11 Jubilife City

('Finally, I'm here at Jubilife City.') Shuichi thought as he saw the city at the other side of the path. It had been around a week since Shuichi captured Combusken in Bewilder Forest, in this time some things had happened.

First off were the constant nightmares and intrusive thoughts, whenever Shuichi had no-one around or nothing on his mind the thoughts would try and worm their way in his head.

Shuichi hadn't experienced this during his past 8 years due to always being busy with either his friend group or studying, but now that he was alone the thoughts came in droves.

The nightmares were also a constant reminder, they would either try and make him choose to be emotionless again or make him feel awful with past memories.

('I hope I can find something to keep my mind occupied.') Shuichi thought as he further reflected on the past week.

There were also of course the trainers, there were a total 10 trainer battles in the week that followed and Shuichi managed to win 8 out of the 10. 

He lost to a youngster with a Marowak that was brown and had a single claw on its hands and feet, a tail, and the Pokémon's head seems to be an exoskeleton helmet and it held a long bone.

Marowak went against Eevee and even with Protect they still lost, there would of course be battles he would end up losing and this was one of them. 

The other match they lost was against a trainer with a Staravia, which was the evolved form of Starly.

Originally it was a trainer with a Starly however said Starly evolved during battle and gave a surprise turnaround knocking out Clamperl. 

Evolutions during battle happened often and a battle could be turned around due to it, such was battling.

Something worth noting was that Shuichi could feel the same spike in determination he felt when Beduw evolved into Roselia. 

Normally when one's Pokémon would be knocked out they would give them a potion to help stave off any hidden injuries or remove some accumulated damage.

Shuichi however had run out of potions, luckily he still had the Sitrus berries from the Stantler that worked pretty much the same. Shuichi had three Sitrus berries left over after using one on Eevee and Clamperl.

Shuichi bet ₽150 for every match, ₽300 was too much for the beginning trainers in route 202 so he just halved it so everyone accepted the bet. 

Winning 8 times meant he had won ₽1,200 and losing twice meant he lost ₽300, all in all it was still a profit of ₽900 which totaled his money to ₽2,320.

At least it should've, had Shuichi not spotted a Poké Mart halfway on the route. Shuichi figured out that Combusken liked sweet Pecha berries. 

Shuichi bought 3 Pecha, 3 Chesto and 3 Cheri berries along with 9 Oran berries for the poffin making. Shuichi also bought some more vitamins.

From Brock's advice trainers should try and aim for around 3 vitamins for their Pokémon, too many vitamins and their effect will go to waste, too little and it won't matter in the long run. 

In the games vitamins raised a hidden statistic called 'Effort Values' and could only max out two statistics at best. 

Here however they could max out three statistics, but it would be a very long experience. For his own Pokémon Shuichi decided to buy two small bottles of protein and carbos pills and one small bottle of iron pills. 

In total Shuichi spend ₽1,080 for the berries and ₽750 for the vitamins bringing his costs to ₽1,830 and making his total money ₽490 left.

The vitamins all helped in different fields, Protein helped the muscles making physical attack better, Calcium helped with the purity of the Pokémon energy making special attacks better. 

Iron helped fortify the skin of the Pokémon making them take physical hits better and Carbos helped the Pokémon muscles become more flexible making them faster.

For Eevee, Shuichi had concocted a poffin mixture of Chesto and Oran along with Protein, Calcium and Carbos. 

For Clamperl it was a mixture of Cheri and Oran along with Calcium, Protein and Iron.

For Combusken it was a mixture of Pecha and Oran along with the same vitamins as Eevee.

Entering route 202 Shuichi was poor and leaving it he was poor once again, being a trainer really was a money spending job.

However in the long run they would only make his Pokémon stronger making him earn more, and when he saw Combusken's face after tasting his poffins made him feel like it was all worth it.

Speaking of his Pokémon, a week's worth of training had done them well. First up was Eevee who managed to learn Swift, and was currently working on Shadow Ball with the Spell Tag. 

As for move master Eevee had stopped working on Tackle due to not progressing in it anymore and focused more on Quick Attack and Swift. 

