"Don't you worry," Natsui said solemnly. "After I challenge the Celadon Gym, I will leave this place immediately."
"I trust in your strength. In that case, I wish you success in your challenge." With that, Looker's tone shifted. "However, I must tell you a bit more about what we discussed. When our preparations are complete and we raid the Team Rocket base, we will also form a special operations team to act as the vanguard. We may invite you to join at that time."
"Eh? Me?" Natsui was stunned at first, but quickly agreed. "Of course, no problem. Since Team Rocket has already made me a target, I can't just stand by and watch. But who else will be in the special operations team?"
"Well…" Looker thought for a moment. "Those who can enter the special ops team will naturally be strong. We will do our best to invite the Elite Four, and at the same time, we will contact those outstanding Gym Leaders from the Pokémon League."
Natsui couldn't help but nod. If they could really assemble such a team, they could indeed walk all over the Team Rocket base.
Hanging up the phone, Natsui followed the main road to the Celadon Gym.
The exterior of the Celadon Gym was somewhat similar to a typical school gymnasium. Its roof was earth-yellow, and its sides were silver-gray. It was situated in a huge garden in the city center.
As the official gym of Celadon City, the Gym Leader Erika's specialty was Grass-type Pokémon. By defeating her, one would earn the Rainbow Badge.
Entering the gym, Natsui first came to a spacious lobby where several beautiful young ladies in shorts were working. Seeing him, a blue-haired girl walked over.
"May I help you?"
After Natsui stated his purpose, she led him further into the gym. After leaving the lobby, the first thing that caught his eye were greenhouses, separated by glass walls.
The greenhouses were lush with greenery, filled with leafy trees, shrubs, and flowers. Rather than a gym for battling, this place felt more like an indoor garden.
Speaking of which, the perfume Natsui bought yesterday was produced here. The staff, all young and beautiful girls, not only worked for the gym but also held other jobs, managing the business at the perfume shop.
Along the way, many Grass-type Pokémon were running around from time to time. Under the care of the staff, they were frolicking, playing, and having a happy time.
At the end of the path, they finally arrived at a simple and elegant room.
Through the window, he could see Erika kneeling in the main seat on the tatami mats. She was holding a pair of scissors, trimming the branches of flowers in a vase, while explaining something to several women in front of her.
Seeing Natsui staring intently, the blue-haired girl beside him explained, "Ms. Erika is not only a Gym Leader but also a famous ikebana master. Many people come to learn the art of flower arrangement from her every week. Sir, are you also interested in ikebana?"
"Yes, in a way, I also really like flower arrangement." Natsui nodded. "Flower arrangement is pleasing to the eye and brings joy to the heart. It's a very good way to regulate one's emotions."
Before long, the class inside ended. When Erika walked out of the room and saw Natsui, she immediately recognized him.
"You're the person from the shop yesterday?"
Natsui said, "Yes, that's me. I didn't want to impose last time. This time, I've come specifically to challenge you, Ms. Erika."
Observing Erika closely now, Natsui found her to be truly beautiful. She was about eighteen or nineteen years old, not very tall, and rather petite. Looking at her attire, she wore a kimono for both daily life and work, clearly a traditional type of woman. Moreover, her every move carried the grace of a traditional Yamato maiden.
"I see. Please follow me."
The three of them returned the way they came, until they reached a fork in the road and turned towards the gym's battlefield.
Seeing the Grass-type Pokémon again, Natsui couldn't help but say, "Oddish, Bellsprout, Exeggcute, Weepinbell, Victreebel, Vileplume… The variety of Grass-type Pokémon here is really quite complete."
Erika smiled, "I've loved nature since I was a child, and I love Grass-type Pokémon, so I raised a few. The perfumes in the shop are also made by extracting substances from their leaves."
Arriving at the battlefield, the two of them stood on opposite sides.
Despite her mastery of Grass-type Pokémon, the field here had no obstacles that would favor her. Instead, it was a wide-open, ordinary field.
However, the one thing worth noting was the skylight directly above the field. The sun was high in the sky, and its warm light shone down, enveloping the entire area.
The blue-haired girl walked to the middle to act as the referee.
Erika said, "The Pokémon rule here is a limit of three. If you can defeat all of my Pokémon, you win the match!"
With that, she sent out her first Pokémon.
It was a Pokémon completely covered and entangled in vines. It had no arms, only a pair of feet that seemed to be wearing red boots sticking out. Through the vines, only a pair of large eyes could be seen, and nothing else.
Pokédex: "Bip. Tangela, the Vine Pokémon. A Grass type. Its entire body is covered in blue, constantly wiggling vine-like plants, obscuring its true form. It wobbles when it walks and likes to entangle approaching objects with its vines. Even if the vines are damaged, new ones will grow back quickly."
Natsui took out a Poké Ball and threw it to the ground.
To deal with a pure Grass-type Pokémon like this, it was natural to use a type advantage to suppress it.
"Go, Charmander!"
Looking at Charmander with its tail burning brightly, Erika gently shook her head.
As a Gym Leader, due to her type specialty, she had no other Pokémon she could switch to for dealing with Charmander. Therefore, as long as the difference in strength wasn't too great, the outcome of this battle could already be predicted.
"Let the battle begin!"
With the blue-haired girl's command, the two Pokémon launched their attacks almost simultaneously.
"Tangela, use Stun Spore!"
"Charmander, use Ember!"
Clumps of sparkling powder flew towards Charmander. The moment the embers shot out and touched the powder, the flames suddenly intensified, burning most of the powder to ashes!
Did that trigger some kind of chemical reaction?
The flames continued towards Tangela, but perhaps due to its Chlorophyll ability, Tangela's speed was doubled under the bright sunlight, and it managed to barely dodge the attack just before the flames reached it.
But it had to be said, Erika's idea was a good one. Knowing the type disadvantage, she wanted to paralyze Charmander first before making her next move.
Unfortunately, her plan had failed.
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