I didn't know what to do. I had woken up instantly remembering my situation for once. I was in a dingy cell at some Team Rocket warehouse with no idea where I was. Even if I did escape, where would I go? That guard was on my side, but he was only one man. There was no way he could have helped me escape.

Just then there was a knock on the door, and a tray was shoved under it. "Here's your dinner, Runt! Hurry up, in five minutes it's down to the lab with you whether you're finished or not!" an unnamed voice said cruelly through the door.

I looked down at the food I was given, if it could even be called food. There was a plastic spork and some black viscous fluid in one part of the tray. In the other part there were some dry mashed potatoes, so I figured the liquid must be some kind of gravy. I really didn't want to eat that, but I was starving for some reason. I wolfed it down in a hurry, hoping to keep the taste from lingering, but it didn't help. The gravy just made things worse, as it was bitter rather than hearty.

I just barely finished when the door swung open. "Com'on, it's time to go!" Another Team Rocket grunt, that's just great.

*From the eyes of Agent Johnathan 'Kyle' Tappainer*

We had been driving for a solid hour. I had been filled in on any and all of the intelligence we had for this operation on the way. Horatio would be on guard duty at the front entrance. I would give the passphrase 'the Sun shines brightest at dawn', then he would lead me to a small janitor's closet. I was then to wait there while he retrieved the boy.

Once he returned, I was to use my stealth suit to transport myself and the boy to safety undetected. All in all, it seemed like a pretty routine operation. What I didn't expect, was a rescue of a different kind was planned at the same time.

*Neo's Point of view, a quarter mile away from the warehouse*

"Alright, we know where he is; now we just need a way in without attracting undue attention," I said with finality. I knew there would be high security in a place like this, and the Golbat, whose name we found out was Dylan, confirmed that with his supersonic. There were sixteen strategically placed infrared receptors and receivers according to him. While he couldn't see the beams he could sense the devices and we were able to confirm them visually.

"Why can't we just go in and get him? I can take all of them at once!" Rena said fiercely. Anger was clouding her thoughts, and I knew I would have to convince her fast, lest she fall prey to her bloodlust.

"If we go in guns blazing it could ruin our only chance of getting to Chris. They have at least some security and we don't know the extent of how good it really is. Do you really want to risk having to run away without him?" I thought this argument was pretty reasonable, and so did Dylan.

He backed me up with his own sentiments. "Don't let your anger leave you blind. If we are not careful we could endanger ourselves for no reason what so ever. If you really want to get in there then listen to me, I have a plan."

With that, he began to explain. He had noticed a delivery truck pull around the back of the warehouse earlier. It then stood to reason that there would probably be more. If we could get on board one, we could slip in unnoticed. With this Rena grudgingly agreed to the plan. We didn't have long to wait, and after an hour, a truck pulled up to the building and we slipped into three of the crates in the back.

It didn't take long for someone to unload the crates we were in, and when we were sure the coast was clear we quietly crept out of our individual boxes. Dylan lead the way from there, using his supersonic to see around corners and give us warning when guards walked by. There were a couple close calls, but we managed to slip into a side room each time. We continued our search until we came across a door marked 'Laboratory'. We slowly pushed open the door a crack, then stopped suddenly, shocked at what we were seeing.

*Agent Johnathan 'Kyle' Tappainer*

Everything went according to plan on entry. The suit worked like a charm, with infrared beams passing right through me. The whole time a small dot on my heads up display, or HUD, led me to the entrance Horatio was stationed at. As I reached the door I knocked as quietly as I could. The grate slid open, and Horatio's eyes appeared behind the grill. "Password?" he asked once he noticed there was no one visible there.

"The sun shines brightest at the dawn," I replied quietly.

"Good, I been expectin' yer fer awhile now. T'er needs ter be a slight modification in t'e plan. I don't have authorization ter be where they be havin' the boy now. I can point t'e way, but once yer in t'er yer on yer own." He explained this while he opened the door. He also mentioned I should stay invisible for now. He then proceeded to tell me exactly how to get to where the boy was being kept. Once I was there, there would be no way to go undetected so I would have to be prepared for a fight. He was currently in the experiments lab so I thought it might be a good idea to hurry.

As I went along I had to constantly stay to the side to avoid Team Rocket cronies. I was wondering how I could possibly get out of here when I reached my destination. Something was definitely wrong though. A small group of Pokémon had crept up to the door I needed to go to! This was not part of the plan. "Shit!" I swore under my breath. This was going to end badly, I just knew it.

*Flashback one hour, Chris Neoman*

I had no idea what was going to happen. I was led down quite a few long hallways, one Team Rocket grunt on each side. There was no way to escape at the moment, so I took this time to look around, hoping for some sort of exit. Unfortunately there were no exit signs. I guess they must have thought that would be too easy. Around this point in time we reached a bright steel colored door labeled 'Laboratory'. The grunts opened the door and thrust me inside walking away as they shut the door. Immediately another grunt inside the room grabbed a hold of me and threw me down onto a table. Straps shot out of the table immobilizing my chest legs and arms. "Hey!" I yelled as I struggled to break free.

"It's no use," said a voice coming from the one place I couldn't see, the head of the table I was on. "Those bonds are made of carbon fibers. You might as well stop now before you hurt yourself." With that, the mystery speaker stepped into view. He was a middle aged man, and wore a long white lab coat. He had the classic doctor stethoscope, but his brown hair was incredibly untidy, with streaks of grey running along the sides.