Quick Attack got a little faster and Eevee could run longer. As for Swift, Eevee was going to improve the amount of stars the attack was shooting.

Clamperl was still working on learning Shell Smash, and it seemed like after the fight with Combusken that Clamperl had a minor breakthrough as it found the outer 'shell' layer and now was working on accumulating power to smash it open.

As for move mastery, Whirlpool had been improved and Clamperl was able to form it much quicker not needing as much preparation time anymore and Aqua Ring had gained a new ring.

In place of Aqua Ring came Iron Defense, the battle with Combusken proved that Iron Defense was slowly losing its potency. Shuichi wanted Clamperl to make the light blue sheen thicker making it stronger.

Next was Combusken and Shuichi wanted it to learn Flame Charge, Flame Charge was originally a move Shuichi hadn't heard off due to it being introduced in the later games same as Shell Smash but after studying for 8 years he came to learn a bunch of new moves.

Flame Charge surrounded a Pokémon's body with red-yellow flames and the Pokémon would slam into the opponent, as an extra bonus the user would become faster each time the move was used.

Move mastery wise, Combusken worked on Ember making the move more powerful and on Double Kick to also make the Combusken kick harder. Shadow Claw had more than enough practice due to the Spell Tag's influence.

Speaking of the Spell Tag, Eevee was currently working on it to learn Shadow Ball and working with the item proved a slight learning experience as well. In the beginning Eevee had also fallen prone to adverse effects of the Spell Tag.

However Eevee was a normal-type unlike Combusken so it only made Eevee more naughty and prank heavy. 

It would frequently try to trip Shuichi or Combusken, under Shuichi's watchful eye such mistakes weren't made again as he took the Spell Tag back after every training session.

Once Shuichi entered the city he walked to the Pokémon Center first thing to have his Pokémon checked out, berries and potions could probably only do so much and having a professional checking out your Pokémon could never hurt.

"You're correct in your assumption, berries and potions do have their limits. We'll give your Pokémon a good check up to see if there's anything wrong." Nurse Joy echoed Shuichi's assumption and took his Pokémon in for a check up.

The Pokémon Center also featured a free hotel for the trainers so Shuichi also got a key to a room. Looking around the Pokémon Center, Shuichi could see there was a billboard with all sorts of advertisements on it.

The advertisement of the Jubilife contest was also there and it was scheduled for next week, Shuichi was interested in watching it as he would cheer Dawn on. Another poster caught his eye as he read it. 

'Jubilife local tournament! A special tournament for beginning trainers with no badges! Only requirements are three Pokémon and ₽450 entry fee. Prize pool of ₽7,200 first four places are paid ₽3,600, ₽1,800, ₽1,080 and ₽720 respectively! Limited to 16 trainers, sign up by Nurse Joy.'

Money continued to be a problem for many trainers, so special tournaments like these were created to help those less fortunate people. 

With a ₽3,600 first place prize Shuichi could reach Oreburgh and refill on his poffin supplies and also stock back up on his food supplies. Although it was risky due to only the top 4 being paid, Shuichi was confident about his chances.

The tournament was scheduled to begin two days from now and with a 16 trainer limit Shuichi had to ask if the tournament was still accepting trainers. 

"Yes, there's still 3 spots left for the tournament. Do you wish to enter?" Nurse Joy asked Shuichi who agreed to sign up and paid ₽450 making his total a measly ₽40.

('I wonder if there will be people I know who are also entering') Shuichi began speculating over who could be appearing, Paul was a likely candidate as he also was likely to be here. It was also possible Nando would be appearing again, the bard was also interested in battles after all.

Shuichi thought for a while longer before not being able to come up with any other characters, he would have to wait until the tournament to see them. Looking across the Pokémon Center Shuichi spotted a video transmission corner and decided to call his mother again to let her know he was in Jubilife now.

"It's good to see you again dear," Umeko said as she breathed a small sigh of relief at Shuichi through the video transmitter.

She had been a little worried after not hearing from Shuichi in over a week but it seems like all was well.

Shuichi smiled warmly seeing his mother again and said, "It's also good to see you too mom, I'm in Jubilife now." explaining why he hadn't called in a week.

