Chapter 18: Cherrygrove city and trouble?

Kai and Ethan had left the Pokemon centre located not far out of Cherrygrove City early in the morning, giving them both plenty of time to reach the city before the afternoon.

Both Kai and Ethan had gotten eager that they were finally arriving at their objective as the city's outskirts came into view. It seemed like it had taken them forever to get there.

"This is it. The first major city outside of Newbark town." Ethan said, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

Kai had to agree, after all, he had never walked to reach another town or city back in the real world. Also feeling kind of an achievement that he had done this himself, overcoming more than ordinary obstacles along the way.

Both of the boys had soon come off of the dirt path and onto the side of a road, seeing cars and trucks whizz by as other people travelled the more conventional way.

Kai could see the large building in the city ahead, knowing that here he would finally meet Mr Pokemon and complete his first quest in this world.

However, what he was not looking forward to was having to track all the way back to Newbark town and deliver the parcel to the professor in person. A detail that he had chosen to forget about until now.

"What's wrong, Kai?" Ethan asked, seeing the look on his face and wondering if he was alright.

"Oh nothing," Kai said with a silly grin.

"I'm just excited to see all the things this city has to offer." He then said, getting a nod from Ethan.

"Me too."

Both of them continued walking along the path alongside the main road into the city before they finally reached the city centre.

The metropolis was enormous, giving the impression that it was a concrete jungle.

Right until they reached the seaside and were met by the salty odor of the sea, there were streets and corners everywhere, giving the city the impression that it never ended.

"Beautiful," Kai said as they both stood on the sea wall overlooking the large beach and the ocean, watching as the sun glistened off of the waves.

"Come on Kai! We will have plenty of time to play at the beach once we find the Pokemon centre!" Ethan yelled, having already walked off and left him standing there alone.

Kai turned his attention away from the sight of the ocean and chased after Ethan, not having realized that he had already started walking.

The two kept walking, getting lost once or twice before they asked for directions to help them find the Pokemon centre.

Of course, they had been walking around the thing in circles, not having realized they had missed every turn that would have taken them right to it, something Kai blamed Ethan for as he was leading the way.

"There it is, we found it at last," Ethan said, feeling his feet throbbing after all of the walking they had been doing.

"Come on let's go and get registered before we ring the professor," Kai said.

Both of the boys headed toward the Pokemon centre noticing that the centre was huge, much larger than any Pokemon Centre the boys had seen so far, taking their breath away once inside.

"Wow..." Kai said, taking in the sights.

This wasn't like a normal Pokemon centre. This place was like its own shopping mall attached to a Pokemon centre.

It had everything. Shops, battle areas for trainers, rest areas, hotels, food courts, and activities for trainers and their Pokemon to do together.

"This place is amazing," Ethan said before he looked over to the Pokemon centre part.

It was busy as expected, with both of them seeing the nurse joy working their run off her feet trying to tend to multiple trainers' Pokemon at once.

"Please help my Pokemon."

"Mine too!"

"What's going on?" Ethan asked one of the trainers waiting in line, not being able to help his curiosity.

"Don't tell me they got you too?" The boy said, looking at the two of them.

"What do you mean?" Kai asked.

"You haven't heard? A group of trainers are going around challenging everyone they can to a battle so they can make their Pokemon stronger. Even going as far as to steal some of the other trainer's Pokemon." The young man said looking down at the floor.

"They stole peoples Pokemon?" Ethan asked, not happy about it at all.

"What did these guys look like?" Kai asked, having a strange feeling.

"I couldn't see their faces properly. But they all wore black clothing with a large R in red on the front of their shirt. I think one of them said something about team rocket... Like a ship or something." He then said trying to remember.

"Team rocket..." Kai said knowing they were the bad guys of the Pokemon world.

If team rocket are in this city then Pokemon trainers everywhere are in danger. Kai thought.

