Pokemon: Radical Redux

Ash was riding his Stantler through the forest. Despite being so young, Stantler was surprisingly fast, cutting what should have been a multi-hour trip down to just 30–45 minutes.

Pikachu clung tightly to Ash's hood, trying not to fly off, though he had already lost his beloved ketchup bottle somewhere about 100 miles back.

As Stantler continued running, they eventually reached a point where the dense forest gave way to an open area filled with ancient stone structures. Some of the stones were engraved with strange markings. Ash examined them as they passed, noting they weren't Unown symbols. Any good Pokémon Trainer worth their salt knew the Unown language, and this definitely wasn't it.

Stantler began to slow down, partly from fatigue but mostly because Ash instructed him to. They needed to start exploring the ruins carefully to see if anyone was nearby.

Sliding off Stantler's back, Ash began walking alongside him. He took a closer look at the stone formations, trying to make sense of them, but came up blank. He shook his head. He is a doctor, not an archaeologist, after all.

As he continued walking, a familiar voice called out. "Oh, Ash!"

Ash turned and saw Ethan waving as he jogged over. "Hey! Didn't think I'd see you so soon."

"Ethan? What are you doing here?" Ash asked, tilting his head.

"Well, I want to say I'm looking for something, but if I'm being honest... I'm lost. I was on my way to Azalea Town for the Gym."

"Huh. How many badges do you have anyway? You said you started last year but took a break for personal reasons."

"Yeah, that's right," Ethan said with a proud grin. "Once I get the badge in Azalea, I'll have four—halfway there already!"

"By the way," Ethan added, "where are your friends? Weren't they traveling with you?"

"They're off doing their own thing," Ash replied with a shrug. "They can make their own decisions, and I don't really care. I needed to train anyway. But I came here because I heard the Gym Leader wasn't in town."

"Oh, I see," Ethan said, slamming a fist into his palm. "Okay, it's decided—I'm coming with you!"

"Err… really? Don't you want to keep trying to get to Azalea Town? It's just going to be us," Ash said.

"Yeah, nothing wrong with two strong dudes traveling together," Ethan replied, walking beside him. "So, have you found anything yet?"

"No, I just got here. What about you?"

"Nah, same here," Ethan admitted. "I was trying to make lunch, but one thing led to another, and, well... let's just say I haven't eaten yet."

Ash sighed, reaching into his bag and pulling out a sandwich. He handed half to Ethan. "Here. You can't work on an empty stomach."

Ethan took it happily. "Thanks, man! Tell you what—next time, lunch is on me."

As they walked through the ruins, Ash's sandwich quickly became a shared meal for Pikachu and Stantler. He didn't complain—he wasn't that hungry. And if he ever did get hungry, he could sustain himself using his Aura.

Eventually, the two spotted someone up ahead: a figure with purple hair and a strikingly pretty face. Ethan's eyes turned into cartoonish hearts. "YOW! She's cute!" He completely forgot about his sandwich, tossing it behind him. Pikachu caught it mid-air and started munching.

Ethan ran ahead, leaning casually against one of the large stone pillars, trying to look cool. "Well, hello, miss~"

The purple-haired person—who was actually Bugsy—looked up in confusion. "Huh? Are you talking to me?"

"But of course! A pretty lady like you shouldn't be wandering these boring ruins alone. How about we grab some tea or something?" Ethan asked, flashing a sparkling grin.

"Um…"

"Oh, the name's Ethan, by the way! I'm from New Bark Town," he said, holding out his hand.

Bugsy sweat-dropped, clearly uncomfortable. "I'm Bugsy. From Azalea Town. And… you do realize, don't you… that I'm a guy?"

Ethan froze, looking like he'd just been punched in the gut. After a moment, he straightened up and stammered, "D-duh! O-of course I knew that!"

Bugsy awkwardly wiped his forehead as Ash finally caught up, thoroughly enjoying the show. "So, you're Bugsy—the Gym Leader of Azalea Town," Ash said with a smirk.

Ethan froze again. "Wait—Gym Leader? And wait—you knew?! Why'd you let me go through that?!"

Bugsy laughed nervously. "Uhh, y-yeah, I'm the Gym Leader. And really, it's alright—I get it. People often confuse me for my sister."

That took Ash by surprise. "Sister? I've never heard anything about you having a sister."

