CH114 (728), Bro, That’s Too Much (1)

"I guess I can rush over right now if it's urgent. Is it urgent?," Kinji said, sounding a lot more serious towards the end, and I had to smile a bit, appreciating his concern for me. "Nothing that would require you to abandon everything and hurry over," I assured him. "Really, you can deal with the stuff you planned for today first, and come over tomorrow," I affirmed, and Kinji *hmmmd* for a moment. "You said you were in Brightwick City, right? I'll be there tonight," He declared a moment later.

"There's really no reason to rush, you can come over tomorrow around lunchtime and we'll eat something nice before I tell you the good news," I followed up specifically mentioning that the news was good to emphasize that there was no problem. "No need to wait until tomorrow. I've already decided to drop in today," Kinji said and I knew from his tone that there was no way for me to convince him otherwise. 

"I should be there around 8, and you can share the news after dinner. Make sure to pick a nice place to eat, I'm sure you've already made a list of must-visit restaurants for Brightwick City," he chuckled while saying the last bit, probably confident that he was right, which he was since I had indeed made a list like that. "Alright, I have a place in mind where we can eat," I returned with a laugh. "Don't bother booking a hotel, I'll handle that for you," I followed up and I was sure he nodded at that before remembering that I couldn't see him do that, which is why he said "Okay" with a moment's delay. 

"I guess I'll see you later," I said which Kinji reciprocated before we hung up, and directly after that call, I began to search through the net to look up the most recommended and best-rated hotels, motels, as well as hostels in Brightwick City. I found quite a few with pretty good reviews that I noted down before strolling around the city and asking random people, who I was assuming were locals, what they thought about the hotels, motels, and hostels I had picked. Obviously, not all of them had heard about the places, but enough of them did that I could narrow down my choices even further based on their words. 

While I was at it, I also asked them what they thought about the restaurant/eatery list I made which allowed me to pick out the three most popular ones according to local vote. After strolling around the city for around two hours, just unwinding, talking to people, and getting my dose of human civilization/interaction, I paid the three most recommended lodgings a visit to check them out for myself. You know, get a look at the building, the reception, the staff, and the atmosphere in the lobby, which told one more than most people would expect. 

Interestingly enough, none of the three most recommended lodgings by the locals were hotels. There were two inns as well as one motel, and all three were supposedly brilliant for a short to medium stay in Brightwick City. In their words, the staff was nice, the rooms were clean, and they offered a free breakfast as well as dinner, which supposedly even tasted pretty good. I couldn't test the last bit, and I couldn't really check out the rooms, but the areas I saw were clean and the staff of all three places did seem nice, so I ended up booking 2 single-bed rooms at the inn that offered the best breakfast and dinner selection. 

Once that was settled, I went and checked out the three most recommended restaurants. Having the giant stomach that I had and seeing how it was close to lunchtime, I obviously ate at all three places to see how the food was, before choosing the fish restaurant for the dinner with Kinji since their fish/Magikarp dishes were incredible. The taste was on par with the fish I ate at the best restaurant in Lilycove City, which was a freaking seaside city. 

After that, I found a nice little park close to the Teleportation Hub from where I entered Utopia. I hung out with my Pokemon until 7:30 p.m. and I actually ate dinner with them before leaving Utopia to wait for Kinji to show up since around 8 p.m. had a pretty wide range. Kinji called me at 7:40 p.m. to tell me that he would be here in about 15 minutes, and he did end up walking out of the Teleportation Hub at 7:58, so he was pretty punctual.

I made my way towards him, and he let out a happy laugh when he noticed me. Kinji pulled me into a hug once we met up. "How's it going?" he asked while patting me on the shoulder after we separated. "Good, good. Can't complain really. I've been pretty lucky lately," I said casually before giving his chest a light fist bump (with the outer/right side of my fist). "How did your day go? Did you find anyone noteworthy to battle today?" I questioned while doing that.

"Lucky you," Kinji joked before he shook his head. "I haven't had any luck today. The gym only had some people trying to rely on the type advantage without showcasing anything noteworthy, so all I did after organizing my teleportation was to chat with my family about how disappointing the gym battles today were. At least we had fun dissecting the battles and critiquing what both sides could have done better," he said sounding mildly disappointed. "Honestly, the trip here is, was the most exciting part of my day so far," Kinji admitted with a grin and I had to laugh at that.

"I promise you the day is going to get a lot better," I promised him while patting his shoulder. "I'll hold you to that," Kinji returned with a chuckle. "Look forward to it," I responded confidently before I began to make my way toward the fish restaurant after I told Kinji to follow me. We talked about the trainers Kinji faced lately, which was a mix of Ace, Elite, and the occasional Champion Class trainer. I was probably the last person who should say this, but due to the high number of Pokemon/bugs Kinji had, he had to face a wide spectrum of trainers to get appropriate opponents for all of his Pokemon.

