The obsidian eyes of Giovanni stared emotionlessly at the ceiling of his office, a frown glued to his chapped lips, thoughts running through his head as he leaned back in his chair, giving his eyesight a clear view of the darkness above. With his fingers tapping on the seat's arm rest, he hummed to himself, his opposite hand covering his mouth, granting him a determined semblance.

The leader of Team Rocket had been doing such things as pondering heavily ever since Terotrey Horrifiance joined his side, providing him with powerful weapons that were able to capture the Legendaries without fail. Now the said creatures were locked in cages down in the underground halls, but even then Giovanni's mind was distracted by the repayment he was going to have to give Terotrey for his usefulness among the mission.

A cut of the profits?

Having the Legendaries under their control gave Team Rocket power beyond all means – power that was pending to be released after Terotrey gave the signal. Of course, Giovanni was trying to figure why Terotrey would want to keep the Legendaries down in the labs for a few weeks. Did he want to study them; perhaps create robotic replicas? Was he assuming that the ability to study the Legendaries up close was a fair trade for his collaboration with Team Rocket? Surely if the silver-haired scientist put all of his blood, sweat, and tears into building the machines that captured the Legendaries, he would want something much more than just the opportunity to study them.

Such a thought eventually caused a small inch of suspicion to rise from within Giovanni, and all at the fact that Terotrey was possibly waiting for the right time to betray Team Rocket. Then again, like the old leader had scolded himself for before, Giovanni tended to be a little too judgmental at times.

He was freed from his pondering state when the door into the room suddenly slid open and none other than Terotrey emerged from the darkened hallways behind it. An expression of seriousness was displayed across the scientist's face, the darkness that flooded the room causing his eyes to glow. His arms were behind his back as he approached Giovanni's desk, stopping a few feet before the oak wood table that sported work papers and field reports upon its surface.

"Yes…?" Giovanni mumbled, his harsh voice quiet as he brought his narrowed eyes to Terotrey. He folded his hands in front of his lap, frown tight, as his thoughts from before came back to mind – his sudden suspicion towards the supposedly loyal scientist causing his muscles to tense up. His rough exterior hid this, however.

The silver-haired scientist only shifted weight between his shoulders, although nervousness that usually followed the act was not present, and instead Terotrey eventually mumbled monotonically, "The Legendaries have been captured, Giovanni, so I think this is the perfect time to discuss our repayment obligations."

Speak of the devil.

Giovanni only snorted before leaning forward to bring his arms up onto his desk, clenching his hands together instantly as his elbows made contact with the cold wood. "My thoughts exactly," he then replied, his voice dripping with vileness. "'A fair share of the profits' is not specific, Terotrey. What is the exact thing you require for helping us in this mission?" He smiled somewhat. "I assure you that I can provide practically anything you want…"

Terotrey smirked, leaning forward as well, although he refused to touch the leader's desk in the act of respect. "The only thing I require is a chance to study the Legendaries up close."

Is it really that simple?

Giovanni gritted and grinded his teeth before leaning back again, the chair squeaking among its metal joints in response. Terotrey remained eventless, obviously waiting patiently for the leader's replication, although his awkward silence was enough to ensure that he was taking his request into mind.

"What for?"

Terotrey snorted himself as those words slid out of Giovanni's lips. He could feel that the leader was suspicious of him, and he despised such things for various reasons. Of course, he hid this with a flick of one of his bangs before leaning forward all the way to slap his hands somewhat-harshly onto Giovanni's desk, which brought Giovanni's emotionless eyes to cast a glance towards them before making eye contact with the scientist. Instead of feelings of hatred that would usually occupy a similar moment, Terotrey only chuckled, his voice being barricaded by his closed lips.

"Why, for my final experiment, Giovanni."

Giovanni quirked his eyebrow, his eyes narrowing alongside it as if he was trying to peer into the scientist's soul. He was tempted to ask what the experiment was, and did just that in a tone fit for a zombie, which didn't affect Terotrey as he then began to pull back from the desk.

"I can't tell you quite yet," Terotrey replied almost matter-of-factly, crossing his arms. "I can inform you, though, that in the end it will be definitely worth the wait…"

The scientist turned, immediately walking towards the door, his back facing the bewildered leader of Team Rocket. Of course, once the door closed behind him as he exited, cutting off his view of Giovanni's office, Terotrey added the last part of his sentence in the form of a hissing whisper, his eyes filled with arrogance as he shot a deathly glare towards the door.

