"Ten days from now in Cianwood City, huh…" Kai made an OK gesture. "No problem. We'll be there!"
"Then I'll see you there!"
With a wave, Looker turned and disappeared around the corner, leaving Kai and Sabrina alone once again.
Kai stretched lazily and sighed. "Whew… That's finally settled. Now I can officially start my Gym challenge!"
Sabrina glanced at him. "So, which Gym are you planning to challenge first?"
Kai pulled out his phone and opened the map.
"Based on the straight-line distance, the closest Gyms are Violet City's Gym and Azalea Town's Gym. But if we're talking about actual travel routes, while the road to Azalea Town is a bit rough, it's much closer to Cianwood City. That means we'd have to take fewer detours when meeting up with Looker."
Sabrina nodded. "So, you're heading to Azalea Town first?"
"Nope! I'm going to Violet City first to challenge Falkner's Gym!"
What's wrong with this guy?
If he was going to take the longer route anyway, why did he even bother listing all that logic just now?!
Seeing her slightly annoyed expression, Kai playfully patted her cheek and laughed.
"It's precisely because Azalea Town is closer that I shouldn't go there first! Otherwise, once I finish the Gym challenge, I'll have nothing to do. Instead, I should start with Violet City. It's in the centre of Johto, making it easy to travel to other places afterwards. I can challenge Falkner first, then head to Azalea Town later."
Sabrina nearly rolled her eyes at his reasoning.
But ultimately, she had no objections.
Honestly, at this point, even if Kai decided to retire and settle down in Johto, she would follow him without hesitation.
By now, it was almost noon.
After grabbing lunch, they left New Bark Town and began heading west toward Cherrygrove City, passing through it on their way to Violet City.
Since they weren't in a rush, they took their time, chatting and enjoying the scenery as they travelled.
As they walked past a forest split by a winding river, Kai checked his phone and found a description of the area online.
It mentioned that this forest was home to thousands of Heracross and Pinsir a prime location for catching Bug-type Pokémon!
But since Kai wasn't particularly interested in those species and already had a Scyther he decided against venturing inside.
However, at the edge of the forest, he once again spotted the girl he had met yesterday.
This time, she was trying to catch a Pidgey.
But what was really strange was that she was narrating the entire battle like a sports commentator, cheering herself on.
"Chikorita, this is the deciding moment! We can't afford to lose! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
At her shouted encouragement, Chikorita twisted its head slightly.
Its eyes focused seriously on Pidgey, then, with a flick of its head, it sent out a barrage of razor-sharp leaves Flying Leaf Blade!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The glowing green leaves sliced through the air in rapid succession, bombarding Pidgey from all directions!
Pidgey tried to dodge, but most of the attacks still landed.
The small bird wobbled midair, then lost its balance and crashed onto the grassy ground.
Seeing victory within reach, the girl placed her baseball bat near her mouth, as if it were a microphone, and shouted:
"Our starting pitcher, Chikorita, is about to strike out the batter, wild Pidgey! Let's go for the final pitch use a fastball to end this game! Chikorita, use Tackle!"
To be honest, he knew nothing about baseball, but he somewhat knew about cricket.
He had no clue what "striking out" meant, but he could tell the girl was a huge baseball fan, which explained why she kept comparing Pokémon battles to the sport.
At that moment, Chikorita charged toward Pidgey.
But just before landing the attack, Pidgey suddenly recovered, flapping its wings and swiftly flying into the air, narrowly avoiding the attack!
The girl sighed but immediately regained her energy.
"What a shame! But no worries, that was just the first pitch we still have a second pitch! Chikorita, Flying Leaf Blade, one more time!"
Chikorita launched another flurry of razor-sharp leaves, striking Pidgey repeatedly.
This time, Pidgey couldn't hold on.
It fell from the air and fainted.
The girl jumped excitedly, quickly grabbing a Poké Ball.
With a proper baseball pitch, she threw the Poké Ball toward Pidgey!
A flash of red light.
Pidgey was successfully captured!
"Yes! I caught Pidgey!"
The girl hopped up and down, clearly thrilled.
And as if to celebrate her victory, she suddenly started singing.
"Let's sing a victory song to mark this moment! Now, let's start:~
♪ Riding the wind from Mt. Mortar, zipping through like a Thunderbolt!
♪ Light Screen, Thunder Punch!
♪ Glare, Glare—the mighty Electabuzz!
♪ Go, go, Electabuzz!"
'What was this song?!'
He knew Mt. Mortar was a mountain in Johto, but it wasn't famous for Electric-types…
And looking over at Chikorita, he saw that it was bobbing its head to the beat, happily swaying along with the song.
'Wow. Like Trainer, like Pokémon.'
Even if he didn't fully understand, Kai couldn't deny this girl was overflowing with energy.
But strangely enough…
The song was kinda catchy.
And as the song ended, the girl finally noticed Kai standing nearby.
Her eyes lit up, and she quickly ran over to him.
"What a coincidence! We meet again!"
Breathless from running, she tilted her head up at Kai with a bright, beaming smile.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself last time! I'm Casey! I just started my journey as a Pokémon Trainer from New Bark Town!"
Don't forget to drop some PowerStones!💎💎💎
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