After leaving the museum chamber, Goh felt his heart sink as he was confronted with more stairs. His legs were already burning, but it wasn't like he could complain.

"Really? More stairs?" Chloe asked, the annoyance in her voice thick. Goh chuckled to himself. At least they were on the same wavelength about this.

"C'mon guys," Ash said, taking the lead here. "We've gotta keep goin'."

Goh resigned himself to having to climb yet another flight of stairs and nodded. "Yeah, if we don't make it to the top, then Quillon and Danika's work will be for nothing. We have our own roles to play here."

"Grooki," the chimp agreed.

Thankfully, this stairwell was much more well-lit, and it was furnished with an opulent red carpet, so at least it wouldn't be as dull as the stairs from before. But as he followed Ash up the stairs, Goh was practically stunned when it seemed that there were really only three flights of stairs this time before being confronted with another door.

"Figures that since this room's so small he'd put his money here while cheaping out on the other parts," Chloe quipped as Eevee's tail swished.

"Pyri," Porygon noted, continuing to float near Goh, though now they had turned their entire body upside-down.

"At least there's less stairs," Goh said, stepping past Ash and opening the door. But as he looked into the room he was entering, his eyes went wide.

"What… is this?"

It was another sparsely decorated chamber, much like the stairwell leading from the port, but this was a wide open room, reminding Goh of the inside of a warehouse, though rather than a featureless box, the room was rounded in shape. Looking up, Goh could see scaffolding and more stairs that headed to the higher levels, but they seemed to be connected with the outside with a walkway that snaked its path outside and then upwards from the outside before coming back inside, giving the room a shape like an upside down funnel.

If only the room's shape was its most notable feature and not the device it housed.

In the middle of the room was a large machine, the likes of which Goh had never seen before, but still somehow felt familiar. In a strange way, it reminded him of Eternatus' true form, being a large, twisted metal body with a long, flexible looking arm, only instead of the 'hand' shape at the end of Eternatus' body, it looked like a large flowerbud at the end. The entire machine seemed to be off for now, but as much as it reminded Goh of the gigantic Pokémon, there was nothing in this device that hinted that it could be a Pokémon.

Chloe shuddered. "Now this gives me the creeps."

Ash frowned at it, grabbing the bill of his cap.

"Chuu…"

"Ash, does this look familiar?" Goh asked.

Ash looked over his shoulder at Goh and nodded. "Yeah. There was this guy in Azoth Kingdom, in the Kalos Region, who used a giant weapon powered using a Magearna. It was a crazy strong weapon that fired energy blasts, and it looked kinda like this."

Goh frowned, wondering if the Magearna he saw with Lillie and her family wasn't the only one in the world. According to Ash, it definitely wasn't.

"That would make this," Goh supposed, "how he plans on firing the blast he'll be making using the Mewnium-Z. The same power that destroyed Pokélantis."

The three teens and their Pokémon all fell silent.

"I saw it first hand, through the vision Tapu Fini gave me," Goh said. "It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. It was a flash of light, brighter than the sun, and then the entire kingdom was covered in fire after that. It was… horrifying. All those lives, human and Pokémon alike, snuffed out in an instant."

Chloe said nothing, but she took his hand and squeezed it. He squeezed back.

Ash just pulled on the bill of his cap. "All the more reason for us to stop him from using this. For all the Pokémon and people he might hurt."

"Well, looking at the wall," Chloe said, pointing to the curved part of the dome-like structure of the room in front of the device, "it looks like it'd open up there."

There was a seam in the sealed wall that looked like it would open like a door, Goh noted. "Makes sense," he said. "You wouldn't want your weapon to go off inside your fortress, right? Especially one this powerful."

"Honestly, this whole place has been remindin' me more of that guy in Kalos than what Lawrence used in the Orange Islands," Ash continued. "They had a flying castle there, too, only it was supposed to be used for defense."

"Bad guys are always going to take advantage of people with good intentions," Chloe said. "No matter if it's used in self defense, a weapon is a weapon, I say."

