The Pokémon Battle at the Celadon Gym was quite a memorable one.
Aizen had his match first, and in the first round, he was up against a Parasect, which provided him an opportunity to let Vulpix enter its maiden battle and earn some experience.
The red fox was very excited, and despite having only gotten a Trainer yesterday, it obediently followed all of the Orayen Prince's instructions, putting all its faith in him.
Though, at first, Aizen only planned to let Vulpix gain some experience and call it back to watch the rest of the match, its dedication and focus changed his mind.
Even though Parasect was a Grass Pokémon and Vulpix had a Type-Advantage, the win did not come easy.
Its ability was Effect Spore, and coupled with the moves it used, Xeno had to fight in a drowsy and poisoned state. In the end, a final Heat Wave did its job as the grass Pokémon succumbed to it, but Aizen recalled Vulpix as well.
He sent his fox to Anira, who administered the antidote, and since the Pokémon was being treated, it meant that it had been retired and could not enter the battle again.
The next two rounds were won by Golbat and Scyther, who dealt with a Vileplume and a Venusaur, and the way they were focused in the battle, surprised Leaf.
What Aizen had done the night before yesterday, where he had made them all watch his battle against Anthony, truly worked like a charm.
Both Pokémon were already very hardworking, but she noticed that they had seemingly become a lot more cautious and determined in the fight.
It was especially the case with Scyther, who did not want to lose as pathetically as it lost against Tyranitar, even though there was no blame on it.
Tyranitar was never a good match-up for a Scyther.
The ruthlessness Scyther showed against Venusaur even made them wince. It almost seemed like it wanted to cut the Grass Pokémon into pieces with its blades, and the two little Bulbasaur, who were watching the battle, became scared of it.
Golbat was not much kinder either to Vileplume, but it was certainly not hell-bent on eliminating its opponent or taking its life.
After watching Aizen receive the Rainbow Badge, Leaf was pumped up, and her excitement rose when the first Pokémon she had to face was a Victreebel.
She put her Weepinbell against it, which resulted in quite a memorable battle, something that none of them would forget for a long while.
Leaf was not concerned about the first round as she had Pokémon who could win all three rounds by themselves. All she wanted to do was to give Weepinbell a chance to learn from Victreebel, which was exactly what it did.
Even though it lost the match, Weepinbell learned a new move, Solar Beam, which Leaf had been trying to teach it for quite some time now.
To the girl from Pallet Town, it was a win.
And she finally geared up to win the Badge in the next round.
Deciding to end things quickly, she sent out her Pidgeot, who had no problems whatsoever against Victreebel. It finished the Grass Pokémon with a well-executed Aerial Ace and waited for its next prey.
However, it did struggle a little against Bellossom, who managed to hit it with a Venoshock and a Toxic, which poisoned it. Even then, it managed to win the round, and Leaf decided to retire it, despite Pidgeot being in good enough shape to continue.
She was hoping she would get to face an Exeggutor in the last round, but the Pokémon Erika chose was a Tangrowth.
Still, she decided to go with her Exeggutor, and the battle that ensued did provide her with a challenge that excited both her and her Pokémon.
Tangrowth was one tenacious fellow, and it also knew how to use a Hyper Beam, which nearly caught them off-guard.
After a long fight, Exeggutor managed to come out as the victor and the girl from Pallet Town happily accepted her 10th Badge, the Rainbow Badge.
The closer she got to the twelve Badges, the more she missed her mother and home, and now, she just wanted to get done with everything and rush back to Pallet Town.
"Vulpix vul!" The red fox jumped on Aizen's shoulder as soon as they exited the Gym, and Anira carried her red fox in her arms.
The two Pokémon were very excited after witnessing and experiencing their first Pokémon Battle, and some people on the street found it a little unusual when they saw the Orayen Princess conversing with her Vulpix, almost as if she could understand what the Pokémon was saying.
"Are we heading to the Mt. Moon now?" Leaf asked when they sat down at a table in a restaurant which also allowed Pokémon to enter.
"By foot? No. That route will take too long." Aizen shook his head. "How about we teleport to the Pewter City after the meal? Outside the Mt. Moon? We can search for a suitable Geodude or a Graveler there. If we don't find the right one, we will check out the Diglett Cave or the surroundings of Pewter City. I also need a Clefairy"
"Good!" The hazel-eyed girl readily agreed, and was quite excited to search for the last Pokémon that she had planned for her Indigo Conference team.
Since they did not want to alarm people by summoning the Mega Metagross inside the city, they travelled out of it, and then Dexter teleported them all outside the entrance of Mt. Moon, close to Pewter City.
