Well, I was bored one day and this idea just appeared in my mind for a decent short story to entertain a portion of the masses. This should hold off on the wait for the long awaited sequel of the Stardom series I promised in either February or March. I might also mention the main character in the sequel, but that all depends how everything will play out. Not even I know when the first sign of it would arrive, but until then…
So now, please enjoy…
"Thank you, Angie!" a ten-year old female Trainer called out from the distance, waving good-bye to the young Solaceon Town Daycare with a smile. The sun was rising out of the horizon. The sky was bright, with several white clouds hanging overhead. By Angie's feet was a pair of Diglett, their genders differentiated by the female Diglett wearing a pink bow on her head. "Take care of them as if they were your own!"
"I promise you that your Diglett will be Dugtrio by the time you return, Miss! I hope you have fun in your trip!" Angie yelled back, watching the Diglett Trainer walk off into the far side of the tranquil Solaceon Town.
The girl that went her way was a Solaceon Town native and their families became pretty close, largely due to the fact that she had often watched Angie's parents at work with the Pokémon before she became old enough to be an official Trainer. The little girl and her parents went to Hoenn to visit her grandparents and celebrate their fiftieth anniversary. The only restriction for the trip was for her to temporarily relinquish her Diglett pair to the Solaceon Daycare for circumstances completely unknown to Angie. To her parents, they felt her responsible enough to handle two small Pokémon alone.
With the young Trainer and her family gone for the next couple of days, Angie was now responsible for the safety and well-being of the Mole Pokémon pair. Her parents went out to get more supplies while she was left in charge of the currently empty Daycare. Fact was that the little girl was their only costumer so far as of late. With eager zeal motivating her to perform her duties, she glanced down at the tiny creatures; they merely stared at her blankly with their bodies tilted to their right.
"Diglett-Di?" the Diglett asked. Angie giggled at their cuteness.
"Come on, you two," Angie said, motioning them to follow her, "Let's go!"
"Diglett!" the Diglett pair squeaked, retracting their heads from her grating voice presence. Angie pouted, placing her hands on her hips in annoyance.
"Ugh, what's wrong?" Angie asked, walking to the miniature holes left by the Diglett. She leaned forward for further inspection, gazing down the dark, boundless holes. "I wonder what's up, or down in their case." She felt a slight rumble beneath her feet, nearly pushing her off balance. "Wha?!"
The Diglett pair, surprisingly strong and swift for their size, emerged underneath her shoes, carrying her off at an increasing rate. Angie staggered to remain standing on whatever she was on as she went past her house, through her family's wooden fence, and into a bush. The latter of the obstacles had pushed her off the Diglett's heads; her limbs were entangled in the shrubs while her turquoise shirt and short hair were torn and mangled.
"Eh, the laws of physics?" she asked groggily, falling out of the family's shrubbery. She watched dazedly as the Diglett retreated further and further, heading towards the direction of a cave she once hid a Lickilicky in. "… Where in Sinnoh are they even going in the first place?!" She drew up a blank in her mind, unable to contemplate the Diglett's strange behavior. "Is this why she dumped those little monsters on me? Pokémon usually don't turn on me until a full day has passed."
"Angie!" an austere voice shouted, filling the tomboyish girl with apprehensive dread. She shuddered to have them discover her quickest mess so soon.
"Y-Yes, P-Papa?" Angie asked shakily, reluctantly facing up to discover her parents looking down upon her in her current mess.
"Young lady, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" Angie's father asked, crossing his arms, unimpressed by her latest stunt.
"Now dear, ease up on her," Angie's mother said, placing her hands on his shoulders to calm his stern irritation. "Angie, why are you on the ground and in such a mess?" Angie giggled nervously, finding that her sheepish grin was plastered upon her face out of mortification from a pair of Diglett.
"Uh, Mama, Papa, her Diglett suddenly went berserk, swept me off my feet, and went straight to who-knows-where," Angie surmised quickly. The parents exchanged glances, giving her the impression that they think that she lost more competence from her fall.
"I think it might actually be that time of year," Angie's father said, rubbing his chin meditatively. Angie raised a confused brow while her mother clasped her hands around her mouth.
"If that's true, dear, then I can see why she gave us her Diglett," Angie's mother added in shock. Her eyes were wide in horror. Angie was concerned and impatient, hating the fact that she was missing out a vital point of the Mole Pokémon, Diglett.
