"I'll say this for Koffing," Leaf said as she picked up a Great Ball hidden in the grass just to the east of Mt. Moon. "When he goes on the attack, you may as well have been in Unova Metropolis nearly three decades ago!"
"Why? What happened then-pippi?" Clefairy asked.
"One of the worst smogs to suffocate the area, that's what! Factories, incinerators, and automobiles were to blame for it, and the government finally stepped in sometime after. From what I've heard, the smog that Thanksgiving was as thick as peanut butter, and it was dangerous!"
Stopping only to pick up a TM that was out in the clear, she and her Pokémon proceeded down the ledge and were jumped by a wild Ekans.
Coincidentally, a Rocket just nearby was in her exact same situation. What neither of them realized at the time was that as they summoned Beedrill to take care of their opponent and threw their Poké Balls at their weakened quarry, they were doing it in sync.
Following an awkward glance, Leaf proceeded to Cerulean City with her Pokémon.
"Hold it," said a police officer just outside of Cerulean City. "Identify yourself, stranger."
Leaf wasn't really hesitant. "I was referred to the local Gym Leader by Brock Harrison of Pewter City. The name's Leaf, and I'm an aspiring Pokémon trainer. I'm also running an errand for Professor Samuel Oak of Pallet Town, who is my next-door neighbor."
The officer scratched his head. "Now those are names I've heard before," said he. "But just to be sure, let's see some identification."
Leaf showed the officer her Pokédex. The officer inspected it and handed it to her. "Looks like your story checks out," said he. "Move along, then."
Leaf proceeded forward. Things looked peaceful, but girls in blue uniforms were patrolling the area everywhere she looked. She walked up to one of them and asked, "Why the air of martial law around here?"
"Ask Officer Jenny," the girl said. "She happens to be at the scene of the crime."
Having noticed that the girl was being accompanied by a menacing-looking Wartortle, Leaf remarked to herself, "For a bunch of picnic girls, these young ladies in blue don't kid around."
Indeed, half of the girls in blue had a Wartortle which accompanied them on their patrols. Leaf decided to look around for anyone who felt relaxed in an environment like this. She managed to find a young man nearby who took notice of her Pokédex. "You making an encyclopedia on Pokémon?" he asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
The young man chuckled and said, "Sounds amusing."
Leaf frowned as she walked past, stopping by a veteran trader's house. He said he was looking to exchange his Haunter for a Machoke, if she had one. However, she didn't at the moment. "Think of me when you get one," he said as she left and moved on to the daycare center right next door.
Suddenly, a vine grabbed her by the ankle and tripped her up. The vine dragged her towards its source, a bluish-green Pokémon with a bulb on his back. Leaf immediately recognized him as a Bulbasaur.
"Easy now," said a young woman in overalls who walked up to the scene. "You don't want to hurt someone who's just paying a visit. Welcome, young lady. What's your name?"
"Leaf."
"Mine's Melanie," the woman said. "I take care of injured Pokémon. I nursed this Bulbasaur back to health. He's looking for a good trainer to take care of him now."
"I feel pretty sorry for him-pika," Pikachu admitted. "I know how it feels to be picked on by the local Weedle-pika."
Leaf said, "She's native to Viridian Forest. And she's not the only one the local Weedle targeted. They also got my Spearow, who I call Terminator."
"Oh, you give your Pokémon nicknames! How cute!" Melanie squealed. "What do you call your Pikachu?"
"I call her Lita," Leaf said, "after a television superhero gifted with the power of electricity."
It suddenly dawned upon Melanie that Leaf was a suitable enough trainer. "I know! Would you like to take care of this Bulbasaur?"
"Sure," Leaf said.
Suddenly, Bulbasaur pointed one of his vines at Pikachu. "Looks like he doesn't want to go without a fight," Melanie observed. "He wants to challenge you for the right."
"Fine," Pikachu said. "Let's take it outside-pika."
Leaf walked out of the daycare center with Clefairy, Pikachu, and Bulbasaur. Silently, Pikachu and Bulbasaur took their places. "Mr. Bulbasaur," Pikachu said, "I'll see to it that Leaf gets you all rested up first thing after this-pika."
Bulbasaur gestured with his vine, as if to say, "Ladies first."
Pikachu responded with a Tail Whip. Bulbasaur hit her with Vine Whip, but a single Quick Attack from her proved to be sufficient to weaken him enough that he conceded the battle. Leaf threw a Poké Ball at him and caught him promptly.
As she walked towards the Pokémon Center without Pikachu having to tell her twice, Melanie said, "Please take care of Bulbasaur!"
