Friends and training

"It sounds like you had quite the day," Umeko told her son when he called her in the night. Shuichi had just finished telling her about the day.

The group had followed Nando to the Pokémon Center where he dropped off Clamperl for a quick check-up, Eevee was uninjured from the fight with Team Rocket, so all he needed was rest.

"Indeed, I'm absolutely beat." Shuici said a little tiredly, his whole day was packed with action. 

Meanwhile Ash was registering for the Sinnoh League and Brock was flirting with Nurse Joy and Dawn was standing next to him talking to her own mother.

"I'm glad you've found some new friends as well, give my regards to Dawn and Johanna would you?" Umeko said as they were wrapping up their conversation, Umeko and Johanna too had become good friends.

"Sure, one second mom." Shuichi said as he peered over to Dawn's side, surprising her. "Regards from my mother!" he said as Dawn was about to yell at him.

Johanna just found it funny and said "Hello Shuichi, and give my regards back to Umeko please." Dawn was surprised with her mother playing along and yelling "Mom!"

Shuichi quickly retreated to his side where his mother was already shaking her head, this was something Shuichi had developed over the past 8 years since he had gotten his emotions back.

He would tease his friends in a lighthearted way. He had unfortunately inherited this trait from his father, she expected him to start teasing his other friends soon enough. "You also get regards back from Johanna," Shuichi told her.

"Yes, I heard thank you dear." Umeko said with a slight smile, even though he would cause trouble from time to time she would never wish for him to go back to the way he was before.

"What's all the commotion here about?" Ash said as he had just finished signing up for the Sinnoh League, Shuichi apparently had already been signed up by the Sandgem Nurse.

"Ah perfect timing, Ash, Brock, this is my mother. "Mom, these are the two I've talked about," Shuichi said, introducing his mother to them.

"Hello there! Nice to meet you two." Umeko said as she was being introduced to Ash and Brock.

"Hello Ms. Tsuki! Nice to meet you too." Ash and Brock also gave their greeting and Ash immediately started to mention the kimono sisters.

"We've heard you're actually one of the kimono sisters, we met them in Johto a couple of years ago," Ash said as described the events from two years ago.

Apparently another one of the kimono sisters named Sakura wanted to go out on a journey and it was causing some friction between the older sisters. Sakura eventually did convince her sisters that she could travel on her own, going out on her own journey.

Listening to Ash's story about the family he still had in Johto made Shuichi feel a bit guilty about the past, they tried hard to cheer him up only to fail. They had lost touch since moving to Sinnoh, and hearing from them again felt nostalgic.

"I see, Sakura was only 2 when we left but it's nice to hear that she's also on a journey." Umeko said a little lost in nostalgia herself, due to the events surrounding Shuichi they had fallen out of touch.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you leave anyway?" Ash, the master of cluelessness asked the question nobody dared to ask but everyone wanted to ask.

"It's… a bit complicated, but the main reason was we came here on vacation and fell in love with Sinnoh." Umeko was trying to avoid Shuichi's past condition as he himself didn't like talking about it either and told them a slightly altered version of the truth.

"I see!" Ash seemed to buy it with Brock noticing something else but didn't press on it, Dawn on the other hand gave a side eye to Shuichi. He had told her he had past problems in Johto.

"Hello earth to Dawn? Are you not going to introduce me?" Johanna said on the other side of the phone as Dawn got distracted.

"Ah! Right!" Dawn also introduced Johanna to Ash and Brock and they went over to that phone. 

Shuichi hushed a bit and asked his mother. "Do you want to reconcile with them?" he implied about Umeko's sisters.

Umeko sighed a bit and said "I don't know." she really didn't know what to say to her sisters.

Shuichi could feel it was a heavy topic so he switched to something more lighthearted. "Where's dad anyway?"

"Ah! Right you're father, he's quite busy with his international police work. Apparently some Team Galactic was going around and making trouble here in Sinnoh." Umeko was reminded of her husband's actions by Shuichi and told him about his busy work.

Hearing the name Team Galactic reminded Shuichi of the plot of the games, Cyrus wanted to destroy the world and rebuild it in his image. Something that Shuichi didn't want to see happen.

"I see, well if you see him again tell him I said hi." Shuichi half cringed at his apt choice of words. Something Umeko didn't notice as she also bid him goodnight.

The phone call quickly ended and Shuichi could hear the ending of Dawn's phone call where Johanna expressed her worry about Dawn's actions.

"My mother, always worrying about me." Dawn said as her call also finished up, she half expected Shuichi to tease her but looking over she could see he was deep in thought about something.

Was his past really bothering him that much? She thought not knowing Shuichi was deep in thought about Team Galactic.

