52- New Kaon, Kanto.

The Nemesis was still above the ruins of the Autobot base in flames. On the ground, the Decepticon soldiers and Insecticons were digging up while Galvatron, still missing an arm, stood at top waiting for the results.

"Leave no stone unturned!" He commanded.

"Master, look who we found." Starscream called, with Zapwave and Cryotremor at his sides, while two Vehicons carried someone. "Pulled from the wreckage of his ship: Seaspray."

The Autobot Wrecker groaned in pain.

"So, one survived. Take our…guest back to the citadel for questioning. Back to New Kaon." Galvatron commanded looking at his new fortress.

"This is the dawning of a new age, my liege. The reign of Galvatron."

"You do have a way with words, Starscream. Make haste! And unearth the Autobot corpses!"

While the Decepticons continued their job, elsewhere, Optimus laid within the rubble, still online for what it seemed. After a while, the Decepticons showed their master what they recovered: the pod where Airachnid was still trapped and the Forge of Solus Prime. Galvatron descended to check the results, however, he didn't look pleased.

"The Forge of Solus Prime?! How is it that you have managed to materialize that yet not the remains of a single Autobot?!"

"Answer your lord and master! Where are their bodies?!" Starscream supported as his pokémon snarled at them to scare them.

Inside a cave somewhere of Mt. Moon, near the ruins of the Autobot base, Smokescreen appeared through the wall with Iris and Axew on his shoulder.

"Despite already knowing it, it still surprises me that humans and pokémon are able to pass through walls just like you with help of that little device." Iris expressed.

"Always as you remain hooked to me, but this is where both of you get off." Smokescreen instructed.

Iris and Axew jumped back to the floor while Smokescreen dragged Optimus with him.

"Hold on Smokey, I'll give you some help." Iris said pulling out Dragonite's poke ball and summoning him. "Dragonite, help Smokescreen."

Iris's pokémon helped the young Autobot carry his leader. Optimus looked very injured, so they laid him down against a rock.

"Is he going to be okay?" Iris asked worried.

"Axew."

"He's hurt, but he probably looks way worse than he feels." Smokey said putting a hand on Optimus.

Optimus was groaning in pain, a lot.

"No, don't move or talk, just power down. Get your strength back." Smokescreen advised.

"Don't worry. Smokey, Axew and I are here with you. We got you covered." Iris reassured.

Back outside the base's ruins…

"The Autobots clearly ground bridged from their base before it was destroyed. They could be anywhere." Galvatron deduced as he and Starscream walked back to New Kaon.

"We must initiate global surveillance, my lord. Send search and destroy teams to every sector of this planet." Starscream suggested.

"Soundblaster, monitor all earth-based transmissions for any sign of Autobot communication, with each other or with their human counterparts." Galvatron instructed by com-link.

Suddenly, one of Starscream's Genesect met with them.

"What is it, Waterspout?" Starscream asked.

The artificial pokémon pointed to the distance, right where an army of tanks, helicopters and military pokémon were coming at them.

"Foolish humans and their inferior pokémon. I shall deploy the armada."

"That won't be necessary, Starscream." Galvatron reassured. "Not when we can engage our enemy with new found might."

Suddenly, they also heard a roar coming from somewhere. All the other Genesect gathered with their leaders as Techbug pointed them to the sky. The Decepticons zoomed their optics to see what caused that roar. Once they had a better resolution, they discovered that the responsible was Rayquaza, the legendary pokémon, flying right at the fortress, maybe with intention to destroy it.

"That looks like one of those so called legendary pokémon. We shall teach it to not mess with those beings more powerful than even its kind. Starscream, send your squad to intercept it. Do you think they can prevail?"

"Of course, my liege. After all, they are also legendary pokémon. Boys, stop that beast from approaching New Kaon. Teach it a lesson that it will never forget!"

