Pokémon: Simultaneous time travel, this Ash is too versatile!

Chapter 67: The Rockets' Assist, Bulbasaur's Follow-up! The Ingenious Use of Aura Detection!

After hearing Xiao Gang's suggestion, Xiao Cui was also stunned. She didn't expect that this group of people would even bring up something like applying to the League for a designated rescue station for Bulbasaur.

This kind of thing isn't something you can just apply for and get approved easily, but since the person in front of you has said it, they must be confident.

This also shows their determination towards Bulbasaur, especially the young boy in the middle who looks rather immature; his expression when he said he wanted Bulbasaur was quite resolute.

If Bulbasaur were to follow a trainer like that, it would likely be a great help to its future.

Thinking of this, Xiao Cui shook her head and said, "No need. This is just a sanatorium that I set up on a whim. Bulbasaur has been helping me out, and I am very grateful to him. But I know that this is actually quite detrimental to his future development. If Bulbasaur stays here for the rest of his life, he will only become a frog in a well."

"So... Bulbasaur, if you like this boy named Ash, then go with him."

"Don't worry about me. The purpose of me in establishing this sanatorium is simply to do my best to help every injured elf."

"But if my existence as a sanatorium hinders the natural development of the elves, then I'd rather not be here."

Besides Little Green, the other Pokémon around Little Green also spoke up, including Oddish next to Bulbasaur.

They had received many favors from Little Green and Bulbasaur, so they also hoped that Bulbasaur could find a good home.

If following that person can give Bulbasaur a better future, then of course Bulbasaur should leave this place. As for themselves... they can just continue living in the wild.

Moreover, even though Bulbasaur left, Little Green didn't. Sooner or later, someone among their group of Pokémon will emerge who can take over Bulbasaur's role as the big brother.

Upon hearing this, Bulbasaur fell silent. He felt that what Little Green said made sense, and in addition, he had originally wanted to follow Ash. His friends around him were also constantly persuading him. At this moment, Bulbasaur was very inclined to leave with Ash.

But it still lacks the final straw that breaks the camel's back.

Just then, a loud, arrogant laugh rang out, accompanied by the rising of a hot air balloon.

"Who is it?" Xiao Cui asked instinctively.

"Since you are so sincere... (omitted)"

The arrogant voice came from Team Rocket, who, after half a month, caught up with Ash and his friends once again.

This is Ash's fourth encounter with Team Rocket. It can only be said that these two and one cat are like a persistent ghost.

This time, they've prepared a new machine—a giant vacuum cleaner!
Under the vacuum cleaner's power, the Pokémon in the sanatorium were sucked in one by one. Given the strength of the Pokémon in the sanatorium, they had no way to get out of the inner bag after being sucked in. Bulbasaur was anxious when it saw this and quickly used Razor Leaf and Vine Whip to stop it.

But Team Rocket clearly went all out this time; neither Razor Leaf nor Vine Whip could stop the vacuum cleaner in the slightest, and even Bulbasaur was almost sucked in.

Just then, a bright blue energy ball struck the vacuum cleaner's connection point, instantly breaking the machine, which had remained unmoved despite being bombarded by the flying leaf blades and vine whips, into two pieces.

Musashi and Kojiro, who had been laughing heartily, instantly lost their smiles. The machine they had spent a fortune building had just broken down like that?!
How could that be? It's made of high-quality steel. Even an elite-level attack couldn't break it in one hit!

Everyone except Team Rocket had their eyes fixed on Ash. Team Rocket didn't see it because they were laughing, but everyone else could see it clearly: that blue energy ball was Ash's doing!
Xiaogang and Xiaoxia were already used to it, but Xiaocui stared wide-eyed and gaped, her face full of disbelief.

Was that attack launched by a human? Even the strongest Bulbasaur here couldn't harm that machine in the slightest, yet Ash managed to blast it in two with a single blow.

Who is he?

"Aura Sphere!" While everyone was still in shock, Ash had already condensed a second Aura Sphere and then blasted it towards the machine containing the Pokémon in the therapy room.

"Boom!"

The wave missile exploded, and the indestructible machine made of an unknown metal was blasted to pieces!
The Pokémon inside were scattered and sent flying in the explosion. Seeing this, Ash quickly shouted to Bulbasaur, "Now! Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip to bring everyone back!"

"Dane? Dane Dana!" Bulbasaur, who was staring blankly at Ash, immediately reacted and used its Vine Whip to catch its friends in mid-air one by one.