Goh nodded. "And if this thing is going to be powered by a Pokémon's life, then we definitely don't need it. I think it's time we smash it up! What do you say?"

Ash and Chloe both nodded as Pikachu and Eevee took point, ready to launch some attacks. Goh took two Poké Balls from his belt, letting Inteleon and Cinderace out. "And I think I have the perfect way to mess this up. Are you guys ready?"

"Cinderace!"

"Pikachu!"

"Eievui!"

"Inteleon!"

"Use Pyro Ball!"

Goh gave the first order and kicking up a speck of dust, Cinderace began forming the flaming sphere. As he did, Eevee's tail began to glow red-hot as she was cloaked in a burning aura. With a flick of her tail, she knocked a tiny dust particle into the air, making it grow into a fire ball as well. Cinderace gave his ball a solid kick, sending it smashing into the machine as Eevee sent hers flying with her tail.

As soon as the balls hit, an alarm started to blare and red flashing lights began to shine, almost like the police had been called. And just as suddenly, more Porygon began pouring out of the walls, quickly crowding the area around the humans and their Pokémon, and they all began launching electrical attacks towards them.

"Just how many Porygon does this guy have?!" Chloe shouted, ducking to avoid a thunderbolt launched by one of them.

"He did say he kept them because they don't really need to be cared for," Goh said. "Inteleon, use Liquidation! Give us some room!"

Inteleon leapt up, his hands cloaked in water as he struck against several of the oncoming Porygon, knocking a handful of them back, but he was quickly getting overwhelmed.

"Sirfetch'd! Dracovish! I choose you!"

In two quick flashes of light, Ash's honorable leek knight and mismatched fossil appeared, both standing around Ash to help defend him. "Sirfetch'd, you use Brutal Swing! And Dracovish, you use Fishious Rend!"

Sirfetch'd gave his shield a toss like a boomerang, and as it spun, it turned into a red-colored energy disk, bouncing along as it knocked into Porygon after Porygon. Opposite him, Dracovish tore through the floating Normal-types, grabbing one out of the air and using it to savagely beat another before dropping it and biting another one.

Even Grookey and Porygon leapt into the fray, with Grookey using Branch Poke to knock the Porygon around. Porygon reared back before expelling a gout of flames from their beak, burning a portion of them away as they fell to the ground, defeated.

"Wait, was that Flamethrower…?" Goh asked.

"Pyri!" Porygon chirped in response.

Something seemed off, but Goh didn't have time to think on it as the enemy Porygon continued to pour in. Their attacks were also coming more frequently, with electrical attacks and the occasional spinning Tri Attack also flying towards them

"We can't stay here all day fighting them…!" he grunted. He reached for another ball, ready to send out Argent to battle, but Ash held up a hand.

"You and Chloe head on," he said. "I'll try and hold off as many Porygon as I can down here. The important thing is getting to Lawrence and stoppin' him, and I know you can do it, Goh!"

"Ash, that's crazy!" Chloe protested. "Even for you! There's way too many Porygon to fight all by yourself!"

Ash gave both of them a wild grin. He pulled on the bill of his cap and twisted it around so he was wearing it backwards. "Compared to Leon, these guys are nothin'! And since I'm gonna beat Leon, they're nothin' to me, too!" He pulled out three more Poké Balls, tossing them up. "Dragonite! Gengar! Lucario!"

In moments, the rest of Ash's team, the one that had carried him to the Masters Eight appeared, and they all began their attacks, beating back against the seemingly endless wave.

"Alright," Goh said, grabbing Chloe by the wrist. "We're leaving. You better stay safe, Ash! I won't forgive you if something happens!"

Ash grinned at him, offering Goh a closed fist. "Next time we meet, let's meet with a smile!"

Goh looked at Ash's fist and nodded, answering him in kind by bumping his fist against Ash's. And then, he began pulling Chloe away and towards the door that led to the outside of the fortress. "Inteleon! Cinderace! Keep the way clear! Grookey, Porygon, fall back!"

