On the next day, a quick Surf was enough to reach Jubilife City. The big city vibes reminded him of a mixture between Rustboro and Lilicove, just even busier. Staying here for one or two nights might be fun, but there was no way he could imagine living here. The Global Trade Station Centre and Jubilife TV were such a contrast to the old-fashioned hard-working life he encountered in Canalave. When he wanted to go for a walk just outside of the city, he saw two weirdly-dressed people and their Pokémon trying to intimidate an old man and a little girl. Magnus's Skarmory and Ninetales made quick work of them – each would have probably been able to take them on all on their own.
He wanted to pursue them, but he realised that he should check if the old man was doing alright, and reluctantly let the thugs go. If he ever met them again, he would recognise their stupid haircuts and give them their just desserts. The old man thanked him and introduced himself as Professor Rowan. His assistant Dawn insisted that there was no reason to worry about them, but invited Magnus to pay them a visit at the professor's lab just south of Jubilife. He promised to do so, but knew that this would have to wait a while, because on the very next day, he left Jubilife eastwards to finally go to Oreburgh.
After passing a couple of Zubats in Oreburgh Gate, he reached the industrious city. The faint memories he had from his childhood seemed to have been more than outdated, as he surely would have remembered the enormous conveyor belts around the city, if they had already been there back then. He thought he would be able to recall the path to his grandfather's home by heart, but after getting lost in the city, he had to admit that the coal industry had changed the cityscape even more than he expected.
Luckily, his PokéNav would be able to guide him through the city. Let's see... Oreburgh Gym was just a couple of blocks away, but that had to wait for tomorrow. He zoomed out of the map to get a better picture of where he actually was, but zoomed a bit to far. On the right-hand side of his screen, he could see a drastic change in the topography. "Mount Coronet", he mumbled. "If you train your Magneton there, you will have a pleasant little surprise." Usually, he would not care much about such vague advice, but if there was one thing he learnt from their battle, it was that Cynthia must know much about Pokémon. Her advice should be taken seriously – but even that had to wait for another day. Finally, he found his grandfather's home on the map. He would be there in no time.
"Magnus", his grandfather coughed, but even that could not ruin his happy mood, "How long has it been?"
"Easy, easy", Magnus said. He did not want to answer this question, for it had been far too long. "Shouldn't you rest in your bed?"
"The old doctor said this", he answered and limped into his kitchen, "but I'll make an exception for my grandson."
He helped his grandfather to put some cookies and a teapot on the kitchen table. Sitting down there, he remembered how he used to sit in this exact spot as a child, waiting with grandma for grandpa to return from the mines. A loud coughing fit pulled Magnus back into the present and he quickly poured some tea into his grandfather's cup.
"That'll oil your rusty throat."
Nodding his bearded head to thank Magnus, he suppressed the next couple of coughs and took a deep sip from the tea.
"Better?"
"Better."
"Your surgery went alright?"
"Sure."
"That's good to know."
Should he tell him that they were worried? Probably not. His grandfather would just come up with excuses why they shouldn't need to.
"I think I haven't congratulated you yet", his grandfather was interrupted by another, but now mild, cough, "All eight badges of Hoenn! I am so proud of you!"
"Thanks", he answered.
"Have you already scheduled your challenge against the Elite Four?"
"Nah", he replied and waived his hand, "Now that I am in Sinnoh, I feel like there is too much to explore here. I have not yet booked a return ticket. Who knows when I'll have time to go to Ever Grande?"
"Did your old grandpa's Pokémon help you much?", his grandfather asked with a wide grin, "Did the Gym Leaders receive their kind regards from the Sinnoh region?"
"Definitely! He grew up quite fast and sometimes didn't want to follow my commands, but for the last few Gym battles, he was my most reliable Pokémon. I don't think I could have won my eight badges so quickly without him."