As he gave his command, the Genesect squad changed to their alt form and headed for their target. Rayquaza was preparing to launch a Hyper Beam to the Decepticon citadel, but before he could Techbug intercepted him with Extreme Speed, pushing him back. The legendary dragon type pokémon had no time to counterattack, because he immediately was hit from multiple sides by the pokémon now loyal to the Decepticons: the Genesect hit him with Metal Claw, Blaze Kick, Shadow Claw and Aerial Ace, followed by a combined impact made by Cryotremor and Infernyphoon with Giga Impact and Flame Charge, and they finished firing Techno Blast together, sending Rayquaza to the ground. As all this happened, at the top of the fortress were four big cannons, each facing four directions. One of them aimed at the military coming while Galvatron devilishly smirked. And then, the cannon fired at high speed a single energy shot, which impacted at the center of the battalion, just when Rayquaza almost reached the ground. The impact trapped them in some kind of gravitational force field, which next dragged all of them in a ball and next an explosion sent them all flying. Not only the battalion suffered because of the Decepticons, but also Pewter and Cerulean City looked to been in middle of the battlefield, with some buildings partially damaged or completely destroyed, but fortunately there was no one there. With the Nemesis stationed on a ramp connected to the fortress, and with air soldiers flying around it, Galvatron, now with his old arm again, was sit on his new throne on top of the fortress. He seemed like he was talking with someone by com-link.

"A new power dominates your world. Any further attempts to attack me will be met with even greater force. Your superiors should be advised that my energetic particle cannons possess enough firepower to decimate any densely populated place of my choosing. I would in all likelihood to set sights on your region's capital, for starters." Galvatron proclaimed.

The ones who Galvatron was talking with were no one else than pokémon rangers Solana and Lunick, who were listening everything inside an office of their base with their little pokémon companions on a desk.

"Point taken. Now what do you want from us?"

"Nothing, Ranger Solana. The Decepticons mean no harm to humanity. We merely desire a place to call home." Galvatron answered, while Starscream and Techbug were in front of him listening.

"No offense, Galvatron, but we're having a tough time swallowing all of this. Since you seem so being on plastering humankind and pokémon under molten steel!"

"Ranger Lunick, I admit that war brings out the worst in me, but the conflict with the Autobots is now over, and our quarrel has never been with your or any kind of this world. Now that the one true enemy of the Decepticons is no more, my only wish is to coexist on this planet with the human race and pokémon species…peacefully. Together, pokémon rangers, I believe that you and I can make that dream a reality." He said before he hung up.

"Minun mi!" Minun expressed mad.

"Yes buddy, it's obvious he's lying." Lunick agreed.

"I wouldn't know what to tell you. His voice sounded convincing." Solana expressed with doubt.

"He's a good actor, I admit it, but that's all he is. After what he did there is no way we can think his intentions are pacifist."

In the moment he ended the conversation, Galvatron stood up and walked to the edge of the platform, while Starscream and Techbug applauded him.

"You too have a way with words, master. I almost believed you myself."

Galvatron laughed looking upon the earth. "Earth is our planet now, Starscream. And we shall finish what we started. Humankind and all the creatures of this planet have no idea what lies ahead for them."

Moments later, at the pokémon rangers' headquarters, both pokémon rangers reported to Jack about the current situation.

"I see. At least no one was caught before the storm commenced, right?"

"That's right, Jack. Thanks to the special containment protocol, the evacuation of both Cerulean and Pewter City was 100% complete. We even managed to make all the wild pokémon of their surroundings to left the place before everything ended in ruins. As far as the citizens and the media are concerned the threat was a meteor shower, and both cities as well as Mt. Moon are to remain quarantine until the resulting radiation levels can be dissipated." Solana reported.

"Surely this did not take long to attract the military's attention. And they will not hesitate to attempt to strike back as retaliation."

"We can't allow that to happen, any form of retaliation will be too risky. You have to put it in the minds of the bosses up there, we just need more time." Lunick added.

Jack sighed. "I know. But the military's stress is starting to get to their heads, they're starting to get desperate at not being able to do nothing. I will see what I can do."

"Thank you, Jack."

As their companion left the room, both pokémon rangers sat on their chairs not very relieved, even despite their pokémon companions tried to cheer them up. Then, both ranger Kellyn and Delia Ketchum entered.

