All for You

Chapter 60

After just a few minutes of flying on their speedy pokemon, Serena, Gary and Paul approached Lumiose Tower.

Serena, exhausted from the late hour, the terrifyingly rapid flight, and Gary and Paul arguing the whole way, was glad to see a definite end to their journey. She sighed in relief as she stepped on the roof, stretching her legs as she turned back to Gary to see the rest of his plan.

The moment they landed, Gary rushed to a door in the roof, Pikachu following close behind.

"Why are you going there? You don't know this tower." Paul argued. 

Gary grinned, always happy for a chance to show off. "Well, while you were insisting we wait for Jenny, I was busy searching up schematics of the tower. This door leads to a halway that leads to an elevator that leads to some secure testing labs."

"Why are we heading for the testing labs?" Paul asked, exasperated from the spiky-haired boy's roundabout way of explaining things.

"Well, if you're trying to keep someone prisoner, the testing lab seems like the best place to do it. A pokemon gym wouldn't have a jail or dungeon, but a lab would have a lock, to keep people from accidentaly wadering in on experiments, as well as be soundproof, airproof, explosion-proof, and generally secure. Therefore..." Gary waited for the purple-haired trainer to finish his sentense.

"You think Ash is being kept in the testing labs? You have such little evidence to go off of, and you call yourself a resercher?" Paul replied, not sold on Gary's idea.

"Do you have a better plan?" Ash Gary indignantly.

Paul thoguht for a moment before coming up with a better plan. "Why don't we send out Lucario to find Ash using his aura?" He suggested, looking at Gary smugly.

Gary looked right back at him, havinging wanted him to say that, and smiled as he replied. "I already thought of that incredibly obvious idea. The Gym Leader of Lumiose tower-"

"Clemont," Serena interjected.

"Clemont," Gary continued, "Is a tech whiz. Apparently, around a year ago there had been some drama at this tower, (Serena sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, thinking about last year) so he installed multiple sensors to detect when someone opens an unregistered pokeball. That means that we can't take out Lucario without Team Rocket knowing we're here, and it also means that we can't return Pidgeot, Honchkrow, or Dragonite."

He turned to the pokemon. "So you guys will have to stay here on the roof, alright?"

"Draa!"

"Krow Honch Krow!"

"Pidgeottt!"

Gary grinned as Paul frowned. "Alright then, let's go!" He quickly jogged to the door, Paul following close behind.

Serena quickly followed Gary and Paul, hoping Gary's instincts were right.

They crept quietly along the corridors, making sure not to run into any Team Rocket members, though oddly enough, they didn't see a single one.

Until they got to the testing lab. When Gary, Serena, Paul and Pikachu rounded a corner, they saw four doors down the hall. One of these doors was guarded by two bored Team Rocket grunts.

"That must be where they're keeping Ash," Whispered Serena.

Gary looked pointedly at Paul, who simply looked away. In other words, admitting that Gary had been right about the testing labs.

"Alright then, what's the plan?" Gary whispered, refering to the guards.

"Pika Pi-Chu!." Before anyone could stop him, Pikachu let out a powerful thunderbolt on both the guards, who both let out a short yelp before falling the the ground, unconsious.

Pikacu then raced to the door, turning tail to face the rest of the group and letting out a "Pika!" to tell them 'get over here'.

The three humans quickly followed the take-charge electric mouse to the door, where Gary immediately connected a device to the electronic lock, taking out his pokephone and typing on it.

"What are you doing?" Asked Serena.

"Hacking the lock." Gary replied, not looking up from the phone.

"Since when do you know how to-"

"*Chink!*" The lock clicked, cutting of Paul's disbelief, and Gary shoved the door open to reveal the occupants.

But the occupants of the cell weren't who they were expecting.

"Serena!" Bonnie, who was in the cell, raced from the cot she was sitting on and gave Serena a big hug.

"Bonnie!" Serena said, suprised and shocked, dropping to her knees and hugging the little girl back. "What happened?"

"Team Rocket took over the building, and locked Bonnie and I in this testing lab." Clemont explained. He stood up from the cot as well and walked to the open door. "Thank you so much for freeing us. How did you know we were here?" He inquired.

"We didn't. Our friend Ash was kidnapped by Team Rocket and taken here. I though he might be held in the testing labs, since they should be secure, but instead we found you." Gary explained.

"Ash got taken by Team Rocket!" Clemont exclaimed in suprise.

"You know Ash?" Gary replied.

"Since Gary was wrong in his theory, where might Ash be?" Paul said, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"Hey, my theory was perfect! They did use the testing labs to hold someone prisoner. It just wasn't Ash." Gary argued back.

"But Ash wasn't here, so we still need to find him since you failed to do so." Paul retorted.

"I did not fail, I-!"

"You guys!" Serena interjected loudly.

The two arguing teens turned to her.

"Arguing is pointless and there are more important things we could be doing! How about we start with introductions?" Serena insisted, fed up with the two boy's constant banter.

"Fine." Gary accepted Serena's logic, turning to Clemont. "I'm Gary. I was Ash's neighbor and rival when we were kids." He felt it wise to include how he knew/met Ash since apparently this gym leader was a friend of his. Now that he thought about it, Ash did mention he was friends with a Clemont and Bonnie who lived near K.I.P., Gary just hadn't payed close attention.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Clemont, the Gym leader of this Gym. I travelled with Ash through Kalos. And his is my little sister, Bonnie." 

He gestured to Bonnie, who had stopped hugging Serena and now waved politely to Gary and Paul. "Hi, nice to meet you! This is my partn-" Bonnie reached for the purse at her side, before remembering that Team Rocket had taken Deddenne. She looked down, upset. "Oh, right."

Clemont gave her a sympathetic look and placed a hand on her shoulder before turning to Paul. "Who are you?" He asked politely.

"Paul." He didn't add anything else.

Gary gave Paul a teasing grin, adding in Paul's relation to Ash. "He was Ash's weakest rival in Sinnoh."

Paul glared angerly back at Gary. "If I recall correctly, you lost to Ash in the Kanto league in only the top 32."

"Well if I recall corretly, you lost to Ash 2 days ago!" Gary countered.

" .  .  . Nice to meet you Paul." Clemont replied, sweatdropping as the two boys continued arguing.

"Alright, now that we're all aquainted, do you know where Ash might be?" Serena asked the blond gym leader.

"Well, I was able to overhear a little of their plans. They're using Ash to power some sort of machine, just like last time this happened. I think he might be on the roof." Clemont explained.

"So Ash is probably where we just were? Never mind, let's head there quick!" Serena ran back to the stairs to head up to the roof, Clemont, Gary, Paul and Bonnie following close behind.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean last time this happened?!"