Chapter 42: The Rescue Mission

It was late at night when Team Valiant returned to Havok City. The first thing they did was go straight to the Captains office to tell him all of what happened at Sunset Spire.

Isaac, Jennifer and Regal all helped to explain the situation, eventually finishing with what happened on their journey back.

"So... Lets go over this one more time." Said the Captain, who paced back and forth in his office, in front of the remaining members of Team Valiant. "Lloyd, Rita, and a new member of your team, Sakura, have gone missing."

"That's right." Confirmed Isaac.

"Also... You believe the person who has taken them, is the same person hunting Lloyd, who ou say is called... Mewtwo?"

"That's the name I heard during my escape of the Infinity Stone factory, just before I met up with the others at Sunset Spire."

The Captain bent down and opened a drawer on his desk, he took out a large thick folder and placed it on the desk then opened it. Inside was a complicated form, and a photograph of the pokemon Isaac saw on the monitor at the factory.

"This him, Isaac?" The Captain said, pointing to the photo.

"Yeah, I saw the image of him on a computer screen while he was talking to Maverick."

"If you're right, and it was Mewtwo who captured the other members of your team, we could have a very big problem."

"Why?" Asked Jennifer. "What makes him so bad?"

"He's been kidnaping Pokemon for awhile from some of the smaller villages. Nobody knows where he takes everyone, or where Mewtwo himself is, so we haven't been able to actually do anything to stop him!"

"So there's nothing we can do?" Said Isaac.

"Listen guys, I'll try to come up with something. I owe Lloyd for getting rid of Lancet, and I owe all of you for all of the hard work you've done here. I'll sleep on it, try to come up with some ideas, and hopefully figure out a plan."

"What should we do?"

"I recommend getting a good nights sleep. I can't imagine you've gotten much rest since you left a few days ago."

---

Isaac, Jennifer and Regal all left the Captains office. And headed down the elevator and went straight to their room. Inside there was a pokemon waiting for them, the same pokemon that Lloyd was so concerned about from the Academy.

"Hey, you're Celebi, right?" Asked Isaac, who almost couldn't remember the name of the pokemon.

"Yes. Thanks to the members of Team Torrent, I have made a full recovery. Where is Lloyd?" She asked suddenly.

"Lloyd was captured." Isaac answered right away. "We think he was captured by the guy who's been after him so long."

"Mewtwo has captured Lloyd?"

Isaac nodded.

"No... This is terrible! We must rescue him right away!"

"We don't know where he took Lloyd, and the Captain didn't know either." Said Jennifer. "We can't rescue him if we don't know where to look."

"I know where he is... I've been there before."

"You have?" Asked Isaac. "Where is it?"

"The place Mewtwo has taken Lloyd to is an old building, built by the humans so long ago. The place was once a lab used for experimenting on pokemon, and is now being used by Mewtwo for the exact same purpose."

"If you know where the building is, you could show us where is, right?"

"It won't be that simple I'm afraid." Said Celebi. "Normally, I have the ability to teleport anywhere I wish, as long I have energy to do so. Except, Mewtwo uses his own psychic powers, which are much more powerful then my own, to prevent anyone from using that ability to get in or out. Not only that, every normal entrance to the place is sealed up, the only way to get in or out is to have Mewtwo teleport you."

"How are we gonna get in then?" Asked Regal.

"There is one place I know of that Mewtwo doesn't. Unfortunately, the way is extremely dangerous." Celebi began to explain. "The facility is build right next to a mountain, and beneath the mountain is a series of tunnels built by the humans which the wild pokemon have moved into, turning it into a mystery dungeon. Somewhere in this mystery dungeon is what the humans called a 'parking garage', where they stored vehicles. In that place is a broken down elevator that goes up into the building."

"That sounds pretty straight forward." Said Isaac. "We go into the mystery dungeon, climb up the elevator shaft, and get Lloyd and the others out without being spotted by any of Mewtwos goons."

"There is a big problem though." Said Celebi.

"What?"

"The problem is the pokemon who reside in the mystery dungeon. They aren't normal pokemon."

"How? What's so bad about them?" Asked Jennifer.

