Chapter 49
It has been few days since Ash and the others had a run in with Alolan Golem and four Graveler, as well as a pack of Houndour which Ash helped, and in the end thanks to their desire, caught one of them, while the others chose Ash's friends and companions.
The day after they all caught a pack of Houndour, and after Ash caught Alolan Golem and four Graveler, he had a talk with Alolan Golem, and found out how Golem came to Johto.
It turned out that some trainer brought it from Alola while he was still Geodude, but abandoned him as he thought he was weak, so Geodude trained himself hard, and evolved into Graveler, and then Golem all on his own.
It took, a few days for Golem to realize that Ash is a great trainer, and that he will not abandon him like his previous trainer did, and is now a happy member of the team.
During those few days, nothing else important happened, and none of the trainers in the group caught any new Pokémon since Ash caught Golem and four Graveler, and since everyone got one Houndour each, so at Misty's request (more like order), decided to stop at the lake they were passing by, and try to fish for some Pokémon.
They have been seating near the lake for a few hours now, and have all fished several Pokémon, some of which they plan to keep, and some they will keep in reserve for trading in Palmpona.
Ash was able to fish out 2 Horsea, and one Seadra, and he will keep them with Onix and Graveler for trading, since he already has Kingdra, and doesn't need another one.
Misty caught 4 Wooper, and 2 Quagsire, and she planes to keep one Quagsire, and swap the others.
Serena caught 2 Marill and 2 Psyduck, and she will keep one of each and trade the other.
Leaf fished 5 Shelder and 3 Goldeen, and will trade all Shelder, since she has Cloyster, and will keep one Goldeen, and trade the others 2.
As for Brock, he fished and caught 2 Slowpoke and 5 Chinchou, and like Misty planes to keep one of both and trade the others.
As they were sitting there, trying to catch something else, Ash suddenly opened his eyes as they were closed, and said. "Serena, pull, now!"
Serena reacted as soon as Ash told her, and pulled her fishing rod up from the lake and into the air.
Attached to her fishing rod, was Horsea, who was flying through the air, and towards the land, after Serena's hard pull.
Horsea fell on the ground along with the rod, and got confused because of the hard landing.
"Throw a Poke Ball, and catch it before it gets back up," Ash said, and Serena nodded, and took one empty Poke Ball, and threw it at confused Horsea, and the ball hit Horsea on the head, and sucked it in the ball.
After few seconds, the ball dinged, and Horsea was caught. Though the ball then shrunk to a smaller size, and Serena picked it up. "Wow, that's great, I caught a Horsea." Serena said, happy with her newest catch.
"Great job, Serena," Ash said.
"Hey, how did you know when it's going to bite," Misty asked? "Did you do something to draw it toward us?"
"I was sensing the whole time we were here, where the Pokémon were," Ash said. "So, when that Horsea started swimming toward us, I focused to see which rod will it bite first, so once it does, I will warn you to pull. "It was Serena's luck that Horsea bit her lure, but it could have been any of us that caught it."
"Why didn't you do that until now?" Misty asked.
Ash shrugged. "There was no reason, as we have all caught a bunch of Pokémon. I only did it now to help Serena, as she has had the least luck, and she caught the least number of Pokémon."
"Ok, well, I want to stay here a little longer, and catch a Totodile," Misty said.
"You don't even know if there is a Totodile here in this lake," Brock said.
"I don't, but I can hope, can't I," Misty asked? "I don't want to leave without a Totodile."
Ash smirked, and walked in front of Misty, and bend down a little toward her ear, and whispered. "Yes, my dear Mistress Misty."
And then he pulled back, and quickly kissed her right on the lips, which made Misty stiffen in a surprise.
After few seconds of kissing Misty, Ash pulled back, and separated their lips.
When he looked at Misty with a smirk on his face, he saw her face all red, and a glazed look in her eyes, which made his smirk widen.
"Damn, I'm good." Ash though in his head, but then said, out loud. "Well, at least you didn't pass out this time. I guess all the kisses I've been giving you since Azalea Town made you a little resistant."
Ash then bend over again next to her ear, and said. "Which is good, because I wouldn't want you to pass out when I decide to claim you one day."
Misty's whole body went red, and steam started shooting from her ears.
It lasted for a few moments, until Misty shacked her head, and glared at Ash. "God damn you, Ash Ketchum," Misty yelled at him like she was angry, but the blush on her face said otherwise, and they all assumed she is just acting to save her face, because she blushed so much, and went statue when he kissed her. "You'll pay me for this one day. Be sure of that."
