43- New Recruits.
Inside the Autobot base, the gang was checking the conspiracy website on Clemont's laptop until they found an image of Bumblebee.
"There it is." Bonnie signaled.
"Really Bee? How could you forget to be in your disguise in a highly inhabited place?" Max asked in disbelief.
"Fear nothing, Max. Now we remove Bumblebee, and replace him with …" Clemont said as he erased Bee's image and put in its place a Pikachu wearing a tuxedo and dancing.
"What do you think, buddy?" Ash asked.
"Pikachu." Pikachu answered giving him a thumbs-up while Sparky was laughing.
"I guess it doesn't bother them." Ritchie interpreted.
"The tap-dancing Pikachu strikes again." Tracey said as he and Clemont high-fived each other while everyone else joined the laughs.
"(I admit it, that's very funny.)"
"Bumblebee sightings on the worldwide web are not laughing matter." Ratchet scold them as he continued his work.
"Seriously Ratchet, you should take a break for once and simply enjoy the fun of seeing a funny image without thinking on anything." Misty explained.
"So, Seaspray and you have started to get along?" Serena asked interested.
"We're on that. Of course, not as strong as your relations with your guardians, but we are starting to know things from each other. Do you know that his body's systems allow him to descend even to the deepest part of the ocean?"
"Of course I knew it. We fought together for a long time." Wheeljack answered next to them as he seemed to be doing some stretching exercises.
"You look much better, Wheeljack." Dawn observed as she accompanied her partner with the exercises.
"Speak for yourself." Warpath called.
Both Autobots were still in recovery process. Now they seemed to advance better, but Warpath was still showings signs of his injuries while Wheeljack looked almost recovered. He was now doing some leg exercises, and May was helping him as a coach.
"Come on, Warpath, don't miss a beat. Seven, eight, nine…" May counted.
"Why can't I just drive from now on?" Warpath asked.
"Because your legs will atrophy if you choose not to use them." Ratchet explained.
"Ugh." He groaned
"One, two, three…" May started again.
Wait, what's that?" Ash said pointing at the screen.
The next image showed some kind of mysterious meteor, so Clemont zoomed in on the image.
"Is that a cybertronian escape pod?" Clemont suggested.
"It certainly looks like." Moonracer supported checking the image.
"Here, on Earth's atmosphere?" Ratchet asked in disbelief.
Clemont passed the image to the main screen.
"Autobot or Decepticon?" Hot Rod asked.
"Impossible to tell, giving the image resolution." Ratchet explained.
"In any event, this merits investigation." Elita declared.
"Could be a trap, and we're down two Bots." Arcee pointed.
"Should we reach out to Seaspray?" Sideswipe suggested.
"We can hear you!" Warpath called.
"I don't care if Warpath and Wheeljack aren't combat ready. After that revenge stunt he pulled with the girls, Seaspray can stay rouge." Ratchet objected.
"Hey, at least he took proper care of us!" Misty defended.
"An Autobot may be in distress. Ratchet, bring your medical kit." Optimus decided.
The Autobots traveled in vehicle form through the ground bridge, which brought them to the crash-site: an isolated area of the Dragon Holy Land on Johto. They were accompanied by Ash's Infernape, Happy (Ritchie's Butterfree), Misty's Politoed, Tracey's Scyther, Serena's Pancham and Clemont's Bunnelby. Once there, they changed to robot form, pulled out their weapons and approached the pod, which was leaking a trail of energon. Arcee wiped the mud off and showed the pod's origin.
"It is of Decepticon origin." Elita recognized.
"And the Con inside blew his way out." Sideswipe deduced.
Then, a storm of lasers surprised them: there was a huge battalion of Cons and some Insecticons firing at them. The Autobots and their pokémon companions, were forced to cover behind some rocks.
"All those Cons came out of one pod?" Arcee asked in disbelief.
"The humans refer to the phenomenon as a clown car!" Ratchet explained as he prepared one of his swords for combat.
One Insecticon charged and landed, changing back to normal form, before trying to strike against Optimus. But the Autobot leader blocked its attacks with his sword and disposed of it with his cannon while Elita used her own guns to dispose of another bug which came next. Another Insecticon managed to smash Ratchet against a boulder, but before he could finish him, Arcee cut two of his legs with her wrist blades. The Insecticon grabbed her, but she managed to break free with her feet before Sideswipe, Hot Rod and Bee eliminated him with their guns. But there was still too many Decepticons, and even with the pokémon engaging some of them, (Infernape engaged the closest ones with Mach Punch and fired Flamethrower at the farthest, Happy battled them with Air Slash and Whirlwind, Scyther used a combination of Quick Attack and X-Scissor, Politoed tried to hold them back launching Water Gun at their faces, assisted by Pancham with Dark Pulse while Bunnelby tried to blind them by launching Mud Shot at their visors), the tanks and long-ranger soldiers (helicopters) already took positions to fire their long-range weapons, forcing them to cover more. Suddenly, more blue lasers came from behind them, and they spotted a new cybertronian: one white with blue details, firing as he ran at them.
