(With permission and suggestions/improvements of Khelfin I will add a plot twist)

Meanwhile at a hidden location..

"Meredith, you should come hear this." Sabrina said, looking more serious than she had been all this time. The reporter Meredith followed Sabrina to their advanced radio system, where a broadcast was starting. Meredith gasped. "That is not ours. Who else could have access to radio waves?"

Her questioned was answered when she heard the voice of Cooper:
"Dear survivors. Times have been hard and I am just proud at how well you are adapting. As you know, my staff has been working hard on creating artificial pokemon like Porygon for example. However, we have also been working on something else behind the curtains. In order to restore as much of the world as we knew it, we have been trying to recreate the League challenge."

Sabrina and Meredith widened their eyes and stared at each other. "So our scoop is true. I bet he wants to beat us to it, to neutralize us as an information source. And you know what, I bet it was also him who tried to attack us at Goldenrod."

Cooper continued: "However, the tragedy that has happened to all of us is also an opportunity. We can change anything we want, we had to start from scratch. The 6 gyms we have prepared with be devided over three regions, carefully selected by the type of environment that region has since the Apocalyps. The first 2 gyms will be in Kalos, where we are focused on recreating organic life. Not exactly my own preference, but the needs of the many ofcourse outweighs the needs of the one. Expect the find a grass/water gym and a fairy gym."

The more Cooper revealed, the more Sabrina got this feeling that he was trying to manipulate the survivors into thinking he has their best intrest. History taught us that there will be people believing him.

"The next 2 gyms will be in Sinnoh. As it turned mostly nocturnal, you shall face a dark/ghost gym and a poison gym. The poison types often used to be grass types but the lack of sunlight changed them too. Perhaps some sort of trade between Sinnoh and Kalos can be an option in the future."

Sabrina frowned. Trade? Ofcourse. Resources means power. Sinnoh will have to find something to offer in return.

Cooper finished his speech:
"And the last 2 gyms will be in Unova. I wil not share too much about it so far but considering it's a big wastelands nowadays, expect a rock/ground gym and a steel gym. Oh and in Unova you will also face the World Champion."

Sabrina grunted. "I bet he gave that title to himself. Who would dare to disagree with him?"

Meredith had been squeezing her fists all this time. "We need to stop him before he becomes a tyrant. He has already framed us as fake news. Sabrina, those people you met earlier, do you think we can recruit them into our rebellion?"

Sabrina nodded. "They seemed very determined to stop Cooper. In particular the murder of Miss Amy shook them."

Meredith pondered for a second and pinched her eyes. "Very well, let our rebellion be known as 《 the Amy Initiative 》 then, in honor of our fallen ally."

Sabrina smiled. The Amy Initiative. She liked it.

"Let's try to send them a message about our location without Cooper finding out. I will think of some sort of code and send it out within the next few hours."

A couple of hours had passed and Aro and Maya were still in Petros’ lab. The sound of the radio and Coopers voice flooded the radio. Aro’s head dropped and his eyes closed as if he knew what that sound meant.

“So what you said, it’s true” Aro said disheartened. “He’s trying to lure us in” He looked up at Petros once more.

“Thank you Petros” he said once more “ I promise I’ll try and stop him.”

“Aro you need to stop this...” Petros trailed off “....get out of this place, try and find a place where you can live and forget about all this...”

“I’m sorry Petros but I can’t do that.” Aro retorted “ I don’t know who I used to be and now with Miss Amy gone I won’t ever know. I can get over not knowing but I can’t sit by and watch him ruin others life’s”

Petros frowned and sighed “Aro the reason she didn’t tell you...” He stopped mid sentence

The sound of a helicopter was beginning to draw closer and closer.

“Petros?” Aro became very much on edge again

“Aro, that’s Coopers goons coming to take me to Sinnoh, you need to get out of here.” He grabbed Aro’s arm and started messing with his poketch frantically.

“Petros! You know!...” Aro said struggling slightly. The sound of the helicopter was almost deafening now.

“Aro, GO! I’ve put some co-ordinates in your poketch, it will help you two get out of here. Just go!” Petros yelled.

Aro didn’t want to leave, in fact it was the last thing he wanted to do but he knew there was more at stake than just his life this time. He didn’t want Red, Apollo, Maya or Zombie to get hurt too. He was angry but he turned to look at Maya and nodded to signal to run, which they did through the metallic corridors or the Lab.

