We crossed the bridge to Route 6, only to be interrupted yet again.
The obstacle this time? Team Yell grunts.
However, the pair of grunts before us wasn't directly blocking us. They were instead quietly watching a beige snake Pokemon with a sand sac behind its head and large nostrils (albeit not as large as those of Sandaconda), said Pokemon curled up and sleeping.
"That Pokemon..." The Doctor slowly walked forward. "Could it be a--"
But Lucina stopped him with her paw. "Mind if I take over for this?" She pointed at the grunts. "I met these two during one of my visits to Spikemuth."
"Oh, okay."
With no objections from us, Lucina strolled forward. And then she waved at the Team Yell grunts. "Oi, what are you two doing out here?"
"Keep it down, will ya? Can't ya see this little...?" The grunts looked our way, and they nearly jumped when they saw Lucina. "Gah! Lucina, is that you?!" the male grunt exclaimed.
Lucina chuckled. "I've been getting that a lot lately. Yeah, I finally decided to get out and adventuring again now that one of my little guys came back home safely." She looked back at Luke. "Isn't that right, Luke?"
Luke nodded. "We're on our way to complete the Gym Challenge." He held up Kirby in his paws. "I enrolled this young hero in the challenge so we can grow stronger together."
"Really? That little thing?" The female grunt held back a snicker. "Don't make us laugh! No, seriously." She motioned towards the sleeping Pokemon. "We don't want anything to wake this cute little Silicobra, so we ain't letting any noisy kids by, including that little pink thing!"
Lucina sighed. "The only noise I'm hearing is coming from you two. You'd best leave the poor thing alone if you want her to sleep well."
"Of course we're noisy, Lucina, but Team Yell only gets noisy when they need to!" The male grunt pointed an accusatory finger at Kirby, which irked the puffball. "We're yelling right now to drive off even noisier blokes!"
"...Team Yell." Lucina deadpanned. "Is that why you're wearing those tacky outfits, then?"
"Well, yeah!" The female grunt flashed a banner depicting Marnie. "Team Yell's goal is to cheer on Marnie and make sure she wins the Gym Challenge, so we wanna make sure other Gym Challengers know who we are and to stay away from us!"
"So you're Marnie's own little team of fans, eh?" Lucina crossed her arms. "I don't think she'd want you lot intervening so only she wins the Gym Challenge." She menacingly held a paw covered in aura towards the pair of grunts. "And that includes not letting little Kirby by, which means you should scram if you don't want me to tell Marnie what you've been up to."
The two grunts stepped back in fear. "W-what?! Okay, we'll leave the Silicobra alone, just don't tell Marnie what we was up to!" Then they turned tail and ran off further into Route 6.
Once Team Yell was out of the area, Lucina kneeled down to the Silicobra. "Wakey wakey, Connie..."
The Silicobra opened its drowsy eyes. "Mm... Huh?" It looked around with a cautious look. "Are those loudmouths gone yet?"
"All taken care of. You won't find yourself running into any more of those Team Yell goons in the near future."
"Finally!" The Silicobra rubbed up against Lucina. "Thanks a million, Lucina! Now I can get back to refilling my sand sac without any more interruptions like that."
We waved as the sand snake Pokemon slithered back into the tall grass further ahead.
Lucina explained, "That was Connie. She was just minding her own business when those Team Yell members started cheering her on for no apparent reason. Despite having sharp fangs, Silicobra like her only fight to protect themselves and to catch prey. That's why Connie didn't use moves to drive them off—apart from spraying sand from her nostrils into their faces, which Silicobra usually do to distract predators long enough for them to get away."
"Was Connie asleep because they managed to bore her to sleep?" asked the Doctor.
"That's right. Now if you'll excuse me..." Lucina went back towards Hammerlocke. "...!"
Only to stop when she noticed an elderly lady who was ambling towards her with hope in her eyes. "Why, Lucina, is that really you?"
"Opal!" Lucina gave the Fairy-type Gym Leader a firm hug. "It's so good to see you again!" She motioned towards Luke and the rest of us. "One of my sons returned, so we're getting out and adventuring like the good old days. And I got to know a few new friends he made, some of which are right before your eyes!"