"Incoming!" Arcee warned as she, Bee and Hot Rod aimed at the new one.
"Down in front!" The new guy said before passing above them.
The newbie jumped at the closest Con and started firing at the rest of the enemies: so it could only be an Autobot.
"Friendly?" Moonracer asked surprised.
"And that's not the only thing new." Sideswipe said pointing to something.
Swinging between some nearby trees, there was a young girl with brown skin and long purple hair. Her clothes included a beige and pink long-sleeved blouse, white pants, a pink fabric tied around the waist, and pink, yellow and white shoes. She was also wearing a pink backpack. As he zoomed his optics for a better look, Hot Rod could also notice that her eyes were brown, and that there was a pokémon hidden in her hair: an Axew. And she was coming right into the battlefield. In the moment she landed right behind the new Autobot, her Axew started to attack the Cons with Giga Impact, surprising them seeing how a so little pokémon could cause such huge damage. The new Autobot continued eliminating even the furthest Cons until an Insecticon tried to tackled him, but he jumped backwards before Axew hit it with Dragon Rage, but the impact caused some sparks which hit the energon, making it to burn in blue flames, starting a chain reaction.
"Uh oh, I don't like the look of those blue flames." The new girl noticed.
"Fall back!" Optimus ordered.
Everyone, including the new Autobot and the pokémon trainer, ran and jumped behind some boulders to cover themselves from the incoming explosion. As result, the entire area was still burning on blue flames, but it seemed that the explosion took care of all the Decepticons.
"Whoa. Looks like that explosion did come in handy after all." The new girl noticed.
"That's for sure. WOOO! Too hot for you, Cons?!" The new Autobot yelled cheered.
"Friend of yours?" Ratchet asked.
"Of course not. My pals are never that impulsive and unconcerned like that. Who do you think I am?" Sideswipe defended annoyed.
"Don't look at me." Hot Rod answered.
"(Me neither.)"
"Never seen him before." Arcee added.
"But you have to admit he has the spark. I would like to know him." Moonracer revealed.
"And thanks to his acting, now we have another human who knows about us." Ratchet added sarcastically.
The new guy reunited with them. "Torching that energon leak. Pretty good plan, right?"
"Except that it wasn't your plan, it was a random shot that almost fried us to a crisp." Arcee corrected.
"Worked out, didn't it?"
"Thank you, fellow Autobot. Your…valor is to be commended." Optimus congratulated.
"And you too, pokémon trainer. We greatly appreciate what you have done to help us." Elita added.
"Uh…you're welcome?" She said confused.
The new Autobot looked speechless when he saw them. "I…don't believe it: you're Optimus Prime and Elita One! They're Optimus Prime and Elita One!" He said to the others.
All the pokémon nodded confused.
"We know." Arcee said.
"Without doubt." Hot Rod supported.
"Yes, yes, yes." Ratchet added.
"It's not hard to see it." Sideswipe added.
"We all know." Moon added.
"(We already know them.)"
"What is your name, soldier?" Elita asked.
"Smokescreen, ma'am!" The new Autobot introduced as he saluted her.
"My name is Iris." The girl introduced, still a little nervous. "And this is my pal Axew."
"Axew." The little dragon pokémon saluted.
"You don't have to be afraid of us, Iris. All of us are here to protect you. Welcome to Earth, Smokescreen." Optimus said offering him his hand.
And Smokescreen shook his hand with Optimus's. "It's an honor to be here. Especially with you."
"Now what?" Ratchet started. "It's not like we can just bring him back to base."
"Wouldn't be the first time an ally turned out to be plant." Hot Rod pointed out.
"Do you think it could be more like Makeshift?" Sideswipe wondered.
"How can we be certain?" Moon asked.
Optimus took a good look at Smokescreen, and noticed something unusual on the Autobot emblem on his shoulder. "I see that you received your training from Cybertron's Elite Guard."
"True enough. Though it wasn't much more than a boot camp by the time I joined. Never even got a proper graduation ceremony." Smokescreen told.
"Hello! Everyone was busy fighting a war." Hot Rod pointed.
"Hey, all I ever wanted was to be a soldier, serve the Autobot cause. But what I got was security detail at Iacon."
"The Hall of Records, of all places? Optimus, do you not find this highly suspicious?" Ratchet asked.
"Smokescreen, what was your assignment inside the hall?" Optimus asked.
"Guarding Alpha Trion during what turned out to be the final days of the war."
"You served under the Master Archivist?" Elita asked surprised.