Bugsy nodded. "Yeah, well, you wouldn't have. But I do have one. Her name's Shelly and I'm trying to help her take over my place as Gym Leader so I can become a Pokémon Professor. That's my real dream."

Ethan was about to start asking more about Shelly—probably with plans to see if Bugsy could set him up with her—but stopped, his tone becoming more serious. "Wait, you don't want to be the Gym Leader? Then why did you accept the position?"

"Well, I don't, but Shelly does. The thing is, she was too young to take the position. And ever since the old Gym Leader—the great Kurt—retired, our town needed someone to step in. Without a Gym Leader, we'd lose the League funding we need to keep the town going."

"I see," Ethan said, nodding thoughtfully. "So, you're putting your own dreams aside to help everyone else." He smiled and gave Bugsy a pat on the back. "I can tell you're a good person."

"Thanks," Bugsy replied, scratching the back of his head. Then, he snapped back to attention as something struck him. "Wait, I can't get distracted!"

"What's up?" Ethan asked, noticing Bugsy's sudden urgency. "Why are you panicking?"

"I came here to look for my archaeologist friends. They were exploring these ruins, and we suddenly lost contact with them. And worst of all—Shelly was with them!"

"Why didn't you start with that?!" Ethan exclaimed. "We need to find them! We'll help you too, right, Ash?"

Ash, however, was lost in thought. Shelly, that's the girl from Pokémon Reborn. She should've just been fan-made, but she's really here. Does that mean more things from Pokémon Reborn are here? And if they are, he might be screwed.

"Ash!" Ethan said again, snapping Ash out of his thoughts.

"What? Oh, right—yeah, we'll help," Ash said quickly. He then felt a gentle nudge at his side. Looking over, he saw Stantler poking him, trying to get his attention. The Pokémon pointed with its nose toward a pile of rocks.

Ash walked over and ran his hand over them, studying the formation. He frowned. "Hey, check this out. These rocks aren't part of the ruins."

Ethan tilted his head, not seeing it, but Bugsy, with his archaeological background, quickly noticed what Ash meant. "Yeah, you're right. And look here—they're broken in an unusual way. This wasn't from erosion; someone attacked the stones and caused this."

Ethan's ears perked up. "Then that must be where they are! We need to get in there."

Bugsy nodded. "Right. We'll start by carefully moving each of these pieces to preserve as much of the structure as we—"

"Nope, that'll take too long. Aibo, come on out!" Ethan interrupted, tossing a Pokéball. Out came Aibo the Ambipom. "Use [Dig] to get us in!"

Aibo jumped up, spinning and using its tail-hands like a drill. It tore through the blockage, clearing a path to a deeper section of the ruins that not even Bugsy had known about.

Bugsy was shaking. "T-t-that was a c-c-cultural treasure…"

"Not anymore, it wasn't," Ethan countered. "Remember, someone else already destroyed the stone to cave it in. Besides, isn't finding your friends and sister more important?" Without waiting for a reply, Ethan jumped through the opening and disappeared into the darkness below.

"I-I guess... but this still doesn't feel right…" Bugsy muttered before reluctantly following him.

Ash looked at Pikachu and Stantler, sighed, and jumped in after them, his two Pokémon close behind.

As they fell, they landed in complete darkness. None of them could see a thing until Ash gave a sharp whistle, signaling Pikachu to use [Flash]. The area lit up, revealing that they were inside a hidden chamber. On the walls, symbols of Unown were etched in intricate patterns.

"Woah…" Bugsy murmured, staring in awe. "This is incredible. I've only ever heard rumors about this, but it turns out they're true…"

"What do you mean? What rumors are you talking about?" Ethan asked, glancing at Bugsy.

"There was a theory that this place held ancient secrets no one had ever been able to uncover. But this proves it's real! I wonder what else this means. If this is true, what other legends might be real?"

"Hey, snap out of it," Ethan interrupted, snapping his fingers in front of Bugsy's face. "We're here to find out if your friends and sister are okay."

"Y-yeah, you're right. I can come back and study this later." Bugsy slapped his cheeks lightly to refocus. "Let's get moving."

Ash and Ethan nodded, and they began running, with Pikachu lighting the way. As they moved through the chamber, muffled noises echoed through the walls. It quickly became apparent that the place was a labyrinth.

