Eterna City was known as the city that did not change, and apparently, neither did its residents. Everywhere there were old people offering them gifts. There was not a middle-aged person or child to be found. A crowd of senior citizens crowded the ten-year-olds as they entered the city.

A hunchbacked granny pushed a compact disc into Manny's hand. "Here, young man, have this Technical Machine!"

The boy was walking with his legs spread wide apart, wincing. "Uh… thanks? Augh, my legs and thighs are so SORE! Hanny, how come you're not sore?"

"I grew up in Solaceon Town. I learned to ride before I learned to walk."

A man as old as the mountains shoved two rucksacks into Hanny's arms. "Take this Explorer Kit, and here's one for your gentleman friend."

"Are these for digging in the Underground, just like the commercials on TV say?" Hanny asked, eyes bright with anticipation.

The man as old as mountains laughed until he coughed. "They sure are. All you have to do is dig a hole and you're there!"

Hannah shook Manny's arm. "You have to come with me. The Underground is awesome!"

Another elderly resident protested, "But you've just arrived! Surely you can stay awhile? We'll give you more free stuff if you do!"

Manny frowned. The quietness was getting to him. This city was devoid of industry. There was no construction work, or public transportation, or chattering people walking with their cellphones. Just these elders existed, crowding them. "Why is everyone old here? Did all your kids and grandkids abandon you?"

"A long time ago – they don't remember how long – the children of Eterna City made the Gym Leader mad," the man as old as mountains said, a note of fear creeping into his voice as every aged person turned their eyes to the Gym in question. "She was the oldest person in the city, and these good people were all kids back then. They did all sorts of nasty things to her Pokémon Gym, defiling its walls with graffiti and killing its plants. She prayed to Shaymin, and they were all cursed with eternal life."

"We couldn't have children, and we couldn't die. The other cities and towns in this region exiled us all in this very city," a thin wilting woman said. "They knew we were cursed."

"These people are forbidden to wander outside of its streets," the man old as mountains explained, "so they play in the Underground. The more children who wander into this city, the more friends they have to play with."

"You keep saying 'these' people and 'they'. Who are you?" Manny asked.

"I'm Gym Leader Roark's grandfather. Gym Leader Byron is my son. I'm an archaeologist and a historian. They call me the Underground Man because I rediscovered it and was its first modern pioneer. Before I was even married, I moved here to study the Eterna Curse, but have yet to find a solution."

The wilting woman smiled. "We love him like our own child."

"We're going into the Underground RIGHT NOW, Manny," Hanny said, hefting her pickaxe. "You should all be ashamed of lying to us," she wagged a finger at the old people. "Nobody in Sinnoh would ever place a curse on someone."

The Underground Man gave a wry, snaggletoothed smile. "You're both too young to know the true face of Sinnoh. Soon, very soon, there will be no more mirrors."

Someone in the back piped up: "Cyrus will free us."

"Who is Cy-" Manny began, but Hanny dragged him into the pit she'd just opened in the ground. The old folks broke out their own pickaxes and, within seconds, Eterna City was empty but for the wind.

888

It took a few minutes for Manny's eyes to adjust. The smell of damp soil filled his head. He coughed a few times.

"You get used to it," the Underground Man said. The residents of Eterna City had followed the children to the Underground. They were all visibly happier, as though someone had lit a candle in their dark spirits.

"So, old timer, what's your real name?" Hannah asked.

"I honestly don't remember. I've been called 'The Underground Man' since I was a youngster. My wife calls me 'Hubby'; Byron calls me 'Dad'; Roark calls me 'Gramps'."

"Your nickname has too many syllables. How about I call you 'Eugene' instead?" Hanny offered, also coughing to help her lungs adjust to the damp. Eugene gave her the broadest snaggletoothed smile ever.

"I like it. I really do."

"Old people aren't Pokémon, Hanny, you can't nickname them!" Manny objected.

"Oooh! Do me next!" the hunchbacked, TM-distributing granny waved her arms.

