On a patch of grass, Turtwig stood firmly on four legs, its large brown eyes fixed on Aipom, who was holding a small stone in its tail.
With a whistle, Aipom threw the fist-sized stone using its throwing skill. Turtwig watched the stone's trajectory, and instead of dodging it with speed as it normally would, it slightly shifted its body as Ash had instructed, avoiding the stone.
"That's great, Turtwig, you finally did it! This is a wonderful start! Aipom, you're doing great too; your throwing skills are getting really good!" Ash, who had been watching the two Pokémon train, couldn't help but cheer, encouraging both of them for their progress.
"Turtwig~"
"Aipom!"
Turtwig had been practicing this dodging drill since the previous evening. Unfortunately, Turtwig was used to dodging with speed, so it was difficult for it to learn to dodge Aipom's throws with small movements. It wasn't until this morning that it finally succeeded. It was a testament to Turtwig's hard work that it managed to succeed in such a short amount of time. The bruises all over its body showed just how hard it had been working. Aipom's throwing ability was no joke either, and both of them had improved a lot during this time, which explained why Ash was so excited.
"Congratulations, Ash!" Dawn said, walking over and clapping with Piplup.
Brock also clapped, a knowing look in his narrowed eyes as he watched the handsome but no longer naive young man. As a traveling companion who had been with Ash for several regions, he had witnessed Ash's growth firsthand. Compared to the past, the young man in front of him seemed to understand how to train his Pokémon more effectively, rather than only doing special training after a loss or a gym battle. By being able to train his Pokémon in a more focused way, Ash could now be considered a competent trainer. Brock felt a surge of emotion in his heart.
However...
"Ash, we have to go. The sun is almost directly overhead!" Brock pointed to the sun. They had spent a lot of time on training, so they had to leave immediately. This was the only thing he had to complain about with Ash's newfound training discipline; it made them get a late start.
"Haha!" Ash laughed when he heard Brock's reminder. "We did get a bit delayed today. I'll be more mindful next time!"
After packing their belongings, the group continued on the road towards Jubilife City.
Before long, they arrived at a foggy forest. The forest was lush and verdant, not to the point of blocking out the sun, but it was certainly overgrown with dense leaves and branches. Because of this, many wild Pokémon lived here. Sinnoh's unique Bug-type Pokémon, Combee, could be seen diligently collecting honey. Occasionally, a few small, graceful Budew with unbloomed flower buds on their heads would also appear. Of course, there were more Pokémon here than just those, but the most famous were the ones that caused confusion: Stantler.
"I heard this forest is really dangerous and that if you go in, you'll never get out. Aren't you guys worried?" Dawn nervously asked, huddling and looking around, afraid of some unknown danger.
"It's alright, Dawn. A lot of these rumors are just Pokémon trying to protect themselves," Brock said, leading the way while looking at his map. Unfortunately, that didn't calm Dawn down.
"Don't worry," Ash said, quickly comforting her and explaining the rumors about the forest. "The reason there are so many rumors is that this forest is home to a lot of Stantler, which can create illusions. People who get lost are just confused by their illusions and can't find their way out."
"Over time, people who don't understand start to spread rumors, and they just get more and more exaggerated until they become scary legends like the one you heard." These legends weren't actually so terrifying; any strange tale in this world was caused by Pokémon.
"Exactly. And like Ash said, going through this forest is the fastest way to get to Jubilife City, and it will save us a lot of time," Brock added, looking at his map. They had to take a shortcut because of the training delays.
As the three of them were talking, several large-antlered Pokémon with brown bodies and cream-colored bellies suddenly appeared in their sight. Their true name, of course, was Stantler.
"Ah! It's them!" Dawn screamed, hugging herself, startled by the Stantler that suddenly appeared from the bushes. They had just been talking about the Stantler behind their backs, and them appearing right now made her feel a little guilty.
"...Don't worry, I'll chase them away!" Ash said, releasing his newly caught Turtwig. Turtwig used a barrage of ten or so Razor Leaves, scaring off the weak Stantler. Seeing Turtwig's aggressive attack, the Stantler, who were gathered in groups of three and five, scattered like birds. Even though they had the advantage in numbers, their combat ability was not strong. They relied on the black orbs on their antlers to create illusions to confuse their opponents. So under the deterrence of Turtwig's Razor Leaf, the Stantler quickly fled.
"Alright, let's keep going!"
After chasing away the Stantler, the trio followed Brock's guidance, passing through the confusing forest. They encountered various wild Pokémon along the way, mostly Stantler, as well as many Combee and Beedrill. But Turtwig handled all of them, gaining valuable experience in the process.
After almost an hour, they finally saw light at the exit.
"Yay, we finally made it out of this forest!" The most excited was the previously anxious Dawn, who had even been so scared that she let her Piplup out of its Poké Ball. Seeing the exit, she immediately ran out with Piplup.
"Huh... isn't that Paul?"
Not far ahead, Paul, whom they had met before, was commanding his Chimchar in a confrontation with a large, powerful Ursaring. Chimchar was engulfed in flames, using Flame Wheel to accurately hit Ursaring. The burning damage from the flames was making Ursaring suffer.
"It's him again. What a coincidence!" Ash said as he and his friends walked out of the forest. Just as they were watching the battle, Paul's attempt to catch Ursaring ended. Chimchar landed a final Ember, knocking Ursaring out, and then Paul threw a Poké Ball. The red and white Poké Ball only blinked a few times before dimming.
"It's you guys again!" After failing to catch Ursaring, Paul didn't immediately go to pick up his Poké Ball. Instead, he looked at Ash and his friends, his cold gaze fixed on Ash in the center, who was wearing a baseball cap.