The sunlight was breaking through the gaps in the leaves of the trees hanging over the path Zak was walking along, forming a relieving shade for travelers weary from the sun.

Zak wiped his forehead; the heat had been pounding down on him since his arrival in this new country, causing him to sweat as if he were back working on the land at home. He stopped walking for a moment, checking the back of his belt where a clear, plastic bottle of water was clipped securely to his waist. Taking it in his hands, he unscrewed the cap and took a swig of the nourishing liquid, then tipped a generous amount from the bottle over his face to cool himself down.

Running his fingers through his hair to catch any escaped water, he hooked the bottle securely back on his belt and continued to make his way towards his destination of Ecruteak.

As he walked, he evaluated his Pokemon in his mind. His second was a Fearow, which he had caught as a Spearow, and had later given it the opportunity to evolve through training. Though not as strong as his Nidoqueen, it was still a formidable opponent to a serious Pokemon trainer, though it was doubtful Zak would win a major prize or trophy with it. He smiled, recalling how it had attempted to feast on the seeds just recently planted in the field behind Zak's house. His mother had insisted he try and chase it away, but it was fiercely resistant, and attempted to fight back at him. Instead of chasing it away, Zak had caught it, making the small bird his first ever Pokemon, which he lovingly named 'Pick', causing his mother to laugh at his choice. Though the Spearow took a while to come to terms with it's new master, Zak was eventually accepted.

The trainer came to the corner of the path which was signaled by a road-sign. He read over it, and was then relieved to see the words: 'Ecruteak City'. Turning to face the new direction the track had revealed, Zak saw a kind of arched building just beyond the edge of the path, behind a few short trees lining the entrance of the city. Happy that he had finally made it, he picked up the pace and headed towards the concealed archway, where he would be able to finally discover the truth about his father's location.

Making his way through the small hut which connected the path to the town, the young trainer stared around the place in awe, taking in the sights and sounds. It seemed quite primitive, not at all like the bustling port of Olivine, where he had just been. The bricks of buildings were worn and chipped, and the entire area was surrounded by dense forest. There were two other entrances, apart from the one he had come through - one being to the south, the other to the east. All three gateways looked identical, and the only way to tell which was which was by checking the direction of the other houses. To his left were the charred remains of a large building - why it hadn't been repaired yet he didn't know. There was a large tower just to the north, further shrouded in trees.

Remembering what he had come here for, Zak began to search his pockets, then pulled out a small, dark blue wallet which fitted snugly in his palm. Inside was a scrap of paper, on which his mother had scribbled the address of his father's old friend and business associate. She had told Zak to ask the man, who lived in Ecruteak, just where his father was. He would surely know the answers.

Walking through the small city, vaguely tracing the address on the paper with his eyes, Zak made his way to a small house on the eastern edge of town. Nervously, he knocked on the door, waiting for a response. After a while the handle slowly turned, revealing the room that lay inside, inch by inch. A man, in his late forties by the looks of things, stared down at the youth with eyes that showed no sign of expression.

"Yes?" he asked gruffly.

"Um..." Zak stammered before answering. "Are you Mr. Lunata?" There was an uncomfortable pause filled with silence. Hesitantly, Zak continued. "I'm Geol Vangard's son, I..." the man's eyes widened, then he raised a hand to silence him.

"Come, come." he whispered, looking around outside before allowing a slightly confused Zak to enter his house.

The room was dimly lit, and Zak couldn't see well at all. At the centre of the back wall was a large candle, held in place by a decorative statue portraying what looked like a samurai warrior, about four feet high. On either side of the ornament was a single, smaller candle, each one standing in a small saucer of water on the same large cabinet, which stretched from wall to wall. The man made his way to a padded armchair a few feet away from the left candle and sat himself down, motioning to it's empty twin opposite. Zak obeyed and took a seat, slightly hesitant to make himself too comfortable.

"Now tell me..." the man began, taking a pipe from the side of the table and examining it. "What is your name, young one?"

"Zak." the visitor replied. Mr. Lunata seemed amused by this.

"Ah..." he mumbled to himself, lighting the instrument in his hands and putting it to his mouth. "And... What seems to be the matter? It must be something urgent for you to come all this way..." Zak nodded his response.

"Yes, it is." he answered. "My father... He left home seven months ago, and we haven't seen or heard from him since."

"Your father always was an explorer at heart, boy." the man chuckled, puffing out smoke from his pipe.

"But he's never been away this long before!" Zak explained, his voice rising. "My mother was worried, and..."

"And?" Lunata interrupted rather abruptly.

"And..." Zak murmured, lowering his gaze to the wooden floorboards below his feet. "And two weeks ago... A Pokemon trainer of about my age attacked the village we live in, demanding to know where my father was..." the man stopped, then put the pipe down and stood up suddenly, looking worried.

"I see..." he said, walking over to the statue at the back of the room. "Then you have reason to fear..." Zak got to his feet, clenching his fist in a puzzled state of anger.

"What do you mean?" he inquired, watching the man closely. The man was silent, then turned back to face the boy.

"I will help you..." he told him, idly watching the table in the centre of the room. "But you must help yourself as well..." he stopped, then looked to Zak. "You have Pokemon, correct?"

"Uh, yes, some."

"Good," the man walked towards the door as he spoke. "you will need them." he hesitated before continuing. "Did you see the ruins on your way here?" Zak leaned against the wall.

"You mean the burnt out building just outside? Yeah." he confirmed.

