28 Eterna City

Zoey gritted her teeth and threw her Pokéball at the field "Shellos, curtains!" she said as a pink sea slug-like Pokémon hit the field, with rounded spikes on its back and a white underbelly. The six protrusions with dark pink tips on the top of its head form what appears to be its gills.

Shellos immediately felt the brunt of Shuichi's intimidating pressure and its confidence took a massive hit, Zoey noticed this "Shellos! Calm down!" She tried to help it but the damage was already done.

"Drifloon, go hot." Shuichi calmly stated as he lobbed the Pokéball, Drifloon came out and contrary to Shellos the pressure felt more akin to a helping hand giving him more confidence. Drifloon was also aware this was his first battle so he was more excited to prove his worth, especially compared to the rest of the team.

"Shellos, Water Pulse!" Zoey took the first move and a light blue orb appeared in Shellos's mouth and then it fired it off at Drifloon. "Dodge with Tailwind," Shuichi instructed and Drifloon created a small draft of wind that allowed it to quickly float out of the way of the attack.

"Ominous Wind," Shuichi responded and Drifloon turned in mid-air to point the top of his head to Shellos, he started to spin and a purple wind cyclone went straight towards Shellos. The cyclone hit Shellos but it wasn't blown away as it clung hard to the ground.

"Shellos, into the water!" Zoey the coordinator was willing to use the environment to her advantage. Shellos jumped into the water and was able to dodge the Ominous Wind, "Now, Hidden Power!"

Shellos gathered light blue orbs underwater and fired them off directly at Drifloon, Drifloon tried to dodge them all to the best of his ability however there were just too many and he eventually got hit.

"Drifloon, Gust at the water." Shuichi decided to use the weaker Gust to reveal Shellos, Drifloon floated above the water he pointed the top of his head to the water and began spinning. The water was blown away revealing Shellos.

"Switch to Ominous Wind." Suddenly the wind turned purple as it also began to pick up more speed, Shellos was completely out in the open with nowhere to go as the purple wind slammed into it again.

"Shellos, Water Pulse underneath!" Zoey suddenly had Shellos fire underneath itself, Shellos did as it was told and the Water Pulse hit the bottom of the river. The Water Pulse exploded into more water as it was shot upwards shooting Shellos into the air above Drifloon now.

"Blizzard!" Zoey yelled wanting to take advantage with a sudden powerful ice-type move, Shuichi however wasn't going to let her. "Astonish" He calmly gave the order and even increased the threatening pressure that he gave off.

Shellos took a deep breath and wanted to fire off the Blizzard however, it looked at Drifloon and Drifloon had cast a shadow over his face and even puffed up in size, its black eyes turned violent red and along with Shuichi's increase in pressure intensity came an immediate effect.

Shellos flinched and the attack was cancelled out, "Shellos!" Zoey was astounded that the move was cancelled just like that. "Ominous Wind." Shuichi decided to finish it off and Drifloon obliged, aiming and spinning as Shellos was falling.

The purple wind slammed into Shellos for a third time this time it was thrown to the ground next to Zoey, Shellos hit the ground hard and it remained on the ground unconscious. Zoey sighed a little and recalled Shellos, "You did well Shellos, take some rest." She said to Shellos.

Shuichi took a deep breath and the threatening pressure disappeared as quickly as it came, he could already feel a slight headache coming. This was something he had been using unconsciously in the past but now that he had fully accepted his past he could use it consciously, of course increasing it was no joke and it took a mental toll on Shuichi.

"Stand down Drifloon, solid work, well done," Shuichi told Drifloon as he recalled him. Drifloon had indeed done well even with the sudden Astonish that Shuichi hadn't trained him on. Drifloon had confidence issues but once dealt with it would give way to a talented Pokémon.

Shuichi looked at Zoey and smiled, "It was a good battle, Ms Zoey." He told her, which caused her to recoil again, "Uh yeah, can you drop the 'Ms' please? I'm not that old." Zoey smiled back a little awkwardly. 

Shuichi nodded "Why, of course! We're both the same age, aren't we?" He sarcastically asked as a joke. Zoey still didn't understand what he had done during the battle, "How did you do that during the battle? It felt like I was standing across a gigantic Ursaring.

Shuichi just smiled "Who knows?" He said he wasn't going to give up his secrets like that. Zoey just sighed, not getting anything else out of him. "Shall we continue then? I suppose you'd want to take Shellos to a Center and you mentioned seeing Dawn recently?" Shuichi spoke to the two women.

