Pokemon: Radical Redux

The Abby Show

[Welcome back to Are You Courting Death!—the best show in all the realms! It is me, your senior sister, but as you can see, I have achieved my breakthrough!] Abby said proudly. [From this point forward, I will be your Senior Sister Abby!]

Alakazam sipped his coffee and looked even more tired. [Dang it… I really thought she would change when she evolved… Alright, who said she would stay the same?]

Drowzee shook his head as he looked up from his book. [No, I hoped she would change…]

But Psyduck raised his hand. [It was Psyduck. Psyduck knew that it was too good to have any hope. Psyduck has no hope anymore.]

Alakazam shrugged. [Dark but true. Well, we have one more chance. Anyway, I guess you win the pot.] He placed a pot filled with berries and other valuable items in front of Psyduck.

[Enough of that, brothers,] Abby interrupted. [I think we have more important things to say, like how I am officially the Senior Sister!]

Abratwo sat by, looking salty. [No matter. I just don't need a cheap power boost like you do. I shall achieve my breakthrough without changing form!]

[Ehh? What are you trying to say? Are you courting death?!] Abby yelled.

Abratwo met Abby's gaze. [The only one courting death is you! You shall never reach the great Mountain Tai!]

[What?! You dare?! Why don't you show some face to your elders?!] Abby said, growing even angrier.

[Can you two go kill each other later?] Alakazam said, rolling his eyes.

Drowzee nodded. [Yeah… I'd like to get things over with. I want to get back to my books…]

[Fine,] Abby said as she cleared her throat. [Seeing as I have achieved my breakthrough, we will be moving from this shabby old place to a new spot.]

Alakazam glared at Abby. [Uh, excuse me? What are you calling shabby? This is my place! You came here and just never left!]

[Oh, don't be so sensitive, Senior Brother. It is only the truth,] Abratwo said, laughing.

[Thanks to my connections and fame, I was able to use the money we earned from this show and got us a studio in Goldenrod Radio Tower!] Abby said proudly. [You can praise me now!]

Alakazam, Drowzee, and Psyduck looked at each other. Then Psyduck looked up. [You're getting paid?]

[Wait, wait, wait. You're getting money off this?! Where's my cut?! I've been getting tortured the longest!] Alakazam said.

[Oh, money is so worthless, Senior Brother. Hasn't the bond we've forged become so much better than any amount of money could buy?] Abby said, nodding her head.

Alakazam looked at Drowzee and Psyduck. [Ima killer. I'ma do it.]

Drowzee and Psyduck quickly grabbed Alakazam by the arms. [No, it's not worth it!]

[Psyduck agrees. It isn't worth the problems!]

[Let me go! I'm really gonna do it! Ima kill her!] Alakazam said, struggling.

As that happened, Abby spoke into the mic. [That is all for this time! Next time, we will be in Goldenrod City! And remember—don't court death and show face to your senior!] Then she teleported away.

—-

Back with Ash

After staying home a bit longer, eventually, they did have to go. So once Abby came back from whatever she was doing, they teleported back. Abby took them back to the road, and they resumed walking.

It took a few days of travel, but eventually, there it was in the distance—Goldenrod City. Misty could not have been happier. She started running ahead, even though not even ten seconds ago, she was complaining about being too tired to keep going.

But Ash couldn't even blame her, heck, Brock was equally as excited. Goldenrod was the biggest city in all of Johto, so it had the most places to shop. Plus, the Breeding Competition Nationals would be taking place here, so Brock was especially thrilled.

As for Ash, he was lost in thought about the Gym Leader Whitney, the infamous nightmare. He could skip her and come back later, but that would be a problem.

Ash checked the League website to review her teams. In her 4-8 Gym Badge battles, she always used a Snorlax and a Kangaskhan, which he would really rather not deal with. So his best choice was to take her on now, at her 3-Badge team.

Her team consists of 4 Pokemon, she has a Blissey, Tauros, Girafarig, and of course her Miltank. All of which have held items and strategies for them, 

Blissey was a tank equipped with Leftovers to set up and stall, Tauros was a physical attacker with Sheer Force and Life Orb to abuse, Girafarig was a special attacker, and now that its Paldean evolution was public knowledge, it carried an Eviolite instead, and Miltank was a heavy tank with Milk Drink, a Rocky Helmet, and an overall just built to make your life miserable.

Needless to say, Ash was in for a tough battle. But thankfully, he wasn't planning on challenging the Gym just yet, so at least there was that.

As Ash was thinking, they walked into town with Brock and Misty looking around happily. Yellow walked beside Ash, holding Chuchu in her arms.

"This place is great! I need to go see the beautiful girls," Brock declared, slamming his hand into his palm.

"No way, we need to go shopping!" Misty said with a dreamy expression.

Yellow tilted her head and looked over at Ash. "Shouldn't we get a place to stay first?"