"Ah! I see, are you still travelling with your friends?" Umeko asked an innocent question but Shuichi flinched a little when she asked it. Noticing something was off she asked what happened.

"Well, something happened and now I'm travelling alone,'' Shuichi said, giving her the cliffnotes before fully explaining the story at his mothers continuous requests.

Umeko sighed a little hearing the story, finances were always a source of conflict within friend groups and especially in one where only one needed the finances. ''It sounds like you parted on good ways, which is good.'' she said after hearing the story.

She then moved the topic to being alone and asked ''How does it feel to travel alone?'' 

This was a difficult question for Shuichi, but he didn't want to make his mother worry. ''I-it's fine mom, no need to worry.''

Umeko knew her son well enough to know when he trying to lie, ''Shuichi, you know you're a bad liar to me.''

Ouch, this was the truth, Shuichi was a horrible liar to his parents as he didn't like to lie to them. But this was different, he couldn't explain this one.

''Mom, please, It's fine there's no need to worry.'' Shuichi tried to appease his mother and she looked at him with some worry.

After what felt like an eternity Umeko just sighed. ''Shuichi, you know you can tell me anything right?''

Shuichi felt guilty hearing these words. ''Yes mom, just…trust me. Maybe later.'' He didn't know if he would ever tell his parents the truth.

Umeko knew there was more to this however her son clearly didn't want to tell her. ''So are you going to stay in Jubilife?'' She moved on to another topic.

Shuichi was glad she was moving on, he still felt guilty however he also continued. ''Yes, I want to watch Dawn's contest. I don't want to miss that or she'll never let me hear the end of it.''

Umeko smiled at seeing her son was supporting his friends and asked, ''What will you be doing in the meantime?''

''I'll be entering a local tournament here!'' Shuichi was excited for the tournament and told his mother about the prizes.''

Umeko smiled warmly hearing her son's enthusiasm for the tournament ''It sounds like you're confident, goodluck in the tournament! Oh! right, your father should also be at the police station. Why don't you go and see him?''

Shuichi was excited to see his father again. ''Okay! I haven't seen him in over a week, I'll swing by the police station.'' The phone call ended pretty quickly and Shuichi informed Nurse Joy he was going out for a bit.

On the other side of the phone was Umeko who thought back to the conversation, she knew there was more to the story of being alone.

Now that she thinks about it, since Mesprit helped him regain his emotions he had often surrounded himself with people.

There wasn't a day he was alone or not busy with something else, Umeko didn't know what was plaguing her son and she felt powerless to help him.

('Do I tell Enki about this?') Umeko was hesitant about involving her husband with this, on one hand he was also his parent and on the other hand it would break Shuichi's trust in her.

Walking through the streets of Jubilife felt a little nostalgic and new at the same time, in Shuichi's past life cities like these were common. He had also come here in the past with his family, but now it was a solo experience.

There were maps and signposts all over the city so finding the local police station wasn't too difficult and after walking for about 10 minutes Shuichi spotted a large building with a giant police crest on it.

He entered it after confirming it was indeed the police station, Shuichi could see the inside was that of a stereotypical police station in his past life. 

There were many men and women in police uniforms walking and talking, there even was a counter for visitors with a man behind it. 

Shuichi walked up to the man behind the counter working at a computer, the man noticed Shuichi and asked ''Hello! Can I help you?''

Shuichi nodded and smiled mischievously. ''Is Enki Tsuki in the building? Tell him his dear son who he hasn't seen in a week is here for a visit.''

Enki was currently in the Jubilife City police department on the third floor along with his partner Looker, the two were discussing the recent cases of Team Galactic.

''I'm telling you Enki, they're going to strike soon, I can feel it!'' A man with black hair and wearing the standard detective outfit told Enki his feelings.

Enki sighed a little at his partner's 'intuition' ''Looker, we can't just assume them to attack based on your intuition.''

Looker looked at Enki and sighed a little, ''I know, but sitting here won't solve anything.'' The two were in a tough spot recently. 

Rumours had it that Team Galactic was planning something here in Jubilife but it was difficult understanding what they were planning.

Just as the two of them were contemplating their next move another man joined them ''Enki, you have a visitor.'' he told them.

