15- Return to the Reverse World.
In the Nemesis's medical lab, Darkscream was lying on a medical berth, hooked up to a bunch of cables. The reason was because he didn't look fine: his body showed a lot of dents and scratches, making him groan in pain. At hearing some footsteps, he opened his optics, seeing Galvatron walking at him.
"Resting comfortably, Darkscream? Despite the extent of your injuries, my medical staff assures me that you shall make a rapid recovery." Galvatron said with an angered look.
"Hopefully every pit as rapid as your wrath is swift." Darkscream answered before coughing.
Galvatron laughed. "And how swiftly things change. To think that but a short time ago it was you who was standing here while I was lying there, right after your failed attempt to terminate me. But know this, dear Darkscream: our positions shall never again be reversed."
Once Galvatron left the room, Darkscream groaned as he started ripping the cables off him. Knock Out was out there, checking a data pad while Darkscream limped out of the room.
"Darkscream?! Have you lost your senses?! You haven't fully recuperated!" Knock Out advised him.
"I feel fine, Knock Out! Never better! You're a brilliant physician! Now get out of my way!" Darkscream said pushing him back.
Darkscream continued limping into an empty corridor.
"Dark energon may have replenished your strength, master. But how could you forget that you never reclaimed your original shard?" He said, pulling out from a hideout the dark energon shard he pulled out from Galvatron's chest. "Once the blood of Unicron flows through my veins, our positions shall be reversed."
Sometime later, at the Autobot base…
"I had hoped that my growing expertise on the subject would remain purely academic. But though faint, this is clearly a dark energon signature and it's moving fast." Ratchet saw on the terminal.
"Galvatron." Optimus deduced.
"Where he'd find more of the bad stuff?" Moonracer asked.
"And what he's gonna do with it? Recruit a new army of the undead?" Warpath added.
May was with her things when she heard that, getting her attention. "Zombiecons?"
"We cannot rule out the possibility. Especially since Galvatron seems to be heading to a familiar site." Optimus saw.
Darkscream flew above the ruins of Alph on Johto, the same place where the Autobots faced the Decepticon Skyquake. Once he arrived to his destination, he changed back to robot form and landed, right in front of a bunch of rocks.
"Ah, the gravesite of the mighty Skyquake. So quick to reject my authority while you lived, but as the first of my reanimated warriors you shall bow to my command." Darkscream proclaimed as he broke the dark energon shard in two pieces and threw one into the grave.
The piece fell into one of the cracks and began to glow. Next, he inserted the other half into his chest, making his eyes turn purple.
"Yes! Power of dark energon, be mine!" He said as his body was covered with purple flames. "Symbiosis! Hahahahahahaha! I CAN FEEL IT!"
Back to the Autobot base…
"Galvatron has barely emerged from stasis and it seems he's already making up for lost time." Elita deduced.
"Elita, Warpath, Wheeljack, Bumblebee, Hot Rod, Ratchet, prepare to roll out." Optimus instructed.
"Me?" Ratchet asked confused.
"If we are dealing with dark energon I may well require your expertise."
"Arcee, Sideswipe, Moonracer." Elita said turning at them.
"Bridge operators. Got it." Sideswipe nodded walking to the ground bridge's controls.
"Go get them, Warpath." May cheered from the couch, making him slam his fists together.
The rest of the gang looked at her suspicious.
"What do you think, Max?" Misty asked.
"Knowing her like I know, she's maybe up to something."
"I wonder if she learned from the last time." Serena added.
Sideswipe and the female Autobots activated the ground and the rest of the team transformed and went through it. May saw that was her chance and started running at the portal.
"See? I was right." Max pointed.
"After her!" Ash instructed as he ran after her.
Everyone went after May, with the Autobots not even noticing it. Once inside the ground bridge's tunnel…
"May, what are you doing?" Ritchie demanded.
"Trust me, I have to do this." She defended as she went through the portal.
As everyone followed her, Misty's phone fell to the floor. The Autobots arrived to the ruins, without noticing the gang exiting after them. May climbed up a rock hill to get a good view of everything. She even could saw the same as the Autobots.
"That's not Galvatron." Hot Rod spotted seeing Darkscream.
"Rise, Skyquake! Rise!" Darkscream summoned, making the tomb crumble.
"Let's see if those undead Decepticons are something like the movies' undead." May said as the others approached her.
"May, what were you thinking?" Tracey asked.
"She wasn't." Max corrected.
"What are you…?" May was about to ask, but she simply groaned. "No matter. Listen, I came here because I think our Bots are going to engage some of those Decepticon zombies."
"And you came here to see it?" Clemont asked in disbelief.
"No, just to learn how they act, in order to know how to train our pokémon in case they will have to face them."
"So…you came only to get data for caution?" Clemont asked surprised. "Hum, I have to admit that's smart coming from you."