Ethan turned to Bugsy and Ash. "Why don't we just bust down these walls? We could get through this so much faster—"

"NO!" Bugsy exclaimed immediately. "Absolutely not! These are sacred treasures! Besides, you have no idea what would happen. If we break these walls, the whole place might collapse on us!"

"Well… that's actually a really good point…" Ethan mumbled, his voice trailing off.

Ash, meanwhile, was examining the walls closely. Among the etched symbols, he noticed that some were drawings, but a significant number were actual Unown Pokémon.

As he studied them, Ash recalled how he had memorized the Unown alphabet while playing Legends: Arceus for that one puzzle—only for it to not matter because of that annoying old woman. Still, thanks to his photographic memory, he remembered it perfectly.

Most of the Unown symbols appeared to spell gibberish, but as Ash continued observing, he noticed something strange. Some of the Unown began to stir, their forms shifting subtly. They turned their gaze toward him, unmoving at first. Then, without warning, they started rearranging themselves, spelling out something new.

Ethan and Bugsy, still caught up in their debate, hadn't noticed the silent transformation happening before them.

RIGHT

Ash realized they were helping them, he looked at Ethan and Bugsy, "Hey, I found the way follow me,"

Ethan and Bugsy looked confused. They wanted to ask what Ash meant, but Ash was already starting to run, so they followed behind.

As he made the turn, he saw another group

LEFT

So he followed, and as he did, there were many more, so he followed their direction.

STRAIGHT

LEFT

STRAIGHT

RIGHT

RIGHT

And as he made the last turn, he was caught off guard as someone bumped into him, causing him to fall over since he was too focused on reading the Unown.

"Oof!"

Ash fell onto his back as he closed his eyes, and Pikachu fell off his shoulder. It was a good thing his bag was actually empty; otherwise, anything inside would have gotten crushed. As he lay a bit disoriented, he heard a soft whimper on top of him.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a girl who looked to be around the same age as him, maybe a bit older. She had long purple hair that covered one of her eyes and a nervous expression, her face turning red as she realized she had just fallen on top of a boy. Ash recognized her from back when he played Pokémon Reborn—it was Shelly.

As Shelly blushed from embarrassment, likely wishing she could disappear, Ethan and Bugsy caught up. Behind where Shelly had come from, the archaeologists were also running toward them.

When everyone eventually met in the center, all they saw was an Ash who looked utterly done with life and a Shelly who seemed like she wanted to curl into a ball and vanish.

As they were trying to process the situation, Ash narrowed his eyes, sensing something. He grabbed Shelly, pulling her close as he rolled to his feet, jumping up and extending his hand just in time to intercept an Elekid that leaped out of nowhere, aiming a [Thunder Punch] at them.

Ash held one hand protecting Shelly while his other hand caught the electrified fist. Thankfully, his shockproof gloves allowed him to stop it.

Bugsy was the first to rush over. "Everyone! Shelly! What's going on?"

Shelly, still blushing—probably even harder now—stammered, "B-big bro! W-we got attacked!"

"Attacked by who?" Ethan asked as he finally caught up.

From behind the archaeologists, a trio began approaching. They wore Team Rocket uniforms, walking slowly and chuckling. But this wasn't Jessie, James, and Meowth like usual; this was another group.

There were three men, each wearing a bandana. As they walked forward, Ash's eyes widened in recognition. They were from the Pokémon manga—the Team Rocket Elite Trio: Ken, Al, and Harry.

Bugsy stepped in front of the archaeologists. "You there, you're part of Team Rocket, aren't you? Identify yourselves!"

They laughed, and Ken, the leader, stepped forward. "You hear that? They don't know who we are. I think we should introduce ourselves, don't you agree, boys?"

The other two nodded as they all got into formation. But instead of preparing for battle, they struck a pose and did the unthinkable—they began a chant.

Ken: From the shadows, we scheme and plot!

Al: With strength and might, we'll take the lot!

Harry: Deception's our game, we'll never be caught!

Ken: We're the brains!

Al: We're the brawn!

Harry: We're the twist of dawn!

All: Team Rocket Elite, we're the top of the chain! Team Rocket's dream, is our ultimate gain!

Ash fell silent; he felt like he needed to punch these guys in the throat just for the principle of the matter.