12- Delusions.
It was night, and the only source of light was the sparks of an almost extinguished fire.
"We thought it's be fun. We thought we'd be safe, but…we didn't realize the horror waiting for us on the island." Someone was telling. "Claws, teeth, screaming…so much screaming."
The one speaking was Max, who seemed to be telling a scary story while his friends listened quiet. Some even looked a little scared, like Serena, who was hugging Ash a little tight, while Bonnie, on the contrary, was really interested.
"How much screaming?" Dawn asked a little scared, grabbing Ritchie's arm, making him a little red.
"Shh! He's getting to the good part." Bonnie shut up.
"The Tyrantrum stalked closer, his jaws opened wide." Max narrated.
"I don't like scary stories." Serena expressed scared hugging Ash, who hugged her back.
"Pi piplup." Piplup said scared as well, hiding behind Pikachu and Sparky.
"Don't worry Serena. Scary stories normally are not real." Ash reassured his girlfriend hugging her, which relieved her a little.
"But the thing was the Tyrantrum wasn't the worst. Because deep within the shadows there was a more sinister pokémon, one which wasn't suppose to exist. And when the young campers approached their lights…" Max continued.
"Oh please, a group of campers stranded on an island full of just prehistoric pokémon? That isn't a scary story, it looks more like the script for a movie." Ritchie interrupted.
"Oh come on, you are going to ruin the atmosphere." Max defended as he was about to continue.
"Max! Don't tell me you are trying to scare everyone with some scary stories." May stopped, appearing behind him alongside Clemont.
"Big sis. No, I just was…I mean…"
"Need I to remind you what happened the last time you heard a scary story? You didn't want to leave mom and dad's room and begged them constantly to let you sleep with them."
Everyone laughed at that, even the ones who were scared.
"That was when I was 5!" Max defended red of embarrassment.
"Don't come begging me when you have nightmares." May ended.
"I think we had had enough fun for tonight. It's time to go to sleep." Clemont decided.
Bonnie groaned. "But I didn't listen the rest of the story. Besides," She couldn't avoid yawn. "…I still don't feel tired."
"I believe we all should get some sleep already." Ash supported.
The gang decided to camp in a forest outside Lavender Town. They started with making marshmallows with the wood fire while they talked about many things, right before Max suggested the scary story. Now they were about to sleep in their respectful tents: Max and May decided to sleep together in one, the same as Clemont with his little sister, while there was a tent for Ash, Ritchie and their Pikachu, and other for the girls. Ash was already in his sleeping bag while Ritchie was supposed to enter soon, but a silhouette outside showed that he was speaking with someone. Moments later, someone entered the tent.
"About time, Ritchie. I was about to turn off the light." Ash said, but got surprised when he saw who actually entered. "Serena? What are you doing here? Are you and Dawn not supposed to sleep in the same tent?"
"Yeah, but I talked with her about something, and so with Ritchie. I was wondering if it doesn't bother you if I sleep with you tonight. Of course, it isn't because of the scary story."
"And Ritchie?"
"Dawn says it's okay for him to sleep in her same tent since that way we could be together. So, what do you think?"
Ash simply smiled. "Of course I don't bother. Of course, it will be our first time sleeping together, but it's fine with me."
"Thanks Ash." Serena said, happy to been able to pass the nigh with her love.
Both slept in their sleeping bags, but once she noticed Ash was already asleep, Serena approached him until she managed to sleep hugged to him, just like a dream. At the same time in another tent…
"Are you sure it doesn't bother you we sleep in the same tent as you?" Ritchie asked as he and Sparky prepared their bag.
"Of course not. Serena is the one who asked me to allow her this chance for her to go sleep with Ash, and I couldn't say no to that." Dawn answered.
"Yeah. Those two look very close, it makes me wonder if that could happen to me someday."
"Who knows. Probably." She said a little red.