"Smart? It could be dangerous."
"Come on, Serena, we'll be fine, as long as we simply stay far from the action but close enough to see it. By the way Misty, think you can use your phone to make a record of the fight? That way we could see how those zombies act." May suggested.
"Well, that can't hurt anyone." Misty answered reaching her pocket, but she got alarmed when she found nothing inside. "Oh no, my phone. I must have dropped it back at base."
In that moment, the Autobots approached their opponent.
"Darkscream!" Optimus called as he activated his battle mask and gun, like the rest.
"Autobots!" Darkscream cursed.
"Stand down."
"You stand down." Darkscream retorted as he fired his missiles at them, forcing them to dodge it and cover behind some rocks. "You cannot harm me while dark energon flows through my veins! I am invincible!"
Immediately, Elita aimed and fired her weapon at Darkscream, hitting in his arm before he fired another missile. He saw his arm fell in front of him before seeing that it was missing from his body, making him gash in horror. He ran to catch his arm and hid behind a rock.
"You clipped his wing. He's grounded." Wheeljack observed.
The Autobots started to advance while Darkscream kept looking at the tomb with dark energon.
"Come on, come on. Rise already!" He yelled impatiently, but seeing the Autobots getting close he had no choice but to retreat. So he activated his com-link. "This is commander Darkscream, requesting emergency ground bridge to my coordinates."
The Autobots were almost at Darkscream when something caught Ratchet's attention, making him look behind.
"I can't believe you made me lost my phone!" Misty shouted.
"How is this my fault?" May retorted.
"Oh no." Wheeljack saw.
"Base to Elita. Our friends are missing." Arcee informed through the com-link.
"We have a visual. Send the ground bridge immediately." Elita ordered.
At the moment, two portals appeared, one near the gang and other next to Darkscream.
"Two?" Ratchet observed before looking at the children. "You, into our ground bridge! Now!"
"Come on." Clemont said taking May by her hand.
Optimus saw Darkscream jumping inside his ground bridge, almost at the same time that the gang entered the other. Then, the portals started to whirr uncontrollably.
"Ratchet, what is happening?" Optimus asked.
"The dueling ground bridge portals must be feeding back on each other." Ratchet answered.
"May. We gotta get the kids out of there." Warpath said alarmed as he ran to the ground bridge where they entered, but it exploded, sending backwards everyone.
One of the portals sent Darkscream back to the Nemesis, but after came flying he realized something was missing.
"My arm."
He saw a Decepticon soldier looking at him confused.
"Not a word about this, to anyone!" He told him before walking down the hallway and pulling out the dark energon piece from his chest.
Back in the canyon, after the explosion, the gang laid on the ground.
"Are you all okay?" Ash asked as he helped Serena get up.
"I think so." She answered.
"I feel fine." Bonnie answered.
"Me too." Max added raising his hand.
"Just a little dizzy." May nodded.
"Yeah, me too." Misty added holding her head.
"That was unexpected." Tracey admitted.
"At least no one is hurt." Dawn said pulling Piplup out of some rubble.
"Pi piplup." The penguin pokémon said coughing a little while Pikachu helped him.
Ritchie looked to his surroundings a little confused. "Huh guys, I don't know why but something tells me that we are not in the ruins of Alph anymore."
"I also don't see the Autobots anywhere." Misty noticed.
"Well, what just happened?"
"Isn't that…Warpath?" Clemont recognized.
"Warpath, where are you?! We are…ah, well, I don't know exactly where we are but see if you can follow our voices!" May called.
"I can't be certain, but if two ground bridges sent to the same coordinates crossed streams, the feedback could have triggered a system overload." They heard Ratchet theorized.
"Do you think they didn't hear us?" Ritchie asked.
"Probably not, if we are hearing them that well." Clemont deduced.
"Our pals made it through, right?" Hot Rod asked.
"Huh?" Bonnie said confused.
"What he's talking about?" Ash asked.
"Guys, we're right here! Wherever we are!" Dawn called.
"Sparky, give them a signal. Launch a Thunder Shock to the sky." Ritchie instructed.
"Pika." Sparky nodded before sending a current of electricity as high as he could.
"Do you think they spotted it?" Misty asked.
"Arcee, did our friends make it safely back to base?" Elita asked by the com-link.
"Negative. You don't see them?"
"No sign." Wheeljack answered.
"I'll take that as a no." Ritchie simply answered.
"How can they fail to notice our presence?" Tracey questioned.
"Gu…guy…guys. I…I think I've found them." Max stuttered in shock pointing at something with his finger that once they saw it let everyone speechless.
Right where Max was pointing at some kind of bubble that was floating in the air, which showed the Autobots on the ruins similar to a tv screen.
"Hey! Guys, we're here!" Max called.
