Chapter 23: Training Pokémon Continues
After the Gust passed, Ash saw that Bulbasaur hadn't sustained any visible injuries from Pidgeotto's Gust. He continued commanding the Pidgeotto flying in the sky, "Again! Pidgeotto, use Wing Attack!" Hearing Ash's command, Pidgeotto immediately spread its wings and charged towards Bulbasaur.
Seeing Pidgeotto fly towards it, Bulbasaur used its Vine Whip, lashing out at the incoming Pidgeotto, trying to grab it. Witnessing this, Ash immediately shouted a command to Pidgeotto, "Pidgeotto, quick, use Double Team!" Hearing Ash, Pidgeotto executed Double Team just as the Vine Whip was about to grab it. Pidgeotto split into four images, including itself. However, Bulbasaur's Vine Whip struck one of the images.
Only two Pidgeotto images remained. Bulbasaur tried to use Vine Whip again to grab Pidgeotto, but it was futile. Pidgeotto had already closed the distance to Bulbasaur. Then, Pidgeotto's Wing Attack struck Bulbasaur squarely.
Bulbasaur sustained significant damage and was now bruised and battered. Seeing this, Brock said to Ash, "Ash, now's the time! Throw a Poké Ball and catch it!"
Hearing Brock, Ash took out an empty Poké Ball and threw it. The Poké Ball struck Bulbasaur directly.
Bulbasaur was sucked into the Poké Ball. However, the red light on the Poké Ball kept flashing relentlessly. It flashed for a full three minutes before finally, with a 'ding!' sound, the red light went dark.
Hearing the 'ding!', Ash jumped up happily and ran over to pick up the Poké Ball. As he picked it up, Ash thought with relief, That scared me to death! Bulbasaur almost broke out of the Poké Ball! Good thing it's finally caught.
Holding the Poké Ball containing Bulbasaur, Ash walked back towards Brock and the others. He announced happily, "I caught Bulbasaur!" As he spoke, Ash turned his hat backwards, held the Poké Ball in one hand, and made a peace sign with the other.
Seeing Ash's pose, Brock thought, Damn it, that actually worked?! Ash's protagonist halo is way too strong! The Poké Ball's light flashed for a whole three minutes! If it were anyone else, the Pokémon would have broken out after just a few flashes! And why is Ash still striking such a corny pose?! Seriously...
After thinking this, Brock looked at Ash's pose, walked off to the side, and covered his face with his hand as if to say, "I don't know this person."
Misty, seeing Ash's pose, walked competitively over to the Oddish and declared, "Oddish! I'm going to catch you!"
Hearing Misty, Oddish immediately stared intently at her and let out a cry, as if telling Misty to bring it on. Seeing Oddish's challenging gaze, Misty prepared to take out a Poké Ball.
Brock glanced at Misty, then looked back at Ash who was still staring blankly at the Poké Ball containing Bulbasaur. Brock thought, Maybe I should play a little trick on Ash, just to see his reaction... Having thought this, Brock immediately put his plan into action.
Brock walked over beside Melanie, whispered a few words in her ear, and Melanie nodded after listening. Then, Melanie walked over to Misty and whispered a few words to her. Misty listened to Melanie and agreed without hesitation. Melanie then walked over to the Oddish and whispered a few words to it. After hearing Melanie, Oddish also nodded in agreement. Having finished speaking, Melanie walked back over to Brock's side.
Seeing this interaction, Ash snapped out of his daze, walked over beside Brock, and asked curiously, "Brock, what did you just say to Melanie? Can you tell me?"
Hearing Ash, Brock slowly replied, "Just wait. Watch Misty's capture attempt, and you'll understand. It's a secret for now."
Ash replied "Okay" after hearing Brock, then watched Misty and the Oddish. Misty was 'battling' the Oddish. She directly took out a Poké Ball and threw it. The Poké Ball hit Oddish, and Oddish was sucked inside. The Poké Ball's light flashed once, then went 'ding!'. Just like that, Oddish was caught by Misty.
Watching this, Ash asked puzzledly, "Misty, how did you catch Oddish so quickly?! It was much faster than when I caught Caterpie!"
Hearing Ash, Misty rolled her eyes at him and said, "Do you think everyone is like you?! Just getting lucky and catching Caterpie by throwing one Poké Ball! The reason I could catch Oddish like this is thanks to Brock!"
Hearing Misty's answer, Ash walked over beside Brock and asked curiously, "Brock, how did you do that? Can you teach me?"
Hearing Ash, Brock explained, "I didn't really do much. I just asked Melanie to tell Oddish, 'If you let Misty catch you, you can travel together with me (Brock/the group).' Because Melanie had been caring for Oddish, Oddish would likely listen to her. I didn't expect Oddish to agree so easily though."
After hearing Brock's explanation, Ash thought for a moment, then said angrily, "Brock! Why didn't you say so earlier?! If you had said that before, I could have caught Bulbasaur without even battling! I bet you did that on purpose to mess with me!"
Hearing Ash, Brock explained, "Ash, I didn't think of it while you were battling Bulbasaur just now. Nothing I could do!" After saying this, Brock thought, This flimsy excuse should be enough to fool Ash, right?
After hearing Brock's explanation, Ash thought for a moment and said, "Fine, Brock, I'll forgive you this time. But next time you think of any easy method, you have to tell me!" After saying this, Ash decided not to fuss about it anymore.
"Melanie, now it's your turn to catch a Pokémon. Do you have a Poké Ball?" Brock asked, walking over beside Melanie.
Hearing Brock, Melanie said, "I don't have any Poké Balls."
Hearing this, Brock took an empty Poké Ball from his own supply, handed it to Melanie, and said, "No problem, take this empty Poké Ball. Quick, catch Paras!" As he spoke, Brock looked at the Paras in front of them.
Melanie took the Poké Ball from Brock, immediately threw it at Paras, and the Poké Ball hit Paras. The light on the Poké Ball didn't even flash; Paras was caught instantly. Seeing that the Poké Ball had successfully caught Paras, Melanie went over to pick it up.
Picking up the Poké Ball, Melanie walked back towards Brock and said, "Brock, I caught a Pokémon! This is the first time I've ever had my own Pokémon! I'm so happy!"
Hearing Melanie, Brock replied, "Melanie, congratulations!" After speaking, he thought, Sigh, Misty caught the Oddish... I didn't really want the other Pokémon here anyway. Oh well, I'll catch something else next time.
"Congratulations, Melanie!" Ash, Misty, and Daisy said, walking over beside Melanie to congratulate her.
"I'm going to train my Pokémon now. Do you guys want to train too?" Brock asked, looking at Ash and the others.
"Brock, can you help me train Oddish? Because I don't know how to train Pokémon other than Water-types," Misty asked after hearing Brock.
Ash also chimed in, "I want to train too! Brock, let me train with you!"
"Brock, teach me how to train Seel!" Daisy added from the side.
Hearing Brock's question, Melanie said, "Brock, I don't need to train any Pokémon. Paras doesn't like battling, and besides, I don't like battling either."
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