Day 23: Violet City & Sage Nico

I make it to one of those loading buffer buildings. I'm right outside my first major town!

 Marill Overtops stops by to give me a "Vs. Recorder." It lets me record my battle history. I'm probably not going to use it.

I enter Violet City proper. It's got this Japanese old-timey aesthetic.

I decide to stop by the Pokecenter and let Cyndaquil recover the like, 4HP she lost during the last stretch of the adventure. This old guy summarizes the plot of last game in the most generic terms possible.

My first Gym. It's a flying type Gym, so there's no type advantage/disadvantage as far as Cyndaquil is concerned. The Leader's name is Falkner. Once I beat him, I'm one sixteenth of the way done with my self-imposed challenge!*

First, though, I take a little detour to the north side of town. This building is call the "Sprout Tower."

The pillar in the middle sways back and forth. According to one of the ladies here, that's because people are training upstairs. Training on a swingset, maybe?

 This is the second floor. Since the monks on the first floor are just regular NPC's, I honestly had no idea this guy was a trainer. Little did I expect...

The Bellsprout triplets! Even though they're all level 3, each one is much stronger than the last and they all have a unique cry that makes a little song when put together in sequence.

Actually, none of that is true. I kill them all with Ember in one hit.

According to Bulbapedia, this is a real thing...

"Sprout Tower (Japanese: マダツボミのとう Madatsubomi Tower) is a large pagoda located in Violet City in Johto. The tower itself is over 100 feet tall and is held together by a giant flexible pillar that shakes from side to side. This flexibility protects the tall tower from earthquakes and symbolizes the battles that are occurring on upper floors. This technology is now known as 柔構造 jūkōzō, and applied to hundreds of modern high-rise buildings."

Damn. Japanese buildings got sway.

*not counting the Team Rocket boss fights, the Elite Four, or Red himself. Ffffffffff