A Team Magma Grunt searched the storage room for Duncan and Crystal. He told a superior, "Sir, they've been sprung!"
"What?" shouted the Admin. "It must be that kid again. He just managed to slip away." He then notified his boss via cell phone. "Sir, we've got a problem. Those two kids managed to escape."
"Track them down," ordered Maxie. "They may be headed for Lilycove."
"Yes, sir."
---
The next morning, a researcher searched the database. "Oh, no!" he shouted. "The database has been erased – our entire experiment, gone."
"That can't be!" exclaimed Leosty. "That's 20 terabytes of information and equations. Restore the data from the backups immediately!"
"Yes sir." The researcher then proceeded through the data restoration process, up to the exact time of the system crash. But some of the backup discs – specifically, the changing of the weather – had been stolen. "The intruders stole our weather change experiment."
---
"This is a Wynaut," said Winona. "The pre-evolution of Wobbuffet."
"Let's think of a name for it…" After a minute of decision, he decided, "Wyner, after actor George Wyner from Spaceballs."
Somebody knocked on the door. "Who could that be?" asked Winona.
Jasmine opened the door. "Hello?"
"Say, are there any Caliducts in there?" asked the shady man.
"Uh… no, can't say there are." She quickly shut the door. "There's some strange man asking for Gold and Crystal."
"Team Magma?" asked Winona.
"I don't know, but in any case, should we tell him?"
The doorbell rang. "Let me handle it." Winona opened the door again.
"You look like one of those guys who broke into the Weather Institute. In that case-"
"Skip the story and bring Duncan and Crystal Caliduct to me."
"Well, if you know too much, then forget it." The man then tried to force his way in. "Remember, I'm tough, so don't try to pick a fight with me!"
Crystal, who was in another room, was eavesdropping. "Team Magma's here! Let's split!"
Kamon opened a window, and climbed out. It was quite a drop, however, since all of the houses in Fortree were tree houses.
"Hey, Silver, there's a rope ladder here," said Duncan as he gestured to the ladder. He then let it drop to the ground and climbed down it. "Hurry, Crystal!"
Crystal was unsure what to do. She locked the door. The only hope of escaping was to climb out the window. Suddenly, the doorknob began to rattle. She quickly stepped out of the window and slid down the ladder.
Kamon climbed stealthily up to close the window, then climbed down and tossed the rope back onto the outcropping.
Back inside, the man opened the door to find… nothing. "I heard activity in here."
"Maybe you're just nuts," insulted Jasmine.
Kamon, Duncan, and Crystal then dashed out of Fortree.
"Where are we going to go from here?" asked Duncan.
"We need to get as far away from Team Magma as we can," explained Kamon.
"But we did the same for Team Rocket, and they still found us," recapped Crystal. "But then again, they're not specifically looking for us this time."
The next town was Lilycove. Maybe there, they could get a ferry to Sootopolis. That was where Lewis Pantor taught. Maybe Pantor knew Kamon. After all, he did witness the professor's murder.
Kamon briefly considered telling Duncan and Crystal about the cleared memory, but decided not to. This wasn't a good time to do that.
---
"Pantor was identified. The police will start making connections," the man told Olivia.
"I'll find some low life to point the finger at."
---
Croc carried Duncan, Crystal, and Kamon to the center of the lake, through the strong currents. "Yow!" shouted Duncan. "There's some fierce fish in the water!"
"I think those are the Carvanha we were warned about," said Crystal. "We've gotten into their habitat!"
"Move it, Croc!" shouted Kamon. The Feraligatr swam faster, but a Carvanha chomped on his leg. Croc shrieked in pain, and wrestled with the fish. The three passengers were tossed aside and crash-landed to the center island.
Kamon saw Croc in the distance and quickly recalled him. "Where are we?" he asked.
They looked up, and saw a large mountain looming over them. "I think that's Mt. Pyre," Crystal said sadly. "Hoenn's Pokémon cemetery."
"Think Team Magma's still here?" asked Kamon.
---
Brendan, May and Wally, who were all handcuffed, were led through the Aqua Hideout just outside of Lilycove.
"Archie can't be all that bad." Brendan tried to think positive. "We shouldn't worry."
"Oh, no, he's bad," tortured Shelly. "You'll all be sorry you tried to mess with us."
