"Miss? Excuse me, miss?"
My eyes are totally glazed over, not reacting in the slightest. The room is silent save for the buzzing of screens until I insert another coin. Press the button three times. The number goes up. Insert another coin. Press the button three times. The number-
I jump out of my seat as a hand shakes my shoulder. "Miss! We closed twenty minutes ago, I have to ask you to leave."
"Weh" is all I can rasp out. I drag my hand over my face, peeling some of the crust from my eyes as it moves. The blood rushes to my head, and oh no, I feel myself-
Turmeric and Basil's vines form a net to catch me before I can topple over. Thanks.
How did we get here? After deftly winning our fight against Erika, I decided to wind down in the Celadon Game Corner for a half-hour or so. Well, maybe just
one more game than that... okay one more starting now. And so I continued. My coin case is at least crammed to bursting with tokens, but my Grass-types can't use any of the TMs they sell here, so there's not much to do but buy six Miracle Seeds and leave.
"H-Hey, stay away from this poster, you!"
I assume at first I've done something to peeve the staff member again, but when I manage to pitch my head up from the prize counter, I see the voice came from some guy in a black uniform. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
"This poster, I saw you getting close to it! I-I need you to stay away!" He punctuates his words by jabbing his finger into the poster, causing... A secret stairway to open up? The man is frozen in place as his eyes train on the stairs. Whatever this is, I'm
not ignoring a secret staircase.
what
[I guess this is as good a time as any to point this out. You can really tell this is a gen 1 remake with all the weird stuff you'd never really see in the Pokémon games now. People threatening to beat me up, references to real world events, the infamous guy outside Celadon gym. Sure is something.]
It seems that Team Rocket is holed up in the basement in the Game Corner, maybe it's a front for their crime stuff? That'd be kinda cool if every Team Rocket member weren't a total loser. Their Pokémon are so much lower level than mine and they just keep using Rattata and Zubat all the time. Rue has kind of been struggling in battle lately, but even she can tear apart these Route 1-tier teams. Their boss is only slightly less of a pushover. Rue Bullet Seeds his first two Pokémon, and Basil shreds his Kangaskhan with a few Razor Leaves. Giovanni is shouting about how his crew failed him, but he looks like he's fighting back tears. What a baby. He leaves behind these weird goggles and runs away.
After all that training, I could sure use some time playing some... no we're not doing that. It's bedtime.
The next morning it looks like Team Rocket has pulled out of Celadon, so I guess we've done something of a service.
I'd like to travel West to Fuchsia, but there's a really big man in the way. The goggles I found say they can see ghosts, so common narrative structure dictates I should probably return to Lavender Town and scale the Pokémon Tower where I'll find someone to help me pass. Whatever that means.
Lavender Town is only slightly less eerie in the day time. Fennel is still clinging close to Turmeric and I as we approach the tower. Now or never.
It's of course really somber here; I'm grateful I've never had to put a Pokémon to rest (Rue is still kicking!). I'm sure to be quiet as I pass through the first floor into the second, where only one person is standing.
"Whatcha doing here, Blue? Did your attitude finally kill one of your Pokémon?"
He stops in place, his back still turned to me. He rolls his shoulder, and as he turns his head, I see his eyes brimming with tears. "My Raticate is dead."
I'm such an asshole.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry, I didn't mean... Uuuu... Yeah I think I'm just gonna leave you alone now."
"
No," he spits, and opens his Pidgeotto's Poké Ball. "We're gonna fight, and I'm gonna incinerate every last one of your stupid Grass-types." I'm almost tempted to throw the fight right away to placate Blue, but some part of me isn't
that willing to ditch my pride. I try not to think about what that says about me. Let's say I just want Blue to earn the feeling of stomping me. Yeah.
Blue's Pidgeotto, Exeggcute, and Kadabra go down quickly, but as always, things get serious when Charmeleon comes in. Maybe this is Karma, but this Charmeleon proceeds to dodge three Sleep Powders from Fennel, and then scores a critical hit Ember that also burns Turmeric. We're in for a penny, and thankfully Turmeric lands the fourth Sleep Powder. Charmeleon stays asleep long enough for Basil to switch in and take him down with Secret Power. He only has one Pokémon left, but it's a really big dragon, if a bit underleveled. A mix of Leech Seed and Razor Leaf takes down his Gyarados before it can Thrash Basil to death.
