Violet City: Day 3

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I usually leave my notes for the end of the chapter, but I have to apologize for completely wiping myself off this website! I have been really busy with school this semester, so that is why I haven't been able to post a new chapter. I wanted to get one out so that you guys wouldn't think this story was dead, but I can't guarantee a quick upload for the following chapter! I'm sorry! Thank you to everyone who has stuck around and waited patiently! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

"How long are we going to stay with this girl?" Eusine spat, "I don't have time for this. I promised to escort you to and from Violet City, not give that nobody a tour of the city. I have better things to do." He was clearly getting annoyed. Jealous, even. Eusine wasn't fond of Li Miao. He didn't see one quality about her that deemed her worth of Suicune's attention. She knew nothing about Pokémon battles, she was too sensitive about her Pokémon's condition, and she didn't even have any confidence in herself. How Elder Li, the Kimono Girls, even dear Suicune saw any potential in this girl, Eusine could not get himself to understand.

Zuki was feeling the complete opposite. She was pleased, dancing around on her toes. She couldn't keep the excitement within herself and expressed her happiness in whimsical twirls and jumps. Bystanders couldn't help but watch the giddy Kimono Girl in awe. Zuki wanted nothing more than to tell her darling sisters the news of Elder Li's acknowledgement. The younger Kimono Girl smiled at the thought of her sisters gathering around and feeling a sense of accomplishment!

In all honestly, since Naoko's vision, all the Kimono Girls had become tense. Their efforts in finding the destined one were slow and even though every sister understood it would take months to help Ho-oh return, there was still tension. But to find the destined one only after their second try, made Zuki feel like she had sprouted wings and learnt how to fly! Even though the egg had yet to hatch and Ho-oh had yet to return, Zuki felt as if she and her sisters had already completed their duty!

The young Kimono Girl ignored the Mystic Man and his complaints. She continued to glide to their next destination: The Violet City Gym.

Li Miao kept her distance from the two, but she was still close enough to hear every negative comment that left Eusine's mouth. She knew Eusine didn't like her from the first death glare he sent her when leaving Sprout Tower. She wasn't particularly sure what she had done to offend him, but it was clear he had no interest in being friends. Friendship was the last thought on Li Miao's mind though, she was simply trying to get herself refocused. She was a girl able to adapt to new situations, she had been chosen by Professor Oak to be his apprentice, yet right now she was starting to doubt herself.

She didn't want to think that way, but she couldn't help but be embarrassed about how battling affected her. It was a problem. Elder Li had told her to challenge the 8 Leaders of Johto and even Professor Oak ordered her to build a team of strong Pokémon. She had received an egg that seemed to be of great importance and there she was, incapable of seeing Indonesia being attacked. Her Pokémon on the other hand was fine and trotting beside his trainer as if nothing had ever happened. Li Miao needed to find herself and learn to think that way too, but just the thought of putting two Pokémon against each other hurt her heart.

"Here it is, we're here!" Zuki exclaimed. While she had finally returned the egg back to Li Miao, she hadn't stopped the grabbing. She latched onto Li Miao's shoulder and used her other hand to point up to the massive building in front of them, "This is Violet City's Pokémon Gym. This is where you will battle the first leader of Johto. There are eight total across the entire Johto region, so you'll have to travel a lot!"

Li Miao stared at the building, suddenly realizing who the Eight Leaders of Johto were. It was the same leaders that Caelum were after, the Gym Leaders. Why the connection hadn't come sooner, Li Miao wasn't sure. But she let her mouth hang open in awe, realizing Caelum might be inside.

The Kimono Girl took the agape mouth as a sign of amazement. The Gym was claimed to be the tallest Gym in both the Johto and Kanto region. It would have been taller hadn't the Sage stepped in and declared that no building in Violet City could surpass that of Sprout Tower. Regardless, it was a site worth seeing. Zuki released her grip on Li Miao and took a step back, "Just wait until you see the one in Ecruteak City. Now that's a beautiful Gym! You should go on inside and register for the League. That's the only way you can challenge these leaders. Eusine and I have to go now—BYE!"

