Maggie could hear the commotion even from the baths. Rolf was giving his speech again today, same one she'd heard when she got to the Pokemon Center last night. Insensitive trainers were responding the same way they had then too. Honestly, Maggie wasn't too broken up about being unable to rush into the caves of Mt. Moon, and from the singing coming from behind her, neither was Dream. The Misdreavus had been giddy ever since she'd returned from hunting at around midnight, though Maggie didn't know what had put her in such a good mood. She'd probably missed something amazing.<br/><br/>Packing away her toothbrush, the girl frowned. The only civilized ways out of west Kanto were Routes 2, 3, and 21. The last was in the middle of the ocean, and the other two went through caves. Caves! You know what lives in caves?<span style="font-style: italic">Onix!</span>Thirty foot serpents of living stone, like a lithified Gyarados, or like a furious house uncurled. Their jaws were just about exactly as long as Maggie was tall. They could dig like a Ponyta could run, and they could erupt from the ground or the wall or the<span style="font-style: italic">ceiling</span>whenever they wanted a snack! So this was actually perfect. Maggie would wait for the Clefairy to finish their worship, then, when a whole lot of trainers had backed up waiting, she could go through with the crowd and be safe from horrible rock monsters. (Which, by the way, were also<span style="font-style: italic">invisible</span>until they moved and ate you.) (Also, screw you, Brock. Maggie didn't want a stupid Boulder Badge anyway.)<br/><br/>The hairdryer quieted down, and Dream came around to float it back into Maggie's pack, still humming to herself as she cleaned the hairbrush. She wasn't quite quick enough to hide a strand of brown hair, which didn't match Maggie's own gray/purple. Well, that explained the scream from earlier. With a sigh, but no other reaction, Maggie finished cleaning up, then slipped on her slim pack and draped her cloak over it. Once Mt. Moon opened up, she'd probably be roughing it for a few days, but she could enjoy the Pokemon Center's spartan accommodations for now. Ultimately though, travelers weren't meant to stay the day here, they'd get bored out of their skulls. So, hat on, Dream recalled, Facebook checked, Pokegear clipped to the pocket, ready to go out and do... something.<br/><br/>Maggie tried her hardest not to make eye contact as she slowly pushed her way through the throng of trainers outside. People always talked too much if you looked at them, especially trainers, and these trainers were already shouting. No matter. In time, Maggie made it back to the calming quiet of Route 3. Whereupon she was immediately set upon by strange gentlemen with Swinub inexplicably latched to their faces.<br/><br/>"Mt. Moon's closed!"<br/>"Go ahead and check. Won't be gettin' in."<br/>"Not without our help!"<br/>"And not without our fee."<br/>"Right you are, Will! Only 1500 pd to get through. Save you a week's worth of waiting or walking!"<br/>"Right you are, Jake. Getcha on your way real fast, no harm, no foul."<br/><br/>In her confusion at the machine gun delivery, Maggie did the absolute worst possible thing she could have done. She stopped, did not continue walking, looked at them as if she might possibly be vaguely interested in hearing more (or just shocked stupid), and said, "Um."