16 Chapter 16
"So, what type is Sylveon? Can I keep her? Oh, come on, you've got other Pokemon!" Leaf's eyes twinkled with mischief as she nudged Emmet while they walked toward the gym. "You know, if you gave me Sylveon, you'd have fewer Pokemon to feed, that's like a favor to you, right? Plus, I promise to keep her happy—unlimited Poke Puffs and love!"
Emmet chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Well, according to a report from Professor Oak, Sylveon is actually classified as a Normal Type. He's been wanting to conduct an in-depth study, and he asked to get a proper look at Sylveon after this circuit ends. So, no, you can't have her. Nice try though."
There was no actual report from Professor Oak. The scientific community broadly classified Pokemon like Sylveon as 'Normal Type' for now. The technicalities of Fairy Energy were still under research. Until they could fully understand the spectrum, it was just easier to label them 'Normal.'
Scientific jargon was never his thing. Emmet only understood the 'Normal to Fairy' conversion because of analogies he read. Not that he'd admit this to Leaf, who would likely tease him endlessly about it.
They entered the Cerulean Gym and came to an abrupt halt. The inside was awe-inspiring, designed like an undersea world complete with an aquarium and swimming pool. The focal point was a majestic Dewgong painting on the dome.
"Wow, this place is incredible! Look at that Dewgong art! It's as if the artist captured the essence of the sea itself. And the pool! You can almost feel the Pokemon's happiness emanating from the water. This has to be the most beautiful gym I've ever seen," Emmet gushed.
"Ha! Most beautiful gym you've seen? How many gyms have you been to? Let me guess—Pewter's?" Leaf retorted.
"Yeah, just Pewter," Emmet said, scratching his head. "I mean, it had rocks. A lot of rocks. So coming from a place that pretty much celebrates geology to this, you can understand why I'm so impressed. It's like going from a sandbox to a theme park."
"Oh, I figured as much," Leaf said, her face unimpressed. "Sure, this place is gorgeous, like a theatre for water ballets. But that's not what a League Gym should be about. A Gym should test your skill, your strategy. It shouldn't distract you with eye candy. Honestly, it feels more like a tourist attraction than a proper gym. If my cousin saw this, she'd have a fit."
Emmet was a bit taken aback by her strong opinions. Maybe her cousin being the Celadon Gym Leader influenced her views.
They walked further in, passing civilians admiring the exotic water Pokemon in the large aquarium.
"Excuse me, do you have any slots open today for a two-badge challenge?" Emmet asked the man behind the counter.
"Ah, yes, let me check," the man replied, flipping through a logbook. "We have an opening in about an hour, and another right after lunch."
"I'll take the one in an hour," Emmet said. "Is there a place I can wait, or should I just hang around outside?"
"There's a waiting room down the hall there," the man said, pointing. "Refreshments will be brought in. I just need some identification to finish setting this up."
Emmet handed over his Pokedex, which the man placed into a scanning device. The information got processed, and he handed it back to Emmet.
"Can my friend wait in the room with me?" Emmet asked, gesturing to Leaf.
"Of course, she's welcome to wait. But she'll have to watch from the stands when it's your battle time, not from the arena," the man clarified.
"Fair enough/Okay!" both Emmet and Leaf chimed in overlapping each other, heading towards the waiting room.
"Oh, so you met Gary in Viridian Forest?" Emmet chuckled. "Let me guess, he was being his usual pompous self and you put him in his place?"
"Exactly! And get this, his Squirtle went down faster than a Diglett in a sandstorm," Leaf grinned. "It was—"
Leaf's response was cut short by a voice over the comms. "Would the challenger for the Cascade Badge please proceed to the double door with the green light? The battle will commence shortly."
"Looks like it's showtime," Leaf said, giving him a thumbs-up. "You got this, Emmet. Kick some water-type tail for me, will you? I'll be up in the stands cheering you on!"
Emmet grinned, thanking her for the encouragement. He took a deep breath, moved towards the door, and stepped into the arena, climbing up onto the elevated stand designed for challenging trainers.
Across from him was a striking woman with long blonde hair and captivating green eyes. She looked like she had just stepped off a runway and straight into a Pokemon Gym.
No time for distractions, Emmet thought, refocusing on the battle at hand. The Pokemon he'd choose was a no-brainer.
Emmet quickly shelved those thoughts. Focus. He took in the arena—a series of tiny islands dotting a large pool. Clearly designed for water-types to get all the advantages they could. Otherwise some like Goldeen would be completely useless.
Firefly was out of the question. While he had no doubt her Flamethrower could evaporate a pool, it was a brutal and reckless strategy. Plus, it wouldn't show much beyond her raw power.
