Pokemon: Radical Redux

Ash was back home, lying on his bed. He sighed as he lay there thinking, while Pikachu and Vee were sleeping on either side of him. When he got home, he spent the first day just lying down. He didn't really do much or even play with Molly. But he got over it, or at least, that's what he told himself.

Ash sighed again. He didn't really know why he was acting like this. I mean, he knew the day would come, the day they would have to go their separate ways. And it's not like he'll never see them again. Just a few months, and he'll see them. So he didn't know why he was feeling like this.

Maybe he was just lonely. He did spend two years with them. And Green and Gary, well, Gary was training and getting his last badge, and Green went to Blackthorn to cheer on Silver. So Ash was pretty much alone.

And if you asked about Oak's school with his other friends, yeah, that was also over. When he got back, it was the last day. But at least he put on a smile and told May and Wally he'd definitely go to Hoenn.

He remembered the moment.

Wally and May were in the graduating students this year. He managed to make it just in time to watch them, and when it was over, he went to meet them.

"Ash!" May brightened immediately, rushing over. "You made it!"

Wally smiled softly. "We thought you'd miss it."

Ash rubbed the back of his neck, catching his breath. "Yeah, sorry, I was... helping someone in Blackthorn."

May grinned as she poked Ash's cheek. "Of course you were. You never stop."

Ash gave a sheepish chuckle, then looked at the two of them. "So… you guys are really done? Gonna start your journeys in Hoenn, huh?"

Wally nodded. "Yeah. I, uh... well, I'm still really nervous, but I'm trying to calm down."

"Well, as for me, I already have everything planned! I'm gonna get my starter, then head straight out to start the contests!" May smiled and put her hands on her hips, nodding happily.

Ash smiled warmly. "Ha, I'm happy to hear it. And hey, Hoenn's next on my list. So when you start… I'll be there."

They both lit up at that, as May grinned. "You better be," she said, pointing at him. "I'm gonna hold you to that. You better come straight to see me, or else I'll be angry at you."

Ash smiled and raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay, Officer May, please don't arrest me, I promise, okay?"

—

That was the last time he really felt carefree. That day, he put on his usual smile, and yeah, he was happy, that wasn't a lie, but now that they'd left, he was officially alone.

Even Chase, Elaine, and Trace, who also graduated and were getting ready to take on Kanto, had gone off on their own to prepare. At this point, even the Kanto B Team would be nice. It's better than nothing. Sure, Pink was crazy, but Ash got along with Violet and Cyan.

Ash sighed, shaking his head. He couldn't stay there forever, even if he wanted to pretend. He got up and stretched his arms before heading downstairs.

He might as well train. His Johto team, even though it had some heavy hitters, was lacking in real, solid training, so he might as well start on that.

But when he walked downstairs, he was greeted by a surprise attack, Molly hugged his back, "Big bro!"

Ash didn't almost fall over, Molly was way too small for that. As he looked down, he also saw Bellossom giggling slightly. Ash rolled his eyes and patted Molly's head.

"Hey Molly, sorry I was a little weird for a bit, but I'm back. We can play or do anything you want together, okay?" Ash said, rubbing Molly's head.

Molly beamed up at him, her arms still wrapped tightly around his waist. "You promise?" she asked with wide eyes.

Ash nodded, his expression softening. "Yeah. I promise. You stuck with me when I was being all gloomy. Least I can do is be your big brother again, properly."

Molly giggled, leaning into his side. "You weren't gloomy. You were just doing your 'cool, serious face.' Bellossom said so."

Ash raised an eyebrow at the little flower Pokémon, who spun around happily like she'd said something important.

"Cool and serious, huh?" Ash smirked. "Well, guess I've got a reputation to maintain."

Just then he heard soft footsteps as Delia walked over and smiled.

"Hey, sweetie. I'm glad to see you're doing better."

Ash looked at her and laughed a little, scratching his cheek. "Hey Mom. I mean… it was nothing really. I was just tired. But I'm back. Hey, why don't I help you with cooking today?"

Delia just looked at Ash and booped his nose. "Sweetie, I'm your mother. Do you really think I can't tell when you're upset? I know you want to act strong all the time."

"I…" Ash looked down, rubbing Molly's head. "I just… don't want you to worry, Mom. I know it must have been hard raising me by yourself, so I never wanted to make things harder for you… I'm sorry if I'm selfish in that way."

Delia walked closer and gently cupped Ash's cheek. "Sweetie, I know it wasn't fair that you had to grow up faster than everyone else. But that's not selfish. Besides, you never asked me for anything, not even toys or new things. I'll admit, sometimes I did wait just so I had an excuse to spoil you. But that's just who you are."

