Anticlimactic

The next morning, Scarlet had departed from the Pokemon centre in search for the Cerulean Gym, which was very easy to find due to the Gym being in the centre of the city.

Though, what baffled her was when she reached there, "Is this really a Gym?" She questioned to herself in disbelief, "No, this looks more like a Aquarium or a show performance arena."

Even so, she went inside along with the people that were entering in the highly modelled Gym building.

"Ticket." A security guard stopped her in front of the main gate.

"Ticket for what?" Scarlet frowned in question.

"Ticket for the Aquarium show held in the building." The security guard sternly answered, "If you don't have a ticket, you're-"

"Lexy." Scarlet threw a Pokeball on the ground, and as Alex came out, the people around started panicking and running away. Where else, the guard had fallen down on his buttocks with a frightened for life look on his face.

"Does this ticket suffice?" Scarlet snorted irritatedly at the rude guard.

"Y-Yes, Ma'am!" the security guard answered with a fearful shout and ran away. He cursed himself for not considering that she could be a Pokemon trainer. Probably because, people forget that this place is officially the Cerulean Gym as well.

"What's happening?" Alex grunted in a low growl as he looked around. People were screaming at his sight and running away, which was annoying him more than disturbing his sleep in Pokeball.

"Well, we have reached the Gym." Scarlet told him ignorantly and proceeded to enter the Gym building.

Alex shrugged carelessly about her antics and followed her inside. Though, he had to destroy the entrance since it was really very small for him to enter through.

Scarlet gave him a look that said, "Was it really necessary?"

And in response, Alex looked away with blank face, "Your Problem."

"Hey, what's going on here?!"

"Who is disrupting our show?"

"Don't you have any manners?!"

Suddenly threw women dressed in a beach costume showed up in front of them, while the duo were searching for the Gym stadium.

"Hello." Scarlet greeted, "I am Scarlet from Pallet Town, I am here to challenge the Cerulean Gym for the Cascade Badge."

"Well, then you're facing the Gym Leaders right now." The blond haired and tallest woman of the three answered, "I am Daisy."

"But did you really had to Destroy the entrance?" The one with Blue hair spoke next, "By the way, I am Violet."

"And I am Lily!" The last one of the three introduced herself cheerfully, "And we're the sensational sisters of the Cerulean City!"

"Here, the Cascade Badge." Daisy took out the Badge from a necklace in her cleavage and handed it to Scarlet, who was startled by what just happened.

"No, wait a second!" Scarlet shouted in disbelief, "You're giving me the Cascade Badge just like that? Is this a joke or the Badge might be fake!"

"No, we just don't want to deal with any of the Trainers that come from Pallet Town." Violet answered with a stressful sigh.

"Yeah, the bunch from there are hard to deal with." Lily nodded in agreement.

"Just last week, our youngest sister had to come to the Gym with a trainer from that City and he pretty much defeated her for the Badge." Daisy decided to explain, "And I don't want to admit, but Misty is the best Trainer amongst all four of us. She's not here, so there no meaning in doing a Gym Battle."

"Well, that sucks." Scarlet dejectedly leaned on Alex, "I guess now you don't have to fight them."

"Well, sucks for me." Alex was really yearning for some seafood from this battle, "But well, this helps us progress further without wasting any time."

"What Gym are you approaching next?" Daisy questioned curiously as she also wanted to give some tips to the rude but cute girl.

"Um, according to the Map, Saffron City is the closest if we take Route 5 from here to the south." Scarlet answered and opened the map in her Pokedex as well, "And after Saffron City, we can go to the Vermillion City or Celadon City next."

"I'd like to ask if you have any Psychic-Type or Ghost-Type Pokemon." Violet stated, "Because without one, I don't think its a wise decision to challenge the Saffron City Gym leader, Sabrina. She's a scary Gym leader who even rivals the ability of Elite four."

"Hm, that might be a tough challenge for us." Scarlet thought to herself.

"Oi, you forgot that this Charmeleon is Psychic-Type as well?" Alex informed her with a smug grin, "Don't worry, we can take care of that Sabrina or whatever she is."

"You're right." Scarlet nodded cheerfully and hugged him tightly.

Seeing this, the sensational sisters were a bit astounded and thought how daring the girl must be to hug a Charmeleon of that size without getting scared. Though, this made sense since she was his Trainer after all.

"Or else, you can take Route 24 if you want." Lily suggested with a smile, "I've heard that Misty's group had went that way to the Vermillion City. The Route is long, but it'll give you a good environment to train your Pokemons and challenge the Vermillion city when you reach there."

"The Pink head is right." Alex liked this suggestion, "Right now, the most we need is a suitable environment to Train. The upcoming Battles will only get hard from now onwards."

"Guess, you're correct." Scarlet stated thoughtfully as she considered her options.

Route 5 would take them directly to the Saffron City in a matter of almost two days, though this didn't mean that she's ready to face the Gym yet. Even this default victory for her was like a lucky coincident, since she didn't have any strong Pokemon except for Lexy to against a Water-Type Gym.

