53- Scattered.
"Lord Galvatron." Shockblast saluted bowing to his master.
"Shockblast! This is quite an unexpected turn. I thought you were out there looking for more of us."
"Yes, just like everyone else." Starscream reminded.
"Shockblast?" Knock Out asked confused. "Let me guess: you're the upgraded version of Shockwave, don't you?"
"Affirmative. As for your previous question: it is true that I departed with the others to find more of our forces scattered across deep space. But while the others decided to continue by their own, I decided to return to Cybertron, in any hope to find any stranded members of our faction refuged there. Once I arrived, I searched every known place belonged to our faction of our home planet, even using an active beacon in order to attract any other survivors present in or near the planet. Unfortunately, I received no answer, so I decided to recover any material which could still be of some use for us, using my old laboratory as command center. As I performed it, I decided to resume my experiments in order to keep making progress for our science field and future additions for our forces. The solitude enabled me to make tremendous advances in my research." Shockblast told about his experience on Cybertron after the first encounter with their enemies, showing him arriving on Cybertron, searching places for any signs of allies and taking materials to his lab, where he worked with them. "Until one day, my instruments detected a massive surge of unidentifiable energy. I traveled to investigate its origin at the edge of the Sea of Rust, where I encountered your salvage team and the smoldering wreckage of the Omega Lock. But this was not the kind of encounter with our forces I expected to find. But at least, it allowed me to return."
Shockblast drove in his vehicle form, a flying cybertronian tank, until Knock Out saw him approaching before he transformed back to robot form, ending the tale.
"Interesting. But now that we know your story, I cannot avoid to wonder how did you arrived to Earth at the first place. According to the initial reports, you perished on Cybertron." Galvatron remembered, looking at Starscream.
"Yes, yes, yes. As did we all." Starscream answered nervously taking a few steps back.
"Reports of my demise were greatly…premature." Shockblast started to tell. "A pair of Autobots infiltrated my facility on Cybertron, sabotaging my space bridge."
Shockblast retold his experience with Arcee and Hot Rod, when he was Shockwave.
"I gave chase, but failed to accurately calculate the outcome."
When he failed to shoot Arcee and she hit his eye before they escaped. Next, Shockwave laid in the wreckage with an ugly mark on his eye.
"I awoke in the rubble, blinded. It soon became clear that I was marooned on our dead planet, with no means of communications. In time, I repaired my wounds and resume my work."
Next, Shockwave was working peacefully in his lab again, until the alarm sounded and showed something on the terminal.
"Until one day, I received an incoming distress signal, of Decepticon origin, from the target world where everyone was supposed to be heading under your command. The message's structure indicated that something wrong happened to the Nemesis, and possible to you. So I gathered all the resources I could recover and fixed a starship, enough for me to take me to the place from the message was sent. But at arriving to the coordinates, my ship was taken down. Everything made sense once I saw that someone was expecting me: the distress message was a trap, settled to draw any survivor to an ambush."
The following scene showed Shockwave fixing a ship, which he later used to travel to Earth. But before he landed, the ship shook and went down. As Shockwave tried to get out from the wreckage, he found himself surrounded by Team Alien's troops and pokémon, before all attacked him.
"The next time I regained consciousness, it was in my new upgraded body, thanks to you, my liege. Leaving one unanswered question." Shockblast said looking at Starscream, thing that Galvatron noticed, so he stepped aside so Shockblast could approach him closely. "Why was I left for scrap? Abandoned? Why?"
Starscream was so nervous as he tried to answer the best way he could. "The-the…the explosion! It…it collapsed the power core chamber. The last thing anyone witnessed was you charging into the space bridge portal. No one saw you come back out."
"I find your reply to be…logical."
Starscream sighed in relief.
"But…what happened to you, Darkscream? I mean, to your previous improved body. Why have you returned to your previous configuration?"
Starscream groaned. "You can thank that to Team Alien."
"I see." Shockblast said as he was about to retire, but something caught his attention. "Wait. Are those creatures some specimens from some native species of this planet?"
"Indeed. But the Genesect squadron is a group of pokémon breed by Starscream himself, trained for proper cybertronian combat. They are the most similar to us of all pokémon, they fight on our side." Galvatron revealed.
"Hum, I guess I'm not the only one who has made good use of time." Shockblast said turning at the exit.
"But you will be pleased to know that I've tried to avenge your seeming demise by personally confronting the Autobot Hot Rod. Haha."
"Careful, Starscream. You may dislocate a landing gear patting yourself on the back." Knock Out warned.
