The castle lobby was a grand hall you could park a couple of Wailords in. To the trio's delight, both a Pokémon Centre and PokéMart offered their services. They rejuvenated their respective teams before sitting down for a chat in the lounge area.

"We must not take the Elite Four lightly. We must have a plan to counter all seventeen Pokémon types!" Manny said, striking his open palm with a fist.

"Hanny, is that you?"

The trio turned to see an elfin young man with shiny, grass-green hair approaching them. One long lock of his hair defied gravity, aiming for the heavens. He wore a black sleeveless tunic decorated with a red hexagonal pattern. His pants were orange, ending in white shoes. They took in his odd clothes, but were fixated on his emerald eyes. They were habitually sharp, reflecting the same unshakable resolve Cynthia possessed. They all knew they were in the presence of an exceptional person as he stood beside them with a confident smile. Yes, that was it; this boy radiated confidence.

"Hanny, it is you!"

"Aaron!"

They embraced.

"Aaron, this is Manny and that one's Mint."

"So you're the family friend Hanny spoke of," Manny remarked, enduring an almost painful handshake.

Mint offered his hand. "Good afternoon." He, too, winced at Aaron's grip. The latter's small, slender build belied his wiry strength.

"I can't resist chatting with all the Trainers who make it through Victory Road for the first time. They're of all ages, and have marvelous tales to tell. Some took years, even decades to reach here, but you three arrived after less than one year!"

"We would have been here sooner if it hadn't been for our Underground excursion," Hanny apologised.

Aaron laughed. His mirth was innocent and free as a child's. "When they came to me, I had to calm down your parents with Stun Spore and reassure them you have better survival skills than they."

"Please elaborate," Manny prompted.

"When Hanny was five years old, I was passing through Sandgem during my Pokémon adventure. The townsfolk encountered a Shedinja that had wandered all the way from Eterna Forest. I watched them sic a small army of Pokémon on it, but nothing worked."

"Wonder Guard," Hanny recalled.

Manny looked sharply at the girl. Her voice was neither loud nor abrasive, but tender. He pinched himself, but did not wake up.

Aaron nodded then said, "Their attack was unprovoked. Shedinja responded in kind with Leech Life, Shadow Sneak and Confuse Ray."

"My parents were so busy retreating from the Shedinja along with the rest of the villagers that they ran off, leaving me with Aaron."

"Your parents weren't elite Trainers back then?" Manny asked.

"They were, but they were caught up in the furor and superstition surrounding the 'Invincible Ghost'. Even smart people get dumb when they join a crowd," Aaron explained.

"I loved Shedinja on first sight. I played with him, peeked inside his shell to see whether I really would lose my soul, and rode on his back. I rode him all the way to where my parents were hiding. They were mortified."

Mint flapped his arms. "No wonder Hanny is insane! She has no soul!"

He earned a swift kick to the shin for his brilliant insight.

Aaron continued, "To this day I've never seen such a wonderful expression of love as Hanny with that Shedinja. I explained to her parents that Shedinja was not a monster, but misunderstood."

"My parents would never let me keep a Shedinja, though, so I had to let him go."

"You cried so much," Aaron said, his eyes lost in the mists of memory. "The last thing you said to Shedinja before it left was, 'You will find another friend'."

"I told him that because he looked so sad."

Everyone was silent for a moment.

Aaron changed the topic. "So, are you here to accept the Elite Four's challenge?"

Hanny shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Only one Trainer at a time can challenge them."

"In that case, I'm staying here," Hannah said.

The boys did a double-take.

"After coming so far?" probed Aaron.

"After all the grief?" demanded Manny.

"After all the pain?" whined Mint.

Hannah laughed at them. "You thought I wanted to be the very best? I'm here because I choose to be; not for some higher purpose."

Manny muttered, "Colour me shocked."

He stood up and exited the building. Mint said nothing further, following his friend outside.

Aaron reached out to squeeze Hannah's shoulder, causing her to look at him. "I respect your decision. I train because I want to be perfect, like my bug Pokémon."

"Is that why you dress that way?"

He coughed. "I'm working on a perfect fashion sense. Listen, Hanny, if you won't challenge the Elite Four, then I want to challenge you to a five-on-five Pokémon battle. Will you honour me?"

"Aaron, you're one of the reasons I kept going for this long. You're my inspiration. Don't cry when I squish your bugs, though."

He grinned. "When my bugs get stomped on, they just get angry."

888

Waiting for them outside were a reticent Manny and Mint. Aaron and Hanny barely gave them a passing glance before summoning their Pokémon. The waterfall roared beside them.

"Yanmega, I choose you!"

The blood drained from Hanny's face. "Why do you own such a terrifying Pokémon? It liquefies internal organs and eviscerates victims while still flying!"

"I know," Aaron purred, "isn't it perfect?"

