A/N: Just a heads up, there will be a special informational chapter for Chapter 14, so the main story won't continue until Chapter 15. Read, review, and enjoy the story!
Chapter 13 – The Sinjoh Ruins: The Mystri Stage Manifest
Talking Matters
The entire group, also known as Team Pikachu for now, was sitting on the cold stone floor of the Sinjoh Ruins. It was only a little past noon, but it was still freezing in the ruins because of the snowy location. After just recovering from a powerful blast, Team Pikachu was all seated on the ground in front of a huge screen Jessie and James set up. The first people to enter the video call room on the screen were no other that May's parents, Norman and Caroline.
"Hello?" Norman and Caroline asked.
"Hello!" they all replied.
"Mom! Dad!" May and Max said in unison.
"We heard about what happened," Norman told his children.
"Are you guys all right?" Caroline asked in worry.
"Yeah," May replied. "We're all right."
"We're all good!" Max told his parents.
"We're all right!" everyone else replied.
"It's all thanks to Drew and his friends that we're able to talk right now," Caroline thanked.
"Eh, it was nothing," Drew responded with a smile.
"I would have told you not to travel so far, but I guess it's too late right now," Norman sighed. "Maybe we shouldn't have taken our cruise vacation in Olivine City…"
"It's okay, Dad," May comforted him. "Ash's Pikachu got stolen, so we had to all go this far to save him!"
"We didn't save him yet," Max added, "but that's why we're here! Plus, we'll do whatever it takes to stop Team Rocket and save the legendary Pokemon!"
"We just hope that you stay as safe as possible," Norman told them.
"We don't want to lose you!" Caroline said. "Stay as safe as possible and come back to Blackthorn City safely, you two!"
"Ok!" May and Max responded.
"Bye!" Norman and Caroline waved.
"Bye!" everyone else said back.
After they hung up, it was time for some more calling.
"I'm sure the rest of you have family you want to call also," Clair said to them.
"Could you call my mom?" Dawn asked. "I'm Dawn, by the way."
"I'd like to talk to my sisters, please," Misty requested.
"And I want to talk to my siblings!" Brock said.
"After that, could you call my brothers in the Striaton Gym?" Cilan asked.
"My village probably doesn't have the technology for this," Iris sighed.
"Can you call my – "Clemont started. Bonnie let Clemont ask for him.
Blaziken Mask desperately tried to distract Clemont. "Hey Clemont, your Aipom Arm is broken!"
"Really?" Clemont wondered, trying to work on his device.
"Can you call my mom?" Serena asked. "And my name's Serena!"
"That's a lot of requests," Kenny commented.
"So let's make this quick!" Drew declared.
"Dawn's mom is first," Clair said.
"Certainly," Conway agreed, initiating the call.
Within seconds, Dawn's mom, Johanna, was on the screen.
"Hello Dawn, and hello everyone! I'm Johanna!"
"Hi Johanna!" everyone on both sides said.
"Hi mom!" Dawn said.
"I've already looked up a lot on the website, you don't need to explain. Dawn, I want you to stay as safe as possible over there. I just want you to come back out of there all right."
"Right," Dawn agreed.
"I also know that you all went there to save Ash's Pikachu and now you have to stop Team Rocket. Do your best; with Ash and many other friends you can't lose! And remember, no need to worry!"
"Okay!" all of Team Pikachu answered.
"Next are Misty's sisters," Clair stated.
"Hurry up, Conway!" Drew said hurriedly.
"It's okay, there's no rush," Kenny said, trying to calm Drew down.
"Oh, sorry," Conway said, obviously not focused for some reason. "I just called the Cerulean Gym right now!"
"Hey everyone!" the Sensational Sisters greeted.
"Hello!" everyone said.
"Misty, just do your best out there," Lily told her.
"You can do this, Misty!" Daisy added.
"We'll be waiting for you here in the gym," Violet said to Misty. "So, like, don't get hurt, sister!"
"I'll do my best!" Misty said back.
"Remember; don't forget to take care of – "Daisy started.
