Cerulean Gym

Having made an agreement with Misty, Yuga released Gardevoir and allowed it to teach Staryu how to practice Psychic Power.

High level Psychic-type Pokémon would, through years of meditation, discover ways to enhance their psychic abilities, which is what humans refer to as meditation techniques.

The meditation techniques used by a Psychic are derived from those Psychic-type Pokémon.

The meditation techniques of different Psychic-type Pokémon are certainly distinct, and their effectiveness varies based on their experience.

Nana, in her previous form as Celebi, lived for many years and had developed exceptional meditation techniques. All the Psychic-type Pokémon in Yuga's Ecopark meditated according to it techniques.

While Staryu wasn't a Psychic-type Pokémon, this didn't hinder Nana from teaching it this set of meditation techniques.

If a Psychic-type Pokémon has a mentor from birth, their final meditation results will be vastly different compared to those who start practicing on their own.

Misty's family runs a Water-type Gym, so they might have considerable experience in training Water-type Pokémon. However, they are undoubtedly inexperienced when it comes to training Psychic-type Pokémon.

Without a proper set of meditation techniques, Staryu, once it evolves into Starmie, might waste its innate psychic talents and lack a potent defensive tool.

Trainers often say that training Psychic-type Pokémon is challenging, and one of the main difficulties lies in mastering meditation techniques.

Once Staryu grasped the meditation techniques that Nana was imparting, its psychic power would become robust enough, and using Psychic Power would no longer be a hurdle.

However, Nana's meditation techniques weren't easy to learn, and Staryu's psychic power was still quite weak, making it a bit challenging for Nana to teach.

Yuga and Misty sat on the side, observing as Nana repeatedly corrected Staryu's errors in meditation. Staryu's attempts were still quite clumsy.

Meditation requires a high degree of focus and mental concentration, but achieving both of these is not easy.

Each time, Staryu only managed to meditate for two or three minutes before automatically exiting its meditative state. Nana patiently instructed it on how to quickly re-enter the meditative state.

Nana often encountered this situation when teaching Medidite and others in the Ecopark, so it didn't consider Staryu to be unintelligent and taught it with great patience.

Misty, standing nearby and seeing her Staryu struggling to grasp the concept, furrowed her brow and said, "Is this meditation technique difficult to learn? Or is my Staryu just too clumsy?"

Yuga, smiling to reassure her, replied, "Meditation techniques are the foundation for Psychic-type Pokémon to become stronger, and they will be crucial in various aspects of their future training.

Your Staryu isn't a Psychic-type Pokémon until it evolves into Starmie, so it's natural that learning these meditation techniques may be a bit challenging. But remember, learning meditation techniques is better sooner than later; you'll understand their importance in the future."

Misty nodded without fully understanding the significance of advanced meditation techniques for Psychic-type Pokémon. She simply thought Yuga was knowledgeable and trusted his words.

Misty had brought her Gym's Pokémon to the Pokémon Center for treatment. After leaving her Pokémon at the Center, she had battled Yuga and then started learning meditation techniques from him. She had completely forgotten about her Gym's Pokémon.

Nurse Joy had called Misty several times over the Center's intercom system, but she hadn't received any response. Eventually, she contacted the Cerulean Gym.

Joy and the Cerulean Gym staff were quite familiar since the Gym's Pokémon often received treatment at the Pokémon Center.

It was Misty's third sister, Lily, who came to retrieve the Pokémon. She took the Poké Balls handed over by Nurse Joy and complained, "What's going on with Misty? How could she leave the Pokémon here like this and disappear!"

At that moment, someone familiar with the Cerulean Gym staff mentioned, "I saw Misty watching the commotion in the Pokémon Center backyard earlier!"

He then recounted the events that had taken place in the Pokémon Center's backyard to Lily. It seemed that due to the large crowd and commotion at the time, Misty had missed Nurse Joy's calls.

Lily, without hesitation, stormed off towards the Pokémon Center's backyard. She grumbled as she went, "This girl is becoming more and more unruly. She just goes wherever there's excitement!"

When she arrived in the backyard, she immediately spotted Misty conversing with Yuga. Without a second thought, she exclaimed, "Mr. Shimizu!"

Afterwards, Lily rushed over to Yuga.

