Early in the morning, the four of them woke up in the Clefairy shop. Everything seemed as if nothing had happened, and the meteorite on the sacrificial altar outside had already been moved away.

Blue yawned and stretched, instinctively rubbing her shoulder.

“Why does my shoulder feel a bit sore…?”

“Haha, it's because your physique is no good. As for me, I was the Champion of staying up all night yesterday!”

Ash, beside her, was incredibly excited early in the morning, raising both arms. He was a man who never withered. In the end, Blue still didn't notice that there was an extra Clefairy in her Poké Ball. After she snapped out of her sleepy state, she joined Ash in cursing Gary.

She was possessed.

The four packed everything and set off. This time, they quickly crossed Mt. Moon and arrived at a fork in the road, where a signpost was still stuck in the ground. One side pointed to Cerulean City, and the other pointed to Mt. Moon, where they had come from.

Below the sign, there was a line of small characters. Blue, still in her possessed state, instinctively leaned in to read them.

“Gary the Great Hunk left this:” “Pig, is, of, read, come, over, backwards!”

What did that mean? She read it word by word: “Read it backwards…”

Suddenly, with quick eyes and hands, she saw the very first character and quickly covered her mouth, thinking to herself that this guy was indeed no good. Hmph, she was still so clever and intelligent. How could she fall for such a childish trap!

Blue smiled smugly. Just then, she suddenly saw another line of small characters below the first one.

“There wouldn't really be an idiot who reads it halfway backwards and then stops, would there? They wouldn't actually think they're very smart, would they? Don't make me laugh, hehe.”

Blue: “!!!”

Utter humiliation!

A faint wisp of black aura rose from the ground and coiled around her. Blue suddenly turned her head and patted Ash's shoulder. Her fair, beautiful face was now somewhat distorted, and her teeth were tightly biting her lower lip.

“Fellow countryman, I must leave first…”

Ash, not understanding, asked confusedly, “Huh, fellow countryman, aren't you coming with us?”

“No, there's a certain someone dancing on a grave, and I need to put him back in his place…”

Then she patted the Bulbasaur beside her:

“Get your Vine Whip ready, little garlic!”

“Bulbasaur, Bulbasaur!” Bulbasaur responded.

One person and one Pokémon charged towards Cerulean City in a thousand-meter sprint and quickly disappeared from the sight of the other three.

The three: “...”

What an energetic girl...

Cerulean City.

Unlike Blue's deep-seated resentment, Ash didn't harbor too much malice beyond wanting to pin Gary down. The three leisurely arrived in Cerulean City. Hearing that this was also Misty's hometown, Ash wanted to take this opportunity to scout out the Cerulean Gym in advance. As the saying goes, know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

But when he turned his head, there was no one else behind him except for a squinty-eyed muscle man.

“Huh, where's Misty?” Ash asked confusedly.

Brock patted his shoulder and urged:

“She probably has relatives visiting. Let's not worry about her and hurry to challenge the Gym.”

“As expected of someone with Rock Will, truly understanding.”

With that, the two ran off in one direction, full of excitement.

After some aimless running, the two arrived at a place that looked like an aquarium from the outside. A large Dewgong icon hung on the sign.

“Is this the Cerulean Gym? Why is it so flashy?”

The Gyms in Ash's impression should be hardcore, like the Pewter Gym.

“Let's go, let's go!”

Brock, impatient, directly pushed Ash into the Cerulean Gym.

Pushing open the main door, they found a wide corridor with huge aquarium walls on both sides, housing some strange and exotic fish Pokémon.

“Beep beep. Feebas, the Beautiful Pokémon. Found everywhere. Recommended to release.” “Beep beep. Magikarp, the Ferocious Pokémon. Covered in scales. Not tasty.”

Ash shook his Pokédex. It was over. It seemed this thing was truly broken. One was clearly the weakest Pokémon, and the other didn't look very good-looking. Was it speaking nonsense?

The two no longer hesitated and pushed open the front door to enter.

Inside the door was an area resembling an auditorium, filled with a dense crowd of spectators, mostly male. And at the center of their gaze was the stage, a large pool where three women were performing synchronized swimming. Their graceful movements and the splashes of water they occasionally created elicited cheers from the audience.

“Ooh~~!!”

Brock beside him also shouted along with the audience. His eyes were wider than ever before, like barbells.

“What's so good about this?”

Ash looked utterly bewildered. In terms of muscles, those three women were so thin that a single punch would probably make them cry. In terms of strength, they swam so slowly that if he went in, the three women combined probably wouldn't be as fast as him.

“You don't have Rock Will, you wouldn't understand.”

Brock patted his shoulder and said earnestly:

“Rock Will is steadfast, and only when you observe the world from the perspective of a rock can you discover the beauty of the world.”

Ash nodded, not understanding, and gained a deeper understanding of Brock without realizing it.

“Is this Rock Will…?”

He looked at the cheering audience around him and couldn't help but gasp.

“Cerulean City, what a terrifying place. Everyone here has Rock Will....”

So the two found an empty seat, and Ash watched while trying to learn the powerful Rock Will from Brock...

Afterward.

The audience noisily left the Cerulean Gym. Ash and Brock also took the opportunity to sneak into the Gym's backstage. Coincidentally, the three women who had just finished their performance, still in their swimsuits and with wet hair, walked towards them.

“Today's performance was a great success!” they celebrated as they walked.

The three noticed the two uninvited guests and couldn't help but ask:

“Oh, are you here for our autographs? No, you'll have to find our manager first.”

Ash quickly said seriously:

“No, my name is Ash, and I'm here to challenge the Gym.”

Brock, not sure where he pulled out a bouquet of flowers, his teeth flashing white, said:

“My name is Brock, and I possess…”

But before he could finish, one of the blonde women, Daisy, interrupted:

“Oh, oh, so you're here to challenge the Gym. Well, let me introduce myself. I'm Daisy, the eldest of the Cerulean Sisters.”

“The man with Rock Will…”

The second woman with blue hair, Lily, interrupted again: “I'm Lily, the second sister of the Cerulean Sisters.”

“Can I invite you to dinner…”

The third woman with pink hair, Violet, interrupted again:

“I'm Violet, the youngest of the three sisters. Since you're here to challenge the Gym, then come with us.”

As she spoke, she turned her head and asked curiously:

“Is the student next to you looking for a restaurant? Turn right 300 meters outside, it's the Cerulean Gym themed restaurant~”

Brock: “...”

It's nothing.

Excuse me.