Chapter 21 - Viridian City!

Time passed and Gan finally made it to the post, he passed by but those kids and parents from before were gone. He simply walked over to the checkpoint station, which most places had in Kanto and Johto. There were people eating, drinking, and conversing as usual; there was even a couple of Police drinking coffee.

Gan didn't waste his time here and continued through the checkpoint station before arrived near Viridian City. He could already see the large buildings, in fact, he could see them from Viridian Forest once he was close to the Checkpoint.

Viridian City had large business-like Buildings and streets, it even had neighborhoods. The place was teeming with people going back and forth, it was completely different from the game. This place completely outdid Pewter City in most aspects much to Gan's surprise.

The City had 3 exits, there was an exit to the North, which was Route 2. This was where Gan was currently coming from; this led to Viridian Forest and eventually Pewter City. To the South was another exit, which obviously led to Route 1, and eventually Pallet Town. And finally, there was the West which led to Route 22 and eventually towards the Pokemon League Reception Gate.

Gan already knew these things, he had watched the show and played the games several times. When he was first heading here, he had thought of fighting the Gym Leader. However, the current Gym Leader was Giovanni.

Gan found that Giovanni's name made sense, but most people never got the hint in his name. The guy used Ground-type Pokemon, and he even controlled the Viridian City Gym that gave out the Earth Badge.

The 'Geo' in his name hinted at the earth itself, thus, he used ground types; there was meaning behind his name. Anywho, Gan couldn't fight the Gym Leader yet because this Gym always had a strange and iron rule behind it.

You must collect all 7 Badges to challenge it.

Team Rocket's power ran deep, even Sabrina, Lt. Surge, and Koga were Team Rocket members! If Gan became the Champion and was still a member of Team Rocket, they would gain more leverage. It was no doubt that he would be promoted to an Admin/Executive instantly without question.

Viridian City was surprisingly huge, he was already informed that this was one of the Cities that had a Team Rocket Base. The Base here was quite powerful since this was where Giovanni had to be sometimes when a challenger arrived.

However, people rarely came to challenge this Gym, as most would give up halfway or from the beginning. Brock would usually stomp the quitters out before they could truly gain any leverage. So, some Gym Leaders would be quite surprised to see a challenger sometimes.

Gan made it to the City with no problems whatsoever; the streets were filled with people selling things. There were stalls set up selling food, clothes, Pokeballs, and some Magikarp for eating. There were even people cooking live Crabby on the streets, and selling it to the people watching the process.

"I've truly seen it all today!" People were actually eating Tauros, it was a good pokemon in Generation 1 and 2, but it was reduced to a stall market! Gan had to say it smelled really good, he obviously wanted to try some.

Gan searched for the nearest inn, he was tired after hunting in that forest. He didn't really do anything, but walking around and wasting so much time on that Weedle was exhausting. Gan didn't know where any inns were, so he asked some old man on the street, who selling Farfetch'd meat.

Gan bought some Farfetch'd meat, but he took a sample first and found that it was amazing. The Pokemon tasted like a duck from his world, but better. Gan sighed but it was just too good, he wanted to try some Crabby Meat, so he sampled it and bought some after.

He was hungry after that mess in Viridian Forest, and berries wouldn't be enough for him. After receiving directions to an inn from the old man, he went on his way. Once Gan arrived, he got himself a room, but not before buying himself a Bottle of Water and some Cherry Soda

Shutting the door to his room, he quickly summoned Koffing and Geodude to relax as usual. Gan stretched and started doing a few exercises before hitting the shower. Leaving the shower, he dried off and put on a new set of Clothes.

"Time to eat, I wanna eat me some Crabby Meat." Gan pulled the well preserved Crabby Meat from his Void storage and added it to his plate. Gan ate it with his Cherry Soda on the side, it was one of the most refreshing things he had ever had.

Celedon had things like this, but you had to go to an expensive restaurant for them. Stalls weren't in Celedon either, so in Gan's mind, Viridian City was the best place in Kanto so far. After enjoying that tasty lunch, he sat on his bed and reviewed his status for a bit.

He now had 31 different Species of Pokemon caught, he now needed 4 more to reach his Mission goal. Gan didn't take a nap right away and waited for about an hour and a half before taking his nap. When you ate, it was best to wait until your food dissolved in your stomach; people get fat that way by just eating and going to sleep soon after.

