Early the next morning, Turtwig and Aipom were already engaged in a practice battle in a nearby clearing, with Ash watching them.
"Ooh-ho!" Aipom's tail suddenly glowed white, and it used Quick Attack to rush forward, slamming a fully charged Focus Punch toward Turtwig.
"Turt!" Turtwig reacted quickly, pulling its head into its shell to avoid a direct hit from the Focus Punch. After evading the attack, it immediately popped its head back out and bit Aipom on the tail.
"Aipom!" This caught Aipom off guard. Since its tail is used for most of its attacks, it didn't know what to do. It frantically swung its tail, but Turtwig, with its strong teeth, refused to let go.
"Aipom!" In its panic, Aipom remembered the time it was restrained by Cacnea, which gave it an idea. It brought Turtwig, who was still biting its tail, in front of it and used both hands to tickle Turtwig's armpits.
"Turt! Turt!" With a burst of laughter, Turtwig finally let go. Aipom quickly retracted its tail and carefully put some distance between them.
"Clap! Clap!" Just then, Ash clapped his hands and walked toward the two Pokémon.
"That was great, Aipom! Thinking back to your last battle and using Tickle to get Turtwig to let go," he said, bending down to praise Aipom while stroking its head. "Of course, Turtwig was great, too! Its dodging speed has improved a lot!" As a good trainer, he believes in giving every Pokémon the same amount of care.
"Ash is so hardworking every day. Is that why he's so strong?" From a distance, Dawn watched Ash training with his Pokémon every morning and, considering his seemingly limitless strength, she couldn't help but feel impressed.
"As a good trainer, these things are a must!" Brock said, packing up their cooking gear as he answered Dawn's question. After all, if a trainer wants to get stronger, they should train with their Pokémon every day. Ash has clearly realized this, which is likely why he's changed so much. Watching Ash interact with his Pokémon from a distance, Brock felt a surge of emotion. Compared to the old Ash, his growth now is significant. It's a good thing, and Brock had no reason to deny it.
"Hey, Ash, it's time to go! We need to get around that mountain today, so we should head out as soon as possible!" Brock's voice came from behind Ash just as he was praising his two Pokémon, signaling that it was time to leave.
"Alright, I'm coming right away!" Hearing Brock, Ash didn't hesitate. He quickly recalled all his Pokémon into their Poké Balls, leaving only Pidgeot and Starly as aerial scouts to prevent them from getting lost again. With Pikachu on his shoulder, Ash put on his backpack and continued the journey with Dawn and Brock.
A Difficult Journey and a Surprising Evolution
Because they were off the main path, the journey was extremely difficult. They encountered many aggressive Pokémon, like Beedrill, and occasionally Ursaring and Pinsir. This made the three of them walk carefully, with Scizor leading the way to ensure their safety. One of the benefits of walking on an official road is that it guarantees a trainer's safety as much as possible. In the wild, off the beaten path, there are often many unknown dangers. To stay safe, a trainer's personal strength is often key. Fortunately, Ash's personal strength is considerable, and his evolved Scizor is also very powerful. With Pidgeot and Pikachu as backup, they could ensure the trio's safety in the forest.
However...
"The bushes are so dense here!" Dawn said, frowning and looking at the surrounding foliage with a bit of a headache.
"It's not so bad. This level of bush is pretty normal. In the Viridian Forest in Kanto, it's way more terrifying!" Brock said, looking at the map. He chuckled as he responded to Dawn's worries. This wasn't an exaggeration. As a person from Kanto, he knew how scary the Viridian Forest could be. As the largest forest in the world, the density of its vegetation is unmatched.
"Yeah, Brock's right. And even though it's dense, with Scizor leading the way, I'm sure we'll get out of here soon." Ash responded, feeling a little awkward as he watched Scizor use Cut to clear a path. Using a gym-level Pokémon just to cut down trees felt like overkill. Plus, the speed wasn't even that fast, nowhere near as quick as a move like Cut. For a moment, he actually considered training a utility Pokémon with a full set of moves, so he could use it in situations like this. But when he remembered that he could only carry six Pokémon at a time, training a utility Pokémon would be a wasted slot, so he reluctantly gave up on the idea.
"Scyther!" Just as Ash was regretting his decision, Scizor called out from a distance. It had successfully cleared a path.
"Yay! Scizor is awesome!" The girl cheered, raising her hands. She and Ash and Brock exchanged a look, and then they all headed toward the exit.
"You worked hard, Scizor. Take a rest for now!" Ash recalled Scizor into its Poké Ball to give it a well-deserved rest, then followed the other two out of the dense forest.
"Pidgeot!" "Starly!" Above them, the two Pokémon were flying at high speed. When they saw Ash and his friends emerge, Pidgeot and Starly dove down and landed steadily in front of them.
Swoosh! Swoosh! The sound of their high-speed flight caused a ringing in the trio's ears. The sound from the faster Pidgeot was more pronounced, while the sound from the slower Starly was a bit less intense.
"That's awesome, Starly! You learned Aerial Ace!" Ash looked at Starly and saw that it had indeed learned Aerial Ace, and he praised it.
"Starly!" The excited Starly flapped its wings, and with a loud cry, its body began to glow white and get bigger. After a moment, a Staravia with a more pronounced crest and a very impressive forelock appeared before them.
"That's fantastic! You evolved, Staravia!" Ash said, touching Staravia's crest and celebrating.
"Congratulations, Ash! Starly finally evolved!" Dawn gave her timely congratulations, looking at Staravia with a hint of envy.
But that wasn't all. Brock, who was looking at the map, suddenly brought back another piece of good news.
"Everyone, look! That's Oreburgh City right there!"
The three of them were on a higher piece of land, looking down at the massive buildings of Oreburgh City. From their vantage point, they could see the city's prosperity. Staravia evolving just as they reached a big city was a great piece of news for Ash. He didn't immediately recall the two birds; instead, he let them fly freely in the air, accompanying him to Oreburgh City.