"Nah, I wasn't thrilled at first: watching the back of an old Bot instead of kicking Con tailpipe." Smokescreen said smashing his fists, but he realized at seeing the group that he spoke out of the line. "Sorry. But the big A turned out to be a great teacher, and a true friend. I mean, he was the one who petitioned Halogen and the High Council to make you a Prime, and the one who convinced Sentinel to start teaching you the ways of the Primes."
By hearing all of that, Optimus came up with his decision. "Clemont, activate the ground bridge."
"That's it? That's all you need to hear before inviting him to the party?" Arcee asked in disbelief.
"If my formed mentor shared this information, it is because he considered Smokescreen a trusted ally."
"Eh, excuse me. I'm not sure about what's going on in here, so can anyone give me at least a summary?" Iris called.
"Fear nothing. You will know everything once we are at base."
"Since you have witnessed our conflict and had intervened directly on it, it is best that you accompany us as well. For your safety." Elita explained.
"Well, guess how's going to be excited back there." Sideswipe said.
The ground bridge brought them back to base, and despite the ill effect which both Iris and Axew felt, they remained without words at seeing the main room.
"By all the dragon type pokémon. This place is incredible, almost like taken out of a spy movie." Iris admired.
"Axew."
"Pika?"
Immediately, Pikachu took a look to the team getting out of the ground bridge, and got so happy that went running the fastest he could and jumped right into Iris's arms before he saluted his old pal.
"Pika pika!"
"Axew, axew." Axew said saluting him back.
"What is a Pikachu doing here? Hold on, it cannot be…" Iris started as he grabbed Pikachu, until he licked her nose, making her to recognize him. "Yes, it is, is you! Glad to see you again, Pikachu."
"Chu."
"I can't believe it. It's Iris, she is here!" Ash recognized.
"Hey Iris! It's been a while!" Dawn saluted.
"What a surprise. It's Ash, and Dawn too."
Like the speed of lightning, Ash and Dawn went down the stairs to meet with Iris, who received them with a big hug, the same as Axew with Pikachu and Piplup.
"It's been a while since the last time I saw you." Iris said.
"Is good to see you again after that long." Ash expressed.
"What are you doing here?" Dawn asked excited.
"Let us guess, another friend of yours?"
"You're correct, Ritchie." Ash confirmed as everyone came down to receive the new member of the gang. "Guys, this is our friend Iris. She used to travel with me when me and Pikachu continued our journey through the Unova region."
"Haha, thanks for introducing me, Ash, but I can take the rest from here. I come from a town of Unova, the Village of Dragons. My specialty is the dragon type pokémon and I dream of becoming a dragon master."
"Whoa, that's impressive. I'm Max, by the way."
"And I'm his elder sister, May."
"Name's Misty, and like you I'm specialized in one type of pokémon: the water type."
"I am Tracey, pokémon watcher and professor Oak's assistance. And I must say you have a very healthy pokémon, by the way." Tracey noticed as he started to make a picture of Axew.
"Hehe, I'm glad you noticed. I also know a few things about pokémon health. This is my partner, Axew."
"Axew." The little pokémon saluted.
"Oh, how cute. My name is Bonnie, and here I introduce you my friend, Dedenne."
"Dedenne."
"I'm her elder brother. Name's Clemont."
"Hi, I'm Serena. Nice to meet you."
"And I'm Ritchie. And this is my pal Sparky."
"Pika pikachu."
"What a surprise. I didn't know you have so many friends, Ash." Iris said amazed.
"Yeah well, that's what happens when you travel that far. By the way, what happened when we got separated?"
"Remember when we met with Clair at the Decolore Islands? Well, after that I decided to go with her at Johto to train with her and learn more about the dragon pokémon. I'm still doing it, but sometimes I took a break and I visit the Hoenn region, expecting to find Rayquaza."
"The legendary pokémon?" Max asked, earning a nod from her.
"So she's also one of your friends, isn't it Ash?" Hot Rod asked walking to them.
"That's right."
"Uff, thank the Allspark. False alarm, everyone."
"Huh? Do you know these strange robot-like things?" Iris asked a little surprised.
"Of course, the Autobots are our friends." Bonnie answered.
"Let me guess: you also found yourself in middle of one of their skirmishes." Misty deduced, earning a nod. "Yeah, I know what you passed through."
"You have met Iris during your investigation?" Dawn asked.
"Correct. And also a new recruit." Sideswipe nodded as he stepped aside, showing Smokescreen. "Everyone, this is Smokescreen."
"Whoa, there is also a new Autobot on Earth too." Serena said in disbelief.
"We haven't had somebody new here since Seaspray." Max reminded.
"What's your story, Smoke? Where'd you come from? How'd you get here? How did you meet Iris?"
"Whoa, Bonnie. Take it easy." Clemont tranquilized.
Smokescreen's first impression was also strange. "So, these are the lifeforms we're supposed to protect? Are they all like this?"
