Though the wicked storms over Kanto had become a little less frequent, they were still causing problem after problem all over the region. And the latest casualty, to everyone in Cerulean City's dismay, was the annual Mt. Moon Festival.

The festival usually called for parades in the Cerulean streets, a fun carnival affair where partygoers don masks of their favorite pokémon and enjoy themselves in the light of the full blood Super Moon during its full eclipse. The masses would then make a great pilgrimage up to the summit of Mt. Moon to watch the Clefairy and Clefable dance the night away.

But the storms had other plans. The most violent system yet had washed in west over Cerulean and left the valley reeling beneath endless sheets of rain & lightning, making the festivities too dangerous to commence. Misty of the Cerulean Gym was terribly regretful, but was forced to make the call to cancel the whole Festival in the name of safety.

The office-wide Mt. Moon-themed party at the Saffron Time's headquarters, however, was still on. Maya hadn't been into her office over two weeks, dodging the requests to come in by her boss by attending film shoot after film shoot with Kadabra. The email threat she had received still left her pretty shaken up; but she decided on this day to go in to make an appearance at the party.

And she dressed up a bit for the occasion, too. She decided to wear her favorite maroon-colored blouse, the only authentic Venomoth silk shirt that she owned, as it fit her narrow shoulders so nicely & tied in an ascot bow high at the collar in a way that made her feel poised and professional.

She sat at her desk, rushing to finish some research so she could go downstairs to the lower floor and enjoy the party. Kadabra sat in its lazy lotus pose just beside her desk, gazing out the window & enjoying the sound of the rain as the storms began moving south over Saffron.

Maya's eyes scanned down the document before her on her laptop. It was a list of the most-liked & most-clicked-on articles of the last month that the Times had published:

5. CHAT WITH A CHAMPION: IRIS (300,000 impressions)

4. THE MASTERS 8: A HISTORY (340,000 impressions)

3. CHAT WITH A CHAMPION: DIANTHA (550,000 impressions)

2. CHAMPION ASH KETCHUM: HOMETOWN HERO (880,000 impressions)

1. THE SECRET SHOW: CHAMPION LANCE VS. BRUNO (1.1 million impressions)

Maya's eyes fell upon the last article softly. Lance didn't even need to do a tell-all interview with the Times to dominate the top spot in the ratings. The piece covering his exhibition battle with Bruno had somehow even beat out the monthly cover story on Champion Ash.

Maya hovered over the Dragon Master's name and clicked on the article, opening it up on a new tab in her browser. There was no new photo of the Champion from the match, just as he intended. The writer had instead used an old image from Lance's battle with Diantha, his eyes sharp, his hand pointing up with vigor at his Dynamaxed Dragonite as it stood looming over the Wyndon crowd.

Who would choose such a tasteless and tone-deaf photo for this article, Maya thought. This photo was from one of his most personal defeats... why would they choose to portray him like this?

Her mind then quickly recalled the image of him, soaked to the bone in the locker room, probably just minutes after this photo had been taken, swallowed up by his defeat.

Her eyes fell;

She turned with a lonely thought,

Lance must wake up each morning... alone.

Why did it have to be this way?

For so long, Maya had just assumed that Lance's lifestyle would have certainly already lead to...

Companionship.

Plentiful, companionship, at that.

But to know now that he had always been alone, her heart just broke for him. She had a hard time wrapping her mind around it; for someone so popular, and so sweet, to wind up so alone.

She wondered how many women in the past must have thrown themselves at him for simply being in the Elite Four, and how many times he must have simply ignored their calls. Maya even knew of some desperate women who would have given themselves to him for the novelty and name recognition alone, had they been given the opportunity.

But the Code of the Dragon had left a lonely man in its wake.

Because he had waited for something more.

His words rang over in her head,

"I cannot avoid you,

I cannot avoid this."

Her chest began to tighten with the thought;

His fingers trailing down her spine, in the light of the cave...

He truly wanted her.

