Raziel smiled seeing Gastly defeating Paras. It was progressively getting easier for his Pokémon to take on multiple opponents, by using Lick first to slow the fastest one and then Night Shade to finish them. Hypnosis worked well to take out some opponents as well, so he couldn't complain. 'The issue is his lack of control of the other move…' He thought.

Turning around, he observed Draconix and Charmeleon defeat a series of Geodude. At this point, Charmeleon was getting comfortable with Breaking Claws, although Raziel was pretty sure a lot of Rock Pokémon were getting a heavy hit to their pride that day.

"Draconix and Charmeleon are having fun, aren't they?" A female voice behind him asked. Raziel jumped up and then turned around to see Leaf, her Ivysaur following close. The girl giggled at his surprise.

"How did you…"

"I am very silent. Like a falling leaf." She said "Anyway, want to see something funny?"

Raziel nodded "Sure, what is it?"

Leaf smiled smugly "Draconix, how is your new Pokémon?" She asked. The brown-headed trainer paled, before coughing lightly "Oh, yeah, it's good, yeah."

Raziel looked at him puzzled "You got a new Pokémon? When? We have been together all day and you haven't caught a single one."

"No, uh, I bought it at the party yesterday." He said, coughing again.

Now Raziel was getting curious, especially because he could see Leaf was barely holding her laughter behind a smile that reminded him of a Meowth. "Well, what is it?"

Draconix sighed. "Promise you won't laugh."

"I don't make promises." Raziel said, then caught Draconix's glare "Come on man, it's fine, you can't have bought anything too stupid." He said.

Draconix sighed and opened a ball. A Magikarp came out, flopping on the ground for all to see. Leaf lost it immediately, and Raziel had to endure the most heroic struggle of his life to resists six whole seconds before cracking up. "He… Bought… A Magikarp…" Leaf managed to say between the laughs.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… It's just contagious… How… did they… convince you?" Raziel asked, in tears for the laughing.

Draconix recalled the Pokémon "Oh come on, it was a good offer. This guy comes to me and says a trainer like me should have a strong Pokémon, and he has a good Water-type."

"Oh yeah… that's a Water-type alright." Leaf said, still laughing.

"You are all jealous because I will have a Gyarados." The boy said defensively "Can we not talk about this ever again? It didn't cost that much anyway."

"How much did you pay?" Raziel asked.

"… Five hundred." Draconix muttered.

"Eh, ok, that's not that much." Raziel said "About five times what's the usual price..."

"Yeah, I get it, I screwed up, can we not laugh at me any longer? Nice friends I have." Draconix replied. Leaf and Raziel looked at each other, now feeling a bit ashamed. Raziel could not help but realize he was probably going dangerously close to some nerves that were better left untouched.

"Listen, is not the end of the world. Gyarados is a good Pokémon, and you didn't even have to fish for a Magikarp at least." Raziel continued.

"Yeah, just train Magikarp and I am sure he will be a good Pokémon." Leaf added, nodding repeatedly.

Draconix sighed, but then smirked "Well, I guess I will get back at you once I have a Gyarados. I'll keep that in mind."

Raziel smiled back "We will see at the League. Anyway, you also got something else, didn't you?"

Draconix nodded, and opened his bag. He took out a large stone, a large dome-shaped fossil "Behold, a Domefossil."

"Man, they are not creative with the names for those things." Leaf commented "So, what will it become?"

"Apparently a Kabuto. They offered me this one or one that becomes an Omanyte, but I fought a Kabuto in Pewter and it was pretty strong. I want to try and train one." He explained, putting the Fossil back in the bag.

"Sounds good. It becomes one of those… Kabuschytes thingies, right?" Leaf asked, "I saw one at the museum."

"Yeah, a Kabutops. Looks really cool." Draconix replied, showing a picture of the skeleton Giuls had sent him when he had told her about the Fossil. Both trainers looked at it quite impressed.

Darken smiled victorious, exiting the Celadon Game Corner holding the Poké Ball of his new Porygon. Free, his starter, shook his head.

"Two days Darken. Two entire days, wasted playing Slot Machines." He commented.

"At least he stopped when he got the amount of money he needed." Tuffball commented, following him.

"He shouldn't have played to begin with! This is dangerous stuff!"

"Then you should have really done a better job at hiding the promotion that advertised Porygon as a special prize."

"I thought he was going to challenge the Gym!"

"It's Darken we are talking about, did you really think he would let go the opportunity to obtain a Porygon?" Tuffball looked at him, and Free scoffed.

"If you two are done, we might want to focus on the important stuff. Namely, that we are finally going to the Gym." Jake replied. The Hitmonchan had acted as Darken's bodyguard, just in case. Tuffball and Free, in his opinion, didn't look menacing enough.

"No need to tell me. Any idea who is getting a go this time?" Tuffball asked, with a grin that would have been terrifying if it wasn't on a pink ball with giant doe eyes.

"If I was a guessing mon, I'd say it's me and Peat." Free replied.

"Two Flying types?" Jake asked, surprised by Free's bet "I would have gone with you and Kitsu or Guardian."

"Why are you all just assuming I am not getting a turn…" Tuffball asked, trying to appear crushed.

