As Duncan and Crystal entered through the town gates, a group of shady people stopped them. A redhead woman, whose name was (unknown to Duncan and Crystal) Sandy, ordered the two trainers, "Stay where you are, kids, or we'll attack." Sandy then took a better look at them. Crystal gulped. "You're the ones involved in stopping the Slowpoke heist."

Crystal nodded, scared. Spike was scared too. Duncan was confused. Had those Rockets told someone around here of what happened a few days ago?

"Well, understand this: we don't need 'hero' trainers around here. Do I make myself clear?" The trainers didn't respond. Sandy then enunciated, "Do I make myself clear?"
"We understand," said Duncan. Somehow, he had a weird feeling Karl and Hadley met this person before.

"Good. Just remember to obey the rules of this town. The first rule: don't be a hero! Leave everything to our guards!"

"Ok, fine," said Duncan. What was wrong with this place? This had changed ever since they visited Lake of Rage a few months ago. The town was peaceful and bustling. Now, there were barely any people around. Shops were closed up, and the open places were run-down. Crystal looked around in worry. "Well, Kris, I guess we'd better go over to that hotel over there." He pointed to a sign called, "The Red Gyarados Inn". It had a picture of a red Gyarados.

"Well, okay," agreed Crystal reluctantly. "Might as well."

---

"Kamon Stelldox?"

"Yeah, that's me," answered Kamon, still half-asleep.

"Come with me," said Sandy. As they left the cell and entered the hallway, Kamon was worried. What was he here for? Why did he get taken away from his friends? He tried to hide his worry. Sandy didn't seem to pay any attention, as she inserted a security card into an automated door. The card reader flashed with green, digital letters, "Access Granted."

We've got a guest!" exclaimed Sandy. Kamon was confused. He had no part in the Slowpoke scheme (compliments to Duncan and Crystal), nor did he have any connection to the National Park scheme.

"Great job, Sandy!" exclaimed a man who appeared to be slightly older than Kamon's uncle – probably around forty-five years old. He was clean-shaven, and professional looking in his clothing. Kamon felt slightly uncomfortable. "Kamon, we know how you feel, and we know your dad!"

Kamon was surprised. "What? No way, it's not possible." These are Dad's friends?

"It's true, Kamon! We'll talk to you about everything," said Sandy. Kamon thought, so these are my dad's friends...

---

Of all the seedy places in the world, Duncan had to walk in this one! A hush comes over at the bar, as people eyed him and Crystal sullenly. The bartender remarked, "Will you look what crawled in here? That girl's had her head into the grass so long, her hair's gone green!" The crowd laughed hysterically. Duncan chuckled a bit, but Crystal said nothing. One day, I've got to wash off the hair dye, she thought.

An old man in a wheelchair retorted to the bartender, "Now, Bernie, let's not give these kids the wrong opinion about the hospitality of Mahogany Town.

Oh, I've got a pretty good idea, thought Duncan.

"Okay, I won't make any more fun of them, Pryce." Duncan and Crystal were surprised. That's Pryce!

"Now, kids, come on over here, sit down, and let's have a little chat, hmm?"

The two trainers looked at each other in bedazzlements, and then trotted over to the table Pryce was sitting at.

"You kids look like trainers with a mission. I like that."

"Yeah," agreed Duncan. "Our friend's been kidnapped by Team Rocket, and we're trying to find someone to help us."

"But remember, there's depths to the changes of the city," warned Pryce. "Don't change things too quickly. But I'm rambling on... anyway, how about a drink in honor of our new relationship?"

Duncan didn't drink, but he didn't want to be rude. "It sounds good. What's available?"

"There's Tohjoan Coffee, and Gyarados Sling."

"I'll have coffee," said Crystal cautiously.

"I'll have the Sling," said Duncan bravely.

Crystal drank the bitter, thick liquid. It had an odd, almost chemical taste. Crystal gagged in disgust. But it wasn't the worst coffee she drank. Spike wouldn't like it either. Duncan, however, decided not to drink the Sling. It might make him feel like he had been thrown off the back of a Gyarados. And it may taste even worse than the coffee.

"Since you're here, why don't you head off to the Lake of Rage?" inquired Pryce. "We will reserve a room for you two, but remember to return here by dark, as it is illegal to travel after dark. This evening, we will talk more with the governor of Kanto."

