Chapter Forty-Three: Rad Rescue Team



Benga's POV



"The power's flickering," Yoshi observes. "We might not have much time before it all goes out."



Ali looks uncomfortable. "Ali needs to get back topside and grab Ali's ring..." she says.



"You've still got other rings, right? Just reach through one of them and shut off the first ring."



"Won't be easy," Ali admits. "Ali has trouble reaching through Ali's rings."



"Well," I say, "you'll have a heck of a lot more trouble if we all drown or get electrocuted. At least try!"



Ali tries, reaching through her ring and pulling out a very wet second ring. She shakes it off before looping it back over her horn, and I flinch from the water splatters.



Um, guys? Kappa says, having floated ahead. I think I found the humans we're looking for.



It's a long string of holding tanks, filled with some mysterious fluid. The humans are all wearing breathing masks, and seem suspended in the tanks.



I trot up to one of the tanks. "That'd be Professor Oak," I say. "I think so, anyway. Something's... off about him."



"Something's off about all of them," Yoshi says. "It's like they're... evolving."



"Psychic-imposed hibernation..." Ali mutters. "Beserk Genes... this is what Palkia-Kun meant?"



They have been injected with Pokemon genes, Kappa says. They are currently in hibernation as their bodies adjust to the genetic tampering.



"So taking them out would hurt them," Yoshi says quietly. "We don't have a choice. We have to leave them here."



---



Kachu's POV



"So THAT'S where they're keeping Rayquaza."



I look up at the enormous dragon, bound with bands of electrified steel. It rages against its bindings, roaring with anger at being imprisoned.



I can't understand its speech. It's simply pure animal.



"So," Clarence says abruptly. "Are we gonna want to free it?"



I shake my head no. "As much as I'd like to, it's far too dangerous. There's no room for it to fly in here, and it'd likely damage the integrity of the building around us. We could be looking at a total collapse."



"Hey, guys?" Diamond Jim says. "I think I found something really weird."



We turn to see what the Squirtle's found. It's a tank, with some sort of weird glass jellyfish creature inside it. The creature makes weird chirping noises as it flies against the surface of the tank, trying to break its way out.



"What's it saying?" Clarence asks.



"I don't think it's saying anything," Jim says. "I'm not sure if it can talk at all."



I look at the label on the tank. "Nihilego," I read. "Extremely dangerous. Do not release."



"What the heck is Nihilego?" Jim asks.



"That, I don't know. Neither do I know what one is doing here." I sigh. "It's not right for Team Rocket to imprison Pokemon for their own dirty deeds. Yet I can't justify releasing them when doing so would rain down more danger on us and possibly the world."



"Um, guys?" Clarence says. "The ceiling is dripping... and I think the power's flickering."



There's a huge flash of electricity, channeling into my tail, and then everything goes black.



"What's going on?" Clarence asks.



"The power just went off!" Jim says. "It all shorted out!"



Then we hear a roar. A Rayquaza roar.



A roar, and the breaking of metal.



---



Benga's POV



"It's all gone black!" I meow. "What does this mean for the humans? For us?"



"Light a small flame or something!" Yoshi says. "We've got to be able to see where we're going!"



I concentrate, belching out a flaming hairball onto the metal floor. "Okay, so... that happened," I say. "Felt disgusting, but it happened."



Kappa suddenly flinches. Clarence says his group is under attack. Rayquaza has broken free, and it's out of its mind!



"We have to head upstairs," I meow. "I've seen what that snake can do, and I'm not going to let it eat my friends!"



I'm contacting Nacho right now. They've joined forces with some rogue Rocket grunts that might know how to placate the beast. Benga, can I see your collar for a few moments?



---



Gladion's POV



Being inside a Gastly is no fun at all. It smells. Even with a handkerchief over my face, it smells.



Move along, nothing to see here, I think sarcastically to myself. Just a group of dorks in an invisible cloud.



Oddly enough, we don't really encounter much in the way of grunts once we get out of Abe's tunnel. Sure, there's a scattered Rocket here and there, but with the Gastly on our side, they're a piece of cake to lull to sleep. Nothing much happens, which is a good thing.



Until.



We make it maybe halfway through the tunnel, when I hear barking. Familiar barking. It's almost like... "Silvally?" I ask.



It's Silvally! And Sasha, Twan, and Bartok!



Silvally rushes up to me, ignoring the invisible ghost mist around me and licking my face repeatedly. I stumble backwards and start to laugh. "Easy there, boy! This is a stealth mission! How can you even see me?"



Sasha runs up to Shu and starts chattering something in her language. Shu listens intently. "Uh-huh... the power grid went out and my Pokemon are trapped with an angry Rayquaza? Oh, no!"



"We've got to help them," I say. "Which way?"



---



Kachu's POV



I fire up an Electro Ball on my tail to light the room up. Rayquaza roars and dives towards me, and I barely dodge in time to prevent becoming a Pikachu pancake.



Clarence grabs me in his beak, setting me down on his leafy back next to Diamond Jim. "We've gotta make a run for it!"



Indeed we do, especially before Rayquaza breaks anything else. Clarence is an expert dodger, avoiding obstacles with ease as he leaps through the doorway moments before Rayquaza's maw snaps shut on it.



"What did Team Rocket do to that Rayquaza to make it so mad?" Jim asks.



"I don't know, but I'd hate to stick around and ask it!" I answer.



Then I hear a crash, and the sound of tinkling glass. And a chirping noise. An eerie, disturbingly familiar chirping noise.



Nihilego!



"Kick up the pace, Clarence!" I screech. "We could have two bogeys on our butts!"



---



Spike's POV



When the power goes out, Jessie and James start to panic in the dark. I light my spikes up with Flash, illuminating the room.



"Whoo!" Meowth says. "Neat trick dere!"



I grin, but it doesn't last. "Our friends are down in the labs, and it's dark down there. With the power out, who knows what they'll run into?"



Nacho puts his paws over his head and yowls. "Clarence says there's something nasty on his group's butts! It's that psycho Rayquaza, and some jellyfish thing called a Nihilego!"



"Rayquaza, you say?"



We whirl around and see, stepping out from the shadows, Lance. Lance, on top of the dominated Giratina, flanked by an army of Dragonair.



"You understand me?" Nacho asks, confused.



"I am a Child of Viridian Forest," Lance says. "I share a connection with Pokemon that no mere trainers could ever hope to understand. Now, where is Rayquaza?"



There's a blood-curdling roar from the inner labs, and suddenly Clarence jumps out, Kachu and Jim clinging to his back like there's no tomorrow. "Gangway! Gangway! Danger noodle! DANGER NOODLE!"



Behind them is Rayquaza. It's huge. Scaly. Terrifying.



And Nihilego is clinging to the top of its head.