"Eevee!" Chloe cried out, and her fluffy Pokémon raced back towards her, leaping onto her shoulder.

Cinderace and Inteleon used their Pyro Ball and Snipe Shot to keep the way clear as Goh and Chloe made their way to the door. Once they reached it, Goh recalled both of his fully evolved Pokémon and practically pushed Chloe out the door. He spared one last look for Ash and his team, fighting to give them the chance to stop Lawrence, before closing the door.

Now that they were outside, Goh saw they wouldn't have much daylight left if they didn't pick up the pace, seeing the sun hanging low in the sky but not quite touching the horizon yet. He took a deep breath and made sure Chloe, Eevee, Grookey, and the friendly Porygon were still with him, exhaling only when he saw everyone made it out.

"This is way tougher than I thought it'd be," he admitted.

Chloe nodded. "It's practically like fighting in a war or something," Chloe said. "Is this what it was like when you guys had to stop Eternatus?"

Goh nodded. "Yeah. Only that time, we had Leon and Sonia to back us up. This time, it's just you, me, Ash, and Project Mew."

Chloe gave him a reassuring smile. "Hey, that still sounds like a winning team to me, right?"

Grookey waved his stick in the air. "Grooki, groo!"

Goh chuckled. "Guess you're right," he said.

He turned his eyes towards the path ahead. The path before them looked to be another sort of maintenance path, only rather than a tucked away staircase, it was out in front of the fortress, and seemed to continue upward through a series of ladders and scaffolding that went up the outside of the central tower they now found themselves around. It didn't look like anything that difficult to handle, but Goh did find himself wondering if the adrenaline pumping through his veins would be enough to carry him further up.

"Why doesn't this guy have an elevator…?" Goh asked.

"He did," Chloe said. "It was his floating platform chair thing that we broke."

Goh sighed. "He really needs a backup for when guests come over."

Chloe giggled. "Yeah, I don't think he entertains very much."

"Eievui," her Pokémon nodded.

With that, Goh began leading the way across the scaffolding and towards the first ladder. Thankfully the construction was solid, even if Lawrence probably didn't use it very much, and it was constructed in such a way that there were no ridiculously long ladders that Goh had seen in video games occasionally, but it did fall into a repetitive rhythm of walking a bit and then climbing a bit before walking a bit more.

Grookey was a bit quieter than usual, he noted, but when he glanced over, he saw that the chimp seemed to be on look-out duty, glancing back over his shoulder and around the sides. Clearly he had learned that a swarm of Porygon could come out at any moment should they misstep and he wanted to be ready. But the only Porygon with them was the oddly cheerful one that had come down earlier, who now seemed to be chittering with Eevee as she rode on Chloe's shoulder.

He wondered briefly what they could be talking about before they came to yet another ladder and began the process of climbing it. At the top of the ladder, though, Goh saw something simultaneously surprising and somewhat predictable if he had thought about it for more than a moment. Or rather, thought about them.

Lying in a twisted pile, seemingly unconscious were the scorched bodies of Jessie, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket.

Chloe grimaced. "Oh man, not these guys…"

"Ki," added Grookey, who was also not pleased to see them.

"It only makes sense that they're up here if the fortress has been here the entire time," Goh whispered, not to disturb the slumber that the thieves were apparently experiencing. "We blasted these guys out of Zoroark's illusion and up here." His eyes lit up as he did see a path past them that would let them go by without getting too close. "Hey, look there," he whispered to Chloe. "As long as we step lightly around those parts, we should be able to get around them without any trouble."

Before Chloe could even respond, as though he had spoken some sort of magic word, he saw the ears of all three of the rogues twitch as they leapt to their feet.

"If you're around here, you should be prepared for trouble!" Jessie said with a clarity that Goh wouldn't have expected from someone who was completely unconscious just a few moments ago.

"If you think you'll get past us, you should make it double!" James said, pulling up next to Jessie in that synchronized way they always seemed to act in moments like this.

