Pokemon: Radical Redux

It is time now that I am on a break, it is time for the moment you've all been waiting for to go back to daily uploads! Get those stones ready you're getting back-to-back chapters.

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In a restaurant, as everyone was eating, Ash was sitting down, writing something. Next to him, Shelly was eating a salad, and across from him, Bugsy was eating a sandwich. Next to Bugsy, Ethan was stuffing his face.

Under the table, Pikachu was enjoying a new bottle of ketchup as all the archaeologists sat around the restaurant, eating happily.

After a moment, Ash finished and put the note he was working on in the center of their table. It was a full cipher for the Unown language, with a drawing of each Unown next to its corresponding letter.

"Here, I studied Unown back when I was younger. You can use this to decipher any of the writing with them," Ash said as the siblings looked amazed, and Shelly took a particular interest.

"I can't believe all this time people already translated what the Unown mean," Bugsy said. "We really need to get more contact with other cities to expand Azalea Town."

Then Bugsy realized something. "So this is how you navigated the maze—you could read the Unown on the walls?"

"Exactly," Ash said, snapping his fingers. "I could read them, and they told me how to get to everyone, and you know the rest."

"I see, but my only question is why the Unown look like that. I know they have a secret power, but does it have something to do with them?"

"Well, it's only speculation. I have no way to confirm this is true, but I've read that when the Unown spell something, whatever it is becomes reality," Ash said as he pulled out another piece of paper.

"What do you mean by anything?" Shelly asked, interested.

"Well, let's say it like this," Ash said, starting to write things down. "If the Unown spell NIGHT, then it will become night permanently. And if they spell FAINT, then whatever their opponent is will faint. And if they spell DIE, well, you get the point," Ash said.

"I see," Shelly said, looking at everything excitedly. "It all makes sense now. So that's the odd power that people speak of in legends!"

"It's also disturbing, in a way," Bugsy said, rubbing his chin. "Team Rocket was after them, which means they knew about their power. I dread to think about what they wanted to use it for…"

Ash shook his head. "Well, you don't have to worry about it. We stopped them, and the Unown escaped into the world. Maybe they got one or two, but they'll never be able to gather enough to do whatever their plan was."

"You're right," Bugsy said, feeling a little better, knowing that they had stopped their plans. "All we can do now is learn more. After all, we have more than just those ruins; we have lots of other scriptures full of these that we can learn from."

"Yeah, there are so many books we couldn't read before, but with this, we can read them all. I can't wait," Shelly said excitedly.

Ethan swallowed a mouthful of food. "That's the happiest I've seen you look. Do you like books that much?"

Shelly blushed in embarrassment. "W-well, I like books, so I spend a lot of time reading and in the library…"

"Really?" Ash said, thinking about something. "Have you read anything about the legend of Ransei?"

Shelly's eyes lit up. "Oh yes! It's one of my favorite stories, actually." She reached into her bag, pulled out a book, and handed it to Ash.

"I always keep it with me. And you know, they say that Bugsy and I are descendants of the great hero of Ransei, Lord Yoshimoto!" Shelly then realized what she had said and lowered her head. "I-I mean, they say Bugsy is, and you know, since I'm his sister, t-then t-that means I should be too…"

Ash didn't pay much attention to that, as he was processing what Shelly said about the hero of Ransei. He quickly flipped through the book, looking for something, and then he found it. Indeed, there it was.

It said that long ago, Ransei was divided and at war, but then Lord Yoshimoto took the Johto royal starters and united Ransei.

Ash immediately realized this was different from the story in Kanto. Instead of Nobunaga, they spoke of Yoshimoto, which confirmed what he had suspected: the legends were not telling the whole truth.

Ash swallowed and looked at Shelly. "This... this is different. In Kanto, we have this same story, but the hero isn't Yoshimoto—it's Nobunaga."

Shelly and Bugsy looked shocked. "W-what do you mean? This story has been passed down for so long; how can there be another version?" Bugsy said.

"Yeah, give me a second." Ash reached down and caught Abra just as she was about to steal someone's food. He handed her a note. "Give this to Bill and bring it back."

Abra teleported out, and a few moments later, she returned with a thick purple book. Ash took it, giving her his sandwich as she teleported away.