"That was one of the two towers built in Ecruteak long ago... You must go there. On the bottom floor you will find something. Something you'll need."

"Uh, isn't that trespassing?" Zak wondered out loud. The man turned to face him again.

"That will be the least of your worries!" he exclaimed. "There is an old safe inside, which belonged to your father." the man opened his fist to reveal a small grey key. Rust had eaten away at it over the years, and it seemed to be incredibly old. "Take it. Once you have found it's contents, return here, and I will tell you everything I know." Zak did as he was told, taking the item into his own hand, before admiring it curiously, then pocketing it.

Zak wasted no time in making his way to Ecruteak's burnt out ruins located just on the edge of town. He stared at the key in his hand as he went, puzzled by Mr. Lunata's strange manner and composure. If truth were to be told, Zak wanted to simply hear a logical explanation for his father's disappearance and return to his home and continue his relaxed and slow-paced lifestyle there. Maybe his father had simply had to take an extended trip with the company, or it could be possible that he had been called over to Silph headquarters in Kanto as a matter of urgency. However, Zak had a horrible gut feeling that neither of those scenarios were likely to be true. What was Mr. Lunata hiding, exactly? Eventually, Zak arrived at the entrance to the dilapidated structure.

Stepping inside the large, ravaged doors positioned at the front of the ruins, Zak made his way over large debris and boulders to get inside, eventually making his way through. It was eerily quiet, the only illumination coming from small cracks and holes in the roof, from where the structure had originally been destroyed. Examining his surroundings as best he could in such dim lighting, Zak attempted to travel further through the building, trying to find a set of stairs that could take him to the basement, without much luck.

"Dammit, I should've brought a match..." he whispered to himself, fumbling in his pockets for anything that could help him search the area more easily. Finding nothing, he decided that his best option would be to creep further in slowly, as cautiously as he could. Before he could begin though, a noise made itself apparent to his ears. Widening his eyes in a vain attempt to check where the sound was coming from he looked around, unsure what to do. It seemed to sound like footsteps and the gentle crackling of fire, but it was still unclear where the noise was coming from.

Zak stood still for a moment, waiting, calculating the potential actions he could take in his head, when the origin of the noise made itself visible. Just around the dark corner was the intense glow of fire, approaching more and more steadily. Eventually the source was revealed to be a Magmar; a short Pokemon of the fire variety, standing at just above four feet tall, this particular creature was of a humanoid shape, with burly shoulders and 'hair' which seemed to rise up into flames. It had short, bulky legs and a thick tail ending in a spark of fire which seemed to flow continuously. It turned towards the trainer and stared, before walking off in the opposite direction again.

"Uh..." Zak murmured, suddenly realising something. If he could catch that Magmar, he'd be able to explore the ruins fully and not need to worry about any kind of lighting. "Tauros, go!" he cried, throwing one of his Pokeballs towards the glowing target, causing a brief flash of light to erupt in the room before revealing a large bull, horns rising several inches from either side of it's head, snorting intimidatingly and brushing it's front right hoof on the rickety floorboards, readying itself for the upcoming battle.

Tauros - Zak's third and final Pokemon, was often used back at home to help control the shape and properties of the farmland, which meant it was often used, though not for battling. As a result of this, Tauros was probably the weakest of all of his Pokemon. It could still hold it's own in a fight, but Zak would have to wait and see how it would fare against a Pokemon from Johto.

The wild Magmar stared at it's tamed opponent, eying it watchfully, not moving at all. Zak pointed to it and called for his Tauros to begin it's attack, who loyally obeyed, whipping it's three tails madly then dashing straight for the pyrotechnic Pokemon standing before it, who narrowly rolled to the side, just managing to evade the charge.

Undaunted, Zak's Tauros charged again, this time colliding with the wall, embedding it's horns in the wood. Snorting angrily, the bull ripped itself out and turned once again to the Magmar, who had already begun to counter. Whipping it's tail around quickly the creature created a small vortex of fire which landed at the Tauros's feet, shooting into it's fur and scattering onto it's hooves. It then proceeded to jump over the bull and began to flee in the opposite direction.

"Ah, dammit!" Zak shouted, chasing after the Pokemon, his Tauros just behind. The Magmar noticed them giving chase and raised it's beak, spraying smoke around the room as it continued to run, creating a huge gaseous curtain of darkness around them all. Zak covered his eyes, squinting into the black smoke, trying to find the illumination of the Magmar's tail but the smell was simply too overpowering. He fell to his knees, struggling to keep himself conscious - the small space of the area and the fumes that had just been emitted were a powerful combination, and one he didn't want his Pokemon suffering from. Quickly he turned back to Tauros and held the Pokeball to it, making sure the central release switch was positioned directly at the animal. The centre began to glow white, emitting a small red beam and switching the image of the bull into a red silhouette which immediately returned to the palm-sized device.

Zak turned back to the source of the smoke, which was slowly beginning to disperse, when he again saw the glow of what he presumed to be the Magmar's tail.

"Haha, gotcha!" he cried, launching himself blindly towards the light and landing with a thump on the ancient floorboards at the feet of the Pokemon he was so intent on catching. He barely had time to look up when it turned to run again, but this time something stopped it. Zak looked down, the creaking of the wood below him now all too apparent. Suddenly a cracking sound was heard and the two beings watched as the floor they were on top of began to split, then toppled earthwards, sending the pair of them plummeting onto the floor of the basement.