Chapter Fifty-Eight: Road Safety

Yumi originally wanted to invite Amu for lunch, but ran into someone riding a Pokémon without a helmet and chased after them. Because of some unforeseen circumstances, she was delayed, and only came to invite Amu in the evening.

“Order whatever you like! It’s my treat tonight!” Yumi declared with gusto.

However, despite her confident tone, this skewer bar was clearly too sophisticated for Amu. Misty had already slipped away upon realizing the direction Yumi was leading them—after all, the self-service at the Pokémon Center was far more appealing.

“Boss, I’ll have the usual… and bring this young friend a glass of Miltank Milk Beer to start!” Yumi greeted the owner with practiced ease.

“Got it!” The boss, with a towel tied around his head, replied.

Yumi then explained quietly to Amu, “Miltank Milk Beer has no alcohol—it’s made from fresh Miltank milk. You can drink it without worry! Hahaha…”

“I’ll have a skewer of this, this… and this one as well…” Amu perused the menu and pointed out a few choices.

As for Yumi herself, she was obviously a regular—before long, the owner poured her a pitcher of draft beer. Dressed in her usual skirt, Yumi paid no heed to her appearance, downing a large glass in one go: “Another round!”

“Hey, hey, Miss Yumi, don’t drink so quickly,” the owner cautioned, but still dutifully poured another pitcher. He knew well that this amount was nothing to Yumi.

“Probably won’t have another chance after this… hic,” Yumi murmured, her cheeks flushed, a little tipsy.

“Huh? Miss Yumi, you haven’t been in Chentian City long, have you? Are you being transferred again? If it’s confidential, don’t say anything,” the bar owner said, worried she might spill secrets under the influence, and reminded her gently.

“Yeah! And it’s thanks to this one here…” Yumi said, giving Amu’s shoulder a friendly thump.

“Because of the villa case?” Amu caught on instantly. Surely she wasn’t promoted just for ticketing Gary?

“Half of it! And… guess what I did this afternoon?” Yumi leaned in, her tone conspiratorial.

“Huh? Wasn’t it chasing that helmetless rider?” Amu asked, surprised. Was that really a big case?

“I chased him, and just happened to catch him in front of a cake shop…”

Cake shop!

Amu immediately sensed something was up.

Yumi continued, “Just as I was issuing the ticket, I suddenly heard—” She went on to describe, with vivid detail, how she stumbled upon a cake shop poisoning case, and, with her wit and a little help from an insignificant elementary schooler, solved it on the spot and apprehended the culprit.

The Pokémon world was, for the most part, quite safe—at least under normal circumstances!

So, after cracking two consecutive serious injury cases, Yumi was promoted to Inspector, and—

“I’ll let you in on a secret… My aunt told me that frequent transfers help you get promoted faster, so they moved me to Pewter City! Hahaha…” Yumi whispered, patting Amu’s shoulder.

Amu: …

As for Yumi’s “aunt”—why was it that her transfer could be arranged at a word? Even though Yumi didn’t specify which “aunt,” the title alone made it clear: it must be one of the elder Officer Jennys.

Within the Jenny clan, their influence was immense. Chentian was just a small city, not even close to the six major cities of Kanto. When Yumi suddenly showed promise, her elders naturally wanted to nurture her.

And moreover…

Transferred to Pewter City?

Amu grinned and raised his glass to clink with hers. “I have a feeling you’ll have a smooth career ahead!”

“You’re good with words! If you ever need anything in Pewter, just mention my name! Hahaha…” Yumi said, thumping Amu’s shoulder again.

“By the way, Sister Yumi, could I ask you about the Jenny Force?” Amu took the opportunity.

Yumi paused, then laughed, “Pfft, the Jenny Force? That’s not something you can just learn!”

“No… I mean, there’s actually a type of special communicative ability…”

Although it wasn’t exactly a power, Amu felt there must be similarities in technique, and the Jenny clan had researched such things for generations.

At first, Yumi seemed unwilling to discuss serious matters while drinking, but soon she was boasting about her Jenny Force between sips of beer.

In the end, Amu lost count of how many glasses Yumi drank—she was undoubtedly drunk.

He could tell that Yumi, despite her bravado, was actually deeply affected and anxious from the string of serious injury cases, and tonight was her way of letting loose.

After all—

“Under normal circumstances,” the Pokémon world’s public safety was quite good!

It was late, and Yumi had hit her limit. Amu intended to pay the bill, but the owner informed him Yumi had already paid in advance.

“Sister Yumi, where do you live? Let me call you a cab…” Amu asked, seeing that Yumi wasn’t fully coherent.

“No need… Jenny dorm… not far… not drunk…” Yumi mumbled.

Of course, the last part was best taken with a grain of salt.

The Jenny dorm was indeed nearby, and as long as she was escorted home, there would be familiar colleagues around.

So Amu helped her to her feet.

He thought his strength would suffice to support her by the arm, but as they walked, Yumi naturally leaned on his shoulder—and faint snores began to escape her lips.

“Sister Yumi? Sister Yumi?” Amu sighed helplessly.

Moonlight spilled across her pale dress, her flushed cheeks, and lips shining with unusual brilliance…

Amu noticed this scene, and suddenly his eyes lit up!

He was stunned for a moment—was he really just escorting her like this?

He reached to Yumi’s waist—

And retrieved the first Poké Ball from her case, released it, and sure enough, it was Arcanine!

Fortunately, Yumi’s Poké Balls weren’t locked, so others could open them.

“Woof woof? Woof…” Arcanine saw Amu, looked confused for a moment, then noticed the drunken Yumi, and let out a resigned sigh.

Amu gently lifted Yumi onto Arcanine’s back, making sure she was seated properly, her head resting against Arcanine’s neck to avoid accidental suffocation.

“Your name’s Star? You know the way back to Sister Yumi’s dorm, right?” Amu patted Arcanine’s head. It nodded, showing no hostility despite Amu being a “stranger.”

As expected of Jenny’s Arcanine—well trained.

Amu walked alongside Arcanine, escorting Yumi to the Jenny dorm.

Since Yumi was drunk, if Arcanine ran, it would be considered drunk-driving with a Pokémon.

But with Amu strolling beside them, it was simply walking with a Pokémon carrying a person…

Having recently memorized the Pokémon riding regulations, Amu was quite familiar with these rules!

Over the past few days, Amu and his companions had become adept at their skills, and Amu had nearly mastered the regulations. Tomorrow, he planned to set out for the northern valley’s Rhyhorn ranch, obtain a Rhyhorn, pass the riding exam, and then continue north-west to the farthest point of western Kanto—Pewter City…