"Looks like Gary isn't having a good day." I said to May while checking my phone.
"Oh yeah? Is it because of Mt. Moon?" She asked between bites of her crepe.
"Yep. He's stuck at the Pokemon Center waypoint until the path opens up again, unless he decides to take a ferry straight to Cerulean." I told her while going over Gary's updates from this morning, which mostly showed him sulking while his entourage tried, and failed, to cheer him up.
"Hmmm. I doubt Garry would willingly let the chance to catch some rare pokemon go, but he also might just get impatient."
"I guess it could actually go either way." I told her, before looking to see what was going on with Ash. "And it looks like Ash might actually make it out of Viridian forest today."
"Seriously? For someone so excited, he sure is taking his time."
"Slow and steady wins the race." I replied, though May did have a point. I guess it would come down how much training Ash managed to do in the forest, and how many pokemon he managed to catch.
Currently the two of us were heading south of Pewter city towards Diglett tunnel, which would take us across the region straight to Vermillion city. The reason we decided on this route being the temporary closing of Mt. Moon, thanks to Team Rocket invading the mountain interior in search of rare pokemon and fossils. According to the news the League had already mobilized a strike team to repel the Rockets, but there was no telling how long it would take to clear all of them from the mountain.
"Even so, the faster they deal with Team Rocket the better." May said darkly, obviously recalling the night I saved her from them. And I couldn't blame her in the slightest.
"Well we won't have to deal with them this time." I assured her, before noticing that there was a drop of cream from her crepe on her cheek.
Without a word, I leaned forward and licked the cream from her skin, making May freeze for a second from the contact.
"There was some cream." I explained to her with a wry smirk.
"Noah..."
"Yeah?" I turned to look at her, only to suddenly have May's crepe in my face.
"Pft! What was that?!" I exclaimed, more out of humor than anger, only for May to suddenly lick my face to get the cream off.
"Mmm... Even more delicious~." May said coyly with a shit-eating grin, before she proceeded to clean the rest of my face with her fingers and tongue. I'd call her dirty, but this was nothing compared to what we got up to yesterday after our date the night before.
Once my face was free of cream we continued on like before, right up until we reached the entrance to Diglett tunnel.
"Here we are~!" May declared excitedly as we neared the cave entrance, a large jagged hole in the ground that was surrounded by a fence with a information board next to it.
"Do these tunnels really extend under most of Kanto?" I asked May incredulously while looking at the map on the board.
"From what I know, no one really knows how far they extend throughout the region. Some people speculate they could be as expansive as the Grand Underground in Sinnoh. But while those tunnels were carved out by people AND pokemon, these tunnels were carved by just Diglett and Dugtrio." May, the human encyclopedia, recited dutifully as she pulled a pamphlet seemingly from nowhere.
"It is also believed that these tunnels are home to the largest collection of fossils from prehistoric pokemon in the world, as a result of the millions of years of oceanic activity from above. Digging here however is strictly forbidden by the League, due to the potential hazard of causing a cave in or flooding the tunnels with sea water that would be hazardous to both people and pokemon within." She continued in a serious tone.
"Seriously? Too bad we can't get any fossils then." I said wistfully, imaging myself riding around on the back of an Aerodactyl as I did so.
"True, but apparently that doesn't stop everyone." May said while pointing back towards Pewter, drawing my attention to a group of people that were obviously heading towards the tunnel.
"Heigh ho, heigh ho! To the fossil horde we go!" The man leading the group declared cheerily as they approached us, before noticing May and I standing there.
"Good morning! Pleasant day for a fossil dig isn't it!" He happily greeted us, as if there was nothing untoward about his intentions.
"Perhaps, if digging were allowed here." May responded icily.
"Haven't you heard?" The man asked in alarm, as if scandalized by whatever information he had that we didn't. "The League has granted special permission for us to dig in the tunnels now! So long as we have the proper documentation from the archeological society based in Pewter, along with rock and water type pokemon specialists on hand!
"Now my team and I, who have been mapping these tunnels for years, are going to go down and get us the biggest fossil haul this region has ever seen! You two Luvdisc care to join us?" He offered with his big grin.
"Just like that?" I asked skeptically.
"Just like that!" He confirmed with a boom. "The more hands the better I say!"
"And can we keep some of the fossils?" I asked with growing interest.
"Of course! As long as it's only a few!" The man declared warningly, but I don't know how serious he was being as he laughed once more.
"What do you say?" I asked May with interest, thinking of being able to bring the fossils I got back to life.
