I've got nothing to say except, Pokémon is the property of Nintendo, Gamefreak and several other companies, while Beast Wars and all other Transformers related media is the property of Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Enjoy.

Chapter 12: Morning Reports

It took until about 3am, but Backstop and the Professor managed to pull it off. They had, quite miraculously, constructed a fully functioning Ground Bridge Generator using parts cannibalized from their own engine. Which is an impressive feat no matter how you look at it. But regardless, after the two weary scientists finished their task and got about six to seven hours of sleep, they gathered everyone involved, Human, Pokémon and Maximal, onto the bridge for a rundown of the situation.

"It's looks kinda like one of those old fashioned movie cameras." Ash commented, seemingly out of the blue, earning himself a glare from a few of his fellow humans. "What? It does."

"Ahem. As I was saying," Backstop said gruffly, more than a little annoyed by the interruption. "This thing is crude as all get-out, but it'll work for what we need it for. As for how it works, there are two ways. In this configuration I can open a stable portal between anywhere on this ship and anywhere else in the world; which will be good for sending you out on missions and brining you back. But if I need to send you somewhere else while you're already in the field I'll have to hook this baby up to the Communications Array and perform an Orbital Bounce. Which 'll be tricky, but doable."

"Well done, old friend." Optimus said proudly. "The great Wheeljack himself couldn't have done better."

"Well, don't go breaking out the champagne just yet, Optimus. There's some drawbacks." The Science Officer explained. "Since this thing was build using the schematics from the prototype model, we have no way of knowing just how long it'll last. I made what improvements I could using what was available, but since we don't know how long we're gonna be here, we'll have to use it sparingly."

"How sparingly?"

"Well, to minimize the chance of overheating, we can't leave this thing on for more than five minutes. And to slow down the cumulative wear and tear, we'll need to space out when we use it. I'd say at least three hours between uses."

"So hit and run tactics are out of the question." The Maximal Leader surmised. "Then we'll just have to be smarter."

And with that said, Optimus got up from his Command Chair and took center stage.

"Alright everyone, here's the plan. In exactly forty-five minutes, Backstop will use this device to send the rest of us to Valencia Island, where we'll meet up with Professor Ivy and use our collective intel to try and locate Megatron's base of operations. Then, once we've found it, Backstop will warp us in just outside of sensor range and then we'll go the rest of the way on foot. From there… well, we'll have to make it up as we go. Any questions?"

"Yeah, I've got one." Houndor said suddenly. "Are you sure it's a good idea to bring Rattrap along? I mean, it's only been a day since his freak out."

Naturally, this earned the young rookie a stern glare from the Maximal in question, but luckily Optimus spoke up before he could do anything rash.

"I don't know if it's a good idea or not, but considering how outnumbered we are, we don't have much of a choice. Any other questions?"

"Yeah, where do you want me and my friends?" Ash asked enthusiastically.

"As far away from the Predacons as possible." The Maximal Leader answered bluntly. "You're not coming."

"What?" exclaimed the four most experienced trainers in the group simultaneously.

"I said, you're not coming." Optimus repeated sternly. "Professor Oak is coming along to make the introductions to Professor Ivy, but other than that, this is strictly a Maximals only mission. Period."

"Well, if that's the way you feel, then there's no point in arguing." Said Brock, trying to act all nonchalant about it. "Gosh darn it, I guess we'll just have to sit this one out."

"You're just saying that because you don't wanna see Professor Ivy after she made you cry." Ash said offhandedly.

"What? Why that's… how could you even say such a thing?" the older trainer asked nervously.

"What happened between him and Professor Ivy?" May asked innocently; to which Ash plainly replied,

"I'll tell you later."

"Wait a minute, how do you know what happened?" Brock asked his old friend annoyedly.

"Oh, Professor Ivy told me when I ran into her back in Lavaridge Town."

"You ran into… where was I when this happened?"

"I don't know. Probably flirting with some girl."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, jeez, Brock, it's not like we're married or anything. I don't have to tell you every little thing I do. Besides, it wasn't even that big a deal. So she got engaged. Big whoop. It's not the first time a girl's made you look stupid."

"Excuse me?"

Throughout this whole exchange, Backstop took note of Ash's sudden shift in behavior and found it quite alarming. It reminded him of the early stages of the Hate Plague; that horrifying disease that ravaged the universe in ancient times. What's more, it reminded him that he actually had a sample of the virus back in his lab. Could the canister containing the Hate Plague sample have been damaged in the crash? Could their new human friends have been infected somehow during their tour yesterday? Could this be the beginning of a nightmarish global pandemic?

Eh… probably not.

After giving the matter some more thought, the Science Officer realized that if there had been a containment breach, they'd all have been infected and would likely be trying to kill each other by now. No, the young lad's sudden turn was more likely some sort of adolescent mood swing. The boy was 13, after all.

"Excuse me," Tracey spoke up, interrupting his friends' argument and shaking Backstop out of his internal musings. "Optimus, with all due respect, you guys can't go in there on your own. Like you said, you'll be outnumbered. And besides, Ash and I have been to the Orange Archipelago. We have experience and we know the terrain."

"Well the Predacons have guns and they know how to use them." Optimus replied sternly, before sighing and softening up a bit. "Listen, I understand that on this world, children your age have more independence than on others, but this isn't a Pokémon Journey and the Predacons aren't like Team Rocket. They're dangerous, desperate criminals who won't take it easy on you just because you're children. And in a fight they won't bother going after your Pokémon, they'll just aim there weapons at you and then… Click."

