Jessie, James, and Meowth walked directly towards the room, intending to perform the quick snatch and run mission they were on without delay. It was only when they walked right up to it without it budging an inch that they began to suspect there might be some kind of difficulty.
“Where’s the handle on this thing?” Jessie whispered, eyes darting left and right.
“I don’t see anything, not a hinge nor a bolt nor a keypad!” James muttered back as he too looked around.
Both suddenly felt a small tug on their pant legs. When, they looked down, Meowth pointed up and to the side. There, on the wall a few paces to the right, was a simple, flat pad glowing softly with red light.
“Hey! Just what do you think you’re doing?”
All three jumped at the sound of a familiar voice. They looked franticly around, but barring themselves the hallway was deserted.
“Up here you cretins,” the voice now sounded exasperated.
Three pairs of eyes tracked the noise up up up… and right to the ceiling, where tucked away in a small and shadowy corner was a faintly visible speaker. The trio swallowed nervously as they hastily snapped to attention.
“What, did you forget I don’t wear this visor just because it looks cool?” the voice of the same woman who had berated them earlier continued. “It links up with the lab’s security system, allowing me to interface with any camera, sensor, or speaker in this building at anytime from anywhere. My own invention.” She sounded proud of herself. “Nothing says motivated employees like the knowledge your superior could be looking over your shoulder at any moment. But as for you three…”
The two humans stood stiff as ramrods, while even on four legs Meowth tried to look attentive.
“For starters, you’ve somehow managed to wander into the completely wrong section of the building. Xerosic’s lab in the east wing, you’re in the central hub. That’s our primary data storage facility in there. Secondly, do you think our biometric scanners would let a bumbling pair of idiots like you two inside? Director-level access only, since you seem to have forgotten. We didn’t spend all that time and effort building a localized network completely cut off from any conceivable outside source just so two morons could wander in and access anything they felt like.”
Beneath their sunglasses, Jessie and James shot one another a glance.
“And thirdly, I seem to recall assigning you two and your new pet a new job tonight. So I suggest that if you don’t like the idea of spending the next week in the brig, that you MOVE IT!”
“Ma’am yes ma’am!” they screamed as they scampered.
“Well,” James muttered under his breath as he swabbed the floor. “This complicates things.”
“No kidding,” Jessie grumbled before spraying another squirt of cleaning fluid on a metal table. She followed up by scrubbing hard with a bright red cloth. “How are we supposed to get anything done if some creep can just be watching us at any second?”
From where he sat relaxing on the floor, Meowth pointed up against the ceiling and then put a paw to his lips.
“How come you don’t have to do any of this?” Jessie hissed as she struggled with one especially resilient chemical stain.
“Because Meowth can’t use their front paws like we can our hands, silly,” James said hastily. “He is just an ordinary cat Pokemon, remember?”
“…Right,” Jessie forced a grin onto her face. “But the question remains, what now?”
“I guess we’ll just have to… come up with something.”
Far away, after dinner and a little bit of curative Potion, Ash and Pikachu found Twilight staring out a window at the Pokemon Center. The food she had been given sat beside her, almost entirely untouched. She simply stared straight forward into the pale moon, not even acknowledging either of them as they entered the little guest room.
“Hey there,” Ash said softly. “You haven’t said much since we got back, so…”
“We thought we’d come and check on you,” Pikachu finished.
Twilight didn’t say anything.
“Hey…” Ash frowned a little, then took a few steps forward. “I know we didn’t find your friend today, but that doesn’t mean you gotta stay couped up in here.”
“You didn’t say anything at dinner,” Pikachu added. “And you didn’t eat. Are you feeling okay?”
“I mean, sure we may not have found Team Rocket this time, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll give up on it.” Ash clenched his fist. “We’ve met those creeps hundreds of times now, and they’re always trying to take Pikachu from me! They’ve never given up after all this time, and neither will we!”
“That’s right!” Pikachu nodded. “There’s no way that we won’t meet again, even if we have to hunt them down to the ends of Orre! They won’t be able to get away from us!”
“I understand you’re worried, but sitting up here and not talking to anyone isn’t going to make anything better.” Ash smiled softly. “We may not have known each other for very long
There came the sound of a faint sigh.
