章 22: Finishing up Oreburgh
Shuichi left his Pokémon with Nurse Joy and headed for the mine where he would work for money. Even though he now had 1 gym badge and technically could go for more difficult jobs there was a catch; They all needed the help of a Pokémon, and with no active Pokémon meant Shuichi couldn't do those jobs yet.
Soon Shuichi came to the mine and could see many people and Pokémon working, the Pokémon that were working were mostly fighting-type Pokémon that had a lot of physical strength.
Shuichi had no idea who the foreman was and where he could even find the person, "Excuse me, could you point me to the foreman please?" Shuichi asked a passing worker.
The worker shifted his attention to Shuichi "Sure, he should be in the mine at that entrance. I could call him out for you." The worker was willing to help Shuichi.
Shuichi nodded and accepted the help, "That would be very helpful, thank you very much." The worker walked towards the mine and soon came out with a familiar face.
"Oh? Shuichi, what could I help you with?" Roark asked once he got close enough. Shuichi quickly caught on "Well, I was looking for the foreman so that I could help out and earn some cash. But I suppose I've found him." Shuichi looked at Roark as he said the last line.
Roark smiled "You're correct I'm both the gym leader and the foreman, I appreciate your willingness to help in the mine but are you sure about this? No offence but this is labour intensive." Roark looked closely at Shuichi as he said his last line.
Shuichi didn't exactly look like a muscular guy along with the fact he was still only 13 years old. Shuichi didn't say much and showed his stomach under his vest and shirt, Shuichi had a very well-defined six-pack that showed he put a lot of effort into his condition.
Roark was a little surprised seeing this "You just keep on surprising me Shuichi, follow me and we'll go over the details of the job." Roark walked towards the little shack that was at the mine and Shuichi followed him.
Inside the shack was a simple office and a changing room with many lockers. Roark quickly drafted up a contract and Shuichi read it over and understood what it entailed.
The contract could be summed up to the following points; work hours were from 9 to 6 along with one lunch break, lunch would be supplied for free, ₽500 for a full day's work, Shuichi could quit anytime he wanted and he would be paid for the hours he had put in.
There were a bunch more stipulations like the bonus that was being described, there was a full price list of what constituted a good find and how much it would be worth. One could either sell it or keep it.
Fossils however were a little different, the fossil would be immediately placed under Roark directly and the person who found the fossil would be given a ₽5,000 compensation.
Shuichi signed the contract and immediately went into the other room to change, the standard uniform consisted of beige overalls, black boots, and a hard hat. Once Shuichi came out of the dressing room he met with Roark who said he looked good.
Soon Shuichi was hard at work, at first the other workers were a little sceptical of Shuichi and his help but those worries were soon put to rest. "Come on, you old people! Does this youngster have to do everything?" It also helped that Shuichi quickly fitted in with the other workers with banter.
The rest of the workers were also getting more motivated with Shuichi there. "Come on guys! We can't lose to the newbie!" Roark quickly noticed the commotion but he just smiled and let it all happen, working the same job day in and out could get very mundane, and having something to spice it up wouldn't hurt.
Shuichi worked until sundown and Roark paid him ₽300 for his work, he didn't find anything of value. Roark did increase his pay slightly as he technically only worked half a day, Shuichi guessed it was due to his 'rivalry' with the other workers.
After his work at the mine, Shuichi went to the Pokémon Center to receive word from Nurse Joy about his Pokémon's condition.
"Luckily none of your Pokémon were too damaged. Clamperl was a close call, however, it seems like his diet and sleeping quarters were aptly cared for so well done on that front." Nurse Joy informed Shuichi who felt like he had dodged a bullet.
Shuichi nodded "How long do they need to rest for?" Shuichi asked, the longer his Pokémon had to rest the longer he could work in the mine and make some money on the side.
Nurse Joy thought about it for a second and replied, "It's best if they all rest for around three days." Shuichi nodded and asked "Will it be okay for them to stay here in the Center? I can reimburse their costs if that's the problem."
If his Pokémon could stay here it would solve a lot of Shuichi's problems and he could dedicate himself to working in the mine. Nurse Joy nodded "That's no problem but there will be a ₽100 fee for their food and sleeping conditions per day."
Shuichi accepted and also informed his party, he had expected them to disagree but instead, they readily agreed. It seems like the sleeping accommodations at the Center were much better than the room.
