Time flew by, and in a blink of an eye, it was morning.
When the first ray of sunlight penetrated the leaves and scattered on the ground, Delia finally woke up; she stretched and got out of bed.
Although nothing happened overnight, Giovanni was puzzled by Delia's trust in him. Could it be that in the Pokémon World, there truly were people became companions after just one meeting?
Giovanni certainly didn't agree with this; at least for now, Delia was clearly not the companion Giovanni needed.
While Delia was sleeping in, Giovanni had already fed the Pokémon.
Their food was now of the executive level; if he were to share it with Delia, Giovanni would feel a bit pained.
"Get up. After eating something, we should continue our journey."
Delia nodded, got up, and applied medicine again to Butterfree, whose injuries had stabilized after a night of recovery.
Then she instructed Butterfree to go find some Berries.
In fact, Delia's strength was not weak; she was also at the level of a high-ranking Trainer.
It was just that she had bad luck; her Pokémon were all severely injured, which allowed a group of Rattata and Raticate to take advantage of the situation.
This woman was also a bit cunning; last night, she specifically set up a water storage device, accumulating the morning dew, which was barely enough for her to wash up.
This could be considered the convenience of knowing wilderness survival skills.
Giovanni silently memorized this method, perhaps it would be useful later.
After a simple wash, the originally dusty Delia finally looked much cleaner; how to put it, she finally looked like a person.
Her appearance was not bad: willow-leaf eyebrows, cherry lips, large eyes, and a head of fiery red long hair; when she shook her hair, flicking off the water droplets, there was a unique feeling.
However, for Giovanni, this unromantic fellow, it was clearly a bit superfluous.
He just glanced at her and then turned his head to look at the forest, "Can your Butterfree do it? Why hasn't it returned after so long?"
Delia had great trust in Butterfree, "No problem, Butterfree is usually best at finding Berries, and its moves allow it to quickly escape after being attacked."
Indeed, after a short wait, Butterfree returned, carrying several Berries.
Giovanni also saw Delia's other Pokémon, but they were all severely injured and likely incapable of battle for a short period.
Delia also didn't show curiosity about Giovanni's other Pokémon, completely unaware that Giovanni was actually still wary of her. "Let's go."
Continuous traveling.
That afternoon, Delia indeed led Giovanni to the outskirts of Diglett's Cave, but she dared not go further inside.
Delia pointed to the deep cave, which was piled with many rocks, and said to Giovanni:
"This is it. I was attacked before I even walked inside."
"Outside, there are already high-level Dugtrio; I think there might even be Gym Leader Level Dugtrio inside."
Giovanni's eyes flashed with a faint green light as he sensed the dense energy fluctuations inside and underground, and the corners of his mouth turned up, "Indeed, quite a lot of Diglett and Dugtrio have gathered here."
And Delia's guess was correct; there truly was a Gym Leader Level Dugtrio inside, its energy fluctuation like a light bulb among fireflies.
Delia looked along Giovanni's gaze with some confusion, only seeing the muddy ground and rocks with many holes in them, "You already saw it?"
Giovanni waved his hand at her, "You stay here; I'll go meet these little mobs inside."
Delia indeed dared not go in, but she kindly warned Giovanni, "Then be careful; if it's really too much, just retreat."
She wondered if she was simply worried about Giovanni, or if she was afraid that if Giovanni had an accident, her own situation would become dangerous, and she wouldn't be able to reach Pewter City.
Giovanni did not answer her, but instead walked towards Diglett's Cave on his own, his finger lightly tapping the Poké Ball on his waist.
Snap, snap! White lights flashed one after another.
Rhydon, Nidoking, Machoke, and Persian all appeared!
Since Giovanni's research results had been released, there was no need to hide Nidoking; at most, people would just think Giovanni was a rich Boss.
Logically speaking, Giovanni actually was.
And it's worth mentioning that Rhydon had leveled up again after the last battle, now successfully reaching level forty-seven and learning the Earthquake move.
And Delia, who had already hidden herself in a large tree and saw Giovanni's Pokémon, said in great shock:
"So strong! Each one looks very strong. That Pokémon? Is it Nidoking? The article that Cat King just published, he bought a Moon Stone, no wonder he didn't need my reward."
Puff! Puff!!!
Outside Diglett's Cave, seemingly sensing the hostile aura, Diglett and Dugtrio burst out of the ground one by one.
Although they looked clumsy, so many of them coming out together was still very shocking.
An ordinary Trainer might have run away long ago.
Giovanni, however, lightly snapped his fingers, "Rhydon, Earthquake move!"
At Giovanni's command, Rhydon let out a roar, then stomped its gigantic foot; the ground began to shake violently, as if a real Earthquake had arrived.
Cracks spread across the ground, and dust flew, shaking the Diglett and Dugtrio that had just emerged from the ground, causing them to stumble, some even being shaken directly back underground.
"Let's begin, Nidoking, use Sludge Wave!" Giovanni gave another command.
Nidoking opened its mouth, and a thick, toxic sludge spewed forth, arcing through the air like a mud dragon, then slamming hard into the group of Diglett and Dugtrio.
Mud splattered, and the Diglett and Dugtrio hit by the sludge instantly let out screams, being corroded by the poison and covered in mud.
"Machoke, Bulk Up!" Giovanni slowly stepped forward.
Machoke immediately began to perform various exercise movements, its muscles rapidly expanding, brimming with power.
It swung a punch fiercely, the air roaring from the impact, directly hitting a Dugtrio and sending it skidding, plowing several deep marks into the ground.
Meanwhile, Persian leisurely paced nearby, occasionally letting out a few relaxed meows, as if mocking the Diglett and Dugtrio that were being played with in the palm of its hand.
These Diglett and Dugtrio were not worth Giovanni's attention; Power of Viridian had already captured the one with the best aptitude and strength.
The Gym Leader Level Dugtrio!
And upon seeing Giovanni's Pokémon display their power, annihilating the Diglett and Dugtrio that she couldn't contend with in just one encounter.
"They are truly too strong!" Delia murmured to herself, "It seems my previous worries were unnecessary."