“Neither of you get it…” Twilight whispered softly.
“Huh?” Ash looked down at Pikachu, who nodded and then stepped forward.
“What do we not get?” the little yellow Pokemon asked. “You can talk to us. Trust me, Ash and all our friends are really great people. If we can, we’ll help you.”
“That’s just it,” Twilight still hadn’t moved an inch. “I’m not sure you can.”
“Huh?” Pikachu’s ear twitched.
“I’ve been thinking…” she continued. “About today. I know you guys did a lot of hard work and uncomfortable waiting around to try and help me, but…” Twilight sighed. “It was always a longshot plan, but that it was the first thing that you thought to try and find them doesn’t bode well. You said you’ve known them almost as long as your trainer, but your only idea on how to find them was to present yourself as bait. It’s kind of you, but it doesn’t speak well to your abilities. You don’t know the kind of places they seek out, the criminal networks they trade with, the sorts of people who would know that. You don’t know how to run a proper investigation or manhunt. Not that I blame you,” she added quickly. “You’re both so young, still on your journey together. I think traveling the world to meet new people and Pokemon sounds like a marvelous idea, but I don’t think it prepares you to track down a devious gang of ruthless criminals holding a princess hostage.”
“Are you-” Pikachu began.
“You have to see this from my perspective,” Twilight cut him off. “I need to rescue Princess Celestia, without delay. The fate of my entire world could depend on it!”
Pikachu’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yes,” Twilight nodded, back still to him. “I haven’t told anyone here this, but the princess is more than just a ruler to Equestria. She’s the bringer of life and light, literally and metaphorically. Our nation’s political system depends on her, our guiding hoof for a thousand years and more. There are other princesses sure, but I don’t know if they can cope. But even worse than a missing princess, what if the news got back that she had somehow been corrupted?” Twilight shook her head. “Don’t you see? It would be a disaster, an upending of a millennium’s traditions and faith. If the princess, the firm bedrock of our polity for so long, fell to darkness then the consequences would be unthinkable. I’m afraid it’s already too late, that those… monsters that captured her have already broken her totally. I can’t imagine how, but I can’t imagine how they managed to both overpower her and press her into servitude either. And every passing minute gives them more and more time to break the last vestiges of her resistance, if there are any. Can’t you understand? Equestria needs her to be alright.”
“I…”
“I need her to be alright!” Twilight finally turned, her large eyes now visibly watery. “The princess… Princess Celestia has been like a second mother to me, ever since the day I first met her when I was a little filly. She taught me all I know and sent me to find the best friends in all the world. She helped me in more ways than I can describe, but now she’s been thrown into another world and captured by villains and it’s all my fault!” Twilight finally let out a sob, tears beginning to trickle softly down her cheeks.
Ash frowned and began to move towards her, but felt a slight tug on his leg. When he looked down, Pikachu shook his head.
“I built the portal that sent us here!” Twilight cried. “I made the misculations! I threw Princess Celestia into a strange and terrifying new world! Without even the slightest magic to defend herself! It’s my fault she got captured by a gang of villains like Team Rocket! Whatever manipulation, mind control, or torture she’s gone through are all my fault!” She sobbed. “And I know, in the very core of my being, that if it hadn’t been for me and my mirror whatever happened to her here wouldn’t have happened! She’d be safe and happy at home with her sister and subjects if it weren’t for me!”
“You don’t need to be so hard on yourself,” Pikachu said softly.
“What I need is to find Team Rocket and my mentor, yesterday! I have to pry her from their grip, no matter what it costs me! But to do that, I have to find them first and… and… and…” She cried a little more. “And I don’t have a clue how to do that. If I had my magic… if we were back in Equestria then maybe… but I don’t, and we aren’t. And from what I can see none of you have any idea either.”
“Well…” Pikachu tapped a tiny finger on his chin. “We may not, but now that I think about it we did meet someone who might. Not very long ago.”
“What?!” Twilight blinked, tears still staining her fur. “Who?! Where?!”
“Lumiose City I think,” said Pikachu. “His name was Lysandre.”