"Fortunately not. But I too share Bonnie's fascination with how you came to arrive on Earth." Ratchet admitted.
"In a Decepticon escape pod." Arcee added.
"Still got trust issues, huh? Tough crowd." Smokescreen said before he started to relate his story. "The main thrust of combat operations was at least 20 klicks from the Hall of Records. So things have been pretty quiet, but the situation went downhill fast: the Cons launched a massive surge that wiped out the last line of defenses surrounding Iacon. I was the only thing left to hold them back, and let me tell you, I was pumped. I mean, this was my chance to see real action for the first time, to prove myself. Until everything went black. The Cons took me prisoner and dumped me onto a transport ship, but I managed to give a guard to slip and hopped in an escape pod. Apparently, it was a long-distance pod, because it knocked me into stasis. Next thing I knew, I'm hitting solid ground. Hard."
"The Decepticon warship must have picked up the pod's beacon and guided it to Earth." Elita deduced.
"Which would explain Smokescreen's welcoming committee." Sideswipe added.
Moonracer chuckled. "Bet those Cons were disappointed not to find one of their own inside."
"Yeah, but that doesn't explain how you and Iris acted like if you had known each other since forever." Hot Rod pointed.
"I can explain that." Iris offered. "I was training my most recent pokémon, a Gible, in the Dragon Holy Land. My master knows that place well, so she showed me the best place to train. When suddenly, I felt a huge ground tremor and an explosion not far from where I was. I decided to check what was that, so I called back Gible before Axew and I went for it. We found a strange metal object crash-landed in middle of the plains, with some blue liquid flowing out of it, what you call energon. While we approached to check it better, the door suddenly ripped apart, and we saw Smokescreen getting out. It scared me at first, but when I saw how he acted, a little stunned by the impact and with a curious personality, I suspected he may not be dangerous, so I came out of my hiding place and went up to meet him. I didn't expect him to jump back and scream like he saw a ghost when he saw me coming, but it was hilarious. And next, we saw you."
"Hey, that's not true. You just surprised me." Smokescreen defended.
"Come on, Smokey. It's only a joke, don't be a kid."
That made Ash laugh. "You surely haven't changed, Iris."
"Smokescreen, do you know of Alpha Trion's fate after the fall of Iacon?" Optimus asked.
"I wish I did, but that was the last I ever saw of him." Smokescreen replied, while Optimus looked worried and troubled.
Elita noticed it, so she put a hand on his shoulder. "Wherever he is now, I'm sure he may be okay. He's one of the most ancient cybertronians of all times."
Then Iris finally understood. "Wait, are you saying…?" And she turned at the gang. "They are from other planet?" And everyone nodded, even the pokémon. "By Arceus."
"That's it, my life story. Not exactly the glory I envisioned for myself…until now. Being here with both Optimus Prime and Elita One? I knew I was destined for great things. I mean, now that you have help, how hard could it be to end this war?"
Then a scrapping noise coming from the corridor caught everyone's attention: it was Warpath limping inside, and he didn't look happy. The same as Wheeljack, lying against the wall with arms crossed.
"Take a good look, newbies." Wheeljack said.
"This is how hard." Warpath said entering the room.
"Smokescreen, Iris, I would suggest that you take some time to become acclimated to your new surroundings. A tour of the base would be an excellent start." Optimus suggested.
"Sure thing!" May immediately said, but she changed her mind at seeing Warpath's face.
"Fear nothing, May. Ritchie and Tracey can give them a tour." Serena suggested.
Smokescreen looked at them, who simply smiled at him and Iris. At the same time, inside the Harbinger, Starscream was checking the same information source that the children saw recently.
"This is what the humans call the information superhighway? A trillion GB's of data none of it useful." Starscream groaned as he continued passing images, until he stopped on the one of the dancing Pikachu. "Though some, oddly engrossing." And he laughed, but the next image caught his attention. "What is this?" He laughed maniacally after seeing it closely. "Ignorant lifeforms have no idea what they've uncovered: red energon. If I can possess its power not only will I be stronger, but also faster. Significantly faster."
In that moment, some footsteps were heard from behind, but Starscream already knew it: from a while he wasn't alone anymore. The five pods were now empty, and forming in line in front of him stood five silhouettes in the shadows: they were tall, with metallic-like bodies, with two legs, two arms, some kind of abdomen between the legs and a saucer-shaped head. But the most notorious part was some kind of cannon that they had on their backs.
"Ah, I'm glad to see that my efforts have come to fruition. Your training is now complete, you can finally join me in my quest. Time to rise, my squad, and show me all your mighty power. With our combined skills, we'll be unstoppable." Starscream proclaimed, making the eyes of his new minions glow red.
At the same time, at the Autobot base, Ritchie and Tracey were showing Smokescreen and Iris the relic storage room.
"And here we have the phase shifter, the spark extractor and the immobilizer." Ritchie summarized.
