CHAPTER 424: YELLOW’S CHOICE

Anyway since i missed yesterday, here is an extra Chapter, and since people asked

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Yellow was breathing heavily and sweating. She looked across from her as Dody landed one final attack, a [High Jump Kick] into Wilton’s Nidoking. It dealt a good bit of damage, but Nidoking was still standing.

"Not bad, Yellow. But my turn, [Return]," Wilton commanded.

Nidoking raised his fist and punched down on Dody’s middle head, sending the bird crashing into the ground, knocked out.

Yellow bit her lip and held out Dody’s Pokéball. "Dody... return..." she said softly as the bird vanished back into its Pokéball.

It had been a while. Over that time, Yellow had been learning to fight in her own way, which had... mixed results. Right now, this was the best battle she’d had. And right now, this was Wilton’s last Pokémon. Unfortunately, with Dody down, she was down to her last one too.

Yellow looked down at Chuchu, who nodded at her expectantly. Yellow was nervous, but Chuchu wasn’t. Even without being told, Chuchu ran onto the field and stood across from Nidoking.

"Alright... we can do this," Yellow whispered to herself, then raised her voice. "Chuchu, use [Sweet Kiss]!"

The little Pikachu dashed forward with surprising grace, leaping up and planting a glowing, heart-shaped kiss right on Nidoking’s snout. The massive Poison-type staggered back, blinking as sparkles circled around his head.

Wilton raised an eyebrow. "Confusion, huh?"

Nidoking swayed, letting out a confused growl as he tried to refocus.

Yellow didn’t wait. "Now, Thunderbolt! While it’s dazed!"

Chuchu’s cheeks sparked violently, then unleashed a blast of lightning that slammed into Nidoking. But when it hit... it didn’t do much. Actually, it didn’t do anything, since Nidoking was a Ground-type.

"Uhh, Yellow, did you forget type matchups?" Wilton asked with an amused smile.

"Uhh... sorry, it’s just, I remember seeing Ash—" But she was cut off when Chuchu threw a spark at her feet, snapping her out of it.

"R-Right! Let’s try again, [Iron Tail]!"

Chuchu nodded and dashed forward, running toward Nidoking. But Wilton quickly called out, "Nidoking, [Earth Power]!"

Nidoking was still dizzy, but he raised his hand and aimed to punch down. He was starting to fall over from the confusion, but the punch was still coming down on Chuchu.

Then, without needing a command, Chuchu jumped up and used Nidoking’s arm like a platform, running up it and slamming him in the face with [Iron Tail].

The hit echoed across the battlefield, a heavy clang of impact followed by a rumbling grunt as Nidoking staggered back, his massive form swaying under the blow.

Wilton narrowed his eyes. "Alright... now you’re just showing off."

Yellow blinked, surprised at how fluidly Chuchu moved. That wasn’t just an attack, it was instinct. Experience. Trust.

"Good girl, Chuchu!" Yellow called, a bit more confident now.

Nidoking growled low, still confused and dazed from [Sweet Kiss], his punch having gone wide. The confusion sparkles still lingered, dancing around his massive horn like mocking fireflies.

"Chuchu, again! Another [Iron Tail]!"

Chuchu’s tail glowed bright silver once more as she spun around for another strike, this time aiming for Nidoking’s knee.

—

But Wilton, shaking off the moment of daze, barked back, "Shake it off and counter with [Poison Jab]!"

Nidoking roared and lunged forward with glowing, purple-coated claws, but at the very last second, he tripped over his own tail in his dazed state and slammed face-first into the ground instead.

"Oof..." Wilton winced, rubbing the back of his head. "Okay... maybe don’t shake it off just yet."

"Now, Chuchu, while he’s down! [Quick Attack]!"

A burst of motion, Chuchu vanished in a blur of speed and slammed into Nidoking’s chest, sending a ripple through his body. The giant Poison-type twitched and groaned as the last of the confusion haze sparkled away.

"That’s the way, Chuchu!" Yellow called, her voice trembling slightly, but not with fear this time. With excitement.

She didn’t know when the change happened. If you asked her when she started out, she would have said one thing: she hated battling because she didn’t like seeing her Pokémon hurt, and she didn’t like hurting Pokémon.

She didn’t even realize when she stopped doing it because she felt like she had to, and started doing it because she was finally starting to have fun. But she had a good idea of who taught her how.

She clutched her fists close to her chest. "Let’s go again, [Quick Attack], then another [Iron Tail]!"

