Tia spends some time in Vermilion City and a childhood memory resurfaces.
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
“I dare you!”
Tia looked down at the Level Ball in her hand and glared at the young Trainer taunting her.
“This Poke Ball won’t work – I told you already!” she said, annoyed. “The Pokemon in Diglett’s Cave are super-high, and Naito’s only Level 5!” Geez, Trainers were stupid. And this one was a full 2 years younger than her! Who was he to boss her around?
“You said your Poke Balls were better than the ones in the Poke Mart!” another Trainer spoke up.
“I said my Poke Balls would be better depending on the situation,” Tia explained, exasperated. “If your Pokemon was higher-leveled, or if the Pokemon you wanted to catch was caught by a fishing rod, or – ugh, why am I bothering to explain this crap? Give my Poke Ball kit back, and let me leave!”
“Nuh-uh. Not until you go into Diglett’s Cave, catch a Pokemon, and come out!” the first Trainer said, smirking.
“Stop it. You know Tia isn’t a Trainer, and isn’t prepared for something like this! We aren’t even strong enough to go inside!” a third Trainer said, glaring at the first. “Quit being a bully, Terry, and give her Poke Ball kit back!”
“Oh, I know! Why don’t we all go in, and catch a Pokemon?” Terry asked, smiling evilly. “Then we can really prove whose Poke Balls are better!”
The third Trainer scoffed. “I don’t believe this. I’m going to get help. What about you, Mira?” She looked at the second Trainer.
Mira shook her head violently. “Do what you want, Kit, but I’m not backing down in front of him.”
Kit sighed. “All right. Hang in there, Tia. I’m going to get all of you out of this somehow.” She turned and ran off.
Terry chuckled. “Loser.” Then he turned toward Tia. “Let’s go!”
Deep in the cave, Tia walked slowly, trying to get her bearings in the dim light. Naito sat perched on her shoulder. The deeper they went, the darker things got, and Tia could barely hear the footsteps of the two Trainers beside her.
I hope there aren’t any bats in here, Tia thought worriedly. That would just make things so much worse-
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud rumbling sound. The ground began to shake, and Digletts began popping out and gliding across the dirt.
“What’s happening?” someone shouted.
The ground suddenly split, and a massive Dugtrio emerged. It stared down at the three kids, and gave a loud, angry roar. “TRIOOO!”
All three kids screamed and ran off in different directions. Tia ran blindly, unable to see a thing in the darkness. She was only dimly aware of Naito jumping from her shoulder to her head, tweeting unintelligibly, and everything suddenly went dark…
“...They all went inside Diglett’s Cave!” Kit explained to Tia’s parents, “And none of them were prepared! We need to go there and rescue them!”
Naomi and Nathan looked at Kit seriously, then looked at each other. Naomi was about to reply when Tia and Naito suddenly appeared in front of them, dirty and bedraggled. Tia’s Poke Ball kit appeared beside them.
“Tia! Are you all right?” Naomi asked, worriedly.
Tia opened her eyes and looked around, confused. “The others… What happened to the others?”
Naomi and Nathan looked at each other again. “Search party,” Nathan said, seriously, “Now.”
It took several hours for the Vermilion police to finally find Terry and Mira, dirty and exhausted and with all sorts of bumps and bruises, on the outskirts of Route 2 and a few steps from the exit of Diglett’s Cave. Tia got the lecture of a lifetime on not going to dangerous places unprepared, and Terry and Mira got reprimands from the police for putting a non-Trainer in danger. Kit got off light since she had the sense to go get help. Steps were put in place to restrict Diglett’s Cave to qualified Trainers only.
Even now, years later, Tia never forgot that misadventure in Diglett’s Cave. She and Kit were still friends today, though Kit had switched gears from Pokemon training to researching.
She quietly got up from the bench she was sitting on and walked away smiling, figuring that the nearby kids daring each other to enter Diglett’s Cave had the sense not to actually do it.
This memory is meant to explain Tia's ambivalent opinion of Pokemon Trainers. Also, yes, I did base Kit, Terry and Mira on Red, Blue and Leaf from Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen, with Kit being a female Red.