"I'll call you 'Abelo'. It means 'free gift'."

"Eeeee!" Abelo squealed in delight, "I have a name again!"

"Oh for goodness's sake," Manny rolled his eyes, turning on his heel, leaving Hanny to name her new friends.

THUD!

"MINT used RETURN! Hi Manny!"

"From one crazy person to another. What're you doing down here, Mint? And turn that off!"

The blonde kid was wearing a miner's hardhat with a mounted light, which was currently blinding Manny. Mint switched it off.

"Woops, sorry. But you really need one of these; it's dark down here. No wonder you crashed into me!"

"But you were the one who…" Manny began to say, but shook his head. "Look, can you show me what I'm supposed to do down here?"

"Oh sure, it's really easy. First you have to dig spheres out of the walls, like so," Mint demonstrated, smashing the wall next to him with a hammer. The wall partially collapsed. He switched his hardhat light back on, revealing a small red sphere and a large green sphere halfway embedded in that wall. He freed them with a few expert taps of his mining pick. "The spheres are like money down here. You bury them in the ground, leave them alone for awhile, and they get bigger."

"Spheres that magically growing bigger if you bury them. Makes no sense, but carry on."

"Spheres aren't the only things you can find in the walls, though. You can find coloured plates that boost the elemental power of your Pokémon, evolution stones, coloured shards and heart scales that a couple of kooks in the Overworld collect…"

"'Overworld'?"

Mint twirled his pickaxe. "Heh, it's what the old people call the world above us. Anyway, you can also carve out a secret base in the Underground, then go around capturing the flags of other secret bases if you can find them!"

Manny gawked. "No way. My very own secret base? Like a superhero?"

Mint grinned. Finally, he had something awesome to share with his best friend. "Uh huh. Wanna see mine?"

They lost all track of time. Hanny found them sometime later, and she showed Manny even more things that they could do in the Underground, like set traps for people that included spinning them around, confusing, or even setting them on fire, just like in a Pokémon battle.

"I can set people on fire without consequences? Awesome!" Manny shouted.

"Yup. Now lemme show you how to dig out stuff without bringing down the whole wall on top of you," Hanny said. "If you do bury yourself, I'll take whatever treasures you unearthed and report you as 'missing' to our nonexistent police force in the Overworld."

Apart from the elders of Eterna City, the three children encountered many other children, even children from other regions exploring the Underground. They spent their time looking for each other's bases, setting each other on fire, dousing others with water, entangling a few with plant roots, and laying other traps that weren't meant for human – much less children's – use.

All of the children quickly learned that the elders of Eterna City were absolute masters of their domain, capable of laying down a Machiavellian gauntlet of traps, while carving out hidden bases so obscure, even the owners forgot their locations.

The children buried spheres and reaped huge spherical harvests, using the bounty of the Earth to buy decorations for their bases, more traps and other accoutrements not found in the Overworld. They purchased these items from adult storeowners who had found a thriving profit margin where the sun did not shine.

Thus, the children mined fossils, precious minerals and a treasure trove of other valuable objects out of the Underground's laden walls. They played games, captured flags, told stories and ate meals by campfire, slept in makeshift tents, and did it all over again when they awoke. The new generation made the Underground their own.

But most blissful of all, there was not a single parent or Pokémon, not one patch of tall grass, swamp, hill, or body of open water to bother them.

Time passed in their Underground paradise.

888

One day (or was it night?) Mint captured his fiftieth base flag. He ran cackling from the luckless Johto Trainer, who gave pursuit but was caught in one of Mint's fire traps. While the Johto Trainer tried to blow out the flames engulfing her body, Mint planted his trophy inside his base.

"I am king of the hill! Well, hole."

He spent the rest of that day (night?) bragging. The Underground Man, a.k.a. Eugene, awarded Mint the Platinum Flag decoration for his base. Hannah, Manny and a large crowd of Undergrounders (including the charred Johto Trainer) assembled for the ceremony.

