After receiving the Jubilife City Ribbon, the trio didn't stay long. They bought enough supplies in Jubilife City and set off for the neighboring city, Oreburgh City. Logically, the two cities are quite close, and it would normally only take a day to get there. Unfortunately, Ash and his friends encountered an abnormal situation. On a perfectly clear road, they miraculously went off course and entered an unknown forest.
"Oh, what's going on? How did we get lost?" Dawn said, shaking her head in frustration. She had hoped to reach Oreburgh City today and sleep in a soft bed at the Pokémon Center, but now it was all a beautiful fantasy that had turned to foam and disappeared.
"Sigh, this is my fault." Brock sighed, holding the map. As the navigator of the group, a large part of the reason they were lost was because of him.
"It's okay, Brock, it's not your fault." The understanding Ash quickly comforted the guilty Brock. The most important thing was that Ash didn't mind being lost; in fact, he felt it suited him perfectly. Going off the normal route meant this was a new place to explore, and it meant there would be more wild Pokémon, which was a great opportunity for him to earn gold coins. He had already sent out Scizor early that morning, and the gold coins on his data panel were steadily rising toward the 5,000 mark.
The girl then remembered that Brock was their navigator. Her previous words must have sounded like she was blaming him. Dawn immediately apologized with a face full of guilt. "Don't worry, Brock, we're just a little lost. It's really no big deal!" Although the girl's words lacked confidence, she had to keep up the pretense to show her sincerity.
"I finally found our way!" At that moment, Brock, who had been studying the map, finally found their direction and the road to Oreburgh City. "All we have to do is go around the mountain ahead, and we'll reach Oreburgh City!" Brock yelled excitedly, pointing in the direction he was talking about.
"Yay! I get to sleep on a big bed tonight!" Dawn seemed even happier than Brock and started dancing on the spot. But soon, her beautiful fantasy was shattered once again.
"I'm sorry, Dawn, because we got lost, we probably won't reach Oreburgh City until tomorrow. The sun is already setting, and it's not a good idea to travel at night," Brock explained patiently, taking out various cooking utensils from his backpack, preparing to set up camp nearby.
"Alright," Dawn said, giving up. She took her own tent out of her backpack and started setting it up.
As for Ash, he was completely unconcerned. Being in the wild meant they could encounter more wild Pokémon, and their strength would be much greater than those on the regular roads. With Scizor hunting wild Pokémon, he could greatly fill his pockets with gold. He could also send out his own Pokémon to train for the upcoming gym battle.
With this thought, a clear plan formed in Ash's mind. He quickly set up his tent and then took Pikachu to a clearing. He took out all four of his Poké Balls and threw them into the air. The massive raptor, Pidgeot, the adorable Starly, the steadily growing Turtwig, and the Aipom with the Jubilife Ribbon appeared one by one. Pikachu also got off Ash's shoulder and joined the group, waiting for Ash's instructions.
"Hmm..." Ash didn't immediately assign tasks. He stroked his chin with one hand, thinking about the roster for the Oreburgh City gym battle. As this was a new region, he would naturally send out the Pokémon he had caught here to get the gym badge. So, Starly and Turtwig, which he had caught in Sinnoh, had to participate. After all, the first gym battle should start with the Pokémon he caught in this region. Starly was close to evolving, and its strength was already considerable, while Turtwig had a type advantage against the Rock-type gym in Oreburgh City. As for the last one, he was torn between Pikachu and Scizor.
Pikachu was his first partner and held a very special place in his heart. Besides, it had been working hard on its move training lately, and he wanted to test its progress. But Scizor had also been diligently hunting wild Pokémon and collecting gold coins, and its strength had also increased a lot.
"I'll go with Scizor first," Ash finally decided after some back-and-forth. He chose Scizor because of its type advantage. After all, Scizor had been working very hard lately, and it was responsible for most of the gold coins on his data panel. Even if it hadn't contributed, it had put in a lot of effort. Besides, when it evolved, he promised it that it would be in the first gym battle. He couldn't go back on his word, so he would have to make Pikachu wait for now.
"Alright, everyone, start your training!" After making his decision, Ash clapped his hands to get his Pokémon's attention.
"Pidgeot!" Pidgeot was the first to respond. As soon as it heard Ash, it flapped its wings and flew into the sky, taking its little brother, Starly, with it. Ash had already given them instructions last time: to teach Starly to learn Aerial Ace. Starly was close to the evolution point, so with Pidgeot's help, it might be able to learn the move early.
As for Pikachu, Ash didn't have it participate in the training with the others. Instead, he let it go into the forest by itself to find opponents for Pokémon battles. Pikachu's strength was already formidable, and learning new moves was just a way to deal with different situations. The most important thing now was to take advantage of the large number of wild Pokémon here and hunt them with Scizor to level up and earn gold. Training could wait; there was no need to rush.
As for Aipom and Turtwig, Ash had them practice with each other. The two Pokémon were similar in strength, and both had a lot of room for improvement in their training, such as Turtwig's evasion training and Aipom's throwing training. So, he had become accustomed to having them battle each other. He planned to add more move training for them later to increase their offensive options and attack power. But for now, these two types of training were their daily routine.