Second Encounter with Team Galactic

On the way to Lilypad Town, the gang walked on the east side of Mt. Coronet. Right now they stopped in a marshy area.

"Hey, what's that sound?" Dawn asked.

She was hearing what sounding like a whooshing nose, but it only turned out to be a river with a very strong current.

"Hey look over there." Tomo said.

He pointed to the other side of the river. It was a swarm of blue Shellos.

"It's the same as my Shellos." Tomo said.

Suddenly Brock noticed something in the river. A pink Shellos was being swept away by the strong current and it was holding onto a boulder for safety. Piplup bravely jumped into the water to help Shellos. He grabbed onto Shellos before it got swept away. The gang quickly used a branch of a tree to help Piplup and Shellos out of the river. Eventually the Shellos was finally safe. Shellos was grateful and immediately thanked Piplup.

At that moment Nurse Joy appeared.

"Oh thank goodness you are alright Shellos." She said.

Nurse Joy explained that pink Shellos from the western side of Mt. Coronet keep getting lost and end up on the east side of Mt. Coronet.

"That's strange." Brock said. "Shellos shouldn't really be able to cross from one side of Mt. Coronet to the other side that easily due to them being slow Pokemon."

Something weird was going on. Nurse Joy and the gang took Shellos to the Pokemon Center for a checkup. Shellos was okay, but it needed to get back to it's home. The gang volunteered to take Shells to the other side of the mountain, as they needed to pass through Mt. Coronet to get to their next destination. Nurse Joy was grateful for the gang's kindness.

"Another lost Shellos, I see." A voice said.

It was Looker; the man the gang met on the train before.

"Hi there, nice to see you again." Looker said to the gang. "But I'm in a hurry, so I'll see you later."

Looker left in a hurry. Again Ash thought there was something strange about Looker.

"Come on, we better get going too." Brock said.

The others agreed; the sooner the better for Shellos.

What no one knew was that trouble was brewing in the mountain. Team Galactic was in Mt. Coronet, searching for the entrance to the Spear Pillar. Commander Saturn was with a man named Charon and he was the top scientist of Team Galactic. The grunts were scanning the mountain with machines.

"Charon, haven't you found it yet?" Saturn asked.

"Patience Saturn." Charon said. "The scan on Iron Island narrowed down the expedition area. The gateway for Spear Pillar is definitely located on Mt. Coronet. So all we need to do now is find it."

"Well speed things up. We are way behind schedule." Saturn said, impatiently.

"You can't rush science. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Charon said. "If you rush it I won't be able to succeed, so be patient."

Saturn didn't like being patient or Charon, but he had no choice because he didn't want to fail locating the Spear Pillar.

At that time Looker was at Mt. Coronet. He had a feeling that something strange was going on due to Shellos continuing to get lost over Mt. Coronet, so he decided to investigate. Looker noticed Mt. Coronet had entrances to tunnels nearly everywhere, so he decided to enter one of the tunnels for more clues.

*Meanwhile...*

The gang had just started walking up Mt. Coronet. Shellos was riding on Piplup's head. Just then they noticed the tunnel entrances.

"I've never seen a mountain with this many caves before." Ash said.

"I wonder if they are caves." Brock said.

Piplup was curious about the tunnels and went down one. Dawn warned him to be careful, but Piplup and Shellos fell down.

"No Piplup, Shellos!" Dawn cried out.

The gang went closer to the tunnel, but the ground gave way and they all fell down the hole too.

"Ow, is everyone okay?" Ash asked, once they hit the ground.

"I think so." Dawn said.

The landing was painful but no one was seriously hurt. Dawn looked up at the hole they fell through.

"I don't think we can climb out of here." She said.

"I'll use Teleport to get us out of here." Ash said.

"Hang on Ash." Brock said. "I think we should explore this cave to find a way out. I'm suspicious of all these holes and tunnels in this mountain."

"Okay we'll do that then." Ash said.

So the gang started to explore the tunnel to find an exit.

Right now Looker had been exploring a lot of tunnels. Thanks to his goggles he found out that the tunnels had been dug recently. Just then he heard a strange sound. The sound was coming from Team Galactic's scanning machines. Looker carefully stepped closer in the tunnel and he saw Team Galactic. He hid behind some rocks, taking great care not to be seen.

"This mountain has nothing but ruins." Saturn said. "And we still haven't found the gateway to the Spear Pillar."

"I wish you would have patience." Charon said. "You need to remember that we aren't the only ones who had been searching for Dialga and Palkia. These ruins are the result of people's desires to encounter these Pokemon. Therefore enjoy this research while you can, cause we could pick up more information than we already need."

Saturn just angrily glared at Charon; there was no point in arguing with him.

*Back with the gang...*

They were still looking for an exit.

"We sure are talking steep here." Dawn said, while they went up a hill.

Just then Piplup found footprints on the ground and more tunnels.

"These tunnels don't look like they were dug naturally." Brock said.

Growlithe went over to the footprints and sniffed them, then he began to bark angrily.

"What is it, Growlithe?" Tomo asked, not liking the sound of Growlithe's barking.

"Oh no." Ash said. "Growlithe is saying he has the scent of Team Galactic members."

"What?!" Dawn gasped. "Team Galactic is here?"

"Team Galactic must be the cause of all these tunnels." Brock said. "The question is why?"

"What should we do?" Tomo asked.

Suddenly Shellos and Piplup went down the tunnel.

"Piplup, Shellos get back here now!" Dawn shouted.

The gang ran after the two Pokemon; they were afraid Team Galactic may appear in front of them any minute.

Their fear became a reality when the gang went through the exit as they ran into Team Galactic again.

"So it is you, Team Galactic." Ash said.

He wasn't happy to see them.

"Oh it's you kids again." Saturn said.

The grunts quickly surrounded the gang. Ash did want to fight back, but if he did it would cause a cave in.

The gang and the Pokemon were tied up with rope.

"So these are the famous children I've heard about?" Charon asked Saturn.

"Ignore them and get back to work." Saturn said.

Charon did as he was told.

"I wonder what Team Galactic is up to this time?" Brock whispered.

"I don't know, but it probably involves Dialga and Palkia." Ash whispered.

By now Shellos was frightened and began to cry.

"What's wrong Shellos?" Tomo asked.

"Hey I can't concentrate with that racket. Shut that thing up." Charon said.

"Shellos is scared over being tied up, you heartless jerk!" Tomo shouted.

A grunt ran over to silence Shellos.

"Hang on a little longer. I'll get you out of here soon." The grunt whispered.

It was actually a disguised Looker. He disguised himself as a Galactic grunt to blend in and find out what Team Galactic was doing.

"I promise you I'll get you back to your friends as soon as possible." Looker whispered.

"Looker." Ash whispered.

Looker flinched at Ash knowing who he was.

"Now stay silent all of you!" Looker commanded.

He secretly untied the kids ropes around their hands.

"Listen to me and stay quiet." He whispered. "Team Galactic is searching for the ruins here inside Mt. Coronet and I'm here to find out what they want with it. So stay put until I get the chance to get you out here."

Ash understood what Looker was doing and quickly nodded.