Following the trail Misty had marked, Kazuki finally caught up with her at a fork in the cave path.
"Kazuki, I… I don't know where Clefairy went! It jumped away so fast!"
"For such a chubby little thing, it sure moves incredibly well!"
"This way!" In just a second, Kazuki sensed the lingering presence of fairy-type energy and instantly grabbed Misty's hand, dashing down the correct path.
"Eh?" Misty stared at their interlocked hands, momentarily stunned.
Usually, it felt natural when she was the one looping her arm around Kazuki's. But now that he was holding her hand, her attention zeroed in on it completely.
W-we're already at this level of closeness?
Kazuki just grabbed my hand so casually—does he like me?
Hmph, well, that makes sense! I am the most beautiful girl in the world. Of course he'd fall for me!
As Kazuki sprinted ahead, focused on tracking Clefairy, Misty ran behind—fully immersed in her self-admiring spiral.
Fortunately, they didn't lose the trail. Kazuki eventually arrived at a cavern filled with Clefairy.
…
The three of them emerged from the tunnel and saw a whole cluster of Clefairy. Not far ahead stood a massive Moon Stone.
The Clefairy who had locked eyes with Kazuki earlier bounced forward again, stopping right in front of him with a gentle, friendly gaze.
Moments later, at a soft call, it hopped back to its group, placing its Moon Stone beside the giant rock—as if preparing for a ritual.
Rumble…
Suddenly, a tremor echoed through the cavern. The massive Moon Stone began sinking into the ground.
"Meowth! We'll be taking this magical Moon Stone, thank you very much!"
Team Rocket had returned—this time to steal the Moon Stone.
In the commotion, the Clefairy who had bonded with Kazuki stumbled and fell toward the newly formed chasm.
Kazuki reacted quickly, grabbing hold just in time—but the combined weight caused the ground beneath them to give way again.
"Pidgeotto!"
In the nick of time, Kazuki released Pidgeotto, which managed to lift both him and Clefairy back to safety.
"Butterfree! Pidgeotto! Go after Team Rocket!"
After ensuring Clefairy was safe, Kazuki immediately sent his two Flying-types to intercept the fleeing trio.
With a well-timed Gust from Pidgeotto and a coordinated strike from Butterfree, they easily brought down Team Rocket.
Unfortunately, Pidgeotto's Gust was so powerful that it wrapped things up too quickly—Kazuki missed the chance to see Clefairy use Metronome like in the original plot.
Still, with his help, the Clefairy successfully reclaimed their Moon Stone.
They bounced happily in a circle around Kazuki in gratitude before using their fairy-type power to carry the massive stone away together.
As the scene settled and the Clefairy scattered, Kazuki turned to leave—only to find the same Clefairy standing behind him, smiling joyfully.
"Hey Kazuki, I think this Clefairy wants to go with you!" Misty tugged excitedly at his sleeve, more thrilled than if she were catching it herself.
"You want to come with me, Clefairy?" Kazuki asked, partly to confirm, but also to cut off Seymour's likely moralizing speech.
Clefairy nodded enthusiastically.
This time, Seymour had no grounds to object. Kazuki promptly pulled out a Poké Ball—and with a flash of red light, Clefairy was his.
[Pokémon: Clefairy]
[Base Stats: 323]
[Level: Lv25 (Advanced)]
[Potential: Elite Four]
[Ability: Magic Guard – Immune to non-direct damage]
[Moves: Metronome, Sweet Kiss, etc.]
Though rare, it was likely that its potential had been capped by its peaceful life in seclusion—Elite Four tier was still solid for early- to mid-game transitions.
As for the long term, it would serve more as a badge of honor. After all, very few Trainers had ever caught a Clefairy. Only someone like Lusamine—wealthy and powerful—had one.
Which made it the perfect stepping stone to court Lusamine and Lillie later—mother-daughter combo, here we come.
After capturing Clefairy, Kazuki also quietly snuck away with a Moon Stone.
Mt. Moon was likely to be designated a protected area soon, and when that happened, obtaining another one for Clefairy's evolution would be near impossible without clout or money.
So best to prepare in advance. Still, he wouldn't rush the evolution—Clefairy didn't need to be part of the main battle team anyway.
After bidding Seymour farewell, Kazuki and Misty set off once again.
Having made it through Mt. Moon, they arrived at a fork in the road—one leading to Vermilion City, the other to Cerulean City.
Without hesitation, Kazuki stepped toward the Cerulean path.
But just one step in, his feet felt heavy—Misty was pulling hard on his arm from behind.
"What are you doing?" Kazuki asked, feigning ignorance.
"What are you doing?" Misty shot back.
"Isn't it obvious? We're going to Cerulean to earn the Badge!"
"Ahhh! That… um… how about we head to Vermilion City first? They've got yachts, seaside specialties—it's super fun!"
Just as expected, the moment Misty heard "Cerulean," she went full panic-mode.
But tantrum or not, Kazuki continued heading for Cerulean.
Not just because he was curious to see Misty's famously well-endowed, fair-skinned sisters…
But also because the system had already triggered a new mission the moment he stepped past the fork.
[Ding! Perfect Challenge Mission: Defeat the Cerulean Gym Sisters and obtain the Badge!]
[Mission Reward: Water Stone – Evolution item for specific Pokémon!]
And so, dragging a flustered Misty along, Kazuki continued toward Cerulean City.
Say what you will—when Misty dug her heels in, she was surprisingly strong.
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"YES! We hit 300 power stones! You guys are AMAZING! Next up: Can we reach 400?! If we do, get ready for a BONUS CHAPTER! thank you so much! 😊
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