Togepi sniffled on her side of the camera. I made sure to give her the most confident smile I could muster.

"Don't worry, Togepi. Everything is going to be alright. Take care of Rapidash and everyone else as they heal up there with Sycamore. We'll be back safely."

The little egg Pokémon wiped tears out of her eyes and tried to give me a confident smile right back. Professor Sycamore stood back up now that everyone's Pokéballs were loaded.

"Ready when you are, Alex," he said.

I nodded to show I was.

In an instant, a flash of light signified that the various Pokéballs slotted into the machine had been turned to data, and only seconds later, a new set appeared in the nearby covered glass slots. Opening it up, I retrieved the set of healthy Pokémon who had been watching the show battle, needing them for what's to come.

"Good luck, Alex," Sycamore said.

"Thank you."

The screen of the video phone turned black, and I quickly walked out of the Pokémon Center. Waiting for me outside was Lucian as well as a handful of unfamiliar Ace Trainers, who were all in the process of doing last minute check ups on their Pokémon and equipment. There were actually a few other high-level Pokémon trainers alongside them, having been recruited for this task as was their duty as trainers registered with the League.

"Is Cynthia coming?" I asked Lucian.

"Hopefully. I've sent off a subordinate to fetch her, but it might be some time before she actually arrives. As the highest ranking League official here, I'll be the one in charge of logistics and command. What Pokémon do you have on you, Alex?"

"Florges, Carbink, Dedenne, Whimsicott, and Altaria. Though, Altaria is still injured and tired from his last fight."

This was the first time in recent memory that I didn't have Ninetales on the team. I didn't have a choice in the manner, however, as she was currently unconscious.

"Good. You'll be on support. Your Florges will be an important asset for battlefield triage. We'll leave in thirty. Be ready. Hunter J awaits."

As Lucian sent out a few of his Psychic Types to facilitate teleportation, I briefly questioned why Lucian would want to wait half an hour before approaching the criminal's last known location. However, as the Alakazam's eyes glowed, I realized he meant thirty seconds, not minutes.

There was a shift, then chaos.

I wasn't sent to wherever the worst of this was happening. Instead, I was sent to a tented area located just behind a grassy hill. I could see the edge of an expansive lake just peeking off to its northern side, but I had no line of sight to whatever was actually going on.

I quickly scanned this new location as fast as I could. Dozens of injured Pokémon and their trainers laid on cots or sat on chairs, waiting to be treated. Some of them looked otherwise fine but had a limb or other body part completely solidified by one of Hunter J's petrifying shots. The worst of them had a lower half that was completely frozen over, and that Pokémon was struggling and moaning in pain. I could see a pair of Chansey applying something to the petrified area, which was slowly causing the petrification to reverse. Whatever it was, it wasn't fast.

As I looked over the room, my eyes locked onto a pink-haired nurse running to and fro between occupied cots. A few Chansey hurriedly worked alongside her.

I sent out Florges.

"You're in charge of the team," I told her. "Tell us what to do."

Florges's expression shifted to one of determination.

Florges immediately rushed off to shout her name at one of the Chansey. The pink, egg-shaped Pokémon looked surprised, but it easily nodded to accept Florges's offer. Florges then looked around the room before focusing on the more injured patients in the cots. She gestured for me to move over and pointed at the balls attached to my belt.

Dededenne, Carbink, and Whimsicott were all sent out. Altaria remained in his Love Ball.

"Listen to Florges," I told them.

At first, the three Pokémom looked shocked upon being released, glancing around the tent with wide eyes. Florges interrupted that by barking out her name commandingly, causing all three of them to suddenly stand at attention.

Dedenne scurried off to grab something, Whimsicott moved to float over Florges's head, and Carbink shifted over to her side.

As for me, I stood there, somewhat awkwardly, waiting to see if there was something I could do. Florges had already shifted her attention to conjuring a Wish between her hands, where she was slowly placing the healing star into her patient's side.

Unable to do much, I watched in silence.

"We've got more coming in!" a voice called out.

The familiar voice shocked my attention away from Florges, where I saw Brock working alongside Nurse Joy to help treat the injured patients. Coasting down the side of the hill was a second familiar sight, where Dawn was on top of a Mamoswine that was carrying a pair of injured Pokémon and their trainer on its back.

At the Mamoswine's side, a Lopunny hopped along. Its head snapped around to keep an eye out. I blinked, not having expected her Buneary to ever evolve.

"Here, Brock. We have three more to heal," Dawn said once she approached.

"Thanks, Dawn. Their injuries don't look too serious, so put them down near where Florges is. We can get to them once the more critical patients are treated."