Cheryl and Zoey both nodded, Zoey began to tell the story of how they encountered a Buizel and how strong it was. "So in the end, Dawn beat it and caught it," Zoey concluded the story of how Dawn was the one who caught it.

Shuichi nodded along the way "Interesting, though it sounds like Buizel likes battles very much. Do you think it will transition to love contests as much or more?" Shuichi suddenly asked.

Zoey was a bit surprised at the sudden question and thought about it, "Honestly, I don't see that happening." Buizel had even stolen their fishing rods as 'prizes' so it was pretty passionate about battles.

Shuichi smiled at that "Isn't that interesting? Ash has a Pokémon more interested in contests and Dawn has one more interest in battles." Shuichi hinted at the possibility. 

Zoey quickly picked up on it, after all, she was the one who suggested it at Jubilife. "So they'll trade them soon." She said completing Shuichi's hint. Shuichi actually doubted they would even think about that.

They conversed for a bit before reaching the Pokémon Center near the exit of the forest, Shuichi, Zoey and Cheryl all deposited their Pokémon for a check-up. Shuichi decided this would be a good time for a call to his mother, he had some mixed emotions about them.

It was still his mother but not his 'mother' mother, she was dead in his first life. Now that he was more in touch with his past self he felt disconnected from his previous connections like Ash, Dawn and even his current parents.

Shuichi took a deep breath before calling, the screen connected showing his mother. "Hello dear! It's been a while since you've called!" Umeko was happy to see her son after two weeks.

Shuichi nervously smiled a bit "H-Hello Mother, I apologise for not calling earlier." Shuichi nearly wanted to slap himself after stuttering his first word, how embarrassing was that?

Umeko immediately noticed the change in demeanour and got serious "Shuichi? What's wrong dear?" She thought his nightmares might've resurfaced or had gotten worse.

Shuichi just sighed, he couldn't keep this up forever "I'm fine Mother, I've settled my nightmares and I'm just processing it all." He decided to tell her a bit of the truth but not the full truth.

Umeko was relieved that his nightmares were finally over but she was still concerned about something else. "I'm glad the nightmares are over but, you seem…different." She couldn't quite put it in the right words.

This was understandable, she and his father were the ones who'd known Shuichi the longest so of course she would be able to spot the difference instantly. "I understand Mother, but it's still me underneath it all." He tried to appease her worries.

Umeko wasn't exactly appeased but Shuichi told her she was fine and she would trust him on that. "I'm glad to hear that dear, but if something is troubling you then you can always rely on me and your father as well." She told him.

Shuichi nodded but didn't say anything, how would he even explain that one? 'I was an old army veteran in my previous life where Pokémon didn't exist' wasn't exactly an easy topic.

Umeko sighed seeing her son not wanting to speak about it, "It's fine if you don't want to talk about it, your next gym battle is soon right?" Umeko asked about his next gym battle.

Shuichi was glad she was switching the topic "Indeed Mother, It shouldn't be long until I take on Gardenia." Shuichi was guessing he was only a few days off from Eterna City by now. 

Umeko nodded and asked, "Then, can you do me a favour?" Shuichi was a bit confused by the sudden question. "Of course mother, what is it?" Shuichi asked, he was interested in her request.

"Can you make your next gym battle a public match? Me and Johanna would like to watch along and I'm sure your father would also be interested." Umeko had been watching Dawn and now she also wanted to watch her son.

Shuichi didn't mind if others knew about him, it was still early on in the season and his team wasn't even complete yet. He didn't even think about it during the Oreburgh gym and only did a private match so his friends could watch undisturbed.

Shuichi nodded "Okay Mother, I will do that." he promised and Umeko looked forward to the battle, she was a trainer in her past as well and liked battles as much as contests. Their conversation quickly ended as Shuichi was called up by Nurse Joy.

Umeko hung up the telephone and gave a small sigh, "Mother, huh?" Umeko had noticed Shuichi had changed how he addressed her. She already guessed he had changed with his different speaking pattern, it felt weird. She felt like they had disconnected all of a sudden.

Giving another sigh she prepared herself to call her husband about Shuichi and his sudden changes, perhaps he could talk to him again. He did mention having to go to Eterna City next about the Team Galactic problem he's been facing.

Shuichi was unaware his father was currently en route to Eterna City, he was currently deep in thought about the conversation with his mother. He had expected his mother to see the change instantly and was glad she didn't ask too many questions.

