A/N: If Nintendo can get away with calling the town in Blue Rescue Team something boring like Pokémon Square, then so can I! I was originally going to just leave in nameless, but it seemed easier to just call it something. That's why it suddenly has a name after just being called "the town" for two chapters.
Edit: The last few paragraphs have been slightly altered to make more sense. It only changes the story a little bit.
Alakazam's team went on ahead while Team Aperture untangled Wheatley from the net. He complained about being thrown down the waterfall for a bit until GLaDOS threatened to leave him behind again. After that, they headed back towards the town, which they had learned was aptly named Pokémon Coast.
"I can't believe how huge I am now! Bloody massive!" Wheatley beamed once he got past being tossed down a waterfall, "You're all so tiny and insignificant; I can barely see you!"
GLaDOS stayed a short distance ahead of him with Chell padding along beside her. The small dragon let out a puff of smoke in annoyance.
"Yes, this is sounding a bit familiar," GLaDOS agreed, "Hey, moron, are we going to have to go through this again?"
"Go through what again?" he asked, "And I'm not a moron!"
"You know. You turning into the same power-mad AI you were when you took over the facility, except as a Pokémon," GLaDOS replied, "This time, of course, if we have to get rid of you, we can't be merciful and simply send you to the moon like last time."
"No! Nonononononono! I'm not doing that again! Really, I promise!" he stuttered, looking down at the ground, "I really do wish I could take it all back…"
"How noble of you," she said darkly, "Except you can't." With that, she turned her back on him and hurried after Alakazam's team.
On the cliff by the Pelipper Post Office, a rather large Gyarados waited along with several Magikarp. The Gyarados was surprised to hear Alakazam order that the younger team receive the Key Stone, as she automatically assumed Alakazam's team had chased off the criminals.
Team Aperture received the promised Key Stone.
"Sooo… What exactly does a Key Stone do?" Rick asked as they headed along the path down the cliff to the beach.
"On its own, nothing," GLaDOS answered, "But I did read that if one Pokémon holds a Key Stone and another holds a Mega Stone, the two stones can react, allowing the one holding the Mega Stone to Mega Evolve into a temporary, more powerful form."
"Sweet! I want to Mega Evolve!" Rick cheered.
"You can't."
"What?"
"Neither Shroomish nor your evolution, Breloom, have a known Mega Evolution," GLaDOS said, "Metagross, however, can Mega Evolve."
"What, so you get to Mega Evolve and I don't?" Rick said, disappointed.
"Right now, none of us can. All we have is one Key Stone and no Mega Stones," GLaDOS said.
They returned to the team base, with Wheatley going into the ocean to find the underwater entrance. Shortly thereafter, a swarm of Zubat and Golbat streamed out of one of the tunnels in the main chamber. Wheatley poked his head through the tunnel.
"Hey, there's a little underground lake back here with a tunnel that leads into the ocean! Pretty cool, eh?" he said.
Once his bed was completed, Rick announced that he was going out to find food.
"Don't stray too far from the town if you don't want to get eaten," GLaDOS warned.
"Ha! I can take on any wild beast!" the Adventure Core boasted.
"These aren't wild beasts; they're Pokémon," she reminded him, "and from what we've seen, they all have intelligence comparable to humans, from the smallest prey items to the largest predators."
"Wait, if Pokémon eat each other, then how can there be towns like this with all different types?" Wheatley asked.
"Towns and cities are safe zones, from what I've heard," GLaDOS replied, "Here, they act civilized. But out in the wilderness, it's the same as it is in the wild in our universe. Speaking of hunting, Chell and I should probably go find food ourselves." She turned to the Bagon, "While your assistance thus far has been appreciated, now that I have evolved I should be perfectly capable of hunting on my own." Beldum, she read, tend to gather in swarms and so probably hunted in a group, but by herself, she was ineffective.
"Wait," Wheatley said in shock, "You're carnivorous? You don't even have a mouth! How do you eat?"
I'm surprised no one's asked about how she talks, Chell thought.
"To put it simply, I teleport the food into my stomach. I've also been using telepathy to speak to you, in case you haven't noticed."
The other Pokémon stared at her, looking rather uncomfortable.
"What? It's not my fault this species works in this way," she protested.