"It seems for some reason they can't hear us." Tracey observed.
"What happened to them?" Misty asked starting to get nervous.
"I don't think that's correct. The most valid question would be what has happened to us." Clemont corrected.
"Maybe we have been sent to the place where all the demised people and pokémon travel when they no longer live, where they observe the world of the living." Serena suddenly suggested, causing some of them so feel chills of terror, and making both Bonnie and Max scream.
"Serena, don't say those things." Tracey pleaded.
She covered her mouth immediately. "Did I say that loud? Sorry, sometimes I can't help it."
"Then that means we're not alive." Max said scared hugging his sister.
"I don't want to be a ghost." Bonnie started to cry scared as she embraced her brother.
But Clemont realized something. "Wait. If that's true, how can we still touch each other?"
"Pika?" Pikachu said before and Sparky started touching each other.
Ash and Dawn were as surprised as everyone, but they seemed not as worried, because for some reason they found that bubble familiar somehow. And seeing through it, they saw the Autobots starting to walk around the area.
"Ratchet, could our friends have been transported onto the Nemesis instead?" Optimus questioned.
"Not likely. If Darkscream didn't arrive at our base, the most likely explanation is a dislocation: our friends may simply have been bridged to a non-intended destination." Ratchet theorized.
They listened everything.
"Another place but in the same place." Clemont pondered.
"What do you mean?" Misty asked.
"We're probably in a different dimension: some kind of alternative reality, some kind of shadowzone."
"A shadowzone?" Bonnie asked as she, Sparky and Dedenne looked at him confused.
"Close, but not exactly."
"What do you mean, Ash?" Serena asked.
"Yeah, you and Dawn don't seem to be as nervous as we are." May noticed. "Why?"
"Because from what little we have seen, we think we already know where we are. And one thing for sure, we aren't in the afterlife." Dawn answered with a smile.
Max sighed in relief. "Well, that's a relief."
"Then what is this place?" Bonnie asked.
"Is there something you know about this that we don't?"
"Well, you're right about it, Misty. You see, Clemont is half right about his suppositions: we're in another dimension, one parallel to our own. At first, we were not sure, but after seeing that bubble, we're now completely sure that this is the Reverse World." Ash revealed.
"The Reverse World?" Everyone asked in disbelief and surprised.
"Look." Hot Rod's voice sounded, making everyone to look at the bubble again. "Skyquake's tomb is empty."
"How we'd miss Skyquake rising and shining?" Wheeljack asked.
"It would seem Darkscream got what he came for." Elita said.
"Another matter for another time. Right now, our priority is locating our friends. Arcee, bridge us back to base." Optimus ordered.
"And how exactly can we get back with them?" Bonnie asked.
But before Ash or Dawn could answer, their pokémon detected something: in front of their own eyes, they saw Skyquake appearing behind a rock. But from his look, this was not the same Decepticon from before, it was now an undead cybertronian: a Terrorcon. It seems it spotted the bubble showing the Autobots, because it walked toward it as they were waiting the ground bridge.
"Zombie!" Dawn yelled.
"Guys, look out!" Tracey warned.
"Warpath!" May called.
"It's right behind you!" Max cried out.
The Terrorcon tried to strike the bubble, making it disappear. That caused a sudden reaction that hit Warpath on the back, but he didn't feel pain. But it made him turn around.
"Something wrong?" Optimus asked.
"I swear I have felt something, like…Nah, it may be nothing." The Autobot tank answered before entering the ground bridge.
The Terrorcon remained surprised when the bubble disappeared, and with it the Autobots' image.
"What happened?" Bonnie asked.
"Don't worry, even if that bubble disappeared it couldn't harm them." Ash reassured.
Serena sighed in relief. "Thank Arceus that at least they're fine."
"But…what about us?"
Ritchie may have spoken too early, because the undead turned its head at them and started walking at them.
"If that thing can't reach the Bots…" Tracey started.
"Just like we can't…" May continued.
"Then we're trapped in an alternative dimension, with a Decepticon zombie?" Clemont finished terrified.
"If we aren't ghosts now, we will be soon." Misty squeaked.
The creature stood in front of them and roared at the sky. Immediately, the gang's pokémon used their electric attacks and Bubble Beam against the Terrorcon's face. The attacks didn't cause it any damage, but it was enough to stun it.
"Nice work, guys." Ash congratulated before they started to run.
Giving the fact that the Terrorcon was bigger, they managed to put some distance between them and it really fast. But during the escape, Max tripped and his glasses flew off. Fortunately, Misty immediately ran back.
"Come on." She said grabbing and pulling him to safety.
"Guys, my glasses!" Max cried.
Clemont saw the glasses on the ground, but Skyquake wasn't too far away.
"I'm not sure. It looks too dangerous." He observed.
"I can't see without them." Max repeated.
