Lappy cruised through the sea. The water at first was freezing cold, but as the carrier creature went further away from the beach, the air and water grew warmer.
"Fuchsia City was freezing cold," said Karl, still shivering. 'Too bad we left our coats at home."
"How's that happening?" asked Hadley.
Mr. Fuji then explained, "Well, I have a friend who has a darn good idea. I'll give you a hint – Team Rocket."
"What? You gotta be kidding me." Kevin didn't believe that Team Rocket would be powerful enough to mess with Kanto. "Why would they?"
"Have you ever heard of the legend of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres?" Fuji was prepared to explain the legend to the three kids.
"Yeah, my mom read that to me as a bedtime story." Karl remembered how his mother read to him a storybook about the birds. "If they got taken from the outside world, then it would mess things up and probably make the world a wasteland. Then again, it's just a legend."
"We need scientific information, not mythology." Hadley knew that legends wouldn't be much help. They needed facts, not mere myths.
---
Barbara had begun to grow worried. Where were Karl, Hadley, Kevin, and Daisy?
"Daisy? Kevin? Those kids better not go the way of Rob." She then picked up a phone and dialed the police. "Yeah, I'd like to report some kids missing..."
---
"OK, now instead of asking us questions, could you please give us answers?" questioned Kelly.
"Now I'm sure there's nothing to be frightened of," insisted one police officer with photos of Karl and Hadley in hand. The other officer took notes on what Kenny and Kelly said.
"Kenny, I was going to tell you this earlier, but Karl and Hadley left for a Pokemon journey."
"They did? They didn't tell us."
"Professor Oak told me. He was afraid to tell you."
"What do you mean? I'd listen to him."
"He's been afraid because Rob died at Vermilion City. You might worry about Karl and Hadley dying."
"Now, Mr. Caliduct, it's not unusual for runaways…"
"Our kids didn't run away! There's no reason for them to do that." Kenny realized that his children could be in danger. "All right, now please find our kids," he pleaded. "The reason I'm rather strict on them is because I'm just too overprotective."
"Now, I think we're all ready to start," said the speaking officer. "Please let us know if you hear from Karl or Hadley."
---
"Hey Paul! I reported the kids missing. Why are you leaving so soon lately?"
Professor Oak had prepared himself to travel Kanto. "I've been looking for the kids."
"Where do you think they are?"
"They're somewhere at the sea, going to Cinnabar Island. Kevin called me. Daisy's been – well - let's just say that she's in a bind again."
"A-ha! Then that's where we should look. Team Rocket's a bad bunch."
The doorbell rang. Oak answered the door. The same two police officers who went to Karl and Hadley's house earlier were present. "Did you report some missing kids?" asked one officer.
"Oh, there must be some mistake. Karl, Hadley, and Kevin aren't missing - they're going to Cinnabar Island and then home."
---
"Here we are – Seafoam Islands," Fuji announced.
The two domes looked identical. Both had an entrance to the caves below. The islands were completely barren.
"Good luck, children. You'll find Blaine at Articuno's altar."
"Wait, aren't you coming?" asked Karl.
"You're on your own here."
"Won't you need Lappy to swim you across?" asked Hadley.
"I won't need to surf through the sea. I'll cross the land bridge to Cinnabar Island."
"All right then, we'll see you later." Kevin ran into the cave entrance.
---
Upon entering one of the domes, the three felt warm air circulating.
"Strange... I thought Seafoam Island's cavern was an ice cave," said Karl in confusion. He had read about the islands and their flagship ice cavern. But everything here was completely warm. There was no ice anywhere in sight.
"Maybe Articuno got taken from the cave by Team Rocket," Kevin joked. "If that's the case, we're doomed because we need it to regulate our weather."
"Blue, that's a legend. It isn't a real Pokemon," Hadley explained. "I'm sure Team Rocket knows that."
"I was just kidding, Green."
Searching deeper into the defrosted cavern, the three discovered that the walls and floor seemed unnatural – they looked like bricks. Waterfalls that descended ever-downward were visible at the other side.
"I think we're in some ancient ruins." Karl didn't know of any ruins in Seafoam. Perhaps they were the first to discover them.
Karl could, however, know the directions that Fuji gave them.He pulled out a piece of paper.
"What are we supposed to do here anyway?" asked Hadley.