"Yeah, you're right. Too bad it looks like they're not listening to reason," Ash said, using his thumb to point behind him, where Misty and Brock were practically dancing with stars in their eyes.

"Oh… should we do something?" Yellow asked, unsure if she should try to talk sense into them.

Ash shrugged. "Nah, there's no point. Anyway, I'll probably go get a hotel for us. Can you stay with them so they don't go too crazy?"

Yellow nodded as both she and Chuchu saluted. "Okay! Leave it to us."

Ash and Pikachu chuckled. "Alright. Do you need some money for anything?"

Yellow blinked owlishly. "I—really? I-I mean, n-no, you don't have to. Last time you gave me money, I failed you…"

"Pshh, no you didn't," Ash said as he patted her head. "Green just took my card. Besides, I knew she would take it. At least if she took it from you, she'd have a little restraint. If I gave it to her directly, it would've been caviar and black truffles for everyone."

Yellow looked down and blushed. "I-I… but still…"

Ash sighed, pulled out his wallet, and placed a few thousand Pokédollars in Yellow's hands.

"Here. It's in cash, it's fine, really. I got a LOT of money from the League. Take care of them and get something to eat. I'll grab something for myself, alright?"

Yellow wanted to protest a little more, but she stopped when Ash closed her hand around the roll of money, gently covering her hand. She glanced back at Misty and Brock before nodding. "O-okay, I'll use this to take care of Brock and Misty then!"

"Alright, good enough," Ash said, smiling and shaking his head helplessly. "I'll text you the place we're staying at. See ya." He waved before walking off.

Yellow watched him go, then took a deep breath and looked at the money in her hands. After a moment, she put it away and ran off to catch up with Brock and Misty.

Meanwhile, Ash kept walking through town, taking in just how crowded it was. Goldenrod City was the biggest for a reason—people were coming and going in every direction, making it easy to get lost in this part of the city.

As he walked, he thought about his plans. First, he needed to get a hotel for everyone. Then, he had to go meet the "friend" Professor Oak had told him about—though he had a good idea of who she was. Brock's breeding competition would be held in three days, and Ash planned to challenge the Gym in about a week. With that in mind, he'd probably take his test tomorrow. More or less, everything was planned out.

As he walked, he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned around, no one was there. Then he felt another tap—again, no one. He knew exactly where this was going.

Just as the hand was about to tap him again, Ash spun around and grabbed it. Sure enough, the perpetrator was none other than Green, who smirked at him.

"Aww, you caught me~" she teased.

Pikachu's eyes lit up as he leaped off Ash's shoulder and into Green's arms, nuzzling her affectionately. "Pika!"

"Aww, I know, I missed you too, Pikachu!" Green said, nuzzling him back.

Ash shook his head. "I should probably say it's good to see you, but wellllll…"

Green giggled and playfully slapped his shoulder. "Shut up, I get it. It's nice to see you too. Nice new outfit, by the way, it suits you~" she chuckled.

"So, how are you doing? I must say, not being limited by having to collect badges is sooo much more fun. I get to do what I really love."

"Scamming people?" Ash smirked.

"Hey, that's only most of what I do," Green defended herself, though there was no real anger in her voice. "Nah, I just like training Pokémon. Even if I don't really use them, it's fun. Plus, the prize money I get is very nice too."

"Ah, there it is. And here I was worried you got replaced by another version of yourself," Ash chuckled. "Maybe if you ever did, I'd start calling you by your last name, Leaf. How about it? You like being called Leaf more~?"

"Oh, please. We were already over that a while ago," Green said with a smile, shaking her head. "But I suppose if it's a nickname from you, my sweet darling, I wouldn't say no~." She added extra playful emphasis on darling.

"Yeah, yeah, I know better at this point. Anyway, speaking of things that have nothing to do with what we were talking about, where's Silver? He said you guys were meeting here."

Green sighed helplessly. "Oh, well yeah, actually, I've been here in Goldenrod for a while. He came by, but when he saw that the Gym Leader was taking a break, he decided to go to a different town. I think he wanted to head to Mahogany."

"Huh. Well, I guess whatever works for him," Ash shrugged. "Anyway, since you've been here, don't suppose you can help me find a hotel for me and everyone?"

"Sure. The hotel I'm staying at has plenty of room," Green said as they kept walking, Ash now walking beside her.

As they continued catching up, Ash suddenly felt a hand push down on his hat, forcing the brim to block his view. A familiar voice spoke, "Yo! 'Sup?"

Ash pushed his hat back up and saw Gary smirking at him.

"Hey, Gary. How long have you been here?"

"Meh, just got here. Same as you, apparently. Mind if I tag along? I need to get a place myself." Gary asked, but he didn't wait for an answer, nor did Green or Ash give him one. They didn't need to.

As they walked past the department store, they kept talking. "So, I see you got some more drip. Did seeing my superior clothes make you that insecure~?" Gary teased.

"Nah, it had nothing to do with you. After all, why would I be jealous of those Kingdom Hearts Sora-looking pants?" Ash shot back.

