"Why is Misty out shopping at a time like this? I'm about to challenge the Gym!" Ash grumbled on the way to the Cerulean Gym.
At such a crucial moment, she wasn't cheering him on or offering strategy advice—she'd actually left? Couldn't she wait until after his Gym battle to shop?
"Heh, you'll probably find out soon enough," Brock said with a chuckle. But the cryptic tone made it sound like a riddle, and Ash didn't understand at all.
Before long, Ash and Brock arrived at the Cerulean Gym. Unlike the Pewter Gym, the exterior here was already lavish and grand. From appearances alone, the two Gyms weren't even on the same level.
One looked like a countryside hut, the other a polished city mansion.
Ash glanced sideways at Brock, his eyes practically saying—Why's your Pewter Gym so shabby?
Brock twitched at the corner of his mouth, sighing helplessly. "What can I do? Every bit of the Gym stipend goes to raising my younger siblings, not to mention the Gym's daily expenses and the cost of training Pokémon. If I didn't have a side job on the side, the Pewter Gym would've gone under long ago."
"Seriously? But the Cerulean Gym looks so fancy, like they're rolling in funding. They've gotta raise Pokémon too, right? Their expenses shouldn't be all that different from yours." Ash scratched his head in confusion.
In the Pokémon world, expenses fell into two categories: Pokémon-related, and everything else.
The first was astronomical. Evolution stones like the Moon Stone could cost tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands. Daily Pokémon food easily ran several hundred to over a thousand a day.
But outside of Pokémon, life was dirt cheap. A day's worth of meals for a family of three cost only a hundred to two hundred at most—not even close to what feeding a single Pokémon cost in a day.
That's why raising Pokémon was the real money pit. Even with Brock supporting nine siblings, it was still cheaper than raising a few extra Pokémon.
So the difference between the Cerulean Gym and the Pewter Gym really shouldn't have been this big.
"Because the Cerulean Gym has extra income. Look." Brock pointed to a poster at the entrance, the bold words reading: "Cerulean Water Ballet."
When Ash and Brock asked the staff at the door if they could enter, the staff told them a performance was underway. If they wanted in, they'd need to buy tickets.
One ticket cost a hundred and fifty. Compared to Pokémon expenses it wasn't outrageous, but as just an admission ticket, it was steep.
This was the extra income Brock had mentioned.
"This is way too expensive… You have to pay admission just to challenge the Gym? Never heard of that before." Ash reluctantly handed over 150 Pokédollars for a ticket, muttering under his breath.
"Come on, you've only challenged one Gym so far. Cerulean's your second. Of course this is your first time hearing about it. And strictly speaking, you didn't buy that ticket to challenge the Gym—it's for watching the Water Ballet. Challenging the Gym doesn't cost a ticket," Brock explained while paying for his own.
"There's a setup like that too?" Ash was honestly surprised. Were Gym Leader salaries so low they all had to take on side gigs?
After buying tickets, the two went inside. The Water Ballet was already at its peak.
They were immediately greeted by three pairs of long, pale legs moving gracefully across the stage.
Three beautiful women, each with their own distinct look, danced elegantly over the pool, their one-piece swimsuits showing off smooth, porcelain arms and endless legs.
Under the lights, their pale skin seemed to glow with a soft halo, radiating warmth and allure.
"Laaruulaa~ruu~~" Ralts chimed in from Ash's shoulder, her wide eyes shining with interest beneath her aqua hair, clearly captivated by the performance.
Brock, on the other hand, was utterly transfixed. In backwater Pewter City, where would he ever see women of this caliber—let alone in swimsuits performing such a dazzling Water Ballet?
For him, the 150 ticket price was more than worth it. If he'd known this was the show, he'd have gladly paid 1,500!
Ash had to admit the three women on stage were impressive, but he hadn't forgotten his real goal: challenging the Gym. So he leaned toward a man sitting nearby and asked, "How much longer until this ends?"
The man gave Ash a strange look. Ninety-five percent of the audience here were men, all wishing the performance would never end. And here was someone asking when it would?
Still, he answered. "Probably twenty more minutes."
Ash and Brock found seats in the back. They'd come late, so the best spots were already taken. Ash didn't care, since he wasn't here for the show anyway. Brock, though, was riveted, eyes locked on stage—even if you couldn't actually see his eyes.
Ralts, cradled in Ash's arms, also stared at the three dancers. Her gaze, hidden under her bangs, was filled with curiosity and longing. Could she, someday, dance as gracefully as those women on stage?
Twenty minutes later, the show ended. Under the staff's guidance, the audience began filing out in order. Some tried to approach the Cerulean Sisters for autographs, but were turned away immediately.
When Ash tried to move against the crowd toward the sisters, staff stopped him as well, explaining that the sisters weren't accepting photos or signatures. But Ash flashed his Pokédex, proving his Trainer identity, and declared he was here to challenge the Gym.
Only then did the staff allow him and Brock through. Onlookers who saw this grumbled, demanding why Ash and Brock got in when they couldn't. The staff gave no reply, simply herding the crowd outside.
Led by one of the staff, a young woman named Hanae, Ash and Brock made their way backstage. On the way, Hanae began explaining a bit about the Cerulean Gym…