There weren't a lot of hospitals capable of treating wounds as severe as the ones on Joshua, Flareon and Luxray, and human lifestyles had grown so dependent on Pokémon that the number of Pokémon hospitals outnumbered human hospitals almost twenty to one. Still, each human hospital had the highest-end equipment and smartest physicians available, so while injuries weren't numbered very highly, they were still well taken care of. Joshua had slept in Sinnoh's human hospital for four days now, located in Jubilife (which, unfortunately for everyone, was located on the other side of the province from Victory Road). The doctors initially put him in a medical-induced coma before they began work on patching him up – not that they needed to: Joshua was so sound asleep that he slept through him being picked up and transported the whole way across the province.

His Pokémon were initially to be treated then and there at Victory Road's Poké Centre, but they were each furious with the idea of being away from their Trainer for even a second. The nurse there got Lucario to translate what they were trying to do for them: moving Joshua to a better-equipped hospital they were all okay with, but the idea of being even in different rooms from him didn't sit well with them at all. Torterra was the most opposed to it, particularly since he tried and failed numerous times to squeeze his wide self into the building; his blindness didn't help matters much. Without the Poké Balls that Joshua had caught them with and since their genetic 'tags' hadn't dissolved yet, it was impossible to 're-catch' them and transport them to Jubilife that way. Getting them across the province was a chore for them (especially with the 700-pound blind Torterra), but it was eventually completed.

Jubilife City had a standard Poké Centre, just like every other city, but their hospital was there to treat much more serious wounds, whereas Poké Centres were just there to heal the usual basics of injuries and ailments. Because his Pokédex was destroyed beyond operation, Joshua effectively had no sort of I.D. on him; but seeing his condition and his Pokémon's condition, and the very fact that he had a Pokédex on him at all, led the doctors to work first and ask questions later.

Each of Joshua's six Pokémon were treated for their wounds in Jubilife: Lucario and Golduck were given the usual run-through since their wounds weren't too serious and wound up just getting the basic Poké Centre treatment. They were the luckiest of the group: Honchkrow's wing, which she was told would eventually let her fly again, was put in a sling/cast hybrid device that kept it absolutely stationary while she recovered. Joshua, Flareon and Luxray were immediately rushed to the Emergency Ward, where the doctors had their work cut out for them, trying to stitch up their bodies and prevent any more blood loss or infection. Each of their operations wound up being a success, though it sure didn't look like it to the other three.

Torterra was put under a lot of examination as well to help with his blindness. A doctor from Johto remembered a similar ailment with a Meganium, and remembered that the blindness went away eventually, but they never found a 'cure' to it exactly. They hoped the same would happen with Joshua's Torterra; which it eventually did: on the fourth day of rest, his eyes eventually cleared of their perpetual fog, and he could see just as well again. The 'tree' on his back slowly began to blossom once more as well.

Torterra was forced to stay in his own recovery room in the lowest level of the building, since he was too large to reliably transport anywhere else without breaking something, such as the foundation. Honchkrow, Lucario and Golduck were allowed to stay by their Master's side ('allowed' being a forced word, since they refused to move) while he slept. The story of "the unnamed boy from Victory Road, nearly killed with his six Pokémon, transported to Jubilife in intensive care" was broadcasted all the way to Kanto and far beyond; Joshua's parents quickly found the story and dropped everything to fly on their own Pokémon to Jubilife. They would frequently come to check on their son, often two to three times a day. They didn't know what the story was: all they knew was that he was horribly mutilated. His body and face were dreadfully misshapen from what he looked like before he entered Victory Road, but he was recognizable, and at least he was whole again. It relieved them all to no end that he was okay, and at the end of every day, Lucario would leave the room on the twentieth floor of the hospital, to walk to Torterra's room in the basement, to tell their Alpha how their Omega was doing. And despite Torterra's claustrophobia, he was coping well with the room, since the only thing that stressed him out was not knowing exactly what his Master was doing or how he was feeling.

On the fifth day, Joshua finally managed to muscle his eyes open. The first thing he heard was the steady beeping of the heart-rate monitor to the side of his bed – followed by the elated barks, quacks and caws of the Pokémon surrounding him when they realized he was finally awake. The noise attracted the attention of the doctors and nurses nearby, who rushed in to check on how he was doing. He was fine, physically, but even after sleeping heavily for four days he was still exhausted, according to him. He just wanted to see his Pokémon before sleeping some more.

Flareon and Luxray were eventually released from their own rooms; Pokémon tended to recover from injury much faster than humans, and the abundant medicines for them sold commercially all over the world certainly made it easier on the doctors. They were shown to their Master's room, where the other three were waiting for their Master to open his eyes again, along with his human parents. Lucario told the story to Torterra, who grew excited at the mere idea of it, but was disappointed, in a way, when he was told that he would have to wait some more before his Master would be healthy enough to leave.

On the sixth day, Joshua opened his eyes a second time just before visiting hours were over, and was greeted by a Flareon sleeping soundly next to his outstretched body. He considered not bothering to wake her for a moment, before the excited yips from Lucario threw that idea out the window. His mother and father were just getting ready to leave when they noticed his Pokémon beginning to get excited over something. They looked to their son, and, to their relief, saw that his eyes were open and that he was petting his Flareon with his finally-functioning left hand.

It had been a hellish two weeks for him and both his families, so the staff of the hospital was lenient with their requests to stay for just an hour longer to be with their awake son and Master. They asked him all manner of questions and listened to his whole story, from first walking into Victory Road to walking out.

"What happened when you finally managed to get back to the Poké Centre?" asked his father, hanging on his son's every word.