And with that Zuki transferred over to Eusine and tugged him away. The bizarre pair scuttled away without a look behind. Neither Li Miao or Indonesia watched them leave, nor cared why they were suddenly in a rush. Both stared at the tower for their reasons. Indonesia was hyped up on anticipation, eager for another battle. While Li Miao was attempting to settle herself down, avoiding getting her hopes up in case Caelum wasn't inside.

She hugged her egg in comfort, her eyes still focused on the building. It was very different from the one in Olivine City. It didn't seem as durable as Jasmine's steel cage Gym. This one seemed more capable of shattering during a storm, as the majority of the building was made of glass. A similar object hung about the Gym entrance though. It was a massive Pokéball. It was the most similar feature to Jasmine's Gym, except that this one was cradled into a decorative nest. Regardless, the similarity reminded the capturer of her hometown. The salty breeze of the port city, the tan faces that always smiled, even the sailors always greedy for a new meal. While it had only been three days, Li Miao already missed home.

"Woah, woah, be careful with that egg. If you squeeze it any harder you might crack it too early!"

The voice was enough to break Li Miao's thoughts. She averted her eyes downward to look at the middle-aged man exiting the Gym and heading towards her. He had scruffy, almond hair with matching goatee, as well as a pair of black sunglasses that were round enough to cover his eyebrows. Li Miao listened to him and lightened her arms around her egg, but said no words.

"Are you here for a challenge?" He asked casually. It was a question he asked frequently.

Li Miao nodded, smiling softly out of politeness, "I am, but I'm not ready yet,"

"Well follow me then, I'll set you up," The man turned around and headed back inside the Gym. Li Miao and Indonesia followed, assuming the man knew what he was talking about. Upon entering the Gym, a breeze of cold, air-conditioned air swarmed around the duo. While it sent a shiver up Li Miao's spine, she kept her eyes darting about, impatient to see if she caught sight of a familiar body. But there was no one else in the Gym's lobby except for her, Indonesia and the man they were currently following.

The duo followed said man until they reached a medium-sized machine. It looked like a photo-copier with extra slots and buttons that suddenly made it foreign. The scruffy man powered the machine on, then clicked a couple of keys. He held his hand out and made a motion for Li Miao to give him something. The capturer just looked at his hand confused. He then looked up at Li Miao, "May I see your trainer card, please? I need it to register you into the system."

"Oh, sorry!" Li Miao cradled her egg quickly into one arm, and dug the other into her purse. She yanked out her card as quickly as she had found it and handed it to the man. There was another moment of silence as he slipped the card into a slot on the machine. Li Miao could hear parts of the machine working inside, but she kept her eyes on the stranger who was now walking behind an empty reception desk and rummaging around for something.

The man disappeared for a bit before returning just after the machine stopped making its weird noises. He held his hands out again and gave Li Miao a small metallic case. He also handed her some brochures, as well as returned her trainer card. He smiled, "There you go, you are now registered into the Pokémon League. That little box is to store all your badges in and those are just some pamphlets on what you can expect during a Pokémon battle. But they aren't too informative, you can ask me if you want some real advice."

"Who are you? Are you the Gym Leader?" Li Miao slipped out rather bluntly. She didn't mean to ask so suddenly, but the question had begun to bug her.

The man was kind though, and only let out a jolly, old laugh, "No, no. I'm a Gym Guide." The capturer looked at him strangely, she didn't know what that meant. The guide slowly crossed his arms and looked down at the petite female. He raised up an eyebrow high enough for Li Miao to see it peaking out over the rim of his sunglasses, "You're a lot older than most when they start out. Did you have a change of direction?"

"Kind-of," There was no way to easily explain how Li Miao was aiming to challenge the Eight Leaders of Johto because a monk and Kimono Girl, she had met this morning, told her to. Even she couldn't wrap her head around it.

"Do you know the gym rules then?" the guide asked. Li Miao shook her head, so the man explained. He explained how the Gym was a place for trainers to test their strength against the best. Each Gym, traditionally, specializes in a specific type. It was believed that a trainer should be able to fend off against any type put against them. Each Gym Leader has six Pokémon that they can use. They only battle with two or three though, depending on the trainer's strength. They usually select the Pokémon they will use in battle, depending on the trainer as well. If a trainer is strong, the Gym Leader will send out their strongest Pokémon. If the trainer is new, there is no reason to send out their best. Regardless, every leader always puts up a tough fight. If a trainer is able to defeat the leader, they will receive a badge and when a trainer collects eight badges, they can compete in the Pokémon League, but that's a whole other story.

