Conner hung up. That couldn't be true... they definitely got Professor Oak's custom PokeBall. There absolutely was a switch in packages. The one they got was definitely Professor Oak's. What were they going to say to the boss? "That didn't work out as well as I thought."
Sandy sighed. They had just become Administrators – a very high rank in Team Rocket, and they had already messed up. "We'll have to give those up, then. But that's okay. We screwed up once, but I don't think it's a good idea for us to mess up again."
"OK, Sandy. I'll repackage this PokeBall and mail it to Professor Oak right away."
---
Team Rocket Headquarters was the grim reality of the upstairs casino, Rocket Game Corner and the Pokemon-themed amusement park PokeWorld. The establishments seemed innocent, and there was little suspicion. The HQ, however, was a whole different story. The walls were chrome and the floor consisted of metallic plates. But there was no one outside of Team Rocket who knew about this basement – the door leading downstairs was marked with an "Employees Only" sign.
The third Team Rocket Administrator, a distinguished man in his sixties called Mandroph Darkao, told a set of Team Rocket Grunts, "Now, our next move is to invade Pewter Museum and steal the fossils. Then we burn it down!" The grunts cheered. Darkao then said bluntly, "I don't care if anyone is injured or killed during this task."
One of the grunts was Conner and Sandy's daughter, aged twenty, named Rebecca Tina Drayan, known to everybody who knew her as "Becky". This young woman seemed to have her mother's looks and her father's attitude. "You're the man, so we'll do what we tell you! I'm on top of that, Mr. Dork- oh, sorry, Darkao."
"Thank you for correcting yourself, Drayan. Are we ready for tomorrow?"
"Yes, sir!" the other grunts said.
"Like I said earlier, I'm way ahead of you!" exclaimed Becky, giving the thumbs-up sign. "Count on me, old guy. I'll be seeing you tomorrow!"
---
At the bus stop on the corner of their block, Karl, Hadley, and Kevin were waiting for the bus to arrive. Karl sighed in relief. "We're out of school after this."
Hadley knew education didn't stop at summer. "After school, we're going to the museum."
Kevin was glad to have a Pokemon like his sister. "It's all equal now, since I've got Koopa now as a friend."
The orange bus had reached the block. "There's our bus," said Karl. "Let's go!"
---
A few hours later, the bell rang. Students headed out of their classrooms and out of the school. "All right! No more school for two and a half months!" Karl was definitely ready for summer vacation.
"Guess I'd better start studying," said Hadley. She wanted to preserve her knowledge so it could be used when school resumed.
"My grades are just average, nothing to worry about..." Kevin was modest when it came to academics - he just wanted to pass.
"Hey everyone, let's get going," Daisy was parked at the road, and Robert was in the passenger's seat. In the back were the three Pokemon. Karl, Hadley, and Kevin entered the convertible.
Kevin sighed. Why would Hadley want to look at skeletons of dead creatures? That didn't seem very interesting.
Karl wondered what new exhibits were available now. Discoveries were pretty interesting – but he wasn't interested at all in archeology. What he cared about was the future. Technology had advanced significantly these few centuries.
Hadley, however, wanted to be a Pokemon Researcher and work with Professor Oak. To do that, she knew that she needed significant knowledge of the many different kinds of Pokemon – both current and ancient.
---
As the car parked into the museum's parking lot and stopped, everyone exit and entered Pewter Museum through the automated doors.
"Ah, yeah, air conditioning!" Outside, it was hot, and Karl couldn't stand such heat.
Robert told his son, "Now, Kevin, if you get lost, Daisy and I will meet you here, at the entrance."
"Hang on, dad, I know where to go."
"Come on, guys, let's go see some old fossils," said Hadley.
---
Unaware to Karl, Hadley, Kevin, or anyone else, outside the museum, Darkao, along with his grunts, had reached the museum. "Here is the plan. When I give the signal, we will invade, hold hostage the staff and any guests, and steal the exhibits! Understand?"
"I'm ready when you are, Mr. Darkao!" Hey! Becky said it correctly this time!
