Welcome back, everyone, to the 21st chapter of this story!
In the last chapter, I guess Ash 'leaving and coming back with a plan' was too out of character, considering that he has been portrayed to be a person who acts out of instinct. Well, I will tackle that later in the story.
Now, without further delay, let's continue with this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon!
CHAPTER 21
"This is bad; very, very bad." Clemont muttered, loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"What isn't good?" Officer Jenny asked. The officer had been in close contact with them, trying not to waste too much time solving this case. They weren't really making as much progress as she thought.
"Look at this. This graphic," Clemont said, showing them the visual lifelike diagram – or rather a short video that repeated itself endlessly. The picture showed a sphere with something revolving around it, shaped like a satellite – precisely, the world and the satellites revolving around it. There were also ten observatory-like structures on the virtual planet.
Every five seconds when the satellites came in particular positions, the picture stopped moving them. Instead, a red light originated from the five close observatory-like structures on the planet and went straight up to the now-stationary satellites. From there, it was reflected and amplified, and directed to the relevant observatory from the remaining ones – on the way it covered the whole land.
Once the light reached those observatories, it was reflected again and directed to a bigger satellite, which then redirected it at the planet. At the end of the picture, the whole planet was tinged red with only a small patch remaining blue (i.e., unaffected) – that patch was the centre of the five initial observatories, along with its surrounding area.
"Do you see what this means?" Clemont asked, as the picture continued again.
This time, the red light started from the five farther observatories and ended on the initial ones; once again, leaving the same patch uncolored.
"I think I do." Cilan slowly nodded his head. "Basically, those observatories that are to be used to transmit whatever waves they want to; they not only work as transmitter, but they are also receivers."
"Same with the other ones," Brock said. "They are transceivers, meaning they can both, transmit and receive signals."
"And from this animated picture, we can pretty much be sure that even if we destroy the observatories here, they will still be able to go with their plan." Officer Jenny said thoughtfully. "They will only need to redirect the electricity and those waves they want to transmit."
"That's bad news." Jessie said. "I guess we will have to take care of everything at once."
"Seems like it," James agreed. "So, how are we going to separate this time?"
"Pretty much like the last time," Officer Jenny replied at once. "Once again, it is up to you three to decide what region you are going to go to. Don't stay in Kanto; Misty, Gary and Brock are going to be here with me, so it won't be too much trouble for us to find Ash and Serena, and then do something about those observatories, and hopefully, about the headquarters as well. I will also inform my relatives in your region to back you all up."
"Guess we'll separate this time." Meowth answered, after a moment of thought. "We might be more helpful that way."
Jessie and James were surprised at his statement, but shrugged their shoulders. After all, the cat pokémon used to be their brains in the past. They didn't have a problem either way.
"Well, if that's the case, I will take Kalos." James said, looking at Clemont and Bonnie.
"And I will take Sinnoh," Jessie said, as Dawn nodded. Paul looked indifferent.
"Well, I will go to Hoenn." Meowth said, surprising the Hoenn natives, May and Max.
"Good! Then, separate!" Officer Jenny ordered, getting up. "Take care of the observatories in your regions. Take as many of your pokémon as possible."
"And don't worry about the limit on the number of pokémon." Professor Oak said, getting up as well. "I will let the other regional professors know about the current situation and give you special permission to get them all."
"But before that," Clemont interrupted, before they all separated. He quickly handed each group a Holo Caster, much like James's. "Keep these with you. They will help us keep contact with each other."
"When did you make them?" Bonnie asked, feeling surprised.
"When I wasn't working on that hacking thing, I studied James's Holo Caster and simply replicated it to make these." Seeing that Bonnie was about to say something, he hastily continued, "And don't worry. They won't explode."
Bonnie didn't seem amused or pleased at being interrupted, but she said nothing. Max chuckled quietly at her, knowing full well what she wanted to say.
