Team magma will not let me fight them

[pidgeot]

Hello

I have been stuck not being able to fight team Magma for a while, and thought I would post for some help;

I talked to the cranky old lady and obtained Ponyta, beat the ghost leader and his chandelure, but at this point whenever I go to try and battle Magma near the grand staircase, they send me off on my way.

I've tried searching the forums for something, to no avail. Any help would be much appreciated.

[Omega_Ra1der]

Have you talked to team aqua's leader (Archer) yet? Or wait until night if you did talk to him.

[Dragon116]

You don't need to wait until night anymore apparently. Ame stated recently in a previous post that the nighttime thing is purely for dramatic effect. Anyways, make sure Archer tells you to go attack the Magma base. It may take a few chats until he prompts you.

[pidgeot]

Yup, forgot to talk to Archie; he was blocked by 2 guards after the hag encounter for some reason, but as soon as I talked to him i fought magma. Thank you!