Pokemon: Radical Redux

In a completely white room with nothing more than a small coffee table with tea and snacks, there is a young man looking like he is in his early 20s, is talking to an old man that looks like he belongs to a wuxia novel and is about to beg for forgiveness from his young master.

'Yup that's me, you probably wonder how I got here. Well, I think my name was [Redacted]. And this is what happened.'

Flashback no Jutsu

In a small apartment complex, a young man is seen studying. This is [Redacted] and currently, he is studying for his final exam to finally graduate medical school.

"Ha… finally done studying" as he looked through his window "Not like I need to study, but graduating top of my class wouldn't hurt." He already had enough of a good grade to graduate even if he didn't show up for the final exam, and his photographic memory didn't hurt either.

As he got up and moved to his computer he pulled up his favorite show, Pokemon, a show he grew up with, and even read the manga and played the games, even the harder rom hacks like renegade platinum and radical red.

He pulled up the last few episodes from the anime starting from Pokemon Journeys episode 130 to finally see Ash vs Leon. "Now to finally finish this show before I go to sleep" and thus started his final marathon of the last episodes of the anime.

Hours later. "Finally it's over, and yet it's bitter-sweet" Looking over at his clock. "12:36, it's past midnight I better go to sleep" As he moved to get to bed he thought 'After 25 years, 30-something Pokemon and like 16 Tauros, and 8 regions he is finally champion… and yet he is still 10. Man, and he didn't even catch them all as the original theme songs promised.'

He was sad to see it go, he grew up with this show, but not all things can last forever can they, he saw the posters for the new anime following the new protagonists, he was actually one of the believers that the new main character was going to be Ash's daughter,

But even still, he didn't think he was gonna watch it, it wasn't fair if he compared it to Ash, but to him Ash will always be the Main character, if only life was that simple, if he could go kick some loser's teeth in and save the day with war criminals he calls friends.

Getting into bed he started to sleep dreaming about what could have been in the anime, he smiled remembering everything, and on the bright side The Teal Mask DLC comes out next week, he can't wait to see what's on it, as he went to sleep

{Hours later}

The same young man running down the street, "Shoot, shoot, shoot, I overslept on the debatable most important day for me to not oversleep. How Ironic" Seeing his college in sight he couldn't help but grin 'Finally after I ace this test I'll finally become a doctor and start my journey

But Unfortunately for him due to a change of destiny, he didn't see a truck coming his way, and when he did it was too late he saw the headlights, then nothing.

—--

'And that's how I got into this situation… uhhh, and on the last day too, just as I was finally about to finish school. Couldn't you have at least waited until I graduated?'

Finally, the old man began to speak. "No point in delaying it. You're dead. And I'm sorry to say, it's my fault. I was sending my partner to collect someone else, but I gave him the wrong name."

"Huh…how often does that happen?" [Redacted] asked, taking a sip of tea, way more calm than anyone else would be in the same situation.

"Never. This is the first time this has ever happened," the old man exclaimed, looking genuinely embarrassed.

His eyes studied the young man, "I must say, you seem a lot calmer than I expected. Honestly, I thought you'd start cursing me the moment you found out," the old man admitted. "Are you alright? Or has the shock left you too stunned to speak?"

"Well, to be honest, if I really am dead, there's no point in getting mad. It's already happened," the young man sighed. "Besides, it's not like I had anyone waiting for me. I'm an orphan who only made it through college on scholarships." He exhaled deeply, leaning back in his chair. 'But it is annoying… after all that work and time wasted, and this is how it ends.'

"So… is this the part where I go to heaven or something?" he asked, putting his cup down

"No, actually, I'm bringing you back to life," the old man replied, much to [Redacted]'s surprise. "You were destined for great things, and because of my mistake, that future was cut short. You see, I'm what you people on Earth would call a ROB"

"Really? Then where am I being sent?" the young man asked, his curiosity piqued and looking visibly more excited

"Well, you seem to be quite the fan of the Pokémon world. So that's probably the best choice," said the old man as he stroked his beard. "And because I seriously ruined your life, I'll even give you a little something extra. Hopefully, that way, we won't meet again anytime soon."