"By the way, how are we going to get there in time?" May asked. "That Kanto file – didn't it say there were less than 24 hours left?"
"Yeah, we will have to find a quick way to get there." Iris added. "I don't think it is going to be easy to find a plane right now; let alone a ticket for that, if we find one."
"Char!"
The sudden interruption and yell surprised the whole group for a while. They turned towards the fire-type pokémon of Ash who had shouted out its name. Charizard stood there with a confident smile on his face. He slapped his chest and said again, "Char!"
The rest of the flying types present there appeared beside him as well, sharing the same look as him. Apparently, the whole horde of pokémon had been listening in on the whole conversation right from the start.
Brock stared at them for a while. Then, his eyes widened. "You guys… you don't intend to be our ride, do you?"
"Char!"
"Star!"
"Swel!"
"Noct!"
"Unfez!"
"Talon!"
Six of the flying-types made the most noise.
"Are you sure?" May asked hesitantly.
The flying-types shouted their approvals. Seeing that that was the best they could do, Brock finally nodded. "As long as you have the endurance; as soon as you feel tired, let us know. We will find a resting place."
Charizard seemed to object. Brock noticed him and interrupted, "I know you trust yourself, but if you end up too tired, you won't be able to help us much."
Charizard simply growled. The five groups quickly divided the flying-types and sat on their backs. Waving their goodbyes and thanking the Ketchum and the Oaks for their hospitality, the groups separated.
"Let's get to work." Officer Jenny said. "We've got to find Ash and Serena and let them know of the situation."
Suddenly, they heard a commotion from inside the lab; they had been outside in the field since it was too hot for anyone to sit inside.
"What is it?" Gary muttered, as he ran towards the source of the noise, followed by the rest.
The group ran inside and was greeted by a really reassuring and romantic sight – as Delia thought. Ash stood there with Serena in his arms bridal-style. A moment passed before Serena noticed them. Her face went red at once. She nudged Ash and asked him to put her down. Ash didn't get why she would suddenly ask this, but put her on her feet anyway. As soon as he did, he noticed the group watching them, and felt relieved. He waved towards them with a goofy grin. "Hey!"
Delia ran towards them at once, and hugged Ash tight – tight enough for him to almost stop breathing.
"Mom, let… me… go!" He managed to squeak out. Delia understandingly let him go. Then, she hugged Serena just as tight, much to her surprise.
"I am glad both of you are safe." She said, her eyes glistening slightly.
"You really gave us a shock there, Ashy-boy." Gary drawled.
"Shut up." Ash snapped, taking them by surprise. "I still have got to get my pokémon out of there, as well as Mewtwo."
"They have got Mewtwo, just as that file said." Officer Jenny muttered.
"What file?" Ash asked curiously, apparently hearing her.
The group filled Ash and Serena in on what had been happening since their disappearance. Ash's expression showed contained fury by the time they finished. He punched his right hand in his left palm. "We've got to do quite a lot of things."
The others nodded.
"But," Ash continued, pointing towards Serena. "She needs something to eat."
As soon as he said that, they heard a loud growl. This time, though, it came from Serena. Serena went red, feeling embarrassed.
"I will just fix up a good meal for both of you." Delia said, hurrying into the kitchen.
"Not for me, mom!" Ash yelled after her. "I am already full!"
"Already? What do you mean?" Gary asked.
"While wandering that maze, I came across a kitchen." Ash replied. "I simply stuffed myself up there, in case I would need to go hungry again. I even kept some extra food with me."
Ash patted his full pockets. "But they won't be needed for the moment, I guess."
Serena went after Delia in the kitchen, leaving Ash, Gary, Misty, Brock, Officer Jenny and Professor Oak in the drawing room. Gary's face split into a sly grin.
"What were you doing with Serena, Ash?" He asked slyly.
"She almost passed out from exhaustion." Ash replied coolly.
Gary felt shocked – more due to his friend's cold manner, rather than the news itself. "What has got you so detached?"
