Chapter 32:A Lesson in Tradition
The group was lazing in Kathy's backyard when Nathan spouted out.
"So what's the next gym? We're halfway there!"
Kathy speaks up.
"Well, if we go east we will end up in Mahogany Town, but to the west is Olivine City, they have a beautiful beach there!"
Ashley spoke up.
"I've never seen the beach."
All three of them looked at Phillip, who seemed to be deep in thought as he stared at the sky.
"What do you think we should do Phillip?" Kathy asked.
Phillip shook his head, as if he was rejoining the group.
"I'm sorry what was the question?"
"Should we go to Olivine City or Mahogany Town next?"
Phillip looked to the east. He remembered that Ludwig went in that direction, and that just beyond Mahogany Town was the Lake of Rage. He really wanted to train Magikarp in the Lake of Rage, but hesitated.
"Maybe we should go to Olivine City."
As he finished his statement a lone fox looking Pokemon walked past them, just outside of Kathy's fence. Nathan jumped up and pulled out his Pokedex.
"What is that!?"
"Eevee, its genetic code is irregular. It may mutate if it is exposed to radiation from element stones. Its ability to evolve into many forms allows it to adapt smoothly and perfectly to any environment."
"It's so cute!" Ashley shrieked.
"I think I know who that belongs to." Kathy said as she led the group outside of her fence.
They approached the Eevee who seemed to recognize Kathy. He jumped into her arms.
"You must be new to the pack."
Kathy carried the Eevee off. Ashley followed nearby petting Eevee as she walked alongside Kathy. Nathan and Phillip looked at each other, and shrugged their shoulders. They ran to catch up to Kathy who seemed to know where she was going. A young girl about Ashley's age was wearing a purple kimono and ran up to Kathy.
"There you are Eevee!"
Kathy leaned down a little bit to hand Eevee to the girl.
"Hey Sakura! You've gotten so big! Where's Koume and Tamao?"
A smile stretched across Sakura's face.
"Kathy! Oh my gosh! It's been so long! You're just in time for the tea ceremony! Follow me!"
Sakura grabbed Kathy's hand and began dragging her just outside town. Kathy looked back at Nathan, Phillip and Ashley as she was being drug. They sped up to catch her and Sakura. After a few minutes of fast paced walking the group arrived in the middle of a lounge area just outside a dance studio that looked like a dojo.
There were small circular tables scattered about. Four beautiful young women in different colored kimonos were walking around talking to the many visitors. Sakura drug Kathy to the young woman in a traditional black and yellow kimono. The young woman made eye contact with Kathy.
"Oh my gosh Kathy!?"
Kathy leaned in to get a better look at the girl's face.
"Tamao? Oh my gosh you look so pretty!"
The two girls shrieked and gave each other a big hug. Another girl, that looked a bit younger and had a traditional red and orange kimono ran up to Tamao and Kathy. In a similar fashion the three were excited to see each other and gave each other a big group hug. After chatting for a moment Kathy brought the three girls over to Phillip, Nathan and Ashley. The youngest of the three of them, Sakura, took a liking to Ashley immediately. They went around to the three of them, starting with Ashley, then to Nathan, and then they met Phillip.
Tamao, the oldest of the three of them shuffled closer to Phillip. She held his hand a little bit longer than a typical hand shake as the looked into each other's eyes.
"That's a beautiful kimono you have on Tamao."
She giggled and began to blush. Koume grabbed Kathy's arm and whispered into her ear.
"I see why you've been away so long."
Koume stepped towards Phillip and leaned her head towards him staring with wide eyes.
"Is this your first time in Ecruteak City?"
Kathy's face turned red and she clenched her fists. Tamao leaned to the side and crossed her arms as she shot Koume a dirty look.
"Yes. Yesterday was my first day here."
Before the conversation could continue the tallest one, seemingly the oldest, and the leader of the group, wearing a bright yellow kimono cried out to Koume and Tamao. Each of them grabbed one of Phillip's hands and pulled him to the girl in yellow kimono. Kathy, Ashley, Sakura and Nathan followed behind. Once they arrived in the tabled area, the young woman in the yellow kimono began giving orders. Sakura whispered to Ashley.
"You'd better find a seat."
Kathy led the group to an empty table as she snapped at Phillip.
"This way Phillip."
Phillip cringed at the way Kathy said his name. He had no idea what he did. He was just trying to be friendly. As they sat down Phillip caught a glimpse of a young man and young woman who looked familiar to him, also dressed in kimonos. He was distracted by them when Nathan hit his arm.
"What are you looking at?"
Phillip shook his head and closed his eyes.
"Thought I saw someone."
They all sat down in a circle as Sakura and her sisters took center stage. Nathan leaned over to Phillip.
"Why are we even here? What is this?"
Phillip whispered back.
"I think it's a traditional tea ceremony. And it seems Kathy's friends are leading it."