Nurse Joy gave back all of their Pokémon and Zoey went ahead of them, she was someone who liked travelling alone more than in a group. Shuichi and Cheryl set off a little while later to Eterna City.

It took another 3 days until Shuichi and Cheryl entered Eterna City, Shuichi only had two battles on these days and won both of them boosting his total money to ₽6,750. Some people weren't happy that he only accepted matches with bets and didn't accept regular battles, Cheryl didn't seem to mind it luckily.

Cheryl and Shuichi reached the Center and registered a room together, Cheryl didn't mind it and Shuichi was mentally too old to even care about any implications not to mention Cheryl was actually a legal adult.

They split off soon after each having their errands to run, Shuichi was first off to the gym to register for a battle. He walked for a bit until he spotted the Eterna City gym.

From the outside, the gym looked like a giant stadium that was covered in foliage. Trees and greenery sprouted from the top of the building, if the building wasn't clean and intact then Shuichi would've thought he was at the wrong place.

Shuichi walked into the building and up to the receptionist's desk, a female gym trainer with a Nuzleaf was currently working behind the desk.

"Yes? Can I help you?" She asked Shuichi as he came close to her. Shuichi nodded and explained, "I'm here to register for a gym battle."

The gym trainer perked up "Ah! In that case, have your name and how many badges do you have?" She asked. Shuichi gave her his information.

The gym trainer noted his information and continued to ask. "Do you want this to be a private match or a public match?" His mother had requested a public match so that's what he decided.

"Then do you have any objections to being recorded and that the battle will be shown on TV channels?" She asked for his consent and Shuichi agreed.

"Final question, do you wish to put up a deposit? With one badge the maximum you can put up is ₽2,500 and the payout is ₽7,500." It was an increase of ₽1,000 compared to the Oreburgh gym, Shuichi had no plans of losing so he accepted it.

The gym trainer nodded and moved on to when the match would be. "Since this will be a public match I can schedule you two days from now during the evening, today and tomorrow will be used for promotion time."

What good would a public match be without a crowd? It would also take a day to get camera crews and everything else in order. "That's fine." Shuichi didn't mind the extra day of waiting, it would allow him to research Gardenia and her strategy.

He had underestimated Roark and nearly paid dearly for it, he wasn't going to repeat that same mistake twice. Shuichi finished registering and decided to go back to the Pokémon Center before trying to find the collector for the Nugget. He had been warned that the man had bad rumours around him.

The gym trainer looked at Shuichi walking out and decided to walk into the gym, she walked until she spotted a woman with brown eyes and short half-brown, half-black hair. 

She wore a black long-sleeved crop top that showed her midriff under a green cloak with a black "X" mark in the centre. She also wore brown knee-length khaki shorts and a black belt with a silver buckle around her waist. Finally, there were green boots with black laces.

"Miss Gardenia, there is a new challenger who wanted a public match." The gym trainer told her to catch her attention. "Oh? A public match? Well, who is it? Don't keep me waiting!" Gardenia was a bit surprised, public matches weren't done often.

"A trainer by the name of Shuichi Tsuki, so far he's only got the Coal badge." The gym trainer revealed Shuichi's information. Gardenia found the name familiar and quickly recalled the past conversations with Roark. 

"Ah! So, he's finally here! Well then, what is your opinion of him?" Gardenia suddenly asked the gym trainer. The gym trainer thought for a second and replied, "Odd, he looked like a normal boy but it felt as if a seasoned veteran was looking at me."

Gardenia smiled "What are we waiting for then? Let's prepare! This battle will be good! No wonder he wants a public match." She misunderstood Shuichi's reasoning as to why he wanted a public match.

Shuichi was unaware that Gardenia was preparing something special for him as he walked to the address of the Underground Man. The Underground Man was the collector he'd been told about by the clerk in Floaroma Town, not much was known about the man, only his alias and that he collected all sorts of items from underground.

He had Eevee walk along with him just in case something went wrong during discussions, he doubted needing Eevee but his experience taught him to always be vigilant. He knocked on the door of the building and a stout man opened the door.

He was dressed in blue overalls along with a miner's hat, "Yes? Can I help you?" The man asked Shuichi. Shuichi nodded "I was looking for the Underground Man, I have some treasures from underground that he may be interested in." Shuichi explained.

