Chapter 55: Viridian Gym

Chapter 55: Celadon Gym

"Don't worry," Xia You said solemnly. "As soon as I challenge the Celadon Gym, I'll leave this place immediately."

"I believe in your strength, then I'll wish you success in advance." The handsome man's tone shifted. "However, regarding what happened just now, I must disclose something else to you. If our preparations are completed when we raid the Team Rocket base, we will also form a special operations team to serve as the vanguard. We might even invite you to join at that time."

"Eh? Me?" Xia You was stunned for a moment before quickly agreeing. "Of course, no problem. Since Team Rocket has already made me a target, I can't just stand by and watch no matter how I think about it. But who else will be in the special operations team?"

"Well..." The handsome man thought for a moment. "Those who can enter the special operations team will naturally possess considerable strength. We will do our best to invite the Elite Four, and at the same time, we will contact excellent Gym Leaders from the Pokémon League."

Xia You couldn't help but nod. If they could truly achieve such a lineup, they could truly walk through the Team Rocket base with impunity.

After hanging up the phone, Xia You followed the main road and arrived at the Celadon Gym.

The exterior of the Celadon Gym was somewhat similar to the common gymnasiums found in schools. Its roof was earthy yellow, while its sides were silver-gray, situated within a massive garden in the city center.

As the official gym of Celadon City, the Gym Leader Erika's specialty was Grass-type Pokémon. Defeating her would grant the Rainbow Badge.

Entering the gym, Xia You first arrived in a spacious lobby. Several beautiful young women in shorts were working; seeing him, one of them, a blue-haired girl, walked over.

"May I ask what brings you here?"

After Xia You stated his intention, she led him deeper into the gym. As they left the lobby, the first thing that caught his eye were the various greenhouses presented within partitioned glass rooms.

The greenhouses were lush and green, filled with leafy trees, shrubs, and flowers. Compared to a gym used for battling, this place felt more like an indoor garden.

Speaking of which, the perfume Xia You had purchased yesterday was produced right here. The staff here were exclusively young and beautiful girls who not only worked for the gym but also held dual roles, managing business in the perfume shop.

Along the way, many Grass-type Pokémon ran back and forth from time to time, playing and frolicking happily under the care of the staff.

Walking to the end, they finally arrived at an elegant room.

Through the window, one could see Erika kneeling on a tatami mat in the main seat. She was holding scissors, trimming flower branches in a vase while explaining something to the ladies before her.

Seeing Xia You staring intently, the blue-haired girl beside him explained, "Miss Erika is not only the Gym Leader but also a famous flower arranger. Many people come every week to learn the art of ikebana from her. Sir, do you also enjoy flower arranging?"

"Yes, in a sense, I do enjoy it very much," Xia You nodded. "Flower arranging is pleasing to the eye and can soothe the mind; it's a very good way to regulate one's emotions."

Before long, the lesson inside ended. When Erika walked out of the room and saw Xia You, she recognized him immediately.

"Are you the person from the shop yesterday?"

Xia You said, "That's right, it's me. I didn't want to intrude last time, so I've come specifically to challenge Miss Erika this time."

As he observed Erika closely, Xia You found her appearance to be truly beautiful. She appeared to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, and she was somewhat petite in stature. Looking at her attire, she wore a kimono for both daily life and work, clearly a traditional woman, and her every movement carried the grace of a *Yamato Nadeshiko*.

"I see. Please follow me."

The three of them returned the way they came until they reached a fork in the path that turned toward the battle arena.

Seeing those Grass-type Pokémon again, Xia You couldn't help but remark, "Oddish, Bellsprout, Exeggcute, Gulpin, Victreebel, Vileplume... the variety of Grass-type Pokémon here is truly complete."

Erika smiled and said, "I have loved nature since I was a child, and I also love Grass-type Pokémon, so I raise some. Furthermore, the perfumes in the shop are all made by extracting substances from their leaves."

Arriving at the battlefield, the two stood on opposite sides.

Despite her mastery of Grass-type Pokémon, the arena was not set up with any obstacles that would favor her; instead, it was a completely open, ordinary field.

However, the only noteworthy feature was that directly above the field was a skylight. With the sun high in the sky, warm sunlight poured down, enveloping the entire arena.

The blue-haired girl walked to the center to act as the referee.

Erika said, "The rules here are limited to three Pokémon. As long as you can defeat all of my Pokémon, you win the match!"

With that, she was the first to send out her first Pokémon.

It was a Pokémon entirely covered and entwined in vines. It had no arms, only a pair of feet that seemed to be wearing red boots peeking out. Through the vines, one could only see a pair of large eyes and nothing else.

Pokédex: "Beedrill—no, Tangela. The Vine Pokémon, Grass type. Its body is wrapped in blue, constantly twitching vine-like plants, making its true form invisible. It waddles when walking and likes to use its vines to entangle nearby objects. Even if the vines are damaged, new ones can quickly grow back."

Xia You took out a Poké Ball and threw it onto the ground.

To deal with such a pure Grass-type Pokémon, one naturally had to use type advantage to suppress it.

"Go, Charmander!"

Looking at the Charmander with the roaring flames burning on its tail, Erika shook her head slightly.

As a Gym Leader, due to her type specialty, she had no other Pokémon to substitute to counter Charmander. Therefore, as long as the difference in strength wasn't too vast, the outcome of this battle could actually be predicted right now.

"The battle begins!"

Following the blue-haired girl's command, the two Pokémon launched their attacks almost simultaneously.

"Tangela, use Stun Spore!"

"Charmander, use Ember!"

Clumps of glittering powder flew toward Charmander, but the moment the Ember was spat out and hit the powder, the flames surged violently, burning most of the powder away!

Was this some kind of chemical reaction?

The flames continued to burn toward Tangela, but perhaps due to the properties of Chlorophyll, Tangela's speed had doubled under the abundant sunlight, allowing it to narrowly dodge the attack just before the flames arrived.

However, it must be said that Erika's idea was good; knowing the type disadvantage, she wanted to paralyze Charmander's body first before making her next move.

Unfortunately, her plan still fell through.

(End of Chapter)