The sisters were all doing different motions and postures as they walked the people through the ceremony. Every few moments the group would take a sip of the tea. Nathan closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out. The two people Phillip thought he recognized were making a similar face. The girl's sunglasses moved on her face. Phillip leaned in and squinted. As he was about to get up and approach the pair the sisters released their Pokemon. Nathan pulled out his Pokedex and began scanning all of them.
Satsuki had a Jolteon. Sumomo had a Vaporeon. Tamao had an Umbreon. Koume had a Flareon, and Sakura had an Eevee. They all had different evolutions of Eevee, and their robes matched the colors of their Pokemon. The sisters began doing a dance with their Pokemon. Phillip realized he was the only one standing up, and it was a disruption to the ceremony. He reluctantly sat back down.
As the dance continued the sisters spread out amongst the crowd, and then came back together alongside their Pokemon. Sakura was a bit off. She was the youngest and the least trained of the five sisters. As the four of them leaned down onto their knees, Phillip could see the oldest one, Satsuki was glaring at Sakura. As Sakura was speeding up her pace, the two odd looking strangers threw their kimonos off revealing the Team Rocket gear.
Brett and Betty recited their motto as they released their Pokemon. Sableye, Rattata, Spinarak and Zubat attacked in unison and paralyzed Jolteon, Umbreon, Vaporeon, and Flareon. Brett threw something at the group in the middle of the crowd. It exploded into a giant sticky substance that kept them all stuck together. Cyndaquil and Delta ignited the sticky substance on fire setting the Pokemon free. Sakura orders Eevee to attack Team Rocket with a Tackle attack. Sableye turns its attention to Eevee. As Eevee tackles Sableye disappears and then reappears behind Eevee knocking her down.
Sableye was preparing for a big attack when Tyrogue flew at him with a High Jump Kick. The kick sent Sableye flying into Brett, Betty and all their Pokemon. Cyndaquil and Delta both did a powerful Flame Wheel attack that sent Team Rocket flying deep into the woods.
The crowd scattered and ran away. Ashley ran to help Sakura while Kathy and Phillip ran to the other four sisters to help them clean the sticky substance off of their clothes. Sumomo screamed in anger.
"Those creeps! They ruined our ceremony!"
Phillip helped her up.
"Are you okay?"
Sumomo made eye contact with Phillip as he helped her up. She giggled and blushed. Satsuki, Tamao and Koume ran to Phillip, Delta, Tyrogue and Cyndaquil. They were all giving him big hugs and kissing him and the Pokemon on the cheeks thanking him for saving them. Nathan stepped back and put his hands on his hips.
"I helped too you know."
They turned to him and patted him on the shoulders and back thanking him. Kathy stood next to Ashley and Sakura glaring at the group. Satsuki approached the three of them. She began scolding Sakura.
"That was dangerous! You and Eevee are not strong enough! You can't do that! Not to mention you were behind in the dance Sakura!"
Sakura crossed her arms, clenched her jaw and stomped off towards the dojo. Eevee followed behind her looking back at Satsuki and Kathy. Satsuki turned towards Kathy.
"I'm so glad you and your friend Phillip were here. I don't know what would have happened if he wasn't here to save us. How have you been?"
Kathy had a mixture of emotions and wasn't sure how to express them in that moment. She stuttered and tried to gather her thoughts. When she finally did, she changed the subject.
"I'm glad I was able to come home in time for the tea ceremony. Sorry Team Rocket ruined it."
Satsuki sighed.
"Well… what's done is done, I guess. Let's go get cleaned up."
Satsuki led everyone to the dojo where the sisters lived. Upon entry it appeared to be some sort of dance studio. Their were traditional fans, tables, dance trophies, awards and kimonos plastered all over the walls. Everyone was able to freshen up and get back into some clean clothes. The sisters were no longer wearing kimonos. They all had on yoga pants or shorts and baggy shirts of varying colors to match their Pokemon's colors.
Kathy returned to her old clothes. As she was walking past an open door she saw Sakura sitting in the backyard staring off by a small pond with Eevee curled up next to her. Kathy looked over her shoulder to see Nathan and Ashley devouring tea cakes, while Phillip was in the middle of the other four sisters telling them stories and they were giggling every few seconds. Kathy pressed her lips together and rolled her eyes. She went outside to join Sakura.
Kathy plopped next to Sakura.
"I'm sorry Satsuki went off on you like that. I thought you were very brave."
"Thanks Kathy. She was right. I'm not ready."
"You're dancing way better than Tamao was when she was your age though."
Sakura laughed.
"Thanks, but I'm not talking about that. All this dance and tradition stuff is stupid. I really want to be a trainer like you and travel the world, but they won't let me. Our family has led these ceremonies for generations."
"That doesn't mean you have to. I went against my family tradition. You can too."
Sakura looked at Kathy.
"What do you mean?"
"Well as you know, Morty leads the gym here. And our grandfather was the gym leader before him. When I told them I wanted to be a trainer they were excited, assuming I would take over at some point. But my first Pokemon was Exeggcute, and I've never really been that into ghost Pokemon. I've always loved grass and psychic types. When I told them that they disapproved. They gave me a bike and told me I had to find my own way. So I did. I've had a lot of crazy and fun adventures that I never would have had the chance to experience if I just stayed here and trained in the gym like I was expected to."
