronger. "I was being chased… Wild Pokémon angry at me. I reached the lab, but they caught us."

"Anything else?" Misty asked.

"They attacked." Oak whispered. "Dragonite… Where is he?"

A third wail cut through the air and the three humans turned. Dragonite was on his knees, peering over at his trainer who slowly sat up once Gary was distracted.

"Dragonite…" Oak said. "You saved me."

Dragonite bowed his head proudly.

"Thank you." Oak said.

Dragonite nodded before slowly teetering to one side and crashing back to the ground.

"Dragonite?" Oak asked, his voice suddenly panicked.

Gary was on his feet in an instant, by the Pokémon's side. He checked the wounds, heart sinking. He had never seen a Pokémon more badly injured, and he had seen some atrocious injuries. In the act of protecting his master, Dragonite had clearly given no thought to his own preservation.

"We need to get him back to the lab." Misty said, her voice uncertain. "But I… I've not seen a Pokémon that badly injured for a long time."

"Here." Oak said, before coughing again. He held out a Pokéball. "Recall him. Get him back fast."

"What about you?" Gary said. "You can't move yet."

"Get Dragonite back." Oak said, his voice quiet once again. "Then you can come back for me."

"No." Gary said, but Misty's cut out any further argument by taking the Pokéball from Oak and turning up the hill.

"DAWN." Misty shouted, her voice easily carrying. "GET DOWN HERE."

Dawn slipped onto the back of Togekiss who glided down. As she came close, Dawn just dropped from her Pokémon's back and landed gracefully next to Misty who had just recalled Dragonite.

"We need to get this Pokéball to the lab immediately." Misty said. "Can you take it?"

"I can go one better." Dawn said, taking the ball and handing it to Togekiss. "You heard?"

The Pokémon nodded.

"As fast as you can." Dawn said. Togekiss spun, accelerating away.

"How will they know what to do?" Gary asked, but Dawn had already pulled out her phone.

"We have the best Pokémon Doctor in Kanto there" she said, dialling a number before holding the phone to her ear. "Hello? Yes, Brock it's me. Togekiss is coming back towards you with a Pokéball. Inside is a badly hurt Pokémon. Do what you can, we'll be back soon."

Dawn hung up and looked around. "What?"

"Thank you." Oak said sincerely as he slowly climbed to his feet.

"No need to worry." Dawn said. "Togekiss will get him back."

"That was quick thinking." Misty admitted.

"It is what I do." Dawn said with a wink. "You know I'm good, it is what makes me such a good coordinator."

"We need to start heading back." Gary said, cutting over the rest of them. "Gramps, can you walk?"

Before Oak could answer there was a slight rumble behind him. Lunatone and Solrock swept forwards, Lunatone arcing his body to give Oak a seat while Solrock floated in front for the researcher to hang on to. Gary blinked at the two Pokémon.

"I guess that answers that question." He said before looking around curiously. "Where is Porygon2?"

"He headed off after Togekiss." Dawn said.

"Why?" Misty asked.

"I don't know!" Dawn said. "But we'll see him back at the lab. Shall we?"

"Yes." Misty said. "Solrock, Lunatone, set the pace."

The two Pokémon bobbed up and down in acknowledgement before they started to drift back the way the humans had come, back towards the laboratory.

Sonia stood outside the large building in Hoenn, Cleffa on her shoulder. She turned and smiled at the Pokémon who smiled back, bouncing up and down with an impressive level of balance.

"Are you ready?" Sonia asked.

Cleffa nodded. Sonia took a deep breath. For all she had done, she knew that this was the final tipping point. If she walked in, she was committed. Her mind ran through the years of preparation, years of planning, trying to find anything she could have missed. She was satisfied to realize that there was very little. She had done everything she could to undermine the Pokémon Master in the Wilds. It had taken years to make progress, but once it had come, it came swiftly. She had been surprised to find the level of support that the Pokémon Master actually had throughout the world. She had assumed his power rested on his control over the human regions, but that wasn't it. His influence over the Wild Pokémon had been incredible. She had to acknowledge, he had managed to unite the entire world under him. It was an impressive state of affairs, one that she had spent a long time analysing a way to break into. Two years of searching after she quit the Rangers had brought her nothing, until she had found Cleffa. The small Pokémon had come upon her when she was beginning to think that there was no way to break the Pokémon Master's control. Somehow Cleffa had sensed the turmoil inside Sonia and had befriended the human. It was a relationship that had benefitted both of them. Cleffa had been able to regain some of her old power while Sonia got what she wanted. And if everything went right, she would soon win.

