"Alright, challenger! Are you ready?" Misty called out, standing across the massive, wide, and deep pool between us.
The Cerulean City gym was similar to the Pewter City one in the sense that it gave a huge terrain advantage to the gym leader, as the battlefield was mostly water - because it was literally a big-ass pool! The Cerulean City gym itself was more like a giant YMCA than a gym, as compared to the dark, ominous Pewter City gym, the Cerulean City one was much more normal.
There was one massive pool in the middle of an even more massive room, with a ceiling reaching more than a hundred feet up with hanging lights. There were also various smaller pools on the outer edge of the room, which looked to be used for athletics, as one was separated into lanes, and there were a couple of diving boards all over.
That thought was confirmed by the various people using those pools at the moment, which I thought was a bit underwhelming. Having people just casually going about their workouts during my intense gym challenge ruined the mood a bit, but according to Misty, they had to be here because they paid to be - as in, Misty had been losing so badly and so often that she was renting the gym out 24/7 to keep it open. As I stared at the pool-only battlefield, I felt like that losing streak achievement was extra impressive considering the serious terrain advantage she had.
Of course, there were a couple of floating platforms scattered throughout the pool, so non-water pokemon weren't completely screwed over. I was happy about that, because I didn't know if my Bulbasaur knew how to swim - my actual one, because I would really hope Squirtle knew how to swim. But, while this terrain looked disadvantageous to me, it wasn't actually. The sheer size of the pool, which was easily more than a hundred feet long and caused me to barely hear Misty from the other side, could actually be used in my favor.
"I'm ready," I simply hollered back, letting her make the first move, which she did a moment later.
"Go, Staryu!" Misty shouted, flinging a poke ball forward as Staryu popped out into the pool.
My lips twitched up into a grin, because this was exactly what I was hoping for. Even if Misty didn't seem as airheaded as most trainers, she still fell for the typical gym leader trap of 'save the best pokemon for last.' Which, in turn, meant that setting up on her would be easy.
"Bulbasaur," I said simply, chucking out my own poke ball, and the green frog-like mon landed on one of the scarce floating platforms.
"Bulbasaur!"
And now, it was time for my plan to come into action.
"Use Growth, Bulbasaur!" I shouted quickly, grinning as Bulbasaur's body started to glow in a bright light.
Up until this point, none of my pokemon had learned any status or buffing moves aside from the typical 'Growl,' which was pretty useless in an actual battle. Debuffing opposing pokemon was good, but when my pokemon just one-shot everything because I seemed to be the only trainer who understood type matchups, they weren't really needed.
However, Bulbasaur learned Growth at a low level, and had acquired it on our way to Cerulean City - I think he did, at least. I didn't really know how long he'd had it, as I just experimentally told him to use a buffing move against a Spearow, and he used this one. I probably should be keeping better track of what moves they had, but it was difficult with a certain crazy woman by my side at all times.
As the light faded from Bulbasaur, both his Attack and Special Attack were raised one stage - which wasn't something I could see numerically in this real-life world, but there was definitely a sign that Bulbasaur had become stronger. His legs twitched lightly as they bulged out, thick muscular lines appearing all over him as he entered his new form: Buffasaur.
As Bulbasaur became Buffasaur, Misty didn't just watch, and I didn't expect her to. Any competent trainer would realize what I was aiming for with the Growth play, as I clearly wanted to stack up Buffasaur to sweep through the rest of her team. The water worked to my advantage, as the pool was huge, so I'd likely be able to get off another Growth, even with how quickly Staryu would be able to swim through it.
"Staryu, use Water Gun!" I blinked, momentarily stunned as Staryu, from across the massive length of the pool, launched a Water Gun forward, and… didn't even come close to hitting my Buffasaur.
That's like 200 feet, damn it! Does Misty think her Staryu is secretly an Inteleon?!
"Bulbasaur, Growth again!" I shouted quickly, and Buffasaur's body glowed as his muscles bulged again, becoming stronger as his Attack and Special Attack increased to +2. If I acted quickly, I could probably fit in one more Growth before Misty realized her mistake and ordered Staryu to get closer-
"Staryu, another Water Gun! Try not to miss!"