And everyone went to sleep. Now was midnight, with the moon shining in the sky, with no sound around except some night pokémon like Kricketune. Everything was very calm, but then Pikachu's ears started to move, sign that he was hearing something disturbing. He woke up immediately, alert of anything. He sensed whatever was making that sound was coming from outside, so he went to check it out. He took a look and initially he saw nothing, but when he was about to return inside to sleep his ears noticed that again. He followed the sound and spotted at the distance something shiny: at seeing closer he discovered that it was a little Shuppet and a Misdreavus, two ghost type pokémon, which were carrying a box full of metal sticks and bars. Pikachu found that suspicious, but decided not to intervene yet. Instead, he chose to wake up the other pokémon and figure it out together. He was about to enter Dawn and Ritchie's tent when Sparky showed up, so Pikachu pointed him where the ghost pokémon were going to show him was they sensed.
"Pika pika." Sparky said.
"Pika?"
"Pikachu."
"Pi." Pikachu nodded. "Pika pi."
Sparky went after them while Pikachu entered the tent to wake up his pal Piplup. He was forced to cover his beak in order to not make a sound, and next they went for Dedenne, but he was sleeping on Bonnie's bad and no matter much they tried he didn't wake up, so they decided to leave him instead. As they were to reunite with Sparky, they found someone waiting for them at outside the tent: Riolu was looking at them with suspicious eyes and his arms crossed, like a mad parent. He asked them in their language what they were doing, and they answered him. Riolu, instead of blow the whistle, asked to go with them since it sounded exciting, and because they haven't much choice allowed him. Sparky was not too far following the ghost pokémon when the others reached him and they continued after their trail, until they saw them entering somewhere. While they took a look at it, Pikachu sensed that place seemed familiar to him: it was the Pokémon Tower, a place he and Ash visited on their first journey. Piplup found it's atmosphere very terrified, probably thanks to Max and his scary story from before.
"Pika pika?" Pikachu asked to Riolu, who nodded.
What Pikachu asked to Riolu was if he could sense the pokémon presence inside with his aura, and so he did. Without doubting, Pikachu decided to enter the tower, followed by Riolu and Sparky, while Piplup was a little hesitant about entering. At the end, because he didn't want to be alone outside, he chose to go with them. The place seemed a little different from the first time Pikachu was there: now it looked like no one, not even ghost pokémon, was living there. There was dust everywhere and not a single light on. Piplup even reacted in fear when the door shut jumping on Riolu's back, who pushed him away in annoyance. He used his aura once again to locate where those pokémon could be and led the way. They reached a familiar site: the place where those three ghost pokémon Pikachu and Ash met used to play, but now seemed completely abandoned. Suddenly, they heard sounds, so they went into hiding, Piplup really scared. They saw some ghost pokémon, not the ones Pikachu saw first, but two Duskull and a Haunter, and they seemed in a hurry, carrying more metallic objects. They opened a hidden scuttle on the floor which may led to a hidden passage, so they waited for them to cross before following them. The hidden passage seemed to descend right to the bottom of the tower. Once the path ended going down, they spotted a light at the end of a tunnel. Once they reached it, they found themselves in a huge subterranean chamber, one much bigger than even the entire tower. It seemed like an ancient resting place, maybe the first one to be made.
"Okay little critters, line up!" A creepy voice announced.
The pokémon hid behind some rocks and saw in disbelief who spoke: in front of them was a lot of ghost pokémon, probably the ones who lived there, but they all looked nervous, scared even, because rising in front of them stood no one else than Protoform X, the cybertronian monster. Some of them placed objects in front of him, most of them of metal, like if it was some kind of offering. Protoform X picked one amount, sniffed it and placed it into his jaws. Second after starting to chew, he spilled the remains with a reaction of disgust.
"Plastic? Puaj, disgusting. What were you thinking? Making me choke on?" He said mad to a trio of Gastly, making his shadow to rise above them. "Need I to remind you what could happen if you don't satisfy my hunger?" He threatened leaving a mark on the wall with his giant claws. "Perhaps I cannot digest you, but if any of you don't fulfill with your duty, I will chew on you all until you are nothing more than a raisin!"
And roared at them directly, making the pokémon to shiver terrorized.
"Next."
The little Shuppet and Misdreavus delivered to him what they brought, trembling in fear. X took it and swallowed it.
