"But how are we even gonna find them?" Bliss exasperated, clearly not on board with Cris' plan to help Az and all of Sapphire City. Az was sitting on a chair, typing away at a computer that had multiple screens. He was looking for possible locations where GEODE INC. might store the prisoners they caught.

Looking more determined now that he had allies, Az explained to Bliss, "Well, I actually have a few guesses to where they went when they took my dad." There was a slight noticeable pause but Az continued on speaking without breaking his expression, "They headed north from here towards Molten Mountain. My best guess is either they're base is hidden somewhere on the mountain, or at least the surrounding forest area."

"So that's where we're headed then. To Molten Mountain." Cris affirmed.

Bliss looked at both of them incredulously and said, "Wait wait wait wait waaaiiiiit. What is your plan exactly, Cris? Will we just storm the place if we happened to find their base there? How will we rescue the citizens without facing a head-on battle with their elite Trainer Guards? Shouldn't we at least figure out a way to get there? If their base is up there, then they'd spot us trying to hike to it right from the base then have us arrested and then we'll need some help breaking out ourselves."

Both boys waited for Bliss to finally calm down and stop hurling questions at them.

Then Az said, "We actually do have a way to get there, and that way will keep us hidden from them while we get up the mountain. There are some old piping systems that go all the way up to the mountain. I'm not completely sure, but I think it was to help with the local hot springs because Molten Mountain used to be a volcano that provided the hot water for the springs. And when the volcano went extinct well, so did the hot springs."

Cris then added to the answers Az was giving, "Right, thanks Az. That route will surely help us. I was thinking that we should sneak in if we ever find the base. We'll just sneak in, get everyone out including their Pokemon, then meet back here to plan the counterattack since we'd have more trainers on our side by then."

Bliss thought this plan over for a bit while Az looked for the best way to get to the mountain undetected and without facing any dead ends. Cris walked to the other side of the bunker room where all their Pokemon were enjoying some Pokemon food.

He scanned through them, thinking which of them would help make the stealth rescue successful. He thought that they needed all the help they could get and decided that they'd just bring along all of them. Bliss plopped on a beanbag chair and sighed, "Alright, I guess that's a solid plan for now."

Some hours passed as the trio continued to plan, revise, and review their rescue mission, when Bliss said, "Oh yeah, Cris and I were supposed to go back to Stone Forest. Cris wants to catch a Ralts to train it into a Gallade."

Cris agreed, "Yup, those slippery Ralts better watch out, I'm gonna catch one for sure this time! Hey Az, how do you get out of this bunker? Is there an exit tunnel? Or do we just leave through the way we came in?"

Az gave a distressed look and said quickly, "W-what? You guys wanna go out, where the Trainer Guards are? Isn't it safer if we only went out when we've finished planning the rescue?" Cris tried to calm his friend's nerves by saying, "Don't worry about it! Bliss and I will be very careful. Also, we'll be back before sundown. By then I hopefully have a Ralts with me."

Az didn't looked convinced. He looked like he wasn't ready to let go of his new friends, like he couldn't bear being on his own again. With a sigh, Bliss walked over to him and held out a Pokeball.

"Here, I'll leave one of my Pokemon with you." With a gentle toss, Bliss let the Pokemon inside pop out. It was an Audino.

Bliss said, "Audino has a very strong sense of hearing and can even understand your feelings and what must be going on in your heart and mind. Audino can keep you safe and can tell if it's us coming back to the bunker, or a squad of Trainer Guards."

Bliss' Audino walked forward to hold Az's hands in its paws and it gave out a sad sounding yelp as it listened to his heart. Az, touched by the gesture, leaned forward to hug Bliss' Audino and said in a soft voice, "My mother had an Audino too. They were the perfect pair in guessing my feelings back when we were together."

He stayed in the hug he was giving to Audino, who was also returning the embrace, for little longer then said, "Alright you guys can go. You can leave through the way you came in." Az pressed a button on his keyboard and the hole in the wall of the bunker appeared, revealing the tunnel they came in from.

Before they left, Cris heard Az call to him, "Wait a minute. You're gonna catch a Ralts?" Cris turned around, "Yeah. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Az replied, "It's just that I thought that if you wanted a Gallade, then maybe you could catch a Kirlia instead? 'Cus I know how hard it is trying to catch a Pokemon that knows the move Teleport. I'm still on the hunt for an Abra."

