Robotic Pokemon?

After separating from D's squad, Proton and his team walked through the hallway. They found what appeared to be another lab, but this one seemed like it was supposed to have robotics, yet it was nearly wiped clean.

As Attila and the other four grunts investigated, Proton heard D speak through the communicator.

"[Proton, this is D. We found something, you're going to want to hear this.]"

Proton stopped what he was doing and answered, "What is it?"

"[We just ran into a mechanical Pokémon, but it's not like anything I've ever seen. It looks like a robotic Hariyama. It nearly attacked Domino and Enid, but I took care of it. This thing is strange—it looks like it was based on a Pokémon,]" D explained.

Proton squinted. "I see. Are there any more?"

"[Unknown. I don't see any, but I found one in a weird capsule. It seems to be based on a Tyranitar, so I believe there are likely more,]" D answered.

Proton furrowed his brows. "Interesting. Very well, continue your search and keep your guard up. We'll discuss this when we meet up."

"[As you command. I'll see if I can find a computer and check for more information,]" D said before the communication was cut off.

Proton was confused when suddenly Attila caught his attention. "Sir, we have a problem!"

When he looked up, he saw Attila pull out his weapons and toss some to the grunts as they all pointed at something that looked like a metallic version of a Donphan.

Proton frowned. "Just like what he said," he muttered as he grabbed one of his Poké Balls.

"Sir, what are your orders? Do we use lethal force, or should we try to preserve it?" Attila asked, aiming his rocket launcher at the robot.

"We don't need it, D already has one. Permission granted. Let's get rid of this thing," Proton said as he threw out his Poké Ball, releasing a Tauros.

The Iron Treads charged at them as the grunts started shooting. Then, Tauros charged back and crashed into the robot. Tauros was stronger, forcing the Iron Treads upward and flipping it, sending it flying before it crashed onto its back.

Attila was ready. As soon as the robot hit the ground, he fired his rocket launcher, causing a large explosion with metal flying everywhere. When the dust cleared, the robot was half-destroyed and non-operational.

Proton dusted himself off as the grunts celebrated their small victory. Attila looked at him. "Sir, do you think we'll have to take care of more of those?"

"Very likely. D's squad took care of one, so there may be more," Proton said solemnly.

"What are your orders? Shall we retreat?" Attila asked. After all, Proton was in charge—what he said goes.

Proton thought for a moment but shook his head. "No need. We shall proceed with caution, but if we get overwhelmed, you have my permission to abandon the mission."

Everyone saluted as they started walking deeper. But what they didn't notice were dozens of glowing blue eyes—and one with red eyes—emerging from the darkness, watching them.

—--

Over with D, he cracked open the robot and examined its parts as everyone watched. Meowth stood on the other side, holding a flashlight for him.

Helena leaned over. "What is this thing?"

"A robot, obviously," Enid said. "The real question is who made it and why it's still operational. This place was abandoned for, like, 15 years or so. How did they get energy?"

"Well, probably this is what 90% of the energy was going to," Ash said. "But who knows how many are in here, or if any of them are still active."

His words made everyone shiver slightly.

Jay, still wide-eyed, leaned closer to the robot, curiosity getting the better of him. "Dude, you sure it's not gonna wake up? That thing looked like it wanted to crush us into pancakes."

"No, I don't. Remember, I'm a hacker, not a mechanic. I don't know much about robotics unless it involves programming, which I can't do without a computer. But it looks like it's offline. But nobody touch it, just in case," Ash said as he removed something from the robot's central chest.

"Right, yeah… I guess someone can only be so amazing," Domino said, laughing nervously.

"Yeah, but actually, I do have this," Ash said, pulling the motherboard from the robot's chest. "If I can get to a computer, I can use this to get some more information."

"Alright, what are we waiting for? Current objective—get D to a computer!" Jay said, raising his arm.

Ash shook his head and got up. "Well, at least we know one thing—these things are the ones that raided the computers. The question is why."

"Perhaps they needed some parts, you know, to make more of them or keep them powered," Enid suggested.

Everyone looked at her, surprised—that was actually a reasonable and probable idea.

"Maybe you're not so crazy after all," Jay said, slapping her back. Enid nearly stumbled forward, annoyed, but she said nothing.

"Alright, let's go, and keep your guard up. You never know what we might find," Ash said as he started walking. The four followed behind him.

As they walked, Ash knew his Aura wouldn't be useful since these things weren't living. Instead, he just kept his eyes open, staying alert.

Up ahead, they noticed a faint glow. Cautiously, they approached, ready to attack if they encountered another robot. But as they turned the corner, there was nothing—just a single computer.