"You have passed, for now." He said, making the two pokémon to sigh in relief. "Now, find me more metal things. I still need to appease my hunger."
The ghost pokémon moved with hurry as Protoform X sat on some rubble which he suited for himself like a king. Pikachu and his pals were shocked: X not only trespassed those pokémon home, but also enslaved them, forcing them to go bring him metal things to satisfy his hunger and threatening them if they did not cooperate. They have to do something, so first they decided to return back and tell their trainers. While they passed by the entrance, Piplup tripped on, causing a little rock to fall through a hole which led back to the bottom of the tower, on a buried chamber. There was a spherical object, almost open at the top, which the rock hit, entering inside and making the tap to roll, launching a little object back to where the rock came from, landing right on Piplup's face.
"PIIIIPPPPLUUUUUPPP!" Piplup screamed panicked before running at full speed out of the building.
The others reached the camp and went to wake up everyone. Sparky went to wake up both Ritchie and Dawn.
"Pika pi. Pikachu."
"Huh? Sparky, what is it?" Ritchie asked sleepy as Dawn woke up as well.
At the same time, Pikachu went to Max and May's tent, while Riolu went to wake up Clemont and Bonnie. Moments later, they were all awake.
"What's going on?" Bonnie asked wearing her usual pajama.
"I hope it is important, I was having a nice dream." May complained.
"Were you winning the great festival?" Clemont guessed.
"Eh, no. Not exactly." She answered blushing a little.
"Pikachu and the others would not awake us if it wasn't for a good reason." Max pointed.
"We are not everyone." Dawn said looking at Ash and Serena's tent.
Ritchie was about to awake them but the scene he saw was too special that he couldn't avoid not bothering them.
"Hey guys, you gotta see this." He called, making May, Dawn, Clemont and Bonnie to sneak inside.
"Oh, how romantic." Dawn expressed.
"They look so cute embraced like that. I need to make a picture and send it to his mom." May suggested.
"Come on, don't make this more embarrassing." Max begged, declining to see that.
"Pika pika."
"Oh sorry Pikachu, you're right." Clemont nodded before turning on the tent's light. "Ash, Serena."
"Hum, what is it, Clemont?" Ash asked, not bothered by the fact that Serena was still embracing him.
"It's not day yet." Serena added.
"Sorry to interrupt this precious moment, but the pokémon have entered our tents and have awaken us as well." May explained.
"We don't know why but it must be something important. Isn't it, guys?" Ritchie said to the pokémon.
"Pika." Pikachu nodded before he picked up a stick.
"What is he doing?" Bonnie asked.
"I think he's going to show it to us." Ash deduced.
Pikachu used the stick to draw something in the ground. After a while he ended his drawing.
"A tower?" Ritchie recognized. "What do you mean with that?"
"Maybe they are referring to a tower near here." Max guessed.
"Pika pika." Pikachu said pointing to its direction.
"Hum, according to this, the place they are referring to may be the Pokémon Tower. It's the only tower here in Lavender Town." Serena said checking her digital map.
"Hey, I know that place. We've been there when I started being a pokémon trainer." Ash remembered.
"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded.
"And what's wrong with that place?" May asked.
Pikachu erased the drawing and was about to make another, but it took him a while to decide what to draw so they could guess what it was. Riolu took the stick and made another drawing in the ground.
"It looks like some claws. What does this mean?" Dawn questioned.
"Claws?" Bonnie repeated in a nervous tone. "Oh no. Are you trying to say that Protoform X is here?"
"Pikachu." Sparky nodded serious.
"What's that monster doing here?" May asked in disbelief.
"And how did he managed to sneak into that place without being seen?" Clemont added.
Riolu continued drawing, trying his best to explain them what they witnessed. Fortunately, his trainer understood it.
"I think they're saying X has forced the ghost pokémon to deliver him food and menaces them if they don't obey him." Ash translated, which Riolu nodded.
"It makes sense. Yesterday I heard officer Jenny reported some recent robberies from stores and warehouses, everything related with construction or metal manipulation." Clemont revealed.
"And we know that's the only thing which that creature can consume when there's no other cybertronians around to hunt." Ritchie added.
