Back to School

Enki noted down Professor Rowan's and Shuichi's witness account of the events and had some people take in the Team Galactic grunts for later questioning. "Well, that promptly delayed me more than enough. It was nice to see you again Shuichi and it seems you have a bright future ahead of you with your skills." And with that statement, Professor Rowan departed.

Once the scene cleared, Enki was left alone with Shuichi, "Congratulations on your gym badge." Enki and Umeko had both been informed about Shuichi getting his first badge on the day it happened. "Thanks, Dad! Roark was certainly no pushover." Shuichi didn't discredit Roark.

Enki looked closely at Shuichi who knew what he was looking for, "I'm fine Dad, I've dealt with the problem for now and have been nightmare-free for a while now." Shuichi informed his father about his nightmares.

Enki didn't feel that Shuichi was lying to him, even if he tried he wouldn't have done well against Enki. "For now?" Enki however was sharper than that and caught on the catch.

Shuichi didn't try to hide it "Yes, for now. I'm working on a permanent solution, I just need to put the pieces together." Shuichi still didn't completely understand his emotions when he recalled his talks with Kristoph.

Enki frowned a little but he didn't continue to press Shuichi, he knew his son was just as sharp as him and he would figure it out later. "I suppose that's fine then, will you inform your mother about this as well?" Enki didn't forget to mention Umeko and Shuichi nodded, both were his parents and hiding information from one would only cause trouble.

Shuichi had gotten the green light from his father to continue travelling, it took a huge weight off his chest. Enki bid Shuichi farewell as he was going to interrogate the two Team Galactic grunts and Shuichi was going to the Pokémon Center to check-in.

Shuichi had Nurse Joy give his Pokémon a check-up as he was going through the stack of jobs, he had asked Nurse Joy for jobs that a 1 badge trainer could take on. Nurse Joy could see how many badges Shuichi had on her computer screen, it also listed all of Shuichi's Pokémon.

There were many more jobs here than in Oreburgh and he regretted not checking them out on the first visit to Jubilife, he could've made more money instead of wasting all his free time. ('Oh well, learning experience I suppose.') Shuichi had never needed a job due to the military paying for it all in his past life.

Shuichi had looked through the stack and was eventually left with three jobs. 'Help required with clearing the west! 1 badge and water-type Pokémon required!' The first job was simple; the road to the west of Jubilife was mostly water with a little bit of land, and the water would often get invested with rocks and debris making travel by ship difficult. It paid ₽1,000 for the day.

'Trainer wanted for a double battle on TV! 1 badge required and two Pokémon minimum!' This was another interesting job, Shuichi would have to be on TV and perform a double battle against the host of the TV show. 

There was a catch, It couldn't be a stomp and Shuichi had to 'sell' the battle or else no one would be interested in watching it. This one only paid ₽500 but if ratings were good he would have a second battle which would be worth more.

'Assistant wanted for a special teaching class at the trainer school! 1 badge and three Pokémon minimum!' This was a job at his previous trainer school, he would hold a three-on-three battle with the teacher there and the kids would have to take note and find out why the trainers made the choices they did. It also paid ₽800 for the day.

Shuichi thought about his choices and ultimately decided to help his previous trainer school, he had fond memories of that place and the teachers there. Shuichi went to Nurse Joy who told him the class would begin the next day.

Shuichi entered Jubilife at midday time and Nurse Joy would take a few hours to check up on his Pokémon so he decided to have today be a rest day and do a job tomorrow then leave the next day. This way he would have around 36 days to get to Entrana City and get badge number 2, he would also get his fourth team member on the way.

Nurse Joy wasn't quite finished yet so Shuichi decided to call his mother, he talked with her a bit repeating what he told his father until Nurse Joy called him up. There wasn't much wrong except for a little build-up of fatigue that should be gone tomorrow morning, Shuichi had hoped to be off the Nurse's list by now.

Shuichi decided to get a room and do a little research on a few things, for example, a basic explanation of how to train a few moves and research on J and Team Galactic. 

There wasn't much known about Team Galactic however, there was a lot of information on J aka Hunter J. She was a ruthless and feared criminal who was wanted throughout the entire Sinnoh region, most astounding was a bounty for her capture settled at ₽100,000!

He also researched emotions and how to understand them better, and the answer to that one was more normal than he expected; Meditation or therapy.