Opal looked at us and smiled. "Looks like you've made quite an interesting group of friends there, Lucina." Her eyes drifted down to Kirby. "Oh? And who might this little one be?"
"The pink puffball? He's Kirby, a Star Warrior who has the unique ability to copy the powers of anything he swallows."
Opal picked up Kirby, who returned her curious gaze. "Such a sincere pink... You may be young, but I can tell you are quite the prodigy. You try to find the good in everyone you meet, but you know when someone is past the point of redemption. And you understand that sometimes you have to fight in order to save not only your friends or your home planet, but everyone. People all around the universe are counting on you."
"Poyo..." Kirby gave Opal a warm, yet mournful smile. Then he released himself from her grip with a determined look on his face. "Poyo. Poyo poyo!"
Lucina nodded. "Kirby's right. We need to get going so we can continue the Gym Challenge. Don't want to keep the Champion waiting!"
We started to continue into Route 6, but Opal raised a hand to stop us. "You wouldn't happen to be going towards Stow-on-Side, would you? I hope you don't mind another companion."
Lucina smiled. "Heading back to Ballonlea to wait for your next challenger?"
"That too, but earlier today I saw something very intriguing." Opal pointed towards the sky north of us. "Did any of you notice something pink flying through the air not too long ago?"
We all looked at each other with a surprised face. The Doctor answered, "We did indeed. And we have reason to believe that something was in fact a friend of ours. She goes by Pinkie Pie."
"Is that so?" Opal's expression sharpened. "Then all the more reason for me to hurry back to Ballonlea. I do hope the Pokemon in the Glimwood Tangle are taking care of her while I'm away..."
"Sounds like this Ballonlea is pretty far from here." Azure sat down for Opal. "Here, take a load off your feet. It's a long way there."
Opal gratefully got onto Azure. "Why, thank you. My feet certainly could use a break."
Splash Hoof and Stormchaser walked over to Azure as she got back onto her hooves. "Let's go together, honey," Stormchaser said. "There's no way we're going to get separated from each other again!"
Splash Hoof added, "And I can help you in case we run into any ladders. I've learned a few tricks while we've been away from each other, so you won't have to worry about climbing up those thin rungs."
"Aw, thank you so much, sweetie!" Azure replied. "I can't wait to see what you can do!"
Therefore, the Keldeo family proceeded onward, eluding battle with the Trainer further ahead because the Gym Leader was with them, while Lucina sprinted east to find Marnie.
Between the rest of us, I was the one who opted to challenge the Beauty. She sent out a pink, winged Pokemon called Clefairy.
"Alright, this looks like a prime opportunity to see what you can do!" I sent out Sandacane.
But as I was about to give my command, I noticed something was wrong with him. His mouth was agape, and he was gasping for air.
The Doctor observed Sandacane for a moment, then his face paled as he suddenly became a bundle of nerves. "Err, Luke... Is it bad for water to get in the nasal cavities of a Sandaconda?"
I promptly paled as well. "Oh Arceus, I hadn't thought about that..."
Luke nodded. "When I was little, one of the things Mum taught me was why Sandaconda keep away from water. If too much water gets in their sand sac while it's full of sand, it won't be able to breathe because the compacted sand leaves no room for air to travel. The compacted sand also means it can't blast opponents, leaving it even more vulnerable. But not to worry, there's a solution." He picked up Sandacane and turned towards Dalton and Kirby. "You two, come with me. We're going to unclog this guy!"
"Alright/Poyo!" Together, the four of them hurried southeast, towards the Wild Area.
My initial plan was out of the picture, but that didn't stop me. Rather, I put on a devilish smirk as I looked at the Beauty. "Okay, time for plan B..."
And what was plan B? Sweeping her Clefairy and Clefable with Knightwing.
In the tall grass ahead, we came across some shy Silicobra, as well as cactus Pokemon called Maractus. But there was another Pokemon that was unfamiliar to me: a small black ghost with purple eyes and a tail trapped inside of a stone relic.
My Pokédex confirmed that it was the Galarian form of Yamask. Since it was right there, I went ahead and caught it, letting the Doctor hop down a ledge nearby to collect some Ultra Balls.
