Chapter 55 – The Fourth Sensational Sister
May and I rode up to Cerulean City and once we arrived in the outskirts of town, we recalled our riding Pokemon, and walked the rest of the way into town, accompanied by our fire foxes, as well as Inferno and Redfur. We headed to the Pokemon Center first, so I could have my Pokemon examined before the battle. As we walked, I asked May, "What's the Cerulean Gym leader like?" May answered, "There are actually three! They call themselves 'The Sensational Sisters', and when they're not battling, they put on water shows at their gym, which is also an aquarium!" I replied, "Water Pokemon, huh? I better use Jolteon for this one!" May said, "Sounds good to me! I used Raichu in my battle against them. I also used Blastoise – after all, the battle ground IS a giant pool!" I exclaimed, "In that case, I'll also use Vaporeon!" We reached the Pokemon Center and walked in to the familiar sight of a Nurse Joy and Chansey standing behind the counter. "Hi there! How can I help you?" Nurse Joy cheerfully asked. "Chansey Chansey!" exclaimed Chansey. I answered, "I'd like to have my Pokemon examined before I battle at the Cerulean Gym, especially my Jolteon and Vaporeon, to make sure they're in top fighting shape!" May said, "And I'd like this Clefairy I recently caught to have a full checkup, along with my other Pokemon!" We put our pokeballs on the counter, and Flamefox, Firestorm, Amber, Inferno, and Redfur all followed Chansey into the next room, while Nurse Joy took the pokeballs on a tray. A small bouquet of flowers suddenly materialized on the tray! "Oh my…!" Nurse Joy said, a little taken by surprise. I shouted, "Kadabra!" He materialized next to Nurse Joy. "Are these from you? Why, thank you very much, Kadabra!" she said as he followed her into the back room. May said, "Same old Kadabra!" and I just kind of rolled my eyes and smiled. In a short while, our Pokemon, Nurse Joy, and Chansey emerged from the back room, and May and I walked back over to the counter. "Your Pokemon are all in top shape!" Nurse Joy told us. Kadabra vanished again, and Nurse Joy said, "Your Kadabra is quite the gentleman." I replied, "I know." Then she told me, "Well, good luck in your gym battle!" I said, "Thank you!" and we left the building.
We walked through town, through a park, and up to a large building with a dome and a large Seel on top. "This is it – Cerulean Gym!" May exclaimed. I said, "It sure doesn't look like a gym." She said, "I told you, it's also an aquarium!" We went inside and climbed down some stairs. In the hallways were glass panels, through which we could see fish swimming around. Soon, we reached a room with a large swimming pool. There were 3 girls there, one with blonde hair, one with blue hair, and one with red hair, and one girl who looked to be about 9. "Misty, you're too little for a gym battle!" the girl with blonde hair told the 9 year old girl with short orange hair. "It's not fair! I'm one of the Sensational Sisters of Cerulean City, too!" she shouted. A girl with blue hair said, "No, you're wrong. We're the Sensational Sisters and you're, like, the runt!" She shouted, "That does it! I'm not taking any more of this! I'll prove to you that I'm just as good as you 3 by taking on the next challenger who walks in the door!" I said, "Um, pardon me…" The three teenage girls and their younger sister all looked at me. I continued, "I'd like to challenge you for a Cascade Badge." Misty jumped up and shouted, "I accept your challenge!" The blonde girl said, "Now wait just a minute, Misty! This is an official gym match! You'd better let one of us handle it until you know what you're doing!" Misty blurted out, "I know what I'm doing, and I'm going to battle him!" The red haired girl said, "Daisy, just let her do it so she'll shut up!" The blonde girl, who I now knew was Daisy, said, "Fine! Go ahead, Misty!" Misty shouted, "Yeah! This will be a 2 on 2 battle, okay?" I replied, "Fine with me!" At that, she leapt onto a floating platform in the pool and shouted, "First up, I choose Goldeen!" and released the big, goldfish-like Pokemon into the water. I felt kind of bad for her as I leapt onto the platform on my side and shouted, "I choose Jolteon!" and released my electric dog from his pokeball. Daisy said, "Uh oh." Flamefox, Firestorm, and Inferno watched from the sidelines with May, Amber, and Redfur. "Goldeen, use horn attack!" Misty commanded. I ordered, "Jolteon, use your agility to evade it!" Goldeen leapt at Jolteon, who stood on one of the floating battle platforms, but he jumped out of the