"I’ll be the referee, this will be a three-on-three match with no switches." Brock offered himself up as a ref and stated the rules, they decided to use the same rules that Ash and Paul used back in Sandgem Town.

Dawn sat on the sidelines with Piplup, Dawn was excited to see who would win this battle. She was a little unsure who to root for though.

There was a small voice at the back of her head though, she just couldn’t see Shuichi lose this battle.

Shuichi was always prepared for every possible combination and even then he would improvise the moment it was unexpected.

Ash on the other hand was spontaneous and would try and solve the battle when it got tough, he tried that against Paul but still came up short.

"You ready Ash?" Shuichi asked and Ash replied, "You bet!" Ash was fired up, he wanted to win this fight more than maybe even Shuichi.

Brock gave the signal and Shuichi and Ash threw their Pokémon, "Combusken, get ready!" "Turtwig, I choose you!"

Shuichi went for Combusken as a safe first pick and Ash went with Turtwig, at first glance it appeared Combusken would win this battle.

"Oh wow! A Combusken!" On the sideline Dawn was surprised, she quickly pulled out her Pokédex and scanned Combusken.

Ash wasn’t expecting a Combusken and knew he would face an uphill battle. "Turtwig, use Razor Leaf!"

Shuichi however wasn’t going to let Ash take the early lead that easily, "Counter with Ember!"

Turtwig whipped its head and shot out sharp leaves towards Combusken, Combusken countered with fiery shots out of her mouth.

The attacks collided in the middle, however, there was a clear winner as some fiery shots broke through and hit Turtwig.

"Turtwig shake it off, use Tackle!" Ash decided to go for close range instead, and Turtwig sped off towards Combusken.

('Pretty fast, but not fast enough.') Shuichi noticed Turtwig was faster than normal but not against a Combusken. "Flame Charge!"

Ash was surprised to see Combusken cloak herself in a red-yellow cloak of flames and charge straight towards Turtwig.

Combusken and Turtwig slammed into each other with yet again another clear winner, Turtwig was flying backwards as Combusken slightly slid back.

So far Shuichi was overpowering Ash to every degree and Ash wasn’t liking it so far, "Heal yourself with Synthesis!"

Turtwig started to shine, it was absorbing the sunlight to heal itself. Shuichi however wasn’t going to let it heal for free.

"Flame Charge again!" Shuichi was going to let Combusken gain even more speed as it ran towards Turtwig even faster than before.

Dawn and Ash were both surprised at the sudden boost in speed and Turtwig was slammed into by Combusken.

"Turtwig!" Ash cried out as Turtwig was sent flying again, it slowly got back up again clearly as its limit.

"Turtwig let’s do this! Use Bite!" Ash decided to fight at close range again, sadly for Ash, it would be a costly mistake.

"Counter with Double Kick!" Shuichi brought down the hammer and with the two speed boosts from Flame Charge Combusken ran at Turtwig and surprised it with a kick before bringing down an axe kick.

"Turtwig is unable to battle! Combusken is the winner!" Brock declared as Turtwig fell into unconsciousness after the Double Kick.

Ash recalled Turtwig and tried to cheer it up, Shuichi also recalled Combusken and praised her on a job well done.

If Shuichi had to say how Ash did so far, he would have to say he was disappointed. He’s yet to see Ash’s spontaneous battle style, currently, Ash is extremely straightforward.

Shuichi and Ash were ready for round two, "Clamperl, get ready!" "Starly, I choose you!" They both sent out their respective Pokémon.

If the first round was in favour of Combusken, this round would be more in favour of Starly due to its mobility.

Ash decided for a quick opener "Starly use Quick Attack!" and Starly charged in leaving a white streak.

"Iron Defense!" Shuichi decided to play it safe with a defensive move, Clamperl retreated into his shell and set up a light blue sheen over it.

Starly slammed into Clamperl and Starly was sent recoiling back from what felt like slamming into an iron plate.