Breaking the Pokémon Master's power outside the regions had been done slowly, subtly. She had to make sure that he didn't know about it until she was ready for him to do so. To tip her hand to him early would be dangerous. He had impressed her with the speed of his reaction to the kidnapping of Professor Oak. It had been that reaction that caused her to take further steps. She knew at that point that she would have to find a way into his confidence. Fortunately she had planned for that. It had taken time but she knew she would succeed. And she had. Finally she had unveiled the way to beat him. She could destroy his popular support, but that was not enough. Five years ago in the aftermath of the Rocket Attacks, he had lost a lot of support but he had ridden it out and managed to restore confidence in his ability and his leadership. Sonia had found the way to prevent him from striking back while she completely destroyed everything he had.

Sonia smiled slightly. The kidnapping of Delia Ketchum had been a ferocious fight. Cleffa had used her influence to bring in an extremely powerful team of Pokémon, but even then, even with the element of surprise, she had nearly lost. Champions Pokémon had responded fast and with a huge level of power. She had smiled as she saw one of Champion's other tutees try to fight back. Harrison had waded in with his team of Pokémon and lasted less than a minute. The power of the attacks flying, often out of control and misguided meant that the battlefield was an incredibly hazardous place to be. She had seen an attack hit Harrison himself, catapulting him out of the fight within the first ten seconds. It hadn't been intentional, but if he was going to try to fight against her, it was always possible. Grabbing Delia herself had been easy, almost ridiculously so. The woman hadn't even attempted to resist, although she had looked upset as the battle outside the house started. Getting out of there had been tricky, Champions Pokémon were not letting her go without a battle. But that was no longer relevant. They could no longer fight her. Sonia was completely immune to Champion. And what she was about to do next would cement that.

Sonia took another deep breath and allowed a different persona to drop over her features. Gone was the confident ex- Ranger. Now Sonia looked terrified, panicking as she glanced around furtively. Cleffa slipped off her shoulder, vanishing into a bag that Sonia had by her side. Sonia hurried forwards, into the police station. As she reached the desk, the Officer Jenny behind it looked up.

"Can I help you?" The policewoman's voice was polite, a warm smile accompanying her words.

"Yes." Sonia said, speaking fast, her voice panicky. "I mean… I hope. I… please help me."

Jenny stood up fast, the warmth dropping off her features. "Come with me."

Jenny led Sonia into the police station, into an interview room. She gestured to a seat behind a table and sat down in a chair opposite it. As Sonia settled into her chair, Jenny reached out and pressed the record button on a tape machine on the edge of the table.

"You need help?" Jenny said.

"Yes." Sonia said, relief creeping into her voice. "Can he reach me here?"

"No." Jenny said. "You are safe."

"He can get anywhere." Sonia said, the panic coming back again. "Nowhere is safe. Nobody is safe from him."

"Please calm down." Officer Jenny said. "Whoever it is, I assure you, we can protect you."

"Can you?" Sonia said. Now it was hope in her voice. "Please. I want to escape him."

"We can bring you into protective custody." Jenny said. "Keep you in a safe place, under our protection. Nobody will be able to reach you."

Sonia slumped into her chair, tears creeping out of her eyes and running down her face. "Please. If I am safe I can expose him for what he is."

"Then that is what we shall do." Officer Jenny said, her voice warm with compassion. "But tell me. Who are you trying to expose? Who are you escaping from?"

Sonia took a deep breath and visibly steeled herself before answering, the words coming out in a tiny whisper. "The Pokémon Master. Champion."

"We should go and talk to him." Mellanie said.

Harrison shook his head. He was slumped in an armchair in a part of the house that was still standing. Ash had headed off into the forest to escape, leaving them alone at the house. For once however, his Pokémon had not gone with him. They remained around the house, almost guarding it. Espeon was inside with Mellanie and Harrison, never letting them out of her sight.

"That would not be a good idea." Harrison said. "Ash is hurting. He will come to us when he is ready."

"Will he?" Mellanie asked.

Harrison didn't answer. He knew what Mellanie was thinking. Ash was raging, and most likely not rational. Harrison didn't blame him, he had no idea how he would react if somebody determined to kill him took his mother. Silence fell between the two of them as they fell into their own thoughts.

"Ash will come back."

