Cerulean City: Pokemon Gym

A large, swimming-pool type Arena expands before you as you enter through the doors. The domed roof above seems to echo every sound as you enter the building, and find yourself looking at what is, most undoubtedly, one of the largest swimming pool/arena/aquariums in the land. Pictures of all the various kinds of water Pokemon line around the inner walls, including a large Lapras on the north wall. The pool arena is built for both swimming shows, and for pokemon matches. To the left a doorway leads towards what looks like a huge aquarium area, that wraps around all the outer walls of the roundish building. This building, with its high stadium-like seating (obviously for shows) is, without a doubt, built for an event in this water town.

Contents:
Zeph
Violet
Obvious exits:
Out leads to Cerulean City: Outside Gym Area.

Saturday, August 11, 2001, 1:48 PM The sky is clear brilliant blue and there's a light breeze from the west. It's warm. In the forest, the deep green leaves of the trees and bushes rustle in the breeze, which provides welcome cooling from the heat of the blazing sun. While at the coast, the sea sparkles in the brilliant sunlight, the waves rolling merrily against the shore.

The Cerulean Gym. From the inside, the area that can be seen outside of the Cerulean Gym seems bright and cheerful. The lawns are a beautiful verdant green. The trees are trimmed, the leaves glistening under the blazing sun. The sun itself shines down upon the landscape - typical hot, sultry summer weather. A figure can be seen approaching the gym, his shadow moving along the cement of the gym's path. It's Zeph. He takes a deep breath as he nears the glass doors, his hand trembling as he grabs the door handle and slowly opens it. He takes a few steps inside. Why is he so scared? He's been here many times before. Immediately, he gazes over across the pool with an expression of uncertainty and apprehension, as if he were arriving for something highly momentous.

Off by the gym's pool, seated in the lowest level of the stands, is Violet. The older teenager occasionally lifts a hand to brush her flowing blue hair back off her shoulder as she idly flips through the pages of a magazine. As Zeph enters, her gaze lifts over towards the boy. "Like, excuse me," she offers in his direction, closing the magazine in her lap, "Are you lost or something?"

Zeph blinks and shakes his head quickly, as if he were awakening from a trance. The trainer turns his head around towards where Violet is sitting, looking a little hesitant as he takes a step back. "Oh, no. Well, I was looking around for someone." He mumbles, taking a few steps forward again as he regains some of his confidence. "I'm Misty's friend - the one who has been training with her for a couple months now." He adds as he strides along the edge of the pool, taking occassional glances at the water while he speaks. "However, I'm looking for Daisy this time. Would you know where she is?" He inquires.

Standing, Violet brushes the hair back from her other shoulder and leaves the magazine resting on the bleacher bench. "Oh, you must be Misty's other little friend, or something," the older girl replies with an absence of tact, as if Misty could not possibly have more than one or two friends in the whole world. "She's not here," Violet answers with a faint eye roll about the runt, before Zeph mentions that's not the Sensational sister he's looking for. "Daisy's not here, either. She, like, had to go pick up our new costumes, or something." Taking a few steps over nearer to the boy, she adds, "But, like, maybe I can help you?"

Zeph droops visibly as he hears the news. "Oh." He says, his mouth forming in to a small o briefly. He looks rather hesitant, looking out towards the pool now and giving out quiet sigh. His right foot rocks back and forth, as if he were thinking of what to do next. "I came here to challenge Daisy for the Cascade Badge. Do you know when she will be returning? Is there anything you can do?" He begins to blurt out, turning back around towards Violet and rocking back and forth on his ankles. His hand subconsciously heads towards his Pokeballs, reaching for one of them. Zeph catches himself and draws his hand back. Stop being so nervous. It could make someone seasick.

With another dramatic eye roll, Violet replies with a cluck of her tongue, "Daisy's not the -only- one that can defend the Cerulean Gym, you know." A hand sets on her hip as Violet tosses her hair back with a smirking smile, posing as if Zeph had a camera at the ready. "Just because I'm the most beautiful Sensational Sister," she begins, "Doesn't mean I can't battle." The other hand shifts to Violet's other hip as she watches the nervous boy rock about.

