Darkness descended while they toured Canalave City. The port city was so named because a canal neatly bisected it from north to south. From here one could take a ferry north to Iron Island, but it was late. The trio settled in for the night at the Pokémon Centre, surrendering their Pokémon to Nurse Joy.

After changing into their pajamas, they played Super Smash Bros. Brawl in the recreational area. Manny played as Marth, Hanny as Link and Mint as Lucas. They smashed each other's avatars until they were too sleepy to hurl insults or yell at each other for cheating.

"Marth is still the best," Manny attested, crawling onto the first bunk bed.

"Link is a terrorist, but I will always love him," Hanny avowed, scrambling into the second bunk.

"I like Lucas's hair," Mint yawned, climbing to the top bunk.

When dawn rose triumphant over the night, Hanny rose with it, pushing the boys off their bunk beds. That woke them up, so after everyone took turns showering and had breakfast, they reclaimed their Pokémon companions, then crossed Canalave's bascule bridge.

"Come to gang up on Byron's Gym, I see," said the sunglasses guy. He seemed quite recovered from the fear Hanny had instilled in him.

"This is our sixth Gym. You haven't you told us your name," Manny said.

"You never asked. People call me the 'Gym Guy'. I'm the official Gym Caretaker," he cracked a grin, adjusting his sunglasses. "As Caretaker, I give advice to all novice Trainers who wish to challenge this region's Gyms. There's a Caretaker in each region!"

"You still haven't told us your name," Hanny pointed out.

"Heh, it's not important. You won't remember it, anyway."

"We thought you were some kinda Gym Stalker!" Mint said. "We were gonna report you to Looker!"

"That loony detective? Even I wouldn't want HIS job! Now, are you guys gonna challenge Byron or what? He uses the Steel-type."

"How do you give advice to EVERY novice Trainer challenging Sinnoh's Gyms? That's impossible!" Manny shook his head.

"When you beat Byron, I'll reveal my secret. Now get on with it!"

"Yes! Get on with it!" Mint echoed, shoving Manny further into the Gym.

The building was covered floor-to-ceiling with stainless steel plates. The lights in the Gym reflected off the walls and floor in an uncomfortable glare. While taking on Gym Trainers, the trio was forced to navigate a series of elevators that descended or ascended to different levels in the Gym.

At last, after that dizzying experience, they met Byron. The man wielded a shovel for some reason. He had a wild look in his deepset eyes, offset by his scruffy appearance. His purple beard was in need of a shave and, along with his ragged miner's uniform and cape, his spiky purple hair was dusted with iron filings.

"Ah! That's Oreburgh's Gym Badge!" he yelled, hefting his shovel. "I see, I see! You've defeated my son. But that's no surprise. He still has much to learn. In place of my son, Roark, I, Byron, will take your challenge!"

He used Magneton, Steelix and Bastiodon. As all three Trainers had Ground-type and Fire-type Pokémon, they took turns defeating him. He was even easier than Crasher Wake.

"Hm! My sturdy Pokémon, defeated! You were strong enough to take down my prized team of Pokémon. In recognition of that power, I give you this: the Mine Badge and TM Flash Cannon!"

"Woopie," said Manny and Hanny, twirling a finger in the air.

"WOO!" Mint whooped, bouncing off the walls with his shiny new Badge and CD.

"Ha ha ha! With young Trainers like you and Roark, the future of Pokémon is bright! I shall rededicate myself to training on Iron Island. Come visit sometime!" he boomed, jumping onto an elevator that led to the entrance. When the empty elevator returned, the trio descended to be greeted by the waiting Caretaker.

"Just as planned," he said with a disgustingly self-satisfied grin. "Now I shall reveal my secret! How can a man be in eight Gyms at once? I'm not! I just latch onto the Trainers who I know will be Champions!"

"I distinctly remember you saying that you have restraining orders from the Champions of the three other regions," Manny said.

"Oh, them. Yeah, you see, my foreign colleagues have the same sixth sense as I do, so when they identify a Champ-to-be, we exchange contact information, including the GPS signal of the Champion's Pokédex. That way, we can stalk each other's Champions, uploading pictures and videos of them to the Internet! Do you want to join our Facebook?"

"Ooooh, another website!" Mint said, pushing buttons on his watch. "Lemme use my Pokétch notepad…"

Manny and Hanny grabbed Mint, dragging him away from the Caretaker and Byron's Gym.

888

Their Pokémon restored at the Centre, the Trainers decided to visit Iron Island based on the rumour of a Hidden Machine located there.

"I'll have to take my Bibarel to learn the move. Lemme download her."

