Ron the True Fan: Short, yes. Filler, no. I've been busy making vids. Because more vids, more time to write.
Takeshi Yamato: Just wish he could slow down a bit, but no, Ron's going like Spaceball One.
(LUDICROUS SPEED! GO!)
Ron the True Fan: TAKE'S BRAINS! ARE GOING INTO HIS FEET!
New Bark Town - Johto Region - 1620 hours local time - Day 365 of Ash Ketchum's Pokemon Journey
So many Pokeballs. He had to get ONE. Then he could prove he was a worthy trainer and-
Vun-vun. …What was that?
Vun-vun. …Oh, NO.
CHOMP! "Gible!"
The crash caught Ash's attention as he looked up from the forms Professor Elm had given him to sign. "Sounds like Gible found something to chomp." he said, as the little lava-colored shark sharked off a while back after they went inside.
Elm himself looked outside and scowled. "Him again?!" he exclaimed before going outside. Ash finished signing the forms, putting them on a desk before going to see who it was, finding a red-haired boy in a purple jacket on the ground with the little lava shark attached to his head.
"I've run out of patience involving you, boy!" Elm snapped. "I'm going to get the cops to deal with-"
"An overly curious young man who wants to see what Pokemon are available before going in and seeing if he can get one." Ash cut in, shutting Elm up, Ash gave the younger boy a glance. "Right?"
The boy blinked a few times before finally saying something. "…Cousin Ash?"
Wait, WHAT? "Cousin?" Ash asked. He didn't have any…wait a minute…"You're Giovanni's son?" Oh this was NOT something he wanted to deal with.
Becca poked hre head out of the lab, having Natu-ported over to Johto half an hour before. "Silver?" she asked, confused. At least that gave Ash a name to work with. "What are you doing here?"
Silver stood up, pulling the shark off his head. "...Cousin Ash got it in one." he said. "I just wanted to know what the starters were before I went inside. But the professor won't let anyone in unless they have official business and he has rabid Houndoom protecting the lab-"
"To protect the starters from thieves like you!" Elm interrupted. "I'm going to call the police."
Ash cursed his nature. "No, you're not." he said. "Arresting him for being curious is ridiculous. Now, if he acted on it and stole one, THEN you could. But he hasn't done anything."
Elm STARED at him.
"Now… why don't we go inside? You're the same age as my little brother, so I can take you as a student." Ash said, making Elm gape at him and Silver continue to stare. "Come on."
The redhead ran in, ignoring Elm's protests before the lava shark ran back to Red, who pet him and Charmander as the Kantoan starter tried to play with the Cyndaquils, Chikoritas and Totodiles.
The grass-types, of course, were wary, but Charmander WAS trying to be playful.
"Wish Cyndaquil was here." Red said, before clarifying. "Quilava's baby."
Misty chuckled. "Well, she doesn't want her baby dragged into our chaos," she said before seeing Silver. "And who is this?"
Ash patted Silver on the back. "Silver Sakai. Giovanni's son, our cousin." he introduced. "He was looking in the back, trying to see what he wanted to ask for as a starter. Elm just got the wrong idea and thought he was a thief." Ash gave Silver a pointed look. "Right?"
Silver nodded emphatically. "Y-Yeah, that's right," he answered. His cousin gave him an out. He was taking it.
Ash knew Silver would've stolen one of the starters if he had no choice. Elm wasn't giving him one unless Ash forced the issue.
Well, Ash made his bed. It was time to lay in it. "Well, pick out the starter you want, I'll go deal with the Professor," he said before going to deal with the professor.
Who was irate. "Are you serious about-"
"Professor, eventually, he would've stolen one," Ash said, thoroughly tired of this. "Better that he get one under supervision. Besides, he means well."
Elm scoffed. "And you'd know this how?" he demanded.
"I spent time training with the ninjas at Fuschia and spent a LONG time practicing how to read someone in two sentences," Ash said, dropping a few casual hints that that wasn't the only thing he learned from Fuchsia's assassins.
Elm dropped it at the idea that Ash could sneak in and kill him without being detected. Ash didn't bother to correct his thought. If it meant they got out of here faster, so be it.
"Dile!" 'That tickles!' cried a Totodile, Silver holding the little guy in his arms. Ash smiled.
