Karl opened the door to his house, climbed up the stairs, and crashed to his bedroom floor, turning on the TV. He and Hadley had returned home from Robert's funeral at Viridian City Cemetery.
He changed from his formal wear back to street clothes - a red t-shirt and his hat.
"Man, I've got to treat Blue nicely from here on," he murmured to himself. "I've never seen him so unhappy before."
On the TV, a reporter said out loud, "Our top story in Kanto. Cinnabar Island's Blaine Velvogh has finally returned going missing for a year. He refused to comment on what happened during that year..."
Karl changed the channel.
"PokeWorld, your one-stop Pokemon amusement park." It was a PokeWorld advertisement.
"Kinda wished we could go this year, but with Mr. Oak's death and all, I don't think we will."
---
Daisy had driven back home; a tow-truck had earlier taken her car back from Pewter City
Kevin climbed out, up the stairs, and into his room. He dropped to his bed and sighed. He had lost a part of himself.
"Blue?" Daisy had entered his room. "Now, Blue, I understand how things are going. We've lost an essential person who took care of both of us."
"I guess we'd better learn to take care of ourselves."
Daisy gave Kevin a hug. She said in a breaking voice, "It's going to be all right. We'll bear with this."
---
On July 21, Professor Oak had gotten news. "Kids, I've found out that the Pokemon are genetically modified and were raised in a lab."
Kevin knew it! "Told ya they didn't come from the wild."
"Also, we've found that they, upon hatching, were removed from their families for experiments." Hadley had been told from Indigo Plateau that three baby Pokemon in their sanctuary had disappeared. That was a year ago.
"You know we could just take a break from this investigation and go to PokeWorld. What do you say?" Karl didn't quite understand what the investigation meant, and didn't seem to care. Blowtorch was a Charmander, simple as that.
"Well, I'll get Daisy to send you over there." Oak knew that they needed time for fun to keep their minds off of this for now.
---
"Hey, look, we're at PokeWorld!" Karl had usually gone to the park, but it just didn't feel the same as before now that he knew it was Team Rocket property. "Hope Team Rocket doesn't get us!"
Daisy was uncertain. And since they'd be surprised to see him and his friends alive, they might want to finish the job for good. Yet she didn't think it would be important for Team Rocket to get them. "You're right. We're out of the picture now, so there's really no real risk."
"I wanna ride that Gyarados roller coaster they just opened." Kevin was eager to ride what Team Rocket had in storage this year.
Hadley then requested, "Come on, guys, we've got to act casual. I'm wearing my glasses and khaki pants so that anyone with Team Rocket wouldn't recognize me. They'd only recognize me if I had a white-and-red hat, cyan shirt, and red skirt. I've effectively disguised myself."
"Clever, Green," praised Karl. "But we're just really excited, so we'll get in the park right now."
"All right, then, I'll go with Daisy."
Karl and Kevin swiftly turned in their tickets, with Karl pulling down his hat and Kevin with a paper bag over his head. They didn't want to be known to the possible Rocket. The ticket taker asked, "Are you the Rumor Guys?"
Kevin pulled off the paper bag and Karl took off his hat. "You got us," said Kevin in shame. "Say, you're not with Team Rocket, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not." It was obviously a truthful response. "But I've heard that this place is run by them. Just be careful. They wouldn't disclose the identity of the park's owner. I've never even seen the person, let alone know anything about him, or maybe her."
"We will," Karl promised. "And keep your eyes peeled – they're everywhere."
"Exactly," said the ticket guy as he handed the ticket stubs back to Karl and Kevin.
---
Karl and Kevin entered the Ragin' Gyarados queue. Kevin sighed. "This is going to be one long line."
After a few minutes of people slowly moving up, Kevin and Karl reached the stairs leading up.
"Almost. There." Karl said impatiently. His legs began to ache from waiting.
"...please stay seated. Enjoy your stay at PokeWorld." was the computer-generated voice above.
Finally, the boys did reach the car. Just this ride and they would be on. One of the operators seemed to recognize them. Could he be with Team Rocket, ready to finish them off?