"Don't be like that!" Violet and Lily whispered to Daisy.
"Well anyways, little sister, we have to go," Lily said. "We're, like, kind of busy right now!"
"Goodbye!" the three sisters waved.
"Bye!" everyone else waved back.
"Brock's siblings are next," Clair said.
"Got it," Conway answered. Brock's siblings appeared on the screen, but his parents weren't there.
"Brock!" they all yelled.
"Hey everyone!" Brock yelled back.
"Stay safe Brock!" they all said.
"I will," Brock answered. "And I'll be sure to be back soon! Forrest, how are the gym duties going?"
"It's doing well, but I have a challenger right now," Forrest replied. "So we have to go now."
"Ok," Brock said. "Good luck."
"We miss you Brock!" all of Brock's siblings yelled before hanging up.
"The Striaton Gym is next," Clair said.
"On it," Conway said.
Chili and Cress answered to see Cilan's face on the screen.
"How's the Striaton Gym?" Cilan asked.
"Cilan!" Chili yelled. "We heard about EVERYTHING!"
"We didn't think your travels in Johto would take you this far," Cress told him.
"Right now, we're trying to save Ash's Pikachu and stop Team Rocket from conquering the world; wish us the best of luck!" Cilan told them.
"We will," Chili and Cress answered. "Thanks for calling us!"
"I'll talk to you later," Cilan said. "Bye!"
"Bye!" Chili and Cress said.
"Last but not least, we have Serena's mom," Clair stated.
"Will do," Conway said.
"Mom?" Serena asked.
"Hi Serena!" Grace greeted. "I can't believe you've already gone this far! Not only that, your Fennekin already fainted in battle!"
"I'm sorry mom," Serena sighed.
"It's okay Serena," Grace comforted her. "Just do your best and come home to Kalos safely!"
"Thanks, mom!" Serena thanked.
All of a sudden, five different incoming calls were coming in at once!
"Five different calls?" Kenny wondered.
"Who could it be?" Drew wondered.
"Answer them," Clair commanded.
"Okay," Conway answered, following Clair's command.
Professor Oak, Professor Birch, Professor Elm, Professor Rowan, and Professor Sycamore all appeared on the screen at the same time.
"The professors?!" all of them said at once.
"Hello everyone!" Professor Oak greeted.
"We were told that Blackthorn City had contact with everyone in the Sinjoh Ruins," Professor Elm explained.
"So we decided to give you all a call," Professor Rowan said.
Delia was still in the same room as Professor Oak, so she waved at Ash.
"Hi Ash!" Delia waved.
"Hey mom!" Ash waved back.
"From what I've heard about," Professor Birch stated, "it looks like you guys are in a very dangerous position right now."
"Are you all okay over there?" Professor Sycamore asked with concern.
"We got knocked out," Serena started.
"But it's okay; we got up from it!" Clemont finished.
"They're right, we're all up!" May added.
"And we're ready to fight Team Rocket!" Max chanted.
Meanwhile, the Team Rocket trio walked to where there was a large opening back to outside the ruins and out between two pillars.
"Something's not right," Jessie pointed out. "There's all this fog around the ruins!"
"I wonder what it is," Meowth said.
"I'll try flying one of my devices back through the valley," James stated as he threw the same object used to spy.
After a minute or so of flying the object past the fog, something unusual happened. The object came back when all James was doing was making it go straight forward!
"What?!" Jessie and Meowth said in shock.
"It came back?!" James said also in shock.
"I'm going out there now!" Meowth declared, running out.
"Wait!" James called.
"What are you doing?!" Jessie yelled.
Jessie and James stopped and watched Meowth run through the fog. However, Meowth came back with shocking news.
"I swear I was running straight the entire time!" Meowth cried.
"That can only mean one thing," James realized.
"That means we're trapped!" Jessie figured out.
"I bet it's because of those legendary Pokémon they're controlling!" Meowth pointed out.
James sighed. "Let's just go back inside for now."
"Yeah, let's go back," Jessie and Meowth agreed. Jessie, James, and Meowth walked back inside the ruins.