"What is this? Some kind of robot warfare museum?" Iris asked.
"Not close. This is where we store the cybertronian relics we found buried on Earth." Tracey clarified.
And talk about a small universe, because most of them came from…" Ritchie continued.
"The Iacon Hall of Records." Smokescreen finished as he saw the room where the phase shifter was storage. "I remember these."
Iris took a look to the next room, which had Airachnid still frozen in the Insecticon pod. "And…what kind of relic is that one?"
"That's not a relic, just a dangerous Decepticon we have prisoner." Ritchie corrected.
"Dangerous how?"
"You better ask Serena about that, she is the one who faced her and survived her twisted revenge show, which included Ash too." Tracey answered.
"And why she did that?"
"Because she wanted to cause Serena a great pain by threatening to take Ash's life. After all they are a couple." Ritchie revealed.
That caught Iris off guard. "What? Are you telling me that Ash has a girlfriend?" She asked in disbelief, which both of them nodded, while Smokescreen simply watched. "Looks like Ash has matured after we separated. I surely missed a few things."
Meanwhile in the main hall…
"If you wanted to replace us you should have called Seaspray." Warpath said mad with his arms crossed.
"Yeah, I could have lived with that." Wheeljack added.
"No one is replacing you, guys. For one thing, Smokescreen's too green." Hot Rod tranquilized.
"Well, Moon is green as they get." Bonnie said.
"Bonnie, that has nothing to do with it." The green female Autobot defended.
"What Hot Rod means is Smokescreen still has a great deal to learn." Ratchet clarified.
"And once you got him trained then what? He's in, I'm a doorstop!"
"Warpath, your place with us is not in jeopardy. But there is no dispute that we have long required additional firepower." Elita explained.
"It is essential that our team learns to work with our new recruits, not against them." Optimus added.
"Besides, where are we going to find another tank as great as you?" Sideswipe said, trying to cheer him up.
"Better hope the hotshot's blasters are as big as his mouth, and despite the fact that she survived her first encounter doesn't make that new girl a veteran as the others. She should control her wild impulses, besides the fact that Ash mentioned she's also arrogant, acting sometimes a little childish but not wanting to admit it. How can she become a gym leader being like that?" Wheeljack opined, revealing that Ash already told them about his experiences with Iris.
"How hard can it be?" Warpath repeated sarcastically.
"Hey everyone, check this out!" Max called.
"Bah, don't tell me it's another Bumblebee sight." Ratchet groaned, until he saw the image on the main screen. "Oh my…"
"Red energon." Elita recognized.
"Here, on Earth?" Ratchet asked in disbelief.
"What's red energon?" Serena asked.
"An extremely rare and volatile form of energon."
"It is said that refined into fuel provides the power of hyper-speed." Wheeljack added.
"We must have the pokémon rangers clear the dig site of all human presence, in the event we are not the only ones who have discovered its location." Optimus instructed.
"Now you're talking. Let's scramble up some Cons' circuits." Smokescreen said cheerful crushing his fists together as he and the others returned.
"How can I contribute with this? Seeing how Ash and all his friends are willing to help in any way, I also want to be part of this team." Iris offered.
"Iris, despite the great help you proved to us during your first contact, your pokémon have yet to learn how to fight against enemies as the Decepticons. It would be best for you to learn the basics from your friends before you can even assist any Autobot of this team." Optimus explained.
Iris groaned. "Alright, I just hope it may not be too hard."
"Axew?" Her little pokémon asked.
"As for you, Smokescreen, given your limited field experience, we believe further training is required before you are battle ready."
"Elita, I understand why Iris needs training, but with all due respect…"
"Furthermore, we Autobots live on this planet as robots in disguise: you will need to obtain an Earth-based vehicle mode." Optimus added.
"In order to maintain a low profile, if that's possible for you." Arcee finished.
"If you're talking wheels, bring them on." Smokescreen accepted.
A ground bridge appeared in middle of an excavation site on Johto, from which Starscream came out in a jump, with the Apex Armor in one hand.
"The red energon is mine, humans! For you are powerless in the face of the mighty Star…" He shouted in presentation, but stopped at seeing that there was no one there. "What? Where is it?!"
Meanwhile, Smokescreen, and Iris were on a hillside near to Pallet Town, looking all the vehicles that drove through the roads.
"Nope." Smokescreen said as a car passed.
"How about that one?" Iris said pointing to an old one.
"Nah, it's more Ratchet's speed, don't you think?"
"Maybe."
"Axew." Axew called pointing at the next one.
"Cement truck?"
"Yeah, if I were a Constructicon. Seriously? This is the best your planet has to offer?"
"Of course not. That's because this is Ash's hometown, not a place to find much cars. Just like my home."
"I'd feel for ya."