"We've got to find Blaine," explained Karl. "He's somewhere deep underground. Hey! He's at Articuno's... never mind, I've got to snap back to reality..."
"You know Red, that seems like a great place to search," Kevin told Karl. "Mr. Fuji told us he's there, so let's go follow those directions!"
---
The three found a deep pond that had a tunnel in the wall at the bottom.
"Blue, we can't swim." Karl examined the pond and saw that it was rather deep. "There's no way we can get through that."
"Well, you go find another way through and I'll swim down there." Kevin dove into the pond and resurfaced. "If you want me to stick with you, I'll have Koopa swim you through."
Koopa was called out. Hadley put a leash on the Squirtle's neck. "All right, Red, just don't let go of the leash."
"Don't worry," he said in a frightened tone.
Koopa jumped into the water and pushed his arms and legs through the water. Kevin and Koopa swam through the submerged tunnel. A minute later, they had reached a strong current pushing them into its direction, much to their surprise.
The ceiling went higher, and the swimmers resurfaced, gasping for air. They were still being pushed by the strong current, and it was possible that they would fall into a chasm.
But it turned that that they were indeed nearing a seemingly-endless chasm.
"Let's move it, guys!" Hadley let go of Koopa's leash, and grabbed a ledge, pulling herself out. Kevin did the same.
"Come on, move it, Red!" Kevin insisted.
"I'm... trying to... Aah!" Karl fell down the chasm.
---
Karl had splashed into another body of water. He struggled to swim to solid ground. Someone seemed to pull him out of the water. "Hey you two!" he yelled out. "I'm all right! But I'm in another room..." He searched through the darkness.
"Did you just fall into the deep chasm?" asked an unknown voice. It was too dark for Karl to see.
"Who said that?" Karl looked around. The dark cave prevented him from seeing anyone. A Magmar lit up the cave. Karl could see beside the fire creature a slightly balding old man in beach clothes. "Say, aren't you..."
"Yes, I'm Blaine. Nice to meet you, Red. Mr. Fuji told me all about you. We're very close friends."
"Weren't you missing for a long time? Did you save me?"
"I wasn't missing – I was just in hiding. I'm a spy trying to give Team Rocket's top secret information to Indigo Plateau."
"And you didn't want that to be revealed to the public, so you went into hiding."
Two large splashes could be heard. Kevin and Hadley ran to where Karl was.
"Hey, you two, here's Blaine."
Blaine saw Kevin and Hadley. "Oh, so Fuji told me about you, too."
"He went over our heads..." Hadley was embarrassed.
"Don't worry," assured Blaine. "This is very important to explain. Team Rocket has been messing with the climate. You've heard of the legendary birds..."
"Yeah, we have," said Kevin quickly. "We don't need you to repeat it."
"Follow me." Blaine took the three to a large, blue, empty altar.
"Whoa. That's totally amazing." Kevin's imagination came true.
"There is an altar after all." Hadley couldn't believe it."
"This is exactly what was in the book!" Karl saw columns of various Pokemon that he had heard of, but never actually saw.
"Team Rocket has recently succeeded in capturing Articuno. The plans I stole said that they intend to experiment with it, as well as Moltres and Zapdos. Their DNA would be extracted and spliced to create a new Pokemon. It would have all of the statistics of the three parents, making it very powerful."
"How's that bad?" Kevin didn't seem to think that man-made Pokemon were a bad thing.
"I haven't yet reached the worst part. They could use it to mess with natural aspects to control the world!" Blaine said dramatically.
"If we don't stop them, then we're doomed as we know it," said Hadley worriedly.
"Well, you guys should get started," said Karl. "We can't do anything about it."
"Yes, you can. You explain this to Professor Oak and we'll get started!" Blaine had to give the job to someone that Oak knew very well. Karl, Hadley, and Kevin were the best.
"We can't do that right now. We've got Daisy to save." Karl quickly remembered Daisy.
---
Psycho warped Karl, Hadley, Kevin, and Blaine out of the cave and back outside. The sun had begun to set in the horizon.
Karl pulled out his cellular phone and called Daisy. "Daisy?"
"Red, we're going to Cinnabar Island tomorrow...!" The connection was lost.
"No... Team Rocket's got Daisy, and they're off to Cinnabar. Let's go!"