Welcome to Chapter 8 of Pokemon Re:Dux! So I've had a clear outline of the events that should be happening in the timeline since chapter 3, but this in my opinion is the start of where things get interesting! For all who didn't know, 8 is my lucky/favorite number! (probably because I was born on 8/8 and I just like how the number looks) The whole Intro arc should end around chapter 15, so let's follow Retsuko after his meetup with Carmen, Gill, And Jackson! How will things go between Retsuko and Carmen? Only time will tell.
2025 - Vertress City: Unova League Semi-finals
Retsuko sat in the audience, next to Via and Kion, spectating a Pokemon League match.
In the semifinals of the 46th annual Vertress Conference, Kyu and Gill faced off against each other for the final time that year.
Retsuko remembered the day vividly as if it were yesterday.
The two boys on the field were rivals, and the battle was supposed to be the deciding showdown, but it was during that time that Moé had completely taken over Kyu's body for the first time since the 3rd team Plasma invasion.
Gill had just sent out his trump card, a small Dedenne named Spike.
Spike fired off an electro ball at Nagtatae, as the Mimikyu used her claws to completely shut down the attack.
Moé looked at his opponent aggressively, and Gill looked him dead in the eye.
"Have it your way!" Moé shouted.
"Kyu..." Via said nervously.
She held her hands together and had a worried expression.
Retsuko clenched his fists, feeling the exact same way as her.
Gill got into a fighting stance, mimicking that of his Dedenne's and closing his eyes, connecting his mind to his Pokémon's.
Spike gathered electric energy as it practically teleported over to Nagatae, kicking up a trail of dust and wind in a straight line.
Spike slapped Nagtatae and knocked her straight into one of the stadium walls with a powerful Iron tail.
Nagatae pulled himself out of the wall and charged at Spike, who hit the latter with an equally powerful and very effective Play rough.
Thanks to its incredible speed, Spike was able to easily dodge the incoming Shadow claw, and land safely.
Spike was then slammed deep into the stadium floor by a powerful Shadow ball that Nagatae charged in the palm of her Shadow Claws.
Gill's expression grew way more serious.
Spike and Nagatae began to partake in an all-out clash of speed and power.
Each movement of Spike was causing sonic booms and every blow that Nagatae made could be heard from miles away.
The audience was being blasted with all this force and energy, and Via was holding onto her seat for her life.
"I don't like his odds," Kion said worriedly.
Retsuko remained silent, showing no reaction to the intense bout occurring in front of his eyes.
Kion never showed any true emotion, so it was hard to tell what he was thinking.
"Gill! Beat him and get our Kyu back!" Via yelled, still struggling to keep her grip.
Retsuko could feel it.
Everyone was just as terrified as he was.
Spike jumped back and began to charge even more energy than before, electricity crackling around his tiny body.
Gill stood silently, completely focused on the battle.
He opened his eyes, as the electricity around Spike spread to cover the whole stadium.
"Charged Thunderbolt!" Gill shouted.
Spike gathered the electricity around him and shot it at Nagatae.
"Wood hammer," Moé replied with a corrupt voice, as Nagatae enlarged her tail and covered it with green energy.
When the attacks collided, they made a large shockwave, endangering the audience further.
The glass barrier that was made to protect the spectating viewers shattered.
"Better." Moé applauded in response to Gill's attack.
He was then met with another thunderous attack, which this time completely obliterated Nagatae, and grazed Kyu's cheek.
The attack blew a hole into the stadium wall.
Moé paused, shocked by the sudden attack.
He came back to his senses, and now he was just plain pissed.
He smiled, the grin stretching all the way across his face, showing his extremely sharpened teeth.
It was nightmarish.
"I'LL KILL YOU! NAGATAE, SHADOW BALL!" He yelled, the scream sending chills down the spine of everyone watching.
Gill took a deep breath in response and Spike disappeared with its speed again.
He jumped into the air and prepared to crash into Nagtatae, but it was too late.
In a tenth of a second, Nagatae had created a shadow ball the size of the arena, engulfing Spike in the energy.