"What do you want with me?!" I asked angrily. I was sick and tired of being pushed around.

"Nothing much at the moment, I just want to run some routine tests for now." he responded, as if he was just my normal doctor and we had known each other for years. The nerve of some people.

For the next hour he went through basic medical tests, running numbers through a machine when it appeared he had found something interesting. All in all it seemed like a pretty normal doctor's check-up, apart from the straps. He then did something I didn't expect though; he pulled out an enormous needle and a scalpel.

"Okay, were almost done," He said with a fake smile, "now I just need to sedate you then take a muscle sample." He said this while indicating to the small cutting utensil. At this I panicked. I began to struggle wildly as he came closer with the needle. The whole time the straps just kept tightening, getting tighter and tighter until I felt I couldn't breathe anymore.

Then, the weirdest feeling came over me. I felt incredibly calm and peaceful, and when I looked over at the doctor he looked frightened.

I wondered why that was. Everything felt so peaceful, why would anyone feel that way? It didn't even register to me that I could sense his feeling right then. I did notice, however, when the straps seemed to dissolve. I got up and was floating! At this point, I noticed a mirror. I looked and my body was surrounded by a bright golden aura, and my eyes were glowing white. I think I knew why the Doctor was afraid. I walked, or rather, floated over to him. I don't know what compelled me to do what I did next, but something told me this was the best thing to do at the time.

I reached out with my hand to touch his forehead and said, "Sleep brother, be purified by the light." With that he slowly sank to the ground unconscious, a smile on his face. My aura slowly started to fade, and I felt my feet touch the ground. After that I felt something run straight into my midsection and tackle me to the ground.

It was Rena! She had me pinned and was licking my face like a puppy because she was so overjoyed to see me. I gave her a quick kiss and an "I love you too" before lifting her off of me to see what was going on. I looked just in time to see Neo and the Golbat I had caught enter the room. Neo then explained the situation, introducing me to Dylan as well.

"Thank you all," was all I could say as I held back tears. I couldn't believe they would risk their lives for me. I then stood, shaking off the happy feeling and replacing it with a realistic outlook, and wiped the forming tears from my eyes. "We're not out of the woods just yet though. We still need to get out of here for that.

"I think I can help with that," said a disembodied voice. We all gave a little start as a man materialized out of thin air. "My name is Special Agent Tappainer, and I was sent by The Order, I'm here to help you escape."

My Pokémon, even Dylan, all jumped between me and him in an instant, but I assured them he was alright. They grudgingly backed off, and I asked, "How do I know I can trust you?"

"A better question is, how can you afford not to?" was his reply.

"Well said, now, how are we going to get out of here?" I inquired. He then explained his plan. I was to don his stealth suit, while he would wear the doctor's lab coat as a disguise. I was about to ask about my Pokémon, but Neo showed me he had my pack and pulled out his, Rena's, and Dylan's pokeballs. Well that took care of that part of the plan. The agent continued off where he was interrupted. The next part of the plan was to sneak out by way of Horatio's door. I guessed that must have been the name of the Order member I met earlier. Finally, when we were outside, we would make a break for the armored truck waiting at the nearest road.

We then put the plan into action. No one stopped us and it seemed to be working just fine. That is until we heard a masculine voice shout, "Stop right there!" Right then all the alarms went off at once. With that it was no longer a casual stroll, but a mad dash to the exit. We were blocked by a few grunts but Agent Tappainer plowed right through them before they could do so much as to throw a pokeball. I jumped over the fallen grunts, making one yell in surprise when I landed on his hand. I was invisible at the moment though, so he had no explanation for what happened.

We barreled through the door we had planned to escape through. It was conveniently wide open, something I assumed was thanks to Horatio hearing the alarm and knowing the need for a quick escape was urgent. We made a mad dash through the woods then, dodging nets and pitfalls that were activated as we tripped alarm after alarm.

When we finally reached the truck the power ran out on the suit I was wearing and I became visible. We both jumped into the truck and Agent Tappainer shouted to the driver, "drive man, drive! They're right on our tail!"

With that the tires squealed, and we were gone. I wanted to ask more questions of Agent Tappainer now that we were safe, but all of the sudden felt the effects of my exhaustion and promptly fell asleep.

*Video phone conversation between the Team Rocket Doctor and Giovanni*

"What do you mean he got away? Are you so pathetic that you can't contain a single boy! Bumbling fool! I should have your head for this." Giovanni was obviously furious, it even showed over the phone.

"Th-there were some complications sir! Th-the b-boy just started glowing! He broke out of the binding straps like they were rice paper. He floated over to me and then I can't remember anything else." The poor doctor was shaking, not sure of how to respond.

"Idiot! Why did you not use dark restraints? Now the boy is free! We will find him, but you will receive no more chances. Your failure is unacceptable. I would advise you leave immediately or you won't live to see another day. Do I make myself clear?"

"C-crystal, sir. I'll leave now." The doctor gulped and hung up the phone.

Giovanni
"The plot thickens, but, I wonder, who will succeed. The boy has gained extraordinary abilities. This will require additional research..."Chapter End Notes:Man this even feels intense to me, and I'm the one who knows what's going to happen. I would appreciate feedback on both what I did corretly and what I can do to improve. I am thankful for both