Chapter 18

"It's always sunny in Celadon City," the weatherman had cheerfully said this morning.

Leaf believed him. She woke early to visit the Celadon Gym and thank Erika for battling her. When she stepped out of the Gym, she immediately wished she'd brought sunglasses with her. The sun was beating down so brightly, it was difficult to imagine the rainbow city ever having a cloudy day. It was also dawning on her how unprepared she'd been for her journey. In her excitement, she hadn't thought to pack sunglasses even though it was summertime. Also because it was summertime, she hadn't thought to pack slightly warmer clothing. Though she definitely didn't need it today, there had been quite a few times where she'd wished she had a light jacket on her. She always told herself to buy one, but never did for some reason.

Well, now she didn't have any excuses. Celadon City was also known as the shopping capital of Kanto.

Leaf walked past a pond, past a set of luxury condominiums, towards a building that faced the grand fountain. The building, which was made entirely of glass, was six stories tall. At the front was a sign that read, Find what you need at the CELADON DEPT. STORE!

The Celadon Department Store was the largest in Kanto. It had everything: clothes, furniture, hardware, appliances. Each floor had a set of escalators and there were a couple glass elevators that zoomed up and down the entire building. Star-shaped lights hung from the ceiling and of course, there were flowers everywhere.

Leaf wasn't sure where to go, so she checked the directory––a sleek white kiosk by the service desk––and found herself even more confused. A bunch of brands were listed under the Apparel category, but she wasn't familiar with any. The Celadon Department Store was a labyrinth, just like Viridian Forest and Mount Moon. Maybe even more so.

Leaf had no choice but to wander. It ended up working well. She managed to buy a pair of black sunglasses and a white windbreaker with red lines that matched her hat. Mom was definitely going to be proud of the latter purchase. The part that really excited Leaf, however, was the Trainers' Market. The store sold everything a Pokemon trainer could possibly need: healing items, sprays that warded off wild Pokemon, Pokemon toys, and a wide variety of PokeBalls. Leaf had no idea there were so many different types. Ultra Balls, Heal Balls, Dusk Balls, Moon Balls, Net Balls, Love Balls. All of them had distinct designs and were useful for different situations. Leaf was tempted to purchase one of each, but logic restrained her. She hadn't been catching Pokemon for the sake of it; only those she intended to use. The standard PokeBalls she had were enough.

Leaf handed a box of Revives and hyper potions, which were much stronger than regular potions, to the cashier. "Just these, please."

As the items were scanned, Leaf saw a glass case on the wall behind the cashier. Inside the case were stones. One was bright green, another ocean blue, a third had a green leaf-shaped imprint on it, and the fourth was a fiery orange. Leaf recognized the fourth stone.

The cashier noticed the direction of Leaf's gaze. "Are you interested in purchasing an evolutionary stone?"

Leaf shook her head. The stones were extremely expensive and besides, she had one already.

"They're very rare," the cashier said. "We are the only ones in the region who sell them and our stock is quite limited."

Leaf thought about the Team Rocket thug who tried to force Vulpix to evolve. Until now, she hadn't questioned how that man acquired a Fire Stone in the first place.

"Are you alright, Miss?" The cashier asked as she began bagging the items.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." Leaf placed her money on the counter, took the bag, and left.

While aimlessly strolling through the streets after lunch, one particular building caught Leaf's eye.

It was nowhere near as tall as the Celadon Department Store, or even some of the condominiums she passed. But what it lacked in size, it made up for in––for lack of a better word––extravagance. Neon lights flashed on the facades. Giant yellow letters stood over the roof, spelling out Celadon Game Corner. Below that, in a smaller font: The playground for grown-ups!

The Celadon Game Corner greatly contrasted with the elegant atmosphere the city had. For that reason only, Leaf decided to check it out.

The interior did not disappoint. The carpeted floor had a funky neon pattern that reminded Leaf of a bowling alley. The lighting was dim, which made the several rows of colorful slot machines seem to glow brighter. Many people sat at them, intently watching the symbols flashing by. When they didn't get the outcome they wanted, they banged the machine and cursed before inserting another coin into it.

At the back of the building was the service desk. A man and a woman were stationed there, wearing red vests over blue shirts. Behind them were shelves displaying the prizes and their costs, a backdoor, and a sign shaped like a rocketship.

"Aren't you a little young to be here?" The woman joked when Leaf approached the desk.

