Knuckles the Echidna first journeyed to Pumpkin Hill Zone in order to search for fragments of the shattered Master Emerald. (SA2) After The Shattered World Crisis crisis rocked Angel Island, Knuckles ventured to the area under the instruction of a mysterious force to search for a "weakened spirit". While here he was attacked by a group of Dark Gaia's Minions, and aided by the arriving Chaotix, who were searching for a Chaos Emerald in the region. A brief search led to a confrontation with the Hooligans, who were also seeking the Emerald, and both parties later entered the Aquatic Mine below the surface. They later reemerged with the Emerald and Knuckles' spirit charge, with the Chaotix tricking the Hooligans into believing that both had escaped them. (SU: #63, #64, #65, #66)