An incredulous smirk appears on Zeph's face as he listens to Violet. "Really? Misty never told me that her three sisters were all gym leaders as well." Zeph remarks, putting his hand to his chin and looking rather pensive. "Well, if you're sure that it is not against the rules of this gym, I challenge you to a gym battle match. Is that all right with you? If you have the time of course." He continues, glancing over towards the pool and the yellow float and red float. "I hope I will be a worthy opponent for you. I'll introduce myself: I'm Zeph Sitka from the Seafoam Islands." He remarks, his hand falling back to his side.

"Misty's just jealous," Violet replies in a tone that annunciates the ends of every syllable with a slightly higher or lower pitch. "Like, I would be too, if I had such totally famous sisters and I was just the runt," she bluntly points out, her agitation with her little sister lost from her tone and her expression as the talk turns back to a prospective battle. "I'm Violet," she confirms to the boy introducing himself, "And as a Cerulean City Gym Leader and a Sensational Sister, I like, accept your challenge!" A hand lifts from her hip to gesture towards the pool, giving the boy a chance to pick his side as she adds, "Two Pokemon each, and like, whoever has Pokemon standing when the other runs out, wins."

"Misty is my friend." Zeph says with sad eyes, biting his lip and lowering his head slightly as if he were the one Violet is critisizing. He does not answer back. His attention quickly shifts back to the battle now, looking over towards the pool and the set of floats. "All right. That sounds great. I'll choose the red float." He says with emphasis, striding along the edge of the pool rapidly to reach the right end. Upon reaching said part of the pool, he takes a little hop and jumps on to the larger of the two crimson floats. "I'm ready when you are." He murmurs as he begins to recollect his thoughts and concentrate, looking up at the Cloyster shell hanging from the ceiling and over the gym pool.

Zeph's proclamation of Misty's friendship gets a strange chuckle out of Violet, like he just told a funny joke. A more measured pace without any hustle glides her over to the blue side of the gym pool, a graceful, long legged hop securing her on the respective platform. With a whistle and a pat on her knees, the blue haired young woman causes the water before her platform to stir with a churning wash. Out pops a red and beige Pokemon that swims over to a yellow float out in front of the blue one; a Krabby. "Ooooooookie," it murmurs, flexing its pinching claws out ahead of it. "Like, call your first Pokemon when you're ready, and you can go first," Violet calls over to Zeph.

"Thank you, miss." Zeph states with a nod of his head and a light smile, watching the Krabby intently out of the corner of his eyes. The trainer takes a deep breath, his mind racing as he gets ready for the water type battle. His hand subconsciously reaches towards a Pokeball, unclips it from his belt, and expands it. "All right." He begins as he holds the Pokeball right next to his face with one hand. "My first Pokemon will be my Lapras, Oceanus!" He declares, bringing his arm back and swinging it forward as he tosses the Pokeball in to the air. The red and white sphere glints as it spins, opening with a distinctive sound and releasing a majestic Lapras right in front of the red float. "Lappprass!" The large water Pokemon chimes in a silvery voice, his mouth gaping wide and his flippers lifting off out of the water. "Open with a Confuse Ray, Oceanus!" Zeph calls out from behind. Oceanus' eyes begin to twinkle like silvery stars, his mouth gaping wide as he shoots forth a blurring ray which distorts the air around it towards the crab Pokemon.

"Wow, like, Misty's little friends have some totally big Pokemon," Violet murmurs to herself and to the Krabby before her as the Lapras is called into the pool. "Okay, Krabby... jump in and use Bubble!" she calls. The smaller water Pokemon moves to comply, but is hit by the edge of the Confuse Ray as it drops into the water. The clear liquid in the pool churns as the Krabby swims about, its path not heading as straight for the Lapras as Violet might have liked, weaving along in more of a dazed serpentine instead. Krabby doesn't even bother to surface before unleashing a mouthful of Bubble Attack up at what appears to be the Lapras' underside, as soon as it gets in range. Hopefully, that's the Lapras and not a pool float.