She then took her rod, and started running away from a laughing Ash, while the others were only looking at Ash, and wondered what he said to Misty.
"If you want to catch something else, go to the south from her," Ash yelled, while Misty was running away! "There is something there waiting to be caught!"
"What did you tell her that made her act like that, and run away?" Serena asked.
"Oh, nothing, I was just teasing her," Ash replied with a smirk, and Serena knew exactly what he must have said, because Misty only act's like that when Ash brings out what he will do to her in the future.
"Which Pokémon is there on the south side of the lake?" Leaf asked.
"There is a Slowpoke on the shore," Ash replied. "It's not what she wants', but since it is a water type, I'm sure she will love it. Especially since Slowpoke has two badass forms to evolve into."
"Is that so?" Serena asked, and when Ash nodded, she shrugged, and asked. "Are we going to try to catch something else, or will we just wait for Misty?"
"Actually, there are two water Pokémon coming toward us from behind that bush over there." Ash said, while pointing toward the bush about 10 meters behind them.
Leaf wanted to ask which Pokémon are coming, but then, from behind the bushes, came two Totodile, who were holding each other's hands, and looked like they were a pair.
"Wow, it a Totodile," Leaf said, and jumped in front of the two Pokémon, who right after they saw her, stopped moving, and one Totodile backed away behind the other, who took a stance, and narrowed his eyes at Leaf. "Two of them. What are the chances?"
"I guess we were lucky," Ash said. "It's rare to find starter Pokémon in the wild, so if you want to catch one, you better hurry, so they won't escape."
"You aren't catching any of us," the male Totodile shouted at Ash and the others! "Especially my girl!"
"That's very noble of you," Ash said to Totodile. "But don't you think she should defend herself?"
"Why should she, when I'm here," Totodile replied, and then realized, Ash actually understood him. "Wait, did you understand what I said?"
"Yes, I can understand Pokémon because I'm an Aura Guardian, and can use Aura and Psychic powers," Ash said with a sigh. "Man, I'm really getting tired of repeating this over and over again.
But anyway. I have a proposition for the two of you."
"And what's that?" Totodile asked.
"How about you two battle against me and Leaf, and if you win, you can go away, but if we win, then you will come with me, and your girlfriend will come with Leaf," Ash explained, and everyone raised their eyebrows.
"And why would we even want to battle," Totodile asked. "We are free as we are. So, if I refuse are you going to attack us, or what?"
"No, we are not going to attack you if you refuse," Ash said. "I'm just giving you a chance here. If you come with us, you will be able to always be together, since Leaf and I are from the same Town, and all of our Pokémon are staying at the same place when they are not with us, so, I think that is a good chance for you, as you will no longer have to be afraid of someone separating you if one of you is caught."
Two Totodile's then started thinking about what Ash said, and after few moments started discussing between themselves what to do.
After about a minute, they looked at Ash, and male Totodile said. "Ok, we accept to battle, and if you win, we will join you. But if we win, you will leave us alone."
"Ok, we accept," Ash said, and then explained to Leaf and the others what he was talking about with Totodile.
Ash and Leaf stood next to each other, while two Totodile's stood several dozen meters across from them, and were ready to start the battle.
"Come on out, Chikorita," Leaf said, and released her Chikorita from her Poke Ball.
"So, you are going with Chikorita," Ash said, and Leaf nodded. "Ok then, come as well, Chikorita!"
Ash's Chikorita also came out, and stood next to Leaf's ready to battle.
"Two Chikorita against two Totodile." Ash said, with a smile.
"You just had to do it, didn't you," Leaf asked with an exasperation in her voice?
"Well, you rarely see battle's like this, and I just couldn't bring myself not to do it," Ash smiled. "Also, Chikorita didn't battle much, and this is a good chance to see how her training is going."
Brock decided to be a referee, and stood on the side of the imaginary battle field, and announced the start of the match. "BEGIN!"
"Chikorita, use Tackle," Ash said.
"You as well, Chikorita, Tackle!" Leaf added.
Both Chikorita's started running toward two Totodile's, ready to tackle them with a force, but seeing that their opponents have started, both Totodile started their attack's, and Male Totodile fired a Water Gun from his mouth at Ash's Chikorita, while female Totodile ran at Leaf's Chikorita, and scratched Chikorita several times over the face with her claws, which made Leaf's Chikorita to back away.
