Gold and the Lucario stood watching each other for a few seconds. Gold couldn't see or hear a trainer further up the tunnel, but he knew that Lucario wasn't native to the Kanto region. The silence was eventually broken by a thumping sound coming from behind the fallen rocks; Team Rocket were trying to break through. The Lucario made a beckoning motion with its paw, indicating that it wanted Gold to follow it. Although hesitant, Gold had learned that Lucario were generally honourable Pokémon with a strong sense of justice, so he was inclined to trust this Pokémon rather than wait for Team Rocket to break through and find him. Gold nodded at the Lucario, who turned and began walking further into the tunnel, with Gold and Typhlosion following. Soon, the sound of digging faded into the distance, as the trio walked deep into the maze of passages, Lucario confidently leading them down each tunnel. Gold also noticed that the wild Pokémon were leaving them all well alone; he saw them watching from the shadows at the edge of Typhlosion's light. As they walked, Gold thought back on what had happened. Giovanni had said he didn't know how Gold had found their base in Cerulean Cave, meaning that he hadn't sent Gold the note to lure him in; in that case, who HAD sent it? Another thing which bugged him was who the little old scientist was; he knew he recognised the name Charon, but he couldn't quite put his finger on where he had heard the name before… And then there was this Lucario, who had at first tried to attack him and was now apparently helping him. As he was pondering this last point, something occurred to him – Lucario had attacked with Aura Sphere, and the move always hit its mark, meaning Lucario had intended to collapse the tunnel.

"Back there, you tried to save us by collapsing the tunnel, didn't you?" Gold asked the Lucario, who turned and nodded slightly, still continuing forward.

"Thank you," he continued, before asking, "Are you here with your trainer?"

Gold wondered why Lucario's trainer, assuming it wasn't wild, wasn't showing themself; however, his question was met with silence, and Lucario just kept on walking as it had been.

"Where are you taking us?" Gold tried again, but was met with the same silence.

Gold had lost track of how long they had been walking, but at length he saw a light ahead of them, accompanied by a cool breeze which blew away the dank air of the tunnels. Exiting the tunnel, Gold looked out and saw a sloping forest, leading away to a brightly lit city far below. The large, sky-blue building at its centre allowed Gold to identify the settlement as Cerulean City. Noticing the Nugget Bridge a little closer to him, Gold realised that he was on the hills overlooking Cerulean Cape. Recalling Typhlosion, he turned to the Lucario, who also seemed to be admiring the view.

"Thank you for getting us out of there," he said.

The Aura Pokémon looked back at Gold, and seemed to smile at him, before dashing off into the forest at speed without warning. Gold was about to call after it, when he heard footsteps approaching from within the forest, in the opposite direction from which Lucario had departed. Fearing that it might be a Team Rocket patrol, he retreated a few steps back into the cave mouth. However, to his surprise, the man who stepped out from between the trees was clad in a smart blue suit and tie with green trousers. He stopped a few metres from the cave entrance, looking around as though he was waiting for someone. Gold stepped out into the moonlight.

"Bill?" he said, addressing the man.

Bill jumped, turned to face Gold, and instantly turned pale.

"R-r-rocket!?" he stammered.

Gold then realised that he was still wearing the stolen Team Rocket uniform, so he quickly took off the cap and stepped closer to the scared researcher.

"No, Bill, it's me!" Gold said, "It's Gold, from New Bark Town."

At first Bill seemed unable to comprehend, but gradually he calmed down, his expression going from fearful to confused.

"Gold? What're ya doin' all the way out here? And in a darn Rocket uniform, too!" Bill questioned, almost shouting.

"Ssssh, keep your voice down!" Gold whispered, "The Rockets are probably still trying to find me, we need to get out of here."

Bill nodded, having regained his composure.

"Follow me," he said, leading Gold back down the hillside, in the direction of Sea Cottage.

"So what brings ya all the way out here?" Bill continued, "When I got the note just now, never expected it'd be from you."

