Chapter 7: The Impending Storm

Celebi had arrived at a dirt road somewhere in the Safari Zone. The sound of gunshots, vehicles and pokémon tore through the air. She looked around the forested trail to get her bearings when an armored truck suddenly sped past her. Her psychic powers detected the presence of pokémon in it, many of whom were absolutely terrified. She prepared to give chase but another armored truck – this one bearing the silver and gold winged poké ball emblem of the Safari Zone rangers – roared past her.

She headed off in the opposite direction of the trucks until she came to a large savanna. She gasped as she saw several people – both poachers and rangers – engaged in a gun/pokémon battle. Neither side was giving in despite the casualties they inflicted on each other.

Panic overtook her for a few moments before she remembered who to speak to; the elderly head warden Kaiser. She flitted through the air as bullets and attacks narrowly missed her.

I've got to thank Mewtwo for this armor. Celebi thought as her armor absorbed and dissipated a Focus Blast from a poacher's Rhydon. She sped up as a Shadow Ball exploded behind her.

She soon found Kaiser, the white haired head warden several hundred meters away from the battle. He was using a nearby boulder as a rifle stand. A holster with his famous "Thunderbolt" revolver was at his hip. He was busy reloading his rifle. His Dragonair was nearby and acting as his guard.

"Kaiser, I have arrived at the request of Arceus to assist in stopping this poaching operation," Celebi said.

Kaiser failed to hear her as he took aim at a poacher about 400 yards out driving a pickup truck carrying several caged Golducks in the bed. Almost immediately, the driver's head exploded and covered the truck's cab with gore. The driverless vehicle kept moving until it plowed into a tree.

The sharp report of the rifle caused Celebi to flinch. Kaiza failed to notice the armored pixie hovering next to him as he worked the bolt on his rifle, ejecting the spent casing.

"Kaiser, Celebi is present," the Dragonair said in a cool masculine voice.

Kaiser was so startled that he prematurely pulled the trigger, sending his bullet – intended for the driver of another truck – through the truck's back window. He turned to the Dragonair. "Did…Did you just speak?" he asked.

"Yes."

Kaiser was at a loss for words. The pokémon that he had had spent thirty years protecting and eventually befriending was capable of speech! He momentarily thought himself to be in a dream but the sound of a bullet striking the rock used as a rifle stand he bought him back to reality. He then turned to Celebi who was perched on the rock. "Yes…" he trailed off, unsure of what to call her.

"Celebi, please," Celebi replied.

"Ah, yes, Celebi, what can I do for you?"

"The poaching operation, how well have your rangers been dealing with it?" Celebi asked.

"Very well. Most of the poachers in the other areas surrendered without a fight but as you can see, in this area they chose to shoot it out," Kaiser replied, peering through his rifle scope.

Celebi flinched as Kaiser's rifle boomed, signaling the end for another poacher. She hated guns but she understood why the rangers carried them. After all, humans were nowhere as tough as pokémon nor did they possess the ability to use attacks – save for the few human psychics. She looked over the rock and noticed to her horror that the poacher's trucks were fleeing. Nearly all of the rangers and their pokémon were injured or dead and most of the vehicles had been damaged beyond repair. "Kaiser! The trucks are fleeing!" she said.

"I know," Kaiser said, shooting out the front right tire on the lagging truck, causing it to swerve into a ditch.

"Get moving then!"

Kaiser slung the rifle across his back and pulled out "Thunderbolt". "I'll drive," he said

Celebi rolled her eyes. Kaiser could not see the gesture underneath her mirrored visor.

"Let's go get these bastards!" Dragonite said.

Kaiser then sprinted across the battlefield, passing by a burning ranger truck near his rock. He passed by several pokémon and rangers trying their best to give one another first aid using everything from potions to recovery moves to ordinary first aid kits. He thought about staying behind to help but as he scanned over the battlefield again, it seemed that the rangers had everything under control so he decided to pursue the fleeing poachers.

When he had traversed the battlefield, he got into one of the few ranger trucks that were operable. Granted, the side view mirrors had been shot off and several bullet holes marred the bed and doors of the unarmored truck.

"Dragonair, ride in the back. I'll fly alongside the truck," Celebi said.

Dragonair slithered into the back of the truck and stuck his head over the cab. "I'm ready! Kaiser! Let's get this thing rolling!" he shouted.