Chuchu’s body blurred into motion, zigzagging as Nidoking swung an arm, still reeling from confusion. But Chuchu dodged, zipped under the arm, and jumped up, then, with another leap, the silver light from her tail slammed into Nidoking’s chin again.

This time, he dropped to one knee.

Wilton’s hand twitched at his side. He didn’t speak. He just looked, looked at Yellow, and a smile formed on his lips.

Nidoking snarled, confused, staggering up again.

"All right," Wilton finally said. "Let’s see if you’re ready, Yellow. Nidoking, [Poison Jab]!"

Nidoking lunged forward, claws glowing with purple light.

"Chuchu, dodge and counter with [Double Team], now!" Yellow quickly commanded.

Chuchu backflipped as the jab came down, a fake clone took her spot. When Chuchu landed, five more clones sprang out and began circling Nidoking.

Wilton raised an eyebrow. "Not bad. But I’m sorry, it’d be unfair to you if I didn’t go all out. Nidoking, [Earthquake]!"

Nidoking raised his tail and slammed it into the ground before Chuchu could stop him. When it hit, the ground began to quake, and jagged stones erupted beneath each clone, and under the real Chuchu. They slammed into all of them, destroying the illusions and launching Chuchu into the air.

"Oh no, Chuchu!" Yellow cried as Chuchu’s body crashed in front of her feet. But even as she lay hurt and beaten, Chuchu pushed herself up off the ground, breathing heavily, but refusing to go down.

Yellow’s hands shook slightly as she fought the urge to let a tear fall. "Chuchu... why are you working so hard..." Then she thought back to all her Pokémon. All of them had given it their best. "Why... are all of you working so hard...?"

Yellow knew she wasn’t the best trainer. Not the best battler...

She clenched her fists tighter, her trembling fading, as she looked down.

"Okay," she whispered, then steadied her voice. "Okay, Chuchu... just a little more."

And even with all her flaws... her Pokémon believed in her. Every single one of them. And that made Yellow feel better than any victory ever could, because she knew she had them.

Yellow looked up as her eyes started glowing faintly yellow.

"Uncle Wilton... I think I have an answer to what you asked me a long time ago. I finally know what I want. And right now, I’m going to find out everything, with or without you!"

Wilton looked at Yellow, then smiled. That’s what he was looking for, but he didn’t say it, not yet.

"All right then," he said, stepping back. "Show me, Yellow. Show me how far you’ve come!"

Yellow felt her heart pounding. She could feel the thrill, the not knowing if she would win or lose.

*Ba-dum**Ba-dum**Ba-dum*

And right now... she wasn’t scared.

Because she had already won, in her own way.

"Chuchu! [Thunderbolt]!"

But Yellow didn’t aim at Nidoking directly.

"Hit the ground under him!" she commanded.

The blast launched , not at Nidoking’s body, but at the stone beneath his feet. The electric surge slammed into the rocky floor, and in a split second, it detonated. With enough force, the electricity cracked the stone, sending it shooting like a railgun straight into Nidoking.

The explosion launched Nidoking into the air. He was wide open as debris rained around him, the force of the shockwave knocking him around like a ragdoll. Then, when he finally hit the ground, it was face-first, his eyes spinning in a spiral.

Silence.

Yellow blinked. She hadn’t even realized she was holding her breath.

Then she looked at Chuchu.

"...We did it," Yellow whispered, then beamed as joy flooded her. "We did it!"

She ran forward and scooped Chuchu up into her arms, spinning her in the air.

"We did it, we beat Uncle Wilton!"

"Chu!" Chuchu squeaked with pride, nuzzling against Yellow’s cheek.

Wilton watched them... and smiled. He started clapping slowly as he walked up to them.

"Wow. You really have grown, Yellow," he said. "You beat me. For real."

He smiled again, but this one looked a little pained, like he was remembering something distant.

"Okay, Yellow... I made you a promise, didn’t I?" His voice softened. "I’ll tell you absolutely everything I know. But the rest... is up to you."

—

Meanwhile...

Ash, Molly, and Green were chilling on the couch. It had been nearly a month since everything, and the Silver Conference was finally starting.

Gary walked behind the couch and flopped over it, laying down. He’d come back a few days ago, and they’d been hanging out since.

Pikachu, fully recovered from using up all his electricity, was back to normal. But for now, he was curled up by the couch, resting peacefully.

