Chapter 6

Team Rocket Headquarters

March 28, 20—

Cassidy and Butch stood attentively as they watched their boss, Giovanni, look at the footage that they submitted from the attack on the Safari Zone.

"This is truly an interesting piece of machinery," Giovanni said after watching the footage of the fight between Boriates and the Suck-of-a-Punishment Mark III. "A giant fighting robot that can shrink to the size of a marble. Team Rocket's operational ability would increase a hundredfold if we had access to this technology. Do either of you know the operator?"

"He said that his name was 'Volt Luster,' but aside from that, we don't have a clue who he is, sir," Butch answered.

"At least you have a name. That should be more than enough to start with," said Giovanni. He then pressed a button on his desk. A holographic screen appeared above the desk. On the screen was a balding old man with peach-colored hair. His eyebrows were the same color, and his mustache—also the same color—extended past his face.

"Dr. Namba?" Giovanni said.

"Yes, sir," the man answered.

"Cassidy and Butch are going to be headed your way with some … interesting footage. Find out what you can about this technology, as well as about its user 'Volt Luster'."

"Yes, sir, Giovanni," said Dr. Namba. The screen then shut off.

Cassidy and Butch still stood before their boss.

"Well? What are you two still doing here?" Giovanni snapped at the pair. "Get moving!"

"Yes, sir!" the agents said in unison before leaving the office.

After the agents left, Giovanni turned around and looked outside his window. Volt Luster, I don't know who you are, but I do know this: the second you pitted yourself against Team Rocket, you made the greatest mistake of your life.

Kanto Safari Zone

27 Ananeosis, 20 Zenoheld / March 28, 20—

Back at the Safari Zone, Volt and Kaiser were rebuilding from the damage caused in the battle with Team Rocket. Contrary to what Kaiser had surmised, Boriates' Firebolt Axe was not very useful in hewing down trees for the repairs; Boriates' size got in the way of getting the Axe to a good angle for cutting the trees down. However, the human was still able to make use of Boriates: it was able to uproot enough trees to be used to patch up the gates, and after it lopped off the roots and crowns of each tree and split the resulting logs, Volt and Kaiser spent much of the day fashioning the timber into planks.

That blasted Team Rocket! Volt fumed as he sanded down another plank. Every second I waste here is another second for Zenoheld to complete that Alternative Weapon System of his. But thanks to them, I'm here playing carpenter instead of finding a way back to Vestal!

Well, at least Kaiser's doing some of the work as well. I gotta hand it to him: for an old man, he's no slacker.

While they were sanding the planks, Kaiser called out, "Hey, Volt!"

"Yes?"

"Do ya mind if'n I ask ya a few questions?"

"Ask away," Volt replied.

'"Well, yesterday, ya said that y'all 'Vexos' served directly under yer king … uh, 'Zeddahead', wasn't it?"

"It's 'Zenoheld.' And we didn't always answer directly to him," Volt replied. "At first, our leader was a man named Spectra, and he, in turn, answered to Prince Hydron, the king's son. To make a long story short, Spectra eventually betrayed Zenoheld, and the king took direct command of the team shortly afterwards."

"So, was this Spectra guy some kinda nobleman or somethin'?" Kaiser asked. "An' what about the rest of y'all Vexos? An' how many of y'all are there?"

"First off, Spectra was no noble," Volt answered. "His only connection to the Royal Family was that one of King Zenoheld's top scientists happened to be his father.

"As for me, I'm as far from noble as you can get. I'm actually from a place called Varemed, one of the poorest areas in all of Vestal.

"Only one of us, Shadow Prove, is a noble. He's the son of the king's cousin, but you'd never guess that from the way he acts."

"Oh?" Kaiser replied. "How is that?"
"Let's say that he loves to intimidate people, and I don't mean by flaunting his authority. I believe I've heard him compared to a 'vampire,' whatever that is."

"Oh," Kaiser said as realization dawned.

"But that's not to say that the Vexos got their positions because of some sort of connection to the Royal Family," Volt quickly added. "All six of us had to work hard to earn our spots on the Vexos.

"Years after the Bakugan first arrived on Vestal, Prince Hydron announced that he was holding a tournament to determine the strongest brawler for each Bakugan Attribute. The winners would then be given the chance to become an elite team of brawlers who would serve the Royal Family directly.

"Brawlers from all over Vestal came to Archia, our capital, in an attempt to test their skills and gain a slot in this new team. Of course, I won the Haos tournament, and thus earned my place as one of the Vexos."

"Wait a sec, ain't 'Haos' the name of that Bakugan of yers?" Kaiser asked.

"No. 'Boriates' is his name; 'Haos' is his Attribute," Volt answered.

"Ah. What's an 'Attribute,' then?"

"All Bakugan have one of six Attributes: 'Pyrus,' or fire; 'Aquos,' water; 'Subterra,' earth; 'Ventus,' wind; 'Darkus,' darkness; or 'Haos,' light," Volt explained. "A Bakugan's Attribute determines the general kind of abilities it has."

"So then them Attribute things are like Pokémon types, then?" Kaiser asked. At Volt's confused expression, he elaborated, "Each Pokémon has one or two types. There are seventeen different types that we know of for sure—though I've heard talk that there's an eighteenth. We can talk about it later, though, since it can get pretty complicated.

"But back to you an' them Vexos; ya must have really impressed a lot of people to make it as big as ya did. It's a shame that it all blew up in yer face."

