An aggravated Gold continues to chase after Silver in Prof. Elm's science lab, and presses him to return his bagpack. Silver, however, ignores Gold's words, and hops onto the second floor of the building with his Sneasel after swiftly evading a scratch attack from Gold's Aipom, Aitro. The red-haired boy then throws himself off the balcony window, and starts making his way through the woods by swinging himself between tree branches.

Gold immediately runs out of the lab with Typhlo to give chase. Though unfamiliar with the attacks of the little fire mouse Pokémon, he remembers the way it charges up flames on its back, and quickly orders it to unleash one of its fire attacks to stop Silver. Typhlo tilts itself forward and a swirl of flames shoots out from its back. The fire strikes the tree branch Silver is holding, and the red-haired boy quickly hops down with Sneasel, painfully peeling off his burning glove. Silver prepares to fight, but before he could command Sneasel to attack, Gold points his billiard cue to his throat, and has Typhlo create a ring of fire to surround them.

Gold grins that the best way to deal with acrobats like Silver is to use fire, and Silver secretly reaches for his Pokédex. Gold notices the compact machine, and warns Silver not to play any tricks. He again demands Silver to return his backpack, and Totodile to Typhlo, but little does he realize that a shadow is looming behind him. A bolt of electricity suddenly courses through Gold and knocks the boy unconscious. Silver gasps in surprise as three men in dark attires come into view with an Elekid.

Silver wonders who they are, and the man with black hair, named Ken, smirks that they are the Elite Trio of Team Rocket, an evil organization that's been resurrected recently. He laughs that they must have mistook the bagpack of Gold when they ambushed the bag containing confidential research materials from Prof. Oak to Prof. Elm, and says they're there to correct their mistake. Silver takes a look at the fallen Gold, and finally understands why the other boy has been pressing him for a bagpack all the time. Ken remarks that since they've made it that far to Elm's lab, they might as well steal the three special Pokémon under study, Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile.

Silver, however, holds up the Pokéball containing Totodile, and states that both Totodile and Cyndaquil have been taken already. Ken gets upset, and orders Elekid to electrocute Silver as well. Silver quickly refers to his Pokédex for the data of Elekid, and despite the apparent type disadvantage, releases Totodile to fight. Ken breaks into a laugh, and says newly acquired Pokémon have no loyalty to their owners. But Silver puts on a grin, and says one special attack maximizes the lack of loyalty in Pokémon. He orders Totodile to use frustration, and the blue little crocodile immediately starts thrashing around, fending off the attacks of Elekid and stunning the TR Elite Trio momentarily. Ryu prepares to release other Pokémon, but Silver swoops in just in time to snag away the Pokéballs from his hands. Sneasel then cuts in to deliver a faint attack, knocking out Elekid in one hit. Silver coldly states that power of frustration is strongest when a Pokémon has zero loyalty, and that it is one handy attack learnable from TMs. Unable to get the upperhand in the situation, Ken, Ryu and Harry give off a grunt and decide to leave.

A while later, Gold wakes up to find himself face to face with a police officer who accuses him of setting fire on the grass. Gold gets baffled, and quickly looks around for Silver, wondering what just happened. The officer states that Gold is obligated to sit for a hearing, and that he is under arrest. This freaks Gold out right away, and the boy frantically hollers that he is a victim in the case. He spots Joey talking with another police officer not far away, and runs over and pleads the youngster to prove him innocent. Joey quickly tells the first police officer that Gold is an acquaintance, then informs Gold that Prof. Elm has hurt his back during the fall in the lab, and is now being taken care of by his assistant at the nearby hospital.

The police officer remarks that from the testimony of Elm, the professor couldn't see the face of the culprit who stole Totodile because he was attacked from behind. Joey explains that he, too, didn't manage to see the person's face. The officer then requests Gold to help out with the investigation as he is the only one who has come face to face with the thief, and Gold agrees after a moment's pause. The police officer and Joey turn to leave, and Gold is about to follow when he spots the burnt glove of Silver behind a bush. He secretly picks it up and hurries after the other two.

Later that evening, at the Violet City Police Station, the police are trying to create a montage of the Totodile thief according to Gold's descriptions. Gold informs them of the precise colour and style of Silver's hair and outfit, but deliberately gives false depiction of the facial features. The resulting montage thus has the general appearance of Silver, but with a very distorted face of scurry eyebrows and ridiculously thick lips. The police officer thanks Gold for the help, and offers to have he and Joey stay the night at the station, but Gold quickly declines and drags Joey away.

Somewhere out in the open woods, Gold and Joey are resting next to a tent and campfire they've built. Joey takes a look at the copy of the Totodile thief's montage, and giggles at the odd features of the boy. Gold then reveals that he has given false descriptions to the police, much to Joey's surprise. Gold explains that he never really trusts the police, and says he hopes to catch the red-haired boy with his own hands. He then ushers Joey to his lap-top computer, and has him made another more accurate montage.

As the two boys are about to go to sleep, Joey remarks that it seems weird how so many things happen all at once without reasons. Gold is about to agree when a voice comes from the tent outside, and says that while everything is fate, the current incidents have clearly been schemed. Joey looks out of the tent and gasps in shock when he sees Prof. Oak, the top Pokémon authority in Kanto and Johto, standing next to a Stantler and a Ledyba.

Gold wonders what Oak wants from them as they don't seem to have much to offer to a knowledgable professor like him, but Oak explains that he needs some information that only Gold can provide. The old man pulls out a Pokédex and asks if the Totodile thief at Elm's lab possessed the same item, and Gold immediately jumps with a start when he recognizes the compact electronic machine…

Thanks To Coronis For Writing this for us