"As Galvatron's first lieutenant, allow me to welcome you back to the winning team."
"And allow me to clarify the new chain of command: while Starscream will retain authority over military operations, Shockblast will be my first lieutenant in charge of all scientific endeavors." Galvatron explained.
"Uh, so you are saying we shall each report directly to you?"
"Affirmative." Galvatron confirmed as he, Shockblast and Soundblaster left the room.
Starscream pounded his hip out of anger. "Completely logical, my liege."
"Alright, it is everyone important here gifted with an improved version of itself except me?!" Knock Out asked in disbelief. Starscream simply groaned before leaving as well, so Knock Out looked to the Genesect. "Did I ask something bad?"
The pokémon only answered by shrugging. Meanwhile, Arcee and Serena finally got off the train.
"Hey, you're hungry? According to your map we're not far from Camphrier Town." Arcee suggested.
"Ah, better not. I'm not sure how much food I'm still have, and I want to avoid paying with the money my mom gave me." Serena answered.
"At least you don't have to buy gasoline. I'm pulling over anyways, need to stretch my legs." Arcee said as she stopped in an open area. Serena got off her so she transformed and started stretching her arms. "Aw, oh yeah."
"Arcee, Team Prime is scattered to the winds. For all we know, you and I could be the only ones left." Serena said worried looking the sun.
Arcee went up to her, went on one knee and held her shoulder. "I don't believe that, Serena. And I know you don't either. Even if that would be the case, I know guys like Hot Rod and Ash would still keep fighting. And I'm sure he wouldn't like you to give up."
"Maybe not, but the Decepticons outnumber us 100 to 1. Aren't there any more Autobots out there who can help us?"
"The War for Cybertron took a heavy toll, but there were others who escaped in other transports before the Ark."
"So, where are they?"
Arcee grabbed a handful of sand and let the wind blow it away from her hand. "Scattered to the winds. So let's focus on getting back to Kanto, and getting Team Prime back together. But for that, we need to make a stop on the Unova region."
"Why?"
"You will see."
"Then if we are going to travel to another region…" Serena started takin out her digital map. "…I know where to go next."
At the same time, a boat arrived to the New Tork city port, and from which jumped out Moonracer with Bonnie on her which immediately drove at the city. Something similar happened to the port of Castelia City, where Sideswipe jumped out of the cruiser to the cargo bay and set course to inland. Meanwhile, Bumblebee was arriving to Littleroot Town.
"(We need a way to know where the others could go. Any luck?)"
"Nothing, Bee. Just the same old rubber mask and bad CGI, but the usual conspiracy websites might be our only chance to…Whoa, I found something!" Max expressed when he discovered a very promising picture. He looked closer and was able to identify a very recognizable Autobot. "It's Ratchet."
Back to New Kaon, the Decepticon officers and Knock Out were telling Shockblast about everything that happened in his absence. Of course, not everyone was happy.
"Arg, Shockblast's toting is so transparent. Galvatron's respect is earned by deeds, not words." Starscream complained with his pokémon present, before he started checking the human conspiracy website. "Useless, useless, useless. Billions of cameras in the hands of those miserable humans. One of them is bound to catch an Autobot eventually."
Suddenly, one of the Genesect pointed at one certain picture: Ratchet's image.
"Well well well, what have we here? Good eye, Techbug." Starscream congratulated before he turned to the others. "Lord Galvatron, we have found something of great interest."
Back with Bee and Max…
"The photo was taken yesterday, in a junkyard outside Virbank City. The good thing is the city has a port, so we can travel there by boat."
"(I'm sure if we can see him, the Cons also could trach Ratchet.)"
"I'm already on it, Bee. I hope I have learned a few things from Clemont. I better scrub Ratchet, and I already know what to replace it with."
At the same time in the Nemesis…
"An Autobot." Starscream presented as he and the others stepped aside.
But in the picture's place there was something from a playlist called Pokémon World's Funniest Videos, and there was a video about Team Rocket flying away.
"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" The video recorded.
That caused Knock Out to laugh a lot.
"That's the funniest thing I have ever seen!" Knock Out enjoyed, but when Galvatron, Shockblast and Soundblaster stared at him, it made him to quickly straight himself up.
"Wait, what?" Starscream said turning back at the screen. "It was just here! Surely one of you saw it!"
"Starscream, you would do well to take a cue from Soundblaster on occasion, and keep things to yourself." Galvatron explained grinning his teeth.
