Pokemon: Radical Redux

It was probably a day after they left Alto Mare. The gang was still processing things as the cruise was now headed toward Blackthorn City. Thankfully, the temperature was officially back to being warm, so that was something.

Yellow still blushed every time she looked at Ash and practically short-circuited if he said her name. Misty, on the other hand, had entered full Grump Mode. Arms crossed. Silent glares. Occasional foot taps.

Ash had tried saying good morning once. She didn't respond, just chewed angrily on toast and looked out the window like he wasn't there.

He knew better than to try to ask or tease them, since it was probably because of the kiss. Actually, scratch that, it was definitely because of the kiss. So he let them calm down while he went to hang out with Brock.

He also finally decided to check on Dragonite, since he now had time, and saw what her mutation had finally did.

—

[Dragonite (F)]

[Ability: Inner Focus | Hidden Ability: Multiscale]

[The Dragon of the West – Flying-type and Fire-type moves get a 50% boost]

—-

So, Fire STAB and extra STAB to Flying moves. That's fun. And if frickin' Lance's Dragonite has this mutation, then no wonder he's truly Flying Master Lance.

Dragonite flew by at that exact moment, scooping him up in a mid-air glomp.

"Gah-okay, yes, I love you too, Dragonite, but gentle! GENTLE!"

She landed, holding Ash like a teddy bear while nuzzling her cheek into his hair.

Brock didn't even look up from his book. "You did this to yourself."

Ash sighed, accepting his fate. "Yeah… I know."

But anyway, pushing that agenda to the side, with this and Feraligatr, Ash only had one Pokémon he needed to evolve now, and that was Pupitar. And no, he didn't misspeak, because he already slapped Togetic with the Shiny Stone (because why wouldn't he?). As for Haunter and Abby, they were… well, let's not talk about that right now.

But anyway, Pupitar was kinda weird. He couldn't train, but he also wasn't like a cocoon. It was weird. But thankfully, that's why he had Brock around, and his Pupitar also needed to evolve, so they were talking about how to train the two goobers.

They sat on the deck, each with their respective Pupitar sunbathing in front of them. Ash leaned back with his arms crossed behind his head.

"So… like, what do we even do with them? They don't eat. They don't move. They don't emote. Mine once burped and I got scared."

Brock nodded solemnly. "Easiest way I know is to get them to a mountain, and I can help you with the rest from there. I think there's one near Blackthorn, so we can make a day trip over."

Ash looked over. "…This is a weird stage, huh?"

"Very weird."

Both Pupitars sat silently. One let out a faint hrrrrghk noise. Ash looked over at Brock, and he just nodded.

"That's normal."

Later that night, the gang gathered in the ship's dining hall to eat, since no matter how stubborn Misty is, they still need to eat.

Ash sat at the far end of the table, eating some rice. Brock was calmly chewing grilled fish while flipping through a recipe book he brought on board. Yellow was awkwardly picking at her noodles, face pink, stealing glances at Ash and then immediately whipping her gaze away whenever he looked up, so Chuchu was eating most of it.

And Misty,

 Misty had one elbow on the table, chin resting on her hand, her fork stabbing the same piece of potato over and over again like it owed her money. The silence at the table was loud. Tension you could cut with a Butterfree wing.

Ash, completely oblivious at first, finally noticed the third time Misty let out a sigh louder than Pikachu's ketchup cravings, so he paused mid-bite, "…Okay. What's up with you guys?"

Yellow squeaked and shrank into her chair. Misty just huffed and looked out the window again.

"Seriously," Ash said, setting his spoon down. "It's been like this for a whole day now. You're all weird. Did I do something?"

Silence.

Then Misty's voice, sharp but quiet, "You really don't know?"

Ash blinked. "…Is this about the kisses?"

Misty immediately stabbed her potato extra hard. Yellow choked on her noodles.

Brock, without looking up: "Probably."

"Oh…" Ash rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess that was… um… surprising?"