Her colleague laughed. "No one's too young to have fun. So, what do you say, sweetheart? Wanna try your luck here at the Game Corner? Fifty coins cost $1000."

Leaf had never gambled before, beyond the stupid bets she and Blue would make as kids. "Sure, why not?"

As Leaf handed over $1000, the man gave her a black coin case and said, "You can trade your coins for prizes. We have a bunch shown on the wall. Our most valuable prizes are in the back. I can't tell you what they are. You'll have to win them to see." At that last sentence, he winked.

Leaf headed towards the slot machines. A few were out of order and one was even reserved. When she found an available machine––an orange one with flames painted all over––she sat down and read the rules, placed below the screen. The concept was simple. Pressing the red button in front of her would set three columns of symbols spinning. Pressing the button again would stop the spinning. If she could get certain symbol combinations on the screen, she would be rewarded with coins. The different types of combinations and their values were listed.

Inserting one coin would only count the center row, two coins would count all three, and three would count the rows across plus diagonals. Leaf inserted three coins into the slot and pressed the red button.

The bright symbols flashed before her eyes so quickly that Leaf felt disoriented. She slammed her palm down on the button and the symbols froze. She didn't get any of the desired combinations. Leaf inserted three more coins and pressed the button. When she stopped the spinning, again she didn't win anything. Damn, this is harder than I thought.

Leaf tried again and again. She tried detecting patterns in the spins, inserting just one or two coins. But no matter what she tried, no matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn't win any coins.

"This has to be rigged," Leaf heard a man next to her mutter.

Leaf checked her coin case. She was down to her last three coins. Yeah, this is definitely rigged. With a sigh, Leaf inserted them and pressed the button.

The symbols spun at the speed of lightning. At this point, Leaf was getting a mild headache. She closed her eyes and hit the button.

The sudden blare of trumpets made Leaf's eyes snap open. The whole machine was glowing as if the flames had magically become real. Before Leaf could check what the symbol combination on screen meant, a waterfall of coins tumbled into a compartment at the bottom of the machine.

The man beside Leaf stared at her with envy. "Lucky you! You won the grand prize."

Leaf felt like a kid who had a successful Halloween. Holding in squeals of excitement, she shoved as many coins as possible into her case. The rest, she held like a baby. With her head held high, she marched over to the service desk and dropped her winnings onto the counter.

The man grinned. "So you're a winner after all." He slid the coins into a box with his hand and then poured them into a machine. "You won three-thousand coins. That's enough to buy one of our special prizes. Would you like that?"

When Leaf nodded eagerly, he went through the backdoor. Leaf waited with anticipation. She had no idea what the prize could be. Something made of gold, maybe. She hoped it wasn't jewelry; she never cared for that. If it was, she supposed she could give it to Mom.

The man returned, still grinning from ear-to-ear, and placed the mystery prize on the counter.

It was a PokeBall.

"You're a trainer, right?" The man said. "I'm sure this will be of great use to you."

Leaf forced herself to smile as she tucked the PokeBall away. "Thanks so much. Have a nice day!"

"You have one as well!"

Leaf rushed out. A PokeBall? Seriously? She could buy one at any Poke Mart for $200. She just spent $1000, along with too much time and energy, for a PokeBall? The Game Corner was a scam!

Then, as Leaf was stomping down the street, something occurred to her. She stepped into a nearby alley and gently tossed the PokeBall.

A white light burst out. It elongated and when it disappeared, a baby-blue snake with a white underbelly stood before Leaf. The white fins on the side of its head, along with its round, white snout twitched. It looked up at Leaf with oval purple eyes. In between its eyes was a small white bump. Leaf immediately pulled out the Pokedex.

Dratini, the Dragon Pokemon. Even the young can exceed 6.5 feet in length. It grows larger by repeatedly shedding skin.

Leaf held her breath. A Dratini! She'd heard of this Pokemon before. Its final evolution was so powerful, it was comparable to legendary Pokemon. In fact, for many years, it was considered legendary, because Dratini were extremely rare to find in the wild.

And Leaf had just won a male one at a casino.

Barely able to contain her excitement, Leaf bent down and smiled at Dratini. "Hi! My name's Leaf. I'm going to be your trainer from now on."

Dratini continued to stare at Leaf. Then, with a squeal, it slithered away.