Sure, some people advised hypnosis however one would need a psychic-type Pokémon that one could trust and be open to. Shuichi didn't have a psychic-type Pokémon so it was either meditation or therapy, therapy was quickly ruled out. 

Seriously, who would believe that he had come from a different world that doesn't have Pokémon that nearly went to hell due to war?

('Meditation it is then.') Shuichi decided and did some research on the topic, it boiled down to doing absolutely nothing and focusing only on one object—for example, breathing. The mind will inevitably wander around a bit but with focus, it could be brought back.

Shuichi's inevitable goal was to focus on his emotions during meditation and try to understand them better or perhaps talk to Kristoph more, but his focus, for now, would be his breath to get a feeling of meditation. 

Shuichi had started after preparing the sleeping quarters for all of his Pokémon, he turned off the lights and tried to clear his mind and only focus on the sound of his breath. It was a lot more difficult than he had expected, every small sound was suddenly heard and he would constantly think about it which caused him to focus again.

He tried to get into the meditative state for an hour before giving up, the best he could manage was only 2 minutes before being interrupted. ('Practice makes perfect.') Shuichi didn't lose hope, he knew this wasn't an instant solution.

The next day rolled around and Shuichi was up early, he was always up early however he was going to help his previous teacher with a special class. Shuichi did some light training and went to the trainer's school, the walk to the school was strangely nostalgic. 

Entering the school he went up to the front desk and asked about the job, he was told to go to the 3rd-grade classroom. Shuichi remembered the teacher of the 3rd grade which was Ms Coldwood, he knocked on the door and a middle-aged woman opened the door. 

"Hello? Can I-" She began to ask if she could help him but her words got caught in her throat "Ah! Shuichi! It's been a while!" She smiled as she remembered Shuichi.

Shuichi didn't expect her to remember him "Good morning Ms Coldwood, I'm impressed that you remember me." She was only his teacher for one year and he didn't think he'd made that much of an impression.

Ms Coldwood just laughed at that comment. "Well duh! Who could forget someone as focused as you were on your studies? You wouldn't even take a break!" Shuichi was a bit embarrassed, was he really that focused on them?

"Well, I'm glad I made a good impression. I assume you know why I'm here today?" Shuichi decided to move the topic along. Ms Coldwood nodded "I got the message from Nurse Joy yesterday and was pretty excited to find out it was someone I knew!"

Ms Coldwood, contrary to her name, was not cold at all, instead, she was probably one of the most excited and passionate people he's ever seen. "So, what's the schedule for the day?" Shuichi didn't know what Ms Coldwood had planned except for the battle.

Ms Colwood turned a bit more serious "I first thought you could do a small introduction with a Q&A session. Then we could have the battle, and after the battle, we could do another Q&A session." Ms Coldwood went over the program for the day and it sounded pretty simple to Shuichi.

Shuichi nodded and chatted with Ms Coldwood until the class began, he didn't ask about Ms Coldwood's Pokémon and she didn't ask about his Pokémon. Soon the students began to roll in and looked a little weirdly at Shuichi.

Suddenly among the crowd of students, a familiar face exclaimed "Ah! It's Shuichi!" Shuichi looked over and recognised the voice, it was the boy named Landis who was with Ash and the group during the Team Rocket hypnosis incident. "It's been a while Landis, how are you doing?"

"You- You remember me?" Landis was surprised Shuichi remembered him because they were not talking that much and only met for one night. Shuichi nodded "Of course, who could forget one of my biggest fans." He teased him a little and Landis quickly became embarrassed.

Everyone got seated behind their desks and Ms Coldwood started the class after a simple headcount, "Class, today is a special day! Today we have an old student here who's willing to give us a showcase as to what being a trainer is like!" Ms Coldwood explained a little.

The class was interested in Shuichi and this was his cue to introduce himself. "Good morning class, I'm Shuichi Tsuki and I have been travelling for around 1 month and currently have 1 badge."

The class oohed and aahed at Shuichi's words, they asked him some simple questions like what his Pokémon were, where he came from, and how the battle with Roark went. Shuichi answered the questions for a while until Ms Coldwood stepped in again. 

"So class, who wants to see Shuichi in action?" Ms Coldwood threw out some bait and the entire class was instantly interested. "Hold on Ms Coldwood, who will be my opponent?" Shuichi already knew it was Ms Coldwood but he decided to play along with her antics.

Ms Coldwood put her arms on her hips and looked at Shuichi "Of course it'd be me! I used to be a decent trainer too, you know." She was happy Shuichi played along with her banter which caused the entire class to be excited to see them in action.

