On the other side, Brock's attention was not on the fallen Ash and Dawn. Instead, he was focused on Pikachu, who was zipping around at top speed to catch the potato.
"Pika Pi Pi~"
Due to all the training it had been doing recently, Pikachu's speed had improved significantly. After Ash fell, Pikachu quickly got below the potato and followed it closely. Just as the potato was about to land, the little yellow mouse leaped up, catching it in mid-air. It then did a two-and-a-half-spin in the air, landed steadily on the ground, and scurried over to the campsite to hand the potato to Brock.
"Thank you for your help, Pikachu!"
"Pika!"
Pikachu rubbed its head shyly and waved a paw as if to say it was no big deal.
"Bunny~"
Unbeknownst to them, a small rabbit was watching from the bushes. With a brown upper body, cream-colored lower body, one long ear, and one folded ear, it stared at the distant Pikachu with an expression of pure admiration. It would occasionally cover its eyes with its hands, a clear sign that it was feeling shy.
"Everyone, look! How does my hair look?"
Despite the recent embarrassment, Dawn's lively personality quickly helped her move past it. She proudly showed off her hair, which now looked perfect. She even walked up to Ash, deliberately twirling around to show off her beautiful, soft indigo hair.
"How does it look, Ash? Thanks to your reminder, I thought of using Piplup's Bubble Beam to style my hair. My messy hair is now smooth and even shiny!" Seeing Ash's gaze, Dawn was even more delighted and continued to ramble on.
"It's very pretty. It suits you."
"That's it? That's all you're going to say?" The girl pouted slightly, feeling a bit deflated. She had been so excited to hear his reaction, but it seemed like he wasn't paying attention at all. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
"That's..." Just then, Brock, the self-proclaimed love expert, noticed Dawn's mood. He looked at Ash, who didn't know what to say, and with a knowing smile, he stepped in to help. "Don't look at it that way, Dawn. That's a very high compliment from him. It's rare for a girl to get such a compliment from Ash!" As he explained to Dawn, Brock was also a bit confused. Had Ash matured in this way too? It all felt a bit out of character.
"Huh?" Dawn's pout immediately disappeared. She looked at Ash, a bit unsure.
"..." Ash just stood there, giving an awkward smile. He couldn't say yes or no. He wasn't the same person he was back then, and he couldn't bring himself to say anything. He just stood there, smiling, speechless. Still, what Brock said was a pretty accurate description of the old Ash. But... "Did I really never compliment a girl before?" Ash asked Brock for confirmation. He remembered a school in the first season where the girls in their school uniforms were very pretty. The old Ash even had a lovesick moment.
"Well... not that I recall," Brock said, resting his chin on his hand for a second before shaking his head.
"Hmph! That's more like it!" Satisfied with the answer, the girl huffed and turned back to her tent to get her toiletries and get ready for the day.
"Haha, stop staring, Ash!" Brock put a hand on Ash's shoulder and laughed playfully. "I can't believe you've finally opened up. Your heart must be pounding!" Brock's tanned face had a sly smile, his teasing full of meaning.
"No way, Brock. You're overthinking it!" As a boy, Ash was used to his friends teasing him. He firmly replied to Brock, swatting his hand away and not giving him another chance to tease him.
"Based on my experience with over a hundred beautiful women, you two are definitely going to be a thing!" Brock muttered to himself, watching Ash walk away with a triumphant expression. But Brock had forgotten that, based on his hundreds of failures, he wasn't really qualified to teach Ash anything.
After everything was ready, the three of them sat down at the table to enjoy Brock's delicious breakfast. As a big eater, Ash devoured the meal with gusto. In contrast, Dawn was a bit worried and just poked at her food, looking like she had no appetite.
"What's wrong, Dawn? Don't you feel well?" Ash took a bite of his rice ball and casually asked the girl.
"No, of course not. What could be wrong with me?" Dawn forced a smile and shook her head.
"Is the rice ball not to your liking? Should I make you something sweet?" Brock asked, thinking Dawn wasn't feeling well and wanted to make her something sweeter.
"No!" Dawn quickly stopped Brock from getting up and explained the real reason for her mood.
"It's just that all of you have caught new Pokémon, but I still haven't caught one. And we're almost at Jubilife City, so I'm a little anxious." Dawn sadly confessed her worries, feeling a bit of a headache.
"Oh, I see," Brock said, stroking his chin in realization. Even though he understood her frustration, this wasn't something that could be easily solved. Catching a Pokémon had to happen naturally; you couldn't force it. Even Ash fell silent, trying to think of a good solution.
"Before we get to Jubilife City, Dawn is supposed to catch a Buneary that's infatuated with Pikachu, but there's no sign of a Buneary right now." Ash thought to himself, remembering the plot.
"Pikachu~ (Help me, Ash!)"
Suddenly, he heard Pikachu's voice. He could tell it was Pikachu's special cry for help. Ash immediately put down his rice ball and turned to where Pikachu was.
He saw a rabbit-like Buneary staring intently at Pikachu, who was eating. Even when Pikachu grabbed its food bowl and ran to the other side, the Buneary followed, dragging the bushes it was hiding in behind it. It looked as if it was saying, "I'll follow you wherever you go." Pikachu had no idea what to do and had to send out a distress signal.
"Speak of the devil!"
Seeing this Buneary, who kept blushing, Ash knew it was the one Dawn was supposed to catch in the original plot. Seeing the girl's face light up with a happy smile, Ash knew that Dawn's worries were about to be a thing of the past.