"Cerulean City." Tony grinned as he and Delia reached the outskirts of the city. "We've finally arrived! Nothing against the wilderness, but it'll be nice to have a hot bath and a bed to crawl into."
"You act as if it's been years since we left Pewter." Delia said with a light chuckle.
"It feels like it, with all of the time we spent at Mount Moon. C'mon! Last one to the Pokemon Center buys lunch!"
"Oh brother," Delia sighed, shaking her head as she watched Tony take off towards the Pokemon Center. "I didn't sign up for racing in amongst all this..."
"Need a lift?"
"Hm?" Delia turned and found Cerulean City's Nurse Joy in the driver's seat of a sky blue colored jeep. "Yes, please!"
"I couldn't help but overhear his challenge to a race. I take it that the young man is your traveling companion?" Nurse Joy asked as Delia climbed into the jeep and buckled up.
"Tony? Yeah, though I'm more likely to be considered his traveling companion instead. He's the pokemon trainer. Speaking of which..." Delia paused a moment as they were about to pass by Tony. "You owe me a sushi bento box!"
"Wai- What? No fair!" Tony replied. His jaw dropped as the jeep sped up and drove away.
"Thank you for the lift, Nurse Joy." Delia said with an appreciative smile.
"You're quite welcome, Delia." Joy replied as they exited the jeep and headed to the Pokemon Center's main entrance.
Several minutes passed by before Tony arrived slightly out of breath and more than a little annoyed. By the time he reached the cafeteria booth that Delia was sitting at, lunch had already been ordered and placed on the table. Tony quickly picked up his drink and chugged down at least half of the glass's contents before heaving a sigh and slouching across the way from Delia.
"I believe the bill is yours." Delia smirked.
Tony merely grumbled an unintelligible remark.
"You brought it upon yourself, you know."
Grunt.
"Tony Ketchum, you better snap out of whatever foul funk you're in." Delia warned tersely.
"Sorry." Tony shook his head to clear his mind. "Not sure what had gotten into me. Let's see that bill, hm?"
"Actually, the meal was on the house." Delia smiled, happy that Tony was himself again. "At any rate, have you worked out a strategy against the Gym Leader?"
"Not really. I m not even sure what kind of pokemon will be used." Tony mulled a number of random thoughts through his mind.
"Water."
Tony and Delia both jumped in their seats. They turned and saw that Nurse Joy had silently approached their table.
"Sorry for startling you." Nurse Joy said with an apologetic smile. "Gym Leader Sakura likes using water type pokemon in battle."
"Thanks." Tony replied gratefully.
"No problem." Nurse Joy said before continuing on her rounds.
"Hm The water type." Tony mused. "If it's just about types alone, I'd have a win, a loss, and a draw on my hands. Good thing it isn't just about types!"
Now Tony was really getting fired up about his next major battle. While wolfing down his food, Tony nearly choked a couple of times.
"Slow down, won't you? It's not like the Cerulean Gym's going to revert to a pumpkin patch at the stroke of midnight!" Delia chided.
"Maybe not, but why risk it?"
Delia simply sighed at that. Trainers will be trainers, right? Especially certain over-eager ones.
The rest of their meal passed by in relative silence.
Standing in front of the Gym, Tony and Delia took in the scenic view of the decorated building. The walls were painted in aquatic shades of blue, while the roof was a darker shade of blue with what appeared to be a life-sized Cloyster statue positioned on the top.
"Mm. At least they don't hide their interests." Delia commented before they entered Cerulean Gym.
"But did you notice how nicked it is? It's almost as if it's been through many battles itself." Tony replied.
"That's because it has."
Tony and Delia's attentions were turned to the woman who had just spoke. Her deep sky blue hair hung down around her face, ending an inch or so past her chin. Her medium blue body suit started at her chest and ended at her ankles with flowing teal-green sheer material that started under the bust-line and ended a few inches above the ankles. No sign of footwear was in sight.
"Cloyster and I've been through many battles together and it occasionally likes sunbathing on the roof in between them. Welcome to Cerulean Gym. My name is Sakura and I'm the Gym Leader. Are you both here to take the challenge?"
"He is, I'm just going to watch." Delia replied.
"Alright. I hope you don't mind my three daughters watching as well. I want them to see how battles turn out should they take over the Gym one day."