—————————————————————

Aro and Maya ran the whole way to the Co-Ordinates on his Poketch. Which lead them to the outskirts of the facilities which consisted mainly of rocky wastelands. Aro looked around the scene.

“How is this suppose to help us escape? We need to get all the way to Saffron City to meet the others” He said still scouring the area.

As he finished speaking he noticed an oddly positioned piece of waterproof material. It was covered in dirt and seemed to blend in looking like a rock. He approached it and pulled on the material, as the sheet pulled back it revealed a dirty motorbike. He turned to Maya and called her over.

“I think this will get us there” he said as they both pulled the bike out of its hidden position.

“Just one question... Who’s driving?” He laughed slightly

The road was tough on the old bike. Suspension was well and truly a thing of the past. Along the way stopping off to battle bandits in order to get more fuel. The battles were tough, something Aro hadn’t felt in a while. It gave him a good opportunity however to learn more about his newest member, Apollo. Aro was in awe at its balance of agility and offence, it was almost elegant to watch.

Apollo seemed like a natural fighter and instantly clicked with Aro’s battling style. So much so that it was almost like Aro had unlocked its potential. During a double fight versus a couple of bandit group leaders, Apollo evolved into a Doublade and was able to take them out.

—————————————————————

Eventually they made it to Saffron City, the place seemed eerily decrepit. They parked the motorbike outside of the old Dojo.

“This is the place...” Aro said looking at the the run down building that used to be a symbol of greatness and dedication.

“Now I guess we find out if the others made it...” He trailed off not wanting to think about that right now.

A brief memory of Aro collapsed on the ground and scrawling on the dirt with his fingers entered Maya's mind as she heard the name Petros.

"I figured this was bait. Zombie here has a lot of toughening up to do though."

The pokemon puffed its colorful chest in a way that was both cute and absolutely pathetic. She didn't notice, too busy with groping all of the complex machinery she could find. Maya never understood technology all too well, but the hands-on girl wasn't about to be stopped by enormous panels and rows of scary looking buttons. It felt cathartic in a way, messing with all of the equipment Ms. Amy regularly scolded her for getting close to. Fate had other plans, however.

The roar of a helicopter came crashing down on their ears, sending vibrations throughout the floor and walls. It felt like prey being rattled in a cage by a predator, and she took off sprinting even before Aro had finished talking.

---

"I can drive. Or at least, I can sorta remember the basics from the manuals I used to have."

Maya came to regret uttering those words.

To the surprise of no one, riding a motorcycle was a challenge. And riding one while being chased by mutated pokemon and bandits? You could forget about the "safety" part of the manuals.

That's not to say she didn't enjoy herself. Her reputation as a daredevil in battle shone throughout the various squabbles they found themselves in, with Zombie shrieking in and out of the landscapes turned warzones. To her satisfaction the result of irresponsibly training her only pokemon via trial by fire had resulted in a far stronger companion who could burst through the air at breakneck speeds, thanks to the fear of death egging him on.

---

Maya stretched her cramped legs and took in the sight of the industrial city around her. She knew it had seen better days judging by some of the worn out buildings, but it was still bigger and brighter than anything else in the wasteland up to this point. And among the lights that speckled around them, a flash of silver caught her attention the most. A piece of metal to be exact, glinting from the sunlight only faintly. Any other person wouldn't have noticed, but for the trainer desperate for pokemon she knew exactly what it meant. Her mind combed through all of the pokemon that could cause such a visual effect. It had to have been one low to the ground, with a body composition entirely or mostly metallic. A smirk spread across her face as she realized what was floating only a stone's throw away from her behind the corner of a building.

Her spare pokeball expanded to fit in the palm of her hand.

"Magnemite, huh."

While Meredith and the rest of the Amy Initiative prepared their rebellion against Cooper, Sabrina's job was to reunite with Khelfin Maya and Aro. On her way to the Saffron dojo, she found an egg. As there was no pokemon taking care of it, she concluded the egg no longer had parents. Sabrina decided to take the egg with her so she could hatch it. When she arrived, she spotted Maya eye to eye with a Magnemite.

