7- Scrapheap.
Right at the North Pole, Warpath, Sideswipe and Bumblebee were on a scouting mission, looking for something with a tracking device that Warpath had on his hand, despite they were inside a strong blizzard.
"(Are we there already?)"
"No, we're not there yet. But it should be just past this ridge, Bumblebee." Warpath reassured.
"Then we better reach there soon. I'm not a fan of ice environments, my systems are getting frozen." Sideswipe complained feeling cold.
Once they reached the ridge, they sled down to the bottom.
Warpath checked the device again. "I don't get it. These readings are off the meter."
"Uh, guys. Have you tried to look under your noses?" Sideswipe suggested pointing at the floor.
Right below them, there was a a huge block of ice with some kind of cybertronian structure stuck inside. Back to base, both Autobots had two cables hooked to their chests.
"I told you, doc. We're fine." Warpath said removing the cables.
"The only way to be certain you're fine, Warpath, is to endure standard defrosting procedure. You know prolonged exposure to sub-zero conditions can cause permanent system damage?" Ratchet pointed.
"Glad to know." Sideswipe said a little worried. "Thank both Primus and Arceus we are back home. Next time, try to send us to a location very far from cold, like a tropical island."
"In that case you would miss any possible interesting or exciting discovery." Elita said arriving with her sparkmate.
"Ratchet, have you learned anything more about our find on the North Pole?" Optimus asked.
"Not yet. The pod can't be opened while its frozen solid."
The Autobots brought their discovery to their base. The ice was melting, but then some noises came from its inside, like it something was trying to get out. And it didn't look harmless, because whatever was inside made a hole with some kind of claw. Seconds later, Ratchet was preparing the ground bridge for another travel.
"Arcee, Hot Rod, Elita and I will search for any clue which might explain the origin of our find on the North Pole." Optimus announced.
"Only until your sensors sound. Remember, once your core temperature drops into the blue zone, system failures aren't likely, they are imminent." Ratchet warned as he aimed a device at the team's Autobot emblems and made them glow blue.
Right in that moment, the other Autobots came inside the base, and the kids with them.
"Miss us, Ratchet?!" Bonnie saluted.
"You don't have other things to attempt to? Like school?"
"On Saturday? No way. We have the whole weekend to spend it with you." Max answered.
"I started to feel something wrong when Wheeljack came to pick us up. Something wrong, Hot Rod?"
"Nothing serious, Ash. Just tag team; is my and Arcee's turn for exploration duty."
"Oh, that's too bad. I was hoping we four could take a sweet ride on the meadow. It's a perfect day for a nice break moment." Serena suggested looking at Ash a little red.
"Exploration duty on the North Pole. And I not seeing you wearing a coat." Arcee answered.
"Thinking it better, we may stay here. Pikachu could not endure such cold like that. Don't you think, buddy?" Ash asked.
"Pika pi."
"The North Pole? It's been a while since the last time I saw snow."
"I would invite you to join, Max, but the conditions are much too extreme. Even for we, Autobots." Optimus explained.
"I…understand."
"But we will bring you back a snowball." Elita said.
"That would be awesome."
The four Autobots walked to the portal until they disappeared.
"Transport complete." Ratchet said as he was going to shut down the ground bridge, but suddenly its controls short circuited and sparked out. "By the Allspark. Clemont, I need you here!"
Meanwhile, the rest of the group walked up to the higher platform where they used to relax and pass time.
"So, what do you guys think we should do today?" Ritchie asked.
"(I know. How about a video game tournament?)"
"Video game tournament." Max translated, earning a nod from Bee.
"Nice idea. Last one standing wins." Dawn opined.
"Then I got the perfect item for that." May announced, pulling something from her back, some kind of console.
"No way. Is that…the New Advanced Entertainment System?!" Bonnie asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, the most advanced console, deployed very recently. Clemont helped me to identify it when we were shopping together."
"You and Clemont went shopping together?" Misty asked, suspecting something.
"Er…we met by coincidence." May answered a little nervous while she put some kind of platforms on the floor and linked them to the console. "Anyway, I thought it will be great if we have it in here to pass time. It's compatible with lots of additions for different kinds of games."
"Oh, thank you so much, May." Bonnie thanked hugging her. "And you too, big brother! I'm glad you finally bought what I wanted."
"Not time to talk, Bonnie. We're really busy here right now. And Ratchet needs all of you right here, and now!" Clemont called pointing at the Autobots.
