Ash's POV

Neptune led me down the now familiar hallways and I tried to puzzle through what exactly she might have meant by me becoming her 'perfect soldier'. But even those worries could hardly get past my panic at knowing that Neptune could spring her doomsday plan at any moment.

I need to get to my room and contact Director Falon ASAP, I growled inwardly even as I forced myself to follow behind Neptune. She led me past all of the experimentation rooms quickly and I was surprised when she took me back to the lab area where all of her superfoods and materials were developed. My eyes widened as I saw the flurry of activity and people were actually shouting at each other over their shoulders as they worked feverishly.

"Seems a bit chaotic in here," I mentioned hesitantly and Neptune chuckled lightly.

"Of course. Their hard work is finally going to be put to use. If they don't meet their production quotas they will be punished harshly."

Neptune's cruel tone made me flinch, and I was glad that she had not turned around to look at me as she spoke. She led me past the bustling machines and labs and I was surprised when she opened a door I had never noticed before. It opened onto a room the size of a football field covered completely in Neptune's crectin stuff that she was so proud of. I flinched when I saw the gigantic robotic arms hanging down from the ceiling on the left side of the room holding two pieces of what looked like a massive collar made out of huge red chain links. On the opposite side of the gigantic room were robotic arms holding a shimmering black chain. Then my eyes moved to the wall opposite me where three barred cages had apparently been built into the side of the wall. They were relatively small cages, but the room was much too big for me to make out what poor pokemon might be trapped in them.

"What... what is this place?" I asked as Pikachu gripped a tuft of my hair in his paw. It didn't hurt, but it showed me that I was not the only one that felt the eeriness that this empty room was giving off.

"This," Neptune said with a content sigh, "is where the birth of our new home will take place."

"Huh?" I was sure I sounded like a simpleton but my brain could barely process that simple yet incredibly dangerous sentence she had just uttered. "In the middle of Mount Coronet?"

"Precisely," Neptune said with a wide grin. "That idiot Cyrus wanted to wipe out the entire universe and start anew. I simply want the legendaries to do a rehaul of our planet using the template that I have painstakingly created for years, which means I will have to monitor the legendaries constantly throughout the process."

Neptune's eyes swept over the room with a hungry light in her pale eyes. I couldn't even fathom how she had the confidence to say something like this, but I nervously looked at the red chain suspended from the ceiling on one end and the black one on the other.

When I was younger, Dawn, Brock, the champion Cynthia, and I had all played a part in stopping Cyrus from using a red chain created from the meteorites in Sinnoh that had Arceus's power flowing through them to control Dialga, Palkia, and the three guardians of the lake. Seeing the red chains fashioned into a collar-like contraption I could deduce she had figured out how Cyrus and her grandpa had created the mind-controlling device, but I did not understand how she thought she would get any better results. Or what that black chain was for.

"You look confused, Satoshi," Neptune said dryly and when I looked over I nearly flinched when I saw the open amusement in her expression.

"I'm not a rocket scientist like you, Neptune. I don't really understand what you're trying to show me," I said after a healthy pause. Neptune chuckled, although she looked slightly pleased with my response.

"Oh Satoshi," Neptune said with a small chuckle. "This plan has been years in the making. You could never possibly grasp all of the work and the intricate calculations that were a part of creating these devices."

Neptune paused, gazing at the dangling chains with a look of pure satisfaction and I was worried that she was going to leave it at that. Right when I was about to speak up to try and get her to tell me more though, she turned and looked me in the eye.

"There are two parts to my plan," she said while raising up one finger. "First, we will summon Dialga and Palkia with the help of some very special friends."

Neptune glanced across the room at the wall that contained three cages built into it. I frowned deeply, but she had already moved on before I could interject.

"Once Dialga and Palkia have generously warped reality to create our new world, leaving everyone that is within Mount Coronet unharmed, the second phase will begin." Neptune then pointed over towards the black chains that were hanging down, just waiting to complete their dark purpose. "We will then summon Giratina, who will open a rift into the Distortion World and will kindly trap Dialga and Palkia, along with three other nuisances, to make sure that nothing and no one can ever try to replicate what I have achieved."