With his Pokémon situation taken care of came the next point of the agenda; sleep. Although Shuichi was yelling and boasting during his work at the mine it certainly didn't make it easier. It was tough physical work and he could feel muscles in his whole body aching.
Soon Shuichi opened his eyes and found himself in an unfamiliar place, he looked around for a bit and noticed he was wearing the standard issue army combat uniform along with a rifle. He quickly recalled that he was in the middle of a warzone and was fighting the enemy.
"Hey man, looks like you finally woke up." Shuichi heard someone talk to him and looked over to see who it was. The man was similarly dressed in a combat uniform and a rifle, recalling his name Shuichi answered "Yeah Aaron, I was just a little tired."
Aaron was one of the few people Shuichi could call his friend. Aaron was quite the loner during training similar to Shuichi, as a result, they gradually drew closer to each other in their training days.
Aaron was a little surprised but smiled "So even you can be tired, that's a little unexpected." Aaron remarked, confusing Shuichi a little. ('What does he mean by that?') Shuichi thought and just as he was about to ask Aaron to clarify himself bullets started to fly into the wall.
"Shit! They found us!" Aaron exclaimed and he quickly took cover, they were currently hiding from the enemy after they had been ambushed. Multiple comrades fell in the initial ambush except for Shuichi and Aaron.
Shuichi also quickly ducked into cover and occasionally fired back, still there were too many of them. "There's too many of them! You run, I can hold them off!" Aaron yelled at Shuichi. Shuichi didn't want Aaron to sacrifice himself for him. "No way Aaron! We're friends and we'll die together!" Shuichi was willing to die with his friend.
Aaron however shook his head. "Man, you have so much more potential than me! If you survive and go up the ranks you can turn this whole war around! I'm only dragging you down!" He yelled as he fired back.
Shuichi thought about it and realised it was true, he recalled he had been top of the class due to devoting all his time to studying. "Fine, but Aaron as my friend, can you do me one last favour?" Shuichi asked his friend.
Aaron smiled "Of course! What is it?" Aaron thought it would be something like bringing his parents something or some other promise. Shuichi however stopped smiling and said, "Can you tell me what my name is?"
The world seemed to stop for a moment as Aaron processed that question, what sort of question even was that? "Really? That's your request? This is no time for jokes!" He replied as the bullets began to increase in intensity.
Shuichi still looked at Aaron and even stopped firing, "I'm dead serious Aaron, this whole time you've never called me by my name." The bullets seemed to curve around Shuichi as he focused all his attention on Aaron.
Aaron seemed to realise this question was a big concern of Shuichi, "Alright then, …. There you happy? Aaron's lips moved but Shuichi didn't hear a word that was spoken.
No, he didn't hear his name and this was more than enough proof in his eyes as his mind regained clarity. "Do we have to continue this charade Kristoph? Shuichi asked as he looked around.
The bullets suddenly seemed to stop and the air turned deadly silent. As Shuichi was trying to look around to spot Kristoph he suddenly spotted him where Aaron earlier was standing.
"You figured it out pretty quickly this time," Kristoph remarked and Shuichi focused his attention on him and even pointed the rifle in his hands directly at Kristoph.
"Even an idiot would be able to slowly figure out clues about the nightmares, for one I'm never called by my name in the nightmares, and second whenever I think about questioning the situation it suddenly changes drastically causing me to lose focus," Shuichi revealed his thought process.
Kristoph was unfazed and looked at the rifle "Are you trying to kill me? We both know it wouldn't work." Shuichi was a little confused "What do you mean we both know it wouldn't work?"
Kristoph just sighed a little "How many times have you 'died' in these nightmares? And you keep coming back right?" Kristoph hit the nail on the head, Shuichi had indeed 'died' many times in these nightmares and kept coming back.
Shuichi still wasn't convinced "That may be true, however, this will be the first time you 'die' and maybe then I will sleep for a few days before you come back." If Shuichi could sleep for a few days then he would gladly end Kristoph.
"Maybe you're right, I won't deny that possibility" Kristoph seemed to agree with Shuichi, however, he also added "But you're forgetting who's in control here." And as he said that multiple figures revealed themselves and pointed their guns at Shuichi.
Shuichi tried to fire his rifle quickly but felt the trigger wouldn't move an inch. "You're also forgetting who gave you that," Kristoph remarked and the other men fired directly at Shuichi, opening up multiple wounds.
