Heya! Let's try to get this one out as soon as possible so I don't have to worry about it later.

Chapter 37: Battles and Leaders (Celadon City)

Dawn's P.O.V

Celadon City! Thank Arceus we're grouped with the Hoenn guys, who divided the groups and decided not to go to Lavender Town. I had enough spooky in Sinnoh, thank you very much. People here are scared of Ghastly. Ghastly. I know they're ghosts and all, but did you ever have to stand your ground and fight the monstrosity that is Giratina? In the distortion world? I mean, the damn thing was banished because it was too violent. Of all the Pokémon in the universe, this one was the one that was too violent. There's Gorebyss, who's famous for sucking the fluids out of its prey, there's Cacturne, who wait for you to grow tired in order to get you easier, there's Dusclops, that takes people in its body (which is rumored to contain a freaking black hole) and there's Drifloon and Drifblim, who kidnap gullible children and then float away, never to be seen away. This isn't even mentioning all the Hypno stories or whatever Pokémon hell the Alola and Kalos regions contain. Out of all that, Giratina was the one that was punished. For eternity. I fought that thing head-on. I'm not afraid of a purple town.

Anyways, Celadon is easily one of my favorite cities in Kanto. That said, I don't really like Kanto all that much. I appreciate what it's done, but in the end, I don't hold it in much of a high regard compared to other regions like Kalos. Kalos is amazing. A huge fashion scene, mostly urban cities, advanced technology everywhere, and everything looks so pretty! It's a lot more colorful than Kanto, which still looks gray in my memory no matter hpw many times I visit (So far, three). Kalos has little shops everywhere and even a movie place, even if its smaller compared to Unova's. By far my favorite part of my visit there was just sitting on a chair in a very luxurious cafe with Diamond and a cup of coffee. I still dream of that day. I mean, I love battling and facing Leagues all over the globe, but taking a rest in a fancy hotel once in a while can really freshen you up!

There I go going off-topic again. What I meant to say is, Celadon City is one of my favorite locations in Kanto because it's literally named City of the Rainbow's Colors. Also because it contains the Game Corner, and I've weirdly only seen an entertainment place like that in Kanto.

"Where do you want to go first?" Diamond asks.

"Game Corner." I say with a smile.

"What about the gym? I want to see that first." May frowns.

"What? The gym's cool and all, but how can you deny a whole building whose sole purpose is to entertain you?"

"I'd rather see the gym first. Eirika is cool and I want to meet her!"

"Well we're going to both of them in the end." Ruby comments.

"Yeah but we still have to see one of them first, right?"

Ruby sighs and nods.

"The Game Corner is just better."

I firmly assert my opinion (the best one).

"No it's not!" May opposes me with hers.

The Hoenn and Sinnoh Legends have a sort of love-hate relationship. I am best friends with May, but we don't always agree on everything. I think it's because we both had our first adventures around the same time, so we can relate with a lot of the old stuff. Still, Hoenn and Sinnoh are very different regions, which puts us against each other at times. For example, May and I talked for hours when Mega-evolutions and the Fairy-type were introduced, but we can't talk about Legendaries or we'll end up pitting Primal Groudon against Origin Giratina.

"Fine. Let's put it to a vote." Diamond decides.

"I don't care." Ruby immediately says. He's fun, but he's kind of a no nonsense kind of guy. Kind of ironic, when you consider the fact that his region has three super-powered evolutions for their three Legendaries.

"Obviously, I want to go to the gym first." May adds.

"Game Corner!" I shoot my hand up in the air and then glare daggers at Diamond. I find that most of the time, this works against him. I don't anger easily, but he has felt the wrath of my fury before. Plus, he's scared I'll stop bringing him stuff from Kalos on my weekend visits. I go there to see what's trending and buy whatever looks good and then come back to the House. Diamond wants to do the same, but he's afraid that people will judge him or make fun of him for taking time out of his life to pick clothes for himself. He is a 20 year-old man, after all. He did attempt it once, but Nate found out quickly and spent the whole day torturing him with it. Now I'm doing him the favor of picking his clothes as well as mine whenever I go out.

"Uh, Game Corner." He mutters.

"Yes! Game Corner it is!" I smile and hug Diamond's arm. He smiles as well, but looks guiltily at the Hoenn Legends. Ruby and Diamond are good friends too.

"Thanks! I'll get you something special from Kalos next time!" I whisper just low enough so that the others can't hear and give Diamond a wink.

Now he smiles for real.

"Thanks." He gives me his signature kiss on the forehead as we move on. Man, he's sweet.

Celadon Game Corner
A fun place for everyone!

The inside, as expected, is very colorful and flashy. Multiple rows of different games are slot machines are placed in the middle, while two minigame tables are placed at the corners closest to the door. Voltorb Flip to the right and Card Flip to the left. On the northeast corner is the Prize Corner, where you get prizes in exchange for the coins you earn in the machines, and on the northwest corner are various items encased in glass. The glass casings contain what looks like various remnants of Team Rocket's takeover of the Game Corner. Included are the poster that hid the switch for the staircase, the hat of the grunt that scared trainers away at the entrance and an Escape Rope. Supposedly, the rope was used by Red, but I doubt it. Apart from that, a dusty Pokémon Printer lays abandoned next to Voltorb Flip and a surprising amount of coins lay scattered across the floor.

"You two have fun with the slot machines." Ruby says before nudging Diamond.

"We'll be playing Card Flip!"

The two run off to the Card Flip corner and leave us to decide between Voltorb Flip and the slot machines. Because Voltorb Flip can only be played by a single player, we go to the slot machines instead, picking up whatever coins we can along the way.

"Alright." May cracks her knuckles before sitting down.

"Let's win some coins."