"What? What?! What's going on?" Angie asked, abruptly standing up, brashly demanding the truth from her parents. "What is it about Diglett today that makes you two so worried about?!" Her parents glanced at her graciously and at a lost of words. Whatever they would tell their daughter might change some views that she held close to her soft heart. They already had a feeling that something, or someone, had unwittingly taken residence in it.
"Well, just to skip the drama and theatrics, today is 'Diglett Day,'" Angie's father started, forcing a cough to clear his voice.
"Uh, so?" Angie asked, shrugging indifferently.
"Diglett Day is somewhat of an instinctive calendar for the Diglett and Dugtrio," Angie's mother added, "And it rather makes them act quite unpleasant at that day."
"However, it was also from this day that we humans created a tradition out of it, foretelling the coming of early spring or six more weeks of winter," Angie's father said, "Depending on the results of it anyway, so to say." Angie stared at them blankly, having followed a few phrases before being lost in their ambiguous explanations.
"Okay, so what do the Diglett and Dugtrio have to do that they would throw me into a bush?" Angie asked brusquely.
Her parents exchanged glances again, trying to find the right words to communicate to their brash, impressionable daughter. She could have already become a Trainer, taking into account her aggressive style of battling from listening to her wild stories from her latest time at Rowan's Summer Academy. But she was old enough to make her own decisions and whether or not she was ready to accept the responsibility of being a full-time Trainer was her choice. At least, she had a right to know what they were talking about.
"Well, Angie dear, the Mole Pokémon of different genders, um, get together at any shadowed spot, like a cave or some sort of secretive space, and, uh, make love," Angie's mother said hesitantly.
"Or in other words, they turn fantasies like those you have over Ash into reality and mate," Angie's father said concisely. The color in Angie's face suddenly left; her mouth was left gaping in ridiculous astonishment.
"And um… if something, like a brown egg with a red oval dot or another Diglett comes into the picture, then folktales and tradition would predict the coming of spring in the surrounding area they went to," Angie's mother quickly intervened, "And if they come back sad and fruitless, then six more weeks of winter we would have to endure. But times have changed and seasonal weather predictions have been inaccurate lately, right Angie?"
"…"
"Angie? You okay?"
"Papa? Mama?"
"Hmm?"
"You've lost me when you said I had fantasies for him!" Angie screamed; her face burning a bright crimson hue.
The parents chuckled sheepishly, knowing that was a very sensitive topic to talk about with their daughter, joking or not. They gave her their consents, albeit it was just to further tease their daughter. They knew how Angie actually felt about him.
"Ah-CHOO!" Ash sneezed boisterously, scaring Pikachu off his shoulder.
"My goodness, bless you!" Dawn exclaimed. "We have not even gone to Snowpoint City, yet your sneeze was horrendously disgusting."
"Pip Piplup," Piplup agreed.
"You know what I think? I think someone's thinking about you, Ash," Brock chuckled. Ash swiped a finger under his nose as Pikachu returned to its spot on his shoulder.
"I don't know who would think about me at a time like this, but let's just keep moving to Mt. Coronet," Ash said, gesturing to his friends to follow on the road. As they continued their travels, several pairs of Mole Pokémon burrowed past them at a blink of an eye. "Hey! Look at the Diglett and Dugtrio!"
"I wonder where they're heading off to," Dawn commented.
My guess, Brock thought grimly, Is as good as theirs…
"We're glad to see you guys back!" Angie's mother exclaimed, welcoming the little girl and her family on their return trip back at Solaceon Town. The sun had almost left the sky, leaving a trace amount of orange-red light behind before the moon and stars took its place entirely.
"You guys are early," Angie's father said. "What's up?"
"Well, I didn't want to leave Angie a lot of work on handling the Diglett," the girl said, looking up innocently. "I didn't know the Diglett would behave like this! Honest!"
"We think your daughter might have had her hands full on this Poké-sitting case," the father of the girl said, scratching his head uneasily. "We think it might have even required more expertise on raising Pokémon than she knew."
"How is Angie anyway?" his wife asked.
"She's in her room now, resting from the ordeal that is Diglett Day," Angie's mother said. "I think she's just hanging around with Shinx. By the way, this is for you." She handed the little Trainer a brown egg with a red oval dot at the heart of it.
"Wow! I get to raise a Pokémon egg!" the little girl exclaimed, triumphantly holding the egg in the air.
