Celadon City Gym (Part 1)
The morning after our secret meeting, I returned to the Celadon Gym for the next leg of qualifying matches.
The first coach of the day sent out a Bulbasaur to start. It had good balance between offense and defense, but was no match for my Ponyta.
"See, see!" A trainer in the audience shouted. "He's using Fire types again, no wonder it's so easy!"
"He's not skilled at all," another trainer said, his arms crossed. "It's just that the Grass Pokemon are weak vs. Fire."
And yet, until I came along, these NPCs hadn't figured that out…
"Let's go Ivysaur!" The coach sent out her second and last Pokemon. "Are you going to continue using Ponyta? Or some other Fire Pokemon?"
It was clear that she had heard what the audience was saying, and was also thinking that I was taking the easy way out by using Fire Pokemon. But I mean… I'm not the one that made a damn Grass-Type Gym without putting restrictions on the types of Pokemon the challengers can use, haha. But if it was a test of skill they want to see, then…
"Ponyta, good work!" I recalled her into her Pokeball. "Let's go!"
Wartortle and I didn't give the coach to respond. Wartortle's water moves weren't going to be as effective, especially when it was against an advanced evolution form like Ivysaur. But physical type moves are effective regardless. Ivysaur tried its best to back up and lash out at the charging Wartortle with his vines, but having practiced sparring with my super-fast Charmeleon, Wartortle was used to speeds much faster than what Ivysaur could deliver.
Once Wartortle got within melee distance of Ivysaur, there was very little the plant dino could do. After slashing at Ivysaur's eyes, Wartortle feigned and then evaded the retaliatory vine whips. Moving to Ivysaur's flank, he attacked with headbutts to the temple. I had learned that Ivysaurs are unable to rotate quickly, and so attacks from the blindsides on the flanks are devastating. The coach's Ivysaur was knocked out in a matter of seconds.
Everyone was struck with silence and amazement, and even the gym coach came to shake my hand after the battle.
The next gym coach used one Pokemon only: Exeggcute.
"Do you think he can beat her as well?" I overheard a trainer in the stands.
"I don't know, he's pretty good, but she's also undefeated in the last 20 matches."
I knew that if I were to defeat this gym coach, I would be able to sign up for the other qualifying rounds after lunch. I wanted to end the fight as soon as possible, so that I could have some time to strategize and rest my fighters.
I used my Kadabra to neutralize the Psychic attacks from Exeggcute. Kadabra's Psychic power levels were much higher than that of his opponent. It must've seemed odd to the audience when the two Pokemon were standing still in the battle arena, both seemingly staring into each other's eyes. But in fact, they were waging a battle in their minds. I had trained with Kadabra, so he could show me what it looked like in my mind as well. The gym coach, being an expert only in Grass type Pokemon and not Psychic types, did not know that you could bolster Psychic moves by telepathically linking with your Pokemon. This was also the reason why I knew I needed to train hard before going up against Sabrina. She was definitely going to be a tough opponent.
In any case, after standing still for about a minute, Kadabra had knocked out Exeggcute from inside his (their?) minds. Kadabra disconnected from the Psychic link and turned towards me, as if he was asking "Okay, I did the thing. What now?" But even to the judge it wasn't clear that Exeggcute was knocked out, because it still seemed like he was frozen…
"Uhh… What's going on?" the audience started to ask, and finally the judge had to ask the gym Chansey to check Exeggcute's condition.
"EXEGGCUTE IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! THE CHALLENGER WINS!"
Everyone in the audience must've been disappointed by what they considered to be an anticlimactic end to the battle, but there soon was something they could get excited about.
"Oh my god," one of them pointed towards a set of doors. "Is that who I think it is?!"
A beautiful young woman was standing by the double doors that led into some restricted back areas of the gym. On either side of her were the highest ranking gym coaches, protecting her from the crowds that had rushed to get a closer glimpse at the Celadon City Leader: Erika.
Her flawless silk kimono carried the color of flora: a luscious green on top, and a warm, dark red dress with beautiful gilded finishing at the bottom. The ribbons in the back and the headband that adorned her head were patterned with flowers. Her jet black hair came down to just below her chin, and you could bet a million bucks that it smelled like flowers.
She must've quietly come through the doors during the last battle, and according to some of the fanboys in the stands, it was an absolute treat and a rare occurence to see Erika like this. She was a recluse, I remember Misty telling me. Everything about Erika seemed traditional, old-fashioned, and docile.