"X may not be acting like the Decepticons but he's already showing he's not willing to live in peace with pokémon and us. It's time to ruin his dinner." May declared.
"But how are we going to confront him without the Autobots' support?" Serena reminded.
"He may have the ghost pokémon at line, but I doubt he believes in spirits."
"You got an idea, Max?" Ash asked.
"I think it's time for Protoform X to experience the sensation of being in a scary story."
"I doubt that thing could get scared." Bonnie objected.
"Or…at least distract it enough to prepare a surprise attack." Ritchie suggested.
"Alright, let's do it." Ash announced.
"Hold on, everyone. Where's Piplup?" Dawn noticed.
In that moment, they heard Piplup running at them, but he was constantly hitting with the trees, like if he was blind. That was because of the thing covering his face, until he tripped on and ended in front of Dawn.
"Piplup. Where have you been?" Dawn demanded.
"Pi?" Piplup said getting up and looking at every direction, with that thing still on his face so he didn't notice her and the rest.
"Oh, so you chose to use of these things to cover your eyes for sleep?" She said taking it out of his face. "Hum, now that I see it better, it looks more like some kind of huge and weird glasses."
"Like those 3D glasses used for entertainment?" Ritchie said observing it.
"No, but still weird."
"We can check it later. Right now we need to help those pokémon." Ash reminded.
"We still should warn the Autobots, so they can try to capture him."
"Easy Serena, I'm taking care of." Clemont reassured as he activated the com-link of his backpack.
The gang followed their pokémon to the Pokémon Tower.
Serena shivered a little. "This place surely looks a little spooky."
"You can say that. It reminds me a little to that ghost town." May added a little nervous.
"Easy girls. The only thing we should fear is Protoform X, and that place looks too small for someone like him." Ritchie observed.
"Guys, you know exactly where he is. Show us the way." Ash requested, which Riolu nodded, while Serena grabbed his arm nervous.
"I wonder what kind of glasses are this." Max said checking what Piplup had on as he was about to put on.
"Pi piplup! Piplup!" Piplup repeated denying with his head, as he was telling him not to do it.
"Max, come on. The others are already inside." Bonnie said grabbing his hand.
Once they were in, Max was bemused from what he was seeing: he started to see everything in purple, with some light spots in some parts.
"Wow, it didn't know this place was such a mess. Definitely will require a whole cleanup." He opined.
"What are talking about?" Bonnie asked.
"Do you not see those spots in the walls? And who came up with the idea of painting everything in purple? This isn't the Nemesis."
"Max, I think you are mistaken. I don't see any spots and this place it's not purple."
"What? Are you certain?"
"Completely."
"Max, Bonnie, what are you doing? Stop wasting time, those pokémon need our help." May called.
"We're coming!"
While she dragged him with her, Max took off the weird glasses, and saw that everything turned back to normal. Meanwhile, the rest was with the pokémon trying to open the scuttle, but it didn't budge.
"Arg, it doesn't move!" Ritchie exclaimed after trying so much.
"Did this happen when you came here the first time?" Dawn asked, earning a deny from the pokémon.
"Do you think one of them could have locked it from inside?" May wondered.
"No way. It doesn't have a lock for it. So it must be stuck, probably because of the constant accumulation of dust and oxide." Clemont deduced.
"And normally ghost pokémon doesn't need to open doors, they simply past through the walls." Serena pointed.
"There has to be another way down there. We just need to find it." Ash supposed.
"We better start looking for it. The longer we delay, the longer X will hold down those innocent pokémon." Dawn proclaimed.
The group divided to search for an alternative path. Meanwhile, Bonnie couldn't avoid to admire the room, specially the carousel.
"Hehe, I wonder if the pokémon use to play with this all nights." She said before looking at the glasses Max wore before.
She decided to put on and see if what Max said was right. In the moment she placed them on her face, she started to smile and laugh. She even started to jump around the place as she was playing. Meanwhile, Riolu was trying to find another route using his special sense, until he stopped and returned with his pals.
"You got something, Riolu?" Ash asked.
He guided them to a wall with a crack. He started to use Force Palm to make it bigger. Ash understood what he meant with that.