The class went outside to the battlefield that Ms Coldwood had reserved for the day, "Class, you'll be rooting for your teacher right?" Ms Coldwood decided to pit the class against Shuichi and most of the class cheered for Ms Coldwood, Shuichi did notice some including Landis cheer for him.

"Don't underestimate me Ms Coldwood, I'm much better than I look. Shall we do a simple three-on-three matchup?" Shuichi and Ms Coldwood already discussed the rules earlier and this was just to announce it to the class.

Ms Coldwood nodded and just as she was about to throw her Pokéball Shuichi stopped her, "Wait a moment Ms Coldwood, we seem to be missing someone."

Ms Coldwood was a little surprised by the unscripted question but soon got the hint. "Good observation Shuichi! We are indeed missing someone! Class, who are we missing?" 

The class was a little surprised at the unexpected question and didn't seem to get it, Landis suddenly put his hand up and said "We're missing the referee!" 

Shuichi nodded at him "Indeed, referees oversee battles and announce the winners. Not every battle needs a referee but trainers often have their friends be a referee for fun. Landis, would you like to be the referee for our battle?" Shuichi asked him.

Landis smiled and nodded as he went to the centre of the field, Ms Coldwood was already happy with Shuichi's sudden learning lesson and thought it was a good choice.

With Landis now as the referee the battle started, Ms Coldwood and Shuichi both got ready. Shuichi started to emit a small sense of pressure that Ms Coldwood took note of, this was completely different from the well-behaved boy she used to know. 

Both threw out their Pokéballs at the same time. "Clamperl, get ready!" "Staravia, come out dear!" Shuichi sent out Clamperl and Ms Coldwood sent out a Staravia.

On the outside it looked like Staravia had the advantage due to the difference in mobility, that was the problem until Shuichi fixed it with Ice Beam. "Clamperl, freeze the ground!" Shuichi immediately started with the tactic.

Ms Coldwood didn't know Shuichi's plan however she wasn't going to let this opening go, "Staravia, Wing Attack!" She moved onto the offence as Clamperl was freezing the ground solid. Staravia dive-bombed straight at Clamperl with its wings glowing white.

"Dodge it, Clamperl!" Shuichi could see the floor was now frozen more than enough and Clamperl sped to the side with a weak Water Gun, neither Staravia nor Ms Coldwood could predict such rapid movement from a Clamperl which caused Staravia to dive bomb straight into the ground.

"Now Clamperl, Ice Beam at Staravia!" Shuichi wasn't going to let the chance go by and neither did Clamperl, he fired off light blue beams directly at Staravia freezing it solidly in one hit.

"Oh, wow!" Landis was stunned and it wasn't until Shuichi cleared his throat to remind him. "Oh right! Staravia is unable to battle, Clamperl wins!" Landis announced and the entire class cheered at the battle.

Ms Coldwood was stunned at the sudden knockout and use of mobility, "It seems like I was the one underestimating you Shuichi," She smiled bitterly. Ms Coldwood returned Staravia and pulled out another Pokéball.

"But that doesn't mean this battle will be an easy victory, Kadabra, come out dear!" A golden-brown, human-like fox Pokémon with a star on its forehead came out of the Pokéball holding a spoon. Kadabra was a psychic type and a powerful one at that.

Shuichi could sense Kadabra was extremely confident and ready in battle, this had to be her strongest Pokémon and it showed. "Clamperl, Whirlpool!" Shuichi decided to open the battle once more.

Clamperl quickly conjured up a whirlpool and threw it at Kadabra. "Confusion, Kadabra!" Ms Coldwood responded and Kadabra's eyes glowed red as it stretched out its hands. A red glow formed around the whirlpool stopping it dead in its tracks. "Now, send it back!" Ms Coldwood said and Kadabra sent the whirlpool back to Clamperl.

('Clamperl could try and send it back again but she's just going to send it back again.') Shuichi rapidly deduced a back and forth was not worth it so he went for the next course of action "Dodge!" a simple dodging manoeuvre.

Clamperl fired off a small Water Gun to the side and slid out of the way of the incoming whirlpool. Ms Coldwood however anticipated the sudden movement "Now, Psybeam!" She said as Clamperl was back in vision. 

Kadabra fired off a multicoloured beam that directly slammed into Clamperl, there were a few downsides to the ice movement. For one it was difficult to control and secondly, it took more time to react than a regular dodge. However, even with these downsides, it was still better than no movement at all.

