As night approached, Ash looked for a place to camp. Not only was it getting dark, but the weather wasn't looking good either.
"Sure enough, it's going to rain!" Ash temporarily found a spot near the river to set up camp. According to the situation in the original book, it seemed that the first day of departure often encountered heavy rain.
"Let's set up camp here today!" Ash said to Pikachu, taking out the tent. With the weather worsening, it would soon be too dark to continue on the road.
"Pika!" Pikachu responded.
They quickly set up the tent. The sky grew more gloomy, and it started to drizzle.
"Help!!!"
At that moment, a voice suddenly came from the direction of the jungle. Ash paused, recognizing the voice of a girl.
Looking toward the jungle, he saw a figure riding a bicycle at high speed.
The girl on the bicycle was stylishly dressed, wearing a goose-yellow crop top and hot denim shorts. She had short, crisp orange hair, and panic was written all over her face.
"Huh? It can't be her??"
When he saw the girl, a familiar figure appeared in his mind. He then noticed more than a dozen black shadows flying through the jungle.
"Quack! Quack!"
"Huh? That's..." Ash heard a familiar cry.
"Spearow?" After a closer look, he saw a large group of Spearows chasing the girl. This wasn't surprising, as there were indeed many Spearows in this jungle.
"Ah!!!"
As the girl approached a downhill slope, she didn't notice a protruding stone on the road in her panic.
Snap!
The front wheel of the bicycle hit the stone, causing the bike to lose balance. On the slope, the girl's body was thrown forward, flying through the air.
"Pikachu!!" Ash yelled as he saw this.
He rushed forward with Pikachu. The girl, terrified, closed her eyes as she fell, bracing herself for a painful impact that never came.
Huh? Why doesn't it hurt?
Boom!
Ash caught the girl mid-air. Thanks to his three years of physical training, he managed to cushion her fall. Otherwise, despite her light weight, the impact would have been severe.
If Ash knew what was going through the girl's mind, he would be speechless. Of course, it doesn't hurt!
Ash held onto the girl firmly. His quick reflexes had prevented what could have been a serious injury.
But even so, the force of inertia still knocked Ash backward when he caught the girl, causing him to fall. Fortunately, there was a grass pad behind him.
As for the girl, who was held in Ash's arms, she was safe and sound. Ash felt a little pain in his back, but it was not a serious problem.
"Huh?" The girl also realized something was wrong and quickly opened her eyes, only to find herself leaning against a warm chest.
"You..." The girl looked up in surprise, and Ash looked down. Just when he was about to speak—
"Quack! Quack!"
"Get up first! Pikachu, use Thunder Shock!!!" Seeing the Spearow in front of him, Ash quickly got up and walked to Pikachu's side to direct the battle.
"Pika~~~chu!!!"
Boom!
From the ground, Pikachu instantly emitted a gold arc from the electric sac on his cheek. With a roar, the gold current was released, falling to the ground and then sweeping along to the sky.
"Quack, quack!"
The Spearow flying forward were hit by the electric current, and with the rain coming down, the effect was even stronger. The Flying type is weak to Electric attacks, and on a rainy day, the water on their bodies made the attack even more effective.
The surrounding Spearow were clearly afraid of the power of thunder and lightning and quickly spread out to both sides. Ash looked at the group of Spearow in the air. There were a lot of them. It seemed like it would be a tough battle.
"Pikachu, this battle may be dangerous. Are you afraid?"
Although outnumbered, Ash had no intention of running. If he wanted to become stronger, he couldn't run, no matter how strong the opponent was.
As the battle started, Pikachu seemed to sense Ash's inner thoughts, and his eyes became firm. "Pikachu!"
The girl at the back looked at Ash standing in front of her and unconsciously was in awe. But a growl startled her out of her daze.
"Quack! Quack!"
In the forest, a huge black shadow leaped into the sky with its wings spread wide, immediately attracting the attention of Ash and the girl. Fear appeared in the girl's eyes.
"Yes...it's Fearow!! Hey, that... Fearow is very powerful. Let's run first!" The girl was a little scared when she saw the figure appearing in the sky and looked at Ash in front of her.
"I'm a Trainer. I can only fight; I can't run!" Ash looked at the sky and replied without looking back.
"What! I'm worried about your well-being. I really don't understand good people," the girl thought. Although she was a little moved by his rescue just now, she immediately lost her temper.
It has to be said that she was quite a strange creature, playing her temper even in such a dangerous situation.
"Huh?? Could that guy be..."
Looking up at Fearow in the air, Ash's eyes changed slightly. Although Pokémon of the same type all look similar, this one felt a bit familiar.
Fearow, who was in the air, originally came to help its younger brethren. When it looked at the humans below and was about to launch an attack, it saw Ash. Its eyes suddenly changed.
Pokémon senses are sharper than those of humans. Although Ash had changed a lot in the past three years, and his attire was different, when Fearow met his eyes, cold sweat broke out on its red crown.
Its pupils dilated, and the image of being defeated by a kid three years ago suddenly appeared in its mind. It immediately let out a panicked Growl.
"Ga! Quack, quack!"