There was, as it turned out, a lot of their journey that was south of the Safari Zone on the way to the coast.
Ash wasn't sure if it was just something about the shape of Kanto, or maybe it was that it was getting more eventful after a comparatively relaxed first few months of his second-try, but it felt like they'd spent a long time already on the way south.
Or they could be lost. That was also possible.
Regardless, they still seemed to be on the right track, as they met a man with a Pokéflute who played them a nice little tune.
"What do you think, man?" the man asked. "You look like someone who'd know… is this music of mine in harmony with nature, or is it a discordant element that jars rather than jibes?"
"I think it works great?" Ash said. "Though, uh… how important is it to have music that fits together with everything else?"
"It's like sauce, man," the man replied. "You don't need it, but it makes things so much better. Though, speaking of sauce, don't suppose you've got anything going spare you'd be able to donate?"
"We've got some food," Brock said. "Actually, you can probably have just about all our trail rations, if that's the kind of thing you like. Ash has a Pidgeot so he just takes her shopping in the nearest city instead of us having to carry long term food supplies."
"Trail rations sounds like just the thing," the man agreed. "I'm a travelling man out to spread some joy, but it's nice to have the extra food."
"Actually…" Ash said, suddenly making a connection. "If you don't mind where you go so long as it brings music to people… there's a Jigglypuff we've met in the past who's into singing, but everyone she sings to falls asleep so they can't enjoy it. If you played with her, that might stop that happening, so it'd make her happy too."
"A song that wakes you up and puts you to sleep at the same time," the flautist said, considering. "Far out, man. I'll be around here for a while, so look for me sleeping under the stars if you see her some time soon."
With that set up, they went to the nearby town, where a Snorlax was asleep upriver of the town itself and a whole mess of thorns had grown to block the river.
"So that's why we got that guy's help, last time," Misty grumbled. "I forgot about this."
"I've got a solution!" Ash said, sending out Charizard. "Can you cut the thorns off at the roots? That way the Snorlax has something to eat when it wakes up."
"Or you could use a different one of your not-a-starter Pokémon," Riolu pointed out.
"...what, Squirtle?" Ash blinked. "Wouldn't that just result in a massive flood?"
"Ivysaur," Riolu said. "Worry Seeds, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, that would work," Brock frowned. "There's more ways to wake a Pokémon up than I would have expected… several kinds of medicine, a couple of kinds of berry, and a good few Pokémon moves too."
Charizard looked a bit awkward. "So… should I still try clearing those thorns?"
"Let's try a Worry Seed first, okay?" Ash suggested. "If not, we can try something else… though, uh, what I want to know is how those thorns grew there in the first place…"
Some questions didn't seem to have answers.
One question that did have an answer, though, was where they were going next, and that was Dark City.
"Dark City?" Riolu repeated, looking at the sign. "Is this like Hop Hop Hop town?"
"I don't think so," Ash replied. "Uh, let's see… this was a town full of people who were trying to form a gym, except there were two factions of them, and they were trying to beat up people from the other gym and the people heading to the other gym. And, we came in and sorted it out."
"Wow," Misty said. "I'm impressed, Ash."
"It wasn't that hard to remember!" Ash grinned.
"No, I mean, you used the word faction," Misty replied, smirking.
Ash stopped grinning. "That's cold…"
"So, what do we do?" Riolu asked. "If they're trying to beat people up, we need to stop it, right?"
He took a stance, and his paws seethed with blue fire. "Protecting the weak is exactly what an Aura wielder should do!"
"Thunder Wave is exactly what a Pikachu should do," Pikachu retorted, lightning crackling around his cheeks.
About half an hour of fighting later, culminating in a big battle in the middle of town in which Pikachu used Thunder Wave a lot, the leaders of the Yas and Kaz 'Gyms' looked downcast.
"What were we doing wrong?" the Yaz leader asked.
Ash glanced at Brock and Misty. "Can I try?"
"Go ahead," Brock invited.
Ash took a deep breath. "Because, uh, firstly, Gym Leaders are supposed to protect their area, it doesn't come up much these days but it's still important. They're meant to be capable trainers who reflect their type philosophy. They're meant to test people in competence and skill, and how they follow that philosophy, and it means people are supposed to make it a core part of who they are. Gym Leaders mean a lot to everyone they interact with, and that can be thousands of people a year, so the reason they get paid is so they don't have to do anything else with their lives – even with how many Pokémon they need to take care of."