As he spoke, three spinning wheels emerged from the coffee table, each with different text written across them.

(Author's Note: I actually made these wheels and spun them myself to decide what happens in this story. Some of the results are great, some… not so much. The only thing that isn't random is the setting.)

"These three wheels will decide your fate in that world," the old man explained. "The first is the setting, it'll determine which version of the Pokémon world you'll enter. The second is your talent, and the last is the item you'll take with you."

As [Redacted] leaned in to get a better look, he saw a variety of settings like the original anime, the games, the manga, and even more obscure ones. Talents ranged from psychic powers to Pokéball crafting, or just basic Pokémon knowledge. And the items? Everything from golden bottle caps to Master Balls, to simple everyday gear.

Without hesitation, he spun all three wheels at once. "No point in delaying it."

The wheels spun furiously, whirring with momentum. His eyes didn't dare to blink, fixed intently on the choices as they blurred past.

'Please be something good,' he thought. 'And please, don't send me into a world where I'll just die immediately. Or one of those messed-up worlds with an evil Professor Oak…'

The first wheel to stop was the talent wheel, landing on [knowledge of optimal diet and training for Pokémon]

"Nice," he muttered with a small grin.

The next wheel to stop was the item wheel, landing on the [Pokédex upgrade chip]

"What does that do?" he asked in confusion.

"Well," the old man began, stroking his beard, "it seems like it's a chip you can plug in and out of your Pokédex to upgrade it and save your progress in the National Dex." He squinted at the text. "Looks like the upgrade lets you access the PC remotely, and it also updates constantly. Not the best thing you could have gotten, but not the worst either."

The young man felt a flicker of disappointment. It wasn't exactly a game-changer, but he couldn't complain too much. He shifted his gaze to the final wheel. This was the big one, make or break. If this spin turned out bad, it could be game over for him.

As the wheel slowed to a crawl, his heart pounded. Then, it stopped.

[Mix Pokémon World (HARD MODE!)]

A mixture of fear and confusion crept onto both of their faces.

"What does that mean?" the young man asked, voice unsteady. "Anything that has HARD MODE in all capital letters can't be good… can it?"

The old man sighed deeply, his expression grim. "It means the world you're going to is a mixture of different Pokémon worlds, and it's much, much harder. Think of it like… Pokémon Red being the normal world, and Pokémon Radical Red being this one."

Hearing this, [Redacted] felt completely nearly fell over. He collapsed to his knees, despair washing over him like a crashing tide. 'That's it, I'm done. Finished. I am a dead man. A cornucopia of pain and destruction is coming my way, and it is going to kill me.'

Seeing the young man's despair, the old man seemed to soften. "Look… I'm only doing this because, well, technically, I did kill you," he admitted. "So, I'll let you spin the talent wheel one more time. And i'll pull some strings and chose one that at least gives you a chance to survive, but don't tell anyone especially not my wife, she'll kill me,"

(Author's Note: By the way, this second spin isn't me pulling Author BS to make a Mary Sue. There's actually a slot on the wheel that says 'Spin two more times.' There's also one on the item wheel, it just didn't land on it.)

The young man's eyes widened, a spark of hope igniting in his chest as he got up "R-really? Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" He was practically jumping with excitement as he spun the talent wheel again.

"Don't thank me yet," the old man cautioned. "Because of this, I'll have to lock you out of using whatever you get until you turn eight."

As he said this, the wheel clicked to a stop, [Personal Dimension Space]

"Not bad," the old man mused. "Not the most powerful ability, but not useless either. At least you've got your own personal inventory, and something you should know about this is that you can speed up or slow down time, but you can't stop it,"

"Huh…" the young man said, "I…guess that's not...the worst thing"

"Now," he continued, holding out his hand, "it's finally time for you to go. I hope you live without regrets. No offense, I'd rather you didn't come back here anytime soon."

Taking his hand, the young man replied, "Thank you for everything," as he felt himself losing consciousness. His vision dimmed, but just before everything went black, he heard the old man's final words

"Remember, your destiny is your own. If you don't like it… change it."

And just like that, the story begins.