62- Persuasion.

Near the research facility, Optimus lied on the ground until he started to get up, but at the same time Predaking approached him and changed to his robot form, landing in front of him.

"It took a cataclysm to extinguish Cybertron's original Predacon inhabitants. You never stood a chance against me, Prime." Predaking proclaimed as he turned his hand into a blaster and started charging it, aiming at Optimus's head. "In fact, the time has come for your extinction."

But Optimus pushed the blaster aside and started punching Predaking continually. Meanwhile, the Decepticon forces continued blocking the way to the Autobots.

"At this rate we'll not reach in time." Elita noticed.

"Permission to hasten our progress, chief?" Wheeljack suggested, pulling out a grenade.

"Granted." Ultra Magnus answered.

And Wheeljack threw the grenade to the Decepticon group. Shockblast and the other Cons heard the sound of the explosion and looked at the tunnel. One of the Vehicon' bodies was thrown inside the room, followed by the Autobots in vehicle form and changing back to robot form to engage the enemy. The eliminated all the Decepticons of the lower level, Shockblast saw it so he changed one of his hands for it fired his cannon. Ultra Magnus saw him, so he pounced on him. Ultra Magnus and Shockblast started a close combat fight, and despite having one good hand and Shockblast pulling out his big sword on his free hand, the Autobot commander managed to turn the tide of the fight to his advantage since he learnt quickly how to use his claw, hitting Shockblast with it when he had the chance.

"This is no place for a one-handed Autobot." Shockblast said noticing Magnus's new hand when he clashed his sword with it.

But Magnus punched him again. "I'll take one bum hand over one good eye any day."

At the same time outside, Optimus continued punching Predaking and blocking his attacks until they both grabbed each other's' hands and tried to push the other back, but Optimus head-butted Predaking hard, sending back a few steps.

"Stand down, Predacon."

"I am Predaking, and I will never bow to your kind!" He corrected retrieving his blaster.

Predaking charged at Optimus again, but this time he surprised him with a surprised reversed kick, sending him against the icy floor, before changing back to dragon form. Taking the chance, he started to charge to launch fire against the Autobot leader.

"Predaking, I have been informed that our objective is at risk. Secure it. Now!" Galvatron ordered through the com-link.

Instead launching the fire against Optimus, Predaking released to the air. Back inside, Ultra Magnus continued punching Shockblast continuously, blocking his attacks and hitting him hard in the chest, leaving him weakened and falling to his knees. The other Autobots neutralized the remaining enemies.

"That was the last one." Hot Rod announced.

"It looks like Magnus's new appendage is suited for battle after all." Blaster said noticing how Magnus defeated Shockblast

"Commander, objective secured." Elita reported.

"Now might be a fine time for surrender." Magnus said walking towards Shockblast.

"A logical assumption, were it not for…"

Right then, Predaking came from above them, putting himself between Shockblast and the Autobots. The cybertronian dragon pushed back Ultra Magnus and Elita One. Wheeljack and Blaster tried to jump at him, but Predaking hit them with his tail. Arcee, Hot Rod and Bumblebee fired at him, but with not much effect, so Predaking hit them with his tail. Next, he allowed Shockblast to ride above him while he grabbed what the Decepticons were trying to get and hit it with his tail, separating it from the rest of the structure before taking flight with it. Back outside, Optimus grumbled as he got up, a little disoriented as he saw Predaking disappearing in a ground bridge. He retrieved back his gatling gun before meeting with his team.

"Ratchet, we require immediate transport back to base." Elita called by com-link.

The calling to base woke up Ranger Jack from his unconsciousness.

"Hey! There's a Mandibuzz on the wing of this plane!" He said, probably hallucinating.

"Ratchet, do you read?" Elita called again while the other Autobots woke up.

"Commander?"

"Moonracer, is everything alright? Where's Ratchet?" She asked as he looked the entire room.

"He's…he's gone." Moonracer answered, leaving Elita with surprised and worried eyes.

Soundblaster managed to leave the Autobot base and took Ratchet with him. And now Ratchet was aboard the Nemesis, chained on an operating table, when a shadow woke him up.

