With the assistance of Mewtwo, Luke travels to Hadleigh to recruit the assistance of Teams Plainsrunner and Storm for the coalition, heading into the final battle against the Dark Crusade.

Elsewhere, Calhoun orchestrates his most sinister plan, and rebuilds his forces using his dark powers...

Written by myself and  Korban

Preview:
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The memories of the incident that resulted in Sarth's injury were still clear as day in Luke's mind. The day the vicious and mighty Black Titan, Eberon, had been unleashed upon Hadleigh. The first ones to try to stand in his way had been Team Plainsrunner, but they had been no match for him; the ensuing struggle had resulted in Sarth being slammed into a statue, dislocating a ring in his spine. It was nothing short of miraculous that the incident had not paralyzed the Flygon permanently, but thanks to the talents of some very skilled surgeons, they had managed to repair the damage and put him on the road to recovery.
A road that unfortunately proved much longer than anyone had hoped…
“Right…” Luke reluctantly replied before he sighed heavily and looked down to the ground. “Suddenly not looking forward to this encounter…” of course, he knew that Neilla was not looking forward to it either.
They walked past the city's hospital, to another building next door. The sign out front read 'Physical Rehabilitation Center', and when they stepped through the main doors, they entered a short hallway. The inside of the building smelled akin to a hospital, with a sterilized environment, but instead of a treatment center it was filled with multiple, small rooms where Luke could see many Pokémon undergoing fitness sessions with various coaches guiding them and assisting them as needed. Most of the patrons were elders, or like the one they were there to see, people who had suffered injuries - mostly miners, according to Neilla, in their workplaces.
At the second to last door, they saw Sarth at last. He was walking on a treadmill, his arms gripping the bars at the sides. His coach, if he had one, was nowhere in sight. Sarth’s steps were slow and shaky, but he seemed to be holding himself up well enough, even managing to keep his long, fan-tipped tail from dragging on the treadmill behind him.
'He's come so far,' thought Luke, saddened. But not far enough…
Neilla, beside him, had her paw on the door handle. But she was hesitating, staring into the room without lifting the handle. Her shoulders were shaking ever so slightly, and Luke could feel how much she didn't want to do this. But she owed it to her teammate to tell him…
Luke gently placed his own paw on hers on the handle, catching her attention and nodding to her once to help give her the determination to go through with it. He didn’t like it any more than she did, but he knew it had to be done, and they’d go through with it together.
She looked at him briefly, and with a steadying breath and putting on a brave face, she finally lifted the handle to open the door. "Knock knock," she said into the room.
Sarth turned his head to look behind him, seeing Neilla and Luke coming into the room. "Hey cap. And… Hey, is that Luke? Long time no see!" the friendly Flygon bade, tapping a button on the treadmill to shut it off before he stepped off and turned, shakily, to his guests.
“Hey Sarth. Long time indeed,” Luke answered, smiling and waving to the Flygon as he and Neilla approached. “Glad to see you’re back on your feet again.”
“Getting better every day,” the Flygon replied, despite his shaky walk. “Even the doctor said he’s surprised by my healing rate.”
Neilla tensed beside Luke. He knew immediately that she was growing increasingly uncomfortable, watching Sarth as he lowered himself onto a bench. “I hate this, I hate this,” she whispered, her voice sounding like it was breaking, struggling to keep her brave face, even as she tilted her head back to look at the ceiling. “Why do I have to break his heart?”
Sarth had noticed Neilla’s behavior, and her talking to herself despite the two males present. “Neilla?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
Luke rested a paw on her back, offering her his support once again. Neilla had to take another steadying breath. “Sarth… We need to talk.”
“...In my experience, it’s never a good thing when a woman says that,” Sarth remarked, “Including when that woman’s your boss…”