"I have no regrets turning my back on the Vexos," Volt said, looking wistfully at the sky. "My only regret is that I wasn't able to avoid getting banished."

Over the next few hours, the two men patched up the hole in the fence, a few planks at a time. Once the hole was patched up, the two began hammering cross-beams into place.

While they were hammering, Kaiser commented, "I've gotta hand it ta ya, Volt, ya've done some mighty fine work. Looks like those muscles of yers ain't just fer show!" Kaiser laughed. "If you an' Boriates didn't help me fix this fence, that hole woulda stayed there fer days, an' I woulda have ta ask the Officer Jenny from the nearby Pokémon preserve ta help keep the Pokémon from runnin' out the hole. An' believe you me, she hates havin' to divert attention from her beat."

It wasn't as if you gave us a choice in the matter, Kaiser! Volt retorted internally. A moment later, Volt asked, "Wait a second: 'Pokémon preserve'?"

"Yeah. There's a Pokémon preserve not too far from here, where catchin' Pokémon is forbidden. There are Pokémon there that are rarely found anywhere else, an' we want to keep their numbers up."

"Wait a second. So everyday people usually catch Pokémon as well—not just Team Rocket?"

"That's right. Catchin' an' trainin' Pokémon is a common part of life in Kanto."

"But if people have the right to enslave Pokémon, then why did we fight Team Rocket those past two times?"

Kaiser almost hammered his left thumb in his shock; he barely managed to move his hand out of the way in time. "Enslave?! Pokémon are no more our slaves than you are mine! I may not have gotten all of the details on the relationship between you Vestals and them Bakugan, but as for Pokémon and humans, we live together in harmony. They ain't our slaves!

"Now when ya try ta snatch babies from their nests, or try an' suck 'em up like so much dirt, or try an' use 'em ta take over the world like Team Rocket does, then sure, we got a problem. But Pokémon an' humans have been workin' together since Arceus-knows-when. Hell, I doubt that humankind coulda gone half as far as we have without the help of Pokémon! In fact, if'n you an' Boriates didn't help me fix that fence, the people that I woulda had ta hire woulda brought some Machoke ta help them with the construction.

"Long story short, humans and Pokémon are friends, not master an' slave.

"Now I'll admit that that hasn't always been the case. I heard that long ago, we humans used ta fear the Pokémon. Then again, how could ya not, when they can control the very elements of nature?"

At that, Volt thought back on the Aggron and its ability to shoot lightning bolts and create earthquakes. If there were more creatures like that on this planet, then humans were more resourceful than he gave them credit for.

"But over time, we've grown ta live in harmony with one another," Kaiser said with a fond smile. "Pokémon are part of our everyday lives; it's almost inconceivable that anyone would live without 'em."

As the two men resumed working, Volt thought over what he had heard. Friends? Is the relationship like what I've seen with the Resistance and their Bakugan? Despite them being continuous nuisances, I must admit that their brawling style reveals a…closeness that I haven't seen from any team on Vestal other than me and Brontes. Despite the powers the Bakugan possess, the Resistance doesn't see them as tools at all.

Volt's eyes went wide. Wait a second! If Pokémon are so ubiquitous on Earth, and humans and Pokémon have always worked together, then how come I never saw any Pokémon accompanying the Brawlers? And how come I never saw a Pokémon when I was on Earth?

Then again, I have only heard the term the previous day. Maybe I had seen one when I was last on Earth, but didn't know it.

Before Volt could go any further down that train of thought, however, Kaiser said, "Well, you'll be able ta see fer yerself how Pokémon and humans interact as ya try ta head back home. Speakin' of which, ya need ta get a Pokémon of yer own!"

"What?" Volt asked in surprise.

"Do I need ta repeat myself? 'Ya need ta get a Pokémon of yer own.'" Seeing Volt's dumbstruck face, Kaiser continued, "What? Didja think that ya were gonna use that giant robot of yers every time ya run across a couple of Beedrill? Talk about overkill!

"Uh-uh; if'n ya wanna fit in around these here parts, ya can't be walkin' around here without no Pokémon. That just ain't safe! An' unless I'm mistaken, ya want ta get home as soon as possible, right? The best way ta do that is ta not call attention ta yerself, ya hear me? An' other than usin' that giant robot of yers, there ain't no better way ta call attention ta yerself than ta be travelin' around without no Pokémon!"

"If that's the case, then how come I haven't seen any Pokémon with you, Kaiser?" Volt asked.

"I don't need any when I got these babies!" Kaiser said, pulling out his pistols. Holstering them, he continued, "But in all seriousness, I don't do much travelin', so I don't need ta have Pokémon with me. But believe you me; I was quite the Trainer in my day. Now you listen good: them routes are full of wild Pokémon, and even though yer strong, no amount of muscles will help ya against creatures that can poison ya, shock ya, breathe fire—"

"All right, I get the picture!" Volt interrupted. "It's just … a bit much, OK? Give me some time to think this all over."

"Alright, I can give ya that. And looky here: we're done patchin' up the fence! My Arceus, ain't that a piece of work?" Kaiser said as he inspected the completed fence.

"An' not a moment too soon; sun's goin' down. I don't know about you, but I'm all tuckered out. Why don't we get ourselves washed up, an' we can talk in the morning about what yer gonna do tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a plan," Volt replied.