With that, the team fanned out to find food on their own.
Some time later, the team reassembled back at the base. Due to the lack of cooking utensils, none of them bothered to haul there catches back to base and simply ate them raw in the field. It was a gruesome reminder, at least for the carnivores, that Pokémon, despite acting like humans at times, were animals.
Nonetheless, there was a faint smell of blood in the air as Chell and GLaDOS returned, making Rick, the only herbivore in the group, squeamish. Wheatley, on the other hand, poked his head out of his tunnel and slumped down on the ground, exhausted and hungry from failed attempts to catch fish. As a Magikarp, he could scavenge scraps, but as a Gyarados, he needed to hunt for much more.
"So… what sort of adventure are we going on tomorrow?" Rick asked as the team gathered around the fire at the center of the cavern.
"It will probably be just another day of rescuing Pokémon too weak to fend for themselves," GLaDOS replied, crossing her arms and sinking to the floor, "But while you're off doing that, I will be looking for more information about that Palkia Pokémon they mentioned at the waterfall. They said it could move between this dimension and another, and in case you haven't noticed, we are in a different dimension. We may be able to get it to send us back."
"Alright! You leave the rescuin' to me, and you dig up the dirt on this Palkia!" Rick declared, "That dragon owes us money for sendin' us here! Owes. Us. Money!"
The other Pokémon rolled their eyes at him.
"And you say I'm a moron," Wheatley huffed.
"Hey!" Rick shouted, scuttling around the fire toward him, "Say that to my face, fish-face!"
The Gyarados reared up and snarled down at the little Mushroom Pokémon.
Wheatley's Intimidate lowered Rick's Attack!
Rick involuntarily took a step back.
"You're both morons, just different kinds of morons," GLaDOS stated.
The next morning, Chell woke up early and, feeling restless, remembered Wheatley complaining about not catching anything last night. She supposed she had nothing better to do with everyone else still asleep.
Wheatley woke to his empty stomach rumbling and gnawing at his insides. There was an enticing smell in the water. He rose from the dark underground lake bed, following his nose until it led him to the edge of the lake, where something furry drifted limply to the bottom.
The realization of what it was both enticed and repulsed him – enticed because his Gyarados brain knew was food, repulsed because his robot mind knew it was a dead animal floating in water, one that could very well be carrying diseases.
Then again, the scraps he had been forced scavenge for as a Magikarp were of both meat and plant matter, so he couldn't let this bother him. At least it seemed fresh.
His strength returning, he slithered through the tunnel to the main cavern.
"…Oh, and by the way, you are going to have to clean that up," GLaDOS said, shooting Chell a glare as she pointed to the small, fresh trail of blood leading into the chamber before leaving.
"Look who's finally up!" Rick shouted, scuttling around the room on his tiny legs, "We're goin' off on a rescue mission while the boss is doing reconnaissance in the town! Hurry up!" He dashed out of the cavern.
"Uh, hey," Wheatley said, slithering awkwardly up to Chell, "Um, thanks for the, uh, well, you know…" Chell nodded briskly and turned to leave as his voice trailed off. "Hey, wait!" he called, "I'm sorry! Really really sorry! For everything, for throwing bombs at you, and neurotoxin, and turrets, and fat jokes and…" He stopped as Chell stared unwaveringly at him, her expression unreadable. After a moment, she turned away and gestured for him to follow her outside where they caught up with Rick.
After their mission, GLaDOS revealed that she had good news. North of Pokémon Coast was the region's largest city, called the Pokémon Capital. It was located near the center of the region and most major roads lead through it. Not only was it a massive hotspot for rescue teams and home of the Pokémon Rescue Organization, it was also home of the largest of the region's few libraries. It was there that GLaDOS hoped to find any and all information she needed about this universe, particularly Palkia.
According to the map GLaDOS bought, the Thunderous River was one of the rivers that led to the Capital, which was rather helpful since Wheatley could move much faster in water than he could on land and tended to get dehydrated when he was out of water for too long. With the route settled, they planned to depart the next day.
A/N: That was a lot shorter than usual, mostly because I didn't have a grand plan for this chapter and it was mostly a set up for the next. And yes, teleportation was the only explanation I could think of for how Metang and Beldum eat. Luckily Metagross actually has a mouth.