-or, she'll just use another Water Gun from across the whole damn gym! What kind of sniper does she think this low-level Staryu is?! Seriously, her only advice was 'try not to miss?'
"Just… Growth again, Bulbasaur," I sighed, starting to have a bad feeling about the 'badass,' 'challenging,' and 'epic' gym battle I was having. If Misty was really only losing because of her weak pokemon, and not because she seemed to be dog-shit at battling, then that said more about the trainers of this world than anything else.
"I didn't even know they could do that… is it safe for the Bulbasaur to be that big?" Jessie murmured behind me, staring at Buffasaur as his muscles became thicker and larger. At this point, he was starting to look like someone had injected a couple of steroids into him, as the sheer size and quantity of his muscles couldn't be natural.
"Um… I didn't learn anything about that in school, but… I guess?" Joy responded just as doubtfully.
"Ah! Get in closer, Staryu!" Misty finally shouted, only taking an impressive two turns to figure out that the distance was the problem. That wasn't sarcasm, either, as I could think of more than a few trainers I had fought that wouldn't ever figure it out.
"Growth!" I called as Staryu shot forward, bursting through the water at insane speeds as it looked more like a motorboat than a swimming pokemon.
"Bulbasaur!" Buffasaur let out one final call as its body glowed again, and it was starting to look more like a boulder than a frog at this point. His muscles bulged out, starting to look like he was hopped up on more than a few steroids.
"Staryu! Rapid Spin!" Misty called, and Staryu started to rotate in the water, spinning like a helicopter as it approached Buffasaur.
"Vine Whip!" I called out in response, and two thick, muscular vines came out of Buffasaur's back.
Staryu launched out of the water, spinning so fast it looked like a blur, and if such an attack hit a normal human, I was certain they'd be cut clean in half. However, this wasn't a human - it was Buffasaur.
The vines whipped downward harshly, slamming directly into the spinning Staryu, and like a bird that had a bomb dropped on its head, Staryu plummeted straight down into the water with a loud smack. As it hit the surface of the pool, the water exploded upward, looking like someone had belly-flopped into it. Then, as Buffasaur retracted his vines, Staryu floated back to the surface as it was unconscious..
"O-Oooh… that poor Staryu…" Joy muttered behind me, and I couldn't help but share her feelings.
Fuck, Buffasaur was kind of scary, huh? With how much force he just slammed that Staryu down, I didn't doubt that he would be able to crush a boulder with those vines. Staryu definitely needed a trip, or maybe two, to the Pokemon Center.
"Oh no, Staryu!" Misty shouted, quickly reaching up to recall her pokemon. She retracted her Staryu, before reaching down and grabbing another poke ball.
"Go, Starmie!" She shouted, swiping out her poke ball, which exploded in the water as a large purple star appeared.
"Bulbasaur, Growth!" I shouted quickly as she did, using the opportunity to further buff Buffasaur.
"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur shouted in confirmation, his body glowing as his Attack and Special Attack reached +5. His muscles became even larger, making him look more like a rock-type than a grass-type as the platform under him started to dent slightly under the sheer mass of Buffasaur.
"Starmie, get in close and use Rapid Spin!" Misty ordered again, surprisingly me lightly as I looked dryly at her.
Rapid Spin again, even with Starmie? Considering Staryu evolved with a Water Stone and didn't learn any more moves after that, I suspected that Misty might've evolved this Starmie a bit too early if this was her best option. She should've been abusing Starmie's speed and terrain advantage to keep distance while spamming longer-ranged moves, but I guess that was expecting too much from a trainer in this world.
"Vine Whip!" I called again, and Buffasaur's vines snapped up into the air and then slammed down roughly. History repeated itself as Misty didn't learn at all from Staryu, and Starmie spun into the powerful vines - promptly being slammed down into the pool again, and then slowly rising to the surface as it fainted.
"Again?! Come back, Starmie!" Misty called out, recalling her Starmie, and I looked at her a bit blandly from across the pool. She just watched that happen to Staryu, so why did she think using a slightly bigger star would somehow change the result?
