Disclaimer: I do not own anything, I make no money or profit from this.
Chapter 40: Trouble at the Celadon Gym
[Pokecenter, Celadon City]
The four trainers had finally made their way to Celadon City. For Clyde and Mina, the journey was smooth and fun. For Ronnie Anne and Lynn, it was a different story.
For Lynn, this has been an exhausting couple of days. Mina had been very talkative with her. Asking her many questions, they ranged from her years of being a trainer, to what she enjoys doing in her free time. In all honesty, the girl reminded her of her sister Lana. The girl also liked being oddly close to her. Not enough to be called clingy, but enough to make Lynn tell her to move away a couple of times.
For Ronnie Anne, it was different. While she liked Mina and had fun talking to her, there was one thing that she did that bothered her. That was how she stuck so close to Lynn. While Lynn didn't solely focus on their new friend, she would take any opportunity to talk and interact with the older girl. So for the last couple of days, Ronnie Anne would insert herself into any conversation she was able to. This actually got some silent thanks from the older girl. However, since Mina was a talker, Ronnie Anne found herself doing this a lot.
Mina, Clyde, and Ronnie Anne were in the lobby watching Lincoln's gym battle against Koga. Lynn meanwhile was talking with Professor Juniper. While part of her didn't believe she would need anyone more than Infernape, she got her others just to be safe.
"So that's Lincoln…" Mina said in awe.
"Yup, our friend and Lynn's younger brother," Clyde said proudly.
"I just realized something!" Ronnie Anne shouted suddenly, startling the other two. "That's Lincoln's fourth badge. Because he beat Lt. Surge, Sabrina, and Erika before Koga!"
"Yeah, so?" Clyde said, confused.
"So, we beat Brock, Misty, Lt. Surge, and Sabrina!" Ronnie Anne said with a wide smile. "Plus we're going to face Erika today. If we beat her, then we'll have five badges!" Everything then clicked into place for the boy. "We not only caught up to Lincoln, but we're about to surpass him!" Clyde then looked back to the TV with a look of disbelief.
"Right you are Ronnie Anne," Lynn said walking up to the group. "If we get the Rainbow Badge, then we'll be ahead of Linc."
"Hey Lynn, did you get the Pokemon you wanted from the Professor?" Mina asked with stars in her eyes, getting extremely close to her. Ronnie Anne let out a small growl that was unseen by everyone.
"Yes I did," Lynn replied in an uneasy tone, softly pushing the girl out of her personal space. "Now that I'm ready, let's go to the gym and see if we can actually battle Erika." Everyone nodded and they made their way to the gym.
After a few minutes of walking and following the map on their poketch, they made it to the gym. However, the sight of the gym stunned all of them. The building was made to look like the head and body of a Vileplume. This was something they didn't expect to see.
"This is the gym?" Ronnie Anne asked in a confused tone.
"It certainly doesn't look like any of the other gyms," Clyde commented in the same tone.
"Let's go inside and find Erika," Lynn said with narrowed eyes. All three younger trainers just nodded and followed her inside.
When they went inside, they were only more confused. The building looked to be just one whole room. The room looked like a mix of a greenhouse and garden. The ceiling had many skylight windows, with only a couple of fluorescent lights. There were Grass Pokemon walking everywhere doing their own things. There was also a large number of girls, from teenagers to young adults, spread throughout the room. They were chatting with each other, playing with the Grass Pokemon, having a picnic, or just lazing around and hanging out while doing nothing. The air within the building was filled with different kinds of scents from all the flowers and perfume the girls were wearing.
The 4 trainers were trying to not cough from all the different scents hitting their nose. "Welcome," a voice called out to them. They looked at the voice and saw a woman with short black hair and a red hair band. She wore an elegant kimono with an obi, Japanese sandals, and traditional Japanese socks. "I'm Erika, what brings you here today?" She asked in a friendly voice.
"We're here for a gym battle," Lynn answered, looking unsure at the gym leader. The second she finished, all the women in the building glared at them. This caused the younger teens to flinch back at the sudden change of atmosphere.
"I see," Erika said with a frown, her voice becoming more annoyed. "Well follow me, the field is further back." She then turned and started walking, with the trainers silently following. As they walked, the women in the gym started to whisper and murmur while glaring at the trainers. Ronnie Anne and Clyde looked uncomfortable, Lynn ignored all of them, while Mina was carefully examining all of them.
"God this place stinks," Mina said in a low voice. Unfortunately, Erika and a good number of women heard her.
"What did you just say!?" Erika said, quickly turning around to give her a death glare.
"It does! It's because of all the scents!" Mina snapped back, unaffected by the glare. "I'm sure each scent smells lovely on its own. However, all of them together and mixing with the flowers is making a horrible smell!"
"Get out!" Erika shouted pointing to the door. "I will not have some simple minded barbarian in my gym!"
"Hey! You can't refuse her challenge for that!" Ronnie Anne shouted back with a snarl. She may not have known Mina long, but she was still a friend.
"Then you can get out as well!" The gym leader snarled right back.
"You have no right to refuse them and kick them out!" Lynn shot back with a scowl, getting between Erika and the teenage girls.
