“Come on, I want to battle you all!”
“Pika!”
As the Cerulean Sisters arrived at the challenge area, Ash once again requested a battle, and Pikachu, unusually energetic, also wanted to fight.
The faint sparks on his cheeks indicated that his condition was excellent.
“Oh dear~~”
Hearing Ash’s words, the Cerulean Sisters were very helpless. Does this guy only think about battling?
“We have no fighting spirit left at all.”
Ayame clutched her head, her eyes a little unfocused. She genuinely didn’t want to battle Ash right now.
“How can this be?!”
Ash, Pikachu, and even Shiny Kirlia all had large drops of sweat on their heads.
“Before you arrived, we were utterly thrashed by three people from Pallet Town.”
Ayame explained to Ash why they had no fighting spirit.
Ash also had a black line on his forehead when he heard what they said. Did the other three arrive so quickly?
“Thrashed, utterly thrashed, so badly that our eyes were crooked, really.”
Ayame pulled at the corners of her eyes with both hands as she spoke, then crossed her arms to indicate how badly they were beaten.
“And almost all of our Pokémon have been hospitalized.”
Sakura closed her eyes and also explained to Ash why they didn't want to fight. It wasn't that they didn't want to, but all their battle-ready Pokémon were currently with Joy.
“All that’s left is…”
Peony enlarged the Poké Ball in her hand and threw it in front of Ash.
A flash of white light appeared, revealing a Goldeen flopping on the ground, looking at Ash with a very intelligent gaze.
“If he evolves into a Seaking, then he might be a little useful, but now he can only fight with his horn.”
“Now you know why we can’t battle, right?”
“We’re busy making ourselves more beautiful; we don’t have time to spend on training Pokémon.”
As Peony recalled the flopping Goldeen, the three sisters spoke one after another, stating their attitude.
“But…”
Ash still wanted to fight for the right to battle, after all, the Cerulean Gym still had an important badge to obtain.
“I know that, Seel!”
Sakura, of course, knew that those who came to challenge the Gym were after their blue badge. So, in front of Ash, she began to call for Seel to appear.
A pure white Seel jumped out of the water onto the shore, waddling up to Sakura and sticking out his tongue, on which was a blue badge.
“A blue badge. Do you want this? If you do, take it.”
Sakura took the blue badge from Seel’s tongue, ready to hand it to Ash.
“Kirlia. (I want one too.)”
Shiny Kirlia, who had been silent for a long time, raised her small white hand, indicating that she also wanted a blue badge.
“You want one too? Aren’t you his Pokémon?”
Ayame looked at Shiny Kirlia somewhat strangely, seemingly wondering why one person would need two badges.
“No, she’s my friend’s Pokémon. Jenny had something to discuss with him, so he let her challenge on her own.”
Ash, seeing their strange gazes, also revealed that Shiny Kirlia was Yu Feng’s Pokémon.
“Is that so? Well, it doesn’t matter, Big Sister. Giving one is giving, giving two is also giving.”
Peony clasped her hands behind her head, looking at her older sister and advising her. After all, they really couldn’t accept challenges right now, and looking at the sheen of this Pokémon's fur, she was definitely better trained than theirs.
Moreover, this Pokémon looked very beautiful. Instead of getting beaten up and then handing over the badge, it would be much better to just give it to her and avoid a beating.
“You’re right.”
Sakura considered the possibility of getting beaten and then took out another blue badge from her chest, handing it to Shiny Kirlia.
Shiny Kirlia looked at the still-warm blue badge with a look of disdain. This way of taking things, just like that big-chested monster, was too insulting to people—oh, it was too insulting to Pokémon!!!
“But taking a badge without a battle…”
Ash was still conflicted, wondering if it was improper to get a badge without battling at the Gym.
“Alright, don’t hesitate, just take it.”
Sakura was puzzled by Ash’s reaction. After all, how many people wanted to get a badge without challenging the Gym, yet Ash was still dawdling.
As Ash reluctantly prepared to take the blue badge, Xiao Xia’s voice timely rang out: “Ash, you wait a minute!”
“Xiao Xia?”
Ash was shocked by Xiao Xia’s sudden appearance. After all, he hadn’t seen her all day, yet now she was here.
Xiao Xia leaped down from a platform at least three meters high, landing steadily between Ash and the Cerulean Sisters, and looked at Sakura, saying seriously: “Sister Sakura, I’ll battle this match for you all!”
“What’s going on here?”
Ash looked at Xiao Xia and the Cerulean Sisters with a bewildered expression, seemingly trying to understand their relationship.
“I am the youngest of the Cerulean Sisters.” Xiao Xia’s mouth twisted into a proud smirk as she looked at Ash: “Yes, we are the four beautiful Cerulean Sisters!”
“No, it should be the three beautiful sisters and the ugly duckling.”
Peony suddenly jumped out to undermine Xiao Xia, but seeing her expression turn sour, she quietly retreated.
“That’s not important, Xiao Xia. Why are you back so soon?”
“Who was it who boasted that they would never return home until they became a great Pokémon Trainer?”
Sakura and Ayame also began to dig up Xiao Xia’s past.
“That’s why I said I didn’t want to come here.”
Xiao Xia’s eyes drifted. That’s why she said she didn’t want to come to Cerulean City; she knew she would definitely be teased by her sisters if she came back.
“So that’s how it is. That’s why Xiao Xia always opposed coming here.”
Even Ash now understood why Xiao Xia had constantly tried to stop him from coming to Cerulean City—she didn't want her sisters to find out she was back.
“What do you mean? You just couldn’t stand being compared to us three beautiful sisters.” Peony completely ignored Xiao Xia’s increasingly speechless expression, spreading her hands in a helpless gesture: “You deliberately used Pokémon training as an excuse to escape outside.”
“Why are you lying?!”
Xiao Xia looked at Ash, who seemed to believe her sister’s words, and quickly refuted them.
“To think you ran back so quickly, your sister is so sad.”
“It’s not like that, Sister Sakura, it’s that stinky brat and I have a bit of an issue.”
Seeing that Sister Sakura also seemed about to say something, Xiao Xia quickly stopped Sakura’s thoughts from wandering, pointing at Ash to indicate that she and he had some grievances.
“Ah… um… no way, why didn’t you pick someone a little more handsome? You really have no taste.”
PS
I didn’t really want to write this here, but I just had to get it off my chest. If you say my writing is bad and doesn’t meet your expectations, I accept that, because I know I’m not so great that everyone will like my novel.
But if you say my novel is like ‘Mo Hei,’ then I really can’t tolerate it. In what way is my novel like ‘Mo Hei’? Seriously, I’m so angry I’m full.