Machoke sat on an infirmary cot, skin slick with sweat. Stressed lines etched his face, as though, somewhere in his unconscious state, he was in pain.

Damian sat at Machoke's bedside, his hands clasped together. "It took two of the gym Machamps to carry him in here," the apprentice said worriedly. He glanced up at Benji, Max, Maylene, and Uncle Robert, all of who stood in the infirmary with him. "Is he...is he going to be okay?"

Maylene looked up at Uncle Robert, who frowned deeply and said, "I don't know...I think we should call the Pokémon Center, see if we can get Nurse Joy to come out and look at him. And Meditite, while we're at it."

Meditite. Maylene had almost forgotten about Benji's Pokémon, who'd fainted early this morning during training practice. The Pokémon lay in the available cot behind Maylene, looking snug and comfortable beneath the bed's thick blankets and fluffy pillow.

But now that she looked closely, Meditite seemed to be as pale as Machoke, and just as sweaty...

"Okay, they're on their way," Max said, returning from the infirmary phone. "They should be here within the hour."

--

12:30 PM

After a quick break for lunch, the gym reopened, and Maylene and Lucario faced their next challenger:

"Please welcome Christian of Fortree City!" Uncle Robert cried.

Christian was a 23-year-old college student accompanied by a Dustox, which perched on his head as he entered the arena, waving at the crowd. After shaking hands and returning to their sides of the mat, Uncle Robert commanded, "Choose your Pokémon!"

"Dustox!" Christian cried. The bug-type Pokémon leapt from the boy's head and fluttered in the air.

"Lucario!" Maylene cried. Her Pokémon stepped forward, standing before her. His stance gave her pause- Lucario was slightly hunched, his large paws wobbling, as if he were having trouble keeping his balance. He looked...well, he looked exhausted, which surprised Maylene. Lucario could usually wear through ten or fifteen battles without looking as tired as he did now. Had Kadabra done more damage than she'd thought?

"Begin!" Uncle Robert cried.

"Okay, Dustox, let's take him down quick!" Christian yelled. "Hit 'im with Poison Sting!"

Dustox swooped down towards Lucario, spewing a mouthful of lethally sharp, poisoned needles towards him. Lucario ducked under the hailstorm of poisoned needles and launched himself to the other side of the arena. Dustox swooped upward before twisting and sailing down towards Lucario again.

"Watch out!" Maylene cried. "He's coming in for another pass!"

Lucario darted from underneath another rain of poisoned needles, but as he landed again at the opposite end of the arena, he tripped over his own paws, tumbling to his hands and knees. Alarm reamed through Maylene when he didn't immediately leap to his feet.

"Lucario!" she called. "Are you okay?" She didn't see any poisoned needles sticking out of him- and Lucario was nowhere near that clumsy. What had caused the sudden fall?

"He's fast," Christian called to Dustox. "Let's slow him down. String Shot!"

Lucario ducked as Dustox again swooped over him, but on the return pass, Dustox spat a line of gooey string towards Lucario, as white and thick as glue. It latched onto Lucario's paw like silly putty, and as Dustox flew over, it yanked Lucario to his knees, exposing his entire backside for Dustox's next pass, which doused Lucario's back in String Shot.

"Lucario, get out of there!" Maylene shouted.

Lucario snarled as he reared backwards, struggling to free himself from the pool of goop that grew in size each time Dustox flew over. Maylene's panic rose as Dustox continued to spew String Shot atop of Lucario.

"Nice, Dustox!" Christian cried. "Now, let's finish him off: Tackle, then Poison Sting!"

Dustox soared down and collided with Lucario, knocking him flat on his back. The bug-type Pokémon twisted as he swooped upward, and, as he flew downward once more, he spat a cloud of poisoned needles down towards Lucario, covering the Pokémon's chest from top to bottom in needles.

"Lucario!" Maylene screamed. She dashed to the middle of the arena, but Lucario was unconscious by the time she got there, his eyes rolled back.

"Lucario is no longer able to battle!" Uncle Robert cried. "The Challengers, Christian and Dustox, win!!"

The crowd cheered as Christian punched the air in triumph and hugged Dustox as the Pokémon flew down towards him. Maylene ignored the noise, tapping the side of Lucario's face worriedly.

"Lucario?" she asked. "Lucario, are you okay?" Her panic again increased when Lucario didn't answer. "Lucario, wake up!"

"Great battle," Christian said as he came up to her side. "I thought you guys had me- you and Lucario are really tough!"

"Thanks," Maylene said. "Uncle Robert will get you the Cobble Badge." She smacked the side of Lucario's face again. "Lucario! Wake up!"

"Uh, is he going to be okay?" Christian asked. "My Dustox's Poison Sting wasn't supposed to knock him out like that."

"What?" Maylene leapt to her feet, making Christian flinch. "What're you talking about?"