"What do you want from me?" He asked, knowing that it was just Galvatron.

"Your assistance, actually. To help complete a little…science project."

"I will never cooperate."

"Shockblast does not require your cooperation, to siphon your knowledge, doctor." Galvatron clarified as Shockblast approached him a cortical physic patch cable.

Meanwhile, the Autobots tried to find any clue about where Ratchet could be. But they only found the piece of Buzzsaw's wing.

"Smokey and I tried to stop that flying bug, but he just peeled some paint off the Minicon." Sideswipe related.

"If I were a better shot, Ratchet would still be here." Smokescreen lamented while Arcee hold the piece.

"Don't blame yourself, Smokescreen. You did all you could." Moonracer said, trying to cheer him up.

"Chin up, soldier. We've combed the entire floor. For the moment, that remains our only clue." Ultra Magnus supported.

"Nothing in the ground bridge log. If they bridged Ratchet out of here, they used theirs, not ours." Seaspray informed.

Blaster crushed his fist in anger. "That ugly fake bird, he surely transmitted Soundblaster the new orders when it reconnected with him. He knew what do to. I should have never left base, I may could have stopped him. That way…Ratchet…would still be here."

"Don't blame yourself so hard, Blaster. No one saw this coming." Hot Rod reassured him.

"Why take Ratchet prisoner, but leave the rest behind?" Arcee asked.

"If Galvatron intends to hold our medic hostage, I find it curious that he's made no demands." Elita observed.

"It would stand to reason that Ratchet must possess something the Decepticons want." Optimus realized.

"Well, whatever the Cons are after, Ratch won't give it up." Warpath encouraged crushing his fists. "Right?"

Back to the Nemesis, Predaking entered the bridge looking for Galvatron.

"Lord Galvatron, I understand that you have brought an accursed Autobot aboard this warship."

"Indeed."

"Then I will accomplish with him what I failed to with the Prime." Predaking swore turning his hand into a blaster gun.

"Predaking, this Autobot is more than a prisoner. You do wish for Cybertron's restoration, do you not?" Galvatron asked, making Predaking to think about it. "Our captive's usefulness will come to an end. And when that time arrives, I assure you, he will be all yours."

In the Autobot base, everyone was trying to guess why the Decepticons wanted Ratchet, and how to discover his location.

"Listen, I need 24/7 satellite monitoring. Eyes on the sky and ears to the ground." Ranger Jack ordered through his com-link.

"Maybe Buckethead's after the techno-babble." Wheeljack suggested analyzing Ratchet's work.

"The Synth-En formula?" Hot Rod remembered.

"Why would the Cons need the artificial stuff if they already control most of this planet's energon reserves?" Smokescreen asked.

"Maybe because he has this winner obsession which impulses him to want to have all the advantages possible above us." Sideswipe suggested, making the others to look at him. "What? It makes sense to me. What else?"

"If Galvatron is truly rebuilding the Omega Lock, as Ratchet surmised, synthetic energon might be a necessary component." Optimus deduced.

"I hate to be the one to bring bad news, but there's one thing we're all ignoring. If the Cons found Ratchet here, they know the location of this base." Ranger Jack pointed.

Expecting to hear that, Blaster had an idea. "Ranger Jack, you pokémon rangers have access to your world's most advanced technology?"

"Something like that. Why?"

"Is there something about holographic projections?"

Meanwhile, back to the Nemesis…

"And what did the cortical psychic patch yield?" Galvatron asked while Shockblast pulled out the patch's cable from Ratchet.

"Only confirmation that the synthetic energon formula is unstable, and that the Autobot medic's work on it remains incomplete." Shockblast answered.

"Then it seems we must help Ratchet finish his work."

Minutes later, Ratchet had his hands chained together inside one cell. Then he heard the door opening behind him.

"Are you through poking around inside my head? You didn't find what you wanted, did you? Or else you wouldn't be here." Ratchet deduced.

"What I want apparently does not yet exist." Galvatron answered.

"And that would be…?"

