Cursing his badgelessness and blistering hand, Manny went all the way back to Oreburgh Gate; a fairly short cave connected to Jubilife. At the entrance, an obese Hiker grabbed Manny and shoved a Hidden Machine into his hands, told him it taught Pokémon how to 'Rock Smash', ordered him to vanquish the Gym Leader in Oreburgh, then shoved him further into the cave. Manny decided to teach his Turtwig that HM move… once he learned how.
While groping through the dark, Manny quickly realised something.
"AUGH! I HATE ZUBAT!"
He ran screaming out the cave with a flock chasing him. They let up when he entered the city limits, however.
THUD!
"Ow! Oh hey, Manny, YOU crashed into me this time!"
"Crap. Uh, it's nice to see you, Mint. For once."
"Manny, why is there a Zubat in your hair?"
Manny put a hand on his head. "A Zubat in my- AUGH! AUUGHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"
"Chimchar, use Ember!"
"And now my HAIR is on FIRE! MY HAIR IS ON F-"
Heedless of where he was fleeing, Manny ran smack into a Machop who was carrying a load of coal. The coal buried Manny, putting the hair fire out. Screeching its annoyance, the singed Zubat returned to its cave. Mint had been laughing all this time.
"That was really funny, Manny, we should do that again," he snorted while the Machop pulled Manny from the coal pile.
"After I defeat Roark, I'm going to murder you, just so you know."
"Aw, you're such a downer, Manny. I'm going to Floaroma Town. Who knows, I might bump into your girlfriend again!"
"She's not…!"
But Mint had torn off already. Manny went to Oreburgh Gym, where he was told that Roark was working in the city's coal mine. After tearing through legions of Geodude, Onix, and infernal Zubat, Manny found the Gym Leader at the back of the mine. The man wore a bright red miner's hat that matched his dirty red hair. His grey overalls and black boots were also filthy with coal dust. Roark removed his glasses to wipe sweat and grime from his face.
"Hey kid, what's up?"
"I challenge you to a Gym battle. I also hate your city's coal mine and wish an earthquake would destroy it, killing all the Zubat inside."
"Have you heard of Repel?"
"Heard of what?"
"They invented this nasty-smelling body spray that wards off wild Pokémon."
"Why wasn't I told of that?!" Manny shouted, smashing his blistered fist into a nearby wall. "Ow."
"You're not allowed to purchase Repel from PokéMarts until you have your first badge. Speaking of which, take this Coal Badge."
Manny blinked dumbly at the shiny symbol Roark handed him.
"Aren't we supposed to battle first?"
"Kid, you have a Turtwig with Razor Leaf that singlehandedly took down ten Pokémon on the way in here. My current team doesn't stand a chance."
"How did you know…?"
"This is a coal mine, boy; it echoes. Here, take this TM that'll teach your Pokémon 'Stealth Rock'. Now get out of here before I change my mind."
"Wait, how do I use Technical Machines?"
"Place your Pokémon inside a Pokéball, insert the CD into your Pokédex, then run the 'TM' or 'HM' program to upload the move to your Pokémon."
"Wow, thanks, Roark!"
After battling another ten Pokémon on his way out, Manny visited the PokéMart. As if by magic, hundreds of healing items and Pokéballs now lined the shelves. Even more startling, the same two clerks were behind the counter as in Jubilife City. Manny slammed his Coal Badge onto the counter.
"Give me a Burn Heal NOW."
"Oh look, it's the kid who doesn't believe in clones," chuckled Clerk One, handing over the item in question. Manny sprayed the whole bottle onto his injured hand. Within seconds it was miraculously made whole.
"Yes, we don't allow Trainers to buy anything of real value until they have a Gym badge," Clerk Two reminded him.
"Isn't that counterproductive?"
Clerk One waved his arms in agitation. "It's the rules! We can't have fledgling Trainers purchasing Full Restores and Ultra Balls early on; it would make their adventure too easy!"
"O…kay. By the way, how come you guys run this PokéMart, too?"
"We're clones," they chorused, "our brothers in Jubilife told you that. Just like our cousin, Nurse Joy, whose sisters control every Pokémon Centre on the planet. The clones will rise!" they punched the sky.
"I still think you guys are just working overtime. There's no such thing as clones!"
Clerk One snorted. "Then I suppose there's no such thing as MewTwo. That worldwide storm a few years back must have been a mass hallucination!"
"But MewTwo is… why would they clone… SHUT UP!" Manny yelled. "Just give me five of everything!"
After filling his backpack with supplies, Manny remembered to capture a Ponyta in the tall grass north of Oreburgh: after several tries, he caught a female, with a Naughty nature befitting her strengths. As night fell, he doused himself with stinking Repel before returning to Jubilife City. He encountered not one Zubat along the way, so he entered the city with a skip in his step and a song in his heart. Fate, however, would not permit the boy to be happy for even that brief respite.
"Aha!"
Manny backpedalled almost to the city gate. "Oh no, you're that stalker!"
Looker, the detective from International Police, ran up to Manny, his dark eyes flashing. "Tell me, have you not obtained a Pal Pad?"
"I don't…"
"Is not a Pal Pad free to anyone visiting the Pokémon Centre's basement?" he shouted, causing Manny to cringe. The detective whirled around suddenly to look behind him. Certain that no-one was spying on them, he resumed his aggressive dialogue. "Anyway, there appears to be no-one shady in this Jubilife City."
"Excluding you? That's a relief. I can't handle more than one loon in a trench coat."
"I shall therefore take my investigation elsewhere. But, my friend," he wagged a finger, "I suggest you remain vigilant for shady grownups!"
