Pokémon, Ash's art style is off!

It's not like the incredibly popular Gardevoir, or even a pseudo-legendary baby!

Could it be that Xiaoxia, a beautiful young female trainer in the prime of her youth, with a pretty face and a... well, a promising future, is less charming than a tiny bug crawling on the ground?!

Xiaoxia felt a wave of frustration.

Nothing good has happened to her since she met Ash!

What's even more infuriating is that this person just left himself there!

After a brief standoff, Xiaoxia finally just let out a soft snort to express her dissatisfaction.

Breakfast ended in a subtle atmosphere.

The two packed their belongings and prepared to continue their journey.

After taking some, Ash neatly stacked the remaining, still considerable amount of berries on a clean, flat rock, making them available for other passing wild Pokémon to take.

Ash clapped his hands, squatted down, and said goodbye to Caterpie with reluctance.

"Take care. After I'm gone, don't go near timid trainers just because it's cold at night."

"Pikachu".

Pikachu peeked its little head out from Ash's shoulder, nodded seriously at Green-haired Pikachu, and echoed.

Although their time together, from meeting to parting, was only a short morning.

But it was just one short morning.

The bond between the man, the insect, and the mouse had already grown rapidly.

It just goes to show how strange friendships can be between males.

"grumble!"

The green caterpillar was moved to tears, its little eyes glistening with tears.

This is the first time it has received such thoughtful care since it was born.

The last time was three days ago when it was still in the egg.

For Bug-type Pokémon that develop extremely quickly, three days is already a very long time.

Xiaoxia kept her distance from the caterpillar.

Watching the three creatures almost hugging each other, putting on a heartfelt farewell scene, I felt a tightness in the skin on my arm and small goosebumps appeared.

"Eek~"

She couldn't help but roll her eyes and mutter a complaint under her breath.

"Since you're so reluctant to part with it, why not just take it with you..."

She regretted it as soon as she finished speaking.

Xia, Xia, what are you doing!

How could anyone come up with such a self-destructive and altruistic idea!

If he actually accepts it, wouldn't he have to face this bug the whole way?!

However, what was said without malice was taken seriously by the listener.

Ash: "!"

Pikachu: "!"

Caterpillar: "!"

Three pairs of eyes instantly focused on Xiaoxia.

"Xiaoxia, could it be... you..." Xiaozhi's eyes widened, his tone filled with disbelief, as if he were meeting her for the first time, "...are actually very smart?"

Pikachu and Caterpie nodded vigorously in unison, their three faces filled with the same disbelief.

Xiaoxia: "?"

What do you mean by "Could it be that she's very smart?"

She's always been very smart, okay!

It's hard to say about Xiao Zhi's IQ, which fluctuates, but it's definitely more than enough compared to the other two!

"Well!"

Ash looked at Caterpie, preparing to catch it.

There are many ways to catch Pokémon.

But generally speaking, they can be divided into four types.

The first method is more direct and forceful: defeat the wild Pokémon in a Pokémon battle until it is unable to fight back, and then capture it by throwing a Poké Ball.

However, Pokémon captured in this way usually have low initial friendship levels and may not be devoted to their trainers.

Aside from a few Pokémon that are naturally drawn to strength and power, most will be resistant to trainers who try to conquer them with force, requiring trainers to spend a lot of time and energy to slowly cultivate feelings and understanding.

After all, it's like forcing yourself on someone and then expecting them to willingly fight to the death for you.

Of course, you can't make things go perfectly from the start, unless the other person is a submissive.

The second method is to raise them from a young age, carefully caring for and hatching them from when they are still eggs.

The advantage is that the initial affinity is extremely high, like that of a family member, but the training cost and effort required are often much greater than directly capturing wild, adult Pokémon.

The third method is to transfer Pokémon to others.

This means that after another trainer has successfully bred a Pokémon, they may give it away for various reasons.

As for a Pokémon's strength and its affinity for its trainer, that depends entirely on luck and the original trainer's upbringing.

New trainers who receive Pokémon from the research lab can also be considered to fall into this category in a broader sense.

However, the league had already conducted preliminary screening and training, and most of the Pokémon distributed to the newcomers were those with relatively friendly personalities and decent basic strength.

The last method involves capturing Pokémon through one's own charm.

The advantages are that they are powerful and have high favorability; after all, if they weren't, they wouldn't follow you.

However, the downsides are also extremely obvious.

That's something most people can't learn.

Ash knelt down on one knee in front of Caterpie.

He solemnly took out a Poké Ball from his waist and solemnly brought it to the Caterpie.

"grumble!"

Caterpie seemed a little shy, turning its face slightly to the side, but its body involuntarily moved a little closer to Ash.

Xiaoxia: "......"

Her lips twitched slightly.

It's just about catching a Pokémon.

Why are you making this look like a wedding?!

And it's the kind of wedding that's straight out of a cheesy idol drama!

"Caterpie," Ash looked intently at it, "would you... come with me? Let's see a wider world together, and become stronger together?"

"grumble!"

The green caterpillar nodded vigorously.

Then, with all his might, he rammed his head into the button in the center of the Poké Ball.

The Poké Ball opens.

The red light enveloped the caterpillar and absorbed it.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The red and white balls swayed gently three times in Ash's palm, making a rhythmic sound.

"Den!"

With a crisp, pleasant locking sound, the Poké Ball came to a complete stop, and the indicator light in the center went out, signifying a successful capture.

"Wuhu~"

Ash excitedly held the Poké Ball high above his head and shouted loudly towards the sky.

"Caterpie—GetDa☆Ze!!"

......

A new member has joined the party, but their mission to escape the Evergreen Forest continues.

After roughly determining the direction.

As they walked along the winding forest path, Ash was almost constantly on the move.

His unique aura seems to have a natural attraction for wild Pokémon.

In addition, his righteous act of opening the granary and distributing the berries fairly last night has spread rapidly among Pokémon, making his reputation among Pokémon in the surrounding area ridiculously high, almost reaching legendary level.

Wherever he went, a few familiar faces would quietly emerge and greet him.

Ash is also someone who can't sit still.

Whenever someone greets him, he'll go over and chat for a bit in his own way, which Xiaoxia finds hard to understand.

He nods and gestures, interacting with the Pokémon without any barriers, as if he were a part of the forest himself.

The barriers of language and species were meaningless to him.

Xiaoxia, standing behind him, watched this scene silently, a hint of undisguised envy in her eyes.

This stark contrast reminded her of her Gyarados, which had become increasingly difficult to communicate with and even somewhat resistant to her since its evolution.

"Um... Ash."

He quickened his pace and walked alongside Ash, who was eating a fruit given to him by some unknown Pokémon.

Her voice was a few decibels lower than usual, carrying a hint of embarrassment and hesitation.