Cris face palmed, "Of course! Why didn't I think of that? What do you think Bliss?" She said, "Well, it's true Kirlia probably can't teleport. They may be harder to find since it's an evolved Pokemon but... Yeah I guess we can try catching a Kirlia instead."

Cris made an excited sound and called for his partner Pokemon to follow him out the tunnel. Bliss' Gardevoir followed as well. "Okay, we'll be back as soon as we can Az. We'll be careful that no one follows or sees us."

They waved to each other as Az watched the two disappear into the tunnel. Cris walked alongside his Lucario, controlling himself from running right out the tunnel and straight into the direction of Stone Forest. Bliss was right behind them with Gardevoir at her side. As they reached the opening of the secret tunnel that led to the city above, Cris stopped and carefully peaked around to see and hear if there were any signs of the Trainer Guards around.

Sensing that there weren't any, he slowly emerged from the dark tunnel and quickly stuck himself to the wall, his Lucario imitating him. When Bliss and Gardevoir also got out of the tunnel, they quietly made their way to the exit of the city. They passed by some buildings with glass as its ground level wall.

The people in the buildings saw them and made surprised and worried expressions as they tried to tell them to hide. The two ignored them and quickly race-walked the last length of the city before the streets turned to dirt roads and eventually, they were out of Sapphire City.

Realizing this, Cris gave a loud whoop sound and sprinted towards the forest they just came out of earlier that day. Bliss and the two Pokemon ran after him.

When they reached the inside of Stone Forest, Bliss called, "Hey! Just because we were out of the city streets, doesn't mean that the Trainer Guards wouldn't be able to hear us!"

Cris gave her an apologetic smile and called back, "Sorry! I was feeling so cramped back in the bunker and I couldn't wait to catch my soon-to-be Gallade." Bliss snorted, ugh boys. Then she remembered something. " Hang on, if you want to evolve the Kirlia you're going to catch, then wouldn't you need an evolution stone?"

Cris snapped his fingers and said, "Oh that's right! A Dawn Stone is what I need. I visited the special evolution stone store back in Quartz City." He moved closer to Bliss.

"I didn't know what I would need on my journey so I just bought one of each stone there was in the shop." Cris reached his hand into his sling bag that clung to his chest. He pulled out various pretty-looking stones and placed them one by one on the ground in between them. Cris sat down on the grass as he placed the last stone he had on the forest floor.

He frowned. It didn't look like he had a Dawn Stone.

"Water Stone, Leaf Stone, Thunder Stone, Fire Stone, Moon Stone, Sun Stone, Shiny Stone, Ice Stone, Dusk Stone... Aww, it looks like you have every evolution stone except a Dawn Stone." Bliss said, half sympathetically.

"I guess it was out of stock when you visited the store huh?" She joked.

Cris just gave a half smile and said, "It's okay. I'll still catch a Kirlia today. Maybe I'll look for a Dawn Stone when we've freed everyone from GEODE INC.'s prisons."

Gathering up his glittering collection of precious rocks and stuffing them back into his bag, the two trainers walked along the dirt path a little before going into the dense foliage on the left side of the forest path.

They checked the usual spots where they found Ralts, checking and creeping quietly to see if they could catch a Kirlia off guard. They checked almost all of the spots where they found Ralts, but only found some bug Pokemon crawling about. Then they heard something.

Cris stopped dead in his tracks and strained his ears to listen to the ambient noise of the forest. There was something stalking them. It didn't sound big, but it sounded angry and hostile. Both of their partner Pokemon sensed this and immediately brought up their guard and stood in a fighting stance beside their trainers. Cris thought it might have been a Houndoom but the sound didn't have the signature sounds that Houndoom usually give off.

Lucario had already pinpointed where the Pokemon making the sound was coming from. Lucario probably already knows what Pokemon's stalking us. Cris thought. Slowly, the angry growling sound ahead of them gained a shadowy figure. Both trainers stood their ground as a wild Zangoose appeared in front of them. It gave another angry growl.

"Lucario," Cris said firmly and confidently, "get ready to use Aura Sphere." At his command, Lucario held his fighting stance and made a motion with its paws to start growing an Aura Sphere.

Sensing the signs of a fight, the wild Zangoose's claws began to glow white, preparing its own attack. With a great bound, the Zangoose attacked using Slash. Lucario aimed its Aura Sphere and hurled it forward at the charging Zangoose. Cris thought the attack would hit, but to his surprise, Zangoose dodged and kept running at them.