His grandfather was visibly fluttered by this and they continued to talk about Magnus's Pokémon. He was also quite proud to hear that his grandson had already conquered the first of Sinnoh's Gyms. But Magnus's grandfather soon became unable to hide his tiredness. The surgery and his lungs had taken their toll on him, even though he would never admit to this. Magnus offered to clean up the kitchen and his grandfather gladly used this opportunity to return to his bed. It was barely 6 p.m., when he wished Magnus a good night. Alone in his grandfather's flat, he grabbed an old photo album from the bookshelf and went through some of the pictures. He chuckled at how often his grandpa would be shown there with a face covered in black dust from the coal mines. His eyes rested for a long time on a photo showing him as a toddler between his grandparents, sitting on the same couch that would be his makeshift bad for tonight. When he put the album back into the shelf, he spotted another book that he had not noticed before. The Original Story. He could not stop himself from reading through it, even when it was already close to midnight. This time, he read much more carefully instead of skimming through it like in the library, until he finally felt asleep with the book resting on his lap.
On the next day, he walked his grandfather to the pharmacy and supermarket and afterwards carried the heavy bags home for him, despite him insisting that he could still do it himself. He decided to stay on his grandfather's couch for another one or two nights. Today, the Oreburgh Badge would be his next target. To his great surprise, he met Byron in the Gym's entrance hall.
"Sorted out your family matters?", he asked Magnus.
"Kinda. But I hope you're not here for a rematch, because I only have time for one Gym Leader today."
Byron laughed and said, "No, I have been here for family matters, too. Should've already left hours ago, but you know how family is, right?"
Magnus nodded and bid Byron goodbye. Just before he closed the door behind him, he turned to Magnus.
"By the way, good luck against Gym Leader Roark", he winked, "He is not as tough as his old man, but you should not underestimate him. His Pokémon are packing a punch!"
A two-versus-two match was set up between them. Magnus sent out his Magneton, while Roark started with an Onix.
"Flash Cannon!"
"Slam it down!" the young Gym Leader commanded and Onix's huge tail pushed Magneton down onto the ground before it could fire off its attack.
"Magnet Rise!" Magnus shouted, "And keep charging!"
Small spheres of silver light formed at each of Magneton's magnets while its Magnet Rise was able to lift it barely above the ground, fighting against the weight of Onix's tail pushing it down.
"Slam it harder!" Roark commanded, "And then Earthquake!"
With all its might, Onix tried to push Magneton down to be able to hit it with an Earthquake, but the Magnet Rise was too strong. Suddenly, a burst of light erupted from Magneton: The Flash Cannon had fired and hit Onix right on its head. One-hit-knockout.
"Just as dad said", Roark mumbled to himself, "You are a tough nut to crack. Normally, I would not use this Pokémon on a new challenger", he raised his voice so that Magnus could hear him, "but this one is just right for you: Go, Rampardos!"
Magnus immediately recognised the huge skull from an illustration in The Natural History of Sinnoh. It already looked threatening as a sketch, but seeing it attached to such a huge body – that thing will really hit like a truck. The white-blue scarf around its neck was in an almost comical contrast to this beast's fearsome appearance.
"Flash Cannon!"
"Head Smash!"
Rampardos charged right at Magneton, its head covered in red and white energy. Before Magneton could fire off its attack, it was smashed against the Gym's wall and dropped to the ground.
"Quick, Magnet Rise!"
But it was already too late. Another Head Smash hit Magneton before it had a chance to react. Magneton had fainted and Rampardos was panting furiously, its red eyes staring at Magnus and waiting for the next victim.
"It's fast", Magnus thought after withdrawing Magneton, "But the way it's panting right now, even though I didn't manage to hit it with any attack – did is suffer recoil damage?"
"What's up?" shouted Roark across the battlefield, "Thinking about forfeiting the match?"
"If it's really recoil", Magnus thought, "then one swift attack might be enough to knock it out. So we only need to outspeed it, right? If that's true, then..."
"Make a move, buddy! Or are you scared?"
"Pah!" Magnus exclaimed, "But you will be! My starter Pokémon is about to send you nice regards from the Hoenn region! Go, Sceptile!"