"We would very much like for you to complete your work, on the formula for synthetic energon."

"Even if I were capable, do you think that I would hand you a limitless supply of fuel and ammunition just so you can turn around and use it against the Autobots?" Ratchet said, before turning his back on Galvatron.

"Oh, you misunderstand, dearest Ratchet. I intend to use your formula for the purpose of creation, not destruction." Galvatron said, earning Ratchet's attention. "We have fortuitously discovered that your Synth-En, when combined with cyber-nucleic acid, may in fact form the basis for an alternative cyber-matter."

"You are attempting to rebuild the Omega Lock."

"We stand on the verge of a great moment in time, you and I. The restoration of our very home world."

"Collaborate with the barbarian who essentially destroyed our planet in the first place? Who sadistically crushed Bumblebee's voice box while looking him in the eye? No thank you." Ratchet answered directly.

"Then I present you with a choice: complete your research, or…" Galvatron said before Soundblaster showed a picture of the gang.

Starscream laughed a little. "Humans, always the weak link."

"Are these humans and pokémon supposed to mean something to me?" Ratchet lied. "Besides, haven't you underestimate them enough?"

"That's why we have now Starscream's own team. If not, I am certain this will." Galvatron said as Soundblaster showed a familiar image. "As you must certainly be aware, we know the location of your current base. Accept my offer, and I will allow your fellow Autobots and human and pokémon pets to remain unharmed. Think it over, good doctor." Galvatron finished as he and the other Decepticons left Ratchet alone.

"My liege, you aren't really going to allow the Autobots to remain operational."

"Of course not. Assemble your armada, Starscream, and decimate their base, once again."

Starscream smirked by hearing that. Meanwhile, inside the base, the Autobots continued trying to track down their enemies.

"All aerial search patterns are coming up empty." Ranger Jack reported.

"No com-link chatter either." Arcee added.

"And no ground activity. It's a little too quite out there." Seaspray added.

"Since the Decepticons no longer seek Predacon bones or Earth technology, there is no activity to track." Elita realized.

"So until Galvatron makes a move, we're in a holding pattern." Warpath said.

"Ratchet didn't think this new hand he built for me was good enough. But I'll tell you what truly isn't good enough: giving up. We have no choice but to play this old school: split up into teams, for maximum coverage." Ultra Magnus pronounced.

Suddenly the alarm sounded.

"We have incoming. A whole fleet's worth." Jack reported what the scanners detected.

"Blaster, have you finished with your idea?" Optimus asked through com-link.

Before receiving an answer, everyone heard footsteps, turned at the entrance and saw Blaster with his Minibots running at them. "It's ready."

The attacking fleet was composed by Starscream, his Genesect squadron and five Seekers heading for base. Some pokémon rangers mounted on a Flygon, a Dragonair, a Skarmory, a Hydreigon and a Salamence and took flight to engage the Decepticons.

"Concentrate your fire on the base's big warehouse." Starscream instructed.

The rangers' pokémon attacked the Decepticons, forcing them to break formation and ascend above them.

"Seeker armada, take care of those pokémon. Make sure they don't get in our way." Starscream commanded while he and his Genesect continued their way.

Immediately, the Seekers went to engage the pokémon rangers.

"Air cover's holding. For the moment." Jack saw.

"Let's hope your idea works." Hot Rod told to Blaster.

Then Starscream and his pokémon descended. At the same time as the entire squad changed form and charged their cannons, Starscream fired two missiles at the marked place, while Ranger Jack and the Autobots watched. As the Techno Blast beams went right to it, the missiles hit the hangar, destroying it completely. The Genesect cheered for the mission's success, before changing form and join their leader.

"Lord Galvatron, I am pleased to report that the Autobot base has been reduced to ashes." Starscream reported as they left the area.

Despite the catastrophe, the Autobots managed to escape, and they did not look affected.

"The mess hall sure is a mess." Smokescreen observed.

"Looks like your idea has served its purpose." Magnus congratulated.