While listening to this information, Li Miao clarified that this was exactly what Caelum was after. She couldn't help but drift off into her own mind and wonder if Caelum had already beaten this Gym then, or was still training for it. Had Caelum won though, he would have probably called her in celebration. At least, she would have hoped. She also would have hoped he didn't just abandon her though, but she was clearly wrong about that. So who honestly knew?

"Do you have any questions?" The guide asked. He handed Li Miao a water bottle. The capturer was dumbfounded where it had came from, until she spotted a nearby cooler in her peripherals.

While the capturer was unsure if this question could be answered, she decided it was worth a shot, "Do you know if a boy named Caelum was here recently?"

The Gym Guide put his hands on his hips and sighed. He didn't need any time to think over his answer, "I certainly do recognize that name. I never heard it before I met him. He was here not too long ago. He left the second he beat Falkner. He's too hard on his Cyndaquil."

"Do you know where he's heading? I'm supposed to be traveling with him."

"He left you behind?" While the Guide wanted to ask questions, he knew it wasn't in his job description to interfere. "I'm sure he's headed to Azalea Town. That's where the next Gym is."

Li Miao whipped out her Pokégear and switched to the map application. She studied it to figure out where Azalea Town was. It was south and it seemed pretty far away. She wondered when Caelum had beaten the gym. Today? Yesterday? If it had been the day before, there was no way she could catch up.

While the Guide didn't seem fond of the capturer knowing Caelum. He could see in her actions that she was desperate. He knew he had to do the right thing and help this girl out, "Falkner is only sparring right now, so you can battle him if you'd liked. If you have strong Pokémon like your friend, Falkner shouldn't be a challenge for you. I just hope you treat your Pokémon better than he does."

Li Miao looked up at the thought of a battle, "His Pokémon are a lot stronger than mine. He trains them whenever he can."

The Guide smiled, "I'm sure you're just as strong. May I see your team?"

The capturer pointed to Indonesia, as her egg was obviously unable to fight. The guide would have been lying if he said he was impressed. He had definitely gotten his hopes up. He loved the sight of a strong team, but with how his job rotation worked out, he had gotten stuck being a guide at the Violet City's Gym for the past month. He was tired of seeing weak Caterpie and HootHoot. At least a Chikorita was a fresh sight. Very rarely did he see Pokémon unique to Professor Elm's Laboratory, let alone a Chikorita. This was mostly due to the common misconception that the Grass-Type was the weakest option. While both Cyndaquil and Totodile were good for aggressive trainers, Chikorita had a defense like no other.

Ironically though, Chikorita was the weakest when it came to the Violet City Gym, due to Falkner's type-specialty.

The Gym Guide studied the Pokémon none the less. He let out another sigh, his smile fading, "Your Pokémon is too weak to fight Falkner. You'll need to train if you want a chance at beating him. Grass-Types are extremely vulnerable against Flying-Types too, so you probably want to catch a new Pokémon. There are some pretty popular choices out on Route 32."

Li Miao didn't like the sound of stalling. While she knew it was her duty to capture Pokémon and she needed to win this Gym battle, she was currently more focused on catching up with Caelum.

"Can I still try to battle Falkner now though?" she questioned, eager to catch up with her friend. Indonesia perked up, surprised to hear Li Miao challenging the guide. The man shrugged his arms and said it was possible. Before she knew it, Li Miao was heading down a short corridor that lead to large, double-doors. The Gym Guide pushed past them into a large room. The walls went up forever and were entirely made of glass. They were so spotless that it looked like the Gym simply opened up into the sky.

"Excuse me, Falkner, you have a challenger," The Gym Guide called out, cupping his hands to help his voice echo out.

Name met a face as a blue-haired teenager heard his name. He was currently stationed at a perch, busy analyzing bird-like Pokémon soaring above him. Upon hearing his name, he cocked his head and sent his eyes straight to Li Miao. He seemed bothered that his observations were interrupted, yet also curious to see that his newest challenger was a girl. The capturer was confused wether she should bow, say something, wave? So she simply returned her eye contact to him, watching him as he quietly got up from his perch and leaped down.