Shuddering at the hideous flying bug monster, she summoned Orric.

"Yanmega, U-Turn!"

"Orric, Stone Edge!"

The attack was too fast. Before Orric had a chance to blink, Yanmega's merciless jaws applied a vicious bite to his head before returning to its Pokéball. While Orric was recovering from the swift, super-effective manoeuvre, Aaron called Drapion to the field. Orric charged forward, using his shell as a stone blade to smash the scorpion Pokémon into the ground. Neither Aaron nor Drapion were impressed.

"You can't score critical hits against my perfect Pokémon! Drapion, use Ice Fang!"

That was it for Orric, who wilted on contact with the freezing jaws. Undaunted, Hanny returned Orric so that she could call upon Zeke's fiery force.

"Use Flamethrower!"

"Drapion, Aerial Ace!"

Drapion took the full brunt of the inferno issuing from Zeke's mouth, but landed a solid hit on the fire horse before passing out.

"You're doing well, Hanny! Heracross, I choose you! Use Close Combat!"

"Flare Blitz!"

The Hercules beetle Pokémon and blazing stallion charged towards each other, locking horns in a colossal explosion that knocked Aaron and Hanny onto the grass, while Manny and Mint were flung against the side of the castle. After extinguishing small fires on their clothing, the four Trainers returned their attention to the battlefield. There was no more grass at ground zero. In fact, the soil had vitrified. Zeke and Heracross lay in the glassy crater, their horns still locked, but both Pokémon were unconscious.

"Return!" Aaron and Hanny commanded at the same time.

"Minnie, go!"

"Vespiquen, I choose you!"

Hanny's Lumineon appeared before Aaron's queen bee, which carried her grubs inside her abdominal hive.

"Vespiquen, Attack Order!"

"Ice Beam!"

The spectral beam froze Vespiquen solid. She thudded onto the ground while her six grubs buzzed angrily around Minnie, stinging her smooth, vulnerable scales. The grubs were actually hexagonal bees that had not yet combined into Combee. When the grubs attempted to return to Vespiquen's hive, however, they could do nothing but buzz circles around their frozen mother.

"Luck is on your side, Hanny! Vespiquen, return!" Aaron commanded. Her grubs disappeared into the Pokéball as well. "Scizor, I choose you!"

"Use Surf!"

Minnie hopped into the waterfall beside them.

"Scizor, go after her with X-Scissor!"

The bright red bug dove into the water. As he did, a mini tsunami surged upward, breaking with a thunderous crash onto the battlefield. When it cleared, Scizor was standing over Minnie, who was down for the count.

"Minnie, return!"

Hanny used this opportunity to wipe her wet locks from her face. Aaron stepped out of his soaked shoes, shaking water off his arms and legs, his already tight clothing now clinging flush with his body. Manny and Mint just sat against the castle wall where they had been smashed once more, too drenched and miserable to bother getting up.

"Kipp, go! Use Discharge!"

"Scizor, Quick Attack!"

The lightning lion suffered a claw to the face but responded with an all-consuming blast of electricity. Scizor fell flat, his soaked body making the attack twice as effective.

"You trained your Pokémon well, Hanny!"

"Why, thank you, Aaron! Now summon Yanmega for me to squish!"

"I'll do just that! Use U-Turn!"

"Another Discharge!"

Again, the attack was too quick. Yanmega appeared, zoomed towards Kipp, performed a fly-by biting and was back in its Pokéball before Hanny finished giving the command. Kipp was only able to respond after Aaron summoned his frozen Vespiquen and her grubs to the field. All seven bugs fainted from the electrical explosion. For the last time, Yanmega emerged.

"I can't believe your Luxray survived two of my attacks. You really do have a shot at becoming League Champion, Hannah!"

"I take that as your surrender?"

"As if! Yanmega, Bug Buzz!"

"Discharge, Kipp!"

Before he let off one spark, the shockwaves from Yanmega's wings knocked Kipp senseless.

"Oh, no! You liquefied Kipp's internal organs!"

"Relax, Hanny. Yanmega only kills when I give a specific order. I've had one too many lawsuits to make that mistake again."

Blood drained from Hanny's face yet again.

"You could have killed my Pokémon?"

"Yanmega could have plucked off their heads like grapes."

Hanny wasn't too bothered by Aaron's words. What did bother her was the proud love beaming from his face. She made a mental note to never anger Aaron, ever.

"Help me, Glitch! You're my only hope."

Glitch addressed Aaron, "STATEMENT: I DELVED INTO YOUR LEGAL RECORDS. YOUR PURSUIT OF PERFECTION AND PAST USE OF LETHAL FORCE IS MACHINE-LIKE."

"Thank you, Glitch."

"SUGGESTION: YOU SHOULD NOT ABIDE BY HUMAN LAWS."

"There are Trainers far more powerful than I, Glitch. They would subdue me."

