"Pi—!" Pidgeot soared into the sky, scanning the mountainous terrain with sharp eyes. No corner could escape its sight, and soon, it found Professor Oak, Beedrill, and Tauros.
"Pi—!" Pidgeot returned to Ash's head and, while hovering in the air, gestured with its paw, indicating that it had found them.
"Please take us there," Ash nodded slightly, asking Pidgeot to take them to Professor Oak.
After a few minutes, Ash and his group were close to Professor Oak and his group, and Pidgeot's trail was also discovered by Beedrill.
"Huh?" Noticing Beedrill's strange behavior, Professor Oak followed Beedrill's line of sight and also spotted Pidgeot approaching in the sky. He was slightly startled.
"Beedrill!" Beedrill flapped its wings and moved towards Pidgeot with a happy buzzing sound.
Originally, Pokémon like Beedrill couldn't fly to higher places even with wings because they didn't have a Flying-type. But after Aerodactyl's guidance, they were able to fly to the same height as Pidgeot, which surprised Ash a little.
The relationship between Beedrill and Pidgeot was not bad. Although the two could be considered old enemies, because they both belonged to Ash, they had more contact, and the relationship was naturally much closer.
Moreover, Beedrill hadn't seen Pidgeot for a long time, so it was overjoyed to meet again at this time.
"Professor!" Ash also saw Professor Oak sitting on Tauros and greeted him loudly.
"Little... whoa!" Professor Oak's eyes lit up, and he was about to greet Ash, but Tauros, who was seated under him, rushed over first, startling Professor Oak. He hugged Tauros' neck in embarrassment to avoid being knocked down.
Looking at the embarrassed Professor Oak, Brock and Misty's impression of him was somewhat shattered.
Tauros stopped in front of Ash, moved its head happily, and wanted Ash to touch its head, showing its closeness to Ash.
"Long time no see, Tauros!" Ash gently stroked Tauros' head. In the original book, Tauros had almost no contact with Ash, but he made great contributions to Ash, so now Ash also had a fondness for Pokémon like Tauros.
"Moo—!" Tauros nuzzled Ash lightly to show that it missed him.
"Pika-pika—!" Pikachu jumped straight to Tauros' head, happy to see Tauros again.
Soaring in the sky, Beedrill and Pidgeot also descended. Because Beedrill hadn't seen Ash for a long time, it happily went to Ash's side, and Ash comforted Beedrill.
"Ha, haha..... Hello, Brock, Misty, and Ash. When did you come?" Professor Oak got off Tauros' back with an awkward smile and asked them.
"Hello, Professor Oak, we came back yesterday." Brock bowed his head respectfully to Professor Oak and replied. Although Professor Oak had been a little embarrassed just now, it did not damage his respect for Professor Oak.
"Hello, Professor Oak." Misty also bowed her head slightly to show her respect for Professor Oak.
"You don't need to be so polite!" Professor Oak didn't care much about these things but showed interest in the Togepi in Misty's arms. He touched his chin and said, "This Togepi has been taken care of very well by you."
"Togepi~!" Looking at the strange old man in front of him, Togepi was not afraid but showed a happy smile and greeted Professor Oak lively.
"Hi, Togepi!" Although he couldn't understand Pokémon's language, Professor Oak, as a researcher for many years, could probably guess the meaning of Togepi, so he responded to it with a smile.
And Togepi, who got the response, seemed even happier and was so active that it wanted to break free from Misty's arms.
"By the way, Professor, I heard from Awei that you are going to see Aerodactyl now?" Ash asked after exchanging pleasantries.
"Hmm... Aerodactyl prefers mountainous terrain and doesn't want to live on grasslands, so if you want to observe Aerodactyl, you can only come here," Professor Oak said helplessly.
After Aerodactyl was reclaimed by Ash, although its ferocious personality was a bit restrained, it still looked down on most ordinary Pokémon. The mountainous terrain was very suitable for it to live in, so it settled here.
Beedrill also lived here with Aerodactyl most of the time and only went back when eating. It also brought food to Aerodactyl.
"I haven't seen Aerodactyl for a long time, and I don't know how it is now." Ash followed in Professor Oak's footsteps, curious about Aerodactyl's current situation. They were headed to the cave where Aerodactyl lived, a cave it had excavated itself.
"Aerodactyl is the most powerful Pokémon here. No Pokémon can bully it, but it doesn't bully other Pokémon either," Professor Oak explained.
Soon, they arrived at the cave. Although the light inside wasn't bright, the cave wasn't deep, so standing at the entrance, they could see Aerodactyl resting inside.
"This Aerodactyl... Didn't I arrange a training plan for it?" Ash shook his head helplessly.
"From my observations, Aerodactyl hasn't trained much," Professor Oak agreed, shaking his head as well.
As if hearing the commotion at the cave entrance, Aerodactyl's ears twitched, and it opened its eyes. Spotting the group at the entrance, it was startled at first, but then its gaze became intense.
"Roar!" Aerodactyl's roar echoed through the cave, causing everyone at the entrance to cover their ears.
Aerodactyl stood up, walked briskly to the cave entrance, and looked down at Ash, its trainer.
"Long time no see, Aerodactyl." Sensing Aerodactyl's intentions, Ash's expression turned serious, and a tense atmosphere filled the air, making Professor Oak and the others nervous.
"AERO—!" Aerodactyl roared at Ash, then flew past him to an open space outside, waiting for Ash.
"This is..." Professor Oak and the others looked at the scene in surprise.
"It wants to challenge me and Charizard again," Ash realized, a slight smile forming on his lips. He took out a Poké Ball.
"Pidgeot, take me there." With a gesture from Ash, Pidgeot flew up, and Ash, grabbing its talons, was carried towards Aerodactyl.
"Roar!" Seeing Ash approaching, Aerodactyl let out an excited roar. After all this time, it was no longer the same Pokémon it was before. This time, it was determined to defeat Ash and Charizard!
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