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Night quickly fell. Sato gathered dry branches with his Pokémon from the nearby forest and arranged them into a campfire. Then, using a lighter and some dry grass, he lit it.
Afterward, he brought out various Pokémon food to distribute among his team. As for himself, he placed a canned chicken steak meal over the fire to heat up and had dinner alongside his Pokémon.
Meanwhile, Ash and Gary had already returned to the summer camp site in the forest, where Professor Oak and the other children were. The two boys were now bragging about everything they'd seen and experienced in the forest that day.
Especially Ash—his boasting skills far outshone Gary's, who still managed to maintain a calm and collected demeanor. Ash threw in all sorts of exaggerated gestures and facial expressions while narrating, keeping his audience of children wide-eyed and gasping.
"Really? Ash, that Ursaring Grandpa Oak finally managed to chase off got sent flying by another Pokémon with a single punch?"
A brown-haired girl with bright blue eyes looked at Ash with a surprised expression and asked curiously.
"It's true, Serena! Gary and I saw it with our own eyes. That Pokémon is called a Swampert. It's a Water-type starter from the Hoenn Region, and it's crazy strong. It punched Ursaring right in the belly—bam! Ursaring flew so far it went straight over that big lake in the forest!"
Ash, clearly enjoying the attention, nodded enthusiastically when Serena asked. He jumped up and started acting out the entire scene between Swampert and Ursaring, laughing as he described it.
Ash had a real knack for performing. He mimicked the motion and expression of Swampert punching Ursaring perfectly—even the silly face Ursaring made as it was knocked out with its tongue hanging out had the kids cracking up.
"Not bad. That Swampert was definitely powerful—probably way stronger than Ursaring. The move it used looked like the Fighting-type move Hammer Arm, which would do massive damage to a Normal-type like Ursaring. Ursaring didn't stand a chance."
Gary, as Professor Oak's grandson, had a sharp eye and excellent knowledge of Pokémon. He calmly and accurately explained why Swampert was able to defeat Ursaring so easily.
"Woooow! Swampert sounds amazing! Ash, Gary, where is that Swampert now? I really wanna see it!"
A little boy with a mushroom haircut and tiny glasses got all red in the face with excitement after watching Ash's performance. He asked eagerly.
"Yeah! Where is Swampert now? I wanna see it too!"
"Me too!"
"I wanna go too!"
With just one question, the rest of the kids who hadn't seen Swampert yet instantly lit up with excitement and started clamoring.
"You all wanna see it? That Swampert belongs to a big brother we met. Gary and I saw him setting up a campfire by the lake. He's probably having dinner with Swampert right now. If we go now, we'll definitely see it! And that big brother has lots of other Pokémon I've never seen before too!"
Seeing everyone so excited, Ash was all too happy to oblige. He grinned from ear to ear and spoke eagerly.
In truth, Ash had wanted to go back to see Swampert earlier, but Gary had dragged him away. Now that the others were bringing it up, of course Ash was the first to support the idea.
"Do you kids know what time it is now? No one is going anywhere! Dinner is ready—go wash your hands and come eat!"
Unfortunately, just as Ash was about to lead the kids off to find Swampert, an elderly man in an apron pressed a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back down into his seat and sternly addressed the group of excited children.
The elderly man, holding a large cooking spoon, was none other than the famous Professor Oak—although tonight, he looked more like a regular old man cooking for kids. His face was smudged with soot from the fire.
"Yes, Grandpa Oak~~"
"Yes, Grandpa Oak~~"
"Yes, Grandpa Oak~~"
The children's excited faces immediately deflated as they responded reluctantly in unison.
But kids are kids—quick to bounce back. As soon as the smell of food hit their noses, their disappointment vanished, and they happily dug into their dinners.
Even Ash, who had been the most disappointed, seemed to forget all about seeing Swampert. He was now shoveling food into his mouth like a starving Growlithe, eating with such terrible manners that Gary, sitting to his left, looked thoroughly disgusted.
On Ash's right, though, Serena looked on with admiration. She even passed over the rest of her own meal to Ash, who was still ravenously hungry.
But the weather had other plans. While the kids were eating, a strong wind began to blow through the forest. The night sky was soon covered by thick clouds.
A few bolts of lightning lit up the sky, and not long after, the rumble of thunder echoed through the forest.
"Looks like it's going to rain. If you haven't finished eating, hurry up. Once you're done, help me reinforce the tents and put up the waterproof covers."
A seasoned outdoorsman, Professor Oak immediately recognized what was coming. He put down his meal and got to his feet as he gave the instructions.
He then walked over to the children's tents and began carefully reinforcing each one and laying waterproof tarps over them.
A few minutes later, the rain came pouring down.
The rain was sudden and fierce. Thunder roared endlessly, and lightning continued to strike down from the dark clouds, toppling several towering trees within the forest.
Amidst the flashes of lightning, a yellow silhouette flickered faintly in the clouds above the forest.
Back at camp, most of the children were huddled up and trembling from the thunder. Even the usually proud and composed Gary wasn't immune.
Only Ash remained as carefree as ever. He looked excitedly out through the clear window of the tent at the rain, then turned to the shivering Serena beside him and spoke brightly.
Meanwhile, Sato was also sheltering in his tent from the sudden storm. By the light of an oil lamp, he was reading the latest issue of Trainer Fashion Weekly.
Suddenly, a thick bolt of lightning slashed across the sky, momentarily turning night into day.
BOOM!!!
A deafening crack of thunder followed, far louder than any before. The intense sound caused countless wild Pokémon in the forest to grow restless.
At that moment, Sato put down his magazine and turned his attention to a black egg incubator beside him.
Inside, the Pichu egg was glowing faintly. Thin streams of golden electricity were dancing across the shell, crackling and weaving over the surface.
Then, under Sato's disbelieving eyes, a surge of electricity shot out from the Pichu egg, shattering the incubator.
The next instant, the egg, wrapped in golden lightning, burst from the broken incubator and flew out through the tent flap into the storm outside.
Sato rushed out of the tent and was greeted by a stunning sight.
The egg hovered for a moment in the air—and then a thick bolt of lightning struck down from the storm clouds above, hitting it squarely.
To Sato's amazement, the Pichu egg wasn't harmed in the slightest. Instead, it floated there, bathed in lightning, as it absorbed massive amounts of Electric-type energy from the storm.
Moments later, an intense white light burst forth from the egg.