"No!" Chloe shouted, abandoning all pretense of sneaking past. "No, no no no no! We are not doing this again!"

"Eievui!" Eevee shouted, though if she was just mimicking Chloe or if she was really annoyed, it was hard to tell.

At that, James broke from his practiced pose and shrugged. "I do suppose that twice in a single day may be overdoing it a bit."

"Well, I guess," Jessie said. "Does that mean we should just skip to stealing their Pokémon?"

"Sounds good ta me!" Meowth said, holding up his paws, already extending his sharp claws from them.

"Hold it!" Goh said, stepping between his girlfriend and the cat Pokémon. "Is this really the time or place for that?"

At that, Team Rocket began glancing all around them, up and down as well, and the surprised looks on their faces had to be seen to be believed. "Wait, that's a good point," Jessie said. "Where exactly are we anyway?"

"It seems it's some giant flying contraption," James said.

"Seems kinda familiar," Meowth noted.

James nodded at Meowth's note. "Flower Twerpette, 2.0, care to give us the rundown?"

Goh opened his mouth to give an explanation, but paused. "Wait, why are you calling me 2.0?"

"Would ya prefer bein' called 'da brainy twoip?" Meowth asked. "We had been workshoppin' yer title fer a bit."

"So wait," Chloe said, her irritated expression never leaving her face once so far this conversation, "he's 2.0 because Ash is-"

"The original twerp!" Jessie said.

"Accept no substitutes," James nodded.

"An' all youse other twoips are just kinda extensions of him."

"Wobbuffet!"

Leaving Wobbuffet's sudden appearance from Jessie's Poké Ball aside, Team Rocket did scrutinize the two trainers before them a bit more. "Say, where is the ol' twerp?" Jessie asked. "Did you two ditch him to go on a little date?"

Goh could practically hear Chloe grinding her teeth. "Look, teasing us about being a couple won't work, mostly on account of it being true," she said. "But Ash is currently fighting to help us stop the guy who owns this place. He gave us time to go ahead."

Team Rocket all blinked for a few moments before turning their attention to Goh. "I think we're ready for the explanation now," James said, with a seriousness that Goh wouldn't have thought that the man was capable of.

And so, Goh launched into the briefest explanation he could think of. "This bad guy stole the treasure from the temple we were just in, and he's planning on using it to just joyride around and blow stuff up, starting with the island below us. I don't doubt he'd use it in even more places just for the fun of it if we can't get to the top soon."

"So that's where youse two are headed?" Meowth asked, stepping closer to Chloe, looking downright shy as he did.

"Yep," she said, sighing. "I guess we're trying to save this place for the sake of the world."

James nodded. "A couple of goody-goody twerps would go around trying to be heroes, wouldn't they?" he said.

Jessie laughed. "Well, how about we give them a hand. It's our Team Rocket way to protect the world from devastation"

"And to denounce the evils within our nation," James agreed.

"No!" Chloe interrupted once more. "We already did this!"

The two thieves grinned widely, rubbing their hands together. "I apologize, twerpette," Jessie said, not losing the grin even once, "but it's kind of an ingrained habit at this point."

"Be in the game for as long as we have and some things just become rote," James added.

"I've been in da games even longer than these two, so you know I'm always serious."

"Wobbuffet!"

Chloe sighed. "Look, as long as you guys help instead of getting in the way, I don't care."

"Better the devil you know than the devil you don't," Goh shrugged.

"Eievui."

"Grooki."

"Pyripyri!"

Porygon's enthusiasm for them didn't seem to be dampened, at least. However, by speaking up, they did get Team Rocket's attention. "Say, isn't that a Porygon?" James asked.

"Been a long time since we've seen one of these lugs," Meowth said. "Except…"

"Except?" Jessie asked.

Meowth crossed his arms. "I dunno. Somethin' feels off about 'em."

Goh and Chloe both looked at the friendly Porygon who had even fought alongside them at this point. "Something off?"