At least there was something nice about this timeline.
Meanwhile - Outskirts of New Bark
The Rocket Quintet - or TRio+BC - used to be heavily employed by Patel, meaning stealth was something they knew well. Archer being a relative of Koga helped, half-trained as he was, passing that skill to others.
Which meant, when translated to their new jobs as bodyguards, they were good assassins.
The bodies, most certainly, were hitting the floor as bandits were dropping like flies, waiting for the fat bounties coming out of New Bark to Cherrygrove.
They may have been incompetent in the thievery role, but they were EXCELLENT assassins. And it showed.
The towns and cities were well protected with mines that even wild Pokemon knew to avoid, but the trails were filled with bandit groups, almost harkening back to the old feudal era.
Fortunately, travelers were well armed, with both guns and Pokemon to deal with the bandits. The bandits escalated.
Shadow Pokemon kept their numbers in check, of course. No one survived for long out there. But the point of the matter was that banditry flourished in Johto thanks to the fall of the government almost 70 years ago.
So the idiots were going to be getting a workout. At least they were earning their pay.
"Must you?" Jessie asked their uncaring, malevolent god.
The better question is, must YOU? Be incompetent and generally moronic, that is.
"You prefer competent villains. WE GET IT." Butch snapped.
Competent villains that only fail due to minor oversights the heroes exploit. You are a raft of stupid ideas only kept around because people found you funny and the writers for the anime literally could not replicate you in the other teams. And if I hadn't been outvoted, your asses would be in a ditch in Kanto.
"And what's stopping you from doing the same in Johto?" James asked.
Because I actually HONOR the votes taken.
It was a staredown between monsters with jaws that roamed the sea and land.
CHOMP!
…OK, it was a staredown between Silver's new Totodile and Lava Gible that ended as all Gible encounters go. With a chomp.
Red chuckled as he pet the land shark, who eyesmiled happily. He refused to catch Lava Gible, but it felt wrong not to take the little guy along. Still, Silver needed to ball Totodile, so he tickled Lava Gible's belly, making him giggle.
This made him let go, then Silver balled Totodile.
"So, when is class going to be in session?" Yang asked Ash, smirking.
Ash was not amused. Yang noticed. "Come on, teach! Muster up some excitement!" she declared.
Ash raised an eyebrow as the girls giggled. "I'll try to muster up some enthusiasm, but don't get your hopes up," he said dryly.
Ruby pouted. "You sound like my dad." she groused, not noticing the wince in her disappointment.
Weiss, however, did. "Ruby! Er hat seinen Vater durch einen... Unfall verloren…" she said, slipping into Eastern Kalosian.
Ash translated that for a second before snorting. "An accident." he repeated, "Right, getting burned by a Shadow Ho-Oh is an 'accident'."
He had double the daddy issues. Abandonment from the first timeline, getting his dad burned alive shielding him in this one.
He hated this timeline.
The next day - 1147 hours local
Johto's roads were absolute garbage. The only thing that would allow even remotely good travel were large stones in the road, which were effectively fused to the bedrock… which compensated for the fact that when it rained, which was a common occurrence in Johto, the dirt roads turned into a sticky, sucking mud.
Foot travel was impossible otherwise. But even then, it was highly recommended that when the rain started, you stopped and waited a few days for the mud to dry out and become moist, but solid, dirt instead of…
"It's a liquid ocean of shit!" Kyoji exclaimed as the rain turned the mud into just what he described near New Bark, barely four kilometers out of the town.
"I suppose the carriages WERE necessary after all," Ash said, somewhat dumbfounded as they took shelter off the road as the rain fell. "Anyone have a Pokemon that knows Sunny Day?"
Serena, holding a pink parasol, held up a hand. "I got it." she said, releasing Delphox, who clearly did not like the rain herself and used the move to disperse the rain. "So, how long until the ground dries out?"
"Three days," answered Silver, Serena glaring at him. "What? I have personal experience! I was born here!"
"No one's accusing you of anything, Silver," Ash said, giving a pointed look to Serena. "Just means I can see what all of you got." Then a baseball hit him in the face.
…Didn't he run into Casey a few days from New Bark? Because he knew it had to be her.