Everyone looked at each other but said nothing as Ash stepped forward. "This is too convenient. Everyone, keep your guard up."

"Yeah, this just seems like a trap waiting to happen," Jay said, scanning the area.

Domino nodded, peering into the darkness. "Don't worry, we'll protect you. Just do what you need to do."

Ash nodded and sat down. As he placed his hands on the keyboard, Porygon-Z jumped into the computer.

"I should have it open soon. It looks like this thing is locked. Give me a minute," Ash said as he started typing while Porygon-Z worked from inside.

After a few moments, he gained access. This computer truly had everything.

Helena walked next to Ash. "What is all this?"

"Looks like notes about everything that happened in this place," Ash said, placing his communicator on the desk. "Proton, this is D. We found a computer, and I think we have answers."

The communicator crackled with static for a moment before activating.

"[Agent D, what have you found? Is it what we are looking for?]"

Ash pulled up a file hidden behind the master control system. "I think so. Here, I found this. I'll read it out—I hope you're recording this."

—-

Log #1

These Pokémon truly disgust me. They are nothing but wastes of money. Thankfully, thanks to my new business partner, Greevil, and the cooperation of Cipher, we will soon be able to rid the world of these useless creatures. Thanks to my genius, I, Madame Boss, shall lead Team Rocket to rule the world.

—

As soon as Ash finished reading that, he could hear Proton clench his teeth.

"[Of course! I should have known. The old-school Team Rocket logo… Whatever happened here was because of Madame Boss!]"

Domino heard this and rushed over to speak into the communicator. "Madame Boss? But she was overthrown before the Boss took control. And what was that about Cipher? They were disbanded."

"[No. I suppose I should tell you this, but this stays private. Cipher only went into hiding, but they reemerged and struck a deal with the Boss. However, with this revelation, we need to ask more questions about their true end goal. No one who worked with Madame Boss has any good intentions,]" Proton said. "[No matter, I will report this to the Boss. D, is there anything else? Maybe something on these robots?]"

Ash was lost in thought for a moment, processing the fact that Cipher was still active. But he quickly snapped out of it.

"Yeah, there's more. I'll read it now," Ash said as he continued.

—

Log #7

Truly, these Cipher clowns are as useless as I thought. But it will all be worth it, even if I have to drain a large portion of Team Rocket's funds. It will be worth it, but I really wish I could have used some discounted metal…

The plan is simple, we shall create new, better robots to take over, and we'll sell them to the highest bidder. In the future, I predict we will eliminate all Pokémon and replace them with our robots. And then we will rule the earth.

I can see it now. The prototypes are ready. Soon enough, we'll have them in full production. These robotic Pokémon will rule the world, and I predict that, in the future, they will be the only ones left. That is a future I cannot wait for!

—

Ash finished reading, and everyone remained silent. To think the original leader of Team Rocket wanted to wipe out all Pokémon was a bitter pill to swallow.

"[Anything else?]" Proton asked.

"No, that's it. There are no more logs. I think this is when the Boss overthrew her. That means this place was abandoned along with those prototypes," Ash said.

He was deep in thought. So that's what this is… That's why, in the future, all Pokémon will be replaced by robotic Paradox Pokémon. If he had to guess, someone in the future must have discovered this facility, rebuilt her plans, and took over the world eradicating all Pokémon.

Ash continued digging and found something else, blueprints. What he saw made his blood boil.

"But I did find one thing," he said, his voice dark with anger. "The main component in creating these robots… is the very Pokémon they are based on. In other words, they kill the Pokémon and turn them into these machines."

Everyone went completely silent, the weight of the revelation sinking in.

Proton finally broke the silence. "[I've had enough of this place. D, attempt to collect as much data as you can. Then we will get out. We will meet you at the—Bzzzt—]"

The communicator was abruptly cut off.

"What? Mr. Proton, are you there?!" Domino called out, but there was nothing—only static.

Ash quickly checked the computer. His eyes widened. "Something is disrupting the signal…"

Then, they heard it.

Stomping.

Marching.

Something was coming.

When they looked back, they saw an army of Donphan and Hariyama robots, with the Tyranitar robot leading the charge.

"Dang it, so this was a trap," Enid muttered, throwing down two Poké Balls. Her Arbok and Ursaring materialized, ready for battle.

Jay joined her, releasing his Meowth trio—Ruddy, Tuddy, and Tod—while Helena forced Stephen to come out.

Domino grabbed a Poké Ball and her black tulip, then turned to Ash. "Do you think you can get rid of whatever's causing the interference?"

