With nowhere else to go, Fuyuki tagged along with Ash and Misty to a nearby hotel for the night.
The next morning, Ash and Misty prepared to leave Viridian City and head for Pewter City to challenge the Gym and collect Badges.
Before they parted, Ash and Pikachu looked at Fuyuki and Entei.
"Fuyuki, you really won't come with us to Pewter City?"
Fuyuki shook his head. "I can't, Ash. I still have some things to take care of here. I'll leave once I'm done."
He needed to visit the cemetery and pay his respects to his human parents from this life.
"All right then." Ash looked a little disappointed. Thinking back to last night's reunion, he scratched his head sheepishly. "Sorry about not recognizing you right away. It was too dark..."
"Don't worry about it, Ash. Just remember me from now on." Fuyuki smiled.
"I won't forget this time!" Ash nodded earnestly.
Misty, who had been listening, cut in.
"Hey, Fuyuki, you're not thinking of going straight to the Viridian Gym, are you?"
"The Viridian Gym?" Ash blinked. Before Fuyuki could answer, he jumped in first.
Misty nodded and explained. "There's a Gym right here in Viridian City. The Gym Leader is Giovanni. He's extremely powerful, easily one of the strongest in all of Kanto."
"More importantly, the Viridian Gym's difficulty is way too high for a rookie Trainer without a single Badge."
"So most Trainers wait until they've collected all seven other Badges before challenging it. Some skip it entirely and go to different Gyms instead."
After all, Kanto had more than just eight Gyms. As long as you collected eight Badges total, you could enter the Indigo League Conference. Skipping Viridian and challenging other Gyms was perfectly fine.
"Oh, I see!" Ash said, then made up his mind. "In that case, I'll come back and challenge the Viridian Gym after I've got my other seven Badges!"
Misty glanced at Fuyuki.
Fuyuki hadn't been planning on it. He had only come to Viridian City to pay his respects and then move on.
But... the Viridian Gym. Giovanni's territory.
If he showed up as a rookie Trainer without a single Badge and then sent out a max-level Entei to crush Giovanni, wouldn't that net him a massive haul of Shock Points?
"Thanks for the heads-up, Misty." Fuyuki gave her a polite nod. "By the way, how do you know so much about it?"
Misty suddenly looked flustered. "Oh, it's nothing! I just heard about it from someone, that's all!"
Fuyuki smiled and didn't press further. He wasn't about to blow her cover as the daughter of the Cerulean Gym.
He gave Ash a nod, then turned with Entei. "See you around, Ash."
Ash's journey continued onward. Ahead of him lay the deep, sunless depths of Viridian Forest!
Meanwhile, at the ruins of the Viridian City Pokemon Center.
Nurse Joy sat at one of the few undamaged desks, talking to her sister in Pewter City over the computer.
"All the Pokemon from the Viridian City Center have been safely recovered!" Pewter City's Nurse Joy reported.
"Thank you so much, sis! Those two and their Pikachu are on their way to Pewter City right now." Viridian's Nurse Joy paused, worry flickering across her face. "But Viridian Forest is in the way..."
Viridian Forest was a paradise for Bug-type Pokemon. Countless wild Pokemon lived there, including some rare and unusual species, but where there was opportunity, there was also danger. Plenty of extremely powerful Pokemon lurked within.
Nurse Joy couldn't help but worry.
Officer Jenny, standing nearby, smiled reassuringly. "They'll be fine. Viridian Forest is nothing those kids can't handle."
Nurse Joy recalled the brave way Ash and Pikachu had fought the night before, and her expression softened.
"You're right. They'll be just fine!"
Viridian City's cemetery lay on the eastern edge of the city.
It was a place where the departed rested, and also home to the occasional Ghost-type Pokemon.
Following the directions Professor Oak had given him, Fuyuki quickly found his parents' graves.
He crouched down and placed a bouquet of flowers before the headstone.
"Mom, Dad, I'm home. You don't have to worry. I'm okay. I met some truly wonderful Pokemon. They took me in and raised me as their own child."
"So please rest easy. I'll live a good life. I'm going to become a Trainer and travel the world with my Pokemon."
Entei stood guard nearby, silent.
After a long moment, Fuyuki rose to his feet and said to Entei, "All right, Father. Let's go."
"Are we going to challenge the Viridian Gym?" Entei asked.
Fuyuki nodded. "The Gym challenge isn't the goal. I want to earn energy from the Gym Leader. That way, I can create more resources to train Squirtle and Gastly. So Father, I'll be counting on you!"
Besides, he was technically a Trainer now, but he had no income and no source of revenue.
Fortunately, he had his cheat ability to rely on.
"Mm." Entei had no objections. Helping Fuyuki gather more energy was an important task in its own right.
Just as Ho-Oh had once taken Fuyuki into the human world.
"But first, there's one more thing we need to do." Fuyuki slipped off his backpack and pulled out the Rainbow Feathers Ho-Oh had given him. "Father, help me turn these into Sacred Ash!"
As a Pokemon that no new Trainer had wanted, Squirtle's size and constitution lagged behind a normal Squirtle's in nearly every way.
So Fuyuki planned to use Sacred Ash to make up for those innate deficiencies.
For easy carrying, he spent 50 Shock Points on a large glass jar.
"Stand back, Fuyuki!" Entei said firmly.
Fuyuki quickly stepped away.
Entei used psychic power to lift the pile of Rainbow Feathers into the air above the glass jar, then released golden-red flames from its body.
That was Ho-Oh's signature move: Sacred Fire.
Under Sacred Fire's blaze, the rainbow-glowing feathers slowly burned to ash, every last bit drifting down into the glass jar until it was filled to the brim.
"Done!"
Fuyuki excitedly tucked away the leftover feathers and picked up the jar.
In truth, Sacred Ash was also available in his system shop. A legendary item brimming with life force, capable of reviving the fallen and healing any wound. A single portion cost a whopping 500,000 Shock Points.
But now... he had a practically unlimited supply.
Ho-Oh was far too good to him. Every time Fuyuki thought about it, he was deeply moved.
Love you, Ho-Oh!