As for Ash's, she was hit by the Water Gun, and sent flying several meters backwards.
"You are tough, aren't you," Ash said with a smirk, while he eyed the two Totodile. "Chikorita, use Razor Leaf!"
"You use Vine Whip, Chikorita!" Leaf said.
Ash's Chikorita swings her head and razor-sharp leaves flew out from the leaf on her head at the male Totodile, while Leaf's Chikorita released two green vines from the bud necklace on her neck that went at female Totodile.
Both Totodile jumped away to avoid the incoming attacks from two Chikorita, and that's what Ash wanted.
"Chikorita, use Sweet Scent quickly!" Ash said.
Chikorita waved the leaf on her head and a pink powder come out of it, and went at both Totodile, who were not able to escape from it, since they jumped in the air to avoid previous attacks, and this one came to fast for them.
Once both Totodile got surrounded by the pink powder, it made them relax, and Ash and Leaf wanted to use this chance and end the battle.
"Chikorita, use Vine Whip, and slam Totodile on the ground." Ash said.
"You use Razor Leaf on the other Totodile, Chikorita, and finish her off!" Leaf said.
Both Chikorita's released their attacks right away, and two relaxed Totodile were hit hard by the attacks, and they both fell unconscious.
"Poke Ball/Poke Ball, GO!" Both Ash and Leaf threw their empty Poke Balls at the two Totodile, and caught them right away, without much resistance. Leaf's Poke Ball then shrank down to smaller size.
"All right," Leaf shouted! "Now I've got all three Johto starters!"
"Yeah, so do I." Ash said, and they both high fived to each other.
"Good for you to," Brock said, as he and Serena approached them. "But why didn't you say to Misty that there are Totodile coming here, and instead let her go after Slowpoke?"
"I don't know," Ash said. "Maybe I'm just bad, or maybe I wanted to tease her even more when she finds out that Leaf and I caught Totodile's, and she didn't."
"You know, she's going to kill you one day, right" Serena asked?
"Don't worry, I know how to deal with Misty," Ash said, with a smile, and the others sighed.
"So, what now?" Leaf asked.
"Well, we all caught a bunch of Pokémon, so I guess we can go to find Misty, and then continue our journey." Ash said, and the others agreed, so they picked their stuff, and went to the other side of the lake, where Misty is in the battle against an unexpected Pokémon.
XXX
When Misty left the others, she was angry at Ash because of his teasing, but she was also angry at herself because she is constantly falling for his teasing, and there is absolutely nothing she can do to stop him, or to change herself until she builds 'resistance', as Ash calls it.
She then decided to stop thinking about what Ash did, and to go and catch herself a water Pokémon, so she left towards the south side of the lake, since she did hear when Ash shouted at her that there is a Pokémon there.
"I wonder which Pokémon is on the south side of the lake." Misty though loudly. "I wish it's a Totodile."
She walked for a little while longer, until she reached the south side, and as she walked closer to the lake, she saw it.
"You've got to be kidding me," Misty said loudly, after she saw which Pokémon was standing next to the lake, with its tail stuck in the lake. "A Slowpoke!"
Slowpoke lifted its head up, and looked at Misty, who was looking back at it.
The stare down lasted for a few moments, until Slowpoke said something Misty didn't understand, and let his head back on the ground.
"Well, it still is a water type," Misty thought. "And if I train it well until one day it evolves, it will become very strong."
Misty then decided to go for it, and catch it.
She took one of her Poke Ball's and threw it in the air. "Come out Poliwag!"
Poliwag came out, and stood on the ground and then looked at Misty.
"Poliwag, lets catch that Slowpoke," Misty said, and Poliwag nodded.
Misty was about to say to Poliwag her first attack, when Slowpoke pulled out its tail from the lake, and started walking toward them.
But then, out of nowhere, a Shelder jumped out of the lake, right behind Slowpoke, bit it on the tail, and then they both started glowing.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Misty said, while looking at the evolution that was happening in front of her! "Be careful, Poliwag. This just got harder than it was supposed to be."
Slowpoke and Shelder stopped glowing, and instead of them, now there stood Slowbro, on two legs, with a different looking Shelder on its tail.
"Slowbro, I challenge you to a battle!" Misty shouted at Slowbro, who looked at her and Poliwag, and then nodded, and stood ready for battle.