Clamperl was heavily damaged from the Psybeam however he wasn't down for the count yet, "Ice wall and recover!" Shuichi intended to have Clamperl hide and recover for a while. The floor was still half ice and Kadabra would have trouble walking around.

Clamperl quickly made an ice wall and used Aqua Ring to put two rings around himself. Ms Coldwood wasn't bothered by the sudden wall, "Kadabra, Teleport!" A small light formed around Kadabra as it disappeared and reappeared behind Clamperl. 

"Now, Psybeam!" Ms Coldwood quickly capitalised on the opening and Kadabra complied, firing another multicoloured beam striking Clamperl directly once more, knocking him out. "Clamperl is unable to battle, Kadabra wins!" Landis was picking up on the referee position and called out the winner.

Shuichi recalled Clamperl and apologised, he didn't have a lot of experience fighting psychic types and Pokémon that could teleport. The class still cheered and Shuichi could swear he could see other classes stealing glances at them from the windows.

Shuichi now had to make a choice, Eevee or Combusken. Eevee had Shadow Ball that countered Kadabra's psychic type but Combusken had Shadow Claw. Combusken however was weak to Kadabra's psychic type, but she could also do something Eevee couldn't.

Shuichi's choice was made once the internal debate was over, "Combusken, get ready!" He chose Combusken for the other reason. "Kadabra, Psybeam!" Ms Coldwood was going for the immediate attack once Combusken hit the field.

Kadabra fired the multicoloured beam for the third time, Shuichi wasn't going to let Combusken take a hit like that "Deflect it with Shadow Claw!" Combusken enveloped her right claw in a shadow and placed it across her body, the beam hit her arm and she slapped away the Psybeam.

"Now big Ember!" Shuichi wasn't going to let the opportunity pass and had Combusken act, Combusken took a breath and fired off a big Ember. The fireball travelled towards Kadabra and melted the ice in its path.

This was the other reason Shuichi chose Combusken, the ice was good for Clamperl but for his other Pokémon it wasn't that good so Combusken had to clear it away with her flames. "Kadabra, send it back with Confusion!" Ms Coldwood used the same tactic against Clamperl's Whirlpool.

Kadabra's eyes glowed red and sent the big fireball back towards Combusken, Shuichi had a different plan now that the path was cleared of ice. "Flame Charge through it!" Combusken covered herself in red-yellow flames and ran towards the fireball.

Combusken was engulfed by the fireball but quickly came out the other hand looking perfectly fine, Shuichi knew it had hurt her but the damage was negligible to what Kadabra would take after the Flame Charge hit. Ms Coldwood however wasn't going to let it hit that easy, "Teleport!"

Kadabra quickly vanished and reappeared behind Combusken, "Combusken, turn and chase!" Combusken turned around and ran once more towards Kadabra, this time she was even faster than the last time due to Flame Charge passively boosting her speed.

Kadabra kept teleporting and Combusken kept chasing, Teleport was one of the ultimate manoeuvring moves however that came at a cost. Kadabra was getting sluggish in teleporting the longer it took and soon it slipped up and Combusken slammed directly into it.

Combusken was also a little winded however her species were made to run constantly and her constant running while on fire also cleared the entire field of any remaining ice. Kadabra was tougher than that and wasn't down for the count yet, "Confusion!" Ms Coldwood knew Psybeam wasn't going to work so a full body confusion might.

Kadabra covered Combusken's body in a red glow and slowly pulled her upwards into the air, the plan was to slam her down to the ground. Shuichi wasn't going to let that happen, "Big ember!" He shouted and Combusken slowly pried open her mouth and took a deep breath to fire off a fireball.

Kadabra couldn't stop the fireball and control Combusken at the same time, Teleporting wasn't an option anymore due to fatigue. Determination quickly flashed in Kadabra's emotional spectrum as it suddenly brought Combusken down at rapid speeds slamming her into the ground.

The fireball engulfed Kadabra as Combusken was slammed to the ground, Kadabra fell to the ground unconscious as the flames were cleared while Combusken was slowly getting up and she activated Blaze, that Confusion did more damage than Shuichi expected.

"Kadabra is unable to battle, Combusken wins!" Landis excitedly announced, Ms Coldwood recalled Kadabra and spoke some kind words to it. She turned to Shuichi and said, "Seems like we're going down to the wire here Shuichi!"