The Maximal Leader chose to emphasize his point by making a gun with his right hand and aiming it directly at Tracey's forehead. A bit childish perhaps, but effective.

"I'm sorry, but my decision is final. I'm not going to let you risk your lives for our mission. This is a Cybertronian matter, so we'll deal with it ourselves."

"Now wait just a darn minute." Ash spoke up sharply, adding more evidence to Backstop's current theory. "This stopped being a Cybertronian matter when Megatron started kidnapping people. And if these Predacons are really as bad as you say, then there's no telling what kind of shape they'll be in when you find them. And just what do any of you know about treating injured humans?"

None of the Maximals responded, and for good reason. The boy was right. The captured children would probably be in bad shape, depending on what the Predacons needed them for, and their knowledge of human medical practices was quite limited.

"Brock knows first aid. Tracey knows about field medicine and medicinal herbs. And I… well I know the people who were taken. Ritchie, Casey, Todd, they're all friends of mine. So if you don't want us to fight that's fine, but if you think we're just gonna stand here and do nothing while our friends are in trouble, then you're out of your tinplated head."

About midway through this declaration, the young trainer had actually gotten up and walked right up to the Maximal Leader; looking him straight in the optics. A bold move. So bold in fact, that it prompted him to say,

"Sigh… Priam's Shadow. Okay, you win, you can come. But only in a supportive role. You will stay beyond the range of their sensors and you will not, I repeat, not engage the enemy. Is that clear?"

"Crystal, Sir." Ash replied with a salute.

"Pika!" cried the little mouse on his shoulder.

"Sigh… Something tells me I'm going to regret this."

XXX

(Meanwhile, on Darksyde Island)

While the bulk of his followers were outside training with their human captives, the great and glorious Lord Megatron sat in his imposing command chair while his semi-loyal Science Officer gave him the latest intel he'd gathered from the Triptych Mask.

"So… Skyfire is plotting a coup, is he?" the Predacon Leader said, stroking his noble chin.

"In a manner of speaking, my Lord." Tarantulus replied respectfully. "He has no definite plan at the moment for usurping your authority, but he intends to seize power as soon as an opportunity presents itself. I heard it from his own mouth. Idiot, he calls you. A brainless, incompetent placeholder."

"How interesting, yes…" Megatron said, still stroking his chin in thought.

He knew better than to simply take the spider at his word. His oily personality alone was enough to make him suspect, never mind his extraordinary origins. It was possible, even likely, that Tarantulus had made the whole thing up to try and stir up trouble so he could seize power for himself. But on the other hand, on the outside chance he was telling the truth, the future King of Cybertron had to take some course of action. If only to reassert his dominance.

"Very well then." He said once he'd made up his mind about what to do. "If Skyfire's loyalty is in question, then I shall simply put it to the test. Like I would with any of my followers."

"But how, my Lord?"

"Elementary, my dear Tarantulus. Since our dear friend seems so fond of our captives, then I shall simply order him to kill one of them. If he does, then all is forgiven, but if he doesn't, then I'll rip his Spark out with my bare hands."

"That may be easier said than done, my Lord. You have the advantage in size and strength, but Skyfire is no pushover, he has years of combat experience. However, I may have a solution." The sinister spider explained, before producing a small vial of an unknown purple liquid. "This is the first batch of Energon I was able to process from what little the humans had on hand. The chemical makeup is slightly different from the normal variety, but once it's mixed with your own internal supply, it should grant you a temporary boost of strength. Enough to close the gap between you and Skyfire and then some."

"How temporary?"

"Oh, about five minutes, give or take. But I have constructed a clever device that will allow you to inject this performance enhancer into your system during battle. Sort of like… a nitrous booster. However, it will require a bit of minor surgery to install."

"How minor?"

"You'll need to be put under for at least an hour; ninety minutes at most."

"And how long will it take you to prepare for the surgery?"

"Shouldn't take me more than about forty-five minutes, give or take."

"I see… one last question. Are you certain the Maximals are still in the dark about our plans?"

"As I have explained to you already, Your Excellency, at present the Maximals don't even know we're alive. They've been much too preoccupied by their new human allies to even start looking for us."

"Hmm…" went Megatron suspiciously. As previously stated, he didn't fully trust Tarantulus. However, he did trust the sneaky spider to value his own survival. "Computer: Initiate Hot Box Protocol. Activation Code: Delta-Echo-Vermillion. Timer: 3 Hours. Target: Tarantulus."

Acknowledged.

"Uh… Hot Box Protocol?" Tarantulus asked nervously.

"Oh, just a little something I added to the ship's programing for a situation such as this." The Predacon Leader said smugly. "It simply means that if you attempt to leave the ship, or if I fail to give the deactivation code before the timer runs out, the Darksyde's internal defense system will open fire on you until you're nothing but a stain on the floor. Just a precaution, of course."

"Y-Yes, of course." Tarantulus stammered, trying to maintain his composure.

Oh, how it delighted Megatron to see the little sneak start to sweat; metaphorically speaking.

"Yes… now let's get to work, Doctor. We haven't a moment to spare."

End Notes:

Admittedly, not my best work, but it's fine for a transitionary chapter. I promise the next two will be far more interesting.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next one.

Peace.