After a tough battle dealing with Lt. Surge's aggressive battling style, Summer became victorious thanks to a newly evolved Lightning. She was able to get the Thunder Badge, bringing her one step closer to the Indigo League. But before she can take her next step, Brock calls her for an important task. What is it, and how will she help?

Chapter 22: The Control of Diglett's Cave

I left the Vermillion City Pokémon Center, feeling optimistic about the next part of my journey.

Okay, so I need to go to Celadon City next. Not sure how to get there because of the Saffron City closure…but hopefully someone will give me an idea…

Suddenly I felt my Pokégear vibrate. I took it out of my pocket and saw that Brock was calling me. I answered the call and was about to say hi when he interrupted me.

"Hey, Summer. Where are you right now?" he said calmly.

"Oh, I'm in Vermillion City."

"Good." He then whispered in a panicked tone, "Can you meet me at Diglett's Cave outside of Vermillion City?"

"How come, Brock?" I wondered.

There was a brief pause, then he whispered again, "I'll tell you when you get here."

He then quickly hung up.

I looked at the map on the Pokégear and saw Diglett's Cave was east near Route 11.

I wonder what's happened to Brock…I hope it's nothing bad…

Lightning and I ran in that direction until I saw a large cave near Route 11. As I reached the entrance, Brock was waiting outside.

Brock saw us and then scanned his surroundings. He then motioned me come quietly towards him.

"Hi, Summer," he whispered. "It's good to see you again. I need your help."

"I thought so based on your phone call," I whispered back. "What's going on?"

Brock glanced around. "There's some shady people in Diglett's Cave. I need your help with chasing them out."

"What are they doing?"

"They seem to be looking for something, and they've even caused a rockslide at the center of the tunnel, so no one can cross. I was with a group of students, but it seems the rockslide separated us. I've called an intern for help, but it'll take awhile for him to come."

"What can we do to help?"

"We should remove the rockslide, then stop those people."

"Okay. But why are we whispering?"

"Uhhh…" Brock said normally. "Just to be safe, that's all. Let's go inside."

Despite being called a cave, we descended into a long and narrow tunnel. Light sounds of digging and a strange, faint radio frequency echoed in the tunnel.

"Okay, Summer. We should be careful as we get closer to the rockslide," Brock warned.

I nodded, and we quietly walked down the tunnel. As we got closer to the wall Brock mentioned, two shadows approached us from the east. Brock, Lightning, and I quickly hid behind a boulder by to the right of the wall. Two familiar voices echoed in the tunnel. I silently took a peek from behind the boulder and saw Boulder and Raven in front of the rocks.

"Team Rocket!" I murmured. "What are they doing here?!"

"I can't believe the mind controlling devices are working better in such a short amount of time," Raven said, looking at a clipboard.

"What'd you expect, Raven?" Boulder replied. "You know the boss wants quick results. Now we can control them remotely instead of relying on each orb. We should find that mural in no time."

"The mural?!" Brock hissed. "Not on my watch!"

Before I could ask him about the mural, Brock jumped out of our hiding spot and pointed his finger at the duo. He shouted, "Don't you dare touch that mural, Team Rocket!"

"What the?" Boulder shouted in confusion.

"Oh, it's just the Pewter City Gym Leader," Raven said placidly. "I thought we trapped you on the other side. Looks like we have to take care of you."

"I don't think so! Onyx, I need your help!"

Onyx appeared from his Pokéball and roared at the Grunts. The two just snickered.

"I've been itching for a battle!" Boulder shouted. "Eric, show him what you've got!"

"Tara, you too!"

Tara was still a Murkrow, while Eric looked like a larger boulder with longer arms and feet. I took out my Pokédex and scanned Eric. [Graveler, the Rock Pokémon and the evolved form of Geodude…]

Oh no! I forgot to turn off the voice option!

The tunnel became eerily quiet as the Pokédex continued the entry. […They descend from mountains by tumbling down steep slopes. They are so brutal, they smash aside obstructing trees and massive boulders with thunderous tackles.]

I face-palmed as the entry finished.

"Well, fancy seeing, or should I say, hearing you, sweetie," Raven said with her falsely sweet voice.