Yuga, unsurprised by Lily's arrival, had calculated the time and knew that the Lily sisters should have arrived at the Cerulean Gym by now.

"Hello, Miss Lily," he greeted her with a smile.

Lily: (*≧▽≦) Mr. Shimizu is as handsome as ever!!!

Misty, standing nearby, overheard Yuga and Lily's conversation and asked in astonishment, "Sister Lily, do you know Mr. Shimizu?"

Misty had a cheerful personality and was naturally outgoing. She addressed Yuga by his name during their conversation, assuming a friendly tone.

Yuga pretended not to know and said, "Oh, so Miss Lily is Misty's elder sister."

"Yes, Misty is our fourth sister," Lily replied before giving Misty a playful pat on the back. "What nonsense are you saying? This is the Gym Leader I told you about, Mr. Shimizu. We adopted our new Pokémon from him. You used to like those Pokémon a lot."

Misty suddenly realized what her sister meant. Ever since Lily had returned from Hoenn, she had been enthusiastically talking about the Gym Leader of Verdanturf Town, highlighting how handsome he was. Little did Misty know that the person Lily had been praising was Yuga.

"Why did Mr. Shimizu come to Cerulean City? If I had known, I would have invited you to visit our Cerulean Gym," Lily asked Yuga, glaring at Misty as if to say: You're in trouble when we get home.

Yuga replied with a smile, "Oh, it's nothing important. I had some business in the Kanto region and passed through Cerulean City."

Lily immediately suggested, "How about visiting our Cerulean Gym then?"

Yuga shook his head and declined, saying, "I'll pass for now. Maybe some other time."

Lily appeared somewhat disappointed and said, "Alright then, Misty and I will head back."

Afterward, Lily grabbed Misty's arm and scolded her, "You were supposed to take the Pokémon to the Pokémon Center, but you left them here like this? Come with me!"

Misty had a sudden idea and said, "Yuga, my Staryu hasn't learned the meditation technique yet. How about you come to the Cerulean Gym with me? Our gym is spacious; we have plenty of room."

Yuga glanced at Staryu, which was still struggling with its meditation, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Sure, why not?" Since he didn't have any immediate plans, he decided to visit the Cerulean Gym.

Initially, Lily was about to ask Misty what she meant by "meditation technique," but upon hearing Yuga's acceptance to visit the Cerulean Gym, she pushed that question aside.

Yuga's visit surprised both Daisy and Violet, who were still at the gym. They hadn't expected to meet him again so soon, and especially not in their own gym.

Inside the Cerulean Gym, Yuga also saw the stray Pokémon adopted by the sisters from the Pokémon Paradise.

The gym's battle arena featured a massive pool where many Water-type Pokémon swam and played around. Yuga even spotted the Pokémon that Violet had used in the Wallace Cup.

Seeing the adopted stray Pokémon frolicking happily in the pool, Yuga could tell that they were being well taken care of.

While Lily excitedly showed Yuga around the Cerulean Gym, the eldest sister, Daisy, learned about Yuga teaching Staryu the meditation technique from Misty.

Daisy scolded Misty by pulling her ear and said, "You have such audacity! How could you accept something so precious without consulting me first? Your cheek is really something!"

After Daisy's explanation, Misty finally understood how valuable the meditation technique that Yuga had taught her was.

"How was I supposed to know? You never told me!" Misty protested, covering her ear.

Daisy sighed and said, resigned, "Never mind, just remember the favor he did for you."

Although Cerulean Gym was an established gym, its reputation had declined significantly in the Kanto region. This decline began after the Gym Leader, who was also the father of the four sisters, passed away.

The three sisters' skills were indeed lacking, and they struggled to maintain the reputation of their gym. In battles, they often ended up losing more than winning. As a result, rumors spread that Cerulean Gym was the weakest gym in the Kanto region.

However, the more these rumors spread, the more challengers arrived at the gym, further fueling its notoriety.

Cerulean Gym did have a history and a legacy, with many Pokémon left behind by its predecessors. This was why, despite the negative rumors, there were no complaints from other gym leaders about Cerulean Gym.

While Cerulean Gym's reputation may have declined, its primary function, which was to ensure the city's safety, remained intact.

