At the Battle Hall of Sinnoh's Battle Frontier, Platinum gets ready to face her Brain match, and watches as the highlighted dragon-type bracket displays a Rank 10 on the monitor screen. The Hall Matron, Argenta, sends out a Dragonite onto the stage as the whole room of audience cheers, and the purple-haired woman hopes that Platinum will not hold back and show this auntie how good an opponent she is. Platinum tosses out a Great Ball to call forward Froslass, and the snow land Pokemon instantly engages in a close-up combat with Dragonite.

Watching the battle via a TV screen in the control room, Palmer wears an impressed look on his face, and soon hears a knock on the door. He welcomes in his visitor, who turns out to be the Castle Valet Darach. The dandy butler politely bows for his interruption, but Palmer shows his delight in seeing him, and remarks that they all missed him during the regular morning meetings among the Brains.

Darach apologizes with an embarrassed look, and states that since the owner of the Battle Castle, Lady Caitlin, runs their facility as an independent unit under her legacy, he has no choice but to stay and serve by her side, which he hopes Palmer understands. The Tower Tycoon assures him that he does, and adds that it is why he is sincerely grateful that Darach has agreed to come over.

Darach says he certainly shares responsibility in this situation, as it is apparently putting the entire Battle Zone at peril. After reading the email, Lady Caitlin is personally heart-wrecked by the incident as well, and therefore gave him permission to prioritize this task.

The Castle Valet notices the battle going on from the TV screen, and sees that Platinum, his previous challenger, is now fighting Argenta. He wonders if what he heard is true, that the girl has beaten both Dahlia and Thorton, and Palmer confirms it with a nod, complimenting her as one true remarkable trainer.

The Battle Hall, being a facility that holds 1 on 1 battles, specifies the opponents' type of Pokemon. It has categories that correspond to all the known 17 Pokemon types, each starting at rank 1 and maxing out at 10. As there are 17 categories with 10 ranks each, there are a total of 170 matches to go through, and one gets the chance to challenge Argenta after winning a streak of 169 battles. It is truly an ambitious task to attempt such a challenge, but for the past two days, Platinum has battled non-stop without a moment of rest.

Darach wonders why she is being so harsh on herself, and Palmer explains that he will have to date back to two days ago, right after Platinum won her challenge against Thorton…

Beckoning to Platinum, Argenta asks Platinum to look out of the Battle Factory's windows, and the girl gasps with surprise when she sees her slightly battered Pachirisu, Froslass and Cherrim, waving frantically at her from the ground. The Hall Matron remarks that she was only aware of them a moment ago, and from the way they are gesturing to Platinum, believes that they must be her Pokemon. Platinum cries that she has sent them off to Stark Mountain to aid a friend, and without finishing her sentence, rushes out of the Battle Factory to meet them.

The three Pokemon hurriedly lead her towards the entrance of the Battle Frontier, and to Platinum's shock, she sees her even more severely injured Empoleon, Lopunny and Rapidash, the latter carrying the heavily wounded Looker and Buck on its back…

Recalling the events of the day, Palmer remarks that he and Argenta have identified the source of the electromagnetic waves, which are signaled off from Pokemon-controlling machines, to originate from Stark Mountain, and the revelation leaves Darach pondering in thought. The Castle Valet wants to know about the current condition of Buck, the central figure of the Battleground, and Looker, the International Police officer, and Palmer sighs that they have yet to regain consciousness. The man switches the TV screen to show the Frontier's healthcare unit where the two are receiving ailment, and postulates that they must have engaged in quite an extreme battle.

At Buck's bedside, his three companions, Mira, Cheryl and Marley stand close to guard him, and Mira gets emotional about Buck's injuries, bursting into tears and urging him to wake up. Cheryl tries to calm the girl, as they must let Buck rest and recover, and Mira turns to Marley, who has remained silent all this time. The black and white attired girl agrees with Cheryl's views, but wonders if it is time to do something. With that, she pulls out a letter, which was signed off by Prof. Oak.

Back in the Battle Hall's control room, Palmer states that certain events must have taken place at the Stark Mountain, but Platinum's Pokemon are the only ones who know, and they are unfortunately unable to verbalize it. It seems that their only choice now is to wait for Looker and Buck to come around, and Darach lets out a sigh. He recalls speaking to Buck before the boy set out, and remembers him saying that there would be a battle with Team Galactic as the opponent which involves the legendary Pokemon Heatran.

Palmer explains that it is why Platinum is so determined about her Frontier challenge. Instead of sitting back to wait, the girl wishes to make good use of the time to grow stronger, so as to better equip herself for the upcoming showdown with their foe. Darach can understand Platinum's thinking, and turns his attention to her match with Argenta again on the TV screen again.

Commanding an Ice Shard, Platinum has Froslass wing out a shower of frozen blocks towards Dragonite, which rams hard onto its body. Argenta grins that Platinum certainly has taken into account the advantage of using an ice type on a dragon type, but reminds her that in a Rank 10 battle, one cannot win simply by type advantages.

Platinum steals a glance at Froslass, and remembers how it was her foe back when they first met at the Snowpoint Gym. At that time, Froslass belonged to Candice and was a powerful opponent. Later, it was given to her and when it joined her team, Platinum was able to learn of its ability, nature, moves, attack, defense, speed and all of its powers. However, it is really through these 169 consecutive battles on this stage that allowed her to really know it well. Although their current opponent is a Rank 10 dragon type, Dragonite, Platinum has faith that Froslass will help her gain victory over it.