"Yes. We are fortunate that the Decepticons can be fooled by a simple hologram." Blaster said as the firefighters extinguished the fire, revealing that the Decepticons didn't destroyed the base, but instead they hit a huge boulder which Blaster camouflaged as the base with a huge hologram.

Meanwhile, Galvatron allowed Ratchet to walk around the warship while two Decepticon tanks watched him closely.

"I'm sure you would more fully appreciate a tour of our facilities if you were comfortable." Galvatron said.

One of the tanks removed Ratchet's chains.

"How do you know I won't use these to amputate?" Ratchet menaced pulling out his swords.

"And pass up a chance to see our molecular masking field?"

"Your clocking device." Ratchet saw as he retrieved his swords and walked until he reached the same place Galvatron was in the bridge. But he did not look surprised. "Shielding is shielding, high tech or low."

"Perhaps you'll be more impressed by our energon transfusion capacitor. It allow us to maximize our consumption at thousand-fold." Galvatron said showing him some schematics.

"Decepticon engineering never fails to impress."

"Doctor, we may be mortal enemies, but Autobots and Decepticons do share one common goal. You would like to see the ruins of our devastated home world restored to their former brilliance, as would I." Galvatron said, showing an image of a living Cybertron.

"Galvatron, you would just try to conquer Cybertron all over again, and enslave anyone who refuses to pledge allegiance to you."

"Of course I would! And your comrades would attempt to stop me, as ever. But at least we would once again possess a planet worth fighting over."

"Perhaps, but you wouldn't stop there, would you? Earth would be next, if not first. What assurance do I have that you would leave humankind and the pokémon be? And that you wouldn't instantly terminate me once you get what you need?"

"None whatsoever. After all, we both know that as a Decepticon, any assurances I might offer would be…worthless. But that does not change that fact that you may be Cybertron's only hope of ever seeing life again."

At the same time, in the Autobot base, at last the team had a good new.

"So the kid clipped the business end of Buzzsaw's transponder." Wheeljack discovered.

"For what Sundor told me, that's exactly what he recognized." Blaster confirmed while he had Sundor landed on his arm.

"You're not such a bad shot after all." Arcee congratulated.

"And we can use that little piece for our current problem?" Sideswipe asked confused.

"Affirmative." Blaster nodded before he turned at Clemont, who was now there with the rest. "We thought you might be the best one to provide an analysis, in Ratchet's absence."

"You have a point there. Blaster. Clemont used to pass most of his time with Ratchet, learning from his activities." Tracey confirmed.

"So, what it's doing now?" May asked.

"It's trying to communicate with the warship." Clemont reported seeing his laptop.

"How do you know?" Max asked.

"It's telling us."

"Uh Clemont, that's cybertronian code." Serena recognized after taking a look to the screen.

"Wait. Now he reads cybertronian? Are you sure your big brother is not some kind of alien, Bonnie?" Dawn asked in disbelief.

"Actually, I don't know what to answer."

"I've been learning for a while, in between stuff, when…Ratchet had time to teach me." Clemont said a little sad.

"I think he's still affected after knowing his partner has been taking captive by the Cons." Misty deduced.

"Hey Clemont, we'll bring him back." Ash reassured placing a hand on his shoulder.

"If is the last thing we do." Ritchie added.

"If it's talking to the mothership, can we locate the signal?" Iris asked.

"To a shielded warship?" Ultra Magnus reminded.

"If the transponder were still attached to Buzzsaw we could followed it." Moonracer realized.

"Maybe we should give it wings." Seaspray suggested.

"We can use the spare parts stored in the repository." Ranger Jack offered.

"Then let's do it, for the doc." Wheeljack declared.

In the Nemesis, Ratchet was still following Galvatron.

"While your forces have put a dent in our resources, Shockblast has been invaluable in updating our laboratory. Should you choice to accept the task, you shall have unrestricted access to our equipment." Galvatron said as they entered the lab.

Ratchet remained unconvinced, until he spotted something that caught his attention. "Is that a quantum cryo-inducer? Only two were ever made."

"Three, actually. You are holding the original prototype."

