Cerulean City Gym (Part 1)

I made a personal promise to Bill to try to track down his Eevee. He said he will report it to the Police later and that he'd also make Missing posters. Before parting, Bill also gave me his VIP ticket to S.S. Anne ("St. Anne") as another token of his gratitude. I was wondering if I even needed to board the cruise ship because I'm sure I didn't need "Cut." It was still a worthwhile stop. Besides, according to the VIP pass, it was an all-access deal with no expiry date. Bill said he got it from the cruise ship company. I guess he impressed someone high up.

"Is there anything else you need?" Bill asked. "Really, I can't thank you enough for getting me out of trouble! Name anything!"

"Oh gee, Bill, you've already given me so much and I'm grateful-"

"Nonono, I can tell, there's something! What is it?"

"Well… I AM impressed with your newest breed of Eevees. I was wondering if I could get… three?"

With that, and after exchanging numbers, we parted. I mentioned that my friend Alan's family owned the restaurant he orders from, and he promised to join us for dinner in a few days.

Getting back to Cerulean City was uneventful, and I returned to my Pokeroom. It was time to strategize about the next steps: Cerulean City Gym.

Early next morning, I brought all my Pokemon to Route 4 to train and strategize. For all my B-team, I gave them strength, endurance, and speed training regimes, and they got down to business. My little guys on the ground ran laps, and then in zig-zags, etc. My flying guys practiced evasive maneuvers and changing flying directions quickly, etc. It was like an Olympic training gym for Pokemon. With my stronger Pokemon, the ones I intended to use for the competitive matches, I began to fine-tune the strategy for the upcoming Gym battles.

After a quick stop at the Pokemon Center to make sure all my Pokemon were in tip-top condition, I went straight to the Cerulean City Gym to register for the first preliminary coach battle.

The receptionist informed me there was an open spot at the earliest time.

"Usually trainers sign up for afternoon fights," she said.

There wasn't even a crowd for this first coach preliminary. The gym staff brought me out to the battle field, and it was basically half dirt, half water.

"There's less ground space within the boundaries for the 2nd preliminary battle, and even less so for the Gym Leader battle," the staff informed me.

The rules were 2 Pokemon from the coach, and up to 3 from me. The usual boundary regulations were in place.

The first Pokemon from the coach was a Horsea. I brought out Squirtle.

"A Squirtle, huh?" the coach said. "Some nerve you have to challenge a Cerulean City Gym coach with a water Pokemon- WHAT THE?"

Wasted words, man. Squirtle had already swam up to Horsea while the coach was going on "the talk." He grabbed the back of Horsea's neck with both his hands, and started HEADBUTTING the bejeezus out of the little guy. Having no appendages, Horsea was defenceless.

"HORSEA IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!" The referee announced over the PA.

Gritting his teeth, the coach sent out his Shellder. The problem with Shellder is… he is a Shell. He can move by using his tongue, but it's pretty slow. Always swimming to the back of Shellder's open mouth, Squirtle didn't give him the opportunity to attack with water moves. The shell was quite sturdy, but eventually the blunt force got to the little guy.

"Come out of the water, Shellder!" the coach instructed, and Shellder, with some difficulty, came out of the water.

I immediately switched to Bulbasaur.

I figured, there will be two situations with Cerulean City gym battles. One, the opponent will be a Water-type Pokemon INSIDE the water. Two, the opponent will be a Water-type Pokemon OUTSIDE the water. I had prepared different tactics for each of these scenarios.

The Shellder was instructed to use Bubblebeam on my Bulbasaur. Bulby was pleased to receive a nice lather on his face… like a carwash. It was too easy for him to grab Shellder with vines and just start smacking him on the ground like he did with previous opposing Geodudes. It was a one-shot match.

"SHELLDER IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! THE MATCH IS OVER! THE CHALLENGER MOVES TO THE NEXT ROUND!"

We shook hands and I received the schedule for the next match-up. I had a choice between later in the afternoon, or the next day. I figured, why wait?

In the second preliminaries, there was a bit of a crowd. This coach definitely was a higher ranking trainer. The battle also took place in a slightly different configuration of field: there were only two small dirt islands, and 85% of the whole area was water.

She only used one Goldeen, but it was much, much stronger than the previous two Pokemon.

Goldeen was too fast a swimmer for Squirtle to catch in the water. Water moves also lost a bit of their power INSIDE the water. Besides, any water move that landed didn't hurt too much. It was a bit of a stalemate. Goldeen tried to tackle Squirtle with her horn, but Squirtle's shell was more than enough to defend against it.

"Don't hit the shell, Goldy!" the coach shouted. It was very wise, because Squirtle's hard shell would have damaged Goldeen's horn and possibly would have ended the match.

There were a few more scuffles, but without any decisive clashes. And since both Pokemon were still actively engaged in the battle, it was up to the challenger, me, to take the action. If the timer went down (10 minutes) to zero, then I would automatically lose.

"Let's go, girl!" I switched my Pokemon.

Goldeen had no way to react. Pikachu launched her Thunderbolt mid-air, launching it towards Goldeen's general direction. The electric move hit the surface of the water, then amplified through the waters and...the fainted Goldeen floated up unconscious to the surface of the water.

I tried not to use Pikachu because I felt like it was TOO easy (and it was)... but I just couldn't deal the final hit to Goldeen with anything else I had.

I walked away for the Gym Leader Battle ticket that was scheduled for 3 days later.