He counted under his breath. "I was missing one… oh, yeah! And you don't attack people in the street!"
"That's a good summary," said a woman in the crowd, revealing herself to be a Joy. "But this really hasn't worked out for either gym."
"Nurse Joy!" Brock said, then Misty used Horsea to hose him down.
"Huh," Riolu observed. "That's variety for you."
"I like to feel included," Horsea said, burblingly.
"I did have this idea, though," Ash said. "There isn't a Dark gym in Johto, right? So what about if you both make a Dark gym together? And there's a single badge, but you both give out half of it, so the person challenging the gym has to see past the fake arguments!"
The two leaders glanced at one another, then shuffled closer.
"How likely do you think this is to work?" the Yas one asked.
"More likely than we are to get away without serious punishment if we don't accept," the Kaz one replied.
The friends looked at the carnival.
"Skip it?" Misty asked.
"Skip it," Ash agreed. "Sure, Sir Aaron's hat would protect me, but it's not foolproof, and I don't feel like being recruited by a magician today…"
From there, they reached Mossgreen Village.
"This place is so small it doesn't even have a Pokémon Gym," Brock said.
"...huh?" Misty asked, baffled. "Brock, I don't know if you've ever noticed, but lots of places don't have Pokémon Gyms. We went through Cherrygrove City together, didn't we? That place has no gym either, and that's just for starters."
Brock held up the guidebook. "I'm reading the description in here!"
"What is that, anyway, the Overstimulated Pokémon Trainer's Guide to Kanto?" Misty asked.
Then looked at Ash.
"Uh… no comment?" Ash tried.
"We should stop here anyway, though," Brock advised. "We've got some things to pick up."
As it turned out, Brock's memory was a bit better than his friends, and he remembered exactly what they'd been doing when they visited Mossgreen Village the previous time.
They'd helped out a trainer called Cassandra evolve her Paras into Parasect, mostly through having the timid little Pokémon experience victory in the occasional battle.
As for why Brock hadn't just explained that…
"Brock, when you said that we had some things to pick up," Misty said, firmly. "That does not mean girls."
Brock wheezed something incoherent.
"Who wants to help?" Ash asked, looking down at his belt.
Charizard came out. "I heard something about a battle?"
"Yeah," Ash agreed, beckoning Charizard a bit closer. "Though you do have to lose, if you think you're up to that?"
Charizard folded his arms. "I know how strong I am, and that's all that matters with strength."
"Really?" Ash asked.
"...no," Charizard admitted. "But I can pretend, right?"
Ash chuckled, then Brock – who seemed mostly recovered from having Misty use Fish Throw on him – walked to the side of the makeshift battlefield. "Paras against Charizard. Go!"
Charizard roared, spreading his wings and flapping them, and blasted a jet of flame into the sky.
Paras said something like "ras!" and trembled in place, hiding behind its claws and glancing out with terror.
Charizard kept roaring, and blowing flame into the sky.
And kept going.
And going.
"I think you're supposed to attack," Misty advised.
"Oh… oh!" Cassandra said. "Of course, sorry. Paras, Bullet Seed!"
Paras screwed up its courage, and spat out a single Bullet Seed. It hit Charizard in the chest, and he promptly and dramatically collapsed.
It was quite a good collapse. He actually jumped a little way into the air when he was hit, then his tail sprawled out on the ground first followed by his hind limbs, then his back and forelimbs. One of his wings flapped up stiffly into the air before relaxing as he finished crashing to the ground, and his tail sprang up to flop back on his other side.
"Don't overdo it," Ash muttered.
Paras glowed, and evolved into Parasect.
"Oh, thank you!" Cassandra said, smiling. "Though… I'm afraid I don't have a medicine that can help your Charizard. There's no cure for overacting."
"I'm not appreciated, that's what it is," Charizard snorted.
"Are you sure this is the way we came last time?" Ash asked, looking between Dexter and the surrounding terrain.
Yes, Dexter stated bluntly. Blame yourselves, not me. I'm just providing you with accurate information.
"This is a desert," Ash replied. "In Kanto."
Your ability to get lost would be proverbial, if anyone ever noticed.
"Right," Ash said, shading his eyes. "Hmm…"
He closed them, then, turned to his right, and blinked. "Oh, huh. Either we're closer to Grampa Canyon than I thought, or I have no idea how this reminding thing works."
"You spotted someone?" Brock checked.