"Vow of silence. Such a cop-out." Starscream admitted before he continued researching.
"Lord Galvatron, surely our Autobot prisoner is a better source of information than this primitive data-net."
"I will have you know, Shockblast, that my boys and I have been grinding Seaspray down for days. If he knew anything, he would have spilled it by now."
"Again…some prove to be better at holding their tongues than others." Galvatron pointed.
"Perhaps you would have better results if instead of a club, you used a scalpel. I recommend a cortical psychic patch." Shockblast explained.
Meanwhile, Dawn, Piplup and Wheeljack were seated on a grassy mountain slope of the Sendoff Spring. Both Dawn and Piplup were looking at the lake, while Wheeljack remained alert. Suddenly, he spotted something approaching through the woods.
"Dawn, Piplup, get ready." Wheeljack advised changing his hands for his blasters.
"What is it?" Dawn asked.
"There is something coming at us. Something huge." The Wrecker answered activating his battle mask.
The Wrecker aimed his weapons, waiting to see what was coming for them, ready to fire once it emerged from the trees. But for their surprise, what emerged was a very recognizable tank.
"Hold on, Jackie. Do you think that could be…?"
"I don't think it, Dawn. I know it is. It's Warpath! Hey, over here, buddy! Don't pass by!"
Immediately, the tank changed course right at them and speeded up. Almost with them, both Misty and May came out before the tank transformed, confirming to be Warpath.
"Wheeljack!" The Autobot tank yelled happy as he ran and gave him a bear hug. "I'm so glad you made it!"
"Yeah, but I'm starting to regret calling you to not end crushed." Wheeljack replied strenuously.
"May, Misty, you are fine!" Dawn called.
"We're so glad that you also didn't get caught." May answered giving her a hug.
"Looks like you have taken good care of your trainer and Autobot guardian, Piplup." Misty congratulated as she fondled the little pokémon.
"Piplup." Piplup expressed proud.
"Who did you know we were here?" Dawn asked as she and the other girls met with the Autobots.
"We didn't. We were just looking for a safe place when we ran into you by chance." May answered.
"So, why were you guys just staying here?" Warpath asked.
"This is the Wrecker meeting point, the place where we're supposed to wait to reunite with any fellow Wrecker." Wheeljack explained.
"So, you mean Seaspray could also be on his way here?" Misty asked hopeful.
"Probably. But we have been waiting for a while and no one has showed up, except you. Actually, at this point in time, I don't think he will come." Dawn revealed.
Wheeljack saw how sad Misty's face turned. "Don't worry, girls. Every Wrecker knows the protocol. Seaspray will show, if he's still kicking."
But inside the Decepticon lab, Seaspray was about to experience the cortical psychic patch as Shockblast was preparing it.
"Send it the best you can, cyclops. I'm a Wrecker, I will endure it." Seaspray challenged.
Shockblast inserted on his back one end of the patch's cable and grabbed took the other end before he started advancing at him. "Trust me. You in fact, cannot."
Sometime later, Shockblast went to Galvatron's throne to report him the results.
"The patch failed to yield any new information on the whereabouts of the Autobots." He informed.
"Hum, I see." Galvatron said sat on his throne.
"That it would seem that Seaspray has outlived his usefulness. With your permission, lord Galvatron, I will see it to his immediate termination." Starscream declared.
Seaspray groaned as he recovered from the patch.
"Wake up, Wrecker." One Vehicon shoved him.
Once fully awake, Seaspray saw that he was at a ledge, and right below him was a smelting pit.
"Oh no, not again." He cursed.
"Time to smelt." The Vehicon announced as he and other Vehicon hold him. "Commander Starscream wanted you conscious so you'd know precisely who ordered your execution."
"Where is Screamy? Too cowardly to do this by himself?" Seaspray mocked, making one of the Cons to shove him closer to the ledge.
"Jump." The Con demanded.
"Hey, you're a flyer?" Seaspray said to one of the Vehicons, before kicking it on the head, grabbing it and throwing it into the pit. That made all the others to aim their weapons at him. "Okay, I'll jump into the pool."
And Seaspray jumped into the pit, following the Con, which changed to his jet mode. So, the Wrecker landed right on it.
"I knew it. YEEE-HAAA!"
He steered the Vehicon away from the smelting pit. Three other Cons saw it and changed to vehicle form to follow him. Seaspray hit him two times, trying to break the chains of his arms, when the others started to fire at them.
"Thanks for the ride."
