After a lengthy and somewhat stressful conversation, Ash finally realized that standard Trainers actually cooked hot meals while traveling in the wilderness. It wasn't something reserved for special occasions or holidays, and they certainly didn't just forage for raw berries to survive.
Or rather, a Trainer like him—who survived entirely on raw berries—was an exceptionally rare anomaly in the modern world.
"Wow. That is absolutely incredible."
Ash had to eat three massive bowls of hot rice in a single sitting just to physically suppress his utter shock.
With Serena joining the party, the standard of living for Ash and his Pokémon instantly skyrocketed. Their daily meals went from "barely surviving" to "absolute luxury."
However, watching Serena slave away over the campfire every single day eventually made Ash feel a little guilty. One afternoon, he enthusiastically volunteered to cook a massive, hearty lunch for everyone.
He sprinted into the forest and gathered every single type of wild berry he could find. If it looked like it could be sliced, he sliced it. If it looked like it could be boiled, he threw it into the soup pot.
In the end, his culinary masterpiece was a resounding success.
It successfully inflicted Paralysis, Confusion, Poison, and Burn status conditions onto the entire party simultaneously.
Well, it technically raised everyone's base resistance to abnormal status conditions, so it couldn't strictly be considered a bad thing.
Probably.
Ahem.
Following that catastrophic event, the group placed a strict, absolute ban on Ash ever touching the cooking utensils again. However, to keep him from feeling completely left out, they still allowed him to forage for specific berries to use as ingredients...
Logically speaking, wild berries were an extremely common seasoning. Many regions dried them out and ground them into spice powders. Even if Ash just randomly threw berries into a pot, the absolute worst-case scenario should have been that the food tasted bad. It shouldn't have been highly toxic.
Nobody had any idea how Ash managed to take berries specifically evolved to cure status conditions and somehow cook them into a meal that inflicted status conditions.
The fact that the effects completely reversed themselves was utterly absurd.
Though, from a certain perspective, didn't that mean Ash's latent talent for cooking was actually terrifyingly high?
Hmm...
The cooking disaster was merely a minor bump in the road. Overall, their journey together was incredibly pleasant. Along the way, they witnessed all sorts of wondrous sights. They saw a Magikarp successfully leap over a waterfall and evolve into a terrifying Gyarados. They watched a clumsy Sandshrew accidentally burrow directly into the rock joints of an Onix, causing the massive rock snake to rampage. They even managed to spot an incredibly rare Hitmonchan training deep in the mountains.
This was the first time Serena had truly experienced the bizarre, magical ecology of the wild. It finally made her understand why some people chose to spend their entire lives living in the wilderness alongside Pokémon. There was a reason they were called "Pocket Monsters." They truly were filled with endless mystery and wonder.
Ash, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as surprised by any of it. He had known since he was a little kid just how magical Pokémon were. His entire focus during the journey remained squarely locked on his physical training regime.
After his crushing defeat at the hands of Red, Ash, who previously had no real concept of what "strong" actually meant, finally had a concrete benchmark. Using that absolute standard as his driving motivation, Ash spent nearly every waking moment pushing his body to the absolute limit.
But even with non-stop training, experiencing such a massive leap in strength in such a short period of time was highly unnatural. However, when you factored in that Ash was literally completing the exact same hellish training routines alongside his Pokémon—and frequently doing more reps than them—his absurd progress started to make a twisted sort of sense.
There was a phrase for it: leading by example. If the physically frail human Trainer was pushing themselves to the brink of death every single day, what excuse did the biologically superior Pokémon have to slack off?
Of course, this specific training method was entirely impossible for 99.9% of Trainers to replicate.
After all, not everyone possessed a freakish constitution that rivaled actual Pokémon...
Regardless of how bizarre the method was, results were results. Under this intense regimen, Ash's Weedle rapidly accumulated enough battle experience to successfully evolve into Kakuna.
Bug-type Pokémon were naturally the fastest species to evolve, and Ash's Weedle had been subjected to a ridiculous amount of physical conditioning. The rapid evolution was entirely expected.
However, this meant that for the immediate future, Ash only had two Pokémon actually capable of fighting. Kakuna could only use the move Harden. While it technically wasn't entirely defenseless, it absolutely could not participate in any intense battles.
Despite being confined to a rigid, armless, legless cocoon, Kakuna was utterly terrified of falling behind the rest of the team's insane training culture. It firmly demanded to continue its physical conditioning.
But how exactly does a literal pupa train?
Ash wracked his brain for hours until he finally landed on a brilliant solution: he assigned Kakuna to act as Froakie's personal whetstone.