She had started the journey with the least time available for her, but that didn't mean she doesn't have time at all. A few days spent in training would only benefit her more, and there might be a chance that she gets more various Types of Pokemon in the longer route.

"Again, thank you for the Cascade Badge." Scarlet looked at the three Gym leaders in gratitude.

"It was our pleasure." Daisy waved off casually, "Just say hello to our youngest if you meet her in your Journey."

"I'll do that." Scarlet nodded in agreement and called back Alex in his Pokeball. She didn't wanted him to make another hole in the stadium on their way back.

Due to there being no Gym Battle today, which she hadn't expected, Scarlet had a lot of free time to prepare for their journey in the long route to Vermillion City. There would be no Pokemon Centres or health care in the forest hills, so she went to the Mart and purchased everything necessary, including her camping materials.

As for the Food, she didn't needed to worry about feeding Oddish and Ralts, since they liked to eat raw berries straight away and are aware of what types of berries to eat. But for Primeape and Onix, she had to purchase a lot of Pokemon food from the Mart.

As for Alex.. Well, he was carnivorous. He could eat berries for his survival, but its like feeding a Snorlax when it comes to him. So, she only bought his favourite Pokemon food from the Mart, because most of them time, Alex liked to do his Carnivorous thing and turn bad behaving Pokemons into his food.

The sun had set down by the time Scarlet had finished her shopping in Cerulean City. She decided to go back to the Pokemon centre to spend the night for the last time, before she leaves to Route 24 on the next day.

But before going to bed, she decided to give Professor Oak a call and report him about her achievements till now. The Call connected almost immediately, probably because she had dialled on his Lab where he stays almost all time.

"Oh, what a pleasant surprise." Oak said as he connected through the video call and saw the little Devil on another end, "So, Scarlet, you've dialled me from the Pokemon centre in Cerulean City. Was your journey safe, and how is Alex doing?"

"Alex is doing fine, but you won't ask about me, huh?" Scarlet said annoyingly, "Anyways, I got both of the beginners Badge. Hell, I didn't even had to battle for the second one."

"What do you mean?" Oak questioned with a raised brow.

"The Gym leaders of the Cerulean Gym didn't have any Pokemons for the battle, so they gave me away the Badge just like that." Scarlet answered with a casual shrug, "Though, I think that they were just scared of fighting my Lexy."

"Ah, that nickname.." Professor Oak visibly cringed. He wondered how Alex able to tolerate her so much, maybe, because she resembled him a lot in the annoying and pride aspect. Who knows?

"Actually, I wanted to ask you about Fossils." Scarlet came to the main point, "While travelling through the Onix Cave-"

"Stop right there!" Oak raised a hand on the screen and gave her a serious stare, "Did you just say Onix Cave?"

"Yes, why?" Scarlet titled her head in confusion.

"Do you know the survival rate of Trainers that accidently discovered that Cave?" Oak questioned with a angry expression, "Well, let me tell you, It's one! Not one percent, just one! And it was your Dad who had went to that cave first, that too after becoming a Champion."

"Oh, does that mean I am better than dad?!" Scarlet cooed excitedly in joy, "Oh, I want to see his face when I tell him that!"

"Tch." Oak annoyingly clicked his tongue and shook his head in disbelief, "Just tell me about the Fossils."

"Oh, yes." Scarlet came back to the topic as she remembered, "I got two Fossils from the Onix Queen-"

"Now it's the freaking Onix Queen.." Oak slouched on his chair with a stressed look.

"What happened, professor?" Scarlet asked worriedly, "You should see a doctor."

"No, I am fine." Oak shook his head and sat straight, "So what did you want to ask about the Fossils? Are they of a rare Pokemon?"

"Lexy said that they are rare, but he only knew one of them." Scarlet answered, "The one he figured out was of a Kabuto, while the other one was unknown to him."

"Hm.. Kabuto, a rare find." Oak nodded thoughtfully, "I think you should visit the research Lab on Cinnabar Island if you want to know about them more. There's a gym there, so you'll have to eventually go there."

"Okay, fine. I'll go visit the Lab when I go on that Island." Scarlet nodded in agreement.

"Anything else you want to say?" Professor Oak asked as he was a busy man.

"Ah, yes." Scarlet remembered and took out several stones from her pouch, and showed them on the screen to professor Oak, "I got these Evolution Stones from the Onix Queen as well. Alex said that they are rare stones to find, except for the Fire-Stone."

"You can easily become rich with those stones." Professor Oak said in agreement, "Especially the Dusk stone. If you're not intending to sell it in future, I suggest that you save it for a Eevee in future."

"There's no way I am going to sell these!" Scarlet complained immediately, "I got them as gifts, gifts aren't supposed to be sold. Not to mention, Lexy would be pissed off at me for selling them. It's more like a gift to him than me."

"Then you're correct." Oak felt relieved to know that the two were getting along, "Now, I'll be going back to my work. Call me if you need any help."

"Oh, I also.. Got a Ralts." The call went offline before professor Oak could hear what she was saying, "Well, loss for you." She snorted and decided to have her dinner with the rest of her Pokemons.