Seaspray jumped off before the Vehicon crashed against the fortress, and landed on one of the Cons who were after him. He saw coming another one that fired at him, so he used the shots to break his chains, breaking free and able to use his guns, taking down the fighter. Another Decepticon fired at him, so he covered himself by using the Con he was riding as a shield before shooting down the other. Seeing the ground coming fast, he forced the Con to change course to a nearby river, and when he was close enough, he jumped off the Con before he crash-landed and explode, changed to vehicle form and followed the river driving away from the fortress, which searchlights turned on trying to located the fugitive. In Galvatron's throne…
"This is how you handle things?!" Galvatron yelled mad.
"Seaspray is not the first prisoner to escape Starscream's care." Shockblast reminded.
"Actually, master, I allowed Seaspray to escape." Starscream revealed.
"You what?!" Galvatron shouted, getting up from his throne.
"But the Autobot's every move, his every word will be monitored." Starscream continued, making Galvatron grew an intrigued look. "Techbug." The Genesect leader revealed a small device and handled it to his master. "Thanks to a simple tracking device implanted while the prisoner was still unconscious, following the failed cortical psychic patch. Now all we have to do is wait, watch and listen. When the Wrecker reunites with the other Autobots, my armada will strike." Starscream ended, making Galvatron smirk.
As this was revealed, Seaspray already reached the sea, but continued his way into the ocean. Meanwhile, on Virbank City, already at night, Bee drove inside the junkyard where Ratchet's picture was made.
"He's gotta be here." Max said as he looked for Ratchet through the windows while Bee drove around the place.
"(Maybe we'll have better luck if we spread out.)"
"Good idea, Bee." Max agreed before he got out and started searching by another way.
Despite the fact that he was searching by his own and it was night, Max continued looking. Then, he heard a nearby noise of falling junk, giving him the feeling that he may not be alone, so he tried to check what it could be. But before seeing anything, something grabbed and dragged him into the shadows. He felt a hand covering his mouth, preventing him to call Bee for help. But he didn't need for.
"You should be more careful while you wander out there in middle of the night alone." A familiar voice whispered right behind him.
Max looked above and was happy to recognize the person who surprised him. "Clemont? Is that you?"
"Have you seen any Cons nearby?"
"No. We're just Bee and me."
Clemont sighed, released Max and both stepped out of the shadows. "That's a relief. I'm glad the Cons are not smart enough to discover the clue I posted."
"You are the one who made Ratchet's picture?"
"Yes. Ratchet thought it may be risky, but I had to give a clue in order to make someone else know where to find us. And I guess my plan worked, you found me."
Max couldn't contain more the needs to hug him. "I'm so glad that you're fine. And I prevented the Cons to make use of your clue thanks to your teachings."
"Really? I guess I should be proud that someone took a good look to what I do at base besides the ground bridge. Did you say Bumblebee came with you?"
"That's right. Bee, come here! It's Clemont! I found him!"
Bumblebee immediately reunited with them.
"(Clemont, good to see you! Where's Ratchet? Is he here with you?)"
"He wants to know where Ratchet is." Max translated.
"He's parked right there." Clemont pointed. "But he's not the same one."
"Huh?"
Clemont guided them to where Ratchet was parked, in vehicle mode.
"Ratchet, look, it's Max and Bumblebee. I told you my idea would work. Now we can start searching for the rest." Clemont encouraged, but he received no answer.
"Huh, Ratchet?" Max called.
"Go away." He finally said.
"(What do you mean with that?)"
"You're interrupting my power-down."
"(You're not serious, right?)"
"Come on, Ratchet. We need your help to find the others." Max reminded.
"(So we can regroup to strike against Galvatron.)"
"We can't stop Galvatron, not anymore. The war is over, and we…lost." Ratchet responded.
"You're giving up?!" Max asked in disbelief.
"We can't just give up!" Clemont discussed.
Ratchet changed to robot form. "Then tell me what we can do! Without communications, without a ground bridge, without a base of operations or resources of any kind!"
"(Starscream used a ground bridge when he was on his own.)"
"Bee's right! We know Starscream had access to a ground bridge while he was operating solo." Max supported.
"Yes, yes. He clearly had been using the derelict Decepticon ship, the Harbinger. What does that have to do with anything?!" Ratchet demanded.
"It could be full of cybertronian tech. And it's probably abandoned again now that Starscream and his pokémon are back with the Cons." Clemont answered.
"Phfft! Well, resources won't be of much use, not without someone to…lead us." Ratchet said with sorrow.