Ash looked down. I mean, the reason he never did was because, again, he was a 20-year-old in the body of a child. He didn't want toys, and he never acted rebellious because he knew better. But he couldn't tell her that, so he just took a breath.

"That's… because I already had everything I needed."

Delia smiled at that, and gave his cheek a gentle pat. "And I hope you remember that, especially on days when everything feels a little empty, alright?"

Ash nodded slowly, eyes a little glassy but not crying. "Yeah. I will."

Delia then got a smile. "But, you've been working hard, so I got you something."

Nidoqueen walked over, still wearing her apron, as she held out two tickets and handed them to Ash, "Here."

Ash blinked as he slowly took them and looked down, tickets to Fula City, "What's this?"

Delia smiled and leaned over. "They're tickets so you can go to the Wind Festival. And there's two, so you can take Molly. She's been asking to go see it, but I've got to run Pallet House."

Ash looked down at the tickets again, flipping them in his hand as if making sure they were real, "…Fula City, huh?" he murmured.

Molly gasped. "Wait, really? We're going? For real-for real?!"

Delia nodded with a gentle smile. "Well Molly, you got all A's in your classes, so you deserve a reward. And Ash… you could use something a little lighter, don't you think?"

Ash gave a soft laugh. "Lighter sounds good."

He glanced down at Molly, who was already vibrating with excitement. "Guess that means we better start packing."

"Yay!" Molly jumped up and spun in a circle before hugging Bellossom, who twirled with her in rhythm. "We're gonna go to the Wind Festival!"

As Molly spun around, Ash couldn't help but think, that sounded familiar. He just couldn't remember where.

The thing was, he never watched The Power of Us movie. After all, when it came out, he was already deep into studying for medical school. He didn't watch the movies anymore. He barely had time to watch the episodes as they came out. And when he did have time, Secrets of the Jungle had come out, and he just wasn't interested in that one. So he never bothered to watch any of the others.

But of course, Ash didn't know that. He just thought it was some random place he forgot about. He shrugged. It was only gonna be a few days. Why not? He could feel better, then take training seriously.

Nothing could go wrong… right?

—

{Ashtwo}

D was outside of base. Although he knew he was being watched more closely now, the reason was simple, the Masked Man wanted him out of the way so Giovanni wouldn't find out anything. With the Gym Leader tournament happening, Giovanni had to leave his business and finally return.

Of course, D didn't care. What he did care about was how he could exploit this situation to his advantage.

For one, he now had unlimited access to the Masked Man's resources. And he was already working on hacking the surveillance cameras to see what opportunities he could find.

With Porygon working its magic and Rotom acting as support, he was making progress. He found the lab where Colress was stationed, and he saw it: multiple test tubes. In each of them floated a half-made, broken clone of either Ho-Oh or Lugia.

Just as he suspected.

They were using the Rainbow Wing and Silver Wing to create clones, an army of them. And judging from the look of it, they were being mass-produced, with no intention of long-term survival. Disposable. Mass-bred weapons.

Yeah… but this time, it was a good thing. This time, he could actually do something about it. Unlike the last time.

He might not be there in person, but Porygon-Z was both a digital and physical Pokémon. It could get in and out. And technically, Porygon hadn't even been released to the public yet, so no one would suspect a thing.

Now, you might wonder how he was planning to give Porygon the instructions. After all, he couldn't speak because of the mask. And when Porygon-Z was in digital mode, he couldn't connect to it using Aura.

Well, there was one loophole he never mentioned. Rotom.

He could connect to Rotom with Aura. He could pass the message that way. Then Rotom could travel to Porygon and relay everything. That's exactly what he did. After giving Rotom the message, it zipped through the electrical grid, eventually reaching the camera network. Inside the digital world, Rotom and Porygon met.

"[Bzzz—Ok, here's the plan from the bos—zzz!]" Rotom said.

Porygon-Z nodded. "[Roger Roger. I'll have it done.]"

The plan began.

First, Rotom dimmed the lab's lights, not enough to draw suspicion, just enough to make it seem like faulty wiring. Like an old bulb flickering on its last legs.

Then Porygon-Z planted a virus on one of the scientists' computers. Not the main one, just a secondary workstation. Suddenly, that screen was filled with images titled Big Booty Lopunny in Your Area!

Needless to say, the poor guy was mortified. Everyone else was distracted. Some laughed. Others groaned.

Colress, meanwhile, was not amused. He stormed over to deal with the virus himself, muttering about "incompetent tech security."

And that was when Porygon struck.

He shifted into physical form, dashed in, grabbed the Rainbow and Silver Feathers from the containment case, and then jumped back into the digital realm, leaving behind a few ordinary feathers to cover the theft.

