At the former Team Aqua Hideout, Amber raises an eyebrow, and wears a frown upon hearing Blaise's suggestion that they join forces. He finds it amusing that such a proposition is made by the 'Shadow of Flames', one of Team Magma's Three Fires who excels at using fire illusions, and snickers that he hasn't fallen so low. Blaise grins that there is no need to be so arrogant, and Amber warns Blaise to get lost before he is kicked out.

Blaise taunts that he would like to see what Amber can do, and in that instant, the former Team Magma Admin notices that the water puddle left behind by Gorebyss's Hydro Pump appears to be swaying with ripples. He glances over at Gorebyss, wondering what it plans to attack with, but surprisingly sees that it isn't really taking any action at all. On a closer look, he notices a drop of water dripping off from Gorebyss's body into the water puddle, which upon contact, instantly makes the rippling even more vigorous. Blaise knows that Gorebyss is clearly building up an attack, but fails to see where it is coming from. Suddenly, a jet of water shoots out from the rippling puddle behind him, and hits him hard along with Slugma, drenching them both.

Blaise climbs back onto his feet as he finds support from a rock, and muses in realization that a single drop of water from Gorebyss not only stirs up more ripples but creates a blast just as powerful as a regular Hydro Pump. What's threatening is that one cannot tell where the water blast would come from and when, which is probably what people refer to as the 'Drop of Horror'. Blaise recalls hearing about such a man in Team Aqua before, and believes that Amber is no other than this person, who is also a member of the SSS, the Admin Trio of Team Aqua.

Ambers warns that there will be no mercy in his next strike if Blaise tries to tease him with illusions again, and Blaise pouts that he gets the message. Blaise says he never expected Amber to be so barbaric, and Amber finds it insulting that a former Team Magma member calls him that. Blaise decides to concede and relents that his intention was never to start a fight, and Amber demands to know what he wants. Blaise states that he is just asking for a battle companion, and pulls out the Scanner from his pocket, which currently holds some important data he is willing to share if Amber agrees to collaborate. Amber feels confused about the Scanner, and wants to know what exactly it detects, and Blaise replies that it picks up the signals of the Red and Blue Orbs, things which he is certain that Amber knows of.

The former Team Aqua Admin bolts with a start at the revelation, and recalls that they are the two jewels their leaders used to control the ancient titans before. He questions if the Scanner really has the ability to detect the location of the Orbs, and Blaise says it has already proven its accuracy when he found and took the ancient artifacts from Mt. Pyre 4 years ago. Amber notices that the Scanner is actively blinking and asks what it means, but Blaise tells him to be patient and he will get to that part eventually.

4 years ago, after Kyogre and Groudon retreated from Sootopolis, the leaders of Team Aqua and Team Magma also went missing. Using the Scanner, Blaise hoped to find the two men by locating the two Orbs they possessed, but while he managed to trace the jewels, there were no signs of their leaders. Moreover, the Orbs were no longer orb-shaped when he located them and have become shards of some kind. At that time, a mysterious man in suits leading a trio of weird looking people picked up the shards, and commented that the Orbs have turned back into stones after fulfilling their role. The man planned to take the shards away to a place called the Sevii Islands, and Blaise was planning to stop him. However, the man seemed to have detected an intruder's presence, and sent out a Beedrill. The man's menacing presence immobilized Blaise even though they didn't meet face to face, and Blaise knew that he was no match for the man. Alas, Blaise could only watch as the man took away to Orbs' shards to a distant region called Kanto, and he had no idea what the purpose was.

Amber sweatdrops as he realizes that Blaise has been checking on his Scanner incessantly since the jewels were taken away, and Blaise states that he can be very persistent at times. For the past four years, Blaise has lived among normal people, and made an effort to check on the Scanner every single day. Recently, his persistence has finally paid off, since the Orbs have started to move again and are apparently heading back to Hoenn. Amber lets out an exclamation upon hearing the news, since it implies that someone is taking the jewels back to their region. He wonders who it could be, and Blaise thinks there are three possibilities: one, the suited man and his trio who took the shards away four years ago; two, someone who managed to snatch the shards from these people; and three, their formal leaders having reclaimed the jewels after finally resurfacing. Amber's mind bolts at the third possibility, and he urges Blaise to show him the location of the jewel shards. Blaise refuses however, and wants to hear Amber's reply on their collaboration first. He states that there will be no need for them to join forces if their leaders are returning, but if it is not the case, it means that someone else is bringing the jewels back to Hoenn to harness their powers, something which he thinks cannot be allowed.

Amber pauses for a moment to ponder on the matter, and eventually agrees to the collaboration. Blaise is glad about his decision and tries to do a high-five, but Amber says he has no intention to mingle even though they are joining forces. The former Team Aqua Admin gazes upon their logo on the wall, and hopes that their leader is really coming back, which would allow Team Aqua to rise once more, and he will be able to meet Matt and Shelly again. Blaise secretly mocks that Amber is just a sentimental person underneath his cold exterior, and finds him foolish to focus his mind on former comrades alone instead of thinking they might be able to control Kyogre and Groudon again. In fact, the jewels can do much more than controlling the titans, since according to what he has learnt, they can make the creatures even more powerful than they know. However, Blaise thinks it's best to keep this piece of information to himself for now, and says nothing to Amber.