"Poliwag, use Water Gun!" Misty shouted her first attack, and her Poliwag released a spiral of water from his mouth at Slowbro, who countered Poliwag's Water Gun with his Water Gun, which he also fired from his mouth.
The two attacks collided, and they both exploded upon colliding, and sent water flying in all directions, and almost soaked Misty.
"Damn it, watch what you are doing with those attacks, I don't want to be drenched in water," Misty yelled, and her Poliwag sighed, while Slowbro smirked, as he figured out that she is probably hot tempered trainer, and it might make things easier for him if she starts making mistakes! "Poliwag, use Pound!"
Poliwag nodded, and then jumped at Slowbro, and swing his tail at him, but Slowbro then used Psychic, as his eyes glowed light blue, and he looked at Poliwag, who then became surrounded in blue outline, and was stopped from hitting Slowbro.
"Oh no, Poliwag," Misty yelled, as she saw her Poliwag in trouble! "Break yourself out of it!"
Poliwag did try and struggled to break free from Slowbro's Psychic grip, but is was useless, and then Slowbro started to manipulate Poliwag's movement, and started slamming him on the ground, which made Poliwag cry in pain.
"Poliwag, come on, don't give up," Misty shouted, trying to make her Pokémon try harder to break free!
Poliwag, even though he was being continuously slammed on the ground, continued to struggle to break free from Slowbro, but it just didn't work, he just wasn't strong enough.
Just then, Poliwag stopped struggling, and started glowing, and that made Misty gasp, and Slowbro lose focus, and dropped his hold on Poliwag, who was now growing in size, as the glow on him intensified.
Several seconds later, the glowing stopped, and there stood Poliwhirl.
"Wow, Poliwhirl, you evolved," Misty said, with stars in her eyes, as she is happy that her little Poliwag didn't give up, and evolved so he can continue to battle. "That's great. Now let's win this battle! Use Bubble Beam!"
Poliwhirl then blew multiple clear bubbles from his mouth at Slowbro, who countered it again, with Water Gun.
Just like before, the two attacks canceled each other out, and then Misty pressed on. "Use Double Slap!"
Poliwhirl jumped at Slowbro, and started slapping him with both hands, and after about a tenth slap, Slowbro flew backwards, as that one was a little stronger than the previous ones.
"All right," Misty yelled. "That was great, Poliwhirl, now let's finish him off. Use Hydro Pump!"
The swirl on Poliwhirl's stomach glowed light purple and he released a powerful stream of water from the middle of it at Slowbro, who stood up after the slap, and as he saw Poliwhirl's attack coming at him, he opened his mouth, and fired a stream of water, which then clashed with Poliwhirl's Hydro Pump, and started freezing it.
Few moments later, Hydro Pump was frozen completely and a giant pillar of ice fell on the ground, and broke in many pieces.
"Poliwhirl, use Double Slap again, and then use Ice Punch!" Misty reacted quickly, trying to catch Slowbro before he can react.
Poliwhirl reacted as fast as Misty wanted, and a moment later, he was again slapping Slowbro across the face.
After a while of slapping Slowbro, Poliwhirl's hand got surrounded by a blizzard, and then he punched Slowbro across the face one more time, and sent him flying backwards with a frozen face.
"Poke Ball, go!" Misty yelled, and threw one of her empty Poke Ball's at Slowbro, and he got absorbed inside of it, after which the ball fell on the ground, and started to shake a little, as Slowbro was most likely trying to break out.
After few more shakes, it stopped and the ball dinged, which meant that Slowbro was caught.
"All right," Misty yelled, as she approached to the Poke Ball, and took it from the ground! "I got a Slowbro!"
The ball than shrunk in size and sealed itself, and she then placed it on her Poke Belt.
"Nice battle, Misty," Ash said from where he and the others were standing since they arrived in the middle of Misty's battle against Slowbro, and Misty almost jumped in fright, since she didn't see or hear them, and was startled by Ash's voice.
"Ash," Misty yelled! "Don't ever scare me like that!"
"Sorry, Misty," Ash apologized. "It wasn't my intention to scare you. I honestly though you have noticed us by now."
"I didn't," Misty admitted, and then asked. "When did you get here? I though you will stay back on the other side of the lake to fish for more Pokémon."
"Leaf and I caught one Pokémon each, so we came here to look for you." Ash said, and Misty raised her eyebrow.
"Which Pokémon did you catch?" Misty asked.
"Both of us caught a Totodile," Ash said, and Misty's eyes widened.