"How is he doing?" Solana asked.

"Stable, but looking bad. We should be grateful that a couple of nurses Joy volunteered to take care of all the hurt pokémon, specially Rayquaza. It would be a while before he's ready to take flight again." Kellyn reported.

"But they need help right now, and those medical supplies still haven't arrived. Those wounded men and pokémon are…

"We're doing the best we can, Miss Ketchum!" Lunick snapped. "We've been a little busy juggling a bunk of not happy generals who have been pushing our superiors hard to reveal what exactly are we dealing with and don't seem to care if they blow Mt. Moon sky high. And a Decepticon warlord who wants to make nice now that the Autobots are in the scrapyard! Galvatron's opinion, not mine."

"Lunick, easy." Solana said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "That tyrant has been trying to play with us, crush our spirit."

"Still no word, from anyone?" Delia asked worried.

Seeing how Delia was feeling by the lack of news, Ranger Kellyn decided to try to calm her down. "Listen, no contact only tells me that the main com-link went down when the base was obliterated."

"But if I just call Ash or Serena-"

"You know is too risky, so do the Bots. The Cons could trace any phone signal." Solana reminded.

"Then take me home. If Ash can't call, that's where he'll look for me."

"Pallet Town is not very far from Mt. Moon, if any of the Bots or their friends are spotted there, the Cons will swarm them and destroy everything there, putting more people and pokémon in danger."

"The only ones who can fix this mess are Prime and his Bots. I'm sure they're out there…keeping a low profile." Lunick hoped looking outside the window.

"They gotta be." Kellyn supported.

Meanwhile, above Fortree City on Hoenn, a Decepticon helicopter was scanning the few vehicles which traveled through the city trying to identify the Autobots by their alt forms. But because of all the trees it was very difficult.

"Scanning." The Con said before he scanned a car which looked similar to Bumblebee's alt form, but its paint didn't match. "Negative, no Autobot recognition."

The Decepticon circled around and made their way back to the fortress. After they were gone, the same car, black with yellow details, drove and hid under a huge tree. It opened its door and Max came out, checking that the sky was free of enemies.

"Clear." Max reported.

The vehicle transformed, revealing to be Bumblebee, with a little paint change. He saw through the tree's branches how the Con left.

"(It seems they didn't see us. That was close, right?)"

"Too close, but your paint job did the trick."

"(Bumblebee calling to base, come in. What? No one responds.)"

"The com's up-link is still down. Bee, I realize Optimus sent us all to different locations to make us harder for the Cons to find. But if we don't know where in the world anyone else went, how are we gonna find them?"

"(Going to the one place that the Cons will never suspect to find us.)"

"Right. Just keep heading to Kanto. Towards Galvatron's giant fortress." Max said with a worried face.

At the same time, on Mandarin Island, Moonracer was waiting outside a store with her hologram activated, she looked like waiting for someone. Moments later, Bonnie, wearing her pokémon-like pajamas, exited the store carrying a few snacks before getting on her Autobot guardian.

"I hope everything went fine." Moonracer commented.

"Well, the manager was a little confused why I was wearing a Tyrunt pajamas, but I answered him it was for a costume party. Luckily he bought it." Bonnie answered as she gave a snack to Dedenne. "So, now what?"

"We still have to figure a way to reunite with the rest of the team."

"But how? They could be anywhere on the planet. Oh, I wish big brother would have come with us, he would know what to do." Bonnie said, dropping a tear. "I miss him."

"Hey, cheer up. Clemont is a smart boy, I'm sure he would not let the Cons find him so easily. Let's see…if someone is alone and in need of a refuge for both him and his comrades, the first thing he needs to find is… Oh, I got it. I know where to go." Moon said as she speeded up and drove toward the port.

Far from there, on Frond Island, both Sideswipe and Ritchie were waiting right at the entrance of the port, like expecting someone.

"Are you sure he's going to make it?"

"Have a little faith, Sideswipe. I know sending him alone to try to sneak a ticket may be a little risky, but that's the only way to get out this island. We already have been lucky enough to being sent to an inhabited island, and if we want to find the rest of the team, we need to reach a region to start looking."

