Ash's Story (Part 5: Modern Sinnoh)

Chapter 11: Jubilife Warning

The road back from Oreburgh felt different after the Coal Badge. It was the same dirt under my shoes, the same wind coming down from the cliffs, and the same Sinnoh sky stretching wide over us, but every step felt heavier because we knew exactly why we were walking this way.

Barry had crashed into us outside the Gym, shouted about Eterna City, and vanished almost as fast as he had appeared. The problem was that Route 207 was not going to let us pass just because Barry wanted everyone to hurry. Without Bicycles, the slope ahead might as well have been a wall.

So we went back toward Jubilife.

Oreburgh had left plenty behind us too. Roark's battlefield, Stealth Rock, and the weight of that first Sinnoh Gym still sat in my mind. Lillie had won her badge beside me, but winning did not make the region simpler. It only made the path ahead feel more official.

Dawn kept checking the map on her Pokétch, even though the route back was not hard to follow. I knew that habit. Sometimes looking at a map was easier than admitting the next answer was not there yet.

Dawn walked beside Piplup with Buneary close behind her, and I could tell she was trying not to look disappointed. She had lost to Zoey in the Contest, then watched Lillie and me win Coal Badges before the group had to turn around. She was still moving forward, but the little frown near her eyes said she wanted her next step to be something she chose.

Piplup kept glancing up at her with his chest puffed out, like he was guarding her pride with his whole body.

Piplup's meaning came in a small, stubborn wave. "She is still my Trainer. I am still beside her."

I smiled a little, but I did not say it out loud. Dawn did not need everyone watching her confidence like it was a cracked plate. She needed the road to give her another chance.

Lillie noticed my look and lowered her voice. "Thinking about Dawn?"

"Yeah," I admitted. "She is tougher than she thinks, but Sinnoh keeps testing her fast."

"That sounds familiar," Lillie said gently.

I gave her a sideways look.

She smiled back like she had not said anything sharp at all.

By the time Jubilife City rose ahead of us again,

Pikachu rode quietly on my shoulder, but his ears kept turning toward every sound. He felt the same thing I did. Jubilife looked familiar, yet the warning underneath it had changed.

the streets looked busier than they had before Oreburgh. Trainers moved between buildings with Pokétches on their wrists. People gathered near shops and corners, talking about routes, contests, and rumors that seemed to change every time someone repeated them.

We had only taken a few steps into the city when I saw a man standing near the path with his back half-turned to the crowd. He was trying very hard to look ordinary, which made him stand out even more.

I blinked. "Agent Looker, is that you?"

The man flinched so hard that his shoulders nearly jumped to his ears. Then he turned around with wide eyes, straightened his coat, and stared at me like I had just shouted a secret password in the middle of the street.

"Ash Ketchum," he said, lowering his voice. "It is nice seeing you here after the Team Plasma thing."

Daniel tilted his head. "Team Plasma?"

Tox blinked at the name, too. Dawn looked between the stranger and me, while Gladion's eyes narrowed the way they always did when somebody had too many secrets.