With a small smile aimed at no one in particular, Erika started to turn towards the doors she had walked through. Just then, I thought that she had looked directly at me, and that our eyes had locked on each other for a brief second. Then, as if it were a faint floral scene in the zephyr, that connection was gone. Perhaps I had imagined it all.
I had become even more popular with the trainers at the gym after the morning matches, and many of them surrounded me, asking me about where I got my Fire Pokemon.
"I'm not giving out free tips," I said. "This ain't a charity fund. If you want the deets, show me the GREENS."
They reluctantly handed over some large bills, and, fair is fair, I did tell them exactly where I got my Fire Pokemon on Route 8.
"COME ON GUYS," one of them said to the rest of the group. "IF WE GO NOW, MAYBE WE CAN CATCH THEM BEFORE DINNER."
And as they were heading out, one of them gave me a voucher for a free Flower Arrangement session.
"After my tenth defeat, one of the Gym Coaches gave it to me," he said. "I guess she felt really bad for me. But I'm not gonna go to a stupid Flower Arrangement thing. That's for GIRLS."
I ignored this sexist comment, but took the voucher anyway. I had spent my past life mostly in bed and in hospitals. I was determined to experience life to the fullest in this weird world, my Pokemon afterlife.
The first gym coach in the afternoon was quite easy to deal with, as she used an Oddish and then a Gloom. I had Ivysaur go up against them, to test his strength without any type advantage. Just the sheer power difference of Razor Leaf and Vine Whips destroyed the opponent's Pokemon easily.
The second gym coach in the afternoon was my last qualifying match before being able to challenge Erika herself. This coach was tough because she used three decent Grass Pokemon in their second evolutionary forms: Weepinbell, Gloom, and Ivysaur. The coach put up an amazing fight, mixing Grass type moves as well as Poison type moves.
I used Wartortle against Weepinbell to do a limit test in the face of a type disadvantage. I had him use Water Gun directly into Weepinbell's mouth. It didn't hurt it at all.
The coach had a "how did this idiot get through the previous rounds" expression on her face until Wartortle didn't stop filling up Weepinbell with more water than it could handle. Weepinbell tried to hold its ground as best as it could, but the endlessly flowing water started blowing it up like a balloon, until it could hold no more. It flew across the battle arena with the excess water acting like jet fuel. It hit the ceiling and was knocked out.
Gloom had the bad luck of facing my Charmeleon. It tried to keep its distance and use Poison type moves. It was a great strategy, but the coach did not know that all my Pokemon had its turn against my own Poison Pokemon (i.e. Butterfree, Gloom, Beedrill, etc.), establishing an immunity against most levels of poison and toxins. It is not a stretch to say that all Charmeleon had to do was walk up to the Gloom and punch it once or twice until it was unable to fight.
The coach sent out the last Pokemon: Ivysaur. I sent out my own to create a mirror match. But the level gap was not even close. My Ivy tanked everything the opponent Ivysaur threw at him, and then simply repaid with greater force and skill. In the end, the other Ivysaur actually got poisoned, which surprised everyone, including me, given the high toxin tolerance levels of the Bulbasaur evolutions. In any case, the qualifying matches were done with, and I could officially challenge Erika.
"The earliest possible time is the day after tomorrow," the receptionist informed me.
I took the appointment slip and went back into the city center. Since I had the whole day tomorrow to strategize, I figured the evening today was as good a time as any to scope out the Game Corner.
It was gambling…technically.
You purchased some "coins" which were used in the slot machines, and the coins could be exchanged for goods in a completely different building. Since you were not using money to get more money, it was considered legal. And if it wasn't illegal, it was okay for a 10 year old to participate.
Even into dinner time there were plenty of people sitting at the coin machines. I tried sitting next to some adults and they looked at me funny. Two of them even gave me some coins to get them to sit away from them. "Not good for luck," they said. Hey, I'm happy to oblige for a few coins.
I knew that these machines were all rigged to various degrees, and those that are programmed to not win will never win. I saw an older lady win a few decent coin counts, and when she stood up to leave, I took her seat. It also gave me a good vantage point to the back counter…and the secret button behind the poster.
Once in a while a shady looking guy or two would reach behind the poster, and then disappear around the cabinet, out of sight. Even though they weren't wearing the Team Rocket uniforms, it was clear who they were.
"Ding ding ding ding ding!" my machine started ringing with small dinging noises.
I was so distracted by the shady fellas that I hadn't even noticed that I had hit a medium jackpot. It wasn't until the overflowing coins started hitting the ground that I realized what had happened.
Hmm… I already had about half the coins I needed for a Dratini.