In the rubbles of the Ecruteak PokémonCenter, Gold checks to see that the HP restore machine is still able to draw power from the emergency electricity reserve, and rejoices that they can heal their Pokémon before their battle. But while Gold recharges his full team, Silver only takes five Pokéballs out and keeps one up his sleeve. Gold wonders why Silver doesn't heal all his Pokémon, and Silver snickers that he doesn't have to, and in fact only needs two beat Gold's entire party. Gold grins that he isn't as easy as Silver thought, and the two boys commence their long awaited battle.

Gold releases Typhlo and commands an ember, but Silver brings out Crocronaw who quickly retaliates with a watergun. The blue crocrodile then jumps in for a bite, but Typhlo slips away with a double team, and Crocronaw ends up crushing its own fangs instead. Gold smirks that he seems to be gaining the upperhand, but to his surprise, Crocronaw's fangs grow back and it crunches hard on Typhlo. Gold recalls Sunflo being able to boost Typhlo's fire attacks, and quickly calls it out to unleash a sunnyday. But Silver immediately switches in Sneasel, and orders it to freeze the little Sunkern with a blizzard. Knowing that fire is effective against ice, Gold swaps for Typhlo again and has it use ember, but Sneasel is too quick to be hit and keeps evading the flames.

Gold thinks hard for a plan, and retrieves Typhlo to switch in Sudro. With its flexible limbs, the imitation Pokémon delivers a lowkick followed by a dynamicpunch. The attack narrowly misses Sneasel, but manages to smash the ground and stir up a barrage of rocks and rubbles. Silver's Pokégear gets knocked out of his hands by the flying rocks, and Gold grins that Silver certainly cannot win him by two Pokémon alone. Impressed by Gold's tactics so far, Silver smirks that he sure has underestimated the other's skills, and proceeds to call out his Ursaring. The giant bear delivers a furyswipes, and Sudro struggles to defend by using mimic. Seeing on his Pokédex that Sudro is running low in HP, Gold thinks hard for a plan again. But Silver surprises him by switching in Kingdra, who quickly faints Sudro with a hydropump.

Not having seen Kingdra before, Gold wonders what Pokémon it is, and Silver remarks that it was the Pokémon he traded over for Gold's Politro earlier. He grins that while Poliwhirl evolves in Politoed by trading, his Seadra also evolves into Kingdra the same way. Both boys are about to continue with the battle when the Pokégear Silver dropped on the floor all of a sudden beeps upon having an incoming call. The voice of a man comes on to tell Silver to head over to the Lake of Rage right away, and Gold secretly wonders who it is that Silver is working under all this time. The person on the other side of the call hangs up, and there is a moment of silence between the two boys.

Silver then puts on his usual cold and hostile look again, and says he doesn't have time to play with Gold anymore. He takes out a hyperball, and Gold gasps in shock when a Tyranitar, apparently the sixth Pokémon that Silver kept up his sleeve earlier, pops out with a roar. Gold quickly orders Aitro forward, but the little purple monkey is instantly knocked back by the giant Pokémon's swipes. Gold notices that Silver has stopped giving commands, and hollers in confusion that Silver has totally changed his battling style. Silver coldly states that Tyranitar is of a very high level and can take out Gold's Pokémon even without his orders.

Tyranitar unleashes a sandstorm, and Gold yells out loud as he and his Pokémon get tossed around by the strong swirls of air. He orders Politro to fire a watergun, which appears to stun Tyranitar momentarily, but Silver releases Murkrow to block out Politro's attacks, and Tyranitar quickly strikes the green frog down as well. Suddenly, Tyranitar freezes in motion and Silver gasps in surprise when the giant Pokémon starts to tumble over. Gold puts on a grin, and Silver jumps with a start when he notices Gold's Togepi, Togero, inbedded in the stomach of Tyranitar. Gold smirks that he was simply trying to distract Tyranitar's attention with Politro, so that Togero can secretly deliver a double-edge.

