20 Road to Oreburgh

The female trainer was a bit surprised to say the least, learning a new move during combat? Who would even try such a risky strategy?

Still Combusken was tired and she doubted that it could go on for a while longer, "Confuse Ray" She decided to play it safe and still attack from a distance.

"Quick Attack!" Shuichi could estimate Combusken her condition was better than the female trainer, especially since he could sense her emotions. Combusken once again charged and managed to activate Quick Attack easily to dodge the Confuse Ray.

Just as the female trainer was going to respond to the attack Shuichi yelled out "Double Kick!" Shuichi knew better than to not underestimate the female trainer. Combusken jumped up and kicked down with one leg and followed up with another on the way down.

Golbat slammed into the ground again, it might not have done much damage due to resistances but damage wasn't what Shuichi was aiming for. "Now! Flame Charge!" Shuichi once more yelled and Combusken cloaked herself with bright orange and yellow flames.

"Wing Attack" The female trainer wasn't going down without a fight and Golbat's wings started to glow white, Combusken ran into Golbat who struck back with its wings.

Golbat was flung back still conscious albeit very damaged, Combusken on the other hand fell down into unconsciousness. It was a miracle that she was even able to get that last attack off.

Shuichi recalled Combusken, "Very well done Combusken, we'll take it from here." He still complimented her on a job well done. Learning a move during battle was no easy feat but Combusken still pulled it off.

"Clamperl, get ready!" Shuichi decided next up was Clamperl, with Golbat severely weakened it was an easy cleanup job for Clamperl. Clamperl noticed the damage to the field and the damaged Golbat and was internally surprised that someone managed to beat Combusken before she beat them.

"Confuse Ray" The female trainer correctly spotted Clamperl's weakness of movement and immediately went on the offensive with a Confuse Ray, Golbat shot a purple beam once more. "Whirlpool!" Shuichi tried to counter quickly.

Clamperl quickly made a Whirlpool and threw it at Golbat, the purple beam pierced the whirlpool and directly struck Clamperl making him confused. The whirlpool on the other hand struck Golbat clean and trapped it making it turn in circles.

Shuichi could tell from Clamperl's emotions that he was confused, but not only that also afraid, afraid of something. "Clamperl, calm down." He tried to appease Clamperl but Clamperl couldn't hear Shuichi.

Noticing it wasn't having any effect Shuichi didn't try it anymore and hoped it would wear off soon, Golbat was freed from the whirlpool and fell down unconscious.

The female trainer recalled Golbat and sent out her next Pokémon, "Ninjask" she stated and out came the familiar cicada-like Pokémon. It seems like she really did like the speedy type of Pokémon.

"Screech" The female trainer gave Ninjask the order and it surprised Shuichi a little, he figured she was going to do the same strategy as Paul but it didn't seem like it this time.

Ninjask screeched at Clamperl who instinctively ducked into his shell and activated Iron Defense, it was the correct tactic in Shuichi's mind as Clamperl couldn't hear much inside the Iron Defense.

The female trainer also recognized this and moved onto the offence, "Fury Cutter" she ordered and Ninjask's claws were clad in red as it began to attack and pry open Clamperl's shell.

Ninjask kept getting faster and faster and striking more and more, suddenly Shuichi could feel Clamperl's confusion had worn off from his emotional spectrum. Just as Ninjask was backing off to get another attack in Shuichi yelled out "Now! Water Gun!"

Clamperl was ready and quickly opened his shell to fire off a Water Gun directly at Ninjask. The female trainer didn't expect the confusion to be worn off already and Ninjask was blown back but not unconscious.

"Quick, Aqua Ring" Shuichi said to Clamperl who set up two rings around his body to recover, he had still taken multiple Fury Cutter shots and had sustained some damage.

The female trainer wasn't going to let Clamperl heal that easily "Slash" she said and Ninjask's claws glowed white and charged in for the offensive.

('Iron Defense will just put me in the same position and that is a battle Clamperl will lose.') Slash was dangerous even with the Aqua Ring up, Slash had a high chance for a critical hit and if that landed then Clamperl was done for.

