Kayla's Journey
by Alyssa
Part 6: Digletts, and Taralon's Discovery!
"Not one Diglett yet!" Kayla complained. "Are they deliberately avoiding us?"
"Judging from how loud you're being, probably," Taralon said. Unlike Kayla, he was keeping his voice down.
"You can't blame me for complaining! I want a--"
"Diglett!"
Kayla stared at the little Pokemon and grinned. "Hi there, Diglett!"
"Dig!"
"Kayla, can I get this one? I reeeeaaaalllly want a Diglett!"
Diglett blinked, looking at the aqua-haired boy. "Lett?"
"Fine," Kayla pouted.
Taralon took Cubone's Pokeball from his belt. "I call you, Cubone!"
Cubone materialized and brandished its club. "Bone!"
"Cubone, Bone Club!"
The faster Diglett ducked underground before Cubone's attack could hit. As Cubone looked around in confusion, Diglett popped up beneath it, getting a good solid hit. Cubone was tossed to the side.
"Cu... bone..."
"Hang in there, Cubone!" Taralon urged. "Another Bone Club!"
The Diglett swiped some sand into Cubone's eyes (anyone have any idea how a Diglett would do this?). It blinked rapidly, in an unsuccessful attempt to get the sand out. It did, however, manage to hit Diglett, scoring a critical hit to boot. Taralon decided that Diglett would faint soon if Cubone kept fighting.
"Pokeball, go!"
The ball hit the weakened and dazed Diglett right on, converting it to pure energy and sucking it in. The Pokeball rocked back and forth viciously as Diglett struggled to escape, then the red light went out with a conclusive 'pingg!'
"YEAH!!!" Taralon cheered, holding up the Pokeball triumphantly. "Diglett's mine!"
"Cubone bone!" Cubone flashed a two-fingered victory sign.
Kayla pouted. "You probably scared away all the Digletts. Now it'll take even longer for me to get one."
"Kayla, up until now Cubone was my only Pokemon, who I got for my seventh birthday. Diglett is the first Pokemon I caught myself. You, on the other hand, have caught Abra, Pikachu, Caterpie, Lapras, and Krabby. I think you can wait a little while longer, hmm?"
"Oh. Yeah, you're right."
The group ventured through the caves for a little while longer. Meowth was on the alert for any approaching Digletts or Dugtrios, and Kayla was trying to figure out how exactly to switch one Pokemon for another via Pokedex. Finally, she managed to send Pikachu to Professor Kendall, which left her with one empty space for a new Pokemon.
She felt something vibrating under her feet. She jumped to the side just before the ground gave way, and a Dugtrio appeared.
"Trio trio trio! Dugtrio!"
"Du-Dugtrio says that we've trespassed on the Digletts' land, and that we-we'll be punished!" Meowth translated shakily.
Kayla, being a Ketchum, wasn't afraid.
"You can't punish us if you're in a Pokeball," she taunted. "And I'm gonna capture you! Lapras, I choose you!"
The gentle-eyed sea monster was released and looked ready for battle. "Laaaaapras!" she roared.
"Lapras, use your Sing!" Kayla commanded.
Lapras looked down at the mole Pokemon and began to sing sweetly. Meowth, Kayla, and Taralon plugged their ears to stay awake, as Lapras' soothing lullaby continued. Dugtrio's smallest head fell asleep quickly, followed by the middle head. The largest and oldest head was slightly more resistant, but even its eyelids soon drooped in sleep. Lapras stopped singing, leaving the Dugtrio snoozing peacefully. Kayla took her hands away from her ears.
"Now, Water Gun!"
Lapras opened her mouth and a huge stream of water came spraying out onto the sleeping Dugtrio. That woke it up, but even a weak Tackle would probably knock it out now. Kayla threw a Pokeball, and Dugtrio hardly even tried to struggle.
Pingg!
"I caught Dugtrio!!" Kayla cheered.
"Lapra lapras!" Lapras agreed.
"Great," Meowth said. "Now that everyone has the Pokemon they want, let's go back to Vermilion to heal 'em and head to Celadon. Agreed?"
Nods all around. Kayla recalled Lapras and Taralon called back Cubone, and they left the caves.
-
As soon as she got Celadon in her sights, Kayla took off at warp speed for the mall and the Gym. Mall first, battle later. Taralon however, took his time and enjoyed the scenery. Cubone was walking along beside him again, and Diglett was digging on Taralon's other side, leaving a trail of upturned earth. The two kawaii ground-types were talking animatedly as the three walked. Judging from Cubone's hysterical laughter and Diglett's giggling, they were making jokes or at least talking about something funny.
Then, suddenly, they stopped laughing and looked alert. Taralon looked at them in surprise, and looked around for whatever could have disturbed them. Cubone ran towards a bush, followed closely by Diglett and a confused Taralon. He stopped being confused when he saw what the problem was.
It was a Pidgeotto, very badly hurt and with a broken wing. When Taralon bent down to look at it, the bird raised its head weakly and stared at the aqua-haired boy.
"Pid... ge... ottoo..."
"Oh, god," Taralon whispered. "Who did this?? No, wait, don't answer... I gotta get you to the pokemon Center in Celadon. You could die!"
"Cubone bone bone bone cubonecubonebone!!" Cubone said, freaking out. Taralon's eyes widened.
"You smelled *who* on this bird's feathers?"
"Cubooone cubone!"
Taralon took the injured bird in his arms and combed his fingers through its crest. He trembled, finding something he really hadn't wanted to find. Standing up, he ran to Celadon almost as fast as Kayla had. Cubone stayed behind.
"Diglett dig diglett!" Diglett exclaimed, digging up to Cubone with wild eyes. Translated: Come look at this!
Cubone ran after the tiny mole as it dug back to whatever it had found. His eyes went huge as he saw what Diglett had led him to. Taking it in one hand, he clutched it to his chest and sat down, waiting for Taralon to come back.
-
The healed Pidgeotto was perched on Taralon's shoulder, not wanting to leave its savior. Its broken wing was bandaged up and would probably heal soon. Taralon was not concerned about that at the moment, he was staring at what he had found in Pidgeotto's crest. Three long, blue human hairs.
'Okay, Taralon,' Taralon told himself. 'Let's not panic. There are plenty of people with blue hair. It's not necessarily him.'
That was when he got back to Cubone and Diglett. The innocent little mole Pokemon had a dazed expression, and Cubone was clutching something to his chest and all but crying.
"Cubone? Diglett? What's the matter?" Taralon asked, wide-eyed. He knelt by the helmeted ground-type, who looked up at him with fearful, dark eyes. Wordlessly, he handed the thing he had been holding to his trainer. Taralon's eyes went wobbly in that way only anime people can pull off, as he held the hair and the new item in front of his face.
The new item was a rose. A single, perfect, blood-red rose, in full blossom.
"Gaia-sama," Taralon whispered. "He's found me. He's finally found me."
"Diglett diglett dig dig diglett lett," Diglett suggested subduedly.
Taralon nodded, called the two ground-types back into Pokeballs, and headed back towards Celadon City.