At the same time, the team was working on their only plan to reach Ratchet, starting in making the drone.

"The frequency modulator keeps shorting out!" Clemont saw in his laptop.

"Easy, champ. Let me try uncrossing some wires." Wheeljack calmed down.

"We could try with more advanced tech by using spare parts from Ultra Magnus's ship." Blaster added.

"Now there's something you don't see every day." Smokescreen said surprised.

"Jackie wasn't always a loner, you know. Being a Wrecker was all about the team." Seaspray told.

"And his talent with engineering?" Moon added.

"He was also the scientist of the Wreckers in his free time. Always looking for make better explosives or improvements. But not the best inventor."

Then they heard a crashing noise.

"Yep, yep, yep. Bonnie, I needed that!" Clemont yelled to him.

"Hey, I was just trying to help you."

"Eh, Clemont, you're starting to sound like Ratchet." May noticed, making some of the gang laugh.

"Uf, please." Clemont groaned.

"There again." Max caught.

"Jack, everything alright?" Ash asked, standing next to him.

"Just thinking, about the close calls we humans have had with the Cons lately: smacked down by Soundblaster, Lunick and Solana stuck in Knock Out's trunk…"

"Yes, Max told us about that."

"The uncomfortable reality is: the Autobots might not always be here. And even if they are, they may cannot be everywhere at once, as we've learned. This armor is the only thing that stood between Dawn and that Predacon. The reason she came back without a scratch. Cyber-tech like that could be just what we need to give our rangers on the front line a fighting chance. Rangers like, maybe you, if you want." Jack revealed suddenly.

"What?" Ash asked surprised.

"You'll be of age someday in the future, and you're Prime material. Your mom thought it might be a good alternative future, besides that dream of becoming a pokémon master. Haven't you thought about it?"

"You've been talking to my mom? About me?"

"We both know that you could be up to the task. I've seen you in action, remember?"

"Okay, let's say that I want to try it. In that case, would you…be my instructor?"

"Pika pi!"

Suddenly they saw the drone taking flight, and heading at them, with Pikachu, Sparky and Axew riding on it, while Piplup was hanging from its edge. So Jack covered Ash and put him and himself to cover.

"Hey! Watch your toys!" Jack yelled in disbelief.

"What are Pikachu and the others doing on that?" Ash asked.

The drone flew around the room, and landed next to the children. Once on the floor, the four pokémon got off the drone, and Piplup ended talking to Clemont like if he was the only one who didn't enjoy the ride.

"It's your fault, Piplup. You and your pals should not have gotten on that." Dawn argued.

Clemont laughed nervously. "Sorry everyone. I'm still fine-tuning Chip's remote."

"Chip? You put it a name?" Arcee asked.

"That was me. Since it looks like a Minibot which will help us, I decided to name it like people do with boats."

"That's very sweet of you, Bonnie. But don't get so attached to it, after all it's just an ordinary machine." Moonracer warned.

"So we're gonna let this doohickey fly back to Con's central…" Sideswipe started.

"And lead us right to Ratchet." Tracey ended.

Back to the Nemesis…

"Even if you manage to reconstruct the Omega Lock, it is a mystic force. I've come to my senses. The notion of scientifically replicating its capability is pure folly. Madness, even." Ratchet expressed.

"But how will we ever know for certain, doctor… if we do not try?" Galvatron said before pressing a button, which opened the lower deck. "And how can we not try, when the means finally lie within our reach?"

Right below them was a huge, perfect copy of the Omega Lock. The flying Decepticons and engineers still working on finish the structure.

"By the Allspark, you've actually done it." Ratchet saw impressed.

"Decepticon engineering. It will not take long for this Omega Lock's drives to be fully operational. All that is still needed to restore our home is the cyber-matter to launch through it."

"Which requires a stabilized formula for the production of synthetic energon."

"I have every confidence in you, doctor."

Ratchet thought about the whole situation he had in front of him for a while, until he made his choice.

"I'll do it." Ratchet decided. "But then, you already knew that, didn't you?"

Galvatron's answer was simple: a sinister smile.