Chapter 24: 24. Squirtle, Apricorns
Unknowingly, Ash had already captured four Pokémon during his time in the Johto Region.
Heracross, Bayleef, Quilava, plus the newly captured Slowpoke, plus Pikachu, Snorlax, and Squirtle that are now with him, Ash's number of Pokémon once again reached 7.
Therefore, Ash decided to teleport Squirtle to Professor Oak's Lab.
Maybe Squirtle felt something during this period. After all, Ash put a lot of energy into the new Pokémon and rarely trained it anymore. Instead, he used it as a sparring partner to help other Pokémon.
Also, Charizard, who traveled with them and quickly evolved to the final stage, gained new powers after arduous training, which made him envious.
In fact, Bulbasaur had accumulated enough power to evolve not long after being caught by Ash.
In Venusaur's mysterious garden, the elder Venusaur wanted to use his power to help the Bulbasaurs evolve.
However, Ash's Bulbasaur refused. It suppressed the power emerging in the body and gave up on evolution.
It wants to prove that even without evolving, you can still gain great power.
But in Kanto's Indigo League challenge, it got beat quite a lot with Squirtle, and also caused Ash to suffer a big losses. Although it was not a big loss to Ash as he could try again in the future, it was still obvious that if they had a stronger body, they would definitely be able to help Ash achieve better results. achievements.
Squirtle has been silently suppressing and not evolving because of the group of younger Squirtles that had been following before being accepted by Ash.
As a Squirtle Legion, doesn't evolution mean betrayal?
However, for Squirtle who voluntarily followed Ash and became his Pokémon, is this considered a double-minded intention?
Now, there are 6 Pokémon around Ash. Even the big eater who only knows how to sleep all day long is also taken by Ash, but he, a former main battler, is teleported back.
After returning to Professor Oak's backyard, Squirtle and Bulbasaur had an in-depth discussion on the issue of evolution, but could not come up with a result.
In fact, they know in their hearts that Ash is willing to respect them and allow them to choose the life they like even if they are not willing to evolve.
Bulbasaur seems to have found a job that he is qualified for. Before he was taken over by Ash, he took care of the Pokémon there in Pokémon Township. Now he manages the backyard of the Laboratory, which is very suitable for him.
But what about Squirtle?
It was willing to follow Ash, but didn't it want to get stronger for him?
. . . . . . .
Of course, Ash, who was far away in the Johto Region, would not know the thoughts of these two Pokémon's.
He was about to go to the mountain behind Mr. Kurt's house to pick a few Apricorn fruits to create Poké Balls with special functions.
The uncle who helped them at Slowpoke Well was none other than the renowned Kurt.
Not only is he an outstanding craftsman who can turn Apricorn fruits into Poké Balls, he is also responsible for guarding the Slowpoke Well in this Azalea Town.
It's a pity that even he has never seen the GS Ball or has any ideas about what it really is.
But after handing GS Ball to Kurt for investigation, Ash and his team's mission was completed.
In order to thank Ash and his group for saving their lives at Slowpoke Well, he not only gave each of the three people a Fast Ball, but also allowed Ash to go to the back mountain to pick some Apricorn fruits to make special Poké Balls for them.
Ash was of course not polite about this and wholeheartedly accepted this arrangement.
As a Pokémon Trainer, who can resist the temptation of special Poké Ball!
"The Apricorn fruit comes in seven colors: white, red, blue, black, pink, green, and yellow, so each Poké Ball made with the fruit has its own individual characteristics!" Kurt's granddaughter introduced the relevant information of the Apricorn fruits to Ash and his party.
In the backyard of his home, only white fruits are grown, so Ash and his team need to go to the back mountain to pick the Apricorn's themselves.
"This is a pink Apricorn fruit!"
Arriving at the back mountain, she pointed to a tree covered with pink fruits and introduced, "The Poké Ball made from this fruit can be used on Pokémon of a different gender than your own!"
Hearing this, Brock immediately thought, "Maybe it will be effective on Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny!"
'Look at the look in his eyes. . . .'
Misty couldn't stand it any longer, so she twisted his ears and interrupted his thoughts.
Ash also twitched the corner of his mouth, thinking that this guy also someone who can distinguish between the Nurse Joy's and Officer Jenny's from different places around the Pokémon world!
It's a pity that these Apricorn fruits are not ripe yet and cannot be picked.
"Also, don't pick too many at one time, otherwise the tree will die." The little girl gave them her knowledge.
Walking a few steps further, you can see the yellow Apricorn fruit. This is used to create Moon Balls for Pokémon that use Moon Stones to evolve.
Unfortunately, this one was still not ripe yet to be picked, Drake wouldn't mind this at all. He likes them young and ripe.
This is a chance. Ash and his party came here at this time. The fruit is not yet ripe, so it can only be said that they have no chance.
In addition to the Apricorn fruits, various Pokémon seem to live here, guarding these trees from dying.
"That's the green Apricorn tree!"
In front of the group, a large Apricorn tree with green fruits appeared, "That fruit can be made into a Friend Ball!"
After looking at it, she said in surprise, "It should be no problem to pick one of the Apricorns over there!"
Upon hearing this, Ash was about to step forward to pick, but a large group of Beedrill suddenly appeared in front of him.
Beedrill has always been a nightmare for Trainers in the wild. One of them is not that scary, but once you attack back, you will attract an overwhelming number of Beedrills .
"I only picked one!"
In the past, Ash would have immediately turned around and ran away with Misty and Brock.
But this time, blue light color flashed in Ash's eyes, and all the Beedrills stopped moving, unable to move any further.
"This is?"
The little girl was shocked by the scene in front of her. She was so scared that she hid behind Misty, but she found that these two elder brothers and sister did not panic at all when facing these Beedrills, as if this already happened before.
Ash picked a green Apricorn, picked it with Psychic, and returned to Misty and Brock, "Are you ready?"
With that said, he took the lead and ran away holding the little girl in his arms.
The Beedrills behind him broke away from his Psychic and immediately chased the whole group.
Misty's and Brock's expression changed greatly, and they quickly ran away.
Fortunately, these Beedrills did not pursue them very far from the tree. The four people who stopped looked at the green Apricorn in Ash's hand and laughed.
"It's was so exciting, this was amazing!" Kurt's granddaughter happily laughed.
Of course since there is a chance, Ash took Misty and Brock to pick two blue Apricorn and one black tangerine.
Blue Apricorn fruits can be crafted into Lure Balls for catching water-type Pokémon.
The Heavy Ball made from the Black Apricorns is aimed towards Pokémon with a relatively large body weight.
After the production of the Balls was completed, Ash got a Heavy Ball, a Fast Ball, and a Lure Ball.
Misty, a water-based trainer, also received a Lure Ball.
Brock wants to become a breeder, a Friend Ball is certainly the most suitable one. He also captured managed to catch a Pineco in the back mountains that fit his personality.