"Surprising?!" Misty turned to him, finally. "Ash, you got kissed by two girls and just walked away like it was Tuesday!"

"It was Tuesday," Brock added unhelpfully.

"Not the point!!" Misty snapped.

Ash raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay! Look, it was a surprise to me too! They just did it! What was I supposed to do, yell? Run away? Turn into fog?"

"I would've accepted any of those," Misty muttered.

Ash looked around awkwardly. "Okay… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset anyone. I didn't choose to get kissed! Why are you acting like that? It's not like we're dating."

Yellow raised her hand half-heartedly, still blushing. "Um… I'm not upset… just… processing…"

Chuchu, now full from eating 80% of Yellow's noodles, patted her on the arm reassuringly.

Misty, meanwhile, let out another one of her nuclear sighs, "That's not-ugh, it's not just about the kiss, Ash! It's the way you act about this stuff! Like it means nothing! Like people don't get… feelings about it!"

Ash blinked. "Feelings?"

Yellow squeaked and sank even further behind her bowl.

Misty went red in the face but kept going, "Yes! Feelings! Maybe… maybe people who travel with you actually care about you! Maybe they think you care too, but you never say anything! You just smile and move on like it's a normal thing to get kissed on the face by two girls and then forget about it!"

Ash opened his mouth. Closed it. Looked at Pikachu for help.

Pikachu just took a bite of rice and gave him a thumbs-up, "Pika…" [You're on your own, buddy.]

Ash sighed. "Okay, look… I'm sorry that I got kissed?" he said, more as a question. "...Honestly, I was just trying not to get murdered by a giant metal dinosaur and a bear, so I wasn't thinking about all that."

Yellow blinked. "…That's actually fair."

Misty grumbled under her breath. "...Still could've said something."

"Misty, how am I supposed to say something if you don't tell me? I can't read minds!" Ash said.

Misty started opening her mouth, but Ash held up a finger, "No, Misty. I can't read minds with Aura."

Misty lowered her finger. "…Fine. I get it. But why did you just stand there looking like a Deerling in headlights?"

Ash let out a slow breath, "Oh, I'm sorry, maybe if someone randomly kisses you, you can show me what I should've done."

"I mean, that's fair. Getting your first kiss on the cheek is always surprising," Brock said.

"Oh, I never said that was the first time I got kissed," Ash said casually.

Brock and Misty blinked and stared at Ash as he took another bite, while Yellow started letting out steam from her head from how hard she was blushing.

"Wait, what?" Brock asked.

"I grew up with Green. You think I haven't gotten kissed before? Heck, one time Yellow kissed my cheek when we were playing the King Game," Ash said, revealing more of the mysterious childhood arc lore.

Brock choked on his fish. "Wait, hold on. Yellow kissed you?!"

Yellow immediately face-planted into her bowl with a squeak, "That was years agoooo!" she mumbled, voice muffled by noodles.

Ash just shrugged, "Yeah, back when we were, like, six or so. We were at a party with our class, celebrating that we passed another year, so we played the King's Game. Green was the king, she said 5 had to kiss 3, and, well… those were our numbers."

"…" Brock and Misty exchanged looks, then stared between Ash and Yellow.

"That… actually makes a lot of things make sense now…" they mumbled at the same time.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Yellow squeaked, still red as a tomato as Chuchu tried to fan her face.

"Yeah, I mean, there was also the Mistletoe Incident, we don't talk about that, and Green kissed me a few times. Well, after the kidnapping incident, but she said they weren't like romantic kisses," Ash added nonchalantly, even though he knew full well when Green meant

Misty exploded. "WAIT, WHAT NOW?! A kidnapping incident?!"

"Oh, I thought you were gonna yell at me about the kiss stuff. But yeah, there was one time Green almost got kidnapped, along with Silver," Ash said, casually sipping his water.

"W-w-w-what?! Why don't you ever say stuff like that?!" Brock said.