"It's a start!"
"Then you'll have to start without me. This is someone else's fight now."
"There is no one else, Ratchet. Just us! Just the team!" Max reminded.
Ratchet shook his head as he turned his back on them.
"Please." He started before changing to vehicle mode. "Just let me…rust in peace."
Max finally gave up. "Come on." He walked back to Bumblebee, who changed to vehicle mode. "You're coming, Clemont?"
"Yeah." He answered, but before he gave a last look to the Autobot medic. "I know you're feeling down Ratchet, but I'm sure you have been through much worse than this. And surely Optimus would not want you to give up."
Clemont joined Max and Bee and the three left the junkyard. Meanwhile, Optimus continued inside the caves, with Iris and Axew.
"He doesn't look good. I wish there is something we could do to help him." Iris said, until an idea came to her mind. "Oh, I got it."
She pulled out one of her poke balls and called one of her pokémon: Emolga.
"Emolga, listen, I need you to use your electricity to give Optimus a boost. Use Discharge." Iris instructed.
"Emo." Emolga nodded.
The little electric type pokémon flew to Optimus's chest and used the electric move. That caused an effect similar to a defibrillator, waking up Optimus and even allowing him to move a little more.
"Great job, Emolga. How are you feeling?" Iris asked.
"A little…better. Thank you, Iris." Optimus appreciated.
In that moment, Smokescreen returned.
"I'm back."
"Any luck?" Iris asked.
"I'm afraid not. I combed through every square micron of our old base. I couldn't find Ratchet's medical kit, not even a bandage."
"We just managed to make Optimus's condition a little better, but that would not heal him. What now?"
"The Forge…of Solus Prime." Optimus named in weak tone.
"It's gone too. The Cons picked the place clean." Smokescreen reported.
"Besides, that's supposed to be just a relic. How can that help Optimus?" Iris added.
Optimus continued moaning in despair with heavy breathing while Smokescreen reflected about it.
"Wait! If you had the forge you can fix yourself up, power of the Primes. Optimus, hang on just a little longer. That hammer's gotta be somewhere in Galvatron's fortress."
"What? Are you going to sneak into that sinister place to find that hammer? Smokey, that's a craziness." Iris argued.
"It's the only way to help him. Besides, remember how we managed to escape Galvatron's warship? It would not be much different, I'll be fine. You take care of him and make sure to keep him online."
Iris was still in disagreement, but she admitted there was no other choice than that. So she groaned. "Alright."
And Smokescreen phased through the rock wall again. Meanwhile, at the dawn on Sinnoh, Warpath and Wheeljack continued waiting, but the girls and Piplup were sleeping together lying against a tree. Suddenly, the Autobots heard some engine noise coming from the lake at the distance, so they got up.
"Girls, wake up." Warpath called.
May stretched her limbs and yawned, being the first one to get up. "Why?"
Wheeljack pulled out his swords. "Someone's coming."
The two Autobots hid in two different places, preparing an ambush. Warpath prepared his gatlings for whoever was approaching from the water. But when the sound was getting closer, Wheeljack retrieved his swords.
"Hold on, big guy. Lower your big guns."
"Why?"
"Because I'll recognize the hum of that hydro-engine anywhere." Wheeljack answered cheered walking to the lake.
Misty heard that, and also came out of her hiding place hoped. "Wait. Are you saying…?"
Then a familiar vehicle arrived, revealing to be Seaspray, who jumped out of the water and changed back to robot form.
"Seaspray!" Wheeljack saluted.
"Jackie!" The aquatic Wrecker yelled happy running at him before giving him a hug. "Where've you been, buddy?"
"Waiting for an old dance partner." He replied feeling the hug with a little pain, probably thanks to Warpath's previous hug.
"Seaspray! I am glad to see you managed to survive!" Misty shouted happy as she ran to him and hug him too.
"Haha, glad to see you again, Misty." Seaspray said after releasing Wheeljack and picking her on his hand and taking a look to the group. "Looks like we are the only six heroes around."
"Seven. Don't exclude Piplup." Dawn reminded.
"Pi piplup."
"So, what are we waiting for? Let's go teach those Cons a lesson." May encouraged.
"What's our next move? Circle back to base?" Warpath asked.
"There is no base anymore, the Cons reduced it to ashes and rubble." Seaspray informed.
Unfortunately, their entire conversation was recorded in the Nemesis.
"The dim-wit played right into my hands." Starscream said chuckling. "All Seekers to the flight deck. We have pinpointed the enemy."
