Pokemon: Radical Redux-Chapter 349: Onwards to Cianwood City

Time passed, as it always does. Eventually, Ash was able to stand up again and leave, after some convincing from his friends, which mostly consisted of them physically tying him to the bed until he promised. So he did. He wasn't going to perform any more surgeries since no one needed it, but he still went to visit his patients.

As he walked, many people thanked him. As far as they knew, he was the one who took down the attackers in town and saved as many people as he could. Then he worked for three days non-stop.

So while he was resting on the bed, holding Vee on his lap, he finally checked him with his Pokédex.

—-

[Eevee (M)]

[Ability: Adaptability. Hidden Ability: Anticipation]

[Moves: [Error - N/A]]

[Unown Mutation]

[Unstable DNA – Can turn into all future forms freely. (Note: doing it alone causes Eevee pain)]

[Legendary Killer – When the user attacks a Pokémon considered "Legendary," it removes its Legendary resistances for 1 minute.]

[???]

—-

Ash blinked in surprise. So it had the same mutation as Pikachu, except it looked like they were slightly different, Pikachu couldn't evolve back and forth. This also confirmed it: Eevee had access to all his evolutions. So he couldn't just do what Red did.

But also, once he caught Vee, his Pokédex, or more likely his Rotom Phone, since he's been using that more even though he has both, started updating:

[Notice: Enough Pokémon have been registered. Analyzing... Quality of Pokémon: High. Choosing reward now.]

[Reward chosen – DexNav unlocked.]

Ash looked at it and sighed. Of course he gets the DexNav after he doesn't need it. Well, he's not using that until Hoenn. For those who don't know, the DexNav is basically a tracker that can find any Pokémon as long as it's been registered. And since Ash hacked the Pokédex, he already has all of them registered.

So he wouldn't really be using that any time soon. Getting Vee was an accident, but now he has no reason to catch any more Pokémon.

As for Ash, he was still trying to recover the Aura he'd used up. It would take a bit, but he'd recharge in a few days.

He noticed everyone was helping with the recovery efforts. He offered to help, but was immediately shut down, so he just went to the hospital to visit.

And that's how he got into this situation. Jasmine wanted to leave, and technically she didn't need to stay, she just couldn't use her leg, so she was in a wheelchair, and Ash was pushing her out of the hospital.

Which wouldn't have been a problem, if Jasmine didn't look like she was enjoying this way too much, humming to herself as they went.

"You know," she said with a playful smirk, her arms casually draped over the sides of the wheelchair, "this might be the best part about getting injured. Free chauffeur service."

Ash huffed a laugh. "Glad you're having fun. I was gonna ask if you needed a blanket and some tea."

"Ohhh, sounds perfect. You know, if you spoil me like that, I may not want to heal. And you'll have no choice but to keep taking care of me."

Ash and Jasmine chuckled as they looked ahead. The roads were still a little damaged, patches of rubble lining the sidewalks, but everything was starting to return to normal. It was actually amazing, this kind of damage would take years to fix anywhere else.

But with Pokémon and all the advanced technologies in the Pokémon world, it had only been a week, and houses were already being rebuilt, buildings were being planned. At this rate, in about six months, it would be like it never even happened.

"Still hard to believe it's only been a week since everything happened," Jasmine said, her voice quieter now, as Pikachu rested on her lap. "Everything looked so hopeless... and now..."

Ash nodded as he pushed her, with Vee walking steadily beside them. "Yeah. I remember everyone was so scared. It all happened so fast... at least everyone's okay and no one died."

She looked up at him, her gaze lingering. "And you? How are you doing?"

Ash paused for a moment. He didn't meet her eyes. "I'm fine."

Jasmine pouted. "Liar."

Pikachu shot him a deadpan look. "Pika..."

"Sorry. Force of habit," Ash muttered, offering a small grin.

Jasmine chuckled as she looked out into the distance, her voice soft again. "Hey... can we stop by the Pokémon Center?"

"You wanna see Amphy?"

Jasmine smiled softly and nodded. "I know the nurses have been taking care of him, but... I just want to see him, y'know? Before all this, Amphy was sick, and... Amphy's really important. He is the light of the lighthouse."

Ash nodded, turning the wheelchair toward the center. "Isn't there another Ampharos?"

Jasmine slowly shook her head. "I've been training a Mareep to be his replacement... but I'm not too good at training Electric-types, so... she isn't ready."