Yet to only see him once a year... Maya still hated the idea.

But would the alternative be any better?

To walk away and never see those silver eyes again?

To only see them in magazines and stock images and photographs that others take, when they get to be the lucky ones who cross his path in person?

Though wouldn't that be the case regardless, save for one single day of the year?

Her mind recalled the dramatic moment in Seafoam, when he and Kadabra pleaded with her to return back into the storm to help the wild Dragonite.

The look of tenacity, the pure and solemn resolution in his face... nothing she could have said to him in that moment would have changed his mind.

But when they were gone and she remained in the cave, Maya could hardly stand it. It was barely ten minutes, but it felt like an eternity as she paced around the cavern floor, wondering if he was okay.

And when they had teleported back... he most certainly was not.

Staring at the image of Dragonite now, Maya couldn't help but notice the pink glow emanating all around it, the Galar particles soaking in deep to its sunny scales.

A thought turned in Maya's head.

She reached down to her backpack and pulled it up to her lap, digging through it now for something.

Before she had left Goldenrod, Clair had given Maya the evidence bag with the receiver piece inside. She told Maya that her studying of the receiver lead to some strange findings, including the discovery that the metal casing around it was made with a particular Blackthorn metal that seemed to specifically attract wild Dragonite. These minerals, surely mined from Blackthorn Mountain, were the only ones of its kind in existence that had such a power on the Dragon-type pokémon.

Her hands found the evidence bag. She peered around her cubicle for a moment; everyone else was downstairs at the party.

She opened the bag and retrieved the receiver, inspecting it close to her eyes.

Dragonite had really crushed it; its metal casing was bent up and wrinkled like the forehead of an angry Granbull. She turned it over in her hand, inspecting the open back paneling and exposed wires that frayed beneath it.

...What was this?

She drew the piece closer to her face, spying a small computer chip that lay crushed inside a clear casing.

But Maya recognized this chip...

She carefully dug at it with her fingernail until the chip broke loose and it fell into palm. She turned it over again, spotting the symbol of a little film reel on the back.

Maya's brows rose in shock; she had seen this chip before!

...

The office stairwell creaked beneath Maya's feet.

She tiptoed down the winding stairs, Kadabra floating just behind her, as she passed by the door that lead to the office's 4th Floor. Just on the other side, she could hear the mingling sounds of the office-wide Mt. Moon party, of soft crowd laughter & jazzy pokeflute melodies.

She pressed on and continued to spiral down to the next flight of stairs, to the 3rd Floor corridor, which had been under construction since the Saffron staff had moved into the building. She knew it was where a lot of the studio's extra equipment was being stored, as it was the proposed sight of the Saffron's Studio D, a state-of-the-art soundstage that would hypothetically be used as the new TV Studio.

But Maya had helped them move the extra camera equipment down to this floor, so she knew exactly what she was looking for.

Her eyes found a sign posted on the door: CONSTRUCTION ZONE – AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.

Her and Kadabra shared one last glance, before heading inside.

The third floor itself was dusty and barren, a cold concrete foundation beneath her now as Maya ventured deeper down the hall. Tarps and construction notices were hanging from the walls, but the space was so stale and dusty that it seemed to Maya that no actual work had been done here in many weeks.

Reaching the end of the hall, she turned into a new open room where her eyes found the proposed studio space. Boxes and boxes of film equipment were stacked along the gritty floor, with more plastic tarps and clear sheets hanging from the ceiling.

Kadabra inspected the walls closely; it looked exactly the same as it did when they had first helped the senior staff move this gear into storage in the first place.

She peered around for a moment, before approaching a specific set of metal drawers near the corner of the room. Her hands found the top drawer & pulled it open, revealing a stash of small carrying cases.

She retrieved one of the cases and opened it up in her hand. Inside was a trove of computer chips, lined in an untouched and sterile stack.

These were the memory cards that she and Kadabra always used inside their own cameras, every time they went on a video shoot together.