"I can't put my paw on it, but there's something fishy about dat Porygon," Meowth said. "But not bad fishy, ya dig? Just like dere's somethin' right below the surface…"

Goh gave the Porygon a pat on the head. "Hey, they've been helping us out so far. I don't see any reason to doubt that we're all on the same team here."

"Pyri!"

"Guess there's no harm in letting good things happen to good people," James said.

"I just wish it would happen to bad people like us for a change sometimes," Jessie noted.

"Wobbuffet!"

With Team Rocket now accompanying them, Goh and Chloe once more set off up the ladders and across the walkways that lined the outside of Lawrence's fortress. It was a relatively quiet atmosphere, with Jessie and James bantering lightly about the weather and occasionally picking on each other, with James targeting Jessie's bossy and stuck-up nature while Jessie pointed out James' dopey smile and flair for the dramatic.

But the back and forth between the two grown ups only reminded Goh of his own teasing back and forth with Chloe, and it sent a chill down his spine that his romantic relationship could map so easily onto the closeness shared by Team Rocket of all people. It was as his mind drifted to wondering if those two had ever kissed each other that he decided to put all the thoughts out of his mind and focus on what was in front of him, lest he lose his breakfast.

It was a bit further up, but not too terribly far, before they came to the door that would take them back inside the central structure. Given how far they'd climbed, Goh figured that they would be in the area with the suspended platforms above where they had left Ash, so he eagerly pulled on the door, only to find that it was locked.

"Step aside, twoip," Meowth said. "Let a master handle dis!"

Goh took a step away from the door as Meowth approached it. The scratch cat extended a claw from his paw and began using it to pick the keyhole as he and Chloe watched.

"That's… actually a kind of useful skill…" Chloe noted.

"Please don't start picking locks and breaking into things," Goh sighed.

She giggled. "No promises."

"Okay but real talk," Jessie said, leaning over Goh's shoulder, "how long have you and the flower twerpette been a thing?"

"O-Only a few months now," Goh said, taking a deliberate step away from her while keeping his eyes on Meowth.

"See?" James said. "I could tell that things hadn't changed for a while."

"I thought for sure…" Jessie said, putting her hands behind her head. "I guess it was just wishful thinking."

"Please say you're joking that this is a common topic for you guys," Chloe said with a shudder.

"Oh, don't be like that," Jessie replied with a smirk. "When my incredible intellect isn't being wielded in pursuit of righteous evil, I am a bit of a romantic."

"She's just not great at reading people," James added. "But I could tell that something had changed between you twerps for a while. Jessie just thought you were a packaged set from the beginning."

"Would you two stop yappin'?" Meowth shouted. "I'm tryin' ta concentrate!"

"Sorry."

The apology came from all the humans present.

After a few more moments of silence, there was an audible click, and Meowth pulled the door open with no small amount of satisfaction on his face. "Ta-dah!"

"Great work, Meowth!" Chloe said, with Eevee smiling and swishing her tail at the cat. Goh thought for a moment that he saw a blush creep across Meowth's face as the cat gave a shy laugh, but he dismissed it as an overactive imagination.

Stepping inside the chamber, Goh and the others found that they were on the scaffolding far above the weapon that they had discovered with Ash. And judging by the flashes of electricity, the waves of heat from Aura, among other sensations, Goh could see that Ash and all his Pokémon were still fighting.

Jessie leaned over the railing. "Wow, look at the twerp go," she said. "That's no small amount of Porygon he's facing off against."

James nodded in agreement. "Just goes to show how strong his Pokémon are, and how right we are to try and steal them."

Chloe groaned. "Can we please focus on the madman with the superweapon before we get back to squabbling amongst ourselves?"

"You heard her," Goh said, turning his attention to the spiraling stairs that lead upwards. It was a bit difficult to see from here, but he did spy something that looked to be a glass elevator, gilded with brass furnishings. "C'mon, we've gotta keep going."