Time passed...

Gan went to brush and flaws his teeth, he even used a tongue scraper since the stuff that caused bad breath was usually, if not always on the tongue. He searched aimlessly in Pewter City for one but he happily found some on sale.

Gan recalled his Pokemon and left his room by locking the door and leaving. He nodded at the old man behind the counter on his way out, his room was on the second floor. The inn only had 3 floors, but most people didn't take residence in inns unless they were just visiting or foreigners.

The streets were still packed with people going about their business. Gan started to walk the streets, but a stall quickly caught his eye. This Stall was selling different types of PokeBalls and the sign even said that they would customize your own Pokeballs.

Gan didn't need something like tailor-made Pokeballs, it was best not to show off too much unless you had the strength to. Walking over, the man was calling out about his Pokeballs being on sale at a good price, and that he was even selling an ultra-rare Pokeball.

Many people stared at the Pokeball in awe, but none of them could afford what he was asking for. Gan looked at the Pokeball and instantly recognized what type of Pokeball it was. Many people walked away with sad expressions because they couldn't afford it, but they said that once they had enough they would come back.

With the crowd dispersing, Gan easily made his way to the stall that was currently occupied by a middle-aged man. He smiled proudly, it seemed somewhat smug and arrogant if Gan had to say so himself.

"Oh, another person who can't afford my beautiful Pokeball." The man looked at Gan with disdain before snorting coldly. Gan didn't seem to hear the man and looked closely at the Pokeball, it was all red in coloration.

It was a Cherish Ball!

"So, this is a Cherishball, right?" Gan asked.

"Oh, you actually know the name, everyone couldn't figure out what it was." The man gained a little respect for Gan after he knew what it was.

"But if you can't afford it, then get lost!" The man's voice turned cold again.

Gan looked at the Cherishball closely; the man sold other Pokeballs here, but this Cherishball seemed strange. Gan recalled that a Cherishball was all red, but it had a black line going around it through its center.

However, this Cherishball was all Red.

Gan tried using his Appraisal Skill as he did on Pokemon, and the results popped up.

Name: PokeBall (Tampered With)

Description: A device for catching wild Pokemon. It's thrown like a ball at a Pokemon, comfortably encapsulating its target.

'Hahaha, this damn scammer!' Gan sneered in his heart; this man was actually trying to scam people!

"Go on now, this is no place for a poor ghost like you!" The man grinned and shoo'd Gan to leave.

"Wow, that's rich coming from a con artist who decorated a Pokeball to look like a Cherishball!" Gan contents turned dark.

"How dare you talk to me like that when you're scamming people, let me ask a few people here about this!" Gan turned to the people passing by on the street, but before he could talk the man called out to him.

"Wait! Wait! Hold up! Wait a sec!" The middle-aged man's face turned pale, how was this kid able to tell the difference between the real and fake one?

Most people didn't even know about a Cherishball, so he tried to sell a fake knock-off. He had even scammed a few people in Celedon City before fleeing to other cities to do the same thing.

"Oh, I'm listening. Since I'm such a poor ghost, I might need some money to help me out a little. Hehe, you must have scammed a lot of people by now, but that's none of my concern, you need to pay up!"

Gan grinned, he either paid or spent his days in jail for being a scammer.

"I-I..." The man's eyes swirled around in his skull; they were filled with panic.

"I what? Spit it out, don't play with me!" Gan said coldly.

"I only sell the stuff, I'm the person who sells it and that's all!" The man hurriedly and spoke, but Gan didn't ask for all of that. The man cracked the minute he was hit with a minor threat.

"Is it Team Rocket? Who is it?" Gan knitted his eyebrows and asked. If it was Team Rocket, then he wouldn't meddle any further.

"No, it some other group, they're...." The man paused and looked both ways before whispering. "They're at the Black Market around this place, it's best not to deal with them; they sell Pokemon, Pokeballs, and other things that aren't even from this region."

Gan's curiosity was peaked, but if it got too dangerous then he would rather not go, should he get help from a few Team Rocket members here? Sadly, he didn't know the location of the Team Rocket Hideout here, so he couldn't get any help.

"Let's talk more around back, I'd love to hear more." Gan smiled, but at the same time, it wasn't a smile.. The man shivered slightly, he didn't know why but he felt danger coming from this kid for some reason.