"U-uh, Poison Sting usually just, um, slows them down. It's not supposed to completely knock them out."

Alarm washed through Maylene as she stooped back down by Lucario. Poison Sting wasn't supposed to...? Then why had Lucario fainted? She felt her Pokémon's forehead and gasped. He was burning up!

"Gurney," she cried. "I need a gurney!"

--

A couple of announcements later, the Veilstone City gym was closed, and Maylene and Uncle Robert burst through the double-doors of the infirmary.

Nurse Joy was there, feeling Machoke's forehead. Benji, Damian, and Max surrounded her in a semi-circle. They all looked up when Maylene and Uncle Robert came in, and their eyes widened when they saw Lucario on the gurney.

"He fainted during combat," Maylene gasped out, her panic restricting her air. "He got stung by Poison Sting, but it shouldn't have knocked him out like this. I don't know what's going on!"

"Bring him over here," Nurse Joy instructed, pointing to the bed on the opposite side of Machoke's. Maylene and Uncle Robert obediently rolled the Pokémon over, and the apprentices helped lift him on the bed. Maylene crossed her arms and tapped her feet anxiously as Nurse Joy inspected Lucario's pupils with a pen light.

"How long has he had this fever?" she asked Maylene.

"Five minutes," Maylene said, trembling. "What's wrong with him?"

"Maybe it really was the Poison Sting?" Max asked.

Nurse Joy shook her head. "It's not the Poison Sting," she said, to everyone's surprise.

"You know what's wrong with him?" Benji asked.

"Them." She gestured to Meditite and Machoke.

Maylene blinked. "Are you saying they've all got the same bug?"

"I'm almost completely positive," Nurse Joy said. "Let me take a blood sample, and I'll be sure."

Everyone watched anxiously as the nurse took a small sample of Lucario's blood and prepared a wet mount for the compact microscope from her field kit. She inserted the prepared slide under the microscope and peered through the lens.

A second later, she said, "I knew it."

"Knew what?" Maylene demanded. The suspense was killing her. "What is it?"

Nurse Joy sat back and said, "Just like in Meditite's and Machoke's blood: a high concentration of cadmium ions."

"Cadmium what?" Benji repeated.

"They were poisoned," Nurse Joy said. "All three of them."

Poisoned! Maylene exchanged alarmed glances with her apprentices. "B-but...how?" Damian cried.

"Did they eat or drink anything questionable today?" Nurse Joy asked.

"They're fighting-type Pokémon," Damian snapped. "All they drink is water and all they eat is rabbit food."

Nurse Joy glanced at Maylene, who was staring worriedly at Lucario. "When did you first notice Lucario acting strangely?" she asked her.

"I, uh..." Maylene's brain scrambled as she looked at Lucario. "Um...before the last match. Fifteen minutes ago."

"Before then, what did Lucario eat?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Nothing," Maylene said. "He eats twice a day- breakfast and dinner."

"What did he have for breakfast?"

"Pokefood."

Frowning, Nurse Joy said, "Did he drink anything before he fell out?"

"Uh, a sports drink," Maylene said. "That's it."

Nurse Joy blinked. "The same sports drink that Machoke drank during his water break?"

The air left Maylene. "W-what?" She glanced at Damian. "Did he?"

Damian's eyes were wide. "U-uh...yeah, I mean, I think he did. Maybe. Does it matter?"

"What about Meditite?" Maylene asked, glancing at Benji. "Did he drink a sports drink before he fainted?"

"I don't know," Benji said, looking helpless. "There were a couple of coolers on the training grounds, so I guess it's possible that he could've taken a break and gotten a drink...but I don't know for sure."

"Do you have a bottle of this sports drink on hand?" Nurse Joy asked.

Uncle Robert fetched a bottle from the kitchen, and Nurse Joy quickly prepared another wet mount, this time containing a drop of the sports drink, and gazed at it under the microscope. After a minute, she sat back.

"Definitely poisoned," she reported.

Maylene covered her mouth in horror; Damian clenched his fists. Benji and Max just looked stunned.

"Is there an antidote?" Damian snapped.

"One strong enough to detoxify a poison this toxic?" Nurse Joy asked. "I don't know. We might have to make one, and that could take...eight hours. At the very least. And by that time..." She glanced over at Lucario sadly.

Maylene's stomach cramped. "There has to be another way," she said. She couldn't contemplate the thought of Lucario dying.

"I don't think there is," Nurse Joy said. "There are few poisons this toxic- in fact, despite the abundance of poison-type Pokémon that inhabit the world, I've only seen a few, like Roselia and Ghastly, secrete one this potent."

Roselia.

The word struck Maylene like a bullet, stealing the rest of her breath. Because she knew someone that had a Roselia. The same someone that supplied the gym with its sports drinks, vitamins, and water:

Grandma Kristy.

Before Maylene could contemplate it, she was out the door.