Before Summer began her journey to Celadon City, Brock called her to help with an emergency situation at Diglett's Cave. Once there, the two, along with Samir, encountered Team Rocket, who were looking for something. With teamwork, Samir and Summer chased Ariana, Boulder, and Raven out of the tunnels, freeing the Diglett from their slavery. Now, Brock sees this incident as a potential crisis to the Kanto Region. The three now head back into Diglett's Cave to find the item Team Rocket was searching for. What will Summer find, and how does that factor into Giovanni's goals?

Chapter 23: The Game Plan

Brock, Samir, and I, along with Brock's students, tiredly marched back to the Pewter City Museum. I returned Lightning earlier to give her some rest. After apologizing and dismissing the group, Brock led the two of us to his Gym.

We walked up a flight of stairs behind the receptionist desk and into a small meeting room. The room had gray walls, but it didn't make the room feel depressing. A stone table with six granite chairs laid in the center of the room. A charcoal grey chalkboard at the back of the room and a white ceiling fan were the main eye catchers. Samir and I sat down in the two chairs closest to the chalkboard while Brock walked in front of it.

"Samir, Summer, I want to thank you for help at Diglett's Cave. You two handled the situation well, both in battling and strategy," Brock praised with a calm smile.

But then his smile disappeared, and his tone became serious. "But this incident makes things more troubling. I'm afraid you two will now be targeted by Team Rocket."

"Well, we battled them before," I pointed out. "If we keep training and stopping them, wouldn't that be enough?"

"I wish it were so, Summer," Brock said with a sigh. "When I heard Team Rocket was looking for the mural, I knew it would involve the Kanto Legends."

"Is that what the mural is about?" Samir asked.

Brock slowly nodded. "This one's similar to the mural we found in Mt. Moon, but it's more detailed. I discovered its location months before in Diglett's Cave, and I learned the Diglett and Dugtrio were descendants from the ancient peoples' Pokémon. They are protectors and deter all intruders who want to exploit the mural's rarity and value. I swore to the Diglett and Dugtrio I wouldn't tell anyone about it, and they agreed. I believe the ancient peoples wanted to hide something depicted in the mural."

"Shouldn't we take it out of the cave to protect it?" Samir suggested.

Brock shook his head. "I'm sorry, Samir. The Diglett and Dugtrio are still protective and refuse to let anyone take it outside. Maybe, we can see if they will allow us to look at it."

"It's worth a shot," I said. "Hopefully they'll acknowledge us after what happened earlier."

"I hope so too. Let's hurry and go back before it gets too late."

Brock left a note on the door of his room for his siblings, saying he'll be back tomorrow morning. The three of us then left the Gym and made our way back to Diglett's Cave. The three of us descended down into the tunnel and saw the tunneling Diglett and Dugtrio. The Pokémon stopped when they heard our footsteps and happily tunneled towards us.

Brock solemnly looked at the Mole Pokémon and cleared his throat. "Diglett and Dugtrio," he spoke in a formal tone. "Would it be all right if the three of us see the mural here?"

The 40 wild Pokémon whispered to each other, unsure of what to do. From the looks of it, I believed they were debating about following their ancestral duty or allowing us to pass based on our earlier actions.

The Dugtrio who helped us approached and replied, "Brock, Samir, and Summer. Although we have a duty to protect the mural from foreign eyes, you three have saved us from that evil group. As a token of thanks, we will allow you to see the mural. Please, follow us."

"What did they say, Summer?" Samir asked.

I smiled at my friends and translated, "They'll let us see the mural in return for saving them from Team Rocket."

The three of us bowed in response to their decision, and we followed a trail of 5 Diglett and Dugtrio into the tunnel Team Rocket carved. After about 15 minutes, we walked into a dead end. I was a little puzzled, but then I saw the Diglett making an arc in front of the wall. The five simultaneously dug underground, and the tunnel slightly shook. The wall split open, revealing a hidden passageway into the dark.

"Do you have a flashlight?" Dugtrio inquired. "It does get pretty dark down there."

Samir nodded, opened his orange knapsack, and took out a Flash brand flashlight. He then turned it on, and the flashlight emitted a strong white beam of light. We followed the trail of Diglett and Dugtrio on a slight downward slope further into what I felt like an abyss. After what felt like a couple of hours, we saw something glowing in the tunnel.