The coaster, modeled like a Gyarados, climbed up the track. Karl was afraid of roller coasters, but he had always gone through them safely.
---
Hadley, looking through the roller coaster with binoculars, saw a suspicious man at the bottom. This didn't seem right at all. Then she saw that he changed the route to a dead end! "Oh, no! Somebody's trying to kill these people!"
The car moved up. Below was a large body of land. In the outskirts was a desolate wasteland. Much of Kanto had become a wasteland, threatening the existence of Pokemon who adapted to their original climate.
---
Karl and Kevin, ready for the large drop, inhaled for preparation. Karl shut his eyes, not wanting to see below. Then the car dashed down the steep road, firmly attached to the road to prevent it from falling out. The riders screamed in excitement, while Karl screamed in fear.
And he was not worried about the big drop, but rather, a dead end! "Hey! Help! Stop this ride! I wanna get off!"
Yet the car went through the wrong route, and off the ride.
"We'll get killed!" Kevin knew that Team Rocket was in on this.
---
Sabrina, who arrived undercover, saw the car gliding off. "Quick, Mr. Mime, put it back!" She quickly called out the clown-like Pokemon, who used its psychic energy to grab the car.
"Hey! What's that glow?" asked one of the passengers.
"We're not moving," said another.
"Oh, we're moving all right! We're going back!"
Finally, the car was reattached to the right route. Sabrina recalled the psychic. "Whew! That was close. But if there was any lawsuit, Team Rocket deserves to lose in court."
---
The car continued to move at full speed and down slopes until it returned to the station.
"What was going on?" asked one of the operators.
"Somebody with a psychic Pokemon must have saved the ride."
"There's something wrong with the ride," An operator said. "Someone changed the route!"
Karl and Kevin left the car as soon as they could, and ran down. Karl really was afraid of coasters now! "Let's try something safer."
---
On the Rapidash-Go-Round, Hadley and Kevin got on the ride. "It's great to be together in a nice, safe ride." Hadley heard about what happened at the roller coaster, and was relieved that Sabrina saved them in the nick of time.
Karl looked around the carousel. The sight of a few familiar people brought back memories of their adventure through Kanto. He hoped that Team Rocket had forgotten about them by now.
---
Conner and Sandy saw something unusual. "Those kids got out of the volcano," Conner said in disbelief.
"Forget about them," said Sandy, wanting to focus on the past. "I'd like for them to suffer, but they're out of the picture now. They're patsies and Professor Oak's on our hit-list now."
Darkao was prepared to abduct the professor. "We can't risk them spying on us. Project Ultima is supposed to be top secret. If the plans are revealed, we may be found out!"
---
"Red, what's wrong?" asked Daisy.
Karl had overheard Conner, Sandy, and Darkao's conversation. "We'd better get out of here now. Everybody's starting to get suspicious."
---
Flora nestled in the greenhouse of Professor Oak. This was paradise. Sunlight shined through the clear house.
Inside, Professor Oak was still trying to research the top secret plans for Project Ultima. Blaine was apparently right. The merged DNA of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres would be used to create a supercharged test-tube Pokemon.
"They might use this to further global warming, or to put climate under human control..."
Windows broke apart. An ambush was rampant. A metal clamp securely caught him. "Oh, no. They found out about the plans being leaked!"
Darkao led the grunts. "We regret to inform you that you've been leaking classified information."
"Please, we've had a very hard time since my son was killed."
"I'm sorry to hear of your son's death. Robert was a very kind father."
"You know him!"
"He was one of my victims."
Oak grew into an outrage. "You'll never get away with this!" He was shoved into a getaway van, and out of town. "OK, maybe you will get away!"
"My thoughts exactly." Darkao then declared, "Your life can be spared if you choose to help us in carrying out our plans."
Flora, Blowtorch, and Koopa were confined in indestructible cages. There was no way to muscle out. They no longer wanted any part in Team Rocket, and feared for the worst.
"It's my life or Team Rocket..." Oak couldn't believe it. "How long do I have to think it over?"