Ash nodded as Muk slithered out of his sleeve to protect him. He clutched the motherboard he had taken from the earlier robot. "With this, I can. Just cover me—I might be able to shut them down!"

Domino nodded, throwing down her Poké Ball and releasing her Weavile. "Got it! Leave it to us—just get things running again!"

Ash nodded as Muk expanded, preparing to fight alongside everyone. Meanwhile, Ash hooked up the motherboard to the computer and had Porygon start the hack.

—-

{With Proton}

After the communication cut off, Proton grunted and turned to his team. "Attention! We're leaving, we need to regroup with the others immediately!"

The grunts and Attila nodded, preparing to move. But before they could, a powerful blast of water cut them off.

They turned toward the source, and their eyes widened in horror.

Marching toward them was an army of robotic Delibird, their cannons aimed and ready. Hovering above them was a massive, mechanical Hydreigon.

The grunts panicked. Attila turned to Proton, his voice tense. "Sir, what do we do? I don't know if we can take that many!"

Proton clenched his fists. "We don't have a choice. Everyone stick together, we can't get separated!"

The grunts nodded, gripping their weapons as Attila had instructed. They threw out their Pokémon while Attila checked his ammunition before releasing his Skarmory.

"Looks like this is our last stand," he muttered, "Sir if this is the end, it was an honor working with you"

Proton gave a nod, "It won't be, I'll make sure of it," he said as he released his Electrode and Golbat, while his Tauros remained out and ready,

And then, the battle began, all their Pokémon charged.

—--

Back with Ash, he was doing everything he could to work quickly, but Porygon could only process data so fast.

In the background, everyone was fighting with everything they had. Enid was struggling against the robotic Tyranitar, not that it was a surprise, considering how powerful it was.

Jay, Domino, and Helena weren't faring much better. For every robot they destroyed, three more marched forward to take their place.

Muk was the only thing stopping the room from being completely overrun, but even it wouldn't be able to hold them off for much longer.

Just as things seemed hopeless, Porygon finally finished the hack. Ash now had access to the system. Without hesitation, he deactivated the disruption signal, bringing the communicators back online.

He grabbed his device. "Proton, are you there?!"

There was static at first, then, [D? Did you get the communication working again?] Proton's voice came through, though the sounds of battle raged in the background.

"Yeah, I got into their systems, but we're getting overrun here! I don't see an option to turn them off, so my only choice is to create a virus!"

Proton responded quickly. [Then do it! We're not doing much better over here!]

"Because if I do, everything will be gone! Don't you get it? There won't BE anything left to take back!" Ash snapped.

Proton fell silent for a moment, then answered firmly. [Just do it. Our mission wasn't to recover anything, just to find out what happened. And we have our answer. We still have the recordings, so just do it!]

Ash took a deep breath and turned to Porygon-Z. "Alright, do your thing."

If there was one thing Porygon-Z excelled at, it was glitches. Viruses were its specialty.

"Give me ten seconds!"

Those ten seconds felt like an eternity. Porygon-Z worked rapidly, crafting a virus designed to disrupt the robotic Pokémon's systems. Once it was ready, Ash uploaded it across the entire network.

Then—he executed the virus.

Immediately, all the robotic Pokémon stopped in their tracks, twitching and convulsing. Then, as if caught in a frenzy, they turned on each other, violently tearing each other apart—ripping off parts, stomping on one another, and reducing themselves to scrap.

Ash stood up, grabbing Muk. He spoke into the communicator. "Let's move! I set them to self-destruct—we need to go now!"

They didn't need to be told twice. Without hesitation, they sprinted through the chaos, dodging the crumbling machines as they made their way back to the broken hallway.

Ash looked at Enid and locked eyes with her. "Get that Natu to teleport us across—now!"

Enid flinched slightly but nodded, turning to her Natu. "Come on, Teleport us!"

The small bird looked up. It was far weaker than Abby, meaning it couldn't take them all the way back to the surface. But it closed its eyes and concentrated, managing to teleport them across the broken floor.

Just as they landed, they looked across the hall and saw Proton, Attila, and the other grunts running toward them.

"Did that virus do this? The robots just started attacking each other!" Attila shouted.

Ash didn't have time to explain. "Yes, but we need to go! I set them to self-destruct—"

Before he could finish, his watch beeped.

Time was up.

"Okay, time to improvise! Muk!"

The sound of explosions echoed through the underground base. Muk shot out from Ash's sleeve, expanding rapidly. It formed a thick, protective dome around everyone, pulling them close.

Then, the room exploded. Muk absorbed the blast as the entire underground facility rumbled, collapsing in on itself. With them inside