"What kind of adventures have you been on?"
Kathy spent the next thirty minutes telling Sakura of all the adventures she had been going on since joining up with Nathan and Phillip.
"That sounds like so much fun!" Sakura said. "Do you think they would let me go with you guys like Ashley is and train with you guys?"
Kathy shrugged.
"We can go find out."
The two of them went inside where Phillip was teaching everyone different maneuvers and strategies. Kathy approached, holding Sakura's hand, and loudly cleared her throat.
They all looked at her and Sakura. Phillip and Kathy made eye contact. His eyes glimmered and his smile widened. Kathy shot him a dirty look as she lightly pulled Sakura to the center of the circle. Sakura began stammering as her face turned beet red. Eevee walked up to Sakura and brushed up against her leg nuzzling her head on Sakura's leg. Sakura looked down at Eevee and felt courage well up inside of her.
"Would it be possible for me to travel with Kathy and her friends? This dancing thing isn't for me. Eevee and I want to get out and see the world."
The room filled with a tense silence. Tamao, Sumomo and Koume all looked at Satsuki. Satsuki crossed her arms and looked at the ground. Kathy stepped forward.
"We'll take good care of her."
Satsuki looked around. She locked eyes with Phillip.
"Maybe… can we think about it through the night?"
A smile spread across Sakura's face. The group ate dinner together and relaxed. They woke up in the morning and were getting ready to go. Satsuki approached Kathy and Nathan.
"We have decided that if you two can beat Sumomo and I in a Pokemon battle we will let Sakura go with you. We feel confident in Phillip's abilities, but we're not sure about you two."
Kathy glared at Phillip. Nathan stepped forward.
"You're on!"
Satsuki and Sumomo stood on opposite ends of an open field from Nathan and Kathy. Satsuki sent out Jolteon. Sumomo sent out Vaporeon. Nathan sent out Totodile, and Kathy sent out Exeggcute. As the battle was about to begin a hot air balloon in the shape of a Zubat was floating over the pond. Within seconds Brett soared down with multiple cages made specifically for the kimono sisters' different types of Pokemon.
He sent out Spinarak and Rattata as he landed in the open field. He threw the cages out which began vacuuming Jolteon and Vaporeon into them. Tamao sent out Umbreon and Koume sent out Flareon. Umbreon and Flareon were doing a joint attack when Betty landed with Zubat and Sableye throwing out two more cages. The cages vacuumed Flareon and Umbreon into them. Ashley and Sakura sent Ledyba and Eevee to attack them. Spinarak and Zubat countered their attacks knocking them down.
"Ice Fang Attack Totodile!"
Totodile flew at Sableye. His big jaws shook Sableye and threw him into Zubat and Spinarak. Totodile followed up his Ice Fang Attack with a powerful water gun that sent Team Rocket into their hot air balloon. Phillip sent Tyrogue to attack the cages. He set all of the sisters' Pokemon free. As Team Rocket was in their balloon Kathy ordered Exeggcute to fire a Bullet Seed attack. The seeds popped the balloon and sent Team Rocket flying.
"TEAM ROCKET IS BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"
Everyone ran to their Pokemon and hugged them. Phillip checked on Ashley and Sakura.
"Are you two, okay? That was very brave of you."
Sakura looked up and spoke to the group.
"I don't think I can go with you guys yet. I need to train on my own and get stronger."
Satsuki clutched Phillip's arm and smiled.
"This is a milestone step for you Sakura. We were always going to let you go off on your own. We just didn't want you to rely on anyone else."
All the sisters joined in a big group hug. Phillip, Ashley, Kathy and Nathan all looked on with a smile. Phillip and Kathy looked into each other's eyes and their smiles grew even more. Satsuki stood up straight and went to Phillip. She pulled him into her and gave him a big hug.
"And as for you, thank you for saving our Pokemon again!"
She pulled him by his shirt and kissed him on the lips. Kathy turned away and contorted her face. Ashley and Nathan looked at the ground and made gagging noises. Satsuki pulled away from Phillip and smiled at him.
"I look forward to seeing you again."
After everyone said their goodbyes and left town, the group approached a fork in the road. Kathy was quiet. Ashley read the sign at the fork out loud.
"To the west is Olivine City, to the east is Mahogany Town. Where should we go."
The group was indecisive when Ashley looked at Kathy.
"Didn't you say there was a beach in Olivine City?"
Kathy was pulled out of her daze when she realized she was being asked a question.
"Oh yeah… a beach… in Olivine City."
Nathan shouted out.
"I could go for a swim!"
Phillip announced.
"Olivine City it is."
Kathy glared at him. He led the way. Ashley was immediately behind him, and Nathan behind her. Kathy's eyes bounced between Phillip and the direction of Ecruteak City. She reluctantly followed behind Nathan.
What awaits our heroes on the road to Olivine City? What is bugging Kathy?
To be continued…