"It's fine by me." came Tony's response as he and Delia followed the barefoot Gym Leader to the arena.
"Daisy! Lily! Violet!" Sakura called out.
"Like, we're coming, Mom!" a girl's voice replied.
Moments later, three girls of varied hair colors and ages came into the arena, followed by Sakura's battle worn Cloyster.
"Take your places, girls. I have a new challenger."
"Aw, do we have to watch another battle? It's, like, so boring!" Daisy moaned.
"Watching battles could be very educational, Dear."
"True, that. I learned quite a bit about battling via watching and training under Falkner back in Johto."
Daisy gave Tony a quick 'if looks could kill' glare for taking her mother's side, before she joined her sisters and Delia in the spectator's stands. Tony stood on one end of the aquatic arena as Sakura went to the other end. Most of the arena was a pool for water-type pokemon to move around with relative ease. Floating platforms were strategically placed into the pool for pokemon to stand upon.
"Three pokemon each sound good to you?"
"Great. And to test the waters, I choose Seaking!" Tony sent out his goldfish pokemon to start the battle.
"You're up, Cloyster." Sakura motioned towards the pool.
"Cloy!" the bivalve pokemon exclaimed eagerly as it jumped into the pool with hardly any splashing of the water's surface.
"Fury Attack, Seaking!" Tony called out.
"Withdraw, Cloyster." Sakura calmly told her pokemon.
Cloyster immediately closed its shell tightly a split second before Seaking's attack made contact. With each failed hit, Seaking became more and more frustrated, which not only fired up its determination but also caused it to tune out any verbal command given.
"Hm. Seems your Seaking's a bit hotheaded. Like pokemon, like trainer, perhaps?"
"I wasn't Seaking's original trainer." Tony said with a low growl. "I don't know if it has a chip on its proverbial shoulder, but Seaking has helped me out a number of times. We've become friends within the short time we've been traveling together."
"It still looks like it needs to cool down. Cloyster, use Ice Beam!"
"Horn Drill!" Tony growled.
Seaking ignored Tony's command and chose one of its other attacks in its place. Cloyster's Ice Beam stopped Seaking's Water Pulse in its tracks and upped its Ice Beam's power until Water Pulse was cancelled out completely.
"Seaking, cut that out! I told you to use Horn Drill, not Water Pulse!" Tony exclaimed in frustration.
"Oh dear." Delia muttered from her spot in the stands.
"Such a pity that Seaking won't listen to you." Sakura commented. "It seems that even though you and Seaking are good friends, it still doesn't trust you enough to follow orders."
"S'pose you're right. Seaking, return!" Tony growled as he recalled the water pokemon, irritated about the fact that the Gym Leader was right and that he had failed to notice it before now. He had been so sure that the relationship between Seaking and himself was going so well that he had been blind to any possible warning signs. Just as he was going to pull out Charizard's pokeball, Chikorita released itself from its own pokeball.
"Chiko!" the grass-type pokemon exclaimed.
"Chikorita..." Tony sighed. Things just weren't going his way with this battle. He wanted to use Charizard to finish things off. Closing his eyes for a moment, he took a deep breath. With a renewed burst of energy, he snapped his eyes open. "All right, use Vine Whip!"
"Ko-Chiko!" Chikorita lashed at cloister with its vines but got annoyed that most of its hits landed on Cloyster's battle scarred shell.
"Ice Beam, once more!" Sakura called out.
"Dodge it Chikorita. Get as close as possible and use Magical Leaf!"
Leaping from platform to platform, Chikorita just barely managed to avoid Cloyster's attack. A number of platforms weren't so lucky - they froze over making the surfaces nearly impossible to safely stand or even maneuver on. Moments later, Chikorita launched its attack directly into Cloyster's face, causing the water-type pokemon to faint.
"Cloyster, return." Sakura recalled her pokemon into its pokeball. "Impressive. Your Chikorita is swift and has good aim. I call out my next pokemon, Tentacool."
Tentacool appeared the next instant in the pool.
"Mm, a Tentacool. Poison Powder'd be no good." Tony mused. "Chikorita, Vine Whip!"
"Chiko!" Chikorita exclaimed, sending its vines out.
"Wrap this up, Tentacool." Sakura ordered.
"Cool, Tentacool." Tentacool lashed out with its tentacles, effectively stopping Chikorita's Vine Whip and doing some damage to the grass-type pokemon.