"Good job, Red! You got this!" Joy cheered me on, and I gave her an appreciative nod, even if I didn't need the encouragement. At this point, Buffasaur was an unstoppable monster.
"Go, Gyarados!" Misty shouted, throwing out another pokeball, and her new Gyarados appeared in the pool, looming much higher and longer than the previous Staryu and Starmie. As it stared down Buffasaur, I saw Intimidate take effect in real time, as the green creature flinched, taking a step back as its muscles seemed to become less toned.
"Bulbasaur, one more Growth!" I ordered, deciding to be safe rather than sorry.
With a +5 in Attack, Buffasaur should be able to take down Gyarados in one hit, but there was one opportunity for Misty to win here. Her Gyarados didn't evolve from a Magikarp, so there was a good chance it had Whirlpool - an attack that wouldn't numerically be powerful against my grass-type Bulbasaur, but in this real-life scenario, could be deadly.
If she used the attack under Bulbasaur, then the platform he was floating on would be pulled in, and he'd likely fall off of it as a result. Then, he'd he forced to fight while swimming in the water against a Gyarados, which would be difficult for any pokemon, even Buffasaur. In fact, it'd probably be even harder for Buffasaur, as the sheer density of his muscles might make him sink like a rock.
As Buffasaur glowed with light and reached his final form, his muscles bulging outward again as he looked like a complete tank, I had to bet that Misty wouldn't use the move. But, considering it was her only path to victory, she would definitely-
"Gyarados, use Water Gun!"
I stared blandly at Misty as she gave the order, and her Gyarados joined me, glancing over its shoulder at Misty confusedly. Did she just tell the damn Gyarados to use Water Gun?! I know she just got the pokemon, but she spent all that time fishing for Gyarados, and doesn't even know what moves it gets?!
"W-Why aren't you doing it?! Hit him with a Water Gun, Gyarados!" Misty tried again, pointing urgently at Buffasaur.
"He doesn't have that move… Bulbasaur, just finish this. Vine Whip," I sighed, and Bulbasaur's vines whipped forward, slamming into the back of the confused Gyarados' head, and promptly knocking it unconscious in one blow.
I stared a bit blandly and disappointed as the water-serpent slumped over, and I won the gym battle. Once again, I had won with only one pokemon, and that pokemon hadn't even taken any damage. But, hey, at least I got to set up this time, right?
It was only a small victory, as considering Misty's poor strategy, I think I could've won even with Buffasaur staying as Bulbasaur. But, while I didn't think the victory was very impressive, apparently I was the only one.
"Good job, Red! You did it!" Joy rushed forward behind me, slamming into me from the side as she hugged my arm, trapping it between her sizable breasts, "You're so good! You'll be the Champion in no time!"
"U-Um… yeah, t-that was a very good battle…" Jessie walked up on my other side, looking at Joy as she followed the ex-nurse's lead, but much more shyly. She hugged my other side, also pushing my arm between her large breasts, with a beet-red face.
However, just a second later, I was forced to pull myself from their grip. Not because I minded the feeling of two gorgeous women hanging on my arms, because I certainly didn't, but instead because a third, notably not beautiful woman, was rushing at me to celebrate.
"Bulbasaur!" Buffasaur launched off his platform in the water, leaping towards me to jump into my arms, and I hastily yanked my poke ball. His powerful legs launched him at me like a rocket, but I recalled him mid-air, preventing his celebration, and not feeling bad about it in the slightest.
If that rock of a grass-type had slammed into me, I might've legitimately died! Seriously, I think he was more fit to be holding me in his arms than the other way around.
"I lost again?" Meanwhile, Misty was looking very down as she raised a poke ball, recalling her Gyarados as she started to walk around the pool and make her way to us. She dragged her feet, looking a bit conflicted as, despite gaining a powerful Gyarados, she'd lost another gym battle - and, in an embarrassing fashion at that.
"Here… the Cascade Badge," Misty gave me a strained grin as she pulled a badge out of her pocket, which looked like a water drop, and held it out to me.