"Dodge with a Water Gun!" Shuichi had Clamperl dodge and Clamperl jumped out of the way with a quick burst of water. Ninjask wasn't expecting this jump and was suddenly left open to its flank.

Shuichi seized the opening instantly "Water Gun again!" and Clamperl already expected the command and shot another blast of water directly at Ninjask. Ninjask was blasted away again clearly slower due to the damage taken but still not unconscious.

"Double Team, Slash" The female trainer responded by having Ninjask create multiple copies of itself and attacking with Slash from an unseen direction. ('She adapts quickly.') Shuichi noted she was adapting to every move he made.

('There may be no way out on this one.') Shuichi hated to admit it but Clamperl didn't quite have a counter to this situation. Even the experimental move of Ice Beam wasn't good as Clamperl still had trouble aiming with Ice Beam.

('Wait a second, aim?') Shuichi suddenly had an idea that might work, "Clamperl, Ice Beam on the ground!" If there was no need to aim then Ice Beam could work.

Clamperl was a little confused but carried out the order anyway. A blue orb was quickly made in front of Clamperl and he fired blue beams at the ground, the ground quickly froze and a solid block of ice was soon formed.

The ice soon surrounded Clamperl leaving only one possible opening for Ninjask to appear in, and it appeared but once it realised it was trapped it wanted to turn back around. "Now, Ice Beam directly at Ninjask!" Aiming wasn't a problem at this close range.

Clamperl once again charged a blue orb and shot out blue beams directly at Ninjask, freezing it solid and knocking it out cold. The female trainer recalled Ninjask and pulled out the last Pokéball.

"Growlithe" She announced and it surprised Shuichi slightly, Growlithe were famous for being part of the Jenny clan. She didn't look like Jenny so she must've found one in the wild, which was more impressive than it seemed.

"Water Gun!" Shuichi didn't underestimate it due to its weakness to water-types and had Clamperl attack directly. Clamperl was feeling fatigued due to the many Water Gun's and Ice Beams but Aqua Ring was still slowly recovering him.

"Dodge, Take Down" The female trainer quickly responded and Growlithe jumped out of the way before dashing to Clamperl. Growlithe was extremely fast and directly rammed into Clamperl.

('It's extremely fast!') Shuichi was surprised that Growlithe was that fast, he had no choice but to repeat the previous attempt. "Ice Beam, same as last time!" He instructed Clamperl who froze the ground while leaving open a opening.

"Flame Wheel" The female trainer was more prepared this time around and Growlithe charged straight through the ice and slammed directly into Clamperl again knocking it out cold. Clamperl was too tired to continue after two fights and using his moves too much.

Shuichi recalled Clamperl and said some words of gratitude to him, "Eevee, get ready!" Shuichi threw out Eevee's Pokéball last and out came the familiar Pokémon ready for battle.

It wasn't often Shuichi would be pushed like this, he looked at the female trainer again and still felt like she was familiar from somewhere. "Flame Wheel" She clearly had no intention of clearing Shuichi's confusion as she began to attack.

"Dodge! Then Swift!" Shuichi was going to keep Protect as a hidden card, Growlithe charged in with a cloak of flames and Eevee swiftly dodged it and shot off stars in retaliation. "Ember!" The female trainer was starting to sound with more passion as the battle went on and she quickly countered.

Growlithe turned just in time to shoot off fiery shots that collided directly with the stars, the stars were slightly stronger and still impacted Growlithe a little but less than if it was a full attack.

"Quick Attack!" Shuichi quickly followed up with a speedy Quick Attack and Eevee charged straight into Growlithe. "Take Down!" She quickly retaliated with another Take Down and Growlithe also tackled Eevee back.

"Ember!" She quickly followed up with another Ember and Growlithe quickly responded by shooting out the fiery shots. "Quick Attack to dodge!" Shuichi also quickly countered and Eevee dashed out of the way while leaving a white trail.

"Flame Wheel!" The female trainer had Growlithe charge in again, confusing Shuichi a little won't he just dodge the same way again? Eevee didn't have to be told that a winning strategy should be repeated and jumped out of the way.