Just like that, they were gone.

The perfect heist.

And he didn't even have to lift a finger.

But this was just the first step. Stopping production was a good start, but it wouldn't be enough. He needed to finish this before it spiraled out of control.

And something told him… the key would revolve around a certain Namba.

—

{Meanwhile}

The Masked Man sat at his desk, tapping his finger.

This was it.

Giovanni was going to call. He was going to check everything. The Masked Man had prepared the best he could. Everything had to appear perfect.

As he adjusted the screens, preparing for the meeting, Carl burst into the room, "Sir! Change of plans, the Big Boss came here!"

The Masked Man narrowed his eyes. "Really…? Very well. Bring him in."

Carl saluted and walked out.

A few moments passed, each one stretching into an eternity, until finally, the door opened.

Giovanni walked in, sharp eyes scanning the room.

Matori nearly tripped from her seat in surprise but stood up quickly, holding her clipboard like it was a shield.

"Sir…" the Masked Man said slowly.

Giovanni looked at him, "Quite."

"May I ask why you chose to come here? If you had called, I would have gotten the base ready," the Masked Man said.

"Well, I have to attend the Gym Leader tournament, it's being held here in Johto, so it's easier if I just come directly. Besides, I need to see what you've been doing," Giovanni said, his voice sharp.

The Masked Man didn't flinch. He could feel it, Giovanni was trying to use his powers to read his mind.

"Sir, please, don't bother. You know I learned my lesson last time. This mask is embedded with a layer of lead. You won't get anything."

Giovanni stared at him for a long moment, then nodded, "Fine. So tell me, how are things?"

"Everything is in order, sir," the Masked Man replied, sliding a folder across the desk. "All reports on income, costs, and ongoing projects are right here."

Giovanni glanced over his shoulder at Matori. She nodded quickly and hurried forward, grabbing the folder and flipping through it at rapid speed. After a moment, she closed it.

"Everything looks accounted for, sir!"

Giovanni nodded, then turned back toward the Masked Man, "Call Archer."

The Masked Man gave him a sideways glance, "You still don't trust me."

But he pressed a button on the desk without argument.

A few moments later, Archer walked in, wearing his usual relaxed smile, his long blue hair down casually, "Boss. It's good to see you."

Giovanni gave a nod in return, "Hello, Archer. Tell me, is there anything happening that I should know about?"

Archer glanced at him, then at the Masked Man, then gave a light shrug, "Nothing of importance, sir."

Giovanni nodded again. He trusted Archer the most. After all, he knew Archer couldn't be bought. And the Masked Man? He couldn't beat Archer in a fair fight.

The key word there was fair.

And what Giovanni didn't know was that Archer was already under mind control.

Giovanni looked at the Masked Man, "Very well. Keep up the good work. I'll be in Johto if you need me. I'll take a look around the facilities a bit longer, just to inspect everything. Archer, notify me if you find anything."

With that, he walked out of the room, Matori quickly following behind like a shadow.

As soon as the door shut, the Masked Man dropped the act, "How annoying…" he muttered.

He turned toward Archer, "Take care of him. Make sure he doesn't come back to my office. I need to commence the final step."

Archer nodded silently and left.

Alone now, the Masked Man reached toward his desk and pressed a hidden button.

Along the back wall, 28 Poké Balls clicked open in synchronized precision.

"Finally," he whispered. "After all this time… I have them all."

One by one, the Unown emerged, 28 of them, each representing a letter of the alphabet. They flew through the air in a swirling vortex, lifting papers and documents, scattering them like leaves in a storm.

The Masked Man narrowed his eyes and raised his voice.

"Unown! Give me what I desire, to rewrite everything… to shape the world as I see fit!"

The 28 Unown began to glow, their forms humming with psychic energy. In the Masked Man's hand, something began to form, materializing from thin air

A small flute. Carved like a shell. But this was no ordinary flute.

It was the Azure Flute.

He gripped it tightly, staring at the sacred relic with reverence and power. This was Plan B. If his original plan failed, this would be his trump card.

But it was too dangerous to leave out in the open. He placed it gently inside a reinforced safe embedded in the wall.

Still, with the Azure Flute in his possession, he felt a surge of confidence. His plan was going to work.

Nothing could stop him now.…Except for the drone still hidden in the ventilation system, its camera blinking silently.

It was sending everything back to D, who watched the video to see what was going on. And that's when he noticed something. Among the 28 Unown… two of them stood out.

That alone was worth remembering. But even more pressing was the fact that the Masked Man now had the Azure Flute.

And that? That didn't look good at all, if what he thought was happening was gonna happen