"Squirtle, Water Pulse!"
"Pikachu, follow up with Thunderbolt!"
"Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!"
"Butterfree, now—use Stun Spore!"
"Pidgeotto, Air Slash!"
"Charmander, Ember!"
Locking onto a flock of Fearow, Ash commanded all six of his Pokémon to attack at once.
With that combo of moves unleashed, the Fearow simply couldn't withstand the assault. Just Squirtle and Pikachu's attacks alone had already taken out most of them. Bulbasaur and Butterfree mainly focused on restricting the enemies' movement, while Pidgeotto and Charmander followed up with additional damage.
[Pokémon: Fearow – Lv. 26]
Fearow's level was quite high, and there were many of them. Altogether, the battle experience they yielded was considerable.
[Pokémon: Squirtle Lv. 30 → Lv. 32]
[Pokémon: Pidgeotto Lv. 28 → Lv. 31]
[Pokémon: Charmander Lv. 14 → Lv. 22]
[Pokémon: Butterfree Lv. 26 → Lv. 29]
[Pokémon: Bulbasaur Lv. 27 → Lv. 30]
After they had essentially cleared out the Fearow in the area, the surrounding wild Pokémon immediately fled the moment they saw Ash and his group—afraid that if they were even a little slow, they would become the next target.
"Ash, I think all the Pokémon around here have already battled you at least once," Brock said while helping treat the injured Fearow.
Now he finally understood why Ash had stocked up on so many Potions and Super Potions earlier.
It turned out Ash was deliberately farming battle experience for Charmander and the others.
"We're basically just human Potion dispensers," Misty complained bitterly. Ever since traveling with Ash, the thing she did most often seemed to be applying medicine to the wild Pokémon they had defeated.
Still, Ash had achieved his goal.
All of his Pokémon had gained several levels.
However, something puzzled him.
The Kanto starters should already have reached their evolution levels—but none of them showed any sign of evolving.
Bulbasaur clearly didn't want to evolve. As for Charmander and Squirtle, they didn't seem unwilling, but nothing had happened either.
Maybe they needed the right stimulus—or simply the right moment.
After treating the Pokémon's injuries, Ash led the group toward Bill's Lighthouse.
At the Beach
Later that afternoon, Ash and his companions arrived at a beach.
Hidden here was a future powerhouse—one that had once achieved the feat of defeating three opponents in a row after evolving.
That Pokémon was Krabby.
After Ash caught it, Professor Oak would raise it in the lab, meaning Oak would share part of the credit for its eventual strength.
"Let's rest here for a bit. Watching the sunset sounds nice," Ash suggested.
Before he even finished speaking, Misty had already been captivated by the glowing sunset clouds. She pulled out her Pokédex and began snapping photos of the scenery. She even dragged Ash and Brock into a few group pictures.
Since being released from their Poké Balls, Misty's Goldeen had been the most excited.
After so long, it had finally found a place with water.
Charmander, on the other hand, stayed as far away from the sea as possible. It even grabbed its own tail flame protectively, afraid that even a drop of water might touch it.
Yet it clearly wanted to play with the others.
Its hesitant, awkward little movements were incredibly cute.
"Squirtle! Squirtle!"
Bulbasaur and Pidgeotto started playing a rather chaotic game.
They turned Squirtle and Geodude into spinning tops.
Bulbasaur repeatedly smacked them with Vine Whip, while Pidgeotto flapped its wings to create gusts that made the two spin even faster.
"Squirtle sure knows how to have fun," Brock chuckled when he saw the scene.
Squirtle's shell really was perfect for this kind of game.
Strong, durable—
…and unfortunately for Squirtle, perfect for roughhousing.
Hearing Squirtle's miserable cries, even Ash couldn't hold back his laughter.
The Beach at Sunset
The sun slowly sank below the horizon.
The sky turned a warm orange-red as the sunset spread across the clouds.
The soft sand on the beach glowed with golden light in the fading sunlight, while gentle waves rolled onto the shore, bringing cool sea breezes.
The Pokémon ran around happily on the beach.
Under the sunset's glow, their shadows stretched across the sand as they chased each other, lively and carefree.
Then suddenly—
Squirtle let out an ear-piercing scream.
It hopped and staggered frantically as it ran toward Ash.
"Squirtle! Squirtle!"
(It hurts! Help!)
Ash widened his eyes.
The Pokémon he had been searching for all this time—Krabby—had clamped its claw tightly onto Squirtle's tail.
He had looked everywhere for it without success.
Yet Squirtle had somehow stumbled right into it.
"Squirtle! Squirtle!"
(I can't shake this Krabby off!)
With watery eyes, Squirtle pleaded for help.
Out of all the Pokémon around, Krabby had chosen its tail.
What terrible luck.
Ash quickly took out a Poké Ball and captured Krabby.
Since he already had six Pokémon on his team, the newly captured Pokémon was immediately sent to the Pokédex storage system.
And where did Ash's storage system lead?
Straight to Professor Oak's Laboratory.
Ash suddenly imagined Professor Oak cooking instant noodles over an alcohol burner in the lab.
…Hopefully he wouldn't decide to toss the Krabby into the pot as an extra ingredient.
"Well, you're fine now. Here—have some milk to calm down."
Looking at Squirtle's aggrieved expression, Ash couldn't help laughing. He handed it a bottle of Moomoo Milk as consolation.
"By the way, Ash, who gave you your Pokédex?" Brock asked after noticing the Poké Ball had been automatically transferred away.
"Professor Oak."
"Then that Krabby you just caught has definitely been sent to Oak's lab," Brock said, surprised.
Ash was one of Professor Oak's trainers.
That meant—
Danger!
The image of Professor Oak cooking noodles suddenly seemed a lot more suspicious.
After all, Ash had previously sent Oak a massive Gyarados.
Now he had sent a tiny Krabby.
That was quite an extreme contrast.
"Are you Ash?"
A young man approached and asked.
"Yes."
"I'm Bill, a Pokémon researcher. Professor Oak told me you were here. He also mentioned that the Krabby you just caught was sent to his lab."
Bill introduced himself and greeted Brock and Misty politely.
"Dr. Bill, would you like to stay and have dinner with us?" Brock invited enthusiastically. He also hoped to learn more Pokémon knowledge from the famous researcher.
Bill had originally planned to decline.
He had only come to deliver Oak's message.
But faced with the trio's warm invitation—and the offer of a free meal—he eventually agreed.
"By the way," Bill asked, "how many Pokémon have you caught so far?"
"Eight," Ash replied.
With only two Gym Badges, having eight Pokémon was actually quite impressive.
Brock and Misty, however, felt a little embarrassed.
They hadn't encountered many suitable Pokémon during the journey.
Unlike Ash, whose outrageous luck seemed to attract starter Pokémon to him like magnets.
Sometimes it felt like the starters were practically throwing themselves at him.
"Not bad," Bill said with a smile.
"There are still countless unknown Pokémon in this world. Every species has its own way of surviving."
"As you continue your Gym challenge journey, try to encounter and capture more Pokémon. That's very important for Pokémon research."
Then Bill's expression became serious.
"But the most important thing is this—"
"Never abandon a Pokémon."
It was advice meant for young Trainers.
Of course, Bill believed that a Trainer personally chosen by Professor Oak would never do such a thing.
After that, he began talking about how he had been waiting here in hopes of meeting the Ancient Dragonite.
His face was filled with anticipation.
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