Ash gave the book to Shelly. "See, this is the one we have in Kanto."

Shelly took it and started looking over it. After a few moments, she looked up at Bugsy. "H-he's right—it's different. It barely mentions Lord Yoshimoto at all."

"What could this mean?" Bugsy said. "I don't want to say that you're a liar, but at the same time, this legend is the one we were raised with."

Ash nodded. "I know, but that just means these legends aren't telling us the whole truth. And it might also mean that other regions have completely different legends."

"But why? Why would anyone need to change history? And if it is a lie, what was the real story?" Shelly mumbled as she compared the two books in front of her.

"I don't know, but if you're going to look into it, then I'm rooting for you. I want to know, too," Ash said as Shelly grew a bit nervous and nodded.

"M-maybe we should ask other regions for their versions. Who knows? Bugsy, this could be your thesis to become a Professor like you've always wanted—to find the real story behind the legend of Ransei!"

Bugsy's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea. It will take some time, though, but I can see it working out."

Ash shrugged and smiled. "Well, good luck with that, then. I'd like to know what actually happened. I'll be rooting for you."

Then, before anyone could say anything else, Ethan suddenly burped after finishing his food. He rubbed his stomach, satisfied. "That was good. Anyway, what were we talking about?"

Ash and Bugsy looked at each other and burst out laughing, "Dude, that's gross, hahaha,"

One of the archaeologists, an older gentleman, leaned back, "And weak, let me show you how a real man burps," He said as he let out a loud burp, making the restaurant bust out into laughter, 

—

{Pewter City}

"🎵Happy birthday to youuu🎵"

Brock's family sang, with Brock at the center of the table. The cake was obviously store-bought; Brock was the only one with any skill in cooking, and they weren't going to make him cook on his own birthday.

The day was full of laughter as they caught up. Let's just say that when Flint asked about what happened in the Orange Islands, things didn't go too smoothly.

After the cake was cut and laughs were shared, they sat down. Brock was sitting with Flint and Forrest as the others had tuckered out and were asleep in the living room.

Brock held the egg on his lap, rubbing it soothingly. He could tell it was just about to hatch—it was probably just waiting for something. Based on everything he'd read about eggs, it had shown all the signs of readiness, as though waiting for a specific catalyst.

Flint took a sip of coffee. "So that egg of yours hasn't hatched, huh? I have to ask, are you sure it's even alive?"

"Of course it is! I can feel it. Besides, Ash gave it to me; he wouldn't give me a dud," Brock said as he wrapped the egg in a blanket. By this point, there was no reason to keep it in the incubator anymore.

"Man, you were always the domestic type, but I never thought you'd be the 'mama' kind," Forrest teased his brother.

Brock chuckled. "Yeah. Speaking of which, any word on Mom?"

Flint lowered his cup. "Ahh, well…*sigh*  I'd be lying if I said I knew. She said a while ago she'd try to be here, but I tried calling her and...nothing."

"I see…" Brock said. He was used to his parents missing birthdays, but this time, with Flint here, he had hoped that maybe, just maybe, they could celebrate his birthday as a family.

"What's with you two?" Forrest asked, looking at Flint, who seemed more upset. "You and Mom just dump everything on Brock. I know Brock said he forgave you, but I can't help but feel like he just said that for the sake of our siblings."

"Forrest!" Brock said. "I-I don't know what you mean! I said I already forgave Father, and Mom had her reasons too—"

"No, Brock," Flint said, looking down. "Forrest has a point. Even when you left, I felt like you were holding back. I fully expected you to hit me, yell at me, even cuss me out. But I think you didn't...for the sake of your siblings."

Brock wanted to deny it, to say he didn't mind, but in reality, he couldn't. He knew that if his siblings hadn't been watching when Flint came back, that's exactly what he would have done.

Forrest leaned on the table, looking annoyed. "And Mom... I can't believe her. She's been gone—she said she was looking for you, but now I feel like she just left because she wanted something else. I mean, you're back. If that's what she was really doing, why wouldn't she come back immediately? It's been a year now since you came back. Where is she?"