"Excuse me? Shuichi! Dawn!" A voice across the room broke him out of his thoughts as it was Nurse Joy with an update on Clamperl and Piplup.

"Are they going to be alright Nurse Joy?" Shuichi and Dawn asked a little worriedly about Clamperl and Piplup. Nurse Joy smiled at their worry and eased their nerves.

"Clamperl will be fine, Chansey in the back already healed it however I do suggest a good night's sleep." Nurse Joy cleared Clamperl and moved on to Piplup.

"Piplup will also be fine, damage taken by Bide heals quicker than normally; however I also suggest a good night's rest to be safe." She also cleared Piplup of any injuries.

"Thank you so much Nurse Joy!" Dawn and Shuichi were appreciative of Nurse Joy's actions and words as she was giving back their Pokéballs.

"Wait, where's Nando?" Ash asked as he looked around for the wandering bard, he was the one who let them to the Center.

"Oh, Nando went outside to ponder, he said," Nurse Joy revealed, causing confusion among the group. "Ponder about what?" Ash asked further.

"Nando divides his interests in contests and battles, I think he's trying to decide between the two." Nurse Joy revealed about Nando being both a battler and coordinator.

"With his strategies I think he's going for battling." Ash of course chose the battling side however Dawn quickly butted in "No way! With his Sunny Day he could easily go for contests!"

This spawned another argument between the two of them about which side was better. Just as Shuichi was about to step in again they ran off saying "I think we should ask Nando which side he's going with."

Brock and Shuichi just sighed "We should go after them. Dear Nurse Joy! I'm saddened by this quick depart-" Brock was about to flirt with Nurse Joy again as Shuichi pulled him away saying "Let's go lover boy!"

Deep in the forest at night Shuichi and the group tried to find Nando to ask him an 'important' question. However even after searching for a while they couldn't find him.

"Nothing Starly?" Ash had released his Starly to search for Nando however the bird Pokémon came with a negative and Ash returned Starly.

"Sorry Dawn, we're going to have to camp here." Ash said, surprising Dawn. "We're not going back to the Center?" she asked.

"It'll be too late and even Centers close at midnight." Ash revealed a small detail about Pokémon Centers closing at midnight.

"Oh yeah, you're right," Dawn said a little dejectedly.

"Dawn, I know your love for contests is big but I've told you before. Don't run in blindly." Shuichi lightly scolded Dawn who remembered Shuichi's earlier words with the Ariados.

"You as well Ash, you've been travelling for over 3 years by now. You should also know this." Brock also scolded Ash who realised his actions were rash.

Both Ash and Dawn were a little down by the scolding, just as they were about to apologise a sound suddenly travelled through the forest.

"Sound? Music?" Dawn said looking around, it sounded a lot like music. Shuichi suddenly remembered Nando was carrying a harp around. 

"Well let's follow it, where there's music there's a travelling bard." Shuichi said informing them it might lead to Nando.

Following the sounds led to a campfire with Nando sitting on a log playing the harp. He noticed the group coming and said. "Well hello there, what brings you here at this time?"

"We came looking for you." Ash said as he asked Nando about choosing between contests and gym battles. 

"It's true I'm feeling torn between contests or gyms." Nando revealed his ponderings to the group as they all sat around a campfire.

"With your strategies you should go for gym battles!" Ash immediately stated his key point.

"No way! That Sunny Day is prime for contests!" Dawn also said her key point.

"For the Sinnoh League one would need 8 gym badges and for the grand festival one would need 5 ribbons from contests." Shuichi stated the difference between the two.

"Then it sounds like gym's to me!" Ash said confidently however Dawn said "No way, contests it is!" which spawned another argument between the two.

"If you keep that up we won't be able to hear the forest sing." Nando said breaking up the two. Just as they were about to ask what Nando meant, the Pokémon in the forest started to make sounds.

Hundreds of Pokémon began to sing in the forest, as the full moon shone down upon them. It sounded quite beautiful to the ear.

"They're all singing!" Dawn was excited to hear the forest sing and Brock agreed "The forest really does sing!"

Shuichi however could feel the pokemon's singing, or more specifically he could feel their emotions. There was happiness to be in their homes and kindness to the people who protected the forests.

"They're all giving their thanks to the people who protect the forest," Shuichi said after understanding their song. Shuichi's words surprised Nando a great deal

"You can understand their song?" Nando asked Shuichi. Shuichi responded with "I've always been able to understand Pokémon quite well." keeping it vague.

"I guess sleeping outside is not so bad afterall" Dawn said with Ash agreeing with her. There was a slight moment of silence between them that broke soon.

