Ash, with his invincible physical body, wants to become a Pokémon Master...

Every Pokémon he touched attacked him, and Max was fortunate enough to experience the attacks of all three Kanto starter Pokémon.

I believe he will have a deeper understanding of these three Pokémon.

Even Haruka benefited greatly from Oki's lecture.

"Sister, are you really comfortable listening to a lecture with a bunch of kids?"

"What does it matter? There's no shame in learning knowledge with anyone."

Xiaoyao is now incredibly eager to learn the knowledge she once lacked.

After Professor Oak left the next day, Max and May were finally satisfied and set off with Ash.

To reach Yuenwood City, they then headed east along the Orange Blossom Forest.

They happened to pass through the territory of the Lizard King's people and took the opportunity to visit the giant tree that had been rejuvenated.

They also met with the group of tree geckos from before.

Upon seeing his old friends, the Lizard King, though not saying anything and still maintaining a cool and arrogant demeanor, clearly conveyed its joy to the little AI.

Elder Treecko was very pleased to see that Sceptile was not suffering any hardship and was doing so well with Ash.

Before Ash and his friends left, they even forced a seed on Ash.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have obtained the item "Miracle Seed": Pokémon holding this item will have their Grass-type moves' power increased by 20%.]

Although this seed is not as powerful as the one on the Lizard King, it is still very useful as a rare item that can enhance Grass-type moves.

Ash readily accepted, and then left a whole year's worth of Pokémon food for the Treecko population before departing.

Unfortunately, none of these Treeckoes wanted to leave Petalburg Woods, otherwise Ash would have really wanted to build another Treecko base next to Squirtle Island.

Thanks to the blessing they received from the giant tree, Ash and his friends did not get lost at all during their journey through Petalburg Woods and made it out smoothly.

Just when Ash and his friends thought their journey to Lilycove City would be as smooth as their journey in Petalburg Woods, an unexpected incident occurred.

A pair of sharp eyes quietly watched Xiaoyao from the shadows.

Chapter 457 The King of the Forbidden Forest

"Ugh, why are you only arresting me?"

"Ash, look! The one that kidnapped my sister is Skarmory! That's rare!"

"Yes, it's quite rare to meet someone here."

"Is this the time to be lamenting? Come save me, you guys!"

In the sky, May, whose waist pouch had been grabbed by Skarmory, shouted loudly to her two unreliable companions below.

This is a completely new forest that Ash and his friends have arrived at since leaving Petalburg Woods.

Then, after leaving the Orange Blossom Tree, they got lost again.

Moreover, this time it was particularly serious. Not only was the navigator unusable, but even Ash's compass was completely broken.

The compass spun wildly like a stopwatch, and now they were completely unable to tell which way to go.

Feeling that he had attracted something evil, Ash immediately took out Jirachi from its sleep and burned incense to pray to it.

After praying that he wouldn't get lost for too long this time, he immediately went off to outwit the navigator.

This dead forest was both gloomy and desolate. With the surrounding tranquil atmosphere, Xiaozhi felt that the trees here were three shades darker than those in other forests.

Even Ash felt a little uneasy after staying there for a while.

The forest here looks quite pristine, with no trace of human activity whatsoever; it feels like a place where you could get lost for quite a while.

This is definitely not a place to stay for long; we must leave immediately.

Just as Ash was getting frustrated and preparing to physically repair the navigator, the forest gave them a pleasant surprise.

Suddenly, a scaly bird darted out from the depths of the forest, grabbed Xiaoyao's waist pouch, and took her into the sky as prey.

Seeing this situation, Xiao Zhi unusually did not rush to the rescue immediately.

"Haruka, this Skarmory isn't very strong. You'll have to handle it yourself. This is a test!"

Given May's current strength, Skarmory can't hurt her.

Ultimately, this situation arose because she was always lax in her defenses, which gave the attackers an opportunity.