"They are all the result of a failed experiment, one that Mewtwo is interested in. And it changed them into beasts... The goal of this experiment to make it so any living creature would be immortal, able to live for any length of time and never age. The humans were the first to try the experiments, and started using wild pokemon from the tunnels below the lab. Every single experiment failed, and changed the pokemon."

"Changed?" Said Isaac. "Changed how?"

"The pokemon would go feral after the experiment, attacking anyone and everyone it saw, not caring about its own well-being. It also caused alterations to their appearance, they would constantly emit a strange, dark cloud like substance from their skin, causing them to resemble shadows of their former selves, and their eyes would turn completely red, like frozen orbs of blood."

"Wait... We've seen a pokemon just like that!" Said Regal. "Remember Isaac? It attacked us inside Echo Caverns!"

Isaac remembered, he also remembered that the pokemon had turned back into Lloyd right before his eyes. But Lloyd wasn't 'feral', not only did Lloyd act normally, but not long after leaving the Academy, Lloyd helped rescue Isaac from the Ariados that attacked them in the wasteland.

"Yeah... I remember."

"Yes, that pokemon..." Celebi hesitated, as if she didn't know what to say next. "I think it would be best to wait to explain to you about him, wait until after you've rescued your friends. As I was saying, the tunnels are filled with these experiments, and therefore are extremely dangerous. They wouldn't hesitate to kill you, and it won't be easy taking them down once they spot you."

"I'm not afraid..." Said Jennifer. "I'll gladly go if it means rescuing the others."

"Me too!" Said Regal. "I am bound to serve the princess, bound to serve Rita, even if it means I must put my life on the line to save her!"

"I have no doubt that they would do the same in our position. We have to save them, no matter what." Isaac nodded his head. "I'll help save them for sure."

"Very well then, but I should recommend you bring more pokemon along, ones you trust, and can fight well." Celebi floated up into the air. "I must go for now. I have something I must get that will help you in your rescue. I will return here at sundown tomorrow, and take you to the tunnels."

Celebi's body faded away, and soon disappeared, leaving the members of Team Valiant alone in their room.

"We should get some rest." Said Isaac. "If this Celebi girl isn't exaggerating, and these tunnels are as dangerous as she described, we should make sure we are fully rested and ready for whatever we'll be facing."

"I agree. We haven't had a chance to sleep in a bed in awhile." Said Jennifer in a sleepy voice.

Despite the sheets being gone off their beds, due to Plusle tearing them apart a few days ago, nobody had any trouble sleeping.

---

The next morning, everyone woke up around the same time. They all went down to the cafeteria to get breakfast, and once they ate, returned to their room to discuss last night.

"We need to get ready, Celebi will be back in a few hours." Isaac opened up one of the drawers which contained the supplies of Team Valiant. He pulled out a bag, and filled it with a variety of berries, as well as a few escape orbs. "One of us should go shopping, we only have basic supplies and I think we should probably get some better stuff for where we're going."

"Like Citrus Berries and things like that?" Asked Regal.

"Yeah, and probably a few orbs, we only have escape orbs in storage."

"I can do that." Said Regal. "One of the things I was in charge of back at the castle was shopping for the ingredients the kitchen needed, as well as buying things for the king and queen when they were too busy to shop themselves."

"Alright." Said Isaac with a nod. " I think I'll go talk to the Captain about getting some pokemon to come help."

"What should I do?" Asked Jennifer.

"We'll need someone to take care of Plusle. It would be far to dangerous to bring her along." Isaac thought for a second. "Go talk to Ewan and ask if there's any electric type pokemon in his team that could take care of her."

"Alright, I'll go right now." Jennifer picked up Plusle in her arms and held her tight. "I wont be long." Jennifer took Plusle and opened the door to their room, then left down the hallway. Regal did the same soon afterwards, leaving for the shopping district in Havok City. Isaac left the bag of what supplies they had behind, and went to the Captains room for a second visit.

---

Jennifer knocked on the door to Team Torrents room. Plusle was awake, and apparently didn't want to be carried around, as she constantly tried squirming free of Jennifer's arms.

Ewan was the one who opened the door. "Oh, hello, umm... which sister are you again?" He said, not recognizing who it was.

