Pokemon: Radical Redux

Ash approached a clearer spot, leaving the man with Brock, Misty, and Yellow. Yellow was already starting to heal his head.

Ash looked up at Noctowl, who was watching him curiously, wanting to see what he would do. Ash just smiled back.

"Hey, Noctowl, you hated all that trickery that guy was doing, right? It was like an insult to your intelligence, wasn't it?" Ash said.

Noctowl looked curious but nodded his head. "Nooot! [Obviously, one of my intelligence could never be caught by such primitive traps. It is insulting,]"

Ash smiled as Noctowl confirmed his thoughts. "I knew it. So I'm not going to try to trick you. Instead," he said, pointing a finger at the Noctowl, "I challenge you, and when I beat you, I'll capture you."

Noctowl blinked owlishly and tilted his head, trying to gauge Ash's intentions.

From the sidelines, Brock and Misty watched while Yellow continued healing the man. Misty looked at Brock. "What the heck is he doing?"

"Looks like Ash is trying to convince that Noctowl to a fair battle, and from what I saw, that Noctowl is especially smart."

"Ok, but there's no way that's working. I mean, Ash just said if he won, he would catch him. There's no way that Noctowl will agree to it."

Almost as if on cue, the Noctowl nodded his head. "Noot [Very well]."

Misty fell over. "How did that work!?"

Ash stretched his arm and thought for a moment, then pulled out his new Pokéball. "Alright, let's see what you can do."

He threw out the Pokéball, and out from it came the Mareep. The little sheep jumped, looked up, and, seeing Noctowl, got into a battle stance.

"Huh… when did you get a Mareep?" Brock asked.

"I'll tell you later. I need to focus on this," Ash said immediately.

Ash clenched his fists and got into position. Mareep sparked faint arcs of electricity across his wool. Noctowl was still sitting on the branch, but once he saw the battle was about to start, he jumped off, flapped his wings, and hovered slightly above the ground.

"Alright, Mareep, let's start with [Thunder Shock]!" Ash commanded.

The little Mareep let out a soft bleat as his wool started lighting up with static electricity before shooting it in thin streams, aiming at Noctowl.

But Noctowl wasn't scared. His eyes flashed, glowing with a soft, hypnotic light as he used [Light Screen]. The electricity crashed against the shield and fizzled out.

"Not bad," Ash muttered. "But we're just getting started! Mareep, use [Charge] on your legs."

Mareep dug its hooves into the ground, gathering energy as its wool flared brighter. Sparks danced around its body, then focused down at his feet.

Noctowl tilted its head in curiosity but remained unimpressed. Then it swooped low, its wings glowing a bright light blue as it prepared to use [Wing Attack].

"Now, jump over it!" Ash shouted.

Mareep used the charge he stored in his legs and performed an explosive jump over Noctowl, making him miss completely.

"Now, [Thunder Shock]!"

Mareep turned mid-air and shot another stream of electricity down at Noctowl's back, making it coo as it spun sharply, flying back up while Mareep landed on the ground.

Noctowl did what could only be explained as a scoff and circled back, glowing faintly as it prepared a [Confusion].

Ash waved his arm. "Meet it halfway! Use [Thunder Shock] again!"

Mareep shot out his electricity, and Noctowl released the psychic blast. The electricity collided with the psychic energy, scattering light across the clearing. Noctowl flinched—being nocturnal, the bright light hurt his eyes.

Ash saw this and smiled. "So that's your weakness? Alright, I understand it now—[Cotton Spore]!"

Mareep puffed up his wool and scattered cotton spores at the blinded Noctowl. By the time Noctowl opened his eyes, it was too late—the spores stuck to both wings, slowing him down and making him less aerodynamic.

Noctowl shook his feathers and glared at Ash, realizing he had been playing around too much. It was time to take this battle more seriously.

Noctowl flapped his wings, which began glowing as he fired an [Air Cutter] towards the sheep.

It was coming too fast for Mareep to dodge, so instead, Ash called out, "[Charge] again!"

Mareep's wool lit up with electricity, raising his special defense. When the slashes struck, Mareep was already comfortably at +2, allowing him to tank the hits well.

"Now get in close with a [Tackle]!" Ash commanded as Mareep charged forward toward the flying owl.

Noctowl saw him coming and began preparing another [Confusion] to stop him, but as he aimed, Mareep suddenly jumped—not at Noctowl, but at a nearby tree. Using the tree as leverage, Mareep rebounded and struck Noctowl from the side, breaking his concentration.

