Everyone in the cavern failed in their attempt to sleep peacefully that night, anxious about the plans that were to take place. Brock, fed up with waking up every half hour with his heart pounding in his ears, checked his watch. A faint green glow on his wrist read 5:08 A.M. He scanned the darkness to find a pair of round, brown eyes staring back at him.

"You're up, too." Pikachu scratched behind her ears. "We might as well get started. Get this over with."

"Hi Pikachu." He stood up, stepping over his friends, noticing how Misty had gradually rolled over closer to Ash over the course of a few hours. "Anybody else up?" He reached into his pack, pulling out three granola bars, a can of baked beans, a bruised apple, and a pack of Pokefeed. "I have some food for breakfast…a lot, though."

"Nnnghhghghgh." Ash flopped over only to be met by a spark from Pikachu. "Pikachu, I'm up! I'm up!"

Misty, looking over Brock's offerings, put her head in her hands. "We might be better off getting food on the outside."

Brock, Jessie, and James headed out first, with the former Rockets now wearing black turtlenecks and jeans.

Jessie lagged behind to hug Wobbuffet before she left. "Please protect this place."

Misty's eyes lit up. "Psyduck, I have a special job for you!"

"Psy?"

"You know Wobbuffet. Stay with him and protect our new place, okay? Confuse anybody who comes close."

"Psy!"

She then knelt down on the ground, surrounded by a motley crew of Pokemon: Corsola, Starmie, Togekiss, Charizard, Wartortle, Venusaur, Steelix, Crobat, and Victreebel. "Find a buddy. There's an odd number of you, so, Charizard, you're my buddy. You're gonna need some supervision for this one." The water trainer stood back up. "Go to people's houses. Knock on their doors. Convince them to release their Pokemon. If you're having trouble, find Charizard and me. We'll be sticking to homes near the PokeCenter."

Realizing her iconic ponytail was still in place, she removed the elastic and let her hair fall down. Misty found a wrinkled nylon jacket and a baseball cap at the bottom of her bag. "I hope this works."

Wartortle flashed her a smile and winked behind his sunglasses. "We got this."

Pikachu surveyed the cavern for her best friend, only to find him back in his sleeping bag. "Ash?"

"Nnghgh."

"He freakin' fell back asleep, Pikachu." Meowth rolled his eyes.

A spark later, Ash was jumping around. "I'm up!"

"It's our turn to skedaddle, twerp." Meowth stood on his tiptoes and pointed to Ash's hat. "You gotta lose da hat. And da jacket."

"Yeah. I guess so."

"Let's go."

The three made their way towards Lavender Town in a zig-zagging path. Staying in the brush, twigs snagged at them. Pikachu kept her ears flat against her head.

Meowth noticed the fierce determination on the faces of Ash and Pikachu. He felt like he was missing a piece of the equation. How did they know where to go? He worked some courage and asked, "So, uh, how are we gonna find dis facility?"

Pikachu's expression softened. "This is weird, but hear me out. Ash has this Pokemon sense. It's like he can read the presence—the aura—of others. I guess he can feel Pokemon bioenergy, if we're going to use that word."

Meowth stopped himself from laughing when he realized Pikachu's sincerity. "Huh. You're serious. Dey could make a feature-length film outta dat."

Ash grimaced, then spoke, "There's a bunch of Pokemon in a small spot to the west of Lavender Town. And then there's…nothing. There's a place with a lot of energy, and then there's a tiny place with no energy, and they're right next to each other." His hands balled into fists. "There's a lot of pain there. Fear."

"That must be it." Pikachu steeled herself for what she might see in the coming hours.

/

Brock hunched over to catch his breath. He hated his role as a runner for Jessie and James. He had jogged back and forth in the tall grass between the Lavender PokeMart and Rock Tunnel four times in a span of three hours, dragging pounds of food, clothing, medicine, water, batteries, and other sundries behind him while hiding from any onlookers. And if that wasn't enough, he had to dodge a confusion attack by Psyduck on his first run. It took ten minutes to convince the psychic bird that he was a friend, not a foe, that they knew each other for over a decade.