"Sounds good, Pryce," said Crystal, forgetting that Kamon was probably in danger. "Maybe we can catch the daily Magikarp." She remembered how she saw the lake overflowing with thousands of them. But they needed to get Kamon. Is Team Rocket's hideout somewhere around there? Are they holding him there? These questions burned in Duncan's mind.

---

Kamon was surprised. "WHAT? That's not possible!" His dad, Giovanni, was the leader of Team Rocket! Why did Kamon wander so far from home?

Conner agreed, "That's right, Kamon. Your dad's off training, but he'll return one day."

"And resume power," added Sandy. Kamon was too shocked to utter a word. "I'll take you to your room and you can settle for a while."

Oh man, what a week. This has been a most unusual week.

In the room, Kamon found Axel on the bed, just like at home. Kamon then grew worried. Uncle Norman must be worried sick! He then headed up on the bed, and sighed. He reached into his bag and pulled out his Nintendo DS, inserted Mario Kart DS, and played away. He always wanted to unlock the Mirror Mode.

Duncan and Crystal traveled through the desolate city. Many of the routes were boarded up, with signs such as: "This Street closed by order of Conner Drayan!"

"But why would they close it down for no reason?" asked Crystal.

"Maybe they're just greedy." That name sounded familiar though. As they entered the gate to the Lake of Rage, they were stopped by two shady men.

"Hold it there, kids!"

"Whoa, you startled us," said Duncan.

"The toll is $50 to go through," said one man.

"Hmm. Guess not, then," said Crystal. They exit the building. "Gold, I got a weird feeling about this."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Crystal then whispered to Duncan, "How do we know those guys aren't with Team Rocket? They charged us $50 for admission. I thought it was free."

"Ah. So something strange is going on there!"

"So, should we fork over the money?"

"Sure. That way, no one will get suspicious of us in there." They entered the building. "Sure, guys. Here you go." He handed one of the men a $50 bill.

"Thank you very much!" exclaimed the man.

As they entered the Lake of Rage, they saw not what they expected. Instead of the Magikarp overflow, there was a Gyarados overflow! The atrocious Pokémon were long, blue, legless creatures with giant mouths. "Wait! Look over there, Gold!"

"What is it?"

"There!" She pointed towards one of the Gyarados'. It was red instead of blue. "That's strange. It's... red." A giant ray of thunder flew towards the red Gyarados, shocking and paralyzing it. Then, a black PokéBall with yellow stripes flew towards it. "Wow! Someone caught that Gyarados!"

Duncan found a small red scale on the ground, presumably from the Gyarados. He picked it up.

"This lake is filled with Gyarados'. I don't see a single Magikarp at all," said the trainer who caught it. That man looked familiar... it was the former Elite Four Leader, Lance Envimorph! But now he was the governor of Kanto. What was he doing here in Johto?

"Hey, Lance!" shouted Crystal. Spike cheered for excitement. Though he had never seen Lance before, he heard Crystal tell him all about that dragon master.

It's Duncan and Crystal Caliduct! Your relatives told me all about you," said Lance. He then whispered to them, "I'm here to help you save your friend."

"How?" asked Crystal.

"I had just gotten info that Team Rocket set up a secret hideout here. If we find it, we can enter it, and stop their plan!"

"But Lance, I don't think that's a good idea," said Duncan. "They've probably got better security than last time, and they may be more powerful!"

"Then that's a risk we'll have to take!" exclaimed Lance. "Now let's head back to the Inn!"

---

"As I told you before, Team Rocket is somewhere in Lake of Rage," Lance told Duncan and Crystal.

"We know," said Duncan.

Pryce then told them, "Those fish are being forced to evolve, presumably from radio signals being broadcast around the town."

"All right, it causes interference with other electronics," said Duncan. "This would mean that people would be unable to use satellite TV."

"Right," said Lance.

---

That evening, Duncan turned on the radio. But the sound that came out was scratchy and fuzzy. Crystal tried to turn on the TV, but it was mostly static. The pictures and sounds were woozy and distorted. "You mean this inn uses satellite instead of cable?" she said incredulously. She changed the channels, but they too were having the same problems.

"That's right! Any wireless communication is being interfered with by those radio signals! That includes satellites, Wi-Fi, and cellphones!"

"So here, we'll have to make do with wired electronics."

"That's right, Crystal."