Enki frowned a little not expecting any visitors, ''Did they say who they were?'' he inquired about the person's identity.

''He said he was your son who you haven't seen in a week'' The officer stated what Shuichi had told him. Upon hearing this Enki's frown turned upside down.

''So Shuichi is here! Tell him I'll be there in a minute'' Enki said with a little smile on his face, it had indeed been a week since he had left for his journey.

The officer however wasn't done yet, trying to hold in his laughter he said. ''He also told me to say and i quote 'Come down here already you half-baked detective.''' 

A small vein popped up on Enki's temple as Looker was also trying to hold in his laugh, ''Half-baked huh? I'll show him who's half-baked.'' Enki said as he looked at Looker.

He smiled a little mischievously and said. ''Looker, mind if I borrow your tie for a minute?''

Shuichi sat in the waiting room of the police station slowly getting impatient at his father's late arrival.

('Is he in a meeting or something?') Shuichi was a little worried he had interrupted something important.

Suddenly down the hall a familiar face came around, it wasn't his father no, it was his partner Looker. 

Looker spotted Shuichi and walked towards him with a friendly smile ''Ah, Shuichi it's nice to see you again.''

Shuichi also smiled at Looker, he had met him a few times when the man came over for a visit when he was home. ''It's good to see you too Looker, I suppose my father is in a meeting?''

Looker nodded ''Your father is indeed in an important meeting, so I've decided to show you around Jubilife for a bit.'' which would explain why only Looker had come.

Shuichi sighed a little and said with some dejection ''Well I suppose a meeting with Officer Jenny is indeed more important than a meeting with me.''

Looker frowned a little at the assumption ''I don't believe I've said he was meeting with Officer Jenny.''

Shuichi only smiled ''You didn't but the Officer Jenny in Sandgem Town told me to give my father her 'special' regards.'' clearly implying at something.

Lookers lip twitched a little hearing ''Right, well shall we go on?'' looking to already get going as some officers were looking at them trying to hide their laughter.

Shuichi however wasn't done yet ''Maybe I should tell mom about this development, she would probably be interested.''

Looker suddenly panicked ''NO!, I-I mean there's no need to act rashly, I'm sure the meeting is nothing that serious.''

Shuichi couldn't hold his laughter anymore and started laughing ''Dad, do you still want to continue?'' as he looked at 'Looker'.

'Looker' only sighed and said ''Damn brat, how you always this perceptive?'' After saying this he grabbed his 'face' and it was suddenly taken off only to revert back to a pink blob with a face ''Ditto!'' it said.

Shuichi only looked at him knowingly saying ''You know how, also hello to you as well Ditto!'' Implying at his ability to sense Pokémon's emotions. 

His parents were the only ones to know to date. He could feel Ditto's enthusiasm as 'Looker' was talking to him.

After the face was removed did it reveal the more familiar face of his father to Shuichi, his father had tried to trick his son into believing he was Looker but Shuichi's ability stopped that dead in its tracks.

''I told you it wasn't going to work, he's always been that perceptive.'' A new voice said and it was revealed to be the real Looker who also came around the corner.

Enki wasn't discouraged ''Sooner or later he will mess up.'' he said, however inwardly he didn't think Shuichi would mess up with that ability of his. 

Shuichi, Enki and Looker decided to have lunch together to catch up on how Shuichi's week of travels had been. Enki and Looker were more familiar with the good restaurants and soon they sat at a Johtonion themed restaurant, it made Shuichi a little nostalgic.

Shuichi told them the stories about his journey so far as they were eating, his father and Looker were occasionally commenting about his journey.

''A Combusken in Bewilder Forest! The forest had always been a fairly unexplored place due to the Stantler hypnotising any strangers, I'm surprised they actually let you in.'' Looker commented while Shuichi was talking about his Combusken.

Shuichi played off the unusualness of Stantler ''Once they realised I wasn't after them they became a lot more friendly, not surprising considering their history.'' In actuality the scenario worked well due to his ability to sense their emotions and make guesses based on that.

Enki however could see something more at play and wisely moved the subject along ''So, did you catch the Combusken?''