Kinji had caught and trained a Frosmoth, Ribombee, and Centiskorch during his travels across the regions within the last 2 to 3 years, which raised the number of Pokemon he had/was carrying around to 16; Orbeetle, Ribombee, and Centiskorch were the weakest of those Pokemon at the (high) gold stage, though I guess that would change once I gave the Shadinja I reserved for Kinji since she was currently only at the (mid) silver stage.

Nonetheless, I personally felt that all things considered, having 17 Pokemon for a bug specialist of Kinji's caliber was not that much; In fact, I would say that he had a rather modest amount of bugs, but I knew that that was because Kinji preferred quality over quantity. All his Pokemon either had rather high RV or they filled in certain roles, like Frosmoth and Ribombee, though their RV was pretty decent regardless. I honestly thought that Kinji should add a Heracross and if possible a Kleavor to his team, and I had told him as much.

Kinji had at the time told me that he was interested in those two as well, so I asked him how things had gone in that regard since the last time we talked about it. He actually complained that his search for Kleavor ended up with 0 useful leads, which was honestly not all that surprising. I'd wait for a few more years to see if he could manage to get one on his own. If he couldn't do it, I might see if I could not help a Scyther evolve to Kleavor before passing it to Kenji.

I had actually been considering doing that soonish, but now that Shadinja had cropped up, I decided to shelve the Kleavor matter for a few years since I knew that there was no way that Kinji would accept two gifts of that caliber at once or within a "short" period, though that might change of it was related to a certain other Pokemon I was on the lookout for. 

Anyway, we made it to the restaurant, and after we gave our orders, Kinji shared that his search for a Heracross had gone much better but that he had yet to catch one since none of the Heracross he found so far had "clicked" with him. He also happily shared that his Venomoth was close to the next step as well, which would be his fourth (low) platinum-stage Pokemon, and while that was certainly happy news for Kinji; For some reason I could not help but feel a bit apologetic when he said. 

I guess it was because I had recently gained the allegiance of 15 platinum-stage Pokemon out of nowhere, with 4 of them being at the (mid) platinum stage. It may have been because Kinji has been training his Pokemon for decades, only to fall short to a moment of luck I had. Anyway, I banished those thoughts before Kinji noticed something and congratulated him. We eventually finished dinner and as we were leaving the restaurant, Kinji finally asked why I called him over. 

"I remember our conversation about how Shedinja was a pretty good Pokemon to have at the low to mid-level trainer scene, but that Shedinja started to become inadequate after that which was a waste since the species had the potential to become an Ace-Pokemon that went to waste simply because of its bad specs, which dragged it down," I opened the topic without mentioning anything concrete yet. 

"Yeah, that was why I did not bother getting one myself since I strive to think long-term whenever I add someone to the team," Kinji followed up seriously before asking "Why'd you suddenly bring that up?". I could feel that he was slightly puzzled when he said that, just as I could feel that change to shock, a tinge of awe before he followed up with "You didn't, did you?". "I did," I returned with a nod, a tinge of pride in my tone. 

"I can see why you were reluctant to mention it over the phone. Can I see it?" Kinji asked and it was clear that he was very curious. "Naturally, that's why I called you over after all," I said as we were making our way to one of the emptier parks. We kept quiet as we walked towards a deserted corner of the park we chose, which was totally not suspicious by the way, and once there were no bystanders around, I brought out my Shadinja's ball.

I released Shadinja and I felt Kinji's curiosity as well as awe spike as Shadinja made his appearance. I told Shadinja that this was Kinji, which roused his interest since he knew that his daughter was supposed to go with Kinji, so just like Kinji began to study/observe Shadinja, Shadinja did the same to him. "As a species their racial level is on the same level as that of Yanmega, but their abilities make them much more powerful than Yanmega or pretty much any other bug type really,' I commented on the side as Kinji was circling Shadinja.

I knew he was listening with pricked ears, so I continued. "The species is called Shadinja, and while it looks like a Ninjask with Shedinja add-ons, it has Shedinja's bug/ghost typing. Still, more important than their looks is that Shadinja inherited the powerful abilities of both Shedinja and Ninjask, so it can have either Wonder Guard or Speed Boost, or both if its potential is high enough, which combined with its high specs makes it one of the, if not the strongest bug type out there, at least in my opinion," I shared with Kinji and he actually froze for a moment when I told him that Shadinja had both Wonder Guard and Speed Boost.

"Where'd you find it and are there more of them?" Kinji straightforwardly asked and I had to smile at his reaction. "Yes, there are more," I replied with a nod; "But you don't have to bother looking for one since I already caught one for you," I followed up and Kinji's eyes bore into mine at that. I just kept smiling as I continued. "I can tell you that she is the best one among the Shadinja I found, and I couldn't think of a better trainer for her than you," I declared and through Kinji's eyes, I could see a brief inner struggle happening, which I had expected.

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