Mareep held on as he bit down on the wool stuck to Noctowl's wings, causing the owl to lose balance and struggle to stay airborne. In desperation, Noctowl twisted his head a full 105 degrees and started to [Peck] at Mareep repeatedly.

Mareep endured the attacks and didn't let go, and it paid off. After the third [Peck], sparks from Mareep's wool jumped onto Noctowl. Mareep's ability, Static, activated, paralyzing Noctowl.

Ash grinned. "Alright, you did your job! Now jump off with another [Thunder Shock]!"

Mareep let go and used his small legs to leap into the air. He turned mid-jump and shot another burst of electricity, hitting Noctowl point-blank.

Mareep landed back on the ground as Noctowl struggled to keep flapping his wings. But the owl didn't give up; his eyes glowed as he cast [Hypnosis], creating an illusion.

Mareep was caught in the move and saw multiple Noctowl surrounding him, all preparing to unleash powerful blasts. But Ash wasn't worried.

"Not bad. Too bad it's useless."

Ash could see through the illusion easily, but he didn't even need to. He had the perfect counter.

When Ash checked Mareep in the Pokédex earlier, he found something surprising. Pokémon in this world sometimes had altered move sets—and Mareep was no exception.

—

[Mareep{M}]

[Nature: Rash (+SpA, -SpD)]

[Ability: Ability: Static, Hidden Ability: Electromorphosis]

[Current moves: Parabolic Charge, Tail Glow]

—

Not only did Mareep have Electromorphosis, giving him an extra charge boost, but he also knew [Parabolic Charge], that overpowered attack. How? Ash had no idea, but he wasn't about to complain. This Mareep was a true battle prodigy.

Ash raised his arm. "Now, finish this—[Parabolic Charge]!"

Mareep opened his mouth and formed a glowing sphere of electricity. Instead of firing at one of the illusions, he launched it into the air.

The orb hovered for a moment before releasing multiple lightning bolts, targeting all the illusionary Noctowl—and the real one.

When the attack struck, it electrocuted Noctowl, draining his energy. Mareep absorbed the electricity back, healing himself completely.

With Mareep now fully recovered, Noctowl fell to the ground, looking extra crispy but still twitching.

Ash walked over and tapped the bird with a Pokéball.

One roll… two rolls… three rolls…

Ding!

Noctowl was caught.

Ash picked up the Pokeball and gave Mareep a pat, "Pretty good for your first battle with me; you'll fit right in"

"Ma-re-e-ep!" Mareep said happily as a little leftover electricity went to Ash, but he was fine.

Ash pulled out his dex and checked Noctowl.

—-

[✨Noctowl✨(M)]

[Nature: Quiet (+SpA, -Spe)]

[Ability: Ability: Tinted Lens, Hidden Ability: Aerilate]

[Mind's eye - gain Psychic STAB, can learn any Psychic type move]]

—-

Ash whistled. "Pretty good. And that mutation's going to be very useful."

It always bothered him that Noctowl wasn't a Psychic type, but now he had some ideas about what techniques to teach him.

Lost in thought, Ash barely noticed Brock calling his name.

"Hey, Ash!"

Ash snapped out of it. "Sorry, I got lost in thought. What's up, man?"

"Well, first off—what was that? I never knew Mareep could do that," Brock said.

"And," Misty cut in, "the old guy's waking up."

Ash looked over and saw Yellow helping the man to his feet. The man groaned, grabbing his head.

"I'm not old! I'm in my twenties! And my name is Dr. Wiseman," he said defensively.

"Right, so wise," Misty muttered sarcastically under her breath. "Is that why you got knocked out of a tree?"

Dr. Wiseman stood with Yellow's help, then glanced up at the tree he'd fallen from.

"Drat! That Noctowl is gone. I suppose this is another failure. I'm afraid no one will ever catch that elusive Noctowl."

"Well, about that—" Yellow tried to interject.

"You see, that Noctowl is a rare Shiny! And although it's small, it makes up for it with intelligence. But I've been unable to outsmart it."

"Actually—"

"If only I could! But it seems impossible. I've been at this for months! If only—"

"Oh, I caught him," Ash said, casually spinning the Pokéball on his finger.

"Yes, l—wait, what?" Dr. Wiseman froze.

"Yep, caught Noctowl. Just asked him to battle, beat him, and caught him. Really easy, actually."

"It…it couldn't have been that easy…" Dr. Wiseman stammered, looking around for confirmation.

But everyone nodded.