"…for me."

"I spy something…yellowish brown."

"Raikou?"

"Oh, you're good, dude."

"Thanks. I spy something…blue."

"Is it Suicune?"

"You got it, mate!"

Mewtwo growled to himself, eyeing Jefferson Drewyer Roselia, who was sitting on top of Skyler the Flygon's head, both of whom were playing a simple game to help pass the awkward silent time as they, Mewtwo, Raikou, and Suicune walked slowly through the shrubs of the encompassing forest. Despite that the game was quite entertaining to the two regular Pokemon, Mewtwo was starting to get annoyed on how many times the game had been replayed the exact same way – on how many times Raikou and Suicune, who were walking in front of them, obviously paying no attention to the events behind them, were the chosen targets for the game.

Of course, the headache that was beginning to form in the delicate, yet powerful mind of the manmade Pokemon was also the case.

"I spy something…tiger-like."

"Raikou?"

"Good go, dude."

"Aw thanks, pal. All right, I spy something with…doggy attributes."

"It's totally Suicune, dude."

"Heh, you're right."

"Will you two KNOCK – IT – OFF?" Mewtwo snarled, his voice echoing throughout the forest, causing some flying Pokemon to rocket off a nearby tree as Raikou and Suicune snapped around instantly to eye the manmade Pokemon with widened, surprised eyes. Jeff and Skyler did the same, and Mewtwo only allowed his furious expression to show.

Jeff eventually snorted, however, crossing his arms. "I spy something grumpy…" he then mumbled, his surfer-dude accent carrying an offended tone. Skyler only shivered, somewhat intimidated by Mewtwo's demonic glare.

Raikou and Suicune rolled their eyes as they turned back around, somewhat chuckling at the childish situation. Even with the fact that their group had started their travels into the forest not too long after Suicune had woken up and was informed of their plan, tension and annoyance was already becoming an issue within the members. Then again, seeing Mewtwo have a coronary over the fact that Jeff and Skyler were just trying to entertain themselves for the time being caused a strong urge to laugh out loud begin to dwell up within the exile and Legendary. They suppressed it, however, seeing as how they didn't want to risk angering Mewtwo even more.

"Where exactly are we going anyway, mates?" Skyler then asked, obviously trying to dissipate the lingering tension with an off-topic question. Jeff, whose narrowed eyes were glaring viciously at Mewtwo, remained silent, while Mewtwo himself turned his head the other way, refusing to make eye contact with the Roselia. Raikou and Suicune sighed, eyeing each other hopelessly as they both stepped over a large log.

Eventually, though, with his voice still displaying aftermaths of annoyance, Mewtwo replied, "Like I said, anywhere that we could possibly find information on the location of the Legendaries, or help on rescuing them." His eyes traveled over the mossy grounds. "However, we haven't seen a single Pokemon so far…"

Jeff sailed his own droopy eyes over the surroundings, stopping instantly when he caught sight of a black form sweep behind the towering trees overhead. Instantly fear rose within him, on how the unidentified being was possibly a robotic Pokemon, and the Roselia only jabbed his rose hand towards the form's prior location. "Look over there, dudes!"

Immediately all eyes turned to the location – a large shrub packed together between two tree trunks, golden arrays of light peeking upon it as the sun's shine bled through the holes of the trees' canopying leaves above. Raikou slowly moved forward, narrowed eyes filled with suspicion, as Mewtwo and Suicune joined his side, Jeff and Skyler staying back to observe the situation from a far position.

Fallen leaves crunched under Raikou's paws as the exile slowly approached the shrub, bowing his head slightly as if he was a tiger sneaking up on his prey –

"Watch out!"

Raikou yelped in fear as he fell backwards over his own paws, widened eyes gazing upon the Luxray that had suddenly emerged from the shrub. Suicune took a battle position, Mewtwo floating closer, psychic energy building up within his mind, while Jeff and Skyler only exchanged surprised glances. The Luxray jumped from the shrub, landing right in front of Raikou, narrowed eyes glaring, although they softened with determination when he then whispered, "Be very quiet, my friends."