"There's no shame in losing to him, Misty," Joy said softly, noticing the woman's strained expression, "Red's going to be the Champion soon, y'know? No other trainer in all of Kanto would've thought of a strategy like that!"
"Yeah… I've never seen anything like it!" Jessie agreed, consoling Misty as I took the badge and looked at them both dryly.
No one in all of Kanto would've thought to set up with a type advantage? Setting up on a pokemon that could barely damage you was the most basic strategy there was! It was only one step beyond spamming the highest damaging move!
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Misty nodded slightly, looking a bit brighter as she smiled at me, "You're really amazing, Red! I've lost a lot of gym battles, but that badly, with just one pokemon? And an unevolved pokemon at that? You're definitely on track to becoming a great trainer!"
That wasn't much of a compliment coming from Misty after the terrible showing she just had, but I gave her a thankful grin anyway, "Thanks! Now…"
I held out my hand, my grin still wide as I offered Misty my flat palm.
"H-Huh? What are you…" Misty blushed, slowly reaching forward to grab my hand shakily, but I promptly smacked hers away.
"The money," I said bluntly, my grin becoming a bit strained, and causing Misty's blush to vanish as her face fell. She sighed, reached into her pocket, and then pulled out a wad of Pokedollars.
"Here," She handed them over, not looking happy about it as I took them.
"...That's it?" I asked her bluntly, looking down at the bills, which added up to roughly 500, "500?"
"W-Well, like I said, we're a bit tight on funds right now…" She trailed off, glancing away with an embarrassed look on her face.
"So, I help you get the Gyarados, and you skimp out on me?" I asked dryly, causing her face to flush as she shoved a hand down into her pocket again.
"F-Fine! Y-You are the reason I got Gyarados, so it's fine…" Misty huffed, shoving the extra cash into my hands, "Take it! I'll win more battles now, so I'll make it back anyway…"
Considering she still only had 3 pokemon, and she was terrible at battles overall, I doubted her confidence. But, when I also considered that every other trainer I met had also been terrible at pokemon battles, then she might have a genuine chance at winning some battles.
"Thanks," I grinned, glancing down at the cash, which was now closer to 2000, "It'll go to good use. Joy, Jessie, we're not leaving the city yet - we're headed to the Poke Mart!"
"The Poke Mart?" Joy blinked, looking up at me curiously, "For what?"
"Poke balls," I said bluntly, a small smirk slipping onto my face, "A shit-ton of poke balls!"
"Why?" Joy questioned, looking a bit dryly at my smirk, "You already have six pokemon, and it's not like you've used that many poke balls yet."
She was right, as I'd only used two so far - ironically, not to get my Gyarados and Abra, but instead for Gyarados and the Weedle who I had chucked halfway to Pewter City, as 'John Smith' had already put Abra in a poke ball. Hopefully that Weedle was living his best life right now.
"Well, I'm about to make that six seven," I hummed, my smirk growing wider, "There's a certain pokemon here I was just going to come back for later, but with how much money I have already… this could work…"
Soon, my team would be getting a massive, and very unnecessary, boost in power.
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"So… what's his deal?" I muttered, narrowing my eyes as I crouched behind a tree, and stared across the river at the edge of Cerulean City. Right now, I was looking at the large hill that was across the river, and more specifically, at a small cave entrance in the hill.
"There's a very powerful pokemon in that cave! A seriously dangerous one!" Misty hissed to my side, looking nervous just from the sight of the cave, "The Champion Lance tried to capture it once, but even he failed! He hired guards to keep anyone out of the cave, because if you head in, that pokemon won't just take out your pokemon - it'll killyou!"
The 'guards' in question were just one man, who was standing at the edge of the cave with a large vest and a belt of six poke balls on his hips. He was wearing all-black and looked like a pretty intimidating foe to get through.
"Which is exactly why I need to get in there," I grinned, staring directly at Cerulean Cave, "I'm gonna catch that pokemon."