Meanwhile, another ground bridge took the rest of the Autobots to the bay of Olivine City, on a dock with a lot of containers. They arrived in vehicle form and transformed, checking the area was safe with their guns ready.
"There, I see it." Moonracer spotted the red energon inside a crate hanging high in the dock crane.
"Kellyn couldn't have a crane operator lower the thing?" Hot Rod asked sarcastically.
"The humans must have been preparing to transfer the meteor to a cargo ship when they received his evacuation order." Optimus deduced.
"Run along home, Autobots. That red energon has my name all over it." Starscream proclaimed as he appeared in front of them and placed the Apex Armor on his chest and it covered all his body. "And I am more than willing to fight for it."
"Secure the red energon and have Ratchet bridge it back to base." Optimus instructed.
"Ratchet, call the kids. We require immediate support to keep Starscream and his Apex Armor at bay." Elita called to base.
That was heard at base.
"You have heard her. You better send pokémon able to strike Starscream strong, fast or hard enough so he could not have time to react." Ratchet advised.
"We have it covered, Ratchet." Misty reassured as she and the others pulled out some of their poke balls.
"Leave it to us." Ritchie said.
As the Autobot ground bridge opened again, the Team Prime's reinforcements came through it: Ash's Talonflame, Zippo, Misty's Staryu, Clemont's Luxray, May's Blaziken and Dawn's Togekiss, ready to assist Optimus and Elita.
"Even with that impenetrable armor covering your chassis, you will not be safe from feeling the strikes the pokémon will give you. You better be the one who should run home, Screamy." Sideswipe mocked.
But for everyone's surprise, Starscream chuckled. "Don't be so sure. You see? I'm not alone anymore. Come out, boys! Attack!"
At the moment Starscream gave his command, five strange objects approached from the distance at high speed and rammed over the Autobot leaders. They looked like some red ships or speeders, until they transformed and revealed their true form: they were a group of 5 red Genesect, which formed up in front of Starscream.
"Autobots, say hello to my own personal squadron." Starscream introduced as the Genesect stood in combat position. "And they are looking forward to show you their power. Techno Blast!"
All the Genesect charged their cannons, and when they were ready fired a beam of energy which impacted in front of the Autobot leaders, each one of a different color. The impact left a huge crater with smoke coming out.
"Are those…pokémon?" Hot Rod asked in disbelief.
"How did Starscream managed to recruit some of them to fight for him?" Arcee asked in disbelief.
"And who are those pokémon? Some kind of cybertronian-like pokémon?" Moonracer added.
"You can say they are their own version of us." Starscream simply said. "Take care of the Autobot's pokémon companions, boys. Prime and his minions are mine."
The Genesect nodded with some snarls before they flew right against their pokémon adversaries. Hot Rod, Arcee, Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Moonracer ran to the crane the fastest they could while Optimus activated his battle mask and stood to face Starscream alongside Elita. The Decepticon charged at them while they shot at him without effects and waited for him to strike. And when he did, Optimus and Elita counterattacked together two times, but Starscream grabbed them by the arm and threw them at the containers.
"Don't tell me you've already forgotten our last encounter?" Starscream mocked.
Their pokémon companions' situation was not well either: Talonflame was being chased by one of the Genesect, who tried to hit with Signal Beam, until he disappeared, but then Talonflame started to receive hits from multiple directions, that was because the Genesect was using Extreme Speed to attack him and not give him time to react; Zippo was battling other Genesect with Dragon Claw, but the Genesect blocked his attack with Shadow Claw, right before giving him a head-butt with Iron Head, sending him to the floor, and while he was recovering the Genesect surprised him with a Dark Pulse, making him to walk backwards; Blaziken was engaging other Genesect with Blaze Kick, but he blocked his attack with the same one, and both were matched in speed, until the Genesect played dirty and covered Blaziken's leg with some kind of web which came from the tip of his hand and launched it to the ground, Blaziken tried his best to break free, but he was stuck, chance that the Genesect took to prepare a Flame Charge attack and strike Blaziken with it; Togekiss was engaging other of the Genesect with Sky Attack, but the artificial pokémon blocked it with Aerial Ace, next he launched an Ice Beam by surprised that froze one of Togekiss's wings, and since Dawn's pokémon was having trouble to fly the Genesect took the chance to strike with Giga Impact; Luxray and Staryu engaged the last Genesect with Thunder Fang and Rapid Spin, but their opponent managed to dodge their attacks before they did their moves, he used Magnet Rise, which hit Staryu, but did little damage to Luxray, who prepared to try to hit him with Thunder Fang, but the Genesect saw it coming and rose above to launched an Electroweb which trapped him, and forced Luxray to focus on trying to set free that he didn't saw coming Genesect until he received a hit from his Metal Claw. Bee and Hot Rod saw their friends' situation as they climbed up the crane.
"This isn't good. How can Starscream's pokémon being able to match our friends'?" Hot Rod wondered.