"That's right," Ash agreed. "Come on, guys, let's go!"
About a quarter of an hour later, in a patch of forest near Neon City, Ash crouched down.
"Hey, this is going to be weird to hear," he said, to the Pokémon hiding behind a bush. "I don't want to hurt you, but I've got some things to say that will help you."
Jigglypuff peered out from behind the bush, but didn't say anything.
"Firstly, I know you like singing," he said. "And your singing is really good. The problem is, it's the move Sing, which puts people to sleep, and that means they don't stay awake to hear your whole performance."
Jigglypuff contemplated that for several seconds, then nodded.
"And, secondly… we knew one another, in the future," Ash went on. "For a while, anyway. And I've got this weird thing I can do, where I… sort of remind you what that was like. And I'd like to do that for you… then, there's this guy we met with a Pokéflute, and Pokéflute music actually wakes people up. So it'd be a great way for people to hear your whole song."
The Normal-type thought about that, puffing up and deflating a couple of times, then nodded.
Ash patted her on the forehead. "There you go."
She blinked a few times, scowled, screwed up her mouth, then coughed. "I've still got a sore throat!"
"Wow, I can understand you!" Ash said. "That's great, maybe I'm almost where I can understand all Pokémon – uh, right, fruit juice… Brock, do we have any fruits or fruit juice?"
"He's off shopping," Misty replied. "Pidgeot took him."
"Huh," Ash replied. "That makes sense. Anyway, uh… we'll get you to that Pokéflute guy as soon as you want – then, maybe we can test it in Neon City? Those guys need some rest, I think..."
"And… here we are!" Misty said, folding her arms behind her head. "Grampa Canyon. I've been waiting for this for a while."
"I… haven't, not so much," Ash winced. "Don't get me wrong, Misty, I know why you're looking forward to it, but I mostly remember being dropped in a hole and then hoisted through the air by an Aerodactyl."
He glanced down. "Uh… yeah, I hoped that was the case. Togepi's egg is down there, but the fossils are far enough away. I hope."
"So, what happens if they aren't?" Brock said.
"Pikachu," Ash replied. "And Riolu, since they're all Rock type, right? I might need Riolu's help with the Kabutops, anyway."
Brock looked puzzled at that, but then someone got their attention with a wave. "Ash-y! Hey, good to see you!"
"Gary?" Ash replied, looking up, and waved back as his rival came over. "I like the look. Very, uh… there's a word for it… pail something?"
"Palaeontology?" Gary asked. "Yeah, that's about right, Gramps sent me over to check on how this stuff is going. Plus, you know… if someone asks you when you did your fieldwork, you can't say 'yeah, in the future', so it's all helpful."
He waved his hand. "And just because there's modern Aerodactyl now doesn't mean we know everything about how they lived."
"Huh," Ash said. "Oh, look out for the underground cavern I fell into last time, there's some living fossils down there and last time they caused a lot of trouble. Just, uh, make sure nobody uses dynamite?"
"Who even did that, anyway?" Gary asked, distracted. "Fossil hunting with dynamite was something they used to do, sometimes, but nowadays we know all it does is either bring down the cliffside on top of you or let you find a single fossil scattered in tiny bits over a wide area."
Team Rocket, Dee explained.
"...figures," Gary decided. "Are those guys crazy, or what?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Brock said.
"Oh!" Ash realized. "Gary, there's a professor somewhere to the north who's got these projectors that work for Porygon?"
"Already got one sorted out," Gary replied, holding it up. It was simpler than Dexter's, a sort of purple-red sphere about two centimetres across.
After a moment's pause, Ash nodded. "Okay, I'm going to go and find Togepi. Come on, guys."
"When he says guys," Misty began. "Do you think he means us?"
They watched as Ash left.
"Probably not, then," Brock decided. "So, those Shieldon I saw you with in Sinnoh? How did they get on?"
"Oh, not bad," Gary shrugged. "We found out loads of neat stuff about their family dynamics, which I can't cite now…"
Gary was halfway through talking about how they could work out the ages of fossil Pokémon, and how it was actually really complicated, when Ash came back to join them.
He was carrying his backpack in his hands, instead of on his back, and Misty's gaze went straight to it. "Is that-"
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "Riolu put the egg in there. I think I can control it now, but… I didn't want to bring her back while you weren't there to greet her."
"Thanks, Ash," Misty smiled. "You do think of the right thing sometimes."