The group was still busy talking with the professors.
"Max, you guys are going to fight Team Rocket?" Professor Birch questioned.
"Will you guys be able to defeat them?" Professor Elm asked.
"Isn't there a better option?" Professor Oak inquired.
"Hmm…" Looker wondered. "I'm going to go take a quick peek at what they're doing to figure something out."
"I'll go too," Donovan followed.
"Me too," Blaziken Mask also said.
"Another thing we would like to tell you is that all of our home regions know about the situation you are all in," Professor Rowan said.
"Everyone?" Ash asked.
"That's how everyone else we talked to knew about us!" Dawn realized.
"Well you see, Team Rocket broadcasted an entire report from the ruins!" Professor Sycamore explained. "It was probably when you were all sleeping!"
"There's even live footage of you guys right now!" Professor Oak informed them. "Just check out the cameras all around you and on the ceiling!"
"You mean we're being watched by everyone around the world?!" Misty asked with a frightened tone.
Tracey looked all around the ruins to find many cameras. "It looks like there are cameras after all!"
"What if they know we're awake?" Brock wondered.
Blaziken Mask was back with them again to answer Brock's question. "Right now, they are having a team meeting, so they're off their security computer right now. Plus we're hidden behind a bunch of rocks so they can't spot us from a distance."
Jessie, James, and Meowth walked in from outside.
"Hey everyone," Meowth sighed.
"We're trapped in the Sinjoh Ruins!" James notified.
"You can go outside, but there's no way of going any further!" Jessie further explained.
"Then that must be the work of Palkia!" Blaziken Mask realized. "That's exactly what they were talking about!"
Looker and Donovan were cautiously over hearing Team Rocket's meeting. Team Rocket was in group formation and they were prepared to listen to anything they said.
"Members of Team Rocket," Giovanni announced, "You may have noticed how we have already used Palkia's power to keep anything from going in or out of the Sinjoh Ruins. But now that we have the power, it is time to conquer, and what we will do to conquer the world will be much grander!
Pay attention; here is the plan. Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and Arceus will use their combined powers to create portals going all throughout the world and in every region. In other words, we'll be able to attack anywhere in the world from this one location! This, however, will take about an hour or two of time. So I'll need all of you to guard them in group formation. At this time, none of the creation trio will be able to use their dimensional powers; what Palkia did surrounding the ruins are permanent until Palkia chooses to change it."
"Any idea of what we can do?" Donovan asked Looker.
"Hmm…" Looker wondered, scratching his chin. "When I was disguised as a grunt, what was it that you were trying to do when you attacked us?"
"We were trying to set Arceus free," Donovan answered. "I figured out that there were devices on each of Arceus's 18 plates, so I thought destroying them all with attacks would do the trick."
"That's it!" Looker figured out. "You probably wouldn't have been able to free Arceus back there. But I have just the device, and it's called the disruptor! If they are using a signal, then the disruptor sends out EM waves to counteract any other signals using an orange energy field. When I was fighting Team Plasma back in Unova, this worked like a charm to stop Team Plasma from controlling Pokémon! What's more, it has been upgraded since then to destroy any device within the field with the same incoming signal!"
"That's great!" Donovan said. "That will stop them from controlling any of those legendary Pokémon all together! Should we activate it now?"
"We should go inform the others first," Looker said, running back.
"Right," Donovan followed.
Back in their hiding spot, Team Pikachu continued their discussion with the professors.
"Is there any chance that you know if Unova got the news or not?" Iris asked.
"I think so," Professor Elm replied, checking the Unova news on the computer.
"It's seems rather strange that neither of the Professor Junipers are here," Cilan stated.
"Actually, I got an email from Professor Juniper that she sent to everyone she knew." Professor Oak started. "She said that she and Cedric were going to the Undersea Temple to do some research after what happened with Operation Tempest. They wanted to go together since Cedric was done at the White Ruins, and she also said that she wouldn't be in her lab for a while."
"Oh, I see now," Cilan said.