"Yeah, but which region? That's the problem. The others could have end up anywhere, probably other islands too."

Ritchie sighed. "I guess it is very hard to make decisions when one is operating by his own."

Sideswipe then realized something. "Or…maybe not. We are not actually the first ones who has been in this situation."

"Really? You mean someone else has been like this during the war?"

"No, more recently actually."

"Pika."

In that moment, they saw Sparky coming back with a paper on the mouth.

"Sparky, you did it." Ritchie congratulated as he picked up his buddy.

"Is that what you send him to get?"

"That's right. With this ticket we can get aboard a cruiser to travel anywhere we desire."

"And I know exactly where we need to go." Sideswipe proclaimed before they headed for the port.

As they prepared for travel, far from there, somewhere on the Great Marsh on Sinnoh, Warpath was driving around some swampy areas, with May sat on the pilot seat looking through the window and Misty sleeping on other seat.

"I never expected to see such a boring place." May said bored.

Then, she pulled out her phone.

"May!" Warpath yelled as he stopped so suddenly.

That woke up Misty. "Wha…what? Are we under attack?!"

"No cell phone! You know the rules!"

"Arg May, what have you done this time?"

"Guys, I wasn't calling anyone! Just playing a video game I already downloaded." She said showing it.

"Sorry. I guess I'm a little on edge." Warpath apologized before continuing the march.

"Oh, please make me the favor of waking me up the time is absolutely necessary." Misty asked as she was about to sleep again.

Somewhere else of the Sinnoh region, in the Iron Island, Dawn and Wheeljack were about to get on a boat.

"Okay, we're in. Now what?" Dawn asked.

"We head to Sinnoh." Wheeljack revealed.

"Why? If we are supposed to be hiding from the Cons, I'm not sure going home may be a good idea. I don't want to put my mother in danger."

"Piplup." The penguin pokémon nodded.

"We're not taking you home, Dawn."

"So, do you have a plan?"

"We're following standard Wrecker protocol."

"Which is?"

"An emergency plan we followed during the war. In case any Wrecker got stranded or separated from the unit, we'd always rendezvous at the exact same set of coordinates. If Seaspray is still alive, he'll be there."

But Wheeljack didn't know that Seaspray was suffering constant torture from Starscream and his pokémon.

"Don't stop now. I was just beginning to enjoy myself." Seaspray provoked.

Starscream groaned a little, but soon smirked. "Believe me, Seaspray. There's more where that came from, and you will tell me the location of your compatriots. Hit him once again." He commanded, making Techbug, Infernyphoon and Waterspout to hit the Autobot's chest with Metal Claw and Shadow Claw, leaving him an ugly mark. "No matter what it takes or how long."

"I've already told you: they weren't expecting me. I was not part of their group, I simply invited myself. So get going, knock yourself out, you and your brainwashed pokémon."

"Oh, I will. Zapwave, use Magnet Rise."

One of the Genesect floated to the Autobot's back and use the electric move, causing him great pain. While some air Vehicons flew around the fortress, Knock Out was summoned to Galvatron's throne.

"How may I serve you, lord Galvatron?" He asked bowing.

"Assemble a team and disembark for Cybertron immediately. While hunting Autobots remains paramount, we must not squander the opportunity to recover any Iacon relics left behind in the chaos. For all we know, Optimus Prime is out there…planning to do the same."

At the same time, Smokescreen and Iris were still inside the cave, just when Optimus started to move.

"It's okay, Optimus." Smokescreen reassured him.

"You're with us: Smokey, me and Axew." Iris numbered.

"How did…I get here?" Optimus asked weakly.

"When we were evacuating the base, just as the Cons opened fire…" Smokescreen started.

A flashback showed when Smokescreen and Iris were leaving the base.

"It was our turn to ground bridge away."

The portal sent them to a street of Mulberry City, on Kanto, but he changed to robot form, after forcing Iris to get out, and turned at the portal.