"Sorry, really," Ash said, sighing. "Team Rocket has been on my mind for quite some time now. I can't get myself to focus on anything else. Sorry about the cold manner earlier."
"It's nothing to worry about." Gary dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "I understand it. We understand it."
"Anyway," Brock started with a solemn face. "Where is Pikachu?"
"The question has been on my mind for quite some time as well." Ash reluctantly admitted. "I haven't seen him since that time when that hyper beam almost killed me. I was knocked out, and when I woke up, I was completely stripped of all my belongings."
"They must have made sure not to give you any chance of escaping." Brock observed. "So, care to explain what happened with you so far?"
Ash nodded and started. It took him almost an hour to explain everything he had seen, heard or felt. He included every minor detail he could remember. He also told them what he had heard about Jake and Sadie, and what exactly was going to happen with them. He elaborated every single detail he had found by that time. Officer Jenny looked thoughtful by the time he finished.
"Well, it was a good thing you were captured after all." She said slowly.
"What is so good about that?!" Gary yelled at her, shocked.
"Oh," She turned towards him, sweat-dropping. "I didn't mean it to sound that way. What I mean is it was a good thing you managed to escape from that room, or you wouldn't have found so much useful information about them."
"You should have said so…" Gary muttered.
"Anyway, I am going out." Ash said, running towards the door.
"Hey, wait a second! Where are you going?" Serena asked; she was already done stuffing herself up while Ash explained everything.
"To get some of my pokémon with me of course," Ash said, standing right in front of the closed door. "I still need to save Pikachu and the others. And then, we have got to destroy those observatories."
"I don't think you should go, Ash." Brock said slowly.
"What?" Ash looked shocked. "But they are waiting for me to rescue them. How can I sit here doing nothing?"
"Listen to me carefully." Brock said in a voice that calmed down the reckless trainer at once. "Don't forget that you are their target as well. Even if you escaped, they could have already figured out that you would come back to save your pokémon. For all we know, they could be waiting right now to ambush you."
"So, what do you want me to do?" Ash asked, turning to fully face him.
"Right now, we should all separate to take care of all the observatories in this region. It has already been a couple of hours since the others left, so they must have covered one-third of the total distance to the other regions. It would take us roughly the same time to reach those observatories and destroy them."
"Brock is right." Officer Jenny added. "If those observatories or at least, those telescopes in them are completely destroyed, their plans will be ruined. To take care of us, they will dispatch probably hundreds of grunts to make sure none of us escapes."
"So, that will be the moment when I go inside that maze again, right?" Ash asked.
"Right."
"And I will come with you." Serena said at once.
"But why? There is no need for you to face any danger again." Ash said, slightly shocked at her selflessness.
"That's not the point." Serena shook her head. "The point is I think I have figured out where the maps in that maze are and how they work."
"Right, those maps!" Ash muttered to himself. He looked thoughtful. "Why don't you just tell me where they are?"
"Even if I do," she started with a small smile. "Even if I do, you would probably forget the whole path, right?"
"I see what you mean." Brock chuckled. "Ash's forgetfulness is also a problem for us right now."
"Hey, come on, I am not that forgetful." Ash protested, but then sighed. Maybe, he would end up forgetting the path, and maybe even the way to open the maps. He had always depended on someone else to mark out his way in the journey, so he really wasn't the best in that particular job. He hadn't even remembered the path to the HQ from the maze, and had wandered for some time before stumbling up on the room through which he had escaped.
"Alright, you can come with me." He relented.
Serena only smiled wider. If only you weren't such an idiot!
"Anyway, let's separate." Officer Jenny said. "Since both of you are going to go back in, it'd be better if you two stick together, Ash, Serena."
"Right."
"Right."
"And everyone, make sure to wreak havoc everywhere inside." Officer Jenny gave them a final tip. "Don't hesitate. Our main priority is to stop Team Rocket and their plans, and capture them. And we are going to make sure to teach that organization and their boss, a lesson."