"Better than be squashed by an undead Decepticon?" Bonnie objected.
"Then we will get them." Ash volunteered.
"Pika." Pikachu nodded determined.
"I will accompany you." May offered before they went back.
"Ash, no!" Serena yelled.
"We'll cover you." Ritchie reassured. "Sparky, use Thunder Shock!"
Sparky launched the attack, but Skyquake continued moving like nothing, without feeling anything.
"It has done it nothing." Dawn observed scared.
"It appears electricity doesn't affect him now that he's already dead." Tracey deduced.
"Guys, look out! Electric attacks don't cause it any damage!" Serena warned.
At the moment, Ash and May managed to reach the glasses, but also Skyquake, and it was about to stomp them.
"Pikachu, let's try with Iron Tail!" Ash suggested.
"Pika pi."
Pikachu jumped at Skyquake's face and hit it with Iron Tail. This time, the Terrorcon felt the impact, making it step back a few steps, allowing May to grab Max's glasses before getting back with the others.
"Here you have, little brother." She said giving him the glasses. "Now let's move."
And the group continued running through the canyon away from the Terrorcon, still on their trail.
"Now what? That thing may not only be invulnerable to electric attacks, but maybe to all our pokémon's moves." Misty pointed.
"Maybe we could set a trap. Try to crush it." Ritchie suggested.
"With what? Nothing around here is solid except us and the ground." Clemont reminded.
"We can't run forever, but maybe we can hide." Dawn proposed. "We still have an advantage: Ash and I know the Reverse World a little better than that thing."
"Aaaahhh, guys, help me!" Max begged.
For their surprise, Max was floating a little in front of them, until Misty and May grabbed him by the arms and placed him back to the ground.
"What happened, Max?" May asked.
"I was simply running to check things ahead, making sure the path was clear, and suddenly I was floating in the air like a Drifloon."
"Hahaha, of course, we forgot about that. In the Reverse World there are zones where gravity is stronger or weaker depending on the area." Ash remembered.
"So we have to go with caution for when it happens." Dawn added.
"Impressive." Clemont said amazed.
"Haha, so cool." Bonnie said putting herself in the same place Max was before, starting to float as well. "Hey, check it out, big brother, I'm flying."
"Bonnie, calm down." Tracey said grabbing her. "This is no time for games: we still need to get away from that zombie and figure a way out."
Meanwhile, at the Autobot base, all Autobots gathered around Ratchet as he checked his terminal.
"One moment we don't check optics on them and next they disappear like nothing? Some guardians we are."
"Don't feel bad, Moon. I'm sure it might had happened as well whoever went to the field." Wheeljack reassured her.
"Ratchet, if our friends were misdirected to an unintended location, is there any way to get a fix on their coordinates?" Optimus asked slightly anxious.
"If they were lost, Misty would have called us by now." Sideswipe told.
"(Why not call them instead?)"
"Call them? Yes!" Warpath agreed before using his com-link, followed by the sound of a phone ring.
Sideswipe followed the sound to its source: Misty's phone, still in front of the ground bridge's entrance.
"Ah, that's why she hasn't called." Sideswipe groaned as he picked it up.
"Let me try Ash." Hot Rod offered.
Back in the Reverse World, the group managed to lost the Terrorcon after a while. But the chase let them exhausted.
"Well, a good thing about zombies, they're slow moving." May remarked.
Right in that moment, everyone heard a sound coming from Ash's pocket.
"Is that your…?" Tracey started.
Pikachu immediately grabbed and pulled out Ash's phone from his pocket. "Pika."
"Phone!" Everyone said.
Ash grabbed it and answered. "Hello? Hot Rod?"
At the other side…
"Ash?! Can you hear me?!" Hot Rod called, but he only received static. That made him sigh. "Scrap."
That happened in the Reverse World too.
"Hello?! Hot Rod!" Ash yelled before turning it off. "Nothing."
"That's curious, that an alternative dimension has cell phone reception. Lousy, but present." Ritchie said.
"Guys, wait. If the phone rang, that means we're getting a signal." Clemont realized.
"We all heard it, big brother. What's so good about that?"
"Ash, Dawn, you said this dimension is parallel to our own, right?" Clemont asked, earning a nod from both of them. "Maybe material objects cannot interact between the dimensions, but perhaps unmaterial things like electromagnetic waves can contact from both sides for a while if they share the same frequency link, like phones."
"Which means we can use it to try to call the Autobots." Tracey realized.
"Do you think that they can read us?" Dawn asked.
"Texting!" Bonnie and Max exclaimed at the same time.
"Text me. If my phone's back at the base maybe they'll see it." Misty suggested.
Ash started to write the message. Unfortunately, Skyquake managed to catch up with them.
