Thanks to mestwendyfan for reviewing the previous chapter

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Chapter Ten: Goldenrod City

The road to Goldenrod City seemed so close, yet so far away. What looked like week's journey travel on map actually took about a month to reach. It was night time now and weariness had gripped her mind and body. All she wanted to do was lay down and get a good night of sleep, but she couldn't do that out here in the open. She forced herself to keep moving, her tired Pokemon lagging behind. Bagon suddenly collapsed from weariness, prompting Lyra to recall all her Pokemon back to their pokeballs.

She continued moving forward, fighting hard to keep her eyes open. A yawn escaped her throat as she trudged forward at snail pace, hoping the Goldenrod entrance gates were not too far away. She lifted her weary head and spotted a house with a red roof just a couple of metres away from where she was standing. There was an elderly man with thin white hair, standing outside.

"Lyra, dear girl! Please come over!"

Lyra raised an eyebrow. Who was this old man? And how did he know her name? Cautiously, she walked over. "Um, hello?"

"Don't you recognize me? I'm Ethan's grandfather!" The old man squinted.

Embarrassment flooded Lyra's face. "Oh! I'm sorry," she blurted. "I didn't recognize you…"

The old man smiled, giving a hearty laugh. "No need to apologize, I was just joking with you. It has been a long time. I last saw you when you were just three years old."

"Grandpa!"

Lyra turned to the front door of the house and found her old childhood friend Ethan standing there with his Marill. The Marill had a few dirt patches over its white belly and Lyra wondered exactly where Ethan had spent the past few days at. He turned to her now, giving his friend a broad smile. Lyra welcomed her friend with a warm embrace. It felt good to be around someone she knew. "Ethan, so glad to see you again!" she said, stifling a yawn.

He hugged her back then pulled away. "You look so much stronger now. I guess you've gotten the first two badges then."

"It wasn't easy, but we persisted," Lyra admitted. She glanced up at the roof. "So what is this place anyway?"

"The Pokemon Day Care Centre," Ethan explained. "Come inside, my grandmother and grandfather can tell you more when we're seated. My grandmother bakes the best apple pie." He headed back inside the house with his grandfather and Lyra followed, closing the door behind her. The three of them sat down at the table where the grandmother was.

"You have grown up so much," Ethan's grandmother said. "I remember when you were just a little girl."

"It has been awhile." She cleared her throat. "Ethan said this is the Day Care Centre."

The grandmother nodded. "Yes. We raise Pokemon here. If you have any Pokemon that you would like to raise you can leave them here. You can leave two Pokemon here at any time. Sometimes they'll even have an egg together."

That reminded her of the egg she was carrying in her backpack. She wondered where the Pokemon's parents were. Or had it been an abandoned egg? "That sounds useful," Lyra said. Although truthfully, she wasn't too keen on leaving any Pokemon behind at the Day Care to be raised. She preferred to do itself. That way, she could grow alongside her Pokemon, rather than have someone else to the hard work. Travelling around the world with inexperienced Pokemon was one of the fun parts about being a trainer.

"Do you have any Pokemon you would raised?" the grandfather said.

Lyra shook her head. "Not at the moment, but if I do, I'll be sure to come here," she said politely. "Have you had anyone recently use your services?"

The grandparents exchanged looks until the grandmother responded. "A boy came here a couple of days ago. He had long red hair and a cruel smirk on his face. He gave us a Zubat to raise and he didn't want it back until it had reached a certain level," she said, shaking her head sadly. "It saddens me there are trainers in the world that do not appreciate their Pokemon."

"The look in his eyes... I have never seen so much hatred. I was reminded of Team Rocket," the grandfather said. "The boy did pay us though so we had no choice but to raise his Pokemon to his desired level."

Silver. Lyra's fingers curled, digging into the skin on her knees. It had been quite a few days since she last encountered him. She wasn't surprised that he was ahead of her. She wondered if he had struggled against Falkner and Bugsy as much as she had. "I've seen that boy."

"He's the one who stole the Chikorita from the lab," Ethan explained. He turned sideways, facing Lyra. "You need to be careful around him, Lyra. There's no telling what he's capable of doing." He reached down into his bag and pulled out his Xtransceiver. "But we're not here to talk about the thief. I forgot to give you my number."

"All right then," Lyra replied. In the corner of Lyra's eye, she spotted the grandmother smiling. Ethan must have noticed as well because he was looking at her.