Joshua hummed, squinting his eyes as he tried to remember the details. "I don't remember," he said finally with a sigh. "I think I just walked into the building, then blacked out. I remember thinking that I was finally safe, and that it was okay to let go. The next thing I remember is waking up here yesterday."

"Were you scared?" asked his mother, wide-eyed at the whole awesome tale of dreams, family, war and victory.

"Of what?"

"Of Victory Road, when you first walked in."

"Oh, of that?" he laughed, waving his hand in the air as if to shoo away the question. "Scared? Are you kidding? I wanna go again!" His Pokémon each started laughing at the comment. The joke was beyond each of the humans.

Joshua sighed again and looked out the window of his room, to the outstretching city of Jubilife, which eventually faded into Route 202. "But seriously," he said sadly, watching the sky go from bright orange into a slow dark blue. "I was afraid for my life. For their lives." He motioned to his Pokémon team standing in the room with him, and the small fiery dog by his side. "I was afraid I'd never see my parents again. I was worried that my story wouldn't have as happy an ending as this one. I stared death in the face; it's not something I want to do again, not for a while." He turned his eyes back to his father's and his mother's. "That's not to say I'm giving up on being Sinnoh's champion. Not by a long shot," he chuckled. "I'll tackle Victory Road again someday. Just…not for a little while. There are some things I'd like to do before then."

"Like what?"

"Like…I'd like to take a lap around Sinnoh once more. See some things I had didn't pay attention to my first time around. You know how Oreburgh City has a museum dedicated to mining products and methods? I never visited that. I kept telling myself, 'well, next week. After I get this next badge'. But now would be a good time to visit it. There are a lot of things I missed out on during my first run-through – I'm going to do it again, and this time not miss a thing."

They talked well into the night, burning up every last second that the hospital gave them, until finally, they couldn't spend another moment in the hospital and the nurses were practically trying to drag Joshua's parents out. With a firm handshake from his father (in his good hand – just in case) and a kiss on the forehead from his mother, they left his room and started back on their way back to Twinleaf Town for the night.

Joshua sighed, resting his head back on the hospital's comfortable pillow. He was aching all over and he was a little tired from telling the story and answering the questions, but tonight wasn't done yet. There was one last thing he absolutely had to do before going back to sleep.

"Please get off the bed, Flareon," he said, lifting his legs a little to entice the dog off. Confused but loyal she obeyed and leapt off the bed onto the hard linoleum floor.

Joshua kicked the sheets of the bed off himself and draped his legs off the side, facing the door. He looked up at the heart-rate monitor, seeing its chord extend from the machine and onto his wrist. Pulling the chord off immediately would be a bad idea, he figured – since the machine wasn't integral to his survival, he fiddled with its many buttons before finally finding the power button, and pressing it. The machine powered down quickly, and Joshua subsequently ripped the chord off his arm.

He examined himself: nothing else was plugged into his body anywhere. Funny; he always thought that, if he were in a situation like this one, he'd be attached to a life-sustaining drip, but no, they must've weaned him off that while he was still asleep. Well, no matter, that'll make things easier for him. He wore nothing except the standard thin-as-paper patient gown that hospitals regularly issued their check-ins. That was fine too: he wasn't going to go anywhere cold. With a slight thrust, he pushed himself off the bed onto the floor. His balance was a little wobbly at first, and his muscles ached and cried at the sudden action, but they were also happy to finally be stretched out after being still for so long. After balancing himself correctly, he began towards the door. Each of his fresh scabs and stitches screamed another story; they all refused to calm down after Joshua began moving. But that was okay, he'd only be a moment.

"Come on, guys," he said, waving his hand to his team, telling them to follow him. "We're going to see Torterra. Does anyone know the way?" All he knew about Torterra was that he was in the basement of the hospital; having never even been in the building before, all he knew was that he had to go down.

"I do," Lucario said softly, and hurriedly took a spot in front of his Master. The other four followed behind him, single file, much like they had done when they left Victory Road. Lucario led the way excitedly; he could only imagine Torterra's expression when they all showed up to pay him a visit.

Down they went, twenty flights of stairs. It was a difficult walk for most of them (especially Honchkrow), since four of them still had injuries to accommodate. The hospital staff tried to coax him back to bed, but Joshua was adamant – and he was something of a hero, thanks to the media. No one had the heart to stop him from doing this one last thing. It was slow and it was more tiring than they would have preferred, but they paid none of that any attention: what was important was meeting their Alpha.

Eventually, the exhausted group got to the final stop: it was only a few corridors until they got to the room Torterra was still recovering in. Lucario continued to lead, holding his Master's hand as he guided them all to the final room where the huge Grass- and Ground-type was staying. Lucario had successfully mastered doorknobs in the time they had stayed in the hospital – with a spin and a push, the door swung open, to the dimly-lit room.

There, in the centre of the room, was Torterra, lying in a bed of grass large enough to hold his whole body. He was just beginning to try and sleep when the door was flung open, and the intruding light of the hallway invaded his room. He grunted in displeasure, blinking his eyes open, to see, standing before him, his Master. Surrounding him were his family: Honchkrow, Golduck, Flareon, Luxray, and Lucario. They were all here, and they were all healthy.

Joshua didn't offer any words to the Pokémon, and the Pokémon didn't bother wasting his breath speaking a language humans had yet to decipher. Knowing that actions spoke louder, Joshua stepped forward, and fell to his knees softly in front of his starter. And, as best as he could from his angle, he bent forward, arms outstretched, and gave Torterra a hug. He put all his emotions into it, and it showed. Overwhelmed by the sight, the others joined in the group hug as well. Luxray and Flareon leaning against Torterra and Joshua; Golduck and Lucario wrapped their arms around both; and Honchkrow's huge wings spread over all of them.

They were all here, and they were alive. It was over. They could start again.