Chapter 6

Cale took a deep breath of the cool morning air as he and Jake lay beneath some brush with their telescopes at ready. The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon in the mostly clear sky, casting a warm glow upon the dew-covered land. Non-Pokémon birds could be heard singing cheerfully, and the buzz of insects filled the air.

The natural beauty stood in stark contrast to the ruins of Seneca Village. The fires had long since gone out, leaving behind the charred remains of what was once a beacon of civilization in the frontier. Cale seethed with anger at the sight before him and his failure to prevent it, but he needed to remain focused on the task at hand.

The murderous strike force responsible for this atrocity was just beginning to move through the burned-out village. There were four catapults and six large wagons, each of them escorted by at least a dozen Pokémon. Cale inspected each of the vehicles, looking for a flag or some other form of identification. If he could bring back word of the party responsible for this massacre, then at least some good would come of this. However, there were no flags or markings that he could see.

"No flags," Cale said. "No insignia. No identification of any kind. I'm at a loss as to who's behind this."

"Could it be the territories?" Jake asked.

"Maybe," Cale replied. "But I doubt it. Why would the eastern territories attack the Federation so openly? They have to know that they'd be wiped out once headquarters got wind of this. They stand nothing to gain from any of this. Unless..."

Jake arched an eyebrow as he glanced at Cale. "Unless what?"

"Well... it's pretty well-known that the Federation is politically unstable," Cale said. "It wouldn't take much to push it over the edge. This could be an attempt by another nation to bring it all crashing down. Arceus knows that the Empire made a lot of enemies before it crumbled."

A Pidgeotto flew overhead, prompting the two of them to look up. There were three bird Pokémon in the sky flying in a patrol pattern, no doubt on the lookout for survivors or prying eyes. Cale and Jake watched the Pidgeotto for a long, tense moment, wondering if they'd been discovered, but the bird Pokémon showed no sign of having spotted them.

"I don't think he saw us," Cale said, returning his attention to his telescope. The strike force had come to a stop. While a few of the escorts tended to the equipment, most of the others dispersed throughout the ruins of the village. Cale could only assume that they were looking for survivors. The thought of what they might do to anyone they found made Cale's stomach twist into a knot. He just hoped that every survivor had the sense to get out.

"Who's this guy?" Jake said. "The Alakazam by the fountain."

Cale turned his scope to the remains of the fountain. The Alakazam was hard to miss. His color was a bit lighter than the usual Alakazam. He wore a purple cape, purple gloves, and a purple bag slung over his shoulder. The most striking feature of this Alakazam, however, was the fact that his eyes were solid black. No visible iris or sclera. Just darkness. The Alakazam spoke with two of the escorts as they moved about the square.

"I don't have the slightest clue," Cale finally answered. "Definitely something off about him though."

The Alakazam and the escorts conversed for several minutes. After they were finished and the escorts had walked away, the Alakazam pulled a grey, boxy object out of his bag. Cale couldn't get a good look at it from this distance. The Alakazam manipulated something on the object and then pointed it ahead of him.

Nothing could've prepared Cale for what happened next. An orange ball of light surrounded by electrical arcs formed ahead of the Alakazam, maintaining this state for several seconds before suddenly flashing brilliantly, revealing a rift with a fiery orange border once the light died down.

"My gods..." Jake said.

Cale had no words for what he had just witnessed. His jaw dropped as he watched the Alakazam walk through the rift. Just who was this guy? And how did he have this capability? The rift remained open for a few seconds longer before flashing out of existence. Just before it did, Cale thought he could see a room on the other side of the rift. Where was that room located? This stakeout seemed to be breeding more questions than answers.

"That was no magnagate," Jake said.

Cale pondered in silence. There was something familiar about that rift. It took him a moment to dig up the reference from his sleep-deprived mind. "You know... the day that Team Dakota rescued Zira, Cyril described in his mission report that he and Lance had seen a rift of some kind. He described it as having the appearance of a ring of fire."

"You think there's some connection to Zira?" Jake asked.

"Gods, I hope not," Cale replied. He liked Zira. From what he'd observed of her since her arrival in the village, she seems like a sweet, good-natured girl. The thought that Zira might actually have some link to the destruction of the village was an idea that Cale didn't even remotely want to entertain. "Still, I can't deny the similarities between Zira's arrival and what we've just seen. We'll have to talk to her about this."

