Chapter 34: The First Night in Viridian Forest
(Second Update, New Book Seeking Collection, Seeking Flowers!)
Night
Misty didn't know how to cook, and Ash did know how to cook, but he didn't bring all the necessary kitchen utensils and couldn't make anything elaborate. He simply found some wild fruits to go with some dry rations.
The Pokémon had their own Pokémon food. When they left Pallet Town, Nurse Joy had given them some as a token of appreciation.
Although it wasn't a feast, it was quite good for being in the wild.
"Are we going to rest now?" After eating and resting for a while, Misty sat by the campfire and asked.
"No, I'm going to train for a bit longer. If you're scared, don't wander around, stay near the campfire. Bug-type Pokémon won't dare to approach you easily."
Ash heard this, shook his head slightly, got up, stretched out his hands, and Pikachu and Caterpie jumped from Ash's hands to his shoulders, and he reminded Misty.
"I know, you shouldn't overwork yourself!" Hearing that Ash was still concerned about her even at this time, Misty was touched and responded with concern.
Then Ash led Pikachu, Caterpie, and Magikarp into the forest, following the river. There were fewer trees near the river, and the moonlight shone down, making it not too dark, so they could still see the path.
"Caterpie, I'm counting on you!" Ash stood by the river and called to Caterpie.
Mao Mao~~~
Caterpie heard this and spat out a white thread. Caterpie's thread was stronger than ordinary ropes. As long as it grew stronger, the thread would become tougher.
Ash found a tree stump again and had Caterpie use its String Shot to bind it and Magikarp together, continuing to train Magikarp to swim with a weight.
Then Ash also arranged a training schedule for Caterpie, but his main focus was on training Pikachu. His Iron Tail was almost complete, and Ash wanted to continue training it.
Neither Caterpie nor Magikarp were suitable for challenging the Pewter Gym yet. Pikachu's Iron Tail would be the key.
"Alright, Pikachu, remember the feeling you had this morning? Maintain that feeling, and try it again!" After arranging the training programs for Magikarp and Caterpie, Ash started guiding Pikachu in training again.
"Pika!"
Pikachu didn't waste any time, following Ash's instructions from the morning and the muscle memory of its body, it rushed forward, jumped high, and charged towards a large tree in front of it.
"Pi....ka!!!"
Pikachu seemed to have adapted to this state. As it leaped into the air, and through training, its tail strength increased, and this time, when it tried again, its tail emitted light.
But it was just a simple white light, not the metallic luster of Iron Tail.
"Good!!" Although it wasn't completely there yet, it looked like there had been great progress. Seeing the light, he also saw hope.
Pikachu fell from the air towards the large tree in front of it, but just as its tail was about to touch the tree, the light on its tail suddenly disappeared, and Pikachu itself was startled.
Its tail landed on the tree, and it was bounced back. Ash saw this, quickly ran over and caught it.
"Are you alright?" Ash hugged Pikachu, breathed a sigh of relief, and asked.
"Pika..." Pikachu shook its head slightly, but its ears drooped, a little dejected. It had thought it was going to succeed.
"It's okay, you've made a lot of progress. Don't be discouraged, keep going!" Ash looked at the dejected Pikachu and comforted it again.
Honestly, it was faster than he expected. Besides, cultivation is always long and arduous. The only thing he could do was encourage them.
"Pika Pi!" Pikachu heard this and quickly cheered up, jumping out of Ash's arms again.
It tried again, and sounds echoed continuously in the forest. In this kind of night, and in a gloomy forest, it was really scary to hear these sounds from time to time.
Shhh...
"Try again... Hmm?" While trying, he heard a rustling in the bushes nearby, subconsciously turned his head to look around, but it was pitch black, and there was nothing there.
"Pika?" Pikachu was waiting for Ash's orders, and when it saw Ash hesitate for a long time, it turned its head in confusion.
"Pikachu, did you hear anything?" Ash asked.
This wasn't the first time he felt like he was being watched. Although he didn't have telepathy or anything like that, Ash had been training himself to enhance that unknown power over the years.
This power also enhanced his senses. It was possible that the first few times he was simply over-nervous, but three times was unlikely to be a coincidence.
"Pika?" Pikachu heard it strangely, stood on its hind legs and twitched its ears carefully. Pikachu's hearing was very good, but it had been so focused on training that it hadn't been disturbed by other things.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh shhh!!!
Just as Ash looked around, a gust of evening wind suddenly blew, the leaves around were all moving with the wind, and Pikachu couldn't hear anything, and Ash couldn't feel anything either.
And seeing that there was nothing around, Ash wasn't sure if it was Team Rocket, but if it was Team Rocket, he actually wasn't worried.
"Forget it, it must be the wind or a Pokémon in the forest! Let's continue."
"Pika!" Pikachu didn't dwell on it and continued to train.
He worked hard until late at night, and Ash called back Caterpie, then waited by the river for Magikarp to swim back, then returned to the camp. When he returned, Misty hadn't gone to rest yet, she was sitting by the campfire with her chin in her hands.
She was dozing off occasionally, and it seemed like she might fall directly onto the ground at any moment because she was too sleepy. Ash saw this and walked over.
"It's dangerous to doze off by the fire!" Ash saw this, walked over and reminded her.
"Ah!! That... I..." She wanted to say that she was afraid of Bug-type Pokémon coming close in the forest, and although she was in a tent, she was still afraid, but she was too embarrassed to say it, especially since Caterpie was on Ash's shoulder.
"Go to sleep early! We have to get up early tomorrow!"
Ash saw this, smiled and didn't say anything, took Pikachu and Caterpie and went into the tent.
Misty breathed a sigh of relief, but she didn't know why, she felt like Ash could guess what she was thinking.