"Guess you got a strike." Yang joked. Ash was neither amused nor in the mood as he picked up the ball, followed by a Chikorita with a headband emerging from the bushes.
"I'm going to guess your trainer went to bat?" Ash asked before Casey's yellow-clad form emerged from the woods, pausing before she stared at Ash.
"Holy crap," she whispered. "You're-"
"Don't. Please." Ash cut off before holding up her ball. "This yours?"
Casey nodded before he tossed it to her. "Wow. A League champion. And your cheerleaders!" she exclaimed, looking at them. Yang glared at her. "...You're new."
"Yeah, I'm more his student than a cheerleader!" the blonde snapped. "Besides, the guy helped save my region!"
Kyoji muttered something about 'that was on me', Neesha patting him on the back.
Cassy laughed. "I kinda want to see how far it'll take to get to your level, Ash!" she declared, Ash smiling at her earnestness. Ah, to be optimistic again.
He MISSED that.
"My brother would destroy you," Red said, confident and proud. That gave Ash an idea.
"Why don't we let my brother have his first Pokemon battle against you?" he suggested. "We have time until the road can be ridden on again."
"The old baseball field's perfect! They did the same thing there that the roads got, but there's a LOT more rock." Casey suggested. "I even have a plan for my Ratatta to beat your Charizard! Send him out first!"
Charizard was unamused.
A Focus Sash-using Rattata. In theory, that, along with its' innate abilities, should allow it to face off against a Charizard and win.
There was just… one problem with that.
"LAND AND TAKE YOUR HIT LIKE A MAN!" Casey yelled at Charizard.
The Charizard had to be ON THE GROUND for it to work as Rattata couldn't jump up to 100 meters. There was a limit to what they could do. Even a Raticate would have problems getting to 30. All Charizard had to do was stay in the air and he'd be untouched.
"Your Rattata has abilities Charizard doesn't have and he's not wearing a power-boosting item." Ash pointed out. "Should I call that cheating?"
Casey stared at him… because he had a point. Didn't mean she was happy about it.
Fortunately, Charizard was merciful and didn't Blast Burn it. He just used Flamethrower.
"The only advice I have is to get a ranged attack," he said. "Hyper Beam's a common one."
"With a long recharge time and poor accuracy," Casey grumbled.
"I can't tell you every option. I've never had a member of that line." Ash said, making her glare at him.
"Maybe Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Rock Smash?" Red suggested, getting her attention. "Quick Attack's a good option for fast moves, but not a heavy hitter. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam hit at range and are pretty accurate."
Casey looked at Red, then blushed. "That's a good fit," she said.
"Why don't you and Red have a practice match?" Ash suggested. "Starter on starter."
Max chuckled, knowing Casey's starter was a Chikorita. Red had a Charmander. By all accounts, this would be easy.
"GO RED!" Ruby cheered, SOMEHOW pulling out a little flag with his face on it as both took their places on the field and Ash moved off to the side to watch.
"Let's kick his ass, Chikorita!" Casey declared, her grass-type taking to the field before Red sent out a Pokeball and released Charmander.
"YOU HAVE A CHARMANDER?!" Ruby exclaimed happily. "Me too! Mine's a different color-"
"Ruby! Calm down, girl!" Yang said to her sister, who looked put upon and pouted before the two trainers faced off.
"Razor Leaf!" Casey ordered, deciding to keep Charmander at range until she could gauge what he could do.
"Don't let them hit you, Charmander!" Red ordered, the little fire lizard jumping to one side.
Ash could recognize a family trend. Red was fighting like him. And from what he could remember from his memories in this timeline, Bell used poison-types with the same bias towards speed and evasion.
…Who did they get THAT from? Their mother or father?
That aside, it was a showcase of inexperience vs inexperience. Red had some visual aids, but he wasn't as experienced as Ash.
"That's enough," Ash called, Casey giving him a look before Red returned Charmander. "We're a long time from a Pokemon Center. No need for anyone to get exhausted."
"My brother's got a point, Casey. Besides, you gave me a good run for my money." Red complimented, not noticing a faint blush on Casey's face.
But Serena DID. and she started making a soft, evil cackle.
'New targets acquired. Target lock: Casey!' Jade declared, having a new target in mind. But she wasn't snagging her for Ash. Too young.