On the TV, the first matches of the Silver Conference were starting, showing off all the registered contestants. Ash and Gary were already signed up, so they didn’t need to check in, their matches were already scheduled.

But they wouldn’t fight until the Top 32.

This year was special. After the early rounds, the hundreds of initial matches, there would be an exhibition tournament featuring Gym Leaders before the final championship bracket.

So in other words: First, all the early rounds. Then the Gym Leader Tournament. Then the final battles until a Champion was crowned.

Simple enough, right? Should be.

"Man... these are kinda disappointing," Gary mumbled, watching the screen.

Ash shrugged as Molly sat comfortably in his lap. "Yeah, well, in their defense, they’re not us."

Green leaned against the armrest, lazily watching the screen. "I still say I would’ve beaten both of you if I knew we could use our big moves. You guys suck for not telling me."

"You got third, Green," Ash said. "That’s still impressive."

"Besides, we never said you couldn’t," Gary smirked. "That’s on you."

"I’m still salty," Green muttered, sipping her drink.

Molly climbed off Ash’s lap and took his hand, placing it gently on her head. She looked over at Green and smiled.

"I still think you were cool, big sis."

Green smiled warmly and reached over to hug Molly, nuzzling her cheek with hers, "Thank you, Molly. You’re the only good one."

"Haha, stop, please! That tickles!" Molly giggled.

Ash smiled at the sight, his fingers absently ruffling Molly’s hair as Green smothered her in affection.

"Alright, alright," Ash chuckled. "If you two get any cuter, I’m gonna have to leave the room before I get diabetes."

"Good," Green said with a smug grin, finally releasing Molly. "Then I can finally have the whole couch."

Gary snorted. "In your dreams."

Ash sighed and looked over at Gary. "By the way, I’m surprised Professor Oak still isn’t here. Do you even know what he’s doing?"

Gary shrugged. "I dunno. I think he said he was going on a trip for research, then I think he got sidetracked. He’s probably at the League with everything going on. I dunno."

"Meh," Ash and Green said in unison.

"Welp, I guess we don’t really have much going on," Gary shrugged. "You wanna do something? I’m bored."

Ash shrugged back. "We could, like... battle or something."

"Nah. There’s no one around I can sell tickets to," Green muttered.

"You never gave us royalties on those," Ash said flatly. He didn’t need money, it was the principle.

Green looked away, mock-innocent. "Well... maybe battles wouldn’t be so bad, you know."

Ash rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I’m not really in the mood. I’m not exactly a battle junkie."

"Could’ve fooled me," Green and Gary said in unison.

"Hey, I resent that," Ash huffed. "I like relaxing just as much as everyone else."

Gary chuckled. "Well, don’t worry about it. I mean, just looking at the battles, they’re kinda pathetic. And I’m not trying to be rude... but this is just kinda... pathetic."

"Meh, are you surprised?" Ash said. "I mean, we came here knowing Johto was weaker compared to Kanto."

Green huffed. "Okay, rude. But fair. But counter, what about the good people? Like Silver," she added, looking offended, like she’d personally trained him. Which, to be fair, wasn’t far off. Green had kind of lovingly kidnapped Silver and claimed him as her little brother.

"I never said there weren’t strong trainers, just that there are more weak ones," Ash shrugged. "Yeah, I guess Silver will be hard to deal with... if we even fight him at all."

There was a bit more back and forth, casual laughter filling the room, until Ash’s smile slowly faded. He was still smiling, but now it looked like he was only doing it because he had to.

"Hey guys, I’m gonna go do something," Ash said simply, picking up Molly and gently placing her on the couch in his spot. He stretched his arm casually, scooping up Pikachu and Vee.

Gary raised an eyebrow. "You’re going out? Now?"

"Yeah..." Green crossed her arms. "Are you sure you’re okay?"

"I’m fine, really. I’m just going to do something. I’ll be back in a bit, don’t worry," Ash said, as Abby appeared next to him. He held on to her, "Bye," he added, then teleported away, leaving them sitting there.

—

[Meanwhile, in the Johto Team Rocket base]

The Masked Man walked down the hall. It was time to act.

His sources had tracked something down, something he’d been waiting for. And now, he planned to claim it... by any means necessary.

He looked down at the photo in his hand. It showed Kurt’s little house, and beside it was the object of his focus: a picture of the GS Ball.

"It is time to make our move..." the Masked Man muttered as he stepped away from his computer to grab his Pokémon.

But he didn’t notice that, behind him, hidden in the vents, a small drone was watching his every move.