CHAPTER 27: Route 11 and Digletts Cave!

SERENA

"Okay, guys! Lets try for Lavender Town today!" Ash pumps his fist up, and we all cheer.

"That's not too far! If we start now, we could easily make it before sundown!" Brock says, and Dad nods.

"Dad, are you sure you want to come with us?" Hilary asks, probably for the hundredth time, and he nods.

"I'll stick with Ser bear, i want to see how her training's coming along." I nod, and he smiles.

"Then there you have it! Gardenia, Serena, and Mr. Flora go one way, Misty, Ash, and Brock go one way, and Me and Hilary go one way!" Candice smiles, releasing her Sneasel.

We head out to Route 11.

MISTY, ASH, & BROCK

"Tia, use Drill Run!"

Tia flies at the opposing Hypno, slamming into it with her horn, while spinning quickly like a drill.

"HYP!" The Hypno quickly recovers, throwing Tia into the ground violently with a strong Psychic.

Tia gets up, shivering in pain.

"TIA, STONE EDGE!"

Tia picks up a huge sharpened boulder, throwing it quickly at the Hypno.

It take it down, sending it to unconsciousness.

"Good job Tia!" Ash sprays her wounds with a Potion, and she hugs him tightly.

"Tia... so... strong... can't... breathe..." Ash coughs.

She giggles, letting him go to breathe.

"Tia, your doing amazing!" Brock pats her horn, and she happily laughs.

"My turn! My turn!" Misty releases Seadra, and points at a nearby Drowzee.

"Seadra, use Twister!"

Instead of the usual whirlwind of purple static energy, Seadra sends a large shockwave of the purple energy, sending the Drowzee flying into the treeline, disappearing.

"What was THAT?" Misty asks, as Seadra grins happily and dances around.

"It looked like a Dragon Pulse." Brock says, and Misty throws her arms around Seadra.

"Yay! Congratulations Seadra!" They both laugh and jump around.

"Your turn, Brock!" Ash points at another Drowzee, but Brock shakes his head.

"You go ahead Ash, I'm sure my guys like the fresh air." He smiles, and Ash shrugs.

"Tia, use Rock Blast!"

HILARY & CANDICE

"Sneasel, use Ice Fang!"

"Jojo, use Dizzy Punch!"

Sneasel flies at the Rattata, fangs coated in a thick layer of ice, and sinks them into it's neck, rendering it unconscious instantly, while Jojo twirls and dances her way quickly over to the Hypno, and lands a solid punch to it's jaw, sending it sliding back a few feet.

The Hypno then throws a small Confusion at Jojo, pushing her back a bit, staggering her.

"Sneasel, us-"

"No! Jojo's got this! Jojo, use PsyBeam!" Candice steps back, Sneasel beside her, as Jojo prepares her next attack.

Steadying herself, Jojo throws her arms in front of her, sending a beam of pure energy at the Hypno, who stands it's ground and takes it head on.

It stumbles, and has to take a knee, but eventually stands back up, and sends another Confusion at Jojo.

"Dodge, then Dizzy Punch again!"

Jojo masterfully teeters out of the way of the oncoming wave of telekinesis, and twirls her way quickly to the Hypno, landing another blow to it's jaw, and finally knocking it out.

"Yeah! Good job baby girl!" Hilary runs forward, picking up the panda pokemon, and hugging her close.

"Spin! Pin!" Jojo giggles, and twirls away as Hilary puts her back down.

"Are Spinda always so... dizzying?" Candice asks, taking her eyes off of the teetering pokemon.

"Yeah, it's something to do with their equilibrium being off kilter. It messes up their balance, but they dont feel anything different from you or me."

"That's so cute!" Candice laughs, and Hilary nods.

"So, have you thought about evol- WHAT IS THAT?!" Hilary stops cold, as Jojo bumps into a large navy roadblock.

"SNOOOOOOR. SNOOOOOR." The giant roadblock snores, stirring gently when Jojo bumps it again, confused as to why she cant keep going.

Hilary quick;y scoops the panda pokemon up, and they move quickly away.

"What wast THAT?" Candice whispers.

"I think it was a Snorlax, but we cant be sure. Let's try to find another way around." Candice nods, and they head back into Route 11.

SERENA, GARDENIA, & GERALD

"Mambo, Feather Dance then Air Cutter!"

Mambo throws a layer of tuft onto the Spearow, causing it to lose mobility, then sends sharp gusts of air at the small bird, pushing it back and damaging it severely.