Gill stood in front of the blast, frozen.
He felt like a Deerling in headlights, as the split seconds passed like frames of a movie.
A massive explosion consisting of Shadow energy and lightning let off, basting the audience with the wind.
Retsuko, Kion, and Via were all praying to Arceus himself that what they thought wasn't true.
The outcome of the battle wasn't anything they imagined.
...It was ten times worse.
The blast had left the battlefield in ruins, and Spike lying unconscious, battered and bleeding.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
On the opposite side of the stadium from Kyu and Nagatae rested Gill.
It was a sight straight out of a horror movie.
Gill had been impaled through his chest by debris, was covered in burn marks, and his normally messy ginger hair was covered in ash.
The remaining audience went silent as if time froze.
"N-No..." Retsuko said in shock. He was paralyzed in fear.
Via covered her mouth with her hands and gasped.
"K-Kyu... Did... That?" She squeaked.
Kion couldn't believe what he was seeing.
His closest friend.
His traveling companion for almost three years.
He couldn't believe it.
For the first time, Kion Diaz showed real emotion.
...Fear.
"Gill!" The entire stadium shouted in disbelief.
2027 - Unova, Star City District 8
"Retsuko."
"Retsuko..."
"Retsuko!" Kion said, snapping his fingers 3 times.
"Oh yeah, my bad," Retsuko replied.
"I've been calling you for like 20 seconds. You doing alright?" Kion asked.
Retsuko smiled weakly while glancing at Carmen.
"Never Better." He lied.
Kion began to lug Carmen's sleeping body as he walked through the district with Gill and Retsuko.
Retsuko glanced at Carmen again and his eyes slightly twitched. He reached into his pocket for the phone that he had put back earlier and opened up his Yammper app. In his bookmarked post were what looked to be hundreds of saved threads from Two years ago, right after Retsuko won the Unova League.
RetsuK_Official
2.3 Years ago
A video of an interview done by a reporter in a lavish-looking room played on the screen.
The lady sat on the couch next to Carmen, who was 14 at the time.
"I'm here with the up-and-coming pop artist, Carmen Diaz!" The reporter said happily as she clapped her hands together.
Carmen did the same and laughed.
"I'm glad to be here!" Carmen replied with the same energy.
"Let's cut straight to the juicy bits! There have been some rumors going around that you were in a serious relationship with the new Champion of Unova, Retsuko Kourada. Is this true?"
"It is true. Retsuko and I were a couple during our time together on our journey through Unova. But serious is an overstatement."
The reporter's expression brightened in curiosity.
"Overstatement? How so?"
"We were just kids in a dumb relationship that barely lasted. I mean Retsuko practically begged me to get with him originally, and when I told him that I couldn't stay in Unova if I wanted to start my singing career, he tried to force me to stay." Carmen explained.
"That sounds terrible." The reporter said with a gasp.
"He constantly texted me trying to get me back, followed me around, stalked me digitally, and sent hate messages to me online. I regret the relationship. He was immature. We both were."
"Oh, I see. Is this experience what your new album is based on?"
"Yep! Check out my new album, 'Abusive Love' on Spinda-fy - Out tonight at 8 pm!" Carmen said eagerly.
The video ended.
Retsuko scrolled down his bookmarks to a saved group of threads.
One of them read:
PretentiousPikachu93: Did you see that interview that Carmen Diaz did on Retsuko Kourada? What a fucking loser!
LuckyLatios85: lol. The Idol Carmen?
PretentiousPikachu93: Yeah! She dated the champion Retsuko.
LuckyLatios85: I don't know what she saw in him. He's alright looking I guess but he was such a fucking asshole to her. That breakup was well deserved.
Thousands of saved threads of people bashing him because of the interview, the constant judgment of the world on him based on one interview that got blown out of proportion by fans.
One thing can bring down the wrath of the entire internet on you, and Retsuko learned that the hard way.
Pair that drama with the experience of the Unova Pokemon League, The loneliness of not having any friends in reach, Gill's injuries, and team Plasma and you have a recipe for depression.
Retsuko turned to Gill.