Free chuckled "Honestly I think it's because you and Jake are tired. Sure, today we only stayed up two hours, but yesterday we were up until late night. And since our heaviest hitter is like this, I feel Darken will choose to focus on our speed."

Tuffball scoffed "I am not tired…" She begun, before yawning.

"Yeah and that was a Yawn, not your body protesting." Jake replied.

"Ahah, very funny. I bet you feel clever." Tuffball replied, looking up at the Hitmonchan.

"Yes, I actually do. Anyway" He turned to Free "Ten berries on you and Guardian taking on the Gym Leader."

"I see the Game Corner gave you ideas. Fine, ten on me and Peat."

Tuffball pondered her options for a second, before going with her own bet "Ten on Free and Kitsu."

"Alright guys." Darken said, stopping at the Pokémon Center to access the PC "For this one I'm taking Peat, Kitsu and Guardian, to make sure we have options. Free, you are also in of course. Jake, you and Tuffball are probably tired, want to get a rest in the box? I want to also train with Vaeron and Apachai, so I'll need to let you all rest a bit."

Jake responded entering his Poké Ball. Tuffball looked up at Free "Don't go and lie on who got in the fight."

"Too many witnesses." The butterfly responded.

Tuffball chuckled and entered her Poké Ball.

Darken would have seriously paid to understand what his Pokémon were saying to each other, but that was unfortunately impossible. Instead, he focused on preparing his team, withdrawing the Pokémon he needed. After that and preparing a bit, he walked off to the Gym.

The Celadon Gym was entirely run by female trainers. Gym Leader Erika had made it clear it wasn't a personal choice of hers, but that most guys that showed up to take the Trainee course were more interested in the girls than in being actual trainers, so they never passed the interviews. Darken wondered if that was what had started the rumor that only girls could challenge the Gym, something that would have been in violation of League rules.

The trainer entered the Gym, finding himself almost overwhelmed by the amount of flowers and their scent. The Gym was a rather simple setup, a hedge maze with a few Trainers hidden behind corners. Technically he could open a way through using Cut, but none of his Pokémon knew it yet, so he would have to take a longer route.

The rules were equally simple: challenge whoever you run into that is of similar experience, make it to the end of the maze, and then challenge the Gym Leader.

However, his road was surprisingly easy. He made it to the Gym Leader without running in neither a trainee nor another challenger, something not impossible but quite rare. He run only into another trainer, but he had already collected six medals.

The Gym Leader was waiting in the center of a large arena covered in short grass and flowers. Darken wondered how well those handled the arena transforming into a pool, then realized it was probably quite rare for Erika to face a Water-type.

Erika herself was sitting at the other side of the large field, wearing a blue kimono and working on a small basket filled with various flowers. She raised her head and walked closer to Darken with a smile. The black-haired girl was almost ethereal. Two large white ribbons were on her head, in contrast with her blue kimono. She begun by handing him a flower. "Welcome to Celadon Gym. I'm Erika, Gym Leader. Here is a mayflower for our meeting." She said, handing him a small, white flower with five points "I'm sorry, it is my habit to speak in the language of the flowers, their meaning and arrangement is my main field." She said with a chuckle "Besides Grass-type Pokémon, of course. So, how many medals do you have?"

"Oh, one."

"Cosmo or Nina?"

"Cosmo."

"Oh, not an easy first Gym, congratulations. Very well, a 2 vs 2 for the Rainbow Badge. Do you agree?"

"Of course." He replied. Without adding anything more, Erika walked back to her position. "Very well then, let us begin."

Darken nodded, and they both sent out their first Pokémon.

Giovanni smiled "So, what do you think?"

"I… Don't really know. Team Rocket is an evil organization, isn't it?"

"What is evil about us?" He asked with a smile "I help people find their way in life. Sure, I make a profit, but so many of my associates would have been dead in some side alley without me."

"You… You steal Pokémon…"

"We take Pokémon from unworthy trainers that fail to protect them, yes. I do agree it is not our proudest endeavor. However, I only consider it a side job."

Parie did not know what to say "Can I… think about this a bit more?"

"Of course, of course." He replied "Please, go back to your room, and feel free to explore the base. Just make sure you have permission before entering in the lower areas." He said. Parie nodded, leaving.

"So, what do you think?" He asked at the apparently empty room.

"She does have some potential." A voice responded. A young female trainer with long black hair seemed to appear out of thin air. In truth, she had always been there, behind an illusion. Giovanni knew, and yet he could only tell from a few details, telltale signs she had taught him to recognize to prevent others like her to ambush him. "She did not notice me though, despite purposefully creating an illusion most trained Psychics would have seen through. I give her a five out of ten in actual ability, eight in raw talent. It will be a lot of work."

"Do as you see fit with her once she joins. More Psychics only help."

"Indeed. Though, 'unworthy trainers'? Seems harsh, and I don't remember ever hearing you make the distinction." She commented with a chuckle.

"If a Trainer has his Pokémon stolen he is unworthy of them. Don't you agree?" Giovanni simply asked, without a trace of a smile "Now go, Mebi. Keep an eye on the girl. If she tries to escape, we will resort to harsher measures."

"She is already in the Team, after all."

"Indeed. Joining Team Rocket is an offer you cannot refuse."