We need to teach Haruka a lesson, otherwise she won't know what to do if Ash isn't around and she gets ambushed again.

It's not good to rely on Ash for everything; this is all for May's growth.

What a profound love!

"Ugh, how annoying!"

Hearing Ash say that, Haruka pouted angrily.

She knew that Xiaozhi's decision wouldn't be easily changed, so she had to take it seriously immediately.

"Dead bird, let go already! I've had enough of flying these past few days."

May shouted at the Skarmory above and then threw a Poké Ball upwards.

"Turkey takes the stage and uses Flamethrower!"

"Chama!"

The Torchic, appearing directly above Skarmory, unleashed its most effective counter, Flamethrower, delivering a devastating blow.

The archeryx was in pain, and its claws loosened, causing May to fall.

At that moment, Torchic immediately swooped down and landed in Haruka's arms.

"Well done, turkey."

“Chama”.

"quack!"

But the armored bird, having recovered its senses, was still unwilling to give up. After adjusting its position in the air, it immediately flapped its wings and swooped down in the direction where Haruka was falling.

Its wings shimmered with silver light, a sign that it was about to unleash its Steel Wings special move.

Unlike Ash, May can't fly, so she can't dodge attacks nimbly in the air.

If it gets hit by a Skarmory, its body will definitely be covered in bruises.

However, Xiaoyao was not panicked at all.

With Xiaozhi's help, she has improved a lot.

Of course, his physical abilities haven't improved much compared to Ash's yet, but his battle awareness has improved significantly.

Even when facing an attack during her fall, she calmly raises the Torchic in her arms and shouts "Flamethrower!" again.

A thick column of fire immediately shot out from the Torchic's mouth, striking the Skarmory in the chest.

After suffering two heavy blows, the Skarmory finally fell.

Haruka emerged victorious in this encounter in the wild!

"Yes, excellent." Ash was very pleased with May's progress.

He had already rushed to the landing point before Xiaoyao landed and then caught her steadily.

And Ash was holding May very tightly for her safety.

The posture just gives you a slight advantage.

"Your fighting skills and your bust size have both grown together, Haruka."

"Why is bust size being a focus of attention... Ugh, I hate you!"

Ash used his telekinesis to gently support May's body, while his hands lifted the heaviest parts of May's body.

"It's all because of the emergency. I believe you'll understand, Xiaoyao."

"You're deliberately trying to take advantage!"

"Injustice!"

Pinch it twice.

"Ash~!"

"Hmm?" Xiao Zhi asked with an innocent and pure face.

Squeeze it a couple more times.

"Sister, Xiaozhi, are you alright?"

Just as Xiaoyao was about to have a fit, Xiaosheng arrived with everyone's backpacks.

She could only stomp on Xiaozhi's toes a few times in a huff, then walked away with a red face.

"...What's going on here?"

Seeing the strange atmosphere between Ash and his older sister, Max was a little confused.

"Don't ask questions, little kid." Xiao Zhi took the bag from Xiao Sheng and unceremoniously pulled him aside.

This made Xiaosheng very unhappy.

"Hmph, if you don't want to talk about it, fine. That's how all adults are."

But then Xiaosheng picked up the Navigator again, which had been showing no signal. "Xiaozhi, hurry up and decide, which direction should we go next?"

Suddenly remembering that there was such an important matter to be resolved, Xiao Zhi immediately grabbed his hair and went crazy.

"Yeah, which way to go... Ugh, this is so frustrating! How about we throw tree branches to decide?"

"No!" ×2

Suddenly, just as Ash and his friends were feeling troubled, a rustling sound came from around them, and then clumps of paralyzing powder mixed with various attacks came flying towards Ash and his friends.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu leaped into the air, and a powerful electric current swept outwards in an instant, intercepting all attacks.

Only then did Ash and his friends realize that a huge number of Grass-type Pokémon had gathered in the forest and surrounded them.