"I guess that goes our free time." Moonracer lamented.
"Too bad. I wanted to see what kinds of games that console can provide." Sideswipe complained.
"(Maybe later, guys.)" Bee said before leaving.
Max was about to grab the last console remote when his sister grabbed it before.
"Okay, we're ready. How about if we start first with a little Olympic games competition?" May suggested. "It also allows our pokémon to play."
"Really? Then what do you say, Piplup?" Dawn asked.
"Piplup." The penguin pokémon nodded.
"Let's make our best."
"Are you in, Ash?" Serena asked.
"Um…I don't know. This doesn't seem the same exciting as pokémon battles."
"Oh, scared of losing to a girl? Specially that you're outnumbered four to one." Misty teased, making the other girls laugh.
"Pika pika."
"Do you want to try it, Pikachu?" Ash asked his most trusted pokémon.
"Pikachu." He nodded encouraged.
"Fear nothing, Ash. Sparky and I will support you." Ritchie reassured him.
"Then let's do this."
"Tracey, you can be the referee." Dawn suggested.
"Competitors, please call out your pokémon partners." Tracey requested, putting voice of referee.
Misty chose Staryu as her pokémon partner; May pulled out Glaceon and Serena chose Braixen while the two boys remained with their Pikachu. But at seeing Max with a sad face, Ash tried to cheer him up.
"Hey Max, you want to help Pikachu take on the girls for me?" He offered.
"No. I have stuff to do." He said, leaving them with their game.
"Hey Max, wait for me." Bonnie asked going after him, alongside Dedenne.
As for the Autobots…
"You can't boss us around just because the boss is out. Specially you, kid." Wheeljack objected.
"We need some heavy lifting; the ground bridge is down." Clemont revealed as he and Ratchet checked the main controls.
"(What? What about Optimus and the others?)"
"Optimus's group made it through just fine. Its bridging them back that concerns me. Now remove those panels, chop chop." Ratchet demanded pointing at the floor.
Meanwhile, Max and Bonnie decided to walk around the base's corridors, acting like if they were in middle of a blizzard. Even Dedenne was playing with them.
"Temperatures sub-zero and dropping." Max invented.
"We need to…get back…to base." Bonnie followed.
"De…dedenne." The little pokémon said, pretending to be collapsing before Bonnie took it.
"Don't worry, Dedenne. I will keep you warm while we search the way back home."
Then they heard a metallic clatter. Right next to them was a huge screw rolling on the floor. After Max took it, they heard the same sound, but this time above them. And next it came from in front of them.
"Hello?" Max called.
"Is somebody in there?" Bonnie added.
The situation started to scare them, so they hugged each other to feel safer, while Dedenne decided to stand ready to protect them. They took a few steps back and tripped with something. They looked up and saw something unexpected: a robotic creature about their same size, with four arthropod legs and two little arms and a large head with two eyes (similar to the scraplet from Fall of Cybertron and Rise of the Dark Spark).
"Ah!" They yelled at the same time as they scurried back away from it and Dedenne stood in front firm, but the creature seemed to be curious and went closer.
"What are you?" Max asked.
"And where did you come from?" Bonnie added.
The creature didn't respond, just continued looking at him. Seeing that it didn't looked dangerous, Bonnie signaled Dedenne to calm down as Max laughed and they got to their feet.
"The Autobots never said anything about pets." Bonnie remembered.
"Agree, it can play with the pokémon." Max nodded as he picked up the screw. "You wanna play fetch?"
The creature looked happy in agreement by hopping and running in circles.
"Go get it!" Max asked as he threw the screw a little far.
The robot ran after it really fast, and once it reached the screw it seemed to be eating it.
"No. Don't eat that! You're gonna choke!" Max warned, but when it finished eating, it looked completely fine.
"Or not." Bonnie saw.
The creature approached Bonnie and cuddled her head with happy chirping and clicks, making her tickles.
"Hey, you're very nice. I'm sure the others will like you too." Bonnie said.
Dedenne saluted the creature, making it to look with curiosity, and then they started to play catch the other as everyone headed back to the main room, without realizing that down the corridor an outlet was ripped to shreds. Back with the group, the only ones standing in the game were Ash and Pikachu against Misty and Staryu.
"Come on Ash, you almost got it!" Ritchie encouraged.
"Don't let him beat you, Misty!" May supported.
But at the end, Ash and Pikachu were the victors.
