The very next morning after my father had left. I was the only one to wake up both my friends who were laying unconscious after the incident. Even they admitted they couldn't remember being sent into the other world. Blue's memory of the event had also been wiped as soon as Mewtwo had taken hold of the sea-faring vessel and had conveniently dropped the ship by the shore of Route Eleven. Which, after examining the Town Map was East of Vermillion City's seaport.

I really hope Solress didn't do too much damage?

We had worked hard and now he was unfortunately still on the loose from the law.

Luckily as we had examined the contents of the S.S. Anne. We were able to locate Mr. Chairman's Pikachu who was locked inside a cage below deck and as we had suspected of course. We learned that both Team Rocket and Team Love had got away with their cargo in tow. Including the evidence of the StarWarp which had sealed us away into another realm. The place where we met our doppelgängers and prevented them from wreaking havoc there.

To this day; I still have no idea if we had succeeded in stopping their mission or not. My memory of these events were shot. So as far as failures were concerned. I needed to be sure that Solress had not gotten far, but he very well could be further away from all of us and is currently in hiding. Which means he might have succeeded in completing his mission, had we not been an obstacle in preventing it in the first place. This was also a very frustrating prospect.

He could've succeeded in obtaining his sample outright. I sighed with misapprehension.

As much as it was a bitter disappointment that we weren't able to locate the Meowth or Solress. We were able to make due with our promise to the Chairman to his Pokémon Fan Club and now we're on are way back to the main city. Which wasn't too far from the where we were on the Route ahead.

With renewed purpose and a new change of pace after my first initial loss against my father. I decided I needed to make a new alteration to my original outfit. I swapped my dark one piece dress with my red furled skirt and light blue top. My signature white brimmed hat with the red Poké Ball insignia embroidered at the top had protected my sensitive skin from the hot burning sun beating down upon my face.

I also replaced my white leggings with some red socks and was no longer wearing the white heeled boots with the dark dress and I went back to my blue and red trimmed sneakers. Knowing ahead of time that I needed to prepare for the colder climate on our hike through Route-Nine towards Rock Tunnel which is our next destination after our upcoming Gym battle.

This place was already too tropical for me to be walking around with my head exposed anyways. I needed something that could cover my cranium in the meantime to shade me along the hike towards Digletts Cave.

The cave would be a nice stop on the way if we ever needed to catch a break during the walk.

But as I could observe, the cave wasn't as big as I had expected. There looked to be a wooden stumped fence that barricaded the more dangerous areas around it. But the cave was bulgy. Supposedly after you go through it, it offers you an underground shortcut back towards Pewter City. Which was convenient, since it was a way for all of us Trainers to re-trek back to where we started back home. It was also convenient to grab any other items that were missing during our journey.

"We have a lot of Pikachu with us." Remarked Yellow as he observed Red's and the Chairman's at the same time walk alongside each other. He was right of course, the only difference between theirs was the Chairman's was a bit fatter and more plump in appearance.

"Pika!" Acknowledged the furry yellow mouse with a gleeful smile.

"Doesn't matter, as long as we return him to the Chairman all will be back to normal." Answered Blue with a harsh tone.

"At least he has a couple of familiar friends to play with." I giggled with wide heartfelt eyes.

I couldn't help but oogle at how adorable and plump this Pokémon was. The way he maneuvered and waddled in comparison to the other Pikachu was so fun to observe and his personality was so unique to the other Pikachu beside him.

"I think he told me he's hungry?" Asked Yellow as he tilted his hat sideways.

Kneeling down I grabbed hold of the brown, crusty bite sized bits that were sealed in a bag. Unzipping the plastic bag I reached in to pull out a few bits to cup within my hands. Holding them out; I watched as the fat Pokémon nibbled at them with his wide chubby cheeks. Sucking them all up like a tiny vacuum cleaner. It was enough to make me giggle with delight knowing that he was taken care of in the meantime. Those tiny little whiskers tickled along my soft skin that I nearly burst to laughter from the cuteness of it all.

"This little fella is so precious ain't he Red?" I inquired.

Same old Red gave me the typical shoulder shrug while he was holding on to the straps of his bag in silence.

"................" Said Red.

"Of course you would say that, anything I ask or say you hardly ever respond to in the first place." I laughed.

The boy tipped his hat down, holding back his appearance from me as his face went bright red from the verbal tease I gave him.

"Sometimes Red; I wish I had the same type of no nonsense attitude like you. I mean, who wants to always answer trivial questions like that to begin with—

"Shoosh!" I yammered with an elbow to his stomach. Blue's face swelled purple after that strike that air had escaped his lungs from the physical brunt of the impact.

"It's not that I don't like to talk. It's just, I am a bit, shy.... sometimes." Said Red.

"You have no need to be shy; we love having you around and you can always talk with us whenever you want." Smiled Yellow widely as he held onto his straw hat with excitement.

"Uh..uh. Thanks." Blushed Red again from that statement.

"Not used to compliments now aren't yeah, best friend?" I smiled toward him with a wink.

Everyone among the group laughed after I had given him that smile and teasing gesture.

"Stop." He whined in embarrassment.

As soon as Red had got ahead from our teasing faces; he advanced a few feet ahead of us on the route along with his Pikachu next to him. He noticed some movement ten feet ahead and about three feet away from the cave entrance. Something small and brown had popped up out of the ground ahead.

