"Charizard, do you think you could take me to Pallet Town?" Delia asked the fire Pokemon from her position at the base of its neck.

Charizard cast a quick glance back at her as if to ask if she knew that what she was asking for would take them that much longer.

"Yes, it had crossed my mind that it's a bit further away than Viridian City. I doubt that Tony would mind, though. Please take me there."

With a snort, Charizard changed course and headed south towards Pallet Town. Upon reaching Pallet Town a few days later, Delia spotted Professor Oak riding on his bicycle towards his lab.

"Professor!" Delia called out. When it became apparent that the Pokemon professor was unsure where her voice was coming from, she called out to him again and waved at him. "Up here, Professor. Could you meet me at the hospital?"

Professor Oak applied the brakes on his bike and had to shield his eyes from the sunlight, but once he saw Delia he briefly smiled at her just before she mentioned the hospital. With a serious nod, he started pedaling again. Delia then urged Charizard to get her to the hospital as quickly as possible.

At the hospital, it was as Tony had suspected. Delia's ankle was sprained. After the doctor had placed a fresh bandage and splint on the ankle, Delia was told to rest as much as possible to allow the ankle to heal. Delia was then wheeled into the waiting room by an orderly who knew that Professor Oak was waiting for her. Professor Oak had been passing the time by pacing back and forth within the waiting room.

"Delia!" the professor happily exclaimed as soon as he saw her. "What in the world happened? Where's Tony?"

"Slow down, Professor. I'll explain in a moment, but first off, where is Charizard?"

"It's waiting to see you outside. Charizard just about insisted in waiting in here, but it didn't take much to convince Charizard that everything would be fine and that I'd bring you out to prove it at the soonest possible chance."

"Charizard sure is a sweetie. The thing is, Charizard should have taken off to go and join Tony on the last part of Victory Road. Let's go prove to Charizard that I'm fine, then I'll fill you in." Delia said with a smile.

"All right." Professor Oak agreed with a nod, before following the orderly pushing Delia's wheel chair out of the hospital.

With some assistance, Delia stood as the orderly removed the wheel chair from behind her and outfitted her with a pair of crutches. It didn't take much to find Charizard. The fire Pokemon was impossible to miss considering it was napping right against the building that they had just exited. It's orange hide was a stark contrast against the whitewashed walls of Pallet Town's hospital.

"Poor thing. I'm not surprised though. It was quite a distance to travel between that point on Victory Road and here. I'm just worried that Charizard won't make it back to Tony in time to help him with the Conference." Delia lamented as she saw the slumbering Pokemon.

"Why did you come here, anyway? Wouldn't Viridian City have been quicker to get to?" Professor Oak asked.

"It's a long story that I'd prefer to not tell if I don't have to." Delia said as she became briefly lost in thought. Shaking her head, Delia forced herself to be happy. "I'm more worried about Tony though. The Conference is only in a few days, and Charizard is still here."

"Speaking of Tony, I'm surprised he's not with you." Professor Oak mentioned with concern on his face. "I know you two have been close lately."

"I insisted that he continue on to the Pokemon League, Professor." Delia explained.

"Well then, why don't we go and meet him there." Professor Oak suggested, before glancing over at Charizard. "You wouldn't happen to Charizard's pokeball, would you?"

"No." Delia replied, shaking her head. "Tony still has it."

"Hmm... well, that makes things a bit sticky. I can get us to the Pokemon League, but Charizard isn't exactly the easiest Pokemon to transport outside of its pokeball." The Pokemon professor mulled over the scenario.

"But that's easy. Charizard, get up. Time to go find Tony." Delia called out to the fire Pokemon.

With a yawn and a low roar, Charizard arose and glanced at her. It seemed happy that Delia was no worse for wear.

"Wait. You're still tired, aren't you?" Delia asked Charizard.

Charizard nodded once, while it stretched out its wings.

"It might be a snug fit, but there is another way. Delia and I are going to the Pokemon League via the main route. I don't see why you couldn't stay in the bed of the truck we'll be riding in while you rest."

A growl of disagreement was Charizard's response.

"Oh come on, Charizard. You won't be of any use to Tony if you fly there on your own accord and wind up being so tuckered out that you faint early on." Delia persisted.

"Delia's right." Professor Oak chimed in. "The opponents that you'll face in the Pokemon League will be immensely stronger than any you've met to date. If you leave on your own right now, you won't be fit enough to fight."

Charizard took a few moments to mull the situation over as it looked at the humans standing before it. With a noisy yawn, the fire Pokemon agreed to their plan. It'd be nice to have a chance to recover from the past few days of constant flight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This tunnel sure is long." Tony griped as he shivered. "Dimly lit and chilly too. I wish Charizard had caught up by now."

"Bay?" Bayleef turned its head to look at Tony.

"Of course, I wish Delia was here too." Tony told the plant Pokemon. "It's just that I'd have expected Charizard to have reached us before we even reached the tunnel's entrance. I can only guess where Charizard is now."

"Leef. Bayleef, bay!" Bayleef exclaimed after it had smelled fresh air coming from ahead, in hopes that finally getting out of the tunnel would cheer its trainer up, even a tiny bit.

"Well, now." Tony said as he and Bayleef finally exited the tunnel that went through the mountain as part of Victory Road. The sunlight momentarily blinded them, but as soon as Tony's eyes re-adjusted themselves appropriately, he searched the skies for any sign of his fire type Pokemon. Unfortunately, Charizard was not there. With a sigh, Tony looked over at Bayleef. "Shoot. Let's keep going. We only have a few days left before the Conference. Charizard could still catch up before then."