When Manny did so, alarms began blaring in the Pokémon Centre, accompanied by flashing red lights and panicked screams of the public. Nurse Joy's Blissey tackled the boy, sitting on him.

"Can't… breathe!"

Nurse Joy switched off the alarm. She stepped over Manny, removing the seventh Pokéball from his belt.

"Little boy, don't you know better than to carry a seventh Pokéball on you?"

Manny began turning blue.

"Blissey, let the boy live."

With that generous gesture, Blissey removed her bulk. Manny gulped in a lungful of life. "Wh-why can't we carry more than six?"

"League rules. Back in the day, before the League existed, you were allowed to carry around as many Pokémon as you wished, but battles would take hours, sometimes days. Long ago, old man Henderson got into a battle with Mr. Welch and they went at it for seven weeks. At the end of it they had gone through two thousand Pokémon each - don't ask me how they caught that many - and all their Hyper Beams, Earthquakes and Flamethrowers destroyed Sinnoh's lush forest along Route 228."

"Route 228 is a lifeless, stormy desert, not a forest!"

Nurse Joy glowered at Manny. "Exactly."

Manny cringed. "I'll be good."

"Store one of your Pokémon in the computer or Blissey will use Egg Bomb and ruin your whole day."

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

After that unpleasantness, the trio boarded the free ferry, the bascule bridge swung upward, and the ferry jetted northward.

They met a snazzy dresser standing before the entrance to the island cave. He was dressed all in midnight blue, from his unusual but striking blue fedora with its black silk band and three spikes jutting out behind, to his sharp blue and black jacket, straight black pants and shiny black dress shoes. His face and hands were very pale, and his navy blue hair was so spiky it almost covered his eyes. The incredible intensity in his eyes reminded the young Trainers of Cynthia. Here is yet another remarkable person, they all thought.

"…You are?"

Not too friendly, though. Manny gave his name, introducing his friends.

"I'm Riley. I'm a Trainer and yes, it is a bit odd that I would be training here."

"You look ready for a cocktail party, not a training session," Hanny said.

"Anyway, it's always nice to meet other Trainers. Here's a gift."

Riley held out the Hidden Machine for the Hidden Move 'Strength'.

Manny looked askance at the man. "We've only just met, but you give us a Hidden Machine? We don't have to jump through hoops, or perform some arduous task before you give us this?"

"Why, would you rather work hard for your rewards?"

Manny shook his head, accepting the gift. "No sir! I want it now."

The Trainers each taught their Pokémon before resuming dialogue with the enigmatic Trainer in blue.

"I'll be training inside. You can join me, if you wish."

Hanny raised her hand, stepping forward. "Thanks, I'll come!" She looked over her shoulder. "You guys head back to Canalave and get lunch or something."

Manny gave a thumbs-up. "Enjoy your training session."

"Hey! Why can't I come?" Mint whined. Togetic also chirped his displeasure.

"Because this is my one opportunity to have a normal social interaction with a human being. Now GIT!" Hanny stamped her foot, causing Mint to scurry away in terror. She turned to the snazzy dresser.

"Shall we?"

"We shall," Riley bowed at the hip, indicating she should take the lead.

888

The pair entered the island cave, descending the stairs to the right. Riley summoned his Lucario, battling some picnicking Trainers with Hanny's assistance. They descended an elevator, taking the stairs to the right again. Here they encountered a repairman who greeted them with the phrase, "The working class hero says hi!"

"Why do people make so many pop culture references? Are people devoid of original thought?" Hannah asked her new, better-dressed comrade.

"I think it is a decent homage to John Lennon. Not many kids today would even know where that phrase came from."

"You may be right; it is sufficiently obscure."

The repairman interrupted their dialogue. "What are you guys talking about? I got those song lyrics from Green Day."

Neither Hannah nor Riley dignified the man with a battle. They continued spelunking, going back upstairs and down the stairs to the left.

"This is the place. Hanny, I'm glad to see you here. If you don't mind, let's team up. The Pokémon seem to be restless."

After encountering several pairs of picnickers and loafing workmen, Hanny had to state the obvious: "The people down here have way too much time on their hands!"

Riley laughed. "I must be one of those people, then."

Hanny giggled. "We have the same problem."

"This used to be a fairly thriving ore mine once upon a time. I guess the steel ore's played out. There's only Pokémon here now."

They battled more Trainers, wending their way through the natural maze. Riley struck up another conversation.

"Did you meet Byron, Canalave's Gym Leader? He wanted me to become a Gym Leader, but there was his son Roark to consider."

