Chapter 10 - New friend or New Pet

Soft noise came from a tablet, as a video played about a young boy and his Pikachu travelling from region to region while making new friends. Thundercracker idly watched from his berth. Back in his original timeline, after many years living on Earth, Thundercracker would begin secretly watching human culture. It fascinated him how humans could come up with such imaginary worlds, yet be so captivating. This type of escapism makes him wish the war could end anytime soon, a war that the Autobots and Decepticons linger on.

Now they are trapped in a different reality where organics have powers and humans use them in any way they can. Thundercracker remembers when he first encountered them, now, he wants to know more about them. Switching to a different video, a girl with pastel pink and blue hair, and a set of pastel pink and blue magnet pokemon hair clips, pop on screen. The way she talked seemed close to podcasters yet more energetic. Perhaps it had something to do with this version of Earth having advanced technology, although not as advanced as Cybertron's.

The human on-screen introduces herself as Iono, an Electric Gym Leader from the Paldea region. Thundercracker notices a chat system on the side of his screen, next thing he knew, what he was watching was a live stream. A live stream, you think those would only be used for newscasts but here he was, watching a viewtuber. Iono began a trivia game about pokemon and made her fans answer the questions. Of course, Thundercracker took the liberty to join, answering each and every question. It was fun for him even if he didn't get them right but it also made a good learning experience.

Though the fun won't last when he gets a call from the higher-ups. Thundercracker's smile faded when he turned the tablet off and placed it on his desk. Silence filled his living space. Thundercracker left his room, back into his old mood to start off his day.

The Decepticon went to the main room where Soundwave and Skywarp awaited him.

"Orders: Megatron wants you, Rumble and Skywarp to collect Pokemon for Shockwave."

Pokemon… Thundercracker wonders if this could be an opportunity for him, maybe, just maybe, he could keep one as his own just like the humans do.

When all three agree to their new orders they head out to the deck. Rumble rode alongside Skywarp as the two seekers flew off into the sky.

The earth beneath them blurs as they zoom through the air. The seeker's speed slowly decreases once they are in close range of their destination. Not far below them, was a flock of Pidove, flying in the opposite direction. Thundercracker took notice of how similar they were to a regular pigeon, he wondered what other pokemon have in common with earth's creatures.

Skywarp and Thundercracker transformed midair when they came to a clearing in an open forest. Rumble also transformed just before hitting the ground. All three Decepticons landed with a giant thud on the ground, scaring away nearby pokemon.

"Alright, we're here," said Rumble. "Catch as many small pokemon as you can, stay clear of the bigger ones; we don't know how much power they possess yet."

With that final word, all three 'cons went their separate way.

Leaves sang in the wind, and the air seems to be getting cold as some of the forest leaves are turning yellow and brown. Thundercracker continues walking, each step making a thunderous sound. At his rate, he wouldn't be able to get close to a single pokemon. So he stops, listening for howls, chirps or roars. The blue seeker caught sight of a—Lilligant, a pokemon he recognised from Iono's trivia game. If Thundercracker recalls correctly, it's a pure grass type.

Another thing came to his processor, the humans categorise each pokemon by their biology and what their ability specialises in, which for him makes it easy to remember.

Seeing the pokemon in person was more beautiful than on screen. Thundercracker tried walking up to it but once it spotted the Decepticon, it fled. Welp, there goes his catch; the seeker continues his walk.

Eventually, Thundercracker came across his second pokemon, a Buneary. When the rabbit pokemon spotted the seeker it made a mischievous grin. Thundercracker was taken aback by this. Buneary hops around the Cybertronian, unafraid of the giant. Trying to test his luck, Thundercracker reaches out his hand and gently picks up the pokemon. Even then, it still looked fearless.

Thundercracker carefully examines the rabbit pokemon—it had pink fur. He scoured the internet for information. His optics widen, a regular Buneary would have peach fur and this one has pink, which means…

Just then, a glow formed around the pokemon revealing a new pokemon. This one was black with blue highlights. This new pokemon made a small giggle when it saw Thundercracker's priceless reaction. Thundercracker shook his helm, trying to figure out what just happened. Once again scouring the internet: Zorua, Tricky Fox Pokémon. It changes into the forms of others to surprise them. Apparently, it often transforms into a silent child.

"That's not disturbing…"

A regular picture shows that a Zorua has red highlights, this is blue. Thundercracker beamed as a massive grin grew on the seeker's face. This is what the humans called a rare moment, a shiny Zorua, unafraid of him. There's no way he's giving this pokemon to Shockwave now—now all he has to do is name it.

"What should I name you," Thundercracker said as the Zorua scratched their ear.

"TC, what are you doing?"

Thundercracker jumped when he heard a familiar voice, "Skywarp! How long have you been there?"

"Long enough that you start asking what you should name it." Skywarp sigh. "Are you seriously planning on keeping it? Remember the last time you tried to keep a human as a pet?"

"This is different… The humans on this planet have pokemon as pets too, I don't see why I can't. I know Megatron wants Shockwave to experiment on them but… what if there was a different way to study them? Also, you haven't caught a single pokemon."