"Oceanus! Watch out for that Bubble! Submerge and Body Slam right on top of it." Zeph calls out apprehensively as he watches the Krabby's sinuous movements below the surface of the water. Oceanus lowers his head, his horn projecting straight forward as his eyes follow the dark silhouette of the Krabby. He suddenly feels a pang of pain on the front portion of his stomach, causing him to cringe and close his eyes - only for a moment. His four mighty flippers begin to paddle in a rotary fashion as he submerges himself silently below the surface of the water, leaving only a series of ripples and bubbling on the surface. The large water Pokemon continues his downward ascent, attempting to flatten the much smaller water Pokemon by landing right on top of it and driving it in to the pool's whitewashed floor.

The Lapras succeeds, slamming the Krabby into the cement floor with a dull thud. The water on the surface is sent into a ripple that laps along the edges of the pool, the whole situation causing Violet to cringe with a wince. "Poor Krabby," she mutters to herself. Deep beneath the surface, the little shelled Pokemon is left to fend for himself, and fend he does; both claws open up and latch onto one of Oceanus' fins, pinching down with a hard Vice Grip attack as he tries to wriggle free from beneath the big beast.

Zeph watches quietly from atop of the red float, one of his fingers tapping his lip over and over as he leans over and tries to see what is happening under the water. The Lapras must battle with out any aid of his trainer now - Zeph suspected that a situation such as this one would happen ever since Misty told him about it. "You can do it..." He murmurs, his voice trailing. Under the water, the large water Pokemon's mouth gapes open as the annoying little crab grabs ahold of his flippers. His facial expression and head gestures are the only signs that he is in distress. The Lapras begins to swim up the water column, turning his head towards the Krabby and staring right at it for a moment. He opens his mouth wide, a luminescent white orb of energy building rapidly before radiating outwards as a series of jagged Ice Beams as he tries to shake it off and freeze it in the process.

The Krabby keeps on pinching hard as the Lapras stops pinning it down and tries to flee the Vice Grip attack, though the knock against the pool floor has it a little dazed. The recognition of the inbound Ice Beam isn't made until it's too late; the first jagged shot knocks the Krabby off and away from Oceanus' flipper, releasing the giant Pokemon from its painful grip. The second goes above and beyond that, freezing around him and causing him to float up to the surface like a novelty ice cube in a drink. By the time Krabby reaches the top of the water and pops to the surface, some of the ice has begun to melt off... though the little Pokemon looks far too bruised and beaten to shake off the rest of it and continue to battle. Pulling out a Pokeball, Violet calls, "It's okay, Krabby, you did your best. Like, return!" A red light sucks the tiny creature back up into the sphere. Turning to look down into the pool once more, Violet whistles again and another Pokemon surfaces at her call. An orange and white fish splashes up this time with a chant of, "Seaking!"

Zeph looks on, seeing that something is coming back towards the surface of the water. Could it be Oceanus? It's far too small. A much larger shadowy silhouette rises from the crystal clear waters, the crystal clear liquid of the pool sloshing off of his enormous light blue shell and dripping from his azure muzzle. "Lappprass..." He chimes in a silvery tone with some effort and a tired tone in his voice. "Wow. Wonderful, Oceanus!" Zeph begins with a light smile, before looking over towards the much larger water Pokemon Violet recently chose. "Oceanus! Try your Water Gun! Hit it in the face." He continues, gesturing over towards the fan-tailed fish. Oceanus responds with a shallow nod, his head wielding back before coming back down with a steady stream of pressurized water aimed at the Seaking.