"It's Jennifer."

A great big smile formed on Ewans face. "Oh, you've evolved? Well isn't that just wonderful!"

"Isaac did too, both evolutions happened during our last mission."

"You guys must have been through a lot if two of you have evolved!" Said Ewan enthusiastically. "What happened?"

"We were sent to Sunset Spire to rescue two Brotherhood members who were captured recently... But." Jennifer explained all that had happened. She explained how the whole thing was a trap, and that Lloyd, Rita and Sakura had all been captured by the pokemon who had sent so many hunters after Lloyd.

"That's... that's just terrible." Ewan sat down on one of the large beds inside his room. "I just can't believe it... Where did they take them? Do you know?"

"We do, and we're going to go rescue them as soon as we're all ready to go." She held up Plusle, who was still being fussy. "I wanted to ask if you had any electric pokemon on your team who could take care of this little pokemon."

"Oh, that'll be no problem. One of our members is an Electabuzz named Eliza, with a huge family of kids, she'll have no problem babysitting." Jennifer went over to the bed Ewan sat at and placed Plusle down on it, Plusle began to jump up and down on it, giggling excitedly.

"Thank you Ewan, I hope she won't be a problem."

"Don't be silly, she won't be a hassle at all. Is it just the three of you going to this place?" He asked.

"Well, so far yes, but Isaac is going to ask the Captain if anyone could be spared to help."

"Why don't I come along?" Ewan asked. "If they need help, I would feel terrible if I didn't help out."

Jennifer didn't expect Ewans offer. "Are you sure Ewan? This is going to be very dangerous, and..."

"Nope, sorry, I've made up my mind." Ewan said, his enthusiasm returning. "You need help, and I plan on helping."

"Alright. Thanks Ewan, you'll be a big help I'm sure."

"I'll wait here until Eliza gets back from breakfast, and then I'll meet you all at your room." Ewan pointed at one of the large drawers that lined the wall opposite to the beds. "Should I bring some supplies with me?"

"No, that's fine, Regals out shopping right now for everything we'll need."

Jennifer and Ewan said their goodbyes, and then Jennifer went back to Team Valiant's room to wait for the others to get back.

---

Isaac arrived at the Captains room, and found that the Captain wasn't alone. There was a Charmander inside his office talking to the Captain. When Isaac closed the door, they stopped and looked at him.

"Oh, you're back Isaac." Said the Captain. "I'm sorry, but I just can't find any information that might be helpful to finding Mewtwo's headquarters."

"It's ok, we know where it is now."

"That's great, we'll prepare all of the teams to raid the place, arrest everyone and..."

"Actually..." Interrupted Isaac. "We need to be teleported to the spot where they're keeping Lloyd, and I doubt th pokemon who's taking us will be able to transport that many pokemon."

The Charmander ran up to Isaac and jumped up and down in order to get his attention. "Wait, wait! Where are my friends? Did you save them?"

The Captain grabbed the Charmander by the shoulders to keep him from jumping. "Quit it Alistair, I already told you, they didn't find your team members!"

"Where are they then?!" Yelled Alistair. "I'm so worried... Oh man..."

"We didn't see your friends anywhere." Said Isaac. "They've probably been taken to the same place as Lloyd and the others. We'll make sure we look around for them."

"I wanna go too!"

"No way." Said the Captain, his hand still on Alastair's shoulders. "It would be a dangerous mission, and I don't think you of all pokemon would be ready for it."

"But... but... My friends! They need my help! I gotta help! Pleeeeaaaaase!"

The Captain sighed. "Its up to Isaac I guess."

Isaac thought for a moment. "I... I guess you can come. I wouldn't wanna be left behind if I was in the same situation."

"Yes!" He yelled, jumping up in the air after wiggling out of the Captains grip. "I won't let you down Mr. Isaac. I'll help in any way I can! I'll carry your bags, and I'll fight if you need me too, and... and..."

"Calm down!" Yelled the Captain.

Alistair gulped. "Yes sir. Sorry."

"Do you know where our room is?" Asked Isaac.

"Umm, yeah... I think."

"Go down and wait there."

"Right away Mr. Isaac!" Alistair said with a salute.