Shuichi was glad his father was moving the topic along, although he might have joked that he was half-baked; his father was no slouch as a detective. ''I did indeed, I now have three Pokémon and I'm looking to enter the local tournament in a few days.''

''The tournament that's starting in two days? Confident you can win it?'' Looker knew of the tournament and was intrigued by Shuichi's chances.

Shuichi thought about it for a second before saying ''I'm confident I can enter the top 4, winning on the other hand I'm less confident about.'' It was no lie, with someone like Paul likely being there his chances went down significantly.

Enki looked at Looker then went back to Shuichi and asked. ''Do you have your Pokémon with you?'' He was clearly hinting at something, and Shuichi quickly picked up on it.

''They're at the Pokémon Center getting checked up on by Nurse Joy, she might be done by the time we get there.'' Shuichi said while suddenly speeding up his eating speed. 

Enki and Looker smiled and they also sped up their eating speed, soon the group was at the Pokémon Center while Shuichi talked to Nurse Joy.

''They're all checked out and apart from a small amount of accumulated damage there is no big worry, Chansey has already taken care of the damage so they're all ready!'' Nurse Joy enthusiastically said to Shuichi as she handed him back his Pokéballs, she eased his biggest worries.

Nurse Joy continued with her speech and said ''I see you've listened to my sisters words, the berries and potions helped minimising the accumulated damage.'' Surprising Shuichi a little.

''Do you all keep in contact?'' Shuichi asked, a little surprised, with how many Nurse Joys there were; he didn't think they'd all keep contact. 

Nurse Joy surprised him again when she smiled and said ''Of course! We might be nurses but we're still sisters. We plan a weekly meeting to discuss any trainers to keep an eye on and you're on of the lucky ones.''

Being on Nurse Joy's watchlist felt more like a punishment than an honour, smiling a little bitterly Shuichi asked ''Can I request to be taken off the list?'' 

Nurse Joy laughed a little awkwardly ''We'll discuss this during the weekly meeting.'' Completely dodging Shuichi's request. 

Shuichi sighed a little, was it really necessary for him to be placed on a list from a small warning? ''Why do people always have to ruin everything?'' he muttered as he walked off.

Nurse Joy also didn't like the fact that such a list had to be made in the first place, however people were unpredictable. ''I wish I knew.'' She muttered as she too went back to work.

Enki looked at Shuichi ''All ready? Then let's use the field in the back.'' As he walked to the back, Shuichi and Looker both followed suit.

Behind the Pokémon Center were a lot of battlefields each with some benches for spectators to see, there were some trainers battling against each other and some were just talking exchanging pointers.

After walking to an empty battlefield, Shuichi stood on one side of the field while his father stood across the other side. Looker was sitting on a bench intending on watching the match.

Shuichi looked at his father and asked ''How do you want to do this dad?'' He knew his father wanted to battle him however he was unclear how.

His father turned serious and a Ditto suddenly crawled out of his coat and landed on the ground. ''Ditto here will be your opponent.''

Ditto, a Pokémon that could transform into anything, was going up against Shuichi. Shuichi knew not to underestimate this seemingly harmless Pokémon, in the games it might be weak, however here? It was not to be underestimated.

''Combusken, get ready!'' Shuichi called out as he threw out Combusken's Pokéball, Combusken hit the field and looked at her opponent only to feel a little off.

Recognising this as contempt Shuichi quickly called out to her ''Don't get cocky Combusken! That's my father who competed near the top in the past.'' Combusken heard Shuichi's words and nodded, removing any contempt.

Enki smiled at Shuichi being able to quell Combusken from underestimating Ditto. ''Ursaring'' Enki calmly stated and Ditto suddenly glowed white and grew bigger, much bigger towering over Combusken.

Ditto transformed into Ursaring and Combusken was more surprised than anything, battle intent suddenly raged inwards as she got excited to fight. Shuichi however frowned, why transform into Ursaring and not Kingler?

Enki saw Shuichi frowning and explained ''I'm not looking to pound you into the ground Shuichi, I just want to see what you and your Pokémon can do. Speaking of which, Slash!''

