Pokemon: Radical Redux-Chapter 320: Mister Eye

Cynthia being here made Ash realize which episode this was. He had forgotten about it because he had skipped most of Journeys, but now, seeing her, he remembered what was going to happen.

However, one thing stood out, why did she look so young? In both the anime and the games, she was implied to be in her twenties, with most people agreeing she was around 21. But right now, she lookd about 15 or 16.

As Cynthia inspected some artifacts, the few people around her gazed at her with admiration, some even blushing just from looking at her.

Brock was no exception. His eyes turned into hearts as he stared at her. "Wow... it's Cynthia," he said dreamily.

Misty elbowed him in the side. "Yeah, it's her, but what's she doing here in Johto?"

"Um, wait... who's Cynthia?" Yellow asked. Unlike the others, she didn't know much about things outside of Kanto.

Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, well... she's Cynthia. She's the current Champion of Sinnoh."

Of course, he kept up with what was happening in other regions. He knew that Cynthia had only recently become Champion, but beyond that, he didn't know much about her. In fact, this was the first time he was seeing her, not just in person, but in general. He had never even come across a photo of her.

As Ash debated whether he should just walk away, Brock suddenly vanished. They all knew exactly what he was doing. When they turned back to Cynthia, there he was, already on his knees, holding out a bouquet of flowers.

"I can't believe such a beauty like you is all the way here in Johto! Have you traveled from Sinnoh just to steal my heart? Because if so, you've succeeded!" Brock declared with his usual lovestruck expression.

Cynthia was momentarily taken aback by Brock's extreme display of affection. She had been hit on before, but never like this. She didn't even know how to respond.

Thankfully, she didn't have to. Misty came out of nowhere, launching herself at Brock and kicking him in the face. He fell forward onto the ground as Misty grabbed him by the ear and began dragging him away. "I'm sorry, Ms. Cynthia. He's not right in the head," she said apologetically.

Cynthia blinked in surprise as Misty hauled Brock off. Ash sighed and stepped forward. "I'm sorry you had to see that. My friend can get a bit... let's say excited when he meets girls."

"Y-yeah, we're really sorry for troubling you," Yellow added nervously, bowing slightly. Pikachu and Chuchu, perched on Ash and Yellow's shoulders respectively, gave tired nods.

Cynthia's expression softened as she reached out and petted the two Pokémon. "It's all good. No harm done, I'll just take it as a compliment."

Then, her gaze shifted back to Ash. She studied him for a moment before rubbing her chin. "Do I know you...?"

Ash blinked. "Eh?"

Cynthia frowned slightly, tapping her chin. "I don't know why, but... I feel like I've seen you before."

Misty and Yellow looked at Ash in confusion, and then Misty narrowed her eyes at him, like he was hiding something. "Ash...?"

"I didn't do anything!" Ash protested defensively.

Cynthia suddenly snapped her fingers. "Now I remember! I saw you at the Indigo League!"

Ash, Yellow, and Misty blinked in surprise. Misty lifted a finger, about to say something, but then stopped. "That... actually makes a lot of sense."

"But... aren't you from Sinnoh? Why were you watching the Indigo League?" Yellow asked.

"Oh, all Champions are required to watch the leagues in each region in case we find talented individuals. And I've got to say, you certainly caused quite a stir with the other Champions," Cynthia said matter-of-factly.

"Uhh..." Ash blinked owlishly, glancing at his friends, who looked just as surprised. "Thank you?"

"Don't mention it. Well, you already know who I am, but I suppose I should introduce myself properly," Cynthia said with a small smile. "I am Cynthia, current Champion of Sinnoh. Nice to meet you."

"Hey, I'm Ash, this is Yellow, and that's Misty," Ash said, pointing at each of them in turn. Then, he gestured behind him with his thumb. "And that one is Brock. Don't worry, he's fine, he's had worse."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you all," Cynthia said warmly.

Pikachu's ears twitched as he waved. "Pika Pika~"

Cynthia chuckled and patted his head again. "And a Pika Pika to you too," she said as Pikachu leaned happily into the head pats.

Chuchu, however, pouted slightly, looking away from Pikachu and crossing her tiny arms.

Pikachu tilted his head in confusion. "Pika? [What did I do?]"

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

But Chuchu ignored him.

Misty, still slightly flustered at meeting someone so famous, hesitated before asking, "So... uh... what brings you here today? I mean, here in Johto? Not that you can't be here, it's just, well... you're a Champion and all."

