When Ash set out on his journey, he released his Pokémon, with the simple goal of letting them apany him. Growlithe, lively and eic, pyed well with Charmander.

  Miltank was busy milking herself, while sey prepared eggs for everyone.

  Meowth tinkered with a mae, Ralts held Ash's hand, and Pikachu stood on Ash's shoulder, opening a bottle of ketchup for itself.

  Some might wonder why there were more than six Pokémon, but of course, Professor Oak had helped out.

  Besides, Meowth, Pikachu, and sey rarely stayed in their Poké Balls, and Miltank was only tagging along to provide milk. Iy, Ash only carried three Pokémon with him.

  "Growlithe, Charmander, stop randomly spitting fmes."

  "Woof!"

  "Char!"

  Seeing that the two little ones were behaving, Ash didn't stop them. Instead, he turo Pikachu and said, "Pikachu, we're about to eat. Are you really going to have ketchup now?"

  "Pika pika!"

  "I know you ha, but aren't you worried about gaini?"

  "Pika!"

  Watg Pikachu strike a bodybuilder pose, Ash chuckled and patted it.

  "Alright, I get it. Meowth, how much longer until we get out of here?"

  "Uhe weather ges, we should make it out today, Meow. But the sky looks a bit off, so we might arrive soon, Meow."

  "Alright, let's keep moving. Everyone, follow me! Let's pick up the pace!"

  Although Ash wao leave quickly, the weather ged abruptly, and heavy rain began to pour. Ash and his Pokémon took shelter in a tent.

  "See, Meowth? I told ying a rge tent was a good idea."

  "Indeed, Meow. Everyos inside, Meow. But this rain might st a while, Meow."

  "Then we'll just wait it out. Let's start cooking in the meantime."

  "Alright!" *N

  Just as Ash began cooking, a figure ran toward his tent.

  "Ugh! Why am I so unlucky? Oh! Excuse me, I take shelter here from the rain… Ah!!! Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

  With a scream, Ash, who wasn't wearing a shirt, turo look at the newer.

  "That's rude. I do whatever I want in my ow, right?"

  The girl realized she was the intruder and quickly apologized, "Sorry, I was just startled. My name's Misty. I stay here to avoid the rain?"

  Seeing Misty drenched, Ash handed her a b and said, "ge out of your wet clothes first, or you'll catch a cold. I'll put up a curtain in the middle."

  Taking the b, Misty quickly ed herself up and said, "Thank you. And you are?"

  "Me? I'm Ash. But let's save the introdus for ter. Hurry and ge out of your wet clothes."

  "Oh, thank you."

  After Ash set up a curtain for privacy, Misty quickly ged into dry clothes and ed herself in the b. Ohat was done, Ash and Misty properly introduced themselves. Misty was surprised to learn that Ash had a sey and a talkih.

  "Food's ready. Pikachu, here's your omelet rice—add your owchup. Meowth, your fish. Growlithe and Charmander, your chi breast. Ralts, your mixed berries. Miltank, your hay. sey, your cake. Misty, I hope you don't mind having fried rice like me?"

  When Ash asked, Misty, who had been staring in fusion, snapped out of it and said, "No, not at all! Thank you!"

  Misty was growing more and more curious about Ash, as he had just shown her what it meant to cook at an astonishing speed.

  "Here, this is fresh milk from Miltank. It's really good." After handing Misty a gss of milk, Ash noticed Charmander had spilled milk all over its fad sighed, pulling out a tissue to it up.

  "Hold still."

  "Char!"

  Watg Ash gently wipe Charmander's face, Misty smiled.

  "Ash, you're really kind."

  Misty then released her own Pokémon and began feeding them.

  After everyone had eaten, Ash first called his mother, Delia, to let her know he was safe, and then he received a call from Elesa.

  "Hey, Ash, have you reached Pewter City yet?"

  "Ran into some bad weather, so not yet."

  "Really? Be careful not to get sick. And hey, even though you're an adult now, you better not go to those kinds of pces, okay~?"

  Ash could easily uand what Elesa was implying and replied with a dark expression, "I'm not that bored…"

  "You never know. At ye, some families already have kids. I'm just reminding you not to get distracted by the temptations of the world."

  Ash was almost speechless. While it was true that in the Pokémon world, fifteen was sidered adulthood, he wasn't that shameless.

  "e on, do you really think I'm that kind of person…"

  "Of course I know you're not, but I'm just worried someone might get charmed by an older woman. Be careful, or Nana and the Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys might e after you. Or maybe there's already a girl by your side?" Elesa's tone was light, but the dark aura emanating from her was enough to scare her manager.

  "Sis, you're being a bit scary…" Gng at Misty beside him, Ash wondered if Elesa had installed a camera on him and couldn't help but ask, "Meowth, there's no surveilnce around us, right?"

  Meowth gave Ash a strange look and shook its head. "No, Meow."

  But then Elesa's voice came through the call.

  "Oh, looks like I hit the mark. I know you're charming, Ash, but isn't this a bit fast?"

  "Sis, stop joking. I'm more about developing feelings over time."

  "Oh? Then why haven't I developed any feelings for you?" Hearing Elesa's increasingly dangerous tone, Ash wondered why the package hadn't arrived yet.

  "Miss Elesa, your package is here!"

  Hearing the annou, Ash breathed a sigh of relief. So it had just arrived now. But then again, it was a crion delivery. A scream from Elesa followed through the call.