"She's my friend, grandma. You know that."

The grandmother's smile widened. "Girl… friend?" she teased.

Ethan's face turned a deep shade of red. Lyra was sure her face was bright red as well. "We're not a couple," Lyra blurted out at the same time as Ethan. Ethan was her childhood friend. There was no way she could ever look at him as a romantic partner. That was just… ridiculous!

"Trainers exchange numbers all the time, grandma. It's what we do," Ethan quickly replied, his ears red.

His grandparents laughed. "We know."

Ethan grumbled, glancing down at the hands in his lap. He fumbled around with his Xtransceiver and asked Lyra for her number. She entered his details into her Xtransceiver as well so she could contact him at any time she needed some help. Why she hadn't done this before she did not know. The idea must've slipped her mind due to the excitement of beginning her own quest to become Champion.

"You should stay here for the night. Goldenrod is all packed out at the moment. A lot of people are coming over from all the cities in Johto to watch Marina perform this weekend," Ethan explained.

"That sounds like a good idea," Lyra replied, yawning once again.

"I guess that means you'll miss out on my apple pie," the grandmother said.

"Sorry," Lyra replied sheepishly. "I'm so tired… it's been a busy past few days." And so it had. Defeating Team Rocket at the Slowpoke Well. Catching and trading Pokemon. Battling Falkner and Bugsy. Surviving Ilex Forest. It was hard to believe only a few days had passed since she had departed on her journey. It felt like a lifetime.

"Just walk behind the desk and enter through the doors. You'll find some beds in there," the grandfather said. "Sleep well, Lyra."

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Goldenrod was a magnificent city. Tall buildings towered above her, so high it seemed they could reach the clouds. The streets were wide and packed with people of all ages and genders. She spotted a lady with a pram reading her child a story to her left and an elderly couple chatting with some kids to her right. The cities, well more like towns, that she had passed by seemed so miniscule in comparison.

She didn't know where to begin. There was so much to do here. Reaching Goldenrod had been a short, yet difficult walk. A couple of trainers tried to prevent her from passing through and they used Pokemon she had never battled against before. Fortunately, her team had been strong enough to defeat them.

But now they needed some healing again. Instead of wasting potions, Lyra took advantage of the Pokemon Centre. Now she was back in the busy streets of Goldenrod trying to figure out where to go next. She headed over to the city map and examined it closely. "Goldenrod Department Store. Goldenrod Game Corner. Radio Tower. Magnet Train Station. The Global Terminal. Bicycle Shop. Pokemon Salon. Herbalist. Discount Item Shop. Goldenrod City Gym," she read aloud.

Each of the buildings sounded like interesting places to visit. It was tempting to just spend a couple of days here enjoying the sights, but she knew taking the gym on was her top priority. But surely it wouldn't hurt just to spend a couple of hours here? Her Pokemon deserved a rest. She wanted to relax a little.

"Just ahead. Pokeathlon Dome and National Park," she read further. Those locations also sounded interesting. "All right, that's it. I've made my mind up. I'm going to spend a couple of days here," she said, speaking to her Toto. The Pokemon glanced up giving Lyra a wide toothy grin. It would be good just to sit back and take a short break from all the battling. Besides, a short holiday could do wonders.

She decided to visit the Radio Tower first. Upon entering, her eyes were immediately drawn to a pink haired girl lounging near the counter. The girl seemed to be pretty pleased about something as she had a triumphant grin on her face. Was she a gym leader? No one else in the city had that colour for hair. From previous experience, gym leaders in Johto liked outrageous hair colours. Lyra walked over and spoke to the girl.

The girl looked at her, sizing Lyra up. "You look tough. I suspect you are here to take on the gym leader of Goldenrod? Well, that's me. I'm Whitney. But you won't be able to enter the gym until you answer the questions. So ask the lady at the counter and tell her you want to take the gym quiz challenge. If you pass, I'll let you in. If you don't pass then you're not worthy to take me on."

Wow, what arrogance, Lyra thought. Whitney must be pretty tough to make such a bold statement though. She didn't even say hello. Pouting, Lyra walked over to the counter to speak to the assistant lady. Before she could open her mouth, the lady spoke. "You're here to take the quiz right?"

Lyra nodded.

"Here is the first question. Can you check the town map with your Pokegear?"

Er, she thought. She wasn't so sure. She had received the town map from that dragon guy, but hadn't actually checked if she could view it on her Pokegear. She suspected she could though. There was probably an app she had to install to make it work. "Yes."