"You see, Angie was dedicated on watching over your Diglett upon finding them at a cave and she happened to discover and egg—."
"I know the story, ma'am," the little girl interrupted, admiring her new egg. "I'll take care of this baby like it's my own child!" She skipped merrily away, leaving the adults flabbergasted by her strange reaction to the news. Angie's parents glanced at the girl's mother and father.
"Honestly, I don't know what gets into her head these days!" the father pleaded.
"We don't even know what she's really seen before she became a Trainer," the mother added.
"Well, whatever damage is already done, I suppose," Angie's father surmised. "It's safe for me to say, though, that spring will come early to Solaceon."
"I wish I could say the same for Angie," Angie's mother said, concerned about the psychological events her daughter had endured. "Poor girl… I hope she took it well."
"Shinx?" the Shinx asked its confused Trainer lying on her bed. There was no response. "Shinx! Shinx!"
Its calls were on deaf ears. Angie's mind was wandering, contemplating about what she had witnessed and had ultimately transpired.
Those two Diglett… and the Egg! Angie thought. Her eyes were restless and her body slightly twitched from the very thought continuously crossing her mind. How is that even possible between two Mole Pokémon?! Some things these eyes can never unsee and that girl will definitely be "getting it" from me! But after seeing all of this at a larger scale, is this a sign?
"Shinx!" Shinx shouted, finally attaining her attention.
"Mm, sorry about that, Shinx," Angie moaned, wiping her eyes with her knuckles. She got to her feet and walked to the window, glancing at grand environment of Sinnoh outside her hometown. "You know, Shinx? A girl could only see so much at this time of her life."
"Shinx?" Shinx asked.
"Well, I've decided from that crazy ordeal with Diglett Day that I'm hanging up the apron, for now," Angie said without turning away from the window. "Tomorrow, we're going on our own journey and meet more colorful Pokémon. Hopefully, we won't encounter such crazy things like today's main event."
"Shinx Shinx?" Shinx asked, concerning the Solaceon Daycare.
"Papa and Mama won't mind as long as I remember to raise Pokémon properly," Angie said, continuing to gaze at the setting sun. "You know what else? The Diglett have also taught me something else, in their strange way anyway. To seize any opportunity in life you find to enjoy life even more. I've let too many gone to waste; I'm going out to see the world. Maybe see him again… Argh! Curse my parents and their teasing! How many times do I have to tell them that I'm not going to marry him and run the Daycare with him?!"
"Shinx," Shinx said, amazed by her latest strange change of behavior, as well as her personal rant. I knew it. She does want him badly. Her diary says otherwise. Hee hee… Shinx kept its thoughts to itself and left Angie to deal with her… problems alone.
"Ah-ah-AH-CHOO!!!" Ash sneezed haphazardly, startling even the wild Pokémon around the group. They fled from the disruptive noise.
"Ash, this is the third time you've sneezed!" Dawn yelled angrily. "If you're sick, then we'll set up camp here so that you can get better."
"Piplup Pip!" Piplup agreed.
"Dawn, I don't think I'm actually sick," Ash said, briefly sniffling and rubbing his nose with a finger.
"I agree; it's probably some unrequited suitor who talks and thinks about our friend Ash at any and every waking moment she has," Brock said, lightheartedly shrugging. "I'm so jealous."
"Croagunk!"
"Ack!" Brock yelped, feeling a numbing pain spreading to the rest of his body, ultimately collapsing. "What did I even do that t-time?!"
"Croa… Croa… Croa…"
Ash and Dawn watched Croagunk standing near the paralyzed Brock, wondering about their adventure's today would be this exciting tomorrow, provided that someone continued to speak about Ash behind his back and his sneezes start a wild Pokémon riot. If Ash did sneeze again, then they would best be finding a quieter place to camp out for the night or run to the nearest Pokémon Center.
Whatever Ash, Angie, or anyone else would do until this day's inevitable end, they should never come across a Diglett or Dugtrio pair. Ever!
I do not know how this came to me. I guess it was because four weeks passed by so quickly since the Summer Academy arc, like the conclusion of From Servant to Stardom. I say everyone had fun during that time, whether it was seen in Japanese or in English dub. Or any other language for that matter… As for the real holiday, well… what do you all think about the winter and spring predictions, provided you are curious about them at the least?
If you would please review, then it will be appreciated. I want to listen to your thoughts regarding this one-shot.
Ciao!