"I'm sorry Ash, for all the complaining I've done. The start of my journey wasn't as easy or spectacular as I thought it would be and I've been taking it out on you." Dawn apologised to Ash for her actions.

"You know, I've been where you have and I've also been pretty harsh on you too so I also apologise for my actions." Ash knew how difficult a journey was and also apologised for backseating her so hard.

Shuichi and Brock smiled at each other, seeing them making up and promising to do better. 

"When I left Pallet Town for my own journey I saw a flying Pokémon that was glowing like a rainbow! I'm sure it was a Ho-Oh!" Ash remembered his first day of his journey.

Dawn was about to comment as well however she remembered the promise she had made to Shuichi, Shuichi however could see Dawn wanted to say it and just nodded giving her the green light.

"Me and Shuichi also saw a legendary back at Lake Verity, it was Mesprit!" She excitedly told them about Mesprit. Everyone understood that this was a secret and to not spread it around.

Shuichi suddenly had an idea "If you're pondering between contests and gym battles, why not do both?"

His words surprised everyone at the campfire, "Is that even possible?" Dawn was a little sceptical about being able to even do that.

"It'll be tough however, if you do manage to pull it off won't that be quite the story." Shuichi said. Nando understood what Shuichi was saying, a bard told stories through their music.

"I've never considered doing both but thinking back to our battle I could see both sides." Nando said, contemplating it a little. "Alright I've decided to do both!" he said with some passion in his voice.

With the spirits of the group at all time high Ash suddenly stood up and asked for a battle with Nando "I would be a pleasure, but let's sleep and eat first." Nando was down for a battle but not at this hour.

Brock whipped up a delightful meal for everyone including the pokemon, the man really could make a delicious meal. Shuichi could make poffins however Brock could cook.

Dawn set up her tent and looked around but saw no-one else setting one up. "Don't you guys have a tent?" She asked, a little surprised.

"It's not exactly cold and I don't see any sign of rain for the night so I'll sleep without one." Shuichi said, he even slept in even rougher terrains than this in his past life.

Ash, Brock and Nando agreed with Shuichi's words as they all just grabbed a sleeping bag. Dawn couldn't quite understand their reasoning so she just entered her tent and said goodnight.

Everyone quickly slept through the night with nothing important happening, it made Shuichi realise that there were no mosquitoes or other pests in this world. Pokémon made them extinct.

At the crack of dawn Shuichi woke up from his internal clock going off, his past military experience taught him that waking up early was important.

Stretching out for a bit, Shuichi looked around only to see everyone still asleep. ('I suppose this is a good time for training.') Shuichi decided to write a note saying he was up ahead for some training.

After walking a small distance they found a small clearing with a river streaming through, Shuichi walked for a bit because he didn't want their training to disturb the others. 

Shuichi released Eevee and Clamperl, both Pokémon also woke up from their sleep and stretched out in the morning.

"Alright you two, we can get some training in the morning." Shuichi said to his Pokémon. Training was different from battling, with training one could learn new moves or even power up existing ones.

For instance with enough training Clamperl could use Whirlpool a lot quicker and even make it bigger, Pokémon learned moves however they would also have to master them to make them even stronger.

With battling Pokémon usually found their shortcomings which they could focus their training on, one thing that stood out to Shuichi was that there were no levels.

Well, there were levels however, in order to obtain that information trainers would have to use an expensive machine and pay per Pokémon for their level so trainers forgo it and instead eyeball it.

"If you two can finish the training I will give you two the rest of the poffins I still have from yesterday." Shuichi could feel his Pokémon having mixed emotions but when he mentioned the poffins he felt them motivated all of sudden.

It also reminded Shuichi that he underestimated how many poffins he would go through and that he desperately needed some money along the way. 

Trainers would usually bet money on their matches to try and make some, the gyms also paid the winners with some money.

"First off there will be a small warming up session, then a session for learning new moves and finally a session of mastering moves," Shuichi said, laying out the training plan.

Eevee was ready but Clamperl was a bit confused, Clamperl wasn't really a Pokémon that could 'warm up'. "Warming is primarily for waking up, just moving around for a bit." Shuichi explained and Clamperl nodded.

As his Pokémon moved around for a bit Shuichi too moved around to warm up, he would join his Pokémon during their training sessions. 

In his past life he had already gotten used to exercise and it was also a bonding experience for the Pokémon.

After a small warming up period came the new moves session, Eevee was focusing on learning Swift while Clamperl tried to get the hang of Shell Smash. They would train to learn new moves for about 30 minutes.

Swift was a normal type move and it was a move Eevee had even seen with its own eyes so Eevee knew a certain direction it should take to learn the move.

