"Articuno, come on out." Drake simply said as he released the ice bird. "Charming Pokemon, isn't it? Your father died losing to it. Will you lose to it also?"

"No." I stated simply, scared out of my mind. Dawn looked as though she was talking to someone through the xtransiever. "Charizard, you're my only hope!" I yelled as I let him out of the Pokeball.

"Ice Beam!"

"Flamethrower!" The two attacks collided midair. Charizard's flamethrower melted the Ice Beam but Articuno dodge it.

"Wing Attack!" He yelled as Articuno swooped and dove towards Charizard. I barely was able to tell it to block with a Dragon Claw when it hit Charizard in the chest, sending him backwards. He gave a gleeful smile and said, "Articuno, Ice Beam at the other girl. She needs to stop talking to Gary."

"Charizard! Use Flamethrower and protect Dawn now!" I yelled as my fire dragon obeyed. He stood in front of Dawn letting off countless Flamethrowers. This battle needed to end and it needed to end now.

"Charizard, use Overheat." I said, frustrated to no end. Charizard's body turned red. It then released a white fire with a red-orange flame spiraling around it from its mouth. It made a direct hit on Articuno and knocked it out of the sky where it crashed onto the ground. Dawn ran to where Paul lain, still not getting up. Magmortar stood in front of the two of them protectively while I returned Charizard to its Pokeball and Kabutops stood at my side.

"You're quite powerful." Drake remarked studying me. I could hear footsteps outside the wall as a distressed Gary came running into the room. He skidded to a stop next to me. "And Gary finally arrived. Now the show can really begin." Drake said sarcastically. Ash ran into the room, Pikachu closely following at his heels.

"You know our agreement, Drake." I said hatefully. "I won, now you've got to get out and leave us alone."

"Very well." Drake said, walking towards the door. "But be careful, Rae Song. I was going easy on you. Next time we fight, don't be surprised if you go down like your father." He stopped in front of Gary and smirked. "Liked my diversion, Oak?"

I quickly reached for Gary's shirt sleeve as he tried to lunge at Drake who laughed manically as he walked out the door.

"I can't believe you." I said as I knelt next to Dawn. Paul was opening his eyes, rubbing his temples. "Paul, are you alright?"

"Yeah," He said, holding his head. "I'm fine."

Dawn shook her head. "Paul, we've got to get you back to Veilstone."

I nodded as he protested. "She's right, Paul. Gary and Dawn will take you back while Ash and I finish up here."

"No." Gary said from behind me. "I'll stay with you."

"No, you won't." I said, standing up. "You are going back to Veilstone. You completely manipulated me into thinking you trusted me to handle myself and that I could make my own choices. I know what I'm getting into, Gary Oak."

"They'll stop at nothing to get to you, Rae. I just can't let them take you away."

I could feel Ash and Paul watching us. Dawn was busy radioing in to Professor Oak to pay attention. I couldn't figure out whether Professor Oak was in on the whole scheme, or just helped because of Gary.

"Do you think I don't know that?" I asked, spinning to face him. "I've got to be a threat, not someone that they can manipulate into staying home. I've got to do whatever I can to destroy them."

He sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "Are you sure you want me to leave?"

"Yes." I said shortly, feeling a mixture of hurt and anger towards the man standing in front of me. "I'll meet you back in Veilstone once I've got Regigigas."

He nodded, silently avoiding my eye. "Don't worry yourself, Gary, I'll take care of her."

As Gary walked out the door, Ash and I quickly hopped to help Paul up, supporting him on our shoulders. "Guys, I've got it." He said, unwrapping his arms from around us. "We'll meet you in Veilstone."

Ash nodded as I stared at the Regigigas in front of me. "It shouldn't take long."

"Charizard, help me catch the Regigigas." I said as I popped it's Pokeball out. "I know your tired, but we need to get it."

"Regigigas!" It roared, staring at my Charizard.

"Charizard, Flamethrower please." I said, eyeing the Regigigas as it hit. Regigigas moved to do an Ice Punch, but Charizard dodged before it could hit. Charizard used Dragon Claw, sufficiently weakening it. I chucked Ultra Balls, and after the twelfth one, it finally was caught.

The Pokeball disappeared in my hand, on its way to Bill's machine. "Ready, Rae?" Ash asked, staring at me curiously. "We should probably leave."

I nodded. "You're right. Drake's probably got trouble waiting for us if we stay too long."

Ash nodded. "Good assumption."

"Hey." Gary said, waiting outside my door in the Poke Center. Misty had left it open when she left, bringing me new clothes. I now wore a black long sleeve shirt, pink shorts and black socks with pink shoes. She had handed me a pink headset that matched, telling me if I went anywhere I was to keep it on me so I could communicate with Veilstone HQ easily. "Cynthia's here."

"I know." I said, my Espeon lying on the floor. "She trained with me for a little bit. Espeon's quite stronger now."

"I see." He said, taking my response as an okay to come into my room. He sat on my bed, his feet hanging off the side. "Look, Rae, I'm sorry."

"For?"

He sighed. "For not believing you. You're right. I need to quit trying to keep you safe from everything. I shouldn't have sent you off while I thought I was going to face off with Drake."

"My father died for me, Gary. I can't let you do that too."

"I- I know. I just can't stand the thought of you being in danger. And I've been trying to make sure you stay out of danger by thrusting myself in it instead of you." Gary said, looking at me dead on. "Rae, I just can't stand even the idea of you being in danger."

I leaned my head against his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around me. "Gary, we've got to end this, don't we?"

He nodded. "Both of us together."

"Then tonight. We're both going in, we're both going to defeat him."

Gary thought for a moment. "We'll need everyone behind this and ready to storm the school. The amount of trainers there who haven't figured out what was going on…"

"I know." I said, as I looked at Espeon. "But, I've got to do this for my father. He died to make sure I didn't have to worry about it. Now I've got to finish Drake for him."

Gary nodded. "Alright."