"I'm glad to see you walking again." He said tenderly.
Gill stretched his body outwards and bent his arms behind his head.
"I'm feeling way better than I ever did before! Science is incredible bro! I would have been a straight goner if I hadn't gotten there sooner!" He said.
"You said you came here for a battle. Are you and your Pokemon even in proper condition for a battle with your injuries?" Kion asked, readjusting Carmen on his back.
"Most def," Gill said confidently, flexing his arm.
He snapped his arm back and jumped around at a streak of pain, and started to flail around.
"Ahh, Shit! Cramp! Cramp! Cramp! Frick that hurts so much!' Gill cursed.
Kion smiled and patted Gill on the back.
"You haven't changed at all." He said happily.
Gill turned back to Kion with tears in his eyes.
"I'm suffering here, man!" Gill wailed.
"Just get Spike to shock your arm back to normal," Retsuko said sarcastically, turning to the small Dedenne.
"Oh yeah, that's a great idea! Spike! Give me everything you got!" Gill said, jumping up and holding out his arm.
Retsuko popped up and pushed Gill to the side.
"WAIT NO DON'T I WAS JOKING, STOP, STOP!"
As Spike shot a powerful burst of Lightning, Ace jumped up and flung it away with his tail.
"How are you such an idiot?" Kion asked Gill.
"At least this part of the City isn't very busy right now," Retsuko said, looking around at the severe lack of people. "If it was, we'd be surrounded by fans and paparazzi."
"Speaking of that, who are you and Carmen here to battle?" Kion asked.
"You don't know?" Gill asked.
"We don't know what?" Retsuko asked Gill.
"We're all having an exhibition match for Star Fest. That Madame Aether lady decided to hold it early this year." Gill explained.
Kion's expression changed from confusion to pure, undeniable rage in a matter of seconds.
"SHE WHAT?" He shouted.
"What the heck is Star Fest?" Retsuko asked again.
"I need to go speak with that witch! Retsuko, watch Carmen for me!" Kion said, tossing Carmen into Retsuko's hands and dashing off in the direction of the League Hall.
"What just happened?" Carmen asked, slowly waking up.
"You don't know what Star Fest is?" Gill asked Retsuko.
"Clearly I don't because if I did then I wouldn't be asking," Retsuko replied.
"Star Fest is like- The biggest Festival in the world! They have had it every two years ever since this city was made in 2019! They always start it off with a massive parade showing off the City's advancements n' shit, and then they have a big Pokemon battle with really popular people!"
As Gill continued to explain, Retsuko's eyes opened wider and wider.
This is exactly what he and Kion warned Asther not to do. First team Plasma attacked the Pokemon League, then The Orakuru attacked the Plaza. And why the heck out of all people would Asther invite Carmen to the exhibition match? She isn't even a trainer. It makes sense why he wouldn't know about it because the last time it happened was the April before Retsuko had arrived in Unova for the league, but he still resented himself.
This just didn't add up.
Carmen could see the confusion on Retsuko's face.
"You're the champion of Unova and you didn't know about any of this?"
"I don't get out much," Retsuko replied to her.
Gill's Poketch watch went off and he looked down at it.
"Shoot. We have to find that hotel we're staying at soon because I don't know about you Carms, but I wanna get up early and train." Gill said, hopping up and down.
Carmen rolled her eyes.
"Is battling all you care about, you Smiling battle Lunatic?" She said, pulling on Gill's cheeks in annoyance. "I wanna stay out and explorrrreee!" Carmen whined.
Gill eventually pushed her away and backed up.
"Yeah, but I need to go find where this hotel the people set us up with is. You know my sense of direction is screwed." Gill said, turning around and walking in the opposite direction.
"Now which way is left?" He questioned out loud.
"It's that way," Retsuko said, pointing in the direction of the leftmost street.
"Oh, thanks," Gill said in appreciation, before turning in the wrong direction and going right.
"It literally says it on your watch, go left!" Retsuko shouted out to Gill, before running over and chopping him on the head.
"Bonk," Retsuko said as he hit him. Then he turned Gill in the right direction, and Gill started walking.
