Author's Note: No, I'm not going to Cinnabar Island this soon… While it might have been interesting, I wanted to go on to Saffron City first. The chapter ended up being a bit short, though.
Chapter Thirty Five: Vs Gloom!
"I wonder where I can get to the ferries that Koga mentioned…"
Ren sighed as she sat down on one of the Center's couches. She'd just gotten Sol back from the nurse, and she was currently taking a short break before looking around again. Petro, however, cocked his head to the side and pulled a sheet of paper out from under the couch.
"Pika."
"I-Is that a map?"
Ren took the paper from Petro and looked at it carefully. It did seem to be a map, and the blonde smiled as she spotted the location of the ferry dock. Standing up, she headed over to the Center's door.
"Come on, Petro!"
"Chu!"
The Electric-Type grinned as he scampered after Ren, clearly just as excited as she was…
"I'm sorry, miss, but we can't let anyone take the ferries right now."
"Um… why?"
Blinking, Ren looked up at one of the dockhands. They were standing on a wide bridge that led to the dock, and the large man shook his head as he replied.
"Some of the ferries are having some difficulties, so they're not safe. Sorry."
"Oh… Okay then…"
Ren hung her head as she turned around to leave. Petro frowned as he scurried after her, and she tried to smile as she looked down at him.
"Well, I guess we could always try to go to Saffron, like Janine said! I think the map showed a road to Saffron by Lavender Town."
"Ka!"
Petro smirked and nodded, and Ren smiled as well as she picked up her pace.
"I think this way will lead to Lavender Town…"
Ren paused to catch her breath as she and Petro stopped in front of Fuchsia's eastern gatehouse. Then, she pushed open the heavy door, looking around curiously. At least it looked like she wouldn't have to cycle back to Lavender, as there were no bikes in the building.
Relieved, Ren walked over to the opposite door and pushed it open. When she stepped outside, she saw that she and Petro had arrived on a grassy costal route with a narrow land bridge leading north. Ren smiled again as she and Petro continued walking.
"This is kind of pretty," she said, looking out at the ocean.
"Chu," Petro yawned.
The blonde sighed at the Pikachu's lack of enthusiasm. However, she continued walking, trying to think about getting to Lavender and then Saffron instead.
Gasping, Ren stumbled suddenly over something on the path, and instinctively looked down to see what she'd stepped on. A sleeping Gloom had been lying on the ground, but needless to say, it didn't look too tired anymore. Gloom stumbled to its feet, clearly trying but failing to look angry. Ren became a bit more nervous, however, when it started to release a Razor Leaf attack out of the flower on its head.
"Ah! Go, Venus!"
Ren quickly released the Ivysaur, and Venus blinked impatiently as she looked at Ren and then Gloom. The Razor Leaf was coming closer to them, and Ren gulped.
"Uh, use Vine Whip!"
"Ivy!"
Venus eagerly shot several vines out of her flower, knocking the Razor Leaf away. Then, she struck Gloom with one of the vines, causing the other Grass-Type to stumble backwards. She looked a bit proud of herself as Gloom winced.
"Okay… Try using Tackle now."
Nodding, Venus jumped forward, crashing into Gloom just as it started to stand back up. It tumbled over again, and this time it didn't get back up. Ren sighed in relief as she withdrew Venus.
"I-I feel kind of bad about leaving Gloom knocked out… But I don't want it to attack us again… Let's hurry, Petro!"
"Chu," Petro agreed.
He scampered ahead of her down the path, and Ren hurried after him. She paused for a moment to look over her shoulder, but then shook her head and scrambled to catch up to Petro.
"Whew… We finally made it to Lavender…"
The trail had been a lot longer than Ren had expected, and she stopped to catch her breath as she and Petro arrived in the secluded town. There had been a small gap in the steep hills that had allowed them to just barely slip into Lavender from the coastal route. Looking down at Petro, she sighed.
"We can… try to get to Saffron tomorrow… Let's stop at the Pokémon Center."
Petro grinned and nodded as his stomach growled loudly. Giggling, Ren started walking along the familiar dirt trail, eager to take a break herself.