"Oh yeah, we did it!" Ash celebrated high five with Pikachu while Misty and Staryu collapsed on the floor exhausted.
Both partners started to dance in a funny way, until suddenly lights went out for a moment.
"Uh. What was that?" Ash started.
"Looks like a power failure." Tracey deduced.
"Aw, it wiped out our game." Misty provoked as she placed the remote on the table and retrieved Staryu.
"But Pikachu and I just won!" Ash groaned.
"Relax Ash, it's only a game." Ritchie reassured.
"Besides, for me you're still the champ." Serena said putting her arms around his neck and kissing him on the check, making him red.
"Thanks, Serena." Ash thanked before they and the others went to see what the Autobots were doing.
After removing the panels Ratchet mentioned before, he pulled out one of the many microchips that constitute part of the ground bridge. But this one had several bite marks.
"Houston, we have a problem." Wheeljack admitted.
"But what could've caused this?" Moonracer asked, just when the lights went out for only a second again.
"Or that?" Warpath pointed.
"Might be the main grid. Hopefully it isn't a substation malfunction." Ratchet observed.
"Hey guys, look what we found!" Bonnie called.
"We're busy!"
But in the moment he looked at the two youngest kids, Ratchet screamed in terror. But not about them, but for the new robotic creature that in that moment was behind the kids snuggled up, probably because it was sleeping. The other Autobots screamed too and pulled out their weapons.
"Kids, step away from that monster! We're going to dispose of it!" Wheeljack demanded.
"Hey, hey. What's with you guys?" May asked as she and the others went in front of Max and Bonnie.
"Scraplet! SCRAPLET!" Sideswipe screamed.
"What's a scraplet?" Clemont asked confused.
"The most dangerous vermin ever to crawl upon the face of Cybertron." Ratchet answered scared.
"This? Are you kidding me?" Ash asked, not believing them.
"How can you be scared of such cute thing?" Serena asked.
"You're giant robots. Scrappy here is teeny." Misty pointed.
"You have no idea the damage that teeny thing can do." Moonracer reassured very scared.
"Ah, he wouldn't hurt even Dedenne." Max tranquilized. "We'll show you. Hey little fella, meet our friends."
Then the called scraplet woke up and looked at the other kids and pokémon with the same reaction of curiosity. But when it saw the Autobots, its reaction was completely different: its eyes spliced, revealing a big mouth with sharp teeth, his feet ended in claws and spikes appeared around all its body, and charged against them. They tried to shot at it, but it jumped every time to evade the shots. Once it was close enough, it jumped at Bumblebee's leg and started eating his skin. Bee reacted in panic when he saw it and fell to the floor, also making the kids gash in horror and the pokémon hid horrified. Bee grabbed it, but it ate through his hand and continued eating his arm until he swatted it off. The scraplet recovered immediately, ready to attack again, but before he could, both Bonnie and Max tackled it against the floor, immobilizing it.
"Dedenne, use Nuzzle, hurry!" Bonnie called.
The little pokémon charged the attack and hit the scraplet once Max and Bonnie went off it. It took it some seconds, but Dedenne managed to neutralize the scraplet, leaving it fried. But just for case, Max started to kick its body.
"Whoa, easy Max. It's over." Tracey reassured.
"I did not see that coming." Ritchie admitted.
"We're sorry, Bumblebee." Bonnie apologized.
"(Don't worry. You didn't know it.)"
"Is Bee gonna be okay?" Max asked.
"Only a mesh wound. He'll live." Ratchet reported examining Bumblebee.
"Now do you believe us? All scraplets do is dismantle machinery and eat anything metal. Especially living metal." Warpath told.
"Well, the scraplet is fried, so everything is over. Right?"
"If only it were that easy, Dawn." Wheeljack denied. "When it comes to scraplets there's never just one."
"And I fear I know how they got in here." Ratchet added.
Everyone went to check the pod they brought from the North Pole. Now was opened, and completely empty. Ratchet turned one of his hands into a flaming torch to watch its inside.
"It's a trap. A scraplet trap." Wheeljack recognized.
"Eh…an empty scraplet trap." Warpath corrected nervous.
"Most likely ejected into space eons ago. Only to wind up in the North Pole, where the temperature kept them in stasis." Ratchet theorized.
"Until we brought the thaw." Ash said.
"Now they're wide awake and ready to brunch." May added.
"So, how many are we talking about?" Serena asked.