"I mean, dude, it never came up. And like I said, there's a lot more childhood arc lore you're not gonna hear. Besides, Green asked me not to talk about it, trauma and all. I did kinda save her, so… yeah, that's when it happened," Ash shrugged.

Misty and Brock both buried their faces in their hands, frustrated for entirely different reasons, Yellow was still dying in the corner.

Brock took a breath, "Okay, Ash… I love you like a brother, but please stop before I want to hit you."

"Why are you mad?"

"I think I'm more mad at myself," Brock muttered, taking another breath.

Misty was still fuming but then paused, her eyebrows scrunching in thought. She looked over at Ash, and her voice lowered.

"…Wait. That reminds me."

Brock blinked, sitting up straighter. "Oh yeah. That."

Ash tilted his head. "That what?"

Misty leaned forward, pointing at him, "Your scar, Ash. On your chest. Back in Alto Mare, when we pulled your shirt up, you said you were gonna tell us, but we forgot to ask with… well, everything. But seriously, we want an answer now."

Ash scratched the back of his head, "Right… yeah. Sorry. I did want to hide that. I didn't want to have to tell you guys."

Yellow had finally calmed down a little as she looked at Ash, "Why did you want to keep it a secret from us? Aren't we friends?"

"It's because we're friends that I didn't want to tell you…" Ash said, rubbing his neck and sighing, "I knew you guys would worry, and you would get like this. And I didn't want you to look at me the way you're looking at me right now like I need to be protected… Not even my mom knows. I haven't told her, because i don't think i could live with myself if i let my mom cry,"

Brock, Misty, and Yellow stopped, because, well… it made sense.

"So… what happened?" Brock asked carefully.

Ash sighed. "Remember when I went to the Orange Islands? After… well, the thing that happened with you, Brock."

Brock immediately deflated. "Please don't say it…"

"Right… well," Ash said, rubbing Pikachu's back, "there was an incident. And I kinda got shot through the chest. Remember Lugia, back when we saw it? Yeah… it's that one. It healed me, but it left that scar."

Misty's fork clattered to her plate. Yellow gasped, hand over her mouth. Brock sat up straighter, eyes wide. "You got shot?!"

Ash winced. "Yeah. I mean, it wasn't like a gun. More like a laser. I was flying away, and he shot me in the back. It went through me. But thankfully it didn't hit anything important. And it wasn't even my fault, I didn't jump in the way to save anyone, I wasn't distracting him. I was just… trying to leave. And he shot me in the back."

Yellow covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes glossy. Misty had gone pale, lips pressed into a thin line. Brock looked like he'd just bitten into a raw onion and didn't know how to emotionally respond.

"You…" Misty began, her voice soft and shaky. "You got shot in the back, and you never told anyone?!"

Ash looked off to the side. "I mean… I told the Lugia. Does that count?"

"No, it does not count!" Misty snapped, practically launching out of her seat. "Ash, what the hell?!"

"I'm fine now! Look, it healed!" he said quickly, tapping his chest like that would somehow erase the trauma from existence. "I can breathe! I can run! Pikachu zaps me harder than that thing did!"

"Ash!" Yellow cried, finally breaking her silence. "You were almost killed!"

"Yeah… I know," Ash said as his little smile fell. "But what am I supposed to say? 'It's fine, I survived, so don't worry about it.' No… that feels like the worst thing I could say. Yeah, I survived… but it did hurt. I didn't tell you guys because I knew you would care."

He sighed. "I know I should trust you guys and tell you stuff. But the problem is, I'm so used to hiding things because I don't want to bother anyone. I think… my problems are mine. You've all got your own, and I want to help you, not drag you down with mine. I know I put on a smile, but… it's my way of dealing with what might happen."

Yellow sniffled softly. Misty sat back down slowly, her anger melting into something quieter. "You idiot…" she muttered, voice trembling. "You absolute idiot…"

Brock rubbed his eyes with one hand and leaned forward. "Ash… look. I get it. We all deal with stuff our own way. And yeah, sometimes it feels easier to carry your own pain than to let someone else carry it with you. But that's not how friends work. That's not how family works."