way, onto another platform, effectively evading the attack! I shouted, "Jolteon, use thunderbolt!" The hairs on his body stood out as he launched the electric attack, and Goldeen felt it's effect, doubled by the water! "Goldeen!" Misty shouted. It was over. The attack knocked Goldeen out cold! "Way to show him off, Misty!" Daisy sarcastically shouted. Misty recalled Goldeen to a pokeball and angrily shouted back at her sister, "I'm not through with him yet!" Then she took out a second pokeball and shouted, "Go, Staryu!" The starfish-like Pokemon, with a centered red jewel, materialized on the platform. "Staryu, use rapid spin!" Misty ordered. Staryu flew through the air like a ninja's throwing star, coming directly at Jolteon! "Jolteon, evade it!" I commanded. Jolteon leapt out of the way, onto another platform, but Staryu circled around, coming at him again! "Just keep evading it, Jolteon!" I ordered. He leapt from platform, to poolside, to platform, but Staryu continued spinning relentlessly, circling around and coming at him again and again! "Keep it up, Staryu!" Misty shouted. Jolteon was starting to get tired out, so I decided to try another strategy. "Jolteon, use thunderbolt again!" I shouted. He launched the electric attack at the oncoming Staryu, but with it's rapid spinning, it deflected the attack! "I don't believe it!" I shouted. It span right through the attack and hit Jolteon, hard! He went flying and then crashed to the floor poolside! "Jolteon!" I shouted, and then ran over to him. He was knocked out! Misty shouted, "Yeah! Way to go, Staryu!" One of the other sisters, Violet, said, "Wow! Maybe Misty knows what she's doing after all!" I held Jolteon in my lap and said, "You did good, boy! Now you deserve a rest" and I returned him to his pokeball. Then I took out my second pokeball and shouted, "Vaporeon, go!" and released my Vaporeon into the water. Misty exclaimed, "Ooohhh, a Vaporeon! She's sooo cute! I really hate to see her get beaten, but… a battle's a battle! Staryu, use rapid spin again!" Staryu span around, flying at Vaporeon the way it did at Jolteon, and I ordered, "Vaporeon, jump into the water!" She leapt into the water, evading the attack, and then merged with the water to make herself invisible. "Huh? Where did she go?!?" Misty frantically asked. I ordered, "Vaporeon, use tackle!" Vaporeon, from seemingly out of nowhere, shot up from the water and directly hit Staryu, slamming into it! Staryu crashed to the floor poolside, but stood back up! "Staryu, use water gun!" Misty commanded. Staryu shot a strong stream of water at Vaporeon, hitting her so hard that the impact sent her sliding across the floor, and she hit the wall! "Vaporeon!" I shouted. She stood back up, still willing to battle, and I said, "Good girl! Now use bubblebeam!" She shot a stream of bubbles from her mouth, and each of the bubbles exploded upon impacting Staryu! "Oh no! Staryu, quick, jump into the water!" Misty shouted. Staryu forced it's way out of the bubblebeam and submerged into the pool. I ordered, "Vaporeon, you get into the water, too!" As soon as she leapt in, I shouted, "Now use whirlpool!" Vaporeon swam around quickly, creating a cyclone of water! Soon, Staryu was trapped in the center! "Staryu, get out of there!" Misty shouted. I commanded, "Quick, Vaporeon, while Staryu is trapped, use take down!" Vaporeon shot through the center of the cyclone she had created and slammed into Staryu hard, which sent it flying out of the water funnel and crashing against the wall! "Staryu, no!" Misty shouted, running over to her starfish Pokemon. Staryu just lay there, knocked out! Daisy said, "It looks like the winner is Joe!" Then she called out, "Seel!" A white Seel came from the next room and waddled up to Daisy. "Seel, seel" it said, and it stuck out it's tongue, upon which it had a Cascade Badge. Daisy took it with her index finger and thumb and said to me, "Here you go! Congratulations!" I replied, "Thank you!" My fire foxes, Inferno, Amber, and Redfur all ran up to me and Vaporeon. May also walked over and said, "Good job, Joe!" I said, "Thank you, May!" Misty kneeled on the floor, hugging her Staryu, and Daisy said, "You still have a lot to learn if you want to be one of the Sensational Sisters, Misty!" Violet said, "Yeah, maybe you should just let us do the battling until you're a little older!" Misty recalled Staryu to it's pokeball and ran out of the room, bawling! The third sister, Lily, said, "What a baby!" May said to me, "Poor kid! I'm gonna go talk to her." I said, "Okay. I'll go take Jolteon to the Pokemon Center."
