Pokemon: Radical Redux

Chapter 362 - Whirl cup preliminaries

{Ashtwo}

Over the past few days, things have been pretty uneventful. He went on a mission with Aman and his squad, obviously, like usual, he took Helena with him. Unfortunately for him, Jay, Enid, and Domino tagged along, since they asked Aman and not him, so he couldn't do anything about it.

Other than that, he's been checking the eggs again and collecting genetic points from dead ones, just feeding some to Muk or using them to steal good eggs. And like usual, after he was done with them, he gave the good ones to Drowzee, who then secretly delivered them to the rangers. But this time, when he came back, he looked more tired. He wonders why.

—

{In Kanto's Ranger Department}

The rangers were on edge. For almost a year, random eggs had been delivered to their doorstep by someone. All the eggs were healthy, nothing had been done to them.

The first few times, they thought someone was stealing eggs from breeders or wild Pokémon. But after some phone calls and checks, they confirmed that no eggs had been reported missing.

Next, they suspected some Pokémon were killing parents for food and leaving the eggs behind out of guilt. But that didn't make sense, why not eat the egg too? More importantly, there were too many eggs. Almost a shipment each month. If that were the case, there would be a serious shortage of Pokémon in the area.

Then they thought of smugglers, but that theory didn't hold up either. Why would smugglers give away perfectly good Pokémon eggs? The eggs weren't defective, and some were pretty rare species not found in Kanto or Johto.

Still, they were determined to find the culprit. And... well, actually, they hadn't thought that far ahead. Maybe they could thank them, or maybe not. It really depended.

Usually, the eggs appeared at night, at a random time during the month. So every day, the rangers set out some food next to the door and watched in secret.

Solana and Kellyn were on duty this time, after Spenser, the base leader of the Kanto branch, gave Ben and Jack a break. And it was a whole lot of nothing.

Kellyn sighed as he sat back in his chair. "Why do we have to do this? We should be out helping actual Pokémon instead of waiting around for someone who just gives us eggs. I mean, why are we complaining? It's free eggs, we just give them to trainers as their starters."

"It's not about the eggs," Solana said, crossing her arms. "Okay, well, maybe a little. But it's more about figuring out who this is, and if we can work with them. I mean, what if these eggs were stolen from a breeder, or just abandoned by a reckless trainer who didn't want to take care of them?"

"Yeah, I get it," Kellyn said, rubbing his cheek. "But still, do you really think that's going to work? No one's stupid enough to take some random food on a table next to the door—"

Just as he said that, the bell connected to the berry ring chimed. They both blinked and looked over. There, standing at the table of berries, was a Drowzee mid-bite. On the welcome mat was another pile of eggs.

For a moment, no one moved.

Then Drowzee teleported immediately, taking the berries with him.

Solana quickly tried to call out, "Wait!" but it was too late.

Kellyn was still trying to process what happened. "So... a Drowzee... Well, I guess we can say it isn't a Pokémon attacking parents for food, Drowzee are herbivores, but still... what just happened?"

"We should inform Spenser, and call the other ranger bases to tell them," Solana said, pulling out her communicator. "But it looks like it's friendly, at least."

"Right, let's go... I still can't believe putting out food worked," Kellyn mumbled as he followed.

And just like that, a rumor started spreading, about a hero Drowzee who rescues abandoned eggs from predators and delivers them to safety, asking for nothing in return except the peace of knowing the babies would survive and thrive.

Somehow, Drowzee got his own fan club and merch the second the story came out. So if you ever find an egg on your doorstep, congratulations, you're considered a safe person by the legendary Hero of the Eggs.

This Drowzee is single-handedly helping all Drowzee and Hypno beat the allegations. So if you're scared at night, never fear. The Hero Drowzee is watching over your dreams.

—-

But anyway, all of that was stuff Ash didn't know about. He just thought Drowzee was tired and didn't know why. Maybe he should take a break for his sake. Yeah, next time, he'd wait until Drowzee evolved before sending him out again.

Anyway, out of all the Eggs, there was one that caught Ash's attention as he checked his Dex:

—-

[✨Slakoth✨ (M)]

[Egg Moves: Body Slam, Slash, Crush Claw, Hammer Arm]

[Ability: Truant]

—-

Yeah, Ash liked what he saw, but obviously, Truant was bad. So his first thought was to see how much it would cost to replace it. Now, a Pokémon can't have no ability, he tried, and it's just not possible.

So he checked how much it would cost to replace Truant. His first idea was to try Huge Power or Pure Power, but yeah, the cost of removing the ability and replacing it with one of those was way out of his budget.

The thing is, the cost also depends on the Pokémon itself. Like, if he gave a Surskit one of those abilities, it'd be cheap, since Surskit is already weak. But a Pure Power Slaking? That would be unfair.

So replacing it wasn't an option. But he didn't want to just use the egg for points either. So he put the Egg into his personal dimension and set it to the slowest speed so he could look into it later. Maybe he'd get enough points, or maybe he'd find another option.