"But I couldn't do it. I couldn't let you face Galvatron's army alone. I suggested Iris and Axew to stay behind and look for help, but they rejected it and convinced me to allow them to accompany me."

"Because partners don't let partners unaided." Iris defended, interrupting Smokescreen's story.

Smokescreen allowed Iris to climb on his shoulder, put on his wrist the phase shifter and activated it before going into the portal again.

"So we snuck back."

Smokescreen returned to base, but it was too late.

"But that's when the blast hit and the whole joint came tumbling down."

When they looked around, Axew spotted Optimus's arm in middle of the rubble.

"And we managed to pull you from the wreckage before the Cons dove in." Iris ended.

"Using the phase shifter, which I managed to snag in all the confusion back on Cybertron." Smokescreen showed.

"I…I'm sorry we defied your orders." Iris apologized.

"We're safe here, but we're down so deep that no one can pick up our signals. Fortunately, they are some vents that allow air to flow from the outside for Iris and Axew."

"And now?"

"I'll have to scout around base if we're gonna have any hope of finding Ratchet."

"No." Optimus said weakly. "No hope."

"What do you mean? The doctor is the only one who can make you feel better." Iris said, but Optimus didn't answer back. "Optimus?"

"We better let him rest, Iris. Stay alert in case anything happens, and take care of him. I'll be back."

"Be careful out there, Smokey."

"Don't worry, I'm an Elite Guard soldier." He reassured before departing.

Meanwhile, in an industrial area, outside of Florando City on Johto, Hot Rod, with Ash, Pikachu and Tracey inside him, was looking for a hiding place.

"What if the Cons decided to look on Pallet Town for us? She could be hurt or taken by the Cons."

"Ash." Tracey called, trying to call his attention.

"Pika pi."

"And if she did get out, she's gotta be worried out of her mind, not knowing where me and Serena are. Oh great, now I'm worried about her too. She may be worried sick, suspecting the worst that could happen to me. She must be having a lot of fear." Ash continued as Hot Rod changed to robot form.

"Ash, calm down. We'll get back to Kanto, find a way to reach your mother, and the rest of the team." Hot Rod reassured him.

"Besides, you know how strong she is. Surely she may be worried about you, but I'm sure she and Arcee are currently looking for a way to find us, thing that will motivate her to not give up." Tracey added.

Suddenly, Hot Rod heard a helicopter noise and spotted one in the distance.

"You guys wait here. It could be a Con on our trail." He instructed before he changed to vehicle form and went to check it.

While Tracey took his binoculars to check their surroundings, Ash sighed before taking out his phone and scrolling through the contact list to his mother and Serena's number.

"Pika."

"I know, buddy. I wish I could call them, make them know I'm fine." Ash lamented, but then he got an idea. "But maybe I could text them. That can't harm, right?"

"Pika pi." Pikachu answered shrugging his shoulders.

And he started to write it. Just moments before, Arcee and Serena were parked next to the waterfalls of Couriway Town, on Kalos. Since it was already night, Arcee could be on her normal form.

"They're beautiful, isn't it?" Arcee commented, admiring the waterfalls.

"Yeah." Serena answered, but with a sad tone.

Arcee noticed how her partner was feeling. "Relax, I'm sure Ash managed to get out safety, and that he's looking a way to reunite with you. He also has Hot Rod to make sure nothing bad happens, but we must do our part too and keep moving until we find a trail which lead us to him."

As Arcee went to look the waterfalls from another perspective, Serena pulled out her phone and saw the photo of her and Ash together. In that moment, she received a message, so she checked it out, which gave her a surprise.

"With Hot Rod, safe and sound. Love you." She rode, making her drop tears of joy and relief.

She started to write and answer to him. But unfortunately, Soundblaster intercepted both messages on New Kaon, and he wasn't alone.

"Master, we have a double prize: two of the Autobot human allies have been located." Starscream reported.

"Send in the troops to both positions and one of your pokémon. And Soundblaster, I want a live feed." Galvatron instructed before he transformed and flew from his throne back to the Nemesis.