Ditto ran forwards at Combusken with one claw suddenly glowing white as it grew larger. ''Combusken counter with Double Kick!'' Shuichi said to Combusken, the latter showed him during their battles that attacks could also be countered like this.

Combusken ran at Ditto as her legs also glowed white, Combusken kicked with one foot while Ditto thrusted out the slash, both moves collided with each other as sparks flew off.

There was a clear power difference as Combusken was getting pushed back however Double Kick was a move that attacked twice, Combusken's second kick connected with Ditto's arm causing the Slash to go wide.

Shuichi took advantage of the opening. ''Ember then back off!'' He didn't want to play the close combat game with a Ursaring. 

Combusken fired off fiery shots from her mouth that connected with Ditto before backing off.

Ditto however looked to be completely unscathed as if the attack didn't work, Enki only smiled seeing his son fend off the attacks and remaining cautious. Enki decided to add more pressure ''Stone Edge!''

Two rings of blue light appeared around Ditto that quickly turned into pointy rocks, which were fired off towards Combusken. 

('Ember's too weak and Double Kick won't destroy them all!') Shuichi's mind ran a million miles trying to come up with a solution. 

Shuichi settled on the next best thing. ''Charge through with Shadow Claw!'' It wasn't perfect and Combusken would still take some damage however it should give her an opening for an attack afterwards.

Combusken dashed forward with her claw covered in a dark shadow, attempting to fend off the rocks and weathering through the storm as damage slowly built up. 

Despite the onslaught, she confronted Ditto, seizing the opportunity. ''Double Kick!'' Shuichi commanded, aiming to exploit the opening as Combusken's legs turned white.

Enki however gave out an uncommon order ''Guard!'' The order caught Shuichi off guard, what did he mean by guard?

Ditto understood the order and put its arms up in a boxer's guard, Combusken's Double Kick connected with the guard, however Ditto stood firm and didn't budge an inch. ''What!'' Shuichi was surprised and yelled out.

Enki smiled seeing his son surprised and commented ''Pokémon don't always have to dodge or counter with moves, they can also defend. Slash!'' Ditto's claw grew larger again as it turned white and thrusted forwards.

It was too late to even give a command and the Slash connected with Combusken blasting her across the field knocking her out completely. 

Recalling her back and reassuring her as he looked back to Ditto who transformed back to its base form.

Shuichi looked at his father and jokingly said ''Thought you didn't want to pound me into the ground?'' Enki coughed a little, maybe that Slash at the end was a bit overkill.

Shuichi teased his father but inwardly he was impressed by his fathers tactics and strategies, however it was to be expected from someone who made it to the Silver Conference.

''Clamperl, get ready!'' Shuichi continued the battle, he had already learned one way to help his Pokémon get better. Who knows if there will be more lessons.

Well the battle ended and Shuichi didn't learn anything new, Ditto transformed into Arcanine against Clamperl and it ended how one would expect. Ditto was too fast for Clamperl to hit accurately.

The battle quickly ended with a simple Thunder Fang knocking out Clamperl, mobility continued to be Clamperl's achilles heel as Shuichi racked his brain trying to figure something out.

Iron Defense and Aqua Ring were currently his only support moves and Shuichi was already looking to improve Iron Defense but that still wouldn't be enough in the long run, however learning a new move in two days was impossible without a TM.

Eevee was next and for what it was worth it put up a decent fight when Ditto transformed into Sandslash, Protect was always a viable defensive move and Swift made it fight at long range better.

However even then it still couldn't beat Ditto, the power gap was just too great and soon Eevee was also knocked out by a strong Slash. 

After recalling all his Pokémon and clearing the field, Shuichi went to Nurse Joy who scolded him a little that he had come back so quickly and with all his Pokémon hurt as well. Shuichi doubted he would be removed from that list soon after this encounter.

''I have to say Shuichi you impressed me, I had to go a little more serious there. But I think you've realised some areas of improvement that you have to work on for the tournament'' Enki said to Shuichi.

Shuichi nodded and didn't explain any further. He had some ideas he wanted to test out and prepare for the tournament in two days.

After talking with his father and Looker for a while they separated and Shuichi was looking to start his training regimen.