Heya! I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately so I might not get this chapter out in time, but I'm not going to complain and just get on with writing chapter.

Chapter 33: Battles and Leaders (Cerulean City)

After leaving Pewter City, we march along Route 3 and avoid engaging in any battles with young trainers. We look for new Pokémon and make sure not to trip over the small cliffs.

Pokémon caught in Route 3:

Apart from Route 1 Pokémon and Sandshrew, Mankey, Ekans, Arbok, both genders of Nidoran, Jigglypuff and Clefairy, Baltoy, Gulpin and Zubats.

When we arrive at the stone-cold Mt. Moon we make sure to visit the nearby Pokémon Center first. The rocky mountain has a single opening just big enough to let through a small Mamoswine. The fact that anything past it is covered in complete darkness is concerning.

"We need to team up and use Flash!" Red announced once we stepped in, calling upon his Raichu to do so.

To brighten the cave we used Leaf's Clefairy, Gold's Lanturn (which buried itself in his arms), Krystal's Celebi, Ruby's Medicham, May's Sableye, Diamond's Torterra, Dawn's Shaymin, Black and Hilda's Zebstrikas (wouldn't want to use Zekrom in a small cave), Nate's Emolga, Rosa's Meloetta, Serena's Gardevoir and my Dedenne, which I used because I shouldn't bring out Xerneas in this cave.

The once dark interior became bright all around us, scaring away the Zubats that thrived in darkness. However, we didn't get to catch anything in here because we lost signal upon entering the cave.

"That made it a lot easier." Candela remarks.

"Hm?"

"The fact that all devices lose signal under rock foundations. It made it so we didn't have to work on all the caves in all the regions. Having them work in Chargestone cave would have been a nightmare."

We thank her for even working on it at all and move on towards the exit.

Once outside, most of the Legends take the opportunity to have fun going down the slopes in Route 4. There, those of us not playing around with their own real Pokémon look for more PokéGO Pokémon.

Pokémon caught in Route 4:

A single Absol, more Route 3 Pokémon, Magikarps and Goldeens, Buizel, Bidoof, Linoone and Whimsur.

It is here that we are introduced to the famous Cerulean City, the Floral Lagoon City. Red glances at Cerulean cave and moves towards the main road. It is said that this is where Red first found Mewtwo. Although everyone's amazed by this, I found one too in a lone cave in Kalos. I'm much more impressed by Leaf, who is seemingly the only human ever to catch a Mew.

"I'm going to catch some Pokémon by the water. You guys look around." Red says before heading north of the city.

We nod and head to the center.

We visit the bike shop for a quick look at the bicycles. The new designs are a lot more complex and based on regular bikes used in different regions. When we go to check how much they cost, however, we find out the price somehow rose since Red and Leaf first got their plain old bike.

We search for more Pokémon in Cerulean City before getting to the gym, but the only ones there are the ones we already caught in Route 21 and the Seafoam Islands, besides Corsola and Staryu.

Cerulean City Pokémon Gym
Leader: Misty
The Tomboyish Mermaid!

The Cerulean City gym reminds me of a giant water park. The huge pool in the middle is full of trainers training with their Water-type Pokémon while others lay down in seats at the sides. Like in Pewter City, the gym guide looks at us and stands back, next to the Rhyhdon statues. The top is covered in windows that let the sun through. I can see that you're supposed to get in the pool and fight the others in the water. There are pool tubes close to the entrance and people stationed at the sides so trainers have to go through the pool to get to Misty. Said gym leader sits in the back atop a lifeguard tower, watching over any battles that may ensue. However, one thing catches our attention more than the famous Misty. A trainer about Red and Leaf's age is standing in front of Misty, fiddling with a screen in her hand. Her white hair and blue longcoat stands out above the sea of shirtless men and bikini-clad women.

Once Red talks to the trainers guarding the sides of the pool, we advance past the challengers and walk towards the back. Well, most of us do. Candela ignores pool rules and runs full-speed towards the trainer, who shows a mixture between surprise and annoyance before getting tackled by Candela.

"Blanche! I knew we'd catch up to you!"

"Hey..." She mutters, tightly squeezed between Candela's arms.

"Did you fight Misty!? Did you beat her!? Tell me you beat her. You beat her didn't you!?" She grins, contrasting Blanche's grumpy look on her face.

"Yes. I did beat her in PokéGO. Can you let go of me now?"

Candela complies and puts her down once we get to them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Blanche!" She shows her off like a lottery prize while Blanche doesn't even bother to wave, which reminds me of someone I know...

"Hey. I'm Blanche."

Nate frowns at her.

"Somehow I thought you'd be more excited to meet us."

Blanche rolls her eyes. Who does she remind me of?

"I'm not too fond of most of you. I hate real-life battling."

"But she loves studying Pokémon!" Candela nods. "Isn't that right?" She elbows her in the ribs, which makes Blanche stares daggers at her. Yeah, this is definitely someone I've seen before. Who is it though?"

"Yeah. I do." She looks over to Red, who has the same look on his face. That's who she was reminding me of!

They stare in silence at each other, presumably analyzing.

"I'm Red." He extends out his hand, which is covered by a fingerless glove.

"I know." Blanche shakes his hand with hers, which is also partly covered.

Awkward silence ensues. We look at them. They look at each other. We look at each other. Serena looks at me. I shrug. She looks at her watch. I look back at them.

"I want to learn how to battle in PokéGO." Red finally speaks up.

Blanche raises her eyebrows.

"Why are you asking me then? Candela's the expert on that. Plus, I told you I don't like battling."