She nodded as Mamoswine lowered itself closer to the ground. She and Lopunny started to carefully move the Pokémon and human off of its back. I hurried over to help.

"What's been going on?" I asked.

Dawn did a double take when she saw me there, but instead of questioning my presence, she got right to the point.

"Hunter J and a bunch of her thugs showed up during Ash and Paul's battle," she said. "Most of Ash's team was already fainted, but Paul showed just how strong he was by fighting them off. Paul's brother, Reggie, was there too, and he had his Pokémon help as well. He was the one to call for help."

"Are they safe? Are Ash and Paul alright?" I asked.

We finished moving one of the Pokémon onto a cot as Lopunny helped another into a chair. Dawn stared at the ground, a dark look on her face.

"Both of them went after Hunter J," she said. "I lost track of them in the fight, but a bunch of other trainers started appearing around us, which is how Brock and I found ourselves helping out here."

She turned away from me and stared out towards the one visible corner of the lake. Nothing was visible. She stared at it for an uncomfortably long time.

Eventually, she turned back, smiling and looking much more confident than before.

"No need to worry! If Ash and Paul are the ones to face Hunter J, they're sure to be the ones to win!"

I gave her a small smile, half doubting her words, as we helped the final one of Mamoswine's passengers into the tent. With them secured, Lopunny hopped over to move to Dawn's side as she moved back next to Mamoswine, herself.

"Everyone! Let's—"

"Over here! Found 'em!"

Practically every being in the tent stilled for a moment when that cruel voice rang out. Cresting over the hill was not just one of Hunter J's armored, combat-ready thugs, but a whole squadron of them.

Dawn and I stared forward.

"Sorry, Florges. I need to borrow Whimsicott and Carbink for a second," I called out.

Florges simply nodded and continued her healing effort. The two Pokémon I named rushed to my side.

The grunts at the top of the hill smirked and sent out their Pokémon. Quite a number appeared as a result.

A flock of Skarmory took to the air. Several Golbat fluttered between them. A battalion of Beldum and Metang floated above the ground.

Despite there being Steel Types ahead of us, I felt no worry.

"Carbink, protect the tents with your screens. Whimsicott, do your best to slow them down."

Both Pokémon grunted their names to acknowledge my orders, with Carbink going into a full speech to bring everyone into the proper battle spirit. The thugs on the hill seemed to be doing the same, a few likely higher ranked ones barking out orders to prepare their strategy. I disliked how organized they seem to be.

Dawn and I exchanged a glance and were about to step forward to start this outnumbered fight. An angry squeak stopped us before we did, however.

Dedenne rushed out in front of our path. He looked at me, annoyed.

"I thought Florges would want you to continue as her assistant," I explained.

Dedenne scoffed, then waved a paw towards where Florges was in the tent. Her Psychic move was letting her grab items from across the tent with ease.

I turned his way rather sheepishly. He tapped a tiny foot on the ground, and electricity sparked from his cheeks.

That gave me an idea.

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"Say, is Pachirisu with you?" I suddenly asked Dawn.

"He is. Why?"

I smiled.

"Listen carefully..."

Dawn and I didn't fight alone. A few of the Pokémon and their trainers were healed enough to be able to fight. There were also a few Ace Trainers assigned to protect the tent, too. Alongside Carbink, the normal trainers primarily served to keep the battle contained, with the Ace Trainers attacking the incoming horde with powerful attacks of their own. Dawn and I weren't as outnumbered as I initially thought.

"Whimsicott, Shadow Ball spray!" I yelled.

"Mamoswine, Ice Shard. Lopunny, Hi Jump Kick!" Dawn shouted next to me.

Dozens of tiny Shadow Balls formed in the air and were launched at the flood of Metang and Beldum currently charging us. Similarly, Mamoswine formed chunks of ice on its tusks to launch forward and pierce the Skarmory swarm approaching by air. Most of the Pokémon were slowed or outright halted by the barrage, giving Lopunny an opportunity to leap forward and slam a kick down onto one of the Metang's steel body.

One bounce later, and Lopunny landed a second kick on a second Metang, then a third on a third. Dancing between the spray of attacks, the rabbit nimbly leapt to Pokémon to Pokémon as if it was a character straight out of a platforming game.

"Golbat!" one of the thugs screamed. "Take it out with Poison Fang!"

"Psychic, Whimsicott!"

Whimsicott let up his Shadow Ball attacks, but the Metang didn't resume moving forward. Lopunny had seriously damaged almost every one, and his tiny Shadow Balls might not have dealt much damage, but they were a perfect delivery system for his Stun Spores.