First Eevee had to condense normal type energy into stars then fire them out, currently Eevee was focusing on creating the stars on its body then firing them out.

Eevee made some small progress as stars formed on its body however they were too small and fizzled out quickly, it also took too long to form them but there was a beginning.

Overall Eevee was making progress which only fueled its determination to learn Swift, Eevee had known Shuichi the longest and wanted to stay as Shuichi's ace Pokémon.

Clamperl on the other hand was having a much tougher time. Shell Smash was a move that literally smashed open a defensive layer on the Pokémon's body in return for more speed and power. 

In order to learn this move Pokémon first had to find their outer 'shell' layer and then smash it open with their own energy.

It was not an easy move to learn and during the whole learning session Clamperl couldn't even make a hint of progress dejecting him. 

"Clamperl, nobody learns that move on their first attempt. Shell Smash is an extremely difficult move but I have faith that if you practise you will get it eventually." 

Shuichi encouraged Clamperl to keep trying and he could feel Clamperl's spirits lifting and determination rising.

Clamperl was happy with Shuichi as a trainer, it could see Shuichi had a gift for sensing emotions and Shuichi made the training clear and explained the move in fine details.

Even when it was struggling to even find the first point of Shell Smash and getting frustrated Shuichi was there with words of encouragement to calm it down. 

After their 30 minute move learning session they took a small break of 5 minutes to catch their breath, after 5 minutes Shuichi began the next phase.

"Next up is the move mastering session," Shuichi announced and looked towards Eevee first.

Eevee, I want you to train Quick Attack to get even faster and Protect as well to make the energy expenditure smaller" Shuichi explained to Eevee the goals. 

Speed was key for Quick Attack and Protect needed to be more energy efficient or else Eevee could only use it once or twice before being winded.

Shuichi then focused on Clamperl. "Clamperl, I want you to train Whirlpool to form it quicker and Aqua Ring to condense a second ring."

Whirlpool's biggest weakness was the time it took to form and a second ring for Aqua Ring made it heal Clamperl even faster.

"Train one move for 15 minutes then rest for 2 minutes then switch to the next move, do this three times." Shuichi explained how long they would train, it followed the simple rule of three sets from Shuichi's past life with some rest.

As for Shuichi, he was doing pushups, situps, squats and more. He wouldn't slack off, if he did his Pokémon might even take example.

The bushes soon rustled causing everyone to go on high alert, "Who's there?" Shuichi asked, turning his attention to the bushes and a figure soon walked out.

"Brock? Did I wake you up?" Shuichi was surprised to see the teen in front of him and thought he caused too much commotion.

"No, I always wake up early but to my surprise you woke up even earlier." Brock said as he looked around seeing the field slightly torn from their training.

"Doing some training I see, mind if I join you?" Brock asked an even more surprising question to Shuichi, he never knew Brock also worked out.

"Sure why not?" Shuichi said as he and his Pokémon continued their training. Shuichi didn't mind more people.

"Because I could tell Ash your training plan?" Brock asked as he also started to warm up a bit. 

Ash was still Shuichi's competition for the Sinnoh League, learning their training plan would allow him to plan specifically for him.

"I've only known you two for a day but I don't think you or Ash are that type of guy." Shuichi easily called his bluff to which Brock only laughed and responded with "Yeah, you're right."

The two trained together as Shuichi's experience in the military was quite different from Brock's basic training regime. 

Shuichi knew how to target even the smaller muscle groups like the triceps with diamond push ups or the shoulders with the military press.

Brock tried some of Shuichi's exercises only to be surprised at the difficulty and the muscles he's targeting, Brock normally only did sit ups, push ups and squats only.

Brock eventually had to remove his shirt due to sweating so much, causing Shuichi to do a double take.

"Dang Brock, I'm surprised you're even having trouble with the ladies," Shuichi commented on Brock's physique. He was a lot more muscular than Shuichi initially thought of him.

"You know, sometimes I wonder about that myself as well," Brock agreed with Shuichi's words.

"Maybe you should take off your shirt more often, that will wow them." Shuichi gave Brock some 'advice'

"Ha! If I take off my shirt Officer Jenny will probably arrest me in a heartbeat." Brock laughed and was playing along.

"Don't you mean 'with' a heartbeat?" Shuichi teased Brock and felt like he got to know him a lot better than he did from the show. 

There was progress around the move mastering session, Eevee got slightly faster and could use Protect without getting winded again. 

Clamperl managed to form the Whirlpool faster and it wasn't long before the second ring of Aqua Ring would be condensed.

They continued for a while until they both stopped to get washed up, Brock was going to make breakfast for the group.