"Correct! Okay, second question. Nidorina can only be female. True?"

Again, another difficult question she didn't know the answer to. "Nidorina…" she said slowly, trying out the words. It sounded feminine. "Yes?"

"Correct again! Question three. Kurt, the pokeball creator, uses apricots as ingredients?"

Having recently met Kurt, Lyra felt she should know the answer. But she didn't. She didn't talk to Kurt about apricots; they had spoken of Red instead. The two answers had both been yes so far though. This had to be a no for an answer. "No."

The woman blinked, surprised. "Well done, not many trainers can answer that correctly on their first try. Question four. It's impossible to use a technical move on Magikarp. True?"

Magikarp. She knew what that was. A giant useless fish. Her dad used to go fishing sometimes down at the ocean. Magikarps were incapable of using any other move than Tackle and Splash. "Yes," she answered.

"And finally, in Professor Oak's popular show, Pokemon Talk, is he on with Marie?"

Professor Oak had his own show? Was there anything the man could not do? She didn't often watch a lot of television so this was another one of those times she just had to guess. "No?" she said lightly, hoping it was the correct answer.

"Well done! You passed the test. You may have the Radio Card. This will allow you to listen to the various stations we play here in Goldenrod. You can access the radio through your Pokegear," said the lady, giving Lyra a chip. Lyra took it and placed it in her bag then turned around.

"I can't believe you passed the test! Even I got it wrong on my first try," the girl whined, crossing her arms over her chest. "I guess that means you're going to give me a good challenge then. I'll be waiting for you at the gym… farm girl." The girl skipped away leaving a confused Lyra standing still. What an odd character. Whitney looked too 'innocent' and 'girly' to be a gym leader.

Speaking of girly, Lyra figured it was about time to update her look. She didn't want to be called farm girl again. So she hurried over to the Goldenrod Department Store and went inside looking for a cute outfit. There were no signs of overalls available at all. It seemed they were out of fashion in this part of the region.

"Do you need any help?" a lady asked, long blonde locks falling down her back. Bright green eyes fixed on Lyra's face.

"Erm, I'm just looking to update my look, that's all," Lyra replied.

The lady stood back, looking Lyra up and down. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "You are a trainer, yes?"

Lyra nodded. "Yup."

"Let me think… those overalls you are wearing are doing you no favours… you are a pretty girl… what can bring out the colour of those eyes… no, jeans will not do in this heat… ah!" The lady's eyes lit up. "I know the perfect dress for you! Come with me, please." The lady motioned for Lyra to follow.

A dress? She didn't wear dresses. She didn't think she even had any back at home. What on earth made the lady think she'd look great in a dress? Nevertheless, she followed the blond assistant to the dresses section. There she found herself looking at a large variety of dresses: there was a pink single-fronted coat dress, a navy blue double-front coat dress, a trench coat dress available in beige and black, a pale pink sundae dress, a pale pink frilly dress, a pink sparkly bolero dress, a little black dress and two black high-waisted outfits. So many choices. It made her head hurt just by looking at them all.

The lady picked out the pink single-front coat dress and handed it to Lyra. "This will look fantastic on you! But you need more. You'll need a matching hat… and you'll need a new bag, new shoes… and a new haircut, pigtails make you look childish."

Pigtails weren't childish… were they? She remained silent, and nodded. It was about time she updated her look, not wanting to look like a 'farm girl' for a day longer. "I don't need a new hat, bag or accessories…" Lyra said. "I'll just take the dress, the new shoes and the haircut," she added. "I already have a hat and a bag."

"If you insist…" the lady replied, looking a little disappointed. She led Lyra to another part of the store – the barber section. She summoned one of the female hairdressers, a woman with black hair, and pointed at Lyra's brown pigtails. "This girl is a trainer. She needs an updated look if she ever wishes to impress the Champion."

"Oh, I doubt she'll be able to attract him. No girl has ever caught his eye."

"Hmm, you are right. But it doesn't stop us women from trying though, does it?" the dark-headed lady replied, laughing.

The blonde touched Lyra's pigtails, pulling on them roughly. "So, what can you do with her hair?"

The other lady looked thoughtful. "Well, her hair is already quite short so there's not much else I can do. I think she could pull off the bob look quite well though." The blonde nodded. "I'll get started straight away then." Lyra's head was soon attacked with scissors, shampoo, conditioner and various other hair products, as the dark haired lady fixed up her hair. Lyra could hardly recognize herself.

