Ch 18. Diglett cave

Having defeated the Cerulean gym and earned his second badge, Ares had decided to spend some time exploring before going towards Vermillion City. He had chosen to go through Diglett Cave in order to reach Vermillion City, but for now he planned to take it easy. In there, you could supposedly find evolution stones as well as fossils.

Ares's intention was to find a few high grade evolution stones to sell or use in the future if he ever needed one. He did have a few on hand, but those weren't exactly of the best quality there was.

In the stores, Ares had seen a few evolutionary stones as, but those were of an even lower quality than the ones he had on hand. Those in the black market were of better quality, but expensive.

If he had to explain the differences of quality, it would be something like this.

Low grade Evolutionary stones:

It evolves the pokemon, but there isn't enough energy for the pokemon to absorb. The pokemon has to work harder at controlling the elemental power in order to evolve. There are no benefits to be gained aside from evolving. The pokemon is tired after the process as well and needs a few days of rest. The price ranges between a thousand and two thousand poke dollars.

Medium/Average grade Evolutionary stone:

Makes evolving a little easier as well as cuts down the amount of time needed to evolve. Gives the pokemon a slight boost in controlling said element in the future. The pokemon can battle at full health even after the evolution. There is no need to rest. The price is generally higher than a low quality evolution stone, being a few thousand poke dollars.

High grade Evolutionary stone:

Makes Evolving easy. There is a lot of elemental energy in the stone, making it easier for the pokemon to control said element in the future. Gives a major boost in elemental energy, thus making attacks with that typing stronger. These evolutionary stones are only put up for auction, going for a few tens of thousands poke dollars for each stone. Some stones are more expensive than others.

This was also the reason Ares wanted to find High grade Evolutionary stones, as they would give his pokemon a major boost with their element. Even if pokemon that didn't need it to evolve absorbed the energy contained in these stones, they could increase the density of their elemental powers. That is if they were of the same type of the used evolutionary stone.

Let's say his Lapras got a hold of a Water stone. Lapras would be able to make her water type attacks a lot stronger, causing a lot more damage when using those attacks. There needed to be a certain level of control first if he wanted that to happen, but it would guarantee their attacks got stronger.

In Unova there were Elemental gems found in caves, but those only gave a slight increase before breaking. They also only worked for a certain amount of times before they stopped working. The increase is permanent though, even if it was slim.

Ares now stood in front of Diglett cave. It looked like any other cave, but at the side of the entrance a small sign board was placed.

[Diglett are easily agitated. Don't disturb them.]

The message was as clear as could be. Don't disturb the Diglett and you'll be fine.

With than in mind, Ares entered the cave and activated his Aura sight. The surroundings became illuminated almost immediately, causing him to gape at the many holes and tracks going through the cave.

The amount of Diglett in here must be astonishing. How the hell do people not annoy the Diglett if there are this many in here? Going through the cave as carefull as he could, Lucario stopping him whenever a Diglett popped up out of nowhere, Ares felt like he was going like this forever.

The Diglett were everywhere. Whenever he moved on, a Diglett was about to rise up just beneath his feet. It was maddening. He wondered if it was always like this or if someone had disturbed them right before he entered.

A loud high pitched shriek was heard behind him as another trainer had, no doubt, stepped on a Diglett. Luckily the Diglett didn't seem to mind as much, as long as he or she didn't step repeatedly on the same one. The girl should be fine. Besides, she most likely had her own pokemon out to protect her if she wasn't.

Moving on again, Ares went deeper and deeper inside the cave until Lucario stopped him once again. This time it wasn't for a Diglett however, as Lucario motioned for Ares to follow him as Lucario stopped in front of the wall.

Using a weakened form of Metal Claw, Lucario carefully chipped away pieces of the wall, revealing a Fire stone. Unfortunately it was a Low grade one, but the shops would gladly buy it from him.

"Well done Lucario. Tell me if you find another one."

Ares said as he fist bumped with Lucario, who proudly patted his chest in reassurance. It was really nice to have such a great partner, Ares thought as he looked fondly at Lucario. Lucario felt the warm feelings coming from Ares and smiled brightly in return.

Going further again, they came across many Evolution stones, most Low grade, a few Medium grade and two High grade. One of the High grade stones was a Leaf stone while the other was a rare Dusk stone. He didn't have any dark of grass pokemon, but it would help a lot in the future.

He had a lot less luck with the Fossils, having come across none of those, but he didn't give up.

The day went by pretty fast, acording to Ares's internal clock. He set up camp on one of the curves in the cave and started to make food. He released his pokemon, even Lapras who barely fitted inside the cave. Lapras didn't seem to like it that much, but curled in a bit to make more space for the others. As soon as she had eaten, she looked intently at Ares, her underlying meaning clear.

Returning Lapras to her Pokeball, the other pokemon quickly made themselves at ease in the many blankets and sleeping bags Ares had. As his team had grown bigger, he had stuffed his spatial bag with some extra sleeping bags and blankets, so each of his pokemon could sleep comfortable. They didn't seem to like sleeping in their pokeball a lot, so he always kept them out when they were camping.