This Pokémon looked just like the one I had battled earlier in Brock's Gym against the Junior Trainer class that was eager to become my obstacle before the main course. This was definitely a Diglett. A mole Pokémon that dug it's own underground tunnel out from his habitat and it seemed to have popped up out of the cave entrance below. Watching us from a distance to make sure we weren't close.

Red motioned for all of us to remain still. Eyeing his prize carefully as we watched alongside him. He raised his finger against his lips. Encouraging us to remain hushed as the Pokémon silently maneuvered the ground around him and behaving as if he was searching for food.

"Are you trying to catch that weak thing—

I elbowed Blue once again to be quiet, knowing full well he wasn't going to keep his mouth shut. Red was beginning to focus on his goal of catching them all. It's best that Blue doesn't distract him. Diglett are known to be pretty evasive and they easily escape underground if the Trainer caught wind of his exposure. They are moles by nature and it's a rare occurrence for them to appear above ground. A rare opportunity for all of us to be able to see one up close.

"Don't try and attack him outright. He'll run away real quickly if you hit him." I whispered to Red with careful tone. Doing my best not to startle the cute little creature.

My friend gestured for Pikachu to the battlefield and without a verbal command like usual. Pikachu nodded and came toward the Diglett with a quiet skitter. Releasing a bolt of electricity from his left cheek pouch. The tip of that bolt struck the polar end of this Pokémon's conscious brain and seemed to have numbed him in place.

Incredible.

Pikachu had used Thunder Wave, a move used to paralyze the creature. This in turn would prevent Diglett from escaping underground and will leave that portion of his body exposed above it.

Red really thought this through. If you can land a hit on your evasive catch you have a chance to prevent them from moving and you either land a hit on the Pokémon or, you could use this chance to try and catch the Pokémon before it makes a break for it.

This was certainly educational to witness. I was also kinda surprised at the level of understanding Red had in order to accomplish catching a Pokémon outright. Learning from my opponent could benefit me to observe how I can improve in my battling skills and Red has no shortage of those moments when it comes to catching Pokémon.

My Dad's battle was a good example of what I am to do when it comes to improving my skills and you learn more when you encounter other Pokémon in the wild. Status infliction always comes in handy when you need to stall and prepare for your next best move. My Dad's battle was a good example of this when I used Sweet Scent to prevent Arcanine's evasiveness.

Red threw the Poké Ball toward Pikachu's direction and retreated him inside the capsule. The ball then rebounded back into Red's gloves and he pulled out yet another capsule in his left hand. But I also noticed another ball that he juggled to his right.

Why does he have a Great Ball in his other hand? Does he plan on using another Pokémon?

The boy used his left hand to toss out the Poké Ball he sifted through among his bag. Out from that toss appeared his starter Pokémon. Who was looking a lot tougher in appearance. This Pokémon's coat was a brighter shade of red than usual. With a cone shaped head, narrow blue eyes and a tail that was even brighter than his orange lizard counterpart.

"You're Pokemon evolved!" I shouted with excitement.

The boy turned to face me with a wide grin and nodded as he held firm to the brim of his hat.

"His name is Charmeleon, this is his second evolutionary stage form. He's stronger, faster and much more powerful than his original form Charmander." Reaffirmed Red.

He wasn't kidding either, the form had a bit more muscle than his counterpart. He was more hunched from upper body strength and his beak seemed slanted upward like he was constantly grinning, which made him look more intimidating. Those long claws protruding from his paws were much more physically developed and his hind legs and tail were more defined.

"Not as powerful as my Wartortle." Said Blue with a cocky grin.

With a glare toward Blue, I had, had enough of him trying to upend his rival by flexing his Pokémon. I elbowed his stomach once again to silence his annoying haughtiness. The boy fell to the ground in immense pain. Losing his breath from my aggressive jab to his stomach once more.

"Jeez! That hurt a little too much."

"Don't assume power is the end all be all." I protested to his squeamish body as he thrashed about the ground.

"I need Charmeleon to land a good enough hit in order to catch him. This one is a ground type, and I'll be damned if I miss another opportunity like this." Red declared with furrowed eyes.

Gesturing for his Pokémon to attack, the creature nodded and aimed his arms outward. Bounding toward his opponent with effortlessness. He protruded his claws, spreading them out like knives. Charmeleon struck with both appendages with a powerful uppercut across his coarse rough skin. The Pokémon's form bounced around like a jellybean hitting the ground in many varying directions.

"Slash?"

The boy nodded; he had been perfecting a move that would benefit this catch in the moment. Red pulled back his wind up toss with his right hand. While skillfully rebounding his starter back into his Poké Ball for a retreat.

Whoah.

Surprised at Red's ambidexterity. He tossed the blue and red striped capsule with a fast curve that seemed to travel with swift accelerating speed. Rebounding with a gentle tap on the Pokémon's oval pink nose. The higher catch rate device had encased the creature from inside.

The ball had fallen toward the ground as the Pokémon struggled to free himself from within. Diglett was too weak to be able to escape from the ball itself, due to paralysis and tiredness. After a few tries, the Pokémon had given up and the node in the middle lit up green.

Diglett was finally tamed by Red's intuitiveness and with enough skill had found a new friend to join us on the journey back to Vermillion City.