Cris called out, "Power-Up Punch!" Lucario understood and made its fist glow with power and dashed forward to meet the wild Pokemon's own attack. The two Pokemon ended up hitting each other, but the Zangoose was sent flying backwards while Lucario held its ground.

Cris didn't waste any time. "Extreme Speed, let's go!" Lucario surged forward again with great speed and hit the Zangoose just as it landed from the first attack.

When the dust from the explosion of the speedy attack settled, they saw that the Zangoose had fainted. Bliss gave an impressed sounding exhale, "Whew and I was about give you a hand. Guess even if you're 'not a Pokemon Trainer' You win battles pretty easily."

Cris just gave her a smile and asked, "Do you want to catch that Zangoose?" She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I think Zangoose looks like it loves being in the forest." Zangoose gained back its consciousness. It looked around and its angry gaze fell on Cris and Lucario.

Cris raised his hands innocently, "We're not here to fight and make trouble Zangoose. We don't want to hurt you."

The Zangoose received a loose translation from Lucario then it gave a sort of annoyed snort and slowly walked away. "Wow," Bliss remarked again, "Winning Pokemon battles and making peace with wild Pokemon. You some kind of Pokemon whisperer?"

Cris blushed this time at more of Bliss' compliments. He replied, "Well, Lucario does half the work too you know."

Bliss waved her hand dismissively, "Yeah, good job too, Lucario." She gave Lucario a pat and said, "Alright then, let's keep looking for that Kirlia."

They continued to look for any signs of Kirlia nearby. At one point they found a Ralts scurrying through the thick bushes. This gave Cris and his friend a sudden jolt of hope. Where there were Ralts, surely there would also be some Kirlia.

They quietly followed the Ralts as it walked calmly around the forest, unaware of the two trainers following it. When it heard the rustling of some bushes that didn't come from Cris' hiding spot, it panicked and teleported away.

Cris stood up from the bush he was hiding behind. Bliss also got out of her hiding spot behind him. Well... I'm not after Ralts. I'm here to catch a Kirlia. Cris thought to himself, trying to keep himself calm.

Then the Pokemon that startled the Ralts emerged from the bushes a little ways ahead of them and both Cris and Bliss gasped.

It was a Kirlia. But something was off about it. It wasn't the usual green colored head of most Kirlia.  Instead, it donned on a beautiful blue hue that shimmered when it caught the light from the canopy above.

Whoah. That's a rare Kirlia. Cris thought to himself in disbelief.

Then he felt it. A connection.

He knew that this Kirlia was the one to be his next Pokemon to train and to be friends with his Lucario. The Kirlia was pacing around slowly, doing little ballet dance flourishes as it moved.

Cris felt around his pocket for an empty Pokeball. Should I battle it first? It doesn't know Teleport after all. Cris pondered on the decision while the rare Kirlia continued to dance around, slowly getting into a rhythm and forming an impromptu dance routine.

Cris decided that he would battle it so that he had better chances of catching it. Considering he only had one more Pokeball that Bliss gave him, he looked to Lucario and gave a signal.

Lucario and Cris slowly revealed themselves to the blue Kirlia, trying their best to look nonthreatening at first. Cris thought he'd try convincing the Kirlia to join him before battling it.

He said to the Kirlia, "Hey. Lucario and I are on a journey and I'm looking for more Pokemon who would want to be part of my team. Can you be part of the team?" Lucario tried translating Cris' message through feelings but the Kirlia only looked confused.

When Lucario walked forward however, Kirlia became hostile and used Magical Leaf. Battling it is then. Cris sighed internally. Lucario tried dodging the attacks, but the leaves connected which dealt some damage to Lucario.

"We'll have to show Kirlia our strength Lucario. Use Extreme Speed!" Lucario jumped into the air and vanished in a blur of blue. Lucario reappeared again right in front of the Kirlia and gave it a jab.

The Kirlia's eyes then started to glow. "It's using Psychic!" Bliss yelled to Cris. Suddenly the bushes around them were violently uprooted and Kirlia raised its hands forward which sent the greenery flying at Lucario.

No choice, we've gotta use the move. It seemed that Cris and Lucario's minds were one and they completely understood each other.

With a yell of effort Cris said, "Let's use Dragon Pulse Lucario!" Lucario dashed forward with immense power and strength and a purple aura of power surged out of its paws, shredding the bushes that were hurtling at them. Lucario kept bursting and rushing on until the beam of energy hit the Kirlia right in the chest.