Her fingers pulled one of the chips out from the case, turning it over in her hand. It was exactly the same type of chip as the one she had found in the receiver.

Maya couldn't believe it; She knew the chips were dynamic and could hold a ton of data on them, not just video or audio files, but this was certainly a strange little clue.

Clang clang...

Maya's eyes grew wide at the sound. She turned to Kadabra, who had heard it as well.

Clang clang clang...

They slowly followed the sound further into the space, listening for it closely as they began moving toward it, ducking beneath construction signs and warning tape, stepping around unpacked boxes and pelican cases full of gear.

Clang, clang...

They finally came to a door, with another sign hanging in big bold letters: WARNING: ELECTRICITY UTILITY.

Clang, clag...

The sound was louder; it was coming from right behind the door.

Maya and Kadabra shared another quiet glance, before Maya withdrew her office cardkey, swiping it over the doorframe.

The door unlocked.

Maya reached for the handle, slowly opening it now to breach inside.

It carefully swung open,

And what was on the other side made Maya's jaw drop:

A large utility closet, the walls of which were stacked with locked metal cages.

And inside every cage:

A shaking, terrified Dragonair!

At least 16 that she could count, each one trembling harder then the last as Maya moved further into the room with her mouth hanging open.

Maya's thoughts began to race as her eyes studied these poor creatures;

What on Earth?!

Each Dragonair looked positively emaciated, skinny and starving under the daunting fluorescent lights of the closet. They were so weak and so tiny that Maya almost mistook them for Dratini, but their little white horns and shining sapphire pearls gave them away.

Maya felt positively sick; these poor Dragons! What were they doing here?!

Each cage seemed to be hooked up to some sort of wiring system, thick electrical cords snaking out from the doors of each one to converge in a mass of coiling cable on the floor.

HMMMMMMM

A strange humming sound began softly ringing out; The cages suddenly all began to glow.

The Dragonair trembled harder now as they each curled up into themselves, the floors of the cages now seemingly siphoning out their energy as they each fought to endure the pain of their stolen vitality.

Maya followed the glow down the cables to the floor, to a junction at the center of the room, where her eyes now spotted a large, silver satellite dish pointing up high. It began BEAMING out an invisible energy up into the ceiling.

The humming stopped; the Dragonair all curled together in a horrified relief.

Clang, Clang...

Maya spotted one of the Dragonair, now writhing up against the bars of its cage, its dull pearl clanging against its metal prison in desperation.

"Da Brah..." Kadabra whispered out to it. It tried to open its little blue eyes in reply, but it was just too weak.

It finally dawned on Maya now;

These machines,

They were siphoning out the Dragonair's weather-control powers.

Her jaw dropped again;

This was it! This was the cause of the storms!

She felt absolutely ill; Who could do this to these poor innocent dragons?!

"Meowstic! Trick Room, Now!"

Maya SPUN around in fright just in time to watch the entire room become overtaken in a purple landscape of glowing, squaring gridlines.

Standing at the door was a Saffron Times Staff writer that Maya recognized; the new-hire from the Meteorology department. His male Meowstic floated out before him, it's little blue body glowing with its psychic aura.

The walls of its Trick Room surrounded them; Kadabra looked down at its own claws, feeling a strange wash of nausea pass over it.

"What are you doing?" Maya asked the Writer, "Don't attack me! We have to save these Dragonair!"

"I'm sorry, Maya," another familiar voice called out from behind the Staff Writer. Emerging through the door now was the Lead Producer of the Times, and his beefy Machoke.

Maya took a step back; it was her boss.

Did he know about this?!

"I tried to tell you to stop looking into it," the Lead Producer said coldly, "Why didn't you just do what you're told, and back off?"

"How could you do this to these Dragonair?" Maya asked incredulously, "You're hurting them!"

"It's none of your business Maya. You should have stayed out of it while you still had the chance."

Maya's brow twisted up in fury.

"You're the ones making these crazy storms," Maya said in disbelief, "You're the ones confusing all the Dragonite in Kanto. Do you know how horrible that is?! Do you know how badly they're suffering?!"