He regained his composure and loitered near the back entrance of PokeMart. The heavy door opened.

Jessie, with a surprising amount of strength, pulled Brock inside. "We've cleaned their entire stockroom out. We have to go before the shopkeeper notices."

James put his finger on his chin. "How busy is it on Route 10?"

"People are out and about now. It's going be hard to get back." Brock put his hands in his pockets, a nervous habit.

"As I thought." James peered into the storefront. "Okay. You need to distract the shopkeeper while Jessie and I find the secret passageway. If you hear clicking and knocking on the wall, follow the sounds."

"…Wait. A secret passageway?"

Jessie flicked Brock on his forehead. "Duh! Every government building is connected in some way. Team Rocket loves using these. The Rocket-controlled casino in Celadon had a huge underground system."

James nodded. "We can use the passageway to pop up in a service entrance at the PokeCenter near the cavern. Keep the shopkeeper occupied while we find the switch."

"How—" Before Brock could get a word in, Jessie and James were pressing their hands on the posters in the store. "I don't understand what—"

"Can I help you? I didn't see you come in." The shopkeeper, a heavy man with an illegible nametag, chuckled to himself.

"Huh? Oh! Yes!" Brock closed his eyes as his mind raced. "I'm a breeder, and I need the absolute best Pokefeed for a ground/rock type."

"Well what you want is one of the specialty feeds for dual-types. They're in aisle eight."

Brock struggled to feign interest. "I've heard that you can buy dual-type feed, but wouldn't it be the same if I bought a rock type feed and a ground type feed and then mixed it together? It'd be cheaper."

The shopkeeper sighed. "You're a tough costumer, huh." He raised his fingers to his forehead in a mock salute. "I respect you for it, though. You've got a good head. The thing is, dual-types aren't just half one type and half the other—" He turned his head as there was a click and a knocking sound.

The hair on Brock's neck stood up. "That sound—Probably just the pipes, huh? Okay, well, I'll go home and do my research, and I'll come back tomorrow to buy either the single-type feeds or the dual-type feed. Thank you very much!" His words ran into each other as he rushed towards the back left corner of the store.

"Sir, the door is—" The shopkeeper circled around to find that his customer had disappeared. A wave of recognition showed on his face as he focused on the wanted poster on the store's door. He hesitated for a moment before pressing the panic button underneath the cash register.

Brock entered the narrow opening in the wall. The gap slammed shut behind him. He found himself in a brightly lit hallway built with concrete bricks painted white. Jessie and James were a few steps ahead of him, gesturing wildly.

"Move it, Rocky!"

"Okay, okay. But tell me, what in the world was going on with the posters?"

Jessie snorted and flipped her hair. "Secret switches are always under posters, twerp." Her smirk faded as an alarm sounded.

James whispered one word: "Run." He let Jessie and Brock pass him, then punched an unmarked control switch. A wall panel slammed down from the ceiling, blocking the store's secret entrance, and another wall panel shot up, opening another hallway that went west instead of north..

Brock looked behind to James, who was pressing another switch, as Jessie bolted around the corner. "Guess we're taking the long way."

/

By noon, Wartortle and Venusaur had already convinced trainers to free thirty-nine Pokemon. The others trailed behind in numbers, but they were still successful overall. Any Pokemon not tied to a Pokeball was a victory. New, ubiquitous "helpful" public service announcements littered the city. Posters and short videos urged trainers not to release their Pokemon but to turn them in to a PokeCenter or the police station instead. All the trainers she talked to so far, Misty found, were suspicious of these new ads and believed her story.

Misty's buddy system worked pretty well, for the most part. Whenever one of the teams was having trouble, Misty and Charizard would be called in.

This time, Corsola and Togekiss were asking for help for the fourth time that day. The two Pokemon were sweet, too timid to clearly deliver the unsettling facts to other Pokemon, and if they managed to do so partially, they became outright fearful of the humans.

Misty patted Togekiss on the head. "Okay guys, we'll take it from here."

Charizard led the way to the offending door. Misty knocked, and an older woman answered.

"What do you want?"