Khelfin heard people approaching and immediatly put his guard up in case they would be hostile. As soon as he recognized the famimiar faces, he relaxed. It were all three of them! "About damn time!" he shouted with a clearly relieved tone.

While Maya appeared to be ready to catch herself a Magnemite, he noticed how Aro's Honedge had evolved into Doublade. "Cool. It seems Porygon isnt the only one who has evolved." he said while pointing at Porygon2. Behind it were Grimer and Duskull playing. "Oh and thats our newest member Duskull."

While still rooting for Maya to catch the Magnemite, Khelfin also noticed Sabrina carrying an egg. Sabrina also looked different somehow. Like, less confused than earlier? He told her he decoded her encrypted message. "Is it true? Are you and the people from Goldenrod Radio the masterminds behind this.. Amy Initiative?"

As he listened to Sabrina explaining their motivations and how they had to flee Goldenrod, Khelfin formed a firm fist in anger. "I guess there is no way back. You guys were all right, we have to stop Cooper and it will be up to us. Sabrina, where did Meredith and the others flee to? I hope the new hide-out is not in Unova because that is where Cooper is based, alongside two of his strongest gym leaders."

Khelfin relaxed his fist when he got distracted by something in his pocket. He took it out and noticed it was a fossil. "Oh, right, I found this when I was pretending to be a fossil hunter. Anyone want it? I don't feel like I deserve it. And to be honest, I have no idea where to ressurect it anyway, now that the Genesect HQ is off-limit."

He looked at Aro and Maya and relalized they both had a fossil pokemon already. "Sabrina, why don't you take it? You only have Dhelmise and an unhatched egg. Who knows, you might be able to ressurect it somehow."

Sabrina accepted the fossil. She didn't recognize it right away but then again, she knew little about fossils to begin with. Perhaps there was another way to revive it.

When asked about the new hideout, she lowered her voice so only her new allies could hear her. "Don't worry, they are still in Johto, just not in Goldenrod anymore. You know that lighthouse in Olivine? It was abandoned ever since the Apocalyps so we thought it would be the last place Cooper would look for us. I believe Olivine's harbor is connected to Vermillion and we're close to that. The only problem is that there are probably no boats actively sailing out anymore. Why would they?"

She pondered for a minute. "None of us really has a Lapras or anything. I guess my Dhelmise could try to get us across if we build a raft or something."

"Gyaaaaahhhhh!"

Zombie fell from the sky like a stone. His light body made no noise from the impact, almost like a stuffed animal would when dropped. In only a few seconds the archen ruffled his feathers and steadied himself, however.

As the owner of only one pokemon, Maya was used to fighting against type disadvantages. That didn't make it any less annoying though. Whereas Zombie was a twitchy wreck of feathers that relied on sheer speed, this magnemite had taken the complete opposite approach by aiming its lightning strikes with a calculated slowness that got on her nerves. He'd already scored a fair amount of hits, but all it would take were a couple more attacks from the magnemite for him to tap out.

"Catch!"

Maya lobbed a large stone at the magnemite, a technique she had come to appreciate after so many dirty fights in the wild. It reacted instantly, sending off a large jolt at the projectile. Maya's familiar smug grin returned to full strength.

"Zombie! Wing attack!"

In an instant he shot towards the sky in a flurry of color and into his target. Up until now the magnemite had only seen Zombie use leer to soften him up and rock throw to score the occasional dent in, and had no time nor way to prepare for the rocket of feathers dead set on its only eye. With a mechanical screech that rang through the city, it skidded to the floor in pain.

A shroud of light encircled it. Moments later, it was caught.

"Never been good with names... how about Taser?"

As Aro left Maya to get acquainted to her new metallic friend, Aro followed Khelfin and Sabrina into the old Dojo which was covered in dust and cobwebs. On the back wall there remained two pictures, one of a Hitmonchan and the other of a Hitmonlee.

Khelfin, who seemed to be rather closed off made a comment about how Apollo had evolved just like his Porygon. Maybe the realisation of what they were dealing with was enough for him to appreciate the value of allies.

“Yeah, he really knows his stuff in battle, Porygon looks like he’s learnt a lot too.” He looked at his companions briefly.
“I just want to say....” he paused. “...I’m glad we all made it back here safe.”