"These Dragonair are helping pay your salary," the Lead Producer said callously, "No one reads the paper anymore, Maya. We need other ways to keep the lights on in this place. Yes, their powers have been generating the storms around Kanto. And they make for a good headline. But the storms, also bring the Dragonite, that we can easily capture and bring to market. And when we can't capture the Dragonite, they usually leave their eggs behind anyway. Do you have any idea how much Dratini eggs sell for?"

Her fists balled in rage at the thought; to completely go against the nature of the Dragon, to do something so disgusting to these graceful creatures during their time of Longing in the name of profit...

It all made sense now; the strange storms, the anguishing Dragonite in Seafoam, the planted poison in the winds.

She could feel tears stinging at her eyes.

"Kadabra! Psychic, now!"

"Da-Brah!"

Kadabra moved to rise up its little silver spoon, but its arms felt very heavy; it's fingers felt weak.

It looked down upon itself in bewilderment. It felt like it was taking forever just to focus its mind hard enough to remember how to unleash the psychic attack.

Maya's thoughts raced; the Trick Room had slowed down her usually speedy Ace, swapping its quick ability with the much slower Meowstic.

"Dynamic Punch!" The Lead Producer called out.

Without hesitation, his Machoke LAUNCHED a raging fist at Kadabra, knocking it clear across the snout in a blazing hit, sending it SPIRALING across the room.

"Kadabra! No!"

Kadabra struggled to rise to its feet, its eyes now spinning in confusion.

Maya's heart began to race as the Machoke slowly marched up to her. She backed up against the wall of cages, the Dragonair all watching with terrified faces as their weak bodies struggled to even crane their necks high enough to see.

"Grab her." The Lead Producer commanded.

Machoke GRABBED Maya roughly, holding her arms down tightly now as she struggled and thrashed about.

Kadabra tried shaking off the Confusion as its eyes spotted Maya now, struggling to break free from the Machoke's strong bind.

"Da Brah!" It called out angrily, attempting to race over to Maya's aid. The Meowstic suddenly appeared to block its path, a look of calm tenacity on its cat-like face.

The confusion's fog was infiltrating hard, but Kadabra fought back: With a slow, blinding FLASH, its teleporting light began overtaking its body, though much more sluggish than usual. Kadabra suddenly beamed itself across the room, now only a few feet from Maya's captive position.

"Double Team!" The Lead Producer called to Machoke. It obeyed, suddenly creating many multiples of itself to dot along the boarder of the room.

Kadabra's eyes followed the many Machokes as they multiplied again and again, with Maya too multiplying in its arms with the struggle. This only confused Kadabra further; it shook its head, attempting to clear away the fog from its mind, but it was no use.

The Meowstic suddenly got between them again, backing Kadabra up against the far wall.

Kadabra looked around, a horrid expression washing over it; it was trapped, without its speed, and Maya was in serious trouble.

"Kadabra. Hear me, Kadabra."

It was Maya's voice; calling to her ace from inside its mind, as clear as a soothe bell.

Kadabra closed its eyes in focus:

"Go find him, Kadabra. Please, go find him, and bring him here."

Kadabra opened its eyes, meeting with the multiple Maya's across the room. Her cerulean eyes were lined in a scared, yet sure determination.

Maya could almost hear its thoughts ringing back to her in reply, as if it was wishing to say,

"I'll come back for you. I promise."

"Ka-Dabra. Ka...DABRA!"

In a slow, blinding FLASH,

Kadabra teleported away.

...

...

Thank you all so much for reading! Tune in next Monday for the next chapter, entitled: "The Rage of the Dragon". Here's a sneak peak:

"You will PAY

for what you've DONE

to these DRAGONS," he snarled out,

"You will SUFFER,

as they have SUFFERED,

You will ROT

in the DEEPEST layers of HELL,

by the GILLS

of GIRATINA,

How DARE

you HURT them!"