Froakie would relentlessly slash at Kakuna with its glowing sword, and Kakuna would constantly spam Harden to defend against the strikes.
Logically speaking, this training method was incredibly dangerous. Froakie's lethal swordsmanship was already a known variable. Fortunately, Froakie possessed an absolute, masterful control over its own physical strength. Because of this perfect micro-control, Kakuna was able to barely survive the grueling regimen.
Even when fully evolved into a Beedrill, the species was notoriously fragile. Ash had no idea if this brutal impact-training would actually permanently increase Kakuna's base Defense stat, but even if it didn't, it didn't really matter. At the very least, it gave the energetic pupa a way to burn off its excess energy.
However, Kakuna didn't view it as a simple game like Ash thought. It took the brutal conditioning incredibly seriously.
Kakuna had secretly made a firm resolution: The very day it successfully endured a full-power slash from the boss frog without flinching, that would be the day it shattered its cocoon, evolved into Beedrill, and violently overthrew the frog's reign!
"Fro, fro."
Hearing of the pupa's grand ambitions, Froakie was entirely dismissive.
A mere bug wishes to pierce the heavens? Pathetic. Truly pathetic!
Despite the mockery, Froakie slowly and deliberately began increasing the physical force behind every single swing during their training sessions.
It wasn't worried about being surpassed. But since it had acquired such a durable, willing target to test its blade against, why not push it to the limit?
Let us see exactly how much force your little shell can withstand!
...
One afternoon, a dense, unnatural fog suddenly rolled through the mountain pass, making it incredibly difficult for Ash and Serena to move forward.
"This fog is way too thick."
Serena looked around nervously.
"It's too dangerous to keep walking in this weather. It would be incredibly easy to get lost."
"Then let's just stay put for a while and wait for it to clear up."
"Okay."
The two of them waited patiently for over half an hour, but the fog showed absolutely no signs of dissipating. If anything, the white mist seemed to be growing even denser.
"This isn't going to work." The fog was so thick that Serena instinctively stepped closer to Ash. "It's getting late anyway. Ash, why don't we just call it a day and set up camp right here?"
"I guess we don't have a choice," Ash agreed helplessly.
"Then I'll start prepping dinner for tonight."
"I'll go find some firewood and berries!"
"Hold on, Ash. The fog is way too thick right now. You really shouldn't go wandering off," Serena quickly stopped him. "It would be terrible if you got lost."
"Don't worry!" Ash waved her off dismissively. He tapped his nose confidently. "My sense of smell is incredibly sharp! I can just sniff my way back to camp. There's zero chance I'll get lost."
"..."
Are you a human or a Growlithe?!
Serena was completely at a loss for words.
Before she could form a counterargument, Ash sprinted directly into the thick white mist.
"I'll be right back!"
"Hey! Ash!"
Watching his silhouette vanish entirely into the fog, Serena let out a heavy sigh. She looked down at the frog sitting next to her.
"Froakie, why exactly is Ash's body built like that?"
"Fro." Froakie gave her a profoundly deep, philosophical look.
I am currently searching for the answer to that question myself.
Serena: "..."
"Whatever." Serena sighed again. She turned to the other Pokémon. "Mimikyu, Delphox, come help me prep the ingredients."
"Mimi!" "Del!"
Ignoring the cozy domestic scene back at the camp, Ash was currently thoroughly proving Serena's complaints right. In just a few short minutes, he was already carrying an absolutely massive pile of heavy firewood and wild berries in his arms.
"This should probably be enough."
Looking at the massive bundle of wood completely obscuring his vision, Ash muttered to himself. Just as he turned around to follow his scent back to camp, his nose suddenly twitched.
A bizarre, incredibly refreshing scent suddenly brushed past his face.
"What is that smell?"
Ash instinctively turned his head toward the source. He had never smelled anything like it before in his life. If he had to describe it... it smelled exactly like the North Wind.
As to what exactly the "North Wind" was supposed to smell like, or why it wasn't the South, East, or West wind, Ash honestly couldn't tell you. He just intrinsically knew that this pure, refreshing scent was the scent of the North Wind.
Following the scent, Ash peered through the dense fog. Faintly, through the swirling white mist, he spotted a majestic, four-legged blue creature.
"What is that?"
Curious, Ash took a step forward, wanting to get a closer look.
The creature seemed to notice him instantly. Its long, elegant legs moved effortlessly, and it began to gracefully sprint through the dense forest, looking as if it were gliding over the earth. In the blink of an eye, it nearly vanished from Ash's line of sight.
"Wait!"
Seeing the mysterious creature fleeing, Ash instantly dropped his massive bundle of firewood and berries. Without a second thought, he broke into a dead sprint, chasing after it.