"Assuming she's still alive," Jake said. "A lot of Pokémon died last night."

"Well, if she and her teammates are still alive, they'll be headed for Dakota City," Cale said. "Cyril and Lance both have family there. It's the logical choice. Hopefully, Shar's with them."

"Yeah," Jake said. "I hope so too."

Shar had confided in both of them his relationship with Lance, and Cale knew that Shar planned to have dinner with Lance before his shift. If Shar was still alive, he would be with Lance.

"So, what's our next move?" Jake asked.

"We need to report this to headquarters," Cale replied, placing his telescope into his bag. "Let's go. It's a long way to Emerald City, but I know where we can get some entercards."

---

Zira somberly looked back east as she sat in the back of a wooden wagon, which was loaned to Team Dakota by a surviving Tyranitar couple from the village. She'd spent the hours since the destruction of Seneca Village alternating between sadness and rage, one moment crying and the next seething. Now, however, it seemed as though she could shed no more tears as she sat in silence, her mind fixated on a single question: why? Why did this happen? Zira couldn't fathom why anyone would want to destroy Seneca Village. She desperately wanted answers, but there was a more pressing concern at the moment. They had to find a healer for their dying friend.

Lance lay to Zira's side, staring at the flame on her tail. He seemed to take some comfort in watching her tail's flame. Whenever she moved her tail, his eyes would track her flame. They'd given him enough oran berries to seal his wound, leaving his abdomen horribly disfigured, but the damage was done. The oran berries did nothing for the infection currently ravaging his body, nor could they completely repair the damage to his internal organs. Lance had a few hours left at best. With that in mind, Team Dakota made the decision to leave the other survivors behind and press on toward Sunnydale Village, the nearest settlement to Seneca Village.

The wagon, which wasn't exactly light, was being pulled solely by Shar. It was equipped with a harness meant for a bipedal Pokémon, which made it relatively easy for a biped to pull the wagon for short periods of time, but Shar had been pulling it for hours now. Zira had no idea where the Flygon got his endurance, but the journey was clearly wearing on him. Even now, Shar seemed to be having trouble walking straight and his pace had slowed. His body language was of that of a Pokémon who was totally exhausted, and Zira feared that he might collapse at any moment. It didn't help that the harness setup had a tendency to disturb Shar's broken wing. Just thinking about the amount of pain and suffering that Shar endured was heart-wrenching.

Based on what Zira had seen of the Flygon so far, he seemed to care deeply for Lance, which is probably what kept him going for so long. Shar would occasionally glance back at the wagon, no doubt wishing that he could be with Lance. But Shar was the only one who could pull the wagon with any real speed, and so he pulled with every fiber of his being.

Cyril currently walked beside Shar. He and Zira took turns watching over Lance, so as not to burden Shar with even more weight. Besides, this way, one of them could keep Shar company as well. The both of them felt awful that they couldn't relieve Shar of his burden and give him some time in the wagon to rest and be with Lance.

"Zira..." Lance said weakly, his voice barely audible above the noise of the wagon.

Zira turned to face Lance, being sure not to remove her flame from his field of view. "Yeah?"

Without taking his eyes off of Zira's flame, Lance said, "I need you to do me a favor."

Zira had a bad feeling about this. "What do you need?"

"If I don't make it, I want you to tell Shar that I love him," Lance said. "And take care of Cyril. He'll be lost without someone to look after him."

Tears welled up in Zira's eyes. "You'll make it. Sunnydale Village can't be much farther away."

"Shar's putting up a pretty good fight," Lance said, "but I know he has to be pretty tired by now."

"Look... we'll think of something," Zira said, trying to keep Lance's hopes up. "Cyril and I will pull the wagon ourselves if we have to."

"While carrying both Shar and I?" Lance asked. "It's a nice thought, and I appreciate what you're trying to do, but you and Cyril are going to have a tough time with that."

Lance was right, of course, as much as Zira wanted to deny it. She and Cyril just didn't have the physical strength or endurance to accomplish such a feat. At least, not before Lance succumbed to his wounds. Zira wiped the tears from her eyes and face.

