In the afternoon, Natsui's group stood at the door. They said goodbye to Professor Oak, Professor Birch, Delia, and Tracey.
Right after lunch, Ash had gone home quickly to pack his bags. He came back just in time to meet everyone.
"Well then, take care," Professor Oak said first. He was the most respected person there. "I wish you success in your challenge. I hope everything goes well."
Professor Birch and Tracey also gave them some encouragement. Only Delia was speaking quietly to Ash. She kept telling him what to do.
"Okay, I understand. I will take good care of myself, Mom, so do not worry."
Ash felt a bit embarrassed because he was the only one treated like a child. After he agreed a few times, he quickly left his mother's side. He stood next to Natsui and the others.
"Then, we are heading out."
Natsui nodded to Professor Oak on behalf of the group. Then May, Ash, Max, and Brock also waved goodbye to the professors and the others. Soon, the group left the Oak Laboratory. They walked to the edge of town until they could not see Pallet Town anymore.
After they left Pallet Town, they did not separate. Their goals were the same because the Battle Factory was near Mt. Moon. They decided to travel together for now.
This made the trip more fun. They talked and laughed along the way.
However, they were still divided into two clear groups even though they walked together.
Natsui and Ash walked side by side at the front. Both of them were leaders for their teams. May and Max walked behind them.
May and Max walked together and spoke quietly. If you looked closely at where they stood, it was interesting. One followed Natsui, and the other followed Ash. It looked like May now truly saw herself as Natsui's partner.
At the very back, Brock carried his backpack alone behind Max. He looked at the scenery and also watched the rear of the group.
Time passed very quickly while they talked. The road did not feel long at all.
By the time the group felt tired and thirsty, they were already close to Mt. Moon!
Natsui looked back and saw that Max was tired. Max had sweat on his forehead. Natsui told everyone to rest immediately.
"Alright, let's take a break here for a while and eat something. If we finish before it gets dark, we will try to reach Mt. Moon and camp there!"
Natsui was the oldest in the group, so he was the leader. Ash and Brock did not disagree. They felt that following Natsui was very natural.
This showed that the others really respected Natsui.
He was strong, reliable, and everyone believed in him.
Now, it was Brock's turn to help.
Natsui and the others gathered wood, got water, and set the table. Brock acted like a professional cook. He put on his apron and made dinner very skillfully. Soon, the food was ready with the help of the Pokémon.
"I'm digging in."
Natsui looked at the vegetable soup. It looked good and smelled great. He took a small sip with his spoon. Then he gave Brock a thumbs-up.
"This is really good! It is as delicious as always!"
Brock was a very good cook. Among the people Natsui knew, maybe only Erika was as good as him.
Brock smiled because he was embarrassed by the praise.
Ash and the others did not have a strong reaction like Natsui. This was because they ate Brock's food every day. They just felt it was as good as usual.
It seemed that Brock had spoiled them with his cooking!
Natsui suddenly remembered something and looked at May with a smile. "By the way, I should say this now. I only know how to cook simple things. Traveling with me means the food will not be this good."
May looked very sad immediately.
She loved shopping and clothes, but she also loved food. During her travels, she did not want to eat bad food!
But she had already made her choice. She said with a forced smile, "It is okay. I will eat anything on the road. But when we get to a city, I will definitely eat a lot of great food!"
Everyone laughed.
Everyone knew that May loved eating!
While they were eating dinner, the grass moved. A pink wild Pokémon shaped like a star came out.
"Eh? Why would a Cleffa appear in a place like this?" Max asked. He was confused.
It was indeed a Cleffa.
Cleffa evolves into Clefairy, which then evolves into Clefable. It has a pink body and two small black eyes. It has two brown ears that look like star points, a small mouth, and a curl on its head. It looked cute.
Max was curious because of Cleffa's habits. Usually, they only come out at night. They stay near places where meteorites fall and live in mountains.
But right now, they were on a plain, and it was only evening. Its appearance was strange.
However, they were very close to Mt. Moon. Since many Cleffa, Clefairy, and Clefable live there, it made sense.
Maybe it was playing and left the mountain. Then it smelled the food and ran over.
But this was dangerous for a rare wild Pokémon. It was like walking into a trap.
Luckily, it met Natsui and Ash. They did not want to catch it. Other trainers might have used a Poké Ball immediately.
Cleffa saw that these people were not mean, so it became brave. It hopped closer to them. Like a curious baby, it looked at all the Pokémon. Ash and May's Pokémon felt a bit awkward.