Blue's eyes are open wide. As the thrill of the battle wears off, I remember just how not-satisfied I am with this victory. He's silent at first, but soon the quiet gives way to a cracked laughter. I might've broken him. "Okay, I think I just need to leave you be-"
"Oh my god, I can't believe you believed me! This is so hilarious!"
what
"You should've seen the look on your face! It was like this." His face twists into a horrified expression for only a moment before he breaks character and bursts back into laughter.
"What is wrong with you?!? Ugh, I'm not dealing with this right now." The only thing I can do is storm off and climb high enough in the tower that I stop hearing him. Even on the third floor, I can hear him cackling like a Mightyena. No, a Poochyena.
There's nobody mourning (or pretending to) up here, but instead everyone is just. Really weird. They're dressed in these strange costumes, they're chanting unsweet nothings to themselves, sometimes their Gastly just stab themselves and faint. Ghosts are actually really not ideal to fight when all of them are also part Poison and can Levitate. The best I can do is have Turmeric and Fennel weather them with resisted Acids - those are weaker than Razor Leaf but at least they're physical [thanks physical special split]. I encounter the ghost of a Marowak on the way up that probably would've bothered me more if I had the capacity to feel something about it right now, but at least I put her to rest.
Team Rocket's up here too? You have got to be kidding me. Basil is almost as annoyed as I am right now, so we both take out our frustrations on these Rocket grunts, enough so that he evolves into a Venusaur. That's at least something that gets us to perk up, and his flower is enormous now. We tear through the remaining Rocket grunts and rescue the old man it seems they're keeping at the top of the tower for some reason.
Sure enough, Mr. Fuji thanks me with a flute which he says can be played to wake a sleeping Pokémon. I wink at the camera.
There are two gyms in our reach now. Saffron gym is closer, but Psychic-types are scary when my Grass-type team is mostly Poison-type with extra steps (Rue is extra steps), so Fuchsia it is.
I'm about to attempt to play a tune, but Fennel reaches out for the flute instead. Whatever, I'm sure it'll be cute to watch her try. She's surprisingly alright at it, at least good enough to wake up the Snorlax blocking our way. [In hindsight, I absolutely should've Thieved the Leftovers this thing holds, but I forgot about it at the time. Most of the tough fights wouldn't really be helped that much by it, so we'll cope].
There's not much to say about the trip to Fuchsia City; I've gotten good enough at cycling that I can weave around the trainers so bent on stopping me to battle. Basil, Turmeric, and Fennel have outgrown their carts a little bit, but they don't complain about it, and I can pedal hard enough to not lose too much speed.
My first destination upon arriving to Fuchsia is their renowned Safari Zone. If there's anywhere I'm gonna find a Grass-type Pokémon, it's here. I wouldn't have expected a cluster of eggs to be even a Pokémon, much less a Grass-type, but when I watch Carroway the Exeggcute fire off Bullet Seeds at an annoying tourist prodding it, I know he's a keeper.
I'm not even sure it's accurate to give Carroway just one name; each egg seems to have a different personality. There's one egg in the center that orders the others around pretty fiercely, with all but one following orders. My Pokédex reacts is though it's one Pokémon, though, so if they want another name they can decide for themselves. He enjoys the Rare Candies I shove down his throat to bring him up to level.
Even so, we need to make sure Carroway is battle-ready, so we train in the Fuchsia gym. Carroway's secondary Psychic-typing is a breath of fresh air compared to the Poison gulags of old, and alongside a TM for Psychic, Carroway can shred the Poison-types that some of the gym trainers are packing (there's an egregious amount of Hypnos here, though).
I initially intended to fight some of the trainers I skipped on my way here, but when I accidentally bump into Koga in his gym, there's no choice but for me to fight him a little under-leveled. [The team's about level 38 here, but we were gonna have to undershoot the level cap a little considering Saffron gym is also level 43]. Carroway deftly takes on Koga's two Grimer and Muk, but only the lead egg is hanging on after that. This was somewhat poor planning, considering the Weezing Koga has remaining is easily his scariest Pokémon. Even so, Basil can land a Leech Seed and then some switching around between him and Fennel with occasional attacks in between takes Weezing down without anyone fainting.
I'm basically a Poison-type trainer too, so I brag to Koga almost as much as I did Erika.
The weather down here is pretty warm, so we celebrate with a picnic in the Safari Zone. We have to stay vigilant to make sure our sandwiches aren't snatched up by a Venonat or Doduo, but Carroway is prepared to throw eggs with anything that comes near. Stuffed with food, Basil leaps into my lap before remembering he's not an Ivysaur anymore. He absolutely squashes me, but as soon as his leg pulls back from my lungs I'm able to push out a laugh.
Some things never change.