Chapter 86. Celadon Gym
After cutting the call, Natsume walked out of the Pokémon Center.
Celadon City was enormous, and land in the central district was at a premium.
Even an official Pokémon League facility like the Pokémon Center, which usually occupied the very heart of a city, had made a concession this time.
Natsume opened the map and found that he was in Celadon City's Third Ring.
Any farther out would be the suburbs.
Fortunately, big-city transit was convenient and well-connected, so even if the Pokémon Center's location was out of the way, getting around was still easy.
Before long, Natsume stepped out of the subway and arrived at Celadon Gym.
"Tss— It's so big. This Gym is richer than I expected."
Celadon Gym was a building with a huge transparent dome, like an ecological museum.
The Gym covered a vast area, and he could faintly see large forest-like habitats inside, home to many Grass-type Pokémon.
Most importantly, while this wasn't exactly Celadon's central district, it definitely still counted as within the First Ring.
"If only it were like the games, where you beat the Gym Leader and get pocket money."
Tossing the Ultra Ball in his hand, Natsume headed toward the massive Gym.
At the base of the Gym was a long flight of steps that, in such a pricey area, took up no small amount of space.
There were many people going up and down the steps.
Natsume noticed that most were adults with children, which clearly meant they weren't here to challenge the Gym.
"'Chlorophyll heartbeat, photosynthesis smile.'"
Natsume stared for a moment at the slogan posted outside the Gym.
Looking up, he realized the Gym didn't have a plaque like other city Gyms with its name on it.
"Urban Oasis?"
Natsume read the gilt letters on Celadon Gym one by one.
"Sir, are you here to bring your child to the Urban Oasis ecology hall? Nature is the best educator!"
A uniformed staffer walked up to Natsume and pitched the attraction with enthusiasm.
"No thanks. I'm here to challenge the Gym." Natsume waved a hand.
He remembered that the last time he came to Celadon City—about two years ago—this side business wasn't here.
"Oh, I see. Please come this way!"
The staffer led Natsume inside and pointed to a corridor.
Natsume nodded and stepped into the passage.
No sooner had he entered than he saw Ash Ketchum trudging out, dejected.
"Ash?" Natsume waved.
"Natsume! You've got to stand up for me!" Ash suddenly hugged Natsume's thigh.
"What happened?" Natsume looked down at him, puzzled.
"The Gym Leader here blacklisted me and won't accept my challenge!" Ash's eyes were brimming with tears.
"Why blacklist you?" Natsume's expression grew stranger.
"The Celadon Gym Leader, she… she's the owner of that perfume shop. Natsume, you might not know—mmph."
Natsume covered Ash's mouth.
"I get it." Natsume rubbed his chin, thoughtful.
This Gym sure had a lot of side businesses, which explained how they could buy such a large parcel of land here.
"Natsume, what should I do now?" Ash squatted on the floor, crestfallen.
"Where are Pikachu and center-parted?" Natsume noticed that Pikachu and his own center-parted weren't following behind Ash.
"Oh, Pikachu's inside touring with Misty and the others, and center-parted is sleeping on a solar lamp."
"Sleeping on what?" Natsume blinked.
"Clang!"
From the far end of the corridor came the sound of shattering glass.
Before the two of them could react, the doors at the end of the passage swung open, and a center-parted Pikachu—blanket and all—was tossed out.
"Pika?"
Center-parted sat up, bleary-eyed, rubbed its eyes, yawned, lay back down, pulled the blanket over its belly, and a little bubble puffed at its nose.
Natsume facepalmed. Ever since center-parted fused that Divinity fragment, it had grown more and more drowsy.
Ash stepped forward, picked up center-parted, and looked at Natsume with a pitiful face.
"Natsume, without the Rainbow Badge, what do I do?"
"Here, take this—the Rainbow Badge."
As he spoke, Natsume handed Ash a multicolored Badge shaped like flower petals.
"Whoa—Natsume, where'd you get this?" Ash gasped.
"It's fake. Where else would it come from?" Natsume said, pulling out a black bag from who knew where.
He opened the bag to reveal all sorts of forged Badges, uncannily realistic.
"…"
"Ahem, Natsume, why are you carrying so many fakes?"
"On the road, your identity is what you give yourself," Natsume repeated.
"No way, no way. I want to defeat them and earn the Badge with my own strength!" Ash shook his head, determination flashing in his eyes.
"In that case, we break our way in!"
Natsume changed into a Team Rocket Executive uniform and handed Ash a smaller Team Rocket Grunt outfit.
"???"
"We'll get permanently blacklisted if we do that…" Ash was speechless, feeling this was getting less and less reliable.
"Clang!"
The doors swung open again, and three figures were tossed out.
"Gentlemen, without a special invitation, please buy tickets!"
"Curse it, meow!"
Meowth scrambled up in fury—then froze.
"This is all your fault, Jessie! Who told you to let it slip!"
"And wasn't it you, James? We could've just gone in and—"
Jessie snapped her mouth shut.
"Natsume—and you, twerp—what are you doing here?"
Three pairs of eyes snapped toward Ash and Natsume.
"Hold it. How do you have that uniform!"
"Found it over by the Game Corner," Natsume lied without missing a beat.
"Game Corner?"
The trio blinked, then sparks lit in their eyes.
"Meow, did you hear that?" Meowth yanked the other two close.
"We heard it, we heard it—the Executive uniform from the Game Corner, meow…"
"Maybe that unknown idiot Executive the Boss put the whole organization on alert for is actually the one from the Game Corner, meow!"
"Yeah, yeah! We're very close to Saffron City here. He must've dropped it while fleeing in a panic!" Jessie analyzed, eyes gleaming.
"And I heard the highest jackpot no one has ever won at the Game Corner—Dragonite—was actually that Executive's Pokémon," James added.
"It matches, meow. It matches perfectly, meow!"
"But the perfume here…" Jessie hesitated, eyes wavering.
"Who cares about perfume, meow!"
"We drag that Team Rocket rat out, and the Boss will surely praise us, meow!"
"Promotion and rank—Executive uniforms on our backs, meow!"
"Alright, we set out right now!"
Afraid someone else would steal the credit, James immediately dragged the other two and sprinted off.
"Natsume, don't tell anyone you found that uniform, meow. Just say it's a replica—please, meow!"
Even as they rushed past Natsume, Meowth didn't forget to beg him to keep it secret.
"What are they even doing?"
Watching Team Rocket suddenly dash off, Ash tilted his head in confusion.
Natsume shook his head. He only knew that there was a Team Rocket hideout in a certain Game Corner in Celadon City.
But as for why the trio suddenly got so excited, he couldn't figure it out.
"I don't know. But I've thought of a good idea that might help you get inside."
Natsume lowered his head and looked at Ash.
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