Violet City

I do a bit of off-screen training to bring Cairo almost up to the likes of Garrison's awesomeness.

Finally, I reach some sort of gate. I'm told this is the way to Violet City, where I may earn my first "gym badge". Why this should concern me is a mystery, but I decide it's worth a visit since it is literally the only place I can go.

The guard inside seems friendly enough, if a bit thick-headed.

I have heard of Sprout Tower, and how it is located at Violet City's northernmost point. I ponder why he thinks I could have possibly been there, having come from the other direction, but I move on and don't let it worry me too much.

Once through the gate, I notice that this place is much less a city than a small collection of buildings. There's a Pokémon hospital here like the one in Cherrygrove, so I decide to take a visit for safety's sake.

And inside...

Inside... no... it can't be. This woman looks identical to the one before her - is she human?

I bring up the question as lightly as I can. She tells me that she has over 20 identical sisters and cousins, and shows a photo of them all gathered as proof.

No mortal human could produce that many offspring with every feature matching the other.

And the thing I saw back at Cherrygrove... That nameless, shapeless creature she assumed the form of. She insisted I was overtired and must have had a mild hallucination.

No.

I will find out the truth about these women. These demons.

Later, of course.

This boy wants a Bellsprout very badly. I tried telling him that if he walked just about a mile outside the city, he'd find plenty of them, but he just kept pushing that I give him one myself.

Something called "Onix" does sound powerful indeed. Alas, I have no Bellsprouts to spare. I move away from his sorry dejected face.

Upon this narrow path, I am forced to come to a stop. A small sapling stands in my way. For some reason, I simply cannot bring myself to walk around it or push it to the side.

Already I've seen as much as I feel like in the city for now, so I try to leave.

At the south exit, I meet a boy who will not let me pass no matter how many times I try. He just keeps blathering things about some "Falkner" and his gym.

To the west, there is another powerful sapling, only this one wriggles suggestively when I touch it.

I figure it's best to leave that alone for now.

Finally, a place I can go! Ruins, eh? There doesn't seem to be any real exit out of the city this way, but these are cool enough to hold my attention for now.

The inside of one of the caves proves to be more elaborate and spacious than I thought.

Oh? What's this? There seems to be some sort of puzzle on this slab...

Well, I dunno. Those corner pieces are pretty obvious. Put those in, then put in the edges... And these last four aren't too hard to figure out...

There.

That took me about 15 seconds. Some tourist attraction. There's no way I'm the first to-

All of a sudden, the floor disappears beneath me. I plummet and somehow land perfectly unharmed from a fall that should have at least broken both of my legs.

There's an odd energy in the air, almost as if I've awoken something. The patterns on the wall are... different, somehow. Kind of like they're actually staring back at me now.

Th-they ARE staring back...

I run for the exit. What seems like hundreds of these alien eyes pry themselves from the walls and chase after me, swarming me in all directions. All I can see is a sea of black mottled with round shining eyes. Somehow, I find the courage and the strength to plow through them and reach the exit. For whatever reason, they do not follow me out. I dare a look back, only to see that they are gone.

They are waiting for me. I know it.

Well. No way I'm going in THAT place again.

My efforts to leave Violet City have brought me back here. The Sprout Tower. I dismissed it as an old relic site not worth my time, but it looks like it's the only place I have for answers.

NEXT TIME: Sprout Tower and like, the Gym and stuff! Whoa Nelly!