"Well, you see, my real specialty is archaeology. I study Pokémon history and myths, and I'm also investigating extremely rare Pokémon. Normally, I travel across different regions, exploring ancient ruins. That's why I'm here in Johto," Cynthia explained.

"Really? Which ruins are you interested in?" Brock asked. He had finally recovered, standing back up, though his ear was noticeably swollen. As a Pewter City Gym Leader, part of his duties involved taking care of the museum, so ruins and history interested him too.

"I'm looking for the Sinjoh Ruins," Cynthia revealed with a smile. "I heard about them, but almost nothing is known, which makes them all the more intriguing."

Ash kept a neutral expression, but internally, he was screaming in panic. Of course he knew what the Sinjoh Ruins were. And because of that, he also knew that if something happened, he might be in serious trouble. Still, he decided to stay quiet.

Brock put a finger to his chin. "The Sinjoh Ruins... Can't say I've ever heard of them."

Cynthia nodded. "Neither have I, which is why I'm so interested. But then I heard about this town, a place where it's always night. I knew I had to come see what was going on."

"You too? We came here, and everything feels weird. I feel like taking a nap, but we just had lunch. I don't know how people here live like this," Yellow mumbled.

"No, Yellow, that's just you," Ash said, patting her head.

Yellow had a habit of taking naps, a lot of naps. If she wasn't doing anything, she'd do one of two things: draw or sleep. She didn't really know how to train her Pokémon; they trained themselves.

In fact, with her current team, if she didn't use her special abilities, she'd probably be around the four Gym Badge level after a year of traveling. It sounded low, but in reality, that was above average.

It only seemed unimpressive because she was constantly compared to prodigies. But she wasn't bad at training at all, most trainers couldn't get that strong in a year. Besides, Yellow didn't need to train the normal way. Her unique powers handled the rest, even if she couldn't control most of them. She could barely use low-level telekinesis and wasn't great at reading minds either.

Yellow blushed at Ash patting her head and calling her out on her habit, burying her face into Chuchu in embarrassment.

"So anyway, do you think you have an idea? Because we do," Ash said, deciding to reveal their theory.

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. I can't say I have any leads myself, but please, do tell. What is it you think you've found? I'm certainly interested."

"Well, we think it has something to do with Unown," Ash revealed.

Cynthia's playful smile faded, and she fell silent.

"Unown, you say..." she murmured, as if confirming what she'd just heard. "I've recently started looking into them after reports of sightings all across the world. But I didn't expect I'd actually see them here."

"Yeah, we've run into Unown before. They made a real mess of things," Misty added.

Cynthia rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Interesting. I've heard they possess a secret strength, but I don't know much about it. What exactly did they do?"

"Well, the Unown have a unique power," Ash explained. "If they spell something in their language, it becomes reality. So we think some Unown came here and spelled 'NIGHT,' and that's what's causing this endless darkness."

Cynthia's expression grew serious as she started piecing things together. "I see... And do you believe they came here on their own? Or do you think someone brought them here?"

"No, I think they were drawn here by a little girl's strong emotions," Ash said.

Cynthia crossed her arms. "Then, tell me everything. What's your full theory?"

So they did. The group explained what they had learned about Tiara and their belief that her powerful emotions had attracted the Unown, causing them to grant her wish, to make it night forever so she could always look up at the sky and search for Cleffa.

Cynthia listened carefully, nodding as she processed the information. "Interesting. The idea that the Unown granted that little girl's wish is definitely a possibility."

Then, standing up, she looked at them with determination. "I think I'd like to meet her and talk to her myself. Let's get going!"

"Y-you're coming with us?" Yellow stammered in surprise.

"Of course! I'm invested now. Surely that's not a problem, is it?" Cynthia smirked, as if daring them to object.

The group exchanged glances before shrugging.

"Alright, let's hurry," Ash said.

"But first, let's make a stop along the way," Cynthia added, raising a confident finger.

—-

{A Few Minutes Later}

Tiara and her mom were walking to the park again after shopping for groceries when they heard familiar voices.

"Hey, Tiara!" Ash called out as the group approached.

"Ohhh, it's you guys again!" Tiara said happily.

"Did you come back to look at the stars again?" Misty asked.

"Yeah! Mama said I could since we finished early!" Tiara replied, bouncing a ball off her foot.

Then, Cynthia stepped forward, carrying a small box. "Would you mind if I joined you?"

Tiara tilted her head, looking up at her. "You wanna look too, pretty lady?"

Cynthia smiled warmly. "I'd love to!" She then presented the box. "And I brought doughnuts for a snack!"

"Yummy!" Tiara clapped her hands in excitement, licking her lips.