"Let's go." She immediately replied, already pulling out her equipment and approaching the man, who introduced himself as Grant, to see about filming our journey for May's Expeditions.
While they were talking, and the rest of his group were making their last preparations before we went into the tunnels, I quickly made an offer on Etrade saying that I was about to dive into Diglett Tunnel if anyone, especially someone in Alola, wanted one. My hope was that I could exchange a Kantonian Diglett for an Alolan variant pokemon. Not necessarily another Diglett just yet, but maybe a Vulpix or Sandshrew.
"ALRIGHT! ALL BELOW WHO'S GOING BELOW!" Grant suddenly yelled, gathering everyone around the hole that was the entrance to the tunnels. I also noticed May standing near him with her Rotom drone already running while she was in full streamer mode. I guess he couldn't say no to a live stream of his expedition.
"Before we go down we need to establish some rules." Grant said in the most serious tone I heard him use yet.
"Rule one is that no one goes off on their own. You pick a buddy and stay with them no matter what. Rule two is no digging without clearance in specific locations. I don't care if you found the greatest fossil in the history of fossils. We don't give the go ahead, you DO NOT dig! Final rule, no battling with each other. You have issues that need to be settled? You wait until we return to the surface. UNDERSTOOD?!"
"""SIR, YES SIR!"""
A chorus of replies roared back at him, and Grant's smile returned as he gestured towards the hole.
"THEN LET'S GO DIG!"
With that said they all started gathering around the hole, each one climbing down the ladder one at a time. It looked as if they were going to take a while, so I decided to take the shortcut.
"Let's go ahead." I siad to May, sweeping her off her feet so that I was carrying her princess style.
"Oh my~!" She cooed while wrapping her arms around my neck, making a show of snuggling closer to me while looking pointedly at the camera. I could only imagine the comments she was getting from this.
With May secure in my arms, I walked right to the edge of the hole on the other side from the ladder, noticing several people looking at me as I did so, before just stepping off the edge to plummet into the abyss below.
In hindsight I probably should have made sure that the ground wasn't rocky before I jumped. Thankfully I landed on what felt like soft, freshly tilled earth, which smelled heavenly as it hit my nostrils.
"Well, that's one way to get down!" Grant, who had been the first one down the ladder, exclaimed as I set May down beside me and looked around.
"Yeah. I'm kinda built different." I told him, making the man laugh despite the fact that I was being completely serious.
"So how far to the dig sight?" May asked like she was conducting an interview, the drone hovering around her to stream them live to all of her viewers.
"Well, the direct route from here to the tunnel entrance near Vermillion will take about four days of travel. Just to give you a scale of how expansive the tunnel system is down here. I've already surveyed a good portion of the tunnels down here, and the cavern I'm taking us to is about two days walk from the entrance. Longer if the Diglett and Dugtrio decide to give us trouble."
"Are they considered to be aggressive?"
"Not particularly. But you have to remember that this is their home. We're just guests here. Not everyone who uses these tunnels are respectful about it, and they may lash out at us for it. Someone could also step on one by mistake, or they may be feeling particularly frisky."
"We can still battle and catch some of them, right?" I asked him worriedly.
"Of course, depending on the pokemon you plan to use. A couple of trainers won't be as aware of their surroundings as the Diglett. They however would never use excessive force in a battle against some trainers that would risk their own tunnels."
"Good." I said, tossing out a trio of pokeballs.
"Bell~!"
"Poliwag!"
"Char..."
Bellsprout, Poliwag and Charmeleon all appeared before me, the fire type's flaming tail casting light on the cave tunnel walls as they awaited my orders.
"Wow. These are some good looking pokemon." Grant said as he looked them over.
"Thank you. I am very proud of them." I replied, making two of my pokemon blush shyly while Charmeleon grinned.
The three of them posted up in a perimeter of sorts while the rest of the expedition climbed down the ladder, keeping an eye out for any potential threats.
"Alright then! Is that everybody?" Grant asked as the last person climbed down, before several Magneton floated down with the luggage that wasn't being carried by the team.
"Tally ho then!" He declared, leading the way further underground after sending out a Zubat to scout ahead, and a Sandslash to make sure that the ground before us was stable, and several of the Magneton became illuminated as they used the move Flash.
"Man, are we lucky." May said beside me as she packed away her equipment, having already shot everything she needed for the moment.
