"Come on!! Let's get stronger together!" Ash was also very happy to see this. He held the Poké Ball and gently touched Magikarp's head with it.
Whoosh!!!
The Poké Ball opened, and a red light enveloped Magikarp. Magikarp in the water directly transformed into a streak of red light and was sucked into the Poké Ball.
The Poké Ball closed in his hand and shook slightly. In fact, whether a Pokémon struggles or not, it will shake when it first enters a Poké Ball because it's not used to it, but the intensity of the shaking varies.
Thud!!!
A moment later, the red light on the Poké Ball disappeared, and the Poké Ball stopped shaking. Ash's face also broke into a smile.
"I caught Magikarp." Ash raised the Poké Ball high in his hand. Under the sunlight, the Poké Ball looked exceptionally dazzling.
"Pikachu, Magikarp, please take care of me from now on!" Ash put down the Poké Ball and looked at Magikarp's Poké Ball, and at Pikachu on his shoulder.
"Pika!" Pikachu also slowly opened its heart. At the same time, Magikarp's response came from the Poké Ball in his hand.
"Alright, let's go!"
Just like that, after successfully capturing Magikarp, Ash officially embarked on his journey as a trainer. His first destination was Viridian City, north of Pallet Town.
He had to pass through Route 1 to get there, but there was still a forest between Route 1 and Viridian City. The distance was not short. According to Delia in the manga, Ash's father took four days to get from Pallet Town to Viridian City.
Although it was a child's pace, children in this world were not inferior to adults. Taking four days indeed meant it was not a short distance.
Leaving Pallet Town and entering the forest, Ash was quite familiar with this area.
Professor Oak had also brought them here three years ago for summer camp. Later, he secretly ran away a few times. And now, Ash was no longer the reckless kid he used to be.
Before setting off, he had carefully planned his route and remembered all the locations, so he wouldn't get lost.
Walking along the road, Ash kept thinking about what was next. Although in the anime, Ash didn't know about the Indigo Plateau League until he reached Pewter City.
But now, Ash already knew about the upcoming tournament. Before that, he needed to collect eight or more Gym Badges to qualify for the Indigo Plateau conference.
His first target was Pewter City. Although from the anime, a region doesn't just have eight gyms, and he doesn't necessarily have to follow the anime's path, going to the gyms he already knew about would indeed save him a lot of trouble.
There was no need to specifically look for gyms that weren't mentioned in the anime and that he didn't know about, as that would only waste time.
So, leveraging his advantages, he knew where to go next. The first place he was going to was Pewter City. He knew Brock like the back of his hand.
First, he would face Rock and Ground-type Pokémon, which would be difficult for him at the moment. Pikachu was Electric-type, completely weak to Ground-types. Unlike the original, he had caught a Magikarp, which could counter Rock-types.
But at this stage, Magikarp definitely couldn't fight. It was impossible for it to evolve into Gyarados in a short time. Otherwise, it would be difficult to deal with without catching other Pokémon.
Of course, as a so-called "reverse type master," he wouldn't be afraid for this reason. In his previous life, watching the anime, he understood that type didn't mean everything. But at this stage, Pikachu would definitely still be unable to cope, and needed some training.
There was still time before reaching Pewter City, so he could properly train Pikachu.
"Pikapi!"
Just as he was thinking, Pikachu seemed to find it strange that Ash had been silent for so long, and made a sound, as if asking if Ash had something on his mind.
"Pikapi! Pika!"
Pikachu didn't know why Ash was asking this question out of nowhere, but hearing Ash's words, it unconsciously remembered the time when it was still a Pichu.
At that time, it was still a lonely Pichu, but later it was adopted by a Kangaskhan mother, just like its own family.
However, after its arrival, the Kangaskhan mother had one more thing to worry about, and carried an extra burden. As the little Kangaskhan in the Kangaskhan mother's pouch gradually grew, the space in her pouch also became smaller.
Its presence made the little Kangaskhan uncomfortable. Although the mother and child treated it very well, deep down, it blamed itself. And so, it decided to become stronger and leave.
Only then did it evolve into Pikachu. So, when Ash asked if it wanted to become stronger, without a doubt, it did.
"Then, are you willing to trust me? Let's get stronger together." Ash was also very happy to hear Pikachu's response. Although the process wasn't as thrilling as in the anime, he could feel that Pikachu had accepted him as its trainer.
"Pika!!" Pikachu responded with determination, clenching its tiny paws.
"Alright, then from now on, we'll start honing new moves!" Learning new moves while improving physical conditioning was the best way to become stronger.
Pokémon would learn some moves on their own when they reached a certain stage of growth. Of course, they could also be trained to learn other moves during the process. But this was different from the game; you couldn't just use a TM. In this world, if you wanted a Pokémon to learn moves it couldn't naturally acquire through growth, it could only be done through training.
"Pikapi pika!"
Pikachu responded with certainty. The boy and his Pokémon gradually disappeared into the forest. During the day, Ash planned to travel, and only start training at night when they set up camp. Moreover, the deep parts of the forest were ideal training locations. Perhaps, they might even encounter other Pokémon in the forest.
But no matter what Pokémon they encountered, training Pikachu was imperative. If conditions allowed, he also wanted to train Magikarp. Although Magikarp was always considered one of the weakest Pokémon, Ash knew that as long as the trainer was patient and persistent enough, even Magikarp could become strong.
P.S.: There's another thing I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on. The author wants to follow Ash's storyline but on Red's path. However, many of Ash's Pokémon don't evolve. Some are fine because the story doesn't explicitly state they can't evolve. But some, like Bulbasaur, are clearly stated not to evolve. Other unevolved Pokémon are also very distinctive. The author personally prefers the evolution route; in games, I always evolve Pokémon as soon as I catch them. After all, games are different from anime; it's harder to fight without evolving. But like Red, all his Pokémon evolved except for Pikachu. What does everyone think? The author still wants to evolve those that can evolve. However, if all of them evolve, it might contradict the previous stance of "there are no weak Pokémon, only weak trainers."
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