"Whirlpool!" Shuichi decided to show off their improved Whirlpool and Clamperl delivered, a giant whirlpool was quickly formed and fired off at Starly who was still reeling back from the Iron Defense.

"Starly dodge it!" Ash tried to warn Starly of the incoming whirlpool however it couldn’t dodge in time as the whirlpool sucked Starly up as it was now trapped.

Ash gritted his teeth trying to look for a way out when he suddenly got an idea, "Starly, ride the current to get out!"

('Say what now?') Shuichi was shocked, would this work? Starly however seemed to have faith as it followed along the current and started to gain speed.

Once Starly had enough speed it broke out of the Whirlpool! ('I suppose this is Ash’s style') Shuichi was finally seeing that unorthodox style at play.

"Now Wing Attack!" Ash capitalised on the speed and had Starly strike, Starly was much faster than with the Quick Attack as it slammed its wing into Clamperl.

Clamperl shook off the damage as Starly returned to normal speeds, "Use Quick Attack!" Ash went for another Quick Attack which caused Shuichi to frown.

('Won’t the same happen again?') Shuichi decided to play it safe, "Iron Defense!" Clamperl once again retreated into his shell and set up the same blue light.

"Starly stop and use Gust to flip Clamperl over!" Ash made another unorthodox move which surprised Shuichi once more.

Starly stopped mid-flight and flapped its wings hard creating a ton of wind, The wind managed to get under Clamperl’s body and flip him over.

"Now, Wing Attack!" Ash wanted to capitalise on the momentary weakness and hit Clamperl hard, but Shuichi wasn’t going to let him "Clamperl, Water Gun shoot yourself out of there!"

Shuichi had used a similar move against Combusken back in Bewilder Forest so Clamperl had an idea of what to do.

Clamperl opened his shell a little and aimed at the ground with a jet of water with enough force to jump over Starly, "Water Gun again!" Shuichi said as Clamperl landed and faced Starly.

Another jet of water came out and nailed Starly directly, "Starly!" Ash cried out seeing a blast of water nail his Starly.

Starly sailed down like a broken kite, however, Shuichi noticed a massive spike in its emotional spectrum.

('Is it going to?') Just as he was questioning it in his head Starly began glowing brightly, indeed it was evolving.

"Clamperl!" Shuichi called to Clamperl whose own emotions were of a sudden shock and horror, "Aqua Ring, recover yourself" Shuichi quickly added giving Clamperl a big relief.

Attacking a Pokémon during evolution was seen as going against an act of nature, if one did that they would incur the wrath of nature and the attacking Pokémon could even be locked from evolution itself.

It sounded incredibly superstitious however cases have been documented that prove evidence for the theory.

Clamperl quickly set up a ring of water and slowly healed itself as Starly was evolving, healing oneself or giving oneself a boost wasn’t seen as an attack.

Starly slowly got bigger as its wingspan also increased, the tail and head hair got the biggest and soon the evolution was done. Starly had evolved into Staravia.

"Awesome! Staravia, let's finish this!" Ash of course was happy, Shuichi saw the evolution coming this time so he was prepared and quickly called out the healing move.

"Quick Attack, let's do this!" Ash called out excitedly, Shuichi wasn’t going to fall for the same attack again.

"Clamperl, move out of the way!" Clamperl was steadily recovering stamina and damage from Aqua Ring so Shuichi could allow it to use Water Gun to move.

Staravia charged at Clamperl faster than before however, Clamperl was quick to dodge the incoming attack with a Water Gun, "Whirlpool!" Shuichi quickly double-tapped for a whirlpool to be fired.

A whirlpool quickly formed and smashed into Staravia as it flew past Clamperl, "Staravia, get out there by riding the current!" Ash repeated his earlier strategy however this time Shuichi was prepared.

('As expected') Shuichi wanted Ash to use that same strategy, for he had already planned a counter to that.