At Hoenn TV's Slateport branch, Gabby tells Ty that they must set out to do coverage on Ruby quickly, and Ty wants to know what made Gabby so concerned all of a sudden. Gabby states that the boy's every act concerns her, but Ty thinks Ruby has always been an oddball. Gabby agrees, but argues that it still doesn't explain his cryptic remark about being in Contests for the last time on the day of the shooting, since Contests are essentially his identity and his way of life. Gabby states that as journalists, it is their job to investigate upon a query and share it out, and decides to first visit Ruby's home at Littleroot Town, followed by his father's Gym at Petalburg. If that still doesn't solve their question, they shall head to Prof. Birch's Science Lab as well and pay a visit to Ruby's teacher, Wallace.

With that, Gabby makes her way out of the TV station with Ty, but comes face to face with a four-legged white creature as soon as they step out of the front door. Jumping back in bewilderment, Gabby and Ty soon recognize it as the Absol they have encountered during the ancient titan incident 4 years ago, and Gabby exclaims with pleasant surprise that it has been a while since they met. However, Ty quickly reminds her that Absol is a Pokemon that warns people of disasters it foresees, and only shows itself for this purpose. Gabby gasps that in realization at what Absol's presence implies, and before she could say anything, Absol crouches down, gesturing the two to climb on.

A wave of bad feeling hits Gabby and Ty, and Gabby knows that something ominous is about to happen again, which is possibly connected to Ruby's strange behavior. Wearing a determined look, she decides to follow Absol's lead, and says they are ready to see and know what it plans to show them. The two proceed to climb onto Absol's back and the disaster Pokemon wastes no time in dashing off.

Meanwhile, the S.S. Tidal has arrived at Sea Mauville. The group gets into a small boat as the ship docks, and sails towards the half sunken facility. Drake recalls that the place used to be an 'ocean resources extraction site' owned by a company called the Great Mauville Holdings which no longer exists, and Joseph Stone reveals that the company was a rival of Devon. Emerald reads from a guidebook that although the site has been closed down years ago, it wasn't demolished and was turned into a valued natural reserve since the ruins has created a unique habit. Sapphire states that it is her first time visiting the place, and really wishes to study the habitat if she has more time. Emerald grins that he has never been to Sea Mauville either, and wishes to collect some soil samples if possible. Sapphire giggles that it is starting to make her excited, and Steven wants to know what their plan is upon arrival. Joseph replies that the next step is to move the Absorber onto Sea Mauville, and after stealing a glance at his watch, believes that there is some free time for the kids since it will take nearly half a day to do so.

Sapphire and Emerald beam at the news, and Steven tells them to make good use of the little time they have. Sapphire states that she shall check out Sea Mauville's unique habitat with her own eyes, and without warning hops into the sea, shaking up the entire boat. She waves at Emerald to come along quick, and Emerald sweatdrops at her impatience since the boat is just about to dock anyway. While everyone else gets on board Sea Mauville, Ultima stays behind with Mr. Briney, and wants to know what exactly the 'Apple Saucer' is. Briney sweatdrops and thinks she means the Absorber, and says he shall explain it to her later since he needs to move it over from the S.S. Tidal now.

While walking through the rooms of Sea Mauville, Emerald continues to read from his guidebook, and learns that after years of wear and tear by nature, the facility's foundation has been eroded and weathered, which is why half of it has tipped and sunken into the water. For the shrubs that grow around the facility, they are known as mangroves and are rare plantation found only at Sea Mauville as well as at Mossdeep City. He reads that hints of the previous works done at the site can still be found within the facility, and walks into a room full of old plush toys.

Sapphire battles a wild Tentacool with Chic, and tells Emerald that he should try to have hands on experience rather than reading everything from a book. Emerald agrees, and finds it odd that there are so many plush toys at a working site. His attention is drawn to a pair of Plusle and Minun dolls which are clean and unlike the others, and reaches out to touch them. However, he is instantly zapped hard upon contact, and Sapphire rushes into the room, wondering what has happened. It turns out that the Plusle and Minun are actually real Pokemon playing a prank by pretending to be plush toys, and the two mischievously high-five each other as Emerald lays sprawled out on the ground. Upon a closer look, Sapphire bolts in recognition, and both Plusle and Minun promptly recall who the girl is. They hop into Sapphire's arms as she gives them a hug, while Emerald is left baffled as to what is going on.

That night, Ultima sits on the deck underneath the evening sky, and is soon joined by Mr. Briney. Briney asks why Ultima is still up, and the old lady states that she has not been able to sleep ever since Steven told her about the impending asteroid as well as the people who are threatening Devon, not to mention the thing that she has just witnessed. Briney knows that she is referring to the Absorber, and Ultima still finds it a bit hard to accept that the kids are training hard just for the machine to absorb the bioenergy of their Pokemon. Briney sighs that bioenergy is necessary to activate the Dimensional Shifter, and Ultima wants to know what Briney really thinks about Joseph Stone's plan, whether it will work or not. Briney admits that he actually has no idea, but believes that no one can stay calm with the thought of their planet being turned to ashes soon.

In Room 1, Sapphire and Emerald have both settled down to sleep. Emerald wakes from an urgency to empty his bladder, and groggily walks out of the room towards the deck. On his way, he sees Steven and Joseph Stone speaking to each other on what appears to be Ruby's request of not telling Sapphire about the asteroid, and decides to stay away from conversation between adults. Making his way over to the bowsprit, he hopes that Ruby would return soon, and pulls down his pants to start emptying his bladder.

Behind him, a mysterious golden ring materializes out of thin air, and looms upon the boy ominously…

Countdown to the asteroid's impact: 8 days!