Kaiser started up the truck's engine and prepared to head out when a wild Kangaskhan approached the truck. "Please help me find my baby!" she pleaded.

Kaiser's jaw dropped when he heard the Kangaskahn speak. "But how?" he asked.

"Translation field," Celebi replied. "As long as you are within a radius of a few hundred meters from me, you will be able to speak with and understand pokémon in range."

"Sorry, but this is a dangerous operation," Dragonair replied. "Kaiser! Get ready to head out!"

"No please! Let me come along!" the Kangaskhan pleaded.

Kaiser shrugged. "Sure, get in the back," he said. He was still in disbelief that all he could speak to and understand pokémon. But he shook it off as stopping the poachers was a more important goal.

"Kaiser! She'll only get in the way!" Dragonair said.

"Dragonair, she's the only uninjured pokémon nearby. We can't afford to be picky!"

The Kangaskhan climbed in the back of the truck as Kaiser disengaged the brakes and put the truck into gear.

The poacher's truck bounced violently as it sped along the dirt roads. Its armor plating was scorched and dented from various pokémon attacks and bullet impacts. A poacher leaned out the back window and fired several times at the pursuing ranger truck with a shotgun.

The pellets struck the armored vehicle but merely scored its armor plating. A ranger retaliated with some shots from an automatic rifle but the shots pinged off the truck's armor.

Inside the ranger's truck, several armed rangers were inside the rear passenger compartment. A hole had been cut in the roof and given a small metal shield with a viewport to serve as a crude gun turret.

"Why couldn't we have sprung for some kind of mounted weapons system?" the gunner asked as he ducked down from the turret, dodging some retaliatory fire.

"We can't afford that!" the driver snapped. He seemingly paid no heed to the fact that the bulletproof windshield was scarred with hits from shotgun pellets and bullets.

"Any luck?" a third ranger asked.

"Not yet," the gunner replied. He detached a poke ball from his belt and released the Pokémon. Magnemite appeared in a flash of bright white light. "Magnemite! Use Zap Cannon on the truck!" he shouted.

Magnemite's twin magnets glowed yellow as arcs of electricity danced along them, coalescing into a brilliant yellow sphere in front of it. It then fired the ball of electricity at the poacher's truck, scoring a direct hit and melting some of its armor plate but the truck still did not stop.

"Damn it! What will it take to stop this truck?" the third ranger shouted.

"Magnemite, Zap Cannon again!" the gunner ordered.

Again, the crackling electrical orb slammed into the poacher's truck, melting yet more of its armor. But the truck still kept going, despite the fact that it was slowing down.

The ranger's truck was slowly closing the distance between the two vehicles when one of the poachers tossed a Pineco out the window and onto the road. The Pineco glowed white after a few moments as it prepared to use Explosion.

"Oh shi-" was all the driver could say before the Pineco used detonated in a powerful blast that flattened the right tires on the truck and pushed the truck off the road and into a tree.

The truck crawled to a stop as the five rangers got out. They coughed as they stumbled out onto the road, which was veiled in a grey smoke from the explosion. The truck's armor was severely scorched and dented and the bulletproof windshield had been severely damaged by the blast.

"Everyone okay?" the gunner asked.

"Yeah, but the same can't be said of our truck," the fifth ranger replied.

"That's despicable," the third ranger said. "Using pokémon as bombs."

"Right now, we have to treat the Pineco," the driver said, returning to the damaged truck to grab a super potion.

The gunner's Magnemite hovered in the air.

Kaiser's truck sped through the dirt roads in pursuit of the poachers. He could not see any sign of them but Celebi said that they were ahead.

Dragonair grunted as a bump slammed him into the truck's bed. "Kaiser! Drive more carefully!" he shouted.

"I'm doing the best I can!" Kaiser shouted back.

"We're closing in on them!" Celebi shouted

Suddenly, Kaiser stopped the truck as he saw the five rangers by the side of the road. He got out of the truck and approached the five rangers.

Celebi was about to open her mouth to say something but Dragonair silenced him with an icy glare.

"Do you need any help?" Kaiser asked.

"We're fine but our vehicle's destroyed. And we need to treat a Pineco that one of the poachers used as a grenade," the gunner said.

"We'll need some extra firepower. Our truck can carry two more."

The gunner, the fourth ranger and the Magnemite hopped in the back of the truck next to the Kangaskhan.

Kaiser started the truck and sped off in pursuit of the poachers.