Alarmed, Leaf returned Dratini and sent him back out. Again, it tried to flee. This went on a few times until finally, the baby dragon gave up and stayed put. When Leaf tried to pet him, he shivered.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you," Leaf said gently. Dratini whimpered.

Questions raced through Leaf's head. Was Dratini afraid of her? Why? Did he not like people in general? Presumably, he would've gotten used to them by spending time with his caregivers at the Game Corner. Maybe he was just scared of strangers?

That was when Leaf noticed the faint bruise on Dratini's snout.

A nurse checked over Dratini and, after expressing awe over seeing a Dratini in real life, assured Leaf that there wasn't anything that needed to be treated. Though Leaf was relieved that Dratini was physically fine, she felt no less angry.

Our most valuable prizes are in the back. Were these prizes all rare Pokemon like Dratini? If they really all lived in that backroom, it was hard to imagine them receiving great care. The bruise on Dratini's snout and his behavior around Leaf and the nurse (Dratini wouldn't stop squirming when she held him) convinced Leaf that there was abuse going on at the Game Corner.

Leaf considered going to the police, but wasn't sure how effective that would be. The Game Corner probably had ways of hiding the abuse to them. But what other options did she have?

Her train of thought was broken by the sound of a familiar voice asking, "Leaf? Is that you?"

Leaf turned and her heart jumped. Standing a few feet away was Red. He smiled softly when their eyes met. Pikachu, who was on his trainer's shoulder, squeaked.

Leaf beamed. "Red!" She exclaimed and threw her arms around him.

Red returned her hug. When they pulled apart, he asked, "How long have you been in Celadon? Have you battled Erika yet?"

Leaf nodded. She could feel how wide her grin was. It was even bigger than when she won all those coins. "I beat her yesterday! Arrived at Celadon yesterday, too."

"Nice! I also beat Erika already, but I've been here for like a week. How's your team looking? I'll show you mine."

Red had added two more Pokemon to his team. A Wartortle and…an Ivysaur. Her Ivysaur blinked curiously at Red's.

"Where did you get an Ivysaur from?" Leaf asked. "And also Wartortle?"

"Erika breeds a lot of grass-type Pokemon. She was so impressed with me that she gave me one of her Ivysaurs. As for Wartortle, I caught him as a Squirtle in Vermillion City. He caused a lot of trouble for the fishermen, stealing all their catches. He's better behaved now, though."

Red gestured at Leaf's team. "Your team has grown! I see Spearow has evolved and you have a Psyduck, Vulpix and––" his eyes widened. "Is that…a Dratini?"

At the sound of his name, Dratini flinched. The other Pokemon eyed him curiously, causing the poor dragon to shrink. The giddiness Leaf felt was replaced with pity as she returned him. "It is and you're not going to believe how I got him."

Leaf recounted to Red how she won enough coins at the Game Corner to win a special prize, which turned out to be Dratini. She told him how terrified Dratini was of her, how she noticed the bruise on his snout and promptly brought him to the Pokemon Center. Her voice rose with anger the more she told. Red was silent the whole time, but she could see on his face that he was just as, if not more, furious as she was.

"I was actually thinking about what to do before you called me," Leaf finished.

"And what were you thinking?"

Leaf shook her head. "I don't know. I don't think the police would be able to do much."

"You're right. They won't," Red agreed. "That's why we'll have to handle it ourselves."

Leaf was taken aback. "You mean freeing those Pokemon?"

Red nodded. Leaf couldn't remember the last time he looked so determined. "Yes, and here's how we'll do it."

It seemed that Celadon City was so lively when the sun was out that it didn't have any energy left at night. The city was so quiet, one could hear a pin drop. Except for some street lights, and the faint glow from the flame on Red's Charmeleon's tail, it was pitch black outside. Initially, Leaf was worried that a cop would notice them and question them. After all, two teenagers being out at this time would raise the eyebrows of most adults. But they didn't see a single person and soon, they were standing in front of the Game Corner.

The Game Corner had closed at midnight. Without any of its lights turned on, it looked like an abandoned building. Crouching, Leaf peeked through a window and saw a light in the backroom was turned on.

"Charmeleon, use Metal Claw," Red whispered.

Charmeleon's claws glinted as they swiftly carved the edge of the window. Before the glass panel hit the floor, Ivysaur caught it with his vines and gently set it aside.

"Good work," Red said. The two of them returned their Pokemon and climbed through the now empty space.

Leaf half-expected alarms to instantly go off. Nothing happened. There didn't seem to be any patrolling guard, either.

