Pokemon: Radical Redux-Chapter 351: Cianwood City

About a day later, as they were on the boat, Ash was training with Vee. The main thing he'd learned was that when Vee evolves, he keeps his regular ability, Adaptability, but also gains access to the others, like if he evolved into Espeon, he'd get Synchronize and Magic Bounce too.

Since that was the case, Ash had been teaching Vee some extra special moves, and Pikachu too, for that matter, so he could finally finish teaching them all the fun moves he'd been planning.

Right now, Vee was sparring with Roy and Cyndaquil, just practicing. He still hasn't evolved yet.

Roy pointed forward. "Okay, we've got this! Cyndaquil, use [Flamethrower]!"

"Not bad, but not good enough. Let's do this, [Bouncy Bubble]!" Ash commanded.

As Cyndaquil's flames grew and burst toward Vee, Vee shook out his fur and then shot out bubbles like Bubble Beam, but stronger, pushing back and hitting Cyndaquil, knocking him into the stairs.

Meanwhile, the bubbles seemed to sap some of Cyndaquil's energy and floated back to Vee, letting him pop them and absorb the energy for himself.

"Aww, I really thought we could win this time..." Roy mumbled as he went to pick up Cyndaquil.

"I swear, how do you get so strong? You were not that strong yesterday. You're at least twice as strong now," Dot muttered as she recorded the match for later, though not the Eevee evolving part, of course. That was still a secret.

"It's called getting good," Ash said as he picked up Vee. "You guys really need to train more."

"Well, training doesn't come as easily to the rest of us, you know," Dot muttered.

"But we do train!" Roy said defensively.

"No, you battle. And battling isn't the same as training. You're basically trying to learn how to read from a dictionary."

Roy blinked at Ash, confused. "Wait... isn't that how everyone learns to read?"

Dot sighed loudly. "No, Roy. That's how you fail reading class."

Ash crossed his arms. "Battling is good for testing what you already know. But training is how you build something new. That's about as good as I can explain it. If you don't practice the foundations, you're just winging it."

Vee chirped in agreement, pawing lightly at Ash's head like he was backing him up.

Roy puffed out his cheeks. "Alright, alright! I get it. Next time I'll try reading a textbook or something..."

Ash tilted his head. "...Roy, I said training, not studying."

"Oh." Roy paused, then laughed. "Okay yeah, fair."

"By the way, what was that move you used?" Dot asked as she scrolled on her phone. "I checked the Pokémon database and couldn't find anything called [Bouncy Bubble]."

"Oh, well, I guess you could say it's a new move me and Vee came up with," Ash said like it was no big deal.

"You... just created a new move?" Liko asked.

"You're saying that like it's simple. Most people go their whole lives without doing that, and you did it in two days," Dot said blankly.

"Yep, that's what you get when you put a couple of freaks together," Ash said, holding Vee in one arm and Pikachu in the other.

"Does he do this often?" Dot asked Yellow.

"He has before," Yellow said, nodding. "But I think the last move he made was with Pikachu."

"Oh yeah, well, I guess you could say after we met Cap, he was the one who taught Pikachu to use [Volt Tackle]. And after that, we've been working on something... to surprise you guys."

"Oh really?" Friede's voice rang out as he walked off the ship with Cap on his shoulder. "Well, I'm interested, care to demonstrate?"

"W-wait, Friede, what are you doing out here?" Liko asked. "Shouldn't you be steering the ship?"

"Oh, I gave it to Ludlow. And we're close to Cianwood, see?" he said, gesturing outward. In the distance, they could see an island approaching.

"Oh, that's cool! We're almost there!" Roy said, standing on the rails.

"Yeah, sure is quite the sight. We should be able to get the medicine, then head out. But for now..." Friede looked at Ash and smiled. "Care to show us that move you've been practicing? After all, you said you modeled it off us, didn't you?"

Ash and Pikachu smiled. "Well, after we saw Cap use [Volt Tackle] to fly, we made our own way~"

Cap tilted his head, intrigued. "Pika..."

Friede grinned. "You heard him, show us what you made. Now you've got me excited!"

Ash looked at Pikachu. "What do you say, bud? Think it's ready?"

Pikachu smiled and nodded. "Pika!" Then he hopped off Ash's shoulder to the ground.

"Alright then, Pikachu, let's try it out. Use [Floaty Fall]!"

Pikachu crouched low as sparks gathered around him, not the usual buildup of electricity for [Thunderbolt] or [Volt Tackle]. Then Pikachu launched into the air like a rocket, using electricity on his feet to create an electromagnetic field that let him fly, like actual flying.

Pikachu zipped around in the air, smiling, before swooping down and crashing into the ground. A small pulse of electricity rippled outward from the impact.