Right now, he sighed as he walked back from the mission. He hadn't seen Sayoko around. Maybe flirting back made her leave him alone.

—

{Meanwhile}

In another room, the lights were dim, the only glow coming from a series of softly humming monitors lining the back wall. Sayoko sat cross-legged in the center of the room, gently twirling a strand of her purple hair as she leaned closer to the largest screen. It showed a video of D. walking down a corridor, his face, as always, hidden by his scarf.

"He hasn't noticed I've been gone," she murmured, her voice sweet but hollow.

She pressed a finger to the screen, right over Ash's face.

"Tch. That old idiot sent me on a mission without you. I told him I wanted you with me. And then you didn't even try to stop me from leaving. Tch. Were you playing hard to get?"

Her smile remained, but a twitch beneath her eyes betrayed the tightness there.

"Or... were you distracted again? By those dumb girls?"

Sayoko tilted her head, almost lovingly, "You looked more tired than usual today... were you worried I'd left for good? It's okay. I forgive you. I know you're just shy, with your face, but don't worry. I don't care if your mouth got blown off. It makes it better. No one else will look at you."

The room was filled with photos, hidden shots of D. mid-mission, sleeping in the lounge, eating. Red string connected various photos. One picture had D., Helena, Enid, Jay, and Domino all together, before things got complicated. Everyone's face was scratched out in red ink. Everyone but D.

"Ahh... you're the only one who made me feel like that. People flirted with me, but they always disgusted me. But you, hearing you flirt back, it was bold, idiotic, and so thrilling," Sayoko murmured. "You're only mine. I should've put a tracker on you... Next time, I'll give you a gift with one. Hehe~"

—

Anyway, everything was probably fine. Nothing is going wrong.

Speaking of which, with Helena, he at least started talking with Jay and Domino. Not Enid, though. He was purposefully avoiding her. It was fun to see her reaction when he wasn't bending over for her.

Today, even though they invited him out to lunch (with a secret plan to lock him and Enid in a room so they could talk), he refused, he wanted to get some personal work done.

The work in question was, obviously, Porygon hacking deeper into the system. He'd learned the Masked Man used a separate database for his personal missions. But with some effort (and the help of Porygon-Z), Ash managed to at least access it.

Now obviously, not everything was there. Knowing the Masked Man, he'd be extra secure with anything too important, stuff even his subordinates weren't allowed to know. But Ash still found some things.

For one, they were already planning to break Carl and Sham out, but Iron Mask was to be abandoned. He was of no use anymore. According to the plan, they would extract Carl and Sham during the jurisdictional shift between Johto and Kanto. Once they crossed into Kanto, they'd fall under Giovanni's radar, and things would start getting revealed.

But for now, Ash couldn't do anything about it, not without exposing himself. The best he could do was send the file to Anabel and Looker, along with a warning to be careful. After all, he didn't want his favorite police buddies getting hurt when there's still fun to be had.

That was a problem for later.

Right now, he found the thing he feared, a mission detail for agents to mobilize to Blue Point Isle.

For Lugia.

Bad news. But at least he was already nearby. He'd keep that in mind, looks like he had time before it moved forward. He didn't know the specifics yet; those were deeper in the database.

Thankfully, he has all the time in the world.

But for now, he was going to train his Pokémon again. It's about time they got an upgrade.

—

{Back with the gang}

The Whirl Cup was finally starting, and the stadium was packed, so full that some people couldn't even get in. They had to sit outside, watching the battles on giant screens. Right now, it was the preliminaries. To speed things up, trainers were split between four separate stadiums for quick 1-on-1 matches.

Misty had no problems. She was battling in Stadium B, and was using some of her weaker Pokémon, like Corsola and Chinchou, to train them up. Obviously, not to the point where she'd lose. She had done some training. Using untrained Pokémon is just stupid.

Originally, the plan was to cut half the contestants, but because there were so many, they'd decided to cut it to one-quarter instead.

Misty was riding high after her latest match, "Chinchou, [Electro Ball]!" she called out.

Chinchou raised its esca and charged up a ball of electricity, firing it straight at the Remoraid. It hit with a splash and a small explosion of water.

"Oh no! Remoraid!" the opposing trainer cried out.

A moment later, Remoraid's unconscious body floated to the surface, spirals in its eyes.

"Oh yeah!" Misty pumped her fists and waved to the crowd. She was the first to qualify in Stadium B.

The speakers buzzed to life.

"Misty Waterflower has advanced to the next round! She is the first to qualify in the B stadium!"

Cheers rang out as Misty beamed and began her victory walk, only for the speaker to crackle again.

"And that makes Misty the second to advance past the preliminaries. We just got word from Stadium A that one trainer beat her time by a few seconds. it is the Water Gym Leader all the way from Galar, Nessa!"

Misty froze. It was like she turned to stone.

