Ch. 34: The Cove
On the beach of Okeanos City the group being led by Shimakaze to a cove with a cave in the back of it with statue sitting next to the cave and outside of it and an old man standing beside the cave.
"Grampa, why are you here?" Shimakaze asks curiously.
"Did you expect to have a Gym Battle without a judge." The old man says to Shimakaze.
"Well then is this cave the Gym?" Jaden asks curiously.
"Yes, this cave is where the battlefield is." Shimakaze says answering him.
Hearing this Jaden rushes inside the cave, before being blasted out of it by a cave by a large blast of water, and soon a Wingull flies out of the cave and lands on the old man's head.
"Hold on you idiot, I wasn't done explaining things." Shimakaze says annoyed.
"Was that your Wingull old man?" Jaden asks curiously.
"Yes, this little Wingull is one of my Pokémon, in fact he's the newest one." The old man says happily.
"You must be strong, how about we battle old man." Jaden says excitedly.
"Sorry, I'm a little too old to battle now, that's why I let my dear granddaughter become the Gym Leader in my place." The old man says happily.
"Wait so who are you?" Liam asks curiously.
"My name is Arthur, I'm the founder, mayor, and former Gym Leader of this town." The old man says introducing himself.
"Grampa, we have more important things to talk about." Shimakaze says annoyed by everyone ignoring her. "Listen up, before you can get to the battlefield, you have to get past a gauntlet, this cave leads to a lagoon inside the cave, getting to the lagoon is your first challenge."
"So then, all I have to do is get to the end of the cave, that sounds easy." Jaden says excitedly.
"Not that easy, there are slippery stones in the middle of the water that you need to jump to and from to get to the lagoon, and if you fall into the water the rushing current will blast you back to the start, not to mention the wild Pokémon that live in there." Shimakaze says boasting.
"Well then, I won't stop until I get to the end of the cave and have my Gym Battle." Jaden says excitedly.
"And get our clothes back." Liam says slightly annoyed.
"Yeah, I'm kind of uncomfortable being stuck like this." Aire says trying to hide behind her scarf.
"Well, the breeze feels pretty good and if you find a pool you can instantly jump in it." Vera says happily.
"Well always looking on the bright side huh?" Liam asks looking at Vera.
"Don't worry, I'll get out clothes back and win the battle." Jaden says excitedly.
"Just don't lose focus there." Liam says disbelieving.
"Okay then, get moving." Shimakaze says ordering Jaden.
Jaden hearing this rushes inside cave, before a large splash is heard and Jaden is rushed out of the cave in a stream of water before it drops him in the ocean.
"This could take a while." Liam says looking at Jaden run back into the cave.
"Um, do we have to go through the cave like that to?" Aire asks curiously.
"No, that's only for challengers, me and spectators take that path." Shimakaze says pointing to a hidden cave entrance. "It'll take us right to the battlefield."
As the group walks towards the entrance, Liam looks around and notices Vera's disappearance.
"Where'd that girl run off to?" Liam asks annoyed.
Meanwhile in the middle of town Celes stands around looking at the pier as a large ship docks.
"There she is the S.S. Distare, it's been a long time." Celes says looking at the ship.
"So then let's get moving then." Erutus says appearing behind Celes.
"Where'd you come from, and where'd you go?" Celes asks annoyed.
"Oh, nowhere, let's get moving we've got a job to do." Erutus says seriously.
As the pair walk off Vera in a trance follows the pair as they head to the ship.