The words snapped Mellanie back out of her thoughts. Espeon was looking up at her, compassion in the Pokémons gaze. A quick glance at Harrison showed him leaning forwards, focusing on Espeon.

"How are you sure?" Mellanie asked.

"Because he is hurting." Espeon said, her voice sad. "He is hurting like he has not hurt for more than a decade. But when he recovers he'll think rationally. We merely have to wait. He will come back with a plan."

"What will he do?" Harrison's voice was soft

Espeon turned her gaze onto the trainer, the sadness evident on her face.

"Retaliate."

Before Harrison or Mellanie could answer, Espeon turned. Mellanie and Harrison followed her gaze towards the hole in the wall, the only way into the room. A moment later Ash stepped through it. Mellanie blinked. The change in Ash from when he had stormed off was stark. He had come back, completely focused, his body expression calm. He looked towards Espeon.

"Have the team rebuild the house. Leave this room until last. It should only take them a couple of hours, tops."

Espeon nodded, not arguing. Mellanie looked at her and the Pokémon looked slightly shaken. As Ash turned his gaze on Mellanie she felt a presence get stronger.

"Mellanie, your Pokémon can take over defence duties. Release them all and Charizard will coordinate."

Mellanie nodded. Ash turned towards Harrison and the strength of the presence reduced, but didn't disappear.

"Harrison, I need to know everything that happened. As much information as you can give me."

Harrison nodded.

"Good. I will be back in a moment."

Ash turned and strode out of the hole in the wall, and the presence left the room.

"You can sense it as well?"

Mellanie glanced down to where Espeon was looking at her. She gave a slight nod.

"It is worse than I thought."

"What is it?" Harrison asked.

"Ash's aura. Mellanie you would have seen him use it against Gliscor. But for it to be able to be felt by normal people when he isn't even trying to fight, he is very close to losing his control."

"That… presence. That is Ash's power?" Mellanie asked in disbelief.

"Near enough." Espeon said. "Now you know how he beat Gliscor."

"That… It was like a Psychic-Pokémon attacking." Harrison said, his voice quiet once again.

"Indeed." Espeon said. "This is why I fear his retaliation. Ash is stronger than almost anybody else, almost any Pokémon. If he is fully rested I would struggle to beat him."

"You mean you can't outfight him?" Mellanie asked, but Espeon shook her head.

"I would be stronger. Possibly even faster. But Ash has a brain built for finding somebodies weakness and exploiting it. Many trainers think two or three steps ahead, he thinks ten. If you ever watch him spar with Machamp you'll see it. Machamp will often find his attacks blocked before he even strikes."

Before either Mellanie or Harrison could say anything else, Espeon moved towards the 'door'. As she reached it she turned back.

"Ash is coming back. Mellanie release your Pokémon."

Mellanie did so quickly and they all looked up at her. She gestured to Espeon.

"I will be overseeing the rebuild." Espeon said. "But follow me. Charizard will oversee the defence."

She stepped out through the hole in the wall, followed by Mellanie's Pokémon. As they exited Ash entered. He crossed the room and leaned against a wall.

"Harrison." His voice was completely calm. "What happened? Tell me everything you can."

Harrison nodded slowly, obviously gathering his thoughts, his eyes on the floor.

"I was out training on the edge of the island." He said. "Nothing too intense, just some accuracy work."

Ash didn't say anything, merely waited patiently.

"At first we just heard what sounded like attacks raging. We just assumed it was your Pokémon training – we know how hard they can hit if they really go for it. We figured if Gliscor gave you a target to go after, you'd want them at their strongest. But then we heard a crash and what sounded like an explosion."

Harrison looked up into Ash's eyes, but could barely meet them. The intensity in the Pokémon Master's gaze was too much and he quickly looked away again.

"We headed back towards the house, but as we got closer we could hear the sounds of full blown fighting. We sped up and reached the edge of the lawn. Your Pokémon were attacking from all different directions but there was a large group of Pokémon defending the house from them. Your Pokémon were trying not to destroy anything, almost being cautious with their attacks, but their opponents weren't."

Harrison looked up at Ash again, but Ash just gestured for him to continue.

"We tried to wade in, but it was chaos. Attacks were being redirected by Psychic-Pokémon, colliding with other attacks and just missing. I've never seen anything like it. Within the first moments Steelix was taken out. He was too big for such a fight, getting hit by way to many attacks. The last thing I remember was seeing something heading for me. I woke up when the fight was over. Shortly afterwards you returned."