"You little brat, you've ruined our plans again!"

"Are you even human?! What were those blue orbs of light you just shot out?"

Musashi and Kojiro said in exasperation.

They had gone to great lengths to guard against Ash's Pikachu, but before Pikachu could even make a move, Ash destroyed the machine! Is there any justice in this world?

"Your good deeds are the worst thing that could happen to me! Bulbasaur, take care of them, use Razor Leaf!" Ash waved his hand and skillfully commanded Bulbasaur.

Bulbasaur obeyed Ash's command without hesitation. With a jolt, more than a dozen sharp leaf blades shot out from its body, aiming directly at the hot air balloon in the sky.

A hot air balloon is not like a vacuum cleaner, which is just a thin, fragile membrane. The moment the blade pierces through it, a dozen or so holes appear on the hot air balloon.

Then, after the Rockets shouted their signature slogan, "This feels awful," with their faces ashen, they disappeared from sight.

After knocking away Team Rocket, Ash and his friends checked on their Pokémon to see how badly they were hurt. Fortunately, they were all alright.

After checking on the Pokémon's injuries, Bulbasaur approached Ash with a resolute expression.

"Da-ne-dana!" I want to go with you.

"Really?! That's great!" Ash jumped for joy. He had almost given up hope, but Bulbasaur changed his mind.

Looking at the boundless blue sky, Xiao Gang chuckled and said, "Team Rocket did another good deed this time. It was because they showed Bulbasaur your shortcomings and your strength that Bulbasaur so resolutely chose to follow in your footsteps, Ash."

Upon hearing this, Ash, who was happily holding Bulbasaur, paused, and a strange look appeared on his face.

To be honest, it seems to be true what Brock said: without Team Rocket, Bulbasaur might still be struggling with its situation.

Last time, it was also because of Team Rocket that he was able to enter Clefairy's Mysterious Ritual and capture Ralts.

Could it be that... those three guys were his lucky stars?

No, no, no, how could such a thing happen? They're just a bunch of clown gangs having a comedic effect!

Ash would never admit that they were his lucky stars...

……

In the end, Ash successfully caught Bulbasaur, which means his team of Pokémon has reached five, just one more Pokémon away from being full.

After catching Bulbasaur, Ash and his friends asked Kaoru for directions before continuing their journey towards Vermilion City. Compared to the smooth journeys to Pewter City and Cerulean City, the road to Vermilion City was much more arduous.

They had lost their way countless times. If they took a private car, it might only take them a day to get to Kurenai City, but if they walked...

Even if you could walk straight to Konoha City, it would still take at least a week.

Not to mention that Ash and his friends are still getting lost, and the time it takes to take detours is increasing exponentially.

Judging from the direction Xiao Cui pointed out, they have only traveled halfway, even though they have been traveling for more than half a month.

What should have been a week's journey took them more than half a month to complete, and they had only covered half the distance. You can imagine how seriously lost they were.

But getting lost has its advantages; just getting a Bulbasaur is enough to make the time spent getting lost worthwhile.

Following the direction pointed out by Xiao Cui, Xiao Zhi and the others finally left the forest and arrived at the normal road.

Afterward, the group found their location on the map and continued their journey towards Konoha City.

……

Two days later, Ash and his friends reappeared in a jungle. Looking at the similar jungle all around, Ash broke out in a cold sweat.

They... seem to be... lost again?
"No way!! Why are we lost again! The roads in Vermilion City are so hard to navigate! We should have taken the direct bus from Cerulean City to Vermilion City! I don't even know how many times we've gotten lost now!" Xiaoxia said, scratching her head in a state of utter despair.

"Don't say that. If we hadn't gotten lost, how could I have caught Bulbasaur? Besides, we've gained a lot of experience and learned a lot along the way!" Although Ash was also a little annoyed by their constant getting lost, he could be said to be the biggest beneficiary of their journey.

Anyone can complain about getting lost, but he can't.

"These are all the benefits you've gained! We haven't gained anything!" Xiaoxia said angrily.

Ash's growth along the way has been absolutely visible, both in terms of Ash himself and his Pokémon. In addition, with the addition of a rare Pokémon like Bulbasaur, his gains have been considerable.

But what did they gain? At most, some of Brock's Pokémon leveled up a little, and his Staryu leveled up as well, and that was it.

This is something you can achieve even without getting lost!