The man suddenly had greed in his eyes as he proclaimed, "Yes! Yes! That's me! Come on in!" The man gave way and motioned for Shuichi to follow him, Shuichi didn't show anything on his face but he suspected that this might be troublesome.

Shuichi followed the man until he came to the living room where a lot of mining equipment and a lot of trinkets were framed and hung on the wall. "Now, tell me about this treasure." The Underground Man asked Shuichi once they were both seated on the ground.

Shuichi took out the Nugget and showed it to the man, "A Nugget of pure gold from deep underground." Shuichi introduced. The Underground Man took out a small telescope and looked closely, he also gave it a few taps and nodded afterwards.

"You're correct, what do you intend to do with this?" The Underground man asked Shuichi, he had a neutral face on but Shuichi could see some greed in his eyes betraying his want for the item. "I wish to sell it, how much do you offer?" Shuichi straightforwardly told him.

The Underground Man had a thoughtful expression on his face as he hummed, he said. "I can trade it for another treasure or I can give you some money for it, what do you say?" 

Shuichi was a little surprised at the sudden honest offer, "How much would you pay me?" He was more interested in cash than another treasure. The Underground Man looked closely and started to measure it a bit, "For a Nugget this size, I can give you ₽7,000." He stated his price.

Shuichi nodded and accepted the deal, "One more thing, can you trade this one for something else?" He said as he pulled out the Leaf Stone.

Shuichi walked out of the Underground Man's house a little while later, he was happy and surprised at how smooth the transaction was. Were the rumours unfounded? Probably not, Shuichi could feel a Pokémon's emotions from under his feet during the talk so what stopped him?

Back in the house, the Underground Man gave out a sigh of relief. A mole-like Pokémon popped out of the ground, the Pokémon had three heads and each head had two small eyes and a pink nose. The Pokémon also looked a little nervously at the Underground Man.

"You also felt it huh Dugtrio?" The Underground Man asked his Pokémon, and Dugtrio nodded. The Underground Man had dealt with crooks before and while Shuichi didn't feel like a crook it felt more like someone he shouldn't mess with. That's why he didn't try to steal from him.

Shuichi was aware that he was emitting this pressure however, he wasn't aware that some people could sense it while he wasn't amplifying it. During battles, he would amplify it.

He decided to go to his next objective, the markets and shops around Eterna City. With ₽11,250 in hand, he was sure to find some items worthwhile, maybe even a TM. First thing first he bought one special item for ₽1,000 and moved on to do some window shopping for TM's.

Shuichi thought about the moves he needed and concluded that Drifloon was the one most in need of a move, Gust and Ominous Wind were his only attacking moves and while they were decent it wasn't good enough.

Shadow Ball would be learned with Eevee's help so he was covered in that area. speed was covered with Tailwind, and although it wasn't optimal it was solid for now. As Shuichi was thinking and looking at the TM's, one suddenly entered his sight and he felt like it could fit.

TM57 Charge Beam was an electric-type move and while it didn't pack a big punch it did do something quite nice. It had a high chance of boosting the user's special attacks, which meant that the next shots of Charge Beam or other special moves would become much stronger.

The price tag on it was ₽6,500 and although it was pricey it was also a multi-use TM that didn't break on the first use. Although it wouldn't cover Drifloon's weaknesses it would allow him to boost his weaker moves.

Eventually, Shuichi decided to buy the TM. Drifloon wouldn't enter the gym battle just yet but this was still a good building block for Drifloon. Shuichi decided to not buy anything anymore seeing his cash drop to ₽3,750, he saved enough to fight Gardenia again should he lose.

After that, he decided to go back to the Pokémon Center and do some research on Gardenia and her known battle style. Opening the room and looking around he couldn't see Cheryl around which meant she wasn't done with her tasks.

Shuichi did some research on Gardenia and her past battles, Gardenia was a grass-type specialist and was known to have a lot of grass-type Pokémon. Her most famous battle style was using Sunny Day to boost her Pokémon in various ways.

Most of her Pokémon had the Chlorophyll ability which made them faster in the sun, she also had Pokémon with Synthesis to heal more during the sun and even Solar Beam to throw out a powerful attack fast. 

Shuichi was already glad he had done some research on her so he wouldn't come to a massive surprise. As he was thinking about a plan for the next day he suddenly heard the door opening, he turned around and saw Cheryl coming in.

"Hello there, how did your tasks go?" Shuichi asked as she walked in, he could use the distraction for a second. Cheryl nodded back "I have some leads as to where another treasure map is, it's in Celestic Town."