"You two, use your weapons alongside Kaiser!" Celebi ordered

The two rangers, stunned at the fact that they were being ordered around by a pokémon stared in disbelief.

"Do you want to stop the poachers or not?" Dragonair asked acidly.

The two rangers nearly fainted from shock as Dragonair spoke.

"You…you speak?" the gunner asked.

"Celebi has put up a translation net so we can communicate more effectively. As soon as she leaves, you will no longer be able to understand pokémon."

"Enemy vehicle detected," the Magnemite droned. Even though it could now be understood by the humans, its voice still sounded like a speech synthesizer.

"I see the truck!" Kaiser said.

True enough, at the end of the dirt path was a dead end canyon with no vegetation. At the end of the canyon was the poacher's truck.

Kaiser stopped the truck and used the truck's PA system to order the poachers to surrender.

The two rangers got out with their weapons at hand. The fourth ranger deployed her pokémon, a Growlithe. The pokémon followed.

Suddenly, there were several flashes of light as the five poachers deployed their pokémon – a Machamp, a Shiftry and a Salamence. The poachers stepped out of the truck with their weapons drawn.

"You want the stuff that our masters stole first? Fight us for it!" the Salamence roared, the green flame of a Dragonbreath appearing in his throat.

"Give me back my baby!" Kangaskhan shouted, as several bluish orbs of fire from her Outrage attack began orbiting her body.

"Rangers, take out the poachers, we'll take out their pokémon," Dragonair said.

The rangers dispersed to take cover behind the various rocks that were scattered about the canyon.

Then without warning, a Shadow Ball fired from the Shiftry struck Celebi. She staggered back but her armor saved her from being knocked unconscious. It was at that point that the two groups of pokémon started attacking each other.

Kangaskhan narrowly dodged a Dragonbreath from the Salamence. The green flames lightly scorched her back but she released her Outrage attack, sending blue spheres of fire flying around her. Two of the spheres struck the Salamence in the face, causing him to stagger back. The other spheres struck around the canyon, causing small explosions that sounded remarkably like gunfire as they struck the rocks. She charged forward and slammed her right fist into his jaw as hard as possible, knocking him back some more. He then flapped his wings and took to the skies.

She assumed he was fleeing and turned her attention to Machamp, who had finished knocking out the Magnemite. The Machamp was somewhat weakened from his efforts but he appeared to be in fighting shape.

"Ah my pretty, I do hope you'll give me a fine battle," the Machamp said in a sickly-sweet voice.

"Shut up!" Kangaskhan roared as the bluish fireballs orbited her again.

"Kangskhan! Watch out!" Celebi shouted. She fired off an Energy Ball to temporarily ward off Shiftry from hitting her with another Shadow Ball. Growlithe's Flamethrower knocked out the Shiftry.

Kangaskhan turned around only to see Salamence heading for her at top speed. She tried to dodge but he slammed into her with a Zen Headbutt, throwing her into a tree. She felt like nearly every bone in her body was broken but she told herself that she cannot give up. She groaned as she slowly pushed herself up.

"Nice trick," Salamence said.

The Machamp grinned but his grin faded when he saw an enormous spray of blood on the poacher's truck. Right before his eyes, another poacher's head exploded as Kaiser killed him with a shot to the head.

"Kill those shooters!" a poacher shouted, as some bullets whizzed overhead, pinging off the truck's armor.

"With pleasure!" Salamence said – not that the poacher could understand him. He flew into the air and prepared to strafe the rangers he could see with a Flamethrower attack when an Energy Ball and the orange fireball of a Dragon Rage slammed into him, disorienting him. Finally, the storm of blue fireballs from Kangaskhan's Outrage attack forced him to the ground.

Dragonair's neck-gem glowed as he prepared another Dragon Rage.

"Eat my Fire Blast!" Salamence shouted, his throat filling with roiling orange-red flames.

"Now!" Celebi shouted, launching an Energy Ball.

Dragonair fired his Dragon Rage while Kangaskhan used her Outrage attack. The three attacks struck Salamence, knocking him unconscious and causing a large explosion that staggered everyone in the surrounding area.

The three then turned to Machamp. Celebi's armored antennae glowed blue for a moment, then the Machamp fell down, unconscious.

"What was that?" Kangaskhan asked.

"Psychic."

Suddenly, an Electrode rolled out of the back of the truck and glared menacingly at them.