I sighed and slowly walked to Brock. Lightning ran next to Onyx and stood on all fours.

"Guess it'll be a multi battle," Boulder said. "Eric! Use Rollout!"

As Eric charged at Lightning and Onyx, Brock commanded, "Onyx, Iron Tail!"

Onyx's tail turned silver, and he hit the charging Graveler. Eric rolled backwards and slowly got up.

"Tara, use Night Shade!"

The Murkrow released a dark purple shot of energy from her eyes at Lightning.

"Lightning, dodge and use Thunderbolt!"

Lighting jumped over the Night Shade and hit Tara with a strong electrical shock. Tara started to dive towards the ground after being hit, but she recovered as well.

"They're tougher than I thought, Boulder," Raven reluctantly stated.

"You're right, Raven. Let's retreat and tell the operation leader."

They quickly returned their Pokémon and ran back to the direction they came from.

"No! Summer, we need to stop them!" Brock worriedly shouted as he ran after them.

"Wait, Brock! We need a plan!"

But Brock was gone. I wanted to go after him, but I thought it would be better if I waited for the person from Pewter City to help me.

Hopefully he won't get into more trouble…

Boulder and Raven ran further down the newly excavated tunnel. Once they got closer to a group of young people commanding some Diglett, a female Grunt with a white scarf and red hair greeted the Grunts with a scowl.

"What're you two doing here!" she shouted. "You were supposed to check the strength of the mind control frequency!"

"Sorry, Ariana," Boulder apologized. "The Pewter City Gym Leader's after us!"

"Then why did you let him follow you?!"

"We thought it'll be safer if he came to us, Ariana," Raven said, panting.

Ariana scoffed, but said, "I guess so. We'll have these 'miners' stop him when he gets here."

Boulder and Raven nodded with evil smirks, and the three Grunts continued down the tunnel.

A few minutes later, Brock entered the area where the three Grunts were and took a deep breath.

"Man, can't believe I lost them. I can't let them get to the mural. Wait…that frequency's a little louder here."

He then looked around and saw some familiar faces.

"Hey, these are my students! Come on, everyone! We need to leave!" he shouted.

But no one listened to him.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you listening to me?"

Once Brock said those words, a shrill radio frequency, echoed through the tunnel. The people looked up and glared at him with their red eyes.

Brock slowly stepped back, scared of this creepy situation.

"What's going on…?"

The students pointed their fingers at the Gym Leader, and their controlled Diglett dug underground. In a few seconds, Brock fell through a hole, hit the hard ground, and became unconscious.

I looked at my Pokégear and saw it's been an hour since Brock left.

Maybe I should go after him…What's taking that intern so long? No, I should get in. Brock may be in trouble…

I was about to step into the new tunnel when I heard some light scratching behind the wall of rocks.

"Who's there…?" I nervously asked. Lightning jumped off my shoulder and lightly growled at the source of the noise.

A hole then appeared in front of us. Lightning and I were confused as a three-headed Pokémon popped out. It was brown and had three faces. I took out my Pokédex and scanned it. [Dugtrio, the Mole Pokémon and the evolved form of Diglett. Because the triplets originally split from one body, they think exactly alike. They work cooperatively to burrow endlessly through the ground.]

Lightning and I stared at the Dugtrio as he moved a little to his left. A boy then popped out the hole and slowly climbed out. He looked familiar; when I saw his face, I instantly recognized him.

"Samir!" I shouted, surprised to see my friend again.

"Summer! How've you been?" Samir asked with a smile on his face.

"Great, just got my third badge."

"Congratulations! As it looks like Lightning evolved too!"

"Thanks! It took a lot of work, but we finally did it. You sure look different without your lab coat."

Samir looked at his tan long-sleeved shirt, olive green jeans, and steel-toed boots. "Yeah, these are my archaeology clothes whenever I'm out in the field. Anyway, what are you doing here, Summer?"

I filled him on what happened to me and Brock earlier.

"Hmm…" Samir pondered. "I wonder why Team Rocket wants that mural so badly…I haven't heard of it until you told me."

Samir looked down the tunnel Brock ran into. "We should be careful, Summer. I don't know what to expect down there."

