Pokemon: A different Ash

"Come on! Let's become stronger together!" Ash exclaimed excitingly. He took the Poké Ball in his hand and lightly touched Magikarp's head.

Click!

The Poké Ball opened, and a burst of red light enveloped Magikarp. The fish Pokémon turned into a flash of red light and was absorbed into the Poké Ball.

The Poké Ball shook slightly in Ash's hand. Regardless of whether a Pokémon struggles or not, the Poké Ball will always shake when they first enter because they are not used to it, but the intensity of the shake can vary.

Click!

After a moment, the red light on the Poké Ball's button disappeared, and it stopped shaking. A smile appeared on Ash's face.

"Magikarp has been caught!" Ash held up the Poké Ball. Under the sunlight, it looked dazzling.

"Pika!" Pikachu responded enthusiastically, and Magikarp's muffled cry came from inside the Poké Ball.

"Let's go!"

With Magikarp successfully captured, Ash officially embarked on his journey as a Pokémon Trainer. His first goal was Viridian City, north of Pallet Town.

To reach it, he had to travel through Route 1. However, there was a jungle between Route 1 and Viridian City, and the distance was significant. According to Delia from the comics, Ash's father took four days to travel from Pallet Town to Viridian City.

Although Ash was a child, children in this world are quite capable. Four days was indeed a long journey.

Leaving Pallet Town and entering the Viridian Forest, Ash felt quite familiar with this place.

Professor Oak had brought them here for summer camp three years ago. Ash had also sneaked out a few times since then to test that strange power. He wasn't as reckless as he used to be.

He had carefully planned his route before leaving and memorized the location of the paths, ensuring he wouldn't get lost.

Walking along the road, Ash thought about his next steps. Although in the anime, Ash didn't know about the Indigo Plateau Conference until Pewter City, he now knew about the upcoming competition. To participate, he needed to collect at least eight Gym Badges.

The first target was Pewter City. Although there were more than eight gyms in a region and he didn't need to follow the anime strictly, the gyms shown in the anime were a good starting point. There was no need to look for gyms that weren't mentioned, as it would waste time.

Using his knowledge from the anime, Ash knew the first destination was Pewter City, where he would meet Brock.

The Rock and Ground-type Pokémon there would be challenging to deal with.

Pikachu, being an Electric-type, was at a disadvantage against Ground-types. But, Ash had caught a Magikarp, which could eventually counter Rock-types, but at this stage, Magikarp was not ready to battle and wouldn't evolve into Gyarados anytime soon. He needed to catch more Pokémon to have a better chance in defeating Brock.

Ash, who had watched the anime in his previous life, knew that type advantages were not everything. However, Pikachu needed training to be ready for the challenges ahead.

There was still time to reach Pewter City, giving Ash the opportunity to train Pikachu thoroughly.

"Pikapi!"

While Ash was lost in thought, Pikachu seemed surprised by his silence and let out a curious growl, as if asking what was on his mind.

"Pikachu, do you want to become stronger?" Hearing Pikachu's voice, Ash snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at his partner.

"Pika! Pika!"

Although Pikachu was puzzled by Ash's sudden question, it couldn't help but recall its time as a Pichu.

Back then, Pichu was alone until it was adopted by a Kangaskhan mother which treated it as its child. Pichu became part of their family, but it also became an additional burden. As the baby Kangaskhan grew, the pouch space became limited, making it uncomfortable for everyone. Even though both the mother and the baby treated it well, Pichu felt guilty and decided to become stronger and leave. It evolved into Pikachu, wanting to stand on its own.

So, when Ash asked if Pikachu wanted to become stronger, the answer was undoubtedly yes.

"Then are you willing to trust me? Let's become stronger together." Ash was thrilled to hear Pikachu's response. Although their journey hadn't been as dramatic as in the anime, he felt that Pikachu had truly accepted him as its Trainer.

"Pika!" Pikachu responded firmly, clenching its little paws.

"Okay, from now on, we'll start honing new moves!" Ash declared. Learning new moves while improving physical strength was the best way to become stronger.

When Pokémon reach a certain stage, they can naturally learn new moves. Of course, they can also be trained to learn other moves, but it's different from the games. In this world, Pokémon can't learn moves via TMs. Training was the only way for Pokémon to learn moves they couldn't naturally acquire.

"Pika Pika!"

Pikachu responded enthusiastically, and the two of them continued their journey into the jungle. During the day, Ash planned to travel, and at night, he would set up camp and start training.

The dense jungle was an ideal training ground, and there was always a chance of encountering other Pokémon. No matter what Pokémon they met, training Pikachu was crucial. If possible, Ash also wanted to train Magikarp.

Although Magikarp was considered one of the weakest Pokémon, Ash knew that with patience and perseverance, even Magikarp could become strong.