"Good," praised Darkao. "Failure is out of the question."
---
Hadley showed Flora the fossil of a shellfish. "Look, Flora, that's a Kabutops, a mix of a land and water Pokemon. It grew from Kabuto, a sea dweller.
Kevin showed Koopa the fossil of a large snail with a spiked shell. Apparently an ancestor of Squirtle. "I guess that's Omastar, It grew from Omanyte. I bet it died because its shell grew too big and heavy for it to keep on moving any longer."
Karl showed Blowtorch the fossil of a flying creature covered in hardened amber. "Aerodactyl. What a weird looking creature. I guess I can't really say much about it, other than the fact that it looks strange."
---
"Dad, look at this," said Daisy. "I'm sure Hadley's going to beat herself up for not coming along with us." A space shuttle was put on display.
"For a little over two hundred years, we've been trying to get past Earth," reminisced Robert. "There have been reports that we succeeded in reaching the other inner planets. Could we reach the outer planets? What about beyond the Solar System..."
"Dad, that's enough," interrupted Daisy.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to rant."
Suddenly, without warning, people dressed in black crashed into the windows. "OK, everyone," said one grunt. "No one tries to escape, or we'll attack!"
"Oh, no! It can't be!" Robert was in for a surprise. "Team Rocket!"
Many scary, villain-type Pokemon, including Ekans, Raticate, and Grimer cornered the guests and staff. "Please don't hurt us! We'll obey!" the staff pleaded.
Robert had an idea. "Daisy," he whispered to his daughter, "come with me."
"Come back here!" Darkao ordered.
"We'd better tell this to the police!" They also had to get Karl, Hadley, and Kevin, but before they could escape, two metallic clamps wrapped around their bodies, causing them to fall to the ground.
"What's going on?" Daisy was too afraid to resist any longer.
"For attempting to reveal this to the authorities, we will be taking you as hostages back to our hideout!" Darkao yelled.
---
"Come on, you two, we've gotta get out of here!" Karl exclaimed.
"We can't get out through the front doors – Team Rocket's guarding them," said Hadley.
"Let's get out through a window!" suggested Kevin.
"It just might work," said Karl. "We've got no other way out!"
Karl, Hadley, and Kevin ran toward a shattered window, and jumped through.
"We're outside, but my dad and Daisy are still in there," realized Kevin. "I think Team Rocket's got them..."
"Well, let's get to the police station and tell them about this," said Hadley. "We can't let them get away!"
The museum began to smoke. "What's that smell?" asked Karl.
"They set the museum on fire!" cried out Kevin. "Are they trying to kill Dad and Daisy?"
"Help!" Daisy cried out. She was outside!
"Maybe not..." said Hadley. "Quick, let's get to the police and tell them about this."
"Once they've left the museum, of course," said the paranoid Kevin. "We can't just attract attention. They'll kill us if they see us!"
---
When the cars drove off, the coast was clear. The kids ran toward the police station to tell the police about the robbery and arson.
"Well, you see, they broke into the museum an hour ago, and kidnapped my dad and sister," Kevin explained to the police officer.
"They stole fossils," continued Hadley.
"And they burned down the museum with the staff in it!" Karl emphasized.
"Oh, no..." said the officer. "We'll investigate this right away."
As they left the station, Karl told Kevin and Hadley, "Come on, guys, we'd better follow Team Rocket."
Hadley knew that this was a very dangerous idea. "No way!"
"Now, come on, we could save my dad and Daisy," insisted Kevin. "Oh, all right. We'll stay home and wait for any news." But there was only one problem: Where was Team Rocket's hideout? Besides, they had to find out if Conner Drayan was part of Team Rocket just so that if he wasn't, then the Pokemon would be returned. If he is part of Team Rocket, on the other hand, then it certainly served them right. They don't deserve to own Pokemon.
And besides, this could be a great adventure for them – a rite of passage, actually. But they didn't really believe in this "rite of passage" idea. It was a tough sell – they didn't want the commitment of adventure so early in their lives, but they felt a call to stop Team Rocket.