"See ya, Lovebirds!" Gill said in a carefree mood as he walked off.
"We're not lovebirds!" Retsuko and Carmen shouted in unison after turning around.
The two of them paused and found themselves alone together in an awkward empty street.
Buizel and Ace sat silently amongst the awkward pair, not knowing what to say or do.
Carmen gazed at Retsuko's soft facial structure and dark blue eyes. Then to his long and soft but shaggy hair that was being held up in a spiky mangle of hair with two long groups of strands hanging in the front. Then to his body, and a clear difference of height between the two of them.
Carmen looked away in embarrassment.
"You've... Grown." She squeaked.
Retsuko turned to her, not hearing what she said.
"What was that?" Retsuko said.
Carmen cleared her throat and turned to Retsuko, standing as proudly and confidently as she could.
"You've honestly had a major glow up since the last time I saw you. You're actually kinda hot now." She said.
Retsuko stopped his entire body. His breathing ceased, and so did his movement, but his heart began to beat at an extremely fast rate.
A slight pink hue began to appear on his face and he smiled weakly.
"I can't let myself get flustered. Don't let it go to your head, don't let it go to your damn head, Retsuko!" Retsuko mentally screamed at himself.
"Same to you. I mean- not that you weren't attractive before, but you've gotten even more pretty, but I mean that in a completely platonic way and-" Retsuko scrambled.
Carmen cracked into a burst of laughter.
"Retsuko. We're cool, right?"
Retsuko gave her a look of confusion, and Carmen rephrased.
"Are we still on good terms? After the whole breakup and that interview I did? I know that you got a lot of backlash for that because people took it too far, and that song I made didn't really help."
Retsuko smiled.
"Yeah, we're cool. The experience helped me look back at who I was in Unova and grow as a person. Also, I really like your hair." Retsuko said, changing the subject.
Carmen caressed a strand of her pink hair and smirked.
"I like to have options." She boasted.
Carmen and Retsuko kept walking until they found themselves in Star City Central Park.
It's like they both knew where to go without even thinking.
It was late, around 8 pm, and the moon shone through the trees and cast a shadow on a single bench.
Carmen frowned.
"Remember how... we used to date?" She asked.
Retsuko brandished the same expression as Carmen.
"This is where I confessed to you," Retsuko said, his voice low.
Ace and Buizel sat there in complete silence, still not knowing what to say or do.
They sat there for a good amount of time.
Retsuko took a breath as he thought about everything that had happened during the two years he'd gone as Champion without any friends to lean on.
"This is getting kinda stale, so I'm gonna just leave-" Carmen said but was interrupted by Retsuko walking up to her swiftly and pressing his lips against hers.
Initially, she was surprised, but Carmen embraced it, leaning in and allowing herself to fall into the comfort of the kiss.
Ace moved his tiny paw up to Buizel's eyes to stop her from seeing but Buizel knocked it out of the way, engaged by the sight of them.
When they stopped, Carmen held Retsuko by his shoulders so that they made eye contact.
"Next time, give a girl a heads up before you do something like that," Carmen said, smiling.
Her face lacked any surprise or embarrassment as if she's known that the two of them would end up kissing that night.
"Remember when we broke up, you said I wouldn't have the balls to kiss you?" Retsuko said arrogantly.
Carmen rolled her eyes. "I remember it sounding a lot meaner and aggressive than that, but I'll admit; You are a good kisser," Carmen said.
"That was my first kiss," Retsuko said in a flustered realization. He slapped his cheeks with his palms and crouched down.
"Like I was saying, I think now would be a good time to leave. I'm 100% sure that Gill's dumbass still hasn't found the hotel we're supposed to be staying at. And you have a match to be training for." Carmen reminded.
Retsuko sat back up, and his gut quenched in frustration at Madame Asther.
"I'm frustrated at myself for not knowing about Star Fest but I'm even more frustrated at Asther for having it in the first place. Why Gill and Carmen? What happened with Via earlier? Does she know something that we don't or is she genuinely trying to do this for the 'betterment of Unova'?" Retsuko questioned.