"Note?" Gold asked, confused, "I didn't send you a note."

"You didn't?" Bill said, now looking just as perplexed as Gold, "Then, who in tarnation sent this?"

So saying, Bill drew a small piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Gold, who recognised both the beige stationery and the silver handwriting. The note read:

Bill,

A friend wishes to meet with you. Please come immediately to the cave above Cerulean Cape, as this is a matter of the utmost importance.

"I don't know who sent this," Gold said, returning the note to Bill, "But whoever it was, they also sent me a note telling me to go to Cerulean Cave."

"This is a mighty curious affair," said Bill, stroking his chin as they walked, "I think ya better fill me in on what's been goin' on, especially with that Rocket uniform you're still wearin'."

Gold explained everything that had happened, giving a brief overview of his last few days in Sinnoh, the attacks by the mysterious Pokémon, his arrival in Cinnabar, the mysterious note he received at home, and his discovery of Team Rocket's hideout in Cerulean Cave. Bill looked more and more puzzled as Gold's narrative went on.

"This all sounds real serious," Bill said once Gold's story had concluded, and Sea Cottage was in sight, "Although, I'm thinking maybe we can start sheddin' a little light on the situation."

"You can?" Gold asked.

Bill smiled.

"You arrived just in time," he said, "We've just managed to crack the encryption on those files the International Police sent us."

The last time Gold had visited Sea Cottage, Bill's grandfather had been housesitting for the Pokémon researcher while he was working in Goldenrod City. In the years since his return, the number of machines and books in the cottage seemed to have increased exponentially, as not a patch of wall was visible in the house's main room behind all of the bookshelves, monitors and complex devices, giving an air of chaos. However, when Bill and Gold first stepped into the room, the first thing that Gold noticed was that, in spite of the disorder in the room, there was still a pleasant aroma floating around. Amongst the scattered books on the tables, and on the window sills, sat vases of colourful flowers.

"Welcome back, honey," came a woman's voice from across the room.

A young woman in a yellow floral pattern dress came towards Bill and Gold, carrying a tray with a teapot and four tea cups. As the two accepted a cup of tea each, Gold looked at the vaguely familiar woman, knowing he had seen her before but being unable to place her. When she noticed this attention from the young man, the woman smiled.

"You're Gold, aren't you?" she asked, "I'm Hannah, Bill's wife. You and I met in Goldenrod City a few years ago, I believe."

"Ah, of course," Gold said, remembering at last, "You're the one from the flower shop who gave me the SquirtBottle. Nice to meet you again."

Gold's attention then turned to the other person in the room, a brown-haired man wearing a blue-chequered shirt and glasses, who Gold didn't recognise. The man accepted the tea politely from Hannah, then returned to work without even looking up at Bill and Gold. Bill laughed.

"That's Celio for ya, always hard at work," he said.

"I think that after this, we'll all have earned a long break," came a voice from one of the screens on the far wall.

As Gold looked up to where the voice had come from, he realised that one of the big screens in the room was being used for a video conference call. The screen was split into four panels, three showing a video image of a woman's face, and the fourth showing the feed from Bill's house. Gold recognised all three women on the screen from his travels around Hoenn and Sinnoh – the red-haired sisters were Lanette and Brigette from Hoenn, and the blonde woman was Bebe from Sinnoh, all of whom were renowned computer technicians.

"And with this, we are done!" said Celio triumphantly, hitting a button on the computer keyboard before standing up and stretching his arms above his head.

The large computer screen beside the one displaying the conference call suddenly burst into life, displaying computer folders full of files. Bill smiled before turning to Gold.

"See? Told ya we cracked it!" he said, "Now to send this to the professors and see what clues we can find."

While Celio got to work e-mailing the files to the professors of the regions affected by the mysterious Pokémon, Bill opened up his own laptop and started looking around the files himself, Gold watching over his shoulder. Bill started by opening the first file in the folder. When he saw the title of the document, Gold's blood froze. Project Mewthree, it read.