"Like, Horn Drill, Seaking!" Violet calls out to the Pokemon as the Lapras is given further instruction, sending the Seaking to dive beneath the surface of the pool. Oceanus' Water Gun misses, splashing harmlessly into the wash of the departing evolved Pokemon as it swims underwater. Seaking's horn begins to rev up and spin about atop the fish Pokemon's forehead as it flaps its powerful tail fin, aiming up to plant a sharp blow to the Lapras' tender underside.

The Lapras gets hit really hard by the spinning horn, causing him to cringe and close his eyes - a faint, silvery shrill coming from his tightly closed mouth. The majestic blue Pokemon remains atop of the surface of the water for a few more moments, before keeling over and collapsing with a large splash. A wave radiates away from the point of impact, eventually lapping against the edges of the pool. "You were great, Oceanus. You know that. Return." Zeph says in a caring voice, extending his arm and recalling the Pokemon in to the Pokeball in his hand in a flash of crimson light. The trainer knows who to choose next, instinctively reaching towards the first Pokeball on his belt, expanding it, and holding it up. "All right. Go, Hoku! This is it!" He calls out as he brings his arm back, then swinging it forward as he throws the Pokeball - his second Pokemon. The Pokeball opens quickly this time, not even landing on to the float as if whatever is inside was waiting for this very moment to happen. A moment it wanted. "Hyra!" A Starmie vocalizes with a flash of his multi-faceted blood red jewel, landing on to the red float and keeping his ten-purple arms fully erect. He is ready.

"Like, totally awesome job, Seaking!" Violet tells the orange and white fish as the Lapras is knocked out and recalled by its trainer. Reaching up to flip her vibrantly blue hair off her shoulder, Violet then issues the order, "Use your Fury Attack!" The Seaking bobs with a, "King!" and begins to swim forward towards the float where the Starmie has landed, leaping up out of the water in order to knock into the ten armed Pokemon using the weight of its body and the pointed horn on its forehead to inflict the blow.

"Quickly, Hoku! Use your Light Screen! Make it knock itself away!" Zeph declares excitedly from the other end of the pool, gesturing over towards the swiftly moving Seaking with a wave of his arm. He does not seem as nervous as before - the battle has cleared his mind of his apprehension for the moment. Hoku animates slightly, his body levitating itself off of the float by about two feet. "Hyra!" He emits with another flash of his gem, a subtle yellowish glow beginning to develop on the outer fringes of his body. The aura then fades away, manifesting itself as a luminous yellow projection that glides forward from the central jewel. The hexagonal field of light spins and glows for a few moments, emanating a gentle psychic aura. "Hyra!" The starfish begins to lose his concentration as the Seaking impacts, his field shattering and causing him to move backwards in the air and land right in to the water.

With a large plunk, the Seaking is knocked into the water with the Starmie. Instead of returning to the surface, the big orange and white fish swims down further and away from the ten armed Pokemon, all while Violet watches from her perch upon the blue float. Beneath the gym pool's waters, the Pokemon couldn't really hear her vocalized calls that well, so it was left up to the Gym Pokemon's own training now. With enough distance gained, the Seaking swims back around and begins to aim for the Starmie once more, this time with a regular Horn Attack.

Zeph watches intently, his eyes widening as he watches the collision of water Pokemon occur right in from of him. "Hoku..." He murmurs worriedly, his hand covering his mouth for a few moments as his eyes move back and forth across the surface of the water. Is his Pokemon okay? Under the surface of the water, the Starmie drifts slowly through the water. His red jewel begins to glow with a soft light, flashing every so often as he attempts to pick up the Seaking's position with his psychic abilities. He does sense the presence of the Seaking. He also knows what it is trying to do, causing him to animate slightly and erect all of his arms as firmly as possible. The ten-armed purple starfish then begins to move across the water, spinning rapidly in an attempt to Tackle sideways in to the Seaking. As the horn of the fan-tailed fish impacts, he gets pushed backwards once more.