"Tell me about it." I said in agreement as we followed along with the group. Some of them were giving us weird looks, but we just ignored them as we walked.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, as one would expect when you could only travel in a straight line with no visible sights to behold. And with that being the case, we had to rely on our phones and watches to know when it was time to call it a day, as well as when we reached a sizeable alcove that could house all of us. May and I could even put up our tent without worrying about taking up too much space.
After setting up camping and making sure all of our pokemon were fed for the night, May and I were laying in her bed cuddling, naked and glistening after a wonderful session of lovemaking, when my phone let out a notification.
"What is it?" May asked as I checked it.
"A response for the post I made earlier regarding anyone who would want a Kantonian Diglett while we're here. There are a few responses from farmers that want one to help till their fields, but there's also a breeder in Alola interested for the sake of trying to crossbreed with the Alolan variants."
"And what are they offering?" May asked with interest while I scrolled through the rest of their message.
"They sent me a list of pokemon they're willing to offer, but they also have different requests for each one I want. Just one for an Alolan Diglett, Meowth or Ratatta, two for a Geodude, Grimer or Sandshrew, and THREE for a Vulpix." I listed off to her.
"Ooh, which one are you gonna get?" She asked while scooting closer to look at the screen over my shoulder.
"Hmmm..."
I hummed thoughtfully as I looked over the options, before eventually shrugging and putting the phone down.
"No point thinking about it now. I'll have to wait until I catch some before making a decision." I said, before crawling back into the bed and wrapping my arms around May so that I was spooning her from behind. Yeah, I had a face-full of her hair, but I didn't mind in the slightest.
...
"Keep your arms tucked in like this, and thrust your fist out like Poliwrath is doing." I told Charmeleon while pointing to the aforementioned pokemon, which was practicing on his own punches against the cave wall.
"Wrath. Wrath. Wrath."
Poliwrath chanted as he punched the wall, over and over again. His current goal was to learn Ice Punch to match the physical combat style he had now as a Poliwrath. Meanwhile I was trying to teach Charmeleon to learn how to punch so he could learn the move Fire Punch, which could be devastating if used properly with his claws.
I gave Charmeleon a few more pointers on how to properly throw a punch before going to check on my other pokemon, Tyrogue, Mankey, Metapod and Kakuna.
Currently the two fighting types were busy trying to attack the two bug types, who were fighting back by using String Shot and Poison Sting respectfully.
"Mankey, key key key!"
Mankey chanted as he jumped around to avoid the dozens of poisonous needles Kakuna fired at him. Meanwhile Tyrogue was completely silent as he meticulously avoided each sticky shot of webbing Metapod shot at him, before darting in to deliver a firm kick with one of his legs.
I had been surprised when May explained to me how Tyrogue evolved into either Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, or Hitmontop. Apparently it was based on the combat style they learned and focused on, such as prioritizing punching, kicking or movement. This made them one of the only pokemon that could choose their evolution path without outside interference, like from trainers.
Based on how mine was moving, I would guess that my Tyrogue would evolve into one of the hard-kicking Hitmonlee. And I couldn't wait until then. Though, for some reason I couldn't help but to feel as if the evolution process for Tyrogue was different than it should be...
Maybe I was just imagining it.
Either way, I was amazed as I watched Tyrogue move against Metapod with a self control and discipline that Mankey sorely lacked. But then again, their rage and lack of self control was a part of the charm the Mankey line had. At least to me.
Speaking of...
I watched Mankey for another moment as some of Kakuna's barbs stuck him, making him even angrier as he tried, and failed, to find a way to get to his target.
"ManKEEEEEEY!" He eventually screamed, effectively declaring 'fuck it', and charged in regardless of the barbs Kakuna was shooting at him to deliver a Karate Chop right to the top of her head.
"Shit!" I swore as a noticeable crack appeared on Kakuna, worring me as I hurried to check on her.
The sounds of training quieted down around me as I check her over, only to find a large a large crack that only seemed to be widening with each second. Even Mankey seemed to realize he had gone too far as he adopted an awkward look.
"Damn... I think the professor put some medicine in my bag..." I mumbled as I started looking for it worriedly.
"Ka...Drill." Kakuna groaned, and I paused slightly.
"What was that?" I asked while looking at her in disbelief.
"Drill.... Beedrill!" Kakuna exclaimed defiantly, before her carapace cracked some more as a pair of wings stretched out from within, followed by the rest of her new body.
"Drill!" Kakuna, now Beedrill, declared victoriously as she emerged from her cocoon.
"Awesome!" I exclaimed, my previous worry evaporating as Beedrill finished her final evolution.