Soundblaster received the others and deployed both Buzzsaw and Ravage, which were sent to the two destinations. At the same time, on the pokémon rangers' base, Delia was taking all the medical supplies when her cellphone buzzed. She pulled out her phone and became hopeful seeing who was.

"Ash." She said before reading the message. "With Hot Rod, safe and sound. Love you." That made her sigh in happiness before she ran out of the room. "Ranger Jack, Ash's alive!"

Ash saw that Serena answered him.

"Safe with Arcee. Hope to see you again. Love you." Ash rode. "See? Now we know they're fine."

Ash ended with the message and retrieved his phone. Suddenly, Pikachu's ears moved, noticing something.

"Pika?"

"What is it?" Tracey asked joining them.

"Pikachu has detected something. What is it, buddy?" Ash asked.

Pikachu simply looked at the sky, so Ash did the same. He tried to focus on what his pokémon pal heard, and moments later saw a pair of air Vehicons and Cryotremor heading toward them.

"Uh-oh." Tracey said.

"Scrap." Ash cursed.

Cryotremor changed to his normal form and prepared to fire Techno Blast at them while the Vehicons did it already. Ash and Tracey were forced to run away.

"Pikachu, see if you can take them down." Ash instructed.

"Pika." Pikachu nodded before he climbed at the buildings' top and started attacking the Vehicons with Thunderbolt.

The Cons were forced to interrupt their attack and dodge Pikachu's, but he was focused on them that he didn't saw Cryotremor coming until he grabbed him with his hands. Meanwhile, Hot Rod continued driving until he transformed behind a boulder and aimed his weapon at the helicopter, so he could identify it.

He sighed in relief. "Is just a human."

Then, he heard explosions coming from behind him, and saw signs that something was wrong in the industrial area.

"Oh no. Ash, Pikachu, Tracey!" He said alarmed as he transformed again and drove right at the battle zone.

As this happened, back to Kalos, Serena was now better knowing her boyfriend was safe and sound.

"You look more cheered. Did I miss something?" Arcee noticed arriving.

"Well, you see…I…"

But Serena couldn't finish her sentence because they heard a familiar roar. Immediately, both girls went to hiding behind a bridge. Arcee took a look from the edge to the street and found Ravage stalking through the roofs of the houses, while a few Vehicons started searching not far from where they were.

"How did those Cons find us?" Arcee asked in confusion.

"Oh no. The messages." Serena realized.

"What?"

"You see, Ash sent me a message telling me he was fine. And I…kinda respond him too."

"Are you two crazy? The Cons would have tracked your phones, so now Ash may be in danger too."

At hearing that, Serena got worried again. As for Ash, he and Tracey managed to dodge the shots hiding between some bunks of wet coal.

"We're so toast." Ash expressed.

"We need to find some shelter." Tracey suggested as they tried to jump over a fence.

They managed to overpass the fence, but the shots of one of the Vehicons blasted a power line next to them, but fortunately they managed to remain in the center of the tower while it went down. As for Pikachu, the Genesect was holding him still as he prepared his cannon to fire Techno Blast again, but Pikachu managed to hit him first with Iron Tail, releasing himself and landing in middle of a bunch of boxes. When Cryotremor recovered from the hit, he started looking for Pikachu checking the boxes, which were of the correct size to allow Pikachu to settle an ambush. When he was looking to other side, Pikachu took advantage to strike him with Quick Attack, and with the Genesect checked where he disappeared, he did it again from other side, again and again. Until Cryotremor had enough, and decided to raise above the boxes and hit them all with Giga Impact, destroying Pikachu's hideouts. The impact also caught him, sending him a few meters to where Ash and Tracey were.

"That Genesect looks too much for Pikachu to handle alone." Tracey observed.

"Then he needs help." Ash decided pulling out one of his poke balls. "Come out, Greninja."

"Marill, you too." Tracey said doing the same.

"Greninja."

"Marill."

"Pikachu needs your help. Assist him in battling that red Genesect." Ash instructed.