As Eevee was just about to fire off a Swift the female trainer suddenly said "Take Down!" Growlithe suddenly faced Eevee and set off with a mighty jump and rammed directly into Eevee.

"Eevee! Retaliate with Swift!" Shuichi didn't expect a sudden shift but Eevee had been in tougher fights before. Eevee indeed had been in tougher fights and quickly flicked his tail to shoot off stars that collided against Growlithe.

Both Pokémon separated again and Growlithe appeared very weak while Eevee was also quite damaged but not as badly as Growlithe. Shuichi had a bad feeling when he felt Growlithe's emotions of determination and calmness, there was a hidden trump card waiting.

"Reversal!" And just like that the hidden trump card was revealed, Reversal was a move where the more damaged the user was the stronger the move would be. A wave of orange energy suddenly burst out of Growlithe and it charged at Eevee with its head covered in an orange energy.

"Protect!" Shuichi also revealed his own trump card and a green dome appeared around Eevee shielding him completely from the suicidal charge and knocking Growlithe back. "Quick Attack to finish!" Shuichi instructed and Eevee charged in with a Quick Attack and knocked out Growlithe.

('Phew, that was a close fight') Shuichi breathed a slight sigh of relief, that battle was a lot closer than Shuichi would've liked but at the same time this type of experience was exactly what he wanted.

They both recalled their Pokémon and the female trainer transferred ₽200 to Shuichi's account, he had almost forgotten about the bet in all honesty and felt that it wasn't as good as the fight itself.

Shuichi looked at the female trainer once more "That was a great fight! Can I ask you for your name?" He was curious to know who it actually was that he fought.

The female trainer looked back at Shuichi. "That was a good fight indeed, my name is Marley." She introduced herself and seemed to talk more comfortably. Once she said her name a lightning bolt struck in Shuichi's mind, this was one of the optional partners and bosses of the game!

('No wonder she felt so familiar, I wonder if the other partners are also wondering about.') Shuichi realised that these trainers existed for real here.

Shuichi nodded "It's nice to meet you Marley, my name is Shuichi. Have you already beaten Roark?" She had to have beaten Roark by now right?

Marley nodded and she understood Shuichi's question. "You haven't beaten him yet, correct?" Shuichi nodded, confirming her question. "Good luck with the challenge." She continued and wanted to walk off.

"Thanks! I suppose I'll see you at the Lily of the Valley?" Shuichi thanked her and assumed she was going to go to the end of the league.

Marley stopped and calmly uttered. "Maybe." and with that she walked off. Shuichi frowned a little, was she seriously not going to compete in the Lily of the Valley league? Then why even get the badges at all?

She was talented enough that was certain, maybe she had a different goal in mind? Shuichi shook his head, it was pointless to think about these things. First he had to get his Pokémon healed up.

He released his Pokémon once more and gave them all a Sitrus Berry each, before setting off Shuichi had hoped to be able to save these throughout the 10 days. Who would've guessed his first fight was this brutal?

Luckily Shuichi was prepared this time around and had some backup potions just in case, he didn't want another scolding from Nurse Joy.

Of course there were good things to come from that battle, Combusken managed to fully learn Quick Attack which would help her tremendously. His Pokémon got a tough fight each which would help with them learning their respective moves.

It was an interesting contrast between the in game experience points that you earned after every battle and real battles. 

After eating the Sitrus berries came the resting phase and Shuichi did another checkup just in case, after the checkup Shuichi concluded that there were no big injuries that wouldn't heal from taking a small nap.

Shuichi tried to get some rest himself and quickly found himself asleep, he woke up a few hours later more refreshed than before the battle. His Pokémon had also taken a nap and were fully healed with no visible damage.

Shuichi continued his travel on Route 203, the rest of the day went fairly uneventfully with another battle which Shuichi won, the trainer was easier compared to Marley. At the end of the day Shuichi was ₽400 richer making his total now ₽3,400.

