"Oh no! How much further do we have to walk? I'm almost done for."
After catching Bulbasaur, and Bulbasaur evolving into Ivysaur that night, everyone was in high spirits. The next morning, after finishing their morning exercises and breakfast, they continued their journey.
After walking for several consecutive days on paths not even found on the map, Misty couldn't help but start complaining.
"If I'm not mistaken, if we go further ahead, we'll see Route 24. If we follow that road, we can reach Vermilion City."
Brock walked while looking at the map. As their journey progressed, their location finally gradually appeared on the map.
"So we'll reach Vermilion City soon, then? 'One-Zero-Zero'" Hearing this, Misty instantly became excited.
"In terms of travel time, it'll still be a few days, but the path ahead will be much easier to walk." Brock looked at the map and explained the situation.
"Great!"
"You're out traveling, and you're already worn out from just a little walking?" Ash walked ahead and turned to look at Misty.
"I'm a girl, you know! I originally had a bicycle, but I don't know who ruined it." Misty, hearing Ash's words and having walked for so long, inevitably felt irritated. She looked at Ash with a sarcastic tone.
"Pika~~~"
Pikachu rubbed its head, a little embarrassed. It was its doing back then. Ash couldn't help but smile when he heard it. He really couldn't do anything about it. Misty wasn't the only one who had the same experience. Bicycles could never escape Pikachu.
"Oh, really! Then I'll compensate you! I just got quite a bounty from catching those two guys on Mount Moon, enough to compensate you for a bicycle. You go first then!"
Ash deliberately teased Misty with her words. Hearing this, Misty's expression suddenly changed, and she quickly said.
"I... I don't want it! I didn't mean that! I'm not blaming you!" Hearing Ash say that, Misty's heart panicked. She hadn't intended to leave; she was just complaining.
"Just kidding!! Hahahahaha!" Ash couldn't help but laugh when he saw her reaction.
"Why like this... Seriously!"
The Pikachu on the ground watched the group play-fighting. It turned its head and walked forward, still laughing, without noticing what was ahead.
Bang!!!
"Pika~~~~"
It directly crashed into something unknown ahead, instinctively clutching its head. Then, it looked up. Due to the sunlight, there was a shadow in front of it. When it looked up higher, it saw a black figure.
With wide eyes, it stared at Pikachu, its body and claws twisting. Its tall stature startled Pikachu. The still-dazed Pikachu instinctively retreated, running behind Ash and clinging to his leg.
"Hmm? Pikachu, what's wrong?" The laughing group noticed Pikachu's actions, and Ash instinctively bent down to ask.
"Pika Pika!!!"
Pikachu pointed ahead, and the group looked up, seeing a shadow in front of them due to the sunlight. They felt it was some colossal creature. Most importantly, the head of this thing seemed to be moving. Misty was also startled.
"What kind of monster is that?"
"Look closely, it's not a monster!" Ash was speechless. He secretly thought, Your eyesight is terrible!
Upon hearing this, Misty and Brock looked carefully and realized that what was before them was actually a large rock. Because the sunlight was coming from behind, they could only see its shadow, but there was something on top of the rock.
"This... This isn't..."
They saw a Pokémon with an orange-red body appear before them on top of the rock. It had a round head, sharp claws, and a creamy belly.
Its upper and lower jaws had sharp teeth, looking somewhat like a lizard, and a little like a miniature carnivorous dinosaur. A long tail extended from its back, with a faint flame burning at its tip.
"It's Charmander!" Brock recognized the Pokémon before them; it was Charmander.
Charmander was one of the Pokémon used by new trainers in the Kanto region. Like Bulbasaur and Squirtle, it was also known as one of the "starter Pokémon." Normally, it was a very rare Pokémon.
"Why would there be a Charmander in this place?" After recognizing Charmander, Misty breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the Charmander in front of her and asked inexplicably.
Although she preferred Water-type Pokémon, she also knew a bit about Pokémon. Starter Pokémon were generally not easy to encounter.
"It looks very weak." Brock looked at the scene with a slight frown. As a Pokémon Breeder, he could easily tell a Pokémon's condition.
"Hmm? How can you tell?" Misty asked, a little curious.
"Look at the flame on its tail. From birth, Charmander's tail will have a flame. The more vigorously the flame burns, the healthier and stronger it is."
Brock pointed to Charmander's tail. Misty looked and saw that at this moment, there was only a small flicker of flame on Charmander's tail, so faint that one might even wonder if it would be extinguished by a gust of wind.
"It's true! Then why is it still here?" Hearing this, Ash couldn't help but look at the Charmander in front of him with curiosity.
"Pika Pi!!" After seeing that it was Charmander, Pikachu was no longer afraid. It climbed onto the rock and seemed to be conversing with Charmander.
"What are they doing?"
"They're probably talking!" Ash responded, too.
But in his heart, he already knew what was going on. Unbeknownst to him, he had already arrived at this place. The journey was faster than in the anime. If he remembered correctly, in the anime, it took Ash and his friends ten days to reach this point.
They hadn't used that much time, yet they still encountered Charmander. This also indirectly showed how long this Charmander had been waiting here, which made Ash very annoyed, but at the same time, he felt lucky.
"Pi~~Pikachu!!"
A moment later, Pikachu jumped off the rock, then started gesturing there. Misty and Brock were completely bewildered.
"What is Pikachu saying?"
"This Charmander has been abandoned!" Ash knew what was going on without even looking at Pikachu's actions, and responded expressionlessly.
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