Standing at the entrance of the Battle Arena, Anabel stops Scott in his tracks, and with a stern face, demands to know if their owner has known of everything right from the start, about the phantom Pokémon Jirachi, as well as the armoured man who is after it, named Guile Hideout.

Behind them, the gathered press is starting to get unsettled and wonders why the facility challenge is still not commencing with the return of the Frontier Brains. Several reporters notice that Anabel, who is the leader of the Brains, is engaging in a serious conversation with Scott, and a few others soon spot the wounds and ragged clothes on the other Brains, suggesting that they have just been involved in a fierce battle.

Mumbles begin to arise from the entire crowd, and only then are the Frontier Brains alerted to the scene they're causing. Tucker and Brandon know that they must find a way to put the speculations to rest before anything negative comes out of it, and think hard to come up with some gimmick.

Suddenly, Tucker's Salamence spits out a ball of fire which explodes in the sky above, grabbing everyone's attention and causing some to cry out in surprise. The Dome Ace then hovers high up on Salamence with Greta behind him, and with a gleeful tone, assures the reporters not to be worried. He explains that they were just having a special training together in order to put up better performances in the upcoming battles. He apologizes on behalf of all the Brains for keeping everyone waiting, and says they were so engaged in the training that they totally forgot about the time.

However, he is sure that the press will be pleased with the results of their training, and in a swift move, leans back to scoop Greta up around her waist, stating that their Arena Tycoon will demonstrate just how well they've trained. Slightly taken by surprise, Greta plays along, and with a nervous look, welcomes everyone to enter the Arena.

A while later, after the press has settled down in the audience stand inside the stadium, Greta stands in the center of the stage with her three Pokémon, Umbreon, Heracross and Shedinja, and announces that the Battle Arena fight will be held in the style of an elimination combat. Next to her, Emerald licks his lips in anticipation, and gets ready for his fourth Frontier challenge.

Meanwhile, Todd is wandering along the corridors in another part of the Battle Arena. He knows for sure that the gig pulled off by Tucker and Greta out there was just to distract the press from what really happened, and believes that Scott and Anabel are carrying on their discussion elsewhere right now. He soon manages to find what he's looking for, and sees the other five Frontier Brains pressing answers from Scott, who is resting his elbows against a wooden fence and gazing at the waters below.

With a serious tone, Scott repeats the questions that are asked of him, and wonders if the Brains are sure they want to know. When the Brains remain affirmative, Scott suddenly breaks into his cheerful and zealous attitude, and grins that he indeed knows of everything right from the start. The enthusiastic and straight forward reply causes all the Brains and Todd to sweatdrop, and Scott gives Anabel a playful nudge, wondering how she figured it all out.

Anabel seems a bit annoyed, and says there is no particular reason, but from his calm reactions when they told him they will be heading to the Artisans Cave with Emerald, and when he saw them coming back wounded, it is clear that he already expected those to happen. Scott then giggles as he makes a cheerful face, and wonders if that is the calm reaction she is talking about. Anabel gets ticked off at the joke, and demands to know why Scott is hiding things from them.

Just as quickly as he has snapped into the cheerful attitude a moment ago, Scott's face turns serious again, and questions if the Brains have made up their mind to become stronger. The remark causes the five Brains to share looks of confusion among themselves, and Anabel wonders what Scott means.

The chubby man pulls out a book with the silhouette of Jirachi and a letter 'R' on the cover, and says it all began with the confidential report. He flips open the document, and explains that it holds all the information passed on by words from the people who witnessed Jirachi's awakening 1000 years ago, with detailed events from its waking and its return to slumber. Based on these information, there are also people who work to calculate and find out where Jirachi shall awake next.

Todd is a little taken aback that the data in the report has been passed on for 1000 years solely by words, and Scott assures him that it is true. Scott then resumes his explanation, and says there is a professor who has done a full analysis of the report's information, and correctly predicted the time of place of Jirachi's current awakening. This professor, in fact, is no other than the renown Prof. Oak, a top authority in the Pokémon world across all regions.

Back when the Battle Frontier was still under construction, Prof. Oak himself has contacted Scott personally and told him everything concerning the issue. From Oak's own words, the phantom Pokémon Jirachi was expected to awaken at the location B9214 of Hoenn, the exact spot where the Battle Frontier would be erected.

Unfortunately, around that time, someone managed to sneak into Oak's science lab and stole a disk containing the data of the report, which alerted the professor to the fact that someone else is after the phantom Pokémon.

It so happens that the predicted seven days of Jirachi's awakening coincided with the opening week of the Battle Frontier, and while Prof. Oak has tried to persuade Scott to delay the event, Scott stood firm on the matter, claiming that the Battle Frontier was his biggest dream, and he would not let anything interfere with its grand opening.

Scott was confident that his team of seven powerful trainers, the Frontier Brains, would be able to stand up and defeat anyone who's after Jirachi, and told Oak not to worry. The professor finally conceded and accepted Scott's decision, but insisted that he send over a Pokédex holder of his own choice to guard Jirachi, which Scott didn't have any objections to.