However, a trio of mean-looking Golbat were actively swooping down to attack the currently preoccupied Lopunny. With them focused on the rabbit, Whimsicott used his Psychic attack to grab the lead Golbat and have it freeze in the air. He forcibly stretched its wings out to interrupt the flight path of the other two, causing all three to crash into each other and be sent towards the ground.

Whimsicott panted, as the TM move still took a lot out of him. A nearby Skarmory rushed forward and tried to land an attack on Whimsicott while he was recovering, but a perceptive allied Girafarig managed to knock it away with a quick Psybeam.

I sent the double-sided giraffe a thumbs up as thanks.

"Dawn. Their Pokémon are weakened. Dedenne and Pachirisu are almost in position. We need to do something big to get their attention," I said.

"I know. But what can we do?" she replied.

My brows furrowed as I considered our options. Soon, a smile grew onto my face.

"Well, we're coordinators, aren't we? Why don't we give them a show?"

Dawn gained a smile of her own, as well.

Quickly, Dawn recalled her Lopunny back to her side as I sent out the somewhat injured Altaria. He was still recovering from his fight against Candice's Mega Abomasnow, but he was good enough for what I had planned.

He didn't like my idea. He was still willing to try it out, though. Somewhat frustrated, he took to the air, and Dawn and I began.

"Mamoswine, Snowscape. Lopunny, Ice Beam."

"Whimsicott, Tailwind. Altaria, make things worse."

With Mamoswine's control over ice helped by both Altaria's atmospheric control and Lopunny's Ice Beam, dark clouds formed in the skies. However, no snow fell from them just yet, and the harsh gusts from Tailwind served to make the storm seem even more dangerous.

"Skarmory, Defog!" one of the attacking thugs yelled.

"Taunt," I ordered.

Whimsicott's Prankster ability allowed him to move first, and any Skarmory who tried to remove the weather chose to attack instead. He was forced to use Protect to withstand the battering winds and wings, but his efforts provided ample protection for what came next.

"Ice Beam!" Dawn and I yelled in unison.

Altaria, Mamoswine, and Lopunny all released powerful Ice Beams targeting a single point in the clouds. Gusts of wind whipped out from under Altaria's wings as his ability, Cloud Nine, took effect to manipulate the weather.

The clouds condensed into one, freezing disc. From within, a small chunk of ice slowly began to sink downwards, but the lower it went, the more massive it revealed itself to be.

Several of the attacking grunts let out shouts of surprise. A few trainers helping us saw what we were doing and had their Pokémon chip in with Ice Beams of their own.

Right now, clever application of moves meant something that looked like an entire iceberg was forming in the sky and sinking towards the ground. The grunts hurried to order their Pokémon to attack.

"Confusion, Metang!"

"Air Cutter, Golbat!"

"Same for you, Skarmory!"

All the attacks were sent forward at the bus-sized mass of ice, but all they served to do was chip the ice and send clouds of frost downwards. Trainers around us cheered and shouted for their Pokémon to defend the lowering ice, but that wasn't the point.

Sure, right now, it seemed that a frozen meteor would soon impact the ground in a massive, frosty explosion. It was large and looked incredibly threatening, but it wasn't actually that dangerous.

If our opponents weren't so caught up in the drama of our Pokémon's moves, they might have stopped to think that the slow rate of its movement meant their Pokémon could easily move out of its way. Not only that, but the conjured ice was mostly just empty space, anyway. It was nothing more than a thick, frozen shell formed around the clouds to make it look much denser than it actually was.

Dawn and I stayed quiet as the assault continued. We kept our eyes out for the sign we wanted.

I saw it first.

"Now, Dedenne!"

"You too, Pachirisu!"

The grunts had only a moment to process our orders before an absolutely massive burst of electricity erupted around them. Hidden by the chaos of the battle, the diminutive Dedenne and Pachirisu had snuck around the entire field to move right behind where all of Hunter J's men were. Their combined Discharge wasn't lethal, but the wide-ranged electricity served to shock all the trainers and stun them just long enough for a quick run-through Nuzzle to paralyze them all.

With that, the Ice Beams broke off from the falling glacier, sending it crashing to the ground and breaking apart. A freezing, sparkling mist overtook the field, creating a glittering finale to our combined attack.

All of the trainers roared victoriously. Without orders from their trainers, the attacking Pokémon were quickly mopped up and returned to their captured masters' Pokéballs.

I collapsed to the floor, heart beating like crazy.

"Well done," I said.

I laid back and breathed out a sigh.

As I did so, Altaria dove from the sky to land on my head, and Whimsicott floated downwards to join him. My vision was completely obscured by white fluff, but I could still hear Dedenne's confident squeaking as he narrated his intense victory.