Skywarp narrows his optics, "look, these organics are small and can escape easily."

This gave Thundercracker an idea. "Zorua," the pokemon looks up at the seeker, "how do you like the name, Buster?"

"You're not seriously trying to talk to it like it knows what you're saying."

Thundercracker glared at Skywarp before drawing his attention to Zorua. To his surprise, Zorua happily agreed.

"What!?"

"Thank you Iono, you just gained a new subscriber," Thundercracker whispered. He then continues, "Buster, can you help find us other pokemon? Just small ones."

Zorua gave another nod. The blue seeker lowers his hand close to the ground so his new friend would be able to lead the way.

"What the heck was all that?" asked Skywarp curiously.

"I learned it on the internet. Professional Pokemon trainers say you gotta be kind and open your spark for the pokemon to understand you.

"You know that's not how a Decepticon is supposed to behave."

Thundercracker shrugs his fellow 'con before following behind Buster.

Rumble waited by their met-up spot with a Swadloon at hand. After 20 minutes went by, they finally showed up. "What took you so long?"

"Some of the pokemon got a little friendly with us," said Skywarp. Two Pidove flew next to him while a Venipede and Purrloin sat on his hand.

Buster comfortably sat on Thundercracker's shoulder while the seeker himself held the Lilligant he saw earlier.

Buster saw Rumble and gave a small giggle before transforming into him. Rumble took notice of this, "where did ya find that pokemon!?"

Thundercracker looks onto his shoulder at Buster in a laughing fit, "that's Buster. It was more that she found me."

"You named it?"

"Her"

"My question still stands."

"Yes, I'm planning on keeping her."

"You can't do that."

"That's why I'd brought Lilligant as a replacement. Buster is special as you can see and I'm not giving her to Shockwave."

Rumble draws his optics to his duplicate on the seeker's shoulder; Buster gave a wave at him. The mini-con wasn't too pleased about it but let it slide. Something about that pokemon might come in handy.

The seeker allowed the pokemon (and Rumble) in their cockpit before taking off.

During the flight, Thundercracker beamed watching Buster get excited. The joy on her face made the 'con feel warm inside, finally, he has someone to talk to. Buster on the other sparkled at the sight underneath her, she was so high up in the clouds that she watched the forest transition into sand. She wondered where the giant robot was taking her.

Arriving at the Nemesis, Rumble jumps out of Skywarp. A few drones came their way with tubes to place the pokemon in. Rumble and Skywarp placed their catch in it while Thundercracker only put Lilligant in. The pokemons in the tube cried, scared for their safety and feeling betrayed.

Thundercracker glances at them with pity before heading to his quarters.

Once in his room, he lets out Buster from his cockpit. The little pokemon looked at him sadden. "Buster, what's wrong?"

Zorua didn't bother looking at the seeker. She felt hurt, he gave away her friends and now doesn't know where to find them.

"Maybe you're hungry? Don't worry, I'll get you something to eat. Stay right here."

Of course, Zorua will not stay still. She hops from the metal table and swiftly lands on the ground. Zorua dashed out of the room when the doors slid open.

"Buster, wait!"

She didn't look behind her—Zorua ran as fast as her little legs could carry her.

Hallway after hallway, the little pokemon started to get tired. Zorua didn't know where she was going, she didn't know where her friends were. A low growl escaped her mouth before she took a step forward.

After what seemed like hours, Zorua paused for a moment to rest. She was still lost in the hallways—it sucked for her because it all looked the same. Thankfully she manages to avoid drones.

Unfortunately, Zorua's rest didn't last long when she caught sight of a giant metal cat…or dog? Maybe it's a steal-type pokemon. With courage, Zorua walked in front of the strange pokemon.

The strange pokemon looked down at her curiously—it made weird sounds. All of a sudden the metal-looking pokemon began chasing after her, it was fast. Coming up with a quick plan Zorua transformed into Rumble, stopping the cat—dog thing in its tracks.

It stood there for a moment then circled around Zorua as if it knew who she was playing as. Never in Zorua's life had she wished that blue giant robot was here now.

"Rumble, Ravage, have you seen—"

Zorua returned to her normal self, running towards the familiar robot.

"Buster!" Thundercracker lifted up his little friend, "I was worried, why did you run away?"

Zorua let out a small cry. "I'll forgive you." Thundercracker proceeds to Ravage. "Ravage?"

"You know you can't have that creature. I suggest you give it to Shockwave immediately."

"I'll… get to it." Thundercracker put Buster in his cockpit before heading over to Shockwave lab.

Heading towards the lab, Thundercracker thought of many ways how he could convince Shockwave into keeping Buster. He couldn't give her up, he just couldn't. He only had Buster for 16 hours but he took a liking to her. Maybe the reason why Buster ran away was because she was looking for the other pokemon, perhaps they are her friends.

Thundercracker made it to the lab, he paused by the door hesitant to go inside. Buster barks wanting to know if the other pokemon are there, with a heavy sigh, he walks through the door.

Their eyes widened with horror, it was too hard to describe what they witnessed. Thundercracker left the area. If he was human he would've thrown up on the spot. He can't, he can't give Buster to him.

As The Journey Continues...