The Poké Ball hit Pidgeotto on the head, and with a bang, Pidgeotto turned into a burst of red light and was sucked into the Poké Ball.
With a slap, the Poké Ball landed on the ground and began to shake. The red dot on the Poké Ball kept flashing. Pikachu, Caterpie, and Misty all looked nervously at the shaking Poké Ball, their hearts mirroring its tremors.
Click!
After a few tense moments, the Poké Ball finally stopped shaking. The red light dissipated, signaling a successful capture of Pidgeotto.
"Caterpie, you did a great job!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.
He couldn't help but reflect on his journey. In the beginning, Ash didn't understand type advantages and often made mistakes in battles. But gradually, he learned about type effectiveness over the next few episodes.
Despite this, he still didn't take type advantages too seriously. After all, he was happy now, and most trainers in this world cared about type matchups to some extent.
Battling against type disadvantages was tough, but winning those battles felt incredibly rewarding.
**Momo~~~**
Caterpie squinted its eyes in delight. If its mouth didn't resemble a gas mask, you might have seen a smile. Pikachu was also excited and happily patted Caterpie.
Caterpie had never been so happy. It was very weak and usually had to flee from Flying-types. Defeating one seemed unimaginable.
"Look! I told you, even if you don't have a type advantage, you can still win. No matter what Pokémon you're facing, you can't judge by appearances."
"Yes, yes, Ash!" Misty said, sounding like she had been taught a valuable lesson.
But in her heart, she truly agreed with Ash's words. Caterpie had defeated a much stronger Pidgeotto, overcoming the type disadvantage.
Misty realized she shouldn't judge just because she disliked bugs.
"Then do you want to try it? Caterpie really wants your encouragement!" Ash seized the opportunity.
"Ah! I..." Misty hesitated. She had feared bugs for as long as she could remember.
"Try it! If it doesn't work, don't force it," Ash said with a smile, lifting Caterpie towards her.
Misty listened to Ash and looked into Caterpie's expectant eyes. Its dark, round eyes seemed as clear as amber, making it appear less frightening.
Cautiously, she extended her hand and approached Caterpie. Caterpie, noticing the hand getting closer, moved its head forward slightly. Misty instinctively wanted to pull back, but she had already touched it.
Feeling Caterpie's skin, Misty noticed it was a soft carapace with green fluff on the surface, feeling like a blanket. It was surprisingly pleasant.
"Isn't it nice?" Ash said with a smile, seeing Misty's reaction.
"Yes!"
Just as Misty was about to speak, Caterpie suddenly closed its eyes, and a blue and white light flashed from its body. Startled, Misty quickly withdrew her hand, and Ash looked on in surprise.
"Is this... evolution?"
Seeing this, Ash placed Caterpie on the ground, watching the light in front of him in amazement. He couldn't believe his first Pokémon was evolving so quickly.
This was the first time he had seen a Pokémon evolve with his own eyes, and it was his own Pokémon. It felt completely different from the evolution he saw in games—this was real life.
Caterpie are very weak Pokémon, so to adapt to the harsh environment, their evolution cycle is very short. They evolve rapidly in a short period of time.
Wild Caterpie evolve quickly, and those trained by a Trainer evolve even faster after battles and practice.
In the games, Pidgey needs to reach level 18 to evolve into Pidgeotto, and level 36 to evolve further. However, Caterpie only needs to reach level 10 to reach its third stage of evolution because it is so weak.
That's why their evolution cycle is so short; they need to acquire the strength to protect themselves quickly to survive in nature.
The stronger a Pokémon, the longer and more difficult its evolution cycle. This is the law of nature and the evolution system.
The gap between Caterpie and Pidgeotto was huge. According to the game, Caterpie is below level 7, while Pidgeotto is above level 18.
With such a high level difference, even if Caterpie was only level 2 or 3, the experience points gained would be enough for it to evolve.
As Ash watched, Caterpie's outline began to change, gradually appearing like a crescent moon. The light dissipated, revealing a touch of green.
The body now had the shape of a half-moon, the sides of its eyes were protruding, and the eyes looked very lazy. The whole body was wrapped in a green, crystal-like armor. Caterpie had evolved into Metapod.
"It evolved into a Metapod!" Misty said in surprise.
"It must be because of defeating Pidgeotto! Good job, Caterpie—no, Metapod. You'll shine even brighter soon!" Ash gently stroked the Metapod, which now couldn't make a sound but squinted its eyes as if smiling. Wild Metapod only take a week to evolve, and with proper training, it can be even faster.
"That's right!" After praising Metapod, Ash quickly walked to the tree where Pidgeotto's Poké Ball was.
Remembering it after Caterpie's evolution, Ash quickly picked up the Poké Ball and opened it.
A blue light flashed, and Pidgeotto emerged from the Poké Ball, landing on the ground. It had some silk threads wrapped around its body, making it uncomfortable and unable to break free without arms.
"Let me help you! Ash said as he squatted down, helping Pidgeotto get the silk threads off its body. Pidgeotto seemed to develop a good impression of Ash because of his actions.
"Pidgeotto!"
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