"I do and just for that, all of you can get out!" Erika continued to shout, getting up in Lynn's face.
"What!? I didn't do anything!" Clyde shouted flabbergasted and confused.
Soon the women around the gym started to close in around them. Lynn and Ronnie Anne were standing back to back, ready to start fighting if they had to. Clyde was terrified and shaking, not sure what he was supposed to do in this situation. Mina meanwhile was standing still, her hair covering her eyes and her hands into fist that were shaking. Just as Lynn and Ronnie Anne were about to start throwing punches, someone's shouting stopped everything.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Mina's voice cut through the entire building. She then glared at Erika while pointing at her. "As of right now, you Erika, are now forbidden from being in this gym!"
"What!? What gives you the right to say such things!" Erika screams back, snarling at her.
"This gives me the right!" Mina started, reaching into her blazer and pulling something out. It was a gold badge with the words "League Inspector" and a pokeball between the words. "The League has received numerous complaints about you and this gym, so I was sent to verify if any of them were true."
Lynn, Clyde, and Ronnie Anne looked at her with stunned and disbelieving expressions. Erika went pale and had a terrified expression, while the older women became very nervous. However the teenagers all looked unimpressed or scoffed at the revolution. "Who cares, this is still Erika's gym," one of the teenagers said with a scoff. "She can do what she wants and kick out who she wants!" While the other teenagers started agreeing with her, Erika's face started turning blue with the older women trying to tell her to shut up.
"Excuse me, do you work in this gym?" Mina asked, glaring at the teenager.
"Uh, no," she replied with a snobby attitude.
"Then SHUT UP AND STAY OUT OF THIS!" The young inspector screamed in the girl's face. This had her and a few others scared of her, while the others were taken aback.
"But…But you're too young to be an inspector," a still blue face Erika said.
"I'm technically a student learning to be a League Inspector," Mina said proudly, puffing out her chest. "The League thought it was best to send someone younger undercover, rather than a normal inspector. By the way, I've been recording everything for the League." She then pointed to a button on her blazer. "This button is actually a spy camera, so they will know this." This caused Erika to fall to her knees, knowing she was in deep trouble now. "Now before I temporarily close this gym, I believe you owe these three trainers a gym battle," Mina said with a vicious smirk.
Erika said nothing and just stood up and started walking to the battlefield, not saying anything. The inspector and 3 trainers started to follow her. As they did, the older women started arguing and fighting with the teenagers.
"So you're a League Inspector?" Lynn asked the girl walking beside her.
"Yeah, sorry for deceiving you guys," Mina said with a saddened expression. "It was a coincidence I ran into you guys. I recognized you and wanted to approach you to talk with you. I thought you were either going to Celadon or coming from Celadon, so I was planning to talk to you about the gym."
"So you're still a student?" Clyde asked her.
"Yes, the school is letting me take a leave of absence to help out the League," she replied.
"Wow, it's still amazing you're helping while still in school," Ronnie Anne commented, earning a small blush of embarrassment from the girl.
They finally made it to the battlefield and the teenagers were shocked at what they saw. The battlefield was a grassy field with painted lines to indicate what was the battlefield. Unfortunately the grass was so overgrown, the lines couldn't be seen. Mina glared at the gym leader, but she refused to look at her.
"Why don't you go first Lynn," Mina suggested. The trio trainers looked at one another and silently agreed to let Lynn go first.
Lynn and Erika got in position, when one of the teenagers took the spot as referee. "This is an official-" was all the girl got to say, before being interrupted by Mina.
"HOLD ON! Who are you!?" She shouted glaring at the girl.
"Uh, Sally," the girl replied nervously.
"Are you a League qualified referee?" Mina continued to ask, her glare not lessening. The girl terrifyingly shook her head. "Then why are you acting as a referee for an official gym battle?!" She then turned to look at Erika, who only lowered her head in shame and fear. "Where is your Official League referee?"
"I let him go before the season started," Erika quietly replied.
Hearing this caused Mina to grab her head and scream out in frustration. "We got reports of unfair refereeing and now I can see why! Okay! That's it! I'm closing the gym and calling Officer Jenny to help me deal with this!" She shouted while glaring at Celadon's Gym Leader. She then looked at her new friends with a sad expression. "I'm sorry guys, it looks like you won't get your gym battles today. Come back tomorrow and I promise you'll get your battle then."
"Okay," Lynn said in a confused voice. This has never happened before in her 3 years of being a trainer.
The 3 trainers waited with Mina until Officer Jenny arrived, just in case any of the teenage girls tried to mess with her. The officer then forced everyone out except for Mina and Erika, much to some of the girls frustration.
"So we'll come back tomorrow?" Clyde asked his mentor in a confused tone.
"I guess," the older girl replied in a similar tone.
"Will we even be able to challenge her?" Ronnie Anne asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I honestly don't know," Lynn replied with a sigh. "Something like this has never happened to me before. If she can't, then I'm sure Mina will drop by the pokecenter to tell us. For now, let's go book our room there and figure out how to spend the rest of the day." Both nodded and followed her back to the pokecenter.