"Do you own—have—any Pokemon?"

"…Are you trying to sell me something?" She eyed Charizard and raised an eyebrow.

"No."

"Then what are you here for?"

"We're here to discuss, uh, your opinions on the new public service announcements."

"Come in, then, I guess." The woman opened the door wide, and Charizard ducked as he walked across the threshold.

"So you work for the government, I suppose? Well I for one think the new ads are wonderful. No Pokemon should be abandoned. Would you like something to drink?"

"Oh! No, thank you. I absolutely agree with you. But I'm coming from a different angle. I'm not from the government, I'm just, uh, a volunteer. I care about Pokemon a lot."

Charizard supported this statement by nodding.

"So you're knocking on every door to…talk?"

"Pretty much. So, um—"

"—Cecilia."

"Cecilia, a Togekiss and Corsola visited you earlier?"

"Just ten minutes ago."

"They were trying to tell your Pokemon something."

"Ah, yes, they were chirping away with my Sandshrew."

"They want you—I want you—to release your Pokemon, for their own well-being."

"That's ridiculous! I would never abandon my Pokemon!"

"I'm not asking you to do that."

Charizard huffed. "This is going to take forever."

"It's against the law!"

"If a Pokeball is 'donated' to the police station or PokeCenter, the Pokemon dies, Cecilia." Misty looked her in the eye. "They're used for electrical power. A Pokemon's energy is used for electricity. This can only happen if a Pokemon is inside a Pokeball. That's why I'm asking you to release your Pokemon."

Cecilia stood up. "But I love Sandshrew."

"And you still can, but Sandshrew needs to be able to fight a Pokeball, and he can't do that if he's already attached to one and can be recalled. Sandshrew can still stay with you."

Cecilia's voice rose in both pitch and volume. "What are you trying to do? You're talking crazy talk! I'll call the police!"

Charizard blocked the woman from grabbing Misty's arm. Misty, with a steady but strained tone, said, "It's not necessary ma'am, I'll leave."

But Cecilia already had the phone in her hand. "There is an intruder in my house! Yes. Twenties, about five feet tall, red hair, has a Charizard..."

Misty ran as fast as she could towards the door, knocking over a few items of furniture. By the time she had reached the street, Officer Jenny was pulling up in a motorcycle.

"Waterflower! You are under arrest!"

Wartortle, Venusaur, and the others noticed the commotion and congregated around Misty.

Venusaur stomped the ground in a mixture of anxiety and frustration. In doing so, he performed his first earthquake attack. Eyes bulging in surprise, he wrapped his friends in vines, pulling them into the earth.

Wartortle wiped the dust off his sunglasses. "You're the best getaway Pokemon anyone could ask for."

"Between this, the dig escape, and what I did with the solarbeams, you owe me. I get first claim of snacks when we get back to Rock Tunnel" Venusaur beamed.

Misty knelt on the floor and gaped at Venusaur. She sputtered, "What? How? How did you? You're a grass type? Poison? What? I know Ash taught you to dig, but…but this?"

Venusaur thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention. "My grandmother was a Nidoqueen."

Wartortle gave a single nod. "Sounds legit."

Steelix and Charizard had gotten tangled in the chaos. As Charizard guarded his tail, Steelix worked to free herself and knocked one of the protrusions on her back into a rock formation. More dust fell, and a smooth, white block was uncovered.

"Weird." Misty stood up to examine it.

Charizard was still trying to free his leg from Steelix. Flapping his wings, he pushed himself against the block, which shifted under his weight. A hallway opened, filled with blinding light.

Misty squinted as she made her way forward, and Crobat, dazzled—blind as a bat, flew into several obstacles as the small crowd made their way into the sterile-looking underground structure. The entrance slid shut with a click.

/

Ash, Pikachu, and Meowth hid behind the trees encircling the nondescript building.

"Dere's a door, but no windows. I'll pick da lock." Meowth hugged the walls as he made his way toward the entrance. He relaxed when he noticed two signs: one read, "Silph Co.: Lavender Branch," and the other, handwritten, read "Closed for lunch. Back in one hour or so."

