Cerulean City, a waterway-surrounded city abundant in water resources.
The name Cerulean itself signifies the mysterious azure color of water, making the city's characteristics highly distinctive. Unsurprisingly, the gym here is a Water-type gym.
Dylan arrived in this city, of course, within the growth simulation world.
Noticeboard: Cerulean City Pokémon Gym, Gym Leader: Misty! 'The Spirited Mermaid~'
Seeing this notice, Dylan fell silent, but then thought of Brock, 'The Rock-Solid Trainer,' and understood.
It felt a bit juvenile, but it seemed fitting.
Speaking of which, Dylan had already asked Ilene to set up a noticeboard at the entrance of Rota, highlighting the Rota Gym and himself as the Gym Leader.
Ilene assured him it was no problem and that he could leave it to her.
He wondered how Ilene would describe it.
Just like in the game, Misty wasn't in the gym but had gone to the Sea Cottage with her boyfriend to watch the sunset.
Yes, Misty has a boyfriend in the game.
Dylan first went to the Sea Cottage to find Misty and her boyfriend, defeating all the wild trainers along the way.
He even encountered Team Rocket members recruiting new members.
Team Rocket is the evil organization in the Kanto region, specializing in illegal activities. Dylan was quite interested in Team Rocket, though not the one in this growth simulation world.
After reaching the Sea Cottage, Misty's boyfriend was scared away, and Misty, although a bit annoyed, dutifully returned to the Cerulean Gym upon learning Dylan was there for a challenge.
Then...
"Hi~ You must be a new trainer."
Misty, dressed in cool attire, greeted Dylan confidently.
"Only trainers who understand tactics can appear here. Do you use tactics when capturing and training Pokémon?"
"And my tactic is to attack with my Water-type Pokémon at full power!"
Misty smiled sharply, exuding confidence.
"So, let's begin our battle!"
And then...
"Wow~ You're really strong. Here's the Cascade Badge, proof that you defeated me."
Misty was astonished.
The battle started quickly but ended even quicker.
With Staryu at level 18 and Starmie at level 21, it wasn't much of a challenge.
Although obtaining the badge wasn't difficult, Misty from the game truly was a dedicated and perfect gym trainer.
Even when her romantic date was interrupted, she immediately adjusted her mood to return to the Cerulean Gym for a challenge upon learning about it.
This attitude was worth learning from.
After a few words of admiration, Dylan didn't waste much time. After securing the Cerulean Gym badge, he quickly headed to the next gym.
'Growth Simulation,' without exaggeration, is an incredibly powerful cheat in this Pokémon world.
Moreover, after clearing the Kanto region, Dylan can choose a Pokémon from a champion team to bring out of the growth simulation world.
What does this mean? The strongest Pokémon in the first generation are Mewtwo and Mew. If he remembers correctly, capturing Mewtwo requires becoming a champion and entering Cerulean Cave.
As for Mew...
If Dylan remembers correctly, Mew can only be captured at the 'Faraway Island' in the third generation.
In other generations, Mew is generally an event-exclusive Pokémon.
The question is, if this growth simulation world simulates the first-generation game, will there be a place to capture Mew?
Dylan isn't sure, but it doesn't matter much. There's still Mewtwo, after all.
Even without Mewtwo, the legendary birds Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno are good options.
Enhancing the strength of his Pokémon while obtaining a legendary one is quite motivating for Dylan.
Once I train in nine regions and emerge, I'll punch Lance of the Kanto Elite Four, kick Leon of Galar, and easily suppress Steven and Wallace of Hoenn. No problem at all!
Thinking even bigger, I'll call out that alpaca in the starting room, and if it dares to answer...
Forget it, that might be a bit too much. Let's focus on development first.
...
"Hoo~"
The next morning, Dylan opened his eyes and took a deep breath.
After a whole night's effort, Floragato and the others had significantly leveled up, but the growth simulation world was not entirely gamified.
Traveling from Cerulean City to Vermilion City would take some time, with many wild Pokémon and trainers along the way.
However, Dylan wasn't in a hurry. The pace was already quite fast.
After freshening up, Dylan went to the backyard.
"This is for Floragato, this is for Glimmet, and this is for Mareanie…"
Dylan prepared breakfast for his Pokémon.
"Meow~"
Clefairy floated over, pointing at itself and making a pleasant sound.
"I haven't forgotten you. This is especially for you."
Dylan picked up Clefairy, petted it several times, and then took out the prepared breakfast for it.
"Meow~ Meow~"
Clefairy was very satisfied.
"Also, Clefairy can't fly, so be careful."
"Meow…"
Clefairy happily enjoyed its breakfast, seemingly not paying much attention to Dylan's words.
Dylan chuckled, sat on the picnic mat, and picked up his own breakfast.
"Dylan~"
"Ilene, just in time. Come join me."
Dylan turned and saw Ilene in a white dress.
"I've already eaten. You seem in good spirits today. Eh? Did Ekans evolve?"
Ilene smiled and elegantly sat beside Dylan, her eyes landing on the large, dark purple Arbok gulping down meat soup.
Arbok is the evolved form of Ekans! Ilene recognized it, as Arbok is a dangerous wild Pokémon with a cruel nature, often involved in attacks each year.
Arbok's appearance is also quite distinctive, being dark purple with black stripes and a creepy pattern on its chest resembling a large cobra.
"Yes, it worked hard." Dylan nodded with a smile.
Last night, Dylan had Ekans gain enough experience to evolve at level 25.
"It looks very well developed. It must be over four meters long, right?"
Ilene took out her Pokédex and pointed it at Arbok.
The standard size of Arbok is around 3.5 meters, but Ilene estimated that Dylan's Arbok was over four meters long, indicating good development.
'Ding~ Arbok, Poison-type, Cobra Pokémon
Ability: Intimidate Moves: Thunder Fang, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Crunch, Poison Fang, Screech, Glare, Sucker Punch, Haze…
Description: When it spreads its hood to intimidate opponents, it can emit a terrifying sound from its mouth to scare them.'
It looks so strong~!
Ilene was surprised to see Arbok's stats. Its combat power had significantly increased compared to when it was Ekans! Ilene had personally seen Dylan capture Ekans, using the superior agility of his Sprigatito to defeat it.
In just a few days, it had evolved into Arbok.
"Dylan, you seem like a genius!" Ilene's eyes sparkled as she looked at Dylan.
Although Ilene wasn't a trainer, she knew there were differences among trainers too! The talent of a trainer is intangible but very real.
Two sixteen-year-olds starting at the same time with the same initial Pokémon could end up with vastly different strengths! One might become a champion dominating Kanto, while the other struggles to collect eight gym badges.
The world is never fair, that's the reality.
To give a simpler example, with the same Weedle, one trainer might develop a Beedrill that can easily defeat another's Beedrill in a month. This is the real difference in trainer talent.
Dylan raising Ekans into Arbok in such a short time showed that he might have outstanding training talent! "Umm…"
Dylan pondered, not sure how to respond.
"Ilene, is there a possibility that while training, it just evolved?"
"Huh?"
(End of chapter)