"STATEMENT: NONE CAN BE PERFECT WHO IS HUMAN."

"I disagree. Yanmega, use Bug Buzz!"

"Glitch, Hyper Beam!"

Yanmega's shockwaves were faster than Glitch, who was blasted clear. While Glitch sailed through the sky, he fired a beam of such absolute and unprecedented power that it blinded the Sun. Glitch's very high Special Attack combined with his innate Adaptability doubled the damage output of his ultimate beam attack. It broke the battlefield; shattered earth collapsed into the waterfall and was washed away. Aaron and Hannah stood on either side of the new body of water. Yanmega was noticeably absent.

"I think my Pokémon was washed down the waterfall along with our playground. You win, Hanny."

"Awesome. You hear that, boys?"

They were gone: the fissure ended at the castle entrance. Glitch floated down to Hanny's side.

"DELIGHTED STATEMENT: NO SURVIVORS."

Below the ruined battlefield, at the base of the waterfall, Manny and Mint washed ashore, using the comatose Yanmega as a floatation device.

"Mint, I don't think I'll be able to survive another one of Hanny's battles."

"Manny, for once, I just want to go home and play videogames."

888

Everyone dried off and recuperated during lunchtime at the castle. Landscapers flew in on their Pokémon to repair the damage Glitch had done. The experts needed no earthmoving equipment; they had a small army of Aggron, whose Hoenn Pokédex entry reads, "AGGRON is surprisingly protective of its environment. If its mountain is ravaged by a landslide or a fire, this POKéMON will haul topsoil to the area, plant trees, and beautifully restore its own territory."

When the three children walked outside, nothing of that morning's battle was evident. The turf was vibrant green. Fresh saplings marched from the waterfall to the front door. Iris flowerbeds blanketed the fields beyond the saplings in a rainbow of colour.

Mint's Pokétch beeped. After reading its LCD screen, he summoned Togekiss.

"Be right back."

They soared west-southwest. Hannah stepped over the baby trees to walk among the flowerbeds, where one landscaper and his Aggron were watering their artwork, the latter holding the watering can in its mouth. She walked up behind them. The man was wearing denim overalls with the image of a Pokéball sewed onto the back. A straw sunhat shielded his head and neck from the midday sun.

"Irises are my favourite flowers," she said.

The man did not turn, but replied, "I have known that all your life."

He offed his sunhat as he turned to smile at her.

"Mr. Aoi! What are you doing here? I didn't recognise you in that getup!"

"I changed careers; I'm a landscaper for the Pokémon League, now. Your parents hired another gardener."

"The League has official gardeners?"

"This mountaintop is blown up every few months, thanks to new generations of eager young Trainers challenging the Elite Four."

Hanny looked around again. "Your work is very beautiful."

Aoi bowed. "Thank you. My crew is flying to Kanto this afternoon to restore the field outside Indigo Plateau. Some Trainer's Golem used Magnitude ten times in one match."

"Ouch."

"Yes. Aggron and I are busy all the time. The pay isn't stellar, but we do get to see the flora and fauna of every region in the world."

"Is it worth it?"

Mr. Aoi spread his arms to encompass the pristine mountain where landscapers and their Aggron still toiled. "You tell me."

After Aoi flew off on his Swellow to join his crew, Togekiss swooped earthward, depositing Mint at the castle entrance. The boy returned Togekiss then scuttled indoors. Hannah followed him, walking into the middle of Manny and Mint's conversation. They were standing at the double doors leading to the Elite Four challenge.

"Mom and Roserade are looking after Electabuzz and her egg," Mint assured Manny.

"I'm just glad you brought him back," Manny replied, attaching a Pokéball to his belt.

Mint unfastened a Pokéball from his own belt, holding it out with an ominous look in his eyes. "Now that that's settled, it's time!"

"Dinner time?"

"No!"

"The most wonderful time of the year?"

"No! You knew this day would come, Manny! I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"

"That'll take too long! We'll decide who goes in first with the flip of a coin!"

"I agree! It'll keep my Pokémon fresh for battle, but I don't have a coin!"

"Use your Pokétch!"

"Okay!"

"Heads I win, tails you lose! GO! GO! GO!"

They bent over Mint's wrist.

"NO! Tails! I lose!" Mint lamented.

"HAH!" Manny gloated, scampering past the double doors. Mint stared at his Pokétch for a few moments.

"Hey, wait a minute…"

Hanny walked past Mint, slapped him on the back of his head, then entered the observation theatre adjacent the doorway to destiny. Mint followed grumbling behind. Just like Manny, they ascended via elevator. On the next floor was the first battleground. Though indoors, it had a jungle motif, with real live flowering plants, trees, bushes and soil. Hanny and Mint were the only observers in the stadium seats that circled the field; they had front-row seats to the greatest show on Earth.