Shuichi had his Pokémon go for training before dinner, Shuichi had a new training program that he wanted to focus on.

Combusken had learned Quick Attack and Shuichi now had her focus more on polishing her moves, for now it was Ember. Once Combusken had enough of a mastery of Ember she could progress to the more powerful Flamethrower.

Eevee on the other hand was still struggling with Shadow Ball, he seemed to be on the cusp of learning it but it keeps fizzling out whenever he's shooting it. Eevee was missing something, something that the Spell Tag couldn't provide.

Combusken had learned Shadow Claw while she was under the influence of the Spell Tag, what was different during that time?

('Could it be?') Shuichi had a slight idea and went up to Eevee, "Eevee, ghost-types often eat off negative emotions. I want you to try and imagine that you won't be having dinner tonight." Shuichi pitched his idea and Eevee nodded. Combusken also was under heavy negative emotions at the time.

Shuichi could feel a slight shift in Eevee's emotions and gave the command for Shadow Ball, Eevee charged up a ball of black energy and shot it towards a tree. The ball didn't fizzle out but it didn't have much power to it either.

"Something more potent." Shuichi noted and he had an idea but he didn't dare to say it, if Eevee imagined him abandoning him it would give enough power but it would be crushing for Eevee to be reminded of that every time he used the move.

Eevee on the other hand had a different idea and Shuichi could feel Eevee's emotional spectrum change and a big wave of sadness came. Eevee then charged up another Shadow Ball, this one much bigger than the previous ones and shot it against a tree, breaking it in two.

Shuichi was shocked, such a powerful Shadow Ball had to have a powerful emotion tied to it. "You- just what did you imagine?" Shuichi asked Eevee but he didn't give an answer. 

What Eevee had imagined was simple; Shuichi without any emotions, this was something Eevee never wanted to see. Shuichi confirmed with Eevee that there wouldn't be any nasty side effects from the negative emotions.

As for what Eevee should focus on next? Taking inspiration from Dawn, Shuichi had Eevee store power for Swift and experiment with what would happen. To Shuichi's surprise it was more difficult than it seemed.

Storing too much power would make it backfire and could even hurt Eevee, storing too little would make the move fail. This was going to take a while but Shuichi had more than enough time.

Clamperl still needed more work on Ice Beam, he was a little depressed that he was the only one who still needed to learn the new move among the team. 

After the training session came some dinner, Shuichi tried to make a nice coherent dinner but he still wasn't any good even with all the research he did in Jubilife. Luckily he still had Pokémon food for his Pokémon but Shuichi eventually wanted to make something that they could all enjoy.

Shuichi was a little worried for another nightmare but he had to sleep eventually, taking a deep breath Shuichi tried to fall asleep and quickly did. He woke up the next morning completely rested and having not encountered a single nightmare.

After a morning training exercise that Shuichi joined in, the journey continued. Shuichi quickly discovered the Pokémon Center and went in for a quick check up.

"There seem to be no major issues on your Pokémon, Eevee has some slight internal injuries that suggest he's been overdrafting his energy." Nurse Joy reported her findings to Shuichi.

Shuichi nodded to Nurse Joy. "Indeed, we've been experimenting with storing power and variants that will follow." He told Nurse Joy his training plan, Nurse Joy won't spread it around and hiding it from her would only be stupid. She has her own experience and can even advise trainers on their training plans.

Nurse Joy indeed had some advice for him on that front. "That's a dangerous experiment, be sure to have a goal in mind when experimenting otherwise it will be a long and painful experience."

Shuichi originally didn't have a goal for the variation in mind but now he started to think about it. "Thanks Nurse Joy, I will keep it in mind." Shuichi thanked Nurse Joy for the tip.

Shuichi remained on route 203 for around 10 days, during those days a lot of things happened.

First off was his Pokémon's progression, Eevee had managed to learn the new variation for Swift and Shuichi was excited to surprise Roark with it. Other than that Eevee got some slight improvements overall.

Combusken also managed to gain a good mastery of Ember and even learned a variation herself; it was another step closer to Flamethrower. Combusken also gained a good mastery of Quick Attack along the way and also improved overall.