"Did you open it?"

"Dere's nobody here!" Meowth made quick work of the lock. "And we're in."

Ash crouched and slid through the doorway as Pikachu ran on all fours. A receptionist's desk in the entryway looked unused; Ash was doubtful that this facility had many visitors. Meowth picked a lock on the next door, and they silently walked through a room filled with computers and servers.

"They're to the left." Ash's eyes were closed, and he shuffled towards another locked door.

Meowth pulled out his favored claw again. "Looks like I'm gonna break a nail at dis rate."

Pikachu's heart was ready to burst. There was so much electricity in that room. She watched Meowth work, focusing on the skilled motions of his hand to keep from crying out. The door, heavier than the others, opened.

A loud hum vibrated through their bones. The source of the hum, a sprawling machine that resembled the healing machine in PokeCenters, separated two bins of Pokeballs.

Ash rushed to the left bin. "We can save these ones…the others…" He frantically scooped out Pokeballs and started releasing Pokemon. Pidgeys, Rattatas, Spearows, Meowths, Sandshrews, Weedles: dozens materialized from flashes of light.

Pikachu shouted. "Run away from here! Do not let anyone capture you!"

Out of curiosity, Meowth opened one of the Pokeballs from the other bin, which was labeled, "For PokeMart Redistribution." The Pokeball was empty but with dark, claw-like singe marks on the inside. His stomach twisted in knots and he dropped the Pokeball, frozen in recognition. Pikachu crawled over and opened another empty Pokeball. More black marks. She gagged.

Ash still frantically released Pokemon from the other bin. His forehead gleamed with sweat. "Pikachu! Meowth! Snap out of it! Help the ones you can."

Pikachu pulled Meowth's paw back to the other bin, and they shook as they released more Pokemon.

Meowth released a Diglett, an Aipom, and a Raticate in quick succession and shouted, "Get outta dis place! Run!"

Pikachu focused on the electricity within every Pokemon she released. She looked each of them in the eyes as they emerged, gesturing them towards the door.

Ash was a Pokemon-releasing machine. His arms flew as he released Pokemon after Pokemon, untiring.

Most of the Pokemon freed fled right away, but a Spearow lingered. Pikachu flashed back to her first encounter with Spearow and felt a blurry, painful sort of nostalgia. "What's wrong?"

"Are you that Pikachu?"

"What?"

"The Pikachu everyone's talking about? The Pikachu who's going to stop the kidnappings?"

Pikachu took a step backwards, bumping into Meowth, who was still freeing Pokemon and pointing them towards an escape route. "I guess…um, sure?"

"Thank you." The Spearow chirped and flew through the open doors.

"Pikachu! Dat was touching an' all, but we need your help!" Meowth tossed her several Pokeballs. "We don't know when deir lunch break ends. Dey could be back any—"

"Hello," a singsong voice belonging to a man in a white lab coat interrupted Meowth.

"—minute…" Meowth ran away the best he could on two legs, Pokeballs still in his hands.

Pikachu instinctually shocked the scientist to stun him. She then sent a thunderbolt at the ominous machine, hoping that the damage to the circuits would at least delay the carnage. And, for good measure, she decided to shock every electronic device in that room, which included a previously unnoticed security camera. "Ash! Take as many as you can!" A Pokeball in her mouth, she exited the room, catching up to Meowth.

"Find da basement! Trust me on dis!"

Weighed down by Pokeballs, Ash scrambled to find a set of stairs. "There!" He gestured with his chin towards concrete steps.

Ash and Pikachu rushed past Meowth while the cat was distracted by a poster in the basement that advertised lemonade, soda pop, and bottled water.

"Meowth! Stop daydreaming and come up with a plan!"

Meowth smacked the poster, and a wall panel opened, revealing a white hallway. Meowth pushed the two inside and hit another brick, closing the wall panel behind them. He pointed to the ceiling. "Pikachu, see dat black dot? It's anudder security camera. Hit it."

"…Okay." Pikachu disabled the camera with a calculated shock. "How did you know this was here?"

He grinned. "Secret switches are always hidden behind posters."