No, Casey belonged to Red. She just had to… guide them to their fate. Same with the Ferran girls and Weiss.
"Not exactly an epic showdown." Yang quipped.
"Well, they're not seasoned vet trainers, sis! You weren't any better!" Ruby retorted.
Her blond sister flinched. "Yeah, well, Chimchar has a lot to learn about brawling," she said, looking away from her sister. "Could be worse. Could be Miss Icy over there with her Glaceon that can't fight."
"She can fight! She just hasn't had much reason to!" Weiss protested. "And she's my only Pokemon."
Serena had much work to do to get these four… READY. Misty sighed at her reaction. "She's at it again…" she complained.
Route 29 - Near Cherrygrove City - 0747 hours local time - Day 372
The sucking mud had hardened, allowing the three-cart convoy to finally get on the move. A journey that, 60 plus years ago, would've taken a day with properly maintained roads and rain ditches, took a week.
That said… the bandits were waiting. And there were rumors Ash Ketchum was with this new group. A literal royal ransom.
Which these poor bastards would never get thanks to countermeasures Kyoji insisted on as two were stung by a Beedrill, which had never seen action in a gym battle, stinging them both.
Beedrill were not a common Pokemon in Johto: even the pre-evolved versions rarely popped up. But there had to be a message. Their antics would not be tolerated. So the rest of the gang would suffer a more… musical fate.
"Jiggggggglypufffff~" sang the Balloon Pokemon, with Staraptor keeping her aloft in his claws as he chewed on a chesto berry, but the effects were still there. And for the first time, Jigglypuff actually saw the effect as Staraptor almost fell out of the sky.
And their would-be attackers fell asleep, then into a stream that had flooded thanks to the heavy rains.
"Puff." 'You just used me as a weapon.' the balloon groused.
"Rap." 'Not my fault your use of Sing is an area-of-effect instead of directed.' the bird-of-prey retorted. And it wasn't. That was pre-reset, too. At least now it was being used on people that were literally the scum of the earth. Most bandits didn't turn to banditry because they needed to feed their families or anything noble, they did it because they wanted to get rich off travellers moving between the towns and cities.
The only reason Ash even allowed this to happen was because they weren't interested in talking or negotiation. Ash was plenty reasonable. Kyoji, meanwhile, went 'fuck them, they want to rob us, so we'll deal with them for everyone elses' sake'.
Staraptor let Jigglypuff go, the balloon Pokemon floating down before landing in the hands of Anabel. Jigglypuff felt a pang of guilt at that realization. She killed Anabel for nearly two minutes thanks to a Thunder Punch.
Anabel patted her on the head. "You weren't in control," she said, knowing why she tensed up. "You couldn't stop yourself."
That only made the puff ball feel slightly better. Maybe Ash could find a way to include her in a gym battle. Humiliating someone by singing them into oblivion might make her feel better.
Cherrygrove - 3 hours later
The loud cackling got their attention. Ash knew THAT laugh. "Surge," he said. "What's he doing here?"
Kyoji looked at Ash as he got the wagon bulls to stop, ready to transfer them out for another trio. "Surge? Isn't he the electric gym leader from Kanto?" he asked, not having met him during the whole Orre debacle, as he was busy causing all kinds of hell in the other settlements. "Isn't this a little outside his field of authority?"
Ash agreed, but decided they'd find out. Besides, there was a Pokemon Center in town. They could get their Pokemon checked up on after seeing what Surge was up to.
Curiosity that turned to concern as there was a brief lightning storm. Ash decided to deal with it with two of his anti-electric heavy hitters.
Surge was having a little fun. Who could blame him?
His rusty and trusty Magneton did his thing… then he got a Gible to one of his faces with a chomp.
"Mag." 'Statement: GET THIS GIBLE OFF ME!' the rusty creature demanded.
Surge, however, was in the middle of a minor freakout as a Krookodile stared him down.
Sandile 'nam flashbacks. They ain't fun. (WHACK!)
"Lieutenant!" called a familiar voice, snapping him out of it as Ash Ketchum and his squad of cheerleaders walked up, along with a new one.
"Becky! You finally decided to try and get laid, huh?" Surge said, crass and blunt, making the girl blush and look away while Ash glared at him for it. "Oh, take a fucking JOKE, Ketchum."