"Now that's praise, Ash," Gary said.
"Yeah, she's harsh, but… fair, sometimes?" Ash said.
Brock nodded. "Most girls I'd fall for straight off, but Misty…"
He stopped, and they all looked at her. She was starting to produce a visible blue flare of Aura, which given her level of skill relative to Ash was a bad sign.
"Hmm," Gary said, stroking his chin. "I suggest… restore her Pokémon and then run."
"I agree," Brock said.
Ash knelt down, unzipping his bag as he went, and touched the eggshell with a palm.
Then all three of them (along with both Pokémon) made tracks.
For Misty's part, she wasn't even really angry.
Oh, she had been… they'd gone a bit too far… but, well. Misty had had many Pokémon, and they'd been allies and friends. But little Togepi, who'd grown into Togetic before their parting and then Togekiss while Ash had been in Unova… she felt like a daughter.
"Hello, Misty. It's been a while, but I don't mind. I'm just glad to see you again… mom."
Misty blinked tears out of her eyes, and spread her arms. "Just… come here, you."
The Flying-type floated forwards, and Misty gathered her into her arms, and everything was all right.
A few days later, in a really rather nice district of southern Kanto, Ash looked up.
"Huh," he said, frowning. "Why are there helicopters going overhead? There's loads of them."
Togekiss angled herself up slightly. "Should I go and find out?"
"Well, uh…" Misty began. "You can sense emotions, right? I think I remember that came up."
"A bit," Togekiss replied.
"Then… well, stay safe, okay, sweetie?" Misty asked. "I'm not going to keep you from doing anything, but don't forget to be careful."
At about the same time, James hid in a gazebo.
"You have to be kidding," he said.
"Wish I was, James," Meowth said, hiding in the ceiling of the gazebo.
"I wonder what she wants you for," Jessie muttered, hiding under cover on the other side of the gazebo.
"That's cold, Jessie!" James protested.
"Well, think about it!" Jessie replied. "Look at that! That's a dozen helicopters at least, it's a private army! We've never been able to afford anything like that."
"Yeah!" Meowth agreed. "Best we can do is one massive impractical giant robot at a time, that's way less money than a bunch of helicopters. So how much could she really get from takin' all of yours, even if your folks are rich?"
"Oh, who cares!" James wailed. "Now there's nothing I'll be able to do to get her off my back!"
Jessie considered, then brightened. "Oh! You could show her you're not interested in women? That might work!"
James looked at her oddly. "But I am. What gave you that idea?"
Meowth fell off the gazebo ceiling, and brought out a list of events, mannerisms and speech tics. "Ya want to go through all the evidence, or shall we go with da highlights? Let's start with dat Moltres costume of yours-"
"That's not evidence!" James protested. "You can be camp without being gay, strange without being queer, and sometimes you just do have a friend called Dorothy! You can't discern someone's orientation from completely irrelevant details like that!"
"Well, you've never shown the least bit of interest in such a beauty as me!" Jessie replied. "Honestly, I don't mind, it keeps us friendly."
"That's self-preservation," James said, but he was frowning in thought. "So could we pretend I'm not interested?"
"She'd probably just take it as a reason ta cure you," Meowth opined.
"Oh, it's no use," James sighed, reached for his Pokéballs, and sent out Abra. "Let's just shove off to Cinnabar until this quiets down."
bink
All Togekiss could tell was that there were a lot of men up there in those helicopters, and that none of them felt happy at all about the situation.
Still, it didn't seem to be anything to do with them, so they continued on their way… at least, until they were walking down the road, and as they turned a corner a Farfetch'd stepped out in front of them.
Riolu immediately sprang down from Ash's shoulder, and stepped forwards. "I challenge you to a duel! I want to see how I've improved since the last time I battled someone who uses weapons!"
Farfetch'd thought it over, then nodded, and raised his leek.
Riolu formed a bone with his Bone Rush technique, taking the time to reinforce it in the way he was sure Cubone had done, and Pikachu loped over to the side of the path.
"First to three touches," he said. "And I want a clean match!"
Both Pokémon barely reacted to Pikachu's voice. They simply stared at one another, stances ready and feet slowly shifting, until-
A twig fell.
They charged at one another, leek meeting bone with a snapping impact.
Farfetch'd stepped back first, using the force of Riolu's push to spin out of the way and fire an Air Cutter from his leek as Riolu went past. The Fighting-type barely managed to dodge in time, then countered the next Air Cutter with a Vacuum Wave that negated the increased air pressure from the Flying-type attack.