A squadron of five Seekers flew deployed from the Nemesis and flew to their target.
"Attack, my armada." Starscream ordered.
Once there, the entire squadron transformed and landed. They got their weapons ready.
"We're at the coordinates, commander Starscream." The squadron's leader reported.
"Hold fast. They're approaching your position." Starscream instructed as he monitored the Autobot and Decepticon signals.
One of the Seekers noticed something approaching by the river, so they aimed at it. But it was only a tree trunk floating with the current, with a Floatzel and two Buizel onboard, so they relaxed. But they didn't realize that the Autobots and girls were watching them from a cliff at the distance.
"Targets at range." Seaspray saw.
Warpath, who was in vehicle mode, aimed his cannon at the enemy group.
"I got them in my sight." Warpath confirmed.
"Wait for it." Wheeljack instructed.
One of the Seekers approached the river, making the pokémon to left the trunk and left swimming away, and saw the tracker on the trunk, attacked to something.
"And boom." Warpath said, opening fire.
"Grenade!" The Seeker shouted.
Too late: Warpath's shot impacted right at the grenade, detonating it, causing a huge explosion that consumed all the Decepticons. That was detected in the Nemesis too.
"He…he tricked us." Starscream realized, while Galvatron showed a face of disappointment.
Back with the group…
"How did you know the Decepticons planted a tracker on you?" Misty asked.
"I figured the Cons were up to something, so I did a little poking around under my hook."
"Haha, just like I would have done in your place." Jackie congratulated.
"So, what's our next move?" Dawn asked.
"I salvaged some ammunitions from my ship on my way out for you, Wheeljack. I thought you may know how to make a better use for them."
"Ha, you know me too well, Seaspray. And that gives me an idea." Wheeljack said before he changed to vehicle form. "You though that made a loud noise? Just wait."
And he started to drive after allowing Dawn and Piplup to get in him. Seaspray and Warpath changed to vehicle form too, allowed their partners to get inside and went after him.
Meanwhile, in the Unova's Nature Preserve, Bumblebee, Clemont and Max finally reached to their destination: the Harbinger. It took them a few seconds to find the control room, but they observed from the entrance that the place looked like someone reached there first.
"(We are not alone here. Max, Clemont, don't enter until I say it.)"
"What is it?" Clemont asked.
"Something's not right. We may not be the only ones here." Max reported.
Bee advanced in the room with guns ready, checking every section of the place carefully. After a while, it seemed that no one was home, but then someone tackled Bee from the shadows, and hit him multiple times on the head. Bee finally was able to get his attacker off and push it against the ground. Both aimed their guns at each other, and it was then when he recognized who assaulted him.
"Bee?"
"(Moon?)"
"Thank the Allspark, you made it." The green female Autobot expressed with joy as she hugged him after he helped her get up. "Fear nothing, Bonnie. It's Bumblebee. You can come out."
"Bonnie?" Clemont repeated as he entered the room alongside Max.
"Clemont?" Bonnie called, getting out of a ventilation duct where she and Dedenne were hidden. "Big brother!"
Both siblings ran to each other and embraced together.
"You're fine. I was so worried about you." Clemont said.
"You were? I was worried sick!" Bonnie yelled cleaning her tears. "But it seems Moon was right. Now I know I can always count on you for getting back unharmed."
"Glad to see you came safe and sound. You too, Dedenne." Max said petting the little pokémon.
"Dedenne."
"So, it is only us?" Bonnie asked.
"I guess so." Moon answered.
Suddenly, they started to hear loud noises coming from the ceiling.
"I guess we're wrong." Max deduced.
"Someone must be trying to enter through the ceiling." Clemont realized.
"Kids, get behind us. Bee and I will handle that Con." Moon advised as she and Bee pulled out their weapons again.
Whoever was outside the Harbinger continued hitting until a hole was made on the ceiling, made by some swords. The Autobots waited for when the attacker showed up from the outside to fire.
"Hello! Anybody in there?!" A familiar voice called from outside.
"Hey, I know that voice." Bonnie said.
"So than I. It's Sideswipe!" Moon recognized.
"(Sideswipe, don't be alarmed. We are in here!)"
The recognizable young Autobot showed himself at the hole, and he wasn't alone.
"Hey guys, wait for us there." Ritchie saluted.
Sideswipe grabbed Ritchie and Sparky before jumping down, into the room.
"It feels good seeing that you guys are fine." Ritchie said relieved.
"Pika pi." Sparky saluted.