"I get it: there's a hidden passage behind that wall and you are trying to open a path. Pikachu, give him a hand. Use Iron Tail."
"Pika." Pikachu nodded, joining the demolition task.
It took them a while to clear the path, earning the rest's attention in the process.
"Wow, you found a secret passage." May observed.
"According to Riolu it should lead us to where they are right now." Ash explained.
"Then better not keep them waiting." Max encouraged.
"Wait, it's just a possibility, but just in case X forces those pokémon to fight us because they are very scared of him, how we will act?" Ritchie pointed.
"Don't worry, Sylveon can help us with that." Serena answered with her pokémon besides her. "She can use Protect to cover us, and if they use dark type attacks it will be of no use against her."
"Of course, she's a fairy type." Clemont realized.
"Hey, wait a minute. Now where's Bonnie?" Dawn noticed.
They heard her laughs coming from the previous room. When they checked inside, they found the place turned into a mess, while she was jumping and running around, acting like if she was escaping from something, or trying to catch something.
"Bonnie, have you done this?" Ritchie asked in disbelief.
"What's wrong with you?" May added.
"I can't answer you now, guys. I'm trying to catch these cute playful colored ghosts." She answered, still going one way to another.
"I see." Clemont said as he noticed she was wearing the weird glasses on. So when she ran close to him he simply took them from her.
"Eh? What's wrong? Where have those ghosts gone?" She asked stopping.
"This is no time for games, little sister."
"But big brother, I swear it seemed real. Once I wore that, I started to see everything like very cheerful, with balls of light everywhere, floating fruit and colorful ghosts, with cute faces and playful behavior. Specially a group of four."
"Enough distractions guys. We need to help the pokémon now." Ash reminded.
Everyone got into the hidden passage and started going down some stairs. It was a relief their Pokétchs also came equipped with flashlights so they could light their way.
"So are you saying you started to see those weird things when you put on these?" Clemont repeated with the thing at hand.
Bonnie nodded. "And Max told me he saw everything in purple and some invisible spots."
"I better take a look at it once we're back at New Iacon."
Although he said he was going to examine them safely once at the Autobot base, Clemont couldn't resist to see it by himself, and ended putting the glasses on. But that was a mistake, because immediately he started to feel dizzy and ended pushing his pals accidentally downstairs. They rolled down like balls, so they didn't hurt much at the end.
"What was that for?" Dawn demanded before noticing she was crushing someone. "Ups, sorry Piplup."
"Piplup." The penguin pokémon said with dizzy eyes.
"Sorry guys, my bad. I guess I shouldn't have tried these." Clemont apologized taking off the glasses.
"You tried them on, didn't you?" Bonnie interrogated with suspicious eyes.
"You mean the glasses?" Ash deduced.
"I wonder who created them and for what purpose. Bonnie saw weird cheerful things, Max saw everything in purple and I got dizzy because everything was moving at high-speed."
"We can let that for latter. Now we have something more important to take care of." Serena recalled as they put eyes on what she was seeing.
They spotted the ghost pokémon trying to please Protoform X's demands.
"It looks like he has settled as in his own house." May noticed.
"I don't wanna imagine what kind of place that monster would consider as home." Bonnie admitted.
"And there's a lot of pokémon. No wonder there were so many missing things reported." Ritchie observed.
"Okay Max, now what?" Ash started.
"There should be places where our voices could be heard all around. Once we got them, we can start."
"I have an alternative solution." Clemont offered pressing a button of his backpack, making a megaphone to appear.
"That looks much better."
"You don't stop making incredible things." May complemented.
The group started to separate, carefully to not alert any of the pokémon or X about their presence.
"Remember you have only until dawn, so hurry up!" Protoform X demanded in fury.
"Stop!" A deep voice announced.
That caused all the pokémon to stop what they were doing and X to stand alert.
"Who's there?" He demanded.
"I'm the guardian of this tower, resting place for all the fallen pokémon. And you have desecrated it."
Hidden, Max was using Clemont's invention to make his voice sound like a ghost. Meanwhile, the others scattered to different positions carrying some objects.