"I don't know, but I don't wanna find out." Sideswipe answered nervous as he climbed faster.
"Just keep moving, boys." Arcee encouraged.
When Optimus and Elita took a look to how their pokémon companions were doing, they spotted Talonflame and Togekiss falling from the sky, so they went to pick them. The two Genesect, possibly the ones who took them down, met with Starscream as he spotted the Autobots on the crane.
"You already disposed off your opponents?" Starscream asked, earning a nod from the two of them. "Then let's go, boys. Let's shake things up."
Meanwhile at base…
"That's weird. Why is taking them so long to just take the energon?" Serena wondered.
"Yeah, it shouldn't take them so hard to distract Starscream." Ash supported.
"We better ask them." Clemont suggested.
"I'm on it." Ratchet answered contacting. "Optimus, is something wrong?"
"Starscream has showed us his most recent and disturbing acquisition: a whole team of pokémon under his command."
"What?!" Everyone exclaimed.
"But is totally unbelievably. How did Starscream managed to recruit and train some pokémon?" Max asked in disbelief.
Just in that moment, Iris, Axew and Smokescreen returned.
"Starscream? What kind of name is that?" Iris asked.
"I heard stories about that stiletto heel creep back on Cybertron. Send me in, doc." Smokescreen offered himself.
"When Optimus or Elita requires backup, they will ask for it." Ratchet answered.
"Ah, come on! I got my V mode and everything. I'm supped up and ready to roll."
"Dat dat dat! What part of further training did you not understand?"
But Smokescreen had no intention to remain still, something that Iris noticed. Back with the team, Starscream was now climbing after them, following them. And to make things worse, the two Genesect were attacking them with Signal Beam and Ice Beam. Sideswipe tried to shot them back, but they moved too fast that dodged the shots, but also forced them to stop attack.
"The higher you climb, the harder you fall." Starscream taunted.
But the team managed to reach the top.
"You girls take the energon, we will slow down Scream." Hot Rod told them before firing at the Decepticon alongside Bee and Sideswipe.
Starscream laughed. "Autobots, such slow learners."
Back at base…
"Optimus, Elita, what is your status?" Ratchet asked.
"Ratchet, they need me. I can do this." Warpath insisted.
"Arcee? Bumblebee? Hot Rod? Sideswipe? Come in, Moonracer!"
"Did you hear what I said?!"
"I heard and I'm ignoring you. This may be your opportunity after all, Smokes…" Ratchet was about to say, but he was no present in the room. "Where's Smokescreen?"
"Don't know, but he's not the only who's missing." Wheeljack noticed.
Smokescreen was opening the door of the place where the phase shifter was storage, and Iris was alongside him.
"Are you sure of that?" Iris asked.
"Yeah, that's the one. It can only work that way." Smokescreen nodded.
"Stop right there, newbies!" Wheeljack called as he found them. "Whether it's a secret or not, care to tell me what exactly you're whispering?"
"Calm down, er…Wheeljack, isn't it? Smokescreen has a plan, one which he thinks it will work." Iris defended.
"Huh?" Wheeljack said, still looking at Smokescreen suspicious.
Meanwhile, Starscream managed to reach the top with the Autobots. Hot Rod and Bee tried to hold him back, but their blasters didn't work, the same as Sideswipe's swords. Instead, the Decepticon pushed Bee aside, leaving him stuck in a hole. Hot Rod went to give him a hand while Sideswipe jumped on Starscream's back, trying to get his attention, but both Autobots were tackled by Starscream's Genesect, being hit hard with Extreme Speed and Giga Impact, and ended like Bee. Arcee and Moonracer were about to grab the cable of the crane when they saw Starscream's shadow grow over them.
"Time to unload some more deadweight." Starscream declared as he was about to grab them.
Then the girls looked to their left, the same as Starscream, and saw Optimus and Elita climbing up the crane and jumping at him. The two Genesect tried to stop them firing Techno Blast, but they missed. The combined punch of the Autobot leaders gave Starscream was strong enough to send him out of the crane. Starscream managed to grab the crate of red energon and a stockpile before he slipped.
"No! AAARG!" Starscream screamed as he fell.
The two Genesect changed to their high-speed-flight form and went to check how their leader was, giving the Autobots a break. With the Decepticon gone, Optimus grabbed the cable and started to pull of it, but suddenly the crane started to shake: they looked down to see Starscream ripping the base of the crane apart.
"Watch your step, Autobots." Starscream said laughing maniacally. "Come give me a hand here, boys."
All the Genesect, who managed to defeat their pokémon opponents, meet with their leader and their two companions and joined Starscream's attack to the crane's base with Metal Claw, Blaze Kick, Aerial Ace and Shadow Claw. That made the Autobots to begin lose their balance. Starscream and his Genesect almost managed to take out the base when a ground bridge portal appeared next to him. From it, a blue and white Indy 500 McLaren MP4-12C with a 38 on the doors came driving through it, accompanied by a Dragonite.