"Looks like we aren't the only ones who thought about coming to this place." Sideswipe deduced.
"Well, if Starscream managed to survive all that time here alone, we can do it too." Moon pointed.
"And we can try it, if that can help us find the others." Max suggested.
"Then you can count two less to look for." Another voice told them, making them to look at the entrance.
For their relief, they saw Arcee enter alongside Serena.
"Hi everyone." Serena saluted.
"Serena, you are here!" Bonnie and Max called as they ran to hug her.
"Arcee. Glad to see you're still in one piece." Moonracer said walking to her and shaking her hand.
"What do you expect? Don't forget who's the veteran here."
"Uh? No no pal, maybe I joined our unit a little after you, but that doesn't make you more experienced than me." Moon answered a little annoyed.
Arcee chuckled. "It was a joke."
"(Arcee, glad to have you here with us.)" Bee said giving her a hug.
"Likewise, Bee."
"Is everyone here? Where's Ash?" Serena asked.
"He hasn't arrived yet." Clemont answered.
"And he's not the only one. May's also still out there somewhere with the others." Max added worried.
Serena showed concern on her face.
"Serena, easy. Remember what Ash told you on his message? He's out there with Hot Rod, and probably on their way here right now." Arcee reassured her.
"Maybe, but we can help them too by tiding up this place and figuring out how to use the ship's ground bridge." Ritchie suggested.
"And that way figure a way to bring back the team." Bonnie added.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get this wreckage operational." Sideswipe started.
Everyone started to fix the Harbinger's control room. Moments later, Bumblebee and Sideswipe plugged a power-core cable, making the energon canisters to get full.
"The energon levels look stable." Arcee reported.
"Hold it right there, guys." Clemont instructed before he walked on the console's keyboard and hit some buttons. "And, powering up."
The ship started to power up, but it immediately died again.
"What happened?" Bonnie asked.
"Maybe it requires a little shock charge."
"Well seen, Moon. Let's ask our pokémon to give the ship a little power with electricity." Ritchie suggested.
"And the more the better. Come on out, Luxray." Clemont called pulling out one of his poke balls.
"Look, that looks like the mainstream." Serena said pointing to some kind of electric outlet.
"Then go, Luxray. Use Electric Terrain and canalize all the electricity inside there." Clemont instructed.
"You too, Sparky. Use Thunder Shock." Ritchie followed.
"You can help too with your own Thunder Shock, Dedenne." Bonnie added.
The three pokémon used their moves on the plug, giving lots of electricity to the ship.
"Looks like it's working." Serena said looking at the terminals.
But the things ended like before.
"I don't get it." Ritchie said confused.
"Maybe the cybertronian electric network is not compatible with pokémon electric type moves." Sideswipe theorized.
"Or maybe it's because Starscream wasted all the resources before returning with the Cons." Max added.
"Oh scrap. Curse you, Starscream."
"Bonnie, don't talk like that!" Clemont complained.
"Why? The Autobots used to say that word when they are mad."
"Come on guys, that was only the first try. Keep trying, we'll figure it out." Serena said trying to keep them cheered. "Like Ash would say: don't give until the very end."
"You said it." Ritchie supported.
"Dat dat dat." A familiar voice said from behind them.
"(Ratchet! You made it!)"
"You're miscalibrating the energon transducer."
"Ratchet!" Clemont yelled happy.
"Just the kind of guy we needed for this situation." Sideswipe celebrated.
"How did you get here?" Arcee asked.
"Let's say I followed someone's trail after the words of a certain genius changed my mind." Ratchet answered as he moved Bumblebee aside. "Now step out of my way so I can work."
"Are you referring with that of genius to my brother?" Bonnie asked as the kids moved away so he could type on the console.
"Yes, the same one." Ratchet answered smiling at Clemont, who returned him the smile. "After all, Optimus told me that as his guardian, his safety was then my only priority."
"I'm sure he would be proud knowing that you manage to accomplish such unfamiliar task." A new familiar voice said, making everyone to turn at the entrance.
For everyone surprise, the last refugee to arrive at the Harbinger was no one else than Elita One, and by the look of her armor, she managed to evade the Decepticons without incidents as well.
"Commander!" Both Arcee and Moonracer exclaimed while everyone else remained without words, but happy to see the female Autobot leader back with them.
"I'm glad to see you all alright, my fellow Autobots. But now is no time for breaks. We still have teammates out there who needs to be rescued." Elita instructed.
"Now this is exactly what we needed to light up this situation." Ratchet expressed very relieved.
