In the past several months, a new crime syndicate has been taking the Pokemon World by storm. With the downfall os groups like Team Plasma, Team Rocket, and the respective Teams Aqua and Magma, what was once theirs was now ripe for the taking for Team Core. Not much is known about this group of evil-doers nor do they make it easy for vigilantes and the police, as well as other law enforcement agencies.

But the one thing they all seem to have in common is the mutual fascination with ancient artifacts long thought to be lost to the world until one brave researcher found the location of the lost pieces of The Arcaeus Statue. This statue, which is said to hold one of many keys to solving not only the mystery that surrounds the origins of the most ancient of all of the legendary pokemon, but also the answers to every question that any researcher could have. Though some of his former associates and assistants may describe him as "eccentric" and "overzealous", he has spent over twenty years in search of this.

But Gary Oak's adventuring days are long past him.

If he were younger, he would have loved nothing more than to make the journey to Mount Coronet in the Sinnoh REgion. The most he can do, however, was finance an excavation and hire two extremely talented trainers. His hopes would be they were nothing like he and Ash were when they were younger, though with how arrogant Gary was and how Ash always did have a certain effect on him, those hopes that Gary Oak had might be dwindling.

But it didn't matter. They were his only chances. He had to entrust this task to them, which he tried to appeal to their unique personalities. He promised one a difficult task that was hard to turn down that appealed to their sense of adventure and testing themselves while another valued redemption (as well as a promise for a spot in the next Indigo League) and, to his surprise (sarcasm), they asked for a hefty bonus upfront. Both admirable reasons and fair, given the circumstances. Gary had both the charisma and charm to sell the pitch to one, as well as the humility (shocking, right?) and the wealth to match any asking price.