"You fished out two Totodile's!" She said, not believing their luck. "But I wanted a Totodile!"
"No, they just came out from behind some bushes," Ash said, and Misty fell down anime style.
"What an amount of luck you need for something like that to happen?" Misty asked, though it was more to herself then the others.
"Why the long face," Ash asked. "You caught Quagsire and Slowbro, and your Poliwag evolved into Poliwhirl. You should be happy, since you gained the most of all of us today."
Misty looked at Ash, and realized he was right. "Yeah, I guess you are right, Ash," Misty said.
"So, are we continuing now, or will we stay here longer?" Leaf asked.
"We are continuing," Ash said. "There is no need to stay here anymore, anyway."
They then left the lake, and continued toward the Goldenrod City.
XXX
Ten more days has passed on the journey, and Ash and his friends have still not reached Goldenrod City.
Not that they are in any hurry to get there of course, so they spend few hours every day training their Pokémon, so they can become stronger, and better prepared for their next battles.
There was also a bit of a trouble few days ago when Misty found out that Ash tricked her about Totodile's, and she blew her top of. But in the end, after several hours of refusing to talk with him, she let it go, since no matter how much she wants to, she can't stay mad at Ash.
During those ten days, Ash's Cyndaquil evolved during a battle against this girl they run into and her Skarmory. It was a hard battle, which Cyndaquil won and right after the battle, he evolved into Quilava.
Two days later, just yesterday in fact, the group encountered an Elekid, and Leaf just couldn't stop herself from challenging him to a battle.
Elekid accepted, and battled against Leaf's Donphan, and eventually lost, and was captured by Leaf.
Right now, the group is in the forest, about three days away from Goldenrod City, and today they have decided to have several sparing battles between themselves, so their newest Pokémon can get used to a high-level battle's and be prepared for the gym battles.
"Totodile, use Water Gun!" Leaf said, while in the middle of the sparing battle against Serena and her Houndour.
"Houndour, use Feint Attack, and then Crunch!" Serena countered.
Totodile, blew a jet of water at Houndour, who moved away to the right, and started running toward Totodile, who stopped her attack, and then suddenly, Houndour disappeared, and the next second appeared on the left side of Totodile. Then Houndour's teeth glowed orange, and she bitted Totodile's right hand, which she managed to put in front of her to shield her head.
Totodile started yelling in pain, and tried to pull her hand back from Houndour's mouth, but she was unsuccessful.
"Great job Houndour," Serena said. "Now lift her up and toss her away, then use Flamethrower!"
Houndour lifted Totodile in the air a little, while lifting herself on her hind legs, as she wasn't strong enough to actually lift her too much, but it was enough that she was able to throw the Totodile away by swishing her head from one side to the other fast, and then release the bite on Totodile's arm, which sent Totodile flying few meters away.
Houndour then took a breath, and released a red-orange stream of fire from her mouth at Totodile, who just fell on the ground.
"Totodile, use Water Gun, quickly!" Leaf said to her Pokémon, and hoped she will pull it off, as she didn't want to lose, even if it's just a sparing battle.
Somehow, Totodile lifted her head, and fired a Water Gun that intercepted Houndour's Flamethrower, and they pushed at each other for a few moments, until both Pokémon ran out of fuel, and both attacks disappeared without doing any damage to each other.
The two Pokémon glared at one another after their attacks disappeared, and were breathing hard because of exhaustion.
When Serena and Leaf were about to call their next moves, both Pokémon collapsed at the same time, and passed out.
"Houndour and Totodile are unable to continue," Brock, who acted as a referee, said! "The match is a draw!"
Both Serena and Leaf sighed, and went to their unconscious Pokémon, and were joined by Ash's Totodile, and Houndour, who wanted to check their girlfriend and former member of the pack.
"That was a nice battle," Ash said to the two of them. "They have both gained some skill in the few days since you caught them, and will only grow stronger, so just keep training them, and you will see the results in no time."
"Thanks' Ash," Serena and Leaf said, and Serena added. "It means a lot when it comes from you."
Leaf and Serena then returned their Pokémon in the Poke Ball's so they can rest and recover, and Leaf asked. "Are we going to have few more battles', or is that enough for today?"
"No, I think that's enough for today," Ash said. "We all had one or two battles, and that's enough."
Ash then looked in the distance toward something, and said. "Did you have fun watching the battles?"
The others looked at where Ash was looking, and saw nothing, which confused them.