But the sisters, Daisy, Lily, and Violet, were determined not to rely on the gym's legacy to bolster their image. Instead, they chose to use their own Pokémon to face challengers head-on.

Despite their cheerful demeanor, the sisters were under a lot of pressure. They couldn't simply abandon the gym that their family had worked hard to maintain. If they did, Cerulean Gym might become the first of the long-standing gyms to be shut down, and they would lose their standing in the Pokémon League.

Misty, fully aware of her sisters' struggles, so she was determined to make Cerulean Gym the strongest Water-type gym in the world. She knew that her sisters wanted to revitalize the gym, but their current abilities fell short.

Daisy was particularly grateful for the valuable meditation technique that Yuga had taught Misty. She hoped that her younger sister would grow quickly and take on the responsibility of revitalizing the gym.

As an older sister, Daisy felt guilty about placing the burden of gym revitalization solely on her younger sister's shoulders. However, she saw no other way given their current situation.

Yuga's assistance to Misty made Daisy appreciate his help even more. She advised Misty to remember this favor and, when she had the ability, to repay it. Considering Cerulean Gym's current state, it would be challenging for them to repay the debt of Yuga's meditation technique.

In reality, Yuga hadn't thought too much about it. He had decided to teach Misty on a whim, and he was genuinely pleased to help her.

Aside from this, Yuga remembered how the former Hoenn Elite Four, Mr. Moore, had given him a Vulpix when he still just a novice trainer. Now that he had the means, he was willing to assist younger trainers when he could.

This was a common practice among the League's Elite Four and Champions, and Yuga believed it to be a positive tradition.

Under Lily's guidance, Yuga quickly toured Cerulean Gym. He had heard about the gym's reputation before his visit, but after seeing it firsthand, he realized that despite the negative rumors, Cerulean Gym was still a formidable place. He noticed high level Pokémon during his visit.

All in all, Cerulean Gym remained a distinguished establishment with a rich history. Its external reputation might have been tarnished, but it still had the potential to shine.

However, these high level Pokémon rarely seemed to make public appearances and silently guarded the gym.

Yuga received a warm welcome from the three sisters during his visit to Cerulean Gym, which left him pleasantly surprised.

With no rush to return, Yuga decided to stay in Cerulean City for a few extra days. He stayed until Nana had successfully taught Staryu how to use the meditation technique smoothly, enabling it to use Psychic without any hindrance.

What Yuga didn't know was that the advanced meditation technique he had taught to Misty's Staryu caused a significant power boost in Misty. When she later met Ash Ketchum, her strength surpassed herself in the original storyline, resulting in Ash losing in most of their battles. This spurred Ash to train even harder, ultimately leading to better results in the Indigo League Conference.

Of course, these events are a story for another time.

During his stay in Cerulean City, Yuga didn't accept the sisters' invitation to stay at Cerulean Gym but continued to stay at the Pokémon Center. Joylan provided him with excellent hospitality, treating him as an honored guest of the Joy family.

After spending three days in Cerulean City, Yuga was preparing to return to Verdanturf Town when he suddenly received a call from his mentor, Mr. Kuni'o.

"Are you still in the Kanto region?" Mr. Kuni'o's familiar voice came through the phone.

Yuga replied, "Yes, I'm still in Cerulean City. I was just about to head back."

Mr. Kuni'o said, "Don't return yet. I need you to go directly from the Kanto region to Jade Town in Johto. There's something I need your help with."

Jade Town? Yuga recalled that Jade Town was where Sora had taken over as the Gym Leader. He wondered why Mr. Kuni'o was mentioning it now.

"What's happening in Jade Town?" Yuga asked curiously. He had met Sora not too long ago, and he was the Gym Leader there. Yuga hadn't heard of any issues in Jade Town.

Mr. Kuni'o replied, "You'll find out when you get there. Don't delay; head to Jade Town immediately. Someone will meet you there."

Yuga decided not to press for more information and simply replied, "Understood, Master. I'll head there as soon as possible."

After ending the call with his mentor, Yuga promptly went to Cerulean Gym to bid farewell to the three sisters. He then set off for Johto.

Jade Town was a rather inconspicuous small town in Johto. It derived its name from the nearby Jade Mountain. The town's remote location made transportation difficult, and Yuga had to take several forms of transportation to reach there.