"So, are you ever going to tell me what you see in my flame?" Zira asked, wanting to steer the conversation in a slightly happier direction.

Lance sighed, and then remained silent for several seconds before he finally replied. "Life."

"That's a nice way to look at it," Zira said. She viewed her flame the same way, but in the more literal sense as her life quite literally depended on it. "So, when did you and Shar hook up? I--"

The wagon stopped suddenly, causing Zira to fall over onto her own tail and drawing a groan from Lance. Zira quickly got up into a kneeling position, ready to brush out any fire that her tail's flame might've caused. Lance was one step ahead of her, however, as he released a short water gun from his mouth the moment her tail was lifted from the wooden surface, extinguishing the flames.

"Thanks," Zira said, giving Lance's arm a gentle pat. Then she stood up and looked in Shar's direction.

Zira's fear had been realized. Shar lay motionless on his belly, having finally lost his battle with his exhaustion. The shafts leading from the wagon to the harness dug into the ground, the reason for the sudden stop after Shar's collapse. Cyril ran over to Shar and grabbed hold of his arm, attempting to lift the fallen Flygon back onto his feet.

"Come on! Get up!" Cyril could be heard saying. "We can't do this without you! Get up! Please!"

However, try as he might, Cyril couldn't lift Shar off the ground, and Shar was too weak to stand on his own.

"It's over," Lance said.

Zira looked down at Lance, her eyes filling with tears once more. "I'm sorry, Lance."

"It's not your fault," Lance said. "It's been a good run. Heh... what a crazy thing we did. Cyril and I. We jumped into this rescue team business with both feet. We were going to return to Dakota City after reaching gold rank. I must admit, it's a romantic thought. We were going to return as heroes. You know, we thought we were going to reach master rank someday. I thought we had a real chance. Our dream... torn asunder."

By now, Zira was sobbing as tears streamed down her face. She had lost all hope. There was no chance of getting Lance to a healer now. But they had to try. Zira wiped the tears from her eyes as she prepared to hop off the wagon to give Cyril a hand. Then the most peculiar thing happened.

Cyril suddenly released his grip on Shar's arm and took several steps backward. His eyes were wide and his mouth hanging open slightly. Zira couldn't figure out what was up with him. Was it horror? Surprise? Cyril just stood there, his head tilted up slightly as he looked at seemingly nothing in particular. Then his body began to glow a bright bluish-white.

Zira watched in awe as Cyril's form slowly began to change. Cyril was evolving! This was the first time that Zira had witnessed such an event. It was truly a sight to behold! The thought of what she might look like as a Charizard briefly flashed through her mind. Zira pushed the thought aside as another realization dawned on her: Cyril's evolution was Lance's salvation!

When Cyril's form stopped changing, and the bluish-white light vanished, Zira immediately noticed that this was no ordinary evolution. Cyril's new form had much more in common with his mega evolution than that of an ordinary Sceptile. He lacked the vest of leaves across his chest, and his tail was missing the four pods that a Mega Sceptile's had. Zira almost couldn't believe what she'd just seen.

Neither could Cyril, as it would seem. Cyril gave his new body a quick inspection, first looking down at his arms, then reaching up to his head, rubbing his fingers along his crests. Lastly, he looked back at his new tail, lifting the tree-like end off the ground. He held his gaze on his tail for several seconds before running back toward Shar.

"What happened?" Lance asked.

"Cyril just evolved," Zira replied.

"But that's not possible," Lance said. "He was diagnosed with Fulmer's Syndrome. The doctors said he was to be a Grovyle for the rest of his life."

"Well, it's not exactly an ordinary evolution," Zira said.

Out of the corner of her eye, Zira noticed Lance lifting his head as he attempted to sit up. His face suddenly contorted in agony, as he put his head back down, letting out a groan as he did so.

"No, no," Zira said, kneeling beside Lance. "Don't try to get up. You'll get a chance to see soon."

Cyril hastily removed Shar from the harness, being careful not to disturb Shar's broken wing anymore than necessary. With the harness removed, Cyril lifted the wounded Flygon off the ground, slinging Shar's arm over his neck. The two Pokémon slowly walked around to the back of the wagon. Shar had so little strength left that he would've collapsed again had his weight not been supported by Cyril.