Next to him, Pachirisu chipped in with its own chitters to try to make sure its contributions weren't downplayed. There was a brief argument between them due to that, but Carbink quickly came in to settle them down with a scolding lecture.

Dawn laughed.

"In case you can't see it, some of the Ace Trainers are handcuffing the thugs to make sure they can't get away," Dawn said.

"That's great," I said, muffled under my Pokémon's fluff.

I could hear the sounds of trainers speaking excitedly around me, but most were already moving back to the tent. Knowing that this wasn't quite over, I pushed to my feet with moderate difficulty, as Altaria refused to leave my head, and Whimsicott was purposefully clutching to my shoulder to weigh me down with an amused look on his face.

I said nothing. I just slowly fought to return to my feet. If my Pokémon wanted to rest like that, they deserved it.

At this point, Dawn had already moved back to the top of her Mamoswine and was riding back to the top of the hill. She still needed to fetch injured Pokémon and trainers, after all. Having not seen the actual state of the rest of the battlefield, I followed alongside her, curious to see how things were going everywhere else.

As soon as we reached the top, I stilled. It was much worse than I thought.

Dozens of armored trucks were present, but practically every one of them was either overturned or destroyed. The normally grassy terrain was churned up into dirt, and I could see places where a few individuals were still battling ferociously.

"You went into that?" I asked, horrified.

"Yup! It looks worse than it actually is. I have Mamoswine and Lopunny to protect me, after all," Dawn said casually.

I had to sit down.

"This is so much," I whispered.

On one hand, it was clear the stakes were lower overall, as Hunter J was no Team Galactic, but this was still a complete mess. There wasn't a clean end for her. She definitely wasn't coming quietly, either.

This conflict was far outside of my expectations. I really should have realized something like this was going on when I saw how many injured Pokémon were in the tent.

"Wait, what's that?" Dawn said.

"What's what?"

I pushed to my feet and squinted my eyes. A black dot on the horizon was slowly increasing in size.

"Is that a Pokémon?" she asked.

As I strained my senses to try to figure out what it was, Dawn spoke up again.

"Wait, look below! It's Ash! And Paul! They're waving!"

Checking where she was pointing, I could see the anime protagonist and his rival rushing closer. Pikachu easily kept up alongside them, with Paul maintaining a light jog and Ash waving frantically.

"Hey, Ash!"

Dawn waved back.

I glanced back up at the black dot, and my face paled.

"Get down!" I screamed.

At the sound of my voice, Lopunny jumped up to tear Dawn off of Mamoswine's back as Whimsicott moved to use Protect in front of me. Altaria tried to fire off a Hyper Beam of his own, but it was too late to stop the other, incoming Hyper Beam.

The attack exploded against Mamoswine.

The hulking Ice Type collapsed to the floor, fainted. A boom signified supersonic speeds as the infamous Hunter J, on her Salamence, flew right over and past us only a few yards away.

Lopunny stood there and hugged Dawn as she shook.

"It's, urf, Hunter, urf, J."

I glanced over to where Ash was panting now that he had ascended this hill. He just barely caught up, and Paul was standing next to him. The far colder trainer looked like the run hadn't bothered him, but it was clear that Paul was just trying his best to hide how hard he was breathing.

Hunter J zoomed off into the distance before pulling back to turn towards the tents.

"Carbink!" I yelled.

A Light Screen went up just in time to block a powerful Dragon Breath from hitting the healers, but the few Pokémon that had been sent out outside the tent when J first passed over weren't so lucky. Several Pokémon fainted just from that one move.

"We have to stop her," I said. "Altaria—"

I glanced down at my Pokémon. His chest was puffed up in that same way it always did when he found another dragon to challenge, but, just like Paul, he was hiding how exhausted he was. He had just fought in two major battles and had used Hyper Beam as well, so to ask him to go up against Hunter J wasn't reasonable. Unfortunately, after that large, defensive battle, the rest of my team with me weren't in a solid state to handle her, either.

Paul sent out his Electabuzz.

"Your Pikachu," Paul said to Ash. "We can stop her together."

"Hey! Don't leave me out of this!" I exclaimed.

Paul looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

"You and what Pokémon?"

I bit my tongue because I knew he had a point, but I didn't want to come out and say it. With the Pokémon I had with me, none were available to battle, but—

Altaria suddenly vanished. Or, more specifically, he was teleported away.

In his place next to me, having switched positions with him with Ally Switch, was the one member of my team who hadn't yet fought. Florges was tired from healing so many Pokémon, but right now, she was glaring at Hunter J. She looked furious.

"That will do," Paul commented.