"No, Chikorita!" Tony exclaimed in shock. As the Wrap attack continued to dwindle Chikorita's energy, Tony changed tactics. "Use Synthesis, NOW!"
"Chi..." Chikorita uttered as it attempted to restore its health. Mid-way through, Chikorita began to glow, bathed in a white light.
"What the..." Tony blinked in surprise.
Tentacool released its opponent as it began to change shape and grow larger. A moment later, the sudden evolution finished and Bayleef stood on the very platform that it had been on as a Chikorita only moments before.
"Bay, bayleef!" the newly evolved pokemon exclaimed.
"All right!" Tony cheered. "Bayleef, use Vine Whip!"
"Bay." Bayleef shook its head at Tony.
"No? Why not?" Tony asked, puzzled at Bayleef's refusal.
"Leef, bay bay!" Bayleef exclaimed as it let out a new attack at its opponent. A flurry of flower petals swirled and pummeled Tentacool into unconsciousness.
"Oh, I get it." Tony knew that a pokemon could only know a handful of moves, and Bayleef must have forgotten Vine Whip to learn Petal Dance.
Sakura recalled Tentacool into its pokeball before sending out her final pokemon.
"Lucky break, that. There's still a chance for me to even up the odds though. Vaporeon, go!"
"Vaporeon!" the bubble jet pokemon exclaimed upon release, landing gracefully onto a platform.
Before Vaporeon could defend itself, much less receive orders from Sakura, Bayleef's Petal Dance attack kicked in once more. The attack hit the water-type pokemon head on, though as the attack died out, Bayleef became confused.
"Snap out of it, Bayleef!" Tony pleaded, his hands balling into fists.
"Water Gun, Vaporeon, now! While your opponent is distracted." Sakura commanded.
"Va... Va..." Vaporeon uttered, still a bit winded by the previous attack. A moment later, it jumped into the pool and attacked the confused Bayleef.
"Bayleef!" Tony reached for Bayleef's pokeball, but stopped himself short as he noticed that the Water Gun attack snapped Bayleef out of its confusion. "Are you able to continue?"
"Bay..." Bayleef panted, a bit worse for wear.
"Let's finish this with Magical Leaf!"
"Bayleef, bay!" With a sudden burst of energy due to its Overgrow ability, Bayleef's attack dealt extra dammage to Vaporeon, causing it to faint while still in the water.
"Take a break, Vaporeon. You did your best." Sakura said as she recalled her pokemon.
"All right, Bayleef!" Elated, Tony forgot for a moment that he and Bayleef were on separate platforms and a second later, he found himself flailing about in the water.
"Tony!" Delia cried out as she rushed out of the stands.
"Ohmigaw-"
"Like, no way!"
"Is he going to be okay?"
The three sisters muttered amongst themselves.
"Bayleef-leef!" Bayleef worried about its trainer's situation.
Meanwhile, Sakura dived into the pool and swam to Tony's location.
"Calm down, Tony." Sakura commanded as she grasped his vest with one hand and attempted to restrain him with her free arm.
Within moments, Tony managed to regain some resemblance of composure, though he felt more than a bit worn out from the ordeal. As the reached the side of the pool, Bayleef and Delia helped lift Tony out of the pull as Sakura aided him up.
"Bayleef." the grass-type pokemon extended a vine to help the Gym Leader out of the pool.
"Thank you." Sakura replied, accepting the help.
"Tony, you really goofed up this time." Delia chided with concern.
"A regular goofball," Tony joked dryly between coughs. "That's me, all right."
"C'mon. We have to get you out of those soggy clothes and dry you off." Sakura commented.
Tony sputtered a bit at that as his face turned a few shades darker than a beet.
"Relax. My husband's home. Us women won't see anything revealing. Girls, go get your father."
"Yes, Mother!" The trio chimed just before leaving.
"Thanks again." a thoroughly dried off Tony said gratefully.
"You're quite welcome, Tony." Sakura replied as she stuck her right hand out. "Though in all that excitement, you forgot something."
"Oh?" Tony was puzzled for a moment before noticing the object in Sakura's outstretched hand. "Oh! Right! All right! The Cascade Badge is mine!"
After acquiring the Cascade Badge, Tony and Delia bid Sakura farewell and left the Cerulean Gym.