He looked up to Carmen.
"Yeah, I agree. See ya later." Retsuko said, waving to her as she walked off.
Carmen turned on her phone and called Gill, who to nobody's surprise was still wandering the streets of Star City in search of the hotel.
She ran in the direction he was, screaming something along the lines of "You fucking idiot, it said go right not left!", leaving Retsuko with his Pokemon.
"How did I go from being scarred by our previous relationship to making out with her in the middle of a park?" Retsuko questioned.
Ace and Buizel looked up at him, wondering what to do next.
Retsuko looked at them and sighed.
"Well, that was... Eventful."
Retsuko dragged himself back to his apartment and opened the door to find Kyu and Via playing Video Games and eating a strange dish of rice and berry stew with a side of Mareep.
A terrible scent filled the apartment, causing Retsuko to pinch his nose as he walked over to the couch and plopped down on it.
"What's up Retsuko?" Kyu said, turning over to him but then turning back to the Tv screen after his Character took damage.
Retsuko didn't respond but took out Buizel's Pokeball from his pocket.
He couldn't stop his head from rushing to all the events that had taken place in the past two weeks. The Orakuru attack. Him being a Gijinka. Kyu, Via, Carmen, Gill, and Kion coming back into his life for good. That burst of fire that Via created that nobody but him seemed to be able to see. The Star City Festival. His exhibition match. That Buizel. That Buizel...
Retsuko turned to the Buizel who was off playing around with Ace and His Lycanroc, his mind deadset on the ability she'd used prior.
The Blade of water...
Something about it felt extremely important to him. She hadn't had a full grasp on the move. Something felt wrong to her.
Retsuko popped off of his couch and put Buizel's Pokeball in his hoodie pocket.
"Come with me guys," Retsuko said to all of his Pokemon, who reluctantly got up and followed him out of the apartment door.
"Where are you going?" Via asked, but didn't get an answer.
"What's his problem?" Kyu questioned. "Hey!" He shouted as Via beat him for a literal 100th time that day.
Via put down the controller and looked at the door worriedly, resting her head in her arms.
Retsuko and his team of Kuu the Decidueye, Rio the Lycanroc, Ace the Alolan Rattata, Hai the Goodra, Sol the Volcarona and Zwe the Galvantula along with Buizel walked out into a field near Retsuko's apartment where he would commonly train.
"Alright, guys! I know battles have been easy for us lately so this seems like it's not needed, especially since it's late right now. But we have a battle coming up." Retsuko said, pulling out his phone and showing his team the date of the event.
He urged them all to look at Buizel, who was a new sight for half of them.
"We have a week Until the Star City Festival. This Pokemon right here is one of us now.
From now on, Buizel's name is Kaz. And together, we'll be teaching her Iaido."
2027 - Sinnoh, Unknown Temple
An Elderly man walked out to the balcony with his Toxicroak.
"Shall we?" He said to the pokemon.
Toxicroak walked over to Daffodil and they joined hands.
Purple and black energy began to swirl around them, like a maelstrom of poison.
Toxicroak was absorbed into the energy and all of it flowed into the man, changing his appearance.
The Human-Toxicroak Gijinka showed itself to the moonlit world.
It jumped into the air and spread its arms, generating a large purple construct resembling a scroll, and flung the giant Sludge Bomb direction of Star City, all the way to Unova.
Asther stood with her Serperior in front of a large window in her penthouse, with the best view of the beautiful Star City below.
The purple scroll flew in their direction at a high speed, becoming visual to Asther and Serperior.
Right before the scroll broke the glass and would have hit Asther, Serperior reached out with his tail and seemingly caught it through the glass, opening it so that Asther could see.
Asther bent over and read the contents of the scroll and closed her eyes, standing back upright.
She turned to her Serperior and back to the glass, in the direction of The Sinnoh Temple.
"Very well then."
A new Gijinka has appeared! What does this mean for Retsuko? After letting go of his past with Carmen, what will he have to face next in this Exhibition match? And Kaz the Buizel will be his participating Pokemon. She'll have a lot of catching up to do, that's for sure!