Hello. I just finished practicing for a piano exam. Yes, even in the summer I have to do exams. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: Pokémon, along with any people, places or things from it are not mine, nor do I claim it to be. The only thing I do own is myself and the dream this all started from.

"It's fine," Alicia said as Ashley and I apologised for dragging her out of the Game Corner, "I have enough Coins anyway."

"Then why were you still playing the slots?" I asked.

"Oh, shut up," Alicia snapped before heading off to the prize desk to trade in her Coins for whatever prizes she wanted.

I followed her. Though I didn't have all of the coins I had wanted to get I did have enough for one more item. That was fine though, because the last thing that I had wanted I could get later on, without it costing my sanity.

I traded the last of my coins into the man behind the prize counter for another TM, TM35 containing Flamethrower, which, for now, was useless.

Once Alicia had finished buying her prizes the two of us walked back outside. I glanced around, Paula and Samantha were there, as well as Ashley, and Dana. Everyone was here!

"How did you two catch up?" I asked Paula and Samantha.

"We must have passed you somewhere," Samantha suggested, "Because I know we were behind you, and we both made it here just after Dana did and before Ashley and Alicia got here."

"It must have been when I was on Route 12, battling trainers," I remarked.

"Shall we be getting to bed?" Ashley asked.

"Why would we go to bed..." I trailed off and looked at the sky. It was already rather dark. My watch confirmed that it was 10:30 at night, "I can't believe I was in there for so long."

"Have you found that you don't actually need to eat or drink anything?" Dana asked, "I haven't eaten in forever and a day and I'm still not hungry!"
It was the next morning. All of my friends and I were sitting around one of the tables in the Pokémon Center, sharing tales of our travels and eating some eggs for breakfast.

"And have you noticed that the only things you seem to be able to eat in this place are eggs and bacon?" Samantha chipped in before shovelling another forkful of egg in her mouth.

"It is odd," Paula added, "It seems that no one even uses a washroom, besides us. It probably has something to do with people not eating or drinking regularly."

Alicia was shoving forkful after forkful of food into her mouth, "I don't know how people could survive without eating for so long!" she said, her words muffled by the eggs in her mouth.

Ashley looked down at her plate, barely touching the food, "I'm getting tired of eating the same thing any time I sit down for a meal."

"I know what you mean," I replied nibbling half heartedly on a strip of bacon, "I wish I had brought some of the food in the fridge at home along with me."

"It would have gone bad by now," Samantha pointed out.

"Are you sure?" I asked, "The berries in this world seem to keep for eternity. I don't see why lettuce, tomato, better meet, or anything wouldn't also keep for just as long."

"You have a point there," Samantha replied.

I put down my partially eaten bacon, "I think I'm going to go challenge the Gym leader," I said, "I've already checked out the Department Store and the Game Corner. It's the only thing left to do."

"I think we're all going to the Department Store," Dana said, "None of us were smart enough to go there first."

"I hope we catch up with you again!" Ashley said, giving me an 'air hug'.

I exited the PokéCenter after handing my plate over to a Chansey behind the counter. I started thinking, which Gym was this? I thought about it for a minute, and then it hit me. This was the Grass type Gym. This wouldn't be too hard with Fearow and Kadabra.

I entered the Gym and cleared the way of all of the Gym trainers. They all used fairly common Grass Pokémon, such as Bellsprout, Weepinbell, Oddish, Gloom and Exeggcute. A few trainers used a Bulbasaur or an Ivysaur as well, though.

There were quite a lot of trainers in the Gym, Beauty Tamia, Lass Kay, Beauty Bridget, Picnicker Tina, Cooltrainer Mary, Beauty Lori, and Lass Lisa. Because of this all of my Pokémon levelled up one, making them all level 34, about ten levels higher than the strongest Pokémon I had seen in this Gym so far.

For some reason these Gym trainers seemed obsessed with the fact that it was a girls only Gym, which really made no sense. Did that mean that no men or boys could challenge the Gym? That certainly was how it came across.

I decided to go heal my Pokémon at the PokéCenter before challenging the Gym leader of the Gym, Erika. When my Pokémon were ready for battle I headed back out to the Gym.

It was very easy to get to Erika; all I had to do was use Cut on a tree that was blocking the way. I continued walking north and stood in front of Erika, ready to make my challenge against the Gym leader.

"Hello..." she said dreamily before I had a chance to say anything, "Lovely weather, isn't it? It's so pleasant..."

"Yeah, the indoor weather is wonderful," I remarked, "And the weather seems to always be the same outside, so I guess so."

I waited for a second for Erika's reply, though she said nothing. I waited a little longer before purposefully stamping my foot loudly.

"...Oh, dear..." she said, "I must have dozed off. Welcome."

"Welcome indeed," I mumbled, "You really are quite a...different kind of Gym leader, aren't you?"

"I guess so," she said, still sounding like she was off in dream land, "My name is Erika. I am the leader of Celadon Gym. I am a student of the art of flower arranging. My Pokémon are solely of the Grass type."

"Wonderful," I commented, "Now do you mind if we battle?"

"...Oh, I'm sorry, I had no idea that you wished to challenge me," she sounded almost slightly astonished. Or at least she sounded as astonished as you can sound while daydreaming, "Very well, but I shall not lose."