Chapter 18:

Who's in the Grotto?

Location: Route 5

Route 5. The location where aspiring musicians and entertainers come to show off their stuff. Not just in their talents, but in their battling skills as well! And that's why I was there; I wanted to train up for Elesa.

Wanting to get into things immediately, I walked passed an Artist.

"I want to see the many colours of your Pokémon!"

Rosa Vs. Artist Horton

"Okay Growlithe, go!" I shouted as Growlithe was sent out.

"Go Sigilyph!" Horton shouted. Yikes. It was weirder than Hilbert described it.

Sigilyph (シンボラー)

120

Psychic/Flying Type

Avianoid Pokémon

4'07" (1.4 m)

30.9 lbs (14 kg)

The guardians of an ancient city, they always fly the same route while keeping watch for invaders.

Sigilyph has no known evolutions.

"Sigilyph, Whirlwind!" Sigilyph started flapping its wings. It created a tornado that forced Growlithe back to its Pokéball.

"No!" I shouted as Trapinch was forced out. Double great. I was concerned that Trapinch couldn't do much as most of its moves were Ground Type. But I was proven wrong when Trapinch summoned a bunch of rocks from the sky that landed on Sigilyph; it had learned Rock Slide! "Wow Trapinch! That's great! A Flying Type counter!"

"Sigilyph, Psybeam!" Sigilyph fired a colourful beam at Trapinch, but the match was mine at that point.

"Rock Slide again!" Trapinch made one more rockfall onto Sigilyph. It was down.

"Well, you showed a lot of red in battle. That'll do."

"Go you!" shouted Bianca who had been watching us. We were so investing in our battle we didn't even realize she was there.

"Oh, hey!" I said. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to show you something!" she replied. "Come with me; it's through the tall grass!"

Bianca walked me through the tall grass. She had polluted the air with Repels, so there were no encounters.

"So, what's going on?" I asked.

"Show you when we get there!" Bianca sung. "Wait, we are here! Welcome Rosa, to a Hidden Grotto!"

She was pointing to a very small opening between two trees. "What's inside?" I asked.

"Less talky talky, more lookey lookey!" she replied, going in. With nothing else to do, I followed.

Location: Route 5 Hidden Grotto

We were in a small section of forest where the light barely shone down.

"Is this someone's home?" I asked.

"Keep it down!" Bianca whispered. "You'll scare the Pokémon that lives here."

I wasn't sure what Pokémon she meant. Well, I did quickly because it was only a small room with a single Pokémon in it. The Pokémon in question; Minccino.

Minccino (チラーミイ)

107

Normal Type

Chinchilla Pokémon

1'04" (0.4 m)

12.8 lbs (5.8 kg)

Minccino greet each other by grooming one another thoroughly with their tails.

"And?" I asked. "It's just a Minccino."

"Not just any old one. It has the Hidden Ability Skill Link. This makes moves such as Double Slap hit the complete five times! Plus, when it evolves into Cinccino, it can learn Bullet Seed and Rock Blast! I felt that you might like it."

"I think I do!" I shouted. "You're mine Minccino!" I jumped out. "Go Azumarill! Use Bubble Beam!" Azumarill fired a jet of bubbles at Minccino that did about half damage. Minccino started slapping Azumarill multiple times with its tail. Five times in fact. It was Tail Slap. If all these moves hit five times, I think I had a good teammate. "Okay. Go Great Ball!" I threw a Great Ball at Minccino. It wiggled two and fro…

…and stayed in!

"Nice one!" Bianca shouted. "You put my skills to good use! Okay. I have one more thing to give to you. First, this." Bianca went into her Bag and got out a HM. "This is HM02, which contains Fly. When you get a Pokémon that can learn it, you can zoom back to any places you've been to in the region."

I thanked her, even if I didn't have any Pokémon that could learn the move. But it would come in handy once I do get one. "I'll use these when I can," I said. "Thanks for showing me this new Pokémon! It will be used greatly!"

Location: Route 5

With a new Pokémon on me, I decided to take on one more Trainer. I found a Ranger who was willing to battle me.

"Howdy? Training for Elesa?"

Hilbert Vs. PKMN Ranger Lois

"I choose Growlithe!" I shouted.

"Come out Budew!" Lois replied.

"Okay Growlithe, Flame Wheel!" Growlithe rolled into Budew covered in flames, but it didn't quite knock it out.

"Budew, Stun Spore!" Budew started shaking, letting loose lots of yellow powder. Growlithe breathed it in and became paralyzed. This wasn't going to be fun. "Now use Water Sport!" Budew fired water all over where we were battling. Now Fire Type moves would be at half power. Not that Growlithe could use any because it couldn't move that turn due to paralysis. "Now use Mega Drain!" Budew shot a beam at Growlithe that drained a slight bit of health from it.

"Flame Wheel!" I shouted as Growlithe rolled into Budew, knocking it out.

"Nice one. Okay Roselia, come out!" Lois sent out a green Pokémon with a rose on each hand. One red and one blue.

Roselia (ロゼリア)

134

Grass/Poison Type

Thorn Pokémon

1'00" (0.3 m)

4.4 lbs (2 kg)

It uses the different poisons in each hand separately when it attacks. The stronger its aroma, the healthier it is.

Budew (B) -Happiness in the Daytime- Roselia

"Okay Roselia, Giga Drain!" The Giga Drain was a Critical Hit and did a surprising amount to Growlithe.

"Flame Wheel!" Growlithe rolled into Roselia, dealing about half damage.

"Another Giga Drain!" Roselia used another one. It's HP was returning, but I hopefully had it covered.

"Flame Wheel!" I shouted. The Flame Wheel Growlithe used almost knocked out Roselia.

"Giga Drain again!" This next one brought Growlithe to one HP left. Even worse, Growlithe couldn't move that turn. "Finish it!" Roselia sapped away the rest of Growlithe's HP, as little as there was.

"Well, let's finish this off with my newest friend. Go Minccino!" I shouted. "Use Tail Slap!" Minccino slapped Roselia with its tail a total of five times. The final slap was the final blow on Lois' final Pokémon.

"Thanks! You'll show Elesa who's boss!"

With that, my training on Route 5 has come to an end. Tomorrow will be my Gym battle with Elesa; can't say I'm not nervous. But I'm stronger now! Especially with a new Pokémon and a new move on Trapinch that can deal with her Emolga!