"Pi?" Piplup said noticing something behind them, before turning around and getting alarmed at seeing the Terrorcon right in front of him. "Pi piplup! Piplup! Piplup!"
"Piplup, what is it?" Dawn asked to him before turning and getting alarmed too. "Guys, we have a problem."
Serena also spotted it. "Ash, can you type and run?"
"Piplup, use Ice Beam!"
Piplup shot the beam at Skyquake's face, freezing it and causing the zombie to not be able to see them. That allowed them to sneak under its feet and get away. They continued running until they reached to a split path: one continued straight while the other one continued toward the ceiling going upside down. Ash noticed that one of his feet stepped on the way up in a way that maybe could allow them to escape into another tunnel and maybe make the Terrorcon lost them.
"Guys, I have an idea. Follow me." He said following the path.
Just as he expected, he continued walking on it, but now getting upside down, leaving everyone surprised.
"Whoa. How did you manage to do that?" Ritchie asked.
"What does it matter? It looks fun." Bonnie said.
"Come on guys, I see a tunnel from here. We can escape from the zombie going to the other side." Ash explained.
"If Ash can do it, we all can. I'm coming." Max said following him.
"Me too." Bonnie said, and started laughing at the moment she and Dedenne went upside down. "This is fun."
"Dedenne." The little pokémon agreed.
"Ash, wait for us." Serena said coming too.
"I still remain unconvinced about this." Clemont expressed.
"There is no time to debate, it's coming here." Dawn reported as Piplup continued trying to slow down Skyquake by freezing its feet.
"Let's get in there." May said pushing Clemont as everyone else followed the path.
Dawn and Piplup were the last ones to enter the tunnel, Skyquake tried to grab them, but it missed them. Meanwhile, at base…
"We're dealing with fluctuating energy profiles inside a wide distortion field. But it may be possible to back trace their coordinates."
As Ratchet was searching for a way to find them, Misty's phone started to buzz, signaling that it received Ash's message. The gang continued its way once they exited the tunnel at the other side. Once out, they managed to take a look to a huge view of that part of the Reverse World, which surprised them a lot.
"So this is the Reverse World? It's beautiful." Serena admired.
"And this is only a part of it." Ash reassured her.
"It's still the same as the last time we were here." Dawn observed.
"Piplup." Her pokémon nodded.
"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded too.
"It surely looks beautiful, but we still need to find a way out of here." Clemont reminded.
"In that case, I think we should return to the part where it resembles the ruins."
"I'm with you, Ritchie. When the Autobots receive our message, that's surely the first part of this dimension they will look for us." Misty agreed.
They followed a path that let them back to the place which reminded them to the place where they were at first. Then, they found something else that wasn't from the Reverse World.
"Is that…a cybertronian arm?" Serena asked.
"Mostly." Clemont answered before he checked it. "Guys, we're in luck: this must be Darkscream's arm."
"Yes…" Dawn confirmed, a little confused.
"Piplup?"
"Did one of you saw the fight as Misty and May were arguing?" Clemont asked.
"I did." Ritchie answered raising his hand. "If I remember correctly, I think that's the arm he was going to use before Elita hit it with her weapon, but not the one he used to fire missiles in the first place."
"Exactly."
"How did it end here?" Serena asked.
"It must have gone trapped in here during the explosion too." Tracey deduced.
"But what matters is that it is here, with us." Clemont continued.
"Yeah, and…" Max said confused.
"Could you please tell us already what are the good news?" Bonnie demanded.
"This arm has not yet fired any missile, and it's solid." Clemont explained as he touched it.
"Which means we can use it against the zombie." Ash finally caught it.
Suddenly, they heard the undead sounds closer, it was approaching them from the path they came.
"Then this could be a good moment to use it." May suggested.
Meanwhile, Darkscream decided to return back to the Nemesis's med lab and call Knock Out.
"Ah…Darkscream, I don't quite understand how this could've happened." Knock Out said impressed.
Darkscream incorporated a little on the medical berth. "And yet it did! Can you imagine my horror: there I am minding my own business when my arm just falls off! Clearly Galvatron inflicted more damage upon me than you realize, doctor."
"Well, on the bright side this provides an excellent opportunity for an upgrade." Knock Out announced with excitement as he showed on the screen different models. "Let's see. You could go with the sonic cannon: it's reliable, low-maintenance, although it lacks a certain flare. Personally, I prefer the null ray: it has just the right mix of flash and firepower."
"I don't want a new model! I just want the same arm I had before!" Darkscream demanded mad.
"But Darkscream, your equipment is a bit…advanced and not recorded on the usual files. I'm not sure I have another one similar lying around. Of course, we could try to salvage yours." Knock Out suggested. "You kept it, didn't you?"
"It was…beyond recovery."
What Darkscream didn't know is that the gang was moving his missing arm to a better position to use it. Of course, it wasn't so hard since everyone pushed at the same time.