It squawks in annoyance, then throws a talon full of sand at Mambo, and succeeds in blinding him momentarily.

"Shoot! Mambo, Thunder Bolt!"

Mambo fires, but misses drastically, almost hitting Belle, who is flying around above the battle, surveying. She squawks and flaps out of the way, as Spearow flies talon first into a Fury Attack on Mambo.

When it finally disengages, Mambo staggers, almost falling to the ground, but his eyes are clear now.

"Mambo, finish this with another Thunder Bolt!"

Mambo charges his lightning, then sends a large bolt, striking Spearow instantly, and knocking it out cold.

"Yeah!" I run over, spraying Mambo with a potion. He perks right up, and hugs my leg, before running off again, in search of another enemy.

"That was smart thinking, that Feather Dance. I don't think Mambo could have made it through that Fury Attack without it." Dad points out, and i nod.

"I'm trying to get his speed up, so i can land as many attacks as fast as possible.. You should see his Feather Sword Ace combo in a real battle." I say, and Dad tilts his head.

Gardenia explains for me.

"Serena has been working with her pokemon on combo moves, like Feather Sword Ace for instance. Mambo would send a Feather Dance out, and while the enemy is surprised, would summon a quick Swords Dance, boosting his attack, then finally go in for an Aerial Ace. The combo has a zero percent chance of missing, and by using Swords Dance, Mambo boosts his attack enough for a devastating Aerial Ace." Dad nods, staring at me in wonder.

"Wow, Serena. How did you ever become so smart?" He chuckles, shaking his head.

"Oh, there's another Hypno! Watch, I'll show you!" I point at the Hypno, and Mambo nods.

"Mambo, use Feather Sword Ace!" I call and Mambo jumps into action.

Sending a quick Feather Dance to slow the target, Mambo summons celestial swords, boosting his attack immensely, then flies quick and straight as an arrow at the opposing Hypno, knocking it out before it even has a chance to react.

Dad just claps, chuckling.

"Did you have anymore of these... combos?" He asks, and i nod.

"With Belle and Ba- Umph!" I'm cut off as i walk face first into a large blue blob, blocking the road.

"SNOOOOR."

"What in gods name..." Dad walks up, and strokes the thing carefully.

It's taking up the entire road, and there's no way around unless we were to go through the river beside it.

"Just as i thought. It's a Snorlax." Dad steps back, admiring the huge pokemon.

"Like, the evolved form of Munchlax?" I ask.

Munchlax is a pokemon from Sinnoh, so i know it well.

"Yeah! Good job!" He smiles, nodding.

"Well, how are we going to get around it?" Gardenia asks, and Dad shakes his head.

"The only thing that can wake up a Snorlax is a PokeFlute, and I dont currently have one, so we will have to find a different path."

"But this IS the path, Dad!" I sigh, exasperated.

"I think Diglett's cave is around this area to, lets head back and try to find it." Gardenia suggests, and we all nod.

We turn back, looking now for Diglett's cave.

MISTY, ASH, & BROCK

"Tia, try using Drill Run again!" Ash calls, exasperated.

Tia spins midair, landing a solid hit on the Snorlax, but to no avail. The Snorlax coughs in it's sleep, but doesn't budge.

"Ash, this isn't going to work." Misty sighs for the thousandth time.

Tia nods, breathing heavily from assaulting the Snorlax constantly for the past half hour.

Throwing his arms up, Ash sighs.

"Well, how are we supposed to get through!" He shouts, at no one in particular.

"We could go through Route 9, but..." Brock trails off, but both kids are at his feet, begging to know more.

"The only thing is that we would have to go through Diglett's Cave, then up through Pewter and Cerulean again." He explains, and the kids nod, sighing.

"Then i guess thats how we go." Ash grabs his bag, and puts his overshirt back on, and they head back onto the Route.

"Hey, we'll get to see Bill again at least!" Misty says, and Ash cheers up a little.

"And we could call your mom, let her know that we will be in the are!" Brock suggests, and Ash grins.

He runs ahead to call his mom, and they make their way to Diglett's Cave.

HILARY & CANDACE

"It's so cold in here!" Hilary shivers as they make their way through the cave.

"Are you kidding?! It's perfect!" Candice laughs as she takes her jacket off, tying it around her waist.

"Damn Ice type trainers..." Hilary shivers.

They make their way through the cave, which, thankfully, is straight forward, no turns or stops. They have been traversing said cave for a few hours now, and it was starting to freeze over.

