(AN: Sorry got the wrong chapter in the previous update. I already fixed it. You guys can go check it out.)
Lightning Island.
As the missiles flew across the sky, Zapdos suddenly sensed danger. But when it was about to fly away, he was hit on the back by a powerful blast of Heatwave. It was caught off guard by Moltres' sneak attack.
Lawrence's main goal was to capture Zapdos alive, so he wouldn't use those kinds of powerful missiles. If he was to use that, even a Legendary Pokemon like Zapdos would die in an instant.
The missiles struck Zapdos at the same time, followed by an explosion. After that, several metal bars were fired from the Flying Palace. As soon as the metal bars reached Zapdos, they rearranged themselves around Zapdos and trapped it inside a cage.
Zapdos, who was paralyzed by multiple sneak attacks, could not resist the entrapment and soon fell to the ground with a bang.
A few seconds later, it recovered from the shock. It then found itself trapped inside a cage. It began to bang itself on the cage to escape. However, the cage remained intact after trying it many times. It only managed to leave a small scratch on the cage.
"Heh? Are you trying to escape? Just give up! The cage is made of titanium alloy. Even a Legendary Pokemon like Lugia can't break it, let alone you."
Matt stood in front of the cage with a disdainful smile on his face. He was very happy that they finally managed to catch Zapdos. All that was left was Articuno.
Shriek!
Zapdos glared at him, lightning flickering around its body.
It then launched a Thunderbolt toward him. To its surprise, the lightning bolt dispersed as soon as it the cage.
Unwilling to give up, it tried to use Drill Peck at the cage. Yet again, the cage remained intact.
Matt sneered at its pointless attempt. After he took back the seriously injured Moltres with the Dark Ball, he turned toward his men.
"Give it a tranquilizing shot. And tell the others to prepare themselves. We are leaving in thirty minutes."
"Yes, sir!"
The members of Team Aqua started to pack up their equipment. One of them stepped forward to the cage and aimed a dart gun at the Zapdos in the cage.
A dart shot out and hit the struggling Zapdos. Soon, the strength in its legs was gone as its eyes started to close before it fell to the ground.
"Sir, we have a problem."
While Matt was walking toward his helicopter, a Team Aqua grunt came up to him with a nervous look on his face.
"What's the problem?"
He turned toward the man with an impassive stare.
The man swallowed hard in fear. Though that sounded calm, he knew very well that Matt was angry at this time.
He didn't dare to look at Matt's eyes and lowered his head respectfully.
"Sir, a few men are missing. We can't contact them. One of the helicopters at the beach is missing too."
"Is that true?"
Matt asked sternly.
"It's true, sir. We have searched the whole island, but we still haven't found them or the helicopter yet."
The man nodded hesitantly.
Matt closed his eyes and thought for a moment.
'Why would someone steal a helicopter. Are they trying to escape from the island? Unless they want to enter the Flying Palace!'
He opened his eyes and quickly took out his phone from his pocket. After he dismissed the man, he then called Lawrence.
Click!
"Ah, here's my man. Good job, Matt! I saw how you captured that Zapdos just now. Brilliant! Well Done!"
Lawrence's voice was heard after the call was connected. He had the impression that Lawrence was happily running around his room like a kid just got his toy.
"Mr. Lawrence. I have something to tell you. Some of my men have gone missing. A helicopter is gone too. I think someone has broken into your airship, sir."
"So you're saying that someone else is on my airship right now?"
"Yes."
He replied seriously.
"I'll look into it."
Click!
After the call was ended, he turned toward his men.
"I need a few people to follow me. We are going back to the Flying Palace! Others stay here first."
"Yes, sir!"
***
A few thousand feet above Lightning Island.
Inside the control chamber.
"Weis!"
Lawrence stood up from his chair abruptly. His face was looking grim.
"Show me all the cameras. See if there are suspicious people on the ship."
"Yes, master."
Shortly after, a virtual screen appeared in front of him. It showed all the areas in the Flying Palace airship.
"Where are they? Are they in my airship?"
A few minutes later, Lawrence slumped on the chair with a doubtful look on his face. He had searched every nook and cranny of the airship. Yet, he found no one else besides him.
"Did they already escape the island?"
Unbeknownst to him, the internal network of the airship had fallen under someone else control.
At this time, Hisoka, Will, and Doran were standing in front of a metal door. Earlier, they had already searched through nearly half of the airship.
"Do you guys have any idea what's behind this door?"
Hisoka tapped the door lightly. He found that the door was very heavy. It seemed it was impossible to break this door just by relying on brute force.
"Not a single clue. But I bet there is something very important inside. Let's open it."
Doran said with an eager look.
As soon as Hisoka told Porygon to open the door, everyone was shocked by what they saw.
There were all kinds of Pokemon in the glass cases embedded in the walls on both sides. At first glance, Hisoka thought they had stumbled into a Pokemon research lab.
However, he never thought they would find this spooky room. These lifelike Pokemon posed in different postures as they walked past them.
"Gardevoir, did you find anything?"
Hisoka asked coldly.
Gardevoir shook her head sadly.
"These are all Pokemon, but they are already dead. There is nothing inside their body except for some kind of strange substance. It seemed that is what is holding all the bodies of these Pokemon together.
She finished with her head lowered down. It seemed she couldn't bare to see this any longer. He comforted her by patting her head because he knew she was sad at the fate of these Pokemon.
"These are all living specimens!"
Will blurted out, causing everyone to turn toward him.
"These specimens are made when these Pokemon are alive. I remember seeing this during my travel. This is a heinous crime! I can't believe someone would do this thing."