"Anyone knows how to fire this thing?" Max asked.
"Darkscream did something with his fingers." Ritchie remembered.
Everyone hid behind the fingers seeing the Terrorcon coming.
"We only have one shot. We need to make it count." Tracey said.
"Dawn, see if Piplup can leave the zombie trapped so it remains still. Try to freeze its feet." Clemont suggested.
"Good idea." Dawn nodded. "Piplup, fire Ice Beam to the feet."
Piplup used the move once Skyquake was close enough, freezing its feet and leaving it stuck. Ash, Ritchie, Clemont and Tracey took the chance to pull all fingers back, but that was not necessary, because when the first finger was pulled, all the arm's missiles were launched, and all hit Skyquake.
"It's a direct shot!" Clemont exclaimed happy.
"And all the missiles hit it." Ash added.
"Surely now it's just a bunch of scrap metal." Misty joined in relief.
"Yes, we did it!" May followed.
"How do you like us now?!" Ritchie mocked.
Unfortunately, they saw the Terrorcon coming out of the smoke and roaring at them, taking away all happiness.
"All those missiles and it's still whole?" Bonnie asked in disbelief.
But Bonnie was wrong, the missiles did some damage: one of his arms fell off. While they looked at the arm, for their horror, its fingers twitched and the arm began moving on its own, and it was coming after them at high speed.
Serena shivered at seeing it. "I know it's metal, but it's still gross."
"Come on, run!" Ash ordered as they ran again.
"How can the zombie's arm move faster than the actual zombie?!" Dawn asked in disbelief.
"I don't know, and I don't want to figure it out!" Tracey expressed.
During the escape, Pikachu, Sparky and Piplup tried to stop the arm with their electric and ice attacks, but the arm acted like it had its own conscience: it jumped and crawled by the rocks avoiding the attacks. Meanwhile, at the Autobot base, finally someone noticed the clue the gang sent to them.
"Hey guys, look. Misty's phone." Hot Rod pointed.
"Yeah, it wasn't blinking before." Moonracer saw before she opened it with care and saw why was blinking. "It's a message: in Reverse World with zombie. Help!"
"The Reverse World?" Arcee asked confused. "Which one?"
"I think Dawn once mentioned something like that when she told me about their past adventures together." Wheeljack recalled.
"Ash told me about it too: it appears to be an alternative dimension which exist parallel to this one. But there is no human artifact able to travel to that place or vice versa." Hot Rod added.
"Do you think they may end there because of the double portal mess?" Sideswipe suggested.
"That doesn't sound me possible." Wheeljack opined.
"But it may be the best explanation for why we haven't seen them." Warpath said.
"Ratchet, can we triangulate the geographical position of the phone's signal?" Elita asked.
"In a parallel dimensional plane?!" Ratchet asked in disbelief. "Let's find out."
Back with Darkscream, he was once again hooked with cables when suddenly his dark energon piece started to glow. He immediately got up to see it closer.
"My dark energon shard. Pulsing? My warrior lives." He realized.
In that moment Knock Out returned with an arm filled with missiles. "Ah, look what I found in storage." He said after seeing Darkscream walking away. "What are you doing?!"
"You were right, Knock Out. I'm much too attached to my original appendage. I will retrieve it."
Back with the Autobots…
"Now, calculating for relative time delays and ionospheric distortions, the signal emanated from the exact location as the original ground bridge coordinates." Ratchet reported.
"But we already look for them there." Hot Rod reminded.
"Perhaps, but not in the correct dimensional phase, as their message stated. But if I can recreate the feedback loop which triggered the event, I might be able to generate a rescue portal allowing passage from the called Reverse World."
"Back to base?"
"No. We're talking about interdimensional travel here, Warpath. Attempting to redirect the vortex's trajectory would be far too risky."
"Everyone knows that." Arcee piped in.
"If the coordinates aren't precisely the same who knows where the humans and pokémon could wind up."
Meanwhile, the group managed to put some distance between them and the zombie's arm. Unfortunately, they continued wondering until they couldn't advance more.
"Oh no, it's a dead end." Ritchie saw.
"So where can we go now?" Misty asked alarmed, right before they saw the arm appearing out of nowhere and advancing toward them.
The pokémon launched their attacks again, but this time the arm not only dodged, but also pushed with the fingers a few rocks that hit them and knocked them out. That left the group totally unprotected, so they only embraced together expecting the worse while the arm jumped at them. But suddenly, a huge ball of blue fire came flying and hit the arm, sending it to the wall of the other side. As they started to wonder why the arm didn't attacked them yet, everyone heard a strange sound, one that sounded like a roar, which made the pokémon wake up.
"Eh? What's that sound?" Max asked.
"Sounds like…a roar." Tracey deduced.