"Drill drill!" She trilled happily, climbing up my side so that she was perched on my arm while her wings dried out. Thankfully that didn't take very long, a few minutes at most, and Beedrill was soon flitting around the cave tunnel happily while the rest of us watched her.
"What's all of the commotion out here?" May asked as she exited the tent.
"Kakuna evolved into Beedrill." I explained to her while pointing to the happy pokemon.
"Oh how exciting!" May exclaimed as she joined me.
"Poooood."
"I'm sure you'll evolve soon as well." I said to Metapod, who was watching Beedril enviously as she flitted about.
"Pod pod, Metapod!" He declared, goading Tyrogue to continue their training.
I watched as the fighting type accepted the challenge, except Metapod was no longer spitting String Shot at him like before. Now he was using Harden over and over again while Tyrogue was hitting him. Meanwhile, Mankey was now engaging in a game of chase with Beedrill that helped her become even more accustomed to flying.
We carried on like that for a while until the rest of the camp got up and began to get ready for another day of marching through the tunnels, giving us plenty of time to eat our breakfast after a morning of training.
"If we hurry, we might even be able to get to our destination today!" Grant declared as we started moving.
"So where exactly is our destination?" May asked him as we began moving, her camera rolling as if she were conducting an interview.
"Near as I can tell, the cavern itself is located under the actual Kanto region bay, which makes it so dangerous to mine there." Grant answered, obviously seeing this as his moment to shine, even if May wasn't broadcasting live.
"And why the sudden change to allow people to dig here?" May asked next. But surprisingy, Grant's expression darkened.
"Those Rocket thugs of course." He practically spat. "Last I heard, they're tearing up Mt. Moon looking for rare stones and fossils without a care for how much damage they cause. If they found out about this cache, then there's no telling what they would do. The last thing anyone needs is them collapsing the entire tunnel system just so they can try to get some fossils to sell or ressurect.
"If they accidentally flooded the tunnels with their carelessness, it would be catastrophic for all of Kanto. Anyone down here would more than likely be killed immediately, not to mention that it could potentially wipe out the Diglett and Dugtrio population in Kanto. Then there would be the aquatic pokemon in the bay above us, who would be sucked down into what would also be their deaths. And finally there's the untold damage it could cause across the region since we don't know how far the tunnels extend. Better to let us come down here to safely harvest and protect the fossils."
"Amazing..." May uttered in response to the passion the older man showed. I had to agree.
We continued marching throughout the day, only really stopping twice for lunch and light supper as we worked to push the rest of the way there. Just when everyone else felt as if they were ready to drop, the tunnel opened up to a massive cavern that left me stunned as the light from Flash illuminated it.
The cavern was massive, easily dwarfing even three battle arenas in size, including the stands. Everywhere I looked I could see fossils covering the floor, walls and even the ceiling around us.
"I can't believe this..." I uttered while looking around in awe.
"Believe it kid." Grant said with a smirk. "Helix fossils, Dome fossils, Claw fossils, Root fossils and Cover fossils can all be found here. All seafaring pokemon from millions of years ago."
"How'd they all end up down here?" I asked him with genuine curiosity.
"They didn't. They were buried in the sediment after the cataclysm that drove their extinction. That was the start of their fossilization process. And down here they remained buried for millions of years, until the Diglett and Dugtrio found them. Look, you can see them now."
I follwed Grant's pointed finger and saw what he was referring to, a small army of Diglett and Dugtrio that were making their way towards us out what looked like curiosity.
"""Diglett dig! Diglett dig! Diglett dig!"""
"""Trio! Trio! Trio!"""
The pokemon were interesting to say the least, with only their heads poking up out of the dirt as they came towards us. Not only that, but they were even moving through the dirt and rock with as much ease as I would swimming in water.
"Fascinating creatures, Diglett and Dugtrio." Grant continued as they approached, investigating us with no hostility. "Not only are the rest of their bodies a complete mystery to us, but the earth they till is the best quality possible for farming and agriculture. This makes them highly sought after by farmers around the world."
"And breeders." I added, earning me a look from the older man. "I put out the offer on Etrade yesterday, telling people I would be in Diglett cave if anyone wanted one that I could trade to them for another pokemon."
"I see.. This would be a good opportunity to expand your collection of pokemon." Grant said while nodding in agreement.
"That's what I'm hoping." I told him seriously, before stepping forward to get a better look around the cave.
Everywhere I looked there were fossils, while underfoot were the Diglett and Dugtrio as they examined us. So, I decided to give it a shot to talk to them.
"Hello." I said while kneeling down closer to their level.
