Chapter 46: Competitive Spirit
The video continued.
Raina finally closed the ancient book, placed it inside her backpack, and began paying attention to where she was walking.
"Celadon City has a Gym and a department store..."
She counted on her fingers.
"After challenging the Gym, I need to restock our Pokémon food—and Eevee’s snacks."
Eevee’s ears immediately perked up.
"Eevee, Eevee, Eevee!"
"Yes, yes. I’ll buy you some new flavors."
Satisfied, Eevee settled back down atop her head.
Gengar pointed at itself as well.
"Of course I’ll get something for you too. Pokéblocks, right? I remember Nurse Joy saying Ghost types prefer the ones in purple packaging."
Gengar’s eyes lit up, and it gave her a thumbs-up with one chubby claw.
At that moment, a small brown figure suddenly leaped out of the bushes beside the road.
It was an Eevee.
A wild one.
It stood in the middle of the path and tilted its head while looking at the Eevee atop Raina’s head, its tail gently swaying.
Raina’s Eevee tilted its head and stared back.
The two Eevee gazed at each other for approximately five seconds.
Then the wild Eevee cried, "Eevee," turned around, and disappeared into the bushes.
A moment later, it returned with a Berry in its mouth. It placed the Berry on the path and nudged it toward Raina.
Raina froze.
"...Is this for me?"
The wild Eevee nodded.
It glanced once more at the Eevee atop Raina’s head, twitched its ears, then turned and vanished into the bushes.
[Regular-Seat Chat Group]
"Aaaaaah! A wild Eevee gave her a Berry!"
"The way it looked at the Eevee on Raina’s head was like it was saying, ’Brother, you’ve secured yourself a pretty good position.’"
"Wild Eevee: Fellow Eevee, are you living well?
Domesticated Eevee: Pretty well. I get snacks every day, although my Trainer has a terrible sense of direction."
"’My Trainer has a terrible sense of direction’—hahahaha! Raina really is a little directionally challenged!"
[VIP Chat Group]
[Dawn]: The two Eevee staring at each other was so adorable! Piplup, look!
[Piplup]: Piplup, Piplup!
[Tobias]: The way that Eevee leaped out of the bushes somehow reminded me of the first time I met my very first Pokémon as a child. How nostalgic.
[Max]: Huh? You’re Tobias?!
[Tobias]: I am.
[May]: Max, do you know him?
[Max]: Sis, Tobias is extremely famous in the Sinnoh region.
[Ash]: I battled Tobias too! His Darkrai was incredibly powerful! I was already drenched in sweat by the end of our battle!
[Tobias]: Ash’s determination was admirable. That battle also left a deep impression on me.
[Paul]: Hmph. I studied every frame of that battle’s recording. Had it been me, I wouldn’t have allowed Ash to seize those crucial opportunities.
[Gary]: Studying recordings of other people’s battles proves nothing. Do you dare battle me directly?
[Paul]: Anytime.
[Ash]: Can the two of you stop arguing every time you meet?! And Paul, why are you joining in now too?!
[Glacia]: How did the subject change from two adorable Eevee to an argument?
[Lorelei]: Because once men become competitive, they find it extremely difficult to stop.
[Diantha]: An excellent observation.
[Agatha]: We elderly people are far more composed.
[Bruno]: Weren’t you famous for your violent temper when you were younger, Agatha?
[Agatha]: Would you like to visit the other world ahead of schedule?
[Bruno]: Message withdrawn.
[Blaine]: Hahahaha! Agatha is still the same Agatha she was back then.
The video continued.
Celadon City.
Neatly trimmed shrubs and flower beds lined both sides of the streets, while a faint floral fragrance drifted through the air.
The first thing Raina saw upon entering Celadon City was the Celadon Department Store.
The enormous building occupied almost half the street. Its exterior walls were pale pink, and an enormous rainbow-colored sign hung above them.
Stars immediately appeared in Raina’s eyes.
"It’s enormous!"
Eevee poked half its head forward from atop hers, its eyes lighting up as well.
"Eevee, Eevee!"
Gengar scratched its head beside them, clearly unable to understand why shopping was so exciting.
Raina planted both hands on her hips, took a deep breath, and pointed toward the department store.
"We’ll go to the Gym first! We can shop after the Gym battle! This is called enduring hardship before enjoying the reward!"
"Eevee, Eevee."
"That time in Vermilion City was because... because the risotto smelled too good! This time is different!"
"Eevee~"
"It really is different!"
[Regular-Seat Chat Group]
"The way Eevee exposed Raina was far too realistic."
"Eevee: Never trust a Trainer’s mouth."
"Hahahaha! How is Eevee’s memory so good? It still remembers Raina eating three bowls of risotto in Vermilion City!"
"So will Raina actually finish her Gym battle before going shopping this time? I bet she won’t."
"I’ll take that bet."
[VIP Chat Group]
[Gary]: From a type-matchup perspective, Grass is strong against Water. The Grass-type Gym should still have the advantage.
[Volkner]: Do type advantages even work against Raina? What happened to Lt. Surge’s Gym?
[Lt. Surge]: Volkner, could you stop bringing that up?!
[Nanu]: Ahem. In this old man’s opinion, you young people are far too obsessed with victory and defeat. A Gym Leader’s responsibility is to test challengers, not necessarily to win.
[Roxanne]: That may be true, but losing without defeating even one of the challenger’s Pokémon would still be terribly embarrassing...
[Lt. Surge]: Enough! Enough! I’m begging all of you to stop talking about it!