"They must be busy over in the Undella Town region," Iris said.
"Think about it like this, Cilan," Clemont stated. "If your brothers know all about it, then all of Unova probably knows about it too."
"Also," Professor Birch added, "many televisions around the world was turned on from their off mode and put immediately into Team Rocket's broadcast!"
"Even a few of us in Kalos got his speech!" Professor Sycamore said.
Just then, Gary ran in the room in Professor Rowan's part of the screen that they could see.
"Professor Rowan!" Gary yelled. "The data is saying that a Palkia in the ruins has created a dimensional sphere preventing anything from coming in or out of the ruins!"
"Gary!" everyone who knew him yelled as they were watching.
"Gary?" May and Max wondered.
"Who's that?" Serena, Bonnie, Iris, and Cilan also wondered.
"He's probably one of the professor's assistants," Clemont told them.
"Did you know that I'm Professor Oak's assistant?" Tracey asked.
"What?!" Clemont marveled. "Really?"
"You bet he is!" Misty answered. "He works hard every day taking care of the Pokémon!"
"Tracey's really great at it too!" Ash said. "But Professor Oak gave him a little time off to help us out."
"Kind of like Gary," Brock added, "but being an assistant is Tracey's actual job!"
"So Palkia really is stopping us from leaving," James realized.
"That explains everything," Jessie also realized.
"Looks like we're here until we do something about that Palkia," Meowth stated.
Just then, Looker and Donovan came back from their spying.
"Everyone," Donovan said gathering everyone. "There's something we're going to try to do."
"We're going to free Arceus!" Looker announced.
"Arceus?" Ash wondered. "We didn't have the chance to do that back in the valley."
"That's right; that's what we were trying to do last time!" Dawn remembered.
"But we couldn't even touch Arceus," Ashlyn pointed.
"It will all work now that we have Looker," Donovan answered.
"The device I will use will be able to break all 18 devices at once using an energy field!" Looker explained.
"But we need to wrap the conversation up so we can be ready," Donovan continued. "Once the device has done its work and the time is right, we're going to swoop in there and do what we have to do!"
"Sounds good to me," Misty agreed.
"Let's do this!" Tracey said with determination. "
"That means we'll have to leave the call now," Dawn told them.
"Thank you for everything, Professor Oak!" Ash thanked. "We'll save the Pokémon for sure!"
"You can count on me," Professor Oak replied. "Ash, do your best and stay safe!"
"I believe that you can do this!" Delia affirmed.
"Thanks for contacting my parents, Drew," May also thanked.
"Yeah, thanks Drew!" Max said gratefully.
"No problem," Drew said in return, flipping his hair.
"I'll talk to you again later, Clair!" Iris told her. "I'll work my hardest here, especially so I can improve after our gym battle!"
"I'm sure you'll do great!" Clair assured Iris.
"Remember that these are extremely powerful legendary Pokémon you are all dealing with," Professor Birch warned.
"Keep in mind that they can manipulate space and time; if you make the wrong move, you could be erased from existence the next second!" Professor Rowan advised.
"You guys are our only hope," Professor Oak stated. "The fate of the world is at stake!"
"But I'm confident that you will all succeed in the end!" Professor Sycamore finished.
"Thanks again, Professor Sycamore!" Clemont said.
"Bye!" the rest of Ash's friends waved.
"Ok," Meowth said. "Time to pack up the – "
"Wait," Looker said, stopping Meowth. "Transfer the call to my tablet."
Conway was still watching on the screen. "I just moved the call to your tablet," Conway answered.
Then Looker turned to Serena to ask her a favor. "Serena, could you be responsible for my tablet? I want you to continue the call for us since your only Pokémon has fainted."
"Sure!" Serena accepted, grabbing Looker's tablet. "Guess that means I'll be staying here watching everyone from behind."
Ineffective Interference
After Jessie and James packed up the hologram screen, Team Pikachu walked over to the same lookout point Looker and Donovan used to spy on Team Rocket.
"There they are," Ashlyn pointed out. "There's Team Rocket."