"Diglett?" One asked while looking me up and down.
"I was wondering if any of you were be interested in going with me." I told them honestly.
"Diglett?"
"Yes. And even if some of you aren't, I know of someone who would like to have some of you as well."
"Diglett, dig dig?"
"Far far away, in a region called Alola."
"Dig dig!"
Several Diglett became interest as I expained Alola to them, as apparently all they had known was the inside of this cave. And while the vast majority were content to stay inside the tunnels for the rest of their lives, some were interested in seeing more of the world.
In the end I caught four of them, one to keep while the other three were to be sent to the breeder in Alola. Not that I was going to trade them all right now. I wanted to think on if I was going to trade them all for an Alolan Vulpix, or for a few different pokemon.
~~~
Diglett- the Mole pokemon
Ground type
This pokemon is mostly seen on farms, or deep within caves out in the wild. They are beloved by farmers for the fact that everywhere they dig the soil is perfectly tilled for crops. Unfortunately they are equally hated by construction crews, as they have the habit of unsettling foundations.
~~~
I sent three of the Diglett back to professor Oak, along with a message about what I intended to do with them in the next day or so. The fourth was the one I intended to keep, and I kept it in my party for the moment to help us with the dig.
Once everyone entered the cavern, and the Diglett had their fill of looking at us, we quickly set up camp for the night before retiring to bed.
...
"Hey May, check this one out!" I called out to May from where I was slowly chipping away rock on one of the walls of the cavern, which was slowly revealing a truly massive Helix fossil.
"Amazing... That's the largest Helix fossil I've ever seen!" May exclaimed when she saw it, making sure to film it and making my grin widen as I hastened to free it from the rock. Carefully though, as I didn't want to unnecessarily break the fossil.
"It must be the remains of Lord Helix." I told her with a smirk.
"Who?"
"You know, Lord Helix." I said as if it were obvious. "He... uh, well..... I don't know where I heard about it from." I admitted eventually, feeling quite a bit foolish as I did so.
"I'll say, that's quite the swell fossil you found there boy." Grant said as he too came to investigate.
"Thanks. I hope it'll keep it's size when I try to have it restored." I told him, even as I cleared a little bit more of the rock.
"Yeah, that would depend on the circumstances of it's size. Did it simply grow old enough to grow to such a size, or was it due to Alpha genetics? You'll have to wait until making your way to Cinnabar island though I'm afraid." Grant said while shaking his head regrettably.
"There should be a ferry at Vermillion city that we can take." May suggested, which worked out since the tunnels would take us straight there once we decided to leave the tunnels.
"It's a date then." I said, which made her smile. Probably from the idea of a date on Cinnabar island.
The two of them left me alone as I continued working to free the fossil, which I hoped would just be the first of many. My goal was to collect one of each type while we were down here, but May and I also agreed not to stay more than a few days.
The hours passed as we all worked dilligently to carefully extract the fossils from the stone around us. An endeavor that even the Diglett it seemed were trying to help us with.
It was when we got closer to dinner that something caught my attention. My bag was starting to vibrate.
"What the..." I murmured as I put my tools down and opened my bag. But when I saw what was vibrating, I quickly became alarmed.
"MAY!" I yelled urgently, pulling the incubator out of my bag as I did so.
"Noah! What is it?" May asked, before freezing when she saw what I was holding.
"I think the egg is hatching!" I told her while carefully extracting it from within the incubator, noting as I did so that cracks were already forming in the shell.
"What's all the commotion?" Grant asked as he and the others surrounded us, only to see the egg in my hands.
For a moment no one said anything, all of us too stunned to do so, and the cracks in the egg spread throughout more and more of the shell. And then, the egg lifted up from my hands to float in the air before us.
We all watched as the cracks in the egg began to glow with a blinding light, before the pieces of the shell began to flake off like leaves in the autumn to reveal a ball of light underneath. Then that was when the really dramatic part arrived.
The cavern suddenly flashed around us as water filled it in, but not really as we were all still able to breathe. Then it looked as if we had been sent back in time as prehistoric pokemon swam around us. Kabuto scurried along the bottom, Relicanth floated by lazily, and schools of Anorith sliced through the water.
Then, the cavern shifted back to it's modern appearance with no water or pokemon. Or at least the prehistoric ones. At the same time, the light enveloping the egg began to die down as it revealed the infantile figure inside. A small, pink Celebi.
"Bebe..." The newborn cooed melodiously as if drifted back down into my arms, where she settled herself contently while a layer of lush green moss immediately began to spread out from under my feet.