Neilla walked over to sit beside Sarth and met his gaze reluctantly. “Sarth… I’m going away on a mission, in the West Continent,” she explained, looking back at Luke. “Luke received a summons from Captain Romulus. A call to arms…” she trailed off, inviting Luke to continue the explanation.
The Lucario hesitated briefly before clearing his throat and speaking. “He’s found the location of the Crusade’s base of operations… He’s calling every available Rescue Team to Gladiator City to partake in what may be the final battle.”
Sarth’s eyes, partially hidden behind the red-tinted lenses natural to his species, widened in surprise as the meaning behind Luke’s words became clear. He looked at Neilla, his mouth gaping as he tried to speak. “You’re… You’re going after then? After the Crusade?” and then he added, in a weak tone, “...But without me…”
“Sarth… I’m so sorry,” said Neilla, frowning, seeing the heartbreak she feared causing her teammate already showing on his features. “I didn’t want to go without you, but… This can’t wait.”
“No… I get it,” Sarth said, though his tone of voice suggested he was displeased. His derisive words that followed confirmed it, “Having an invalid along would only slow you down… And give you someone else to worry about.”
Neilla’s shocked expression turned angry in seconds. “You are not invalid!” she snapped at him, “You were hurt! You were doing your job, fighting to protect Hadleigh; even Dragon-types are not invincible you know!”
“I think that fight with that big cat made that pretty clear to me,” Sarth replied, surprisingly neutral despite how hurt he clearly was, “But you’re going into the most dangerous battle any of us will ever see… And I can’t even be there with you. If you don’t come back because I wasn’t there to help, I-” he trailed off, his lip quivering.
Luke chose then to step forward, and said, “Sarth… I can’t promise anything other than I will do everything in my power to ensure we all come home safely,” he stated reassuringly. “You may not be there with us physically, but we’ll have you with us in spirit.”
Neilla nodded, and stood in front of Sarth, finding her words as she spoke without breaking eye contact with him. “I wish we had more time, Sarth; I’d give up my Lopunnite to ensure you could be there with us. But you need to heal… You’ve come such a long way already. Events, unfortunately, just moved too fast for us all.”
She rested both paws on his shoulders. “We will be back,” she promised, even if it was a promise she couldn’t keep - nor could Luke, though neither doubted the truth of his words that he would without a doubt try to keep it. “You’re not going to lose us. We’re going to take these guys down once and for all, come back, and be our full team again.”
Sarth frowned and gave a light sniff. But eventually his frown turned to a weak smile. “I’ll hold you to that, Captain,” he said, “Just make sure you give ‘em one for me.”
“I’ll give ‘em more than one in your name,” Neilla replied, matching his smile.
With that, the Lopunny and Flygon embraced, holding each other as though this would be the last moment they would ever see each other - because, both of them knew, it could be… But Sarth was not willing to let those words slip out then, daring not send his Captain away with a heavier heart than she already had.
Pulling back from Neilla, Sarth turned his attention to Luke. “Take care of them for me, won’t you?” he meant his whole team, of course.
“I’d stake my life to protect them, Sarth. That much I promise,” Luke answered firmly, bit with a confident smile.
Shakily, Sarth stood up, unsteady on his legs, and he motioned Luke closer, letting the Lucario come to him instead of making him wait to find his balance again. Sarth hugged Luke as he had Neilla. “You make sure you come back too,” he said. “Heard you adopted a little boy; I’d like the chance to meet him next time.”
“Volcan and I planned to have our honeymoon here in Hadleigh, so there’s a good chance you’ll get to see our boy when we next visit,” Luke answered with a wink, patting Sarth’s shoulder gently. “Take it easy, Sarth.”
“I’ll do my best,” he replied, and shared one more hug with Neilla, despite them just having one, before the Lopunny finally allowed herself to leave.
She gave Sarth a wave before exiting the room, and they saw him hobbling back over to his treadmill, returning to his physiotherapy while the two went on their way. They were halfway down the hall before Neilla stopped, and slumped so suddenly Luke held out his arms, prepared to catch her, but she stayed on her feet, and slowly stood upright again.