The midday sun glinted off the rooftops of Cerulean City as Nathan crossed the final footbridge into town.
Water coursed through every part of the city, streams winding between buildings, low canals flanked by flowerbeds, and curved paths edged with fountains. Trainers moved with purpose, and laughter drifted from the central square, where a Lombre spun in a fountain pool while its trainer watched with amusement.
Nathan took a deep breath. It smelled like clean stone, blooming herbs, and distant chlorine.
They had arrived.
𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 – 𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲
𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐆𝐲𝐦 (𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞)
𝐓𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬: 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 | 𝐃𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 | 𝐌𝐢𝐝-𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞: 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞
𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝: 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐠𝐞
𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐲𝐦 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬
Nathan made his first stop at the Pokémon Centre, checking his team in and reviewing his notes.
𝚉𝚘𝚛𝚞𝚊: 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝙰𝚚𝚞𝚊 𝙹𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚖.
𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚢: 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊.
𝙽𝚒𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚘: 𝚁𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚛. 𝙿𝚘𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚜 𝚍𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚆𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛/𝙿𝚘𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎𝚜.
𝚂𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚕𝚎: 𝚁𝚒𝚜𝚔𝚢, 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙽𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙿𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚟𝚘𝚝.
He flipped his notebook shut.
"I need eyes on the Gym before I finalise anything."
The Cerulean Gym looked less like a battleground and more like a luxury spa from the outside, sleek glass panels, cascading waterwalls, and a minimalist archway above the entrance. Inside, however, it shifted fast from tranquil to tactical.
A shallow lobby led to a two-storey observation chamber built around the main aquatic arena, a massive pool with elevated walkways, submerged platforms, and shifting terrain plates that could rotate or rise on command.
Nathan leaned against the glass overlooking it all, eyes scanning the battlefield.
No wonder the System called it "dynamic."
At the centre of it all stood a teenage girl with wet orange hair tied back in a braid. She wore a pale-blue jacket and stood barefoot at the edge of the water, watching a battle below.
A challenger, roughly Nathan's age, was battling with a Mareep.
It wasn't going well.
Misty's Starmie blurred beneath the surface, striking from below in pulses of water and light. The Mareep was trying to pin it with Discharge, but the timing was wrong, each attack met only ripples.
Three moves later, the match was over.
Nathan watched the challenger's frustration. Misty only offered a calm nod and a brief word.
Then turned away.
No theatrics. No condescension.
Just clean, efficient evaluation.
The Gym attendant beside Nathan noticed his interest.
"You here to challenge?" he asked.
"Soon," Nathan replied. "Just studying the pattern."
The man nodded. "Misty doesn't take walk-ins. She scouts each challenger before confirming the match. You'll get observed, sometimes without knowing it."
Nathan raised an eyebrow.
"She posts two or three scouts across the city. If they like what they see, you get a slip. Bring it here. That's your official entry."
𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝: 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐲'𝐬 𝐆𝐲𝐦 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞
𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:
𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟏: 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐆𝐲𝐦 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟐: 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐞 – 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞
𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟑: 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐲𝐦 𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 (𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤: 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐮𝐩𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭)
Nathan reviewed the map. "Trainer Square" lay just northeast, a large, open park built with raised platforms, terrain segments, and even a mini-stream for terrain simulation.
"Option two," he murmured.
He left the Gym and headed straight there.
By early afternoon, Trainer Square buzzed with activity. Young trainers battled on simple dirt fields while older teens tested weather effects on mock terrain plates. An older woman, perhaps a Gym staffer—stood to the side with a notebook, watching everyone.
Nathan took a position at an open circular field edged with thin grass.
He activated the System and released two of his team Zorua and Nidorino.
A younger boy approached, tossing a Pokéball. "Battle? 2v2?"
Nathan nodded.
The boy's team: a Poliwag and a Budew.
Zorua vs. Poliwag began.
It was no contest.
Zorua used illusion feints to fake a right-side attack, then struck clean with Feint Attack. The Poliwag barely had time to respond.
Switching to Nidorino vs. Budew, Nathan gave a quiet command: "Zone guard. No aggressive charge."
Nidorino moved with calculated patience, controlling the pace with sharp steps and a low Horn Attack that knocked Budew off rhythm before it could stun-spore.
Battle complete.
𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲: 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐤 +𝟏 | 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝 +𝟑 (𝐙𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐚, 𝐍𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐨)
𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 (𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 – 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝)
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
Sure enough, the woman with the notebook made a short note and walked away, slowly, but with purpose.
Less than an hour later, as Nathan was packing up, a courier in Gym uniform approached and held out a pale blue card.
"For Nathan," she said simply.
It read:
"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒕 𝑪𝒆𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑮𝒚𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒕 𝟏𝟎:𝟎𝟎𝒂𝒎. – 𝑴."
Nathan read it twice.
Then slipped it into his jacket.
The system blinked with confirmation.
𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝: 𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐆𝐲𝐦 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 (𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲)
𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 | 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
Nathan left the park as the sun dipped behind the hills. He didn't speak, but his team walked beside him without prompting.
The day had opened like calm water.
But now the current had picked up.
And Misty?
She was no shallow pool.