"I'm sorry," Shar said as they reached the back of the wagon.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Zira said as she and Cyril helped Shar get up onto the wagon. "You got us this far."

Once Shar had a knee on the end of the wagon, he was able to finish crawling on himself. Zira supported his broken wing to keep it from hitting the hard wooden surface. After a moment, they had Shar positioned comfortably on his side, facing Lance. At least, as comfortably as they could make him. The owners of the wagon had only a few of their most prized possessions in the wagon, blankets and pillows not being among them.

"Cyril," Lance said, gazing at his newly-evolved friend. "You finally made it. I guess you were just a late bloomer."

Cyril forced a smile, giving Lance's ankle a gentle pat, before heading toward the front of the wagon. It was up to Cyril now to complete the journey, and he was going to have to do it while hauling two fully-evolved Pokémon.

Zira had to get out of the wagon. She faced Shar and said, "Can you watch over Lance?"

"Yeah," Shar replied.

Zira hopped out of the wagon and ran over to Cyril, who was trying to figure out the harness.

"Cyril! Um..." Zira wasn't quite sure how to phrase her question. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Cyril replied. "I can't explain it. This shouldn't have been possible." He fumbled with the harness for a moment longer, clearly becoming frustrated with it. "Can you give me a hand with this?"

It was easier getting the harness onto Cyril than it was for Shar as it was designed for a Pokémon without wings. With the harness secured to Cyril, he stood up and attempted to move forward. The wagon wouldn't budge. Cyril got down on all fours, attempting to supplement his leg strength with his arms. However, despite his best effort, he still couldn't get the wagon moving.

"Keep trying, Cyril," Zira said. "I'll head around back and see what I can do."

Zira ran around to the back of the wagon and pushed with all her might. They were going to get this wagon moving again, whatever it took. Zira grunted as she exerted herself, digging her clawed toes into the dirt as she did so.

Their efforts soon paid off as the wagon began to roll. Once she was sure that Cyril could keep it moving, Zira ran back to the front of the wagon to check up on the semi-Mega Sceptile, who was pulling the wagon along at a brisk pace.

"Oh gods," Cyril said upon noticing her. "I can't believe Shar kept this going for as long as he did."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Zira asked.

"Keep me company?" Cyril replied, after a short hesitation.

"Alright," Zira said, disappointment sinking in. Cyril was being diplomatic. He just didn't have the stomach to tell her no. She felt so useless. If only she could evolve too, she'd be able to contribute something more.

Walking alongside Cyril, Zira took a closer look at her friend's new form. She hadn't noticed it from a distance, but there were some additional characteristics regarding his head that she'd missed. Cyril's head looked much like a Mega Sceptile's when viewed from the side, but his nose was rounded rather than pointed, and his crests didn't join at the tip of his nose. His head wasn't top-heavy like those of most Sceptiles, and it was a bit longer, giving Cyril's head a sleek, almost draconic appearance.

The hours rolled by as the sun drifted toward the horizon. Cyril panted heavily as he pulled the wagon toward an incline. His pace had slowed considerably, and it was only a matter of time before he collapsed from exhaustion just like Shar. Then who would pull the wagon? Zira? A Charmeleon didn't stand a chance of pulling the wagon and three Pokémon larger than herself. If Sunnydale Village wasn't over this hill, it was over.

As they began to ascend the hill, Zira ran to the back of the wagon and pushed with all her might, hoping that she could give Cyril enough of a boost to get to the top. Zira's arms and legs cried out in agony from the heavy exertion. She could only imagine Cyril's torture. This went on for what felt like an eternity before the terrain began to level.

Upon reaching the apex, Zira ceased her efforts, giving her tired muscles some much needed rest. Gravity would give Cyril the help he needed on the way back down.

"I see the village!" Cyril shouted, breaking out into a jog. "We're almost there!"

Oh, thank the powers that be, Zira thought. She ran around the wagon and joined Cyril at his side, eager to get a look at the village. Sunnydale Village was smaller than Seneca Village and lacked a Federation Security outpost, but any respectable village had a healing practice. The village had a plainer appearance than Seneca Village, lacking the Pokémon-shaped buildings of which Seneca Village had more than a few, but at this particular moment, it was the most beautiful place she'd ever seen.