"You let Roark be Oreburgh's Gym Leader? That wimp?"

Riley smiled. "I don't like being tied down, you know? It's better for the next generation to become Gym Leaders."

"I think it's better for Gym Leaders to be experienced. That way, they can guide the younger Trainers like myself. So far, all I've encountered are people too wrapped up in their own lives to focus on battling."

"It's strange that you would say that."

"It's the truth; all they did was talk about themselves. The only person I've met so far who isn't in love with themselves is Cynthia."

Riley had no rebuttal for that, so they carried on, trying their best to avoid wild Gravelers who had a tendency to Self-Destruct. Deep in the cave, they uncovered an Iron Plate using Hanny's Dowsing machine Pokétch application. Engraved on the back of the plate were the words: "Two beings of time and space set free from the Original One."

"I keep finding these plates all over Sinnoh. They must mean something," Hanny said, turning to him for help.

"Not everything has a meaning behind it, you know," Riley gently warned her.

"Yeah, but I've just got a feeling, you know?"

"That may be your aura speaking, the same way Lucario's aura speaks to him."

Hanny found a nifty Magnet for her Luxray. She asked Riley, but not even he knew how magnets work. They learned from one of the miners that Roark played here, on Iron Island, in his childhood.

"How on earth did he survive all those Self-Destructing Gravelers?" Hanny wondered, aghast at the notion of a child playing in this dangerous cave that was one loud sneeze away from collapse.

"The wild Pokémon loved Roark because he played games and fed them. He was never in any danger. His father was here with him until the Pokémon League called Byron to be Canalave's Gym Leader."

"My parents sort of abandoned me, too. It really sucks when parents do that."

"Roark was so sad, for so long. He and his father resolved their differences, though, thanks to a friendly Trainer called Ash Ketchum."

After defeating miners and various Ace Trainers, the pair encountered a pair of Team Galactic grunts.

"I get it now," Riley said, his voice frosting over as a cold fury burned in his eyes. "You're responsible for agitating the Pokémon. I don't care what good reason you may have, but I don't want you bringing any trouble into the mine."

Said Grunt number 1: "We're Team Galactic! We'll take all the Pokémon we want! Isn't that right, partner?"

Said his partner, Grunt number 2: "You said it, brother! So that's what we're gonna do! We're abducting all the Pokémon from this rusted-out Iron Island!"

Hannah could see Riley's clenched fists, grit teeth and deep, deep frown. However, Riley's anger was cold, therefore it did not use him; he used it to speak his mind:

"To share in all the joys and all the sorrows… That is how all the Trainers and Pokémon live in Sinnoh! I won't allow anyone to defy that code of ethics! Come on, Hanny! This is one battle we can't lose!"

After a minute of battling, Grunt number 1 marveled at the might of Hanny's and Riley's combination. Grunt number 2 said his heart was shattered. He forthwith fled with his awestruck partner. Hanny's Ponyta, Zeke, evolved into Rapidash. When the brilliance of evolution faded, Hannah yelped with delight, jumping onto her flaming stallion's back.

"You're so much more handsome, Zeke!"

Zeke whinnied, rearing up his forelegs with joy at having pleased his mistress.

In gratitude for her assistance, Riley gifted Hanny a Pokémon egg.

"It is here that we must part ways. Thank you again for your help. Lucario and I will always remember you."

"Please come with us, Riley and Lucario! Replace those two idiots I am cursed to travel with!"

"Hannah, did you obtain six Gym Badges without their support?" he asked quietly.

Hannah scuffed her toes, pushing up her glasses. "Nnnnno."

"Please give them more credit. Yes, they are boys; their ways are wild. I was a boy once; I know these things. However, they will grow up into fine young men like me, just not as well-dressed."

"Not Mint; Manny and I were thinking of having him committed."

Riley laughed, shaking his head. "Consider what I have said. Until we meet again, my friend."

Hannah waved goodbye. "I had lots of fun!"

She mounted her much larger fire horse and they trotted onto the elevator that removed Riley and his Lucario from sight. She crossed the basement floor to yet another lift, which brought her to a cave with two tunnels: to the west there was a sunlit tunnel leading outside, but to the north, the other, darker tunnel called to her. She picked up the Shiny Stone some silly sod had discarded on the ground before giving in to the allure of darkness. Within that lightless cave, Zeke's forceful flame allowed her to find a Metal Coat. Her Pokétch Dowsing machine revealed a Nugget of pure, lustrous gold. Returning to the sunlit tunnel, they emerged to fresh air. Zeke hopped down several ridges before conveying her to the ferry.