Harrison finished speaking and looked around the room. Ash was still leaning against the wall, his eyes shut and he thought. Mellanie had whitened slightly but she was also clearly thinking intensely.

"Do you know which Pokémon were here?" Ash asked.

"I think… We definitely saw an Exeggutor." Harrison said, thinking. "And what looked like a Muk? Definitely a Breloom and a Gorebyss. There were more as well, but they were hidden inside the house."

"What about humans?" Ash asked.

"Sonia." Harrison said. "She was stood at the front of the house, right next to Delia."

"Anybody else?"

"No."

"What about above the house?" Mellanie asked.

Harrison's gaze snapped to the younger trainer. "I… good question. Actually yes, there was definitely something up there."

"Did you see what?" Ash asked.

"I'm afraid not."

"Anything else you can remember?"

"I…" Harrison hesitated. "There was something."

"What?" Ash asked.

"Next to Sonia. I thought I might have imagined it, it couldn't be there. They aren't strong enough."

"What was it?" Ash asked, his voice still maintaining its calmness despite his inner turmoil.

"I thought I saw a Cleffa." Harrison said. "But surely a Cleffa couldn't get involved in a firefight like that?"

Ash pushed off from the wall and crossed the room in a single motion. He stopped dead in front of Harrison and looked down at his tutee.

"I need you to be certain here." Ash said, his voice containing more force than it had at any point since he returned from fighting Gliscor. "Are you sure that you saw a Cleffa?"

"I… I don't know." Harrison said. "I thought I did? I mean, yes, I'm sure I saw one. But I couldn't believe it. Why, do you know that Pokémon?"

Ash stepped away again, returning to his position against the wall.

"If you saw a Cleffa then that means trouble. Cleffa is the most powerful Pokémon in the Wilds."

"Wait, what?" Mellanie interjected. "A Cleffa? How is that possible?"

"The same way that I once fought a team of legendary Pokémon to a standstill." Ash shot back. "Trust me, there are ways."

"But what does it mean if that was Cleffa?" Mellanie asked.

"It means trouble." Ash said, his voice getting quieter. "The other Pokémon I recognize, although I was surprised to hear of them working together. Each of them has a region like Gliscor. All the Pokémon in those regions answer to them, and they defend them. Inside one of those Pokémons areas of control, you obey them or leave. There is no alternative."

"And Cleffa is one of these Pokémon?" Mellanie asked.

"No." Ash said. "Cleffa doesn't have any territory."

"Then what…" Harrison started, but Mellanie paled even more as she realised.

"Cleffa doesn't need territory does she…" Mellanie whispered.

"No." Ash said. "All of those powerful Pokémon, Region Pokémon. They all answer to Cleffa. She is the most elusive Pokémon I have ever tried to find."

"She avoided you?" Mellanie asked.

"Yes." Ash said simply. "She is the reason why I had to fight so many of the Region Pokémon. I wanted to deal directly with her but I never found her. How Sonia manged it I have no idea…" his voice trailed off, before he turned back to Harrison. "Thank you for confirming a few things."

Harrison inclined his head gracefully.

"What will you do now?" Mellanie asked.

"Nothing." Ash said wearily. "I cannot act against Sonia until I can rescue my mother. To do otherwise would risk her life and I will not do that."

"So we just wait?" Mellanie asked in disbelief. "I cannot believe…"

"There is no choice." Ash barked, the frustration creeping into his voice. "Sonia has completely blocked me. I will not jeopardise the life of any innocent."

Silence fell inside the room as Ash took several deep breaths to calm down once again. When he started speaking again his voice was much softer, hiding the fury that he had buried deep inside.

"We will try to find out her end-game. Once we know that, we can take steps to block it. And when the chance comes to get Mum back… She will regret doing this to me."

Samuel Oak slipped off his Pokémon and staggered to the front door of the laboratory. Behind him Gary and Misty exchanged a glance as Dawn stepped forwards, catching the elderly researchers arm and helping him through. Oak accepted the air without comment, letting her help him deeper into the lab. As they came through another door, May met them, the relief obvious in her eyes.

"What happened to Dragonite?" She asked immediately.

"He was hit by the attacks aimed at me." Oak said heavily. "Is he alright?"

"I don't know." May said. "Brock took him in to be treated as soon as Togekiss got him back here. Max is with them now, apparently he's picked a few things up and Brock needed an assistant."