"What do you want?" X asked again.
"I have witnessed what you have been doing to these innocent pokémon, and I will not allow you to continue threatening them like this. I will put an end to your actions." Max invented.
"Is that a challenge? I have huge razors and I will not doubt to use them." He threatened preparing his claws.
"You're such a fool. You cannot harm what you cannot touch. But…"
Suddenly a pillar brought down by Ritchie and Serena, which made X to look at it, but the absence of culprits started to make him nervous. May, Dawn and Max did the same with another, this one at the other side of the room.
"…I can touch you and more." Max ended.
This was the signal for Ash and the pokémon to push another pillar, this one crushed on X's head, which cause him to startle a little.
"Come out and fight, you coward!" X challenged.
"Leave now and leave these pokémon in peace."
Then the gang started the next phase of the plan: using the devices they carried, they hit them, making a loud sound like a gong. This caused Protoform X to inspect where the sound came from, but almost reaching they played other, making him to go and check it, followed by the third. They repeated it consecutively times, making X to roar in annoyance, which the pokémon took chance to escape without him paying them attention. Unfortunately, as usual, Clemont's invention started to shake and smoke, causing an explosion which dropped their cover and exposed them to the monster.
"Oh scrap." Max cursed.
"Sorry." Clemont apologized.
"So it was a trick. If there is something I don't like is to be tricked, as they tried with me long ago. I am not a mindless beast, but I like to punish the ones who believes it." Protoform X menaced.
"You also should know something, X: if you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us." Ash proclaimed.
Immediately, all the gang's pokémon attacked Protoform X from all directions: Pikachu attacked his head with Iron Tail while Sparky hit him on the chest with Volt Tackle; Riolu used Force Palm followed by Piplup with Drill Peck from one side to another while Dedenne and Sylveon tried to make him trip over attacking his foot with Tackle and Quick Attack. Bonnie saw it working and got an idea: she took the weird glasses from his brother's backpack and ran toward X.
"Bonnie, what are you doing?" Clemont asked in disbelief.
"You are annoying me!" Protoform X shouted while Bonnie climbed up his head from his crown-like crest.
"I know and I'm not sorry." She said placing the glasses on some of his eyes.
The trinket did something, because Protoform X continue struggling, but this time more brutally, now destroying everything around him with his claws. But he now was acting like if he was blind.
"What have you put on my eyes? I cannot see! Where are you?!" He said striking with his claws, although he wasn't reaching anything.
"It seems that also doesn't suit him."
"Great job, Bonnie. Now it's our chance." Ritchie congratulated.
"Alright everyone, get out of here. Be free." Ash told to the pokémon.
"Don't think you can't hide from me. I may be viewless, but I can still smell you." Protoform X revealed.
"How lucky I brought this with me then." Serena said pulling out a perfume bottle and spreading it everywhere to cloak everyone's smell.
"Good idea, Serena." Dawn said.
"Also in case…" May said grabbing the bag they used to put the plastic garbage and throwing it right into Protoform X's mouth, making him to swallow it.
"What is this? Plastic?" He said recognizing what he was consuming, before feeling some punctures in the stomach. "Arg, I'm not feeling well."
"Nice idea, May." Ritchie congratulated.
"And now…" Serena started as Sylveon joined her while she put a Z-Crystal on her bracelet, making it shine. "We are going to teach you a lesson, for threatening innocent pokémon who has done nothing to you."
They made the same movements which generated a wave of energy that traveled from Serena to Sylveon.
"You will see that pretty things that can also be strong. Prove it to him, Sylveon. Twinkle Tackle!"
Sylveon looked at her rival determined and ran toward him, leaving a trail of stars and fairy dust behind her, surrounding Protoform X and jumping to his face, before looking like giving him two kisses on his cheeks, which energy sent him flying hard backwards. The impact was so strong that he ended bringing down the whole wall and lots of rocks above him.
"Woah. That was very pretty." Bonnie expressed.
"And awesome." Max added.
"I can't believe it, Sylveon. We did it, we have performed a Z-Move successfully." Serena celebrated with her pokémon.