The blue Kirlia was thrown backwards by the power and force of Lucario's move. Bliss looked on in awe at her friend. The Kirlia staggered to its feet, close to fainting. Cris smirked and brought out the Pokeball. With a silent wish, he threw the Pokeball at the rare Kirlia. It landed on Kirlia's head and in turn sucked in the Pokemon. Once.... Twice.... Thrice....

Ding!

Cris yelled triumphantly and Bliss cheered for her friend along with Gardevoir. Lucario slowly sat down panting, a little tired but still prepared for more wild Pokemon attacks. Cris ran over to the Pokeball and raised it in the air, almost as excited as the day he partnered up with Lucario.

"WOW Cris! What a move! I didn't know your Lucario knew Dragon Pulse." Bliss exclaimed, approaching him. He gave a nod of satisfaction and hugged his Lucario. "Yeah, it's our most powerful move. We only use it for strong opponents. Great job Lucario!"

Lucario barked happily and returned the hug affectionately. Cris stared at the Pokeball in his hands and smiled again. I caught my first Pokemon! Well, besides his trusty partner Lucario of course.

Despite Cris' obvious excitement, he stopped himself from bringing out the Kirlia since it still had to be healed back at the bunker. The bunker. Az Cris looked up at the canopy, trying to see the sky to tell the time. He saw an opening in the forest roof and was relieved to see that there was still bright sunlight bursting through the forest.

Cris gathered his things and said to Bliss, "We should head back now. Come on Lucario." They hurried back out of Stone Forest and crept quietly towards Sapphire City. Cris suggested that they stuck to the walls of the city when entering and when getting back to Az's hideout.

Silently, they made their way into the city underected. Cris wondered why the city entrances weren't guarded if GEODE INC. was taking over the city. He wasn't complaining though. If that's how GEODE INC. planned to take over Sapphire City, then Cris thought it wouldn't be too hard to rescue the people from Molten Mountain.

When they reached the street where Az's hidden tunnel was, someone yelled, "There's another one over here!" Cris' first thought was that an elite Trainer Guard found them, but when he peeked around the corner he saw a small squad of Trainers near the entrance of their hideout. They were wearing a black uniform with the GEODE INC. insignia of three gems which symbolized the three main cities of their region on their shoulder sleeve.

The one who yelled looked like the leader of the group and was pointing directly at the secret entrance. Cris' blood ran cold. They found our bunker! Az is gonna get caught! He tried to get a grip on his mind. He led Bliss and their Pokemon a little ways back so they wouldn't be heard.

"They're about to break into the hideout. We need to protect Az." Cris whispered, frantically racking his brain to come up with a plan that didn't involve all of them getting captured. Bliss' expression showed that she had an idea. Cris moved aside to let her pass with her Gardevoir.

Bliss whispered a command to her Gardevoir and pointed at the other end of the street. Gardevoir's eyes then started to glow. A pile of garbage cans could be heard falling over. "What was that?" They heard one of the guards say. The leader Guard issued an order, "You three, go after the one who made that noise. They could be part of a revolution or something."

Now only a couple trainers were there at the entrance. Lucario's head tilted downward and it closed its eyes to focus. Cris noticed this and said, "Hang on, Lucario's picking something up. It could be Az." When Lucario opened its eyes, it stealthily dashed past the street where the entrance was and ran to the next two streets over and turned left.

"Huh. What's Lucario up to?" Bliss wondered. Cris motioned for them to follow. When the two Trainers Guards weren't looking, they ran silently to where Lucario had disappeared. Turning a corner, they were surprised to see another dead end with a secret tunnel slowly opening. From it, emerged a Yamper, Audino, and Az.

"Az!" Bliss said in surprise, "I thought for sure they were gonna capture you. You didn't tell us about a second tunnel." Az, looking slightly distressed, answered, "Audino heard them coming, and when I saw through a hidden camera that they were right outside, I took everything I could and escaped through here."

"What matters is you're safe. Now let's get out of here before they barge into the empty bunker and find out where we are." Cris said. Just as they were about to leave, a voice was heard.

"Ice Beam!"

Cris, Az, Bliss and all their Pokemon were instantly frozen at their feet. Cris turned his head to see three Trainer Guards approaching them, a Beartic, Scizor, and Weavile at each of their sides. "You're not going anywhere."