Chapter 16: Is This the Will of the Rock?

Chapter 16: Is This the Will of Rock?

Early morning.

The four of them woke up in the Clefairy Shop, and everything seemed as if nothing had happened.

The meteorite on the sacrificial altar had also been cleared out.

Blue yawned and stretched, subconsciously rubbing her shoulder.

"Ugh, why does my shoulder feel so sore..."

"Haha, it's because your constitution is weak. Like me—I was the champion of the night watch yesterday!"

Beside her, Ash was incredibly energetic for such an early hour.

With his arms raised high, he was a man who never faded.

In the end, Blue still failed to notice that an adorable little Clefairy had appeared in her Poké Ball.

Once she snapped out of her drowsy state, she began following Ash in cursing Gary.

There really was no Clefairy.

She had gone mad.

The four of them packed up and set off. This time, they quickly crossed Mt. Moon and arrived at a fork in the outer road.

A signpost was planted there.

One direction pointed toward Cerulean City, while the other pointed back toward Mt. Moon, where they had come from.

There was a line of small text beneath the signpost. In her state of madness, Blue subconsciously leaned in to read it.

"From the handsome Gary:"

"O, d, e, n, i, m, s, i, r, e, v, e, r, e, h, t, s, i, s, u, h, t!"

What did it mean?

She read it word by word: "Read it backwards...!"

Suddenly, Blue's quick eyes caught the very first word, and she hurriedly covered her mouth, thinking to herself that this guy was indeed a troublemaker.

*I'm still quite clever; how could I fall for such a childish trap!*

Heh!

Blue smiled triumphantly, regarding Gary as an idiot.

At that moment, she suddenly noticed another line of small text beneath the first one.

"There's no way a fool would actually stop halfway through reading it backwards, thinking they're being clever, right? Don't make me laugh, hee hee."

Blue: "!!!"

The ultimate humiliation!

A humiliation that spanned from beginning to end!

A faint, dark aura rose from the ground and coiled around her.

Blue suddenly turned and patted Ash on the shoulder, her fair, beautiful face looking somewhat distorted.

Her large eyes trembled, and she bit her lower lip hard, struggling to keep her tears from falling.

"Old pal, I'll be going ahead of you..."

She said, one word at a time.

Ash, oblivious, asked in confusion

"Huh? Old pal, aren't you coming with us?"

"No. There's a flea dancing on my grave, and I need to go stuff him back in."

She then patted the Bulbasaur beside her

"Get your Vine Whip ready, Garlic!"

"Bulba! Bulba!"

Bulbasaur responded.

The human and the Pokémon sprinted toward Cerulean City like they were in a thousand-meter dash, quickly vanishing from the trio's sight.

The three remaining: "..."

What a spirited young girl...

Not at all like Blue's deep-seated resentment.

In truth, aside from wanting to pin Gary down and give him a harsh lecture, Ash didn't harbor much malice.

Thus, the three of them arrived leisurely in Cerulean City.

Hearing that this was Misty's hometown, Ash wanted to take this opportunity to scout out the strength of the Cerulean Gym in advance.

Know your enemy, and you shall be invincible.

However, when he turned around, there was no one else behind him except for a squinty-eyed powerhouse.

"Huh, where did Misty go?"

Ash scratched his head, puzzled.

Brock patted his shoulder and urged

"She probably went to visit relatives. Don't worry about her, let's get a move on—let's go challenge the Gym."

"As expected of someone with the Will of Rock, you truly understand."

With that, the two ran off in a certain direction, looking full of excitement.

After a bit of aimless running, Ash and Brock arrived at a place that looked like an aquarium.

A large icon of a Dewgong, wearing a water balloon, hung on the rooftop sign, surrounded by streamers.

"Is this the Cerulean Gym? Why is it so flashy?"

In Ash's impression, a Gym should have a more hardcore style, like the Pewter Gym.

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

Brock licked his lips and, without a word, impatiently pushed Ash into the Cerulean Gym.

Pushing open the doors, they found a long, narrow corridor with massive water-filled walls on both sides, housing various strange fish Pokémon.

"Beep. Chinchou. Beautiful Pokémon, found everywhere, no value, suggest releasing into the wild."

"Beep. Magikarp. Fierce Pokémon, bad temper, covered in scales, not tasty."

Ash shook his Pokédex.

It was over; it seemed this thing was truly broken.

One was clearly the weakest Pokémon, and the other didn't even look that good-looking—how could it lie so blatantly?

The two stopped hesitating, pushed open the large doors ahead, and walked in.

To their surprise, inside the doors was an area resembling spectator seating, packed with a dense crowd, mostly men.

And where their eyes converged was the center of a stage.

It was a large pool where three women were performing water ballet. They were covered only by thin cloth; whether it was their elegant movements or the occasional splash of water, it elicited waves of cheers from the crowd.

"Ooh~~!!"

Beside him, Brock joined in the cheering with the crowd.

At this moment, his eyes were wider than ever before, like dumbbells.

"What's so good about this?"

Ash looked completely bewildered.

In terms of muscle, those three women were scrawny; one punch would probably make them cry.

In terms of strength, they swam so slowly that if he went in, those three women combined probably wouldn't be faster than him.

"You don't have the Will of Rock. You don't understand."

Brock patted his shoulder and said earnestly

"The Will of Rock is steadfast. Also, only when you observe the world from the perspective of a rock can you discover the mysteries of the world."

Ash nodded in confusion, gaining a deeper understanding of Brock.

"So this is the Will of Rock..."

He looked at the cheering, jumping crowd around him and couldn't help but gasp.

"Cerulean City, huh? What a terrifying place. Everyone has the Will of Rock..."

Thus, the two found an empty seat. While watching, Ash tried to learn the powerful Will of Rock from Brock...

Afterward.

It was underwhelming.

The crowd left the Cerulean Gym noisily.

Ash and Brock took the opportunity to slip into the gym's backstage area. Coincidentally, the three older sisters had just finished their performance and were still wearing swimsuits.

Even their hair was wet as they walked toward them.

"Today's performance was a huge success~"

They celebrated as they walked.

The three quickly noticed two uninvited guests and couldn't help but ask

"Oh, are you looking for autographs? Sorry, you have to talk to our manager first."

Ash quickly straightened up and said

"No, my name is Ash, and I'm here to challenge the Gym."

Brock somehow pulled out a bouquet of flowers, his teeth flashing with a white light as he said

"My name is Brock, and I possess the..."

Before he could finish, one of the blonde women interrupted

"Oh, so you're here to challenge the Gym. Let me introduce myself, I am the eldest of the Cerulean Sisters, Sakura."

"A man with the Will of Rock..."

The second woman with blue hair interrupted again

"I am Aoi, the second sister of the Cerulean Sisters."

"I can invite you to dinner..."

The third woman with pink hair interrupted once more

"I am Botan, the youngest of the three. Since you want to challenge the Gym, follow us."

As she spoke, she turned and asked curiously

"Is this dark-haired student looking for a restaurant? Turn right at the exit for 300 meters, and you'll find the Cerulean Gym's themed restaurant~"

Brock: "..."

Never mind then.

Sorry for the intrusion...