"Why don't you ask one of the other Electric Gym Leaders from another region?" Ash asked as he pushed her along.

Jasmine looked down, sheepish. "I... uh... well... let's just say I'm not exactly on speaking terms with one of them. And I can't really talk to one without talking to all of them..."

"Jeez, what happened? Did you break up with someone?" Ash asked, half-joking. He didn't expect an answer, if she didn't want to tell him, he wouldn't press.

Jasmine didn't answer at first. Her expression was hard to read, somewhere between sheepish and annoyed, but the blush on her cheeks gave away more than she probably intended.

"...Kind of," she muttered after a pause. "Not really a breakup, but there was... a thing. With Volkner."

"Wait, what now?" Ash nearly choked on air. "You and Volkner, the Gym Leader from Sinnoh, were a thing?"

Jasmine groaned and lightly thumped her head against the back of the wheelchair. "Ugh. I knew I shouldn't have said anything."

Ash blinked a few times, trying to process that. "You mean, like... you two dated? Or...?" he trailed off, eyebrows raised high.

"It wasn't that serious," Jasmine muttered quickly. "Okay, maybe it was a little bit of a thing. We met during a Gym Leader summit when I first became a Leader, and... well, one thing led to another. We went on a few dates, but... well, some things happened."

"And also, we live in different regions and we're both Gym Leaders. He left saying we should keep in touch, see where things go. Which would've been fine, if he hadn't ghosted me for six months and then sent a four-line apology through Wattson."

"Wattson?!" Ash practically wheezed. "That guy turns everything into a joke!"

"Exactly!" Jasmine groaned, covering her face. "Do you know how humiliating it is to have someone break things off with you via pun-laced email forwarded by another Gym Leader?"

"Yikes. Okay, that's rough," Ash said, taking a sharp breath.

She peeked at him through her fingers. "So yeah... I don't really talk to the others anymore. It's awkward. Elesa keeps trying to get me to come to Unova for a 'girls' recharge weekend,' but I know Volkner's still in the group chat, and I'm just... not ready for that. I don't know if I ever will be."

Ash didn't push further. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable, and he wasn't exactly in a place to offer relationship advice. He just turned the final corner, and there ahead stood the Pokémon Center.

As they approached, they spotted Yellow, Liko, and Roy sitting near the flowerbeds. Dot was off to the side, tapping away on her Rotom Phone, probably editing another video, while Roy sat cross-legged, sharing food with a cheerful Cyndaquil.

Ash walked up, pushing Jasmine's wheelchair as he called out to the group. "Hey guys! Where is everyone else? Is it just you today?"

Yellow perked up first, her eyes lighting up. "Ash! Jasmine! Over here!" she waved, clearly excited to see them. Vee tensed slightly and darted behind Ash's legs.

"We're just the early group," Liko added, brushing some dirt from her hands, she'd apparently been helping replant flowers. "Brock and Misty went with Nurse Joy to help relocate some injured wild Pokémon. And Friede said something about... actually, he didn't really tell us. Now that I think about it, he probably just forgot."

"Sounds about right," Dot muttered without looking up. "I already sent a message to everyone. They said they'll send him back if they see him."

"Anyway," Ash said, "we're going in to see Amphy. Jasmine here's been worried sick about him~"

"Hey..." Jasmine pouted, but she didn't deny it.

"Can I come too?" Yellow asked with a hopeful smile. She wanted to check on the Pokémon herself, and if needed, she could always use her powers to help.

Ash shrugged. "I'm just the chauffeur. Ask Jasmine."

Jasmine smiled. "Sure. I don't see why not. Maybe seeing more familiar faces will cheer Amphy up."

"Okay! We should bring snacks for him too!" Roy said excitedly, already getting to his feet. Before anyone could stop him, he dashed off toward the vending machines, Cyndaquil right behind him.

"Twenty bucks says he eats them all before he gets back," Dot said flatly, still focused on her phone.

"You guys go ahead," she added. "I'll stay out here in case Friede shows up."

So in the end, only Liko and Yellow joined Ash and Jasmine as they entered the center. Nurse Joy was finally taking a rare break, sitting behind the counter. When she saw them, she stood up with a smile.

"Jasmine, Ash. Good to see you both up and about," she greeted warmly. "What can I help you with?"