They were about to separate when Brock suddenly asked, "What about Johto? There's a bound to be an observatory there as well, right?"
"Don't worry." Officer Jenny said. "I already told my relatives there to take care of that one."
After that, they separated to 'take care' of their goals.
"Professor Birch!" May exclaimed, seeing the friendly professor on the screen again.
"Don't bother! I know everything." Professor Birch told her at once. "I have already given you and Max special permission to carry as many pokémon as you want. Just go for it!"
He finished with a thumbs-up. May smiled and thanked him. She and the others were in the airport and had called Professor Birch to confirm about the fact. Now that, it was done, they would be able to directly get to their home and get their pokémon, and hopefully, take care of the observatory.
"Let's get home quickly." Max said.
"Not so fast," May said. "We've still got to go to the police station and talk to Officer Jenny. She would probably have the location of the observatory, since they found it."
"Alright then," Max said. He felt excited. "I already am excited to see what happens."
The two and the ex-Team Rocket trio's talking Meowth exited the airport and with May in lead, ran to the police station, which luckily wasn't too far away. Half an hour later, they came out of the police station with Officer Jenny with them. The three sat in the car as Officer Jenny drove. It was going to be a long three-hour trip.
"How much longer is it going to take?" Dawn asked. She, along with Paul and Jessie, had already talked to Professor Rowan and now, were on the way to the observatory in Officer Jenny's car.
"Probably another couple of hours," Officer Jenny answered.
There was silence for a while with no one saying anything – not that they had anything to talk about really.
"So," Officer Jenny started slowly. "What exactly has happened with Team Rocket that you had to separate in every region?"
"Didn't your sister… or aunt, or cousin tell you?" Dawn asked. Paul seemed to be sleeping; he had his eyes closed for quite some time now.
"Well, she did, but I didn't really understand."
"In simple words," Jessie started, "They want to take control of all the pokémon in the world, and intend to kill anyone who's in their path."
"That's how it can be put bluntly." Dawn said, as she noticed the officer's eyes widen. "But we can try to explain everything that had happened so far."
"Two hours are enough time for that." Jessie stated, as Dawn started. They both knew it was going to take quite a lot of their energy to completely explain everything, so they unanimously decided to skip the minor details for the time being. Paul slept as Officer Jenny listened to the tale.
"Undella Town?! That's way too far away." Iris exclaimed. "How are we going to reach there in time?"
"What are police helicopters for?" Officer Jenny countered.
"But will we reach in time?" Trip asked.
"They are slower than the flights that take us there." The officer admitted. "It will probably take us three hours. But that's the best we can do in this emergency situation."
"How I wish police had special private planes for such emergency situations as well!" Iris muttered. Fortunately for her, the approaching helicopter's noise drowned out her words and prevented others from hearing her.
They jumped inside as soon as the helicopter landed. The helicopter took off after loading some necessary supplies that Officer Jenny thought they would need. A few minutes later, they were airborne.
"What are we going to do until then?" Iris asked in a bored voice.
No one answered her; everyone seemed to be in their own thoughts. While Officer Jenny and Cilan seemed to be thinking about some plan, Trip had his eyes closed, as if resting for the apparent exertion that was to follow them, three hours hence.
Iris sighed. She wondered what to do to pass the time. There didn't seem to be anything around her that would really interest her. She glanced at Trip for a while, wondering if she should follow his lead and try to rest. But she felt that she wouldn't be able to sit still for three whole hours; she had way too much energy to do that.
I wonder if I will see Cynthia again. She thought to herself, as she stared out the window at the slightly cloudy sky. She won't be there probably. She must have some 'Champion' duties to fulfill.
Of course, Iris didn't know how accurate her wish was.
"Kalos is so beautiful!" James said out loud.
"How many times are you going to say that?" Bonnie asked, exasperated.
