A powerful wave of energy radiates across the whole lake, and instantly dries up its huge body of water. The Magikarps that live inside get thrown into circles, and Rad Rickshaw's two Clefairies, Clefairin and Clefairan, struggle to hold onto the Cycle Shop owner as the force threatens to blow them away. In fact, the intensity of the explosion is so great that a quake can even be felt at the Great Marsh Observatory Gate.

As the bang gradually subsides, Pearl opens up his eyes and gasps in horror when he takes a look at his surroundings. The entire lake has been evaporated with not a single drop of water left, and numerous Magikarps flap helplessly against the barren ground, which used to be the bottom of the lake. At that moment, Pearl finally realizes that the target of Team Galactic is Lake Valor after all.

Laughing maniacally, Saturn is completely overwhelmed by the power of the Galactic Bomb, and feels overjoyed that boss Cyrus has chosen his lake to blow up at the end. He giggles that this is a proof of their team leader's trust in him, and is elated that he is the most highly regarded Commander of all. Stealing a look of contempt at Pearl's three Pokemon, he hurls them away from his vessel by delivering a swing with the hand-extensor, and tightens his grip around Pearl's collar. He wonders what the boy thinks of Team Galactic's power now that he has witnessed it, and snickers that anyone who tries to oppose them is just seeking to fail.

Recalling the issue that they have yet to settle before the explosion, Saturn demands that Pearl stop evading his question, and asks why he has come to the lake's central isle the first thing upon arrival. Pearl grunts that he has no intention to hide anything, and says it is simply because he has already come to this place before, and inadvertently stumbled into an empty cave on the small isle back then.

According to his companion Dia, who was standing on the shoreline of the lake at that time, an intense flash was given off by the small isle when Pearl was on it. Pearl's own vision has been blurred by the blinding light, and left him with just his feelings when he entered the cave. The truth was, he had trouble remembering what exactly happened and had no idea what emanated the flash when Dia asked him about it. However, some time after the incident, he tried to dig deep into his memory, and started to recall seeing something inside the cave. On the surface of an irregularly shaped body of water, he saw the reflection of Pokemon, a beautiful Pokemon with a blue coloured head. That was the reason why he came back to the central isle, for he wanted to use his Luxray's see-through ability to find out what was really hidden inside.

Saturn breaks into a maniacal cheer upon hearing the explanation, and roars that what Pearl saw was no other than Azelf, the legendary Pokemon that governs willpower, who probably woke up temporarily during the incident he mentioned. With that, Saturn starts speeding into the cave with Pearl still in captive, and passes down an order to his grunts to stand by and get Formation A ready. He states that the central isle is no doubt where Azelf resides, and with the lake bottom exposed by the explosion, it should have awakened from its sleep and is bound to appear soon.

Dashing towards the irregularly shaped body of water, Saturn keeps his gaze intently on its surface as a ripple begins to form. Then, a two-tailed pixie with a blue head that resembles a cone gradually materializes out of it, and Saturn grins that Azelf has finally showed up. He immediately attempts a capture, but the blue pixie unleashes a blinding flash of light, and causes the TG Commander to wince and draw back in astonishment.

Pearl, on the other hand, recognizes the flash as the same one before, and already feels accustomed to it. When Saturn is busy activating a light filter on his glass vessel, he grabs the chance to break free from the hand-extensor, and hides himself behind the rocks. As Saturn's vision slowly recovers, he is furious to see that not only Pearl but also Azelf have gone, and hollers that they must not let the legendary Pokemon escape.

Crawling back towards the opening of the cave after Azelf, Pearl is angered and pained by what Team Galactic is trying to do with it, and can totally understand how Dia felt back in Celestic. He vows not to let the evil people get hold of the blue pixie, and calls forward Chatlord, Chimlord and Raylord to protect it.

Outside the cave, the TG grunts have lined up a team of Haunters and Machamps to ambush Azelf, and the moment that the Pokemon flies out, they immediately start attacking. Saturn soon emerges from the cave as well, and demands that they get him the restrainer Formation A right away. Azelf manages to evade the attack of the Haunters, but quickly finds itself surrounded by the Machamps, who have stacked themselves on top of one another to gain height. Cornered by the many hands that are reaching towards it, the blue pixie becomes overwhelmed, and eventually has one of its tails caught by a Machamp, which leads to a cheer from Saturn.

Pearl cries that he cannot allow that to happen, and orders a Flare Blitz from Chimlord. The fire ape instantly wraps itself in a circle of flames before charging forward, and slams hard into the Machamp, causing it to lose its grip. However, a second Machamp easily catches the tail again, and Pearl hollers that he will keep attacking until Azelf breaks free. With that, Chimlord delivers Flare Blitz after Flare Blitz on the Machamps, and before long, starts to tire itself out due to the recoil damage from the move.

Saturn knows about this well, and grins that the Infernape is just seeking suicide. He believes that it is time to put an end to the battle, and orders his Octillery to fire off a Gunk Shot. Hearing a peculiar sound from behind, Pearl bolts around and sees the jet Pokemon charging itself up. However, it is already too late to react. Octillery spits out a forceful blast of filthy garbage, and everything immediately blacks out in front of Pearl's eyes.

A while later, Rad Rickshaw finally regains consciousness, and vaguely remembers seeing a powerful flash during his coma. He is glad to see that both Clefairin and Clefairan are alright, and thanks them for taking care of him. He wonders what has become of Pearl, and jumps in horror when he discovers that the entire Lake Valor has been vaporized, and Magikarps are scattered everywhere on the dried land.

Rushing down to what used to be the lake's bottom, he soon finds Pearl collapsed on the ground, and hurries over to him. With a bitter tone, the boy mutters that he has failed to protect the lake Pokemon, Azelf, after all, that the evil organization, Team Galactic, has succeeded in taking it away...

(Original Japanese Jokes)

1. There are no jokes or Manzai in this chapter.