"You have a point, Forrest… I don't know, I can't defend her on this," Flint said. "I just wonder what she's doing. She said she'd be back for Brock's birthday, yet she's not here."

Forrest put on his angry face. "Yeah, she has no excuse—just like how you don't, Dad!"

But Brock could see right through his brother. He put his hand out and placed it on Forrest's shoulder. "I miss Mom too."

The corner of Forrest's mouth twitched with emotion as he stayed silent, and Brock continued, "I just hope she's okay—"

Then suddenly, the door to their house opened, and a bright light projector shot into the room, playing music that woke up all of Brock's siblings. Through the door, their mother, Lola, came marching in, waving her hands.

"Who said I'd miss my boy's birthday!" Lola exclaimed flamboyantly, carrying boxes behind her. "I'm back—who missed me!"

Everyone stayed silent for a moment. This was exactly how she always acted, but now, with the surprise, they could only say one thing.

"Mom!" "Mom!" "Lola!" "Mom!" x 8

Everyone in the house said in unison.

—

{The Next Morning}

After a night of sleep, Ash was sitting in the center of the room. He had sent Abra to go pick everyone up. Last night had been pretty crazy—they went out celebrating. It was too bad he was a minor and couldn't drink, but then again, he'd never loved alcohol that much, even in his old life.

As he sat down, recovering from the previous night, he looked at his two eggs. The Aerodactyl egg seemed like it needed more time, but the Larvitar egg looked ready to hatch at any moment, so he kept it with him on his lap as he read the book Shelly had given him.

While he was reading and drinking some tea, Pikachu was resting on his lap, and Dratini was wrapped around him. Abra returned with everyone after picking up Misty and Yellow, then going for Brock, and now they were all gathered in front of him.

Ash gave them a wave, put his book down, and finished his tea. As he did, Pikachu jumped from his lap back onto his shoulder, and Ash picked up his egg, walking over. "Hey guys, good to see you. How was your trip?"

Misty scratched her cheek, her bag noticeably bigger. "Well, Yellow and I… admittedly, we might have overdone it with our trip. But we're good!"

Yellow nodded, looking notably more relaxed. "Yeah, and it's good to see you too! I hope you had fun without us."

"You could say I certainly had my share of fun," Ash said with a smile. "Anyway, that's beside the point. How about you, Brock? You're the birthday boy. How was it?"

"It was… interesting, to say the least," Brock said, holding his egg close to his chest just like Ash was. "You could say some… family situations came up. But everything's fine now… I hope."

As Brock said this, he moved closer to Ash, and they gave each other a fist bump like they usually did to greet each other. As they did, the eggs they were both holding touched.

The moment they did, cracks started forming on both eggs, and light began to shine through them. As they looked on in wonder, the brightness made them close their eyes for a moment. When they opened them, sitting in each of their hands were two baby Larvitar.

The Larvitar looked around and, upon seeing each other, instinctively recognized they were brothers. They reached out with their little hands to clasp each other's for a moment of connection.

"Wow, this is fascinating," Brock said, looking at the two newly hatched babies in amazement. "A Larvitar... I never thought I'd get one of these."

Yellow walked over and leaned in to look at the babies. "I think they might be brothers. They look like twins."

"Well, I did get them together, but I never even thought they might be related. I didn't even know what they were," Ash lied, "Looks like we've got twin Larvitar on our hands!"

Misty leaned in next to Yellow. "Aww, they're pretty cute."

Dratini slithered down Ash's arm to look at the new baby Larvitar in his hands. Ash tilted his arm up and smiled. "So, Dratini looks like you're a big sister now~"

Dratini tilted her head, curious. "Tini~?"

"Yeah, this little guy is kind of like your brother. Be sure to be a good big sister from now on~" Ash teased as Dratini's eyes shined with excitement, and she nodded enthusiastically.

Ash chuckled and looked over at Brock as he grabbed a Pokéball from his belt. "Shall we, my dude?"

Brock understood and reached into his bag, pulling out an empty Pokéball. "Let's do it."

Together, they pressed their Pokéballs against the Larvitar brothers. Almost immediately, the Pokéballs closed with a *ding*

Ash and Brock clinked their Pokéballs together, they now officially caught the Larvitar brothers.