"Thousands. The power malfunctions and ground bridge damage are sure signs that their infestation is well underway." Ratchet explained.
At the same time, on the North Pole, the four Autobots were still with the recon. Optimus and Elita were climbing down an ice wall while Arcee and Hot Rod were on the top. In that moment, Optimus's and Elita's emblems started to glow blue.
"Arcee, Hot Rod, what's your status?" Elita asked.
"Our sensors are going off." She reported as she saw the same happened to her emblem and Hot Rod's.
"Guess we should call for pickup before things get chilly." Hot Rod added.
"Optimus to base, core temperature readings have reached the blue zone. Prepare to activate ground bridge." Optimus called through his com-link, but he only received static, sign which told him something was wrong.
Ratchet was also trying to alert them.
"Ratchet to Optimus, do you read me? We have a situation." He tried to call, but the entire system went off. "The scraplets have ducked into the com-link system. If we don't eradicate these creatures immediately, they will reduce the entire base to a scrapheap."
"Well I say we bug out of here and let them keep it." Sideswipe suggested hurriedly. "Who's with me?"
"Me." Moon said raising her hand.
"Me too." Warpath followed.
"(Count with me.)"
"Let's try moving to a lost area in a Safari Zone." Wheeljack suggested.
"Evacuation is not an option. If we don't get the ground bridge back online stat, Optimus, Elita, Hot Rod and Arcee will perish." Ratchet reminded.
"They will?" Ash asked worried.
Dawn turned at Wheeljack mad. "What's wrong with you, Wheeljack? You're a Wrecker, and you have never acted like this."
"Dawn, you haven't seen a swarm of these things devour a Bot. My pal Bulkhead had. And he told me everything: they pick you apart from the inside out, going for the small juicy bits first. Fuse by fuse, circuit by circuit, till there is nothing left. And I mean nothing, not even your optics."
That made Piplup shudder in fear.
"But Ratchet's right, we have to do something. You have to let us help." Ash suggested.
"No one of us is made of metal, so they can't do us anything." Tracey followed.
"And our pokemon can help too." Misty added.
"Typically, I find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality, but it would appear to provide an advantage under these extremes." Ratchet analyzed.
"We better split up. Ratchet, me, Ash and Tracey will watch your back while you repair the ground bridge." Clemont instructed.
"And the rest of us will go to hunt down those bugs." May followed, making the other Autobots to shutter in fear.
Back to the North Pole, the four Autobots tried to make their way through the blizzard as they continued trying to call the base.
"Optimus to base, do you read?"
But Optimus received nothing more than static. And Hot Rod collapsed, so his partner went to help him.
"Come on, partner. Don't give so easily." Arcee encouraged.
"Are you sure a nice long drive wouldn't help? I heard Alola is beautiful all the year."
"The nearest temperate climate is too distant, Hot Rod. Attempting to reach it would expend too much energy, and hasten the freezing process." Elita explained.
"Until Ratchet sends for us, and he will, our best option would be to seek shelter and insolate ourselves." Optimus instructed.
Back to the base, the team divided and prepared to track down and eliminate the scraplets, some ones more than others.
"Don't worry, Warpath. We are going to protect you this time." May reassured him.
"We'll make sure those scraplets don't get too close to you." Misty added.
Both girls, with a spanner in hand, went ahead of Warpath, who was following them with his gun ready and a flashlight, with Blaziken and Staryu with them.
"Max and Bonnie found the first one here, right?" Warpath asked.
Then lights went off, and the girls heard a girlish scream. The lights came back.
"Have you screamed that loud, Misty?" May asked.
"No. And you?"
May denied, so they started to suspect who did it.
"Warpath, did you just scream like a little girl?" May asked.
"No… maybe…can we talk about this later?" Warpath answered trying to get off topic.
Misty laughed a little. "Don't worry. We'll not tell the others. And it's okay to being scared of something. I'm afraid of something similar to your fear to the scraplets."
"Blaziken!"
The fire type pokémon pointed to a group of scraplets that was in front of them. Taking the chance, Warpath started to fire his machine gun and chest cannon at them, destroying lots of them. But that alerted the others and started to advance toward him.
"Oh no, you don't. Staryu, use Bubble Beam." Misty ordered.
"Blaziken, Fire Spin!" May said as she started smashing the closest scraplets. "Don't dare to get close to Warpath!"