"Let him be, Bonnie." Clemont whispered to her, making sure James didn't hear them.
"But…"
"But this is the first time I am seeing Kalos without anything worrying me." James said. "Now that I think about it, I have never really seen all regions for what they are. I want to travel!"
"At least, grasp the situation!" Bonnie yelled at him. "You still have got some work to do!"
"Oh yeah, sorry, sorry." James apologized, but it seemed more like he just wanted to pacify the angry kid. He understood the situation more than her, regretting ever joining the organization. That's why he wanted to help the more than anyone else. But right now, he couldn't believe they never took the time to check out the region. There were so many amazing things that were native to the region and couldn't be found in others; he couldn't believe it. It just made him want to travel more than ever.
Bonnie didn't seem to pick up on the fact that he was just trying to pacify her. She still didn't seem to believe him completely, but didn't say anything. Clemont felt grateful.
The three were on their way to the observatory in Kalos, somewhere near Dendemille Town. They didn't really care about where exactly it was, considering Officer Jenny was with them. They were on one of the many police helicopters, and the helicopter was taking them to the place they were to wreck.
"So, would you mind explaining what have you found so far?" Officer Jenny asked.
"Sure," Clemont said. The three took turns explaining what had been going on with Team Rocket and what they had found so far.
"I see." Officer Jenny muttered, after hearing them out. "I guess that must have been the bad feeling I felt when we captured Lysandre. Is he getting desperate to escape?"
"It could be." Clemont said, hearing her. She was surprised he could hear her mutter above the noise of the helicopter blades. "We won't know until we get there."
They had found something surprising when they had opened the other files – except 'Johto'. Each of those files contained the same kind of information like the 'Kanto' file contained, with details regarding who was going to be in charge of the region once it was under their control – and each of those was given to the teams that had once been working there.
So, in short, Team Aqua and Team Magma were assigned Hoenn, Team Galactic: Sinnoh, Team Plasma: Unova, and Team Flare: Kalos. It seemed like the grunts, who hadn't been there during the end of their organization, were working under Team Rocket's orders for the individual team goals to be achieved.
And the situation was very bad. If Team Rocket was successful, it would fulfill their goal of controlling all the pokémon. Not only that, they would also hand over some control to the other teams, meaning the other teams would be able to fulfill their goals as well. Team Aqua and Team Magma would probably come to terms with each other and divide the world in half, with half of it covered with land, and the other half with water. Team Galactic would probably research on pokémon dwelling in space, and if they were successful, they would probably extend their control over them to reform the entire pokémon universe. Other than that, there were still Team Plasma and Team Flare. While Team Plasma's goal was to liberate all the pokémon from their trainers, Team Flare's goal was to create a 'beautiful and better' world. The two goals, basically, were the same – the elimination of all the pokémon trainers, coordinators, performers, stylists and basically everyone who kept poke their pets.
When they had realized the real circumstances they were in, they were shocked and had realized what their goal exactly was. If the teams were successful, it would probably mean the end of the world – that's what they deduced. And if that was the case, it gave them all the more a real reason to stop them. They just couldn't fail – falling short wasn't an option. Whatever they wanted to do to interfere with their plans, they would have to do it now, or it would be too late.
Sure, there were a lot of 'what-if's, but even if they were considered as just possibilities, they certainly seemed to tie in well with each other. And there was a huge chance that this was true – after all, it not only fulfilled their own goal, it also fulfilled the other goals. And after fulfilling their goals, the whole world would basically be in their control. And that was one thing, no one wanted to happen.
It's too bad. Clemont thought to himself, looking at Bonnie; she was already bored and had fallen asleep. It's too bad no one knows the danger they are in.
He stared at the innocent face of his little sister. Determination surged through him – the determination to succeed and stop those teams from achieving their goals. I will save everyone and I won't give up until the very end!
Well, that's it for today! See you all later!