Just hold on a little longer, Lance.

Cyril kept jogging even as the terrain levelled out, making his final push to save Lance's life. He panted heavily as they closed in on the small village. Not letting up on the grueling pace, they blew past the homes on the border of the village and raced down a path leading to the center of the settlement, drawing a number of looks from curious bystanders along the way.

Upon reaching the square, Zira quickly scanned the area, her eyes darting from one building to the next in rapid succession as she searched for a healing practice. This village had to have one. This journey of theirs couldn't have been for nothing. Just as doubt began to creep into her mind, her eyes landed on a building to her right bearing the symbol commonly used in Andara for a hospital.

"There!" Zira shouted, pointing toward the hospital.

Cyril wasted no time getting the wagon over to the hospital. Coming to a stop, he quickly began to unfasten the harness with Zira's assistance. With the harness off, Cyril quickly made his way to the back of the wagon to fetch Lance.

"We're there!" Cyril announced, climbing into the back of the wagon. Shar already had Lance sitting up, and Cyril carefully lifted his wounded friend, cradling Lance in his arms. "We made it, Lance. You're going to be okay."

Lance didn't respond. He simply stared up at the sky, his breathing slow and shallow. His eyes, normally so full of life, were barely open. His life was hanging on by a thread, and that thread was just about to snap.

Cyril hopped out of the wagon and rushed toward the door of the hospital. As he made his way inside, Cyril could be heard shouting, "We need help here!"

Shar scooted to the end of the wagon and carefully lowered his feet to the ground. His tired legs seemed to be having trouble supporting his weight, however. He leaned back against the wagon, using his elbows to prop himself up.

"Zira, I could use a hand," Shar said. "My legs feel like they'll give out."

Zira nodded as she positioned herself in front of Shar, back turned toward him. Shar reached out with one hand, placing it on her right shoulder. He hesitated for a moment, and then he leaned over and quickly placed the other hand on her left shoulder. Zira stumbled forward slightly at the sudden application of weight on her smaller body. Once she was certain that she wasn't going to fall over, Zira slowly lead Shar toward the door of the hospital.

The waiting area was mostly empty. The only survivors of the Seneca Village massacre to have reached Sunnydale Village at this time were a few bird Pokémon. Zira recognized one of them, a Swellow by the name of Gabriel, who appeared to have suffered a burn along his back. Gabriel locked eyes with her, his eyes filled with grief, and then returned his gaze to the floor. The other birds were similarly crestfallen.

"We'll take him too," a female's voice called out, pulling Zira's attention away from the bird Pokémon. An Audino stood at the entrance to the treatment room, holding the door open as she gestured Zira inside with Shar. Zira and the Audino helped Shar get onto an exam bed, having him lie down on his belly so as to give the healers easy access to his broken wing.

On the other side of a curtain separating the exam beds, someone could be heard using a healing move. Cyril's tail could be seen peaking around the curtain, meaning Lance was the Pokémon on the other side. Zira hoped that they'd gotten him there in time.

"You'll need to return to the waiting area," a male's voice could be heard saying. "We'll give you an update as soon as we can."

Cyril turned and headed for the door. Meeting Zira's gaze, he said, "Let's go, Zira."

Zira nodded and followed him back into the waiting room, a feeling of satisfaction washing over her, and also trepidation. They'd done all they could for Lance. It was out of their hands now. Zira just hoped that the healers could save him.

With nothing to do but wait for news of Lance's condition, Zira began to wander around the waiting room. She would glance at the posters on the walls, or look out the windows. Anything to pass the time and keep her mind off of the possibility of Lance not making it. She thought about talking to the bird Pokémon, but they didn't appear to be in the mood for conversation. Taking note of Cyril's silence, Zira turned to look at her friend.

Cyril was leaning back against the wall, staring down at the floor with his arms crossed. Zira walked over to him to see if there was some way that she could comfort him.

"Hey, Cyril," Zira said. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm scared," Cyril replied. "I'm worried sick about Lance, and I don't know what to think about anything else that's happened. The attack on the village. My evolution." He looked down at his hands as though unable to believe that they were his. "I just don't know."