In bewilderment, Mewtwo and Suicune calmed their muscles, while Raikou stayed still, remaining silent like the random Luxray had commanded. Jeff and Skyler froze in place as well, nervous eyes darting in every direction as only the faint sounds of a thriving forest filled the air. With every passing second, more tension rose from within the group, all waiting silently for whatever the reason the Luxray was snapping his head around, determined eyes searching the grounds.

All of a sudden, an Absol jumped from the same bushes, landing on the ground right beside the Luxray. Raikou and the others jolted with surprise, although they stayed still in place, not wanting to risk messing something up with movement. The Absol seemed to pay no attention to them, as its red eyes instead peered at the Luxray, who was returning the same look.

"Did you find anything?" the Luxray asked in a whisper, but the Absol slowly shook its head as it shot a quick glance behind it.

"Nothing," she replied, her feminine tone, which contained strength nonetheless, confirming her female gender. With her red eyes, the Absol slowly eyed Raikou and the others, her black face immediately contorting into shock upon gazing at them.

The Luxray seemed to notice this, and no doubly was stunned like her, although he didn't show signs of surprise at the fact that he was standing right in front of two Legendaries. "Let's see if we can bring them back to the clan, Shadow," he instead whispered to the Absol, eyes narrowed yet again with determination. "Perhaps they can help us."

Shadow the Absol slowly nodded before shaking away her expression of surprise and walking closer to Raikou, who he, as well as the others, stared at her silently. Taking a deep breath as if she was somewhat nervous, she then greeted, "I am Shadow." She turned her attention to the Luxray behind her, in which the eyes of the others followed in curiosity. "And that is Ulrik."

"We belong to a clan that lives in this forest," Ulrik the Luxray explained, walking closer until he was by Shadow's side. His expression suddenly turned into that of an embarrassed one. "Eh, sorry about scaring you all when I burst out of the bushes, but I had to make sure none of them didn't find us."

Exchanging glances with Suicune, Mewtwo floated forward, arms crossed and tone now free of bewilderment. "Who is the 'them' you speak of?" Mewtwo asked, the others nodding in agreement to want to know the answer. Shadow sighed, while Ulrik only turned his head the other way, eyes dark with visible hatred.

"Rhyhorns," Shadow eventually answered, shooting a compassionate look towards Ulrik, who kept his head turned away. "Our clan is at war with a Rhyhorn clan over domination of food and other resources in this forest. Ulrik and I, since we're two of the many fighters of our clan, were sent out to search for any Rhyhorns that might have been surveying these grounds. If the coast was clear, then the food gatherers of our clan would be able to gather food in this area for the upcoming week."

"Every few days, a member of our clan is killed by a Rhyhorn," Ulrik suddenly spat viciously, causing Shadow to back off slightly. "We've been at war for them for far too long, but our fighters just aren't powerful enough. It won't be long before the Rhyhorns find some way to raid us and kill us altogether."

Shadow sighed again before continuing the explanation. "We were sort of hoping you guys, seeing as how you're Legendaries, would be able to help us with our battle against the Rhyhorn clan."

Raikou exchanged glances with Suicune, Mewtwo lowering his head in the act of pondering, while Jeff and Skyler remained quiet, waiting with worried faces for someone to emit a plausible solution. Eventually, though, as Mewtwo continued to ponder, Suicune shot a serious look towards Raikou, and he could tell that she was gesturing for him to explain their case to Shadow and Ulrik, who, after a producing a sigh, did just that.

"The Legendaries are being captured?" Shadow replied as Raikou ended his tale, amazement gracing her tone as her eyes widened. Ulrik couldn't help but look surprised as well.

"Yes," Suicune cut in, moving closer to Ulrik and Shadow. "I'm technically the only one left, seeing as how Raikou has been exiled."

Mewtwo's eyes opened as he broke out of his thoughts, coming between Raikou and Ulrik, a serious expression crossing his cat-like face as he brought back the earlier topic. "What will we gain from helping you with the Rhyhorns?"

Shadow's face suddenly lit up as a new idea came to mind, and she quickly turned to Ulrik, whispering it slowly into the Pokemon's ear. His eyes brightened upon realizing that such an option existed, and as Shadow pulled away he approached Mewtwo, his strong voice following. "You are building an army to help free the Legendaries, correct?"

Mewtwo slowly nodded.

"We might be able to help," Ulrik then stated, eyes narrowed. "Come with us to our clan's base and talk to our leader. Perhaps we can work out some sort of arrangement."