"Wow Serena, you are amazing. I wasn't expecting you to come up with that." Ash confessed.
"Well, I also have my surprises." She said blushing.
"I guess that was the fairy type Z-Move." Clemont deduced.
"Eh guys, not time to celebrate yet." May interrupted, pointing at Protoform X.
The impact force also made the weird glasses to fall from his face, so Clemont recovered them with his Aipom arm.
"That's it! I will not be humiliated by such little beings. I'm done with you!" X declared furious pushing the rocks aside.
"You're right, we are done with you. But not with everyone." Ritchie agreed.
X was a little confused by his answer, until a ground bridge opened right behind them, from which Optimus, Elita, Blaster and Ultra Magnus came out. Optimus pushed him back with his fists before changing them for his cannons and fire, supported by Ultra Magnus using the Forge of Solus Prime to hit him hard on the chest. Elita kicked him twice on the jaws as she fired her weapons, while Blaster fired his upgraded sonic cannons before electrocuting him with his tentacles. All that surprise attacks let him very weakened.
"I hoped you would not represent a direct threat to Earth's inhabitants, Protoform X, but it seems your nature will bring harm to everyone around you. For everyone's sake, you better come with us." Optimus proclaimed.
"As if. I will never return to be in chains!" Protoform X replied.
He prepared the secret propellers of his back and turned them on, shooting up through the wall's hole and into the sky. He let the area, right to who knew where, which made Optimus shout in annoyance.
"At least now we know how he managed to escape the previous times." Ultra Magnus said.
"We will catch him the next time." Elita reassured her sparkmate.
"You did well in warning us about Protoform X. But what was he doing here?" Blaster asked.
"He was forcing some pokémon to steal metal objects for him to feed." Ritchie explained.
"But we managed to distract him, thanks to the scary stories' atmosphere. See, big sis? They are useful after all."
"Enough Max, we just were smarter than him."
"And a little tougher too." Ash added looking at Serena, who hugged his arm.
"Besides a little help from this." Bonnie said showing them the weird glasses.
"Huh? That little thing was useful on your encounter with X?" Ultra Magnus looked.
"Yeah, but we don't know what it is." Clemont started as they handed it to Blaster.
"Hum, by seeing it with my helmet's scanners, I can see its origin. It's not very noticeable, but it is cybertronian." Blaster examined.
"Max and Bonnie saw weird things when they wore it, and in my case I simply saw things so fast that I almost got dizzy."
"When Bonnie put it on X's eyes, he complained that he was blind. Now that I think about it, Piplup acted in a similar way." Dawn added.
"Maybe it acted differently depending on who was wearing it." Ritchie supposed.
"Indeed, but not either of you was suited for wearing this."
"Sir, why do you think that?" Ultra Magnus asked.
"These are not even glasses, there are Alchemist Prime's lenses."
"The what?" Bonnie repeated.
"It is another relic from the original Primes?"
"Indeed Serena. But unlike the other artifacts, which could be passed between multiple users, the Lenses were actually part of Alchemist's optical sensors, and thus could only be used by him. They gave Alchemist a unique vision and perspective." Optimus explained.
"Hum, that could explain their weird experiences: the Lenses' configuration was incompatible with their eyes' biology." Blaster theorized.
"Wait, then what we thought were glasses were actually…the eyes of a dead robot?!" Max asked in disbelief and disgust. "And I wore them! Arg, I need to wash my eyes!"
"Me too!" Bonnie asked following him, the same as Piplup while the others laughed.
"I guess we were lucky to find them. We weren't expecting to find another relic." Ash admitted.
"It seems this relic's location was the one I was about to end decoding last night, until you called us." Blaster revealed.
"And you reached it first. You have achieved more than you expected." Elita said smiling.
"Well done, group." Ultra Magnus congratulated.
"Guess how the Cons would react when they discover there's no relic this time to get." May said.
Moments later, once they were done dismantling the camp, the group was received by the wild ghost pokémon, who gave them their thanks for freeing them from Protoform X's grip and said them goodbye. As May anticipated, some Vehicons sent by Starscream not only found the relic's container empty, but also tore apart, as if something tried to eat it.