"I'm sure the healers will do everything they can to help Lance," Zira said, trying to bolster Cyril's spirits. "You remember what they did for my leg? There wasn't even a scar afterward."

"That was a simple puncture wound in an extremity," Cyril said. "This is something much more serious, and it went on for so long." He returned his gaze to the floor. "I just wish there was something more I could do."

"So do I," Zira said.

"You know... Lance and I have known each other pretty much since we were hatchlings," Cyril said. He looked at Zira, tears forming in his eyes. "If he doesn't make it..." His voice cracked as the tears began to stream down his face. "I put him in harm's way." Cyril's slid down to the floor, burying his head in his knees as he began to cry.

"Cyril..." Zira kneeled before the sobbing Sceptile. Cradling her friend's head against her chest, she said, "There's no way you could've known that something like this would happen."

"I can't lose him," Cyril said between sobs.

"We won't," Zira said, tears forming in her own eyes. "He'll pull through this."

Zira obviously couldn't be certain of what she'd just said, as much as she wanted to be, but it seemed to calm Cyril down a bit. Cyril lifted his head and looked up at her, his eyes slightly red from crying.

"I'm sorry," Cyril said, wiping away his tears. "Gods, I wish I had Lance's self-control."

Zira smiled at Cyril's comment. After wiping away her own tears, she placed a hand on Cyril's shoulder, letting him know that she was there for him. At that moment, the door to the treatment room opened, and Shar walked into the room.

"Hey, Shar," Zira said. "How are you?"

"The wing's fully healed," Shar said, flexing his wing. "My legs are feeling a bit better too, though I'm still pretty exhausted." He walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. "That trip was brutal."

"And Lance?" Zira asked, fearing the worst. Cyril stood up behind her as he awaited the news.

Shar smiled, much to Zira's relief. "He's going to be alright," he said. "They're still working on him, but he's doing well. Apparently, we got him here just in the nick of time."

"Thank the gods!" Cyril said, visibly relieved at the news.

Nearly half an hour later, one of the healers, an Audino, stepped out of the treatment room and walked over to the group.

"Your friend is fully healed," the Audino said. She appeared to be tired, no doubt from having to heal so many serious injuries.

Shar quickly stood up. "May we see him?"

"Of course," the Audino replied, motioning toward the treatment room.

Shar wasted no time heading back into the treatment room. Zira and Cyril followed, eager to see their friend and teammate.

Lance was sitting on the edge of the bed. Other than the exhaustion in his eyes, he appeared to be well. There was no sign of the grievous injury on his belly that very nearly killed him. Much like Zira's leg, there wasn't even a scar. To say that Zira continued to be impressed with the healing capability that some Pokémon possessed would be the understatement of all time. Just a little over an hour ago, Lance was on the brink of death, and now he was restored to perfect health.

Lance was lucky to be alive, though. If the internal damage had been any worse, it's not likely that even the healers could've done anything for him. There were limits to what they were capable of healing, and Lance had narrowly avoided crossing that threshold.

"Lance!" Shar rushed forward, embracing the Golduck in his arms. The two hugged and nuzzled as a smiling Zira and Cyril watched the happy couple. The doctor, a tired Lucario sitting on a nearby stool, smiled as well.

"How do you feel?" Shar asked.

"I feel a bit stiff in the abdomen," Lance said, placing a hand on his belly, "but I'm alright."

"That feeling should go away within a few hours," the doctor noted. "Normally, I'd like to keep you in here overnight for observation after such an awful injury, but I get the feeling that we're about to be overrun with patients. You're free to leave the treatment room, but do me a favor and stay on the premises. I don't foresee any complications, but I prefer to err on the side of caution. You're all free to make yourselves at home in the waiting room for the night, though it's likely to get noisy."

"That's much appreciated," Cyril said.

"Yeah," Lance said. "Especially since most of our money went up in smoke back in Seneca Village, and you couldn't stay at the inn even if you wanted to."

"We'll manage," Cyril said. "I'm just glad you're alright."

"You know," the doctor said, looking at Cyril, "I must say that I find your form rather curious. You're unlike any Sceptile I've ever seen."