"What about this is a clean match?" Pikachu demanded.
The closest thing to a reply he got was that Riolu's and Farfetch'd's weapons collided close enough to him to knock him backwards into the nearest bush.
"Wow, they're really going at it," Brock said.
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "I trust Riolu, though. It's just a spar until they start using elemental attacks."
A green flash lit his face for a moment as Farfetch'd used Leaf Blade, then Riolu countered with a combination that left his bone glowing blue as it slammed into the ground just next to Farfetch'd.
"Well?" Brock asked.
"Maybe when they start hitting with them?" Ash tried.
Then his Fighting-type went flying as Farfetch'd landed a Night Slash, only to shake it off and try charging his bone with electrical Aura.
Brock nudged Ash. "Everything you've mentioned so far has happened."
"Yeah, but I don't actually want to interrupt Riolu, and if I come up with another reason that might happen too..."
Pikachu walked unsteadily back into the clearing. "That's right, folks, in this finals match between Pikachu and Floor, the winner is…"
Ivysaur came out of his Pokéball, snapped out a vine, and caught Pikachu before he collapsed. "Okay, who used Dizzy Punch?"
Squirtle came out of his Pokéball as well, glasses at the ready. "Not me, but I'm here for a piece of that action!"
Ash took Dexter's projector from his pocket. "Mind keeping track for them?"
Stand by, ready. Set up.
The digital Pokémon materialized. Not at all. I'm impressed, they're not ganging up on one another.
"Yeah, I don't think that's what Squirtle or Riolu would do, and you can't gang up by yourself," Ash shrugged.
Good point, well made.
Squirtle snapped his shades around behind his back to block a blow aimed for his tail, then duplicated them with a flash of Aura to do a high cross-guard and catch Riolu's bone. "Hey, hey, HEY! Listen up, you two! I'm the mighty Squirtle, of the badass Squirtle Squad whose reputation echoes across Kanto! When they talk about its badass leader, they're talking about me! And there's no way you'll get me with a simple attack!"
Riolu used his bone for a Rock Smash, splintering Squirtle's duplicate set of pointy shades. "What about a Fighting attack?"
"Irrelevant!"
Farfetch'd ducked, appropriately, then swiped across Squirtle's shell with an attack that did nothing.
"Ha!" Squirtle cheered. "My manly spirit has protected me!"
"That's Fury Cutter, isn't it?" Riolu asked. "So it'll just get more powerful each time."
Angry at Riolu for revealing his trick, Farfetch'd switched his attention to the Emanation Pokémon and began a mixture of Fury Cutter, Fury Attack and Frustration.
He was very angry.
Squirtle sighed, then threw his arms out to each side.
Water bubbled up, surrounding both arms. "Looks like I'll have to calm you two down! And even though I can't think of a good speech right now, I'll still do it! Double drill break!"
Squirtle went rocketing up into the air, and Farfetch'd watched him as he reached the apex before coming back down.
"Does he do this all the time?"
"Yep," Riolu sighed. "Nice meeting you, by the way. Good spar."
The nearby trainers retreated to higher ground away from the subsequent wave of water.
That included Farfetch'd's trainer, who until then had been mostly thinking about how his Farfetch'd was apparently good enough that using him to try and rob people was probably a waste or something.
He'd also been thinking about apostrophes.
"Well, that went well," Misty said, sitting on a tree trunk, and wrung out her socks.
"It's sort of funny watching you do that," Togekiss said. "I know in the Togepi Kingdom they didn't like getting wet, but you're a Water trainer."
"That's true, but my clothes can't take being damp all the time," Misty replied.
"Ohhh," Togekiss said. "Yeah, I wasn't really paying attention when I was with you before…"
"That's all right," Misty replied, putting her socks and shoes back on, then reached up to pat Togekiss. "We get a second chance at it now, don't we?"
She frowned. "Actually… speaking of that, didn't you hatch around this time?"
"Maybe?" Togekiss said. "Yeah, actually, I think you're right!"
"Well, let's make your birthday something to remember," Misty decided.
AN:
Jessiebelle. A gold digger who can hire a private army.
Well, nobody said it had to make sense.
And with regards to the technology issue, I think that Pokemon mostly do still outmatch machines in the setting - film villains notwithstanding.
One notable rewrite change is handling Jigglypuff more sensibly.