May found Misty sitting on a bench outside, still crying. May said, "Hi!" Misty looked up, wiped away some tears, and answered, "Hi." Then May said to her, "You were doing really good in there for a while!" Misty replied, "Yeah, but not good enough! I'll never amount to my sisters! They always have to show me up!" May said, "I know it's rough! I have a sister, too, and we had a lot of fights growing up. Then we both went on to become Pokemon trainers. Between you and me, she's a lousy trainer. But I wasn't that good when I started out, either, so I've encouraged her on. I just wish your sisters were more supportive of you." Misty said, "It's because they're so much older than me! They were the Sensational Sisters when I was just a baby, and I don't think they liked the idea of a fourth. But someday, I'll show them up! I'll be a strong water Pokemon trainer!" May said, "That's a good attitude! And I know you can do it!" Misty asked, "You… really think so?" May said, "I know so. Like I said, I wasn't that great a trainer when I started out, but Joe and another friend helped me to believe in myself and my Pokemon! That's the key to being a strong Pokemon trainer! I don't know how many times I've told my sister that, but she still hasn't quite grasped what it means. But I know you're off to a good start – you defeated Joe's Jolteon, and that's a very experienced Jolteon that he's had for a long time! I think your Staryu must be very powerful!" Misty said, "It is! I think it's almost ready to evolve into a Starmie! I can't wait! Anyhow, I want to thank you, May! You've been more like a sister to me than my real sisters! I'll always remember what you just told me!" May replied, "You're welcome… and I'm flattered!" Suddenly, a bouquet of wildflowers appeared in Misty's and May's hands. "What the…?" Misty began to ask. May laughed and said, "Joe's Kadabra! He likes to do things like that!" Kadabra materialized for a second, closed his eyes and smiled, then vanished. May and Misty both said, "Thanks, Kadabra!"
When I returned from the Pokemon Center, I saw Misty petting Amber, Redfur, and Inferno. I walked over, accompanied by Vaporeon, Flamefox, and Firestorm. I said, "Hi Misty! That was a great battle! You're a strong gym leader, or dare I say 'Sensational'!" Misty laughed and said, "Thanks! I know I still have a lot to learn if I'm going to be as good as my sisters, but May says I'll do fine!" I replied, "Well, if May said so, then it must be true!" Misty walked up to Vaporeon and said, "I really do like your Vaporeon a lot! She's beautiful!" and she proceeded to pet her smooth skin. "Vaporeon!" shouted Vaporeon. I said, "Thanks! She was a troublesome, mischievous little Eevee when I got her, but she's come a long way!" Misty asked me, "Is your Jolteon okay?" I answered, "Yeah, he's fine. Nurse Joy said to let him rest for a day. He's in his pokeball right now." Then I noticed the bouquets of flowers and said, "I see Kadabra was here!" We all laughed. Misty also petted Flamefox and Firestorm and said, "Your Vulpix and Ninetales are really cute, too!" We stuck around for a little while, letting the rest of our Pokemon out at the park for a little playtime and so that Misty could see them. In the evening, we said goodbye to Misty, and headed to the Pokemon Center for dinner and a good night's sleep, so we could face our next day's challenges well rested.