"Clamperl get ready," He calmly stated to Clamperl, Clamperl nodded and waited patiently, Staravia quickly broke out of the whirlpool due to being stronger and having experience.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Now Water Gun!" Shuichi quickly ordered as Staravia broke out, Clamperl was ready and fired off a jet of water, surprising Ash and Staravia.

The jet of water slammed into Staravia who fell to the ground, once it landed on the ground it was unconscious.

"Staravia is unable to battle! Clamperl is the winner!" Brock declared, that just because a Pokémon evolved didn’t mean it would win, damage and fatigue were still carried over.

Evolution would only give a temporary adrenaline boost that acted as a second wind, once that adrenaline boost was over the damage and fatigue would set in hard.

Shuichi recalled Clamperl and praised him for a job well done, he had overcome his earlier loss due to an evolution and his emotions showed it as Clamperl felt incredible.

Ash recalled Staravia a little dejectedly, they were using the same rules as when Paul faced Ash which meant that Shuichi had already won.

"Let’s continue on Ash, If I don’t I might have a mad Eevee on my hands." Shuichi offered to keep going, he could see Ash was taking this hard however he wasn’t going to pull any punches.

('Plus this is a good experience for Eevee.') Shuichi added the last line in his head.

"Sure!" Ash wasn’t going to go down without a fight, "Let’s do this Pikachu!" Ash called out his trusty Pikachu. "Eevee, get ready!" And Shuichi threw out Eevee.

Eevee and Pikachu stared at each other, Shuichi could feel both their emotions and Eevee was determined not to lose to the infamous Pikachu.

Ash decided to kick things off "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" And Shuichi quickly intercepted with his instructions "Quick Attack!"

Pikachu fired off a bolt of electricity however it was dodged by a speedy Eevee as it charged at Pikachu.

"Pikachu you also use Quick Attack!" Ash wanted to intercept with his Quick Attack.

Both Pokémon sped off and collided with each other in the middle, neither Pokémon was budging.

"Eevee, jump back and use Swift!" Shuichi wanted to break the stalemate and get the jump on Pikachu.

Eevee suddenly jumped back which caused Pikachu to lose its balance a little, Eevee then flicked his tail and stars shot out hitting Pikachu directly.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Seeing long range and Quick Attack not working out, Ash decided to go for close range.

Shuichi however wasn’t going to let him do that "Eevee out of the way with Quick Attack!" Having Eevee run around with Quick Attack was tiring however Eevee would lose in close combat.

Pikachu tried to catch up to Eevee however it suddenly sped off and made a ton of distance, Ash gritted his teeth and said "Pikachu, use Volt Tackle!"

('You fell for it.') Shuichi was indeed baiting Ash to use Volt Tackle, "Eevee, Protect!" So that he could take a page out of Paul’s book and add some recoil damage to Pikachu.

A green dome appeared around Eevee Pikachu slammed into the dome and was sent tumbling back. Ash was speechless, he fell for the same trick twice.

"Now, Swift!" Shuichi didn’t lose focus and Eevee flicked his tail and sent out more stars that slammed into Pikachu as it was barely getting up.

The stars sent Pikachu flying once more before Ash quickly ran up and caught it, clearly unconscious and he didn’t want more damage to it.

Brock sighed a little as he saw the match unfold "Pikachu is unable to battle, The winner is Eevee!" he declared as Dawn gaped at the fight.

She had a feeling Shuichi was going to win but not this dominantly, she looked a little worried at Ash who was looking down.

('This will be a tough pill for him to swallow.') Shuichi thought as he recalled Eevee and praised him for a job well done, he didn’t want to demerit Eevee for this as he did everything he told him.

Shuichi wasn’t going to go easy on Ash either, even if he already predicted that it was likely he would win. He had already beaten Paul who had tied with Ash.

Shuichi walked up to Ash who was still looking down as if he was frozen, "Ash, I wasn’t going to go easy on you."

"If you want to beat me you will have to improve." Shuichi tried encouraging Ash to be better than he was, if Ash would be better then there would also be more pressure for himself.