Cleffa? Nope. A baby and an endangered species to boot. She was off the table.
That left Sylveon. She had two attacks that could pierce water: Disarming Voice and Swift. It wasn't ideal, but it'd have to do.
He wished he'd had more time to prepare Sylveon for this, but he was racing against the clock to catch up to Ash in badges. Still, neither he nor Sylveon seemed overly concerned.
It could be seen as overconfidence, but he felt his team was more than ready for a two-badge Gym. In his mind, it was more about EM—Efficiency Mastery—than arrogance.
The blonde Gym Leader took the mic. "Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome to Cerulean Gym! I'm Daisy, and I'll be your Gym Leader today. Let's give a warm welcome to our challenger, Emmet, who's here to vie for the Cascade Badge!"
Emmet gave a modest wave to the crowd as some scattered cheers broke out. A dash of pink colored his cheeks; he wasn't used to this sort of attention.
"Alright, listen up, trainers!" Daisy called out. "This will be a two-on-two match. If you switch out your Pokemon, that means you're forfeiting it for the remainder of the battle. Got it?"
Emmet offered a nod of agreement.
"In that case," Daisy continued, "as the Gym Leader, I'll make the first move. Go, Goldeen!" With a confident toss, she sent out a stunning Goldeen that gleamed like a sunlit gem as it splashed into the pool.
Emmet took his cue. "Alright, Sylveon, let's do this! I choose you!" He tossed his Pokeball onto one of the small islands, and it popped open in a flash of white light.
As the light faded, Sylveon appeared, her ribbons swirling in a mystical dance. "Sylveon!" she called, announcing herself in a melodic voice, causing a brief moment of stunned silence in the arena.
The silence lasted a millisecond before the crowd erupted into cheers, their excitement amplified by the unveiling of a new Pokemon. More than one woman let out a high-pitched squeal, much like Leaf had when she first saw Sylveon.
Emmet thought he heard Leaf's voice among the crowd, yelling something about "Keep your eyes off MY future Sylveon!"
Well, that sounded like Leaf, alright. He grinned but wisely chose to let the comment slide.
"Are both trainers ready?" a referee in Cerulean Gym's official attire asked, looking from Emmet to Daisy.
"Ready," Emmet confirmed.
"Let's get this started," Daisy agreed.
"Begin!" the referee bellowed.
"Alright, Goldeen! Use Horn Attack!" Daisy instructed, her voice ringing with a touch of overconfidence.
Emmet blinked. A Horn Attack? Really? She just surrendered Goldeen's natural aquatic advantage. By leaping out of the water, Goldeen would expose itself, becoming an easy target. Once out of the water, Goldeen's mobility would be severely restricted. Daisy might as well have hung a 'Kick Me' sign on her Pokemon.
"Sylveon, ready for a Take Down? Aim to send Goldeen sky-high!" Emmet called out.
Daisy's face went from confident to shocked. Yet, she said nothing, a tacit admission that she had not thought this through.
Sylveon began to glow white as she gathered Normal-type energy. Her eyes were trained on Goldeen, timing the move perfectly.
With a flourish, Goldeen leapt out of the water, her body glistening for a brief moment before—WHAM! Sylveon's Take Down hit her square in the belly.
The fish was met with a blur of white. Sylveon's Take Down hit its mark, right in the vulnerable underbelly. The impact was so severe that Goldeen rocketed upward like a fish-shaped missile. Everyone's eyes followed its ascent.
Goldeen slammed into the gym's ceiling with a thud, sticking there, utterly motionless.
In the most comical tableau of a Gym battle ever seen, every neck in the room craned upwards to spot Goldeen, still lodged in the ceiling. Then, as if on cue, all eyes turned back to Sylveon. There she sat, nonchalantly licking her paw as if she were at a day spa and not in the middle of a high-stakes battle. It was as if she were saying, "What, that? Just another day in the office." If Pokemon could shrug, Sylveon would have done so right then. The room burst into laughter.
The referee cleared his throat, the very model of professional decorum in a room suddenly turned comedy club. "Ahem. Goldeen is unable to battle. Gym Leader, please send out your next Pokemon." His serious tone seemed oddly out of place, almost as if he were the only adult in a room full of children laughing at a fart joke.
Across the room, Emmet caught Leaf's eye and shot her a triumphant grin. But, whoops—mistake. A couple of girls standing near Leaf mistook his grin for a collective flirtation and swooned dramatically. Leaf's face contorted from cheering-friend to glaring-protector in half a second. Emmet could almost feel the daggers shooting from her eyes toward the innocent swooners.
