The Cerulean Gym looked more like an enormous circus tent than a traditional Pokémon Gym.
Beneath its round, colorful roof hung a massive sign featuring Seel, making the building extremely eye-catching even from a distance!
According to Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center, the current Gym Leader wasn't Misty.
Instead, the Gym was still being managed by her three older sisters.
Sakura, Violet, and Lily!
The three were known as the Sensational Sisters, beautiful performers who were often described as flowers blooming in the water.
As for their strength as Pokémon Trainers...
Well...
How should he put it?
It was rather difficult to describe.
Following the street, Itsuki reached the official Gym without even needing to ask for directions.
However, a huge crowd had already gathered outside its entrance.
After asking around, he learned that today was the day of the three sisters' synchronized swimming performance.
And naturally, all these people had gathered to enjoy the aquatic ballet and feast their eyes on the spectacle.
'Yeah, right!'
'They say they're here because they love ballet, but they're obviously just here to admire those long legs!'
'Men really are boys at heart, no matter how old they get!'
Unfortunately, this created a bit of a problem.
If he wanted to challenge the Gym, he would probably have to wait until the performance was over.
Itsuki glanced around.
Cerulean City was only a medium-sized coastal city, and its scenery wasn't particularly different from other places he had visited.
There wasn't really much worth exploring.
Since he had nothing better to do anyway, he simply bought a ticket and joined the crowd entering the Gym to watch the show.
'Ahem!'
'Of course, I'm definitely not going in there to stare at their legs!'
'I'm just killing time, that's all!'
After waiting in line for a while, Itsuki followed the crowd through a long corridor and finally entered the Gym.
The first thing that greeted his eyes was an enormous swimming pool!
This was the venue for today's performance.
At the same time, it also served as the Gym's official Pokémon battlefield.
Perhaps his timing was perfect.
Just as Itsuki found his seat and was about to sit down, the lights throughout the entire hall suddenly dimmed!
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for waiting!"
"The synchronized aquatic ballet performance by our city's three beautiful sisters is about to begin!"
As the announcer finished speaking, spotlights around the venue suddenly switched on, converging on the diving platform beside the pool.
Standing there were three beautiful young women dressed in swimsuits, enthusiastically waving to the surrounding audience!
The Sensational Sisters of Cerulean City had made their dazzling entrance!
The moment they appeared, the audience erupted into thunderous applause and cheers!
Clearly, these three beauties were extremely popular.
Itsuki also joined the crowd in applauding, completely immersing himself in the atmosphere as an ordinary spectator.
He had to admit...
The three sisters really were beautiful.
Especially those long, fair legs of theirs.
They immediately attracted the attention of most of the audience.
'Seriously, they're way too eye-catching!'
As the music began playing, the atmosphere suddenly shifted.
The performance had officially begun!
The next moment, all three sisters dove into the water simultaneously and began performing an elegant aquatic dance.
Their movements were graceful and pleasing to the eye, drawing the audience completely into the performance.
As the music continued changing, the three sisters moved through one beautiful routine after another.
Before Itsuki knew it, the performance had reached its conclusion.
When the sisters finally climbed out of the pool and waved farewell to the audience, he suddenly realized something.
'Wait a minute...'
'It's already over?!'
More than an hour had passed without him even noticing!
'That's unbelievable...'
'As expected, beautiful things really do make people lose track of time!'
Although the performance had ended and the audience was beginning to leave, many spectators still seemed reluctant to go.
They continued enthusiastically praising the three sisters.
"Sakura is just too beautiful and gentle! She's practically the perfect woman!"
"Nonsense! Violet is obviously the most beautiful! Ahh, that blue hair and those dark red eyes... She's completely stolen my heart!"
"Hmph! You guys really have no taste! If you ask me, Lily is definitely the cutest of the three!"
Listening to the arguments around him, Itsuki couldn't help chuckling.
'It's finally my turn!'
Leaving through a nearby staircase, Itsuki made his way downstairs.
Before long, he found Sakura and her two sisters inside the aquarium area.
At that moment, the three were walking together, laughing and chatting.
Clearly, they were all extremely satisfied with today's performance.
"Did you two see how the audience reacted? Today's performance was a huge success!"
"Exactly! Looks like all that special training we've been doing lately really paid off!"
Seeing that the three sisters were about to disappear around the far end of the aquarium, Itsuki hurriedly approached and called out to them.
"Excuse me, Sakura-san! Could you three wait a moment?"
Hearing Itsuki's voice, Sakura and her sisters stopped walking.
When they turned around and saw him, all three looked somewhat surprised.
"Sir, today's performance is already over. If you'd like to watch us again, you'll have to wait until tomorrow."
Itsuki shook his head.
"Ah, no, actually, I'm—"
However, before he could finish speaking, Violet had already interrupted him.
"Could you be a reporter? If that's the case, I'm terribly sorry, but you'll need to arrange an interview through our manager first."
"A reporter?"
Itsuki shook his head again.
"No, I'm not a reporter. I actually came here because I wanted to—"
"Not a reporter?"
Lily crossed her arms and smiled.
"Then you must be here for our autographs, right?"
'What a pain...'
'These girls aren't giving me a chance to finish a single sentence!'
Seeing the speechless expression on Itsuki's face, Sakura was the only one who seemed to notice something unusual.
She raised an eyebrow and asked curiously.
"Sir, don't tell me... Are you actually here to challenge the Gym?"
"Of course."
Itsuki nodded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Then, he couldn't help asking in return.
"Isn't that supposed to be your actual job?"