"Are you ready, Looker?" Donovan asked.
"I'm all set," Looker responded. He was holding a sniper-like machine to launch the device a very far distance. "I'm going to aim right for Arceus's head. Ready guys?"
"Yeah," everyone else agreed.
At this moment, Giovanni commenced the portal making. "Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and Arceus, work together to create portals to everywhere in the world! And Team Rocket members get in formation!"
"They're starting to make portals now!" Blaziken Mask warned.
"Hurry up and do it!" Ashlyn told Looker.
"Okay," Looker replied. "Firing in three…two…one…"
BAM!
The device sliced through the air and speeded to its destination. Within seconds, the disruptor finally made it to Arceus's head.
"Quick, everyone make sure we can't be seen!" Donovan alerted.
The device spawned a large orange energy field, destroying every one of the devices on Arceus's plates. Giovanni lost control of Arceus as well as the creation trio.
"Why did you stop making the portals?!" Giovanni demanded. "Get back to it!"
But none of the legendary Pokémon would obey him, and they just let out a huge roar!
"So much for having complete control," Cassidy said.
"It was only a matter of time," Butch said to Giovanni.
"What are we going to do now?" Petrel asked his boss.
"It's all over if we can't control them," Proton stated.
"That's why there's got be a way," Ariana affirmed.
"There better be…" Atlas doubted.
"Is there a way to control the legendary Pokémon again?" Archer wondered.
"Of course there is," the elite answered. "What do you expect of someone great like Giovanni?"
"Yes," Giovanni continued, "that is why I have the lake trio with me. With Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit, I can create the Red Chain that will allow control over them!"
"How did you learn that?" Archer wondered.
"Let's just say that I watched those who have attempted control in the past," Giovanni answered.
Giovanni grabbed the Red Chain in his hand and proceeded to throw it in the air. The Red Chain automatically surrounded the creation trio, controlling their short rampage.
"Those Pokémon are under control," Archer noticed.
"But Arceus is still free!" Petrel pointed out.
"Watch this," Giovanni told them. Giovanni had a glove with a red stone in his palm that allowed him to control using the Red Chain. A red glow emitted from his palm and then an extremely bright light flashed in the ruins very quickly! When the light faded, Arceus was back under control!
"That's how it's done," Giovanni declared. "Creation trio and Arceus, continue creating the portals!"
Team Pikachu was watching all of this in horror from a distance.
"What?!" Ash said in disbelief.
"It can't be!" Dawn also said.
"They've got control back over Arceus!" Serena pointed out.
"But I thought they lost control of the Pokémon completely," Looker thought.
"They have the Red Chain, which can give anyone control over the Sinnoh deities!" Brock explained. "That's why they brought Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit: to make the Red Chain!"
"But if they can control them," Tracey started.
"What are we going to do now?" Misty finished.
"They'll be able to get rid of us in an instant if we attack!" Iris yelled.
"Hold on just a second," Donovan said. "They said that Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and Arceus can't use any of their powers while creating the portals."
"That means that they won't be able to stop time if we strike now!" Cilan realized.
"That explains why they are in group formation," Looker said,
"They need to protect the legendary Pokémon during this time!" Blaziken Mask stated.
"But where will we attack?" Serena questioned.
"I think that Giovanni would be the logical choice," Clemont answered. "If he is truly in complete control, then knocking him out cold would stop everything!"
"We should head out right now!" Ashlyn declared.
"Right," everyone agreed.
After running out, all of Team Pikachu was now clearly visible for all to see.
"Let's do this!" Dawn shouted.
"It's all or nothing!" Jessie yelled.
"We either stop them now or lose everything!" James declared.
"There's only one thing we can do now," Ash stated. "Ready, everyone?"
"Yeah," everyone responded.
"ATTACK!" they all yelled while running forward.
With the hope of the world in our heroes' hands, Team Pikachu will have to battle their absolute hardest to stop Team Rocket once and for all! But can it be done? Will Team Pikachu be able to power through the massive numbers and strength of Team Rocket? And will Pikachu be saved? Stay tuned to find out!