"Uh..." Cyril reached up to his head and ran his fingers along one of his crests. "Yeah, I guess I had a bit of an evolutionary hiccup."

"It might not be a hiccup at all," Lance said. "You look just like Dakota."

"Who?" Zira asked. She'd never heard of anyone named Dakota, though this person seemed to be quite familiar to both of her teammates. Given that Dakota City and their rescue team shared the same name with this individual, Zira assumed that this person must be very significant.

"He was a great warrior who lived long ago," Lance replied. "He founded Dakota City along with an unknown Charizard. Our boy Cyril happens to be one of his descendants."

"I named the team after him," Cyril said, confirming Zira's suspicion.

Shar yawned. "Well, I guess we might as well make ourselves comfortable."

"Do you need to check in with your superiors in Emerald City?" Lance asked.

"Yeah," Shar replied. "But it can wait until tomorrow. Right now, I'd really like to get some rest."

"We're all pretty exhausted," Zira said, now realizing just how tired that she was. It was easy to ignore when Lance's life was in danger, but now that he was in the clear, Zira's fatigue had come crashing down on her like an anvil. All she wanted at the moment was some sleep.

Lance hopped off the bed, but then he immediately lost his balance and fell back against it. He managed to land his elbows on the edge of the bed to keep himself from falling to the floor.

"Ugh... sorry," Lance said. "I still feel a bit weak."

"You all look the worse for wear," the doctor said, standing up. "When's the last time any of you have eaten anything?"

"About a day," Zira replied.

The doctor walked over to an ice chest in the back of the room, retrieving from it four flasks filled with some kind of thick purple liquid.

"Drink these nutritional supplements," the doctor said, handing each of them a flask.

Zira quickly chugged the contents of the flask. The nutritional supplement had the consistency of a smoothie. She couldn't be sure what all was in it, though she was certain that oran berries were one of the ingredients. That would explain the color. She thought that she could taste a bit of banana in it as well. The smoothie was delicious, and Zira made sure that none of it went to waste. While she really wanted some solid food, the supplement would satisfy her till the morning.

After finishing their drinks, the group headed back into the waiting room to look for a place to sleep. The options were pretty limited. After having a brief look around, they ultimately decided on one of the corners at the front of the building.

Zira laid down her travel bag, intending to use it as a makeshift pillow. The stone floor was anything but comfortable, but Zira figured that it at least beat sleeping in the street. Looking on the brighter side of things, Zira was grateful that her tail couldn't torch the building so long as she slept at least a couple of meters away from the wooden walls. While she enjoyed being a Charmeleon, her tail's flame was a constant source of anxiety for her around combustible materials.

"So, what's our next move?" Zira asked.

"Well, there's nothing left for us out here," Cyril replied, sitting against the wall. "I guess we head back to Dakota City."

"How far is it?" Zira asked. She was familiar with the area around Seneca Village, but her knowledge beyond that was extremely limited.

"It's about 1,200 kilometers north from here," Lance replied. "If we keep up a good pace, we'll be there within a couple of weeks."

"That's quite the journey," Zira said. "The two of you walked all the way to Seneca Village from there?"

"Yep," Cyril replied. "It wasn't all bad though. We got to admire the scenery."

"If only you all had wings like me," Shar said, his voice giving away his playful intentions. "That'd cut the travel time to just a few days."

"Hey, I'll have wings someday," Zira said, returning Shar's grin with one of her own.

"Hey, Shar," Lance said, "will you be coming with us?"

"Absolutely," Shar replied, giving Lance's leg a tender squeeze. "And wherever they assign me next, I'll make sure it's within a short flight of you."

A number of Pokémon suddenly walked through the door. They didn't appear to be shaken or injured, and Zira didn't recognize any of them.

"You must be the volunteers," a nurse at the reception desk said. "Head on back to the treatment room. The doctor will brief you."

Now that Zira thought about it, all of the Pokémon were capable of using heal pulse. The thought brought Zira back to the tragedy of the situation. They were here to deal with the influx of survivors from Seneca Village, who were sure to arrive throughout the night.

"Well, we'd better try to get some sleep," Lance said. "We've got a long journey ahead of us."