The manmade Pokemon closed his eyes as he thought of the possibilities in performing such a task. His eyes slowly slid open a few seconds later, instantly turning them to Ulrik. "We will come with you," he muttered, convincing a look of relief to cover the Luxray's face. Raikou and Suicune shot their eyes towards Jeff and Skyler, who appeared uneasy about something among the agreement, although they decided not to say anything.

"Follow us," Ulrik ordered, turning the other way and beginning to make his way into the forest, Shadow not far behind. Mewtwo nodded once again before gesturing for the others to follow closely as they traced the Luxray's path into the towering trees.

"I got a bad feeling about this, dude," Jeff mumbled to Skyler, his nervous look more powerful than before. The Flygon sighed in agreement, which remained unnoticed by Raikou and Suicune as they all trailed behind Shadow and Ulrik.

Moaning and groaning coming from the corner of his cage caused Darkrai to snap his head up, his sea-green eyes immediately falling onto his counterpart, Cresselia, who shook her head awake, eyes droopy with aftermaths of grogginess. Ever so slowly she rose into a gentle float, her head darting around as she examined the unknown surroundings, her eyes filled with worry. They softened, however, when she came across the obsidian, ghost-like countenance of Darkrai.

With a sigh, Darkrai approached his counterpart, explaining the entire situation to her. It wasn't long after that before Entei, who had been sleeping in his own cage, awoke and greeted Cresselia.

"How long was I out?" Cresselia asked as she turned her lavender eyes away from Entei's.

Darkrai shrugged, his voice casual, as usual. "You've been unconscious since we were captured, and we have been here for quite some time, so I say about a day."

Cresselia's face suddenly darkened with worry. "How did this happen? What is Team Rocket planning to do?" She shot her saddened gaze towards Darkrai, who could feel his heart skip a beat when his eyes locked with hers.

"No doubt continue with the original idea of world domination," Entei stated from his cage, lying down once again in the middle of the cold iron flooring. "Even then, though," he quickly added with his eyes focused on the ground, "such an idea seems too – I don't know – simple for them; definitely with this Terotrey guy who created those robotic Pokemon around." He returned his determined eyes to Darkrai and Cresselia. "I honestly believe that there's a more detailed intention within all of this."

The conversation was cut short when loud yelling was heard from behind the door into the room, the vicious snarls, which one voice Darkrai could recognize as Terotrey, sounding muffled but yet furious all the same.

"What do you mean we're missing two Legendaries?" Terotrey's voice roared.

"They somehow escaped from your robotic Pokemon, sir," a wimpy voice soon replied, and Darkrai figured it was nothing but a mere grunt of the organization.

"Well, who is it then?

"Raikou and Suicune, sir."

In unison, Darkrai, Suicune, and Entei's eyes widened, exchanging shocked looks between one another, but yet remaining silent.

"The completion of my final experiment depends on having all of the Legendaries, you fool!" Terotrey's voice hissed. "Send out extra units of robots; send out shore parties; send the whole damn organization for all I care. Just get those Legendaries here as fast as possible!"

With a frightened squeak, the tapping sounds of dissipating footsteps signaled the grunt's departure, while Terotrey left a few seconds after. Following this, Darkrai, Entei, and Cresselia let out their held breaths, immediately getting as close to one another as possible.

"Raikou and Suicune are still free?" Entei questioned, both surprise and relief leaking from his tone. Darkrai, despite that he wondered how they got off Newmoon Island when the robotic Pokemon had attacked, only nodded, happy that at least some hope was still out there somewhere. Cresselia, on the other hand, displayed looks of pure worry.

"Every one of those robotic Pokemon out there will be hunting for them," she whimpered, obviously on the borderline of breaking into tears. "And what is this 'final experiment' Terotrey was talking about?"

Entei remained silent, worried himself. He wanted answers.

Darkrai, however, couldn't help himself as he turned and wrapped his warm arms around his counterpart's neck, causing a faint blush to cover her cheeks as he then rested his head on top of hers. Regardless of this, he didn't blush himself or ponder on his feelings, but instead assured her in soft coos (which was very out of character for him), "We can only hope, Cresselia." He began to caress her cheek with his finger, which caused her blush to deepen. "But I'm sure Raikou and Suicune will be fine."

As if looking for his own guidance, Darkrai's eyes focused on the ceiling, his own worried expression beginning to dominate his face.

Please be safe, kid…