"Hey, Nurse Joy," Ash said. "We were hoping to see Amphy."

Joy's smile faltered just a little, though she kept her tone gentle. "Of course. He's stable, but..." she hesitated, then motioned down the hallway. "He's in the recovery ward. Room three."

An uneasy silence fell over the group as Joy led them down the hallway. When they entered the room, they found Amphy lying in a padded recovery bed, connected to several monitors. His breathing was slow and shallow, and his tail glow was faint, just a soft flicker where once it had burned bright.

Amphy perked up slightly when Jasmine entered, letting out a weak but joyful "Phaaa..." before resting his head back down.

Jasmine wheeled herself quickly to his side, gently brushing her fingers through his warm, coarse fur. "Hey, buddy," she whispered. "I missed you. I'm so glad you're okay."

Amphy closed his eyes, leaning into her touch with a faint, content hum. "Phaaa..." he said again, trying to nuzzle into her shoulder weakly.

Jasmine laughed softly, rubbing his head. "I know. Hey, I promised, didn't I? I'm okay, and now we both are. Isn't that great?"

Nurse Joy finally spoke again, softly. "Physically, he's okay. No injuries from anything, really. But his condition from before... it's worsened slightly."

"What do you mean?" Yellow asked worriedly.

"Well... it seems like those sound waves were extra effective against Amphy, probably because he was so high up in the lighthouse, so he got affected more. And it seems like he has some sickness, something he had before, but whatever that was made it worse."

"Didn't I order medicine from Cianwood City? Hasn't it arrived?" Jasmine asked as she rubbed Amphy's head.

Joy shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, because of what happened, all transport routes to Olivine were shut down. Most ships still consider it too dangerous to send anything here. We've tried to get emergency approval from the League, but the paperwork has been delayed. And it's bad since we're running out of supplies in the Pokémon Center as well."

As the room stayed silent with everyone processing that, another voice came from the door.

"Huh, so you need someone to get those supplies? Sounds like fun. Why don't we do it?"

At the door, Friede was standing there with Cap on his shoulder, walking in with a smile. Dot looked out of breath from running after him, even though it was only a few feet. "Sorry, he just ran past me."

Liko looked up at Friede. "Wait... you're serious? You want to fly all the way there? But what about the reason we came to Johto? What about Entei?"

Friede deflated a bit. "Oh... I kinda forgot," he chuckled, making everyone almost fall over.

But then Friede shook his head and put his hands on his hips. "But right now this is more important. Entei can wait. Besides, our resident Gym Leader is injured, I doubt Entei will come here to find her. And it's our job as the Rising Volt Tacklers to help people and Pokémon!"

Jasmine looked up at him. "Oh... you guys are looking for Entei?"

"Yeah, that's why we came to Johto," Liko admitted. "But then... Well, everything happened."

Jasmine wiped an unshed tear from her eye. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, here in Johto we have some information. Over in the Whirl Islands, there are rumors that Entei likes being near the volcanoes there. And the Whirl Islands are right next to Cianwood City."

Friede clapped his hands. "See? Everything works out in the end! We'll go get the medicine, and then we can look for Entei on the way!"

"You're talking about finding Entei like it's a trip to the grocery store..." Dot mumbled, but she was already texting the rest of the team.

Ash sighed but gave a smile. "Well, if you're going, then I'll go too. I need to go to Cianwood anyway, and I can at least teleport back, it'll be faster if I do."

"Well, no complaints from me. You're already an honorary member of the Rising Volt Tacklers," Friede said with a smile. Then he saw Yellow looking back and forth, wanting to say something but too nervous.

But Friede had been dealing with Liko long enough to recognize that look. "And your friends can come too. After all, any friend of Ash is a friend of ours."

"O-oh, t-thank you," Yellow said, giving a polite bow. She looked over to Ash. "I-um... Ash, I-I'll go find Misty and Brock, okay?" she said, then ran out.

Jasmine, still stroking Amphy's fur, looked up at Ash. "You're sure about going? You've already done more than enough."

"Hey, you guys are telling me not to do any more work, what better way is there than taking me as far as possible from here?" Ash joked, as Pikachu elbowed his leg softly.

"Well, I can't argue with that logic," Liko said sheepishly. "It would be the best way."

Jasmine looked down and then smiled. "Thanks, everyone. It means a lot. And for what it's worth, I hope you find Entei."