The three were led into a room. A window showing Carvanha and Sharpedo swimming on the other side was on the other end.
"Hello, kids," greeted the man. "My name is Archie. I'm the leader of Team Aqua. I founded it on the basis that there would be more clean drinkable water, and to save the habitats of water creatures."
"Does that have anything to do with the shortage of water? The forest fires and dying out of water environments?" badgered Brendan. "What about the-"
"Yes! Exactly," interrupted Archie. "You name it, we want to fix all the water-related problems."
"How exactly will you do that?" demanded Wally.
"All in due time, son," assured Archie. "All in due time…"
The positive thoughts actually worked. Archie seemed gentle… for now, at least.
"Where did Mr. Briney go?" asked Brendan.
"Don't worry about him," assured Archie. "We'll take you to see him if you'd like."
---
Duncan, Crystal, and Kamon climbed the mountain. Night had fallen during that time. Nothing grew in the ground. The graves appeared to be disturbed. The headstones had been defaced and the graves had been stomped on.
"Let's get away from here, now. I see some ectoplasmic beings around here," warned Kamon.
"You can't see ghosts," said Duncan. "There's no such thing."
"But I can see them. Can you, Axel?" He called out the Persian.
Axel could also see the spirits of Pokémon. But these weren't the kinds he was used to seeing. He tried to attack one, but went right through.
The ghost Pokémon revealed itself to Duncan and Crystal, after they discovered Kamon and Axel's enhanced vision.
"Ghost Pokémon are unaffected by Normal-type moves," explained Duncan. He checked the Pokédex to discover that the one Axel attacked was a Duskull. "Once it selects a target, it will doggedly pursue the victim until dawn! No! We're in pursuit now!"
Everybody ran to higher ground. "Let's hide in a cave!" exclaimed Crystal.
"Won't work," said Duncan. "It'll just go through the wall."
"I'll hold it off," announced Kamon. "Let's get moving, Sudowoodo!" He called out the fake tree Pokémon that had once been a natural roadblock to Ecruteak City. "Rock Throw!"
Sudowoodo throw rocks at Duskull. The ghost flinched slightly, but it wasn't very effective.
"Ghost Pokémon are weak against Dark-type moves!" shouted Duncan from the cave.
"Sudowoodo doesn't know any such moves!" A pin appeared and dug into Duskull, and a mini-ghost appeared, entering Sudowoodo's body. "You've been cursed!"
The curse slowly sapped the fake tree's energy until it passed out. "Come back! Let's fight him, Axel!"
The Persian then quickly calculated each of the moves he knew. One of them was a Dark-type move – Faint Attack! Axel readied up to attack as Duskull fired a ray of confusion at him. Axel sucker-punched the ghost, just narrowly dodging the ray.
It did a considerable amount of damage.
"Let's all climb up!" Kamon ordered Duncan and Crystal. "I'm close to beating Duskull."
The three proceeded to continue climbing up.
Axel did the honors by attempting one last sucker-punch at Duskull. The ghost then faded into the night.
Finally, they reached the top. "What's that strange light over there?" asked Crystal.
Kamon felt drawn to the strange, pulsating energy, following the light. When he reached a podium, he saw two orbs on pedestals.
"Here are the two orbs," said one man.
"I'll summon-" said another, but an electric shock in Kamon's brain distorted everything after that.
He suddenly blacked out.
---
In a dark alley in Rustboro City, Olivia searched the place for a low-life junkie, with cash in hand. Eventually, she found one. "Wanna make some quick money? There's no catch."
"Well, all right," said the junkie, who entered the car. Olivia drove off into the forest, and injected poison into him, killing the junkie in a matter of seconds.
---
Kamon awakened the next morning. "Wha- what happened?"
"Two guys went into the light with you, and made off with two orbs," explained Duncan. "Too bad we didn't get a closer look."
"You won't believe this – your car's here." Crystal showed Kamon the car nearby.
"Whoever stole it didn't think I would come here," said Kamon. "Maybe there's somebody out there who knows all about me, like why I can do amazing stunts."
"Could we be watched?" hypothesized Crystal. "Maybe by Team Magma?"
"Maybe those guys who grabbed those two orbs last night," decided Kamon. "But I blacked out suddenly, so I don't know for sure. Let's go to Lilycove."