"A roar?" Misty asked. "But of what?"
"Hey, that roar sounds me familiar." Ash confessed.
"Me too." Dawn added.
But before someone could answer to Misty's question, the arm incorporated itself and moved at them again. It was about to jump at them again, but at the moment it did, something passed flying in middle of it and the group, and when it was gone, so was the arm. The gang heard that curious sound again, and looked everywhere for the origin, until Pikachu spotted something and showed it to Ash.
"Pika pi."
They saw a large creature which had a body like a mixture of a scorpion and an elongated worm: it had spikes, and six black tentacles on its back (three on each side), with a red spike on the tip of each tentacle: the legendary pokémon ruler of the Reverse World. They also could see that the pokémon grabbed the zombie arm with some kind of jaws-like armor near to his mouth, until the arm twisted and tried to grab his head, which forced him to threw it against the ground. The arm incorporated again and prepared to launch again at the pokémon, but he was already waiting for it: when the arm jumped, he disappeared after a blue gleam and reappeared after another one, hitting the arm and sending it back to the ground (Shadow Force). Taking advantage of that, the pokémon charged a Will-O-Wisp and fired it at the arm, making a huge fire explosion. When the smoke cleared, it revealed that the arm was now completely broken in pieces, no longer functional: the zombie arm was offline for sure.
"Pikachu."
"Whoa, you're right buddy, it's him." Ash nodded.
"Him? Who are you referring to?" Ritchie asked.
"To the ruler of the Reverse World." Ash answered pointing.
"Is that…a legendary pokémon?" Max asked amazed.
"Not an ordinary one, Max. That's Giratina." Dawn confirmed.
"I have heard about him: it is supposed to be the pokémon which rules dimensions and antimatter: a deity." Tracey told.
"I think I remember seeing it, right after the disaster on Dahara City." Clemont remembered.
"Do you know it?" Serena asked.
"We do. Dawn and I met him two times when we were traveling around the Sinnoh region with Brock. We also battled side to side." Ash told.
"Do you think he still remember us?" Dawn asked curious.
"There is only one way to figure it out. HEY, GIRATINA!"
"Ash, I don't think that's wise. It looks scary." Misty said nervous.
"PIKA PIKAAAAAAA!"
Pikachu's call was loud enough that Giratina heard it and turned around, heading right where they were. Seeing the giant pokémon flying right at them, everyone got a little nervous, even scared, except Dawn, Ash, Piplup and Pikachu, who expected their old friend recognized them too.
"It's bigger than I thought." Clemont admitted covering Bonnie.
"Fear nothing. Giratina may look intimidating, but he's a good pokémon inside." Dawn reassured.
Once it was close enough, Pikachu climbed to the highest spikes of Giratina's head and saluted him, which also looked at Ash.
"Hey Giratina. It's good to see you again after a while. I hope that you still remember us." Ash said, until for his surprise Giratina started stroking his head to him, making Ash laugh. "Hey, that tickles."
"I guess he really remembers you, Ash." Ritchie confirmed, seeing how happy the legendary pokémon reacted.
"How cool, the legendary pokémon who lives here is your friend." Bonnie said as she approached Giratina. "Hi Giratina." The deity pokémon approached his head to her height. "It's so nice to meet another friend of Ash and Dawn." Giratina roared happy as he allowed Bonnie to caress him. "Hey look, he's friendly."
"What a surprise, the legendary pokémon which lives here is a peacefully giant with good memory." May said in relief.
"It is also great to see him in person."
"Now that you said it, Max…" Tracey started, right before he pulled out his notebook and pencil and started to draw. "I have to immortalize this so Professor Oak can take a look."
"We're also glad that you saved us from the zombie's arm." Serena thanked.
"Even so, we're still trapped here."
"Not anymore, Ritchie. Giratina can take us back home." Dawn revealed.
Huh?" Everyone said in disbelief.
"She's right. Giratina is the only one who can travel from his home to our dimension. That's how we managed to return the last time." Ash reassured.
"Skyquake!"
Immediately, everyone got alarmed, knowing that voice was Darkscream.
"Look, there he is." Bonnie said pointing to another floating bubble.
"Your master summons you!" The Decepticon called.
"Fear nothing, Bonnie. He's at the other side." May tranquilized.
Suddenly, a ground bridge appeared in front of them, one which, at the other side, also appeared in front of Darkscream.
"A ground bridge portal?" Max asked.
"I think that's our way out of here." Clemont deduced.
"The Autobots saw our text." Misty realized cheered.
"What? Mine or theirs?" Darkscream asked himself as he contemplated it, something they could watch on the bubble.
"But Darkscream's at the other side. If we go through, we run smack into him." Dawn pointed.
"And our pokémon are already tired of fighting the zombie." Ritchie added as he took Sparky on his arms, already tired, the same as Pikachu, Dedenne and Piplup.
