Chapter 7: Cerulean City
After exploring Mt. Moon, Lyra, Brock, and Misty made it to Cerulean City. "Pichu and Pikachu, this is where we get our second badge. You guys ready?" Lyra asked, getting excited.
"Pipipichu!" "Pikapipikapikachu!" (You bet we are!) they both cheered.
"Have you decided which Pokémon you're using?" Brock asked.
"Well, I know that Cerulean Gym uses Water Pokémon," Lyra said. "I could use Pichu and Pikachu, but I want to test my Pokémon in a disadvantageous situation, so I might use Butterfree or Clefable." Brock nodded; knowing Lyra, he knew she could turn any situation into a win.
Misty hadn't said anything for a while. "Hey Mist, what's wrong?" Lyra asked. "I mean, you've been quiet ever since we got here."
Misty didn't want to say anything, but she knew she had to tell her friends the truth. "Well, the truth is, I didn't really want to come back to Cerulean City," she admitted.
"Why? Did something bad happen to you here?" Brock asked, wondering why she was so hesitant.
"No, nothing like that," Misty said. "The truth is... I'm one of the Leaders of this Gym."
Lyra stayed quiet for a moment, then spoke up in a calm voice. "I know." Misty was shocked—how did she know?
"I looked up some information about the Cerulean Gym Leaders before we arrived. You're the fourth sister, aren't you?" Lyra finished, and Misty nodded. "I didn't really bother asking because I knew something must have happened to make you leave."
"You're right, Lyra. I am the fourth sister of the Gym," Misty said. She took a photo out of her backpack showing her and three beautiful girls. "Those three are my elder sisters: Daisy, Violet, and Lily," she explained. "Since they are so beautiful, I feel like a runt compared to them."
"Wait, are you saying they bully you?" Lyra asked.
"Not exactly bully me," Misty said, "but they like to tease me."
"So, you left them not just to catch more Water Pokémon, but to get away from your sisters as well?" Lyra asked.
"Yes," Misty said.
Lyra felt sorry for Misty; it reminded her of how Gary always picked on her. "Well, if you don't want to come to the Gym, I don't mind at all," Lyra said, trying to cheer her up.
Misty smiled and accepted the offer. "I'm going to do something else for a bit, if that's alright," she said, walking off. Lyra and Brock set off for the Cerulean Gym while Misty went to take care of her business.
On the way, they noticed police in front of a machine shop.
"What's going on?" Lyra asked. She and Brock went to find out; they asked Officer Jenny what had happened. Officer Jenny explained that someone had stolen a large number of machine parts from the shop.
"I wonder why the thieves did that?" Lyra asked.
"I don't know," said Brock, "but when it comes to thieves, they'll steal anything for all sorts of reasons." Lyra nodded. She had a feeling she knew who took the parts, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Soon they reached the Cerulean Gym. The building was a pink and yellow dome with a large picture of a Dewgong on it. Brock mentioned he had to pick up more supplies for the journey, leaving Lyra alone with her electric duo. She entered the building.
"Hello? Anyone here?" She asked. The lobby was empty. "Hmm, where is everyone?"
Just then, she heard cheering coming from beyond the lobby. she went through the doors and saw a performance in progress. Three beautiful girls were performing a water ballet in a giant swimming pool. One girl had long, wavy blonde hair; the next had chest-length pink hair; and the last had long, wavy indigo hair.
Lyra recognized them from Misty's photo. "Those are Misty's sisters," Lyra said. "Pichu." "Pika." Pichu and Pikachu agreed. Lyra wasn't exactly amused by the performance. 'If I didn't know better,' she thought, 'I'd think they prefer doing water ballets over being Gym Leaders.'
When the water ballet was over, Lyra went to talk to them. Daisy, Violet, and Lily were talking by the pool. "Daisy, your dive was perfect," Lily said.
"Practice does make perfect," Daisy replied.
"I think that show was our best one yet," Violet added.
"Um, excuse me," Lyra interrupted.
"Oh, you're so cute!" Daisy said. Lyra blushed. "I'm sorry, but if you're here for autographs, we don't do them," Daisy said.
"Oh no, I'm not here for an autograph," Lyra said, shaking off the blush. "I'm here to battle you for a badge."
The three sisters looked at each other. "Sorry, but we are not into battles anymore," Violet said.
"What? Why?" Lyra gasped.
"You see, we were beaten three times in a row by these kids from Pallet Town," Daisy explained. Lyra realized Gary must have been one of them. "And this is the only Pokémon we have left," Lily said, throwing a Poké Ball. A Goldeen appeared. "This Goldeen is only a baby and isn't ready for battling."
"So now we pay more attention to our water shows," said Daisy. "But don't worry, we know what you want. Come out, Seel!"
A little white sea lion popped out of the pool.
Seel, the Sea Lion Pokémon.
A Pokémon that lives on icebergs. It swims in the sea using the point on its head to break up ice.
The Seel stuck out its tongue to reveal something blue. "Since all you want is the Cascade Badge," Lily said, taking the badge off Seel's tongue, "you can just take it."
Lyra was not happy. She wanted to earn her badges through battle, not for free. She was just about to protest when a voice rang out: "Don't even think about it!"
Lyra turned around to see Misty.
"For goodness' sake, Daisy," Misty said. "Are you trying to ruin the Gym's reputation?"
"Why hello, Misty," Daisy said. "Have you become a Great Water Pokémon Trainer yet?"
"You did say you wouldn't return home until you'd become one," Lily added.
"I did say that," Misty replied, "but since you are planning to give out badges for free, I've got no choice." She turned to Lyra. "Lyra, you will have to battle me to earn the Cascade Badge."