Friede clapped, and so did Cap. Captain Pikachu could "fly," but it was more like gliding with [Volt Tackle] and using his tail to steer, this was real flight.

"That was so cool!" Roy said excitedly. "How did you do that? You actually flew!"

"It's complicated. It involves turning electricity into magnetism, basically electromagnetism. It took me a while to get the ratio right, and even now it's flawed, since Pikachu uses too much electricity to make it. But I'm working on it. I should have it perfected in about a month, if I'm lucky."

"Well then, I don't suppose you'd mind teaching Cap that move?" Friede asked. "Cap's always wanted to fly. He learned to use [Volt Tackle] to kinda copy flight, but it's not the real thing."

"Seems fair. After all, you helped me finally teach Pikachu [Volt Tackle], so I don't see why not. But let's do it later. The city's right there, so we should get the medicine first," Ash said, as they were already starting to dock.

"Oh yeah... I forgot we were doing that," Friede admitted. "Alright, but don't keep us waiting too long. Cap is practically sparkling with excitement."

"So we're just glossing over the fact that Friede forgot we came here for medicine?" Dot asked. She was also ignored, answering her own question.

—

A few minutes later, once the ship had docked, Ash, Liko, Roy, Dot, Misty, Brock, Yellow, and Friede disembarked to pick up the medicine. The others stayed behind to check if the ship needed any resupplying.

At the pharmacist's, they showed their verification and explained they were there for the shipment. The pharmacist nodded, Nurse Joy had already called ahead to say someone would be picking everything up, and she had already paid in full.

With that, he called out to a few Machoke, who began carrying out crate after crate of medicine. Soon, nearly twenty crates were neatly arranged outside.

"Huh... When Nurse Joy said her shipment was big, I didn't think she meant this big. I was expecting, like, two or three crates..." Friede said, arms crossed and a bead of sweat running down his brow.

"How much did this all cost?" Brock muttered, scanning the crates. "There's got to be a few million Pokédollars' worth in here... how much funding do these big cities get?"

Ash, hands on his hips, nodded thoughtfully. "I think it's more the fact that the city literally collapsed. They need way more than usual. And this isn't just Pokémon medicine, there's human stuff in there too."

"So..." Liko glanced around. "How exactly did we say we were going to get all of this to her again?"

"Oh, that's easy," Ash replied. He turned as Abby teleported beside him, lazily eating a slice of cake Murdock had made, her spoon still in her mouth. "I'll take it."

"Wait," Misty said, narrowing her eyes, trying to hide how much she was worried behind a veil of irritation. "How do we know you're not just gonna push yourself again the moment you get there, especially without us around to stop you?"

Ash shrugged. "I can take one of you with me, if that helps. But only one, Abby's already got her hands full with me and all this. Two people and the crates is her limit. It'll take her some time to recharge, too. So... who's up for it?"

Everyone suddenly looked away.

"Um, well, I would," Friede started, rubbing the back of his neck, "but I was gonna ask around and see if there's any news about Entei."

"Yeah, I wanted to do that too," Roy added quickly.

"And I wanted to check out all the water here," Misty said. "Plus, this island's way warmer than the mainland, perfect weather, honestly."

"I, uh... well, I wanted to edit some videos," Dot muttered. "And there's an anime I've been meaning to binge..."

Ash blinked, raising an eyebrow. "So... no one wants to come with me? Really?"

Then Yellow stepped forward, softly but clearly. "I'll go."

Ash smiled and took her hand to shake it. "Thank you. Finally, a reliable person."

From behind, Liko opened her mouth to volunteer, but Yellow had already stepped up. So she stayed quiet.

Abby glanced over at the pharmacist, locked eyes with him, and gave a casual thumbs-up, her spoon still coated in chocolate frosting.

"Alright, everyone," Ash called. "We'll be back in... about thirty minutes, once Abby's recharged. See you soon."

And with a pulse of light, Abby teleported Ash, Yellow, Pikachu, and the twenty crates of medicine away.

—-

Following Ash

Nurse Joy was reviewing inventory when a psychic shimmer sparked behind her.

CLANK CLANK CLANK

Twenty crates appeared with a thud that shook the walls. Ash, Pikachu, and Yellow were sitting on top of them like it was some kind of ride.

Nurse Joy nearly dropped her clipboard. "You really did bring all of it," she breathed out, then stepped forward quickly. "Thank Arceus. We've been barely keeping up with demand."

Ash and Yellow hopped off, and Abby went over to sit down and rest.

"Yep, all of them as promised. Pretty easy to do when you have a Pokémon that can teleport back and forth," Ash said.

Nurse Joy looked between the two, visibly relieved. "You have no idea how helpful this is. Thank you. With this, we can finally stock every shelter and temporary clinic. People and Pokémon have been waiting for this."