Shuichi could feel the bullets travel through his body but he still looked calmly at Kristoph. "I'll be back Kristoph, this isn't over yet." Shuichi declared as he felt his body grow colder and soon found himself freefalling through the floor.
Just before he completely lost consciousness he could hear Kristoph reply "I know." Shuichi's eyes suddenly shot open and he looked around the room. This time he wasn't sweating and although he had just had a nightmare he didn't feel particularly frightened or even horrible about it.
Instead, Shuichi smiled and started to mutter to himself "I've finally found a weak spot Kristoph, if this is the game you want to play then bring it on." Shuichi finally found one possible path to temporarily alleviate his nightmares.
Even if his nightmares would only stop for a few days before coming back then Shuichi would take that any day of the week. It was only a temporary solution and he would still try to seek out a Gardevoir for consultancy, however, if he looked fit then his father wouldn't stop him anymore.
Shuichi quickly returned to sleeping and woke up fairly well-rested, it seemed like he couldn't get two nightmares in a single night as he usually didn't sleep again in fear of another nightmare.
He wasn't in tip-top shape however he could easily work through it and speaking of work, it was time for his work at the mine. Shuichi's work in the mine felt strangely normal compared to his work as a trainer.
Nothing much interesting happened on the second day and Shuichi was worked ragged, he still didn't find anything of value and went back to the Center to spend some time with his Pokémon. Although rest was advised for them, it didn't mean that he should neglect them, thus he decided to have dinner with them so he could tell them about his work in the mines.
After spending some time with his Pokémon, he went back to his room, Shuichi did some research about dreams and found that some Pokémon could feed off them. The Drowzee line and Munna line were mainly mentioned however, having them eat nightmares wasn't good for either of their diets so Shuichi gave up on them.
Still, research paid off a little as Shuichi got an idea he wanted to test out the next time he had a nightmare and became lucid. Shuichi went to bed but sadly woke up the next morning well rested, now that he actively wanted a nightmare it wasn't going to happen.
Back to the mine, it was and this time something interesting happened, Shuichi was busy swinging his pickaxe at the coal deposit in the wall until he saw something in the wall. It looked familiar and Shuichi picked it out of the wall and gave it a closer inspection.
It was a stone about the same size as his hand but the most important thing was that there was a leaf imprint on the stone. ('Is this what I think it is?') Shuichi had a guess but he took it to Roark just to be sure.
"Yep, that's a Leaf Stone for sure. You're quite lucky Shuichi." Roark confirmed Shuichi's guess, a Leaf Stone was used to evolve a lot of grass-type Pokémon.
"So what do you want to do with it? According to the rules you can either sell it for a bonus of ₽1,050 or keep it." Roark asked Shuichi. Shuichi already had an idea "I'll keep it for now, I'm looking for a different stone for Eevee and maybe someone will trade it." Money also isn't an issue currently.
Roark nodded and noted it down, all findings would still have to be reported back to him. Shuichi continued with his work for the day. He didn't find anything else but according to some of the workers he talked to about the chance of finding an item happened about once a week on average. Fossils were a different story with some taking months to find.
Shuichi repeated his previous day's schedule of going to his Pokémon to eat dinner and doing some light research into dreams, apart from Drowzee and Munna there were also legendary Pokémon linked to dreams.
Darkrai, the nightmare Pokémon, and Cresselia the lunar Pokémon. Shuichi had no clue on how to even find these two legendary Pokémon, let alone ask them for help, so he had to also shelf that idea.
Shuichi was getting mentally tired as well so he was off to bed, he closed his eyes and soon opened them again but he found himself in an unfamiliar place. He frowned a little while looking around trying to recall where he was, he was in a small room and was dressed in a business suit.
Soon knocking came on the door, "Excuse me, sir, the interview will commence. Please follow me." A woman looked into the room, Shuichi couldn't recall her name but now he recalled where he was.
He was scheduled for an interview about the war and he was responsible for it as he was the highest commanding officer. Shuichi was mentally prepared for some of the tougher questions that would surely be asked.
He followed the woman to a larger room where tens of microphones and even more people were seated, the people in the crowd all had tense expressions and a lot even had some fear on their faces. Shuichi frowned a little seeing this.
The interview commenced and there were indeed some hard-hitting questions, but there were also some soft questions that were much easier to answer. Soon a woman stood up and asked a question. "Are you aware of the fact that thousands of soldiers have died recently in your care?"
Shuichi calmly processed the question "Yes, I am aware." He didn't explain any further causing the woman to grow angry "Do you have any comment on that front? Any explanation to the grieving families of those soldiers?"