Inside of Cerulean Cave was the strongest pokemon in all of Kanto - Mewtwo. In the games, you originally couldn't get to Cerulean Cave without having a pokemon with Surf, but even once you did, there was a guard blocking the river to Cerulean Cave. I figured this would be pretty easy to get around, because unlike in the game where there was only one small area to enter the river from, the real-life river in front of me was pretty damn big.
There were still more than a dozen fishermen out, even after the entire river had been shocked, and it wasn't like one guard could block the entire river. But, as the man stood in front of the cave itself, and not just the river, that roadblock was still there. And, instead of blocking the river because it was 'unsafe,' here the cave itself was being blocked, and apparently on Lance's payroll.
"This is so stupid! Even if you do get past him, nothing good will come of it!" Misty shot back, "I'll admit that you're a great trainer, Red, but your team is a bunch of unevolved pokemon! You won't stand a chance, and I won't go along with this!"
"Actually, it's a team of a bunch of unevolved pokemon, and Gyarados," I corrected her, and then gave her a dry look, "Also, you don't have to go along with this. No one invited you."
"W-Well, I just heard you talking about buying so many poke balls, so I was curious! It's not like I'm following you because I admire your trainer skills, think you're handsome, or have a crush on you, or anything!" Misty blurted out all the words far too quickly, unintentionally revealing all her secrets as she glanced away with a blush.
"No one invited me either, but here I am, about to die…" Joy sighed, casually leaning back against the tree I was crouching behind as she just sat next to it, not being very secretive at all.
"Y-Yeah, I didn't realize this was optional. I think I'll go sit this one out at the hotel…" Jessie agreed, standing nervously next to Joy as she started to inch away from the group.
"I spent all of our money on poke balls, so there is no hotel," I deadpanned at the woman, who then slumped over next to Joy, accepting her fate, "And, we're not going to die! It'll be fine!"
Granted, we definitely could die if this Mewtwo were a dick. I was trying to challenge the legendary pokemon, who was probably at least level 70, if not higher, with a team that was, at most, around level 10 - except for Gyarados, who I had never fought with before, and didn't even know what moves he had.
Usually, this would've seemed like a stupid idea fitting for a brainless trainer of this world, but I had plan - a foolproof one! Well, maybe not foolproof, but I thought it was pretty damn good at least! And, if worst came to worst, we could just run away. It wasn't like Mewtwo could use Surf, so how was he going to catch us? Use Fly? He couldn't do that either!
"This better work… you were going to be the Champion, but if this fails… you'll be homeless, if not dead…" Joy sighed again, and she wasn't completely wrong. I might have spent just a bit, and by a bit, I meant all, of our funds on poke balls, but it was worth it! Now, my backpack was filled to the brim with them, and I had around a hundred poke balls to throw at this Mewtwo.
"It will, but first… we need to get around him," I hummed, narrowing my eyes at the guard, and then said the best idea I could think of, "I'll just kick his ass."
The man had six poke balls on his belt, and would probably be a real challenge for my low-level pokemon, but… I hadn't had a challenge at all since arriving in this world, and I damn sure wanted one! If he beat me, then I'd just lose a bit of cash and have to think of another strategy anyway. If worst came to worst, I'd just chuck Joy at him and then rush past. That woman was surprisingly scary for her gorgeous looks, and I doubted even the guard would be able to keep his nerve.
"You're right, Red! He looks pretty big, but there are four of us, and you're a guy too! We can take him!" Jessie agreed, taking the 'kick his ass' literally as she started to roll up her sleeves - which were still her Team Rocket uniform, by the way - and looked like a true Team Rocket grunt.
"Not that way," I said to her dryly, "In a pokemon battle."
"Oh! But, how are you going to do that?" Jessie asked, tilting her head cutely at me, "That guy was hired by the Champion, right? He's probably got really strong pokemon!"
"I bet he does," I nodded simply, my lips twitching up into a grin again, "But I'll figure it out."
I didn't doubt that the guard was stacking pokemon-wise, as he probably had a team of high-level pokemon. The Elite Four in the games had pokemon in the low to mid 50s, so I knew they wouldn't be that high, but they didn't need to be - even if they were just all level 30, pretty much every member of my team aside from my Gyarados would be one-shot.