While waiting for her Pokémon to be healed, Leaf registered her fossil and deposited it in the high-security fossil storage vault underground.
On the main floor, there was some chatter going on about the Pokémaniac who lived on Cerulean Cape to the north. "That Bill! I heard he'll—"
"Bill has lots of Pokémon! He collects rare ones, too."
"—to get rare Pokémon!"
"Have you heard about Bill?" one young man inside of the Pokémon Center asked. "Everyone calls him a Pokémaniac! Probably just green with envy, though—I mean, who wouldn't want to boast about their Pokémon?"
Leaf felt uncomfortable with some of the discussion, which implied that this Bill character, whoever he was, really got around. "I did not need to hear that," she said, blushing, regarding one such rumor. It quickly reached the point where she asked Nurse Joy when her Pokémon would be ready. "Not for another hour or two, I'm sorry to say," Nurse Joy said, shaking her head. "Try exploring different parts of the city in the meantime."
By that point fed up with all that talk about Bill's exploits, Leaf said, "I plan to."
Leaf stopped by a bike shop and saw a lass nearby. "I want a bright red bicycle!" she exclaimed suddenly. "I'll keep it at home most of the time, of course; I don't want it to get all dirty."
Leaf walked in and saw a lot of hot bicycles. There were also a couple of apparently affluent customers looking around. One said, "A plain city bike is good enough for me; you can't put a shopping basket on an MTB!"
Suddenly, the shopkeeper perked up and took a look at Leaf, summoning her to the counter. "Hi! Welcome to Cerulean Bike Shop! Here's a good deal you can't miss! Look at this cool bike!" he exclaimed. "Do you want it?"
Leaf said, "It looks good enough. Sure, I'd—"
"Sorry! You can't afford it!" the shopkeeper suddenly said, cutting her off.
"How did you know?" she asked.
"You look more like a country bumpkin than the affluent types I usually get," the shopkeeper said, "so you don't look like you've got the 1,000,000 Pokédollars that bike costs. Don't worry, I'll hold it for you for the next week. Try to make enough money by then. Deal?"
Leaf hesitated for a moment before shaking the shopkeeper's hand. "Deal."
"I don't have too much faith in you, though," the shopkeeper said. "Oh! Do try to pick up a bike voucher. It's good for one bike, if you can get one. Come back again soon!"
As she walked out, another customer remarked, "These bikes are cool, but they're way expensive!"
"No kidding, Sherlock," she told him as she passed by.
Next, she came across a trainer who was having a hard time training her Slowbro.
"OK! Slowbro! Use Sonicboom! Come on, Slowbro, pay attention!"
The trainer then tried something simpler. "Slowbro, punch! No! You blew it again!"
By the time Leaf got up close to the trainer, she was desperate. "Slowbro, withdraw! No! That's wrong!"
Turning to Leaf, she continued, "It's so hard to control Pokémon! Your Pokémon's obedience depends on your abilities as a trainer!"
Leaf wondered how that could factor into a Pokémon's obedience.
She found her answer in another house in the northwestern part of Cerulean City.
"Pokémon Badges are owned only by skilled trainers," said he. "I see you have at least one. Those Badges have amazing secrets! For example!
"With the Boulder Badge, the attack power of all your Pokémon increases a little bit. It also lets you use Flash any time you desire.
"When you beat Misty, she'll give you the Cascade Badge, with which Pokémon up to Lv. 30 will obey you, even the outsiders which you may acquire in a trade. Any higher, they become unruly! It also lets you use Cut outside of battle.
"Upon earning the Thunder Badge, the speed of all your Pokémon increases a little bit. You can also use Fly outside of battle.
"If you get the Rainbow Badge, Pokémon up to Lv. 50 will obey you. Any higher, and they become unruly! You can also use Strength in the field.
"Upon reception of the Soul Badge, the defensive power of all your Pokémon increases a little bit. It will also allow you to Surf outside of battle.
"As soon as you earn the Marsh Badge, Pokémon up to Lv. 70 will obey you. Any higher—you guessed it—they become unruly!
"Your Pokémon's special abilities become a bit more powerful when you go to Cinnabar and earn the Volcano Badge.
"Last, but not least, is the Earth Badge. I don't know who gives it out, let alone its true power, but I heard that all Pokémon will obey you! Kinda scary to think about if it lands in the wrong hands, if I dare say so myself."
After picking up her Pokémon, Leaf walked past a house in the northeastern corner of Cerulean City. There she saw Officer Jenny.
"So this is the scene of the crime," Leaf mused.
"Yep. And now you know why this city is practically under martial law," Officer Jenny said.