As we got closer, we entered a large room with the rock walls covered in shimmering light blue, orange, and yellow crystals. Before I could admire the beauty of the crystals, something above caught my eye. I looked up and saw a beautifully detailed mural depicting the Legendary Birds. The glow from the crystals highlighted certain colors and areas on the painting.

I looked back at the room and saw Brock and Samir lying down and staring at the mural. Feeling my neck was a little strained, I did the same as the two and lied down next to Samir.

After getting comfortable on the dirt floor, I looked at the mural once more. This time, I saw the mural included an ancient map of the Kanto Region, which had more trees and grasslands compared to its present state.

Brock dreamily said, "Even though I've seen it before, this mural's still as impressive as the first time I saw it."

"What's important about this mural, Brock?" I curiously asked.

"It shows the ancient resting places of the Legendary Birds that live in the Kanto Region."

"Really?" Samir said, surprised. "No wonder why Team Rocket wants it! This means they're planning to use the Legendary Birds for their nefarious crimes!"

"I know," Brock said. "That's why I had to protect it. Let's learn from this mural and use that knowledge to prevent Team Rocket from taking them."

Samir and I agreed. I fumbled my Pokégear out of my pocket and opened the Map app.

"We can compare the locations from the mural with the locations on the Pokégear," I suggested.

"Good thinking, Summer!" Brock cheered. "Let's see…it appears Articuno is on a set of three islands to the south, Zapdos is in a mountain range to the east, and Moltres is in a plateau to the west."

"Hmm…" I pondered, comparing the locations with the Map. It seems Articuno is at the Seafoam Islands, Zapdos is near an abandoned power plant, and Moltres is on Indigo Plateau."

"Wait a minute," Samir realized. "Is that why those locations have frequent temperature and weather changes?"

"What do you mean, Samir?" I asked.

Samir lectured, "I read about this in a book at the museum. It seems, historically, these three places suddenly had unusual temperatures and climates. First, the Seafoam Islands are usually tropical, but can experience infrequent snowstorms. There's also an inner cave that's the coldest place in all of Kanto. Second, the mountain ranges near Rock Tunnel are rumored to be filled with electrical energy. It's also known to have frequent thunderstorms; that's one of the reasons why the Kanto Power Plant was built but later abandoned. And finally, Indigo Plateau used to have an active volcano where Victory Road is now. The volcano's now dormant, but the plateau still experiences heat waves now and again."

"Hmm…" Brock thought aloud. "Maybe these are resting spots for the Birds."

"I think you're right, Brock!" Samir gasped. "That must be the reason why Team Rocket wants this mural…to know the locations of the Birds!"

"I need to warn the other Gym Leaders," Brock said. "But let's wait until tomorrow. It feels like it's pretty late."

I checked the time and saw it was 7pm. "You're right, Brock. Why don't we have dinner first? Then we can spend the night here."

Brock and Samir nodded. I took out my Berry gardening kit and removed Oran, Pecha, and Cheri Berries from the dwarfed trees. Samir then cleaned the berries, and Brock cut them up into slices. After taking out the portable food maker, I placed some slices of Berries into the blender and made some Pokémon food. The three of us then let out all of our Pokémon, and we had a quick dinner with the Diglett and Dugtrio. After cleaning up our dinner, Brock, Samir and I laid on the ground, covered ourselves with blankets from our bags, and fell asleep as the crystals shined in the darkness.

"Report status, Ariana!" Giovanni demanded to a monitor as he sat in his dimly lit office.

Ariana showed up on the screen and appeared calm, but a little nervous. "Boss!" she acknowledged with a salute. "The new mind control devices have been tested in Diglett's Cave. We are now able to function through a remote and can affect multiple people's emotions with a flick of the switch!"

Giovanni grinned evilly. "Excellent, Ariana. Any problems with the device?"

Ariana hesitated. "Well, not the device, necessarily. Three intruders were able to destroy the remote, returning the controlled people back to their original states. We were…also unable to retrieve the mural you desired."

She slightly flinched, awaiting Giovanni's infamous scolding. But instead, he paused and rubbed his chin.

"Who are these intruders?" Giovanni asked with slight curiosity.

"Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader, and those two kids who stopped Boulder and Raven in Cherrygrove City."

Giovanni snickered. "So, we have some repeat offenders. I believe Brock will warn the Gym Leaders about this impending crisis."

"How should we proceed, boss?"

"Stay at headquarters and keep training our new recruits. I shall alert you of any potential operations in the next month. You are dismissed."

Ariana saluted her leader and shouted, "Yes, Boss!"

Giovanni then ended the transmission. "Well… It sees everything's going according to plan. What they don't know is that my mother's seen the mural before and copied down the locations while that Dugtrio wasn't looking. We already have units studying those locations for months! Heheheh…"

The leader of Team Rocket then laughed evilly, stood up, and walked towards an old Champion trophy. His Persian followed his master and stared at the familiar award.

"Soon, Persian. Our efforts in Kanto will be worth it. Our two bases are providing more than enough income for our special weapon. We'll get our revenge on Red by forcing the Legendary Birds to summon their master for our cause and catching it with that new research prototype. Team Rocket will once again rule Kanto! MWAH HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

He then grabbed his black coat and fedora on a coat rock near the door. "Come, Persian. It's time to visit our 'dazzling' base."

He snickered as he put on these clothes and left the room, his Persian purring behind him.

I slightly stirred as the crystals' light hit my closed eyes. Once I slowly opened them, the room came into focus. I sat up and saw Brock and Samir packing up. I looked at my Pokégear and saw it was 9am. I joined in the packing, and after half an hour, we were prepared for the long trek back to Pewter City. The Diglett and Dugtrio led the way, with the three of us following close behind. Once we reached the exit, we waved goodbye to our guides, exited the cave, and walked into Pewter City.

Once we reached the Pokémon Center, Brock said, "Why don't you come to the Gym later for brunch?"

"Are you sure, Brock?" Samir asked. "We do have a meeting later at the museum."

Brock smiled. "Don't worry, Samir. That's not until 3pm, so there's plenty of time. Why don't you spend some time with Summer? You two haven't seen each other in a while."

"Okay, but do you need help with cooking?"

"Don't worry about that. My brothers and sisters will help, if you don't mind them joining us for our meal."

"That's not a problem at all," I said. "Thanks, Brock."

"All right, you two go do something fun. I'll call you when things are done," Brock said, walking away while waving goodbye.

After we waved to our host, I asked Samir, "So, Samir. What do you want to do?"

Samir thought for a little bit, then said, "Why don't we go to the park? We can catch up there."

"Okay, let's go."

Both of us walked east and saw an iron arc with the words, "Pewter City Park" on it. We passed through it and saw fields of flowers, trees, and benches. Numerous wild Caterpie and Pidgey frolicked in the park and played with Pokémon owned by the visiting Trainers.

Samir and I then passed an empty battlefield.

"Hey, Summer," Samir asked nervously. "I know it's a crazy request…but, can I battle you?"

"Sure, Samir…." I responded, surprised at his question. "Why? If you don't mind me asking?"

Samir confidently looked at me and replied. "I want to see how strong we've become since we last met. If Team Rocket will be targeting us, I want to see how we can improve in case they challenge us."

I smiled and said, "I see. I won't go easy on you, Samir."

"I was hoping you wouldn't."

Samir walked to the northern side, while I went to the southern side. Once we turned around to face each other, we gave each other confident smiles.

I can't believe this'll be the first time I'm battling Samir. Although he's busy with his internship, it seems he's been practicing battles as well. Well, here goes nothing!

Pokémon: Blaze (Combusken, male): Brave Nature, moves: Quick Attack, Double Kick, Flamethrower, Focus Energy

Errol (Hoothoot, male): Rash Nature, moves: Tackle, Growl, Hypnosis, Peck

Swirls (Poliwhirl, female): Relaxed Nature, moves: Water Pulse, Hypnosis, Water Gun, Doubleslap

Lightning (Pikachu, female): Adamant Nature, moves: Thunderbolt, Quick Attack, Iron Tail, Sweet Kiss

Flower (Bulbasaur, female): Gentle Nature, moves: Tackle, Leech Seed, Vine Whip, Sleep Powder

Questions for the Chapter:

What do you think of Giovanni's plot?

Who will win: Summer or Samir?