Ash nodded, then went over to one of the crates and pulled out a smaller vial.

"Mind if I go deliver this medicine to Jasmine and Amphy?"

Joy nodded. "Of course. They're in the same room. Jasmine doesn't want to leave Amphy's side, so maybe this will cheer her up."

Ash nodded again. "Okay, come on, Yellow. And leave Abby there, she's just gonna keep eating her cake," he said, not even looking back. Yellow quickly followed behind as they went down the hall.

They stepped through a set of double doors into the observation chamber. The room was dimly lit, the large glass windows showing the soft, golden horizon of the sea beyond. Jasmine sat beside Amphy, still in her wheelchair, gently holding its paw.

She looked up in surprise. "Ash? Yellow?"

"Hey," Ash smiled, holding up the vial of medicine. "Got something that might help."

Jasmine moved over to Ash as he stepped forward and handed her the vial, "This is it?"

"Yep. Fresh from Cianwood," Ash nodded. "Abby teleported the shipment over."

Jasmine wasted no time. She carefully took the vial and poured it into the IV attached to Amphy. The liquid glowed faintly as it was administered, and after a few seconds, Amphy let out a soft coo, the light in her core flickering just a little brighter.

Jasmine placed her hand on Amphy's head, and for the first time in days, her expression softened, "She... she's stabilizing. Thank you."

"You don't need to thank us, we just wanted to help," Yellow said with a smile.

"Yeah, now as for you," Ash said, leaning over with a little smirk, "you scolded me for not resting. Look at you, you look like you haven't slept since we left~"

"I, er..." Jasmine stammered, a soft blush on her cheeks from embarrassment. "I got eight hours... in total... in the past three days."

Yellow gasped as Ash continued, "And how much did you eat?"

"...I drank water..." Jasmine said.

"That wasn't my question," Ash said, narrowing his eyes.

Jasmine flinched like she'd just been caught red-handed. "Umm... like a granola bar? And maybe half a rice ball yesterday."

Ash sighed, crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow. "You yelled at me for pushing myself. Now look at you."

Amphy looked over at Jasmine and weakly raised his hand to tap her head softly, as if calling her a dummy.

Jasmine looked at Amphy, who gave her a quiet, tired little hum of agreement. She laughed softly, a little embarrassed, then wiped her eyes, "Okay, okay. I get it. I'll take a break. Only because Amphy says so."

"Yeah, you don't need to worry about Amphy," Yellow said as she gently started to pet the sheep. "Amphy is going to be fine. He just needs to rest, and so do you."

Ash walked over and grabbed the back of Jasmine's wheelchair as he started turning her. "Alright then, enough of that. Yellow, you hungry? I'm taking Jasmine to go eat."

"W-wait, you can't just push my wheelchair!" Jasmine tried to protest, but Ash wasn't stopping.

Yellow was about to say something, but her stomach answered for her with a loud grumble. "Hehe, yeah, I'm hungry."

Pikachu rubbed his stomach and was already drooling over whatever ketchup-covered monstrosity he would eat today. "Pika (っ´ཀ`)っ"

"Alright, you hear that, Jasmine? Are you going to deny the poor, starving Yellow her lunch~?" Ash said teasingly.

Yellow blushed and stammered, "H-hey, I never said I was starving," but her stomach grumbled again, making her blush like a tomato.

"D-don't say it like that—" Jasmine covered her face with both hands, now fully red from embarrassment. "Y-you're so mean..."

Ash grinned, still pushing her wheelchair down the hallway. "It's called tough love. Besides, you helped me when I pushed myself too hard. As your doctor, I'm just returning the favor."

Yellow followed behind them, still a bit red but smiling. "He does have a point."

Jasmine let out a tiny sigh of defeat, but then glanced over her shoulder at Ash. "Okay, okay, but only if you promise to stop teasing me."

Ash made a dramatic thinking face. "Hmm... tempting offer, but I make no promises."

Jasmine sighed. "I'll take what I can get. So, where are we going?"

"Where do you want to go? You're the local, me and Yellow are just tourists," Ash said.

"Um... alright. There's a place with some great curry rice near my Gym. We can go there," Jasmine suggested.

Ash nodded and smiled as he sped up. "Alright then, onward! Lead the way, captain my captain."

—-

{Meanwhile, back in Cianwood}

The group disbanded again. Misty and Brock went to do their own thing, Friede went off to ask around about Entei, leaving Liko, Roy, and Dot alone so they could do the same.

"Uhh, well... I guess maybe you two should go. I'll be on the ship..." Dot mumbled, already turning to sneak off and hide in her room.