Shuichi nodded "Indeed we are Ms Coldwood but don't count Combusken out yet, she's still got her second wind." Referring to the Blaze ability. Ms Coldwood didn't reply as she pulled out her last Pokéball, "Bibarel, come out dear!"

Bibarel came out and Shuichi inwardly groaned at the sudden water type, "Combusken, Quick Attack!" Shuichi made the first quick move and Combusken nearly disappeared with the Quick Attack, Flame Charge had boosted her speed to the maximum it could be.

Combusken slammed into Bibarel who groaned upon impact, "Double Kick!" Shuichi wasn't letting up with the aggression as he double-tapped and Combusken kicked Bibarel at blinding speeds upwards into the sky before she jumped and kicked down.

"Bibarel, Water Gun!" Although Combusken was fast she sadly couldn't fall fast enough and Ms Coldwood wasn't going to let that pass going for the opening. Bibarel fired off a blast of water that slammed directly into Combusken, Combusken was sent flying and fell unconscious.

Landis announced Bibarel as the winner and eagerly waited for Shuichi's last Pokémon, Shuichi recalled Combusken and gave it some praise, she had done more than enough. Shuichi grabbed Eevee's Pokéball and threw it at the battlefield "Eevee, get ready!" 

Eevee landed on the battlefield and looked at Bibarel confidently, Bibarel was breathing a little hard due to the damage it took from Combusken. "Bibarel, Rollout!" Ms Coldwood went for a move that was fast and would deal a lot of damage to Eevee.

However, Ms Coldwood couldn't have been more wrong, "Protect!" Shuichi gave the command and the sudden green shield around Eevee surprised Ms Coldwood. Bibarel rolled against the shield and bounced off it, "Big Swift!" Shuichi capitalised on the opening.

Eevee dropped the shield and fired off one big star that slammed into Bibarel knocking it out cold. "Bibarel is unable to battle, Eevee wins! The winner is Shuichi!!" Landis excitedly announced and the class cheered and clapped for the fun battle.

Ms Coldwood and Shuichi both recalled their Pokémon, "That was some battle Shuichi! I didn't think you'd surpass your teacher this quickly!" Ms Coldwood said as she walked over to him. "Indeed Ms Coldwood, but I think the class should have plenty of questions about our battle right?" Shuichi reminded her of the class.

"Of course! Let's move back inside for the questions." Truthfully she had completely forgotten about the class during the heat of the battle. The rest of the day was filled with questions from the class, the questions were mainly about their thought process and why they made their decisions during battle.

Soon the class ended and Shuichi was ₽800 richer from the school, he also got a decent battle from Ms Coldwood which was something he wasn't expecting. ('Ms Coldwood was a better battler than some of the trainers on the road.')

Shuichi was reflecting on the day as he walked back to the Pokémon Center, he was mainly thinking about what Ms Coldwood had mentioned to him as he was leaving. "Shuichi, I don't know if you know this but, when you were battling you…changed. Wilder, more dangerous."

He didn't know this, he also didn't know when it started. It was unnerving that he was slowly changing without even his knowing, ('I hope meditation will give me some answers.') Shuichi internally decided to focus more on meditation.

After dropping off his Pokémon at the Center Shuichi went off on a little evening shopping for the journey to Floaroma Town. Shuichi had spent ₽1,500 to restock and prepare for a seven-day journey to Floaroma Town, having ₽7,900 left. Shuichi thought about buying a TM but couldn't find a good one in the stores.

After another night of meditation practice and managing three whole minutes of uninterrupted calmness it was off to bed for Shuichi, Nurse Joy had cleared his Pokémon of any lingering damage and one night's rest was more than enough to bring them back to full strength.

Shuichi woke up the next morning and did some training with his Pokémon, Eevee would be learning a new move which was Work Up. Eevee has most of his basis covered, defence, offence and even mobility, Work Up was a supporting move that would allow Eevee's physical and special offence to grow one stage.

Combusken was in the same boat as Eevee and would also be learning a support move, this one was Bulk Up. Bulk Up would also allow Combusken to raise her physical power and physical resistance with one stage.

Clamperl on the other hand would be learning a new offensive move, Water Pulse. Water Pulse was a more powerful Water Gun with the added effect of occasionally confusing the opponent. Shell Smash still needed more power to be gathered which would come with experience and time.

Shuichi notified his parents he wasn't going to contact them for a little bit due to the journey and set off for the journey to Route 204.