"It seems to be quite friendly..." Max watched it and shook his head. "It does not look lost either."
"Maybe it is hungry?"
May stood up and walked toward Cleffa. She wanted to see if it was okay. But Cleffa was scared of humans. When May came close, it hid behind her Munchlax.
May had to stay where she was.
The other Pokémon were very kind. They were friendly, so Cleffa soon stopped being scared. It began to play with them.
For Natsui and the others, this was just a small event.
In the original story, Team Rocket would have attacked them now. But Natsui was there, so those three idiots did not show their faces!
Because they did not cause trouble, there was no fight.
The situation ended there.
They gave some food to Cleffa. When dinner was finished, the group started walking again.
Cleffa became very friendly with them in just half an hour because they got along well.
The sun went down, and it became dark as night covered the land.
It was late, but they had only traveled for half a day since leaving Pallet Town. They had just eaten, so they had a lot of energy. The group did not stop to camp. They kept walking toward Mt. Moon.
Before they reached the mountain, they met a Clefairy and a Clefable. The two Pokémon were looking for Cleffa.
This Clefairy and Clefable were likely Cleffa's family. They looked very worried.
The group gave Cleffa back to them and prepared to leave. But Cleffa stopped them.
At first, nobody understood. Then they realized it was inviting them to be guests inside Mt. Moon!
This was a surprise.
The group talked about it quietly. Natsui and the others agreed that sleeping inside the mountain was better than sleeping outside.
They followed Cleffa up a mountain path. The group reached the middle of the mountain and entered a cave. Inside, they saw a very large round meteorite under the moonlight.
The moonlight came down, and groups of Clefairy and Clefable were dancing around the rock. It looked happy and mysterious.
Ash and Brock had been here before. It felt like visiting an old place.
They had come here when they first started their journey. Now they were in the cave again. Everything felt different, but also the same.
They were not beginners anymore. They had grown and failed. But they were still Trainers chasing their dreams.
May and Max were very excited because it was their first time seeing this. Natsui was happy too because he had missed seeing it before.
They rested for one night in the cave. The next morning, the group left early.
After they passed Mt. Moon, they were much closer to the Battle Factory.
However, they needed to cross a big forest. If Natsui was not there, Ash's group would probably get lost. The chance of them getting lost was 95%!
But Natsui was there, so they did not worry.
He read the map perfectly. When there was a choice of roads, he sent Dragonite into the sky to see the way. Because of this, they never went the wrong way.
This made the trip have fewer surprises, but it was why Natsui was always faster than Ash!
As they were leaving the forest, something cold landed on Max's face. He looked up. He saw a large blue bird Pokémon with long feathers flying high in the sky!
The cold thing was a snowflake falling from the Pokémon.
"Everyone, look! There's a beautiful Pokémon in the sky!!"
Natsui and the others looked up where Max pointed. They saw the Pokémon too.
"This... this is?"
Ash and Brock saw the Pokémon and were surprised. Then they both looked at Natsui.
Natsui felt them looking at him and was surprised.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"Natsui..." Ash hesitated. "Is that..."
"Yes," Natsui nodded. "It's Articuno."
"Articuno!?"
May and Max were very happy. They used their Pokédexes to look at the Articuno in the sky.
While they were looking, Ash and Brock looked at Natsui again.
Natsui saw their faces and shook his head. "Don't overthink things. This has nothing to do with me. There is more than one Articuno in the world. In the Galar region, there is even a different form of Articuno. It is normal to see one during a journey."
Ash and Brock remembered Natsui's Articuno from big battles in the past. They thought of him as soon as they saw one.
But Natsui was right. This Articuno was not his.
The Articuno was only there for a short time. After ten seconds, it was gone.
May and Max did not hear Natsui and Ash talking. They were still thinking about how beautiful Articuno was.
"It's a shame it flew away," Max said. He was disappointed. Then he said, "But I did not expect to see such a beautiful Legendary Pokémon so soon in Kanto. This trip was really worth it!"
It was very worth it.
The person next to Max did not just have Articuno. Natsui also had Zapdos and Moltres!
Ash wanted to tell Max, but Natsui was just smiling. Ash decided not to say anything yet.
He decided not to speak for Natsui. Natsui could tell them himself later.
"Yeah..." May agreed with her brother. She was moved. But she was also confused. "But why would there be an Articuno here? There are no snowy mountains or ice fields near here?"