Clamperl managed to fully learn Ice Beam and aiming was no longer a problem, Shuichi had also tested some applications with Ice Beam. He was fully prepared for Roark.

As for Shuichi himself, it had been 10 days with ups and downs. The ups were where he could sleep peacefully while the downs were nights he had nightmares. 

Trainer battles were also a common occurrence on this route, from trainers who had already beaten Roark to those who still needed to beat him. All in all there were 8 trainers in these 10 days including Marley and the other trainer on the first day.

Shuichi bet ₽200 on every match and had actually won all of his matches for once, it made Shuichi feel like he was extremely ahead of the curve of trainers currently and didn't want to 'rob' beginning trainers too much.

('Maybe Nurse Joy in Oreburgh has some tips on how to earn some money.') Shuichi thought Nurse Joy might know more, she was the one interacting with trainers the most. For now the bets made Shuichi a total of ₽1,600 richer and made his total ₽4,600.

Shuichi would have to check up on that in Oreburgh, which is currently where he was. Route 203 was very short, a forest path and crossing a hill and one would be at Oreburgh. 

The team was ready and rested, he had skipped some trainer battles to prepare for the gym battle. Thus Shuichi stood before the Oreburgh gym, the entrance to the Oreburgh gym were two big red doors that were inside a big rock wall. There were also many rocks that were in the shape of crystals at the door.

Once he went inside the door he was surprised to see nobody at the receptionist desk, ('Did I catch them at a bad time?') Shuichi thought before he heard sounds of a battle down the hall.

('Someone is fighting?') Seems like there was a challenger before him here and Shuichi walked to where the sounds were coming from. "Turtwig, use Razor Leaf!" A familiar voice sounded and another voice responded "Flamethrower, Rampardos!"

('Is that Ash? He hasn't beaten Roark yet?') Shuichi frowned a little hearing Ash's voice, he thought he wouldn't have too much trouble with Roark. Was Roark really that difficult? Had he underestimated Roark?

Shuichi walked on the battlefield and could see Ash's Turtwig running at a large, bipedal, dinosaur-like Pokémon. Its eyes are dark red and very close to the blue dome on the top of its head with multiple spikes on its body. It was a Rampardos.

Behind Rampardos was a man in a mining outfit and a red hard hat, he also had burgundy coloured hair and behind Turtwig was the familiar voice of Ash Ketchum.

Rampardos was spitting a big flame out of its mouth, burning and turning the leaves into cinders. Turtwig kept going and Rampardos also kept spewing fire.

Eventually the cinders camouflaged Turtwig, Roark understood the plan and switched it up. "Rampardos, Zen Headbutt!" Rampardos's blue dome lit up and was emitting some psychic waves and charged at Turtwig.

Ash smiled and responded "Turtwig, revolving jump!" Surprising Shuichi a little, revolving jump? Just what did that mean?

Roark understood the command "Still trying to get behind us? Rampardos Jump!" and Rampardos indeed jumped up expecting Turtwig to come up.

Turtwig however slid underneath Rampardos and quickly appeared behind it, surprising everyone. "Now! Razor Leaf!" Ash went in for the opening and Turtwig shot off a Razor Leaf and directly hit Rampardos.

Rampardos fell from the sky and was clearly unconscious, a man with long olive green hair and a shaggy beard dressed in beige and green clothes in the middle of the battlefield declared "Rampardos is unable to battle! Turtwig is the winner! The winner is Ash from Pallet Town!"

Dawn and Brock cheered from the stadium and everyone stopped when they heard clapping from the other side of the stadium. Shuichi was clapping "Good fight Ash, well done!"

Everyone was surprised and Ash was happy that Shuichi could witness his win, "Shuichi! How long have you been watching?" Ash asked him.

Shuichi walked to Ash "Only the ending, congratulations Ash." He congratulated Ash once more.

Roark also walked up "Now, who are you?" He asked Shuichi. Shuichi looked back "I'm Shuichi Tsuki, your next opponent. Of course I still need to sign up and I'm willing to fight you tomorrow." Shuichi explained.