So, to put it simply, I just needed to knock out his six pokemon before he one-shot all of mine. Simple and easy.
Not really. But, considering how incompetent every trainer and gym leader I had fought so far was… it was definitely possible. I already had a strategy in mind, although it would rely heavily on him not having any pokemon to counter it.
Regardless, there was only one way to find out if I could really win or not - and that was to try.
"You can come with me, or you can wait here. I don't care either way," I hummed, as it wasn't like I was dragging the stalkerish women along with me or anything, "I'm going to go take him down."
I stood up, striding towards the river as I reached down, fishing Gyarados' poke ball out of my pocket. I chucked it out, resulting in Gyarados appearing in the river in front of me with a roar.
"Um… you can carry me, right?" I asked the pokemon a bit uncertainly. He wouldn't learn Surf from leveling up in the game, but right now, nothing was stopping him from just swimming across the river with me on his back.
"Gyara!" The Gyarados agreed, giving me a nod as I stepped forward, awkwardly stepping onto its scaly back, and then wrapping my arms around its thick serpent-body to hang on.
"W-Wait for me!" A second later, I was promptly almost ripped from my position on his back as Joy leapt onto the Gyarados without even an inch of caution, and wrapped her arms around me to hang on.
"W-Whatever! I'll go just to make sure you don't die or anything!" Misty called as well, tossing out her own Gyarados, which she and Jessie quickly climbed onto the back of.
Despite the river only being a hundred or so feet wide, the journey across was not as easy as I thought it would be - mainly, because riding on a Gyarados sucks! My arms hurt from being cut into by the scales I was clinging onto, and as if that wasn't bad enough, my Gyarados was definitely a dumbass, because it went fuckin' underwater!
A hundred foott, nice and easy swim for the pokemon, that shouldn't have even taken a full minute. And yet, my apparently speedrunner Gyarados decides to fully submerge underwater, soaking me and Joy in the process, and then swim the length of the river at mach speeds. On one hand, we did reach the other side in about ten seconds, but on the other hand - I was soaked, and thought for a moment that he had gone rogue and was about to drown me!
"You're a prick, you know that?" I groaned as I stepped onto the land on the other side of the river, which was only a short, couple of dozen feet long and wide section in front of the cave. In response to my words, my Gyarados just stared at me blankly, and confirmed my thoughts that he wasn't the brightest of fish.
"That was kind of fun! I've never ridden a Gyarados before!" Joy was apparently not sharing my feelings of annoyance, as she instead looked happy as she stood up, drenched head-to-toe in water. And, as she did, she unintentionally gave me a show.
"You… should turn around or something," I told her dryly, gesturing to her chest, which was soaked with water. As a result, her usual gown was clinging to her tightly, and I could see the entire outline of her breasts, along with even her hard nipples.
"Huh?" Joy followed my gaze down, taking in the sight of her breasts' outline being visible through her shirt. However, instead of doing what I expected, that being crossing her arms over her breasts or turning around, she did the exact opposite.
"You like what you see?" She smirked, crossing her arms under her breasts instead of in front of them, and pushing them out to give me a better view. Right - I almost forgot for a minute that this woman had no shame!
"Whatever," I just sighed, turning around as Misty and Jessie arrived on the small strip of land, looking much drier than me and Joy. I turned to look at the guard, a bit of excitement building up within me.
He was blocking the cave where Mewtwo was, and I would have to defeat him to get through. For the first time in this world, I genuinely thought I was about to have a challenging fight.
A true fight, with my full team against his full team, and with a legendary pokemon on the line. This battle would determine if I continued to be just a prodigy of a trainer, or if I would go down in history as the greatest.
Of course, I would settle for nothing less than the title of 'Greatest.' It was time to defeat my strongest opponent yet, and then, to catch Mewtwo.
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AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be out in a few days! (Probably around a week) Sorry for the break between this chapter and the last one, had some life stuff, but they'll be more frequent again.
As always, you can support me and read the next 5 chapters right now on Patreon.com/Koyon ! This story is updated twice as often on there! (Every 3-4ish days usually)(Only MAX tier atm)