"Oh, I've got breakfast sorted for my Pokémon." Shuichi said as he told Brock about the poffins.

"Poffins? I've never heard of them before." Brock was a little confused and Shuichi explained to him how poffins were made.

"It sounds similar to a Pokéblock from the Hoenn region, do you have one on you?" Brock was interested in poffins.

Shuichi had the poffins with him for his Pokémon after training was finished, he could feel Eevee and Clamperl getting a little anxious when he gave some poffins to Brock.

Brock took a small whiff and broke off a tiny piece of the poffins, not too big to notice but Eevee and Clamperl certainly did. Brock tasted it and finally gave his thoughts.

"I see you've incorporated your Pokémon's tastes which is good. It's a bit sugary, but for a post workout breakfast it will help recover their energy quickly. Have you added any vitamins?" Brock assessed the poffins and asked if Shuichi added vitamins.

"I have only added calcium so far" Shuichi said a little guilty, it sounded better in his head than it really was.

Brock smiled and explained "Pokémon need more than just calcium, but it's a good start for a beginning trainer. I would recommend grabbing some more vitamins."

"Thanks for the heads up, I was planning to but I've underestimated some things when it comes to food." Shuichi thanked Brock and the two chatted about food while they were walking back.

Shuichi gave his Pokémon the poffins and they dug into it with happy emotions and satisfaction. 

Back at the camp Ash, Dawn and Nando were up and were waiting for Brock and Shuichi, they found Shuichi's note that described he was going to train.

It reminded Dawn that she too needed to train Piplup for her contest, contests were different but still needed the Pokémon and trainer to prepare for them.

Contests had a performance round first where trainers and their Pokémon would wow the audience and judges with special variety or combination moves.

Ash also did some light training with his own Pokémon, he had been a trainer for over 3 years so he knew the importance of training. 

Soon Shuichi and Brock returned and they both decided to help with breakfast to speed it up a bit. After breakfast, Nando and Ash were both ready to battle.

Ash had sent out Pikachu while Nando sent out his Budew, it would be a simple one on one match with no extra rules.

"Budew, Bullet Seed please," Nando started off the battle with Budew firing off a Bullet Seed at Pikachu, multiple seeds coated with grass-type energy flew at Pikachu.

"Pikachu Quick Attack dodge it!" Ash responded by letting Pikachu dodge the seeds with high speed, Pikachu dodged flawlessly and slammed directly into Budew causing big damage.

"Mega Drain please," Nando didn't panic and remained calm issuing the use of Mega Drain, A green energy thread extended from Budew and directly hit Pikachu.

The thread turned red as it drained energy from Pikachu and returned to Budew, Budew used that energy to heal off the damage it took from the Quick Attack.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash issued the use of Thunderbolt switching to a long range attack, Pikachu fired off a strong electric-type attack and it slammed directly into Budew. 

Although electric-type attacks weren't effective against grass-types, the sheer difference in power made up for that demerit.

Shuichi could feel Budew's determination reaching new heights as it took the electric attack, it didn't want to lose anymore and it had to do something for it to not lose anymore.

Budew got up once more and suddenly shone a bright white light nearly blinding everyone. ('Is this an evolution?') Shuichi thought as he looked at Budew as it slowly changed form.

Evolution was a phenomenon that happened quite frequently when Pokémon got strong enough they would evolve to a more powerful form, similar to how people grow up.

Budew's form changed from a green bud with two smaller buds on its head, to a green plant with two roses in its hand, one blue, one red, and topped it off with three horns on its head.

"Roselia!" Budew, no Roselia now called out its name. Shuichi could feel the overwhelming elation and happiness from Roselia as it evolved.

"Quite the change, shall we continue? Roselia, Sunny Day please" Nando himself was quite happy as well with the sudden evolution and continued the fight.

"Solar Beam please," Nando continued with the Sunny Day and SolarBeam combo. In the last battle it managed to match Piplup's full power Bide so it was quite powerful.

Roselia put its flowers to the sky and they began to glow white with power, due to the evolution the Solar Beam was charged almost instantly as a white beam was fired.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack to dodge it!" Ash wanted to use the speed of Quick Attack to dodge the incoming beam. 

Pikachu dashed to the side dodging the SolarBeam however a powerful explosion caused it to be launched into the sky.

"Iron Tail!" Ash told Pikachu, Pikachu fell down towards Roselia and slammed down with a powerful Iron Tail knocking out the flower Pokémon.

"Well, it seems we lost" Nando said as he recalled Roselia back in its Pokéball, he said some words of encouragement to the Pokéball after Roselia was recalled.