Oak started to move forwards again, but May held out a hand.

"Brock told me that you'd want to see Dragonite immediately." She said. "Drew went to tell him that you were here, we saw you coming. He will come and get you when he is ready."

Oak looked at the coordinator before nodding slowly and staggering to a chair instead. He fell into it and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where is Porygon2?" Misty asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" May asked.

"He followed Togekiss." Gary said. "We assumed there was a reason."

"There was." Brock came into the room looking exhausted as the others felt, Drew at his side. "It came back to help me."

"Help you?" Misty asked.

"Porygon2 is a computer." Oak said quietly. "More importantly a sentient computer. All Brock would have to do is…"

"Tell it what I needed, yes." Brock said. "It can analyse things faster and better than I ever could."

"Is Dragonite alright?" Oak asked.

"He… No." Brock said heavily. "Honestly… I've never seen a Pokémon this badly injured. And the time since the injuries… If I had gotten to him sooner I might have had a chance, but even then I couldn't give hope."

"You mean…" May whispered before her voice trailed off into nothing.

"Yes." Brock said, answering the unspoken question. "I'll keep trying to treat him but there are just too many injuries. Even if I can heal them all it is too late. Dragonite's energy reserves are just too depleted. He hasn't got the strength to recover."

"Let me see him." Oak said, forcing himself out of the chair.

"Are you sure…" Gary started, but his grandfather rounded on him furiously.

"Dragonite put himself in harm's way protecting ME." Oak snapped, the energy of a much younger, much less battered man shining through. "I cannot let him die alone."

Nobody said anything as Oak limped into where Brock had been treating Dragonite. The silence dragged on as Brock collapsed into the seat the old man had vacated.

"Is there nothing you can do?" May asked Brock quietly.

"I've tried everything I can think of." Brock answered. "Dragonite just cannot recover without a boost. I can preserve him, keep him alive for a long time, but without something else, no, there is nothing I can do."

Silence fell once again. Nobody really could think of anything to say, something made worse as Max came back to join them, looking as shattered as Brock. From the room where Dragonite was, there was the sound of quiet weeping.

"Max, have you ever read about any kind of treatments?" Dawn asked suddenly. "Something unorthodox? Something that might save Dragonite?"

"I've been thinking." Max said. "But no, I can't think of anything. Porygon2 couldn't find anything either, which means that there isn't anything in the…" Max's voice trailed off suddenly.

"What?" May asked, recognising the change in her little brother. It was something she had seen many times before, as he had an idea.

"Porygon2 has checked every medical journal in the database." Max said, starting slowly, but his voice building speed as he got more excited. "But he wouldn't think to make the jump out of medicine. And that wouldn't be in any journal."

"Max?" May said. "You're making no sense?"

"I… Sorry." Max said, before turning to Misty. "Golduck."

"What?" Misty asked, flabbergasted.

"Years ago. Golduck. Fought against Champion. Fought far past he should have. And survived. How?"

"I… Nurse Joy treated him." Misty said. "Wait… no. Champion did something." She turned towards Gary. "That is right isn't it?"

"I think so?" Gary said. "Your license was put under review… but didn't Nurse Joy say something about Champion intervening?"

"I… I don't remember." Misty said. "But…" She looked towards the room where Oak sat with his Pokémon. "It is worth a try?"

Gary turned to Brock. "How long can you keep him alive for?"

"I… A while yet." Brock said. "A few days at least." Brock met Gary's eyes and saw the slightly manic energy there. "But I won't be able to move him" the Pokémon Doctor added hurriedly. "You'd have to bring Champion here."

"Trust me." Gary said grimly. "That will not be a problem. The Pokémon Master will come and help, or I will make him." Gary rose from his seat and strode through the door to his grandfather. Silence reigned in the room for a long minute before the two of them came out. Brock rose from his chair once again.

"I will go to Indigo Plateau." Gary said. "Gramps will stay here. Brock, do whatever you have to. We'll bring back Champion."

"How will you reach him?" Max asked. "He's not easy to find, even at the Plateau."

"Mellanie." Misty said quietly. "She is one of his tutees. She can reach him."

"Thank you." Oak said, his voice coming out as a hoarse croak. "I… Thank you."

He turned and headed back to be with Dragonite, closely followed by Brock. Gary turned to Misty.

"Now all we have to do is find the hardest man in the world to track down. Let's go find Champion."