Both water type pokémon nodded and went to assist their companion. While Pikachu was trying to get up, Cryotremor spotted him, and prepared to strike him with Aerial Ace. But just at the moment he was about to hit him, he was blocked by Greninja's own Aerial Ace. Next, Marill surprised him with Water Gun, blinding him enough so Pikachu could get away. Cryotremor and Greninja started a high-speed duel clashing with Aerial Ace and Cut, until Pikachu managed to trap their attacker with Electroweb, allowing Marill to hit him hard with Rollout, pushing him against a wall. As Cryotremor was recovering, Pikachu and Marill jumped to Greninja's shoulders, right before he used Double Team. When Cryotremor saw his opponent multiplied, he didn't know who to attack, and ended launching Ice Beam to everyone. But that kept him distracted long enough for the three pokémon to jump above him and surprise him with a combo of Iron Tail, Aqua Tail and Water Shuriken, which impact was strong enough to knock out the Genesect. After that victory, the trio of pokémon returned with their trainers.

"You guys alright?" Ash asked, earning a nod from everyone. "You managed to beat him?"

"That's what you should expect from such pokémon as ours." Tracey said proud.

But their happiness left as fast as it arrived when they spotted Buzzsaw coming at them.

"Smile guys. We are on Decepticon TV." Ash said ironically.

The Decepticons saw what Buzzsaw was recording when Galvatron arrived.

"Master, we have a visual." Starscream announced.

"Ah yes. Ash, there you are." Galvatron recognized.

At the same time, Arcee and Serena decided to move under the bridges to evade the Cons. Unfortunately, Ravage was using it's smell sense to track them, and discovered Arcee's scent.

"Scrap. That Minicon may have caught my smell." Arcee cursed.

"I can fix that." Serena offered pulling something from her backpack.

"Wait, are you referring to…Oh no, please not that."

"Calm down Arcee, it'll be fine. Just let everything to me."

Ravage continued tracking the Autobot scent, followed by the Vehicons, until suddenly, it lost the trail. He searched the place, trying to find it again, but that was a chance which Arcee and Serena took to sneak behind their noses and hide between some woods.

"Looks like it worked." Arcee congratulated.

"Told you."

"Now we have to find a way out fast."

Serena noticed a few train rails nearby. "I think I have found one."

The boys were not having better luck: the Vehicons spotted them again, so they were forced to hid under a truck trailer. One of them fired at the trailer, exploding it in the air. One of the Vehicons was coming for another round, even with Pikachu and Greninja firing Thunderbolt and Water Shuriken back. But before the shots reached them, Hot Rod arrived, grabbed them and put them to safety before firing at the attackers.

"How long does it take to exterminate a lone Autobot and his human and pokémon pets?" Galvatron asked annoyed.

"Well, in my experience…"

"Not a riddle, Starscream."

"Uh-he, sorry."

Taking advantage of the break, Hot Rod spotted a gas station nearby.

"Over there."

He transformed, the humans and pokémon got inside him and they drove past the station and took cover behind a pump.

"This is not the best place for cover." Ash pointed.

"We're not here to hide." Hot Rod smirked.

Back to Couriway Town, everything was quiet, even with the Cons and Ravage patrolling the area. Until they heard the growing noise of a motorcycle, right before they spotted Arcee and Serena heading for a moving train. Immediately, they changed to vehicle form and chased them, with Ravage right behind them. The girls' intention was boarding a train to move faster and safety through the region, but the Cons fired their weapons in vehicle form.

"Oh no, they are approaching fast."

"Serena, get ready."

"Ready? For what?"

Without warning, Arcee jumped and changed back to robot form, grabbing Serena in the air, before throwing her into one of the train's carriages.

"Warn me the next time you're doing that." Serena expressed annoyed.

Arcee stood on top of the train and fired back at the Vehicons. She took down the first one, but the other two and Ravage went by separated ways. One of the them tried to board the train from one of the sides while Arcee was busy dealing with the other one, but when he was about to open the carriage's door, he found an unexpected surprise.

"Now!" Serena shouted.