"Oh you look so cute!" The blonde gushed.

"I think even the Champion might have trouble averting his eyes."

"At least she doesn't look like she belongs on the farm anymore."

"You may stand now." Lyra stood up. "For the haircut and the dress, it's going to cost you four thousand dollars."

Lyra's stomach did a back flip. Four thousand dollars? That was a lot of money for a dress, some new shoes and a haircut. Fortunately, she had the right amount of cash… but she'd have nothing left over except for a can of beans. Somehow, she needed to earn some more cash aside from battling trainers. She pulled out her bag, dug out her remaining cash and handed it to the women.

Once that was done, Lyra changed into her new clothes, giving the women her old ones for them to discard. She exited the store, occasionally pausing to adjust her dress. The dress' hemline ended just above her knees. She felt so vulnerable like this. Was anyone going to take her as a serious trainer in this outfit?

Only one way to find out. She left the shop, flattened her dress again and walked around the streets again, walking in a random direction. Heads turned to look at her in a way she had never been looked at before. Now this was certainly uncomfortable. Fortunately, for her sake, people stopped looking in her direction, returning back to their activities. Lyra sighed and made her way to the north where the Pokeathlon and National Park were. But to get there she had to pass through Route 35. As with the other routes, she knew there were going to be quite a number of trainers hoping to defeat her.

She summoned her Toto and set foot on Route 35, her mouth pressed into a thin line of determination.

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After a long road of battling numerous trainers and dodging wild Pokemon, Lyra finally reached the entrance to the Pokeathlon Dome. It was a difficult miss – the building was far larger than any other she had seen. All the eight gyms in Johto could easily fit inside the massive blue building. There were a couple of trainers mingling outside the Pokeathlon Dome playing with their Pokemon.

Lyra took in a deep breath and took a couple of steps towards the building when she was stopped by an elderly man wearing a dark teal shirt and brown pants. He walked towards her, a tough looking Poliwrath standing behind him. He stopped in front of Lyra and grinned. "Mwa ha ha ha! Hmm. I feel it!" he said, getting right in her face. "The twinkle in your eyes! The twinkle of friendship! You're ready to participate in the Pokeathlon, bud! Most of all, your mutual trust and teamwork with Pokemon makes be believe anything is possible! All right. Follow me, bud!"

He motioned for Lyra to come closer towards the entrance of the building. Being this close made her realize just how impressive the structure was. It must have taken many long years for this to be built. "Wow," she gasped.

"What do you think? This is the Pokeathlon Dome! Pokeathlon is a sports festival for trainers and Pokemon! Inside the Dome are various challengers awaiting trainers and Pokemon to test their friendship. Why don't you try it? You're amazing, bud! This is a pleasant surprise! To see a Pokeathlete with strong potential is such a pleasure! I'm glad I held the Pokeathlon here in Johto…. My name is Magnus. We shall meet again, bud. See you, young Pokeathlete!" He disappeared inside the building.

Curious to learn more about this place, Lyra stepped inside the building and was immediately blown away by the interior. There were pot plants scattered around the floor, but it was the jumping glowing lights that caught her interest. They stretched across the navy blue floor giving the place a lively feel. Lyra even noticed that some areas of the floor lit up. A true state-of-the-art facility.

There were three counters in the building. Lyra wasn't sure which one was which so she just headed towards the middle one where two ladies with cotton candy hair waited. She approached the lady on the right. "Hello," Lyra started.

The lady beamed a bright smile. "Welcome! This is the reception for admission. Will you try the Pokeathlon?"

"Can you tell me more about this place?"

"Certainly. The Pokeathlon is a sports festival in which you and three Pokemon compete in three events. The Pokeathlon has a variety of events to accommodate different aspects of Pokemon. Please join us with three Pokemon!"

This was something she just had to try. "I would like to participate!"

"Which course would you like to try?"

"I'll try the Power course."

"Please come this way," the lady said, motioning for Lyra to step through the gates. "The Pokeathlon will begin right now. Your team colour is red. Good luck!" she added, as Lyra walked through the main door. Once she stepped inside, she was greeted to a race course track. In the middle there was a man standing on a raised white platform. Behind him was a giant screen. Lyra looked around and noticed three other trainers standing close by.