Ash remained silent for a while before he looked at Shuichi. "I knew battling you wasn’t going to be easy, but I’ve overestimated myself. You did beat Paul while I lost to him."

Ash stood up and looked at Shuichi with determination in his eyes. "You’ve given me a reality check and now I realise I’ve been lagging, thank you and in return, I will beat you one day!"

Shuichi could feel his skin tingling when Ash declared his intentions and smiled, this was the Ash he was hoping to awaken.

"Then I will look forward to that day, but for now you should go to Nurse Joy," Shuichi advised Ash, he still had three knocked out Pokémon to deal with.

"Ah! Right!" And with that Ash was off, Shuichi didn’t need to go to Nurse Joy for his Pokémon’s injuries. Dealing with these injuries himself was also a learning experience.

Dawn and Brock came to Shuichi and Brock suddenly asked "Shuichi, how did you know about Ash being off his game?"

Dawn was shocked at Brock’s words, Ash was off his game? Before she could ask what Brock meant Shuichi already answered.

"I suspected Ash grew a little overconfident with three years of experience under him when he was busier sightseeing than he was training," Shuichi explained.

Brock just sighed, Ash was getting too comfortable and slacked off during his training. Brock hoped that this would kickstart Ash’s rebound.

"Don’t you also need to go to the Center?" Dawn was a little confused, weren’t Shuichi’s Pokémon also hurt?

Shuichi shook his head "My Pokémon are hurt, yes however these injuries are too minor for Nurse Joy to keep being bothered by."

"And if my Pokémon get hurt in the wild with no Nurse Joy in sight I need to know how to treat them," Shuichi concluded his point.

Brock nodded and Dawn also realised Shuichi’s point, if there was no Nurse Joy in the wild who would help their Pokémon?

Dawn knew Shuichi was always a step ahead of them however, they all started at the same place and now look. Shuichi was way ahead of her.

('I also have to get better.') Dawn internally decided she would also get better, Shuichi had unintentionally also motivated Dawn.

Shuichi released his Pokémon to get a better look at them, Eevee was a little tired and had a slight bump on his head but apart from that he was perfectly healthy.

Combusken only had some minor bruises from her initial impact with Turtwig’s tackle; those bruises would heal on their own with no drawbacks.

Clamperl on the other hand was a bit more of a complicated case, out of all his Pokémon Clamperl had it the worst. Treating a clam was also a bit more tricky.

Shuichi suddenly had an idea, it might just work however it was best to ask Brock just in case. Brock didn’t say a word during Shuichi’s inspection he wanted Shuichi to do this on his own.

Shuichi looked at Brock "Clamperl is the most damaged, I do have an idea but I want to ask you for your opinion first Brock."

"Sure, what do you have in mind?" Brock could see that Shuichi was correct in his assessment that Clamperl was the worst one-off, the others would heal quickly.

"Clamperl are usually found in saltwater oceans, so can I make a saltwater bath with some more minerals for Clamperl to rest in?" Shuichi threw out his idea, taking inspiration from Clamperl’s normal habitat.

Brock thought about it for a while, the theory sounded plausible and Clamperl could absorb the minerals in the water to recover.

"Um, why not just use a potion?" Dawn hesitantly spoke up, Brock was quick to shake his head. "A potion would work of course; however those are better saved for emergencies."

And they were more expensive, however, Brock added that comment in his head. Money could be saved by just investing more time in situations like these.

"It could work, and I even think it's also good for Clamperl to sleep in a bath like this at night and not in the Pokéball." Brock agreed with the theory and even recommended it for a night's rest.

"I also recommend some medicinal cream for Eevee and Combusken, it will help the bruises heal quicker." Brock gave out his advice and Shuichi nodded, thankful for his help.

"Then I’m off to do some research, I also wanted to find a place to eat later to celebrate with my Pokémon so this works out for me," Shuichi explained on his to-do list.