Ash stared down at his rice. "I don't want to be the reason anyone cries. I already feel like I mess up enough…"

Yellow, her voice barely above a whisper, said, "You're not a mess-up… Ash, you're why I'm even still here with you guys."

Ash glanced at her. And for once… she didn't turn away. Her blush was still there, sure, but she still looked at him, "You helped me when I didn't know who I was supposed to be," she continued. "You never judged me. You just… kept walking beside me, and you helped me…be better…"

Ash smiled, a little softer now. "Well, what was I supposed to do? You were scared, you didn't know what to do, so… I just did what anyone would've done. You're my friend. I'd do it again a hundred times."

Yellow looked away, biting her lip.

"You know…" Misty said, trying to calm down, "the worst part about you is when you say meaningful stuff like that… and I can tell you mean it… why can't you ever lie about how much you care about us…"

Brock let out a breath, "We care, Ash. And that means we worry. We want to worry. That's what it means to be close to someone. You helped us, and you got us to move toward our dreams. That's not just doing something. You could've just dragged us along like side characters in a TV show and we probably would've followed. But instead… you pushed us to do things for us. You made us all better."

Ash looked between them, unsure what to say. Pikachu gently patted his arm. Chuchu climbed into Yellow's lap and squeaked in agreement.

"I just don't know how to be… open, I guess," Ash admitted. "I'm good at taking hits. Not explaining them."

Misty leaned over, bumping her shoulder against his, "We'll help. But only if you stop saying stuff like 'it wasn't that bad' when you were literally shot."

"I mean… Lugia did fix it—" Ash started, then flinched when Misty narrowed her eyes. "Okay, okay! I'll work on it."

"So…" Brock leaned in, grinning slightly. "You gonna tell us more of the secrets that keep you up at night?"

"You gonna tell me yours?" Ash asked back.

Conveniently, Brock and Misty both became very interested in the floor.

But Ash still smiled, "…But maybe I can start telling you a little more."

"Really? Like what?" Yellow asked, hopeful.

Ash sighed. "Okay… let's start with the full story of how I got this stupid scar on my chest?"

—

{Meanwhile, with Ashtwo}

Ash had been a little busy, considering this whole new situation, he had to watch what he did very carefully.

He already knew from the other Masks he'd seen: they usually had cameras in the eyes. But since this one only covered his lower face, it had a microphone instead. So although Ash could do things… he couldn't say much.

Which, honestly, was worse in some cases.

Sure, he could still work on whatever he wanted, but the real problem came with Porygon-Z. Since it's code-based, Ash couldn't connect to its head with Aura. And he couldn't exactly mute it, either. That also meant he'd put a temporary stop to all gadget-making plans.

It wasn't forever, there were times he could take off the Mask. But he couldn't do it for too long. Once someone put on a Mask, the mind control kept working even when it was off… but only for a while. If they kept it off too long, or if the Mask broke, the control stopped completely.

So if he had the Mask off for more than two hours, someone might start asking questions. And he couldn't risk doing that every day.

Still… that didn't mean he was just sitting around doing nothing. In fact, it was the opposite.

But more on that later.

Right now, he was walking down the halls of the base. The Masked Man had called a meeting, a secret one, where only those under his control were allowed to attend.

Ash had to go. If he didn't, questions would be asked. But this was also a rare opportunity to learn more. The Masked Man wasn't dumb, he didn't keep everything on computers that could be hacked. That made Ash wonder, did Giovanni have even more plans out there? Things he hadn't gotten a chance to hack into?

That thought would have to wait. He needed to reach the meeting room.

But as he turned the corner at the end of the hall… he saw them. Enid, Jay, Helena, And Domino.

Ash narrowed his eyes behind the mask. This was about to get a little interesting.

--

500 stones = 1 extra chapter