And so, both girls and their pokémon started battling the scraplets. At the same time, Wheeljack, Sideswipe, Ritchie and Dawn, with both holding hammers, were searching down another hall. But Sideswipe was very nervous while he heard the sound of the scraplets crawling around.
"Don't worry, guys. With us around there's nothing you have to fear." Dawn reassured. "Right Piplup?"
"Pi piplup." Dawn's pokémon nodded proud.
"Don't get it wrong guys, but that doesn't make us feel better giving the actual situation." Wheeljack confessed.
"Take it easy, guys. Just stay focused. Everything is gonna be…" Ritchie said.
But at hearing more sound of crawling, Sideswipe started to shot at the ceiling three times, making appear a lot of cables that surrounded him. Wheeljack, the kids and pokémon were ready, and they remained speechless when they saw Sideswipe screaming and swinging his arms at the cables.
"Okay, wish I hadn't seen that." Wheeljack said a little embarrassed by his partner's acting.
"Hahaha, sorry Ritchie. I…I just…I just can't believe it!" Dawn excused holding her body by the laugher while Piplup was bursting with laughter, while Sparky remained speechless.
"Sideswipe, you're fine! Is just a bunch of cables!" Ritchie calmed down.
Sideswipe stopped once he saw Ritchie was right. "Oh, right. Cables."
He pulled down one of the cables, but that made a lot of scraplets to shower him, making him to scream in fear again while Wheeljack started firing at them and the kids started smashing them.
"Piplup, engage them with Drill Peck!" Dawn commanded.
"Sparky, use Volt Tackle!" Ritchie shouted.
They engaged the scraplets as well. In other place of the base, Bumblebee and Moonracer searched for the scraplets with Serena and Braixen, Bonnie and Max alongside them holding crowbars.
"(They could be hidden anywhere.)"
"Don't these things ever stop eating?" Bonnie asked.
"I'm not sure." Moon answered.
"Look, they may be in there." Serena said pointing at a ventilation shaft with the bars eaten.
Once they were at the shaft's entrance Bee signaled the kids to stay aside while he pulled the bar wall off. Once he did, both Autobots aimed their weapons at the inside as the kids readied themselves, but there was no one inside. They heard a shredding noise from behind as their faces were filled with fear. The scraplets then came out through another hole in the ground near to them and went for the Autobots.
"Braixen, use Flamethrower!" Serena instructed.
Braixen started to attack the scraplets, the same as the Autobots. Meanwhile, back to the main hall, Ash, Tracey and Clemont stood guard with Pikachu, Scyther and Chespin while Ratchet was with the ground bridge reparations.
"Everything is quiet. Too quiet." Ash noticed.
"Pikachu."
"How's it going over there?" Clemont asked.
"I've repaired the damaged conductors and rerouted the central conduits, but the ground bridge still won't receive power." Ratchet explained before punching the floor frustrated.
Then the little pokémon started to hear the sound of crawling near before their trainers. When they looked up, they spotted a lot of scraplets on the wall which looked them before turning to Ratchet. They opened their mouths and jumped on the air, floating with help of a tiny engine located below their bodies. Immediately they gathered into a swarm.
"They fly?!" Ash yelled in disbelief.
"You should have told us they could fly!" Tracey added.
Seeing the scraplets coming made Ratchet fell back as they started to attack him like piranhas.
"Ratchet!" Clemont yelled. "Quick Chespin, use Vine Whip!"
"Scyther, take them down with X-Scissor!" Tracey instructed.
"Pikachu, use Electroweb!" Ash commanded.
As they heard, Pikachu launched an electric web that trapped some of the scraplets, besides electrifying them by touch. Scyther acted like a hunter and went after, slicing them with his claws, and Chespin took down others with his vines, all while their human friends went to assist Ratchet, removing the ones that placed on him. But the number of scraplets was too much and the eliminated ones were replaced by others.
"Clemont, the fire extinguisher!" Ratchet called in pain.
Immediately, Clemont grabbed the near fire extinguisher and fired it against the scraplets, and fortunately at the moment, they screeched in pain before shutting down, frozen. That finished with all the scraplets he had. But they were not all of them, others were still floating above them, just when the others returned. Of course, the Autobots showed marks of fight with the scraplets.
"Ratchet, get the patch kid. We're leaking energon like…Whoa!" Wheeljack shouted seeing all the flying scraplets.
The swarm flew toward them. The Autobots tried to shoot them down, but they were too many.
