After leaving the outskirts of Pallet Town, Leaf pulled out a map and began planning the route with Ash.
"That's one of the oldest and largest forests in Kanto," she said. "It's home to a huge number of Grass- and Bug-type Pokémon."
She was well-prepared, having already done her research on the forest. The legend of the [Power of Viridian] had also come up during her online searches.
"Common Pokémon in the forest include Caterpie, Weedle, Pidgey, and Rattata," Leaf listed knowledgeably, then added, "but some say you can also catch Pikachu and Bulbasaur in there."
At the mention of Bulbasaur, her tone noticeably brightened, carrying that innate affection girls tend to have for cute Pokémon.
"Bulbasaur~ If Squirtle hadn't been the only one left at the time, I probably would've picked Bulbasaur."
She looked at Ash, eyes glowing. "By the way, Ash, why didn't you choose one of the starter trio from Professor Oak as your first Pokémon? Why go with Pikachu?"
As a benefit for new trainers from Pallet Town, they were all entitled to receive one of the [starter trio] when they first enrolled in the Pokémon School.
And on the open market, the original three starters were still in incredibly high demand. Even though trading Pokémon was generally discouraged, the price of a single Charmander had already been driven up to hundreds of thousands. If it were a rare high-quality specimen like Gary's, it could easily go for over a million.
"Haha, well, that's because this Pikachu is a little special."
Ash didn't mention the real reason—he overslept. After all, what that "idiot" did back then had nothing to do with him now~
"I see," Leaf replied, totally buying it. She'd had her suspicions since yesterday. Sure enough, this Pikachu wasn't ordinary!
There was no way someone could one-shot Gary's Squirtle purely by trainer skill. Pikachu had to be a huge factor. In fact, she was starting to believe… this might be one of those legendary "Pika-God" types!!
"Pika?"
At that moment, Pikachu—napping on Ash's shoulder—blinked and tilted its head, a big question mark metaphorically floating above it.
Was it really that amazing?
Thinking about it, the little yellow cheeks sparked softly with a shy crackle of electricity.
Seeing that, both of them couldn't help but laugh.
…
Along the way, Ash and Leaf chatted as they walked, making the otherwise boring trip pass quickly.
The distance between Pallet Town and Viridian Forest wasn't far. Soon, a lush green forest came into view.
Ancient trees stood tall, their roots tangled deep underground. The scent of moist earth mixed with the fragrance of flowers and grass filled the air.
Wild Pokémon were active all over.
Already, other trainers around their age were visible among the trees—some were Bug Catchers hunting for insect-types, others were [Entry-Level] trainers who had heard rumors about Bulbasaur sightings and had come to try their luck.
Sunlight streamed through the canopy. Ash and Leaf slipped into the forest.
Before long, they ran into a group of three trainers—two boys and one girl—standing near the entrance and discussing something.
"Did you see the photo in the group chat? It's a shiny!"
"For real! A pink Butterfree!!"
Two of them were clearly excited, and the conversation quickly caught Ash and Leaf's attention. The two walked over and greeted the trio.
"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Leaf squeezed into the group like a Munchlax who smelled berries.
The leader of the trio was a girl—tall and slender, with chestnut hair tied into a ponytail. She wore a khaki vest and black hiking boots, but what stood out most were her sharp amber eyes.
Right now though, those eyes skipped right over Leaf and locked onto Ash.
"Hi, I'm Yumi, a High-Rank Trainer from Viridian City."
After a few glances, she extended her hand to the unfamiliar Ash. "And you are?"
Yumi was clearly confident.
In this world of Pokémon, all regions and continents shared a standardized trainer ranking system, coordinated by the League. There were nine ranks in total:
Novice, Entry-Level, Junior, High, Elite, Gym, Elite Four, Champion, and Master.
To be a High-Rank Trainer at her age meant she was clearly talented.
She also had a Gym Badge and was the leader of this adventure team.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Yumi."
Facing the slightly older, more mature girl, Ash politely shook her hand.
"I'm Ash, from Pallet Town. This is Leaf, also from Pallet Town. It's our first day on the road."
"We overheard you talking about shiny Pokémon and got curious."
Short and to the point, he introduced himself and explained why they came over.
Yumi seemed to take a liking to Ash right away.
After all, the golden trait [Family Resources] was no joke.
She pointed to a picture on her phone. "Oh, this? It was taken this morning in Viridian Forest—someone spotted a group of Butterfree."
"It's mating season for them, so they're migrating south in large groups to find a suitable place for the ritual."
Viridian Forest had far too many wild Pokémon. Flying-types like Pidgeotto and Spearow were natural predators of Bug-types.
So the Butterfree needed to find somewhere safer to complete their mating ceremony.
Ash took her phone and zoomed in on the image.
Hundreds of bluish-purple Butterfree were dancing through the morning light like a shimmering river of butterflies, their wings scattering tiny sparkling scales.
And right in the center of the blue sea of butterflies—stood one beautiful pink Butterfree.
A clearly unique, pink individual.
[Ding! System Notification: Trace of a Shiny Pokémon detected!]
[End of Chapter]