"Electrode! Use-" the poacher was unable to say more as one of the rangers shot him in the chest several times.

The Electrode simply stared and rolled back to the truck. Finding itself bored, it decided to use Explosion.

The single surviving poacher dropped her shotgun and tried to run but the Electrode detonated, killing her and severely damaging the truck.

"Kaiser, rangers, the battle's over," Celebi said. She looked around. The surrounding landscape was ravaged with scorch marks, craters, bullet holes and spent bullet casings on the ground

The rangers were the first to come out from behind the rocks. Both of them were slightly scorched and injured from the stray attacks that flew their way.

A few minutes later, Kaiser, with his rifle out appeared on scene. He was mostly uninjured thanks to the fact he was a few hundred meters from the battle and he had sniped the poachers.

Celebi fired an Energy Ball at the rear cargo compartment of the truck only to see it dissipated.

"Looks like the shield generator's still intact," Kaiser said. He took aim at a small box on the roof and shot a hole right through it. There was the sound of crackling but nothing visible occurred.

The single surviving ranger – the gunner – was busy treating Kangaskhan with a super potion. She winced as the potion stung her wounds but she was grateful that the injuries were quickly being healed.

Dragonair blasted the jammed door open with a Dragon Rage. Kaiser, Celebi and Dragonair entered the cargo compartment. The interior was dank and musty. Dragonair's neck-gem glowed, illuminating the space and revealing it to be filled with caged pokémon.

Celebi levitated several of cages at a time while Kaiser and Dragonair carried them one at a time. After several minutes had passed the cages had been placed on the ground.

By this time Kangaskhan was mostly healed and she headed over to the cages. She shook her head. "What some humans would do for money," she said sadly.

"Celebi, can you open the locks?" Dragonair asked.

Celebi nodded and a blue glow surrounded her as she attempted to telekinetically pick the locks.

After many minutes passed, Celebi sat on the ground. The expression of weariness on her face was hidden behind her mirrored visor. The effort of telekinetically picking so many locks had worn her out. The pokémon burst free from their cages.

"Mama!" a baby Kangaskhan cried as it ran up to the group.

"You're safe!" Kangaskhan said, picking up the infant and cuddling it. Tears of joy ran down her cheeks. She then placed the infant in her pouch. She then turned to Kaiser and the rest of the group. "I can't thank you enough. Without you, I might never have seen my baby again," she said. She then headed down the rocky trail and eventually out of sight.

"So what do we do with all of this?" the gunner asked, looking at the ravaged valley.

"Leave that to me," Celebi said. She glowed and teleported the vehicles, the unconscious pokémon, the dead poachers and the bullet casings away. She then teleported the group back to the ranger headquarters.

Dragonair looked around the sparsely decorated office that he and the rest of the group were now in. The late afternoon sun streamed in through the small windows. "Where are we?" he asked.

"Safari ranger headquarters," Kaiser replied, putting the safeties on his two guns, holstering "Thunderbolt" and resting the rifle on an empty chair.

Celebi then appeared and flopped down on a somewhat nasty looking couch, not even bothering to take off her battered armor.

"So where is everything?" the gunner asked.

"I teleported our truck to the ranger motor pool. The bullet casings, ruined poacher truck and cages are in the scrap metal warehouse. The unconscious pokémon are at the onsite pokémon center with important notes. And the dead bodies – including the ranger – are in the Fuchsia City coroner's office with notes attached. I have also notified the Fuchsia City police," Celebi replied.

"At the same time?"

Celebi nodded. "Yep. I just used my future selves to do all the work," she said.

Kaiser handed Celebi several bills. "Here, your payment," he said.

Celebi teleported the bills back to the Hall of Origins. "Thanks. I hope we meet in a less stressful situation," she said, teleporting out in a flash of blue light.

"Too bad we can't hold conversations together now," Kaiser said looking at Dragonair.

"We can but you can't understand me," Dragonair replied.

Kaiser nodded and stroked Dragonair's neck.

At the Safari Ranger motor pool, several mechanics were staring in disbelief as a ranger truck fell from the sky and crushed a smaller tour guide jeep.

Suicune arrived back at the Hall of Origins foyer from her mission at Cianwood city. She was covered in the black oil and she smelled like a gas station. But a small bag of cash levitated above her. Raikou and Entei were there to greet her. It was apparently night in the Hall of Origins but in reality Arceus just used her powers to create a simulated day and night cycle complete with weather so the hall would be less boring.