Meanwhile, Hot Rod, Ash, and Tracey continued their way on the road.
"The last time things became this dark, Optimus gave me the key of Vector Sigma. As something we can hang our hopes on."
"I know you're feeling helpless, Ash. But the fact that you managed to safe the world a few times doesn't mean it has to be your burden." Tracey cheered.
"Tracey's right. This is also our fight, and we'll only be able to solve this mess if we stay and fight together till the very end." Hot Rod added.
Suddenly, a giant cybertronian ship passed above them, forcing them to stop.
"Whoa. Okay, I didn't expect that." Hot Rod admitted.
The ship circled around and landed in front of them. The two humans and Pikachu got off Hot Rod and he returned to robot form.
"Stay behind me. If the worst happens, run." The young Autobot instructed them.
Hot Rod instinctively activated his weapons; Pikachu also was ready to use some of his electric attacks. But then, another starship, one around the size of Starscream, passed above then, circled around and descended right in front of them.
"Wait. I recognize that vehicle form." Hot Rod said examining the incoming ship. "No way."
Almost reaching the ground, the ship suddenly transformed, revealing to be someone they all knew.
"Hahaha, Blaster! You're back!" Hot Rod yelled happy.
"Hot Rod!" The returned Autobot saluted as he shook Hot Rod's hand, followed by a quick hug. "Hope I didn't scare you.
"On the contrary. You couldn't have arrived in a most needed hour."
"Blaster!" Ash called.
"How good you have returned." Tracey added.
"Ash, Tracey, good to see you too, guys. But, what do you mean with most needed hour? Why aren't you at base?"
"The base is no more. The Decepticons returned, discovered our base and reduced it to ashes. The good news is that all of us evacuated at time by the ground bridge. The bad news is that we are scattered all across different regions of the planet." Hot Rod related.
"Optimus told us that will prevent the Cons of capturing us." Tracey clarified.
"That's a relief. Well, glad I'm back, because now I'm ready to help bring the team back together. And not just only me." Blaster revealed as the ship behind them powered its elevator shaft and a large mist came out, covering the silhouette of a cybertronian getting out.
"That…that means that ship belongs to an Autobot?" Tracey asked in disbelief.
"And not just an ordinary one."
When Hot Rod could see better who the ship's owner was, understood what Blaster was referring to.
"Ash, I don't think we're gonna need that key card." Hot Rod reassured.
Once the mist disappeared, the humans could see that the new cybertronian was as big as Optimus, and looked almost like him, with the difference that this had high shoulders and was blue with little red touches.
"Friends, meet Ultra Magnus." Blaster introduced.
At the same time, inside the Nemesis…
"So not only did you fail to destroy the Autobots, but you allowed their number to increase?" Galvatron retailed as he glared at Starscream. "Is there no one who could bring me their heads?!"
"If I may, lord Galvatron, during my quest on Cybertron I resumed work on a long dormant project." Shockblast began as he walked to the controls and displayed a DNA structure. "One that I believe may provide a solution to our current problem."
"Cybernucleic acid?" Knock Out recognized.
"The building blocks of all cybertronian life. This hails from a specimen one day I found on my laboratory, like it came out of nowhere. However, it's container also possessed an unusual recording, of an ancient Decepticon frequency, not used for eons. The message said it was a present, a support active to assist us with our issues, and has yielded promising results."
"The Autobots continue to evade us. What makes you think we can afford to wait for the answer to our prayers to be birthed in some petri dish?" Starscream asked.
"You misunderstand: the subject has been fully cultivated and it only needs to be transported from my laboratory on Cybertron."
That left the Seeker without words.
"Then by all means, activate the space bridge." Galvatron declared.
Back to Cybertron, Shockblast examined the experiment, which was still in a liquidized stasis container pod. He went to the controls and charged up the pod. That sent a lot of electricity to the pod, waking up the creature, followed by the pod preparing itself to release the creature. Meanwhile, Galvatron waited sat on his throne tapping his finger on the throne's arm when suddenly the space bridge appeared in front of him. As six Decepticon soldiers spotted Shockblast coming out of the portal, he walked towards Galvatron with the other Decepticons around the place and he bowed.
"I present to you, my liege, the ultimate Autobot hunter." Shockblast proclaimed as he pointed to the portal.
The metallic creature emerged from the portal, making Starscream to take a few steps back, and the Genesect started to get even scared. Galvatron stood up from his throne and stared at the creature as it let out a tremendous roar.