Tyranitar collapses onto the ground, but Togero fails to escape and gets brought down together, instantly knocking itself out. Silver is astonished by the fact that Gold managed to take down a Tyranitar, and remains speechless for an instant. Gold sees that all his six Pokémon are longer able to fight, and admits defeat to Silver. But he laughs that he has outlived Silver's prediction about beating him with two Pokémon, and even managed to see the whole team of Silver. He tosses back the Pokégear to Silver, and Silver gets taken aback by surprise again that Gold must have picked it up during the sandstorm.

Gold tries to befriend Silver's Pokémon, and Sneasel somehow lets him pat its head. Though remaining cold as usual, Silver starts to see Gold in a new light, and after a moment of thought, decides to tell Gold about Ho-Oh. He projects the image of Ho-Oh's statue in Tin Tower out from his Pokédex, and explains that Team Rocket's intention behind the Ecuteak incident is to evoke the legendary phoenix back from wherever it is. He remarks that Ecruteak is the home to Ho-Oh's legend, and Tin Tower is believed to be the sacred place where it resides. By destroying the ancient pagoda, Team Rocket is testing the theory that Ho-Oh can instinctively detect any harm done to its 'nest' , and that it will return once the 'nest' is under attack.

Silver says his missions so far have been carried out to sabotage the plans of TR, and that his true intention behind is related to Ho-Oh as well. He adds that to ensure that his missions are executed properly, he doesn't care even if he is breaking the law or causing harm to others. He then warns Gold not to follow him anymore now that he has learnt what he wanted to know, and turns to leave with Sneasel and Crocronaw after retrieving his other Pokémon. Gold thinks over the words of Silver, and comes to the conclusion that such a big mission shouldn't be burdened on one person alone. He tells Typhlo that it must wish to work side by side with Crocronaw as well, and decides to head after Silver towards the Lake of Rage.

Meanwhile, back in Kanto, the fisherman Wilton has finally arrived back at Viridian City. He thinks to himself that it has been long since he visited Kanto, and proceeds to find the little cottage he's searching for. He rings the doorbell, and a young girl's voice comes on to ask who it is. He grins that it's an old friend who taught her how to fish and gave her a Doduo, and an overjoyed Yellow quickly opens the door to greet him. Addressing Wilton as uncle, Yellow warmly welcomes him, and the fisherman says he has heard about her major feat on Cerise Island one year ago. Yellow blushes, and explains that everyone has been working hard to reconstruct the cities since then, and fortunately most things have returned to the way they were before the Cerise incident.

Wilton then notices a female Pikachu with a flower on its head clinging on to Yellow's legs, and wonders who it is. Yellow picks up the little Pokémon into her arms and says she found it injured in Viridian Forest no long ago, and has decided to call it Chuchu. Wilton pats Chuchu on the head, and says it certainly seems to like Yellow a lot. Yellow invites Wilton into the house and wonders what he's planning to do in Kanto. Wilton reveals that he is actually coming to invite Yellow to pay a visit to Johto with him, and that it has something to do with the big bird Pokémon on Cerise that disappeared towards the direction of Johto. He remarks that the Pokémon has massive power, and that he needs a capable trainer to assist him in his investigations. Yellow hesitates and says she isn't sure if she is the right candidate, as she has not been putting her skills to use for almost one whole year now. She thinks for a moment, and says Red might be a better trainer for the job. Wilton recalls hearing about the boy, and Yellow tells him to wait for her while she goes find Red.

Later, out in the countryside of Pallet, Yellow strolls across the grasslands and soon spots Red training with Saur. The Venusaur easily smashes a pile of boulders with a vinewhip, and Yellow marvels over its apparently improved skills since she last saw it. Red then decides to take a break, and withdraws Saur. But to Yellow's shock, Red's hands start to tremble and he fails to catch the Pokéball. Green's sister, Daisy, who has been watching him practice, helps him pick up the ball and asks if his wrists still ache. Red laughs that they have improved quite a lot lately, but secretly wonders when his wounds would heal completely, the wounds resulting from the stinging cold of Lorelei's ice cuffs exactly one year ago…

Thanks To Coronis For Writing this for us