Sweeping down from mid-air, Dragonite delivers a Steel Wing, and slices its wings hard onto Froslass from behind, knocking the snow land Pokemon across the stage. Frolass collapses onto its back, Argenta grins that it is a super effective move from the skills of a Rank 10 Pokemon, leaving almost no room for mistakes. However, just as she thinks that she has won the battle, Froslass stirs, and manages to get back up onto its feet. The Hall Matron exclaims in disbelief that the powerful Steel Wing attack didn't manage to faint it, and in that instant, Froslass retaliates with another Ice Shard, sending swirls of frozen blocks onto Dragonite and taking it out. Recovering from her shock, Argenta quickly realizes what is going on, and spots the hold-item of Froslass, a Babiri Berry, which is capable of halving super effective steel moves.

In the control room, Palmer is slightly awe-struck that Platinum has managed to defeat the Battle Hall Brain as well, and Darach, feeling slightly embarrassed that their Frontier leader is acting so bewildered, clears his voice with a cough, and states that they should perhaps get back to what he came here for.

Palmer agrees, and the Castle Valet relates that their fortress has been around since the olden days, holding a massive collection of books and literature. After his conversation with Platinum following the girl's challenge, which she inquired about the Distortion World, he has carried out some research on his own in their library. The Tower Tycoon eagerly wishes to know if he found anything, and Darach responds by taking out a ragged piece of paper, which depicts the silhouette of a serpentine creature with pitch-black wings, an image that apparently strikes a chord in Palmer's mind.

Later, back on stage, Platinum gains her Commemorative Print for the Battle Hall, and bows her way off the catwalk as the audience cheers for her victory. She leaves through the backstage of the facility, and finds Palmer already waiting for her there. The man applauds and congratulates her for conquering the Battle Hall, and says by having cleared four facilities in such a short time, she is even stronger than he expected.

Platinum bows to thank his kind words, and Palmer understands that she is strongly determined to learn of any means to access the Distortion World at all cost. He wonders if she is fighting hard to better equip herself, and the girl responds with an affirmative nod. The Tower Tycoon is impressed by the power in her eyes, and muses that he is now giving help to someone who is not only skilled but also unique. He beckons Platinum to come along with him, and starts heading towards the northern-most part of the Battle Frontier.

Moments later, at the Battle Tower, Palmer takes Platinum into the meeting room, and the girl is surprised to see Thorton working on some kind of speaker-like machine. Behind him are the Castle Valet Darach and a guy dressed in blue suit and hat who is standing next to a Lucario. Palmer introduces Riley to Platinum, stating that he originates from Iron Island and has the ability to find things by detecting their aura. He explains that the machine Thorton is occupied with is a broken spying device of Team Galactic which Riley obtained. The reason why Darach is present is that he has been helping them find out records about the Distortion World from the enormous collection of books at the Battle Castle.

Platinum feels genuinely surprised that so many people are offering their help, and Palmer explains that her strong determination has touched everyone's hearts and made them want to make their own contribution. The Tower Tycoon then turns to the monitor screen in the room which is currently malfunctioning, and states that the entire Battle Frontier currently has its communication system knocked down by signal interference from machines that emit waves to forcefully control Pokemon, which situation has gotten worse and worse over the past two days.

Thorton corrects Palmer to say that the breakdown has actually reached a severity that leaves the Battle Frontier completely isolated from the rest of the world, and it is essentially a lone island now. Platinum gasps at what she hears, and Palmer remarks that indeed, all means of communication has stopped working, not only those between the facilities but also connection to the mainland of Sinnoh, which means even the Pokemon Storage System is also disabled. Thorton finds it unacceptable that such a thing is allowed to happen when a machine expert like him is present, and the fact that so many are currently counting on him, he must sort out this Team Galactic device as quick as possible.

Platinum feels moved by everyone's strong eagerness to lend a hand, and can sense how reliable they all are, a sentiment which reminds her of the time she spent with her two good companions. Palmer realizes what she is talking about, and tries to explain whom he meant by his son when he talked to her the day before. However, Platinum grins that she already knew. In fact, when she first saw Palmer's face through the monitor screen at Dahlia's place, she was instantly reminded of an important friend of hers, and when Palmer thanked her for looking out for his son at the Battle Factory, it confirmed her suspicion. She states that Palmer must be the father of Pearl, and the man is amused that she has managed to spot their similarity.

Palmer remarks that he has heard all about Platinum from Riley, who is a very good friend of Canalave's Byron, and has learnt of everything and all the tasks that the three young trainers have taken upon their shoulders. He reveals that Riley was actually who gave Dia his personal training on Iron Island, and Platinum is pleasantly surprised to hear that.

The Tower Tycoon lets out a sigh, and says it all makes him feel ashamed. He couldn't recall how many years it has been since he left home to pursue his desire in Pokemon battles, and if Riley hadn't told him, he would not even have known that his own son stood in the frontline of such a big incident in Sinnoh. He relents that Pearl must think of him as a bad father, but Platinum assures him that it's not the case. The truth is, Pearl has spoken of him fondly in front of her, and once told her how he passed on to him the ability to read Pokemon's moves simply by observing their body movements. If it hadn't been for Pearl's companionship and training, she would not have learnt so much about Pokemon battles and mastered her current skills. Therefore, she really should have been the one to thank Palmer.

Platinum's words make the Tower Tycoon blush with embarrassment, and he turns to Thorton to ask if the device can be fixed. The Factory Head grins that no machine is too difficult for him to repair, and says he will just need a tad bit more time…

(Original Japanese Jokes)
There are no jokes or Manzai in this chapter.