"Please everyone settle down." Nurse Joy suddenly said, having to speak over everyone due to the large build-up of trainers in the room.

"We are going as fast as we can trying to tend to everyone's Pokemon as quickly as possible. But please we need you to be patient." She said.

"What about my Pokemon!"

"Yeah, they stole mine too!" Some of the trainers yelled.

"Please I need anyone who has had their Pokemon stolen to report to the police at once." Nurse Joy said, trying her best to deal with the panic that was spreading among the trainers.

"If your Pokemon are in bad shape I need you to line up on this side. Anyone who has Pokemon who are not in critical condition will have to please go to one of the smaller Pokemon centres or wait until we can see to you." She then said, causing an outroar as the crowd tried to decide what to do.

"What should we do Kai?" Ethan asked, seeing how busy it was being too busy for them to book in right now.

"Maybe we should go someplace else," Kai said, knowing that neither of them needed their Pokemon healing.

With that, the two asked for directions to the next closest Pokemon centre and headed back toward the beach.

I had no idea there was another Pokemon centre near the pier." Ethan said with a happy smile.

"Yeah, most likely for any sailors that land wanting to heal up quick or get a good night's sleep," Kai said, making sense.

The two of them walked along the beachfront looking at the beautiful ocean before them, also seeing all of the holidaymakers sunbathing and playing in the sand.

"How about it, Kai? Wanna see who can build the best sandcastle?" Ethan asked.

Kai couldn't help but laugh at such a childish challenge but quickly changed the subject once the Pokemon centre came into view.

"Hey you two, you look like trainers." A voice from behind them said, alerting them to a sense of danger.

Kai and Ethan turned around finding themselves surrounded by three men all matching the description that the trainer back in the Pokemon centre had told them about.

"Team rocket..." Kai muttered to himself.

"Yeah, what do you guys want, creeping around like that?" Ethan said, not backing down while recognizing their appearance too.

"We want a battle, you vs us. The winner gets to make any demand they want of the other." The ring leader said.

Kai knew what they were up to right away, not liking it one bit either.

"And if we refuse?" Ethan asked.

"I thought that trainers had an unspoken rule for a battle once they made eye contact. Surely you don't want to back down for a simple Pokemon battle?" The leader said, clearly a smooth talker.

"One-on-one or in a team?" Kai asked, taking them by surprise.

"What you talking about?" One of them asked.

"You think we are going cheat you or something?" One of the henchmen said, keeping his hands in his pockets and leaning forwards while speaking.

"No. It's fine," The leader said. "How about you choose the rules, that way you know it will be a fair fight." The ring leader said after a moment, looking Kai in the eye while he spoke.

Ethan looked at Kai waiting to see which decision he would come to, not sure what the best way to handle these guys was.

"How about a two on two? We will both use one Pokemon each for battle, winner takes all?" Kai asked, waiting to see what they thought.

"Alright. So be it." The leader said, nodding his head to one of his henchmen.

"How about over there?" The leader then said, looking at a quiet spot on the beach where no one was.

Kai knew what he was up to, knowing that if things didn't go their way they would quickly turn the tables with no witnesses.

"Here is just fine," Kai said, reaching for a Pokeball on his belt.

"Suit yourself, kid. Go, Ariados!" The leader said, revealing his Pokemon of choice.

"Go, Murkrow!" The other shouted, also throwing his Pokeball onto the ground and revealing his chosen for battle.

"Are you ready?" Kai asked as he looked at Ethan.

"Yeah, let's do this!" He yelled, throwing his own Pokeball.

"Go, Cyndaquil!"

"Come on out, Sandshrew!" Kai also yelled, throwing his own Pokeball.

The small group's leader examined Kai and Ethan's Pokemon before nearly licking his lips in delight at the find they had made. It's time to start the festivities. He spoke with a threatening demeanour, which made the others extra cautious.

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Thats the end of this chapter I hope you enjoyed it!

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