Finding My Voice

Cerulean Blues.

We exited Mount Moon and hurried down the steep path that led to Cerulean City. There was a river running by the city, low to the ground. An entrance to Cerulean Cave was located by the water.

The city itself was fairly large, much bigger than Pewter City. It was clean and shiny, with tiles making up the various paths that weaved through the city. There were a few houses here and there along with the gym and Pokémon Center. To the south was the Bike Shop and the Poké Mart.

The city had a strange layout, as it was built onto a hill. Ledges were scattered all across the city. Finally, there was Nugget Bridge which was famous for its Team Rocket scandal before they were busted by the police.

"You know the routes up north have tons of trainers and is great training to prepare for the gym battle," Daisy told me.

I shrugged to her as we walked to the Pokémon Center. I had a pretty good idea of what I could do against Misty, especially given Pikachu's performance in the previous Gym Battle.

"Wait Red, do you want to take on the Pokémon Gym immediately?" Daisy asked me. I nodded and she looked shocked.

"You just took on Brock a day ago! You need to do some training with your Pokémon, Red!" Daisy scolded me. I felt it was a bit out of place for her to be telling me how I should be cautious. I had a plan, and I signed to her that I knew what I was doing.

The girl sighed. "If you say so, but you just got started and I don't think overloading yourself with confidence will go well." I could tell that it was a little more complicated, but Daisy didn't seem to want to elaborate further. "I'm going to head to the Poké Mart and get some supplies. I'll pop into your battle once I'm done.

That made enough sense to me. I went to get my Pokémon healed and thought over my strategy. After winning the last few battles, this one would likely give me very little trouble I had multiple Pokémon with advantages. Even if I used Charmander, I could probably win.

I healed my Pokémon and went into the gym. The entire gym was a large swimming pool. Diving boards decorated the sides, and a woman was chatting with someone else on the side of the pool.

She was wearing a white swimsuit and treading in the water. She had sea-green eyes and orange hair that was currently tied up. The woman seemed to be somewhere in her mid-20s. "How's my time?"

The person outside of the pool looked down at their watch. "About .3 seconds slower than last time."

The woman sighed. "Darn, figures." The woman glanced over at me. "Oh, didn't hear you come in! I take it you want a gym battle?" I nodded, and she swam up to a ladder and pulled herself out of the water.

She dried herself off with a towel and then threw on a blue jacket. "Welcome to my gym! I'm Misty, the Water-Type Gym Leader!" She told me. I hadn't anticipated the battlefield to be a full swimming pool, but it made sense in retrospect.

The other person tossed several large white circles into the water. The circles floated on the surface, providing ground for Pokémon that couldn't swim. The person then held up some checkered flags.

"This will be a two-on-three battle, only the challenger may substitute Pokémon! Furthermore, once all the Pokémon on either side are defeated the battle is over! Battle begin!" The referee announced. Misty threw a Poké Ball in the air, sending out a Staryu.

The orange star Pokémon had a red gemstone in the center of its body. It quickly dove underwater and waited at the bottom of the pool. Three on two, eh? This should be easy! I sent out Pikachu and he landed on an island.

"Alright Staryu, use Psybeam!" Misty commanded. The starfish Pokémon fired a pink beam at Pikachu. The blast was quick and slammed Pikachu directly in the face. Pikachu got up and began teetering back and forth, I recognized it as confusion. That would throw a wrench into my plans.