The green Pokémon hit the battlefield and its yellow eyes met Rampardos's furious red gaze.
"Head Smash!"
"Leaf Blade!"
Rampardos had no chance. Before it even started to charge its attack, Sceptile had already closed the distance between them with two quick jumps; its bladed arm ready to strike. Rampardos slumped down like a wet sack. Roark needed a few second to process what happened.
"That... was fast", he eventually said in disbelief, but he still managed to crack a smile, "Congratulations! I hereby award you the Coal Badge!"
"Thank you", Magnus said and withdrew his Sceptile, "Your Rampardos was really a tough Pokémon. It's from a fossil, right?"
"Yes! I dug it up in the Underground when I was still a kid."
Underground. Didn't Byron mention this?
"What is the Underground?"
"Haha!", Roark laughed, "You really are a foreigner, aren't you?"
Magnus wanted to protest. After all, he was born in this very city! But for once, he knew to keep his mouth shut.
"It's a huge system of tunnels, spread out below the entire Sinnoh region. You can find all kinds of amazing things down there! First and foremost beautiful spheres, but also loads of fossils. If you find one, you can reanimate them here in the museum!"
Reanimating them? So the Devon technology has already reached Sinnoh.
"How can I reach the Underground?" Magnus asked, "To be honest, I am a huge fan of fossil Pokémon!"
As a proof, he sent out his Armaldo from its Pokéball, which brought a smile to Roark's face.
"The best way to learn the ins and outs of the Underground is to ask my uncle in Eterna City! He is known as the Underground Man and if you show him the Mine Badge, he'll surely teach you all you need to know! But before you go there, I should probably award you with this goodie: The TM Stealth Rock! I didn't get to use it in our fast-paced match, but it's pretty good in slower battles, because it spreads pointy rocks all over the battlefield that weaken each of your opponent's Pokémon."
Magnus thanked Roark and returned to his grandfather's flat. Of course, his grandpa was more than excited to see that he had already won his second Sinnoh Badge. "That's my boy!", he exclaimed more than once. After having dinner with his grandfather, Magnus left to heal his Magneton at the local Pokécenter and when he returned, his grandfather was already fast asleep. Again, he spent the remainder of the evening reading through The Original Story, but this time, he remembered to put the book in a safe place before falling asleep.
The following morning, he finally managed to follow Cynthia's advice and visited Mount Coronet. He encountered a couple of wild Zubats and Geodudes and challenged every trainer he could find, always making sure to use his Magneton as much as possible. Although the Zubats did not pose any real challenge, he tested out a couple of ideas. They weren't as strong or fast as a Togekiss, but as Flying-types, their movement was similar enough. Just when he almost had enough and was close to heading back to Oreburgh, his Magneton knocked out the umpteenth Zubat with a Thunderbolt and suddenly, its whole body was surrounded by a bright light. Magnus could not believe his eyes – was his Magneton really evolving? He had to look away, because the light blinded his eyes, and when he was able to look at his Pokémon again, Magneton was transformed into a large, floating circle with two eyes and three magnets sticking out as limbs.
"Magnezone, the magnet area Pokémon", his Pokédex told him, "There are still people who believe that this Pokémon came from outer space. It emanates a powerful magnetic field."
He really had to thank Cynthia for her advice. Cynthia! Didn't she tell him to meet her in Eterna City? That's where the Underground Man lived, right? He checked on his PokéNav. Eterna was just north of here, but apparently, you need a bicycle to go there. And even worse, it was an uphill ride. Damn. Back in Oreburgh, he asked his grandfather whether he could borrow his bicycle to go to Eterna. "Sure", he replied, "the doc said I shouldn't ride it anyway. You can keep it if you want to!" Magnus thanked his grandfather, but when he saw how old this bike was, he wondered whether it would even manage to make it to Eterna without falling apart. But that was something he could worry about tomorrow. Climbing across Mount Coronet was more exhausting than expected and he quickly fell asleep, dreaming about Magnemites flying through the skies.