That one got a laugh out of Green making her wipe a tear from her eye. "Oh, that's a good one. I'm stealing that one."

Gary rolled his eyes, then looked at Ash more closely. "By the way, what's up with your eyes?"

"Hm?" Ash blinked as Green studied him.

"Oh yeah, I didn't notice that before," she added. "Did you start wearing contacts or something?"

"No, my eyes just turned red," Ash said simply. "And before you ask, no, I don't know why. I asked my mom, and she said it's just my dad's genetics finally kicking in."

"Wait, your dad had red eyes?" Gary asked. "I mean, that's cool and all, but why now?"

"Beats me. I didn't even know my dad had red eyes, much less why mine suddenly changed. But no point crying over it, my eyes are red now, and they're not going back." Ash shrugged.

"Huh. So I guess that means we all have different-colored eyes, don't we?" Green mused, tapping a finger on her chin.

It was true, now that Ash's eyes were red, they all had distinct eye colors. Green had blue eyes, and Gary had deep Viridian-colored eyes. Just a little fun fact.

As they continued walking and talking, they passed by the Radio Tower when suddenly a round man with a thin mustache came running out of the building and blocked their path.

"You! I recognize you three! You were in the Ind-mph!"

Before he could finish, Green, Gary, and Ash instinctively covered his mouth. Most people in Johto didn't recognize their faces, and they preferred to keep it that way.

Without another word, they picked him up and carried him back inside the Radio Tower, setting him down once they were out of public view.

"Okay, what's the big idea trying to expose us? Do you want a mob to chase us?" Green asked, her usual playful tone replaced with mild irritation.

"Oh, sorry! It's just that when I saw you three, I couldn't help myself! Come now, you must appear as guests on our radio show!" the man exclaimed enthusiastically.

Gary's eye twitched. "Eh, listen, pal. We don't even know you, and we don't have a reason to. We've got better things to do."

"Oh, right! Well, I'm the Radio Director, my name's Hiro. And you, Gary Oak, well, your grandfather has a show here, you know! Surely that's enough reason!" Hiro said, offering no real explanation as to how that was relevant.

Before they could reply, a hand suddenly grabbed Hiro by the shirt and yanked him back. The hand belonged to a woman with pink hair, glasses, and a green turtleneck sweater, none other than the famous DJ Mary.

She sighed. "Seriously, Director? You always do this. You need to stop bothering people, it makes us look bad." She crossed her arms, unamused.

Hiro shook in Mary's grip but still pointed excitedly at the trio. "Ahh! DJ Mary, look, look! It's them! The top three from the Indigo League! Hurry, you must help me convince them!"

"Hmm?" Mary finally looked up, her eyes lighting up when she spotted Ash. She immediately tossed Hiro aside and clapped her hands together.

"Oh! So you're the one the Professor told me about!" she said, looking directly at Ash.

"Eh?" Ash blinked, though part of him had a feeling where this was going.

Mary nodded. "Yes! Professor Oak told me you'd be in town and that you might be willing to go on our show!"

"...I'm sorry, what now?" Ash's eye twitched. "I heard nothing about this."

"Yeah, didn't he tell you? Most Indigo League winners go on interviews, but you haven't done any." Mary explained.

"Oh, huh. Looks like you're stuck, aren't ya~?" Green teased.

"Yep. If Gramps promised an interview, you can't really back out, especially since he's our sponsor," Gary added, smirking.

Ash sighed. "I know I can't… 100 bucks says he just wants me there to show off how he trained yet another prodigy…" he muttered dryly.

Mary clasped her hands together. "So that means you'll do it? Oh, please say yes! Today's special, we have Gym Leader Whitney in the studio! You could ask her anything about your upcoming battle!"

Ash groaned. He really didn't want to, but there was no way out of this. Then, as he glanced back at Green and Gary, who were both chuckling at his misery, an idea struck him. Smirking, he turned back to Mary.

"Okay, I'll do it, but on one condition. I want these two to come with me. After all, we all made it to the top three and started at the same time. That'd make for a way more interesting show, don't you think~?"

"Now, wait just a minu-" Gary tried to protest, but it was too late.

"That is a GREAT idea!!!" Hiro practically flew at them in excitement. "Our ratings will go through the roof! We must get everything ready—no, I think we should make this a two-hour special!"

"W-wait, don't we get a say in this?!" Gary tried again, but Ash simply threw an arm around his shoulder.

"Come on, don't be shy, you're an Oak~ Shouldn't you be excited for this?" Ash teased.

Gary's eye twitched. He hated when people used that phrase 'You're an Oak' It genuinely annoyed him. Ash knew that, which was exactly why he used it playfully rather than in a way that would actually get under his skin.

And with that, Ash dragged both Green and Gary along. If he had to suffer, they were all suffering.

----

Quick question, so Brock's breeding competition will come up, i just wanted to ask, ya'll want me to cover it or just skim through the important parts