Dr. Wiseman fell to his knees. "All this wasted time… and it was that easy?"

He began to tremble, and Yellow stepped forward, about to comfort him.

Suddenly, Dr. Wiseman threw his arms into the air.

"Finally! I'm free! No more effort, no more plans—it's over! I can leave this stupid forest!"

Jumping to his feet, he grabbed Ash's hands and shook them furiously.

"Thank you for freeing me! Keep that blasted thing! It taunted me long enough!"

With that, he took off running into the woods, shouting celebrations as he went.

Everyone stared after him in stunned silence.

"Huh… that was weird," Misty said at last. "I was expecting him to be kinda salty or something. But no, guess he did go crazy in this forest."

"Oh, that reminds me," Brock said, turning to Ash. "So earlier, you said you'd tell us where you got that Mareep. Well… now is later. So spill."

Ash grinned. "Sure! You see, it all started when I met Yui—you know, the girl you met before, remember~?"

—---

{Ashtwo}

Ash stepped into the meeting room, immediately spotting a handful of grunts and a few team leaders scattered around. Standing in the center was someone he recognized—Executive Proton.

Being the second-highest-ranking officer in the room, Ash made his way toward Proton. As he passed, his eyes briefly locked with Enid, Jay, and Helena, who were seated together. Without breaking stride, Ash gave them a single look before continuing forward.

"Yup, he's mad today," Jay muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"M-maybe he just needs to talk to Mr. Proton?" Helena offered, though her tone betrayed her lack of confidence.

Enid groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Ugh, I've been trying to talk to him—to maybe make things right, but I can never catch him alone. It's like he's avoiding me."

"Maybe because he is," came a fourth voice.

The group turned to see a short girl with bright yellow hair tied into pigtails. She wore a Team Rocket uniform and flashed an innocent smile.

"Sorry to butt in—oopsie!" She knocked on her head playfully. "Name's Domino. Couldn't help but overhear… so, what's the juicy gossip?"

Enid scoffed. "I hardly think that's any of your-"

But Jay interrupted. "Well, long story short, Enid here made fun of our friend D. Now she's trying to figure out if he's mad at her."

Domino chuckled. "Seems kind of obvious, doesn't it? She made fun of someone she's supposed to be friends with. I don't know what she said, but it sounds pretty stupid to hope he's not mad at her."

"Right? That's what I said." Jay nodded. "Now she wants to try and apologize to him—"

"Wait just a minute!" Enid snapped. "I said I wanted to make it up to him, not apologize!"

"…which is basically the same thing," Jay finished.

Domino smirked. "Yeah, sounds like you're out of luck. You're not getting your boyfriend's attention anytime soon."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Enid huffed, turning her nose up. "And for the record, he should feel honored that I even want to talk to him. Instead, he's being immature—holding onto some petty grudge. But what do you expect from someone like him?"

Unbeknownst to her, Ash had returned and was now standing right behind her.

Everyone's eyes darted between Ash and Enid, who froze as she noticed the change in atmosphere.

"Oh, you've got to be fu-"

"Well," Ash interrupted, pushing a chair back under the table. "I was going to ask if I could sit down, but whatever. I'll find somewhere else."

He walked away without looking back, heading toward Proton.

Domino shook her head. "Yeah… you're really not making this easier for yourself."

"I-I just-" Enid started to explain but was cut off as Proton began speaking.

"Alright, everyone. I need your attention," Proton said, silencing the room. "We've uncovered an old underground lab formerly owned by Silph Co. Our primary objective is to determine why it was abandoned. The secondary objective is to recover any leftover data or materials we can use. Any questions?"

No one spoke.

"Good," Proton continued. "Prepare to move out in a few minutes. Agent D, I need to speak with you privately."

Ash nodded and followed Proton into another room.

Meanwhile, Jay grinned. "Wow! This mission sounds awesome. What do you think, Helena? It's your first one. Excited?"

"I-I guess," Helena replied nervously. Her expression shifted to a slightly wide smile. "I just hope it's haunted. The occult is my specialty."

Domino, however, seemed lost in her own world, staring after Proton like a lovestruck schoolgirl.

"Wow… Proton is so cool! Oh, I wish I could talk to him instead of that D guy…" she sighed dreamily.

Jay groaned. "Oh boy… not good. We've lost her."

"Great… now we have two crazy girls coming with us…" Helena muttered.

"What was that?!" Enid snapped.

"Nothing!" Helena quickly backpedaled. "Let's just… get ready for the mission."