"So how was the mission?" Raikou asked. He telekinetically levitating and sipping a bottle of what looked like beer.

Suicune groaned. "I want to take a bath and go to sleep," she said.

"Okay. Want some beer?"

Suicune sniffed the air a little. "No thanks," she said, heading off to the bathroom to wash up. She took the bag of cash with her.

Entei looked at the trail of oily paw prints left by Suicune. "That is unacceptable, Raikou! Clean it up!" he ordered.

"Entei, shut up, she just got back from a dirty mission. And I am not your slave," Raikou snapped, sipping more of his beer.

Entei said nothing as he used precisely aimed bursts of fire to burn off the oily paw prints. He hated Raikou's laziness. He hated Shaymin's propensity to use foul language, He hated Palkia's sculptures. He hated Groudon's stash of dirty magazines. He hated Giratina's fondness for alcohol. And most of all, he hated the physical affection between the Lati siblings. In short, he hated something about each Legendary.

Raikou walked away, beer bottle floating in front of him. He wondered why Entei was so uptight. Maybe if he got drunk or high, he would loosen up. Raikou smiled as he decided to ask Shaymin for some gracidea.

As they left, money started falling out of the air and stacking itself on the floor. A few moments later, Celebi appeared and picked up the bills. She headed off to her room to wash up and take off her damaged armor.

Latias had fallen asleep while she was reading one of her baby care books. Her neck and back were propped against the life sized Latias plushie and the book rested at her side. Latios was not present but his plushie was sitting on his bed. And the plushie was wearing an extra diaper she had taken from Lugia.

She was dreaming about a way to blackmail her brother when she was awoken by someone knocking on the door. She telekinetically opened the door without getting up from the bed.

And found Arceus standing in the doorway. "Latias, may I have a word with you?" she said.

"I'm not in trouble, am I?" Latias asked.

"Actually, yes you are. Can you please come to my room? Your brother's there,"

Latias gulped. She knew what she had done was wrong but she never expected her brother to tell Arceus about it.

Arceus then led Latias to her room. Giratina – in his Origin Forme – was curled up in the middle of the bed and was sleeping off the effects of the liquor he consumed in the morning. Arceus gently pushed him over and gestured for Latias to sit on the bed, which she did.

Latios was glowering at Latias from a gold and white upholstered recliner. He was totally naked this time.

"Latios, I…I'm really sorry! I'll never do that again!" Latias blurted out, almost bursting into tears.

"Sorry? Sorry! You drugged me, diapered me and to top it off, you made me wet myself! 'Sorry' doesn't fix that!" Latios shouted.

"But Lugia seems to have no problems with it."

"That's because Lugia has lived with nocturnal incontinence ever since that psycho pokémon collector used those electric rings to capture him! He's used to being in a wet diaper! Maybe he actually likes wearing them for all I know!"

"Latios, Lugia's problems are not his fault. Leave him out of this," Arceus said sternly. She then turned to Latias. "Latias, why did you do this?" she asked gently.

"I wanted to practice some of the baby care skills I was reading about and Lugia suggested I practice on my brother. I told him 'no' and he more or less forced me into doing so." Latias said between sobs.

Arceus groaned as she spotted the computer monitor set into the wall showed that Celebi had returned with 950 Poké and Suicune had returned with 4,000 Poké. Mewtwo, Rayquaza and the Legendary Birds were still out. As was Shaymin.

Great now I have to balance the budget and possible offerings in addition to dealing with this issue. And I will probably have to yell at Shaymin for selling her gracidea joints instead of the wine she makes. Arceus thought. She then sent a psychic message to Lugia.

For once, Dialga was not watching Lugia paint. Instead Lugia was giving Dialga a massage with some fragrance oil he bought from a local fair at Shamouti Island.

Dialga rumbled in contentment as Lugia's powerful fingers pressed into his steely skin.

All of a sudden, the peacefulness was interrupted by a loud "Eeeewww!" coming from the doorway.

Lugia bolted upright and spotted Jirachi and Mew sniggering and making faces at the two. "Get lost you two!" he shouted.

"Lugia and Dialga, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" Mew sang.

"ISN'T IT PAST YOUR BEDTIME?" Dialga asked.

"Mew, Jirachi, Dialga and myself need some alone time," Lugia said gently. He telekinetically closed the door and nuzzled Dialga's neck. He marveled at how his neck did not smell like metal but it smelled like a combination of lemon and orange. Maybe it was the massage oil?