"You're... going to trap the legendaries?" I asked in shock, feeling like the floor underneath us was reeling.

"Of course," Neptune said with an unconcerned shrug. "I'm not arrogant enough to think that I am the only one capable of creating a red chain to control Dialga and Palkia. If they're banished to an alternate universe along with Giratina though, there will be no way for them to reach them and undo all of my work."

"Could... could Proteus do that?" I asked, trying desperately to remain calm. To my surprise, Neptune laughed at me and gave me a truly horrifying grin.

"Proteus? The boy may be a genius in his own right, but he could never have puzzled out all of my formulas and calculations to create these chains. He was lucky just to help me with the assembly," Neptune said with a superior sneer on her face.

If Neptune didn't share this information with Proteus and she's so confident no one could replicate her work then...

"Why bring up Proteus though? Have you started to become jealous?"

The feel of Neptune wrapping her arms around one of my own barely registered as I came to a conclusion that set my heart soaring.

Then that means if I take out Neptune no one would be capable of replacing her.

As soon as that thought solidified in my mind I tore my arm from her grip and dashed towards the doorway. Neptune's face registered shock at first but then hardened into a glare so terrifying I was sure it would cause a young child to cry.

"Having second thoughts, Satoshi?" Neptune asked with an icy fury in her tone as she took a step towards me.

"Pikachu, use Discharge and keep her back," I said quietly.

Pikachu immediately leaped forward, not questioning me for a second and I placed my hand on the sensor which scanned it and opened the door. Neptune let out a shriek of rage as Pikachu brought down an endless rainfall of electric bolts that created a cage of sorts to keep Neptune back, zapping her several times in the process. She reached for her belt for a pokeball at the same time as I pulled back my foot and slammed it into the security sensor. The screen cracked and splintered and two more kicks completely shattered it. A warning siren rang and the door began to close.

"Pikachu, to me!" I yelled as I jumped through the closing door. Pikachu was only a few steps behind me and the door slid shut right as Neptune slammed against it, her face barely visible through the small window in the door. I could see the fury in her expression but I knew that this was only a temporary cage for her.

Not wasting a second, I turned away from Neptune and saw that almost the entire room had gone silent. Everyone was staring at me with bewildered expressions and I reached for the pokeball on my hip.

"Let's see just how 'Natural disaster resistant' this place really is," I said with a grin before tossing the pokeball. Tigrice materialized and the bewildered scientists in the room flinched as one as understanding began to pass through their faces.

"Destroy this place, Tigrice," I said firmly, sweeping my hand across the room. "Use any move you want, just destroy it. But don't hurt any people."

"Tigriiiiiiiice!"

I nearly jumped at the unexpectedly feral roar that my typically mute pokemon let out at my side. Pikachu and I both ducked as Tigrice leaped over top of us and began shooting out Ice Beams, Hyper Beams, and Flash Cannons left and right. Pikachu added to the chaos with a few well-aimed Electro Balls and Thunderbolts that caused the machinery to go haywire and robotic arms began spinning around dangerously.

Yelps and cries filled the space as scientists avoided the onslaught of attacks and began dashing like madmen out of the lab. I only took a second to look over my shoulder at Neptune, who was staring balefully at me from inside the cavern I had trapped her in. She stepped away from the door and my eyes widened when I heard a pokemon cry before the door began to inch itself open.

"Time to go!" I yelled at Pikachu before taking off for the hallway.

As much as I trusted Pikachu, I wasn't about to let him battle whatever mutated pokemon Neptune had as her team without some backup, which meant that I needed to get to my room and call in my less than stealthy move and Neptune's plan to Director Falon. After that responsibility was filled, it was going to be a true pleasure to find Neptune and show her just what true bonds with pokemon could accomplish, and that this world that we lived in was not something she could just erase and reshape as she pleased.