Her mother smiled slightly as she took a seat on a nearby bench to watch. She could tell these people meant no harm, and she recognized Cynthia, which reassured her about her daughter's safety.

Cynthia set the box down and opened it, revealing an assortment of doughnuts. "Ta-da! Eat as much as you'd like."

Tiara eagerly grabbed one and began nibbling on it. Cynthia offered some to Ash, Brock, Misty, and Yellow, and they gladly accepted.

Ash noticed Pikachu eyeing him expectantly and chuckled, breaking his doughnut in half. "Here you go, bud."

Pikachu happily took a bite. "Pika! (˶˃⤙˂˶)"

Seeing this, Yellow smiled at Chuchu. "Here, Chuchu!" she said, offering a piece of her doughnut.

Chuchu took the doughnut, looked at Yellow, then broke it in half and handed a piece back to her. "Pika!"

"O-oh, thank you," Yellow said happily before taking a bite.

Brock shared half of his doughnut with Bonsly. Meanwhile, Misty was about to take a bite of hers when a Poké Ball on her belt suddenly popped open. Psyduck appeared, blinking up at her.

"Oh, Psyduck... you let yourself out again," she sighed, though with far less frustration than usual. Ever since Psyduck had saved her from that bug incident, she'd softened toward him.

She broke her doughnut in half and handed a piece to him. "Here."

Psyduck stared at it, then at Misty, before using his psychic power to lift it into his mouth. "Psy!" he chirped happily. He was slowly learning to control his abilities, though he still couldn't even manage a basic Water Gun.

Tiara watched as everyone shared their doughnuts with their partners. A sad expression crossed her face as she realized she had no Pokémon of her own to share with. Her gaze drifted toward the night sky, her chewing slowing as her thoughts turned elsewhere.

Cynthia, noticing this, sat beside her. "Hey, Tiara. I heard you saw a Pokémon. Can you tell me about it?"

Tiara perked up slightly. "Yeah! It was long, it had an eye, oh! And when it appeared, some of its friends showed up too!"

Cynthia nodded and pulled out a picture of the Unown. "Did they look like this?"

Tiara examined the image and nodded. "Some of them! This one, and this one... oh, and this one here!" She pointed to five different Unown. Though the letters seemed random, when rearranged, they spelled out NIGHT.

Then Tiara looked up at the sky. "I remember... I looked up when it was daytime, and I wished I could see the stars all the time. Then they appeared. And ever since then, it's been night."

Everyone listened intently. After a moment, Ash leaned forward. "And after that, do you know where the Unown went?"

Tiara tilted her head. "You mean Mister Eye and his friends?"

"...Uh, yeah. Sure. Mister Eye." Ash went along with it.

"Why do you ask?" she questioned.

"Well... if it stays like this, and it's always night... umm," Brock said, trying to find the best way to put it since he was the expert Big brother, "Everyone will be sad."

Tiara frowned. "They'll all be sad?" Her little mind tried to process the idea that her wish had unintended consequences.

"Yeah, so we just want to make things go back to normal," Cynthia added gently. "That way, everyone can see the sun again, and everyone can be happy."

Tiara's expression shifted as if her whole world had just shattered. She slowly stood up, her hands clenching into tiny fists.

"No... no... NO! I WON'T TELL!!!" she cried, shaking her head violently. "I WANNA SEE THE STARS ALL THE TIME!!!"

Her mother, sensing her distress, stepped forward. "Tiara, calm down—"

"NO! I DON'T WANT MORNING TO EVER COME!!!" Tiara screamed.

At that moment, the Unown began to appear around her, swirling in the air. And once again, they spelled out:

NIGHT

"I WANT IT TO ALWAYS BE NIGHTTIME!!!" Tiara shouted as the Unown unleashed their power. A dark energy pulsed outward, sending a gust of wind in all directions.

The force sent everyone flying. Brock instinctively grabbed Tiara's mother, shielding her as he crashed into a nearby tree. Cynthia landed safely, catching both Pikachu and Chuchu in her arms.

Ash managed to stay on his feet, skidding to a stop before reaching out and grabbing Yellow and Misty, pulling them to safety before they could crash into anything.

As they all scrambled to their feet, they noticed one casualty among them.

The box of doughnuts lay on the ground, scattered and ruined.

Pikachu, still cradled in Cynthia's arms, stared at the fallen treats in horror. He slowly stepped down, dropping to his knees. His tiny paws clenched as he let out a heartbroken wail.

"PIKA!!! [WHY! It should have been me... IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MEEEE!]"