Dialga rumbled in contentment and draped his head on Lugia's shoulder. He drank in the scent of baby powder that Lugia always seemed to have around him.

"Lugia, may I have a word with you?" Arceus's telepathic voice said.

"LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE IN TROUBLE," Dialga said, lifting his head from Lugia's shoulder.

"Hopefully not," Lugia replied.

Lugia then got out of the room, leaving Dialga alone.

Lugia then entered Arceus's room. He glanced around the room and spotted the Lati siblings. He paid no heed to Giratina.

"Erm, why am I here?" Lugia asked.

Arceus glared at Lugia, her green eyes boring into him. "Lugia, why did coerce Latias into doing something that she did not want to do?" she asked.

"I didn't coerce her into doing anything!"

"He's lying! He told me that he would tell Entei about the time my brother and I slept together!" Latias shouted.

"Latias, please calm down," Arceus said. She then turned to Lugia. "Lugia, can you please explain your side of the story?" she asked.

Lugia flinched. "Well…I was helping Dialga clean up after a little accident involving my permanent markers and I heard Latias ask for a diaper. I told her she could have one and I told her where to find it,"

"And what did you expect her to do with it?"

"Erm, wear it?"

Latias scowled. She found the idea of Lugia thinking that the diaper was for her funny but offensive. "Lugia, you're the only diapered Legendary," she said.

Lugia blushed. Yes, Arceus knew that he was a bed wetter – she knew everything about every Legendary – but still it was embarrassing to hear about it with the other Legends in the room. "Latias, please, you just asked if you could have one of my diapers. I just assumed you needed it because you started bedwetting or something," he said.

Arceus thought a moment before she spoke. "Lugia, where is Dialga now?" she asked.

"He's sleeping."

Arceus nodded. "I'll speak to him later. Latios, Latias, stay away from each other. I'm assigning you separate rooms. Latios gets the bedroom and Latias gets the living room couch," she said.

The Lati siblings and Lugia exited the room. Arceus watched the sleeping Giratina. The computer monitor showed that Mewtwo and Rayquaza were back.

Inside an eight by eight cell inside the Sinnoh Maximum Security Penitentiary, Zero Nuell sat on his bunk. The moonlight streamed in through the narrow barred windows.

Zero's trademark Giratina-esque costume had been confiscated and replaced with an orange jumpsuit. He groaned as he realized that he would never see his famed airship, the Megarig ever again. He missed the voice of the only "person" he could ever talk to: the ship's AI, Infi.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard voices outside the cell door.

"Prisoner 151251, please back up against the door," a hard masculine voice ordered.

Zero groaned and did so. He felt the cold metal of handcuffs against his wrists. He then backed away as the door opened, revealing two guards in khaki uniforms. Both of the guards had light brown hair.

The two guards then escorted him past the interrogation room.

Zero's heart jumped. He wondered what the two guards were going to do with him. Were they going to beat or even sodomize him?

To his surprise, they led him into the prison courtyard. Questions ran through his head. Just what the hell were these two strange guards planning to do?

The situation got more bizarre when one the guards started waving his baton in the air. A small red light was visible at the tip.

Almost immediately, the sound of helicopter rotors was heard and a rope ladder descended from the darkness.

Zero stared at the ladder. He figured it was just a dream until he bit his lip. The pain he felt from the lip bite convinced him that this was real.

"Get on the ladder," one of the guards said, removing Zero's handcuffs.

"Wait, what the hell's going on?" Zero asked.

"Get on the ladder and we'll talk."

Almost immediately, sirens rang out through the prison signaling that someone spotted the helicopter.

Zero's heart leapt into his throat. He knew that he was finished if the guards caught him, so he decided to climb up the swaying ladder and into the passenger compartment. The two "guards" followed him.

As soon as the helicopter started heading out, several guards and their pokémon had arrived on the scene.

One of them took a shot at the helicopter but it only nicked the skids and the helicopter was soon out of range.

In the helicopter, Zero sat on one of the seats. The air was silent except for the throbbing of the helicopter's rotors.

It was not until several minutes later that Zero broke the silence. "Okay, seriously, I'm thankful for saving me from that shithole of a prison but seriously, who the hell are you people?" he asked.

"Welcome to Team Galactic, Zero," the first grunt said.