Shuichi nodded and understood what her next question would be. "Then I suppose our next destination is settled." He said getting Cheryl to smile and thank him, after Celestic Town he would go to Veilstone City and battle Maylene for her gym badge.

Cheryl walked over to see what Shuichi was up to, "Gardenia looks tough, any plans so far?" She asked Shuichi. Shuichi shook his head "Not yet, I do have one idea that I should do." He said as he stood up and reached for a Pokéball.

Two days passed quietly and Eterna City was swept up by the recent news, that Gardenia would take on a challenger in a public gym battle. Public matches were uncommon and were always a sight to see, but this one was sure to be even more special if what Gardenia claimed was true.

The challenger was a trainer with one badge which wasn't something special however, he was rated very high by Roark during their battle. Roark was no pushover and he was a seasoned gym leader, his word was not to be overlooked. There were also some rumours from Jubilife that he was a small celebrity there due to a spectacular local tournament.

Local camera crews were ready to record the battle, they had obtained Shuichi's name from the gym along with his record. They were not allowed to see Shuichi's registered team from the Pokémon Center but they would still make some predictions and guesses.

People went to the gym to see the battle, this wasn't a free entrance as they needed to pay ₽100 to be able to spectate the match. Alternatively, you could try to see it on television but seeing it in person was always something else.

Back in Sandgem Town were Umeko and Johanna who were sitting in front of the television, around them were Umeko's Pokémon and Johanna's Glameow. Umeko's Pokémon also have known Shuichi for years and they were interested to see him in action.

Johanna had become good friends with Umeko and Umeko had watched Dawn's competitions so it was only fair if she also watched Shuichi's battle. Just because she favoured contests more than gyms didn't mean that she hated gym battles.

"It's a little sad that your husband isn't here, Umy, he'll probably be down for a day to see that he missed his son's gym battle," Johanna said to Umeko. Umeko just snorted and replied, "The last time he was all up in my face about being the one to see our son's first tournament, now it's my turn to be in his face to see our son's first public gym match." 

Enki had indeed teased Umeko after the Jubilife tournament saying things along the lines of 'How could you miss our dear son's first tournament!?' in a teasing tone. She didn't tell Shuichi, but a small reason for her sudden request was exactly this so she could rub it in Enki's face.

Johanna smiled a little awkwardly at that statement, when she first met Umeko she was sure she was more modest than this but it was quickly shown that Umeko also had a competitive side to her.

Umeko's face dropped a little when she thought back to her conversation with Shuichi, "He called me a few days ago but, it almost seemed like he was a different person." Umeko stated a little oddly.

Johanna didn't know what to say, Dawn didn't have such a drastic personality change the last time she called. The last time she called was yesterday and she mentioned being on the road again, Johanna did tell her that Shuichi's gym battle would be online and she was interested in watching it in her own time.

The screen changed to inside the gym as Gardenia stood on one side of the field, she had an excited smile on her face as she was ready. Shuichi stood on the other side, also excited about the battle. Seeing this, Umeko thought that it really was her son underneath it all as he'd told her.

There were crowds as bleachers were set up along with some psychic-type Pokémon to protect the crowds from wild attacks, these Pokémon were provided by the league and lent to the gyms for battles like these.

Gardenia looked at Shuichi and she could feel her skin tingling, "I'm expecting a great battle Shuichi! Roark had high praises, you know!" She shouted from her side of the field. Shuichi smiled, "Then I'd better get serious, Gardenia."

As Gardenia was about to ask what he meant the atmosphere suddenly changed, everyone in the gym felt it and even the psychic-types were startled for a quick second before regaining their control. The audience felt as if needles started to prick in their skin, it got them even more hyped up than before as they waited with bated breath for the start.

Gardenia also got serious and tried to match Shuichi's pressure that he emitted, she wasn't a seasoned gym leader for nothing and she had plenty of experience. The crowd could almost see sparks in the air as they both stared at each other.

Umeko and Johanna were both a little surprised, although they couldn't feel the pressure they could still see that both of them were unusually serious along with the crowd's responses. Was this still her son? Umeko thought.

A gym trainer had taken the role of the referee and she swallowed a dry gulp as she tried to power through the atmosphere. "The gym battle between Shuichi from Sandgem Town and Gardenia the Eterna gym leader will now begin!" She shouted which signified the start of the match.