But Roy put an arm around her shoulder. "No way! We're here, come on, let's look around and find Entei!"

"W-wha-but my anime..." Dot protested weakly as she got tugged along.

Liko smiled and followed along. "Come on, Dot, maybe—" she leaned closer and whispered like it was a huge secret, "Maybe you can make a Nidothing video."

"Wa-but, Nidothing doesn't go on location!" Dot protested, then glanced at her Rotom Phone, "...But I suppose there's a first time for everything."

As the trio wandered into the sun-drenched streets of Cianwood, they walked along the shore near the beach, when they heard the sounds of grunting and someone yelling:

"COME ON, ONE MORE REP, YOU CAN DO IT!" a man's voice boomed.

Looking over, they saw a muscular man on the beach. From far away he might've looked chubby, but up close it was all solid muscle. On his head, he was carrying a giant square block of stone, it was Gym Leader Chuck.

Next to him, walking with another large stone, was a girl. She looked like she shouldn't be able to carry something that heavy, small frame, white hair, Galarian uniform, but she pushed through, sweating but refusing to stop. It was Bea.

With a final yell of effort, Bea hurled her rock into the sand and bent over to catch her breath. Chuck gently set his stone down and clapped with teary eyes.

"I'm so moved! I'm so moved that I can't help but cry! Youth truly will surpass us old people, and I couldn't be happier!"

Dot blinked. "What... are we watching?"

"I think it's a workout?" Liko said, squinting. "Or... maybe a performance?"

"Who cares, it's cool!" Roy said, stars in his eyes. "I wonder if I can ask them to help me train! I wanna get stronger!"

"Roy, no offense, but I think you'd break like a stick if you tried that," Dot said flatly.

Almost as if he'd heard them, Chuck turned and scanned the beach, locking eyes on the group.

"HEY! NEW TRAINERS!" he roared like a gym coach with a megaphone. "YOU WANNA TRAIN WITH TRUE GRIT? GET OVER HERE! NO SLACKING ON MY BEACH!"

Dot took a step back. "Nope. Nope nope nope-"

But Roy was already sprinting toward him. "YES SIR!"

Chuck grinned like a proud sensei. "THAT'S THE SPIRIT! Just for that, I'm doing 100 pushups, and if I fail, 1000 squats!"

Dot sighed deeply as her Rotom Phone hovered beside her. "Record everything. If I die, make it a tribute video."

Liko giggled, pulling out her own phone. "Come on, Dot. Might be fun."

"Fun doesn't usually involve sweating this much," Dot muttered, being dragged away by Roy.

—-

Meanwhile, with Brock and Misty, They were walking through town, Misty with her arms behind her head while Brock studied a book as he walked.

Misty glanced around. "You know... I just realized something."

"Yeah?" Brock asked, not looking up.

"This is the first time it's just been you and me. Usually, we're with Ash, or Yellow, or alone, but never just the two of us."

Brock stopped and looked up from his book. "Huh... I guess you're right."

"..."

"...So what do we talk about?"

Misty shrugged. "I've got no idea."

Brock closed his book and tucked it into his bag, then glanced at Misty with a curious smile.

"Well... what would we talk about if we weren't always wrapped up in Ash's chaos?"

Misty smirked. "Probably how much less stressful life is when we're not chasing him through collapsing caves or getting zapped by Pikachu."

Brock chuckled. "Hey, but you can't deny it's been fun, right? Besides, it's not like he's the cause of everything that happens. I mean, remember the incident with that so-called 'Black Fog'?"

"Don't remind me. I remember almost getting my soul sucked out," Misty said helplessly.

"But we didn't! And hey, at least nothing's happening right now," Brock said.

"Why would you say that?" Misty asked flatly. "Now something is definitely going to happen."

"No it won't. And if you really think Ash causes these things, well, look, he's not here, is he?" Brock said, crossing his arms and nodding confidently.

"Fine. But if something does happen, all the anger I normally save for Ash is going straight to you," Misty said, shaking her head.

"Okay, and if nothing happens, then you have to stop pulling my ear when I flirt with girls," Brock announced.

Even though Misty sighed, she shook Brock's hand, agreeing to the terms.

As soon as they shook hands, they heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, it's you guys! It's good to see you again. What brings you here?"

They looked back and saw Horace walking up to them, smiling and waving.

—

Meanwhile, on the edge of Cianwood City, there was a single rock with a Spell Tag tied to it. Around it were signs and carvings that read:

"NEVER REMOVE!!!"

But now, three people appeared seemingly out of nowhere and approached the rock.

"It is here," one of them said. "This legendary Pokémon... it will be ours. And no one will stand in our way."

----

Alright remember at 500 stones you will get an extra Chapter, and there is no limit on how many you can get