Red shakes his head.

"I want to see PokéGO battling from the perspective of someone who's analytical, someone like you and me. I've always loved battling in real life. I dedicated my life to it. I want to see how you represented it in PokéGO."

Blanche sighs and gets out her screen.

"Fine. But I'm only going to use Articuno to get this done quickly. Plus, it shouldn't be much of a challenge with the small amount of time you've been playing PokéGO."

Red nods and retrieves his Pokédex, choosing his team quickly.

Battle,

GO!

Blanche's Articuno appears in front of Red's Charizard and starts charging Blizzard. Charizard charges Fire Blast as well.

Charizard hits first and does 10% damage, but Articuno strikes too and leaves Charizard at 5% health.

Red frowns and then nods.

"Level differences. Although, do moves in PokéGO not have a chance to miss?"

Blanche shakes her head.

"You swipe left or right to dodge. If you're in front of the attack when it hits it will always hit."

Red nods again, but this time he looks more annoyed.

"Right. Dodging..."

As he learned, Red swiped left to dodge Articuno's quick Frost Breath and used Ember himself.

Articuno then charged Blizzard one spot to the right, where Blanche predicted Red would dodge. She was right, and Charizard used Ember one more time before fainting.

Red nods and releases a Rhyhdon, which stays in place and starts charging Stone Edge. Articuno makes the mistake of predicting a dodge and uses Frost Breath on the empty air, leaving it open to a 4x effective Stone Edge that takes it down to 70%.

Blanche frowns and scoffs.

"This is why I don't like battling. Predicting and thinking about type-effectiveness isn't my strong suit."

This time, Articuno waits for Rhyhdon to charge Stone Edge and moves aside, attacking it with a barrage of Frost Breath while it's defenseless. Because Ground is weak to Ice and Articuno is much higher-leveled, Rhyhdon faints immediately.

"Tsk." Red frowns as well as he releases his Raichu.

Red's Raichu dodges quickly once it sees Articuno charging Blizzard and attacks multiple times with Spark.

Articuno then tries to attack with Frost Breath, but Raichu's speed lets it dash multiple times to the right and start charging Thunder.

Raichu then releases it upon Articuno, leaving it at 60%. However, this lets Articuno finally attack Raichu and defeat it due to its low defense.

Red sighs and releases a Machamp.

Machamp charges Close Combat at the same time as Articuno charges Blizzard. Machamp gets the Close Combat (leaving it at 57%) out but immediately faints when hit by Blizzard.

Red shakes his head this time and uses Snorlax instead. Seeing the gigantic Pokémon and its lazy attitude brings a smile on Red's face.

The Snorlax uses Body Slam quickly before barely (and surprisingly) dodging a charged Blizzard and starts charging Giga Impact.

Articuno leaves Snorlax at 47% with Blizzard before getting hit by Giga Impact and losing 6% of its health.

The process repeats and Snorlax finally faints but leaves Articuno at 43%.

Red no longer seems distraught as he retrieves Snorlax.

"I guess there's no use hiding it."

A mean-looking Mewtwo appears from Red's pokéball and extends an arm out, which flashes violet.

"Dammit!" Candela seems mad. Blanche does as well, but Candela is more vocal about it.

"You weren't supposed to find Legendaries till much later! You found it near the Cerulean Cave, didn't you!?"

Red nods and shrugs.

"You put it there. Besides, I wanted to visit that place anyways. My own Mewtwo would have been mad at me if I visited Kanto and didn't let it visit Cerulean Cave."

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

Mewtwo uses the same strategy as Snorlax and use Psycho Cut quickly before dodging Blizzard and starting to charge Psychic.

Articuno gets hit and loses 8% but leaves Mewtwo at 36% health.

Mewtwo shoots a quick Shadow ball and then dashes sideways to charge a final Hyper Beam while Articuno releases Blizzard into the air.

The Hyper Beam hits before Articuno can get out a Frost Breath and leaves Articuno at 30%.

However, Mewtwo is now vulnerable to getting hit and gets taken out by quick Frost Breaths.

Red smiles and shakes his head, extending out his hand once again.

"I have to admit. It was fun. Not as fun or as good as real battling, but it was fun in the end."

Blanche shrugs and shakes his hand.

"I personally don't see the fun in battling. But it was fun meeting you."

A rare smile escapes Blanche's lips. A short-lived moment, as it turns back to indifference once she sees Candela.

"So, are you going to introduce us to Misty or what?" Dawn pointed at the lifeguard tower excitedly.

"Of course. Just let me revive my Pokémon..."

As Red manages his Pokémon, Krystal moves to the back of the group and hides between us Kalos Legends, bringing Gold with him.

"Don't say anything."

I look to Serena, who shrugs and moves on.

Krystal looks worried as we walk towards the gym leader, but Gold takes her hand and gives her a reassuring look.

She smiles sadly and nods.

Ta-da! I actually liked writing this chapter a lot more than I thought I would. Next chapter will deal with revisiting Misty and dealing with Krystal's crime. I think the Pokémon Go leaders act a lot like some of the Legends. Candela like Gold, Blanche like Red and Spark like Nate.

One thing I wanted to say, I love when you review and it really brightens my day when you do so, but it would also help HOPL if you included some kid of critique or reference. For example, saying you loved the chapter would make me smile and I'd love that, but I forgot to underline the Pokémon caught in Viridian City in chapter 31. If you write "I liked the chapter but you forgot x" it would be perfect.

That said, please let me know what you thought of this chapter in the reviews and I'll see you next time!