"This is weird," Leaf murmured. "You'd think a casino would have some sort of security system in place."

"I guess this just shows how safe Celadon is," Red replied. Pikachu squeaked on his shoulder.

Leaf and Red crept towards the service desk, climbed over it, and pushed through the backdoor.

They were in a large storage room. All around were cages of Pokemon Leaf had never seen before: tall green mantises with wings and scythe-like arms, large brown insects with spiky pincers on its head and an opened mouth showing horizontal teeth, a small pink-and-blue geometric Pokemon with a bird-like head. They regarded Leaf and Red with despondent eyes.

But they didn't hold Leaf's attention for very long, because sitting at the center of the room was a man. His black hair and eyes matched his Team Rocket uniform.

Leaf remembered the rocketship sign and suddenly, everything clicked. "Team Rocket runs the Game Corner!"

The man, recovering from his alarm, stood. "It's a bit late for two kids to be out, no? Go home."

Red stepped forward, face hard. "We're not leaving until all the Pokemon here are freed."

"These Pokemon belong to us. I'll warn you once more. Go home."

Leaf moved next to Red, blood boiling. "You'll have to make us!"

"Don't assume that because I'm a grunt, I'll be easy to beat. You're going to regret breaking in," the man snarled. He pulled two PokeBalls from his belt and tossed them. Out came a Raticate and Zubat.

Grunt. That's what a member of Team Rocket was called. Leaf reached for Ivysaur's PokeBall.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Red ordered.

Pikachu leaped from Red's shoulder. There was a flash of yellow accompanied by a thunderous boom. When it was over, both the Raticate and Zubat were knocked out.

The grunt stared at his fallen Pokemon, dumbfounded. Though Leaf had seen Pikachu battle before, she was also a bit startled by his strength. Recovering quickly, Leaf sent out Ivysaur and had him grab the grunt with his vines.

"Don't hurt me! Please!" The grunt shrieked. It was a bit amusing how high-pitched his voice became.

"We won't if you free these Pokemon," Leaf said sharply. The grunt nodded rapidly.

Ivysaur released the grunt. Shakily, he unlocked the cages. The Pokemon flew, ran out without looking back.

"Please let me go now," the grunt whimpered.

"We're taking you to the police," Leaf replied.

"That's now what you promised!"

"No, I simply said we wouldn't hurt you."

"Wait!" The grunt cried. "I know something you two might want to know."

Leaf glanced at Red for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"We have more Pokemon than the ones who were up here," the grunt said. "They're downstairs. I can take you to them, set them free as well. But I'll only do so if you promise to let me go afterwards."

Leaf looked around the room, confused. "Downstairs? There aren't any stairs."

"Oh, but there are." The grunt leaned against the wall. At that moment, Leaf noticed a poster depicting the same rocketship as the one outside. The grunt lifted it up, revealing a gray button. He pressed it.

The room suddenly shook. Leaf grabbed onto Red's shoulder so she wouldn't fall over. Was the wall…opening up? Before Leaf could reach a conclusion, the shaking stopped and the wall was no longer there. Instead, there was a flight of stairs, leading down into darkness.

"See?" The grunt said eagerly. "I can lead the way."

Leaf looked at Red. Realizing she was still holding his shoulder, she quickly removed her hand. It tingled strangely. "What do you think?"

"I don't really trust him," Red said in a low voice. "But I do believe that there could be more Pokemon down there. We can't risk leaving them behind."

For all they knew, the grunt could be leading them into a fatal trap. And still, Red wanted to go on the chance that they could save more Pokemon.

Determination flaring up in her, Leaf turned to the grunt, who watched them hopefully. "Lead the way."

The grunt slowly grinned. Leaf, Red, Pikachu, and Ivysaur joined him at the top of the stairs. As the grunt turned and began to trudge down, Red looked at Leaf.

"If we die…thanks for being my best friend," Red said solemnly.

Despite the nervousness building up inside her, Leaf smiled. "I'm grateful for you, too."

They walked down the stairs, towards whatever was waiting for them.

And that's ch 18! I changed the layout of the Game Corner from the games a bit. It seemed dumb for the stair switch to be basically out in the open, but Pokemon was never really logical.

Red's back and Leaf has a Dratini (though the poor baby is scared of her now)! Get hype for the next chapter. Those who have played FRLG know what's coming up.

Thanks for reading!