The Gym Guide told Li Miao to wait where she was first, as he went ahead to exchange a few words with the Gym Leader. Upon closer glance, Li Miao recognized that she was quite possibly the same age as the leader, and that honestly surprised her. She thought that Jasmine was the youngest, but then again the only other Gym Leader Li Miao knew of was Chuck from Cianwood City. She couldn't help but continue to stare at Falkner though, appreciating the rich blue fabrics that draped over him. He was wearing traditional clothes exclusive to Violet City and was once again she was wondering where she could find some for herself.

"She just has her Chikorita, Falkner. She's desperate to catch up with a friend." The Gym Guide explained quietly.

Falkner wasn't amused by the sound of those words. He turned to Li Miao and sharpened his eyes into a piercing glare that sent Li Miao jumping and her stomach flipping over. She felt regretful about jumping into another battle. She looked over to the Gym Guide for help, but he only sent her a sympathetic smile as there was nothing he could do. Falkner swiped his long, blue fringe away from his eyes and moved to stand in front of Li Miao. There was a significant height difference between the two, but Li Miao was too terrified by Falkner's hard-look to notice.

"I am Falkner, Flying-Type specialist of Violet City," He began, moving two fingers close to his mouth, "I will use my father's precious Pokémon to show you Gym battles are not to be taken for granted!"

Falkner stuck his two fingers in his mouth, whistled a sharp note and his first Pokémon came down, ready for battle!

The quiet blonde gazed up at Bell Tower. He missed the harmonized chimes of the Silver Bells. One had gone missing recently, and there was not a single trace left of it. Surprisingly the wild Pokémon of the tower hadn't grown upset though, so Morty knew it was nothing to worry about. Yet he couldn't help but wonder what the meaning of a missing bell meant. There was no story in the history books to explain it, nor any excerpts in the ancient scrolls.

Eusine had recently returned to Ecruteak City a day ago, but he disappeared all too quickly. The blonde was suspicious of his best friend's actions, but felt it was safe to assume his friend had caught sight of Suicune again. While the blonde cherished the friendship he held with the Mystic Man, he believed Eusine was acting too desperately. The blonde believed that the proper way to prove one's self to the legendaries was to not chase them by their tails, but to show them the power one could hold. That is why the blonde trained himself to be one of the best. That is why he rose himself up to become the ever, so humbled Gym Leader of Ecruteak City.

"Morty,"

The blonde turned his head and made eye contact with a monk. The monk's eyes were full of grief. The Gym Leader frowned, "What's wrong?"

"I apologize greatly, but you must leave this sacred ground at once,"

"But I am the Gym Leader of Ecruteak City, I thought I had every right to be here," He reasoned.

"I am truly sorry," The monk pressed a firm hand against his own chest to hold his heart. He did the most respectful thing he could do and bowed slowly, expressing his sadness, "But Miss. Kuni has ordered that you may no longer spend time here,"

That woman. Morty's frowned deepened, but nodded his head in defeat. There wasn't anything he could do. If anyone had more power than him in this city, it was the leader of the Kimono Girls. If it was anything spiritual related, the Kimono Girls had more privileges, even though Morty was the gym leader. Specifically the leader of Ghost-Types. It was no coincidence. Morty had raised them under his beliefs of his importance, yet even with spirits on his side Morty was nothing more than a peasant when it came to the towers of Johto.

"I suppose I will go to the Kimono Theater to see if I can reason with her then," Morty sighed, before returning a bow, "Good-bye for now old friend, I might not see you for a while,"

Pokédex Entries: 007/256

Li Miao's Team:

1. Indonesia, Chikorita

2. Unidentified Egg

Caelum's Team: Unknown

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This meeting was probably very anti-climactic, as the special person was only the Gym Guide… Sorry! I made you guys wait so long for that! He will become important in the future though! There was some bonus Morty action at the end though! I realized that the pace of this is going to be pretty slow up until Li Miao finally reached Ecruteak City, so I'm going to see if I can speed it up a little bit! Once again though, sorry for disappearing! Thank you for everyone who continues to show their support, I am VERY appreciative of it!