Pokémon, Ash's art style is off!

Her message was brief and powerful.

"The uncle's defense is indeed as solid as a rock! (^▽^)"

Xiao Zhi stared at the screen, his eyes wide open.

Isn't that the six-year-old king of the Padida?

Xiaoxia exclaimed in surprise.

"As expected of an older man."

"Even if you bully a kid, you can still squeeze a hard rock."

"It just goes to show that the quality of this older man's work... is still increasing!"

......

After being treated to Xiaoming's hospitality and resting for a day, the three packed their bags and embarked on their journey again.

Two days later.

After walking for most of the day, the three were still traversing the increasingly dense forest.

The path beneath my feet gradually blurred and was eventually swallowed up by weeds and bushes.

Xia looked around and found that the surrounding trees all looked pretty much the same.

The dense canopy blocked out the sun, making it difficult to discern directions.

"..."

Xiaoxia stopped in her tracks, a sense of foreboding gradually creeping onto her face.

"I mean...did we...go to the wrong place again?"

Xiao Gang held up the map, his brows furrowed, comparing it to the terrain that didn't match at all, with beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

"Based on the directions and map markings... there should theoretically be a path..."

"Theory, theory!"

Xiaoxia, having reached her limit, turned her anger towards Xiaogang.

"Here we go again! Last time you said we should theoretically see a river, but we ended up seeing a cliff!"

"The time before last you said there should be a cave in theory, but it turned out to be a nest of giant bee bees!"

"This time, there's not even a road left!"

As she recounted each and every incident, Xiaogang became increasingly guilty.

Seeing that the time was right, Xiaoxia straightened her back and her tone suddenly became righteous and stern.

"As a member of the team, Ash has repeatedly led the team into dangerous situations! This is a serious dereliction of duty!"

"I propose that, for everyone's safety and travel arrangements,..."

"Xiao Gang needs to be temporarily relieved of his navigation and logistics duties!"

Xiao Gang: "..."

"We'll still have to figure out the way and cook later," Xiaoxia said confidently, tossing her hair. "Why don't we..."

She hadn't finished speaking.

Xiao Zhi chimed in.

"Teacher Gang's eyesight isn't very good, and he's so young he can't see things clearly, so it's okay if he makes a mistake!"

You need to be more understanding!

"And don't mention cooking again!"

"Pickup!"

Seeing that Misty was still up to her old tricks, Pikachu nodded.

"Ash..."

Teacher Gang was so moved that his eyes welled up with tears.

"It would have been better if you hadn't said that first sentence!"

Xiao Zhi looked around and surveyed the surroundings.

I walked toward a clump of slightly swaying grass.

"Don't panic, let me ask for directions for you."

"Brother! Brother! Don't go yet!"

Xiao Zhi walked quickly over and squatted down.

I greeted the Pokémon with five leaves on top, which was swaying slowly.

"I have a question for you. Do you know where around here is a way out?"

"We wanted to go to Konoha City, but it seems we got lost."

"Da na?"

Are you calling me?

The Oddish stopped moving, and a few leaves turned towards Ash.

His eyes were full of doubt.

Who is this person?

Why are you talking so familiarly?

Could it be someone I knew from sunbathing somewhere before?

"Da na~"

Without thinking too much, the person and the plant started communicating.

Xiao Zhi listened attentively, nodding occasionally and gesturing with his hands.

Behind him, Xiao Gang watched this scene, and even though it wasn't the first time he'd seen it, he couldn't help but sigh softly.

"No matter how many times I watch it, Ash's ability to communicate directly with Pokémon without any obstacles still seems a bit outrageous."

Xiaoxia also temporarily forgot about her grand plan to seize power.

"really."

She nodded.

After a while, Ash seemed to have finished asking his questions, stood up, and patted the grass clippings off his hands.

Xiao Gang asked with a glimmer of hope.

"Ash, did you find out which direction to go to Vermilion City?"

Ash and the Oddish on the ground turned their heads at the same time, their eyes fixed on Brock.

Their faces all showed the same expression, a mixture of surprise and "Why would you ask such a question?"

"Teacher Gang, what are you saying?"

"Oddish has never been to Vermilion City, so how would it know where Vermilion City is?"

"Da na~"

The walking grass also had many leaves, and its bright black eyes glanced at Xiao Gang.

This person isn't smart!

Xiao Gang: "..."

It seems... there's no way to refute it.

"So what did you ask it?"

Xiaoxia asked.

"Of course I'm asking where there are people, or places where people live!" Ash said matter-of-factly, with a "doesn't that even need asking?" look on his face. "There must be a road where people live! Oddish said that if you keep walking in that direction, you'll meet people!"

As he spoke, he took an orange fruit out of his backpack and handed it to Walking Grass.

"Thanks, bro! This is on you!"

"Da na~"

The walking grass happily rolled up its leaves to hold the tree fruit.

Then he patted Xiaozhi on the shoulder.

It's nothing! We can contact them again next time if we need anything else!

Then it slowly moved into the bushes.

Ash pointed in the direction that Oddish's leaf had indicated.

"This way!"

After saying that, he took the lead and disappeared into the woods.

Xiaoxia and Xiaogang exchanged a glance and could only follow.

After trekking through the dense forest for nearly half a day, all around were still endless trees and vines. There was no sign of cooking fires or houses, and even a decent animal trail was hard to find.

The sky began to darken gradually.

Xiaoxia wiped the sweat from her forehead and couldn't help but speak again.

"Ash... are you sure the path that Oddish pointed to is right? It doesn't look like there's anyone there at all..."

Upon hearing this, Xiaozhi abruptly stopped, his brows furrowed, and turned to look at Xiaoxia with an extremely serious expression.

How could you doubt Oddish?

"To doubt it is to doubt me!"

"If it says there are people here, then there must be people here!"

Looking at Ash's expression, which left no room for doubt and seemed to be protecting his best friend's reputation.