May inserts the little money she brought from the House into one of the machines.

The first symbol is a Pikachu.

The second symbol is a Pikachu.

The third symbol is a Slowpoke.

"Grr. Next time I'll get it."

The first symbol is an R.

The second symbol is a Slowpoke.

The third symbol is a Voltorb.

"Agh. Come on."

The first symbol is a 7.

The second symbol is a 7.

The third symbol is a Starmie.

"Aaargh! I won't leave here without a prize!"

I smile and chuckle at her before taking the machine next to her.

"Let me try."

I put my money in and pray to Arceus I can get a perfect score so I can stomp on May's bad luck.

The first symbol is a 7.

The second symbol is a 7.

The third symbol is a 7!

"Yes! Haha!"

300 coins flow from the machine with as much force as an Empoleon's Hydro Pump.

May looks so insulted she abandons all hope of winning and heads for the Prize Corner with the coins she got on the floor.

"A Nidorina plushie please." Misty grumbles so low the person at the counter doesn't hear her at first.

"What?"

"I SAID I WANT A NIDORINA PLUSHIE PLEASE!"

The lady frowns but retrieves a toy Nidorina from below the counter.

"That'll be 1200 coins."

May's jaw drops.

"1200 coins for a toy Nidorina!?"

Now the lady isn't happy either.

"That's rude. Do you have the coins or not?"

May frowns at her as well, but counts her coins.

"Ah crud. I'm 21 coins short."

The lady shrugs.

"I can help you out. I have more than enough for my Pupitar plushie." I offer, knowing full well it'll anger her.

She looks at me angrily, but then sighs and looks at the Nidorina.

"Fine."

We give all of the coins we got in exchange for the Nidorina and the Pupitar toys.

"Thanks!" May says once she gets a hold of her new best friend.

"You're welcome. Hey, you wanna mess with the guys' game?"

She smiles.

"Of course!"

After our visit to the Game Corner, we're headed to the Celadon City gym.

"What do you think Eirika is like?" I ask on the way.

"Probably not how people say she is. Words rarely match reality." Diamond answers.

I laugh along with May.

"You should be a poet."

He blushes slightly, but looks away and throws his scarf behind him in an attempt to show indifference.

"Sh-shut up. I'm just saying, most of the time people aren't actually like they're described in stories."

We know what he means, but we love teasing him. It's really easy, too. He's surprisingly gullible and has this innocent side of him he rarely displays. Most people fall for his seemingly cool exterior, but I know he's really just a wimp from Twinleaf Town. I remember when he didn't try to imitate Red. We were best friends, along with Barry, who is practically the complete opposite of Diamond. His dorky attitude worked surprisingly well with my outgoing personality and Barry's impatience.

"Oohohohoho." An old man stands in front of the Celadon City gym, cackling at the girls beyond the building's windows.

I frown at the man and read the sign:

Celadon City Pokémon Gym
Leader: Erika
The Nature-Loving Princess!

"Oh!" The old man notices us and scurries away.

"Well that was something." I shrug and we enter the gym.

Eirika's gym is basically a greenhouse. Like Misty's gym, the roof is covered by glass, letting the sunlight's rays hit all of the grass and shrubbery that adorns the floor. Of course, the gym guide is at his usual place: right next to the two Rhyhdon statues in front of the entrance. It is now that I realize I never beat the Kanto League. However, Ruby and May have, so they show their badges and get the guide's nod. Different colored flowers are placed along the path and there's enough tree and bush variety here to get every berry that exists. Not that we could, as it is forbidden to touch the vegetation in Eirika's gym.

To get through the first two trainers, Ruby and May walk with their badges out. Then, a small tree blocks the way to Eirika's spot. As always, this is easily remedied by my Empoleon's Cut.

Now in the spot covered by rows of trees, the badges are yet again shown so we don't get attacked by the three trainers that accompany Eirika, who is seemingly arranging a bouquet of flowers.

"Hi Eirika!" May waves at the gym leader, who turns around and smiles warmly.

"Hello. Ruby and May, right? It's certainly been a while."

They nod.

"We're just here for a quick tour. Have you heard of a new application called PokéGO?"

She looks off to the side at a patch of Oran Berry trees.

"Yes. Personally, I don't think it's good for my gym. Those who spend most of their time on their devices usually neglect the nature that surround them. Sometimes that means forgetting to take care of vegetation, other times that means paying so much attention to PokéGO that they don't pay attention to what they're walking on, or even where they're walking to. I spent most of my time outside of the gym taking care of Celadon City's beauty. I can't have young trainers falling into the fountain or walking on the roses outside."

May nods.

"Right. Well thanks for the comment. We have to hurry upthough, or Red and Leaf are gonna scold us bad. They're probably already done."

"Oh Red and Leaf are here too?" Eirika asks.

"Yeah, they're in Saffron City right now. He just wants to see what this new PokéGO thing is all about. The new Kanto isn't agreeing with him very well though. Specially Pallet Town and Saffron. Pewter City was a nice treat, though."

Eirika nods.

"I'd love to have them for a picnic sometime to catch up." She smiles and turns to pick another flower.

"I'll ask them. Thanks again Eirika!" May waves as we leave.

"She was nice." I comment outside the building.

May shakes her head with a smile.

"Told you. But noooooo, 'let's go to the Game Corner.' 'It'll be a lot more fun!' All it gave me was a back pain from crouching to pick up all of those coins."

We laugh and head east, towards the road that leads back to Saffron City.

Done! That took me a while because I've been really packed this week. Technically this chapter is on time since the goal is to upload a chapter between Monday and Friday, but this is the first time I've gotten to Friday, so I'm not too happy about that.

As always, please remember to review in order to let me know what you think of how this fanfic is going.