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"Ivysaur wants to lead us to where it's being held!" Brock and Misty understood immediately after hearing Ash's explanation.
It was probably just as Ash had deduced. Rather than simply waiting helplessly, Ivysaur had cleverly used its own Sleep Powder to create a trail for them to follow.
"Let's go!"
Without wasting any more time, Ash stood up and began walking through the grass, following the blue trail. Traces of Sleep Powder could still be found on the ground, and the group followed the path it created.
If they didn't hurry, the Sleep Powder would gradually disperse and become impossible to track once daylight came, so the three friends picked up their pace.
Following the Sleep Powder trail, they found themselves entering an unfamiliar section of jungle. None of them had been to this area before. Although they were somewhat worried about getting lost, they couldn't let that concern stop them now.
"This is strange. I didn't notice this place when we were setting up camp earlier," Misty observed as she looked around nervously.
Being in an unknown location during the middle of the night naturally made everyone feel uneasy.
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
As the group continued moving forward, suddenly there came a rustling sound from the trees above them. When Misty heard the noise, her face immediately went pale, and she quickly moved closer to Ash's side and grabbed his arm.
Brock frowned and scanned their surroundings carefully. Ash also picked up on the sounds coming from all around them.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
At that moment, several sharp sounds cut through the air as tentacle-like objects stretched out from the darkness surrounding them. Misty let out a startled gasp.
"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"
"Scyther, use Fury Cutter!"
Ash quickly directed Pikachu to attack while throwing a Poké Ball to release Scyther.
Pikachu's Iron Tail activated with a metallic gleam, while Scyther's arm-blades glowed with green energy as it slashed repeatedly, cutting through the tentacles that were reaching toward them from all directions.
After the attacks landed, they discovered that the "tentacles" were actually thick vines. Rather than feeling relieved by this revelation, Misty became even more frightened.
The scene felt like something from a horror story where trees and plants come alive to capture unsuspecting travelers.
"What's going on with these things?" Brock asked with surprise.
He had never encountered anything like this before. These weren't Pokémon attacks, but the plants themselves seemed to be moving with purpose.
"Just ignore them and keep moving!" Ash commanded, having Pikachu and Scyther clear the way while he sped up to continue following the Sleep Powder trail.
Meanwhile...
On the other side, Ivysaur slowly regained consciousness. After waking up, it found itself in a vast grassland surrounded by numerous Bulbasaur.
Directly in front of Ivysaur stood a massive tree stump that looked like it had once been part of an enormous tree before being cut down.
Behind the stump grew an ancient tree that had long since withered. Though only the dried trunk remained, it was incredibly thick and imposing in its current condition.
The tree was as massive as a baobab tree—so wide that several people holding hands couldn't wrap their arms around its entire circumference.
At the base of the great tree was a huge hollow. The interior was so dark that it was impossible to see what might be lurking inside.
Ivysaur looked around at everything surrounding it, and for a moment there was a trace of nostalgia in its eyes. However, its expression quickly became serious again as it struggled against the lingering effects of the paralysis and slowly stood up.
At that moment, there was movement coming from within the tree hollow.
THUD, THUD!
The ground seemed to shake with each heavy footstep. Ivysaur sensed something approaching and looked forward with growing alertness as a massive figure slowly emerged from the tree hollow.
The creature's body was so enormous that all the Bulbasaur in the area, including Ivysaur itself, looked tiny in comparison.
A huge form appeared before them. It was blue-green all over with many toad-like bumps covering its skin. Four large, leaf-like structures extended from its back in different directions.
In the center of these leaves bloomed a magnificent flower, supported by a light brown trunk that resembled a palm tree.
The creature stood over two meters tall, and its body appeared incredibly heavy. With each step it took, the ground vibrated beneath its weight.
This Pokémon was Venusaur, the fully evolved form of Ivysaur. Looking at it, Ivysaur seemed to recognize the massive Grass-type.
"Venusaur!"
The Venusaur positioned itself on top of the tree stump, which served as a natural throne, and released a deep, rumbling roar that echoed like the call of a great beast.
This Venusaur seemed to recognize Ivysaur, but when it looked at the smaller Grass-type, there was something different in its expression.
"Venusaur!" (I never expected you to return here again!) the massive Pokémon communicated.
"Ivysaur!" (I never planned on coming back!) Ivysaur responded firmly.
"Venusaur?" (Don't you not want to evolve?) Venusaur asked with a hint of playfulness in its eyes.
The two Grass-types seemed to be communicating in their own language. Even though the Bulbasaur had evolved into Ivysaur, Venusaur recognized it immediately.
"Ivysaur!" (I found someone worthy of my evolution!) Ivysaur faced the figure that was several times larger than itself without showing any fear, responding with complete seriousness.
"Venusaur?" (You used to dislike humans, but now you're traveling with one?) Venusaur slightly squinted its normally sleepy-looking eyes, showing genuine surprise. It could sense the human aura emanating from Ivysaur.
"Ivysaur!" (That's none of your concern! Why did you bring me back here?) Ivysaur demanded.
"Venusaur!" (Since you have evolved this far, there's no reason to refuse complete evolution. You should know what you need to do!) Venusaur declared.
"Ivysaur, Ivysaur!" (I don't need to! I will only evolve for one person!) Ivysaur responded defiantly.
"Venusaur!" (Then I have no choice but to force you to gain the same power as me, and then we'll settle this once and for all!) Venusaur's eyes flashed with bright intensity, filled with fighting spirit.
Ivysaur paused for a moment, realizing that Venusaur's mindset hadn't changed at all after all this time.
But for Ivysaur, even if it were to evolve, it would never want to do so by depending on others or being forced into it.