"What happened here?" Leaf asked.
"These poor people here were robbed," Officer Jenny said. "We're positive that Team Rocket is behind this terrible deed. Even our police force is having trouble with the Rockets!"
Leaf said, "Guess that explains the little volunteers in blue."
"I know," Officer Jenny said. "At least they know their duty as citizens. With any luck, they'll make a citizen's arrest before the criminal returns to the scene of the crime."
Nearby, Leaf saw on top of a ledge a redheaded girl in a yellow tank top and jean shorts. The girl, wearing a pair of ballet slippers, was practicing what at first appeared to be ballet but quickly showed itself to in fact be gymnastics. "She's beautiful," Leaf said. "I only wish I could move like that…"
Before she could try to talk to the girl, she disappeared into the Gym through a door that closed as quickly as it opened. As she jumped off the ledge, she asked, "Where did she go?"
"Don't bother following her through the door," an awfully familiar voice said. As it turned out, a talking Meowth was right nearby. The Meowth continued, "That door is for employees only."
Leaf promptly did a double take. "Sorry. It would seem you had a run-in with that other talking Meowth," Meowth remarked. "I know him. He likes to hang out with a redhead and a purplehead wearing white uniforms. Some time ago, I saw them heading west to Mt. Moon. Whatever they were up to, it couldn't be good, but I personally suspect the burglary is connected to it somehow."
"No harm, no foul," Leaf said. "I was only looking to challenge the Gym Leader."
"The girl who walked in just now? Yeah, she's the Gym Leader," Meowth said. "I suggest you enter through the canopy just below the Seel on top of the roof."
Leaf whistled ye olde music hall song "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" as she walked into the Gym.
Upon the bulletin board in the lobby was the following:
"WATER BALLETS DAILY AT 5:00 PM COURTESY OF THE SENSATIONAL SISTERS! Check out magic shows from THE LIVELY LILY every Thursday evening! CERULEAN CLOYSTERS: Final results of the season: 17-65, last place in the Kanto Division of the International Basketball Association. Better luck next year! Gym Leader: Misty, the Tomboyish Mermaid! Open every afternoon and evening to challengers for the Cascade Badge!"
"Hell of an entertainment complex," Leaf said to herself as she wandered in one direction, right into the crowd of a magic show that was about to begin.
"Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages!" shouted a blonde woman in a red bunny girl costume. "I'm so glad you could join us for this week's magic show…"
"Who's that?" Leaf asked one spectator.
"That's Sakura Waterflower," the spectator replied, "the eldest of the Sensational Sisters, the water ballet group she founded with Violet and Lily. She can always be counted on to overact in her introductions."
"…and now, without further ado, I bring you… THE LIVELY LILY!"
A pink-haired young woman wearing a Goldeen dress, pink tights, and heels jumped out of the water and landed gracefully on the stage. Leaf knew immediately that that was Lily Waterflower, known to spectators at her magic shows as The Lively Lily. She was so good at her magic act, she didn't need to say anything to demonstrate her proficiency as a magician, whether she was doing such simple tricks as pulling a rabbit out of a hat or summoning lily petals apparently out of nowhere or escaping from a full tank of water, Houdini-style. As a matter of fact, she didn't say one word during her performance.
After the performance, Leaf was stopped in the lobby by Sakura, still in her bunny girl costume. "Excuse me," said she, "I'm looking for the Gym Leader, Misty."
"Ah, yes! For that you've come to the right place, if you know where to look," Sakura said. "As a matter of fact, let me point you to her. She's that way!"
"Thanks… Sakura, right?"
"Ee-yup!"
"Yo! Champ in making!" the gym guide shouted in Leaf's direction as she approached.
"Didn't I see you in Pewter City?" Leaf asked.
"That was my brother-in-law," the gym guide, also named Clyde, said. "Anyway, heed mine advice, amiga.
"Misty is a professional trainer, keeping up a tradition started by her dearly departed dad—she specializes in Water-type Pokémon! You can drain all their water with Grass-type Pokémon like Bulbasaur. Or, better still, your Pikachu can zap 'em with electricity!"
"I'm sure ready for that-pika!" Pikachu smirked.
In the back of the Gym, Leaf saw the redheaded girl, Misty, again. She still wore the same outfit Leaf had seen her wearing some time earlier, but she was now wearing red trainers instead of her slippers. Misty appeared starstruck at the sight of her Pikachu.
Leaf proceeded down the platform all the way to her, but midway down…
"SPLASH!"