The Tackle attack deflects the Seaking off to one side as well, causing a slurry of bubbles to come up to the surface... but no Pokemon accompanies them. The Seaking is still underwater, driven downwards rather than back to the top of the pool by its own momentum and Hoku's blow. The tail fin of the evolved goldfish begins to pump harder to propell the Seaking forward with increasing speed, an Agility attack beginning to build up as the fish encircles the Starmie, churning through the pool's waters in doing so.

The Starmie regains his position at the bottom of the pool, his bottom three half grazing the bottom of the pool. The starfish begins to animate, his ten-arms fully erect as he begins to mentally process his next move. Hoku concentrates with all his might at the center of where the Seaking is swimming. The water swirls around him faster and faster. Why not go with the flow? Hoku ascends upwards through the water column for a few feet, beginning to spin his body around faster and faster on its axis. The clear liquid begins to spin around him, going in the same clockwise direction the Seaking is moving. On the surface of the water, a miniature whirlpool begins to develop from the combination of attacks. It's not very strong. It falters for a few moment, caving then reforming again. Under the water, Hoku continues to spin rapidly, causing the water to move faster. His gem flashes for an instant, leading up to a volley of golden Swift stars which fly outwards in every direction.

Several of the golden stars impact the Seaking as the two Water Pokemon spin in opposite directions, causing the pool water to bubble and churn on the surface from all the motions going on beneath it. The Agility attack of the Seaking is slowed some by the disturbance in the water, as well as the impacting energy from Hoku's Swift, but with a flip of a fin the fish finds itself aided not by his own current, but by that Hoku was generating himself. Inward he aims with a drilling sound permeating the water, his horn spinning about in preparation for a strong blow from his Horn Drill.

Hoku continues to spin rapidly, sensing the approach of the incoming Seaking. There is only one thing that may save him now from it: Hydro Pump. The purple starfish twirls on his axis even more quickly, looking almost like a purple globe floating in the center of the pool. The rapid water circulation begins to pull the whirlpool downwards towards the starfish. Zeph watches from his float, his eyes widening as he watches the hole continue to expand. A faint thud can be heard under the water. The water immediately caves in to the empty vortex to fill it. In a few moments, bubbles rise from the center of the pool, followed by a Starmie with a damaged jewel. "Hyra..." The water Pokemon emits weakly, floating along the surface of the water helplessly. "It's over. Hoku - that was very impressive. Return now." The trainer says in a low, soft tone as he extends his arm and recalls the starfish back inside his Pokeball.

As the Starmie is recalled to its Pokeball, the Seaking swims back over towards the blue float that Violet's standing upon. "Like, totally amazing, Seaking," the blue haired Sensational sister tells the fish as she reaches to pat it on the side of the head gently, allowing it then to dive back beneath the water in return to wherever it had been summoned from before. A graceful hop is taken by the young woman to the side of the pool, using great care to keep from falling in or causing a splash that might mess up her hair. "That was, like, a totally good try," she offers to the boy whom had been her opponent. "I'm going to have to, like, rush my Krabby to the Pokemon Center." Where was Misty when you needed her to run such an errand?

"I'll be rushing to the Pokemon Center as well. Thank you, miss. I'm honored to have had the chance of battling you." Zeph remarks, lowering his head for a moment and crossing his arms. It's only temporary. He soon springs right back up to his normal self. "I would love to have another battle with you miss - one day. I guess I just wasn't ready - neither were my Pokemon." He admits, turning around and leaping over on to the edge of the pool deftly. He then turns back around and bows slightly towards Violet out of respect.

Reaching up to flip the hair off her shoulder a last time with the hand not holding the Krabby's Pokeball, Violet replies with, "You're like, welcome, and stuff," in a cheerful enough tone. "Keep practicing, and I'm sure you'll, like, do better next time, okay?" Her head bops to one side as she speaks, her free hand coming to rest on the indentation of her waist at her hip. "Come back again sometime, and see one of our water shows!" she adds in a singsongy tone before turning to head off in the direction of the Gym's back area. If she could find Misty, or maybe Lily, she wouldn't have to go out in the hot sun herself to get Krabby treated.