His nose perfectly locked onto the creature's scent. Powered by his bottomless stamina and freakishly dense leg muscles, Ash tore through the dense brush like a wild boar.
Even though the elegant creature was incredibly fast, the distance between them was actually slowly shrinking.
"..."
Noticing the rapidly closing distance, Suicune was genuinely startled.
What the hell? Is this thing actually a human? Why is he running faster than me?!
But Suicune didn't have time to philosophize. If it actually allowed itself to get run down and caught by a random human teenager, the majestic, mysterious aura it had spent decades cultivating would instantly shatter into a million pieces.
Suicune quickly scanned its surroundings. It immediately spotted a massive, imposing iron gate surrounding a large estate in the distance. Without hesitation, Suicune elegantly shifted its trajectory and bolted directly toward the estate.
Ash didn't suspect a thing and blindly chased after it. He watched Suicune execute a massive, graceful leap over the iron gate. Copying the motion, Ash firmly planted his feet and launched himself into a massive jump.
And then...
CLANG!!!
A deafening, metallic crash echoed through the forest. Ash slammed face-first directly into the solid iron gate. He hit it with such absurd kinetic force that he actually dented the thick metal bars, leaving a shallow, human-shaped crater in the iron.
Suspended mid-air on the other side of the gate, Suicune witnessed the brutal impact. Its eyes violently contracted in pure terror.
The moment its paws touched the ground, Suicune bolted toward the horizon without a single look back.
I definitely just saw a ghost.
I am out of here!
"Ow, ow, ow..."
Ash pushed against the gate, using a significant amount of strength to physically pry himself out of the human-shaped dent. He vigorously rubbed his bruised nose. Before he could even regain his bearings, the frantic sound of approaching footsteps echoed from inside the estate.
A young girl's highly anxious voice rang out.
"Where is the rampaging humanoid Pokémon?! Where is it?!"
"Oh! There it is! Based on that build, it has to be a Machop, right?"
"But to actually dent our reinforced iron gate... the level of this Machop must be incredibly high!"
"Excellent! You will have the honor of accompanying me to the Indigo Plateau!"
"Go! Poké Ball!"
Whoosh!
Hearing the distinct whirring sound of a thrown object, Ash instinctively looked up. A red-and-white sphere rapidly expanded in his vision before violently slamming directly into his face.
Smack!
"Ow!"
"Huh??? The Machop just spoke?!"
"I'm not a Machop, you idiot!" A massive tick mark pulsed on Ash's forehead. He glared through the iron bars and yelled loudly. "I'm a human being! Are you entirely blind?!"
"Huh? It actually is a human?"
The girl's voice sounded much closer this time. Because she had walked right up to the gate, Ash finally got a clear look at her.
It was a very cute girl with light brown hair.
"You actually dented a reinforced iron gate." The girl covered her mouth, feigning extreme shock. "Are you secretly the descendant of a primeval gorilla?"
Instantly, Ash no longer thought the girl was cute.
"You're the gorilla!" He shot back irritably.
A second later, a massive crowd of boys in matching uniforms swarmed around the girl, glaring at Ash with absolute fury.
"How dare you call Lady Giselle a gorilla! Unforgivable!"
"What? You want to fight?!"
BAM!
Ash casually punched the thick brick wall next to the iron gate. His entire fist sank deep into the solid concrete.
"I'll take you all on right now!"
"..."
Seeing the boy casually shatter concrete with his bare hands, the shouting boys were instantly silenced.
Standing at the front of the pack, Giselle's jaw dropped in absolute horror.
"Oh my god... what prehistoric era did this caveman crawl out of..."
"What did you just—"
"Using physical violence to solve disputes is a barbaric practice reserved only for cavemen." Giselle quickly whipped out an elegant folding fan, using it to cover the lower half of her face. "If you wish to settle a dispute in the modern era, you use Pokémon."
"You want to have a Pokémon battle?" Hearing that, Ash's anger vanished. He immediately reached for his belt, aiming for Mimikyu's Poké Ball. "Alright! I accept your challenge! I choose you, Mimikyu—!"
His hand grasped empty air.
Ash suddenly remembered he had left Mimikyu back at the camp to help Serena chop vegetables.
A literal ghost in a rag had better culinary skills than him.
Ahem.
"Uh..." Realizing his situation, a cold sweat broke out on Ash's forehead.
Froakie and Mimikyu were both back at the camp. The only Pokémon he had on him right now was...
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you don't even own a single Pokémon?" Giselle mocked.
"Of course I do!" Ash gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and unclipped his final Poké Ball.
"I choose you! Go, Kakuna!"
Flash!
More PS = More Chapters!