Shuichi didn't answer, causing the woman to continue, "Well? Did your parents not raise you correctly to respond to a question!?" Shuichi snapped back to the woman with a disgusted expression. "You know that was a low blow, Kristoph." He said to the woman.
The room seemed to quiet down once Shuichi said those words, Shuichi looked around trying to find Kristoph in the crowd until he suddenly spotted him in the crowd. "You figured it out again, and even earlier than last time," Kristoph stated as he stood up.
Shuichi looked at him with a calm look, "Looks like we both know I figured it out when the woman escorted me here. You can't reveal my name because it would trigger my memories and the nightmare would be over."
Kristoph didn't seem to react to anything. "So, I suppose it's time to end this again." The room suddenly pointed guns at Shuichi once more as Kristoph said that line. Shuichi only grinned "It seems like you're the one who's forgetting something this time, this is also my dream."
As Shuichi reached into his pockets he pulled out a red and white sphere and enlarged it. "I wasn't playing along for fun, It took some time to materialise and get a grasp on how to interact with my dreams."
"Eevee, get ready!" Shuichi yelled as he threw the Pokéball next to him, out came the familiar face and body of Eevee, however, Shuichi noticed something was missing; Emotions. He couldn't sense Eevee's emotions because this wasn't his Eevee exactly, it was only a figure based on Shuichi's memories.
People could interact with their dreams which was called lucid dreaming, inside their dreams they were practically a god and they could materialise anything. It was something that Shuichi had looked into during his research.
Kristoph looked at Eevee and Shuichi could've sworn he saw a reaction on his face before it was quickly gone. "So you want to combat me with your own Pokémon? But will just Eevee be enough?" Kristoph said and everyone in the room aimed.
Shuichi was still calm. "No, that was just for dramatic effect." He stated and the doors suddenly swung wide open to reveal Combusken and Clamperl standing there. "Now I think this will be enough," Shuichi said as he saw Kristoph turning around. The doors were slammed shut again and Shuichi fortified them with bars.
Kristoph didn't say a word but only turned to look at Shuichi, Shuichi could see something in his eyes. It was an emotion but that should be impossible for Kristoph no? Before Shuichi could contemplate further a green shield surrounded Shuichi and bullets impacted the shield.
Shuichi had mentally prepared for Eevee to shield him with Protect should he be in danger, Eevee could hold this shield for way longer here than he could in real life. This was all linked to Shuichi's imagination and mental fatigue.
Clamperl and Combusken didn't sit still either, Clamperl went off firing Water Guns at the people while Combusken fired off some Embers. Contrary to what Shuichi expected no blood or gore appeared as the people quickly faded into clouds of smoke when they were impacted.
Kristoph only looked at this scene with a calm expression, it was as if this whole situation couldn't bother him in the slightest. Soon there were only Shuichi, his Pokémon and Kristoph left in the room.
"You know I'll come back if you kill me here," Kristoph said to Shuichi as Shuichi and his Pokémon approached him. "I know, but maybe now you'll give me some time until I can figure out why you're even here in the first place and how to permanently alleviate the problem," Shuichi explained to Kristoph.
Kristoph didn't say anything to Shuichi, clearly not in the mood to talk anymore. Shuichi had Eevee pepper Kristoph with stars. Kristoph soon disappeared into a cloud of smoke. For the first time since the nightmares began, Shuichi had won.
It felt strangely relieving but also confusing, Kristoph was gone for now but the interaction felt off to Shuichi. He knew Kristoph couldn't feel emotions yet when he saw his Pokémon there was a slight hint of emotion present. Was it not Kristoph?
Shuichi shook his head, even if he asked him he wouldn't get a straight answer. Shuichi looked around and noticed the dream was slowly falling apart, the void was slowly filling the room and Shuichi dismissed his Pokémon.
The void overtook Shuichi and he fell into unconsciousness, he woke up in his bed the next morning. He still remembered his nightmare and battle with Kristoph, he had already noticed that the occasional voices were completely silenced.
('Seems like it worked, that should keep Kristoph at bay for a few days') Shuichi thought as he got out of bed, Shuichi went to the mine and informed Roark that today would be his last day. Roark was a little sad as Shuichi's presence motivated the workers but he couldn't stop him.
