Chapter 210: The Self-Righteous, Old-Fashioned Geezer
Author: Samsung Charmander
After some deduction, the group was certain that the volcano on Cinnabar Island would erupt in five weeks. The next step was to find the highest-ranking official here and have a serious talk.
Otherwise, while everyone was living their peaceful lives, the volcano would suddenly erupt, sending them all on a group trip to the Underworld on the spot.
Although the town wasn't large, it still had over a thousand people. A thousand people dying at once—just thinking about it was enough to make one's scalp crawl.
Five days might have been a bit tight, but five weeks was plenty of time.
"Let's go to the Cinnabar Gym first."
Ash had an idea. Generally, a city's Gym Leader held significant sway with the locals. If they just shouted in the streets, they might get arrested. It would be better to let the Gym Leader spread the word. If he didn't believe them, Ash could have a battle with him to display his strength and make the Gym Leader recognize his power.
A powerful Trainer was naturally more persuasive.
And he could grab his seventh badge while he was at it.
Killing two birds with one stone.
"Great idea!"
The three of them agreed and immediately rushed into Cinnabar Town, heading toward the Cinnabar Gym.
"Excuse me, do you know where the Cinnabar Gym is?"
"Sorry, not familiar. I'm a tourist."
"Oh, I'm here for the hot springs. Is the Cinnabar Gym some famous hot spring hotel?"
Ash and his group asked a few more passersby, but they were all tourists. They had no choice but to head toward a local shop.
"Hello, could you tell me where the Cinnabar Gym is?"
"Not familiar, even though I'm a local." The shopkeeper waved a hand dismissively and replied nonchalantly.
A Gym?
Can that make money?
A subtle change had already come over Ash's expression.
After many inquiries, the three finally learned that the Cinnabar Gym had closed down long ago. The small island was now almost entirely dedicated to the tourism industry—hotels, restaurants, hot springs, and other food and entertainment facilities. There were no longer any facilities for traditional Trainer battles.
A short while later, the trio arrived in front of a house crushed by a pile of messy timber. Judging by the spiderwebs and dust, it looked like it had been abandoned for a long time.
This was the Cinnabar Gym.
"Hey, Pokedex! Didn't you say the Cinnabar Gym was still in business? How old is this data? You should update it!"
Ash pulled out his Pokedex, shaking it wildly as he complained.
"Beep-beep. The Cinnabar Gym is currently still in operation. Gym Leader: Blaine. Business Hours: 9 AM - 6 PM. Challenge Requirement: 6 or more Badges. The last challenger was recorded seven days ago."
The Pokedex was trying to defend itself.
Ash: "?"
He pointed at the dilapidated ruins of the Cinnabar Gym. Seven days?
More like seven years ago.
"Are you three youths looking for the Cinnabar Gym? It's been closed for three years."
A wizened voice came from the side. The three looked up to see a brown-haired man standing next to the Cinnabar Gym. He had strange medium-length hair, wore a pair of round sunglasses, and was dressed in a somewhat hip-hop style, looking like a very out-of-place hippie.
"Ah, the Cinnabar Gym Leader, Blaine. He's a powerful Trainer. After facing countless challenges from weak challengers, he finally lost his patience and closed the Gym. He no longer accepts any challenges, and his whereabouts are now unknown."
He explained slowly, his tone tinged with a bit of sentimentality.
He was clearly an old man, yet he was dressed like a young person. Ash couldn't help but look at him curiously.
"You know so much. Who are you?"
"Heh, I'm just a passerby," the mysterious man in sunglasses replied with a smile.
Before he could finish speaking, the Pokedex in Ash's hand once again let out an electronic tone.
"Beep-beep. Regarding your query, 'Who are you?', an answer has been retrieved."
A beam of infrared light landed on the strange hippie's forehead, as if he were being targeted by a sniper rifle, making him freeze up, not daring to move.
"Beep-beep. Blaine. Age: 59. Cinnabar Gym Leader. Researcher at the Cinnabar Lab. Fire-type Expert. He embarked on the path of a Fire-type Trainer after being saved by a Moltres in his childhood. He once went astray and served Team Rocket, but due to a guilty conscience, he has now cut all ties with them. He enjoys telling lame jokes."
Ash and his companions: "?"
The mysterious old man: "?"
The latter, for his part, wanted to curse out an Arcanine. How had all his secrets been exposed in a single encounter? What kind of black technology was this?
"Beep-beep. Trivia: Given that Blaine was already bald at the age of 45, the brown, medium-length hair is most likely a wig."
The Pokedex issued another prompt.
Ash: "..."
Blaine: "..."
The two stared at each other, a deadly, awkward atmosphere hanging in the air.
"Haha, Mr. Blaine, please don't mind what my Pokedex said."
Ash was the first to react, his expression turning joyful.
He had thought that this trip, aside from saving a thousand people, getting in the newspaper, and earning the honorable title of a righteous Trainer, would yield no other rewards.
It looked like he'd get to battle the Gym Leader of Cinnabar Gym after all!
This identity scan was a classic Pokedex feature, so Ash believed it.
"Hehe, youth, your Pokedex is quite something..."
Seeing this, Blaine no longer hid his identity. He laughed heartily, then reached up and snatched the brown hair from his head, revealing his big, bald melon underneath.
It was slightly reflective.
He really was bald.
Juggling the roles of a researcher and a Gym Leader, the fact that he only went bald at 45 was already quite impressive.
"This old man is indeed Blaine, the Gym Leader of the Cinnabar Gym."
His eyes and features were hidden behind the sunglasses. However, he still had two tufts of a gray mustache, and his body looked quite healthy and strong.
"Hehe, but what the Pokedex said isn't entirely true. I didn't close the Gym for that reason," Blaine explained, his tone surprisingly young and talkative.
He wasn't picky about the challengers who came; he would take on anyone, strong or weak. They just had to find him.
After all, it wasn't really his place to be picky, as hardly anyone came to challenge him anymore. The Cinnabar Gym had long been forgotten by the world, which only remembered Cinnabar Town as a perfect hot spring tourist destination.
Thinking of this, Blaine was heartbroken.
"It pains my heart! The people here only know how to use gimmicks, opening hot spring inns to make a quick buck. They have no traditional substance at all; they've completely forgotten their true selves!"
That's why he closed the public-facing Gym, to show his conviction that he was ashamed to be associated with them.
Brock couldn't help but ask, "So what are their true selves?"
"Their true selves... their true selves are that sort of 'true self' thing!"
Blaine couldn't quite articulate it. He only knew that the residents of Cinnabar Island used to be content with their lot, living peacefully on the small island, not like now with all these fancy, gaudy hotels and all this other messy stuff.
"I understand."
Brock's gaze suddenly deepened, as if he had seen through everything.
"Cinnabar Island used to have a self-sufficient, small-scale agricultural economy, but now it has become a market economy that interacts with the outside world. But you don't like this change. Your type is a classic case of..."
At this point, Brock suddenly stopped and said no more.
Ash, however, grew anxious. He frowned deeply and said:
"A classic case of what? There are two kinds of people I hate most in this world. The first is people who stop talking halfway through a sentence! As for the other kind, I won't say for now."
Before Brock could speak, the Pokedex chimed in again with a string of electronic sounds.
"Beep-beep. A classic case of a self-righteous, old-fashioned geezer."
Blaine: "?"
(end of chapter)