Chapter 4: Team Shadow

"Well, here it is." Roger said standing in front of the Diglett Cave.

"Yep, let's go!" Kate said. "It's really dark in here." She said staying close to Roger.

"I have an idea. Time for more training." Roger threw up two pokeballs.

"Torchic." Torchie chirped.

"Growlithe." Mercedes barked.

"Hey guys I want both of you to use your ember attack the whole entire time we are in the cave, this will help you guys with your endurance and give us some light. And remember, conserve your energy so you don't burn out to quickly." Roger ordered. The Pokémon nodded their head and practiced ember.

"Good idea but do you think the Diglett will care?" Kate asked.

"Nah, Diglett are ground type Pokémon so fire shouldn't disturb them at all." Roger said scanning a diglett and dugtrio with his Pokephone. "Now let's get going." They walked and fell into a hole. "Ow, that hurt."

"Yeah how are we gonna get out?" Kate asked. Then a man walked by.

"Here catch this!" He threw down a rope.

"Thank you." They both climbed out.

"No problem, my name is Jackson. I help protect the Diglett and Dugtrio in this cave." He said.

"My name is Roger, and these are my Pokémon. Torchie and Mercedes." Roger pointed at his Pokémon.

"And I'm Kate, it's a pleasure to meet you." Kate said shaking his hand.

"Anyway, I recommend you guys come with me, so you don't fall in anymore of the holes that the Diglett made." Jackson said.

"Ok, sure." They said.

"One thing though." Jackson said. "The Diglett population has dropped over the past few days so don't be surprised they start to act aggressive towards you."

"Why did the population decrease?" Roger asked.

"I'm not sure, I haven't seen any disturbance in the cave so far." Jackson said. "But I'm really worried, most of the Diglett in the Kanto region live here, and if they are all gone there wouldn't be anymore."

"That's terrible!" Kate said.

"Yep, and the worst part is, is that if there are no more Diglett and Dugtrio left in here, this cave will be destroyed." Jackson said.

"Oh yeah, the Diglett here create holes to keep this cave from sealing up by erosion, right?" Roger asked. "So if there are no more Diglett, there is no more Diglett cave."

"You're exactly right." Jackson said. "You know a lot about the Diglett Cave for a person that came from the Hoenn region." Jackson knew Roger was from the Hoenn region because of the Torchic he had.

"Thanks, I did a lot of studying before I became a Pokémon trainer." Roger said.

"Jackson, we would love to help you find out why the Diglett population is decreasing." Kate said.

"Really? You guys would do that for me?" Jackson asked.

"Sure." Roger said. "We can probably find out if we keep going." Roger said.

"Thank you very much!" Jackson said. They kept walking through the cave until they heard a mysterious voice.

"Bellsprout use vine whip." The voice said. "Great now your mine." They heard the sound of three twitches and a click.

"Nice job Jason." Another voice said. "We will have enough Diglett for everyone in Team Shadow.

"Thank you Debra." Jason said.

"Oh, no!" Jackson whispered. "It's Team Shadow!"

"Who are they?" Kate asked.

"They are a team of crooks that capture and or steal Pokémon for evil purposes." Jackson explained. "Kind of like Team Rocket."

"That's probably why they are catching the Diglett." Roger said. "Well that's the last one they are catching!" Roger approached them and saw a man with orange hair and green eyes. He had a purple jacket that said "Shadow" on it, black sweat pants, and black combat boots. Roger knew that he had to be Jason. He also saw a girl with blonde hair and green eyes. She also had the same uniform but she had a black hat that said "Shadow in purple letters. Roger knew that she had to be Debra. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Mind your own business kid." Jason said.

"Yeah, unless you want to lose your Pokémon." Debra said.

"That's it! I'm going to stop you!" Roger yelled.

"Not if Zubat has anything to say about it!" Debra threw a pokeball in the air and a zubat came out.

"Bat bat." She said.

"Whoa." Roger scanned zubat and bellsprout with his Pokephone. "No wonder you were able to catch the Diglett so easily. Flying and grass type Pokémon have the advantage over a ground type. Alright then Mercedes stop using ember and come here." Roger commanded.

"Zubat use leech life." Debra said. Leech life hit Mercedes. "Now use bite!"

"Mercedes, dodge it and show her your bite." Mercedes dodged Zubat and then bit her, causing her to flinch. "Now use leer!" Mercedes made a flash of light and Zubat's defense decreased.

"Haha, what a pathetic attack!" Debra said obviously don't knowing the real damage leer caused. "Now Zubat use leech life." The attack hits Mercedes and Zubat gained health back.

"Ok Mercedes this is what you have been training for!" Roger reminded Mercedes. "Use ember, full power!" A burst a fire came out of Mercedes' mouth, a lot bigger than a normal ember attack. "Whoa, that's flamethrower!" Roger said. "Great job, now keep going!" The fire was too much for Zubat to handle so she gave in.

"No!" Debra screamed.

"Huh?" Jason said after catching another Diglett without anyone knowing. "What happened?" He noticed that Debra's Zubat lost. "That's it, Bellsporut let's show all of them!"

"Roger you earned a break." Jackson said. "I'll take it from here. Go Dugtrio!" Jackson dropped a pokeball and Dugtrio appeared.

"Trio!" It said ready to battle.

"Ha! You think a ground type like that can beat my superior grass type?" Jason laughed.

"Yeah! Dugtrio use earthquake!" Jackson commanded. Dugtrio created a powerful earthquake and bellsprout fainted in one hit.

"How?" Jason said.

"Forget it Jason." Debra said. "You see we have more than five diglett, so that means the rest of them were transferred to our boss. Jason let's retreat."

"Ok, you guys haven't seen the last of us!" Jason said. Team Shadow escaped with dirt bikes and left.

"I tried my best. I'm sorry Jackson." Roger said.

"It's ok, they didn't take all of the Diglett. They can repopulate." Jackson said. "But you guys should get going. I need to report this to Officer Jenny in Vermillion City and you guys need to go to Viridian City."

"Yeah, but I'm still worried about the other Diglett that they caught." Kate said. "They aren't gonna be the same again."

"Me too." Jackson said. "Anyway guys, I want you two to have this as a token for my appreciation." He handed Roger the TM Dig. "Both Torchie and Mercedes can learn this and maybe even your first Pokémon Kate.

"Thank you so much! Well, see you soon around." Roger said.

"You too, by the way you guys aren't far from the exit. See ya later." Jackson left the Diglett Cave using Dugtrio's dig attack.

"Mercedes you worked hard, so rest." Roger called back Mercedes. "How about you buddy?" Roger looked at Torchie. "Did you learn flamethrower?" Torchie tried but the fire started spinning.

"Roger, I think Torchie learned fire spin instead." Kate said.

"Tor tor tor." Torchie nodded his head to show that Kate was right.

"Great job!" Roger said as they left the cave. "Well we are only a few steps away from Viridian City."

"Yes!" Kate said jumping up and down. "Let's go right now!" Kate said running up ahead. However Kate and Roger run into a problem that prevents them from making it into Viridian City.