"This is the highest honour afforded in the Underground. Your exploits shall serve as an inspiration to all future Underground generations."

When Mint and company returned to his base to display his prestigious award, there was a fat man dressed in a black tuxedo sitting on Mint's favourite Chimchar cushion. A tuxedoed Alakazam sat on a Turtwig cushion beside the corpulent character. The Pokémon was far handsomer.

"Hey, little man!" the human nodded by way of greeting to Mint. "Good job on getting that Platinum Flag. Most Trainers lose interest after the tenth flag or so. Anyway, on to business: your Blue Rank Trainer Card is ready."

He reached inside his jacket, producing an ocean blue card bearing a mugshot of Mint. Mint did not remember taking any such picture. "Please surrender your red Trainer Card."

Mint looked between his two friends, who shrugged. "I'm sorry, who are you?" he asked the base invader.

"Alakazam?" the sizeable stranger gestured to the Psychic-type Pokémon. The dashing Pokémon looked at Mint. The boy's red Trainer Card whizzed out of his pocket and into the fat man's hands.

Mint watched his precious identity get torn to shreds. "HEY! What'd you do that for?"

In response, the handsome Alakazam looked at the blue card. It zoomed into Mint's open palms. It seemed authentic; his photograph and personal data were intact. However, he and his friends scrutinised the shining gold star embedded on the top-right corner of the card. It was holographic, reflecting light differently depending on its angle.

"You are now a Blue Rank Trainer. That solitary gold star is proof of your accomplishment here in the Underground. Alakazam, let's go."

The fat man and his Pokémon disappeared in a bright blue flash.

"Who was that fat man and dapper Alakazam?" Hannah wondered.

"Must be another crazy agent like Looker," Manny surmised.

"Wow, I love my new Trainer Card!" Mint cooed, stroking its edges.

A few weeks later, Manny was awarded a Platinum Flag for his persistence.

The fat man and his well-groomed Alakazam appeared in Manny's base, sitting on Manny's favourite cushions. "I should have introduced myself last time: my codename is Agent Bob, and this is my Alakazam. We work for a worldwide organisation, called 'Constellation', which monitors the achievements of each Pokémon Trainer on Earth."

"Why do you give away new cards with stars?" Manny asked.

"Constellation developed the 'Star Card' programme, which is a reward system for the best of the best. Trainers who display a Blue Rank card are afforded free use of all Pokémon Centres – forever. You won't appreciate it now, but when you pass the age of thirteen, you will."

Hannah folded her arms. "Thanks to their stupendous intellects, I doubt that Manny or Mint will survive another three years."

Mint winced. "That's harsh, Hanny. We both know you just want our treasure!"

Hannah snarled, curling one of her hands like a hook. She closed one eye and chased Mint around the room with her hook-hand. "Arr, matey! I'm a land pirate!" She captured Mint, trussed him up with her safety rope and sat on top of him while he complained.

Meanwhile, Manny presented his red Trainer Card. Bob tore up the red one, handed over the blue, and teleported out with Alakazam.

Manny confronted Hanny, who was threatening Mint with an imaginary cutlass. "Hannah, you've gotta capture fifty flags, too. Imagine all the money you'll save when you're older."

"Unlike you cretins, I plan to actually do something with my life other than raise Pokémon," she sneered.

"I don't!" Mint said, wriggling against her rope bindings.

"You'll be Gible bait, landlubber!" she snarled, poking his eye with her hook-hand.

"Ow! Quit it!"

Manny didn't get the joke. "Why can't he be Sharpedo bait instead?"

"Gible's the closest thing we have to a land-shark. I intend to feed Mint to one as soon as he turns his back."

Despite her words, Hannah could not resist the thrill of stealing another person's property, and had her own Platinum Flag less than a month later. The rotund rascal had Alakazam steal her card before she could protest, and left her shiny new blue Star Card in her hands before teleporting.

"Why is there room on the card for four more stars?" she asked the boys, who had no clue.

More time passed in their Underground paradise.