"And please, just call me Is..." But Alistair was already out of the room. "...aac."

The Captain walked over to his desk and took out what looked like an orb. Isaac followed him to his desk. "What's that?" He asked.

"This is a special Orb, called a Transport Orb. Using it teleports the user to where ever the Orbs twin is located. I'll take the other orb and a team of pokemon and wait at outside the prison hold, if you capture Mewtwo, bring him back with this orb." The Captain tossed the orb to Isaac, who caught it. "I wish I could come with you, but they need me here."

"I understand, we should be ok."

"Good luck on your then mission Isaac, bring back as many pokemon as you can."

"I will."

---

It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was almost down.

Jennifer, Isaac, as well as Ewan and Alistair, waited in Team Valiant's room until the time to leave came. Regal however, was running late.

"Where is he?" Asked Jennifer impatiently. "Celebi will be arriving any second."

As if waiting for Jennifer to ask that question, Regal burst through the door carrying several full bags. "I'm back!"

"Where were you?" Asked Isaac. "Did you forget we were supposed to come back around this time or something?"

"I didn't forget, I just had a lot of shopping to do." Regal dropped the bags on one of the beds. Inside the bags were enough food and supplies to fuel an army.

"This is a bit much Regal..." Said Jennifer, who was looking inside the bags. "I don't even know how you managed to carry all of this."

"Lots of practice I guess." He said. "I guess it is a bit much... But we can never be too careful."

Isaac handed Regal one of the teams bags. "Here, fill this ONE bag with supplies, and we'll take that."

"Alright..."

"So Isaac..." Started Ewan. "What's the plan?"

"When Celebi gets here, she is going to teleport the five of us to a system of tunnels beneath the building where the pokemon that captured everyone, Mewtwo, uses as a home base, and lab for experiments. Inside the tunnels are a bunch of especially dangerous pokemon that we need to watch out for. Once we find the place Celebi said the elevator shaft is located, we'll find a way to get up it, and then rescue everyone who has been taken by Mewtwo using the captains Transport Orb."

"Oh man..." Alistair said to himself. "This is scary... but... gotta stay focused!"

Just then, Celebi appeared inside the room. "I'm here." She said.

"We're ready to go." Said Isaac. "We're bringing two other members of the Brotherhood with us."

"Oh, hello." Said Ewan. "I remember you, the hurt pokemon Lloyd was so concerned about."

"Yes, and I thank you for helping me like that."

"Oh, it was no problem, really."

"Well then, if you are all ready, I'll teleport you all as close to Mewtwo's lab as I can." She said. "I will not be able to come with you I'm afraid. Mewtwo will easily sense me, and that would make saving everyone very difficult."

"We're ready." Said Isaac.

Celebi closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to target everyone in the room with her teleport ability. A moment later, everyone began to fade away, and soon they all disappeared.

---

The sensation of teleporting made everyone feel sick to their stomach. Nobody had even traveled like this before, and nobody was used to it.

"Ooooooh... That was unpleasant..." Said Regal, who laid on the ground holding his stomach. "I haven't felt so sick in so long..."

Isaac tried to stand up, but he was so dizzy that he fell right back down. "I think we should wait a minute... I'm not feeling so hot either."

Everyone who had been teleported was here, nobody was missing. Isaac looked around his surroundings, he saw that they had arrived right outside a tunnel entrance. A concrete tube that went into the mountains, with a paved road going inside. There was large piles of rusted scrap metal scattered all over the road, some of it piled neatly off to the side in large cubes.

"What is this place?" Asked Jennifer.

"It looks like the place the humans would take old junk to crush, and then just throw away." Explained Ewan. "A scrapyard is what they called it."

"Man... It really stinks here, smells like oil!" Alistair pointed out.

After everyone got a chance to recover from the teleporting, Isaac lead everyone to just outside the tunnel. "Alright every..." He said. "Be extra careful in here, and stick together!"

Everyone went inside, determined to find the way to Mewtwos lab.

Nearby, Mewtwo himself watched the pokemon enter the tunnel, not at all concerned about the invasion on his headquarters.

"Fools... You think you'll survive that place in one piece?" He chuckled to himself. "Even I wouldn't go in there without good reason."