"Eat this!" Warpath exclaimed as he smashed some scraplets with his hammer, until he saw a few others eating his other hand, making him fall.
Clemont took a look of the scraplets affected by the fire extinguisher, and an idea came to his mind. "Guys, I think I know how to beat them! If your pokémon can use fire or ice type moves, tell them to use them now!"
"What?! Are you sure?!" May asked.
"Trust me, I'm certain!"
"Then go Blaziken, use Fire Spin!" May commanded as she pulled out other poke ball of her, summoning other pokémon. "Glaceon, help us! Use Ice Shard!"
"You too, Braixen! Keep it up with Flamethower!" Serena followed.
"Piplup, use Ice Beam!" Dawn commanded as she pulled out two more poke balls. "Buneary, Pachirisu, come out!"
The two recognizable rabbit and squirrel pokémon of Dawn came out.
"Buneary, use Ice Beam! Pachirisu, use Discharge! Take down the scraplets!"
And both pokémon joined the action.
"Then I guess this can help too!" Misty said pulling out another of her poke balls. "Go Gyarados, we need your help!"
Misty called her most powerful pokémon.
"We need you to smash the scraplets! And burn them with Flamethrower!"
"You too, Zippo! Flamethrower!" Ritchie instructed summoning his Charizard." Help us too, Sparky. Strike them with Thunder Shock!"
"You too, Pikachu! Thunderbolt, let's go!" Ash added.
And all the pokémon, the recent ones and the new ones, attacked the scraplet swarm alongside the gang. All the Autobots collapsed to the ground because of the scraplets while their human and pokémon friends continued trying to save them. In that moment, Optimus's group found some shelter from the blizzard.
Elita noticed that Arcee was like falling asleep. "Arcee, wake up."
"Just resting my eyes."
"The longer we remain alert, the longer we remain alive."
"What do you suggest? Wait, how about a game? Let's play who screwed things up back at base." Hot Rod suggested.
"Our predicament could be the result of a simple malfunction." Optimus answered.
"Caused by Warpath. Let's see, no com-link, maybe even no power. The tank probably tripped over a cord. He's never been to graceful."
"Yeah. Remember when we first arrived on Earth and Warpath walked into those power lines?" Arcee reminded.
Hot Rod chuckled. "Who knew he could dance like that?"
"Warpath may be…too large for this world. But his inner strength is without bounds." Elita said. "One should not be measured by size alone."
Back to base, the gang managed to eliminate all the scraplets. The electric pokémon even used their electric movements on their bodies to ensure they were dead while the Autobots leaned against the wall, moaning in pain.
"Pff, that was intense." Ritchie expressed.
"At least we ended with them all, right?" Serena asked.
Her answer was an echoing of mechanical whirling and grinding from another part of the base.
"Not even close. These were just scouts." Wheeljack answered.
"(And the Cons call me bug?!)"
"So, the rest of them know we're in here?" Sideswipe asked.
"And if we allow ourselves to become their next meal, the others will never make it home. We must get the ground bridge operational." Ratchet reminded.
"Then we can use it to send the scraplets anywhere on Earth." Clemont added.
"Why not back to the North Pole? Now we know they don't like cold." Ash suggested.
"That way we'll dispose of them all at once." May added.
"Given the body mass of the scraplets, sub-zero temperature should freeze them on contact. So think Ratchet, think." He said to himself. "If the ground bridge is still down, there must be a breach in the energon fuel line."
"(It hurts too much.)" Bee groaned as he tried to get up, but he couldn't.
"If we weren't breaching, one of us could get back over there and fix it." Moonracer pointed.
"Where do we find it?" Tracey asked.
"And how do we fix it?" Misty added.
Ratchet gave them proper material and instructions to fix the breach. Moments later, the gang was walking besides the scraplets, which only looked them with curiosity, with caution.
"And to think that I thought once they could be friendly."
"Come on, Max. It's not your fault. You had no idea it would react like that." Dawn tranquilized him.
"Remember, we're okay. We're not metal." Tracey reassured.
Then Ritchie spotted a pipe leaking energon from it. "There's the breach."
"Come on. We have to work fast." Clemont added.
The Autobots remained in the main hall with the gang's pokémon, to protect them as they waited for when their friends finished the repairs.
"So if we…when we get the ground bridge open, we send the creepy-crawlies out or bring our bots in?" Wheeljack asked.
"Optimus and the others will be fresh meat. If we bring them in first, the scraplets will have no reason to leave. We'll need bait." Ratchet said.