Swiveling his attention back to the battle, Emmet watched Daisy call back her hapless Goldeen. Her face was a study in shame, clearly mortified by her Pokemon's less-than-stellar performance.
Then, in a whiplash-inducing change of expression, Daisy's face lit up. "Well, that was a shocking turn, but no more surprises on my end!" she exclaimed. "You won't catch me off guard again!"
Emmet squinted as Daisy produced another Pokeball from—seriously, where was she keeping these? "Go, Seel!" she shouted, hurling the Pokeball into the pool.
Seel splashed onto the scene, literally landing on one of the islands with an attention-grabbing display of fins and tail. If Emmet had any doubts that this was another performer Pokemon and not a battle-hardened warrior, they were dispelled when Seel, in a staggering act of unforced error, turned its back on Sylveon to wave at the audience.
Sure, some of the kids in the crowd eagerly waved back, but anyone with a lick of sense about Pokemon battles knew this was a mistake. Rule number one: never turn your back on your opponent. It's like cooking with a Charizard and not expecting to get toasted. It was a rookie mistake—unwise and somewhat insulting to the competitor waiting for the fight to begin.
Sylveon didn't react outwardly to Seel's theatrics, but Emmet noticed her muscles tense, almost vibrating with a readiness to spring into action. The Kalos-native Pokemon wasn't here for the clown show; she was here to battle.
The referee's shout of "Begin!" was timed almost comically well, coinciding exactly with Seel's ill-advised pirouette back to face its opponent. That millisecond of distraction cost it dearly, as Emmet was quick on the draw.
"Quick into Swift!" Emmet commanded, the strategy clear: a Quick Attack to close the distance, followed by a Swift to deal damage. EM—Efficiency Mastery—at its finest.
Daisy was halfway through commanding Seel to use Water Gun when her words were cut off. Sylveon had already zoomed across the distance—so fast that she was practically a blur—and landed a solid Quick Attack on Seel. The Water-type Pokemon was sent skidding across the surface of the water. Before Seel could even splash down, it was pelted by a series of star-shaped energy bolts—Sylveon's Swift attack. Daisy looked stupefied; she'd been caught off guard, again.
Seel, visibly battered, panted as it struggled to climb onto one of the islets. Its fins quivered, and its eyes glanced nervously at Sylveon, who was comfortably lounging on another islet not too far away.
With a "tch" that could rival the most annoyed teenager, Sylveon seemed displeased that the fight wasn't over already. She briefly considered making a dramatic eye-roll but decided against it. Wouldn't want to ruin her freshly licked fur, after all.
Snapping out of her stupor, Daisy yelled, "Seel, use Water Gun! Come on, give it everything you've got!" Her voice carried a tinge of desperation, like a trainer realizing they've brought a Magikarp to a Gyarados fight.
"Don't just stand there, Sylveon! Dodge it!" Emmet barked out his order. It wasn't like Sylveon needed much prompting, but he was a trainer, and that's what trainers do—they shout orders, dramatically.
In that split second, Emmet chastised himself. Seel was taking its sweet time to gather the energy for a Water Gun. Why hadn't he ordered Sylveon to strike during this lull? He was so used to Firefly and Sylveon executing moves almost instantaneously that he'd expected the Water Gun to come at the same pace.
Turns out, he needn't have worried about an unexpected burst of efficiency from the Cerulean Gym. The place was as likely to produce a champion as a Slowpoke was to win a sprint.
Sylveon continued her theatrics. As Seel finally managed a lackluster Water Gun, she took one dainty step to the side and let out an exaggerated yawn. Clearly, she was not impressed. It was as if she was rating Seel's efforts a 2 out of 10, and that was being generous.
Emmet chuckled at Sylveon's antics but knew he couldn't encourage such behavior. "Sylveon, enough with the drama! Use Disarming Voice, now!" he ordered, replacing his earlier levity with sternness.
For a brief moment, Emmet considered instructing Sylveon to move closer before using Disarming Voice for more significant damage. But the sight of Seel's exhaustion made him change his mind; it wouldn't be fair—or safe—to subject the already weakened Pokemon to that level of force.
The arena filled with the hauntingly melodious sound of Sylveon's Disarming Voice. As it washed over him, Emmet shivered, recalling a moment when Sylveon had used the same move on an unconscious Sneasel. A grim reminder that the Pokemon world was not all sunshine and rainbows.
The referee, caught in the hypnotic aftermath of the attack, snapped back to reality to declare, "Emmet Grant, the challenger, is the winner of this match!" The crowd erupted into cheers, their enthusiasm ostensibly for Emmet but in reality, probably all for the new Cerulean sensation—Sylveon.
He didn't expect much from the Cerulean Gym, but really?