Aro sat down after letting Red and Apollo out to roam the building, He then listened as he let the others tell of their findings. He shook his head as he heard about how Cooper invaded the Goldenrod Radio Tower.

“So that’s how he got onto everyone’s radio....” he started to think, listening in still at the same time.

“We found out that Cooper is using the gym challenge to lure strong trainers in before he gets rid of them, the less strong trainers there are, the less he has to worry about contention in his “new world”. The fossil hunters work for him now, he’s still using the fossils for something - presumably for his minions. The main thing is Genesect Corp and the Fossil Hunters are compromised.” He explained.

He then listened as Khelfin and Sabrina informed them of the rebellion that was happening back in Olivine City, The Amy Initiative. Aro smiled slightly, an appropriate name for their endeavours. However as Sabrina explained, the newest problem was getting back to them all. He looked over to Red and Apollo, they both had grown so much but it clearly still wasn’t enough to be able to take down Cooper. I mean he could even travel very far as it stood.

“Myself and Maya have managed to.... acquire a motorcycle, but it won’t take all of us...” he trailed off not knowing what to say next.

Khelfin tried to think of something quickly but just like the others, he could not figure out any masterplan. When Sabrina mentioned Dhelmise pulling a raft from Vermillion, Khelfin wondered if it could work.

"Well.. Maya's Zombie could use winged moves to get the raft in the right direction while Dhelmise pulls it forward. Aro's Apollo and my Porygon2 and Duskull could help steering with their psychic abilities. If we want to minimize the weight on the raft, Red and Taser will have to stay inside their pokeballs during the trip."

Khelfin looked at Aro and Maya's reaction. He knew how some trainers felt about their pokemons being inside their pokeballs. Yet, it was their best shot to make it from Vermillion to Olivine.

"I don't think any of those ideas are bulletproof but we will just have to risk it and hope for the best. Khelfin, you might be right about using our pokemon once we get to the raft but first we have to make it to Vermillion."

When the motorcycle was mentioned, Sabrina looked at her Dive Ball.

"Dhelmise can use its powers to hover two of us at a fairly great speed. I suggest it takes Maya and myself, as the boys are slightly heavier than us. Aro and Khelfin, you can take the motorcycle there and wait for us?"

Aro nodded in agreement with both Khelfin and Sabrina. Although the ideas were somewhat convincing, none of them were sure fire and had their own risks. Sabrina suggested a travel plan for them all to get to Vermillion. Aro nodded again.

“That’s fine by me, but I get to drive this time” he laughed slightly “Maya had all the fun on the way here” he continued.

He looked around the abandoned dojo once more, before going to head out.

“Let’s get out of here, this place doesn’t sit right with me” He turned to his Pokemon “Red, Apollo, come on buddies” he said as they ran over and he put each in their respective ball.

“Stay safe ladies, see you on the other side” he said as he straddled the motorcycle seat.

Khelfin would have prefered it if he got to drive instead of Aro, but he didn't want to make a fuss about it either. So he swallowed his pride, returned all his pokemon to their pokeballs, and got on the back seat, holding on to Aro.

"I hope you drive better than I assume you do. I didn't survive the Apocalyps just to die now on a motorcycle."

With Khelfin, you couldn't always tell if he was joking or if he was being serious. His sarcastic comments had this neutral tone to it.

"Well then, my knight in shining armor. Our fierce steed is ready to gallop." he said without even smiling a little, clearly expressing his inner eyerolling.

Maya sighed. It was the same sigh that tended to punctuate her conversations with adults and explorations in libraries, the kind of noise that meant she was realizing she was useless in a situation and would have to rely on another person for help. Taser had its uses, there was no denying that, but their next journey wouldn't be needing any of them. It felt like someone was moving the goalposts every time she managed to get something done.

"I've done a lot of weird stuff with pokemon, never hovered on an anchor though," she said. It looked terrifying, which was good for battling. She wasn't so sure if that was a positive if she was going to climb on top of it, though. "We're going to be climbing it, right?"

"So obviously I haven't even started training Taser yet, but it's well-behaved enough to where it'd definitely help us against any flying types trying to eat us." Ah, the self-preservation instinct, the fundamental law of life that made even the most undertrained pokemon fight tooth and nail. It was a good thing none of her old instructors were here to see her stake her life on it.