"Hey, Ash, who are you talking to?" Misty asked.
"To the Pokémon that's been standing over there on the tree since we came here, and was looking at all of the matches," Ash replied, and pointed toward the tree in the distance, and after the others squinted their eyes, they saw a weird looking Noctowl.
When it heard Ash's question, and realized he knew it was there the whole time, Noctowl rose from the tree, and flew toward the group, and then stood on the tree right next to them, looking at Ash.
"What's up with that Noctowl," Brock asked? "Its color is different, and it's smaller than normal Noctowl."
"It's a Shiny Noctowl," Ash said. "There are some Pokémon who have a different color than normal, and they are called Shiny Pokémon. But except the color, there is nothing different about them, which makes this Noctowl truly a little weird, as it is smaller than normal."
"I see you know a lot about Pokémon," Noctowl hooted. "But I'm not surprised. I realized you can use Aura and Psychic powers the moment I laid my eyes on you."
"Is that so," Ash questioned, and Noctowl nodded. "You are a smart one, aren't you?"
"I am," Noctowl said. "My special look is not the only thing special about me. My brain is also much better developed then the brain of normal Noctowl, or most Pokémon."
"Well, why don't you prove how smart and strong you are by battling one of my Pokémon?" Ash said, and Noctowl looked him right in the eyes.
"You wish to catch me, don't you?" Noctowl asked.
"I would lie if I said I don't," Ash said truthfully. "But I'm not going to forcefully try to capture you or anything. I wish to battle against you, and after that, it's your choice."
Noctowl looked at Ash for a while, not replying to his challenge, and then, after a minute of staring him like it was judging him, Noctowl said. "Many have tried and failed to capture me. Why are you sure you will be able to do it?"
"I'm different than most trainers you have faced before," Ash said, and then smirked. "You won't be able to do to me what you are doing to them."
Noctowl's eyes widened at that, and Ash's smirk grew.
"What are you talking about, Ash," Misty asked. "What is Noctowl doing to trainers that prevents them from defeating it?"
"This Noctowl is a powerful Psychic, and is able to read the minds of people and Pokémon, which allows it to see what attacks they will use, and act according to that," Ash explained, and everyone was surprised.
"That's surprising," Brock said. "Could it have something to do with different color and the smaller size then the other Noctowl?"
"I doubt that," Ash said. "Like I said before, there are many Shiny Pokémon in the World, and there is nothing special about them. As for the smaller size, I don't think it has anything to do with its ability as well.
"I believe that this Noctowl has such high Psychic powers because it is very smart, much smarter than it should be, probably in the league with Slowking, who are considered to be some of the smartest Pokémon in the world, and are able to learn human language because of that."
"Slowking can learn human language," Misty said surprised like never before. "But how come none of us ever heard about that?"
"It is something that's believed by many scientists," Ash said. "There are some legends as well, but no one has ever seen Slowking talking human language, so it was never proven, and legends and myths can never be truly trusted."
"You are right," Noctowl said to Ash. "My Psychic powers are so developed because my brain is very developed, and I can read people's minds, but I cannot speak human language."
Ash then asked. "So, are we having that battle, or not?"
Noctowl thought for a minute and replied. "No! There is no reason to fight. I will join your team if that's what you want."
"Why are you accepting to join me just like that," Ash asked? "I though you would want to stay free."
"If I stay free, then I would have to continue to battle against trainers who pass through here, and I admit, it's getting boring," Noctowl said. "I want a new challenge as well, and with you I'm sure I can become stronger, and develop my Psychic powers even more."
"Ok," Ash said, and took out one empty Poke Ball. "I guess that as good reason as any."
Noctowl flew toward Ash, and taped the Poke Ball in his hand, sucking it in, and then the next moment, the ball dinged.
"That was easy." Misty commented with a huff, "I had to battle Slowbro to catch him, and you did nothing, and was even asked by the Pokémon to join you."
"Yeah, even after all this time we are traveling together, I still can't believe how easily you are catching Pokémon, and how many asked you to join you, which almost never happens to anyone else." Brock said.
"Every Pokémon can to some extent judge how someone is as a trainer and as a human being, and so they act according to that," Ash explained. "If a Pokémon doesn't like the feeling it gets from the trainer, it will fight much harder than it would if it likes the feeling. I guess, Pokémon like me, so they want to join me, but I don't see anything strange about that."
"If you say so, Ash." Misty said, and then they all went back on their journey.