"Let me scout for you, Samir!" Dugtrio enthusiastically declared. It was a little weird hearing the three mouths responding in unison.

"Dugtrio wants to look first, Samir," I translated.

"Okay, be careful, Dugtrio."

"Yes, Samir!" The Mole Pokémon then popped underground and tunneled away.

After a few minutes, Dugtrio reappeared.

"What did you find out, Dugtrio?" Samir asked.

The Pokémon had worried looks on his faces. "It's terrible! The Diglett are forced to excavate this tunnel. We saw Brock tied up to a rock, and his students are controlling the Diglett. We thought they would have noticed us, but it seemed they were focused on the Diglett. We did notice all of the humans were wearing blue orbs on some part of their clothes."

"It sounds like those mind control orbs are back…" I grimly said. "We should help free Brock and the students."

"Are you sure, Summer? We could get ambushed." Samir said nervously. "We should let the police in Pewter City know."

"I don't think they'll be able to help much. Besides, if we're careful and quiet enough, we can get close and destroy the orbs. Can you help us spy on them, Dugtrio?"

Dugtrio nodded and tunneled back into the passageway. Samir and I slowly followed his tracks at a safe distance. After a few miles of walking, we heard light scratching similar to the ones Dugtrio made and a louder radio frequency. All of us hid behind some rocks and then spied on the scene.

I saw twenty young students standing in front of twenty Pokémon that looked like single versions of Dugtrio. Remembering, to be quieter this time, I turned on the text option on my Pokédex and scanned the miserable-looking Pokémon. [Diglett, the Mole Pokémon. Diglett are raised in most farms. The reason is simple—wherever they burrow, the soil is left perfectly tilled for growing delicious crops.]

Hmm…I should encourage Uncle Alberto and Auntie Marisol to get some Diglett for the farm…

After putting my Pokédex away, I noticed someone struggling to the left. It was Brock, who was tied up and gagged.

"Any ideas, Samir?" I whispered.

"Dugtrio," he whispered to his tunneling friend. "Can you create a distraction?"

The Pokémon nodded and went towards the center of the activity. He then popped out and shouted, "Look at me! Look at me!"

Boulder and Raven ran over, hearing the ruckus.

"It's a Dugtrio, Raven!" Boulder exclaimed, pointing his finger at the loud Pokémon. "We can tunnel faster if we can get someone to control it."

"I agree, and maybe he'll lead us to more of them. Everyone, touch that Dugtrio!"

The students immediately turned their heads to the now-scared Dugtrio. He quickly dug to the main tunnel as the twenty-two people chased after him. Luckily, no one noticed us from behind the rocks.

Who knew the rocks in Kanto are so concealing?

After making sure they were gone, Samir, Lightning, and I snuck over to Brock.

"Samir, Summer!" Brock hastily whispered. "No wonder why Dugtrio came here to distract them! Help untie me."

"Lightning," I whispered. "Use Iron Tail!"

She nodded and cut the ropes with her silver tail. Brock got up and threw the now-cut ropes onto the ground.

"Quick, kids! We need to get out of here before their leader comes back!"

"Oh, you mean me?" a female voice echoed to our right.

All of us quickly turned our heads in the direction of the voice and saw a red-headed woman with piercing red eyes. She was a short woman, about 5'2", but had an air of confidence that made her appear taller. In her left hand was a small black remote control device, which she carefully placed into her left pocket.

"So, it seems we have more intruders," she said with a soft but menacing tone. She then examined me and said, "You look familiar, girl. Ahh…now I remember. You must be the one who thwarted our operations in Mt. Moon and that adoption house."

"You know about that?" I asked, surprised at her conclusion.

"Of course, that leader's been having so much trouble with you. But I won't let you interfere into my operation!"

"Who is he anyway?"

"It doesn't matter! Go, Arbok!"

A large purple snake with a black, yellow, and red pattern under her head appeared from Ariana's Pokéball. She angrily hissed and towered over us.

I took out my Pokédex and turned on the voice option. [Arbok, the Cobra Pokémon and the evolved form of Ekans. This Pokémon has a terrifically strong constricting power. It can even flatten steel oil drums. Once it wraps its body around its foe, escaping is impossible.]