Tigrice had just sunk her teeth, which had become coated in rock hard ice, into a machine. I winced at the horrendous screeching sound the crectin made as she wrenched off a portion of the machine and tossed it across the room, where it impaled itself into the tabletop of a 3D printer.

"Tigrice, come!" I yelled behind me just as Pikachu jumped from nowhere and landed on my shoulder.

The door holding Neptune captive was shrieking as it was being forced open and I felt a flare of protective affection go through me at the thought of leaving Tigrice behind. Her personality may have been repressed, but I wasn't going to let her get hurt under my watch.

Tigrice immediately ran across the room towards me. I had opened the door that led to Neptune's office as she ran across the room and growled as I waited painfully for the door to open fully, not willing to risk being speared by the blow darts that Neptune had implanted into the door frame. Sweat dripped down my neck as I waited for the door that seemed to be taking an eternity to open, but as soon as it clicked into place I leaped through with Tigrice on my heels and ordered her to use Flash Cannon on the security device, which immediately punched a hole through it and triggered the same warning alarm before the door began to close.

Not bothering to look behind me at the destruction I had caused, I ran for all I was worth down the tunnel.

Aryan's POV

My arms were around the lab coat guy's neck before I could even think. The scientist flailed in my grasp as I locked him in a chokehold. Luckily for me, the guy was no athlete and it didn't take long before he fell unconscious, but when I let him go and he flopped to the ground I suddenly realized the horrendous position I found myself in. I had found my missing partner, but he was unconscious and strapped to a stretcher bound for who knew what or where and I had no idea how to get out of here.

Knowing that my first line of business was this unconscious team grunt member, I slipped my hands under his arms and began dragging him back down the hallway. Unfortunately, the door had stayed open and just as I dumped the unconscious body around the corner I saw someone walk past the open entryway. I held my breath and nearly cursed when the woman, who was also wearing a white lab coat, came to a stop right in front of Looker's stretcher.

Thinking fast, I yanked the lab coat from the guy I had knocked out and slipped it on, grateful that it was close to my size, before rushing out of my hiding spot. The woman blinked at my sudden appearance and I hoped desperately that whoever had been pushing the stretcher was not someone she had known personally.

"Is this the test subject for Madeleine's project?" the woman called out to me. On one hand, I was relieved that she didn't seem to doubt I was the one that had brought Looker from wherever he had been kept. On the other though, the words "test subject" made my heart turn to stone.

"Uh..." I faltered, wondering if there was any other possible excuse for bringing an unconscious person in a stretcher into an area that was apparently teeming with scientists. The woman narrowed her eyes and glanced behind me.

"What were you doing back there anyway?" she asked with obvious mistrust. Realizing that the only way to stay close to Looker at this point was to play my part, I forced a silly grin onto my face and rubbed the back of my neck.

"Dropped my notebook when I went through the last set of doors. I figured the test subject wasn't going anywhere after all," I said with a sheepish shrug. Thankfully the woman's suspicions melted away and she rolled her eyes at me before waving her hand.

"Come on then. Madeleine has been waiting."

Not having any other choice, I gripped the handle of Looker's stretcher and slowly followed after the scientist. I grimaced slightly when I saw that there were dozens of lab rooms with big windows displaying dozens of people at work. Although what exactly they were doing I couldn't stop long enough to ascertain as the woman who was leading me was walking at a fast pace.

I was desperately searching for an exit or at least a connecting tunnel to try and peel off into, but my hopes were in vain when the woman guiding me came to a stop and used her palm to open a door to my left. Gripping the handle of the stretcher even more firmly, I reluctantly began pushing Looker into the room as the scientist stepped to the side for me. Halfway through the door though, I caught my first glimpse of the room and immediately froze.