"Hmm..." Ash obediently shut his mouth and then silently looked at the map in his hand.

For a girl, getting lost in the forest and not being able to find a town, resulting in not being able to take a bath for a long time, is an extremely frustrating thing. It's no wonder that Xia got angry; in fact, it would be abnormal if she didn't get angry.

The most urgent thing now is to find a way to leave this awful place.

"We should be here now. If we keep going in that direction, we should be able to get onto a normal road. Then, if we keep following this road, we'll reach the town closest to Kureha City. Once we pass through that town, we'll be in Kureha City."

Xiao Gang also approached Xiao Zhi's map and, after searching with Xiao Zhi for a while, finally managed to roughly determine their location. Then, he pointed out the place they should go next.

Judging from what Xiao Gang said, it seemed like they would be able to reach Kuye City soon, but all of this depended on them not getting lost again.

"Oh right, my aura can spread to a radius of fifty miles. I can see the terrain within that radius, so I should be able to easily find a way out of the normal road!" Ash suddenly clapped his hands and said with a look of sudden realization.

Upon hearing this, Xiaoxia's face stiffened, her gaze slowly shifting to Xiaozhi, her expression gradually turning ferocious: "You have this ability... why didn't you say so sooner?!"

Angry, Xiaoxia stretched out her two delicate white hands and grabbed Xiaozhi's neck, shaking it incessantly. She looked like a demon from hell.

"Alright, alright, Xia, let's let Zhi find the route first," Xiao Gang quickly advised, to prevent the two from going too far.

If Ash had instinctively retaliated, Misty's physique might not have been as good as Team Rocket's.

Upon hearing this, Xiaoxia released Xiaozhi's neck. In fact, although she was very angry just now, she didn't use much force. She could still tell the importance of things; she was just a little angry.

However, Xiaozhi cooperated by sticking out his tongue, looking like he was about to be strangled, which calmed Xiaoxia's anger down considerably.

Seeing that Misty had let go and her face wasn't so pale anymore, Ash guiltily activated his Aura to probe the surrounding area.

No wonder Xiaoxia was so angry. If he had remembered earlier that his Aura had this function, they would probably be in Rainbow City by now, let alone Vermilion City!

But no matter what, he did catch a Bulbasaur along the way; every cloud has a silver lining!
"...Found the way, it's over there!" In a short while, Ash had already surveyed the surrounding terrain and found the road to Vermilion City on the map.

Waveguide detection perspective.jpg
Seeing how quickly Xiaozhi resolved the matter, Xiaoxia almost lost her temper again.

You say you have such an easy and effortless ability, but you damn well waited until today to use it, and you even forgot the reason!

It's impossible not to be angry!
"Aura is really convenient. I looked up some information about Aura on the computer at the Pokémon Center in Cerulean City. It's a power that only a few Pokémon can use, and none of them have Ash's versatile abilities. There's also no record of anyone possessing this power online. Ash, you're really special."

Xiao Gang said with a sigh.

The wonders of Aura are well-known, and its rarity is off the charts. Apart from Ash Ketchum, it seems that no other human has ever possessed this power.

Even among Pokémon, the power of Aura can only be used to use Aura Sphere and some wave-type moves at most. It can't be used like Ash, who can scout ahead and create barriers.

These functions must have been discovered by Ash after he thoroughly studied the power of aura. Ash's knowledge was so limited before, probably because he spent a lot of time studying the power of aura.

Upon hearing this, Xiaoxia silently recalled the amazing functions of the various aura powers that Xiaozhi had demonstrated, and her anger gradually dissipated.

A novice trainer possesses strength comparable to or greater than a Pokémon-level Pokémon. The trainer is highly talented, has imaginative tactics, cares deeply for Pokémon, and is rapidly gaining experience in raising Pokémon.

Even though he's a bit silly, Ash is still a very attractive person. If the girls outside knew about Ash's abilities and energy, they would probably flock to him.

A good trainer is very popular.

Thinking about this, Xiaoxia's gaze towards Xiaozhi gradually became strange...

"Ah! There's a Pokémon over there with a very weak Aura, let's go take a look!" Just as Misty was silently watching Ash, Ash's sudden shout almost made her lose her mind.

The initial excitement vanished completely, replaced by a desire to beat Ash to a pulp!

Ash's shouts weren't without reason; it was because when he used Aura to probe, he discovered a Pokémon with a very weak Aura on the path they were heading towards.

(End of this chapter)