Roark smiled, "Well Ian will help you with that, and indeed the fight will probably be tomorrow." He pointed to the man who was the referee during the battle.

Dawn and Brock also joined in on the conversation "Yeah! I'll be able to wear this again!" Dawn said excitedly and Shuichi got a good look at her. She was actually wearing a pink cheerleading outfit with pink pom-poms.

"Is that really necessary?" Shuichi asked, a little embarrassed, it was almost like a little sister cheering on her big brother. Dawn quickly picked up on Shuichi's embarrassment and smiled mischievously, "Well, duh!"

Seems like she had something in plan for tomorrow and Shuichi could feel a slight hint of regret for teasing her so much, he's been a bad influence on her.

Ian now came up had Shuichi follow him for signing up for the gym battle, Dawn quickly changed out of her cheerleading outfit and was back in her normal outfit.

"Now, I have a few questions. First off, do you want this to be a private match or a public match?" Ian asked Shuichi, it was straightforward what they meant and Shuichi asked for a private match.

Ian nodded and moved on to the next question, "Do you consent to the match being recorded and shared amongst gym trainers for reviewing?" This was a bit more of an interesting question.

Shuichi didn't have a problem with the match being recorded or even shared with the public so he simply accepted it.

Ian moved on "Final question, do you wish to battle for the cash prize? If you wish to battle for the cash prize then a deposit of ₽1,500 will be needed and will be lost if you lose the match. Should you win, the deposit is returned along with a prize of ₽4,500."

It was basically a bet on oneself however the league didn't like the word 'betting' as it insulated gambling and although gambling was legal it was only so in established game corners. Nonetheless Shuichi agreed and paid the ₽1,500.

Shuichi confirmed his battle which would be taking place the next morning. Once everyone was outside Ash was given his badge by Roark and Ash celebrated his first badge victory.

After that they all went to the Pokémon Center and Shuichi caught up with them a little. It turns out he wanted to challenge the gym first but was actually directly behind Paul who was first in line to battle Roark.

Paul managed to beat Roark in one try, but the battle was anything but easy. Seeing Paul struggle made Ash realise he needed to train first before fighting Roark. During his training time Team Rocket pulled another stunt that released a wild Aerodactyl and it caused Roark's then Cranidos to evolve into Rampardos.

After that Ash continued training and finally challenged Roark and beat him on the first try. It was renewing Ash's spirit to win the battle on the first try, he felt like the gap between him and Paul had closed a little.

Ash of course asked if Shuichi was confident in beating Roark and Shuichi smiled and said "Of course!" Although he didn't expect a Rampardos for Roark, it wouldn't matter much.

Shuichi had one last training session and prepared his team for the gym battle tomorrow, he also checked up with Nurse Joy about ways to earn money.

Nurse Joy nodded and handed Shuichi a couple of papers "The people offer jobs to trainers, there are of course restrictions. Some will need a specific Pokémon or some will need a certain badge requirement. These are the ones you can currently apply for."

Shuichi looked at the papers, there were all sorts of jobs on there from cleaning the gym to even helping out Nurse Joy. One of the jobs caught his attention; 'Help wanted at the mine!'

It was a simple job, to help with the mining operations at the mine and if you uncovered a fossil or any other rare stone you would be given a bonus. It also paid ₽500 per day but it was noted that one could get hurt and that it was hard physical labour.

Shuichi would keep it in mind, if the gym battle was anything like the tournament finale then his Pokémon would require a few days rest. During those days he could work in the mine and if he uncovered something of value he would get an extra bonus.

"Do I need to sign up beforehand for the mining job or can I just show up unannounced?" Shuichi asked about the mining job.

Nurse Joy was a little surprised about Shuichi being interested in that job, he didn't look the type but she didn't judge. "You can show up unannounced to the mine and report to the foreman there." She explained to Shuichi.

Shuichi thanked her for the information and went up to a room, he thought about the gym battle and focused on the battle tomorrow. He didn't want a nightmare before the gym battle.