A sudden burst of water, followed by the sight of a young man wearing a bikini-cut Speedo popping out of the water, startled Leaf so much, she promptly fell into the water. Though she knew how to swim, having learned back home in Pallet Town, she was too scared to remember, and she ended up sinking like a rock.
Seeing this, Misty jumped off the lifeguard chair where she had been perched, kicked off her trainers, and dove straight into the water. Swimming under the platform, she grabbed Leaf and pulled her up to the surface and helped her back onto the platform.
"Luis!" she barked in the swimmer's direction. "How many times have I told you not to be so rough when challenging new trainers?"
Turning to Leaf, she asked, "You OK?"
"I'm fine," Leaf said. "I was just a bit startled, is all."
"You know, you should change clothes before you catch your death of cold," Misty said. "That dress of yours looks soaking wet!"
"'Catch my death of cold'? Fine talk coming from you," Leaf muttered as she shamelessly removed her dress on the spot, revealing a black camisole swimsuit, which she had been wearing all along, underneath. "What kind of idiot would wear pantyhose when swimming?"
"The kind of idiot that likes her clothes waterproof," Misty said proudly. "What I'm wearing right now—every last thread—was personally woven by my mother, even the coarse cotton that went into that denim."
"Doesn't look homemade to me," Leaf said as she wrapped a green leaf print skirt around her waist. "Anyway, the environment looks so relaxed."
"That's because Team Rocket is so afraid of me, or so it's been said, that a security team isn't really necessary for this Gym," Misty said.
"Let's just get this over with-pika," Pikachu said, moving to the other side of the roundabout on the platform as Luis summoned his Horsea. She made short work of both him and the Shellder Luis summoned in his place.
"That can't be!" Luis groaned as he handed over the prize money.
"Well, that's what happens when you spend your time here slacking off," Misty said. "I suggest you train harder."
"Oh, I will," Luis said. "You should keep training, too, because so's Misty! No way she'll lose to someone like you!"
Pikachu rolled her eyes. "You think-pika?"
All of a sudden, a wild Mew appeared just above the roundabout. "Lita, take care of this one," Leaf said. "I've got to know what it is."
Pikachu fried the Mew so hard, the creature fell into the water almost immediately. Everyone, even Clyde, threw their Poké Balls at it. They waited intensely for one to pop out. Suddenly, a Poké Ball came out of the water and landed right in Leaf's hands.
To even her own surprise, she had caught the Mew. "No wonder everyone threw their Poké Balls at it as soon as it was weakened," she said to herself.
"You do not know how impressively lucky you are," Nurse Joy said. "It took a while to get its biological systems checked out; it didn't even appear in our databases! It's been said there are few left; even top experts in the realm of Pokémon research have debunked it as a mere mirage."
Leaf's dress was still drying at the Gym; however, it was already morning. Bowing, Nurse Joy said, "We hope to see you again!"
Leaf wondered if every Nurse Joy was contractually obliged to say that after healing a trainer's Pokémon; however, she had little time to ponder that possibility, as her cell phone rang.
It was Misty. "What a surprise."
"I found your phone number while I was emptying the sole pocket on your dress," Misty said. "It'll take some time before you can wear it again, by the way."
"I kind of figured," Leaf remarked.
"Oh, meet me at the music room of Riverside Private School for Girls before sixth period. I want to tell you something."
Leaf bided her time by training her Pokémon in the grassy area in Route 4. At the appointed time, Leaf showed up and walked into the music room. The doors were already open.
There was Misty, wearing her school uniform—a blue cap with Squirtle Scout insignia on the front and her ponytail sticking out almost at the back, a blue short-sleeved shirt with the school badge on one side and a pocket on the other, a dark blue tie, blue shorts, light blue tights, and black Mary Janes. She was practicing on the flute when Leaf showed up.
"Glad to see you could make it," Misty said. "I just want to ask you a favor."
"Fire away," Leaf said.
"After school lets out, meet me just off the Nugget Bridge, on the northern edge of town," Misty continued. "I want to show you something just beyond."
"Can I cross it now?" Leaf asked.
"Sorry, but no," Misty said. "You probably won't stand a chance against the people on the bridge!"
"I can handle it!" Leaf insisted.
Misty shook her head.
As promised, Misty rendezvoused with Leaf just off the Nugget Bridge after changing into more casual clothes. It was the same outfit Leaf had seen her wearing the day before, complete with the trainers. "You ready?"
"I was born ready," Leaf said.
"All right, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Misty shouted.
However, they soon saw a familiar face walking right past the trainers on the Nugget Bridge. "Bonjour!" he said.
"What the…?" was all Misty could bring herself to say.
Leaf knew that face. "Blue…!"