Cerulean City.
This was a bustling, beautiful city.
It was also one of the few cities in Kanto Region connected by roads from every direction.
Once they entered Cerulean City, Silas and Suzie parted ways with Ash and his friends. Although both Silas and Ash aimed to get the Cerulean Gym Badge, Ash's Pikachu needed treatment more than anything after getting hurt the previous evening—so their destination was the Pokémon Center first!
After a few words of advice to Ash, Silas led Suzie toward Cerulean Gym.
"Silas," Suzie said with a gentle smile as they walked, "You were really good to Ash. It's rare to see you take the effort to guide someone like that."
"I had no choice," Silas answered, shrugging, a resigned look on his face. "It's true my grandpa is the famous Professor Oak, but that's really only when it comes to research. In any other respect, he's a complete mess. If Ash's mom, Aunt Delia, didn't invite Gary and me over for dinner all the time, I honestly wonder if we both would have ended up malnourished from all the instant noodles."
"You're kidding," Suzie exclaimed, surprised. "Professor Oak shouldn't be lacking money—you could've just ordered food, right?"
"Money?" Silas rolled his eyes. "We're not short on money, sure, but cash isn't much use in Pallet Town. To protect the environment, there's a strict ban on commercial business there—so everyone grows their own vegetables, and meat gets brought in each day from our Oak family's business. So tell me, where would I find delivery food?"
"…" Suzie.
And so the two of them chatted idly together until they arrived at Cerulean Gym.
Walking inside, it felt more like entering an aquarium than a battlefield. The stunning scenery sent a ripple of wonder through Suzie's eyes. Seeing this, Silas slowed his usual brisk pace to accompany Suzie as they took in the sights.
There were all kinds of Water-type Pokémon here, but these were purely for display, not for battle. Suzie loved every minute of it, while Silas was a bit bored—the only Pokémon that interested him were powerful ones, and these decorative types just couldn't hold his attention.
"Hm…" Just as they were finishing their tour of the 'aquarium' gym, a curious voice spoke from behind them: "Excuse me, but who are you?"
Silas and Suzie turned at the sound.
What greeted them were three elegant, grown-up women—the Sensational Sisters, Cerulean City's gym trainers!
Right now, the eldest sister Daisy glanced at them and spoke kindly, "If you're visitors, could you please come back later this afternoon? We need to start our rehearsal soon. But if you've come to issue a challenge, please follow us."
"Want to keep looking around, or move on?" Silas ignored the Sensational Sisters for a moment and turned to Suzie.
"No need," Suzie replied, smiling. "You've already looked around with me—now it's my turn to watch you challenge the gym."
"All right." Silas nodded and then called out to the Sensational Sisters, "Lead the way."
"Please, come with us."
...
As Cerulean Gym specialized in Water-type Pokémon, the battlefield was set atop the water!
To call it a battlefield was generous—it was more like an enormous swimming pool, dotted with just a few floating platforms. Unless you had a Water-type Pokémon, your movement was seriously limited. Silas's opponent this time was Daisy, the eldest of the sisters, while the second and third sisters acted as referees.
"Competition Rules 3V3. Sound good?" the second sister asked Silas.
Silas nodded, then—prompting a look of surprise from all three sisters—he tossed out a Master Ball!
In a flash of white light, Pikachu appeared on one of the floating platforms in the pool. The shaky platform wobbled and, fresh out of the ball, Pikachu stumbled and slipped right off the edge.
"Pika pika~"
Pikachu shot Silas a reproachful look, as if to say he was less than thrilled with being thrown straight into this kind of arena.
"Can I count on you?" Ignoring Pikachu's grumpy face, Silas gave him a gentle, confident smile.
Crackle—!
"Pika!" Pikachu, still crouched, glared at the pool—but lightning sparked at his cheeks, and his round eyes burned with determination.
But neither Silas nor Pikachu expected what came next—Daisy, seeing those sparks, quickly declared, "Hold on! This match is already over. I forfeit!"
"Huh?!"
"Pika?!"
Both Silas and Pikachu stared at Daisy in shock—not a single attack, and she surrendered already?
"I really have no choice." Daisy saw their stunned faces and gave a helpless smile. "First of all, most of our Pokémon got battered in yesterday's battle and haven't had time to recover. And even if they had, all our Pokémon are Water-types—your Pikachu completely counters us. Sure, people say we're the weakest gym leaders in Kanto, but at least we know when to fold 'em."
Wow…
Hearing her explanation, Silas could only curse his luck inside.
He'd planned to rack up some crystals from Cerulean Gym, but if Daisy surrendered without a fight, how was he supposed to get his crystals?
True, Ash's battle had earned him 200 crystals yesterday, but he still wasn't sure if his stash would last until the next gym. It's not like he could just go around challenging every passerby—there was no point, it wouldn't help Pikachu or Charizard's growth, and Suzie would probably just give him that look, like he was bullying rookies.
Sensing Silas's frustration, Daisy thought for a moment and then offered a suggestion: "How about this—if you really want a battle, you can act as Cerulean Gym's leader for a day and defend the gym for us!"
"Is that even allowed?" Silas asked, genuinely surprised.
"Of course," Daisy said with a sparkling smile. "As long as you've got the gym leader's authorization, you're good to go!"
"Deal!"
Silas answered with an eager nod.