"I-I have to train my Pokémon for the contest in two days." Dawn initially wanted to go with Shuichi, however, she steeled herself for the contest.

"I’ll go check in with Ash." Brock went off to Ash, he knew Ash the best and he knew he was probably sulking for a bit now.

And with that the group split off, Shuichi recalled his team and was going to do some research in Clamperl’s most optimal environment.

Where would he even find such information? The internet of course. Computers and the internet were all things here the same as in his past life.

Once Shuichi was back in his room at the Center he slid behind the computer and turned it on, it had been quite a few years since he’d even touched one.

('How long has it been? 30 years? Or was it 40?') The last time he touched one was during his military days.

Getting reminded of his military days made Shuichi think of the past, ('He’s got perfect marks but he gives me the creeps… I wonder if he can even smile… Soldiers won’t be motivated by him…')

('I’m not there anymore and I’m not that person anymore.') Shuichi quickly shook his head and focused on the task at hand.

It wasn’t long before Shuichi found a research paper by Pokémon Professor Birch of the Hoenn region on sea Pokémon and their habitat.

('Add 35 grams of sea salt to 965 ml of regular tap water, and have it be at 4°C with no light to simulate the optimal environment for Clamperl.') Shuichi summarised the paper and memorised it for later.

('So I need to buy sea salt and ice, I also have to calculate how much is needed to fill a bathtub.') Shuichi could only replicate this in the city and not out in the wild.

Shuichi also researched Combusken and Eevee’s optimal sleeping conditions to find out it was more simple than Clamperls.

Eevee was fine with room temperature, such were most normal types. Combusken was the same, maybe some more warmth for her fire-type.

With his shopping list created Shuichi hit the streets of Jubilife once more, Shuichi eventually found a shopping mart for his shopping list.

All in all, Shuichi bought a bag of 25 kg of sea salt and one big pack of ice along with some medicinal cream all for just ₽200, which brought Shuichi's net worth to ₽ 7,040.

That would’ve been the case had he not tipped an extra ₽40 to the cashiers, he didn’t forget that he stole some sleeping medicine 8 years ago.

On the way back to the Pokémon Center, Shuichi spotted a restaurant that allowed for Pokémon to eat there. Finding a restaurant that allowed Pokémon to eat was no joke.

One first had to tell the staff what Pokémon they would be bringing beforehand, having a hungry Snorlax was no joke.

Some restaurants flat-out banned Pokémon like Snorlax due to it being able to eat the entire restaurant out of business.

Once Shuichi was back in his room he put Clamperl in the bathtub and filled it about two-thirds of the way before adding around 7 kg of sea salt, finally, he added ice on top to make it cold enough for Clamperl’s liking.

Clamperl was full of anticipation, this would be the first time in a while since he was back in the water like this again.

The Pokéball would put the Pokémon in stasis however sleeping in stasis isn’t the best for development.

Once Shuichi put Clamperl in the bathtub he was comforted immediately, Shuichi didn’t even need to feel his emotions to confirm he had done some good.

Shutting off the lights and leaving Clamperl to rest there felt good, he also applied medical cream to Eevee’s bump and Combusken’s bruises.

After tending to his Pokémon Shuichi was exhausted and sat on the bed, all his Pokémon were resting and he was going to take a small rest as well.

Shuichi opened his eyes and found himself in his old home town, he looked around trying to remember what he was doing when it came to him.

He was going to bury his parents, he had been in the military for a little bit and managed to make some time to go to his parent's house and bury their corpses.

Shuichi walked around the ruined city, he could see corpses of other people strewn about like thrown-away dolls.

It was a sickening sight but Shuichi had long grown accustomed to the war, sights like these were sadly more common than one would’ve liked.

The war had moved on from his old home city however it wasn’t over yet so it couldn’t be restored yet.

Shuichi quickly located his old home and stepped inside, dust and dirt kicked up the moment he entered. Nobody had come here that much was clear.

Taking a glance at the floor where the bunker was, he had learnt this bunker was more common in houses during the Second World War which was when this house was built.

