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"So do you understand? Catching a Caterpie can indeed quickly give you combat power in the early stages, but once you reach the Professional Level, the role Bug-type Pokémon can play will be very weak, unless you specialize in Bug-types. Only a Trainer who specializes in Bug-types can maximize the power of Bug-type Pokémon, allowing them to become strong even in the later stages."
Misty earnestly advised him.
It's not that Bug-type Pokémon can't stand at the peak. It's just that for Bug-type Pokémon to reach the peak, unlike other Pokémon, it requires the Trainer to research this attribute to the extreme to fully develop the potential of Bug-type Pokémon, and even unleash power beyond their potential.
Therefore, generally speaking, apart from those Bug Catching Youths and a small number of Trainers, most of the remaining Trainers who use Bug-type Pokémon specialize in Bug-types. Only specialization can bring Bug-types to the peak.
"I know, but this Caterpie is different. And to defeat the first Gym, I also need new Pokémon. Plus, no matter what kind of Pokémon they are, I'm confident I can train them to be very, very strong! Trust me, Misty."
Ash gave Misty a confident smile, a smile that made Misty swallow the words she was about to say.
Although Ash can sometimes be reckless and even childish, when Misty saw that smile from Ash, she inexplicably wanted to believe him.
Since Ash said so and is doing so, he must have his reasons… Ash slowly approached the Caterpie, and its various data appeared in his eyes.
Type: Caterpie
Gender: Male
Level: Novice Intermediate
Ability: Shield Dust
Skills: XXXXX
Six-Dimensional Stats: Physical Attack D (C), Special Attack C (B), Defense D (C), Special Defense D (B), HP D (B), Speed D (A)
The talent of this Caterpie was visibly strong. Except for Physical Attack and Physical Defense, all other stats were B-rank, and its Speed even reached A-rank.
Along the way, Ash had encountered more than a dozen Caterpie, but he hadn't caught a single one because all of those Caterpie had E-rank talent.
If there were no other options, it would be fine, but the Viridian Forest was so vast that Ash didn't believe he couldn't find a Caterpie with an ability cap of D or even C.
And the appearance of this Caterpie confirmed that Ash's choice to wait was correct.
For ordinary Pokémon, C-rank is already considered good talent, while B-rank talent is one in a thousand, and A-rank is one in ten thousand or even one in a hundred thousand.
As for S-rank… perhaps one might not appear even among millions of Pokémon, excluding Legendary Pokémon.
After battling more than thirty Bug-type Pokémon and encountering nearly a hundred Bug-type Pokémon, Ash also realized one thing: the ability cap of Bug-type Pokémon is generally lower than that of ordinary Pokémon. This might also be one of the reasons why Bug-type Pokémon are more difficult to train in the later stages.
The Caterpie he encountered now not only had an overall B-rank ability cap, but one of its ability stats, and the most important one, reached A-rank.
This was also the reason Ash decided to catch him the moment he saw the Caterpie.
"Let's battle, Caterpie! A capture battle!" Ash clenched his fists and shouted at the Caterpie.
The Caterpie, enjoying its lunch, looked up, tilted its head, and curiously glanced at Ash, then continued eating.
Ash: …"Darn it, ignoring me! Pikachu, use Thunder Shock!"
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu jumped down from Ash's shoulder, then a golden electric current suddenly shot out from his body, striking the Caterpie's side.
The Caterpie, in the middle of eating, was startled and belatedly jumped to the side.
However, Pikachu's Thunder Shock was not meant to attack the Caterpie, but to give it a warning, or rather, a declaration of war.
At this point, the intimidated Caterpie finally took Ash and Pikachu seriously, and a hint of fighting spirit appeared in its large eyes.
"That's more like it! As for eating, you can eat your fill once you become my Pokémon! Pikachu, Quick Attack!"
"Pika!" Pikachu's four limbs touched the ground, and he transformed into a golden flash, rushing towards the Caterpie. The Caterpie spat out a pure white thread in response—String Shot!
Pikachu, moving at high speed, tapped his toes, dodging the String Shot coming directly at him. After circling to the side, he pushed off again, his entire body crashing into the Caterpie.
"Bang!" The Caterpie was sent flying. Ash, pressing his advantage, shouted, "Now! Use Thunder Shock!"
"Pika—chu!" The golden electric current cut through the air, directly hitting the Caterpie. The Caterpie let out a cry of pain, then collapsed weakly to the ground, losing its ability to battle.
"Now! Go, Poké Ball!" Ash took out his first empty Poké Ball and threw it at the Caterpie.
His throwing skills, practiced since childhood, were displayed at this moment. The Poké Ball accurately hit the Caterpie, and a red light drew the Caterpie into the Poké Ball.
After three shakes, the Poké Ball made a soft click, indicating that Ash had successfully caught the Caterpie.
Seeing this, Ash excitedly rushed to the Poké Ball and picked it up: "I caught Caterpie!"
"Pika Pikachu!!"
Catching a Pokémon for the first time was incredibly new and exciting for Ash. When he set out on his journey, he wanted to catch many, many Pokémon, all the Pokémon he hadn't seen.
But under the advice of various experts in the group chat, he ultimately chose to focus on training Pikachu first and not to rashly catch Pokémon. So he patiently waited until now to throw his first Poké Ball.
In contrast, Gary might have already caught a dozen or twenty Pokémon by now.
Misty's mouth twitched at the side, but she ultimately said nothing. One of the reasons she had previously advised Ash not to catch Bug-type Pokémon was her extreme dislike for Bug-type Pokémon.
But now that the deed was done, she could only see if she could try to overcome it, or perhaps just move away when the Caterpie was released by Ash.
She didn't dislike Bug-type Pokémon; she just disliked Pokémon with a caterpillar appearance. So once Caterpie evolved into Metapod, she shouldn't have any problems. Until then, it was best to avoid it.
Ash, meanwhile, looked at the Poké Ball in his hand, recalling the advice given by one of the group's experts, Tactician Ash, last night.
Tactician Ash: "…Dealing with the Pewter Gym's Pokémon? The best would be Grass-type or Water-type, because these two types have a quadruple advantage against most of the Pewter Gym's Pokémon. Clearing the Pewter Gym would be incredibly easy. But if you don't encounter Pokémon of these two types, then I recommend you catch… Caterpie."