Brock then heard footsteps approaching us in the tunnel. "I'll go back and distract those Grunts and the students. You two focus on getting that remote!"

Samir and I nodded, then Brock ran towards the footsteps.

Ariana laughed and sneered, "So the Pewter City Gym Leader places his trust into two kids?! No one has ever beaten my Arbok. Not even a Slash can hurt her!"

"Don't underestimate us, Ariana!" I shouted determinedly. "Are you ready to battle, Samir?"

My friend smiled and took a Pokéball off his belt. "You bet, Summer. Go, Cappy!"

Samir threw his Pokéball, and a male Pikachu wearing a small red and white cap popped out and landed on the ground.

"I didn't know you have a Pikachu too, Samir!"

Samir smiled. "Yeah, I'll tell you how I got him later."

"Cool! Let's do this, Lightning!"

"Right, Summer!" she enthusiastically shouted and ran next to Cappy.

"Two Pikachu?" Ariana noted with a sly smile. "This should be easy. Arbok, use Poison Sting!"

Arbok released a spray of poisonous needles at the two Electric types. The two shielded themselves against the attack, but luckily, they didn't get poisoned. Arbok used the distraction, aggressively slithered towards Cappy, and wrapped him up using her tail. As he struggled to break free, I saw he was getting weaker from the tight coils. Samir noticed this as well, but he remained calm. I was surprised, but that meant he'd become more confident in battling.

"Cappy, use Thundershock!"

"Lightning, help out with Thunderbolt!"

The two Pikachu charged their cheeks and zapped Arbok with a combined attack, causing Arbok to wince in pain and immediately release Cappy. Ariana gritted her teeth as her Pokémon slithered by to her side.

"Now I see why. Arbok, use Glare!"

Arbok evilly stared at the Pikachu, her eyes turning yellow. Both of her targets froze, unable to move an inch.

Ariana snickered. "Crunch."

Arbok bared her fangs and lunged herself at Lightning. Lightning was unable to break free of her stare, but Cappy was able to start moving.

Samir smiled. "Cappy, intercept Arbok with Thunder Wave!"

Cappy nodded and jumped towards Arbok. He then touched the snake's body with his paw and emitted a weak electrical shock. Arbok instantly felt the paralysis ripple throughout her body. Luckily, this broke her stare, and Lightning was able to dodge at the last second.

"Thanks for the save, Samir," I told him with a smile.

"My pleasure, Summer."

"Enough of this!" Ariana said angrily. "Arbok, Poison Sting!"

"Cappy, Hidden Power!"

Cappy created light blue spheres of energy with his arms and motioned them towards the Poison Attack. As the spheres and needles collided and created a cloud of smoke, I saw a window of opportunity.

"Lightning, charge and use Iron Tail!"

My Pikachu ran into the cloud and, using her ears to sense her opponent, found Arbok and smashed her with the silver tail. Arbok, surprised by Lightning's speed and power, was unable to brace herself and crashed into Ariana. Both Trainer and Pokémon fell to the ground; the remote fell from Ariana's pocket and smashed upon impact. The tunnel became silent as the frequency faded from the remote.

"NO!" Ariana screamed. She returned her fainted Arbok and growled, "This isn't over, children! I swear when we battle again, I'll destroy you!"

She then bolted down the tunnel and out of sight. Brock ran over, along with his students.

"Are you two all right?" he asked.

"We're fine, Brock," Samir replied. "Summer and I were able to chase away the leader."

"That's a relief. Those two Grunts also ran away after the mind control wore off. Too bad we couldn't capture them."

"Well, as long as you and your students are okay, that's all that matters," I pointed out.

Brock smiled. "You're right, Summer. Let's head back to Pewter City. Samir, I need to talk to you and Summer about what happened."

Sensing urgency in his voice, Samir and I looked at each other, then nodded at Brock.

Brock then led all of us through the main tunnel. Lightning and I noticed the Diglett were no longer sad, and were happily working with the Dugtrio in the cave. The Dugtrio who helped us earlier saw us and gave us a little dance. I smiled at his joyful dance and hoped to see him again. Little did I know it would be sooner than I thought.

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:

Are you excited Samir's back (though it'll be for a little while)?

What does Brock want to talk to Summer and Samir about?