He had been in that bunker for weeks desperately trying to remain sane, he could barely remember that time as it turned foggy.

Shuichi slowly went up the steps and located his parent's room, he opened the door only to see two skeletons sitting still on the floor.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad, I’m here to pick you up," Shuichi spoke a little sadly to his parent’s skeletons.

The skeletons were still as of course they couldn’t talk back, Shuichi walked a little closer and gently put his arms around his mother’s skeleton.

Just as he was about to lift the skeleton its arm suddenly moved! The head creaked and turned to look Shuichi dead in the eyes.

"Why are you so late!?" The skeleton spoke in an angry tone of voice, Shuichi could feel his heartbeat racing.

"I-I’ve been busy, I’m sorry for not picking you up earlier." Shuichi tried to defend himself and explain his actions.

But it only made the skeleton angrier "Busy!? Too busy to bury your parents!?" His mother’s skeleton didn’t buy his excuse.

Just as Shuichi was going to explain further, his father’s skeleton also moved "He’s late because he didn’t care." accusing Shuichi of not caring.

Shuichi shook his head "No! I do care! You’re wrong!" He tried to reason with them one way or another however his parents only got angrier.

"How dare you yell at your parents! First, you don’t care and now you’re even yelling!" His father also started to yell at Shuichi.

Shuichi wasn’t going to quit "No! Please listen to me! I do care!" Tears stained his face as he tried to tell them otherwise.

But his parents didn’t listen to him, instead, they stood up and lunged at Shuichi, Shuichi quickly backed up and ran out of the room.

He shut the door behind him and his parents started to slam at the door with unimaginable strength, cracks started to form in the door and he knew he had to run.

Looking down the hallway he saw his old bedroom and made a mad dash for it and closed it with his old bookcase.

His parents started to slam at the door again however this one wasn’t going to go down as easily as the first one.

Taking a small breath Shuichi turned around and was frozen once more, this time a man sat on his old bed.

The man looked tired and it didn’t look like he could care like anyone was even there, the man had soulless eyes that just ignored the world.

"Is it painful?" The man on his bed said, seeing this person made Shuichi remember who it was. It was Kristoph, his old body.

"Why? Why make me go through these nightmares!?" Shuichi regained clarity as he remembered everything.

"You know why, you’re me and I’m you so if I know then you also know," Kristoph spoke in riddles however Shuichi couldn’t make sense of the situation.

"Then why come back after 8 years of radio silence!?" Shuichi was desperately trying to understand why his nightmares suddenly occurred.

Kristoph had no intention of giving Shuichi something, "I’ll ask again, is it painful?"

Shuichi didn’t know what to do, so he would play along with himself, "Is it painful? Of course, it is! Seeing my past parents actively berating me from beyond the grave is horrible!"

"Then do you want me again in your life?." Kristoph asked if Shuichi wanted to give up his emotions again.

Shuichi violently shook his head, "No! A thousand times no! You keep trying to make me lose my emotions again and I will never discard them again! So stop asking me that!"

As Shuichi declared his intention the door broke and the bookshelf was pushed aside, turning around he could see his parents charging at him.

His mother tackled him to the floor while his father lay on top of him, his father's cold bony fingers wrapped around his throat and started squeezing hard.

Shuichi couldn’t breathe and was slowly losing vision, as he was losing vision he could hear Kristoph speak. "Then you will continue to feel pain."

Shuichi’s eyes suddenly shot open and he gasped for air, he looked around in a panic before seeing Combusken and Eevee looking worriedly at him.

Shuichi slowly calmed down and was soaking wet from sweat, "I-I’m okay, no need to worry." he said weakly and not convincing at all.

Eevee and Combusken didn’t buy any of that as Eevee jumped on top of him and Combusken put her claw on him to prevent him from further harm.

"Oh who am I kidding, of course I’m not okay." Shuichi had tears in his eyes, he wasn’t okay and deep down inside he knew it.