The room was at least twice as long as the other labs that we had passed with a large work table that could fit anything under eight feet tall. Beyond the work table though there were four clear tubes that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Three of them were empty, but the fourth was filled with a green liquid that looked like the consistency of a not quite set jello with a large Ursaring floating within. The Ursaring had something strapped to its head and as I watched, a scientist that was wearing what looked like a Virtual Reality helmet that wrapped over her eyes lifted up her hands that were encased in black gloves. As she moved her fingers the Ursaring began to twitch as if something were controlling it, and I looked down at my unconscious partner.

No way. I nearly shouted out loud.

"Sorry," I announced, gripping the handlebars even tighter. "Looks like I've got the wrong room."

With that I yanked Looker's stretcher back and whirled it around, plowing it directly into the female scientist who had opened the door for me. She let out a yelp of pain as she was thrown back from the force of the hit before I took off. The entire hallway was made of some weird white substance that made it difficult for me to pick up speed in my socks, but I had left my shoes behind in my haste and I didn't have time to stop and take my socks off.

I was beginning to garner attention and I fumbled against my belt until I picked out a pokeball.

"I need you, Pyroar!" I yelled.

A red light streamed next to me just as two guys jumped in front of my path. I narrowed my eyes and yanked on the handle of Looker's stretcher, sending it swinging in an angle to hit the guy on the right in a very unfortunate spot before I jumped up, using the stretcher as a counterbalance as I lashed out a kick at the other guy. I hit him right under the chin, knocking his head back brutally which caused him to collapse to the ground with a groan of pain.

I continued my flight down the hallway and winced when I felt a scorching heat coming from behind me. Pyroar had released a Flamethrower so massive that it had created a wall of flame. It wouldn't last long, but he had already turned and begun to run after me to act as my backup.

A door to my right began to open and I let out a sigh of pure relief. Swinging Looker's stretcher once more, I skidded against the slick floor quite nearly face-planting from the lack of traction, but I managed to keep my footing at the last second.

"Pyroar, use Hyper Beam to clear the path," I said.

I felt bad, but this was a desperate situation and I knew there were no other undercover agents among the team galactic members, so I waited as Pyroar shot off a concentrated beam of power through the slit of the door. Yelps sounded and I could hear bodies falling to the side from the unexpected move. I was bouncing on my feet, as the door opened painfully slowly. I could hear yells coming from the way I had fled, but I let out a breath of relief when the door had opened enough for Looker's stretcher to fit through.

Not wasting a second, I exploded forward. But then... something unexpected happened. As the stretcher and then I went through the partially opened doorway, small expulsions of air sounded and Looker, I, and even Pyroar coming behind me were peppered with tiny darts that stung like crazy. Warning bells sounded in my mind, but I only took the time to wrench a few of the more painful ones from my cheek before I continued running.

As I ran I realized that my body was beginning to go numb. The feeling in my hands went first and I growled as my fingers slid uselessly from the handle of Looker's stretcher. Not ready to give in, I stubbornly pushed the stretcher forward with my chest as my arms flopped awkwardly at my sides. Then my toes began to tingle and I cried out when my left leg suddenly didn't move when I had told it to, causing me to crash onto my side on the rocky mountain tunnel.

Feeling as useless as a Torkoal stuck on its shell, I flopped around angrily as whatever had been in the darts began to spread through my entire body. Even breathing became difficult as dark spots mottled my vision. A weak whimper sounded next to me and I felt a cold nose press against my neck. Pyroar let out a whine and I could only barely feel his teeth as he attempted to bite onto the back of my shirt. He managed to drag me a few steps before he too collapsed on the ground next to me.

My vision was blurring horrendously and I wheezed out of my lungs that were struggling to continue expanding and contracting. I managed to turn my neck enough so I could see both Pyroar and one of Looker's hands that had flopped off the side of the stretcher during my frantic escape attempt.

"Sorry." The word escaped me as the crushing weight of the paralytic agent that had been injected into my body finally overtook me and I slipped into unconsciousness.

A/N Sigh. Reckless behavior result in very unfortunate consequences >.<