The crowd roared again, this time for Nessa.

Misty walked out of the stadium like a ghost. Ash, Brock, and Yellow were already waiting to comfort her.

Misty sat on a bench under the shade of a palm tree, a towel draped over her shoulders, water bottle in hand, but untouched. Her Corsola sat on the ground in front of her, looking up with concern.

"She beat my time... by seconds," Misty muttered, barely blinking.

Brock handed her a cold drink, trying to be helpful. "Come on, Misty. You still qualified. You did great—"

"But she beat my time," Misty snapped. "Also, Nessa? A new Water Gym Leader? How come I've never heard of her?!"

"Probably started after you began journeying with us," Ash said casually, not bothering to sugarcoat it. "Oh hey, look, she's over there."

Misty's head shot up. On a nearby billboard was a glossy photo of Nessa, the 'newest' Gym Leader, and below it, the real Nessa was striking poses for photographers as a small crowd gathered around her.

Misty's eye twitched. She held out her hand to Ash. "Phone. NOW."

Ash handed over his Rotom Phone without question. Misty furiously started typing, pulling up Nessa's profile. Her jaw clenched as she scrolled.

"Oh, so she's a Gym Leader and a model? And she came here to win, apparently!"

Brock leaned over to look and immediately had hearts in his eyes. "Wow... no wonder she beat you. She's not only powerful, but incredibly beautiful. I think I'm in love."

A tic mark appeared on Misty's forehead. She punched Brock in the head and snatched his street corn, chomping into it like it owed her money.

"I hate this kind of person the most! The kind who gets everything handed to them, looks, talent, recognition, while the rest of us have to claw for every inch!"

Ash blinked as Misty viciously bit into the corn like it had personally insulted her.

"Geez, Misty... it's not like she stole your spotlight," he said, scratching Pikachu behind the ear. "Well, not on purpose."

Yellow, trying to soothe the tension, gave a small smile. "Maybe it's a good thing? You've got competition. That means you'll push yourself even harder, right?"

Misty groaned and flopped backwards on the bench like her soul had left her body. "I don't want to be pushed. I want to win. I want to be the Water-type trainer. Not number two to some swimsuit model with a Drednaw!"

She munched the corn like a vengeful chipmunk.

"Misty, you don't even like corn," Yellow pointed out gently.

"I do now," Misty growled. "It tastes like vengeance."

The gang didn't know how to respond to that.

They knew Misty had a trigger for this kind of thing, especially when it felt like her sisters all over again. She was always 'the ugly one,' or 'the tomboy,' while the others got all the praise. But it wasn't just about looks. Misty had earned everything, she trained every one of her Pokémon to be the future Gym Leader.

And now here comes Nessa, new, beautiful, powerful, and in Misty's mind, she had everything.

And Misty was furious.

"...I will beat her," she hissed. "I'm going to wipe the floor with her. I'll mop the stadium with that fancy long hair of hers."

"Oh wow, she does have long hair," Brock said, holding up his phone with one of Nessa's latest promo shots. "Look at how it flows in the breeze, like—"

WHAM

Misty kicked him across the face.

Just as Misty was aggressively gnawing on the corn like a Gible on a Pokéblock, a new voice rang out across the beach walkway near the stadium.

"Hey! You were great out there, I loved how your Chinchou handled that Remoraid."

Misty froze mid-bite. The voice was smooth, confident, and, unfortunately, very familiar.

She turned her head slowly. There stood Nessa in a sleeveless, wetsuit-inspired outfit, a Poké Ball clipped to her belt and sunglasses perched on her forehead. She offered a casual, friendly smile, like she hadn't just ruined Misty's entire day.

"Oh no," Brock whispered reverently, standing up way too straight. "She's even more stunning in person..."

Misty shot to her feet, brushing crumbs off her shorts and forcing the biggest, fakest smile anyone had ever seen. "Oh hiiii! Wow, so nice of you to just... casually show up here."

"I just wanted to say I'm looking forward to seeing what you've got in the finals," Nessa said sincerely. She genuinely wanted to get to know Misty, after all, Misty had finished just seconds behind her. "Us Water-type trainers have to represent, right?"

"Oh, absolutely," Misty said through clenched teeth. "I'm sure you'll... model your way right through the competition."

Nessa blinked, unsure how to take that. "Uh... yeah, well. Anyway, good luck! I'll see you in the water."

She walked off with a slight wave as Misty's eye twitched again. Corsola let out a nervous chirp.

Ash leaned in. "That could've gone worse."

Misty was already opening her phone, furiously tapping.

"What are you doing?" Yellow asked.

"Changing my training schedule," Misty snapped. "We're not resting. Not until I can take down her Drednaw with one move. And maybe also hit her hair."

Brock, dazed, was still staring at the spot where Nessa had vanished into the crowd. "Do you think she likes guys who cook?"

"No," Misty yelled as she hurled the empty cob at Brock's head.