"Welcome to the Pokeathlon. Today's event is the Power Course! Who will shine brightest today? Let's meet the competitors! Team Lyra with a Croconaw, Gible and Staravia. The second competitor is Team Yona with a Swinub, Phanpy and Machop! The third competitor is Team Mac with Tauros, Aipom and Snubbull! And finally we have Team Aven with a Clefairy, Jigglypuff and Pikachu! All right, we're ready! Aim for the top! Let's Pokeathlon!"

Lyra sucked in another mouthful of air, ignoring the looks the other trainers were giving her. They all appeared to be dressed in athletic clothing and here she was wearing a dress. She glanced up at the giant screen. The words Block Smash – Fight Dome appeared. Sounded tough, she thought as she followed the other competitors to the Fighting Dome.

She was led to a large pile of blocks. "You have ten seconds to destroy as many blocks as you can!" the announcer said. Toto stepped forward. "Switch out when your Pokemon tires. Three… two… one…Go!" As soon as the buzzer went off, Toto slammed his tail down onto the blocks as fast as he could. She hoped this was making her Pokemon her stronger because it certainly looked rather painful. After five blocks were destroyed, she switched out for her Gible. Gible bit down on the blocks, chewing through them as if they were paper. He managed to destroy five blocks before tiring. Lyra brought out Staravia, who managed to destroy four.

A bell rang indicating the end of the round. Lyra turned around to see the results on the scoreboard and was a little disappointed that she had come second last. The top score had been twenty achieved by Team Yona. "Perhaps I'll do better in event two," she whispered. Although it didn't really matter. She was a trainer, not a poke athlete anyway. This was more for fun than anything else.

She headed off to the next area which looked like some ice skating rink. Large hoops were placed on the rink, each one a different size and colour. Some were rather small, only able to fit in three Pokemon, and some of the hoops were so large at least ten Pokemon could fit. Judging by the name of the event, 'Circle Push', Lyra had a feeling it involved pushing Pokemon out of circles.

"Welcome to Event Two, Circle Push! There will be three rounds. You will be required to keep your Pokemon inside a circle until the timer runs down. The smaller the circle, the more points you earn. Are you ready, poke athletes? Three… two… one… Go!"

Lyra's three Pokemon jumped onto the rink and hurried over to the largest circles they could find. All the other Pokemon also hurried there. Croconaw pushed a few of the smaller Pokemon out of the way, but Gible wasn't as lucky, getting shoved out of the circle. Staravia too, got pushed out. The same cycle repeated for the next two rounds with Lyra only managing to reach a score of ten points, coming last in the event. The highest score of twenty five went to Team Mac. Toto, Staravia and Gible looked disappointed with themselves as they made their way back to their trainer.

Lyra knelt down and gave them each a head rub. "Don't be sad. I know you are giving it your best. It doesn't matter if we come last," she said reassuringly. The expressions on her Pokemon's faces seemed to brighten a little as they made their way over to the final area. This one was designed like a human soccer field, except there were four goals instead of two. It was also much smaller.

"Welcome to the third and final event of the Power Course. This is Goal Roll! You have two minutes to score as many goals as you can, but if you kick the ball into your own, you'll lose a point. Three… two… one… Go!" Immediately, the soccer field turned into a war field. Pokemon from all different corners rushed towards the ball, while the trainers looked on worried. Lyra was concerned – the other three trainers were shouting orders.

"Knock him out of the way Tauros!"

"Don't let him knock you down, Machop!"

"Clefairy! Take all your opponents down!"

Even human soccer matches weren't this intense. Lyra was concerned about her Gible who was so much smaller than all the rest. Gible struggled to keep up with the other Pokemon, but tried very hard to impress Lyra. Staravia was tackled to the ground, losing a handful of feathers in the process. The avian squawked. Croconaw tried to defend his teammates, but was overpowered by the combined power teams of his opponents.

The other Pokemon were pushing so hard, Lyra wondered if they were on the Pokemon equivalent of human steroids. Outmatched and outpowered, Lyra's team succumbed to a loss in the negatives. Negative four. The match was won by Team Mac who managed to score three goals. Lyra's disheartened and broken team, returned to Lyra with their heads down.

"We might lose to them on the athletic field, but we can defeat them in a battle," Lyra said, rubbing a spot beneath Staravia's beak. "I'm proud of all of you. Now, what do you say we pay Whitney a little visit at the gym?" The word 'gym' immediately made her Pokemon look much happier. Lyra chuckled. "Come on then, let's go and earn our third badge."