Arcee deduced who was the car. "Apparently no one defined low profile for him."
"Is that Smokescreen?" Moonracer asked.
The car transformed, confirming Moon's question.
"So, the Autobots have new recruits, both pokémon and Autobot." Starscream observed as well his Genesect did.
"And you must be Starscream. I thought you'd be taller." Smokescreen mocked, which worked, because Starscream groaned mad.
"This will not end well." Sideswipe deduced.
"Smokescreen, stand down. You are no match for Starscream's Apex Armor!" Optimus warned.
"Any last words, Smokescreen?" Starscream asked.
"Just four: kiss your armor goodbye." Smokescreen answered as the phase shifter activated, now on his wrist. "Ready, pal?"
Dragonite roared in affirmation as they both charged against Starscream, who smirked and waited for them. Smokescreen jumped and kicked Starscream, but this time the effect was different: Smokey passed through the armor and kicked Starscream out of it.
"Now." Smokescreen signaled.
Immediately, Dragonite hit Starscream with Thunder Punch, causing him an effect of paralysis and disorientation. Instead of fighting, the Genesect squad went to check their leader.
"A phase shifter?" Starscream asked in disbelief.
"Now that was a plan!" Smokey said triumphal as Dragonite touched the armor a little, making it to collapse.
"Whoa. I'm starting to like him." Sideswipe admitted as Moon smiled, while Arcee simply rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance.
Starscream saw the piece of red energon next to him, so he stood up. "You aren't the only one sporting a fancy wrist mounted device, and backup to cover you." Starscream said as he aimed one of his missiles at the crane. "Think fast! Techno Blast, boys!"
And he fired it. The missile and the Genesect' attack impacted on the crane, causing a huge explosion.
"No." Smokescreen said.
"Take the red energon and fall back. We are done here." Starscream commanded as he started to walk away, while some of the Genesect picked up the red energon piece and followed him.
When the smoke cleared, they could see the Autobots without damage on top of the rubble. Smokescreen sighed in relief, as he saw Dragonite coming out of the smoke, carrying a remaining piece of red energon as he walked to the Apex Armor. Moments later, everyone was back at base.
"Told you I just needed to borrow it for a while. Doc here thought I was trying to steal your relics." Smokescreen told everyone with the phase shifter at hand.
But Ratchet grabbed it. "Only until you and Iris explained your plan to Wheeljack, which I then sanctioned. It's called protocol."
"Ratchet is correct: standard procedure must be observed by every member of this team." Optimus supported, making Smokescreen lower his head.
"However, I believe we must also commend Smokescreen and Iris. You two have proven to be a quick study by choosing to play strategy above bravado." Elita congratulated.
"I'm still can't believe there's a few Genesect supporting Starscream." Ash said in disbelief.
"Are those pokémon that bad?" Bonnie asked concerned.
"According to what Iris and I witnessed the first time we met them, they are as strong enough to face even Mewtwo megaevolved." Ash remembered.
"Then it's not strange that they managed to stand and defeat some of our pokémon." Tracey deduced.
"But we will be okay. Like Ash will say, we just need to keep training and we will be able to beat them." Serena reassured.
"And find the way to make them leave his side." Max added.
"I have to admit it, the kid operated like a professional. No wonder he's Elite Guard." Wheeljack supported as he put a hand on Smokescreen's shoulder, sign that he ended accepting him.
"And Iris too. She's starting to adapt quite fast." Dawn added.
"You are going to be okay. Now it will be like the old times, huh?" Ash asked.
Iris chuckled. "A little. Maybe I will miss a few things from the old days, but it's great to be again with you all. And been part of something unimaginable like this." She said looking at the Autobots.
"There's gonna be no living with them now."
"Cut it out, Arcee. The rookie earned it, and so the girl." Hot Rod said.
"You have to admit he saved the day today." Moon supported.
"While this may lack the pageantry of a proper Elite Guard ceremony, I wish to welcome you both to Team Prime." Optimus declared.
Both Iris and Smokescreen felt happy to be accepted by the team. But not everyone was happy: Warpath was moaning at the corridor's entrance with a sad expression on his face.
"The newbies did alright." Warpath assumed as he looked the Apex Armor next to him.
"Don't worry Warpath, he's got nothing on you." May reassured running at him.
Warpath didn't say anything, he only turned back and walked down the corridor.
"Seriously, once we get that leg of yours back in shape, Smokey will learn really quick who is the toughest tank around here." May tried to cheer him again, but Warpath remained silent. "Warpath?"
"What's wrong with him?" Iris asked.
"I guess some ones need more time." Wheeljack simple answered.
All what was heard was the sound of Warpath dragging his legs as he disappeared into the shadows.