Next, I climbed the ladder to the north, but I quickly climbed back down because there was only a fishing spot there. So I instead continued through the western grass and challenged a pair of doctors alongside the Doctor in a Multi Battle. The better Doctor and I won, of course.
After that, we split up and climbed each of the two ladders near the doctors, but there was no need to split up; they both led to the same place. But that could not be said for the next pair of ladders we encountered after defeating the nearby Backpacker; the Doctor reached a camp tent and a quirky scientist with a passion for fusing together halves of Pokemon fossils, and I reached a Model, a couple of Rare Bones, and the way to Stow–on–Side.
I beat the Model's Skorupi, a scorpion Pokemon, and climbed down the ladder ahead. That's where I found another Trainer to fight, a Rare Candy, a Trainer Tips board on unbreakable TMs and breakable TRs, and the TM for Steel Wing.
As I climbed back up, however...
"AYAYAYAH!" Thud!
I used my wings to fly up to where the noise came from. "Doctor! Are you alright...?"
My voice trailed off in confusion as I saw the Doctor and his Toxtricity walking past an unconscious painter with black hair and a creepy, soulless look on his face.
"I know I shouldn't judge others by how they look, but..." The Doctor shuddered at the appearance of the painter. "Can you really blame me for having Tox Shox paralyze him? I was too afraid to challenge a bloke with such a terrifying evil smile!"
"No, I can't blame you. But next time, don't render them incapable of battling." I spread my wings. "Try passively avoiding battle with them, like by sailing over them with your flying Pokemon."
The Doctor face–hoofed. "Oh. Right."
Before we could proceed, however, Luke and Lucina caught up to us. Dalton and Kirby were right behind them, the former carrying Sandacane.
"Your sandblaster is all unclogged and reloaded with fresh, dry sand," Luke said as Dalton put down my Sandaconda. "Just remember, if water ever gets in his nose in the future, get the waterlogged sand out of there as soon as possible. It also helps to massage his sand sac every so often, to loosen up the sand."
"Thanks, Luke," I said as I gave Sandacane a pat on the head. "I'll make sure to keep that in mind."
"But that isn't all." Luke and Sandacane both gave Kirby a disapproving frown. "Try to keep him away from Kirby. He isn't too happy about what the pink puffball did to his sinuses."
"Will do." I returned Sandacane to his Poké Ball.
Lucina stepped forward. "And I told Marnie about those Team Yell chaps. You shouldn't have any more problems with them. Next time you meet one of ’em, worst they'll do to you is ask you for a battle."
The Doctor gave her a hopeful smile. "So that means no more Team Yell roadblocks?"
"No more Team Yell roadblocks," Lucina confirmed. "We should finally be able to continue our journey without any more Team Yell problems."
"That's brilliant! Let's go, everyone!"
We proceeded further ahead, where we found a massive sculpture of three Diglett looming in front of us.
Lucina pointed at the sculpture. "This is one of our favorite parts of visiting Stow-on-Side, Luke and I. Care to guess why?"
The Doctor put a hoof to his chin. "Maybe... because Diglett were worshipped as deities back in the olden days?"
Luke shrugged. "That's what we thought. But if that's the case... then why would they be considered deities?"
"Perhaps..." The gears in my head turned quickly. "...since nobody has ever seen the rest of a Diglett's body..." I snapped my fingers, despite them being feathers. "They either believe Diglett and Dugtrio have a terrifying lower body and hide it to avoid scaring people, or are very small parts of some gargantuan behemoth hiding underground!"
"They WHAT?!"
Suddenly, an enraged Dugtrio came out of the ground... completely.
Contrary to what the people of old may have hypothesized, the trio of Diglett had a short, plump body like a Drilbur, and three long, sharp claws on each round, padded paw.
The Dugtrio looked down at their body and blushed. "Uh... Hehe... Pretend you didn't see that!"
Then they hid back underground.
We all shared a baffled look, that slowly turned into a gleeful smile. "The mystery has finally been solved," I beamed.
"But..." The Doctor shook his head. "While I would love to share this with everyone, it'd probably be best if they were left in the dark."
Dalton nodded. "He's right. We should let them have their fun."
"Then it's settled." Lucina mimed zipping her lips. "Not a word of this to anyone."
Thus, we continued silently into Stow-on-Side.