At the end of their fruitful vacation, the Trainers agreed to meet at Manny's villa.

"Mom got all the rooms and stuff she wanted. Then, we moved all my stuff into my new bedroom and bathroom. We're renting our home in Twinleaf to some foreigners. I finally finished Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. I cried so much at the ending!"

"You speak as if I know what that game is," Hannah replied.

Mint said, "We've rented our Twinleaf home to foreigners, too. My Mom soundproofed my new room in the villa, for some reason."

"Oh yeah, my Mom insisted I soundproof mine, as well. I do like playing video games really loud."

Hannah snorted. "Riiiiiiight. Meanwhile, I went north to Route 228 and used my Poké Rader to catch a Vibrava. Her name is Tori and she is mine. She is the cutest bug-like dragon with the most adorable emerald eyes. I was wondering about the aerodynamics of her green, diamond-shaped wings, but then I remembered which planet I was living on."

She summoned Tori. The three Trainers took turns giving the bright green dragonfly a glorious petting.

"Viii!" Tori trilled, pleased with her new subjects.

Despite the happy occasion, Mint's face fell. "I went to Stark Mountain again to capture Heatran, but he or she was not there!"

Manny cocked an eyebrow. "Wasn't there? Did it go for a nice walk and leave the cosmic keystone unguarded?"

"I found this note," Mint offered.

Manny scratched his head. "It says, 'Yoink!'"

"Weird, huh?"

Hannah shrugged. "Someone got it before you did."

Manny rolled his eyes. "Well, if the world is covered in lava by tomorrow, we'll know why. By the way, did anyone go inside the shack on Route 228? There was no-one in at the time."

Hannah shook her head. "I was focusing on Tori."

Mint's shoulders slumped. "I was crying about all the years I would never spend with my beloved volcano god."

Manny patted him on the back. "Let's go see if anyone's home today."

Mint perked up. "Do you think the owner captured my Heatran?"

Hannah stroked Tori's smooth round head. "Maybe he has common sense and collects Vibrava instead. We will compare our dragons, but mine will be prettiest."

"Brava!" Tori agreed.

Manny stepped forward with hand outheld. "By the way, Hanny, congrats on beating the Elite F-"

"Oh, shut up, Manny, they're pushovers and one of them was a stand-in comedian."

"I, uh, okay? You're Champion now."

"Cynthia can keep her job until she suckers a starry-eyed Trainer into replacing her. I have better things to do than babysit the Elite Four."

They found the sandblasted shack along route 228 by some berry trees. An old man answered the door. He wore a brown hat and looked just as dry and dusty as the desert he lived in.

"Good morning," Mint said, his brightness filling the otherwise gloomy place with its scattered books and cobwebs. "We're Trainers!"

To prove his point, Mint showed off his well-polished badges. The old man's eyes became haunted when he saw one in particular.

"That badge... it's from Sunyshore's Gym? You've been to that port town, then... Would... Would you lend an ear to this old man's tale?"

"Of course!" said Mint. The Trainers sat with the man at his dusty table. The senior citizen shook his head.

"No... I shouldn't burden you with this."

"Oh, c'mon, how bad can it be?"

Manny, who was easily distracted, cast his eyes about the room. Many old and difficult-looking books on the ground:

"Mind and Matter"

"The Presence of Spirit"

"Machines and Their Construction"

"The Mechanism of Perfection"

"Beyond Time and Space"

"What Is the Space-Time Continuum?"

"Space and the Galaxies"

"The Beginning of Space"

He returned his attention to the dialogue at hand: "My grandson grew up in that city by the sea. Worn down by trying to live up to his parents's expectations, he found refuge in tinkering with machines. I wonder even now if I should have taken him in and raised him myself. Though I'm not certain if that would have been a good choice or not... I don't think anyone could say. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said any of this to you..."

"You're Cyrus's grandfather?" Manny blurted. "We know what happened to him!"

"You know? Everyone knows! Everyone knows what the leader of Team Galactic did! Oh my son Cyrus - my son, my son Cyrus - if only I had died in your place! Oh Cyrus my son, my son!"

He crumpled like an empty paper bag. The Trainers silently left the old man to his old tears.

Outside, Manny whispered to Giratina in her Pokéball, "Did Cyrus die in your Distortion World?"

The Void dragon's voice echoed in their heads.

"I have no way of knowing, Manny, unless you return me there."

"We can't be held responsible, right? He made the decision to run off on his own," Hannah said.

Mint groaned. "Aw man, now you have me worrying about him, too! I don't want his granddad to be sad!"

"Do not fret, children. Cyrus did not seek death; but transformation of the entire world. His destiny is as yet unwritten; he will muster the power to accomplish his goal, or fail."