"I'm looking at one right now."
"WHAT! WHO? WHERE?" he yelled, dropping to the ground and rolling for cover behind the nearest building. While Looker panicked like a Rattata caught in a Noctowl's claws, Manny dashed to the northern end of the city. While catching his breath, a gruff moustache yelled at him.
"Manny!"
"What now?"
Professor Rowan and Hanny were having an altercation with two men. Looker, it seemed, wasn't very good at his job, because these guys couldn't be shadier: their hair was dyed turquoise, cut into a ridiculous bowl shape. To top it off, they were both wearing a futuristic jumpsuit coloured white, light grey and black, with a big, spiky gold "G" on the chest. They also appeared to be identical twins.
"Manny!" Rowan called again. "These ruffians want to take away my valuable research data!"
"I would punch their lights out, but they've got me outnumbered," Hanny groused. She was standing with balled fists between Rowan and the jumpsuit twins.
Manny ran to join her. "The rules say that you must have a Pokémon battle instead of an actual fistfight!"
"Actually, we were going to shoot them," one of the jumpsuits said, unholstering and aiming a handgun at Rowan, who promptly fainted. Hanny stood stock-still.
Manny swallowed hard. "D- Do you want your boss to get angry at you? You don't shoot people when you can battle them with Pokémon! Think of all the money you'd save on firearm maintenance and ammunition!"
"The kid's right," the other jumpsuit said, holstering her handgun. "The boss already hates how much the shooting range costs."
They tossed out a Zubat and Skunky, which Hanny and Manny trounced with impunity. Realising they had been tricked, the jumpsuits reached for their handguns.
"Orric, Razor Leaf!" Hanny commanded. The leaves knocked the weapons from their hands.
The weird twins shook their fists while retreating. "This isn't the end! You'll hear from Team Galactic!"
Manny heaved a sigh of relief, sitting on the ground. "It's a good thing Team Galactic doesn't hire intelligent workers. We have to call the police."
"Sinnoh doesn't have local law enforcement," Hanny said, trying to smack Rowan awake.
"So how do you fight crime?"
"Sinnoh has no crime."
"No domestic disputes? What about thefts and murders?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. Everybody is well-adjusted, friendly and helpful, except for the guys who just tried to shoot us, of course."
"What about a legal system? Aren't there births and marriages to record, property disputes, divorces to handle?"
"Birth and marriage don't need to be written down. There has never been a property dispute or divorce in Sinnoh. People respect each other's property and never have marital problems or irreconcilable differences."
"The world doesn't work like that, Hanny!"
"It does here, Manny. It does here."
That last smack woke up Rowan.
"Uhhh… are those guns? Did those hooligans drop them?"
"How do you even KNOW what guns are?" Manny demanded. "I'm sure you've never seen one in your life!"
"Don't you watch foreign television, Manny? Let's throw these horrid things away."
Rowan tossed them into the tall grass.
"There. Now, about Team Galactic… when Pokémon evolve, they release a mystic energy. I believe that 'evolution energy' is beyond our control, but Team Galactic is trying to harness it. After all, ninety percent of all Pokémon are tied to evolution!"
"If they could harness 'evolution energy', they would have a source of cheap, renewable energy," Hanny said.
"They don't seem very nice, so I imagine they would monopolise this new energy source. They'd put every power company on the planet out of business. They'd make trillions of dollars, able to buy and sell entire nations at whim," Manny said.
Rowan's eyes bugged out of his head. "You children think too much! I'm going back to my lab to conduct further research. Good day, Manny, Hanny."
They watched him walk off. Manny resumed their recent argument. "Other than Team Galactic, we live in an impossible utopia, Hanny."
"Aren't you glad that we do?"
"Nothing can stay this perfect forever. I think Team Galactic is going to do something terrible with Pokémon, if they haven't already."
"Then we'll keep an eye out for them. Our Pokémon will protect us. Let's go."
"Oh!" a voice called out behind them. The kids turned to watch a fat man in blue overalls waddle up to them.
"That was very good! Nicely done! Truly excellent!"
"And you are?" Hanny prompted.
"Oh, I beg your pardon, I'm from Jubilife TV! I'd like you two to have something for letting me see that smashing battle!"
Manny shook his head. "You were spying on us? Looker was right when he warned me to watch for shady grownups!"
"Oh, you ran into him, too? He told me the exact same thing. Creepy guy."
The man in overalls handed them both a Fashion Case.
"Use those Fashion Cases to dress up your Pokémon! You can win prizes at our TV station if you do!"
Leaving them with that enticement, the man waddled off.
"I have no interest in pimping out my Pokémon to television audiences," Manny said with disgust.
"We have better things to do," Hanny said.
Thus ignoring potential stardom, the kids went north, defeating Trainers who lay in ambush. Among them was a lad called Tyler.
"I'll defeat you with the Magikarp my dad gave me!"
Manny and Hanny looked at the Magikarp he summoned. They burst into laughter.
"Your dad is a magnificent bastard, Tyler," Manny whooped, wiping tears from his eyes.
"Yeah, next time tell him to give you a REAL Pokémon," Hanny chortled.
Tears welled up in Tyler's eyes. "I KNEW Dad tricked me! I'm gonna tell Mom!" he bawled, running away with his useless Pokémon underarm.
"Should we have told him that it evolves into one of the most powerful water Pokémon?" Hanny asked her companion in crime.
"Nah, if Tyler is dumb enough to use a Magikarp in a Trainer battle, I'm surprised he remembers his own name."
When Hanny and Manny entered the Ravaged Path cave, they had their Turtwigs Rock Smash the boulders blocking the way to Floaroma Town.