Another Diglett pop's its head up in front of them.

"Jojo, Dizzy Punch!"

A quick punch to the head and the Diglett slumps, unconscious.

"Good job, girl!" I laugh as she taps the Diglett, then twirls away when it doesn't respond.

"When do you think- LOOK THE EXIT!" Hilary dashes forward, grabbing Jojo as she passes her, and makes a break for the exit...

And she trips over a Diglett who popped up to see who was making all that ruckus.

She trips and falls, landing face first in the dirt, and throwing Jojo out the exit.

"SPPPIiiiinn..." Her voice trails off ash she disappears out the exit.

"JOJO!" Hilary launches back onto her feet, then takes off out the exit, to find Jojo pouting at someone's feet.

She quickly scoops the baby pokemon up, reassuring her, as she looks at who the person is.

"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to startle you or anything!" She apologizes, then everything goes black as the man's elbow slams into the side of her head.

"I'll take that. Someone like you doesn't deserve a pokemon!" The person grabs Jojo, then goes to make off, but a huge white and green pokemon blocks his way.

"Aboma..." It growls.

"Take another step. I dare you." A voice growls behind him, and he whips around to see Candice, and Sneasel, both with icicles in hand and ready to throw.

"Who are you and what are you doing with Jojo?" Candice growls, taking a step forward.

"I'm a member of Team Rocket! And this girl doesn't deserve pokemon, not if shes just going to throw it around! Look at how upset it is!" He holds out Jojo, who is sobbing uncontrollably and reaching for Hilary, who is still crumpled on the ground.

"That was an accident. You have NO right to steal another trainer's pokemon." Candace growls.

"I wouldn't call it stealing, per se, more re-hom-" He's cut off as Jojo, who is now sporting a very angry expression, lands a square Dizzy Punch right to his jaw.

"You BI-" He drops her as she strikes again, hitting his nose with a loud CRACK, then slams him with a drop kick on the way down.

He goes to crawl away, but Jojo grabs his shirt and slams his head into the ground, putting him to sleep.

She goes to strike again, but Candice pulls her off.

The man slowly wakes up, nose dripping blood, and proceeds to run off. Abomasnow goes to stop him, but Candice waves him off.

"Don't, Snow. He aint worth it." She bends over Hilary, who is still out cold.

Jojo starts crying again, and Candice holds her tight.

"Help me move her somewhere safe." Abomasnow gently lifts her, and they head off down the path, when Candice notices something.

"Are those... lights? Come on, lets go!" They take off at a run, Snow gently carrying Hilary.

SERENA, GARDENIA, & GERALD

"Finally, the exit!" They burst out of the cave, into the mid day sun, and breather the fresh air.

"How long were we in there?" Gardenia asks.

"A few hours, it's... one now." Dad checks his watch, and we keep moving.

Mambo and the rest of my birds fly gratefully high, and stretch their wings for the first time in hours.

"If i'm not mistaken, Pewter city should be just over there..." Dad mumbles, and I whip around.

"Pewter?!" And even as I say it, I can see the huge pine tree towering in the background.

"We went BACKWARDS?! I thought this was a shortcut?" I cry, exasperated.

"Well, we might as well head around to Cerulean, i guess." Gardenia sighs, hiking her bag up higher on her back, and starting forward, me and Dad trailing.

We make it to Pewter in no time, and head straight to the center, for food and some time to rest.

Dad swipes his card in the machine, and his Trainer I.D shows up on the screen. Nurse Joy's face goes dark.

"Oh, Mr. Flora! I hope your daughter is doing alright?" He laughs and points to me.

"She hasn't gotten into anymore fights with poachers!" He laughs, but the Nurse shakes her head.

"Not Serena, Hilary? She was just admitted to the local hospital a couple hours ago?" She finishes, and Dad's expression goes blank.

"What?" He asks, tone low.

"Head trauma, it says here. Attacked by Team Rocket?" Her eyes go wide as she realizes that Dad had no idea.

"DAD!" I shout as he books it out the door.

Me and Gardenia follow suite.

We get to the hospital, and Dad is already gone to the room, presumably.

We head to the front desk, where the nice front desk worker greets us.

"Hi there! Can i help you?" He smiles widely.

"Yes, actually! We are looking for Hilary Flora? I'm her sister, Serena."

"Oh, okay! Your father was just here to! Room 200F, second floor!" He smiles, and waves us off.

We decide to take the stairs, and make it to her room in less than a minute.

Steeling myself, we walk in.