Todd realizes with a start that the Pokédex holder sent off by Prof. Oak is Emerald, but Tucker is less than pleased after hearing the whole story. He grips his fists in anger, and blames Scott for not telling them all that beforehand. He yells that they would have been more prepared for it, and could have certainly spared Noland from the tragedy that happened to him.

However, Scott isn't so sure. With a cold tone, he wonders if the knowledge of the situation alone would help them win against Guile Hideout. He states that when one is weak, he would still lose no matter how much he knows. On the contrary, if one is strong, he would still win no matter how little he knows.

Tucker is left speechless at the remark, and Scott walks over to glide open one of the windows which looks over the Battle Arena's stadium stage, where Greta is commencing her first battle against Emerald. Scott states that Emerald has proven himself to Greta as a worthy trainer in the Artisans Cave, and that is probably why Greta allows the boy to challenge her right away without going through virtual trainers.

Down on the stage, Emerald orders Sceptile forward and commands a leafblade, but Greta's Heracross catches the grass Pokémon's striking forearm with its horn, and with a powerful thrust, sends its opponent tumbling backwards. Sceptile swiftly regains its stance and delivers a series of leafblades, and on the third swipe manages to knock Heracross across the stage floor.

Scott grins that Emerald is keeping himself fully engaged in the battle as always, unflinching, uncompromising, simply focusing on defeating his opponent with all his might. He remarks that while the boy has conquered the Factory, the Pike and the Pyramid, he never relied on sly tricks but always emerged victorious the proper way. Scott believes that Brandon and Lucy would agree with him on that, and the two Frontier Brains admit that they have nothing to counter that statement.

Scott then says he would be lying if he says he isn't the least bit upset about what happened to Noland, but if Noland had been stronger, no one knows whether the same would have happened. Turning around to face his Frontier Brains, the chubby man states that they would encounter the enemy again in 3 days time, starting from tomorrow, and wonders if they are ready to face the challenge again. Tucker hollers that he will be ready, and is determined to defeat their enemy this time.

Scott seems pleased with the answer, and says for the sake of that, the Brains must power up themselves to become stronger. He points his finger to Anabel, Spenser and Tucker, and states that the remaining facilities Emerald has yet to challenge will be made into training grounds. Not training grounds for Emerald, but instead, for the Brains themselves.

Anabel grins that it seems ironic how they themselves have become the challengers now, but says they shall abide by their owner's orders. She turns around to her five companions, and says the Battle Frontier will soon be officially open to the public, and powerful trainers will soon come flocking in. She hopes that everyone of them will be able to stand proud in front of their own facility to take on all challengers by then, and encourages them to make good use of their current chance. Lucy, Brandon, Spenser and Tucker all put on wide grins, and affirm their determination to Anabel.

The six Frontier Brains then head down to the Arena's stadium, with Scott and Todd tagging behind, and emerge from a balcony looking over the stage, where Emerald's Sceptile is still fighting against Greta's Heracross. Tucker and Brandon yell at the top of their voice to cheer for Greta, and the Arena Tycoon promises to do her best. She orders Heracross to make its final move, and the blue beetle delivers a megahorn to send Sceptile flying up into the air and crashing back down onto the stage.

Brandon remarks that the attack is a direct hit, and Tucker wonders if Greta has won, but quickly sees that Emerald Sceptile has yet defeated and is struggling to get back on its feet. However, the referee, being a virtual blackbelt, announces the end of the 3-turn battle, and proceeds to judge each Pokémon's performance to determine the round's winner.

Todd is surprised that such a rule is employed at the Battle Arena, and the virtual blackbelt states that judgement will be made based on three aspects: mind, skill and body. The score board next to the stage soon shows a triangle for both Emerald and Greta in the skill aspect, while circles for Greta and crosses for Emerald in mind and body, granting Greta a total of 5 points against Emerald's 1. The virtual blackbelt then pronounces Greta the winner of that round, and the Frontier Brains all rejoice over it.

A five-minute break is then given to both sides, and Todd worriedly asks if Emerald is feeling alright, since he just came back from the battle against the armoured man. Emerald grins that it is only fair since Greta herself had no chance to rest after the fight either. Todd then notices Sudowoodo and Dusclops standing behind Emerald with Sceptile, and is astounded that they are the Pokémon he is going to use for the current challenge.

Sceptile bends down to rub its cheek against Emerald's, and the boy puts on a somewhat clueless and embarrassed expression, saying that the three seem to have grown attached to him. Todd recalls how they protected Emerald against Guile in the Artisans Cave, and agrees with a sweatdrop that it seems to be the case.

Just then, the 5-minute interval is over, and the virtual blackbelt commences the second round of the Arena challenge. Standing in front of Sceptile, Sudowoodo and Dusclops, Emerald gets into a combative stance as Greta does the same next to her Umbreon, Heracross and Shedinja…

Thanks To Coronis For Writing this for us