Team Rocket took a few more moments to watch Ash continue to hold the line before following behind Goh and Chloe, but they began climbing the stairs all the same. It was tense, hearing Ash continue to fight below while they made their way up, but Goh had faith that Ash would be able to hold the line without him. It was the same belief that told Goh that Ash would one day defeat Leon and be crowned Monarch, and that he would one day meet Mew again.

It was the faith that one day, they would each hold their future in the palm of their hand.

As they continued upwards, though, closed compartments on the walls began to open up, and more Porygon began to pour out of them. While they were initially all pointed downwards, one of them glanced up and began raising the alarm immediately, and soon the air was growing thick with angry Porygon, and immediately they began attacking, launching electrical attacks from their bodies at Goh and the others on the stairs.

The friendly Porygon with them countered their attacks with the same Flamethrower they used before, but given how cramped the stairs were, Goh couldn't exactly send out any other attackers. He glanced around, looking for an idea of how he could fight them off when he remembered that Inteleon can stick to walls.

"Inteleon, go!"

He opened his Agent Pokémon's ball in the palm of his hand, and Inteleon appeared, sticking to the wall. Immediately Inteleon began setting to work, firing Snipe Shots from his fingertips to knock down as many Porygon as he could reasonably hit, but the close quarters meant that he was quickly peppered with electric attacks and collapsed, with Goh recalling him quickly thereafter.

"I guess even our Pokémon are getting to the end of their rope…" Chloe said. "We haven't had a chance to rest or even have lunch today."

As if summoned by the word 'lunch', a Poké Ball in James' pocket snapped open, and his Morpeko, hangry from hunger, leapt out and crashed into a nearby Porygon before spinning a wheel of negative energy under his feet and crashing into another.

"PEKO PEKO!"

As more electric attacks came in from the Porygon, Wobbuffet stepped up as well, glowing with the same mirror-like sheen that Goh had himself fought against in the temple in Stone Town. "Wob-wob-wob…" With a shout of "Wobbuffet!" and thrusting his gut out, the attacks all bounced back at their users, leaving Wobbuffet relatively unscathed. Still, even as the Team Rocket's Pokémon fought, more Porygon continued to come out, and their attacks continued.

One such Porygon sparked with electricity before charging at Chloe, who was still holding Eevee in her arms. Goh grabbed his girlfriend's arm and pulled her into himself, and the Porygon barely missed landing the blow on her. "We're stuck…" Goh grunted. "How can we keep going if all these Porygon are here?"

"We can't fight all of them…" Chloe said. "Sorry, Goh…"

He shook his head. "No, Lawrence is the one who should be sorry. When I get my hands on him…!"

"Grooki!"

Grookey's shout alerted Goh to another attack, and he pushed Chloe to the ground, tumbling down with her as the metal platform shook noisily. He wanted to protect Chloe, but they were running out of options.

He heard Jessie chuckle and looked up at her. "If a twerp like him can be a hero, then maybe we should give it a shot, don't you think?" she said to James.

He nodded. "I think it would be alright for us to protect love rather than denounce it, just this once."

"I really'd rather only help th' twoipette but…" Meowth said, glowering.

Goh and Chloe sat up. "Wait, what are you guys going to do?"

"Run on ahead, 2.0," Jessie said. "We'll slow these guys down and help clear the way."

"If there's anything we know, it's getting in the way of others."

"Dat's right!"
"Wobbuffet!"

"Morpe!"

Morpeko's shout was mostly a roar of anger and hunger, but Goh nodded at them. "Alright… do what you've got to."

The two Rockets stood up and took each other's hand. From the top of their lungs, they shouted "COME ON DOWN!"

In the distance, Goh heard the familiar yet distant shout of "Puh-puh-pe-PU-PEPU!" and after a few moments, not even the reinforced metal walls of Lawrence's fortress could resist Team Rocket's secret weapon as it crashed through much like the evil group's namesake. The Prize Master crashed into the platform, just next to the Rockets themselves, and the spiraling staircase that everyone was standing on suddenly lurched unnaturally.

Goh quickly pulled Chloe to her feet and began racing up the stairs, predicting what would happen next.