"Where are we gonna get bait? The scraplets already helped themselves to everything in here." Sideswipe pointed.
In that moment, the gang managed to finish repairing the breach. But then, they saw the scraplets gathering together and flying right at the main hall.
"Where are they going?" Bonnie asked.
"They're getting ready to feed. They're going for the Autobots!" Ash deduced.
And Ash wasn't wrong: the entire swarm went through the airways to the main hall, alarming the pokémon and scaring the Autobots. Meanwhile, on the North Pole, the four Autobots were already lying on the snow.
"You know the worst part? After battling Cons all these years, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up, this is how our lights go out?" Arcee lamented.
"My friends, this may not be the finish that we had planned. But if this is indeed the end, if we are to become one with the Allspark." Optimus declared as he took Elita's hand with his own and allowed both Arcee and Hot Rod to take his other one.
"It's been an honor serving with you, Optimus Prime." Hot Rod saluted, earning a nod from his leader.
Back to base, the kids managed to return at the same time as the scraplet swarm.
"Ratchet, all systems go!" Clemont announced.
"Fire it up!" May yelled.
"Ground bridge activated." Ratchet moaned as he pulled the lever down, falling to the floor.
The portal appeared in front of Optimus's group, who woke up at seeing it. But as they advanced, the scraplets took down a couple of metal wires from the ceiling.
"Bait, huh?" Warpath said looking at the ground bridge. He got up and waved to the scraplets to catch their attention. "Ready for the main course?" The scraplets opened their mouths and went after him. "Come and get it!"
While the pokémon tried to cover the Autobots, Warpath limped his way through the vortex followed by the scraplets. Optimus, Elita, Hot Rod and Arcee walked the best they could toward the portal, and they saw Warpath emerging.
"About time, Warpath. What has taken you so long to…?" Hot Rod started to ask.
"Down, down!" He advised as he fell down and the scraplets flew above him.
The scraplets saw Optimus and the others in front and prepared their mouths.
"Scraplets?!" Hot Rod yelled.
"Take cover!" Optimus instructed covering Elita, while Hot Rod did the same with Arcee.
Fortunately, as Ratchet predicted, the blizzard froze them immediately, and ended hitting the Autobots like a bunch of stones.
"I'd invite you in, but the place is a mess." Warpath warned.
"Alright. Just let me take one thing." Arcee said as she took a bunch of snow on her hand.
Moments later, all the Autobots were back inside the base, lying on medical berths or against a wall, receiving medical assistance by their human and pokémon, under Ratchet's instructions.
"Report bio circuitry status." Ratchet requested.
"Levels are rising." Tracey reported giving him a thumb up.
"Excellent. Max, Ritchie, keep a close watch on Bumblebee's electro pulse monitor. May, Bonnie, check Warpath's interface patch."
"It's steady." Ritchie responded.
"Looking good." May added.
"Misty, Dawn, see if Moonracer and Sideswipe's wounds have not reached their spark chambers."
"Nothing seems really bad here, Ratchet." Dawn answered as she checked Moon's chassis while Misty used her phone's light.
"Clemont, is the medical bay ready for the team's repairing process?"
"I'm awakening it right now, Ratchet."
"Okay. Ash, Serena, keep an eye on the progress of Arcee and Hot Rod's defrosting procedure."
"It's going well." Serena answered, seeing the pokémon using their fire type moves to warm the two Autobots.
"Whoa, not that much heat. Here, Max. Take this little souvenir from the North Pole." Arcee said weakly as she showed him the snowball she had at hand.
Max took it. "Whoa, it's cold. Thank you, Arcee."
"Perhaps you should get some rest yourself, old friend. You saved quite a few lives today." Elita advised.
"It wasn't all my doing." Ratchet said with a smile, looking at the children. "We're just fortunate that this infestation happened on a Saturday."
"Our friends may be small, but they are strong." Optimus declared.
In that moment, Misty let out a high scream without warning, alarming everyone.
"What is it, Misty?" Ritchie asked.
"A scraplet survivor?" Ash added.
"Worse, a bug! It is on me?!" Misty yelled as she ran out of the room, leaving the Autobots and some of the gang confused.
"Did she just scream like a little girl?" Warpath asked.
"What's wrong with her?" Bonnie asked as some of their friends laughed.
"You see, Misty is scared of bug type pokémon." Max explained.
"Of course. Misty, you haven't changed." May said.