Serena have summoned Braixen and Sylveon, who used Flamethrower and Fairy Wind to blind the Con's visor, making him to not see coming a post that took him out of the train. Arcee saw it and focused on the remaining Vehicon, hitting the wheels, making him to spin out of control and crushing against a boulder, exploding in pieces. But Ravage managed to climb on top of the train, Arcee spotted it, but instead of fighting she reunited with Serena.

"There is only one left, but Ravage is too fast for me to aim. Even if we manage to get it off the train, it will still on our trail." Arcee reported.

"You said it can follow our smell, right? How about if we take out its sense?"

Arcee's face turned into a surprised one at hearing Serena's suggestion. As for Ravage, it was almost at there, approaching silently. Then it jumped into the carriage with guns and claws ready.

"You like smells? Smell this." Serena said throwing her perfume bottle at the Minicon's head.

The bottle broke on Ravage's face, and all the perfume entered its nose. That blocked its smell sense completely, but also caused it some irritation, that much which made it trip over and fall out of the train.

"Now he will smell nothing more than that." Serena revealed.

"Well played, partner." Arcee congratulated as the train continued its way.

Back to Florando City, the air soldiers transformed and landed, with weapons ready. They crouched to see Ash and Tracey each one holding a hose, both leaking gas.

"Hey guys!" Ash called.

"Unleaded or diesel?!" Tracey asked.

The Cons noticed a buddle of fuel flowing between them and both humans started to run away. They were about to fire when Hot Rod and Pikachu appeared from behind the car Ash and Tracey were heading and shot lasers and electricity first. The electricity paralyzed the Vehicons, and the laser shot hit the fuel, causing a huge explosion that consumed the Decepticons and the station while Hot Rod covered his pals. The explosion even caught Buzzsaw, frying all its circuits and causing it to crush, which caused the Decepticons to lose the signal completely, and making Galvatron roar mad, again.

"Let's roll before they send reinforcements." Hot Rod suggested.

"Agree." Ash said while he and Tracey retrieved their pokémon back to their poke balls.

Hot Rod transformed and his companions entered him before they accelerated out of there. When Cryotremor went back, he found the place in flames. He tried to look for his targets, but instead, he found Buzzsaw on the floor, damaged. He touched it to check how it was, but at receiving no answer he pressed the Decepticon emblem of his armor, making it to shine constantly, as a beacon. Meanwhile, on the ruins of the Omega Lock on Cybertron, Knock Out was looking the reconstructed building that Galvatron restored before while some Decepticons and Insecticons were removing debris.

"Come on, fellas. Put your backs into it!" He encouraged.

Two Vehicons lifted a burnt, rusted piece of metal to reveal a relic underneath it.

"The Apex Armor. Our illustrious leader will be pleased. Now any sign of that phase shifter? I really like that thing." Knock Out said trying to locate it.

"Sir!" One of the Vehicons called as it spotted something.

"By the Allspark."

Meanwhile, on New Kaon, Soundblaster was repairing Buzzsaw with his tentacles while Ravage was waiting its turn, still irritated by the perfume.

"Well? Did any of the surveillance data survived?" Galvatron asked.

Soundblaster's silence was more than enough to say nothing was left.

Starscream sighed as he was checking Cryotremor alongside his squad. "A shame. We might have a least learned the direction in which Hot Rod and the humans fled."

"Clearly we need to improve our methods of hunting Autobots. And build upon the tactical advantage that we've managed to secure." Galvatron added.

"Lord Galvatron, I am ready to return to New Kaon, and I'm certain you'll want to see what I've uncovered." Knock Out reported through com-link.

"Soundblaster, open a space bridge portal."

Soundblaster stopped Buzzsaw's reparations and activated the space bridge, creating a portal in front of them. Knock Out emerged from it.

"I find myself an urgent need of good news. So please, Knock Out, tell me that you've found something useful." Galvatron asked.

"Somethings, my liege. And someone." Knock Out answered stepping aside.

Some footsteps revealed that someone was passing through the portal, but no one could visualize it until it was close enough.

Then, Starscream gashed in surprise, recognizing the new Decepticon. "He's…back?"

"Shockblast." Galvatron saw before chuckling. "Just the tactical advantage I need."