Aizen, Anira, and Leaf smiled when they saw the Pokémon everywhere, busy and enjoying their life, and now this place seemed to have returned to normalcy.
It was indeed a stark contrast to their first visit here.
The Orayen Prince let out his Golbat to go and have some fun and greet some old friends. As for Leaf, she went together with Sabrina and Anira to search for a suitable Geodude or a Graveler.
"Vulpix vul..." The red fox happily chatted with the Shiny Eevee when it was called out, and then the two Pokémon followed their Trainer inside the Mt. Moon.
Aizen used his Aura Powers to locate the Fairy Energy and then entered the dungeon from one of its hidden entrances.
It took him some time to find the Clefairy Family, who had their home much deeper inside the dungeon, and they all happily greeted him, recognising him from the last time they had met. Even though the circumstances back then were quite grim, there were no ill feelings between the two parties.
Aizen sat down with them, listening to their tales, and he finally revealed why he had come here to see them.
"I need a strong Fairy on my Team. Is anyone willing to come with me and explore the world?"
"Clefairy.. clef.."
"Yes, there will be Pokémon battles."
"Clefairy... cleff.."
The Orayen Prince sighed when one by one they all started apologising to him.
These Fairies did not like fighting and they really loved living inside this dungeon with their family. Then again, Cleffa and its Line were all very shy Pokémon.
"Clefairy..." Finally, a timid voice sounded out, and Aizen smiled at the pink Fairy, who had its eyes lowered. "Fairy... fairy..."
It expressed its desire to come with him but apologised that it was not strong.
"I would love to have you on my Team." He gently said and then picked up the Clefairy before tickling its tummy, eliciting a cute fit of laughter. "And if you feel like you are not strong enough, we can always work on getting stronger. Don't worry about it."
"Clefairy!"
"Wonderful!" He laughed when she nodded to him, and then took a Luxury Ball and showed it to the Pink Fairy.
Clefairy gently tapped her hand on it, which initiated the catching mechanism.
The Pokeball blinked once before the familiar ding was heard, and Aizen immediately called out his new Pokémon.
"Welcome to the team!" He gently patted its head, which made it feel a little shy, and then together with it, he scanned the Pokeball on his Pokedex.
[Clefairy is a bipedal, pink Pokémon with a chubby, vaguely star-shaped body. A small, pointed tooth protrudes from the upper left corner of its mouth. It has wrinkles beside its black, oval eyes, a single dark pink oval marking on each cheek, and large, pointed ears with brown tips. A tuft of fur curls over its forehead, much like its large, upward-curling tail. Each stocky arm has two small claws and a thumb on each hand and both feet have a single toenail. There is a pair of tiny, butterfly-shaped wings on its back. Though incapable of flight, Clefairy's wings can store moonlight and allow it to float.
These Pokémon are usually very shy and hide from humans and even other Pokémon]
[This Clefairy is a Female]
[Ability: Magic Guard]
[Moves Known: Charm, Copycat, Defense Curl, Disarming Voice,
Pound, Life Dew, Moonlight, Gravity, Meteor Mash, Cosmic Power, Moonblast, Healing Wish, Misty Terrain, Misty Explosion]
Aizen weirdly looked at the Pokedex as he read all the information, and then curiously looked at Clefairy, who had her head shyly lowered.
"You said you were not strong." He smiled at her and watched her blush some more.
"Clefairy..." She replied that she was really not that strong, and the Orayen Prince failed to hold back his chuckles.
He thanked Arceus for blessing him with such a treasure of a Pokémon, and mischievous Fairies were always the cutest. Besides, this little one was way too adorable.
The girls excitedly approached him when they found him sitting outside the cave, on a large boulder, happily chatting with his new Pokémon.
And Clefairy jumped into his lap when they came close.
"You found your Clefairy!" Leaf happily smiled, curiously looking at the Pokémon, and Aizen chuckled at her words.
"I found the best Clefairy in the world." He told her, and both the girls pestered him to show them its information.
Leaf's mouth dropped open in shock as she read through Clefairy's moveset, and even Anira was very surprised at it.
"She's strong," Sabrina commented, which made the Pokémon in question blush again.
"Clefairy..."
The Orayen Princess laughed when she heard the Pokémon say that it was not too strong, and she knew that her brother had gotten his hands on a priceless treasure.
"You are adorable!" The Princess told her as she gently patted her head, and then smiled at her brother.
"Leaf found a really strong Graveler too. It's close to its evolution."
"Can I meet him?"
"It's not in a good shape. Was too stubborn so I had to beat it up. Now, it needs some treatment at the Pokémon Center."
"Alright then, let's head to the Pewter City."