"Everyone's seemingly trying to, so no." Ash retorted, giving a look to his starter, who grinned back at him. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Johto's electric gym leader doesn't have the grade needed to go zapping every flying-type around into submission." Surge answered. "With the Purify Chamber's rediscovery and Ransei's helpin' make the damn things, Clair asked me to start zappin' everything in sight."
"And you're not in the gym, why?" asked Kyoji Akamura, who Surge hadn't met in Orre.
"Kinda obvious. The Kanto League is off this year." Surge answered. "Kanto and Hoenn share the same year. Johto and Sinnoh are next up. Unova and Kalos do the year-round thing. Galar doesn't do a cycle."
"So, you're cleaning up Johto while someone else is helping Kanto?" asked the pretty dark skinned girl - Iris, Surge assumed - as Ash's Gible finally sharked his way back to his trainer.
Surge chuckled humorlessly. "Kanto's a solid region and we've been trying to keep the numbers low for years to varying degrees of success." he answered. "Johto's a feudal shithole where no one teams up because everyone else will band together and attack them and then go to war over the spoils."
"That is dumb." Ash opined.
"That's politics, kid." Surge corrected, though not disagreeing with him on the sheer stupidity of it all. "You're gonna have to deal with that eventually."
Kyoji patted him on the back. "At least royal politics are easier," he said. "You just have to make a bunch of nobles happy. Or in your case, use an army of Pokemon to overthrow them."
"Ransei was a VERY different case." Ash snapped, not clearly not happy about what happened there.
"Well, good luck with your conquest!" Surge joked, Kyoji chuckling at the same joke that Ash clearly did not get.
Lance was using Ash to peacefully conquer Johto. No one liked MAD.
Ash's only reply was simple but understandable.
"I need coffee."
Entry 125: Silver Sakai
Son of Viridian City Gym Leader Giovanni Sakai, nephew to Delia Ketchum and cousin to Ash Ketchum, Silver is younger then Ash. While he is family to Ash, it is clear that he is not royalty, as Giovanni and Delia have both touched the Staff of Sir Aaron, but it had no reaction, meaning it was Grimsley Ketchum that was the undeclared prince before his son.
Silver has never met his cousins, but wants to.
Entry 126: Lava Gible
While it is universally accepted that Gible is paradoxically adorable, as sharks do not lend themselves to being cute, the new Ranseian shiny nicknamed 'Lava Gible' due to a red, orange and yellow coloration that reminds people of lava takes the cake.
Son of a Ranseian male Gible and a normal Sinnohan Gible, the shiny gene was reintroduced into Ranseian Pokemon, resulting in the unlikely birth of a shiny Ranseian Gible who gained the nickname due to gaining two active egg moves: Flamethrower and Fire Fang, which led to the gaining of the nickname.
The scientific community makes this clear: in spite of his coloration and preference for fire moves, the shiny is a Ranseian Gible, meaning he is a ground/electric-type, NOT a fire-type.
Ron the True Fan: Johto proper! And a fun fact: I'm NOT doing any of the goddamn filler episodes. The guy doing the Danmachi Abridged series said it best. WE HATE FILLER CONTENT. And guess what? I try not to DO filler. Faufreluches for the fucking win. There's a place for everything and everything's in its place.
Takeshi Yamato: And Red's Harem grows by one, plus the 'Rival' in GSCHGSS joins the party. Serena/Jade is going to have a lot of fun… Not to mention, THE RETURN OF HK-MAGNETON!
Ron the True Fan: And answering questions from Orre. I keep saying I wasn't happy with Orre, yet you won't give me the time to deal with it, demanding more Johto.
Takeshi Yamato: That's probably about as annoying to him as his speed with this is to me, so PLEASE GIVE HIM A BREAK!
Ron the True Fan: Cold day. Hell. Instead of demanding updates, sub to my YT channel. And if you already are, spread the word to someone who likes SOT, but has no idea how to support my work. And you might just enjoy the vids, too. Link's in my profile.
Takeshi Yamato: I especially hope you enjoy our Tethys Shipyard Series, where we convert Star Trek Online spaceframes into the Star Trek Adventures tabletop ruleset.
Ron the True Fan: Well, the torture continues. (Take: NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!)
Ja Ne!