Everyone on this hillside all exchanged a look before focusing back on the skies above. Hunter J was preoccupied by the Pokémon trying their best to protect the tents, but they were falling fast. We didn't need to hash out a strategy because, honestly, we all came to one pretty obvious one on our own.

I sent Florges forward.

"Fairy Wind," I ordered.

Florges closed her eyes for a Calm Mind, and it seemed practically every flower in her mane stood at the ready. There was only a moment's delay before an absolute deluge of pink wind was sent forward right into the air above this hillside. Hunter J just barely managed to swerve to the side.

Florges continued to float forward.

"Moonblast," I said.

"Hyper Beam!" Hunter J countered.

Another brilliant beam of light shot forwards, but Florges's attacks were on a whole other level. The Moonblast never reached its target, being consumed by the Hyper Beam, but it did weaken the incoming move enough that Florges easily withstood it.

A Wish was formed in her hand, and she slammed it into her chest. Florges continued to float closer to the rampaging hunter and dragon, sending out multiple Moonblasts to distract them.

Behind me, Pikachu was touching his tail to Electabuzz as the larger Electric Type spun its arms to generate electricity. Dedenne and Pachirisu tried to join in to help, but those two had already expended most of their reserves to take out Hunter J's thugs earlier.

"Sunny Day," I ordered.

Florges tossed up a ball of fire. Hunter J, from the back of Salamence, grinned.

"Flamethrower!" Hunter J yelled.

"Bubble Beam!"

It wasn't me who gave that order, but Dawn. She had released Piplup while I was focused on Florges, and while the Sunny Day was weakening the Water Type move, it had seemed that Piplup had sustained enough damage earlier that its Torrent ability made up for the difference anyway.

The Flamethrower dissipated. Florges grinned.

"Just a bit longer," Ash said.

I nodded.

"That's fine. Florges, Solar Beam."

With the sunlight present, Florges was able to make her Solar Beams come out with practically no wind up time at all. Laser after laser shot forwards in the air, forcing Hunter J to shift to almost pure evasion. On Salamence's back, the criminal grit her teeth and aimed her arm cannon at Florges. Instead of Florges becoming petrified, however, Whimsicott threw out a chunk of his cotton to intercept the shot and save her from that stony fate.

"We're ready," Paul said.

"Let's go!" Ash yelled.

I clapped my hands together.

"It's time. Florges, full blast Moonblast!"

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Electabuzz, Thunder."

A blinding ball of Fairy Type energy was conjured then sent forward, where Pikachu's Thunderbolt hit it, combined, and increased its speed. Similarly, Paul's Electabuzz sent out a deafening Thunder that crashed into the other two moves and increased their power and even further.

The combination move looked like a crackling singularity. Florges managed to control her Moonblast to shift it in the air, making its accuracy even better than what Pikachu and Electabuzz could do alone.

Hunter J tried to scream for her Salamence to get out of the way. For a moment, it seemed like they would.

Then, Salamence stopped. It blinked, and glanced down at the ground. A single rock had hit its face.

Carbink, who had been mostly sitting on defense until now, had managed to time an Ancient Power just right to stall Salamence's dodge.

The electrically-charged Moonblast hit. Pikachu and Electabuzz had built up so much energy that it burst with a blinding flash of light. Everything turned white as a result of that explosion, and when it faded, Salamence was completely singed and falling towards the ground. Hunter J hurtled downwards alongside it.

For a moment, it looked like she was going to impact the ground as well. She proved to be smarter than to fly unprepared as, on her back, a jetpack unfolded from her long robe and caught her before she hit the ground. Salamence wasn't so lucky, hitting the ground unconscious.

"A set back, but not one I can't recover from," Hunter J commented. "You may have taken out my Salamence, but—"

A blade of wind sliced into Hunter J's back and caused her jetpack to explode in a fiery burst. She was sent tumbling downwards, where the Pokémon responsible for the critical hit swooped down to slow her fall. Hunter J landed with a still not-so-pleasant thump.

Cynthia's Togekiss returned to her side as Steven's Claydol, having just teleported the pair of Champions here, layered several psychic barriers around the grounded criminal. She banged on the walls, but it made no difference on her current imprisoned state.

"Seems like we've missed all the fun," Steven said.

"I would say we arrived just in time," Cynthia replied.

With that, I let myself fall to my knees as practically everyone present cheered. Ash hugged Pikachu, Lopunny lifted Dawn up into the air in joy, and, surprisingly enough, Paul looked to his Electabuzz and said "Good job."

Personally, all I did was send a thankful smile to my team. Florges glared down at the captured criminal rather imperiously. It seemed that all of this was finally over.