The last day was a little anticlimactic as Shuichi didn't find another item of value, Shuichi said farewell to the workers he had gotten familiar with and went to the Center to pick up his Pokemon and settle the debt with Nurse Joy. Shuichi took his team to a restaurant to celebrate and paid ₽1,000, Shuichi was left with ₽9,600 to prepare for the journey.
Roark went back to the gym after the day's work at the mine, there still was an appointment he had to attend to. The weekly gym leaders meeting, all the gym leaders would come together in a call to discuss interesting challengers and the difficulties of being a gym leader.
Roark entered the call and could see some people were already in there, a young girl with pink hair, a woman with orange hair and a man with a mask. "Oh don't worry Maylene dear! These problems will be sorted out with experience!" The woman with orange hair said.
The young girl with pink hair replied "I know that Gardenia but I feel like I'm hopelessly unprepared for running the gym for the first time all on my own." Maylene voiced her worries. "If you're having problems then you should just punch your way through them! HAHAHA!" The man in the mask replied.
Roark silently sighed, "Not all problems can be solved with violence Crasher Wake." Roark replied announcing his entrance. Everyone greeted him and they bantered for a little before two other women joined the call, One had a violet hair colour with an over-the-top hairstyle. The other had black hair colour with lots of hair ties.
"Well, I think this is all." The woman with the violet hair said and she spoke with a different accent that Roark couldn't place. "Uhm, miss Fantina, aren't we missing two?" Maylene carefully asked.
"Marvelous observation! However, the last two never really took an interest in these meetings." Fantina replied causing Roark to get a little annoyed at the last two missing members.
One of which was his father, Byron, Roark was getting more and more annoyed at his lack of interest in even his son. The last gym leader was Volkner from Sunyshore City, Roark had heard that Volkner was a lot less interested in battling than in technology.
Fantina continued unaware of Roark's thoughts "I must announce first off that I also will not be attending these meetings much in the future, I've decided to travel once more and level up my style!" She dropped a bombshell that shocked all the gym leaders.
"Not that I don't support you Fantina but who's going to be at the Hearthome Gym?" Roark asked Fantina and the rest also voiced their concerns. "Ah! I'll be back every so often to still take on challengers! It will be no problem! Fantina replied it seemed like she had it all figured out.
"Well, I support you fully Fantina! It sounds like you got your Kiai on!" The girl with black hair and hair ties cheerfully said. "Thank you so much, Candice!" Fantina replied and everyone followed suit with their well wishes.
With that announcement settled the gym leaders went to the next point of discussion, interesting challengers. "Don't look at me for interesting challengers, people barely come here as is." Candice didn't have anything interesting to share, the other gym leaders also had nothing to share.
"Seems like I'm the lucky one here, I've had two very interesting challengers recently," Roark revealed giving the other gym leader quite the surprise. "Well don't just keep us waiting! Play the videos!" Gardenia was excited to see the battles.
Roark nodded and subsequently played the matches he had with Ash and Shuichi. He gave commentary over the fights and the trainers, "Both of them were pretty good, although If I had to pick who was the most interesting then it would be Shuichi." Roark commented.
Fantina nodded "I can see that he has gotten some inspiration from contests much like Moi but I don't see a difference between them." Everyone seemed to agree and Roark explained further. "It's not something you can see on the video but something you feel once you face him, It felt like I was facing my father," Roark revealed.
Everyone seemed to be surprised and interested, Byron was no slouch in battles and one could feel it when they were facing him. Roark continued "It doesn't seem like he realises he emits this pressure, I've talked to him a bit when he worked at the mine for money and it seems like he was a completely normal boy albeit with some high stamina."
The message was clear, Shuichi unconsciously changed a little during battles, like some sleeping beast was unleashed. "Seems like he'd be an awesome challenge! So where is he headed off now?" Crasher Wake asked Roark. "From what I gathered he's going back to Jubilife to go north to Eterna," Roark revealed and everyone looked at Gardenia.
"Looks like I'm the lucky one now!" Gardenia was excited and was already planning something more special for Shuichi.
Shuichi himself was unaware that Roark had already alerted some of the gym leaders that he was coming, he was currently doing some shopping in Oreburgh to prepare for the journey back to Jubilife and north to Floroama Town.
('Alright, this should be more than enough.') Shuichi thought, he had slept like a baby and was in a great mood to prepare. He had spent ₽1,000 to prepare for Jubilife, he would stay in Jubilife for a day to do a job and recoup the spending he did now. He had well over 43 days to reach badge number 2.
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