It is twilight in Johto. In the western city of Cianwood, Chuck is having an intensive training with his Poliwrath and Primeape. After the 500th single-hand push up, the Cianwood gymleader decides to call it a day, and tells his two Pokémon to gear up themselves for the big fight that night, a battle with a very old acquaintance and rival of his whom he hasn't met for a long time.

Back at the gym where he resides, Chuck informs his wife that he will be having his supper at the fighting arena, and the decent-looking woman wonders what he is planning to do there at such a late hour of the day. Chuck reminds her of his promised battle with Roy, and says it is better for him to settle his mind and be fully prepared for the event. Knowing that it is still two hours away from Roy's arrival, Chuck's wife muses to herself how the man takes the battle so seriously. On his way out of the kitchen, Chuck recalls how Roy used to be a gymleader in a distant city, and sighs that it's a pity that he's given up the title.

At half past seven that evening, Chuck patiently waits in the fighting arena, and his wife remarks with a worried look that Roy has never been late for thirty minutes before. Chuck says the man is probably just held up by something unexpected, and suddenly hears an unusual noise coming from the shore. Having spent his whole life surrounded by the raging seas of Cianwood, Chuck instantly knows that it is no ordinary sound of waves splashing on rocks, and quickly runs out from his gym towards the seaside. He arrives at the special training ground where he keeps his work-out equipments, and is shocked to see all the facilities destroyed. On a closer inspection, he finds small shards of ice scattered on the ground, wonders where could those of come from.

Just then, the raging waves washes a torn jacket onshore, and Chuck gasps in shock when he recognizes it as the flying suit of Roy. Recalling that Roy is arguable one of the strongest trainers he's met, he is awe-stricken that something is powerful enough to give the man a hard time. A bright light all of a sudden emerges out in the sea, and Chuck quickly calls out his Poliwrath and Primeape. He hollers that whatever's out there must be the culprit of destroying their equipments, and orders his Pokémon to deliver a combined dynamic punch. The strong force splits the sea momentarily, and a bluish creature comes into sight.

Almost immediately, an energy blast strikes at the crystal-like Pokémon, and Chuck looks up to see Roy on his Skarmony. The bird trainer grins that he's glad to have Chuck assist him, and flies down to meet the Cianwood gymleader. Handing back the torn jacket to the man, Chuck wonders what kind of Pokémon they're facing, and Roy explains that he believes it is the legendary Suicune who is roaming the lands of Johto after awakening from the underground of Ecruteak's Burnt Tower.

The two strike a deal to collaborate on capturing the mythical Pokémon, and Chuck orders Poliwrath to charge forward. To his surprise, Suicune unleashes a powerful gust to swoop them off their feet, and Roy warns that Suicune is capable of using more than water attacks. Chuck realizes the small shards of ice that broke his equipments as well as Roy's flying suit must be created when Suicune freezes the water vapours around itself and fires them off with speedy air currents. He remarks that the only way to deal with fast-moving Pokémon is to force them into close up battles, and commands Poliwrath to pin Suicune down with a strength.

The blue frog quickly grabs Suicune by its limbs and throws it hard on the ground, immobilizing it with its own body weight. Chuck then tells Roy to attack, but Roy warns that it will hurt him and Poliwrath as well. Chuck shouts that he will find a way out, and urges him to grab the chance. Deciding that it's pointless to argue on, Roy commands a swift, and Skarmony instantly fires off a blast of stars from its mouth. Just when the attack is about to strike, Poliwrath glows and Chuck hurriedly sommersaults backwards to evade. Suicune gets knocked onto the rocks while Chuck and Poliwrath land safely on their feet, and Roy snickers that he should have guessed about Chuck's plan to avoid getting hit with Poliwrath's detect.

Chuck warns that Roy ought to capture Suicune before it recovers from the damage, and the bird trainer quickly tosses out a greatball. To his surprise, Suicune swings its ribbon-like tails forward and splits the ball into half. Chuck gasps that Suicune doesn't seem to be the least hurt from swift, and realizes with a start that it must have used detect earlier to protect itself as well. Just then, Suicune lifts itself into the air with a swirl of mist, and Roys prepares to deliver his next attack. But Chuck stops him, and says Suicune isn't trying to escape. He explains that it has most likely deemed them incompetent opponents, and is thus making its departure. Knowing that his friend is probably right, Roy silently watches as Suicune disappears into the direction of the sea.

Later, sitting along the shoreline of Cianwood, Roy jokes that it is not a surprise to know Chuck's students have all left him judging from his harsh ways of training. Chuck mantains that personal strength of a trainer plays an equally important role in Pokémon battles, but agrees to what Roy says, and reveals that his last student has left and gone back to Kanto 4 years ago. However, from what he has heard, the boy seems to still share his ways of thinking, even after he gets appointed as the new Viridian gymleader. Roy remarks that Violet has got a new gymleader recently as well, and Chuck says there are always younger and better trainers to replace the aged and tired ones.

Recalling the battle they just had with Suicune, Chuck wonders what the mythical creature was intending for. Roy informs him that Clair of the Blackthorn gym has been visited by Suicune as well, and guesses that it is on a quest to challenge all strong trainers. Chuck grins that the two of them certainly didn't live up to Suicune's expectations, and says perhaps the new gymleaders will find their ways to deal with it.

As another morning arrives, Suicune takes a break from its roaming and stands for a moment on a cliff. But then it seems to detect something, and quickly dashes off towards a small village in the mountains…

Thanks To Coronis For Writing this for us