The Team Rocket trio all held each other's hands and paws in a circle as they nodded. "Now, then," Jessie declared, "on the side of good-"

"-and in defense of twerpish love-" added James.

As he finished speaking, the platform they were on fell downwards into the rest of the room with Ash, his Pokémon, and the giant weapon, and as it did, they all shouted the same thing:

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

Goh ran as hard as he could, and Chloe's pace told him that she was doing her best as well. "Those guys…!" she said. "They really know how to make an exit!"

"And an entrance, too," Goh said. "Everything kind of went off the rails of what I was expecting when they showed up."

"Grooki!" he added, nodding and waving his stick forward as he clung to Goh's shoulder, with the friendly Porygon still with them.

The group of Porygon chasing them thinned, but given Team Rocket's drawing of half of them away, this would be Goh's best shot at reaching the elevator at the top. The friendly Porygon did their best to fight off their fellows, but fortunately Goh and Chloe were able to avoid getting hit as they made their way around the final twist up the stairs and before the elevator.

Standing clearly before it now, Goh took a quick assessment of the elevator that would carry them to their destination. It was a glass tube that went straight up higher into the fortress with the elevator platform ready for them to take it. The sides of the tube had brass accents that looked just enough like gold that one could mistake them at first glance, but Goh recognized the metal's trademark discoloration well enough. Near the elevator was a separate panel set into a brass stand. The panel was round, with a call button in the middle as well as up and down buttons that were long and curved around it, reminding Goh of a Poké Ball.

"I guess he doesn't skimp on decorations," Chloe quipped.

"Let's stay focused," Goh said. He pressed the up button indicated on the panel, but the call button just turned red for a moment and there was no movement.

"Didn't that work?" Chloe asked, watching the Porygon make their way up the shaft.

"I don't think so…" he said. He took out Argent's ball and held it in his hand. "Maybe I should let us out some back-up." As he looked down and considered letting Argent out, the friendly Porygon that had been following them up to this point approached the control panel, eyeing it curiously.

"Do you think this Porygon can hack our way inside?" Chloe asked.

Goh wasn't so sure. "Wouldn't Porygon need to go inside the computer to do that?" Goh asked. "Besides, this stuff is probably only set up to respond to Lawrence's hands. Simple security stuff."

"Grooki…" the worried chimp cooed.

As the Porygon began arriving at the top of the shaft and they began charging their attacks, Goh prepared himself to throw Argent's Poké Ball when something completely unexpected happened.

The friendly Porygon's eyes begin to glow pink, and a swirl of psychokinetic energy formed in front of them. With a grunt of effort, the doors to the elevator were ripped open, and Porygon quickly flew inside. Goh jammed Argent's ball back in his pocket and pulled Chloe into the elevator with him, just in time for the enemy Porygon to begin attacking much more furiously.

Before he could even ask, the Porygon that had been following them grunted again, and the platform beneath his and Chloe's feet began to glow as the psychokinesis took hold of it and began to forcibly lift it through the elevator shaft. The Porygon were now all blocked off from them, firing their electric attacks harmlessly at the glass bottom as well as at the sides of the glass tube before they eventually disappeared from view when the elevator exited the chamber.

Goh winced as natural sunlight hit his eyes again, with the glass sides of the elevator now acting as windows to the outside over this island. He could see Professor Amaranth's craft on the beach still, but there was no sign of any other person or Pokémon on the island. His thoughts drifted to wondering how Danika and Quillon were doing, as well as hoping that Team Rocket wasn't getting in Ash's way. The air in the elevator was tense, but he felt Chloe reach over and take his hand, giving it a firm squeeze as she also looked out the side towards the island rather than looking at him directly.

He squeezed her hand back, hoping to transfer even just a little of the strength he had to her. In this oppressive, lonely atmosphere, having Chloe at his side was a comfort he scarcely knew how to value, so he didn't try to say anything. Goh had learned by now that there were some things that simply couldn't be said with words.