That was when Ares remembered Clefairy had gotten a Moon stone from the Clefable parent before. Looking at the stone hanging from Clefairy's neck, Ares was glad to see it was of medium quality, bordering on High quality. Now he didn't have to worry about another Moon stone for her.

Tucking his pokemon in, who quickly feel asleep, Ares took his own spot as well. It had been a tiring day, as he had to remain focussed not to step on a Diglet, but they had made good progress. It shouldn't take all that long to arrive at Vermillion city.

All he needed to do now was just get some sleep to get a bit of rest.

When they were ready to sleep, they could once again hear a loud shriek, the same voice as before but closer. Running footsteps were heard until his tent was run into by the girl.

"Ouch!"

"Oof!"

The girl fell right on top of Ares, who was just about to fall asleep. It was followed by loud cursing by the girl, who didn't seem to enjoy the whole situation.

"Fuck! Stupid cave! Stupid pokemon! Hateful trash that keeps lingering around. Other trainers keep throwing their trash here for me to trip over!"

As if it wasn't bad enough the girl had fallen on top of him, she kicked him hard in the stomach, venting her frustrations.

"A-Argh...!"

Ares grumbled and moaned in pain as the girl once again kicked at him, though this time she hit him in the chest barely missing his head. Grunting in pain, Ares and his pokemon tried the crawl out of the sleepingbag, only for the girl to continue kicking. He was just fortunate she didn't hit any of his pokemon. Pichu and Clefairy couldn't handle this at all if they were the target.

"Damn this whole thing! People keep fucking with me, I really want to kill them! Even these stupid Diglett and Dugtrio get in my way! If I see them again I swear they will regret it...!"

Having enough of the hateful girl, Ares grabbed the foot that once again wanted to kick him and threw her back hard, slamming her against the wall.

"Geh-!"

"Keep your feet to yourself." Ares said, glaring at the abusive girl. He was pissed. It was her who fell on top of him, as well as kicked him. No way would she get the nice treatment, don't even mention an apology.

Ares's pokemon were furious as well, as the girl had dared to attack their trainer. Eevee growled hard, baring his teeth at the girl. Lucario was a lot calmer, but he had already started to use Metal claw, ready to tear the girl a new one if she tried that again.

Worst of all, the tent they had been using up until now was destroyed, a massive gash running along the side and top. He would need to get another one, which cost a lot.

His other pokemon were standing beside him, Clefairy scared, Pichu staring intently at the other trainer in curiosity, but Pidgeotto, oh had he a mean glimmer in his eyes. If only he had the space to exact whatever revenge he had on his mind.

"Hateful! How dare you! Come out Arbok!"

The girl didn't even seem to care what she did, going to attacking him as soon as possible. This was the first time Ares had come across such a bitch in his travels. It made him think back to his youth, when he was surrounded by this kind of violence, making his mood drop to a new point of low. He could clearly see what she looked like and it wasn't pretty. Well, she was good looking but the character was garbage.

Her poisonous colored purple hair was done up in two twin pigtails, a nasty scowl on her face. She wore typical punk clothes, as she held a metal bat in her hands.

Ares knew he had come across a violent girl with destructive tendencies when he saw her. She was bad news. He could easily handle her, but he would cause a lot of problems if the Diglett became irritated because of this.

Her Arbok hissed menacingly as it glared at his pokemon. From the looks of it, Arbok was as nasty tempered as its trainer.

"Kill them Arbok! I can't even stand to look at them. He even dirtied me shoes. No way can I wear these again."

Arbok snickered at the comment of his master, poised ready to attack. It had been a long time since it had eaten and the trainer opposite of it looked rather delicious. It would be good nourishment for it for the coming weeks.

Ares his pokemon were also ready to deal with the girl and her pokemon themselves, but when Arbok attacked something interesting happened.

Before the attack could even land, a whole army of Diglett rose from the ground as they looked in rage at the girl. A few of the Diglett were clearly poisoned or had other injuries. The five Dugtrio up front, who were clearly the masters of this group, began to attack the Arbok and the girl. It was over before it even started, the Dugtrio dragging the Arbok and the girl into the ground.

The girl screamed for help, looking desperately at Ares and begging him in fear, but he didn't give her any chance for help. The only thing she got from him was a cold murderous glare and a double middle finger. After she was gone, he turned his attention to the diglett. He gratefully treated the injured Diglett as thanks for dealing with her. The Diglett didn't seem to mind, as they let him treat them without so much as a complaint.

When all of them were healed, they retreated back into the cave, leaving Ares to set up his camp again and enjoy his long needed rest. He could only mourn for his poor tent, which was now reduced to just a bundle of metal scrap and cloth.

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The next few days, Ares had scoured through the Diglett cave and became a lot more familiar with its path ways. He had found a few more High grade evolution stones, as well as one Fossil. As he wasn't familiar with its design, Ares kept it in his bag as he finally left Diglett cave and moved on towards Vermillion City.

Luckily he had met only normal trainers for the rest of the journey, as he really didn't want to run into another girl like the last one. One crazy bitch was enough for him, thank you very much.