The skyscrapers of Ultra Megalopolis were so tall that many of its streets never saw the light of day, sunlight blocked by their impossible height. Futuristic-looking lights filled gaps in the sunlight. The racer's eyes drifted upward; some of those buildings had to be a mile tall, spanning hundreds of floors. He had read many science fiction novels set hundreds or even thousands of years in the future, the land covered by arcologies capable of packing millions of people into a colossal structure less than a square mile in size. Settings where a trillion people populated the planet. Settings where the human race's exponential growth necessitated they build upward rather than outward. Ones where a Space Elevator existed, making travel to the moon by cable car possible rather than by space shuttle.

This world, though, was flooded with blue-faced Megalopolans. Josh instinctively reached for his belt of Poké Balls, only to find it missing in the dream world, too. Truly there was no escaping their fate in the jail of the Loyal Three... not even in the recesses of their minds.

The pouncing hug blindsided Josh, causing even the Champion to tilt off balance and fall on his side. "They did. Almost every high-profile League official, too," Josh replied in an equally grim tone. "I've heard so many voices I would recognize anywhere."

Josh's heart sank when he heard what happened to Meatloaf. "I... I almost tried to take one myself. I wouldn't have known what to do with myself if they killed Raikou... or worse yet, killed Swift. I'm so sorry for your loss. Perhaps I'm fortunate that the...big guy..." he referred to Okidogi, "he just whipped me above my knee."

Josh frowned. Swift would be a wonderful help, wouldn't he? There was just one problem with it: the RAINBOW FEATHER was missing. Making sure they were far away from any intersections where their voices may have been recorded, he lowered his voice to just above a whisper. "Believe me, I would. I've wanted you to meet Swift for what feels like forever now. There's just... a big problem with that. I haven't seen the Great One's Rainbow Feather since I woke up in that cell."

With how secured the cells were, complete with chains that would whip and poison them into submission if they tried pulling a fast one, getting the feather back would be difficult if not impossible in their current state. "Tell me about it. With it being so cold inside, I wonder how far north we are. Certainly doesn't get that cold in Hoenn anywhere but Shoal Cave and the Icelands." At night, it felt like the Icelands, his teeth having clattered quite a bit before he fell asleep.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Josh replied. "That feather's useless to them as is. They don't know the Sign." It was one extra layer of security the Great One had provided Josh to ensure her Beast child was not used by anyone but his rightful wielder. "You know, the League email that went out about it? That Sign."

The mention of Ogerpon made Josh perk up, recalling such a Pokémon that narrowly avoided trampling him in the Mochi pit. "Oh, really? We'll have to keep a close eye on her."

The metropolis was haunting; as thriving as it was, it sure had a lot of abandoned buildings. His eye caught a tube similar to the ones from the hallways: grotesque and filled with an unknown liquid. "Andrea..." he trailed off, stopping to peer inside the window more closely.

Unnecessary? Yes. Did Josh feel the need to voice his thoughts to vent his frustrations? Yes. "It's honestly not a bad guess," the Champion agreed. "Even so, Area Zero itself is not as cold as the Icelands. It was pleasant down there. We would have froze our butts off riding Raikou down there, remember? It feels like such a distant memory now..."

Josh frowned as she mentioned Swift's perceived loyalty. "There's too much I don't know about Swift yet," he replied. "All I know is of his speed, his loyalty, and that the only move he can use is Spark." Little did he know that the ashen Raikou he named Swift was a reflection of its wielder; a blank slate reflective of the one who drew the Sign.

"I don't know; I'm going to get a closer look." He creaked open the door to see unspeakable horrors: emaciated Pokémon in glass tubes similar to the ones they had seen in the halls of the prison. Inside one was the Pokémon Josh spotted before: a yellow and black quadrupedal cat whose four legs looked uncomfortably stretched. It was a Pokémon very precious to him.

A Zeraora.

"...Raikiri! No!!" Josh wailed in despair, the unconscious Pokémon covered in cuts festering with the venom of a TOXIC CHAIN.

If Andrea couldn't break Chomper out through any means she tried, then it was hopeless for Josh, as well. Josh was dexterous and quick-minded, able to control nearly any mount no matter how fast it got. Rayquaza was the only one that had defeated him at his own game, making him vomit as they swooped upward from the back half of a Dragon Ascent, the sea itself parting from the wake of the DELTA STREAM ripping through at stellar speeds.

If he ever got out of this jail, and this dream, he would have to return the favor to Eva Morales . The doctor had taken Josh aboard the fastest Pokémon in the air. It was his turn to take her on the back of a legendary Pokémon and make unforgettable memories.

"...I'm not so sure," Josh replied. "When you saw Chomper, did they look... otherwise unharmed? I ran into Resheph not too long ago, and she looked like she was on death's door."

Josh had taken his career for granted, not realizing just how much he enjoyed it until it had been taken away from him. While his relationships weren't as tight-knit as the girlygang, he had his circle, too. How was Raju Mystic doing filling the role of Interim Gym Leader while he was gone? Smoothly was all he could hope for.

"That's what has me scared," Josh replied. "I... I think something horrible has happened to Resheph. She looked really sick. Sicker than I've ever seen any dragon before. I'd like to hold out hope, but... I'm not optimistic she'll make it."

With tubes both here and in the world outside the dream, ones that looked very much alive rather than inanimate objects, there was a very real possibility that cruel and unusual experiments were being performed on the winding noodle of happiness Josh loved flying on.

Josh had to turn away from Raikiri; he couldn't bear to see his prized Pokémon suffer any longer. "What about... that masked Pokémon in the pit? Could you get a read on it at all?" he asked Andrea, the PokéManiac far more emotionally in-tune with Pokémon than Josh was.

"She's one tough Pokémon to fight through that," Josh replied, referring to the venom of the TOXIC CHAINS. "Makes me wonder how much longer she's been there. Weeks? Months?" They could only speculate. Andrea's thoughts, were Josh able to read them, he would have agreed with: the Pokémon had to be strong. Very strong. Just one lash of Okidogi's chain was enough to make Josh's leg thump all day, and even through the night. It was a wonder he was able to dream at all.

"You have my support the entire way," Josh assured the dragon trainer. He didn't know what he could do, but at the very least, he could offer thoughts and prayers to the Great One... wherever they may be after their Avatar's death. He flinched upon hearing the nearly identical impression of Ogerpon's cry coming from the eccentric lady. "Wait!" he cried, chasing after her. Before he could even come close to catching up, his lucid vision faded, his eyes opening to the musty cell and Michael Davis .