"But we can't stay here either." Tracey pointed.
"So what do we do?" May asked.
Ash looked to Giratina, who was also looking at him, and thought onto something.
"Giratina, that portal is our way back home, but at the other side there is an evil robot which would not hesitate to attack us like that metallic arm did, and Pikachu, Piplup, Sparky and Dedenne are too tired for battle. Can you help us?" Ash asked.
The legendary pokémon's answer was a roar as he nodded.
"Guys, listen, this is what are we going to do: we will run into the portal and pass Darkscream."
"What? Ash, that's a craziness." May answered.
"Yeah. At the moment Darkscream see us, he will try to crush us." Max added.
"He will not have a chance, not with Giratina being there covering us." Ash revealed.
"That's great, Ash. Giratina is a big and strong pokémon, and with only an arm he will not stand a chance against him." Serena supported.
"And maybe he will end taking flight like Team Rocket." Bonnie added.
"Follow my lead." Ash instructed.
They all got into a standing position as they saw Giratina getting ready too.
"Now!"
They jumped through the portal and ran below Starscream.
"Humans?" Darkscream saw. "Where did you and your pokémon vermin…? Wait, I remember you: you are the humans who helped the Autobots the last time we faced them. Oh, how am I going to enjoy smashing you, especially since your Autobot friends are not here to safe you now." He smirked advancing at them.
"That's where you're wrong." Ash denied.
"What? What do you mean?"
In that moment, Darkscream heard a new roar for him and turned at the ground bridge, right before something emerged from it and tackled him. As he landed next to them, everyone saw Giratina with a new appearance: his head was the same, but now his spikes turned into six legs, and his tentacles transformed into two large wings.
"Whoa, he has changed form." Bonnie said amazed.
"That's the form Giratina takes when he's in our dimension." Dawn reassured.
Darkscream gasped in horror seeing the giant pokémon advancing at him. "What kind of creature is this? I was not looking for a fight, so unless you want to know what kind of menace a Decepticon is, you beast, you better…"
But before Darkscream could finish, Giratina grabbed him by his arm and started shaking him hard.
"No, no no no no no! Release me now! Release me!" Darkscream begged as the gang laughed before Giratina threw him against the rocks.
Then, right behind them, another ground bridge appeared, with Optimus, Elita and Hot Rod coming out.
"Ash, are you and everyone okay?" Optimus asked.
"Never been better."
"Whoa." Hot Rod said as Giratina put himself between them and the gang and roared at them.
"No. It's okay, Giratina, these are friends." Dawn reassured.
"Piplup piplup!"
That calmed down the legendary pokémon.
"Autobots again?!" Darkscream saw before Giratina turned at him again and roared, so he called the ship for transport once again. "Requesting emergency ground bridge, now!"
As the Autobots and his friends were passing through the ground bridge, Ash looked at Giratina one last time.
"Thank you, again. Hope to see you again soon." Ash said goodbye.
"Pika pika!"
Giratina roared as a confirmation before opening another portal and returning back to his home. Finally, everyone was safe and sound at base.
"Look, you must know that…all of this is my fault." May apologized.
"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that a couple dozen times?" Max provoked.
"In her defense, I must say that May told me she went just only to know how to train our pokémon in case they will be forced to battle Decepticon zombies."
"Thanks, Clemont." May said a little flushed.
"May, what you've endured has been lesson enough. We are just glad you were all safe." Optimus said with a smile.
"Guess it was a good thing you dropped this." Moonracer said handing Misty her phone.
"But we've heard that you traveled to a place you already visited." Elita said.
"Yes, and even if our stay in the Reverse World was not like the other times, it was still incredible." Dawn reassured.
"We even met the pokémon who lives there." Bonnie added.
"You mean that big scary weird thing that managed to make Darkscream run?" Hot Rod asked.
"That's Giratina, and yes, it was him." Ash confirmed.
"He even helped us back in the Reverse World." Serena added.
"Then you must be really fortunate to have friends even on the most unusual places." Arcee remarked.
But not everyone got a happy ending. Darkscream returned back to the Nemesis's med lab, without his missing arm, letting Knock Out to finish repairing him.
"What happened? Galvatron pounded you like scrap metal again?" Knock Out asked as he was soldering with his finger which let out sparks.
"I would rather not discuss it."
"Honestly Darkscream, you need to take better care of yourself. Didn't you retrieve your limb?"
Darkscream only groaned. His arm was still in the Reverse World. Terrorcon Skyquake found it, and tried to insert it in place of its missing arm, but it was no use, so it threw it away before continuing its endless wandering. Without realizing it, Giratina was observing it, but since he wasn't causing any trouble, he decided to let it go. The Decepticon zombie was not a menace for his home, for now.