"Fine with me, Misty!" Lyra said with a smile.
Misty explained that the battlefield would be the pool and they would use two Pokémon each. Lyra asked if she could let her Finneon and Gyarados out for a swim during the battle.
Misty allowed it. When Lyra released them, Misty's sisters were shocked to see an aqua-blue Gyarados and a Pokémon they had never seen before. Lyra told them to stay clear of the battle area. Pichu and Pikachu joined them, sitting on Gyarados's head.
Lyra stood on the red platform while Misty stood on the blue one. The battle was ready.
"Misty calls Finneon!" she shouted. Her pink-winged fish Pokémon was ready. Misty's sisters were surprised to see she had the same rare Pokémon as Lyra.
"Butterfree, I choose you!" Lyra shouted.
"Finneon, use Water Gun!" Misty ordered.
"Counter with Signal Beam!" Lyra commanded. The Signal Beam intercepted the water. "Now, use Silver Wind!" A wind of silver crescents flew from Butterfree's wings.
"Finneon, counter it with your own Silver Wind!" Misty shouted. The attacks collided. 'Lyra's Pokémon are powerful,' Misty thought. 'They aren't at a normal level anymore.' Misty was amazed; Lyra had trained her team incredibly well. Even her newer Pokémon like Sandshrew and Clefable were nearly at the same level as her butterflies.
"Finneon, use Water Pulse!" Misty said. The pulse was headed straight for Butterfree.
"Misty's good at this," Violet noted from the sidelines.
"Yeah," Daisy agreed. "She may not have our looks, but she has better battling skills than us." Even Seel was clapping its fins in excitement.
"Quick, Butterfree! Safeguard into Sunny Day!" Lyra shouted. Butterfree was surrounded by a green orb that blocked the Water Pulse, then he shot a bright orb into the air, making the room glow. "Now! Solar Beam!" The powerful white blast hit Finneon directly, knocking her out.
"Oh no, Finneon," Misty said, checking on her partner. "Thank you, take a good rest." She returned her. "Well, Lyra, you battle really well. But it's not over yet. Misty calls Starmie!"
Starmie, the Mysterious Pokémon.
The evolved form of Staryu. Its central core glows with the seven colors of the rainbow.
"Butterfree, return," Lyra said. "Clefable, I choose you!" Her Fairy-type Pokémon stepped onto the field. Misty's sisters awed at the cute Pokémon.
They were about to begin the second round when a large machine crashed into the Gym. "Where did that come from?" Misty shouted.
"Hahahaha!" Two voices laughed and Lyra face palm herself knowing whose voices those belongs to.
"Prepare for trouble," Jessie said starting off their motto.
"Make it double," James said continued like the usual.
"To protect the world from devastation,"
"To unite all people within our nation,"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"
"To extend our reach to the stars above,"
"Jessie,"
"James,"
"Team Rocket blasting off at the speed of light,"
"Surrender now and prepare to fight,"
"Meowth that's right." Meowth said.
"Since you're curious about our machine." said James,
"We made it ourselves. And we're very proud of it.
Lyra realized that they were the thieves, who stole of those machine parts.
"Now, to show you how this machine works!" Meowth shouted, pressing a button. A giant hose began sucking up the pool water.
"Hey, that's our water!" Daisy shouted.
"Give it back!" Lily yelled.
"All right!" Meowth smirked, pressing another button. The hose reversed, shooting a high-pressure blast of water at Lyra, Misty, and the sisters.
"Mystic, quick! Aqua Tail!" Lyra shouted. Mystic's tail slammed into the water stream, diverting it. "Now's our chance! Everyone, onto land!"
Lyra scooped her Finneon out of the water. "Gyarados, Clefable, Pichu, and Pikachu—use Thunderbolt on that machine and Team Rocket!" The massive electrical blast fried the machine and Team Rocket. They were left standing there, scorched to a crisp.
"Finneon, Aqua Tail and Aurora Beam combination!" Lyra ordered. Finneon combined the attacks into a beautiful, shimmering blast that sent Team Rocket flying through the ceiling.
"No fair! We didn't even last that long! That little blonde twerp is going to pay!" Jessie screamed.
"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they shouted in unison.
Lyra laughed and petted Finneon. "Thank you for your hard work."
"Hey Misty, what about our match?" Lyra asked.
"There's no need to continue," Misty said. "Your Butterfree defeated my Finneon fair and square. Then your Pokémon stopped Team Rocket. Plus, if my Starmie had battled Clefable, you would have won with those electric attacks. I present to you the Cascade Badge."
"Thank you!" Lyra said, hugging Misty.
"I have to say, Misty," Daisy said as Lyra let go, "you have proven to us that you are a good battler." Violet and Lily agreed. Misty was beamed with pride.
Just then, Seel came up to Misty. "I think Seel wants to go with you, Misty," Lyra said. Seel nodded eagerly. Misty accepted him, then took six Poké Balls from her bag.
"I caught eight Poliwags a while ago. Since the Gym doesn't have any yet, I'm leaving six here for you guys and keeping two for myself."
The sisters were thrilled. After bidding them farewell, Lyra, Misty, and the Pokémon left the Gym. They met up with Brock and caught him up on the Team Rocket chaos and the new badge.
"Wow, so a lot has happened then," Brock said.
"Yep," Lyra said. "Now it's time to head for Vermilion City!"
•~•~•~•~•~••~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Thank you for reading this chapter!
What did you think about the Cerulean adventure and Lyra's battle with Misty?
See you in the next episode of Pika Ball Z! ⚡